A new page added with all the native bush tucker plant foods listed on the one page.

New page added: A review of the Waterproof Bible by Bardin and Marsee Publishing.

I bought one of these a few months ago and I think it is really impressive. It's made completely of plastic — the binding, the cover, and the pages. So it is completely waterproof. In fact, in the shop I bought it from (Koorong at Penrith, NSW) they had one on the counter that was completely submerged underwater, in a fish tank, complete with air stone and rising bubbles. Now that I'm doing this web page I wish I had taken a photo of it in the tank.

A waterproof Bible has obvious uses for anyone who is into survival (or just about any outdoor activities really) and likes to read the Bible. It's also very good for people who like to do their Bible reading in the spa. It would be useful if you live in a flood zone and would like to take a Bible around with you, but are worried about it getting wet. This Bible is completely flood proof (and spa proof).

The review contains two short videos of watering the Bible, and several high-resolution photographs.

New page added: Bow Drill Fire Making Videos. Currently there is one video showing how to make a bow drill fire, more are coming in the next couple of weeks.

New free video bible course added called "The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus".

This is a free video course about the Bible called "The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus". If you click on the Channel button you can select where you are up to. If you click on the full screen button (on the bottom right of the window, with two arrows pointing outwards) at you can watch it in full screen mode. Sometimes the video is a bit jerky on my internet connection, but the sound keeps going continuously most of the time. I'm still going through it, I'm up to Chapter 4 out of 15 at the moment. So far it seems quite good for what it is, a traditional Christian explanation of the Holy Bible.

You don't need to register to watch any of the video. There is also a workbook available free as a PDF download from the makers of the video, but you do need to register (I think this is also free) to download chapters 4-15 of the PDF. Similarly there is a PDF of the course itself.

New page added: Books About Near-Death Experiences. Overview of near-death experiences plus one detailed book review (more coming soon) and short descriptions of four other books.

I've added reviews of another 7 Survival Books.

I've added another 9 more Edible Weeds.

I've added 12 more Edible Weeds. I will be adding more bush tucker plants and edible weeds in the near future.

Added a new page with reviews of all the Books by Tom Brown, Jr. A few of the reviews are not fully complete yet, but I will do them as I get the time.

In the last week or so I have also added new books to the Survival Books page, the Australian Field Guides and Nature Books page and the Permaculture/Gardening books page.

Added a new page about Survival DVDs. So far 12 DVDs or DVD sets are described.

Added 14 new survival books to the Survival Books page.

13 new birds added to the Australian birds identification section of the website.

The birds are the White-throated Treecreeper, Golden Whistler, New Holland Honeyeater, Bell Miner (Bellbird), Common ("Indian") Myna, Noisy Miner, Magpie-lark (Peewee), Grey Butcherbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Red Wattlebird, Australian Magpie, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and the Channel-billed Cuckoo.

Also there are new photos for the Red-browed Firetail (Finch), White-browed Scrubwren, King Parrot, Wonga Pigeon, Crimson Rosella, Little Pied Cormorant.

Using our current modern systems of industrial agriculture, the food production system is not sustainable. That means, by definition, that it cannot be sustained. Which is another way of saying that it is going to end.

Permaculture is in part an attempt to create a renewable system of food production that relies upon minimal amounts of energy. Industrial agriculture requires large amounts of fossil fuels, both to run the equipment, and to supply pesticides and fertilisers. Permaculture, on the other hand, focuses on maximizing the use of trees and perennial food crops — because they make a more efficient and long term use of energy than traditional seasonal crops. A farmer does not have to exert energy every year replanting them, and this frees up that energy to be used somewhere else.

Growing fruit trees is therefore an integral part of permaculture, and of any long-term plan to feed and support human populations. Fruit and nut trees and other perennial plants are used to plant a forest garden, or "food forest".

The Growing Fruit Trees section of this website contains the following pages: (19 new pages)

Beginning With Fruit Trees

Picking the Ideal Spot for your Fruit Tree
What to Look for when Buying a Tree
Planting and Caring for a New Tree
Maintaining a Healthy Young Tree

Caring For Fruit Trees

Caring Properly for your Fruit Tree
Preventing Diseases in Fruit Trees
Dealing with Barren Trees
Dealing with Bird Problems
Protecting Trees with Bird Netting
Grow Larger Fruit — How to Prevent Small Fruits
Pruning Your Trees

Types of Fruit Trees

Different Types of Apple Trees
The Many Types of Cherry Trees
Types of Orange Trees — Picking the Right Orange Tree

More About Fruit Trees

Removing Old Trees
Finding Drought Resistant Trees
Growing Trees for Shade
Starting an Orchard
Selling at Farmer's Markets

7 New plants added to the bush tucker plant foods section of the website.

This page is taken from an article written by Elyssa Mackie in 2005 on the Australian bush tucker diet, containing an overview of the bush tucker diet and a nutritional analysis of Australian bush tucker plant foods.

This page is taken from a booklet written by Gemma White in 2008 on Australian bush tucker survival foods that are found in the Mitchell Park (Cattai) region of sydney. This regoin is typical of much of the Sydney region and much of Southeast Australia.

Added bird paintings from 'The Birds of Australia' by John Gould (published 1848) to most of the birds in the Australian Birds section of the site. I will be adding more images and more birds as I get around to it.

Six new birds (all with high-resolution photos) added to the Australian Bird Identification Section of the website.

This is a cool book that I bought cheap from a discount shop in Sydney a couple of years ago. (They are in an underground subway near the bus interchange between Central station and broadway if you want to look for it, but it was at least two years ago.)

It would make an ideal present to give to anyone who is into "survival", or for anyone who is into survival to give to anyone they know.

You can get it very cheap from Amazon.com (new from about $3), or in Australia you can get it from "The Nile" (which will arrive more quickly, presumably, for people who are in Australia).

This page is obviously a blatant attempt to make some money out of this website, but it is a cool book. I bought about six copies for very cheap and have been giving them to people who I can't think of a better present for, or for who I think it would go down well as a second present. If the person you are giving it to thinks of you as a "survival freak" in any way at all then the joke will be all the greater.

In case it was not already clear, it is primarily a joke book, though it does have some tips that could genuinely help you — like how to keep a turkey from exploding, and the symptoms and first aid for mistletoe poisoning. There are also tips (e.g. how to drive out of a blizzard) that would be genuinely useful in countries where it is likely to snow at Christmas time (not like down here in Australia).

The signs animals leave on the ground can be more revealing than any book written by man, but unfortunately few people are able to see these signs and fewer still can read them.

To understand something of the behaviour of animals one must realise that the development of their senses is markedly different to mankind's, and therefore where we obtain information through our eyes and ears, one animal may obtain the same information through its sense of smell and another through its ability to detect temperature changes, or through vibrations.

The most basic question of tracking is "What kind of animal made that track?". When you are starting out learning how to track animals, it is a good idea to get a book or a list of what types of tracks are made by what animals.

This page is for people who only want to stay out there for as long as it takes for a rescue/search party to find you, or for you to find your own way back. It also covers the most basic and important skills to learn for anyone who is just getting started with this kind of stuff.

In many bookshops (especially online ones) you are presented with hundreds of books and not much idea which one(s) are the best to get. So here I have described the books that I myself have used to learn from, and that are the most popular and the most recommended. (Since I have spent a ridiculous amount of time over the last several years looking into what books are available).

A healthy belief in God can be extremely helpful when entering a period of major life upheval, such as people will experience when the upcoming global changes start to kick in. For many people, moving towards more of a working concept of (and belief in) God is part of the whole process of reversing your thinking. This proof that God exists can help you with the process.

This page contains the following sections: Using Animals To Find Water, How To Find Water From Vegetable Sources, Other Methods You Can Use To Find Water, How To Purify Stagnant water.

The birds are (in order of size from smallest to largest), the House Sparrow, the Masked Lapwing (Spurwing Plover), the Silver Gull (Seagull), the Australian King-Parrot, the Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon), the Crested Pigeon, the Tawny Frogmouth, the Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoo, the Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoo, and the Powerful Owl.

The types of wood used for the other parts of the bow drill kit are not that important, almost any wood will do for the hand piece and the bow itself. In general you want a wood that is soft but does not have too much resin in it. I have read in some places that you need the baseboard and the drill to be of the same type of wood, and in other places that they need to be of different hardness.

The first time I tried to make a bow drill fire (when I knew very little about it) I tried to use a Gum Tree (Eucalyptus) stick for the drill and a commercial pine board for the base. I had no luck at all, after drilling all the way through the base board several times all I ever got was smoke. I have found that using two soft woods works best (provided they are the right types of wood).

These water plants have long slender leaves that vary greatly. Some species (e.g. Triglochin rheophilum, illustrated below) have limp leaves that float on the water, while others have stiff leaves that rise up from the water.

In the past all Triglochin species were classified as Triglochin procera (which was also known as Triglochin procerum), but now eight species are recognised.

The white tuberous roots were baked and eaten by Aboriginies. The small green fruits are also edible. Tim Low says that they were probably an important staple food throughout much of Australia.

As far as the white man was concerned, nature was put there for his use and abuse.

Land, water, animals, or plants did not matter. He fulfilled only his own needs with no thought to future generations or nature in general. Survival to the white man was a struggle between himself and nature. He felt that he was above the laws of creation and had dominion over the land. This survival destroyed the earth then and still continues into the future. The white man's legacy has been adopted now by the global society, a society of people that kills its grandchildren to feed its children.

Grandfather was beginning now to understand what Coyote Thunder meant by man's purpose for he could see the splendid results in this strong and healthy forest. Without waiting for Grandfather to ask any more questions, Coyote Thunder continued, saying, "The problem is that the white man does not understand this balance and harmony. White man takes but never gives back. He is not a caretaker, but a disease that destroys the earth. White man does not know his purpose on the earth and thus is lost and searching for himself. "

Container gardens can create a natural sanctuary in a busy city street, along rooftops or on balconies. You can easily accentuate the welcoming look of a deck or patio with colourful pots of annuals, or fill your window boxes with beautiful shrub roses or any number of small perennials. Whether you arrange your pots in a group for a massed effect or highlight a smaller space with a single specimen, you'll be delighted with this simple way to create a garden.

You will be surprised by how beneficial all these things can be, and how often the opportunity arises to use them.

1. Watering,
2. Feeding,
3. Lighting,
4. Temperature,
5. Humidity,
6. Re-potting.

1. Choose the climate to suit the plants you want to grow,
2. How are you going to water it?
3. Sun versus shade.

]]> http://www.survival.org.au/phone_cancer.php http://www.survival.org.au/phone_cancer.php Tue, 9 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +1100 By Stephen King.

Stephen King: Increasingly doctors worldwide are reporting their findings that cell phones are a legitimate threat to human health. The following doctors are joining the already long list of the medical community who want the public and safety organizations to recognize the problems and learn more about preventive methods people can practice. Dr. Charles Teo, Neurosurgeon in Australia, co-authored a peer reviewed research paper with Dr. Vini Khurana where they said they are very concerned with the link of cell phones and brain tumors.

Dr. Teo says: "If the question is do I believe that mobile phones can cause brain cancer? The answer is yes, I do." Teo also gives this warning: "I'm incredibly worried, concerned, depressed at the number of kids I'm seeing coming in with brain tumors. Just in the last three or four weeks I've seen nearly half a dozen kids with tumors which really should have been benign and they've all been nasty, malignant brain tumors. We are doing something terribly wrong."

]]> http://www.survival.org.au/phone.php http://www.survival.org.au/phone.php Wed, 6 May 2009 07:00:00 +1100 How The Speakerphone Could Save Your Life

There is a great amount of research that has demonstrated the harmful effects of different types of electromagnetic radiation on the human body as a cause of cancer and many other diseases.

Personally I consider, by far, the biggest threat posed by electromagnetic radiation to the average modern person is mobile phone radiation.

If you are old enough to remember the 1980s, before there were mobile phones, there was a new type of consumer device that went from almost unknown to almost ubiquitous during this decade — the microwave oven. Back in those days, and even into the 1990s, people were told continually by the experts of the risks of radiation leaking out of microwave ovens. You could even buy (and can probably still buy) leak detectors to determine if any of the metal radiation shielding built into the oven had failed and if any of the radiation was leaking out.

The thing is, mobile phone (cell phone) radiation is essentially exactly the same type of radiation as microwave oven radiation. The only difference is that the mobile phone radiation is many times less powerful, and it contains a very subtle change that allows the phone call information to be added on top of the pure “carrier” signal, and the phone transmitter is located right next to your brain rather than several feet away completely surrounded by a metal box.

How do these different characteristics combine with each other? And what is the result in terms of the radiation you absorb? Read on to find out...

If you are in Australia, since there are no cases (yet) reported in Australia, I would recommend paying attention to what is going on in the world, without getting too concerned at this stage about swine flu survival.

If you are in another country that is not yet affected by swine flu, this would also be my advice.

If you are in an affected country (where there are reported cases of swine flu), it would be a good idea to become more prepared.

This appears to be one of the types of threats that the media likes to report on. Therefore anything you read or hear about swine flu in the media should be filtered through your knowledge of this fact. (That is, it may not be quite as serious a threat as some of the more sensationalised news coverage may indicate).

See Also: My Top Two Survival Books, Australian Field Guides and Nature Books, and Permaculture, Self Sufficiency And Sustainable Living Books.

Many of the book links on this page currently go to Amazon (which is good for outside Australia). If you want to order any of the books from Australia (which is recommended if you live in Australia or New Zealand), I am gradually adding more links to Australian sources of the books. Also there are Australian links to some of the books on the other two book pages shown above.

Wilderness Survival Books...

Of course, the reasoning is fairly obvious behind why people grow food in gardens. It's to eat! If you live off the fat of the land and actually survive on stuff from your garden, it's easy to understand the reasoning.

Many of the concepts that will be addressed in this new section of my website are extremely far-reaching in their implications (to say the least). Therefore you should expect that it will take some amount of time to learn and to come to terms with exactly what the issues are, and what you can do about them.

The central concept of this article (and of my new book) is the idea of reversal: That for the whole entire history of humanity (on average, as there have been a few ups and downs within this history) we have had a continuously increasing supply of available energy and other resources. This is about to change, permanently, for the simple fact that absolute global limits are now being reached. Once this changes, many — a great many — other things will also change.

Because of this reversal, almost all ordinary Western people will find themselves in the undesirable situation where a great many of the things that their previous, familiar life has taught them to feel positive (optimistic, hopeful, excited, happy) about are not only no longer possible to achieve in the long term, but would only lead them even deeper into the problem that they are already in. Similarly, a great many things that will have by then become the right things to do (things that will move you forward in your life) will be things that people's previous pre-reversal lives have taught them are not useful things.

After living with Grandfather and his teaching for a few years I thought I had an idea of most of the things he knew of. That was until he began to talk about Jesus.

Granted, Grandfather was a man who had wandered for nearly sixty-three years of his life and had been many places and learned many things. But when he began to quote passages of the Bible, I was so shocked that I couldn't speak, so I just listened.

I thought I knew quite a bit about the Bible, for I went to Church most Sundays with my parents. A good part of my upbringing revolved around Bible teachings, at least at home. Hearing the Bible and the life of Christ interpreted by Grandfather in such a simple, pure, and profound way made sense for the first time. Though he talked of Christ many times, the first time was the most complete and powerful, and I will never forget even the smallest detail.

The event changed my life and the perceptions I had about the Bible and Jesus.....

In 1953, Jean Giono dedicated to the public domain his story L'homme qui plantait des arbres (The Man Who Planted Trees). It is one of the most inspiring stories I have ever read. English translations have been made, but copyright was and still is claimed in these translations. As this seemed completely contrary to Giono's purpose, in 1993 Peter Doyle made a new and fully independent translation, and dedicated it to the public domain.

The story gets a mention in the book Permaculture One by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. They say "Think of the potential, in Australia, for such a healing revolution in landscape. Many large sheep and cattle properties, now producing a few bales of wool of a few chemicalized carcasses, could be made tremendously productive in this low-energy fashion, using free tree seed to set up an extensive permaculture".

The story begins: In order for the character of a human being to reveal truly exceptional qualities, we must have the good fortune to observe its action over a long period of years. If this action is devoid of all selfishness, if the idea that directs it is one of unqualified generosity, if it is absolutely certain that it has not sought recompense anywhere, and if moreover it has left visible marks on the world, then we are unquestionably dealing with an unforgettable character.

The important thing is to get started growing stuff, without worrying too much about getting it exactly right. You can refine your technique later on. You will learn a lot from just getting in and doing it. It will seem easier to begin with if you start off with a small garden, and make it bigger when you are ready to. It is mostly a learning excercise, especially when you are beginning, and it is good to approach it from this perspective.

Many people today do not understand this. And among even those who do have some understanding, it seems that very few are aware of how deep and far-reaching are its implications.

Basically, it works like this:

Fractional Reserve Banking - Step 1.

The banks create new money in the form of debt.

Imagine that you are given a car loan, or home mortgage. Before you took out the loan, generally this money did not "exist" in the ordinary sense (that is, in the way you would naturally imagine it, without thinking about it in detail). That is, it didn't come from anybody else's bank account or wallet—it's not like somebody else originally deposited this money into the bank and then the bank lent it to you.

Only a very small part of the money did once belong to someone in real life. This is the basis of the term fractional reserve. Typically, something like 1/10th of your loan may exist in actual deposits that the bank has in its coffers (or, actually, as numbers in its account records).

This is a quick description of some cordage I made from Lomandra (Mat-rush). I am currently experimenting with how to do this well, and trying new techniques such as soaking the leaves first. In this example I didn't soak the leaves, but used them freshly picked.

There are three straight pieces of wood, plus a smaller piece, to make the Paiute trap. There are only two cuts required, one flat edge and one notch, compared to seven for the figure four trap. The four pieces are referred to here as the vertical, the diagonal, the bait stick, and the trigger (which is the smaller piece). You also need a short piece of cordage, about a foot (30 cm) should suffice unless you are making a very large trap. I used home made cordage, that I made from Lomandra (Mat-rush) leaves, although almost any kind of string, cord of rope will work. It does not need to be very strong. You also need a weight. The "rock" I have used here is a piece of broken up concrete slab that I found in the garden.

When I was around 9 or 10 years old, I made a great many stone axes. However at the time I had no idea about construction techniques other than what I thought up myself. The difficult part was how to haft, or attach, the stone axe head onto the handle. I used some sort of string or rope to tie them together, or sometimes I used a vine found in the garden as this was more "natural", however they never held together very long. Tools attached to handles are known as hafted, which means "attached to a handle".

The easiest way of all to get started is to purchase a pre-made hand drill firemaking kit, which is what I did. My kit came from Thomas J. Elpel's website and cost US$16.

Firemaking without using modern equipment is a two-step process. The first step is to make a glowing hot ember, or "coal". The second step is to place the coal into a tinder bundle and blow it until you get an actual flame.

The hand drill fire requires only two basic parts, the drill, and the fireboard (also called the hearth or base board). It is also very useful to have some kind of flat board (cardboard or wood work fine) to place under the fireboard to catch the wood dust as it forms into a coal. The two pieces in the hand drill firemaking kit are shown below. Note that the thinner end of the drill goes upward, with the fatter, blunter end at the bottom doing the drilling. This will give you more grip as you drill, and more friction. You also need a tinder bundle (see below).

For beginners to friction fire, I would recommend starting with the bow drill fire. The easiest way of all to get started is to purchase a pre-made bow drill firemaking kit, which is what I did. My kit came from Thomas J. Elpel's website and cost US$28.

Firemaking without using modern equipment is a two-step process. The first step is to make a glowing hot ember, or "coal". The second step is to place the coal into a tinder bundle and blow it until you get an actual flame.

The bow drill fire requires four basic parts: The bow, the drill, the fireboard (also called the hearth or base board), and the handpiece. It is also very useful to have a fifth part, some kind of flat board (cardboard or wood work fine) to place under the fireboard to catch the wood dust as it forms into a coal. An overview of the assembled bow drill is shown below. Note that the pointed end of the drill goes upward, with the blunt end at the bottom doing the drilling. You also need a tinder bundle (see below).

The trap is a deadfall trap, as is the figure four trap, and the Paiute trap, meaning that a heavy weight is set up so that it will fall on the prey animal when the trigger is sprung. The advantage of this trap over the figure four trap, and many other deadfall traps, is that the trigger system is set up independantly to the weight—meaning that it is much easier to set up the weight. The trap can also be used as a trigger for many other situations (other than to let a weight fall as in a deadfall trap), such as to release a snare loop.

The trap consists of a long, springy piece of wood (which I will refer to as the spring), three stakes to hammer into the ground, a stick to hold the weight, a shorter stick which functions as the trigger, some cord, and a weight. The spring must be made of old, dead wood, not green, freshly picked wood as this will not have sufficient spring to it.

The trap is shown below...

Eventually I may add links from these basic points to more lengthy explanations of them. There are plenty of other websites with this information already there, if you look for it.

Oil is necessary for every aspect of our modern society. Not only transport—it is the raw material for all plastics, basically all pharmaceuticals (drugs), pesticides (needed for our modern methods of food production), and many other chemicals and other items essential to maintain our modern way of life. Fertilisers, also essential for our modern food production, are made from natural gas—which is usually found with oil, has its own peak of production, and appears to have already peaked in North America. Without oil, we would be able to produce only a fraction of the food supply that we can now. It is estimated that 9 in 10 calories in our modern/western food come from fossil fuels, not even allowing for packaging and transportation (then it would be 19 in 20). You hear quotes all the time like how what farmers used to think of as "soil" is increasingly becoming just a sterile substrate for the addition of fossil-fuel-based fertilisers and pesticides, to allow for food to grow...

"I am convinced that people [in Ladakh] were significantly happier before development than they are today."

Helena lived in Ladakh for long periods, beginning in the early 1970s, before Ladakh had experienced any significant contact with the outside world. Over the next two decades she witnessed at first-hand the changes the Ladakhis went through as their culture began the process of Westernisation. The book begins with a description of Ladakh as it once was, and then goes on to describe the changes brought about by "the coming of the West, and, finally, what might we learn from it all.

Helena is the founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC). She is also co-producer of an award-winning film based on this book, and between them, both film and book have now been translated into over thirty languages, and are regularly used by grassroots organisations all over the world.

Little Tibet:

In every direction are mountains, a vast plateau of crests in warm and varied tones from rust to pale green. Above, snowy peaks reach toward a still, blue sky; below, sheer walls of wine red scree fall to stark lunar valleys.

How can life be sustained in this wilderness? Everything is barren; each step you take sends up a cloud of sand and dust. Yet as your eyes begin to comprehend what they see, brilliant green oases come into focus, set like emeralds in a vast elephant-skin desert...

The aim of this section of the website is to learn to become as familiar as possible with (initially) growing food and (later on, as I get around to it) keeping animals. If you are new to this, it is best to start small and work up from there.

"Everyone can have some kind of kitchen garden, even if it is only a few pots in kitchen. The darkest basement kitchen could provide the perfect conditions for producing a constant supply of mushrooms and bean shoots, with herbs in a window box outside. In a well-lit kitchen, mustard and cress, chives and many herbs could be grown inside, and dwarf tomatoes outside in a window box." George Seddon, Your Vegetable Garden in Australia, p14

For many city and suburban people this is a whole new field of experience. As a first step,...

Once oil production has peaked (that is, "peak oil" has been reached) there is nothing that can be done to stop the decline in the rate at which the oil can be extracted. It is a matter of the physics of oil (and you can trust me on this, I have a first-class honours degree in physics) — it has nothing to do with economics or how high the price of oil becomes.

There are still people in the media who refer to peak oil as being a theory. However, peak oil stopped being a theory in the early 1970s, when the oil production of the United States peaked, and has since then continually declined. You can see this as the green shaded area at the bottom of the graph above. (See here for more)...