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Lighters – the underrated survival tool
“Cheap things no good! Good things no cheap!” (Confucius, 492 BC) Imagine a world where the only way of starting a fire was using firesteels. Now imagine the pitch someone who had just invented the...
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Personal Survival Kit (PSK): tools
“Every survival kit should include a sense of humour” I resent having to carry a first aid kit. I have never used anything from my first aid kit and, when it comes to packing it, a reckless little...
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Burying the hatchet
“He who sits in the shade won’t take an axe to the tree” I watched a clip of Ed Stafford in the Discovery show ‘Naked and marooned’ where he finally managed to get a fire going after nearly two weeks...
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A guide to tinder bundles
“But everywhere I look I see fire; that which isn’t flint is tinder, and the whole world sparks and flames” (Anne Dillard) I was doing a demonstration of the bow drill last weekend and, unsurprisingly,...
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Bamboo bow drill
“Reality TV is anything but” There appears to be an insatiable appetite for TV survival shows these days. When it comes to friction fire methods, even the better shows don’t show the process in its...
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Natural cordage for the bow drill
“When the solution is simple, God is answering.” (Albert Einstein) There is often a disconnect between people’s ability to do something under ideal conditions and their ability to perform the same...
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Temple Fire
“Many hands make light work” Survival skills are all well and good but I suspect almost everyone underestimates the time it takes to complete even the most simple of tasks when out in the wild,...
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PSK series: fire kit
“A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark” (Dante Alighieri) A lighter is a godsend in the jungle but they can run out of fuel. Luckily it isn’t too difficult to turn an empty lighter into a ‘spark...
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Jungle speargun
“There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot” (Steven Wright) An item you commonly see in PSKs (personal survival kits) is a single loop of snare wire. For the...
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Plastic bags: underrated and multi-use
Think outside [no box required] I have a love-hate relationship with plastic bottles and bags – I love the many uses they have for the jungle trekker, I hate seeing them littering the trails and...
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“People say that nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day” (Winnie the Pooh) Last month a young climber died in Vietnam after falling and getting lost. He was high up a mountain and had...
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Pocket Bowdrill
Silly season (definition): a period (in late summer) when the media often focus on trial or frivolous matters for lack of major news stories It’s mid August and we are in the midst of the silly season...
View ArticleJungle firestarter
“Why is that one careless match can start a forest fire, but a whole box of them is needed to start a camp fire?” Lighting a fire in the wet jungle can be a challenge and having something to help it...
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