Skills:PSK (ITEM 7 IS UP!): A Group Exercise in Creative Thinking and Improvisation

Brian Jones

Brian Jones

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We've had a lot of discussions on "this is what I have in my PSK..." and a list. But let's explore how different members here might use different items to meet their needs. It's an exercise in creative thinking. So, I'd like to throw out one piece of gear at a time in the course of this thread, that you may have in your kit, and let's post how we might use it to take care of some basics: Shelter/personal protection, Fire, Water, Food. Personal protection includes making, adding to, or repairing clothing. Treat each item as if it's all you have to work with besides natural materials in the wilderness. Later, we can expand into combos of two, three, and more, etc. One item at a time forces you to exhaust all the possibilities of each item.

Important: there are no right or wrong answers. The idea is to practice thinking creatively on ways of improvising to meet your needs.

So, first item, chosen at random (edited to list each subsequent item as well):

1. fishing hook, and fishing line.
2. Aluminum foil
3. A small transistor radio with 9V battery
4. A flashlight -- can be handheld, or headlamp with straps
5. A small razor blade such as pictured below
6. 550 paracord. 7-strand interior.
7. Black plastic contractor's trash bag.

4424



Suggest ways you might improvise with it to get shelter/personal protection, fire, water, and food. Please refer to the specific "survival needs" category one at a time as you describe your possible methods.

Again, everyone jump in -- there are no right or wrong answers. It's brainstorming. We can help each other tweak things to make it better.
 
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Wow....you picked a hard one to start with. i live in an urban environment, and have no use for fishing. and....its too early in the AM to think outside the box.

i'll come back later to see what others have to say.:)

since we're on fishing.....did you know that the vast majority of geologists in the world, believe that the Susquehanna river here in PA is the OLDEST river in the world? that is not a joke. see Wikipedia. :eek:
 
No prob, Bill. The first thing I do to get myself thinking out of the box is throw out -- in my mind -- the label and intended purpose of that item. So, fishing hook and fishing line yes. But so many other uses, if we can get rid of the limitation of the label.
 
Great concept for a thread, it should probably be a sticky here. A long time ago I started a similar series PSK Basics, those who can search might find that useful. If this one was a sticky it would stick around longer.

FISH HOOK AND FISING LINE

Aside from the obvious I think it is important to remember that fish hooks aren't just for catching fish.

In my area of Central Brazil we only have fish in the lowland rivers and streams. As soon as you hike into the mountains you start passing things like 70 meter waterfalls above which there are no fish.

We do have lizards of all sizes from the little wall climbers to the mighty Tiu that looks like a small gator. These larger lizards are routinely caught on hooks and lines left baited, especially where these animals are raiding chicken coups. The baited hook is often tied to a drag or a springy branch with the hook buried deep in the bait. The lizard will swallow it whole and become gut hooked. Be careful where there are dogs around because they will take the bait too.

The same principle can be used for ducks. Ducks will take a baited hook and can be kept on the gound for a while with a suitable drag. Catching ducks this way is illegal so only use it in an actual emergency.

When food gathering it is important to think in terms of active and passive methods. Active hunting or fishing requires your presence to get results. Passive hunting or fishing (traps and trotlines) allows you to go off and do other things while your system is running itself. This especially makes use of your night time inactivity to create conditions ripe for breakfast. I would concentrate on passive means for the fishing supplies in a PSK. If you are in such a situation you need to maximize the use of your time.

Fishing line is great for sewing up clothes and packs but only if you ahve tested your PSK needle to make sure it fits the line. Mac
 
Good start, Mac, thanks! This exercise gets everyone practicing the creative thinking skills, and if we think about these things now, we won't have to start from scratch if ever in an emergency situation.
 
Fishing hooks and line can be used to snag or snare animals,stich up yourself and make sewing repairs of your clothes and equipment . I like to have a heavy trot line set up as well and this can have additional uses like binding things together and large hooks could be used for arrowheads and spear points . Al could be used to make fish traps.
 
A straightened hook with the barb filed or ground off can easily be used as a needle to do rough sewing with the fishing line. Good for stiching larger piedes of material together like hides or bark.
 
In lieu of vine, rope, paracord, etc. fishing line could be used (if you have enough) to lash limbs together and make shelter. My guess is that this would better apply to a person with a tackle-box with a spool of line rather than the meager lengths most folks keep in a PSK.

Smaller lengths could be used to lash a bandage, provided it was all the way around a limb, finger, etc. Otherwise the line will cut into uncovered skin.

As other have said, a straightened hook is basically a needle.

I wonder how well line might work in snares?

To veer off here and actually talk about fishing, there are two lures that folks might want to keep in a PSK. They work well in a lot of climes and scenarios. One is a small bucktail jig. The other is a popping bug.
 
I carry my fishing kit inside the handles of my BK-7. I didn't mod the scales. I just packed the fishing kit, assorted hooks, line, and split shot in the little sections and then poured hot wax over it all to seal it in so it doesn't rattle. In the event it becomes necessary I just have to remove the scales with the little hex wrench attached to my sheath and break the stuff out of the wax, which then gets made into a candle. Mac
 
I was under the impression that sewing a wound closed in non-sterile field conditions would make things worse that they otherwise are. Surely it would just promote infection of the wound, whereas if it is simply dressed the wound can be cleaned and the dressing replaced as needed.


One thing you could stitch with fishing line though is large leaves, in order to create a waterproof shelter. Obviously there are methods for attaching leaves together themselves, but some judiciously threaded line might help keep things together a bit better when the wind starts blowing.

You could probably also create a decent rain catchment out of suitably large leaves sewn together.
 
Well all my ideas have been scooped....If you did lose your knife :eek::eek::eek:, you could use the hook to scrape markings or messages in trees or wood as a signalling method. Err uhmm, I think I remember seeing that tree before....
 
A hook could be straitened out and lashed to a stick to make a frog or fish gig or spear. A large hook would work better for this. A large hook could also be attached to a flexible branch and used to hook small animals out of a burrow. I carry two large hooks in my BOB for this purpose--KV
 
This is my first post here, been lurking and this post drew me out. Awesome idea Brian Jones.
Fishing line and hooks: Improvised trip wire for signals, or 'anti-follower' traps. String those hooks up about eye level in some tight brush through a trail, and make your trackers slow down.

Floss?

Jerry
 
Anyone know of a way to make fire with a hook and line?

Best I can think of is to use a fair bit of line for a bow and drill kit, though to be honest I wouldn't fancy my chances.
 
Keep going! Great stuff! Try to imagine ways to make a fire using the hook and/or Line. They can be used separately or together. Think friction from line and/or sparks from metal. Don't forget, we can go right out and try some of these things to see if they might work. We might just come up with new stuff that's not been done before, AND, the fun is to test some of the interesting ideas out and come back to report!

Jerry/Fudomyo27 -- welcome aboard!!!! And good ideas!
 
Depeneding on what the fish hook is made out of, and how large it is, it could be used as the steel in flint and steel for starting a fire by spark. (Probably a longshot.)

If you have a lot of strong fishing line (like a spool of spectra line), it can be used to knot into a net for fishing, trapping, etc. Very similarly, it can also be knotted into a hammock to sleep off the ground. A net/mesh can also be used like a bag for carrying stuff.

Also, it can be made into a sling (the hunting tool).
 
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