Have you ever been on a nice family outing be it a hike, off roading, boating? You are out there enjoying the great outdoors only there is trash everywhere! Modern man has seemingly polluted every square inch of the globe. (No I am not a tree hugger) While this may be bad for the endangered dreaded pig snake, it is a plus for anyone who finds themselves in a survival/bugout situation. I say this because if we use our imagination one can craft all types of tools and equipment from trash.
Lets start with the most important thing, water. Next time you are out and about be it in town or in a rural area take a look around and the odds are you will find a plethora of containers. Granted these might not be the cleanest things around but beggars can't be choosers. Clear soda bottles can be used to sanitize water utilizing the sodis method(more info on that here http://www.sodis.ch/methode/index_EN), glass and cans can be used to boil or pasteurize water. Plastic bags can be used to transport water if you are going a short distance or can find multiple ones. You can use them to store your water also. Plastic bags can be used to collect rainfall and also wrapped over plants in the morning to collect moisture that is released throughout the day. Plastic bags can also be used in the construction of a solar still. The uses of these items are only limited to your ingenuity. Next we will look at food preparation.
Food prep is an important part of survival. The parasites and diseases that wild animals harbor alone are enough to kill someone. We counter this threat with food prep. How will trash help us? We can use the ubiquitous tin can or beer/soda can to make a stove or a container to make a stew. This will allow us to eat wild game without fear of infection. With a stove and pot we can also make teas, and par boil certain plants that must be boiled before eating. Using a stove is also advantageous where a fire could give away your position. It is important to note that when using found containers for this purpose it is important to have a good idea of what was in them before you found them. It would make for a bad day to use a container that had poison in it to cook a meal in, so if you are unsure about it find another one. Now that we have water and food, how will trash help provide us shelter against the elements?
The way that you use trash for shelter will depend on the area and climate that you are operating in. I live in a desert environment, so for me I will want protection from the sun. Depending on the time of year I would also need warmth at night as well. This can be done in many ways. A trash bag could make an effective sun shade that is easily transportable, cardboard boxes, abandon vehicles, can all be used also. For warmth a trash bag stuffed with brush and paper can provide decent insulation. Things like plywood can be used to build a lean to, or to provide insulation to mitigate losing body heat into the ground. Being able to exploit every resource available to you is the most important skill to have in your tool box.
As you can see there are unlimited uses for the things that you can find laying around. I'm not saying that these items are direct replacement for the items in your kit but in pinch you could use them to address your basic needs. With the right mindset and basic tools that you can and should EDC. For me that entails a good folding knife, and a leatherman. With simple tools u can make life a lot better in a bad situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment