Ok...there I was...

[festus]

How many times have you heard someone start off with "there I was"? How credible is the person? How credible is the advice? How credible is the scenario? This is why I spent almost 21 years in the military. I believe we have a responsibility to our fellow shooters to prepare them and to educate them in the things that will matter most in a SHTF situation. It is not about cool gear or what kind of ammo or how much is put away for tomorrow, but ultimately how smart you are, and how solid is your decision making process.
There are a lot of goofballs out there with gear and gadgets but ZERO skill.

I challenge you to practice ONE survival skill this weekend and let every one know what and how and how good or bad it was. It could be something as simple as making fire in the BBQ with out using matches or pitching a cool tent with your kids for some backyard camping. Don't laugh, these are important skills best honed at home and not in the rough.

[HK4U]

Not a bad idea. Thanks for the post.

[boris]

i never did get that pancho raft down. a buddy and me in high school had this idea to build a raft t get to the other side of the lake . it was working until we got on. some of our stuff sank. thankfully, we had aback up plan and extra gear and we hiked to our campsite. me and the kids do that backyard camping from time to time. that is a good way to test some gear ad stuff . i also like to use my survival vest to do stuff out of it as well. NOW is the time to do and learn, not in the middle of a SHTF , real life situation. i can tell you that i need to work on my fire building skills. i seem to be able to build one on the ground in high wind an wet weather, but can't seem to get a good one going in the bbq grill......

[mom of 3 angels]

My husband and kids dug a snow cave in the pile of snow in the front yard the other day and he asked if any of them wanted to sleep in it (apparently he did this as a teen). Our 3 year old was the only one that wanted to. Had to call off the campout due to parents common sense. Maybe when they're bigger . . .

Will try something out this weekend, not sure what, but it won't be sleeping in a snow cave!

[whiptrackercracker]

Just ONE survival skill. Ah, I was setting aside this weekend to practice a few skills I have not done in a while. I need to work on my hand drill fire. My bow drilling is great but my technique while doing a hand drill fire start are fairly week. I need to practice since I will be demonstrating both methods in a few months. I also need to do some flaking and make a few slate or obsidian knifes. Since we are stuck in snow, I want to try an in snow fire, since that is rather challenging to get a working. We will see what I actually get done...

[mom of 3 angels]

Okay whip, you can come to my house and start a fire for me!

Here's what happened this weekend at our place. I will say straight out that lighting fires is NOT a skill I have developed. I usually defer the fire making to someone in my party with skill at it (like my husband). IF everything is dry and I have a match (or ten) I MIGHT be able to get one going. So I thought I'd have a little fun with the kids and light a fire this weekend. It has snowed like crazy here this winter, but the last week or so has warmed up in the afternoons so now we have lots of snow and mud. So I took my fire lighting gear outside and tried to get a fire going. Well, like I said, I have a hard time when things are dry. We tried to light one on the snow, but couldn't keep it going for anything, so moved over to the mud to try again, but after about an hour and a half and lots of smoke and very few flames we decided it was time to put snow on the tiny flame that we did get burning and go in and have hot cocoa instead.

I tried to light some things I have never tried before. Things that someone heard somewhere would light well.
Very unimpressed with cotton balls and dryer lint, neither of which improved much with the addition of petroleum jelly on them.
Rolls of cardboard dipped in wax lit okay, but didn't burn long enough to catch fire to anything else this weekend. And they're bulky for the amount of burn you get from them.
Tried to use the magnesium and steel to catch fire to anything, but got tired of that real fast and ended up using a lighter. Now, I have in the past started a small fire with flint and steel and after the mag/steel experience I decided I really need some char cloth that will hold an ember if I'm going to use that method. And maybe some shredded hemp rope as that took the char cloth ember and made flame fast.
Talked with my mom about all the fun I had and she said she's been making fire starters with dryer lint pressed into the pressed paper type egg cartons, then pouring wax over them. She tears them apart and has little fire balls. She went out and lit one while on the phone with me and it burned quite a while and she said nothing was left of it but a small amount of ashes.

I am totally open to suggestions and ideas, and I obviously need to practice more--I would have died of hypothermia before I got warmed up if I were really stuck out in the cold this weekend! By the way, thanks for the challenge even though I'm almost too embarrassed to report how bad I am at lighting a fire, sometimes it takes something like that to get me going on something! :)

[Glock Fan]

If you double up on your dryer sheets (I use Snuggle) :) the dryer lint seems to light faster. Another option would be to use a 9V battery and fine steel wool. Touch the battery terminals to the steel wool, (use a small piece at first). The battery will short out very quickly and the steel wool will begin to burn. Don't use "SOS" or anything other than pure steel wool. Touching a lighter or match to the steel wool will ignite it as well. When I really need a fire and stuff is as damp as it can get here in Hawaii, I use a road flare. It's not very heavy, yet burns hot and for a fairly long time (usually 15 minutes or so). That's plenty of time to dry up any damp kindling and get a nice steady fire going. A last option (due to the fact that it's my least favorite) would be to use small rubber bands or thin strips of bicycle inner tube. It stinks very badly, but burns well in damp conditions, and burns rather long.

I'm not a big fan of petroleum jelly, much less would like to be carrying the stuff in my pack, so I found other ways of getting a fire started.

Good luck in your fire building.



gf

[boris]

i am thinking about a flamethrower. good effort, people. o, how about setting up that tent that has been sitting in the corner of the garage unopenend fr 6-7 years? what is fun for me is going out into theboonies and seeing how many improvised shelters i can build or come up with.

[HK4U]

Originally Posted by whiptrackercracker

Just ONE survival skill. Ah, I was setting aside this weekend to practice a few skills I have not done in a while. I need to work on my hand drill fire. My bow drilling is great but my technique while doing a hand drill fire start are fairly week. I need to practice since I will be demonstrating both methods in a few months. I also need to do some flaking and make a few slate or obsidian knifes. Since we are stuck in snow, I want to try an in snow fire, since that is rather challenging to get a working. We will see what I actually get done...

After trying to start a fire a couple different times with a bow and drill I decided to keep plenty of matches and lighters on hand.

[festus]

I ended up using a very useful survival skill this last weekend. Squirrels had chewed up the electrical and vacuum systems in my work car. I had to patch her up just to get to work. A new wiring harness and volvo hoses aint cheap, so I made do by splicing hoses using stainless steel tubing and joining wire using butt crimps. Every thing works but it ai'nt pretty. Good survival skill though. I could not have hade more damage if somebody put a round into her. I used alot of the Aircraft Battle Damage Repair skills (ABDR) I was taught in the USAF. Saved over a grand in repairs at the dealership.