Water, the way we live, without it we die. Water as most everyone knows should be stored. The question always is how much? My answer is you cannot have enough.

Forget the creeks, and streams, and the rivers, and you have your own well. All of those can have problems for any number of reasons. Creeks can change course as can a river and a stream. So contaminated you cannot use them. I have seen several wells dry up after an earthquake, it is dry, just like that.
You might not be able to get to the creek or whatever for a lot of reasons.

Right now how much water do you have? Right now! 20 gallons?
50 gallons?… Read More

After my “How To Survive Anywhere” book was published, a few acquaintances criticized me for the inclusion of what they perceived to be “non-survival” issues in the last chapter, which I called “What is Survival?” For example, I included USC basketball coach Wooden’s famous pyramid of success, including such “old fashioned” principles as the Ten Commandments.

My perspective is that we can all master Boy Scout skills, and we should. In addition, we should all strive to become better human beings, and become an asset to our family, community and nation. This requires discipline, patience, and study.

I am not a pessimist. It has long seemed that our society has lost its grounding, lost its ability to think, and… Read More

Samuel Thayer has written a wonderful book, “The Forager’s Harvest”. I can not say enough good things about this book.

That being said, on his website, Samuel has a wonderful article on black nightshade.

In that article, Samuel’s experience and research is congruent to what we here at Dirttime feel about this plant. It is amazing how many times we’ve been assaulted by different folks for teaching that indeed it is edible. Personally, I’ve been eating the ripe berries of this delectable plant for over a decade. The others here at Dirttime for longer than that.

It is a welcome breath of fresh air for someone to finally do all the research and gather as much data as possible and… Read More

I get a lot of questions in regard to the best way to package a kit, and my first question is always, “How do you plan to carry it.”

I always teach that you don’t have to remember component groups, just those activities that you will have to perform in a survival situation.  Activities such as starting a fire, building a shelter, navigating back to civilization, or signaling for help.  If you include items in your kit to perform these activities, you will be covered.

When it comes to packaging you kit, you need to have an idea of how you will carry it.  After all, if you aren’t carrying it, it won’t do you much good.  Therefore, you… Read More

The shelf life of canned goods is a question that comes up a lot.
The shelf life is determined by the manufacture, a time frame is set for the best freshness and the nutritional value the goods may have.
The truth is the nutrition levels drop from the date of the canning. , most of the time we do not know what that date is.
Heat and cold will affect the quality, and we do not know what those extremes may or may not have been in the shipping to the location where you buy the product.
Boxed foods you can tell by looking at them, besides the date they may have on the box. The contents… Read More

VINEGAR OF FOUR THIEVES

Some time ago, I read an interesting story in a past issue of the Forest Voice, newsletter of the Forest Preservation Society of Southern California.

It seems that some centuries ago during an outbreak of bubonic plague in France, four thieves managed to loot the empty plague-ridden homes without contracting the dreaded plague. That immediately caught my attention, since our society is probably ripe for such an outbreak of disease, for a variety of reasons. If a widespread outbreak of plague were to erupt here in Los Angeles — or anywhere in the U.S. for that matter — would we realistically be able to rely on doctors and hospitals? Some Middle Ages accounts tell us that… Read More

It is  with great pleasure we announce the first annual dirttime scholarship recipient, Ryan Davis.

Here’s a little background as quoted from John McCann

“When I returned from the 2nd Annual Pathfinder Gathering, one of my responsibilities as a partner in Dirttime.com was to report back to the other partners in regard to my experience.  I kept going back to a person that so impressed me in regard to the true survivor mentality.  A person who looks past adversity and survives because they adapt to their environment and forge ahead with a “can do” attitude.

During the event, I observed this person baton wood, start fires, work with various knives, attend classes (even when getting to them was difficult), test… Read More

Dirttime is pleased to announce DT11

Dirttime events are the premiere events of the year where primitive, traditional and modern skills unite to give you a week long event filled with education, fun, and exciting times.

Dirttime is an event that attracts some of the premiere subject matter experts in the country who are willing to share and spend time teaching skills that can help you stay alive in a survival situation.

Our events attract individuals and families from all walks of life. When it comes to dirttime, everyone has fun.

For the last three years, Dirttime has been a complete sellout event. And, in celebration of that, we are promising to make Dirttime11 our best event yet, with some… Read More

Most people who write about solar stills can be divided into two camps.   Proponents and opponents.

The first group usually are those that talk about the in ground solar still, borrow diagrams from old military manuals, and tout their effectiveness.  Many of these people have never built one.

The second group, usually have built one, and not only have determined they don’t work very well, but you lose more water from your body through sweating, than you gain from the still.

However, the Transpiration Bag IS a solar still and IS an effective way to collect water, with very little effort on your part!  All you have to do is carry some large, clear plastic bags and a small amount… Read More

Setting goals seems to be a common theme that involves everything from your family to your job, to a vacation to saving money, etc.
Setting goals seems to pop up all the time in the most unlikely places.
Setting goals also seems to be something we can set to one side in the excitement of discovering a new hobby, a new interest or a sudden awarness of the world around us.

Anyone who is interested survival is assaluted with information, from every corner and faction. That guy is an idiot, that one is a jerk, that one doesnt really know what he is doing, that one is too old, that one is too young, that really has no… Read More