SURVIVAL
HACKS
OVER 200 WAYS TO USE EVERYDAY ITEMS
FOR WILDERNESS SURVIVAL
CREEK STEWART, author of Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag
AVON, MASSACHUSETTS
Contents
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Shelter Hacks
CHAPTER 2
Water Hacks
CHAPTER 3
Fire Hacks
CHAPTER 4
Food Hacks
CHAPTER 5
Staying Healthy
CHAPTER 6
Gear Hacks
CHAPTER 7
Forward Movement
CHAPTER 8
Everyday Carry (EDC) Kits on a Budget
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Introduction
sur-VIV-al HACK-ing
verb
The act of using what you have to get what you need to stay alive in any situation.
“Hacking” is making do with what you’ve got. It has three aspects:
Using knowledge of basic survival principles
Innovative thinking
Exploiting available resources
KNOWLEDGE OF BASIC SURVIVAL PRINCIPLES
Knowledge is the basis for almost every successful survival skill. You can get it from reading books, listening to the advice and stories of others, and watching the actions of others. However, the most important way to gain true knowledge of survival principles is trial and error with your own two hands. No method of learning takes the place of hands-on, personal experience. Your options in a survival scenario will ultimately depend on your understanding of basic survival principles that surround shelter, water, fire, and food.
INNOVATIVE THINKING
I’ve often said that innovation is the most important survival skill. Innovation can be defined in survival as creatively using available resources to execute a plan formulated using pre-existing survival knowledge. At the end of the day, the application of survival principles is only limited by your ability to creatively use them.
EXPLOITING AVAILABLE RESOURCES
Available resources are anything natural or manmade, from leaves and sticks to trash bottles and windshield wipers. Everything is potentially a survival resource that you can exploit, with knowledge and creativity, to get what you need. In this book, we explore hundreds of everyday items that can be modified, repurposed, reused, reshaped, rebuilt, or recycled to meet some kind of basic human survival need.
THREE THOUSAND FAILURES
Some of the hacks featured in this book are tips and tricks I’ve absorbed throughout my lifelong study of survival; I learned them from other people and from watching others in the field. I’ve picked up all sorts of hacks from friends, family, students, and other survival enthusiasts. I’m always on the lookout for a fun, new, and creative survival hack.
However, many of the following 200-plus survival hacks are also the result of more than 3,000 failed attempts. Some, such as the Make a Fire Pipe hack in Chapter 3, took more than 20 tries to get right. If I had quit working on a hack idea at the first failed attempt, this book would be about five pages long.
The 200-plus hacks listed in the following pages are proven to work. I’ve successfully practiced them all. Each of them is an actionable lesson in survival; you can go into your backyard and practice them right now. Many can be executed in the comfort of your home or garage, and certainly you can use them on your next camping trip.
THE MORE YOU HACK
As you study, practice, and use these 200-plus hacks from everyday objects, you’re bound to learn more about survival principles and how to creatively meet basic survival needs. This knowledge will lead to new “hack” ideas that I want to hear about! E-mail your hack ideas to creek@creekstewart.com. Who knows, your hack could make it into the next volume of Survival Hacks.
Chapter 1
Shelter Hacks
CLOTHING HACKS
A Belt with Traction
Pantyhose Prevention
Lip Balm Zipper Waterproofer
Handy Tool/Gear Grips
Roycroft Pack
Tumpline for Heavy Loads
Sock Half Gloves
FOOTWEAR HACKS
Seal Your Seams with Toilet Rings
Newspaper Mukluks
Racket Snowshoes
Scrap Rubber Huaraches
This Insole Never Felt So Good
Use Ice to Make Your Shoes More Comfortable
Duct Tape Snowshoes
Sock Gaiters
CANOPY HACKS
Trash Bag Shelter
Hack Tarp Boat
Pop Can Snow/Sand Anchor
Pop Tab Tensioner
Two Simple Grommet Savers
DIY Canopy on a Budget
Shock Band Hack
Bug Out Bicycle Shelter
Glow-in-the-Dark Guylines
6" Tensioning Stick
SHELTER AND HEATING HACKS
Pallet Shelter
Framework Collar Connector
A $1 Sleeping Pad or Fire Reflector
A Quick and Dirty Camp Table
Hobo Candle Heater
Metal Bucket Storage Heater
A Simple Blackout Air Conditioner
SEATING AND BEDDING HACKS
Blanket Chair
Bed Sheet Hammock
Feed Sack Cot
Tire Stool
The 3-Ounce Camp Chair
In extreme conditions, you can survive as few as 3 hours without shelter. Exposure to the elements is almost always your number one survival priority. Keeping warm, cool, dry, or protected from the rain, snow, and wind is easier said than done when you’re working with limited resources. You may need some creative hacking in order to be effective.
I’ll never forget the words of a wise Scoutmaster when I was a kid: “Boys, the ability to dress yourselves is the first of all great survival lessons.” He was right. Shelter starts with clothing and footwear. It ends with more complicated principles such as windbreaks, insulation, bedding, roofing materials, fire reflection, and waterproofing.
This chapter’s hacks are all designed to help offer protection for you and your gear from your biggest survival adversary—the weather. Without protection from the elements, few other survival priorities matter. The ability to cope with what the weather throws at you is what keeps you alive long enough in order to even execute other survival skills directed toward water, fire, or food. We’ll start this chapter of shelter hacks in the spirit of my old Scoutmaster—with clothing.