Surviving in the Desert-My Experience and Homemade Remedies

Desert Survival- My Experiences, Homemade and healthy recipes you can use…

Become Self Sufficient and Penny Wise Using Simple Remedies

If television is a reflection of our society, we are doomed!–The Poor Man

When I was a young man I attended Arizona State University studying anthropology (especially the cultural perspectives of how and why people behave as they do before switching to Mass Communications).

I had recently been discharged from the Navy and my primary source of Prepper knowledge back then was my military experience and the years I had spent in the Boy Scouts. To this day, I still feel the BSA manual is one of the best overall handbooks around.

I spent a lot of time by myself alone (on one occasion, I did take along a classmate, a Navajo woman whose family lived nearby) in the desert looking for Native American relics (now pretty much an illegal endeavor). I owned an old pickup truck with a camper shell in which I often rolled out a sleeping bag and slept in at night. If it was too hot, I’d sleep out on the desert floor. I would head up to Montezuma’s Castle and Well, north of Phoenix. It was an old cliff dwelling site.

I always carried a knife and a .38 along with my other supplies. I never used the pistol but was happy to have it along on those rare occasions when some drifty SOB would come along and poke their nose into my business. I am one of those who does not mind being alone, indeed, I often prefer it over the company of some humans.

Now that I’m stuck in the winter hinterlands of Michigan, I miss Arizona’s temperate climate and cheaper cost of living!

A number of things I learned along the way about desert survival are worth sharing…

• Always carry a lot of water and/or know where to get some
• Always carry a first aid kit and chapstick
• Canned goods weigh a lot so either use freeze dried or be prepared to hunt small game including snake (tastes like chicken, really)
• A compass is a handy thing to bring along
• A small pebble placed in your mouth will keep you from getting too thirsty
• You can get liquid and even eat parts of several kinds of cacti
• Dig a hole and bury your waste
• Wear a hat
• Don’t sleep in a wash or gulley – a surprise deluge could drown your butt
• Always empty out your boots and sleeping bag before retiring and upon waking – gets rid of those scorpions and other critters
• Always let someone know where you’ll be – this was pre-cell phone and GPS days
• Rattlesnake does taste like chicken!

Needless to say, the earlier you get a start, the cooler it is and it’s a good idea to take a break during the hottest part of the day and find some shade or make your own. Resume activity or make a camp around sunset.

A few issues back I wrote of the many beneficial uses for Tea Tree Oil. Find more uses and DIY, homemade penny-pinching ideas in today’s Poor Man issue:

http://poormansurvivorblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/desert-survival-my-experience-plus.html