20 Wilderness Survival Tips and Bushcraft Skills

the world we live in has changed dramatically in the last few months with millions of us adapting to life under lockdown many are struggling with self isolating and social distancing now is a good time as any to put your mind to something and develop your knowledge of nature and the outside world we need to go back to basics to reset the clock and focus on what really matters we need to learn from this in this video I'm going to show you 20 survival tips that might help you when you find yourself out in the wilderness before I get into it I'd like to thank Skillshare for sponsoring the episode Skillshare is an online learning community that provides thousands of courses and inspiring classes for those people looking to be creative and learn new skills to keep boredom anxiety and lethargic nurse at bay with the birth of my firstborn daughter just a few months ago I'm trying to get used to a new life whilst maintaining my full-time job I've been watching Greg McKeon's class on simple productivity and how to accomplish more with less it's taught me how to prioritize and use my time more wisely something I've never been good at there's a variety of different classes on Skillshare from photography to art productivity entrepreneurship languages and much more these courses help manage stress and focus your mind so if you're looking to further develop your knowledge and skill set this is the place for you Skillshare is giving away two three months of premium memberships to the first 1,000 people who click the link in the description box to help you explore your creativity and after that it's only around $10 a month now let's learn some survival skills dole dénia concentric ax the cramp or focus also known as the coal fungus it can be found on dead or decomposing ash trees when dry this fungus can take a spark from a ferrocerium rod and it can burn for many hours as well as its use in fire lighting it can also be used as a mosquito repellent simply split the top of a stick into four using your knife use small sticks to wedge it open place your smoldering crumpled fungus inside and cover with moss this will create a pungent smoke which will deter flying bugs from your camp these bug torches can burn for many hours and can be moved from place to place the humble tin can it has many uses in the survival world snap off the ring pull by gently moving it backwards and forwards break one end of the ring and bend it 90 degrees using a stone sharpen the tip by rubbing it against the rough surface to create a sharp point now you have a makeshift fishing hook tie this to some string or fishing line bait it up with worms grubs or maggots and you are good to go the rest of the tin can can be used to make a candle lantern or stove using your knife and some gloves so you don't cut yourself cut down the length of the tin can then make two more cuts across the top and the bottom of your first stop it should form the shape of a capital I gently fold out the side walls of the can and you have a candle lantern with built in wind deflectors if you need to cook food or boil water simply light a fire and add twigs to the stove place your cooking container on top and just keep feeding twigs to keep the fire going you can get a much stronger flame by facing the opening of the tin can towards the wind the extra oxygen being forced into the fire will result in a more efficient burn many coniferous trees produce resin a sticky glue-like substance which helps the tree protect itself from various pests and heal any wounds from broken branches you can collect the white resin using your knife or a stick I would recommend using a stick as the resin is hard to get off your knife collect it in a metal container a tin can works well put this on the fire and wait for it to melt once melted it will look like black tar this is called pitch it is very flammable due to the high levels of resin when it has cooled begin molding it around a small stick you can use your hand once it is cool enough to do so once it has completely cooled it will go rock-hard this is nature's primitive glue you can take it with you in your camping kit and melt it back down again whenever you need it I use some recently to weather seal the mortise and tenon joints on the anglo-saxon house that we have been constructing there is a link to this series in the video description if you find yourself in the woods and you have no cup to drink or collect water from then fear not you can fashion one out of a stick - thick or small log with a diameter of around three inches and a height of roughly six inches place your knife blade down the middle of the wood and carefully batten it down until the blade cuts through before you split the log entirely make another cross-section cut at 90 degrees to the one you just made now split the log into four separate pieces number each individual piece of the log on the underside using a pen charcoal or a stick wiped in mud this will help you piece them back together again when it comes to finishing the cup on each individual piece saw a groove about an inch above the bottom of the cup then use your knife to split the inner parts of the quarters off tidy these cuts up afterwards to make sure they are smooth and even now when you put the pieces back together again you will have a cavity fasten the cut together with some cordage here I am using bank line and a simple lashing make a loop wrap your cordage around this loop pass the tag end through the loop and pull it down into the lashing there is a more detailed video on this on my channel now the Cup is finished that will check there are no gaps by holding it up to a light background such as the sky your cup will definitely leak slightly as water always finds the easiest route however if you submerge it in water for a few hours the wood will absorb this water expand and close the gaps hand sanitizer is in high demand these days but it has more uses than just keeping your hands clean from the Rohnert alcohol-based sanitizers contain varying amounts and types of alcohol often between 60% and 95% the one I'm using here has a high percentage of ethanol a flammable substance squirt some of this gel onto some wood and ignite it with a match or lighter although it looks invisible there is actually a flame there this is because ethanol burns with a smokeless blue flame it is not always visible in normal light hold a couple of sticks above it for a few seconds and before you know it you will have yourself Fire Lord Jesus there's a fire hey nobody can tap a net if you find yourself in the wilderness and you have no cordage nature can provide the roots of many conifer trees grow relatively shallow even more so in densely populated Woodlands where these trees are fighting for light simply use a stick and dig down a few inches until you find a root follow the route along and gently pull it up take off the rigid outer layer of the root using two sticks this will expose the flexible inner layer you can meet the root even more flexible by further splitting it down with a knife you can then take this one step further by bashing the roots with a stick to break up the fibers if you soak them in water for an hour or so this will make it easier to tie knots with you can use the root as it is for a simple binding or you can weave two or three roots together to make two or three ply rope this will be much stronger than just the root on its own use the roots to lash sticks together when building bushcraft shelters or making primitive traps if you can't get a fire going because the wood is wet split it down to expose the dry inner wood using your knife at a shallow angle gently carve off thin strips like a feather keep these feathers on the stick place your fire steel or Ferro rod against the flat side of the there and shower sparks onto the thin feathers doing it in this way means that you do not flick your wood shavings elsewhere and end up getting the wet gently rotate the stick to allow the flame to crawl up the wood shavings and get stronger quick tip note that I made very small curls at the base of the stick when I finished this is so that they are more likely to ignite when using a Ferro rod clematis is a climbing vine that is commonly found in deciduous woodlands here in the UK it has many uses if you find yourself in the woods with no backpack or carrying container you can fashion a basket using the vine of the clematis you will often find it climbing up a large tree pull the vine down but note don't take the whole plant one or two vines is all you need you will need to gather various diameter of vine the main frame of the basket needs to be about one to one-and-a-half inches thick and then some smaller thinner ones are needed for the weave firstly make a spider-like structure with three pieces of the large vine then using the thinner diameter weave in and out going diagonally across the large vine each time once you have your main framework in place you can begin your weave start with the thin vines and weave over and under the thick vines once you have weaved an area for the base of the basket you can begin to use the thicker vines weaved in and out to create the basket itself finally cut off the ends of the thick line or fold them back into the basket and leave two opposite ends remaining these can be lashed together to make a carrying handle and now you have yourself a basket which you could use for carrying your gear or harvesting wild edibles if you have the need to chop firewood but you have no solid chopping block you can use a log laid horizontally on the ground lean the log that you want to split against this base lock make sure only the top end of the log is touching the bottom log and chopped down to split the wood it is actually safer to do this with a longer axe and not a hatchet keep your knees bent and legs apart that way if you miss your axe head gets buried onto the ground and not into your foot as a word of warning it's probably best not to attempt this if you are a beginner and make sure the bottom log is on hard ground if possible do you find yourself having lots of loose cordage that is constantly getting tangled and messy you can sort this by using a simple method to hang up your cord and keep it tidy place one end of the cord on the V in between your thumb and forefinger pinch it there and then loop the cord over your baby finger and round back over your thumb in a figure-of-eight movement with a slight rotation of your hand you can wrap the cordage fast and tighten it off around your finger by wrapping up the cordage this way you now have the option of quick deployment by simply pulling on the cord it will unravel fast and it's ready to use right away no having to undo knots and tangles if you wake up in the morning and your fire has completely gone out and there are no members you can still get it going again as my friend Dustin from bushcraft tools demonstrates here pick up some of the powdered white ash and fine grains of charcoal place this into some cotton wool and roll it into a tube like shape like a cigarette the tighter and more compact he roll it the greater the chance of getting an ember using a flat piece of wood begin rolling the cotton wool backwards and forwards applying pressure as you do it the laws of physics apply here the downward pressure and backwards and forwards movement is creating friction and friction creates heat which when hot enough will warm up the ash and charcoal particles and create smoke when you add oxygen to the cotton wool an ember is created and this can be placed in a dry tinder bundle the cedar tree is one of nature's best providers of natural it has so many uses the leaves branches bark and roots can all be used as either building materials or for fire lighting it is also incredibly rot resistant which is why it is commonly used to build log cabins and wilderness structures the inner bark of cedar can not only be fluffed up and used as a tinder bundle but it can also be split down and used as natural rope or cordage I have used it to lash together a hazel frame when building a Native American wigwam similar to the tree root when soaked in water it helps to create a stronger binding when the bark is damp and the log is holding plenty of moisture it can be prised away from the log by hand you can often peel the bark away from the log in one piece this incredible resource can be used as roof tiles or shingles we used cedar bark as the roofing material for our viking house if you would like to watch the Viking series I will put a link to it in the video description one thing to note when using cedar bark as a roofing material is that once it's peeled it will start to dry out fast when it dries it shrinks so we kept it wet by putting in a lake overnight we also used cedar bark for the roof of our native-american wigwam it is certainly a resource our ancestors would have used potassium permanganate pretty lengthy word it's used for a number of skin conditions such as fungal infections of the foot dermatitis and superficial wounds but it can also be used to light fire sprinkle out some of the powder and pour in some vegetable glycerin which is also widely used in the food cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries it can take a minute or so for the two products to react chemically with each other but once they do you will start to see the potassium permanganate bubble and smoke will be released soon after the metier will burst into flame and you have yourself a fire the lesser spotted dogfish are very common in UK waters they are voracious feeders and can be caught from the shore or by bait you can catch them on mackerel squid or in fact most sea fishing bait it is edible although not eaten as much nowadays however the skin of the dogfish is very unique it has the texture of sandpaper and it was once highly sought-after to use when polishing wood word of warning if you are squeamish you may want to skip the next part once dispatched humanely you can use a knife and a pair of pliers to peel off the skin of the dogfish you can then use this skin straight up as sandpaper or you can dry out which makes the denticles and the skin stand out more this will make it more abrasive as my dad demonstrates here on the YouTube channel ta fishing he's used it straight up and you can see it wearing the wood away often when a head torch is left in a backpack it bumps around and the torch gets switched on you open your bag only to find that the battery on your head torch is flat not a good thing to happen during a night time survival situation to help prevent this flip the battery around so that the positive and negative terminals are reversed this should stop your head torch turning on automatically alternatively you could add a small piece of blue tag or cutout card to create a gap that will prevent any electrical connection being made the silver Birchtree is one of the most resourceful trees in the world it is fairly easy to identify with its silvery white bark being a standout factor but even when dead and rotting this tree can still provide a natural resource when it's decomposing the tree rots from the inside out so the bark tends to be one of the last remaining pieces left if you cut or pull the bark off you can use it to light a fire even in the wettest of weather if you scrape away the outer layer of bark you will see the red orange inner layer this is full of resin which when scraped into a dust pile can take to flame incredibly fast it also burns hot for a relatively long time long enough for you to build an established fire duct-tape something we are used to seeing in a DIY or hardware store but this should be one of the first items in anyone's survival kit it has so many uses you can use it to build shelters repair clothing and tents cover wounds to name just a few but one thing that it is great for is fire lighting in this example I am using Gorilla Tape you can hold the lighter to the tape itself and it will light easily enough but what if you don't have a lighter or a match if you use your knife you can tear the tape into thin strips if you bundle these strips together into a ball and shower sparks into it from a ferrocerium rod it won't be long before you see a flame it also burns for a long time giving you plenty of time to get your fire built up beware though if you're lighting the tape in your hand the flame will crawl up it fast and with the tape stuck to your hand you could burn yourself probably best to light this one on wood or the ground sadly plastic bottles are all too common in the wild these days but they can come in useful in a survival situation cut the bottle in half keep the cap on the top half gather some moss and put this in first the cap will stop this falling out compress this down and then add a grass next add some small stones and then a layer of larger stones this layering system will help to catch dirt particles from muddy water with another container gently pour in the dirty water the stones will catch the larger particles and the grass and moss will filter out smaller particles you can already see the difference in color with the first pour but after two or three pours you will really begin to notice a difference note that whilst this plastic bottle has filtered the water it is still not completely safe to drink you will need to boil the water afterwards in order for it to be drinkable you can also use wood ash and charcoal from the fire or sand in part of your filter thank you for watching this video I hope that you learned something from it and that you can apply some of these skills when you're out there in the world big THANK YOU to Skillshare for sponsoring us remember the first 1000 people to click the link in the description will get two months premium membership for free see you in the next episode you

Channel: TA Outdoors

Views: 1,854,284

Rating: 4.926672 out of 5

Keywords: survival, survival tips, wilderness survival tips, 20 survival tips, how to survive, bushcraft, bushcraft skills, bushcraft camp, bushcraft shelter, survival skills (tv genre), survival tips and tricks, wilderness survival, bear grylls, survival kit, bug out bag, survival skills, camping, zombies, zombie survival guide, bushcraft kit, camping tricks, camping tips, camping kit, how to survive in the wild, primitive skills, primitive technology, 10 facts survival, ta outdoors

Id: fZndJO2jUJk

Length: 20min 40sec (1240 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 24 2020