Quote (Bear_Grylls @ Jan 13 2013 12:59pm)
Glad to see a thread like this up. lacking info in here, but that is more than likely because no one has asked any questions.
Clawcool, what resource did you use to learn your edible wild plant knowledge and what do you use for a field reference?
I have read Samuel Thayer's books and found them full of good insightful knowledge. They seem to be much better than the rest, however they are not really a book to pack with you when you are out on adventures due to their thickness. I usually take a Peterson's hand book with me as a field reference, but unfortunately some of the info in it is straight up wrong and it lacks the high quality pics that Thayer's books have.
You should check out some of Ray Mear's vids, they have some pretty useful info too.
and btw this statement....
...absolutely absurd. Not the part about drinking chlorinated or iodine cleansed water, but that fact that you are suggesting carrying a drinking container to be not convenient. Not only is it more convenient, it is a pretty big necessity. If you do not carry one, be prepared to make one or go for long stretches without water.. Them straws would be good to use to drink water from your container AFTER you boil it or use UV to treat it. And there most certainly is a right way of doing stuff. Those straws might remove 98% of stuff, but anyone who knows anything about water filtration knows that 98% is actually not very high of a removal percentage, it lets lots of nasty things threw still. Using that straw alone is a good way to get sick, and in a real survival situation becoming sickly is basically the same thing as becoming dead.
1st question: my dad is a vietnam vet and a crazy wilderness mountain man type. He taught me how to live off the land when I was little and basically schooled me in that kind of stuff all my life. He didn't like sports and instead took me hunting/fishing /camping as our way of connection. He had a book I read Edible plant by the department of the army. But mainly I just grew up with him showing me this you can eat, its called lichen. Dead pines always have big fat grub in them under the bark, just all the different plants and their uses. I didn't learn much from reading, I learned it by doing it.So I really don't use any books for field reference, but I would have to for other ecosystems that are not like my own, my knowledge in that are is limited to coniferous / deciduous forest and swamp more than any desert or rainforest type scenario.
I shall look at some of mear's vids thanks.
Not absurd for me. I have been doing this all my life, like I said to each his own.In michigan its hard to go more than 5 miles in any direction without hitting some sort of potable water. Most of the rivers and streams here you can drink directly from, I wouldn't suggest making it a habit,but it can be done. Most waterborne type bacteria that are going to make you sick generally have a 3 day minimum incubation period. If your going to be somewhere that takes you more than a few days away from civilization you should have more than your car kit with you.
This post was edited by SheriffCool on Jan 20 2013 07:11am