Survival Tips from Experienced Survivor Les Stroud
Sourced by Alexander Turcan
- In cold or freezing conditions, the worst thing you can do is let yourself get sweaty. If you get sweaty, you should let the sweat dry.
- Use a lens from a camcorder to start a fire (as if it is a Magnifying Glass).
- Always carry a good multi-tool (e.g. Swiss Army Explorer Plus).
- Break wood between two trees to keep from hurting yourself.
- Wipe mud over your skin to protect against mosquitoes.
- If you catch lean food eat as much of the animal as possible, except the entrails. Certain wild animals have extremely low levels of body fat, which may lead to death by rabbit starvation.
- To start a fire with a lighter that has no fluid, use a piece of tissue formed into a cone at one end with a ball of sock lint stuffed into the cone to catch the spark that comes off the lighter. This only works if the socks are manufactured from 100% cotton.
- Don’t play the harmonica when polar bears are possibly around because they are attracted to strange noises.
- Use corn chips to hold a flame in a manner similar to a candle wick.
- Boil water by placing heated rocks in it. This is done when a water container cannot be held directly over a fire.
- Heat rocks over fire and place them around the body as heating packs while sleeping or resting.
- Use cow dung to keep a fire smoldering while away. This prevents the need to light another fire from scratch.
- Determine the time until sunset by measuring the distance between the sun and horizon, wherein each width of your hand equals one hour.
- Use moss from the north side of a tree to gain bearings without a compass.
- Too much coconut milk causes diarrhea.
- The Five “W’s” of Survival:
- Weather: Temperature of the area, know what kind of shelter you need.
- Wood: How much wood is around for both fire and shelter.
- Wigglies: spiders, scorpions, snakes, anything that can bite you or poison you.
- Widowmakers: rocks, trees, large animals, anything that can fall on you or attack you.
- Water: Where will you get water, how will you obtain it.
- Use a potato peeler on thin branches to create very curly wood shavings. These are great for getting very small flames turned into big ones.
- Always check your boots for “Wigglies.”
- To create smoke signal, burn damp wood chips over fire.
- Before sleep – pee, so your body isn’t trying to keep warm the water inside you.
- Eating something before sleep helps insides get warmer.