Primitive Survival Skills : How To Use a Coconut Tree To Survive on an Island

If You are off to an Island for a Survival Trip , Whether it be for fun or a disaster which forces you to go on a Cast Away without Tom Hanks, One thing You will find on every Island Coasts is Coconut Trees. Coconut is in itself a multi use Survival tool. From food to shelter or weapon , there are many uses of coconut. Let's First see what is a coconut actually.

Coconut

The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the family Arecaceae (palm family) and the only species of the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the whole coconut palm or the seed, or the fruit, which, botanically, is a drupe, not a nut. The spelling cocoanut is an archaic form of the word. The term is derived from the 16th-century Portuguese and Spanish word coco meaning "head" or "skull", from the three indentations on the coconut shell that resemble facial features.

Coconut Fruit

Natural Habitat

The coconut palm grows on sandy soils and is highly tolerant of salinity. It prefers areas with abundant sunlight and regular rainfall (1500 mm to 2500 mm annually), which makes colonizing shorelines of the tropics relatively straightforward. Coconuts also need high humidity for optimum growth, which is why they are rarely seen in areas with low humidity. However, they can be found in humid areas with low annual precipitation such as in Karachi, Pakistan, which receives only about 250 mm of rainfall per year, but is consistently warm and humid.

Coconut palms require warm conditions for successful growth, and are intolerant of cold weather. Some seasonal variation is tolerated, with good growth where mean summer temperatures are between 28 and 37 °C, and survival as long as winter temperatures are above 4–12 °C; they will 

survive brief drops to 0 °C. Severe frost is usually fatal, although they have been known to recover from temperatures of −4 °C . They may grow but not fruit properly in areas with insufficient warmth, such as Bermuda.

The main limiting factor for most locations which satisfy the rainfall and temperature requirements is canopy growth, except those locations near coastlines, where the sandy soil and salt spray limit the growth of most other trees.

Use of Coconut in Survival Situation

Food for Survival

Coconut is rich in fat and carbohydrate as well as micro nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. If you are hungry then a single fully grown coconut fruit can keep you full for many hours. Many survival experts say that in a coastal survival situation , you can rely on coconut water for your thirst and hydration. This water can be found inside a immature coconut fruit.

Primitive Survival Shelter

Building a shelter is one of the most important milestone for a emergency situation as It protects you from harsh weather conditions. broad and dense coconut leaves can provide you a effective cover for your shelter.You can make your shelter between two nearby coconut trees so that you don't have to use extra pillars. if you can manage cutting a tree, you are lucky to find a trunk, you can also use it as a lumber for your shelter.

Use as a rope

In countries like India , Coconut ropes are quite popular and widely used. you can also make rope using green coconut leaves as they are long and can be drawn into thin wire like strips. These ropes can help you build a strong shelter and joining and binding things together.

Coconut shells as dish

Hollow coconut shells can be used as dish for eating and drinking. If you can manage making a hole in the shell tip, you can also use it as funnel.

Fuel and Tinder

Dry fiber of a coconut fruit are considered as one of the best Tinder matter for starting fire. On the other hand dry leaves and trunk of the tree have been used for centuries as fire fuel. So start collecting the coconut leaves as soon as possible if you are stuck on a lonely Island.

Self Defence

Middle branch of the coconut leaf is very hard and if you can sharpen the front end of leaf, It can serve as a primitive spear. you can hunt for small animals or you can keep intruders off your territory.

Emergency Raft 

If you are struck on an island, you can't stay there all your life. Also you might not get help from rescuers , if your luck isn't favoring you. So, if getting out of the island on your own is the last solution , coconut trunk can be used to make a emergency raft. You want to go little deeper to catch fishes or something like that, this raft will be your reliable companion.

   These are some uses of a coconut tree as I presume. If you know any more uses of a coconut tree and fruit, do tell me in comment section. Your feedback always inspire me to write more. If you have reached this far, then You should check my other articles too. Happy Hiking | safe hiking | adventurous Hiking

Survival Fishing Techniques : How To Catch Fish Without Any Tools In Survival Situation

Fishing has been the Primary hunting option for human being since he started searching for foods. Fishes offer high nutrition value to keep a person healthy. But now a days , If any individual goes for finding a fish to catch, how will he approach them? ....What did you just said? With a rod and reel?

Credits : Google Images

Well , You were absolutely right. For any urban grown person Fishing rods and nets are only way to catch a fish for personal use. But, here we are talking about a survival situation and You even don't have a fishing line or hook to make you a primitive fishing rod. So what you will do now? You will definitely burn down in anger seeing fishes swimming in front of you! Just kidding. You will not do anything like that because in this article I am going to talk to you about fishing techniques where you don't need a rod and reel or even a line or hook. 

Most effective ways to catch a fish without a rod or net

Credits : Google Images

1.Bamboo Fishing spear 

 You must have seen Bear Grylls catching a fish with a spear with multiple pointed ends. but this method is not bound to a single person. You can also catch fishes with a bamboo spike. For making a fishing spike, bamboo is ideal because you can make many pointed ends to it and increase your chance to catch a fish in the streams. Use your knife to create a spike like this. for catching a fish with spike, quick action and patience is the key.

Bamboo fishing spear

2. Fishing trap using plastic bottle

This fishing technique is quite popular among villagers living near a river plain or delta. If you can find few bottles around yourself you can create fish traps using threads and your multi-tool . feed your traps with baits like meat and worms and wait for the fishes to come.

Fish trap bottle

3. Deep Hole fishing trap

In some countries like Vietnam and Cambodia , local fishermen dig a hole just beside the river and direct fishes towards the pit by providing cover with leaves and branches. You can also follow same technique and can bag up to a dozen fishes overnight.make sure their is shadow and cover for fishes as they like to hide under the vegetation and get into your trap in the procedure. see this image for reference .

A presentation of deep hole fishing traps

   These are few basic traps and primitive fishing techniques that will help you fight hunger in the wilderness . I will be updating this post with more ways to catch a fish. But Your feedback are the crucial things that will boost me making more such articles. Do comment what more you want to see in this blog about primitive survival skills. Feel free to check my other articles in the feed. and follow this blog for regular updates and new posts. Thank You. Happy Fishing

Survival Fishing Kit : How to use and What to include in it

Survival Fishing Kit

When we look in our survival bag pack , we try to make it light and comfortable. But Fishing is a process that includes rods and reels and stuffs that can alter our speed in the wilderness. on the other hand Fishes are life saving food that can help us make it out of the wilderness alive.So, How we can have fish when we don't have fishing rod and reels in our list of survival tools?

Check out my list of top 10 survival tools in my bag pack 

Credits : Amazon

Survival Fishing Kit Contents 

As I said We need our kit to be easily feasible and light, while keeping it able for actually catching a fish in emergency situation. So, what are the contents on a fishing rod which actually catch a fish?

Essentials of a Survival fishing kit

Fishing Line 

You can't actually catch a fish without a line, Right! 

   No, You can. But, If you are looking for a fishing kit, A line is a must have component. It is like a thread that holds your hook and lure in water. for a survival situation you can take few meters of light fishing line that are tested for up to 2-3 kilograms.

Fishing hooks and Fishing lures

It is the second most item to be included in your fishing kit for an emergency situation. hooks are the J shaped metal items that a fish must bite if it is to be caught.when a hook is reinforced by a attractive add on like rubber worm or small rubber fish, it is called a lure. You must take at least half a dozen lures or hooks in you survival fishing kit.

Fishing Lures

In my personal opinion above two are the only most important items of a survival fishing kit. else every items like fishing rod, fishing reel , bait , sinkers , floats , bobbers are add on that you either can make out of wood or you don't need them. But , If you are comfortable , you can add as many items as you can.

How to use survival fishing kit?

There are two ways to catch a fish using your kit. one way is to make a hand made fishing rod and other is to use your line and hook with bare hands. 

either way, you will first have to tie a good knot on your hook.

an easy fishing line knot

Now , Your work is almost done . If you are not comfortable with using hand you can tie another end to a 2-3 ft. long wooden rod shaped branch. A bamboo rod will be ideal as it gives you the flexibility you need when fish is fighting your rod. now , tie a 1-2 inches long inflatable twig to your line about 2 ft. away from your hook. Your fishing rod is ready now. You can feed a worm as bait which you will find on river banks.

Now, In special cases, You may don't have a kit with you. because you don't know when emergency strikes back at you. So you must have a basic knowledge of catching a fishing without a Survival fishing kit.There are some ways and locales have been using it for centuries in their tribes and localities to catch fishes, snakes and crabs and feed themselves and their families. You can also have those skills and try your luck in the wilderness. It is always better to have few fishes than no fishes.

How to catch fishes with no rod and no net.

I hope You will now find it easy to use your survival fishing kit. If you like this post Please share it with your friends. All reviews and suggestions are welcome in comments. Feel free to follow the blog and check our other contents.

Afroz Shah - A Real Survival Man And Champion of The Earth

Afroz Shah, a young Indian lawyer from Mumbai, is synonymous with the world’s largest beach clean-up project.

In October 2015, Shah and his neighbor Harbansh Mathur, an 84-year-old who has since passed away, were frustrated with the piles of decomposing waste that had washed up and completely overwhelmed the city’s Versova beach. Determined to do something about it, the pair started cleaning up the beach themselves, one piece of rubbish at a time. Every weekend since, Shah has inspired volunteers to join him – from slum-dwellers to Bollywood stars, from schoolchildren to politicians. They have been turning up at Versova for what Shah calls "a date with the ocean", but what in reality means laboring shin-deep in rotting garbage under the scorching Indian sun.

The largest beach clean-up in the world would be a reward in itself. But for spearheading it, Mumbai-based lawyer Afroz Shah has been named as one of  winners of the top environmental honor of the United Nations. Shah will be among those bestowed with the Champions of the Earth award for leading the clean-up of Mumbai's Versova Beach.

So far, the volunteers have collected over 7,000 tons of trash from the 2.5 kilometre beach.

Recently, Afroz Shah was featured in Television show kaun banega crorepati 's new initiative
" Nai chah Nai rah " with Actor and Model Shilpa Shetty Kundra where they played with Amitabh Bachchan for their beach cleanup project. He was also gifted a Escort Excavator and Tractor to cope up with his clean up project.

We wish Afroz Shah and his team  all the best and pledge that we will never contribute in increasing pollution. we will try our best to decrease the waste around us to make this earth a better place to live.

Top 10 Survival Tools You Must Have On Your Way To Wilderness

When It comes to Survival You must equip yourself with light and easily portable tools that will come handy even If you are a newbie for the wilderness. The reason may vary from natural and man made disasters Such as flood , Avalanche , land slide, earthquake. Or, You are a outdoor freak like me who just wants to go into the wilderness to get away from the chaos and Pollution of urban environment. Whatever may be the reason, you Always want your backpack to be light and equipped with most important things to help you.

Your Priority in the wilderness

There may be some up and down in the list , but as I have known, These are top in most of the lists:

1. Fire : Fire is one of the most important stuff when it comes to Bush-crafting. It helps you protect from Cold, wild animals. It gives you light to save your batteries for the worst. It helps you cook your food , so that you don't have to be bear grylls to eat raw meats.
2. Water : You don't want to keep yourself thirsty in the middle of nowhere, right? So you need regular supply of  drinking water.
3. Food : You might not have a KFC or McDonald Store nearby , So You will need tools to make it easy to find edible veggies or meat .
4. Shelter Building : Sleeping under twinkling Stars may seem fascinating , but not when you have it with heavy rainfall, mosquitoes and flies. So you must prepare a quick shelter to keep you protected.
5.  Communication : If you are stuck in dense forest or on a part of hill due to landslide or snowfall , It may be difficult for rescue forces to find you even if you are close to them , So you may want to have signalling devices. More Important to that you should have a knowledge of directions , So navigation is a key.

The List of top 10 survival items for wilderness

10. Flashlight 

Whether it be for giving signals or providing you extra visibility during night or dense forests, Flashlight can be extremely useful for you . If you are going in consider bringing extra batteries for your torch.

9. Tarp / Plastic Sheet

If You are caught in heavy rain , setting a primitive shelter of wood logs and leaves may not be sufficient to keep you safe. So getting a plastic sheet to either cover your shelter, or your backpack or even you is way too good than you think.

8. Survival Fishing kit

Fishing is lot easier than hunting. But you can't fish with your hands and if you are a newbie like me, you might not know how to set primitive fish traps along rivers and streams. So keeping few lines and hooks is a good option . You can easily assemble it with natural wooden rod and twig floats so that you can get some fishes.

7. machete or Axe

If You have one machete only you could survive in wilderness for many days. It provides you a wide range of operations from carving , incising , cutting ,making trails, scraping tinder from woods to hunting and cutting meat. This is due to its broad(14 inches inmost cases ) blade and long design.

A survival machete Illustration

survival Axe Illustration

 6. Mirror and Whistle 

Whistle is the most important communication item. It is used to in touch with your group if you are separated. You can also attract attention of Passing Rescuer , if you are not in sight range. But kids and amateur persons should keep it off until there is actual emergency. You can draw unnecessary attention of hunters whether it be animals or humans.Don't get yourself a kid's toy if you are going into the wild . A military , and hiking whistle with good and easy operation is preferred.

Mirror is also important  when you want to draw attention of aircraft , distant ships, ground searches and rescuers without making noise. You must find a good quality mirror that is military rated and durable.

5. Water Bottle and purifier 

Water is certainly life saver for any living thing on earth, leave survival situation alone. If you are going in wild for fun , then also You should carry a water bottle with you. You would definitely want to refill water whenever you get a chance. But what if Water is not that crystal clean and You don't have RO purifier with you. 

Water Filters In Survival Situations

A water filter mechanically removes pathogens from the water. Think of it like a really good sieve that is able to catch even the tiniest bacteria. Filters designed for survival will filter down to 0.2 microns. Some of the newest water filters can even filter down to 0.01 microns.

Water Purifiers In Survival Situation

A water purifier is a treatment system which will also kill/inactivate viruses in water. Two examples of water purifiers are water treatment chlorine tablets, UV light pens like SteriPen and lifestraw portable water purifiers. . The downside of these systems is that they don’t remove sediment from water. Sediment won’t kill you, but it is definitely not a good idea to gulp down muddy water.

4. Paracord 

A good quality Paracord is one in all survival tool in itself. Some of the main uses of paracord are listed as follows:

• rescue line
• Tourniquet
• using as a fishing line or fishing net
• making shelters knots 
• emergency splint and sutures
• leaving trail marks 

Paracord bracelet

 Survival Paracord uses are limited by only your imagination and experiences. there are many ways you can use them and they will not disappoint you.

3.  Compass and Map

 It is good if you have smartphone equipped with GPS and locator. But what if You are off the batteries and no electrical supplies. A magnetic compass and a map can save your time and life because you will not have to roam here and there without a knowledge of direction and your location.

Compass and maps can be used together to help you in best way but in worst case they will asist you individually also.

2. Knife / Multi-tool

Leave all tools apart and knife will help you to survive alone as your best companion. knife is used in most operations like cutting , carving, bush-craft, hunting, preparing meat and fishes. defense is another feature that you can use your knife for.

In urban survival Situation, a Multi-tool is very important for any person. You can use screw drivers, saw, wrench , or knife and many more tools provided there.

1. Fire Starter

Fire has been a companion of human species even before he knew to live socially. may it be fighting cold or be it keeping intruders off your ground or cooking food, fire is most important companion of Human survival. You can even use it to give signal to your lost group or rescuer. But for all above operations you must have one thing, that is Fire itself. here are common tools to help you

A fire starter rod

• water proof safety matches
• lighters
• using lens to make fire with sunlight
• magnesium and steel rod fire starters
• friction method of starting fire.

             The List is very large But I hope I have listed few most important survival tools as per my knowledge. Please comment below what are you rankings for above tools and what you would like to replace with them . Stay tuned for more articles or take your time to read my other articles.

There are many more items that are worth remembering in your Survival gear check  list :

• Survival medical kit
• duct tape
• solar panel for charging batteries

Survival Lilly | A Rising Survivor YouTube Star

Who is Survival Lilly?

Survival Lilly is a Austrian YouTube Star who makes videos about survival, Bushcraft , hunting and primitive survival skills. She has more than 540,000 Subscribers on YouTube which ranks her top among many other YouTube personalities among same niche . She joined YouTube on 14th January , 2011. 

Early Life of Lilly

From Her early childhood she became interested in living in wilderness. She used to play hide and seek with her friends in forests nearby school. She made wilderness shelter and used to keep searching for wild edibles like blueberry, chanterelle mushrooms and much more. In her high school, she took classed related to forestry.

Early Career of Lilly before becoming a YouTube Sensation

She Completed her masters degree in art of business. After that, she worked for various tax consultants for quite a long time. But soon she realized that her life was more meaningful in wilderness learning and teaching primitive survival skills . She started making informative videos about survival skills , hunting , building shelter in forests.

Major Source of Income for Survival Lilly

Survival Lilly runs a YouTube channel and website of her own. 

   Visit official website of Survival Lilly here

In addition to that , She runs her own Survival gear store at Amazon which will provide you most of the gear that you require for Hiking, camping and Survival tourism.

few days ago , Lilly officially announced that she will make her own knife with collaboration of a manufacturer. You can access that knife also from her merchandise shop.

Very often she gets offers from many companies to promote their products related to outdoors, In return they give her a fair amount of Sponsorship .

Here are some images 

Famous Series From Her Channel 

Survival Lilly Super Shelter 

In this series, Lilly showed her viewers , How to make an effective shelter with wood and simple natural items and primitive tools like axe, saw and knife. These videos got a couple million views on YouTube.

Survival Lilly on Tropical Island

In this series , she lived on a tropical island near a beach for a couple of days and survived with natural foods. she caught fishes, crabs, and other sea foods and cooked them on open fire or boiled them to eat. she also taught to make primitive traps and shelters.

Survival Lilly in Vancouver Island, Canada

In this series, She was dropped off by a helicopter in Canada, Vancouver Island for 7 days with a rucksack and some tools and clothes. She made a primitive shelter , a quick fishing rod , and a crayfish trap. she very efficiently completed her mission and showed real heroism there as there was danger of wild bear all time.

  We wish Survival Lilly All the best for her Future and pray that she soon crosses 1 million subscribers mark. Thank you for reading. Please subscribe to this blog and like our Facebook page for more updates.

A Day At Taj Mahal : What You shouldn't Do in Agra

Taj Mahal : The Jewel of Muslim Art in India

A view of Taj Mahal from the front garden.

The Taj Mahal (meaning Crown of the Palace) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658), to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is the centerpiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenelated wall.

Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal  is  believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees, which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (US$827 million). The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". Described by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as "the tear-drop on the cheek of time",it is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts 7–8 million visitors a year. In 2007, It was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World (2000–2007) initiative. 

How to Reach Taj Mahal 

The Taj mahal is open from Sunrise to sunset. So,The timings varies throughout the year.The Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays and when VVIP's visit(normally for 3 hours).

Agra is 204 kms from Delhi, 235 kms from Jaipur - these two places are the main tourism hubs surrounding Agra. The most popular method of reaching Agra from Delhi is by train (2 to 3 hours) and road (4 to 5 hours), from Jaipur by road (5 to 6 hours) and train (4 hours).

Normally Jaipur and Agra are clubbed together as the famous Indian Golden Triangle Tour, and this journey is popularly undertaken by road when organised by tour operators (being most cost effective) and independently by either train or bus - both which have good and reliable services between Agra, Jaipur or Delhi.

To reach Agra by road you can hire a "Taxi" Car or Bus; or use Public scheduled transport.

05:00 AM , August 27, 2017

We Wanted to be at Taj before 10 o'clock , So , We got ourselves Fresh and took a cab to ISBT , Anand Vihar , New Delhi. It took another 15 minutes to find the right bus that would drop us to Agra. After posting update on our Facebook timeline and Official Page , We got musical with Nitish's playlist of melodious 80's and 90's Songs from Bollywood to make our selves comfortable. After all it was going to be a 3 hour long Journey.

While our way to Agra, near buddh International circuit , Something memorable happened for us. It was memorable because it was first experience like that for us. what we saw that 10-12 super bikes were racing along with normal vehicles on the expressway. each bike sounded like a rocket while passing by. 

A Illustration of bikes on Yamuna expressway

Anyways  , At about  09:45 AM , we were on the land of Mughal monuments and buildings.

10:00 AM , August 27 , 2017

It was a great day for me as I was going to meet my Brother who was there in Agra for his National level NCC Camp. we Got at Taj about 10:30 AM , and that was it! For a person like me who is not a fond of Historical and monument visits , it was a totally different world . All walls and buildings made of sandstone , It was a peaceful and cooling environment. 

We got our tickets pretty quick and got ourselves checked properly . Then we were in the compound and I called my brother who was already there with his group. 

Me ( in middle ) , My brother , and Nitish ( taking Pic )

11:00 AM , August 27 , 2017

We got in and Started exploring the Taj . It is  an amazing experience being with unknown people at such a place. I can now tell , Yes , Taj Mahal is one of the most visited places in India by Foreign Visitors. 

Enjoy the pictures below and Do plan a trip if You haven't been there before.

Now Here are some tips You should Follow when You are there after 10:00 AM

1.  You must keep yourself hydrated all time. It will be better to take a water bottle with you. 
2. You must not go with empty belly . It can be dangerous as the place becomes warm due to stones all around you gets warm by sun rays. 
3. It is advised to take a sun glass to keep your eyes cooler. 
4. Don't throw you money taking pictures with local camera persons. take your DSLR or smartphone to assist you.
5. Don't Litter around . Taj is a place of National Pride and you don't want to present a uglier picture of your self.

We took a Bus way back to Delhi and we were at our room by 06:00 PM . It took about 800 INR per person. and It is pretty cheap for us.

Thanks for reading till here. Follow us on Facebook and YouTube. We will be back with more trip stories and News related to Survival Tourism and Eco-Tourism. Bye Till Then.