I hope the rest of the advice is better than the advice for magnetizing a compass needle:<p><pre><code> If you have a battery and some electric wire, you
can polarize the metal electrically. The wire should be
insulated. If not insulated, wrap the metal object in
a single, thin strip of paper to prevent contact. The
battery must be a minimum of 2 volts. Form a coil with
the electric wire and touch its ends to the battery's
terminals. Repeatedly insert one end of the metal
object in and out of the coil. The needle will become an
electromagnet.
</code></pre>
No, the needle will not become an "electromagnet," once it's outside the coil. It won't even become a good permanent magnet if you follow these directions, because you'll tend to demagnetize it every time you withdraw it in the same direction you inserted it. (I actually tried it with a power supply, a spool of wire, and a couple of screws. Dropping a screw through the coil in one direction 10 times will give it the same amount of magnetism that moving it in and out about 200 times will impart.)<p>In any case, none of this has anything to do with the battery's voltage except to the extent that it provides more current per turn. A 1.5V 'AA' cell would work fine for creating a compass needle unless you wasted your time with those instructions.<p>But hey, at least now I know that polar bears are best avoided, and that drinking kerosene will get rid of intestinal parasites...
Lots of knowledge in here, but my favorite piece has always been this treatment for intestinal parasites:<p>"Tobacco: Eat 1 to 1.5 cigarettes. The nicotine in the cigarette will kill or stun the worms long enough for your system to pass them. If the infestation is severe, repeat the treatment in 24 to 48 hours, but no sooner."
If you guys enjoyed this, you'll love the Ranger Handbook.
Still have mine from when I went through :)<p>[0] <a href="http://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/ranger.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/ranger.pdf</a>
For the curious, here is also surviving guide in a pdf form issued by Finnish defense forces in 1985: <a href="http://www.puolustusvoimat.fi/wcm/61ba4180411e702ea19ee9e364705c96/luonnonmuonaohjelmalumo1985.pdf?MOD=AJPERES" rel="nofollow">http://www.puolustusvoimat.fi/wcm/61ba4180411e702ea19ee9e364...</a><p>You probably can't make much out of the text, but pictures may be worth looking of, even though most of the traps demonstrated are illegal to make during peace. There's also cooking recipes in the bottom of the document, which contain oddities such as soup made from sprigs of a spruce. Though my personal favorite must be the depiction of how to kill a moose with a knife by jumping on its back.
An uncle gave me an early 90's version of this manual as a gift when I was in my teens. This manual, along with "The American Boy's Handy Book" resulted in days and days of outdoor activity and a plethora of failed boats/rafts/cabins/snares/spearfishing/etc... There are some awesome instructions in here and the print copy I have has an entire color photo plant identification guide in the back.<p>My only word of warning would be to make sure the kids you expose to this are responsible enough for the knowledge. There are some last resort things like "how to poison an entire stream of fish by grinding up wild plants".
I was not aware Pole Shift Survival was a thing. The internet really is a collection of wonderful things.<p><a href="http://pssurvival.com/" rel="nofollow">http://pssurvival.com/</a><p>"The information on this site is for those who wish to improve their chances for survival after the coming pending pole shift."
I think the following two paragraphs are very applicable to founders:<p><i>It takes much more than the knowledge and skills to build shelters, get food, make fires,
and travel without the aid of standard navigational devices to live successfully through a
survival situation. Some people with little or no survival training have managed to survive
life-threatening circumstances. Some people with survival training have not used their
skills and died. A key ingredient in any survival situation is the mental attitude of the
individual(s) involved. Having survival skills is important; having the will to survive is
essential. Without a desk to survive, acquired skills serve little purpose and invaluable
knowledge goes to waste.</i><p><i>There is a psychology to survival. The soldier in a survival environment faces many
stresses that ultimately impact on his mind. These stresses can produce thoughts and
emotions that, if poorly understood, can transform a confident, well-trained soldier into an
indecisive, ineffective individual with questionable ability to survive. Thus, every soldier
must be aware of and be able to recognize those stresses commonly associated with
survival. Additionally, it is imperative that soldiers be aware of their reactions to the wide
variety of stresses associated with survival.</i>
If anyone here is interested in the topic I can really recommend the survival courses run by Ray Mears company called Woodlore. They are brilliant. The guys there are so good it becomes less about survival and more about living!
This used to be published as "Survival, Evasion, and Escape" with the same field manual number. I have an old printed copy dated 1969 which includes the missing Evasion and Escape sections.
It's a great book. I keep a copy in my scram-bag, as it's the kind of knowledge that could be the difference between life and death, one day.