Survival | Ranger Squirrel's Ramblings

Happy Birthday to me … (a bit early) (7)

6/01/10 •

As an early birthday present to myself, this blog will die a peaceful death effective today.

Recent Posts

10 Steps to Survive: Lessons Learned (3)

7/03/09 •

Despite what I’m sure is a healthy dose of cynicism and skepticism, I hope people realize that this series wasn’t all that unrealistic. Most of us are just a pinkslip and a month or two away from something quite similar.
The inspiration, in fact, came from a friend of mine who was nearly forced into a [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 10 – Gather Seeds (5)

7/02/09 •

First of all, sorry to irishdutchuncle – I inadvertently deleted your comment from yesterday. I apologize. The comment just got attached to the wrong post (I was goofing around with a visitor map online somewhere and managed to have it added as a post to my site by mistake – your comment got attached to [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 9 – Begin Preservation of Food (5)

7/01/09 •

Field smoking/drying meat and fish is actually pretty easy. Triangular prism type frame, green foliage hanging from the top and a platform about halfway down…lay thin strips of meat and veg on the platform and build a small, smoky fire below. You’re hoping for smoke contact, not heat contact. Paleoman used to just hang strips [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 8 – Devise Permanent Water Solution (7)

6/29/09 •

I’ve had the luxury of putting this off until now because my CleanStream can handle 1500 liters before needing replacement…but I have to assume I’ve gone through that by now.
At this point, the best solution I can think of is to continue using the clean/dirty bags from the water system and boil water in my [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 7 – Gather Winter Supplies (4)

6/28/09 •

I’ll need better insulation for winter. I’m lost here. Bottom line: I need to learn brain tanning.
I should be hunting larger game by now (with both bows and some arrows complete). Deer is the most likely thing around here, but bunny-wabbits, raccoons, muskrat, mink and squirrels all have useful hides as well.
I’ll be making coats [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 6 – Begin Permanent Basecamp (2)

6/27/09 •

Now that I’ve got tools and, hopefully, a steady supply of meat and vegetable food – it’s time to spend some calories and build a more permanent shelter, some basic furniture, a more permanent latrine (a bench and a foot deep pit).
If I have clay nearby, I’m going to begin construction of a clay oven [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 5 – Make Tools (2)

6/26/09 •

One of the more important camp chores at this point is the building of tools for later.
I have a small axe, a pocket chainsaw, and a knife in the bugout bag. It’s not listed on the inventory from the first post in this series, but my Leatherman never leaves my belt…it’s the core of my [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 4 – Develop a Daily Routine (4)

6/25/09 •

Now that I have basic hunting tools and a good handle on the lay of the land, I need to set up a routine that will keep me fed, sheltered, and hydrated.
I need to establish a good balance between hunting/fishing/gathering food and other camp chores.
Here’s where the shortcoming of my 10 step idea, in blog [...]

10 Steps to Survive – Step 3 – Build Hunting Implements (11)

6/24/09 •

Steps 1 and 2 should be mostly accomplished the first day.
When I wake up on Day 2, I’m going to put the rest of the MRE in my belly and build a small fire to use in the rest of this step.
As I eat, I’m going to really start to analyze the mapping I’ve done [...]

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