Epic Survival Secrets
Japanese Knotweed- Cure for Lyme Disease!
There could be a plant near you that is known to CURE Lyme disease! This plant is called Japanese Knot-weed. This useful plant is seen as a weed, therefore, people just get rid of it and don’t use it for anything. Japanese Knot-weed grows wild along drains and other wet areas in the woods with good sunlight.
Identification Japanese Knotweed
Japanese Knot-weed can grow up to 3 meters tall. The stalk of the plant is hollow and bamboo like and the coloration is purple fading into green. The leaves are green and heart to shovel shaped and can grow up to 20 cm across. In late summer, small clusters of white flowers form on the plant. It is pretty obvious once you know what you are looking for because of its unique traits.
Root Identification
The roots are dark and wood like. The inner bark is orange and has a musty smell when cut into.
Uses of Japanese Knotweed
You can eat the stalks in early spring. The roots help Bronchitis, coughs, gum disease, sore mouth and throat, lung disease, skin disorders, fluid retention, tuberculosis, stop bleeding, and Lyme disease. Also, it is also anti-microbial, protects the central nervous system, clears out endotoxins, anti oxidant, and is anti anxiety for example. This plant is an anti-inflammatory and plaque preventative.
WARNINGS
If you are pregnant or breast feeding, do not use this plant.
Medicine Preparation
Take the roots and wash the dirt off. Then, cut off the bark all the way down past the orange layer but not into the white wood. Collect the chips and dry them out. Next, to make the medicinal tea, take the dried chips and powder them. the ratio is 30 grams of powder to 1 quart of water and simmer for 30 minutes. The tea will be strong and bitter.
Food Preparation
The best time to eat these plants is in the early spring. After that, they get too woody to eat. Because of this, its best to harvest them early. To prepare, peel the outer layer off and chop up into discs to put in salads or eat it like celery. Some people say it tastes like green apple, others say it tastes like rhubarb. I guess you will have to forage for some and find out yourself!
Cold Winters Night Allegheny National Forest
In this episode of Epic Survival Secrets, David McCullough and his Father Maximus go along with Expert Survivalist Rory Summers, Jeffrey Snyder and his son Isaac to tackle a cold winter night in the Allegheny National Forest.
The key to epic survival in the winter is to stay warm, dry and well hydrated. Watch and learn as these epic survival experts show you how to have a great time in the middle of winter. The crew looks for an ideal camping spot that has flat ground and resources. The crew picks a spot with plenty of fallen down hickory trees that are dried and ready for fire. There are some pine trees about 25 yards away.
Pine trees have many attributes that a survivalist can take advantage of, pine bows can help you build a shelter and squaw wood that lays at the base of pine trees are great fire starters. The sap from pine trees are medicinal and antibiotic. If you get a cut in the woods use pine sap to keep the wound clean.
As soon as the team finds a place, David begins to build a fire. He uses a fire steel for this process. Fire steels are used by survivalists because they are waterproof and last longer than lighters or matches. As you can see David is using dry grass to get the flame started. This fire will keep the team warm and cook their food when the time is ready.
Rory, David & Max opted to bring tents while Jeff and Isaac opted for Hammocks with a reflective wall barrier. They will be using pine bows tonight to help build this barrier. They will be using tarps & plastic for their wall as well. Their goal is to stay warm with a fire that they will build inside their structure, let’s watch as Jeff and Isaac prepare their spot for the night.
David and Maximus are camping more traditionally. You can have an awesome time in the middle of winter camping if you bring the right stuff. Let’s listen as David explains what they brought to make their camping survival trip EPIC!
Rory opted for more a military style camping. Hes sporting many wool products which is a great choice for winter survival. Wool is better than cotton because it will let your skin breath even if it gets wet, wool also dries faster than cotton and other materials.
As evening falls upon the men, their spirits pick up as they drink some refreshments. They prepare a grill to cook meat on. Rory surprises the group with Delmonico steaks and Pork chops.
The steaks were delicious and the guys had a great time. In hindsight there are a few things that we may have done differently, but that is how it is when camping and hiking. You are always testing out new gear and trying something different; You learn how you can adapt to different environments and try to perfect your gear each trip out. For our crew here the winter camping was a success even though we ended up with one flat air mattress and could not keep the fire going to the guys in the hammocks.
Everyone woke up the next morning and had breakfast then headed out of the woods.
BROTHER VS BROTHER KO WRESTELING
Bushcraft Water Fun Survivalist That Have Good Times
Survival is not all about being desperate. There are so many people that find tranquility in the forest. We like to engage in what we call “Bushcraft Water Fun”. We love it because we are not swimming with a bunch of chemicals. The water we have here comes straight out of the mountain. We swim in Mountain Fresh Spring Water.
Spotting Things In The Water
The water is usually so clear here that you can see fish swimming clear at the bottom of the stream. Sometimes we bring fine nets to catch the smaller fish to use for bait when we go fishing. There are crawfish here as well. Many people don’t realize this but you can cook crawfish like lobster. When they turn red in the pot they are ready to eat. Boy are they delicious. There are a lot of trout in our creeks here. Catching them are a lot of fun!
Bushcraft Water Fun
Anyway you slice the cheese living free in the wild is more fun than you can possibly imagine. We watch survival shows and laugh at some. Not to be disrespectful to the people that make these shows but the difference between us and them is, “We live it”. Their desperation is our everyday life. We hope you can see our humor in that. The difference is we actually know what we are doing.
The waterfun in the summertime is just amazing. Once in a while we will get visitors and take them to our swim holes. We see the fear on their faces when we ask them to come in. They are expecting the river swamp monster to jump out and grab them or something. Most of them though end up taking a plunge and you see the freedom come over their face like they accomplished something amazing.
The Soft Mountain Fresh Water
The soft mountain fresh water here is amazing. Once people make the plunge and get in the water they realize the softness of the water. You can even open your eyes under the water because they don’t burn from chemicals. We actually shower and drink the cold fresh mountain spring water everyday.
Bushcraft and Fun Camp
If you ever want to test your bushcraft skills or just come to the forest and “rough it” let us know. We have another cabin that you can rent out for a weekend or a week. The best thing is that you have us to be your guide. We will show you what you can and cannot eat in the forest. We can show you how to start fires. What the best wood is to burn. Where the best fishing and hunting spots are. The best berry picking if you come in June, July or August. We will show you the best swimming holes filled with natural mountain fresh spring water. How to purify your water and much more.
If you are interested in such a trip contact us at [email protected] and the next time we get back to our computer we will respond to you.