10 Wilderness Survival Tips in 10 Minutes

Welcome back to another episode of the 10 and 10 series where we do 10 survival tips in 10 minutes let’s go chewing gum not something you really think of when packing your backpack with camping and survival gear but it does have a few uses which might just help you out in the wilderness

If you use a tarp or a tent regularly in the woods at some stage you might end up getting a hole in it if you have some gum chew on it to soften it up and use this to seal the hole once dried it sets fairly hard and

It will help you to seal up most small holes be sure to seal it up from both sides another way of sealing a hole in a tarp is to use paracord pull the cord through the hole and leave roughly an inch and a half of tag end

Then use a lighter to light the end of the cord use your knife to help prevent the heat from the flame from melting other holes in your tarp as the cord burns down quickly roll the flat of your knife over the flame to extinguish it and compress the melted material onto the hole

It should set within a few seconds and create a fast seal on your tarp or tent be very careful doing this as some tent and tarp materials are flammable so be sure to check first if you need to use this method the chewing gum method is far safer and

It can be removed when you get back home if you find that your chewing gum has a shiny outer layer of paper you’re in luck unfold the paper and cut it into four strips making sure that these strips are shaped like an hourglass these four strips are four opportunities

For you to start a fire for the next step you will need a battery the head torch i use has a double a battery in it most torches and flashlights tend to use similar batteries to this this material is conductive and the voltage coming out of the battery is channeled into the

Narrow part of the paper and it generates a lot of heat enough heat for it to ignite to get a flame i put one end of the shiny side of the paper on the negative end of the battery and then the other end of the paper onto the positive side of the battery

Now you don’t have much time when lighting a fire using this method and it’s pretty easy to get wrong which i will demonstrate here in this example the narrow part of the paper was too thin and it burnt through too quickly but on the second go you can clearly see

That the narrow part of the foil ignites as the two ends of the battery come into contact with it the flame doesn’t last too long so best to be prepared with some tinder material to grow that flame into a fire in this next demo i use some dead

Bracken to pass on the flame from the chewing gum wrapper it’s not a survival skill that you will need to do often but it’s one of those that’s always good to know how to do just be careful batteries and flames do not mix well when you need to be

Stealthy at night the head torch can be a pretty big giveaway with its bright light reflecting off all manner of things and giving away your location if you add a simple piece of masking tape to the front of the light it will help to cut down the flare given

Off by it and greatly reduce the reflectiveness of the beam but it can still give you enough light to go about camp tasks in the dark the swiss army knife is a pretty handy tool to have in your pocket but many people often wonder what is the

Point in the corkscrew on a survival and camping utility tool in previous videos i have shown it being used to make an extendable saw but it can also be handy for undoing very tight knots in cordage just work the spike through the cordage until you are able to form a small loop

This thing gives you enough room to work out any remaining loose ends of cord through this loop we’ve all got that one lure or fish hook in the tackle box that is blunt and rusty most of the time i sharpen any fish hooks at home before i leave on a fishing trip

But if you’re out in a wilderness fishing trip and you find yourself with a blunt hook and no sharpening stone then no problem you can actually sharpen a fishing hook with a stone from a riverbed or lake here are two different stones the one on the right is jagged and rough

The one on the left however is relatively flat and smooth the jagged stone is no use in sharpening as there isn’t enough smooth flat surface to run the point of the fishing hook across so a flat smooth stone is more ideal anything that is similar to the surface

Of a wet stone or other similar sharpening stones first rub the front tip of the hook against the stone applying gentle pressure but keeping the angle the same throughout the movement after eight to ten strokes lay the hook on its side and do the same keeping the top section of the tip of

The point against the stone then do the same to the other side so essentially you are sharpening three sides to the hook you can do the underside of the point but this can be tricky with a river stone and it might end up blunting it even more

If the hook is sharp a quick test on your nail and it should be able to hold on itself if you turn your hand upside down it won’t get as sharp as if you were using a proper hook sharpening stone but it will certainly be better than the

Blunt one you started out with here is a rusty double hook from a well used macro jig the hooks are so blunt that they can’t even scratch the tip of my fingernail however a few rubs on the stone changing the angle to take away material on all three sides

Turns the hook into something usable in close up you can see where i have sharpened it as the rusty outer layer has been removed revealing the shiny steel beneath now it can catch my nail easily and should be sharp enough to hook a fish here is the blunt hook barely scratching

My nail and here is the sharpened hook catching the nail much easier many of us carry a small survival tin in our packs for me i keep a small flint and steel inside a magnifying glass and a small amount of tinder it’s great and i use it often and being

Made of a shining metal it can be used as a signal mirror to flag for help using sos signals the pine tree has many uses it is soft light and packed full of resin which makes it great for fire lighting the needles of a pine tree are packed full of vitamin c

So much so that they have five times the concentration of vitamin c found in a lemon they can bring relief to conditions such as heart disease varicose veins skin complaints and fatigue they are also packed full of vitamin a which is good for your eyesight improves hair and skin regeneration and improves

Red blood cell production simply put them in some freshly boiled water and let them infuse you can steep them but i find the needles can get in the way of enjoying the drink i found it better to infuse them and then take the needles out this is an

Immune system booster which means that the pine noodle tea can help to fight illness and infections moss can be found in most dark shaded woodlands it has many great properties that lend itself to survival it has great insulation properties and can be used as a living roof material for cabins

It can also insulate gaps in logs to keep log cabins warm and sheltered from cold weather and the most famous of all you can wipe your ass with it but in all seriousness moss can retain a lot of water especially after heavy rainfall even dipping it in this lake you can see

How it acts like a sponge and absorbs so much water after it has stopped dripping and it seems like the water has gone give it a quick ring and there is still so much left you can use this method to carry water with you in a survival situation however

You’ll need to filter the water first unless you are certain the water is drinkable you can filter the water in a plastic bottle and add sand charcoal stones and moss to help filter the particles out i’ve shown this in previous videos which i will link below watermen mentha aquatica

Usually found near water or damp woodlands it can also hybridize easily with other mints a cross of water mint and spearmint produces peppermint this small patch of waterment here is growing near this tiny pond in the middle of a forest i happen to stumble

Upon it as soon as i could smell mint in the air it’s a great wild edible and can be used as a tea for calming the nerves or stomach problems just like any other mint it’s a great source of vitamin a a fat soluble vitamin that is critical for eye health

And night vision it has also been used to alleviate stomach pain and has even been used to help treat ibs greater reed mates or cattails are a fairly common water-based plant that grows around lakes and pond shorelines the roots of the plant called rhizomes can be washed and processed down in the

Form of starch which can be used to make flour it’s a fairly lengthy but satisfying process which i will show you in another video the head of the plant however is easy enough to identify as it kind of looks like a sausage on a stick inside this are hundreds of thin seeds

Which can be fluffed up to form a tinder for fire lighting i’m slightly too early in the season on this particular one as you can see the seeds are fairly green but in late summer these seeds can take a spark from a ferro rod very easily

It’s a flash tinder though so the flame will go out almost as fast as it ignites have more tinder material ready it might be a bit of a last resort but if needs must you can actually use your sock to filter out mud dirt and large particles from water

Just place the sock either over the water bottle that you are pouring with or over the container you are pouring into and let the sock catch the dirt you need to filter it a number of times in order to get the majority of particles out of the water

And if you are not sure whether the water source is reliable you will definitely need to boil the water before drinking it and there you have it 10 survival tips in 10 minutes well actually there was 12 survival tips but either way i hope you enjoyed this video and learnt something new

Be sure to check out the description box below where there are links to more of my survival tips videos cheers for watching and i’ll catch you in the next one