How to Start a Fire in the Rainforest
Staying on a handcrafted bed created from materials found in nature is unlikely to be a very pleasant experience. However, the presence of a fire may be the difference between a few hours of much-needed rest and a night spent tossing and turning.
Nighttime in the jungle might be wet and chilly, but it’s also when many of the forest’s insects and predators come to life, making it a very active time of day. Despite the fact that most insects are drawn to light, the smoke from a fire will repel them.
Larger animals will be deterred by the flames of the campfire.
It goes without saying that fires are necessary in any survival scenario since they provide a way of cooking food and purifying water acquired from rivers or streams. In a forest, you may take use of the abundant supply of extremely flammable bamboo to make a quick and simple fire.
Keep an eye out for dried sections of bamboo that have fallen to the ground, which should be a light tan shade rather than a dark green.
You’ll need a knife to scrape shavings off the bamboo’s skin, which will be used as kindling later on. The center of the plant will serve as both tinder and fuel, and friction will provide the spark required to ignite any fire.
It should only take around twenty strokes of your scored bamboo halves (as shown in the figure) to generate smoke after you’ve prepared your ingredients.
Blowing on the kindling or waving your hand over it will transform the smoke into a spark.
It is important to note that bamboo, an invasive plant that is one of the rainforest’s most abundant gifts, may be used as a fishing spear (see page 32), a sleeping surface (see page 34), a cooking vessel, or a food storage container, among many other survival applications.
Scavenge and spearfish are two types of fish. Rainforest Survival Food
In a rainforest, there are as many different ways to become sick as there are different sources of food in this diverse and abundant ecosystem.
In addition to the danger of mosquito-borne tropical diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and the Zika virus, food-borne illnesses such as trichinosis, salmonellosis, and leptospirosis are just as frequent in a rainforest as they are in any other natural habitat.
If you are unable to prepare your meal, look for fish and insects such as worms, grubs, and termites. These will still be safest if cooked, but they may still be eaten raw since the parasites they tend to carry are typically less dangerous than those carried by mammals or reptiles. They are also high in protein as well as the vital fats and minerals required for human survival.
Avoid roaches, which are well-known disease vectors, as well as vividly colored insects, which have a good potential of being dangerous. While snakes, frogs, and other reptiles are abundant, they may be contaminated with salmonella and other germs and must be cooked to ensure safety (see pages 60 and 70).
Snails, which are also widespread in the environment, have a penchant for consuming toxic plants.
Depending on your beginning condition and weight, you may be able to go without meals for up to two months.
However, in order to avoid falling into a condition of semi-starvation that will make it hard for you to find your way out of the wilderness, you should aim to ingest around two thousand calories every day. This equates to around 1.5 pounds of insects, 2 to 3 pounds of fish, or a mix of the two.
To catch fish with a spear carved out of bamboo (as shown in the illustration), wade into shallow waterways and maintain complete stillness. If you do not show yourself as a predator, fish will approach you.
In quiet water, put blades of grass or other bits of natural trash on the surface when you see fish approaching; they will mistake the detritus for bugs and come up to bite.
Construct a Bamboo Hammock
It is the last place anybody wants to be as the sun sets and the forest’s critters come out to feed. This includes everything from centipedes and spiders to snakes, bats, deer, and the apex predators, the huge cats who rule over them all.
Having a warm body on the forest floor makes you an attractive prey for predators of all sizes.
That’s why the best temporary shelter in a jungle setting is a nylon hammock in the manner of a cocoon (see page 25), which elevates the sleeper off the ground. Designed for jungle circumstances, an adventure hammock is small, compact, and simple to erect.
It may be readily attached from tree to tree and draped with protective mosquito netting, which is suspended from a cable only a few feet above it. Although it is unlikely, if your main hammock is ripped (which is a possibility given the abundance of spiky plant life in the vicinity), you may construct a rapid and remarkably sturdy replica using only one piece of bamboo stalk.
Starting early in the day will allow you to finish your shelter before the sun sets, since the forest’s dense canopy will shroud the jungle in darkness long before the sun does. Make use of the plant’s distinctive flexibility by separating a single shoot into long horizontal lines that are weaved through with shorter lengths from the same shoot. This will give you more strength and more flexibility (see illustration).
Choosing a shoot that is two to three feet longer than your height will result in robust knobs that can be linked to trees with pieces of vine, and the resultant structure will spread out to absorb the weight of your body.
Sleeping in a suspended posture exposes you to the movement of the air around you. It is recommended that you place loose brush between your hammock and your body to provide additional insulation if the overnight atmosphere is chilly, as described above.
None of these techniques will ensure a restful night’s sleep, but they will increase your chances of waking up to another beautiful dawn.
Getting Away From a Wild Boar Attack
Do you think you’ll come across a wild boar? Given that the species wanders over a larger region than nearly any other mammal on the planet, the odds of seeing one are higher than you may expect.
Attacks by wild boars on people are very rare, and the tusked animal is more likely to flee than to charge. When startled, particularly if accompanied by its piglets, this forefather of domesticated pigs becomes a lot less sociable than your usual farm animal.
In addition, it is much quicker.
A variety of forest types throughout multiple continents, as well as suburban regions across the globe, are home to these creatures, which are distinguished by their sharp tusks, strong snouts, and big, bony skulls. In order to dig for food, the wild pigs utilize these tools.
They also employ these dangerous weapons to defend themselves against predators and to defend their territory. When provoked, the monsters are infamously fierce, with teeth that can readily crush bone and gigantic, armored forebodies that render them resistant to rounds fired from a standard-issue handgun, according to mythology. (A.308 rifle round would be a preferable option.)
If you see a wild boar approaching from a distance, get out of its way. Get to a higher elevation if the animal is nearby—climb a tree, a vehicle, or a huge rock if possible. You will not be able to outrun a wild boar if you are charged by one, which can move at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. You may, however, take advantage of the creature’s bulk and lack of agility by performing last-minute sidesteps in front of it.
Fight back as a last option. Aim to shoot or stab the animal in the face, between its shoulder blades, in its belly, or in its axillary nodes, which are located directly under its front legs. Do not allow the animal to bring the battle to the ground—at all costs, retain your height advantage.