"Survivorman's Secrets of Survival" has been airing on the Science channel since 9/6. It is a compilation of Les Stroud's previous shows. Each episode deals with one topic such as best methods for making a fire, purifying water, making a shelter, MacGyverisms, etc. I will try to do an entry on each but I usually just catch part of the show so don't get all 5 methods. I wish they did an overview at the end of each episode.
Like other shows on the Science channel, "Survirorman's Secrets of Survival" is hard to find and there's not much on the internet about it. Curse you Science channel! Why do you make it so hard to find the shows I'm interested in?
New episodes of "Survivorman" begin on 12/18. See additional info on Les' website here: http://lesstroud.ca/news/survivorman-returns
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Fire is important in a survival situation for keeping warm, heating food, purifying water and signaling for help. Below are the 5 methods for making fire. They are ranked from most difficult to easiest:
5. Hand Drill/ Vine Friction- The secret is the wood must be DRY and it must be the correct type of wood for the baseboard and the spindle. The vine method seems much easier.
4. Using Man Made Timbers- Lots of man made stuff is highly flammable such as duct tape, glycerine, corn chips. lip balm/petroleum jelly and cotton balls/q-tips, etc. Some man made timbers such as fire dust will not ignite with a spark, they actually need a flame.
3. Flint Starters and Rock/Steel- Les shows how to use a magnesium fire stick. I have one and it works well. You scrape off a small pile of magnesium. Then you use the other side to create a spark and voila.
2. Anything Goes- Tons of other stuff can create a fire such as car batteries, gasoline, steel wool and a D battery, the light part of a flashlight, thread from a sock and a spark from a lighter, even apparently chocolate and an aluminum can left in the sunlight. Who knew that one?
1. Fire Bow- I guess this is number one since Les thinks this will work most often but this seems like the most work to me. Of course when we don't have any other man made options for creating a spark or flame, you need to know how to do it the old fashioned way.
Also check out YouTube. There are TONS of videos on different fire starting methods.
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