Hot Disaster Preparation How-Tos


How To: Build & Hide a Campfire from Your Enemies — The Dakota Fire Pit
Fire. It’s everywhere— always has been. From the Ordovician Period where the first fossil record of fire appears to the present day everyday uses of the Holocene. Today, we abundantly create flames (intentionally or unintentionally) in power plants, extractive metallurgy, incendiary bombs, combustion engines, controlled burns, wildfires, fireplaces, campfires, grills, candles, gas stoves and ovens, matches, cigarettes, and the list goes on... Yet with our societies' prodigal use of fire, t...

How To: Make a coiled basket to carry water in
Making a coiled basket can have be used for a variety or reasons, including the ability to carry much needed water. This four part tutorial teaches you how to make a coiled basket using the wilderness around you.

How To: Identify and treat a 'hurry case' as a Boy Scout
Second Class Boy Scouts work on building their outdoor survival and camping skills. Compass work, nature observation, camp tools, and swimming are areas where new skills are mastered and demonstrated. A second class scout, having completed all the requirements, should be able to lead a hike, care for his own equipment, set up a campsite, and perform basic first aid.

How To: Purify Urine for Drinking with an Emergency Solar Still
It’s called Urophagia—the art of consuming urine. There could be any number of reasons for having the desire to drink your own urine (or somebody else’s). There’s the so-called term “urine therapy,” which uses human urine as an alternative medicine. In urine therapy, or uropathy, it’s used therapeutically for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes. There’s also those people who drink urine as sexual stimulation, where they want to share every part of each other. And then there’s the o...

How To: Light a match without a matchbook cover
When your matchbook cover is shot, you can still get a light from a match. Learn how to light a match on the bottom of a coffee mug. Fun survival skills when you have a match and no cover - the ceramic of the mug provides the friction necessary to light a match.

How To: Use garlic and ginger for a cough remedy
Garlic ginger syrup is an herbal cough remedy. This cough home remedy would make use of cough herbs such as garlic and ginger. Learn how to make this garlic remedy that is garlic ginger syrup.

How To: Escape from Dual Zip Tie Handcuffs
You are not having a good day. You've been abducted by sinister folks, and your hands are tied by a pair of zip ties bound together. How will you escape? In this tutorial, the guys at ITS Tactical show you how to escape from these bound cable ties, which are frequently used as makeshift handcuffs by police and military personnel, along with mischievous kidnappers. To break free, believe it or not, all you need is a little force.

How To: Make a Slammin' Fire Piston for Under a Buck
Did you know that there's a way to start a fire by squishing air? In this project, I'll show you how to build a tool that does exactly that—and I'll give you a sneak peak into the principals of how a diesel engine operates!

How To: Stay Warm During a Winter Storm Without Any Electricity
It's that time a year when winter storms begin causing havoc across the United States, and when "rotating outages" are common to help sustain the electrical grid during intense cold periods. That means pretty much anybody with snow and ice in their backyard can succumb to power outages. And no electricity means no electric heat.

How To: Make Your Own Charcoal
Hello, all. In this article, I will be showing you how to make one of the most useful products known to man. I am talking, of course, about charcoal.

How To: Eat & extract water from a cactus
John Campbell demonstrates how to eat and extract water from a cactus. You can eat a cactus from the hedgehog plant family. First, cut off the top of the cactus and skin down the sides, cutting off the cactus spines. Cutting the cactus will not hurt it because it can heal itself. The cactus meat will be like a sticky cucumber. Try to avoid the central core because it is stringy but you can eat the cactus meat. Wrap the meat in a bandana, squish it and wring it out to extract the water from th...

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: Make improvisational snow shoes to survive in the snow
Ray Mears from the BBC demonstrates how to make a snow shoe and explains the vital importance of improvisation in making snow shoes. Any wood will work, as long as it is flexible. How far could you walk in deep snow?

How To: Start a fire using potato chips
Did you know that there is enough fat and oil in most chips that they can be lit on fire? See how a potato chip (or similar chip) can be used to start a fire in a survival situation in this instructional video. Just don't burn up all your food.

How To: Escape from zip ties tied behind your back
You're being held prisoner, and your hands are tied behind your back with zip ties. You're helpless to escape… Or you would be, if you hadn't watched this tutorial. The helpful folks at ITS Tactical explain how you can quickly escape from zip ties tied behind your back.

How To: Build a Homemade Portable Water Heater for Your Outdoor Camping Adventures
Warm water is an essential part of life that we sometimes tend to take for granted. Over one billion people, or roughly one-seventh of the world's population, have no access to hot water.

How To: Make a teepee from an inexpensive tarp
Ever wanted to build a backyard teepee? Here's your chance! In this two-part tutorial, learn how to contruct an inexpensive teepee out of a tarp. Easy to set-up, this teepee is roomy and fun to play in no matter what age you are! If in the wilderness, use this teepee for reliable shelter from cold or warm weather.

How To: Boil water without pots or pans
This video illustrate how to boil water without pots or pans. Here are the following steps:Step 1: You need fire, water and any plastic container with lid.Step 2: Now take water and fill it in the bottle so that there is no air present in the bottle.Step 3: Now put on the fire and put the seal bottle on fire with a distance of around 12 inch.Step 4: Now let the heat warm up the bottle and be careful while handling the bottle.Step 5: After the water has heated up, bubbles will appear in the bo...

How To: Make natural long burning torches in the forest
In this tutorial, we learn how to make natural long burning torches in the forest. First, use a dead tree limb and rip off all the bark that is on it. Next, gather up the bark from the tree and tie it together with wire you carry with you. Also, gather up a dead stick and connect this to the dead bark as well. Use a multi-tool to cut the wire if you are in a hurry. Once finished, light the bark on fire and you will have a natural torch that will burn in the forest! Be sure to use a dead tree ...

How To: World's Best Survivalism HowTo's
You're alone in the wilderness. Stranded. Hungry. Cold. What do you do? Naivety could be your downfall, but you don't need to be an Army Ranger to survive.

How To: Make a Fire by Rubbing Two Sticks Together!
Here's a survival technique for making a fire with the most basic of resources—assuming you can find two sticks to rub together!

How To: Make an Emergency Blanket from Recycled Chip Bags
What You Need: 6-9 empty chip bags

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: Boil water on a leaf in the wilderness
This video shows a tip on how to boil water on a leaf in the wilderness. If you are stuck out in the wilderness and you don't have a plastic bottle for water you can use a leaf to boil water for drinking. Build a fire first. Then find a large enough leaf you can hold it over the fire without burning your hands. Fill the leaf with water and hold it over the fire. Only let the flames lick up against the leaf so it won't burn. The edges will curl up closed but the water will boil in about ninety...

How To: Make and set an Asian bird trap snare
All North American birds are edible and therefore a good source of meat if you're trying to survive in the wild. This detailed video shows how to construct and bait an Asian bird trap snare. You'll need some 150lb test bankline, some twigs, an available young sapling and something to bait your trap, such as wild berries.

How To: Make an emergency fire with bamboo friction
In this video, you'll learn about friction fire lighting using wild bamboo sticks. So, if you're ever stuck out in Thailand on a cold and damp night, cut down some bamboo and light your own campfire to stay warm! This video shows you this very common technique in Southeast Asia, but takes a little work… and a sharp knife!

How To: Make sparks without matches or a lighter
How to make sparks without matches or a lighter

How To: The End of the World Survival Guide: Staying Alive During a Nuclear Holocaust
Will the predicted apocalyptic date—December 21st, 2012—really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyber wars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet—and how you might survive.

How To: Make a primitive wilderness loom
Staying warm is important to making sure that you survive. Whether it be the end of the world or you find yourself lost in the wilderness, keeping dry and warm is key to survival. In this two part tutorial find out how to make a primitive wilderness loom and a mat to sleep on.

How To: Light a fire with a piece of quartz and steel
Come on baby light my fire! If you're going to be a survivalist, the first thing you'll need to know is how to start a fire. This simply video shows how to use a piece of quartz and a piece of steel to build yourself a fire and stay alive! In addition, the video shows how to pack it all together in a nifty little Altoids tin.

How To: Make your own water filter
This video shows you how to make your very own water filter. 1. 20mm PVC pipe for upper section larger debris.

How To: Build an emergency igloo with snow
Temperatures plummet... a shelter, an igloo, can be built out of nothing but snow. It has to be the right kind of snow, cut from a well packed snow drift. The best snow is laid down in one single storm, it's hard and compact.

How To: Coil 550 parachute cord
Here is a technique for coiling parachute cord or any other thin rope / twine. Learn how to survive in the wild. You never know when you'll be stranded on a desert island, lost in the deep woods, or be a contender for Survival, the TV show. This series of videos, by Hedgehog Leatherworks, brings you the basics in outdoor survival. Wilderness survival skills include fire starting, deadfall traps, primitive fishing, making jerky, rope & cordage skills, and more. For the outdoor enthusiasts, enj...

How To: Tie a great hangman's noose (or hangman's knot)
The hangman's noose is infamous for its use in hanging prisoners during executions. It supposedly was invented in Britain, but eventually spread throughout the world, going beyond the prisons, even into our own homes. But the hangman's knot isn't all doom and gloom. There are plenty of useful (and non-lethal) applications for the hangman's knot, like as a fishing or boating knot. Everyone should know this roped knot, and this tutorial will show you the knot-tying process. Just remember, to be...

How To: Escape from zip ties using the friction saw method
You've been captured, and your wrists are bound together with zip ties. Fortunately you prepared for this situation, and you have a bit of 550 cord in your shoe. Using the cord, you can escape the zip ties using the friction saw method. This tutorial from the folks at ITS Tactical will teach you how.

How To: Escape from zip ties using shims
The odds are that you'll never find yourself being held prisoner with your hands bound together with zip ties. But if you ever are, you'll be very grateful for the info you learned from this video. In this tutorial from the folks at ITS Tactical, you'll learn how to escape from zip ties using shims. You can use all sorts of things for shimming, from professional equipment to your own fingernails.

How To: Tie a right angle knot like Navy SEALS
You're underwater, and you need to tie a knot. (Hey, it could happen!) What do you do? In this tutorial from the folks at ITS Tactical, you'll learn how to tie a right angle knot. This is a knot used by navy SEALs, and if you ever end up needing to tie a knot underwater, you'll be very glad you watched this video.

How To: Building and setting an arapuca live bird trap
Need to catch a bird? Only have sticks? This is an intricate method of trapping birds using stick weaving arrangements. This trap is common in Brazil and can be made quickly without tools and only using material on hand. It will result in the live capture of a bird.

How To: Save someone from a burning building as a Boy Scout
As a Boy Scout, when the First Class rank is attained, a scout has learned all the basic camping and outdoors skills of a scout. He can fend for himself in the wild, lead others on a hike or campout, set up a camp site, plan and properly prepare meals, and provide first aid for most situations he may encounter. A First Class scout is prepared.

How To: Tie a genoese zipper sinnet knot easily
The Genoese Zipper Sinnet is actually a fusion of both the single Genoese Bar and the Zipper Sinnet, obvious reasons for the name. This knot can be great for making a strap, bracelet, or necklace. In this video you will learn how to tie the knot up close and personal, giving the video great detail and insight into the knot tying process.