Landrock Survival Training Newsletter #1

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to the first Landrock Survival Training Newsletter. Please forgive the very 'bland' nature of this first one. We are putting together our all-singing, all dancing newsletter to be sent out soon enough but wanted to get out there as soon as we could and make the most of the fantastic (albeit pretty unseasonal and slightly worrying) weather that we are enjoying at this time.

After a year settling in to the beautiful Devon countryside after a move from some equalling tranquil Hampshire woodlands, Landrock Survival Training is now fit and raring to go.

Taking in some of the most breath-taking scenery in the UK, LST now conducts demanding survival courses across Dartmoor as well as Introduction and Novice courses within a purpose-built setting close to Woodbury Common. Our instructors (John and Antony) are also getting out and about to private sessions throughout southern UK and spreading the survival word.

Take a look at the website at http://www.landrock-training.com for details of courses that we have carried out and those still to come. In fact, we are running a COMPETITION right now for a FREE Wilderness Weekend course on the weekend of 11/12 June, to be held here in East Devon. To enter the competition, please visit the site and enter your details on the Contact page. Of course, if you have already undertaken one of our courses, please feel free to enter or pass on the details to someone else who might want to give it a go.

We had taken a break from our Hampshire site for a while but I am pleased to say that we should be back up and running there by September this year. From then on we should be working hard to bring regular courses to both the Lords Wood (Hants) site and to our sites in Devon.

So what should you expect from these newsletters in future? Hopefully, a mix of practical survival skills for you to take away, motivating stories of heroic (and not so heroic) survival as well as competitions and opinion on world events that might just affect you and I.

All the best for whatever the future holds and I hope to see you soon!

John


John Hayward
Instructor
Landrock Survival Training
http://www.landrock-training.com

Survival Skill: Water Purification

Water Filtration and Purification


First, keep in mind that if you suspect the water has ANY chemical contamination then it must be discarded immediately. This includes surface run-off from a farm, oil, sewage.....

Second, it must be a 'freshwater' source, not sea water. (I'll come to that later).

You are looking to perform two actions to make water potable. The first is filtration, the second is purification. Filtration is to remove anything that makes the water not look like pure water (in simple terms). Suspensions, sediments, floaters, anything that makes it cloudy....anything that isn't actually 'dissolved'.

To make a simple yet effective filter, construct the following:

- Find a 2lt coke bottle (with lid!), pierce a hole in the lid and screw on.
- Cut the base of the bottle away. (keep the bit you've chopped off and use it as a collection device!)
- place a screwed up piece of tight woven cotton (denim works) tight in to the lid of the upturned bottle. Keep the bottle upturned now.
- Fill about 2 inches with wood ash.
- Fill about 2 inches with small charcoal.
- Fill about 2 inches with larger charcoal.
- Fill about 2 inches with sand.
- Fill about 1 inch with pebbles.
- Fill the rest with Sphagnam Moss / clean cotton clothing.

With the ingredients here, you will remove anything right down in to the larger micron-size particles. Pass your water through a number of times until you see clear water come through.

This is NOT yet ready. You may still have bacteria/viruses present in the water.

Next, (if you have them), add a PuriTab, according to its specific instructions.

Finally, the ol' "rolling boil" for 5-10 minutes. Be careful not to actually boil too much - you don't want your water evaporating away.


The puritab option is an optional extra there but one I would definitely advocate.


So, seawater. There are two options here and both entail evaporation and distillation.

The simplest method that I have found for this is a decent solar-still.

- Dig a shallow hole in the ground (somewhere in direct sunlight)
- Place a container with your seawater (or other water source) at the bottom of the hole.
- Place an empty container inside the first container - being sure that the water does not spill in to your new container.
- Cover your hole with a sheet of clear plastic and weigh it down around the edges.
- Place a pebble in the middle of the sheet, directly over the second (empty) container.
- Leave for a while.

When you come back, you 'should' find that the water from the first container has evaporated, condensed on the underside of the plastic sheet and has run off in to the second container. You risk any water collected in your pot evaporating away too. It's not particularly efficient but it used the least resources.

A second method requires a metal container with a lid,a 2 foot piece of hose and a collection container.

- Pierce the lid of the container and instert one end of the hose.
- Fill any gaps around the hose-entrance with glue, pine resin (mixed with ash) or wax.
- Fill container with lid and replace lid (with hose now attached).
- Boil water over a fire.
- Steam from the water will travel along the hose, cooling as it does so and collecting as water at the far end in to the collection container.

If steam comes out of the hose instead of water, look for a method of cooling the hose, such as covering it in a layer of cold soil/mud.


So why do we not use chemically contaminated water? The problem is that firstly, you cannot filter out chemicals. Secondly, the boiling won't kill the chemicals (it may actually exacerbate their effects!). Finally, many chemicals have boiling points much lower than water - the solar still will cause the chemicals to evaporate and condense in to your container before the water.

Survival Skill: Route Cards

Route Cards



A route card is a simple and structured way of breaking your route down in to manageable chunks, providing details of distances, bearings, grid references, and what to expect / see along the way.



By using a route card you negate the need for constant mapchecks, thus speeding up your movement along the route.



A well-prepared route card always you to visualise the route without having conducted a rehearsal. Once a rehearsal has been conducted, further details can be added to enhance it. A route card gives you a 'safety net' when you are tired / stressed / cold.



A sign of a good route card is to be able to give it to someone else, without a map, and for them to be able to follow it to the end.



How to make a Route Card



Please see the attached example of one I quickly prepared.

1. On a map, find the start point (A) and the end point (Z).
   
2. Draw your route between the two. I shall have to assume that you have some prior knowledge of route planning (am happy to cover that in a later example if necessary).
   
3. Break the route down in to 'legs'. These can be based on time, prominent features, difficulty, whatever you deem fit. Do not allow the legs to be any further than 1km unless you are following the same prominent path for 25km, for example. Even then, break it down for breaks.
   
4. On your table (see example) start with the grid of the beginning of the leg, the distance from A to B (end of first leg) and grid of B.
   
5. Using the map, carefully study the route from A to B. Note everything that the map tells you - every twist and turn (1:25000 maps are better for this although 1:50000 is adequate). Note prominent buildings, structures, roads, permanent features first. Note contours, ascent and descent.
   
6. Also note what you can see at a distance and at what bearing - be aware that the weather may proclude you from seeing these things on the day - they are just an aid.
   
7. Note semi-permanent features such as woodblocks, dirt tracks, bridleways, etc - these may change over time and should not be relied upon.
   
8. In the remarks column, note the state of the leg and whether or not it is suitable for vehs/foot.
   

Survival Skill: Edibility Test

The Ediblity Test

There may come a time when you are so desperate for food that you begin looking to the greenery around you. Many edible plants are well-known and easily foraged. We know from experience what we can and can't eat. If we don't know, we look to books and the internet.

So what happens when we're in unfamiliar surrounds with no comms?

You need a way to test that a plant is not-poisonous. What is called the 'Edibility Test' should probably be called the 'not-poisonous test' because while a plant may not kill you, it may not provide any nutritional benefit either.

However, what I'll write here is a method to check that what you are looking at is fit for consumption.


There are a few ground rules:

1. Make sure there is enough of the plant to sustain you first. This is a long test and you need to ensure it's worth the wait!

2. You are to consume no food or water for 8 hours.

3. This does NOT work on Fungi. There is NO sure-fire test for Fungi.


Contact / Prepare / Taste

1. Eat / drink nothing for 8 hours.

2. Crush the part of the plant that you wish to eat, rub on sensitive part of the body such as underside of the wrist or inside the elbow. Wait for 15 minutes. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

3. Crush the same part of the plant and touch it to the side of the mouth. Wait for 15 mins. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

4. Prepare the same part of the plant in a way that you would want to eat it; boil it, wave it over a fire, roast it, etc... or just leave it raw. The point here is that cooking can change the properties of the plant.

5. Place your sample in your mouth, do not chew, wait for 15 mins. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

6. Place a fresh sample in your mouth and chew for 5 mins. Do not swallow. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

7. Place a fresh sample in your mouth, chew it and swallow it. Wait 8 hours.

If, after all of this time (almost 17 hrs), there is no reaction then collect it, prepare it and eat it.


I repeat though, this DOES NOT work for Fungi. There is NO test for Fungi.

BRICS Said to Seek End to West’s Monopoly on Leadership of World Bank, IMF

In my inbox this morning I came across an article (see below). It outlines the staging of a meeting between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (emerging financial markets) with a view to pressurising the IMF in to opening up their leadership and heirarchy to increased representation from developing and emerging nations. On various forums discussing this, I found some 'authoritative' articles explaining how this was a bad thing, how it would result in super-power struggles and about how it is just an example of China trying to take the place of the USA as the global dominant super-power, resulting in another cold-car. Without going in to the 3 facets that make up a 'power' (Economic, Political & Military), I have outlined my views below.

The article can be found at:
BRICS Said to Seek End to West’s Monopoly on Leadership of World Bank, IMF
By Andre Soliani - Apr 13, 2011


Emerging nations have been pushing on the door of the US and Europe in financial terms for a very long time. The assessment made above about the IMF effectively 'neutering' their economic development is a valid point and only serves to enhance the global requirement for BRIC even further. The economic super-powers (USA and EU) have stagnated. The recession we are still suffering from is as a direct result of massive interdependence between too few markets; a collapse of one pillar brings down the whole house. What we need is a bigger network with other pillars to fall back on in the event of a shock in one area. Opening up markets and allowing ermerging nations to flourish can only be a good thing. With strong economies comes balance, not war. The Cold-War was a result of mistrust and direct competition. Mans' natural wariness and greed means that we only share money with people we trust. If we open up markets and allow other nations to come to the fore then we enhance that trust globally. With economic ties there is less likely to be direct 'super-power' competition in the way of the cold-war; you don't fight the people who hold your money. China already know this. Their underwriting of vast quantities of US debt over the last 5 years means that they are secure in most senses of the word. It also brought global stability. The USA was able to reinforce its economy at short notice and China will make money on the interest for the money it has loaned. There won't be a kaboom. China isn't trying to impose itself as a super-power to rival the USA. The world will keep turning and BRIC nations coming to the fore will only serve to open up previously untapped resources and markets.

The question for the UK in an expanding global market is.....what can we offer?

Survival Training Tips

As I go along with my rants and diatribe I also hope to add in a few survival training tips and ideas.


I'll start with giving a big-up to a recent Wild Foods Foraging course that I went on in South Devon.
Courtesy of Robin Harford at EatWeeds.co.uk we took a 2 hr walk through the South East Devon countryside and were introduced to over 25 plants that on any other day we would have walked past. Having sampled each one and been told how to prepare / use each one for different functions, I now have a brand new, free, larder to choose from. While green, environmentally friendly and everything tree-hugging, it is also a fantastic way to genuinely supplement your diet in these financially austere times. For the cost of a lunch in Exeter I am now able to forage and add to the self-sustainability that we should all be looking towards.

And so it begins....

Peak Oil, Rising Floodwaters, Global Food Shortages, "the Libyans!", Space Piracy and the Zombie Apocalypse....let's face it, the world is going to change. How prepared are you for what is to come? Have you even thought about it? Having read through pages and pages of forums and blogs, I've decided to write my own. Far from being a naysayer and doom-mongering pleb, I intend pushing out my own opinion based on at least some level of analysis and common sense. Having spent a great deal of time rising through the military ranks and having had jobs across the globe in all manner of locations, I hope to bring some sense of decorum to some of the wilder views and end of the world visions out there. There are so many survivalist forums out there 'promoting' TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as We Know It) with some pretty horrifying scare stories; tales of radiation from Japan threatening farming in the UK, how the Libyan diaspora within the UK is the next big terrorist threat because of our actions overseas, even claims that yellowstone is about to erupt and engulf the earth in clouds of rock and debris. Whatever the next 'big thing', I aim to take it apart and just lend a calming word. If there is an issue that you would like to be looked at, please let me know. It's true though, Zombies will get you. Landrock Survival Training