Hot Disaster Preparation Posts

How To: Tie the artillery hitch in the wild

Tying knots and hitches can be an important survival technique. Having the right kind of knots made can make sure you're able to hold on to whatever it is you need. An artillery hitch or loop, is something that is used because it does not bind under tension and can be removed easily afterwards. This is a very complicated knot to perform so pay attention to this tutorial above and good luck!

How To: Develop a perfect pull-up so you can save yourself

Many, many Americans cannot do a single pull-up. That is just the state of our society. And it means that these people, if faced with a survival situation where they are dangling for a ledge or need to scale a building, are less likely to survive than they could be. This video will teach you how to develop your pull-up motion and techniques to improve your strength and survival ability.

How To: Make an Ojibwa Deadfall trap

Deafall traps are the type of trap most familiar to the American public, largely due to the efforts of Elmer Fudd to catch Bugs Bunny on Looney Tunes. In real life, they tend to work quite a bit better than they did on the show. In this video, Wilderness Outfitters presenter Crier demonstrates how to construct one type of deadfall trap, the Ojibwa Deadfall. Knowing how to make traps like this will make you much are able to survive if you are stranded in the wilderness with no food.

How To: Tie a two-color switchback strap

Switchback straps are an easy, efficient way to carry around a lot of cord, rope, or string. They also look cool, especially the two-color version demonstrated in this video. They may look simple to tie, but as you know if you've tried to tie one without instructions before, they certainly aren't!

How To: Set up a hammock in the bush

There are nearly as many ways to set up a hammock in the bush as there are to skin a cat, to use the old cliche. This video demonstrates one simple way to set up a hammock in the bush. As the presenter explains, this simplicity is a blessing when you are out in the bush and need something to sleep in as quickly as possible. If you don't have a tent and there are trees around, hammocks are the superior choice for your survival and comfort because spiders and other pests that live on the ground...

How To: Tie a Button Knot lanyard

Think you're a knot master? Have you mastered the Button Knot? Simple and elegant, the Button Knot makes for more than just a decorative button; It makes for a wonderful lanyard leash. From Tying It All Together, learn how to tie a Button Knot lanyard in a just a few steps.

How To: Build and understand a rocket stove

Thinking about building a rocket stove? A rocket stove is simply made and accepts small-diameter fuel such as twigs or small branches, yielding high combustion efficiency and directing the resultant heat onto a small area. In this video learn how to make a rocket stove with the help of a few friends and items you can find in your own barn!

How To: Make a Royal Crown Sinnet

A Royal Crown Sinnet is a sinnet created by alternating wall knots and crown knots stacked on top of one another. This creates pretty, thick sinnet that anyone would be thrilled to have adorn their keychain, especially if you use alternating colored chords like they do in this video to create a very cool effect.

How To: Tie a taut line knot

With this free video tutorial, you'll learn how to tie a taut line knot. The taut line is an essential camping knot. Use it to tie your guyline to your rain or dinner fly. The knot is easy to tie provided, of course, you know how to go about making it. For an easy-to-follow, step-by-step overview of how to tie this useful camper's knot in a minute's time or less, watch this free video knot tyer's guide.

How To: Solo camp in the Brazilian Bush with minimal equipment

Solo camping is a scary and exciting prospect. Alone in the woods at night, no one can hear you scream. But for those who crave solitude and love the wilderness, there can be no greater thrill, no greater connection to the primitive part of yourself. In this nine-part video, we learn all kinds of useful survival and camping skills by watching our host Colhane experience a three-day solo camping trip in the Brazlilian bush. You will learn how to cook, how to make fire, how to prepare a campsit...

How To: Utilize evaporative cooling while camping

Keeping things like food and water refrigerated while you're camping in the bush is nearly impossible. Unless of course you've chosen to camp somewhere freezing cold. But if you haven't, evaporative cooling can be an effective technique to utilize for keeping water cool and food from spoiling as quickly. Obviously this can be crucial in a wilderness survival situation when your food supplies may be limited. This video outlines two ways to utilize evaporative cooling, first to cool a water bot...

How To: Construct a shelter out of tarp, string, and trees

If you ever find yourself stranded in the woods, then making a shelter is one of your biggest priorities. ITS Tactical created this detailed and approachable video on how to rig a shelter in woods out of only a tarp, a ball of heavy-duty string, and four metal tent-posts, three items that anyone, wilderness inclined or not, should keep in their car at all times. It goes over the necessary knots in great detail, and should make it unnecessary for any of us to sleep unsheltered outdoors again.

How To: Give your knife skills a tune-up

The fine folks at The Pathfinder School present what they call a spring tune-up for for you knife techniques, which have presumable deteriorated during the winter. The host is trying out a new knife he has been asked to test, and uses it to make a trap knotch and drill into a log, among other things.

How To: Make a Doug's Deafall trap

If you're out in the wilderness, need food, and any sophisticated equipment like guns, catching food can be a very difficult proposition. In this video, we learn how to make a trap called Doug's Deadfall, a very simple but effective deadfall trap. It was culled from Les Stroud's book Survive. No word on who Doug is, but we owe him many thanks.

How To: Make an Adjustable Switchback Strap

With only his hands and some sparse text, JD of Tying It All Together teaches us how to make an adjustable switchback strap. This is both an easy way to carry lots of cord or string with you into the wilderness and a stylish fashion accessory. Tis is a very useful item for anyone to carry with them into a survival situation.

How To: Start a fire with a flint and steel

Brush up on your survival skills with help from this video. In this outdoor training tutorial, learn how to correctly start a fire using a flint and steel using paper and tissue. In the wild, without paper and tissue, a leaf and dry grass would most likely be used. Get your fire started with no problem with the skills taught in this video.

How To: Quickly break into your car

Now before you watch this video, please only follow this tutorial if you really need it and are the owner, or know the owner, of the vehicle. This tutorial will show you how to quickly break into your car. There may be instances where you have locked your keys inside or maybe have even left your baby stuck inside. Whatever the reason may be, this video will show you how to get inside of your vehicle in a snap. Note, this may not work for every single car out there.

How To: Make a candy stripe bar

In this Disaster Preparation video tutorial you will learn how to make a candy stripe bar. The candy stripe bar is a slick way to create a strap of slanted lines. One of the many tying techniques used to create friendship bracelets, the bar can be modified to create stripes meeting at an angle. The line used in the video is a 450 test, 1/8” nylon parachute cord. To attach the cords to the ring, hang the ring on a hook, take two different colored cords and tie the cow hitch. For this, pass a...

How To: Tie double coin and cross knots

Tying it All Together shows how to do double loop knotting in this video tutorial. The tutorial outlines two different types of knots that can be done using two uncommon ways of tying the knots. The double coin know requires you to fold a piece of string in half laying the two sides of the string side by side. With a series of twists, turns, and coils you can create the coin knot. The second type of knot, cross knot, requires double loop knotting to create a squared-looking knot. As an additi...

How To: Build an igloo in Minnesota

This video tests the idea that an igloo, once left to freeze in the extreme cold, will be strong enough to stand on without collapsing. The experiment takes place in Minnesota where the temperature was fifteen degrees below zero at the start. Begin by shoveling snow into a dome-shaped pile. In the video, the dome is approximately six feet across at the base and three-and-a-half to four feet tall. Let the pile freeze for about two hours. The temperature had warmed up to about eleven degrees be...

How To: Make a Swiss seat rope harness

In this tutorial, learn an important safety tip for the next time you head out camping or hiking. In this video, you will get advice on how to make a Swiss seat rope harness. You will learn to utilize a length of rope to make a field expedient rappelling harness, that is similar to the seat used by the military. With practice, you can tie this Swiss seat in 90 seconds or less. Essentially, this is a high speed, low drag way to make your own harness. This harness is useful for rappelling or ex...

How To: Make a "hobo" stove

In this tutorial, learn how to make a lightweight stove for camping and survival. You will learn how to make an ultra lightweight alcohol stove. This stove weighs only one ounce and has no moving parts. It only takes a few short minutes to make and will outlast most conventional stoves. This video will show you everything you need to know to get up and running with this mini stove. The stove boils in under five minutes and the fuel is super cheap. This is the perfect stove for hiking, backpac...

How To: Start a fire with the "fire piston" method

Nick Spadaro shows how to make a fire with a fire piston. This device creates fire by compression, just like a deisel engine. You can find these online. Lubricate the gasket with just about anything, including chapstick or animal fat. Then put it in and make sure you have a nice fit. Pick your tender, preferably birch tender fungus, a nice spongy material. Put it in the piston, and put the piston on your leg. Your going to want to strike the piston sharply, straight down, so as not to break t...

How To: Open a locked zippered luggage bag

In this how to video, you will learn how to open a locked zippered luggage bag. This is very useful if you plan a trip and forget the key to the lock of your luggage bag. All you need is a normal pen. Remove the lid of the pen. Apply pressure in between the zipper. Once you get through, slide the pen all the way around to open the luggage. This will open the luggage and you will have access to the entire inside. Once you are done, you can close it back with the pen or the zipper. It will be u...

How To: Open almost any door with this easy lockpicking trick

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to open almost any door with an easy lock picking trick. Begin by prying open the door top. To do this, users will need to use a knife, the end of a hammer, crowbar or any other kind of tool that can pry. Slide the tool through the door stop. Once you pry open the door stop, take a thin, sharp object, such as a knife or credit card and slide it through the latch. Now push the door to open it. This video will benefit those viewers who have accidentally...

How To: Start a fire with a "flint on marcasite" method

In this Disaster Preparation video tutorial you will learn how to start a fire with a "flint on marcasite" method. Mal Stephens, head instructor of Maine Primitive Skill School presents this video. Marcasite is a form of iron pyrite and you can get friction fire from fine grained iron pyrites. For the flint, you can use any hard stone. For the burning material, find some tinder fungus. Now hold the marcasite immediately above the tinder fungus and strike it with the flint. The sparks from the...

How To: Gather & prepare wild edible foods

In this Disaster Preparation video tutorial you will learn how to gather & prepare wild edible foods. Autumn olives have golden dots on a red berry. The leaves have no spikes on the edges, are smooth on the top and are dark on the top and white on the bottom. You can use a basket hung around your neck for berry picking. Use a reaching stick made out of the branch of a tree as shown in the video to pull branches towards you for berry picking. Put all the berries in a bowl, mash them up with a ...

How To: Add fuel to a Zippo lighter

Zippo lighters are the epitome of cool, aren't they? They reek of James Dean and the Fonz and other Hollywood bad boys. In this tutorial, learn what to do when your lighter expires. This video will show you how to refill your lighter with new fuel so that you can keep on using it. So, the next time you see a pretty lady and offer her a light, you can be confident that your Zippo will be ready for action.

How To: Make a fire using flint

Start a fire in any setting for only one dollar! In this video, learn how to start a fire using a flint or magnesium stick, which can be purchased almost anywhere for about a dollar. This process is sure to come quick and easy with just a little practice.

How To: Purify water with portable water tablets

Kev Porter shows how to purify water using tablets. Kev advises that the first thing to do is read the instructions on the back. He uses portable water tablets. You add two tablets to a quart or liter of water. Place the cap loosely on the water bottle, wait five minutes and shake it. After shaking, you have to wait another three minutes making sure you tighten the cap. Once three minutes pass, add the neutralizing tablets. Place cap back on the water bottle tightly and shake it. This takes t...

How To: Make a fish hook from a bush

The video is about making a fish hook for the winter bushcraft national winter tutorial. The first step is to take a small stick and cut it so as to make it thin. Then an angle is cut at one end of the piece. The angle cut can be according to the maker's wish. Then cut out the part for catching. This small piece of stick is the hook. Take a piece of tree brush and wrap it around the hook. Wind it through the top and then the bottom of the hook until the hook is completely wrapped.

How To: Safely put out a cooking fire

Every fire needs three things to burn: heat, oxygen, and fuel. As long as those three things are met, the fire will persist. If you are cooking with grease and a fire starts, you must react fast. Grab an oven mitt, find the lid that fits the pan, and smother the fire. Slide the cover over the pan to cut off the oxygen, and turn off the burner.