You can use almost anything to make a pack on the fly, including plant
fibers and bark, wood, rope, animal skins, or any other type of material you
may have on hand.
To make a pack, lay a piece of square material on the ground, with
your relevant items on one edge. Roll the material and the items toward
the opposite edge. Once the bundle is cylindrical, securely tie off each end
with one long piece of rope, about 6 feet (1.8 m) long. You can now use the
long rope to drape the pack over your shoulder. Add extra ties along the
length of the bundle to prevent contents from falling out (see page 221).
Making Snowshoes
Good for a multitude of uses, spruce boughs also make great snowshoes.
Clump them together into the approximate size and shape you need, then
tie the bundle together with some rope or cord. Lash the shoes to your feet,
and you’re off (see page 339).
Making Torches
As you may suspect, in a wilderness emergency there are many times when
you will need to see in the dark but don’t have a flashlight. As long as you
have a fire, you will have light. Although there are many different ways to
make a survival torch, the bark torch is one of the simplest yet most effective.
You’ll need a stick for the handle and a fairly thick strip of flexible bark (birch
bark works very well) about 2 feet (60 cm) long and 6 inches (15 cm) wide.
Wrap the bark around the stick, and tie the base of the bark coil to
the stick to secure it. Now wrap some cord or rope around the bark coil
to prevent it from opening. You can burn the bark itself, but the torch will
burn better if you fill the coil with flammable material, such as grass, small
sticks, or small pieces of bark. Once you’ve lit the material inside the coil,
it should last a good, long time (see page 339).
(^338) | Survive!