especially if that will keep you alive. But if the opportunity arises the next
day to dry some of your clothing, take advantage of it. Clean and dry cloth
ing will last much longer than wet clothing, which will rot and disintegrate.
Dirt and dampness also reduce the effectiveness of clothes as insulation.
Keeping your clothing clean also reduces the possibility of skin
infection. If you don’t have a way to wash your clothes, at least shake
them out and leave them in direct sunlight for a couple of hours. If pos
sible, never go to bed wearing damp clothing, as this increases your risk
of hypothermia.
Extra Is Always Better
CLOTHING TENDS TO GET PRETTY BEAT UP in survival ordeals, so the more you
have with you, the better. You can never have too much clothing, unless its
bulk or weight prevents you from traveling to safety. If you end up carry
ing so much clothing and gear that it takes your energy away from looking
for food and water, then it’s time to make the difficult decision about what
you’re going to leave behind.
Making Clothing
THOUGH THIS IS A FAVORITE TOPIC OF SURVIVALISTS, the fact is that you’re
not going to make clothing in a survival situation. Making clothing
from the bush is camp craft and it takes many months. Sure, you can
make a coat out of cedar bark; you can kill an animal and tan its hide.
But that is about wilderness living, not survival. If your survival situa
tion lasts long enough for you to make clothing from natural materi
als, you’re probably past the survival stage and have decided to call the
wilderness your home.
There are a couple of materials, however, that you may be able to use
to make emergency clothing if necessary and that don’t require too much
time or expertise. The first is birch bark. If you are able to peel off a large
enough strip of birch bark, you can fashion it into a crude hat or rain pon
cho. But it’s not easy. Native North Americans were able to peel new birch
Clothing (^) | 293