Lodestone: (definition) a variety of magnetite that possesses magnetic polarity and attracts iron.
In days gone by ships would carry a lodestone as part of their navigation equipment. Should the ship’s compass needle become depolarised the magnetite could be used to repolarise it back again. This is the same principle the school child learns when they magnetise a needle and float it on a cork in water to create a basic compass.
This suggests that problems with compasses not pointing in the direction they should (i.e. magnetic North) is not a new one. There are many factors that can affect a compass and change its polarity – the most obvious being to store it anywhere near a magnet. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that some of the things we carry have magnets in them – for example the case of your iPhone or iPad probably uses a magnet – or, for example, to accidentally leave a compass next to a speaker.
So – as with any piece of equipment you may need to rely on in an emergency – it’s a very good idea to check it every now and again and make sure it is still working properly…
…the last thing you want is to be lost in the jungle and then start doubting your compass.
In the video below I show you some of the compasses I’ve had problems with – how you can navigate even with a faulty compass and how to repair one so that it points in the right direction again.
It is often the case that the simpler the piece of kit the more useful and dependable it is: a compass is more reliable than a GPS, the simplicity and cutting ability of a parang makes it superior to the less suited multifunctionality of a Leatherman, a basic hammock is better suited to the jungle than the most luxurious of tents…
One piece of kit I carry on my EDC (Every Day Carry) belt is such a simple and basic item and yet it is something that solves that important problem of how to carry more water when you have a cut-down EDC setup that doesn’t include large water bladders or extra water bottles.
This item is the Maxpedition Rollypolly dump bag and, in the video below, is a quick review of it and a demonstration of how it can be used to carry an extra 3 litres of water.
“What do you actually need? Food, clothing, shelter. Everything else is entertainment” (Aloe Blacc)
Aloe Blacc (in the quote above) seems to have neglected to include water – which I suspect he would find he needed sooner than the other items listed, but nevertheless I get his point.
In this video I look at how to repair a tarp that’s been ripped in two and, to make life a little more challenging, I am using a mylar space blanket (which is my survival kit shelter item) rather than a normal every day use tarp. However, this method can be done with any sort of tarp or any cloth material you need to joint together.
The method I’m using is also the way I attach the guy lines to the space blanket.
As with shelter building in general, there is a balance between what materials you have available, how long you have to build your shelter and how effective you need it to be. In the case of a field repair of a tarp there is no point in relying on a method that requires materials you don’t normally carry, nor is it helpful to only know a method that takes so long that night (and/or rain!) falls before you’ve finished the repair.
With that in mind the method I use is quick and requires nothing more than a stick, plastic bag, some thin cordage and a tiny bit of a knowledge (how to tie a constrictor knot on the bight).
“There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot” (Steven Wright)
An item you commonly see in PSKs (personal survival kits) is a single loop of snare wire. For the jungle at least this is not the most useful item you could take with you and some catapult bands may well serve you better.
This may seem counter to commonly accepted survival ‘wisdom’ but there are number of reasons for this:
1. One loop of wire = one snare (not enough)
2. Rattan can be used (and is used by the Orang Asal) to make snares so there’s no need for the wire as long as you know how to process rattan into strips.
3. Snaring requires a degree of knowledge about animal behaviour (if you put the snare in the wrong place, you won’t catch anything)
4. Snaring requires you to stay in one place, whereas opportunistic hunting allows you to hunt on the move.
5. The easiest place to hunt for protein in the jungle is in the rivers and streams.
Similarly setting a fish trap (night line or twig trap) may work if you are staying in one place but is not so good if you are on the move…. and don’t forget that a fish hook is only as good as the bait you put on it (and fish can be frustratingly picky about what they eat!)
Even in small streams in the jungle you usually find fish and, because the water isn’t too deep, it is relatively easy to catch them (either by hand or with a spear/arrow). The Orang Asal will walk up stream in a line towards a pool, frightening the fish in their path forward and then, once the fish are all in the same place, pick them off one by one.
However, to get close enough to the fish to spear them is a bit tricky and you need to stay very still. move very slowly and be patient….but it can be done and, as my Orang Asal friend Sammy explained to me, the best time to do this is between 8pm-midnight when the fish are, as he described it “bodoh” (Malay for ‘stupid’).
Making some sort of speargun is quite straightforward and, as long as you can find some bamboo, it’s easier than building a bow fishing kit. A speargun also has the advantage that it is less bulky, doesn’t require any movement to load (as it’s preloaded) and allows you to get closer to the fish – e.g. you can crouch in the stream and submerge the arrow tip under water (which is more difficult to do with a bow and arrow).
In a jungle survival situation streams and rivers are the obvious place to look for protein – fish, prawns, crabs, frogs are all there – and a couple of catapult bands will greatly increase your chances of being able to catch something for dinner. Also worth mentioning is another PSK item that can be very useful: a mozzi head-net which can double up as a small net to catch prawns.
There are other uses for these rubber bands – as waterproof fire starters, to make a head torch band and to fashion a compression bandage. Useful things indeed!
“A clever man can get himself out of a situation a wise man would never get into”
In Yossi Ghinsberg’s book Lost in the Jungle he describes how, at a point when he feels more optimistic about self rescuing, he begins to hope that the search and rescue (SAR) team will not find him before he is able to emerge victorious from the jungle:
“I was going to rescue myself. Now I hoped that no one was looking for me yet. It would be a great letdown if they found me just as I was about to make my own way out of the jungle. It was going to be so simple. I could make it on my own”
A few weeks later he is still lost in the jungle and basically lies down and waits to die…
I won’t spoil the end for you but, if you are interested in reading the veritable catalogue of survival mistakes he and his friends made then it is well worth a read (and you can learn a lot from other people’s mistakes). That is not meant as a criticism of Yossi Ginsberg, he had no training in jungle survival and was poorly equipped for the trip (and there, if there is one, does lie a criticism) but I mention it as an example of the odd ways people can think when placed in a survival situation.
There are other tales from SAR teams of how the person they are searching for has hidden from them when they got close or purposefully injured themselves….what. you might ask, is going on there?
A friend of mine called Stuart Goring wrote a short article called ‘Survival is all about a good cup of tea’ and it is well worth a read – here is the link – in fact I would strongly recommend reading it as it could very well save your life. You will find the answers to why people hide from SAR teams (or purposefully injure themselves) there.
The truth is, that if you get lost in the jungle you will most probably go through a range of emotions – frustration, panic, fear, anger, shame at getting lost – and, in your hurry to get out of this situation that is making you feel uncomfortable both physically and mentally, are more than likely to make the wrong decision about what to do.
This is where a good PSK can make all the difference – it gives you the confidence that you can still camp out in the jungle with a relative degree of comfort and wait for rescue, it also gives you the tools that will make it easier to follow Stuart’s advice (fire to make a brew), a way to communicate with others (whistle, pencil and paper) and a way to determine which direction you are going (a compass).
The golden rule, if you get lost, is to STOP (Stop, Think, Orientate, Plan) and, with a bit of luck, the rest of your group will find you by the time the water’s boiling and your brew is made. However, it may be necessary to move onwards (e.g. in a search for water or if no-one knows where you went into the jungle) and then, the key thing is to leave a trail (trailblaze) that others can follow and markers or notes that they will hopefully find that tell them where you’ve gone. Not only that, but leaving a trail from the point you realised you were lost allows you to backtrack to that point … which may end up being the best option.
Imagine a SAR team conducting a spiral search out from your last known location: if you have not left any sort of trail the only way they can find you is if their search spiral intersects with the exact point where you are. However, imagine now that you’ve left a clear trail – a line between the point where you were lost to the point you are now – when the SAR spiral hits that line (anywhere on that line) it will give them a way of tracking you down quickly as all they have to do is follow your trail.
As with any survival situation your mental approach is going to be a (if not the) key factor that will determine whether you survive or not. If you have a PSK with you when you get lost this is going to be an immediate boost to your mental state as you know you have the key items needed for survival and, with that knowledge, you are likely to be far more calm (and make better decisions) than someone who has gone in without a PSK.
Finally, there is one item that is missing from my PSK that is notable by its absence: a signal mirror. This is not because I don’t own one – I do – nor is it because I think they are not effective – I don’t – but, in the jungle at least, there would have to be a very fortunate combination of events for it to be useful (a clearing, sun in the right position, rescuers in the right position etc). However, signal mirrors (as long as you get a good one and by that I mean a glass one and not a plastic one) are something that in a PSK for sea or desert survival would be one of the first items to pack.
There are other items you could pack (flares, signal balloons etc) however, the probability in a jungle rescue is that it will done by foot rather than by air and although these items could be helpful they would make your PSK kit much bulkier. Similarly communication devices (SPOT, GPS, radio, satellite phone etc) could also get you out of a jam very fast but the PSK is put together with the assumption that you either don’t have these items or that they have failed.
“Oh a storm is threat’ning, my very life today, if I don’t get some shelter, Oh yeah, I’m gonna fade away” (Gimme Shelter,Rolling Stones)
As any survival instructor will tell you, having the right state of mind in an emergency situation is critical to your chances of survival. But what determines someone’s state of mind in a survival situation and why do some people do better than others?
I think there are a number of factors at play – some people are simply mentally tougher than others; someone who has lived in the outdoors most of their life is less likely to be fazed by an outdoor survival situation than someone from the city; some people crave company, others are happy with solitude. There are also ways of encouraging positive thinking – setting realistic goals, accepting that not everything will go right (but patting yourself on the back when it does) will all help you to keep calm and positive.
However, a few years ago I read a study (and unfortunately I can’t remember the details) but the essence of it was that if soldiers where placed in a high stress situation (i.e. on the front line where they are being shot at) for over 8 months without a break they would start to mentally fall apart. What was interesting about the results was that this applied to all soldiers – no-one could handle that sort of on going stress without a break, no matter how tough their metal attitude was or how well they’d been trained.
In a survival situation, or if you’ve got lost in the jungle, things have, by definition, already started to go wrong. If more things start to go wrong – if your fire won’t catch, you get a soaking from the rain, the bugs bite you, you can’t find clean water, there’s no food – the accumulation of ‘things going wrong’ is going to stress out even the calmest individual and the problem with being stressed is that you’re less likely to make good decisions at the very moment when it is most necessary to be able to do so.
How does all this relate to a PSK shelter kit? You could argue that a shelter kit in the jungle is not a survival necessity – it’s warm enough that hypothermia isn’t a problem and you could always fashion a debris shelter or palm thatch roof.
However, this argument neglects to take into account a couple of factors: 1) building a natural shelter requires time, energy and for resources to be close at hand and 2) I imagine that in most emergency situations the first night at least would be unexpected and there may not be time to set up a shelter.
But, most importantly, having a shelter system with you that will give you a good night’s sleep is going to give a massive boost to your mental state in an emergency situation. Imagine you’ve got lost in the jungle and as the daylight fades you realise you’re going to spend an unplanned night there – instead of rushing around trying to put together a shelter you simply pull out a PSK hammock and rig up a tarp from your emergency blanket. After a reasonable night’s sleep you wake the next day with a clearer head and a better chance of making the right choices about what to do next.
In the video I show a few emergency blankets (which at the price and weight are something very well worth carrying) and also the EDC hammock which I bought from UKHammocks. The EDC hammock isn’t as comfortable as a full sized hammock (no big surprise there) but you can sleep in it (as long as you are under 85 kg). It also has the benefit of complementing your main kit as it can be used as cargo net, chair, and under quilt/mozzi blocker as well.
For anyone interested in buying one or reading more details here is the link to UK Hammocks.
If you can set up a camp like this then, should you get lost in the jungle, you are also more likely to stay put (rather then rushing to get out before nightfall and possibly getting even more lost) and the whole prospect of an unplanned night in the forest is far less alarming.
“Preserve substance; modify form; know the difference” (Dee Hock)
Many times I have bought camping gear over the internet and waited, with growing anticipation, for the arrival of a piece of kit that I am convinced is going to vastly improve my camping experience. More often than not, when the piece of equipment does arrive, I find that there are some draw backs, or failings, that I hadn’t foreseen and that initial pleasure is quickly dampened.
However, after really getting to know a particular piece of kit I usually spot a few simple modifications that will make it do what I, at least, want it to do. With rucksacks and bags I won’t hesitate to take out the scissors and remove unnecessary or overlong straps, if the knife I bought has a blade profile I don’t like I’ll mercilessly grind it into a shape I do, and the sewing machine is often called upon to add on extra pockets, sleeves or whatever it is that I decide a particular piece of gear is missing.
Not everyone is happy to take this approach (my friend Keong is, I know, horrified at the way I take the scissors to branded rucksacks!) and the obvious drawback is that, should you wish to sell-on that bit of kit, a potential buyer may not approve of your modifications!
In the case of the Mountainsmith lumbar pack in the video, the addition of shoulder straps turned out to be a very necessary modification as, without them, the pack is too uncomfortable to carry loads much above 3 kg. I’d bought the pack in Malaysia (on line) at a very decent price (RM 140 if I remember correctly) and the model is the older (and, in my view, better) version. However the shoulder straps aren’t sold here and are quite expensive as well. The solution was to adapt a yoke system used by the British Armey and the problem was solved (and without much expense).
As someone who is very skinny the other problem I had was getting the waist belt to fit comfortably under load (although this is a problem I have just as equally with most rucksacks) and I sewed in some padding to resolve this.
As the Mountainsmith has only a 14 litre capacity I wanted to get another, larger, lumber pack for longer trips. I was very tempted by the wildland packs used in the States but the only one available here was the Mystery Ranch pack (sold by Outdoor Gear Malaysia) which was both too heavy and too expensive for me. I also considered importing a True North pack but the Firefly pack was too heavy and the Fireball pack, although much lighter and with a nice 20 litre capacity, was quite an expensive option after the cost of importation. The one I ended up with is a non-branded (hand made) bag from Evil Bay and I am very pleased indeed with it. Ebay in the US has quite a range of these wildland style packs available and, obviously, you can save quite a bit of money if you’re prepared to buy second hand.
So, are these the best packs for the jungle? The truth is that it depends very much on where you are going and your own personal preference….if you are sticking to well used trails then there isn’t that much call for ducking and weaving through the undergrowth, nor will you have to do that much heavy clearing (so upper body mobility is less of an issue) and a rucksack will serve just as well and better distribute the weight on your back.
…but if you’re going off trail then the these packs really come into their own.
“Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity” (Seneca)
There is something strangely compelling about putting together an EDC (every-day-carry) pack, or a bug-out-bag (72 hour survival pack) and there are plenty of Youtube videos out there showing different people’s approaches. The trick, to my mind, is not so much what you put in them as what you leave out.
If your edc pack becomes too heavy and bulky and full of items that will only ever be used in an emergency, chances are that sooner or later you’ll end up leaving it at home.
With the purchase of a new lumbar pack I decided to redo my own day-pack/edc and this video covers what I’ll be taking into the jungle with me on day trips.
There are two key elements to pack: first are things you will use everyday (parang, knife, camera, cook pot etc) and the second are items that will help you out in the case of an unplanned overnight stay (or few!) in the jungle (food, shelter, whistle, first-aid etc). Ideally items will overlap – i.e. be useful on everyday trips and key to helping you out in an emergency (for example the tarp, parang, knife etc).
Another key aspect to your edc is that it should contain kit you are very used to using. For example, if you set up a tarp on a daily basis (for, say, a base camp on a day trip) you will find that it becomes a very quick and easy process if, on the other hand, you pack a tarp as an emergency shelter only and never practice using it then, should that unplanned overnight in the jungle occur, setting up the tarp will be yet another unwanted aggravation in an already aggravating situation.
When it comes to planning for an emergency scenario it is easy to get carried away and take in back-ups to back-ups (e.g. what if all three of my lighters fail?…I’d better take in an extra one) or items to cover every possible risk (your first-aid kit could fill the entire pack on this basis) and the jungle (particularly for those new to it) seems to encourage people to pack all sorts of stuff for all sorts of emergencies.
Why is this? Well, think of almost any TV programme on the jungle and they almost inevitably start with some very serious, deep voiced narrator informing you that “the jungle is one of the most hostile environments in the world”.
Is this true? My own view is that ‘aggravating‘ is a better adjective to describe the jungle than ‘hostile‘. The desert better deserves the term ‘hostile’: in the desert water is a problem, heat stroke (during the day) and hypothermia (at night) is a problem, finding food is a problem…
But the jungle? Water is usually easily found, food is there if you know where to find it, shade is plentiful and the nights not too cold, there’s plenty of firewood around, loads of cordage and materials for shelter building…
So why does this hostile environment image persist? Partly it’s because of disease (malaria, dengue and nasties in the water that can lay you out), partly it’s because of the thorny rattans and insects that can bite the unwary but mainly, I suspect, it’s because the jungle simply looks like a hostile place and the sense that you are part of a massive biosphere full to the brim of living organsims more skilled at jungle survival than you are.
But if you can see the jungle as a massive resource that can help you (rather than a hostile entity trying to wear you down) – you are much better placed to face an unplanned overnight stay or the alarm that accompanies that sinking feeling that you are well and truly lost.
The key to jungle survival (as is the case for most survival scenarios) is to keep a positive frame of mind…and this is where the jungle can sometimes get you down. Imagine you’re lost, wet, tired and you get snagged by yet another rattan, or bitten by another mozzi or tripped by another root and you get completely fed up…this is the jungle wearing you down and is the time when poor decisions are made. However if you stop and think about it you’re at no immediate risk….it’s just all got a bit aggravating.
This is the reason I take shelter to be an important element in an EDC. Could you do without that tarp and sack chair? Yes, you can (and I have): you can simply sleep on the forest floor and make a roof out of leaves. Will you be comfortable? Not really. But if, at the end of an aggravating day, you are swinging comfortably in your sack chair, off-the ground and out of reach of the leeches and bugs, and protected from the torrential rain by your tarp…well, things don’t look so bad after all.
Equally being able to ‘cover up’ (long sleeves, hat, net etc) can you give you a much needed ‘time-out’ from jungle insects that seem to have no respect at all for personal boundaries.
If I got lost in the jungle and was forced to camp overnight then my psychological state of mind the next morning would very much depend on how well I slept (and whether there was coffee in the morning or not!) and, with a positive frame of mind you are much better placed to make the right decisions on what to do next.
So, when it comes to putting together your own edc, try to imagine actually being in a situation where you had to camp overnight and decide which items you really, really, really need…. and then leave out those you don’t.
And bear in mind that for the Orang Asli an EDC is simply known as a parang!
“Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities, forget about your troubles and your strife” – (Baloo)
Last week I went in to the jungle for a night’s camping and, as darkness fell, realised that I had forgotten to bring in any food (although I had, curiously, remembered the beer) – it was annoying and I went to bed hungry, but not really that big a deal.
Forgetting or losing an item of kit can send some people into a spin, but the truth is that for most 2-3 day trips into the jungle you could easily survive without any of your kit (apart from your parang and compass) – you could live without food (although it’s not pleasant to do), water is easily found, there’s little danger of dying from hypothermia (although nights would be chilly) etc.
I remember Les Stound making the distinction between ‘enduring’ and ‘surviving’ – the former means simply sitting out the discomfort in hungry misery, the latter means taking control of the situation and satisfying the basic needs of shelter, fire, food and water (and beer!).
So, when packing for a short trip, it’s good to remind yourself that all the stuff your are taking is really there just to make life easier and more comfortable (rather than being absolutely necessary) but that the more of these items you take the less comfortable the trekking is going to be as the load on your back gets heavier.
I’ve had a few requests from people (mainly here in Malaysia) who want to start camping out in jungle but don’t know where to start in terms of kit to take in – this video shows what I use and hopefully will be of some help.
My advice for those starting out is not to overstretch yourself at the beginning and to test your equipment first. Once you’ve got your kit sorted, take it for a walk – it doesn’t matter where, round the park a few times will do (but try some hills too!) – just to check whether the weight is bearable and the rucksack comfortable. Then do a test run into the jungle – there’s no need to go far (you could go a hundred yards off the road and into the jungle) and try setting up camp and sorting out food, water, fire etc. For those in Malaysia you could visit Raman (the Orang Asli who lives at Gombak) and camp at his kebun for a night. By checking your equipment first you will quickly discover any problems and become familiar with its use.
This is particularly important when it comes to hammocks – they are, by far, the best shelter system to use in the jungle but they do take a little bit of skill to set up in a way that maximizes the comfort they can offer. Keeping your body at the right temperature in a hammock can also be difficult at first as the evenings are often warm and humid and the early mornings can be surprisingly chilly.
And then there’s the rain – your hammock shelter system must be 100% waterproof – no water creeping down the ropes, no splashback from the ground, no rain getting in from the sides – and the only way to be sure is to try it first in heavy rain. You could do this anywhere – in your back garden would do – but test it (and adjust it) before you go on an extended expedition into the jungle.
The tortoise that I relocated ambled off into the jungle, seemingly happy with the new environment that didn’t have the concrete storm drains that tank-trapped him where I found him (or, for the time being at least, the looming threat of development).
About 30 miles from where I live is the Malaysian Elephant Sanctuary that relocates elephants displaced by the seemingly unstoppable spread of oil palm plantations. It is a commendable effort to help these animals but, to some extent, it has the side-effect of making us feel better about a situation we should really be feeling extremely bad about. Elephants need space, it’s as simple as that, and relocating them (into unfamiliar areas where other elephants have already staked out their territory) is a sub-optimal solution.
It reminds me of the line in Apocalypse Now:
“It’s a way we had of living with ourselves: we cut them in half with a machine gun and then give them a band aid. It was a lie. And the more I saw them, the more I hated lies”.
The politics of the rain forest here in Malaysia are both complex (in terms of finding workable solutions) and very simple (in terms of projecting the outcome) – what is needed is a system of fully protected, federal, nationals parks linked together with corridors of forest that the animals can use to go between them. Unfortunately the state (rather than federal) system of forest control in Malaysia makes this difficult to achieve and the growing consumer demands of a growing, urbanized population mean that there is an ever increasing demand to clear the forest for our own ends – be it farms or oil palm plantations or housing developments.
Here in Malaysia I see some cause for hope in the changing attitudes of the younger generation towards the environment – but will the situation change fast enough to save the forests? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure, future generations will curse us for the mess that they will inherit: the result of selfish exploitation of the worlds resources that has gone on over the last 50 years and the unchecked population explosion.
As a future Churchillian might say of our generation: “Never in the field of human conduct have so many been left with so little, and with so much blame lying with so few”
The first survival shelter I made was a lean-to with a roof of palm fronds, beneath which I slept on the jungle floor. I was very grateful it didn’t rain that night as the roof had large gaps between the leaves and wouldn’t have kept out much more than the briefest of drizzles.
In comparison, and as anyone who has been in the jungle will tell you, getting into a hammock at night (with a fully waterproof roof and a mozzi net to protect you) is a wonderful feeling and makes any problems you have to face the next day seem more manageable.
Of course we can make a shelter and a raised platform with natural materials – rattans and vines for cordage, bamboo for a bed and palm leaves woven to form a roof – but it takes time and luck. Tribesmen on hunting trips tend to make a communal shelter – and, with many (skilled) hands, the work is quick to complete. Also, I imagine, they often know in advance where they are likely to camp and choose places where they know the needed materials are plentiful and near at hand.
As a lone traveller, lost in the jungle, making a shelter from purely natural materials is going to take quite a bit of time and you will probably need to search around for the materials you need (and may not find ones that are really suitable).
In the video below I show you how to make an emergency shelter system that is 100% waterproof, relatively comfortable, cheap and fits into a small belt pouch.
Even the system in the video takes a bit of time to put together. If you haven’t done it before I would allow 1-2 hours to be on the safe side, and it is always a good idea to stop and make camp early in the afternoon (not later than 3pm) so that you have plenty of time to get comfortable before it gets dark.
In the heat and humidity of the jungle it is a good general rule to reduce your expectations of how much and how quickly you can do things. If you think a journey is going to take 2 days, give yourself 3 days instead and then you can slow down and avoid getting tired and hassled by the inevitable unforeseen problems that the jungle throws at you.
