GATHERING HACKS

SINK FILLER HACK

If you’re on the move and have to fill up canteens or containers from public restrooms, you may find it difficult to fit them under the sink faucet for filling. One quick hack is to cut a small hole in the bottom side of an empty water bottle and place it under the faucet stream. The water will go into the bottle through the hole and then drain out the mouth, which can be directed over the sink lip into your container. A dustpan (cleaned first of course) can be used as a quick diverter as well. Allow the stream to fall onto the pan and it will flow through the gutter-like handle into your container.

DRINK WITH A BANDANA

Many people completely overlook one of the best sources of water in a survival scenario—dew. The dew that collects on grass, rocks, and leaves is 100 percent safe to drink without purification. The trick is collecting it. I’ve experimented with many ways and have found the best collection method is to mop it up with a bandana or T-shirt and wring it out every few mops into a container. I have collected more than 2 gallons of water in under 1 hour using this method in a small meadow near Willow Haven (my survival training facility). Grasses are not poisonous so there is no general risk with mopping dew from meadows, fields, or transition areas that lead into forests. If you’re wearing clothing, then you have a means of collecting dew.

2-LITER RAIN COLLECTOR

The ability to collect rainwater, especially if stranded on an ocean island, is critical. Here’s a great hack about how to turn plastic water bottles into powerhouse rain collectors. Start by cutting off the bottom of the bottle (be sure it has a cap to seal the mouth). Next, cut vertical slices down the side of the bottle about halfway down starting at the bottom. Make the slices 1"–2" apart. Fold the sections out, giving the bottle a flower-like appearance. Heating up this bend to make it more pliable speeds up the process and helps keep the petals in place. Finally, secure the cap of the bottle a couple inches in the ground and wait for rain. This is modeled after nature itself. The leaves on many plants and trees help funnel rainwater toward the main trunk. These plastic “petals” help to funnel rainwater into the central reservoir. The water can then be drunk with a straw or piece of hollow reed grass.

UMBRELLA WATER FUNNEL

Most people think of umbrellas as a tool to keep them dry. In this hack, we flip an umbrella’s function on its head—literally! Rain is one of the best sources of survival water. It is one of the few natural sources of water that can be consumed without filtration or purification. Collecting it, however, can be a challenge with limited resources. Gathering rain is all about one critical detail: surface area. The larger your collection area, the more rain you will gather. You can create a very effective rain collector by flipping an umbrella upside down and placing it on top of a bucket. Then, poke a couple holes in the middle. Now, you’ve turned an umbrella into a giant funnel. In my tests, a 3'-diameter umbrella can harvest around 3 gallons of rainwater per 1" of rain. That’s enough for 3 days for one person in a survival scenario!

MAKE A SOLAR WATER BLANKET

Water vapor evaporates from plant and tree leaves through a process called transpiration. It’s very similar to perspiration for humans. This process is accelerated when a plant or leaf is covered in clear plastic sheeting in full sun. An easy way to gather transpired plant water is to lay a sheet of clear plastic on a patch of grass as if it were a blanket. There must be full sun or the process does not work. After a couple of hours the underside of the plastic will be covered in small droplets of drinkable water. Carefully turn over the plastic sheet and mop the water with a bandana or T-shirt and wring it directly into your mouth or a container for travel.

Chapter 3

Fire Hacks

MAKING THE MOST OF MATCHES AND DISPOSABLE LIGHTERS HACKS

Make “The Beast” Match

A Perfectly Minty Lighter Box

Cardboard Triple Threat

P, B, & F(ire)

Salvation for Wet Matches

Match Feather Stick

IGNITION HACKS

Cotton Fire Cigar

Make a Striking Surface

Jumper Cable + Pencil = Fire

Make Fire from a Busted Cigarette Lighter

3 Bow-Drill Bearing-Block Hacks

9-Volt Razor Hack

Antenna Bellows

Give Your Bow Drill More Energy

SOLAR FIRE HACKS

Light Your Fire with a Light Bulb

POM Pyro

Fire from Ice

A Mylar Emergency Survival Blanket Lens

Make a Fire Pipe

Bad Eyes = Good Fire

From Flashlight to Flame

Romantic House Fire

FIRE TINDER HACKS

PET Balls

The Fire Pick

Make Tinder from a Busted Lighter

Use a Pop Can to Plan for Future Fires

Gum Wrapper Fire

Makeup Aisle to Fire Tinder

Wallet-Sized Fire Squares

Make Your Own Lint for Tinder

Amp Up Your Solar Fire Starting with Caffeine

Windproof Candles

Rotten Wood = Fire Gold

Moose Poop Could Save Your Life

When Your Zippo Goes Blippo

Saved by the Q-Tips

Snack Food Could Save Your Life

Fire Feathers

Tinder Parmigiano

Fire is directly related to every other survival priority. It helps regulate core body temperature as well as makes up for a lack of proper sheltering knowledge or materials. It can boil and purify water, cook food, signal for rescue, and even help make tools such as containers and spears.

Knowing how to light a fire is one of the survival skills that takes the most practice to understand and master. There is a lot to learn, including basic principles about tinder properties, ignition tools and strategies, friction dos and don’ts, fuel types, carrying methods, and more. Fire is also the survival category that allows for the most creative hacking, which is why I love it so much. Creating fire is without question my favorite survival skill to practice and teach. The number of hacks in this chapter is not only influenced by the previous two statements but also by the importance of fire in general.

This chapter is the culmination of almost 20 years of fire hacking. In it we’ll explore some of the craziest and unique ways of making fire using random, everyday objects you’ve ever seen. Enjoy!

MAKING THE MOST OF MATCHES AND DISPOSABLE LIGHTERS HACKS

MAKE “THE BEAST” MATCH

When I was a kid, the dad of a friend of mine used to make slow-burning fuses for our model rockets out of cotton yarn and match heads. He would take a box of wooden matches, pinch off the match heads, and crush them up to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle. Then he would add some water to the powder and make a paste into which he would dip the cotton thread and let dry. When lit, it would burn like a slow fuse. You can make your own beast match in a similar way.

Grind up the match heads from a bunch of wooden matches to a fine powder and mix in some water to make a paste. Then take small matchsticks made from split fatwood (resin-rich pinewood) and dollop a big glob of match-head paste about ¹⁄₄" around by 1" long onto the end and let dry for at least a day. You can strike these just like regular matches, except now you have a beast match.