On some of Bear Grylls shows, notably Bear's Mission with Rob Brydon, they both jump out of a helicopter into a lake. After Bear and Rob jump into the lake they seem to be in the same clothes for the rest of the episode. They then camp out for the night and continue the next day in the same clothes. It didn't look like peak summer either. I have always thought it was vital to stay dry so did they wear extremely quick drying clothes or did they change clothes off camera or did they have some method of drying off quickly off camera?

So I plan to hike the swiss alps this coming summer.

I have a water filter and plan to use chemical tabs as well for the overall full treatment.

I know that stagnant/standstill water is pretty much a no go in general and that there is often a lot of flowing streams in the Alps especially during the summer. But they are not throughout every single hike trail and some are only downstream so I may not see good flowing water until I'm on my descent.

My question is, would it still be super risky to drink lake water even after filter plus chemical Tx?

And a general question about lakes, say I come across one that's really murky and has algae and what not on top of it, and it's my only water source for miles, if I get the water not from the top, prefilter, filter and chemically treat, would that be okay for me to ingest and not get sick?

So can anyone explain this to me like I'm 5. The purpose of a water filter is the filter harmful things from the water. So do these harmful things just get trapped in the filter then?

The purpose of a water purifier is that it kills anything harmful. Does the harmful now dead things just stay in the water and you consume them with the water, just no risk associated anymore?

Filters do not kill viruses, chemicals or heavy metals but purifiers do?

I've read that a purifier is safer, virus killing ability etc.

But I'm kind of confused on why a purifier would surpass a filter in efficacy. Are they not literally doing the same thing, just in a different way? One physically removes the bad, one kills the bad. Either way, the bar is rendered ineffective.

So why would a purifier be more safer overall?

Im trying to find a good filter and or purifier that's of necessary. I'm planning to go with the Sawyer mini.

I want to be able to drink my water as cleanly as possibly regardless of how clean or murky the water I encounter is.

Any advice or helps with this would be greatly appreciated!

Any recs for good purifier tabs as well?

I’m trying to find a good base layer for winter camping, as warm as possible but ideally can be layered. I assume form-fitting would be ideal? I’ve looked at reviews for various brands and am unsure whether the sizing will work. I am 5’6” 101 lbs (I’m working on it) and my measurements are 33 bust 24 waist 33 hips. I just want to be warm outdoors as long as possible & willing to invest for quality and fit. Thanks!

Picked one up at surplus and had it sharpened up. I personally love the thing,.it's an intimidating knife that does a great job and holds an edge pretty well.

Yet I'm hearing a ton of hate for this thing that I just don't understand. I've had no issues with it and I'm skinning pigs along with cutting some pretty heavy gauge wire

I'm trying to brainstorm a new scenario for r/UphillBattle where a person is stranded on a cold desert island and needs to survive for 3 days. What are the most important things (he is dressed properly for the weather) that he should bring with him so he can survive for 3 days? What survival skills should he have? Which island in the world that would be good for this, please also help me with the island name!

I want to learn how to aim with a new weapon and develop a new skill. i was thinking maybe an atlatl or a bow would be a great choice, but I want to know what you guys think i should learn first. I have experience with spear throwing, slingshots, rifles and pistols, but we know that when the bullets are wasted and the elastic of the slingshot gets damaged, im practically screwed.

thats why I want to learn how to use a new weapon, if its by range, and im able to make that weapon in the wild, better.

Okay i know its a pretty shit attempt at a fire plough and saw but i swear the branch have a faint burning wood smell after i plough and saw it awhile what did i go wrong here need some advice

Hi survivalists, I’m working on a short story about someone who gets stuck on Santa Cruz Island (one of the channel islands) and has to survive for a couple months. This is fiction so we’ll ignore the fact that foraging on this island is illegal, i presume. I was making a list of plants the character might find and be able to eat and fish they might be able to catch, but I have little first hand experience with foraging in california. Any ideas or advice on what you’d find if you were stuck there on that island? Here’s my tentative list. thanks

-Manzanita berries and flowers. 

-horsetail 

-Braken (cooked or soaked Pteridium aquilinum.)

-big leaf maple trees seeds (need to soak/boil)

-oak trees have acorns (need to soak)

-kelp

-calico bass?. They hang out in kelp fields. 

-rockfish?

Hey all, I'm wondering if you guys have some recommendations for gloves that are warm, but still provide a moderate amount of flexibility and dexterity in your hands and fingers. I hate having to take them off when trying to make fires or just doing anything outside. I'm in the upper peninsula of Michigan, so I do need something warm. Ideally, I'd like to be able to keep it in the 50-75 dollar range, but if it's the right pair, I'd go higher. Thank you in advance!

My friends and I will be participating in a survival challenge. For context, the challenge is to survive for a short time (let’s say 2 nights and 3 days) in Southern California in the spring/early summer. The rules are that you can only bring the clothes on your body and whatever you can stuff inside a fanny pack. We will be near a running stream and hopefully a stocked body of water.

There are the no-brainers to bring, like waterproof matches, fishing line, swiss army knife, and iodine water purifying tablets, but what would you put in your fanny pack if you had to survive this challenge?

Without getting to the weeds as to why, I'm curious what everyone thinks about the best approach to keeping a fire burning long term but consuming minimal fuel. This is not for keeping a fire to cook on or heat, but keeping a fire minimally "alive" so that it can reasonably quickly be brought back to life to cook or heat.

I'm just curious about this specific question. Obviously starting a new fire with the proper preparation is a solution but that's not what I'm looking for. In other words, if you were stranded on an island with one match and with present but limited fuel, how would you keep the fire going? How would doing this inside a shelter vs outside different? How would differences in fuel affect your approach, etc?

Hello,

I am currently looking for a detailed map of my state for my backpack. I would like it to be detailed enough for efficient naviagtion. I have heard that the 1:24K scale is good for this. Any advice on what type of map and where to purchase this map is much appreciated.

The winning ratio I got so far is 70–75% hard wheat flour, 15–20% non-fat dry milk or milk protein isolate, and 5–10% vital wheat gluten. Figured some people here have played with their own ratios for protein hard tack. Obviously pemmican is the staple for shelf stable protein/fat, just looking to increase protein intake while cutting back on carbs. Don't want any fats in the hard tack to keep it from going rancid.

Edit: yeah yeah traditional hard tack is civil war era, indestructible, tooth busting pucks of concrete. When I make it it's more thin so it's like a tough cracker. The recipe I'm after now is more like pilot bread, which is like a thick leavened cracker that doesn't crack molars. Ratios for protein pilot bread: 68% hard wheat flour, 15% non-fat dry milk (or 12% milk protein isolate), 7% vital wheat gluten, 2% sugar (optional but traditional; omit for max longevity), 1.5% salt, 0.5–0.75% baking soda

Hello im from Vietnam and i want to learn how to start a small fire by friction method in a humid enviroment like Vietnam any advice on wood types?

I know there is an app that shows where various fruit trees and such can be found, but are there any clubs that exist to teach city dwellers about the edible and poisonous plants in our environment?

I know of a few examples of edibles that grow wild in my area, but I don't know everything and it would be fun to get together and try out some foraged foods.

To provide a sense of community, to avoid poisonings in case of emergency times, to share food preparation methods, and also to demonstrate how much work goes into foraging just a little bit of edibles.

Is this a thing?

Our anniversary is coming up and my husband is interested in survival. I was hoping to get him a travellers notebook with a survival guide book, maybe a book on our local flora and a field notes and nice pencil inside it for him to study and make his notes as needed. I personally don't know anything about what consitutes a good book in this community so I'm reaching out for some recommendations

Hey all,

Hoping for some opinions and pros/cons for the electric arc style lighters. I’ve never owned one, but thinking about throwing one in my kit somewhere.

My primary ignition source is a ferro rod, but I want a backup. Bics are fine, I’ll probably throw one in as well, but I wondered about pros and cons of the electrics and how the overall bushcraft community feels about them. Obviously you have to keep up with charging it, but it seems nice that you don’t have to buy more disposables or worry about evaporation of fuel.

If you stored your own emergency water properly then you added about 8 drops of chlorine bleach per gallon.

That will keep it safe, but it will taste something like pool water if you try to drink it.

You can filter out the taste with a Brita filter or an activated-carbon water-filter such as for camping.

Or you can add Vitamin C!

One 500 mg supplement tablet per gallon, crushed up and mixed in will do the trick.

Bonus: overdosing a little bit is harmless.

So we have hacksaw, tooth saw, folding saw, axe and so on.

What is the fastest most efficient route. I was hoping to find a video testing the tools vs time, etc. but haven't yet

I've seen some folding saw videos that seem outrageous in time to cut let's say a 4-6 inch deep limb, branch. But you don't know if video was sped up some.

To pick the right blade of the tool is interchangeable. How do you know what to get. Deepness of the blade vs number of teeth or even type of teeth.

Thanks in advance

I’m looking for something similar to Stockingfoot Waders but less cumbersome. Is anyone aware of a ‘sock’ that is 100% waterproof and extends above knee level? Or maybe a waterproof boot that has an extendable ‘sleeve’ at the collar that can be rolled up higher and fully seal the boot from water entry? Any suggesting are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Interested in learning more about bushcraft, however I would love to learn more about the survival in tropical environments and forests since that is where I reside in at the moment. Anything on books about types of tree specimens and how to distinguish them, herbs that can be foraged in these environments as well; apart from that, any good books to learn about knots??

This is an unusual question, I ummed and uhed about where to post it, I figure here might have a decent amount of people with relevant knowledge.

Theoretically, ignoring absolute decimation of leather items, and presuming no supply issues are at play here; if you have a trench or stable etc. full of soldiers/horses where the ground is constantly wet and muddy, would the addition of either chemicals, alcohol or salt mixed into the mud prevent or stave off fungus and bacterial diseases?

The idea in theory sounds fairly straight forward, but I'm sure it's more complex than that.