How to make homemade tear gas.
Police use tear gas to maintain control of crowds or cause them to disperse. For citizen survival scenarios, you can use tear gas to ward off enemies, disengage dangerous animals, or to make a location temporarily inhabitable by people. Commercial forms of tear gas are often designated CN (chloroacetophenone) or…
Gunshots wounds and stopping power – myth vs. fact regarding bullet impacts will surprise you
Forget what you see on TV. The reality of gunshot wounds and terminal (death inducing) gunshot injuries is remarkably different from what is shown in the movies where the gunman appears to have an unlimited supply of bullets, gunshots knock the enemy off their feet, and gunshot victims make long,…
How to make a homemade blowgun and darts
About blowguns Many cultures have utilized the blowgun as a tool to capture or stun wildlife or as a weapon to defend their tribes. Various indigenous peoples of South East Asia, the Amazon and Guiana regions of South America, and Guatemala in Central America are best known for its use.…
How to make gunpowder in the wild (all it takes is charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate)
In a survival situation, primitive tools will get you by but for maximum survivability, you need mechanical weapons and explosives – and nothing beats the time-tested combustive mixture – gunpowder. Gunpowder is the earliest known chemical explosive. It burns fast (flash fast) and if placed inside a sealed container…
How to make Napalm (recipe for simple homemade napalm)
Napalm is the generic name for the mixture of a flammable petroleum substance, typically diesel gasoline, with a thickening or gelling agent to give the fiery substance “sticky” properties. Napalm-like fiery substances have been used since early Greek times for war purposes (they called it "sticky fire"). Napalm as…
How to make a powerful survival bow out of cheap PVC pipe
There are a couple of ways to make a PVC bow. In a pinch, you can simply take a 4-6 foot piece of PVC pipe, notch the ends, and string with paracord at a high enough tension to bend the bow limbs (which in physics talk, is storing elastic potential…
How to make arrows in the wild
Wood for arrow shafts Making arrows while in the wild is not difficult (although getting the wood shafts straight and keeping them straight is an age-old problem). To begin, collect shoots to use for the shafts (slightly dried wood is better than green wood). Dogwood makes the best shafts, but…
How to build a Trebuchet (Catapult)
A Trebuchet (pronounced treb-oo-shay) is a medieval siege engine that transfers gravitational energy into kinetic energy – similar to a playground see-saw. In ancient times, it was used to launch (throw) projectiles including boulders, dead horses, and diseased bodies into or over castle walls to soften the defenses in preparation…
How to make a Bola (rocks on string weapon)
The bola is made from weights (typically heavy rocks) on the ends of interconnected cords. It is especially effective for capturing running game or low-flying fowl in a flock and does so by entangling their legs. Most bolas have two or three stones of equal weight (some bolas as been…
Bow and Arrows – how to make and use bow and arrows in the wild
Components of a Bow A bow consists of two elastic limb ends, traditionally made from wood, connected by a string. By pulling the string backwards, the archer exerts compressive force on the string facing section, or back. The stored energy is later released putting an arrow into flight. The curved…
Throwing Sticks – how to make and use a throwing stick.
One of the earliest weapons used by humans, the throwing stick, commonly known as the rabbit stick (or throwing club, kylie, or boomerang), is very effective against small game (squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits). The rabbit stick itself is a blunt stick or wooden club, straight or naturally curved at about…
Spears – how to make a spear in a wilderness survival situation.
Bladed Spear To make a bladed spear, use the same procedures to make the blade that you used to make a knife blade. Flint, obsidian, iron,or bone can be used for a spearhead. If possible, modify the normal knife blade construction by adding barbs to the base of the blade. …
Knives – their components, blade types, and how to use for survival.
In a survival scenario, a knife is by far your most important tool. A knife has four basic functions. It can puncture, slash or chop, cut, and scrape. A knife is also an invaluable tool used to construct other survival items. If you find yourself in a survival situation without…
Clubs in the Wilderness – how to make a deadly club in a survival situation.
A club, also known as cudgel, baton, mace, nightstick or bludgeon, is essentially a short stick. You hold clubs and most are small enough to swing with one hand. Although they are not thrown as you would a throwing stick, the club can extend your area of defense beyond your…
