HOBO CANDLE HEATER

Even the heat from a small candle can raise the inside temperature of a small space several degrees. You can make a very simple hobo heater to capture and radiate that heat even further. Place 2 terra cotta flower pots upside down on top of each other. Make sure the bottom pot is a bit smaller so that there is an inch or so of space between it and the other pot. These should then be elevated slightly above a candle. Straddling them across 2 bricks is a perfect way to support them. The candle heats the first terra cotta pot as well as the air space between the pots. The warm air rises through the hole in the top of the second pot. The terra cotta captures, holds, and radiates the heat longer than if the candle was just burning in open air.

METAL BUCKET STORAGE HEATER

A storage heater is a heating system that uses electrical current to heat up ceramic bricks; these can hold and radiate the heat into a room for hours. You can make a hack storage heater from a metal bucket, sand, and some rocks or bricks. Before bedding down at night, heat some softball-sized rocks or bricks in the fire. Once piping hot, place them into a metal bucket and surround them with sand. Put the lid on the metal bucket and place it inside your shelter on a fire-resistant surface and away from the walls and bedding material. This storage heater will put off heat all night long. A heater like this is more than sufficient to cut the cold in a small shelter, and you’ll be surprised at its effectiveness.

A SIMPLE BLACKOUT AIR CONDITIONER

A power outage during sweltering hot summer months can be downright deadly, especially to infants and the elderly. In a disaster scenario, travel isn’t always an option, so sometimes you have to hunker down and wait things out until utilities come back online. Here is a quick and easy hack using an old Styrofoam cooler and some frozen food from the freezer to make a great little temporary blackout air conditioner. This is a hack best taught by video, so I’ve filmed a tutorial showing exactly how to build it. Watch the video at www.willowhavenoutdoor.com/makeshift-emergency-air-conditioner.

SEATING AND BEDDING HACKS

BLANKET CHAIR

Finding a good place to sit in an improvised survival camp can be very frustrating—especially when the ground is wet or snow covered. Here is a hack to improvise a very comfortable seat in just a few minutes. The only parts you need are 4 sturdy poles and a blanket or scrap piece of durable fabric. Cut 2 poles that are 6'–8' long by 1¹⁄₂"–2" thick and then cut a third that is the same thickness and 4' long. Lash the 2 long poles together at one end using a bipod lashing. Fold the blanket or fabric in half, bunch the end together, and suspend this end with rope from the cross at the bipod lashing. Insert the 4' pole at the unsecured fold of the blanket so that it sticks out at both ends, and rest it against the longer poles. Finally, kick back the center long pole as a chair support and lean back to relax.

BED SHEET HAMMOCK

You can construct an incredibly lightweight, packable, and durable survival hammock from a bed sheet and rope. The trick is in how to tie the ends so they don’t rip out in the middle of the night. Start by accordion-folding the ends of the bed sheet on each side to meet in the middle. At this point the sheet should be in a shape resembling a banana. Now, tie a main line to the end using 2 half hitches and leave at least 8" of sheet sticking out. Fold this remaining 8" down and lash to the main sheet body using a whip knot. This creates a very strong “loop” of bed sheet material that can bear a very heavy load without tearing or ripping. See a photo series of this hack at www.practicalprimitive.com/skillofthemonth/hammock.html.

FEED SACK COT

Feed sacks and burlap bags are very strong and durable. Their tubular shape also makes them very useful when configuring a survival cot. Start by erecting 2 large tripods from 5' saplings. Next, unravel the hem along the bottom of the feed sacks (you’ll need at least 2 sacks). This will create a tubular piece of fabric about 24" wide, the perfect width for a fine woodsman sleeping cot. Slide the tubular sacks over 2 7'-long sturdy saplings that have been cleared of all limbs and branches. This will create a hammock-style cot that can be stretched between the legs of the large tripods erected earlier. The front 2 legs of the tripods will support the cot on each side while pulling the feed sacks taut in the middle for comfortable “off-the-ground” sleeping.

TIRE STOOL

A stack of 3 tires makes an excellent camp stool with one very simple modification. Punch holes with your knife every 3" around the inside rim of the top tire. Weave paracord (or any strong cordage) from a hole on one side to a hole on the opposite side and create a star-shaped pattern, hopping from side to side. By the time each hole is threaded, this woven rope chair seat will be strong enough to hold an average adult man and is a much more comfortable place to sit than any log or stump dragged from the forest. If rope is unavailable, place pine boughs in a crisscross pattern atop the tire until 3" thick. These will provide enough strength to make a seat that will last many days.

THE 3-OUNCE CAMP CHAIR

You can make a fantastic hammock-style camp chair from just a 3' × 1' piece of ripstop nylon fabric (available at any fabric store) and some 550 paracord. If you’re lucky enough to camp near a tree with a stout horizontal branch, this chair style could be the perfect piece of camp furniture for you, and it all fits easily in just a jacket pocket.

Throw 2 strands of paracord over the horizontal branch and tie them to each side of the ripstop nylon. The fabric opens up and makes a perfect hammock-style seat. A similar arrangement can be made by placing a strong crossbeam across the top of 2 large tripods and hanging the chair from this beam.

Chapter 2

Water Hacks

CONTAINER HACKS

Condom Canteen

Coal-Burned Container

Pillowcase Water Carry

Happy Birthday Container

Mouth Spreader Canteen Bail

An Aluminum Foil Container That Is Actually Useful

PURIFYING AND FILTERING HACKS

Kill It with Household Bleach

Trash Bottle Solar Distiller

Boil Water in a Large Leaf

GATHERING HACKS

Sink Filler Hack

Drink with a Bandana

2-Liter Rain Collector

Umbrella Water Funnel

Make a Solar Water Blanket

In extreme conditions, humans can survive approximately 3 days without water. In a survival scenario the need for water is second only to regulating core body temperature. Nothing else matters if you can’t supply your brain, organs, and muscles with the hydration necessary to make decisions and keep pressing forward. The human body is 50–65 percent water and is highly dependent on regular replenishments.

There is more to water in survival conditions than many people realize. First, you must find water. In some environments, like the desert, this can be an incredible challenge. Second, you must gather and contain available water. This can be difficult with limited resources. Third, you must purify and filter water so that it is safe to drink. Shortcomings in any of these categories can leave you staggering and stumbling with the effects of dehydration. Let’s explore several survival water hacks using everyday items that could mean the difference between life or death.