A Pillow Case Can Help You Survive

How Can A Pillowcase zhelp You Survive?

Read this (from a survivalist)....

If you have a choice between using ice or snow, always choose ice first. Ice will give you more water than snow of equal size. Also, ice is usually cleaner and may not require filtering before you use it. The big problem with snow is that small twigs, rocks, and other foreign objects may be in it. Ice, is usually from a stream, tree limb, or other water source and not on the ground.

Ok, now you have either ice or snow, how is the best way to melt it? I carry an old white (I do not recommend a different color because the dye may bleed) pillowcase with a very small hole in one corner of the sewed end. Make sure it is at the very tip. I then hang the pillowcase near but not over the fire. The heat from the fire will melt the ice or snow and as long as you have a container under the pillowcase it will catch the dripping liquid.

If you have to melt snow or ice in a container over a bed of coals, avoid scorching. If the container becomes too hot, the resulting water will taste burned. I usually move just a few red coals over and place my melting container on top of the coals. I constantly move the snow or ice to keep it from burning. Also, snow will have to be pushed down into the container occasionally.
When using snow that needs cleaning, I will filter the water through two layers of cloth to make sure it is clean of bits and pieces from the ground.

As I stated earlier, ice may not need filtering at all. Even though you have filtered the snow or ice, it is still not safe to drink as is. All water not from a known clean source should be purified with purification tables, or by boiling. Keep in mind that even clean looking streams, lakes and rivers, may not be a safe source of healthy drinking water. Always purify any water from unknown safe sources.

This was from :

http://www.simplesurvival.net/findwater.htm

What If This Was You and Your Spouse?

Looks like fun? But what if you are stuck in your car for 2 days in this lovely scene?

This couple survived 2 days in their car...good thing they did have water and enough fuel to keep them warm at times. Having some food would have surely helped to keep them warm.

Read on about their ordeal and vow to have a winter survival kit in your car.

Found: Missing Oregon couple return safe after getting stuck in snow on Christmas tree hunt
By The Oregonian

December 03, 2009, 10:37AM

They had three blankets, a case of bottled water, a winch, a jack, a cell phone, two maps and a GPS device. But when Keith and Jennifer Lee got stuck on Mount Ashland, near Medford, on Tuesday afternoon, none of the gear helped them get out. Until this morning.The couple went to the mountain for a Christmas tree and ended up trapped for two days, battling dehydration and trying to conserve fuel.

"We just got stuck in the snow and there was no way for us to turn around," 38-year-old Jennifer Lee said Thursday morning, hours after they escaped to safety. "It was a foot-and-a-half or two feet of snow. It was all the way up to the car door." The Lees were the subject of a search-and-rescue effort along icy mountain roads near the crest of the Cascade Range in southern Oregon.

While dozens of people searched on the ground, a helicopter circled the area, looking for the Lees’ neon blue Subaru. Searchers were preparing to head out again this morning when the Lees turned on the radio and heard about the search effort. Once they descended into cell phone range, Jennifer Lee got patched through to Jackson County Sheriff’s Office to report they were on their way home.

Although authorities didn’t know where the Lees were stuck, searchers planned today to scour the area where they were stranded. "We would have found them with the aircraft," said Jackson County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Rowland The Lees, who live in Medford with their four children, set out at about 9 a.m. Tuesday to get a silver tip Christmas tree.

Jennifer asked a friend to pick up the Lees’ eight-year-old daughter from school. The couple planned to be back later in the day. But the Subaru got stuck in the powdery snow about 1 p.m. And no matter what they tried, the couple couldn’t move their car. They rocked it back and forth, but the wheels were spinning. Keith Lee jacked the car up and put rocks under the wheels, but that didn’t help either.

It was only when the snow hardened to ice early Thursday that they were able to free the car. They were on the road by 6 a.m. "My husband got up this morning and said, ‘I am not spending another night out here, so let’s get it done," Jennifer Lee said. While they were stuck, the couple ran the heater in the car for 15 minutes every hour starting in the evening. On the first night, it wasn’t too cold so they didn’t start the heater until 7 or 8 p.m. But Wednesday night was colder so they had to turn on the heat around 5 p.m. Still, they tried to use fuel sparingly.

"We conserved as much fuel as we could in case we got unstuck," 36-year-old Keith Lee said. "I had at least two or three more days of gas." As soon as they got to Medford, they went to pick up their children and had a breakfast of biscuits, gravy, eggs and hash browns. While they were gone, the Lees drank about six or seven bottles of water but did not eat anything.

Both were in good shape, though Jennifer may have frostbite.Around midnight on their first night, the Lees talked about what would happen if they were never found. But they never lost hope. "I knew eventually we would get out of there," Keith Lee said. "I just prayed a lot, " Jennifer said. "I have Jesus in my heart and my husband is a great outdoorsman. I knew between the two of them I couldn’t fail."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/search_on_for_missing_christma.html