How to Boil Water Without a Pot or Cup

If found in a survival situation, purifying water is essential. Most survivors are not prepared for the situation in which they find themselves. Improvising a way to boil and therefore purify water may be harder than you think. Below are a couple of ways to boil water without a cup or bowl.

1. A plastic bottle would normally melt by the heat of a fire. However, when filled with water, the plastic can transfer some of the heat to water and therefore withstand warmer temperatures. In a survival situation you don't want to risk melting your valuable bottle by putting it directly onto the fire. To boil water suspend the bottle above the fire, but close to the flames, using a tripod of sticks. Alternatively, you can use any other improvisation to suspend the bottle. The water should slowly boil and purify.

2. If lacking a bottle or any other container for water, you can improvise a container from many types of plants and their leafs. If the improvised container is not likely to suspend or survive a fire for boiling, you can heat rocks in a fire and then carefully transport them to the container  raising the temperature of the water until it boils. Be sure to have enough rocks to boil the water for at least 5 minutes.

3. Distillation is slow, but may be a last resort. Dig a hole. Place anything of moisture in the bottom of the hole, including plants, salt water, and urine that is beyond drinkable. Place a cup, shell, or improvised container at the bottom of the hole. Cover the hole with plastic of some kind. Seal the edges of the plastic so that moisture cannot escape. Place a small rock on the plastic above the container so that condensing moisture on the plastic will drip into the container. Wait hours. The sun will heat the hole, condensing moisture and slowly filling the cup.

In the wild, water is essential. An individual can die in as little as three days or less from dehydration. Always hydrate before eating, otherwise the digestion will use the last bit of moisture from your body. A container is one of Dave Canterbury's 5 C's of Survivability for a reason. There are several different types of containers available at Urban Survival Tools, and our webpage under Survival. Be smart and thrive.

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Dave Cantebury's 5 C's of Survivalability

Dave Cantebury is a hunting and survival expert. He is the founder of the Path Finder School, and author of The Pathfinder System: Survivability for the Common Man. He is also the co-star on the tv show "Duel Survivor." Through Dave's decades of experience hunting, tracking, and traping, he has developed a list of 5 things that are essential to survival. Missing any of these 5 things seriously limits your "survivability."

Dave Canterbury's 5 C's of Survivalbility

1. Cordage: rope, floss, string, fishing line, parachord.

Cordage is essential for building shelter, making traps, and fishing. Without it you may be lacking those things. Cordage is extremely useful in countless of survival situations. If found in the wilderness without cordage you can weave or braid certain types of plants to make improvised cordage.

2. Cutting: Knife

A knife is essential in a survival situation to make tools, traps, shelter, and fire. It is essential for cleaning animals and preparing food. If found in a survival situation without a knife, an improvized knife can be made by fracturing a densegrained rock at the correct angle.

3. Cover: cover includes any tarp, cloth, or bag that can be used for insulation or shelter.

Some materials can be used as traps, nets, or carrying devices. If found in a survival situation with out cover look for natural shelter first. If nature provides shelter you can save calories otherwise spent on building it. If no natural shelter is available certain types of trees and plants can be used to improvise a raised beed and rain shed.

4. Combustion: lighter, matches, flint & steel, steel wool & battery, convex lense, or dry wood.

Combustion or fire ignition is essential in a survival situation for cooking, purifying water, creating heat, and signaling for rescue. If found in a survival situation without a combustion source several friction techniques may be utilized by essentially rubbing two sticks together. However, choosing the correct materials is essential and friction techniques for creating fire are considered extremely difficult.

5. Container: can, cup, bottle, bowel or bag.

In a survival situation a container is essential for carrying and purifying water. An individual can die from dehydration in as little as 3 days. If found in a survival situation wihtout a container one can be improvised from certain plants or trees. Moisture can aslo be extracted from certain plants and feces. However, this is not recomended for anyone without extensive expertese. In a last resort situation it is better that you drink unpurified water and risk contamination than die from dehydration.

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How to Make Millions in Real Estate... With No Cash by Tyler G Hicks

How to Make Millions in Real Estate in Three Years Starting with No Cash. Talk about a long title!

When I picked this book up I instantly knew that I liked it. I loved the feel of the paperback cover. It was the finish that I liked. It's a smooth but matte finish. Very unique. Unfortunately this was my favorite part of the book. In fact I was laughing after just a few pages and after a dozen pages I knew I wasn't going to like this book. It's a good thing that the format (endless lists) makes it a super fast read. A few hours later I was done.

Anyone that is familiar with our current real-estate climate will quickly recognize that this book is OUT DATED! Printed durring the frenzy of the real estate bubble (2005), 9 out of 10 things that Tyler recommends are nearly impossible, unrealistic, or simply irresponsible. Some of it verges on outright fraud. In fact, reading this book gives a good perspective of the psychology of a "bubble investor."

On page 4 he says, "So when I recommend real estate investments to you, I do so with the complete assurance that it is almost impossible for you to go wrong. Further, it is almost impossible for you not to make money in real estate." I was cracking up pretty good by then. I bet most of his readers lost everything, including OPM (other peoples money as Tyler calles it) in the crash. On the previous page he basically says that real estate ALWAYS goes up in value. In fact he implies this several different times. I guess that is why he has a huge disclaimer at the beginning of his book. Most real estate books I've ever read didn't have disclaimers.

In Chapter 2 he starts talking about the different way to finance real estate and a casually included using credit card loans and borrowing the money from a family members equity! It's true you can get money this way, but this is also how people's dreams turn into nightmares. It's how people read Tyler's book and then a few years later attempt suicide. Now, I'm not saying Tyler is responsibly for attempted suicides, but I'd be surprised if he didn't inspire a few. Think about it. What would it be like if someone borrowed $300,000 from family members and carried $100,000 on credit cards, then lost their job and the real estate. It's not like they can file bankruptcy and say "Too bad mom, you're not going to retire anymore." Again, I guess that's why he has the extensive disclaimer in the front of the book.

He also repeatedly talkes about using conventional financing to get 100-125% of the purchase price. There are a few government sponsored programs, but other than that it just doesn't happen anymore. He gives you a list of lenders that will do financing like this and does so with another disclaimer that some of them may have changed their policies. Go figure.

At one point he mentions an incident of discrimination by a leander who thought women were less reliable than men. Then he says it's a sentiment that 50% of the population shares. Unless women think themselves unreliable, that leaves all men who think women are less reliable. I think he may have made this statistic up. After all 35% of all statistics are made up (including this one).

All things considered, there is some reasonable content in this book. He does talk about some non-conventional ways of financing that are still possible. They are more difficult now, but still possible. He includes just about every type of real estate out there. He aslo has an extensive list of additional information; books, packages, other sources. I'd say about 1/2 are his own real estate training packages or services. He also has some good real estate advice. However, if you don't have enough real estate experience to know the difference between good and bad advice, just stay away. I would recommend this book only for people that already have some experience in real estate. There are just too many ways for beginners to be led astray and get into trouble.

Score 3/10

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Dutch Oven Beer Bread

This is a video made by "Average Iowa Guy." I couldn't find a website for him but still would like to give him credit. The recepie he used was:

• 1 beer
• 3 Cups self rising flour
• 3 Tablespoons sugar

Enjoy!

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REI Minimalist Bivy Review

On a recent trip I used the REI Minimalist Bivy. I have read that many bivy sacs have issues with condensation. I have seen this first hand with the Sol Emergency Bivy. To this point I had done all of my backpacking and camping with several different types of tents and shelters, but I had not used an official bivy sac. I decided to try this one out.

The bivy seams to be pretty durable and waterproof, though it did not rain directly on me. I used it along with a 15 degree bag in weather that was in the mide 20s. I was so warm I never zipped my sleeping bag, although I did have my base and fuzz layers on. If I would have removed layers I probably would have been a little more comfortable and zipped my sleeping bag. We also had built a pretty amazing shelter that kept our temperature significantly warmer than immediately surrounding.

The screen is designed to lay directly on your face. This made me a little claustrophobic and I could not keep the bivy zipped. Instead I kept it open and off my face. This would be my biggest complaint of this bag.

In the morning my sleeping bag was mostly dry, but the area where my back was laying was wet. I imagine that if the bivy had been zipped closed it would have been much worse. However, compared to my friend who was sleeping in a Sol Emergency Bivy, it wasn't too bad.

In the end I will be returning the Bivy, but not because the quality is unsatisfactory. In fact I would be very satisfied with this bivy if the screen part didn't rest directly on face. I thought about trying to rig up my own support, but decided against it. I will be looking for another brand and design of bivy that keeps the screen off my face.

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