can of naphtha gas. After a little cutting, bending, and reshaping, I had
changed it into a simple wood stove.
In the Kalahari Desert, the most effective “junk” I found included a
few jars and cans in an old truck. They worked like a charm to trap scorpi-
ons, which were the basis for my diet there. In Alaska, the roof of my shel-
ter was two big pieces of plastic that I discovered under a couple of rocks.
All of it started as garbage, but for me it meant survival.
Think Simplicity
ALTHOUGH THERE IS A DESIRE AMONG HARD-CORE SURVIVALISTS to make elab-
orate and sophisticated tools in the bush, I’ve found that the best man-
made survival tools are the most basic. A simple snare, a simple fish hook:
these are often the most effective things you can make. Creating complex
traps, snares, and shelters is fine when you have time and energy, neither
of which you typically have in abundance in an emergency!
Survival is a humbling situation. Any notions you may have enter-
tained about building incredible tools will be swept away quickly (right
behind those ideas you once had about the importance of staying clean).
Attempting to construct complex survival tools can lead to immense
frustration as well. The worst thing you can do in a situation like this is
spend hours trying to build something, only to find that it doesn’t work.
A simple version often suits the purpose but takes only a fraction of the
time to make.
While my wife, Sue, and I spent the year living off the land in north-
ern Ontario, we wanted to make a blanket of rabbit pelts. We figured we’d
need about 100 pelts, and my first thought was to build an elaborate set of
snares and traps. In the end, though, over a few weeks, I set out a couple
dozen simple snares, which were really effective and took very little time
to construct. I’m sure I wouldn’t have had any better luck with a more
elaborate setup.
(^322) | Survive!