Collecting dew is a rather simple process, however there are a few guidelines that need to be followed if you plan on using this method:

Guidelines for Collecting Dew

Do not collect dew in these circumstances:

• On or near poisonous plants
• On plants or objects that are chemically treated or sprayed
• In areas where obvious animal defecation has taken place
• Near roadsides

How to Collect Dew

Dew collection requires only three steps:

Step 1: Find an area with a good amount of dew

The best time to gather dew is in the early morning before the sun has touched your collection area. My favorite areas are fields and untreated lawns. Plants with large leaves like grape or burdock also work fairly well.

Step 2: Wipe up the dew with an absorbent material

The basic way to collect dew is to take an absorbent material such as a cotton t-shirt, lightweight towel, rag, or my favorite: a ShamWow, and wipe it over grass, boulders, or other objects:

This also works for post rain, but there are better ways to collect rain water.

Step 3: Wring out the dew

Next, just wring it out into some container (or your mouth):

Dew Collections Yields and Filtering

You can get quite a lot of dew in a short time. For example, I was able to fill this 16oz glass with dew water in about 3 minutes. That equates to about a gallon of water in a half-hour’s time period! And although it is a bit cloudy, it’s quite potable.

Keep in mind that although dew is really distilled water, if you have a water filter available or at least can boil it, by all means make sure you do it. There is still a chance that you could collect the due from an area where an animal infected with Giardia or another illness has defecated.

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

Milkweed is one of those plants that I have fond memories for. As a young boy I used to love opening the late summer seed pods to feel the silky soft down inside and watch the wind catch it as I would toss one after the other in the air. I’m sure I was the bane of the nearby farmer since a good amount of the seed would land on his fields.

In my late teens and early 20s, when I was big into practicing wilderness survival skills, I would often use the outer fibers on the stalk to make a serviceable cordage (I still enjoy doing this) and I learned to use the seed down but it wasn’t until I was a bit older that I learned how wonderful this plant is as a wild edible.

I always knew it was edible, however I never bothered trying it since all the books I had read on the plant indicated that to render this plant palatable, it required multiple (three or more) boilings in order to remove the toxins and “bitter” taste. Given that there were so many other wild plants I enjoyed eating, I never bothered with this one. This all changed when I read Samuel Thayer’s book called The Forager’s Harvest.

Through his own experiences, Samuel learned that many of the wild-foods books that are out there were just parroting what others were saying, which is that Milkweed is a very bitter plant that requires multiple boilings to get rid of. This appears not to be the case. I was also able to confirm this (by trying milkweed raw) that it is not bitter at all, but is in fact slightly sweet. Given this new perspective, I was excited to learn about how to prepare and eat this plant. Here’s how to do just that:

How to Identify Common Milkweed

The first step before eating any wild edible is to positively identify it. Since Common Milkweed has some poisonous look-alikes (dogbane and butterfly-weed), it’s very important you learn to positively identify this plant before attempting to consume it. Here are some key items to look for in order to positively identify Common Milkweed:

	Leaves Opposite: Leaves grow in opposite pairs along the stalk. Generally are 4-9 inches (10-23 cm) long and 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) wide. Oblong or ovate in shape with smooth margins. Thick, meaty leaves — not succulent.
	Velvet “fuzz”: (hard to see in the picture) The entire plant is covered in a light pubescence giving it a soft, velvety feel (dogbane on the other hand lacks this throughout the plant).
	Exudes Latex when Broken: If you break the leaves, petioles, or stalk it will exude a large amount of white, milky latex.
	Flavor is Slightly Sweet: If a small tongue-taste reveals that the plant is bitter, it is not Common Milkweed!

How to Eat Common Milkweed

Variety of Foods in Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed is similar to cattail in that there is such a variety of different foods to eat during the various seasons (except winter)t. The parts of the plant that are all delicious are the following:

• Shoots and new growth stalks
• Young leaves
• Flower buds and flowers
• Immature seed pods and silk

In the following picture you can see most of the above foods except the shoots (found in late spring where I live) and silk (mid to late summer). In the next section I’ll demonstrate how I process these into a delicious and healthy meal.

How to Prepare Common Milkweed

The four ways I like to prepare Common Milkweed is: boiling, frying, and fritters. Here’s some examples from the above milkweed parts that I recently harvested:

Flower Buds and Flowers

There are two ways I like to eat the flowers (3 if you count raw): par-boiling and fritters. For both preparations I’ll par-boil the flowers for about 3 minutes (multiple changes are not necessary):

For half of the bunch, I’ll put a little bit of butter and salt on them and the other half I’ll dip them in a flour and egg batter and fry them to make fritters (they are fantastic with a little bit of honey):

The flower buds and flowers are also excellent in soups.

Young Leaves

The young leaves found on the top portion of the plant can be boiled (only once is required), but I prefer to cook them in a bit of olive oil. They come out crispy and very tasty with an excellent earthy flavor:

Immature Seed Pods

You’ll want to gather the immature seed pods when they are around 1.5 inches or smaller. Here is a picture of some 1/2 inch pods on a plant:

These are excellent boiled or fried. To boil, cook them in boiling water for about 5-7 minutes:

Shoots and New Growth Stalk

Since I gathered these in the Summer, I couldn’t demonstrate the new shoots being prepared. The shoots appear in late spring and are excellent when prepared like Asparagus (cook for around 20 minutes).

If you love the taste of the shoots, you can get a similar taste during the summer by picking off the new growth (be sure to keep the leaves as they are excellent as well) and boiling them for about 10 minutes. Here’s a photo of me pointing that out:

Conclusion

Milkweed is an often ignored wild edible due to the misconceptions that are still out there regarding this plant. This is one that is definitely worth your while to learn to harvest since it is so prolific and provides an amazing food source throughout most of the year.

Here’s a great meal: Boiled flowers with butter and salt, milkweed fritters w/ honey, fried and boiled seed pods and young-leaf stir-fry. Filling and fantastic, Bon Appetit!

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

In one of my earlier articles on wild edibles I wrote about how to make sumac lemonade from the Staghorn (or Smooth) Sumac. In this post I want to share another food source from this wonderful plant – the peeled shoots.

How to Identify Staghorn or Smooth Sumac

The first step before eating any wild edible is to positively identify it. Here are the four key items to look for in order to positively identify staghorn and smooth sumac (taken from my previous article):

1. Compound Toothed Leaves: Both species have pinnately compound leaves with serrated edges.
2. Unique Stems and Twigs: Staghorn sumac has velvet (hairy) twigs and smooth sumac has no hair but instead a fine white powder that is easily removed when touched.
   

   Staghorn

   Smooth

3. Red Fruit Clusters: Since poison sumac has white berries (green early in the season), if you see the red one’s you’re safe. See the following pictures of the two varieties.
   

   Staghorn Fruit

   Smooth Sumac Fruit

4. Milky Sap: Both varieties exude a milky sap when broken

Just to see the contrast, here’s a picture of poison sumac fruit cluster and leaves (notice they are smooth and not serrated). Stay away from this plant:

How to Eat Sumac Shoots

Most wild-edible foragers are familiar with using sumac for the lemonade-like beverage you can make from it, however few know about the other important edible it provides: the peeled shoots.

I first learned of eating sumac shoots from Samuel Thayer’s wonderful book, The Forager’s Harvest (highly recommended btw). From his book,

Sumac shoots are largest and best in their first year growing as suckers or stump sprouts, but you can also collect the tips of the branches from older plants. The portion of the new growth that bends and snaps easily will make a good vegetable. (Examine the thick end of the shoot to see if it has developed noticeable, light-colored pith. If it has, that part is too old; break off a few inches until the shoot is solid and opaque green all the way through.)

	Here’s a picture of the new growth that appears on the end of an older sumac plant. The newer growth (in staghorn sumac) will have little hairs whereas the old growth will be woody (not seen in photo).
	If you break open the new growth you’ll see a solid green green center all the way through. This is the part you want to eat.
	If you break open the new growth and see a white pithy center, then it is too old and you’ll want to work your way toward the end of the branch until it is solid green.
	After you’ve broken off your pieces of solid new growth, begin preparing it for eating by peeling the bitter, tender bark. It should peel away almost effortlessly.
	Now that you’ve collected a decent amount, you can eat them raw (very tasty) or cook them up and enjoy!

Unfortunately there is no clearcut answer for this since it’s highly dependent upon where you live. But if I would boil it down to the top 50 essential wild edible, tea, and medicinal plants that occur in most areas of the northern hemisphere this would be the list:

Note: I’ve added links to the plants which I’ve covered in detail on this site on how to identify, prepare, and use for food or medicine. Bookmark this page since these links will continue to grow as I demonstrate the uses of these plants in upcoming articles.

50 Essential Wild-Edible, Tea, and Medicinal Plants

1. Amaranth/Pigweed (Amaranthus) – Food
2. Arrowhead/Wapato (Sagittaria L.) – Food
3. Balsam Fir (Abies balsamia) – Food
4. Blackberry (Rubus L.) – Food
5. Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) – Food
6. Blueberries (Vaccinium L.) – Food
7. Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) – Food
8. Burdock (Arctium lappa) – Food
9. Bulrushes (Schoenoplectus L.) – Food
10. Bur-Reed (Sparganium L.) – Food
11. Birch (White) (Betula pendula) – Food, Drink
12. Catnip (Nepeta L.) – Medicine
13. Cattail (Typha L.) – Food
14. Chamomile (Anthemis L.) – Tea
15. Chicory (Cichorium L.) – Food
16. Clover (Trifolium pratense L. and Trifolium repens L.) – Food
17. Curly Dock (Rumex crispus L.) – Food
18. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) – Food
19. Daylily (Hemerocallis L.) – Food
20. Elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) – Food
21. False Solomon Seal / Treacleberry (Maianthemum racemosum) – Medicine
22. Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) – Food
23. Goldenrod (Solidago L.) – Tea
24. Heal-All (Stachys L.) – Medicine
25. Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) – Food, Medicine
26. Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album L.) – Food
27. Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) – Tea
28. Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) – Food
29. Mints (Mentha L.) – Tea
30. Mullein (Verbascum thapsus L.) – Medicine
31. Mustard (Sinapis L.) – Food
32. Oak (acorns) (Quercus L.) – Food
33. Pine (Pinus L.) – Food
34. Plantain (Plantago L.) – Food
35. Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) – Food
36. Queen Anne’s Lace / Wild Carrot (Daucus carota L.) – Food
37. Rose Hips (Rosa L.) – Food
38. Sheep’s Sorrel (Rumex acetosella L.) – Food
39. Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica L.) – Food
40. Sumac (Rhus typhina L. and Rhus glabra L.) – Food
41. Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) – Medicine
42. Thistle (Cirsium L.) – Food, Medicine
43. Violet (Viola L.) – Food
44. Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica) – Medicine
45. Wild Lettuce (Lactuca L.) – Food
46. Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum) – Food
47. Wild Rice (Zizania L.) – Food
48. Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) – Food
49. Wood Sorrel (Oxalis L.) – Food
50. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) – Tea, Medicine

Most Common Places to Find these Plants

ROADSIDES

• Chicory
• Curly Dock
• Daylily
• Elderberry
• Fireweed
• Japanese Knotweed
• Meadowsweet
• Milkweed
• Mullein
• Queen Anne’s Lace
• Yarrow

WOODS

• Balsam Fir
• Blue Aster
• Bracken Fern
• Oak (acorns)
• Pine
• White Birch
• Wood Sorrel

BROOK AREAS OR SWAMPS

• Arrowhead/Wapato
• Bullrushes
• Bur-Reed
• Cattail
• False Solomn’s Seal
• Weeping Willow
• Wild Rice

FIELDS, LAWNS and GARDENS

• Amaranth
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Burdock
• Catnip
• Chamomile
• Dandelion
• Daylily
• Field Sorrel
• Goldenrod
• Heal-All
• Lamb’s Quarters
• Mint
• Mustard
• Plantain
• Purslane
• Raspberries
• Red & White Clover
• Rose Hips
• Sumac
• Strawberry
• Tansy
• Thistle
• Wild Lettuce

Some Helpful Hints on Identifying and Getting Started

Be sure to check out my article on How to Identify Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants for some helpful tips and recommended resources in getting you started.

Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants.

Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is one of those plants you’ve probably seen a hundred times but haven’t realized it.

A native to southeast Asia, it was introduced to the United States in the late 1800s as an ornamental and has since become one of the most invasive plants in the United States, quickly spreading across to more than 40 of the 50 states. It’s root system is so invasive and strong that it can damage foundations, buildings, flood defenses, roads and so on.

Despite its bad rap, Japanese Knotweed is a great source of food and medicine and one of my favorite wild edibles in the early Spring. And since it is an invasive species, you don’t feel bad about over-harvesting it. In this post I’ll explain how to identify and harvest Japanese Knotweed and how to make a simple but delicious recipe from your foraging.

How to Identify Japanese Knotweed

The problem with Japanese Knotweed is that once you typically notice it, it is usually too late to harvest for food. In early spring, it starts out as a humble shoot that quickly grows (over an inch a day!) into a mature plant reaching upwards of 10 feet high.

Although the time to eat it is in the early spring before it begins to turn woody (under 12 inches), you’ll want to be able to identify it during its later stages of growth as well so that the next year you can return in the early spring and harvest it.

Spring Identification

Spring is the time you should be on the lookout for this plant. Here’s what to look for:

	In the early spring red/purple mottled green shoots appear from the ground and grow rapidly forming canes. This is the ideal time to harvest the Japanese Knotweed shoots. You’re looking for 6 inches or less.
	Late spring shoots with initial branching. You can still harvest the plant at this point as long as it is under a foot. At this stage you’ll need to peel them before consuming, since the outside has begun to get more fibrous.

Summer/Fall Identification

By summer this plant has grown to its full size. Since it typically grows from a networked root system, all of the individual mature plants form what appears to be a large shrub:

	Here’s a good example of how the knotweed comes to form what looks like a large shrub.
	Bamboo-like canes.
	Shield shaped leaves that are aligned in an alternate pattern.
	In the late summer you’ll also begin to see the flower growth.

Late Fall/Winter

During late fall and winter the knotweed’s energy will begin to travel back into the root system in preparation for the winter time. During this time the leaves fall and the stems die and turn brown. The stems (canes) typically stand during the winter which can serve as a good indication of next year’s growth.

Since it grows in colonies, the winter skeletons are easy to identify from afar.

How to Eat Japanese Knotweed

While you can eat Japanese Knotweed raw (it is tart and crispy and tastes very similar to rhubarb), ideally you’ll want to cook it. Since it tastes very similar to rhubarb, you can use Japanese Knotweed in any dish that calls for rhubarb – my favorite being strawberry knotweed pie…yumm.

Here’s a simple dish that I got from Steve Brill that I love:

Japanese Knotweed Surprise

Ingredients (for one serving)

• 2 cups sliced apples
• 1 cup sliced Japanese Knotweed shoots
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• sugar to taste (optional)

	Step 1: Gather your harvested knotweed and remove any leaves and stems.
	Step 2: Chop the knotweed into a small enough size to fit into your cooking pot and peel those shoots which have begun to form leaves (these will have already begun to turn stringy).
	Step 3: Throw the knotweed and chopped apples into a pot and pour apple juice on top, bring to a boil and begin to simmer.
	Step 4: Simmer for about 20 minutes or until soft. You will notice that the knotweed seems to melt into a thick, sauce-like consistency.
	Step 5: Once the knotweed turns to a sauce-like consistency, serve and eat!

Japanese Knotweed Nutrition and Medicinal Information

Japanese Knotweed provides an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C. It also provides potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and manganese.

Japanese Knotweed is also an excellent source of resveratrol, the same substance in the skin of grapes and in red wine that reduces bad cholesterol and lowers the risk of heart attacks.

According to master herbalist, Stephen H. Buhner, Japanese Knotweed is very effective when it comes to treating and preventing Lyme’s disease. As an anti-inflammatory, it also helps the immune system to combat various infections, relieves symptoms of arthritis and can protect the body against neurotoxin damage.

In my opinion, to truly become proficient at wilderness survival, you need to go out in the bush for at least 3-days; and go on these trips multiple times. It’s the first three days that are often the most difficult and really present you with the various challenges and difficulties that arise in a wilderness-survival situation.

On a 3-day trip your forced to build a shelter that keeps you dry and warm, collect and purify water, make a fire, and start finding food. A simple overnight will not provide this experience since you can last the night without water, fire, food, and sometimes even shelter.

The problem is our busy schedules and responsibilities make it difficult to find the time to go out in nature for an extended period of time to really practice these skills and that has been true for me as well. For example, since getting married and starting a family, I have not been able to take off for multiple days at a time like I did when I was in college. So I had to learn to work around this limitation through something I call “Progressive Backyard Survival”. In a nutshell, it allows you to spread a 3-day “survival trip” over an extended time period. Here’s the process:

Progressive Backyard Survival

When you are doing Progressive Backyard Survival, you’ll be practicing all of the major aspects of a survival situation: Shelter, Water, Fire and Food. But instead of it being covered in one extended survival trip, it will be broken up into smaller time frames over an extended period like a month for example.

Basically you fit it to your schedule and available time. It may take longer, but you’re still learning the necessary skills if you follow the process correctly. It’s important that each step is performed to completion before you attempt the next step. This will make it comparable to the steps you’d follow if you were in a survival situation. Take as much time as needed to finish each step before going on to the next one.

Step 1: Pick Your Training Ground

The first thing you’ll want to do is pick a spot where you’ll be practicing. Ideally this would be a place that is near your home, is accessible during both the day and night, and has the resources you need to practice the various survival skills. This will be your training ground.

Even if you can’t find a spot near your home, do not get discouraged. Your own backyard can be a great substitute. If you decide upon your backyard, for some of the exercises you’ll just need to bring the materials from other locations home with you.

Step 2: Setting up Shelter

Whether you live in an arid, temperate, or cold environment, exposure is often the first cause of death for those caught in a wilderness-survival situation. For this reason, shelter will be the first step you perform.

Choose your Shelter

If you’re new to wilderness survival, this step would be simply building a tent or setting up a tarp shelter. As you get comfortable with that you’ll want to move on to making a primitive shelter.

Since I cannot cover every shelter for every area of the globe, you’ll need to do some research in determining what type of shelter is best for your environment. The key factors are that it keeps you protected from the elements (dry when wet, shaded when hot, warm when cold, etc).

For example, I live in the Northeast — a place that abounds in trees and forest debris. My shelter of choice out here is the debris hut which is basically a framework of sticks that is stuffed inside and out with leaves or other natural debris for insulation. This will keep me both dry and warm without the need of a tarp or sleeping bag.

Build it

Once you’ve chosen your shelter, start building it. Again, this could be in one sitting (like setting up a tent) or if it requires normally an hour or two to build (like a primitive shelter) you can spread this over a few days as you have time available.

If you’re using your backyard and have the materials near you, use them. Otherwise you may need to bring them in from an outside location.

Test it

Knowing how to build the shelter is only half of the process. Sleeping in a shelter you built is really the best teacher.

It will teach you to overcome the fear of being alone, the dark, as well as sleeping in something other than your bed. In the case of a primitive shelter, it teaches you how best to insulate it, where to build it, what materials to use and so on.

If you don’t make it through the whole night, that’s fine. Take note of what needs to improve and use that for the next step:

Refine it and Retest

Now that you’ve tried it for a night, make the improvements to the shelter and when you have time, try it again. If you used a tent, this part might include buying a better sleeping bag or realizing you need to use a ground mat and so on.

Remember, do not continue to the next step until you’ve finished the shelter section.

Step 3: Finding, Collecting and Purifying Water

Dehydration is a major concern in not just arid environments but in cold environments as well. Since most publications say we cannot go for much longer than 3 days without water, this will be the next skill you will practice.

Finding Water and Collecting Water

The first part of this step is to find a source of water. This could be morning dew (in which case it is already purified), ice or snow, a body of water, a dried out river bed, setting up a solar still and so on.

Once you’ve found your water source, you’ll want to practice different means of collecting it such as soaking it up with a cotton shirt, long grasses, discarded bottles or cans that you find lying around and so on. In the beginning, use your own containers and as your skill grows you can practice making your own or finding field expedient ones.

Purifying Water

If the water you collected requires purifying then you’ll need to practice how to do that. This could be practicing using a commercial filter, Polar Pure iodine crystals, water-purification tablets, or fire which takes us to our next step:

Step 4: Making Fire

Fire making is one of the most popular skills that people practice, and for good reason. Fire increases moral, keeps us warm, cooks our food and purifies our water. In a primitive survival situation it helps us to make tools and crafts which are used in so many other survival applications.

For this step you’ll want to practice setting up and building a complete fire from scratch. Again, if you’re a newbie, this step might be using matches or a lighter with some Vaseline-soaked cotton balls. As your skills progresses try using a firesteel or flint and steel or for even more of a challenge try a primitive fire-making skill like the bowdrill, handdrill or fire saw.

In order to complete this step, you’ll need to get a fully mature fire going. That is, one that has burned long and strong enough to produce coals that you can cook on, purify your water from, and make other tools (if you’re practicing primitive survival).

Step 5: Finding and Preparing Food

Most of the time you spend doing Progressive Backyard Survival is taken up in this step. If you’re a beginner, you’ll skip finding food and just practice outdoor food preparation and cooking over a fire.

For everyone else, you’ll practice gathering and preparing wild edibles, procuring meat through trapping, fishing, hunting and so on. It also includes gutting, skinning, cleaning and preparing the animal, cooking it, and of course, eating it.

Using a trapping example, you might spend an hour one day buying or making a set of snares or building primitive traps. Then when you have some time, you’ll set them up (be sure you have the necessary permits) and check on them regularly to see if you caught anything. If you don’t succeed, take note of any improvements you can make (different bait, different location etc) and make those changes the next time you have availability.

When you do catch or hunt something, you’ll be practicing skinning, cleaning, and preparing the animal to be eaten. Since you’ve already made fire on a previous day, for this step you can simply cook it in your home, or if you have time, set up a fire outside and cook it that way.

Although a lot of time can be spent on this step, to complete a Progressive Backyard Survival session you’ll want to have procured (skip this if newbie), prepared, and eaten at least one meal (be it plant or animal).

Conclusion

This progressive survival training process is perfect for those with limited time. Although the time is more spread out than say a 3-day survival trip, you will learn the same skills and perform them in the same order as you would if you were out there for those 3 days. It may take longer but you are still learning the skills and getting experience. You can also add other steps if you want such as signaling for rescue or navigation to get yourself home.

There are also many other applications. Although the steps may be different than for wilderness survival situation, this step-by-step progressive process can be applied to other types of survival situations. For example, you could apply it to an urban survival situation where you’re caught in a city, a shelter-in-place situation where you’re in your home without utilities, or a bug-out situation where you’re on the go.

The Air Force Survival Training manual (specifically the AFR-64) is, in my opinion, the cream of the crop. In fact, many of the numerous commercial and military books and manuals are based off of this manual (much of which which is copied verbatim — both the words and text!). I feel it is much better than the Army Survival Manual (FM 3-05.70) and even has a slight edge over Wiseman’s SAS Survival Handbook (which is also excellent).

Here is just a portion of what this 600 page manual contains:

• first aid for illness and injury
• finding your way without a map
• building a fire
• finding food and water
• using ropes and tying knots
• mountain survival
• concealment techniques
• signaling for help
• survival at sea
• building shelters
• animal tracking
• predicting the weather
• and much more…

I’ll be hosting a link to the PDF version of this text for as long as my bandwidth can take it (it’s 85 MB so it can take a bit to download). You can download it through this link: USAF Survival Training Manual

Although the PDF version is free, I highly recommend having a hard-copy version of this book (for obvious reasons). However, be aware that there are other versions of the Air Force Survival manual out there which aren’t the same. For example, they sell the next version (AFR-65) which is a watered-down version of this book. Instead be sure to get the AFR-64 version which can be found in the following link on Amazon (or other major booksellers):

Given the strength of paracord (550 lbs of tensile strength) and its many applications (tiedowns, lashings, shelter building, friction fire making, fishing line and nets, splints, repairing equipment, tooth floss and many more) it’s one of those things you should never leave home without.

In my article on How to Put Together a Survival Kit I talk about my three-tiered survival kit system, with the first tier being what you always have on your person. Part of my first tier is the paracord bracelet that I wear. While it was good that I had some amount of cordage on me at all times (around 12 feet) that small amount of cordage has only minimal applications. Now enter the paracord belt…

My Journey to Find the Ultimate Paracord Belt

Originally I had posted an article about the first paracord belt that I made. Although you get about 100 feet of paracord, it was difficult to unwrap if you needed it quickly in an emergency and most of all it looked dang ugly — not something I wanted to be wearing, which I didn’t.

At that time I began looking for other belt ideas. I had three requirements. One, it had to be able to unravel quickly. Two, it had to contain at least 100 feet of paracord. And three, it had to look nice enough that I’d actually wear it. The cobra weave for example, while it looks great, is not ideal for quick access and you don’t get around 100 feet of cord.  

Well I finally came across a belt pattern that is not only nice to look at, but it unravels as quick as a crocheted blanket (in fact it’s nothing but a modified crochet stitch) and it contains around 120 feet of cord! It’s called the Slatt’s Rescue Belt (invented by Philip Slattery). Here’s another image of the belt I made:

How to Make the Slatt’s Rescue Belt

The stitch, while it may appear complicated, is actually quite easy to do. And once you get the hang of it, you’ll be making your belt while you watch television. Here’s an excellent video put together by TyingItAllTogether on YouTube that details the process in making this (I plan on creating an instruction set on how to start the knot on a belt loop soon. UPDATE: Please click here for instructions on how to start the belt loop): 

video link for email subscribers

My homemade version may not be the exact “Trade Secret” that UST claims to have but I find it’s just as waterproof, it easily takes a spark and flame, and it burns in the wind and rain.

What’s my secret?

Well, it’s really no secret at all, in fact it’s just cotton balls and Vaseline that dipped in melted paraffin wax (candles work too).

Most of you have probably heard of cotton balls and Vaseline as an effective tinder and I have to agree, cotton balls mixed with Vaseline do make great tinder. The only issue is, if it got dropped in water or soaked from the rain, it will not light. This method will.

How to Make Homemade WetFire Tinder

	Step 1: Combine cotton balls and Vaseline. This step is the same process you would do if you were making standard cotton-ball/Vaseline tinder. Just take a glob of Vaseline and knead it into the cotton ball.
	Step 2: Melt the wax on the stove. You can use old candles or paraffin wax. Be sure to keep the stove top temperature at low since the wax can ignite at high temperatures.
	Step 3: Dip the cotton balls in the melted wax. Be sure that the cotton ball is completely submerged in the melted wax. This will ensure that it is completely waterproof. For this step I find it easiest to use chop sticks.
	Step 3: Place on tin foil and put in freezer. Although this step isn’t necessary, I like to place it immediately in the freezer since it cools very quickly. The foil just keeps it from sticking when it hardens.

*Note: You may be thinking,”why should I bother with the Vaseline, can’t I just dip dry cotton balls in the wax?” The purpose of the Vaseline is to prevent the wax from being completely soaked up by the cotton. If you skip the first step, the cotton will get completely saturated by the wax such that when it dries you’ll never be able to fluff it up to the needed amount to allow it to catch a spark and burst into flame.

How to Use your Homemade Wetfire Tinder

Using your tinder is a simple process, for optimum results, the following steps should be taken:

	Step 1: Cut/Break the tinder in half.  By breaking the tinder in half, you expose the Vaseline mixed cotton inside.
	Step 2: Fluff up the tinder. Break up the tinder in your hands and repeatedly pull the tinder apart, trying to create a fluffy mass. The more”fluffy” it is, the easier it will take a spark or flame.
	Step 3: Light the tinder. Using flint/steel or some other spark creating tool (of course a lighter or match would be fine as well), light the tinder bundle.

Knowledge of wild edible and medicinal plants is an important asset in every survivalist’s mental toolbox. They allow you to supplement and extend your food storage. They provide a fresh source of vegetable and fruit matter that is full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants — much of which is diminished in bulk-stored food.  And they provide a source of medicine in an extended grid-down situation where hospitals and modern medicine might not be available.

However, when it comes to identifying wild edible and medicinal plants, many people become overwhelmed and intimidated by the “wall of green” that they see in nature. They don’t know where to start. And even those who are ambitious enough to purchase a field guide and get out there to try to identify their local plants, they quickly become disenchanted and frustrated at the difficulty in matching what’s in the field guide with what’s in the field.

Having a fair amount of experience with wild medicinal and edible plants — both in the identification and use of them — I wanted to share with you some of the methods and resources I use to break through that “wall of green”. This, I hope, will put you on the road to successfully identifying and using many of the wild edible and medicinal plants that grow in your area.

Resources

Field guides are probably the most commonly used method of learning to identify and use wild edible and medicinal plants. However, if you don’t have the right kind of guides you’ll only frustrate yourself.

When beginning to learn about edible/medicinal plants, most people will go to the bookstore and pick up the fattest field guide they see with a bunch of colorful photos. This is not the best option.  Before you go and waste any money on less-than-optimal guides or even some that could get you killed, let me clue you in on a few that I’ve found to be very effective in helping you identify and use the many plants around you.

As a side note, when it comes to identification, I feel that detailed drawings and descriptions are much more effective in helping you positively recognize plants compared to photos. Drawings (as long as they are detailed) provide an average representation whereas photos only capture one instance of a plant and, depending on the habitat, may look a bit different in your area. There are exceptions to this rule (see Forager’s Garden and Nature’s Harvest below) if the author depicts multiple good-quality photos.

	A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guide) The standard on Wild Edible plants. Not the best book for taking out in the field to do on the spot identification but it’s excellent for using as a basis for journaling since the drawings are excellent and the descriptions are thorough.
	The Essential Wild Food Survival Guide Linda is well respected for her knowledge of wild edible and medicinal plants since she lived for 13 years out in the wilds with her family living off of them! Although the drawings and photos have much to be desired, this book has great recipes, wonderful first-hand stories, and contains a solid collection of core plants that everyone should know. A good resource overall.
	The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants Samuel Thayer hit it out of the ballpark with this book. It has excellent descriptions and photos, is well organized, and goes into detail on where to find the plants, when to gather them (missing in many books) and how to prepare them. Best of all, this book is not just a rehash of other peoples views and experiences — every plant in here that he talks about, he has had personal experience with (something that I value highly). This is highly recommended.
	Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants Another home run for Samuel Thayer. This book is a continuation of his previous book (see above) which covers many more plants that he did not get into in The Forager’s Harvest. Excellent resource and again, highly recommended.
	Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide When it comes to going out in the field and identifying what you see, this book is king. It uses an ingenious system of identification that is based on natural structural features that are easily visible even to the beginner  (no more looking up all the plants with white flowers and hoping on finding a hit). After using this book for a while, what I’ve noticed is, your ability to observe and distinguish differences among plants becomes highly tuned. This book helps to train your eye to see unique qualities of plants (very important to proper identification when your goal is to eat them). Note: This book is primarily for the North Central or Northeastern states but it still contains quite a bit of overlap
	Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places Although this book is not ideal for going out in the field and identifying new plants, once you do know the plants then it is an excellent resource to return to time and time again. I particularly like that the book is organized by season and the habitat within that season. This helps me to know what edible/medicinal plants I should be on the look for when I go hiking in a wetland area in the fall for example.

The Importance of Applied Knowledge in Learning Edible and Medicinal Plants

After successfully identifying a plant for the first time, your likely response will be a feeling of excitement since you now know the plant’s name. It’s at this point that most people make the error of stopping since they now think they “know” the plant. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I’m of the opinion that you never truly know a plant until you use it. When you use a plant, something amazing happens. It becomes a part of you. You go beyond mere identification since you now have seen it, touched it, smelled it, and in many cases consumed it. Studies have proven that when you involve multiple senses in the learning process, you’ll remember that thing so much better. This is very true with plants.

So next time you positively identify a wild edible or medicinal plant, bring it home and learn how to use it. This will forever be etched in your memory, so much that the following years when you see the plant again — instead of it being just a name — you’ll feel a real connection to it because you know it intimately.

Journaling as a Learning Method

Journaling is another fantastic way to learn wild plants. And best of all, you can do it in the winter when the plants are dormant!

What I do is look in the field guides for edible or medicinal plants that grow in my area (I like the Peterson’s Field Guides for this). I’ll make a list of them and organize them by habitat. After making the list I’ll then begin journaling these plants.

The best way is not just to copy the plant from the field or from a field guide but to use the minds-eye approach. Here’s how it works:

1. Study the photo or drawing of the picture: Spend around 5 minutes studying the picture of the plant. Try to focus on the structure of the leaves. Do they grow opposite each other like a person putting out their arms to the sides or do they grow up the plant in an alternating pattern? Are the leaves round, oval, compound? Do they have serrated or smooth edges? Is the stalk woody, green, succulent or non-existent. Try to close your eyes and see the plant in your mind’s eye.
2. Draw the plant: After studying the plant for 5 minutes, close the field guide and without looking at the picture or photo, begin to draw the plant based on what you see in your minds eye. Draw as much as you can until you’re stuck. If you can’t move on or forgotten a detail, refer back to the field guide to refresh what you saw, close the book, and continue drawing. Continue this process until you are finished.
3. Imagine the plant’s habitat and general size and other characteristics: For this step, you’ll want to read about where the plant typically, its overall size, and any other attributes like fuzzy leaves, or woody stalks and so on.

   Then again, in your minds eye try to imagine seeing yourself in a location where this plant grows. Picture how tall it is relative to you and imagine bending down and touching the plant. How would it feel?

4. Imagine preparing and using the plant: For this final step, I want you to use your minds eye to imagine taking the plant home and processing it into a meal. If you can eat it raw then imagine picking the leaf or other edible portion and eating it. Try to be as detailed as possible.

I know a lot of this sounds like hokey new-age crap, but in reality, this method works. I can’t tell you the number of times I would be out in the field and “discover” a plant that I had already had experience envisioning during a previous winter! Try it for yourself.

Expert Mentors

A final way to learn wild plants is through expert mentors. While we may not all be lucky enough to grow up with an naturalist in the home, if you do a search in your area you’ll likely find someone offering nature courses on identifying wild and medicinal plants.

These classes are an excellent means to quickly learning plants in your area. One thing I do want to note is that these classes are much more effective after having learned a few wild plants on your own. This way your eyes will be trained to subtle differences that will make the class all the better.

If you live in the New York area, I would highly recommend visiting “Wildman” Steve Brill’s Central Park nature walks. Bill has a unique gift of teaching wild edible and medicinal plants in a memorable and fun way.