Six Ways You Can Keep Yourself Alive With Animal Bones

“. . .  if you need to make any tools, you might not even have to kill an animal to find them. They’re usually just lying around in the forest, along with the rocks and stones that are needed to shape them.” J Krause

animalBonesWhether you find yourself stranded in a hostile environment, or you’re facing a long term collapse of the grid, you’ve got to learn how to put everything to good use. You have to carefully consider every little thing that you would have normally tossed in the trash. Everything we’ve been taught in our throwaway culture will have to “thrown out”, for lack of a better term. Disregarding our consumerist culture is probably one of the greatest attributes of the Prepper movement, and there is no shortage of survival literature and videos, that reveal some way to improvise mundane objects into useful tools. There’s one thing I rarely hear about though, and perhaps it’s due to its rather macabre nature.

Animal bones have been used for thousands of years by our ancient ancestors, who were of course, the greatest survival experts in human history. They didn’t have the option to be squeamish or wasteful, and neither should we. While it’s unlikely we’d have resort to using animal remains in most situations, it shouldn’t be ruled out. The longer any given survival scenario lasts, the more resourceful we’ll have to become. Below are a few examples of animal bones being put to great use, with links added for detailed instructions.

Knives

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Treating Burns When There Is No Doctor

burnsYou were out for a walk in the woods and while returning to your campsite you discover that your duck hunting partner has burned himself on the campfire. You find him laying on the ground crying in pain. It is just you and him out there and the nearest doctor (or phone) is miles and miles away. What are you to do? One thing is for certain, you have to do something and you better do it fast.

Head-To-Toe Assessment

Before you can start any type of burn treatment you need to evaluate the situation. Your approach and treatment method depends upon what caused the burn to begin with. Figuring out the cause is vital before you can approach the situation. For example, if it was a chemical burn you would need protective equipment. Also, you need to know if the danger is still present. Say, your partner was in your kitchen when a grease fire occurred. You would want to get him out of harms way before administrating any type of treatment. Finally, you might want to ask him (if he is conscious) when the burning ceased. Your main goal in burn treatment is to:

  1. Get the area that was burned cool.
  2. To reduce any infection (especially if you are in the woods) you want to cover the area that was burned with a sterile cloth. The idea here is to keep the germs out of the burn and to keep any fluids in.

Layers of Skin

Burns do not just occur from fires such as your campfire or matches. There are a varied of situations that can cause a burn. Burns can result from: chemicals, radiation, heat and electrical current. Severity depends upon many different factors such as: burning agents temperature, body part that got burned, how long the victim was exposed to burning agent, depth and size of burned area. Before we get into the Burn Classifications we need to discuss the layers of skin. Continue reading

Sustainable In The City: Prepping In Small Spaces

Ready Nutrition May 2013

One of the most frequently asked questions on Apartment Prepper is how can someone living in a small space prepare for an emergency.  I’ll be the first one to admit that it can be challenging, but it’s definitely doable.

1.  Free up some space

FoodAlthough it is tempting to just go out and buy supplies and gear, and a lot more exciting, the first step that I recommend is to designate a space for your supplies.  Find a closet or drawer or even a corner of the house that you will use for your emergency supplies.  Depending on how organized you are when you start out, you may have to declutter and get rid of stuff in order to accomplish this.

Take a Saturday going through your belongings and weeding out stuff you no longer use.

The purpose of this step is two-fold:

  • You clean up an area and find an empty space for your prepping supplies.
  • You may find items you can sell at a garage sale, Ebay or Craigslist that can net you some extra funds to fund your emergency budget.  Or, you can donate items to charity and get a tax deduction.

Decluttering is a win-win for everyone, plus you will feel better in the process.  Do not skip this step!

2.  Track your usage

The next step that I recommend is to take about three days to track everything you use.  From the time you wake up until bed time, keep a little notepad with you and make a note of every time you and your family uses.  The purpose of this step is to make you aware of all the items you and your family uses, including drinks and food, so you will only stock up on stuff you actually use.  You will want to have items that you will use, even if no emergency happens.

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