Your car has stalled somewhere deserted, your airplane makes a crash landing,
or you're trying to survive after our civilization has finally crumbled.
You may need the skills to continue life after your luxuries have been taken away,
but how? The main necessities for survival are water, food, shelter, warmth and clothing.
So, let's start with water. It will be integral to search for a fresh water source
but once found, it won't be immune to disease. You'll need to boil the water for five minutes to kill potentially harmful bacteria and
additional toxins are likely proteins that will denature at high heat.
You can consume water from cacti by cutting off sections of the cactus and mashing them into a container. In colder climates you can eat
fresh snow with dense ice being the best source. If you can't get to fresh water,
dew can be collected in limp fabric and rainwater can be collected from leaves and divots and rocks.
Don't waste water on quenching your lips. You can suck on a button or pebble to help with dry mouth and thirst
temptation. Once water is found drink it slowly over a long period of time.
This allows the body to utilize it efficiently and will inhibit nausea. Now for food.
You'll have to suck it up and eat insects, crickets, mealworms, and other critters are high in protein vitamins and minerals
which are essential to survival. You're also an intimidating animal and in most cases owls wolves and foxes
will leave their caught prey if you appear
which you can then take. There will likely be lactic acid present in the meat if the prey had to run so it will be
tough and spoil faster than freshly caught, but if cooked immediately it should be fine. After a month without vitamin C
you can start to feel weak as your body struggles to heal itself. This is because vitamin C
Is integral to biological pathways that build collagen, the structural protein that causes wound healing.
Boiling spruce needles in water to create a tea will provide you with the equivalent vitamin C
level as a fresh glass of orange juice.
One of the easiest animals to capture is rabbit as they rely so heavily on
camouflage and are easy to get close to you once spotted.
But you can't survive off rabbit alone as they are such a lean meat
so you'll need to find more fat. So much of our lipid intake comes from staples such as
butter, milk, salad oil or ice cream, things that are sort of hard to find in the wild,
so you'll need to actively seek out fat eating some plants and berries can be deadly so think like a squirrel and eat acorns
They're high in fat and always safe. The bitter taste comes from the organic
substance tannin which is found in tea and beer. If you boil the acorns for two hours
you'll decrease the bitter taste and then leave them to dry or grind them into a paste and make pancakes.
All aspects of the dandelion are edible, too.
You can also boil them to decrease bitterness as well. Maple tree seeds are also a fun snack that is high in essential
nutrients and fat. It will be nutritionally valuable to catch fish
but there are alternatives that don't need to be caught.
Seaweed is extremely nutritious and abundant. It can be boiled, steamed, fried, or eaten raw and
rock cleaning mollusks are also rampant along the Pacific coast of North America.
An obvious way to cook meat is over a campfire with a stick
but you can steam food by digging a hole adding hot rocks to it and covering it with wet
vegetation or seaweed. Add the food on top and slowly pour water
and the hot rocks will create steam. To create heat
you'll need fire so always have matches or a lighter handy, but in desperate times
you can hit two rocks together for sparks.
Keep your eyes peeled for iron pyrite, a type of flammable
mineral that is mined for its combustible properties. Another safe option is the classic magnifying glass binocular lenses
which can work as well. Once you get sparks
you'll need a tinder, the name for materials that can ignite easily.
Examples are shredded birch bark, dry moss, lichen, grass,
evergreen needles, and the bark of all cedar trees. Once lit you'll want to lay the ends of sticks in the fire and then push
them into the flame slowly as they're consumed. This is an efficient way to keep your fire going for longer.
You don't want to light a fire within your shelter for obvious reasons and
proper ventilation is needed to stop any chance of carbon monoxide poisoning
A shallow cave is an ideal shelter putting your fire a safe distance in front for warmth. In the woods breaking off branches and making
a leaning structure is simple and effective, too.
Angle the gradual incline
towards the wind and start building the walls from the bottom up. Use a stick to make a drain around the structure for a rainwater
to drain. As for a comfy bed pine needles, dry moss, leaves, and ferns are the Casper mattress of your
post-apocalyptic life. In the winter don't dress too
warmly as your body is capable of regulating temperature and perspiring can lead to dehydration. On the way out
you'll want to grab boots and thick wool socks.
Leave your skinny jeans at home as you'll need extra room around the knees for dexterity. Look for clothes with as many pockets as possible,
preferably ones that can close, and loose cotton shirts will provide better protection from insects. Oil driven from animal fats can be used to grease
footwear and help keep them resistant to water, and the down feathers caught from any birds can be shoved beneath your clothes for warmth when
needed. Now rewatch this video and take notes as when it comes time to fend for yourself access to information on the Internet
will likely not be an option. Good luck.
And if you want to see how some of the richest people in the world are already
prepping for the apocalypse, watch our second video here by clicking on the screen or using the link in the description. Seriously,
they're called Preppers, and they're already getting ready. And subscribe for more weekly science videos every Thursday.