Survival Water Purification

If you were writing one?
I have so far:

Learn:
-To shoot multiple types of guns
- Archery
- How to make a crude radio
- How to use a radio
- How to track
- Navigate by the stars
- How to make a fire
- Plant guide
- Survival kit
- Purification of water
- Shelter
- How to make rope
- How to make a net
- How to hunt
- How to fish
- How to set traps
- How to make containers
- First Aid
- First Aid kits

You need to know how to FIND water; it isn't always as easy as stumbling into a river or lake!

In order of importance for actual SURVIVAL:
Find Water -- a person can die of dehydration in only 3 days; you can live for up to a month without food, even while walking 20 miles each day.

Fire -- to cook food/purify water, to act as a beacon for anyone searching for you, and TO STAY WARM. Wet clothing, especially modern synthetics, can be useless for keeping you warm...

Shelter -- you need a place to stay dry/warm. NEVER wander around, hoping to be found; more people die because they will not stay in ONE place...

Find Food Source -- you will need to eat, if you wish to live long enough to be found.

For the list of things to learn to do: MAKE TRAPS, i.e., snares and dead-falls. Rabbits and squirrels are good eating, and fairly easily trapped. Also, fish traps are easy to make/use. It is not enough to know how to simply set a trap -- you must first learn how to make the trap.

Radios are useless, if not equiped with a transmitter (unless all you want is to get information about the "outside world"...) -- and the "crude radio" most often does not include a transmitter. A transmitter-receiver combination of some kind is required if you wish to talk with other people over the radio.

Also to learn: How to make/use signaling devices such as mirrors. If the batteries in the radio or flashlight go dead -- and there is every chance they will -- those items will be more than useless.

There is a lot more -- more than there is room here to list. And it is always best to learn survival skills BEFORE you need them. If you wait until you are in "survival mode" (lost, injured and in direct risk of dying), it may be too late.

2008-01-01 17:51:46 by anw122

This video will cover one method of long term water purification. We build a gravity ceramic filter that should last up to 8 months all for under ...

I think they are: Magnetic Compass
Gallon Can of Maple Syrup
Sleeping Bag
Bottle of Water Purification Tablets
20ft by 20ft Heavy Canvas
13 Wood Matches
250ft Rope
Working Flashlight
Pair of Snowshoes
Fifth of Bacardi
Shaving Kit w/ Mirror
Alarm Clock
Hand Axe
Innertube of 14 Inch Wheel
Northern Star Navigation (book)

Does anyone know what order they should go in? More importantly, why?

There must be more than one subarctic survival simulation. The following link has several survival simulations which I have used over the years, including a subarctic survival. Since these are copyrighted, I will not give you the exact listing and reasons why. However, they exist. There is even a video you can use. Good luck

2006-09-18 21:13:55 by Joe B

Price: $24.99 $16.75

All the benefits of a larger bottle filter in an ultralight, compact size.
3 replacement pre-filters lengthen filter life. Filters up to 50 gallons of water.
Straw style filter attaches directly to water bottles and water bladders. Tube adapter attaches directly to hydration packs.

My girlfriend did this team building excercise where you had to rate 15 items by their importance for survival in the wilderness of Newfoundand Canada in October. The students then were graded on the difference between their ratings and the ratings of a survival expert. Here are the expert's ratings:
1. waterproof matches
2.hand axe
3. heavy duty canvas
4. sleeping bag
5. gallon maple syrup
6. braided nylon rope
7. snowshoes
8. inner tube
9. shaving kit and mirror
10. flashlight
11.bacardi rum
12.alarm clock
13.compass
14.celestial navigation book
15.water purification tablets
Some of the students disagreed with fire being the number one priority. Any opinions? There were more details about the situation and a map included but it would be too lengthy to include here. I just don't think that you must have fire.
I think I would always put the sleeping bag and tarp first and second. I might even take the axe before the matches. You cannot warm yourself externally. You can only slow down heat loss. Body heat must come from metabolization of calories. Eating and excercising is the only way to make body heat. After that, you just need to insulate yourself and stay dry.
I think that alot of survival training comes from a military standpoint. They are taking defense into account. Build a stronghold, defend it, and wait for support troops.
The fire seems like more of a mental thing and a way to pass time. I guess if I knew there were polar bears around, I might make matches number one, but then there might not be any wood to burn in polar bear habitat, right? Anyone with experience?

I may be cheating here, but I have used this activity a number of times in my career. As I recall, there were two reasons for the fire, one you were stranded in Canada or Norther MN in the middle of winter and second, the smoke could be seen by rescue planes. So, yes I believe fire would be important for getting rescued.

2007-01-25 18:55:04 by paddlesurfelipe

Price: $49.99 $39.99

Great for Emergencies and Camping
Will purify enough drinking water for 4 for 7 days.
No tools, power, chemicals or pumping is needed

I just read the first few chapter of Stirling's Dies the Fire (the economic and social infrastructure collapses.) I ordered water purification tablets, emergency blankets, and a hand cranked radio/flashlight. Also emergency food bars.
I did not spend a ton of money, and I have the money to spend.
Have I gone paranoid nuts? In a way, I hope I have...

~lol~ It's a great series, isn't it? I really like Stirling's books. I think there are about six books or so in that particular series, with another one coming this year.

However if you stop and think about it, that particular series is not very realistic.

Guns, and combustion engines "suddenly" for some mystical reason stop working? Hmmm. Still, I have very much enjoyed reading the books.

I could tell you a few books that would REALLY make you paranoid, but I'll be kind, and not do that.

However, I will state that being prepared for emergencies is NEVER a bad thing. We have about two years worth of food storage, and all kinds of emergency supplies.

The current ecconomic situation is a very bad thing. So are things like UG99 (bet you don't even know what that is).

You need to get some books, and join some good groups on food storage, and preparedness if you really want to head down that road. Otherwise as a newbie you will waste money, and buy things that will potentially be useless and end up harming or killing you if you are trying to depend on them.

I'm in my 40's. I've long thought, and long said that in my lifetime I will see World War III, a world pandemic, and famine in first world countries (with people actually starving to death).

Lots of people choose to poo-poo that idea. But what if I'm right, and they are wrong? Would they rather have their Hummer, and vacation cruze memories, or the food storage I have?

~Garnet
Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

2009-03-03 11:21:21 by Old Gamer 56

I'm young and in great shape, and planning on hiking the trail as fast and cheap as possible. I'm counting on completing the trail in about 3 months. I'm guessing I'm gonna need the following: backback, bivi, sleeping bag, clothes, food, compass, first aid kit, palm pilot(for taking pics, listening to music, and using as a trail journal), compact camping stove, cookware, small survival kit, knife, fire starter, water bladder w/ hose, and a water purification system, oh and maybe one of those portable shower things. Do you think I need a portable shower thing, what else did I forget? How often are their resupply points to buy more food and stuff(i don't want to mail anything)? How much should it cost me if I don't buy anything along the way except resupply, and It takes me 3 months to complete?

You don't need a portable shower thing, although it would be a luxury. If you are serious about hiking the trail, you don;t need to ask us on Yahoo! Answers. You need to sit down with a map and a couple of guidebooks and plot your course and your daily mileage. This is especially important since you plan on blazing through it as fast as possible. As for cost, if you resupply yourself by sending to post offices on the route, eat cheap (lots of ramen and no restaurants and motels on the way), you can probably get it done for $1200 or so (not including postage for your resupply packs or your equipment).

But from what I've read, most people like to really carb up during their excursions into towns and eat really big meals at restaurants. I'd suggest that you do that at least once every two weeks. And sleep in a real bed and give your body at least a day, if not two, to recover. You are young and in shape, but lots of things can happen out on the trail like shin splints, sprained knees and ankles, bad falls. You might think the side trips to nearby towns will slow you down, but they may give your body the boost it needs to continue the torrid pace you want to set.

2007-10-10 14:40:30 by nick