Survival Tools - Pick One


Bill Tarling

Recommended Posts

And primitive man had something most of us don't: knowledge of how to survive and the skills to use that knowledge.

I guess with that being said, maybe people need to have some knowledge of basic survival, after all, we are still human and live in a place where everything can go wrong in a blink of an eye... I'm staying with my tarp =) I have that primitive man knowledge to incorporate to stay alive (fortunately).

The question was for "what would I choose" and "short term survival" then the tarp is the most useful the first few days for shelter and protection from the elements in my situation. I hear you on the shovel and digging a snow shelter a great tool) but I would feel confined to one spot and I would rather be mobile until I can find a structure to hide in (cave, shed, house, abandon car) and then use the tarp as extra cover for warmth, also digging would take a lot of energy and if I dont have enough food or water I'll be depleting my energy just to make a whole to protect myself from the elements, and then do it again the next day if I don't get lucky and find shelter.

Yes things do take time to make but what else am I going to do with my time in an post-disaster survival world? Its not like I have to go back to work at the office anytime soon =)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 80
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • 2 years later...

A manual crank flashlight probably has diodes and LEDs as part of it's electronic parts at least modern day ones.

An AC generator might not require diodes but I think in practice they all get rectified to DC in order to store the energy in a battery.

A tarp is an interesting item to have as one tends to think it can provide shelter in cold; in the North, a tarp is only good for shedding rain, not for snow. If you want a shelter, you need to build one from limbs and boughs using cordage or a fallen tree as a lean to or ridge pole. Then you insulate the floor with boughs and add more for insulation for the walls and finally add snow on the outside to provide a wind break and more insulation. Outdoor winter shelters are notoriously difficult to make and to survive in during cold weather.

For building an igloo, you need a long knife or a flat shovel. We are only guessing about what sorts of things we could do in game. A toboggan is only 1 foot wide and maybe 6-8 foot long although they can be made wider. A sledge as used by the Inuit is wider and has runners and can be used to make a wind break or shelter floor for a snow shelter. It might make a type of roof covering, if the snow is not dense enough to make good snow breaks. A folding shovel is probably one of the most utilitarian of survival tools. Things like a sledge are things one would make using an axe and probably found planks. Before the Inuit encountered outsiders, I think they made sledges using driftwood, large bones and tusks and hides. Wood is very precious North of the tree line. In TLD we have no shortage of planks or trees.

If you had said 4x6 space blanket, I might have gone for that as it can be used as a reflector and shelter or wrapped around one to retain body warmth or used as a signalling device.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The most obvious is that cordage, either natural or manmade, is an invaluable resource for doing almost anything in a survival situation, and there's not a place that I go all day long that I don't have some at least reasonably close, especially away from the house.

Rope is more useful in areas where you want to run a quick line to sling your tarp over for a faster shelter. These type of shelters are not very good in -20C weather unless you can make a fire. Rain simply isn't the problem. It's wind and cold and for that you need walls on all sides, evergreen boughs and poles. Without a shovel of some sort, you can't make snow shelters although the Inuit also used long snow knives made of steel or bone or antlers. In such conditions, a machete could cover many uses but it's not in the list.

As far as cordage is concerned, it's unnecessary for shelter building but important for crafting all sorts of tools. Typically in the far North it might be made of sinews or leather strips. In warmer weather, cordage for lashing shelter can also be made from spruce tree roots or cedar bark strips.

The choice of items are really determined by the survival experience level of the individual. An inexperienced person might grab a flashlight without even testing it since the darkness might be the scariest thing.

A knife, axe and saw would be three very important tools for survival given free choice since those provide the essentials for gathering wood, preparing shelter, force protection, making other tools and for harvesting meat, for protection and so forth. A kit with needles, thread, fishing line and lots of hooks would be really nice as the easiest method of gaining food in the real world in winter. Often the Inuit used gorge hooks for fishing prior to the advent of metal fish hooks.

Another essential for outdoor survival is some type of metal pot or container for melting snow and boiling water. It seems to be implied in the game that cooking containers & water storage containers are readily available, even on the march.

I guess as priorities go in TLD scenario outdoors they would be: fire, force protection, water, shelter, clothing and food. In some cases found food is readily available, in others that is quickly exhausted and one needs hunting weapons, fishing gear or snares of some type.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.