The 5 P's

The holidays are over and I hope everyone will have a great New Year. 

The next Primitive Skills 101 will be April 4, 2020   www.stevepullinger.com/primitive-survival-skills-101.html

The 5 P's.  I was at a funeral recently and the deceased used that mantra to live by. The 5 P's were Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. For survival purposes I'm subbing Planning with Practice. Practice is so important in any survival skill. If you were caught in an outdoor emergency could you start a fire in wet conditions ?  Would you know what it took ( work/materials ) to build a shelter ??  An emergency is no time to learn a new skill !!  Whether its survival, sports or the military, muscle memory/extensive practice is what will make you proficient. So when the next rain comes, go out with matches/bow drill or whatever method you like and try starting a fire. When I take a hike I am constantly looking for shelter, seeing what edibles are available, and where I could find water. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my hikes just like everyone else, but I try to keep my survival awareness going at all times. Having said that, my wife and I hike a section of the AT every New Year's day. This year I found several good natural shelters, plenty of materials for friction fire, a few edible plants, and a few edible trees. I probably would not have gone to bed on a full stomach, but there was enough food to keep me going; mid winter is a hard time to forage. 

Every new blog I want to discuss some of my favorite trees and plants. This month's blog will cover the Basswood tree and Cattails. The Basswood tree has so many uses. For me, it is by far my favorite wood for friction fire. The inner bark is a good winter survival food, the leaves and flowers are edible  in the spring and summer. Honey bees love the trees flowers and make good amounts of honey from it. Its bark makes usable cordage and its wood was used for the first prosthetics. In Virginia you will find the Basswood from the western Piedmont to the West Va. line. Here's a link for more Basswood info.   willowhavenoutdoor.com/featured-wilderness-survival-blog-entries/survival-trees-basswood-amazing-survival-resources-from-the-basswood-tree/   

The Cattail plant is the 'Golden Corral' of plants, it has edible parts all year long, which makes it such a valuable survival food source. The cattail was not only survival food for Native Americans, it was a staple. Syracuse U. did a study and found that cattails have 9X more food per acre than potatoes. There are many uses for its stalks, leaves and seed heads. It purifies water and is cover for wildlife. The cattail is very widespread across Virginia. Enclosed is a good link to cattails. www.askaprepper.com/delicious-recipes-using-cattails-supermarket-swamp/     

Learn to ID the trees and plants and then find out what each is good for. I will cover the basic trees and plants in my 101 workshops. 

Thanks for reading and keep up the practice !!

   



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