The Yellow Lifesaver-Emergency Firestarting or How to Start a Fire in Wet Weather

The Yellow Lifesaver

If you spend enough time in the backcountry, you will find yourself having to make fire under extreme conditions where it’s a downpour, snowstorm or the risk of hypothermia nipping at your heels. 

Getting in the habit of always carrying 3 firestarters (Stormproof matches, spark rod and lighter) and a vial of cotton balls smeared with Vaseline is a critical step in being prepared. 

Your other friend, found in most forests throughout the world, is resinous wood particularly the old stumps and logs from dead pine, spruce and other conifers. We have used this wood on winter survival courses in the deep snow and in wet weather during the summer months and it has been key in getting ignition and warming our bones during cold nights. 

Look for old stumps in pine or spruce forests or use dead-standing trees. I have done this on stumps buried under the snow and gotten instant ignition. 

This shaving technique is a woodcraft skill that you can practice in your backyard. Keep an eye out for that yellow-tinged wood on your next hike and try it for firestarting. It can be a real lifesaver.

The book- "The Long Walk" now a movie

First read this book, "The Long Walk" in the 80s while holed up during a grueling 21-day trek in a canvas tent during howling winter winds in Idaho. The story, which covers a survival march across Siberia, the Gobi Desert, and Tibet, delves into the account of Gulag escapee Slavomir Ravich.

Reading the book lessened the cold at my back and made me appreciate the woodstove in the corner. Now it turns out that the 1956 book was not entirely accurate and large parts, if not the entire story, were fictional.

The movie titled, "The Way Back" should make for a riveting movie but we'll see? Stars Ed Harris and Colin Farrell. The movie centers on Janusz, a Polish prisoner of war accused of sedition by his Soviet interrogators and sent to a gulag near the Arctic Circle. His escape is a story of human endurance as he and some other prisoners make their way across the landscape.

I'd be interested in hearing feedback on the movie. We only have one theater in town and it's unlikely it will make it here. The book is still worth checking out as the author had some knowledge of cold-weather survival skills despite his fanciful storytelling.

Tony

Rattlesnake Bites

The following article is an excerpt from Tony's monthly column in Outside Magazine, titled the Survival Guru (their wording). To view the last 14 months of articles, visit http://www.outsideonline.com


Beware Rattlers!

On nearly every trek and walkabout I've done in the desert Southwest, I have encountered a rattlesnake, especially under and around rockpiles as this is where rodents also dwell.

While writing a book on desert survival, I spoke with the fine staff at the University of Arizona Toxicology Department, who said your best treatment for rattlesnake bite is to grab your car keys and head to the ER. Using suction devices, snakebite kits, and Hollywood methods of cutting and sucking will only waste precious treatment time that should be spent at the hospital.

In the field, stay calm, wash the wound, stay hydrated, and make a call for help if possible, but otherwise, if you're solo, plan on walking slowly back to your vehicle and driving out. Don't use a tourniquet or ice, just plan on getting to a hospital--remember, if you were actually envenomated, time is tissue.

Around 25 percent of rattlesnake bites are dry (without the snake envenomating you), and the good news is that rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal. According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, there were 1,912 people bitten in Arizona from 1989 to 1998, with only four fatalities. One thing to note is that kids are at higher risk from any venomous bites because they have a smaller body mass to absorb the toxin. Interestingly, the pattern associated with rattlesnake-bite victims is that they tend to be male, 18-35 years of age, and intoxicated. In other words, the snake was provoked.

Bottom line: Carry a walking stick and remember the golden rule of wilderness travel--don't put your hands and feet where you can't see!

Enjoy the Wilds,

Tony Nester

Ancient Pathways Survival School, LLC

http://www.apathways.com