I'm pushed into the bank and from the Pilothouse, I see, along the beach:

4 boards to make a leanto frame
2 3" 3 strand mooring lines which can be pulled apart for cordage to make leanto bindings and fishing line
An ice chest for storing or carrying resources
Many plastic jugs and bottles to hold fresh water
A large rain fed lake 400 yds North of my position
Many scrubby trees to provide shelter making materials, crude fish hooks, etc

Now look around. What "garbage" is around you and how would you use it? Your EDC is extremely useful in making use of the raw products laying around you.

I am intrigued that you are describing what is essentially a beach environment. My experience patrolling the beaches of Channel Islands national Park suggests that the beach is a very good place to be if you are trying to corral goodies in a survival situation.

I have found working flashlights (more than once), in additional to various other items related to scuba diving, literally miles of rope (usually the yellow polyester stuff), nautical charts, consumable food, a usable walking staff, clothing items (some of which were usable). All this was in addition to the ostensible objects of my search, - archeology, historic shipwrecks, and pygmy mammoth fossils. Moving water transports objects a long way...Oh, yes, there were also two messages in a bottle, but, alas, no magic lamp complete with genie. It got to the point where I made regular use of the yellow rope to fabricate fossil casts, never bothering to carry any until we could scoop up some along the shore.

Not only all these found objects, but in a lot of environments, you are going to have food readily at hand - mostly mussels and other crustaceans. The beach is where it's at!

Isn't that term the inverse of 'jumbo shrimp'?

Absolutely! They are (or were) a prime example of "island dwarfism" - the tendency of large species isolated on islands to shrink in size through time. A full adult male was about 6' high at the shoulder, weighing a ton (mainland guys stood 14'). Walt Disney would have loved them.

Not to make light of others' tragedy, but the entire west coast of North America will have an endless array of man-made goods washing ashore for a several years. It is only decent to be respectful of items that are perhaps the only surviving mementos of someone's family members. But there is no reason to avoid using general flotsam in a survival situation.

I am sitting along the bank of the Intracoastal Waterway in SE Texas.

Good points wildman.

One of the subtle things I always appreciated about Les Stroud's TV series was that he made a point to highlight taking advantage of flotsam and jetsam.

" taking advantage of flotsam and jetsam."
Wildman, you could make a survival show, call it Dual Survival!
Oh, wait. That's taken.

The Capt has paddled our skiff to the beach and is walking the beach to see if there is anything else that could be useful. That list of useful objects includes empty 5 gal buckets and 3" line. The line is in good condition but the question is whether it is long enough (30+ ft minimum).

The board will be cut down to the size we need and we'll dump the excess ashore when we dump our garbage.

Although there is no doubt that there is more stuff washed up around the shore of a river, lake or beach, it does not mean the same alertness should not apply in other environments.

I am now on a firm "walking schedule" (please don't ask why ). In the past few weeks I have found the following items in my suburban walking route:

1. a 20$ bill
2. a fully operational brand new bic pen
3. a fully operational bic lighter.
4. many, many, plastic water bottles (too many!)
5. several gloves (no matching pairs)
6. A lot of paper and cardboard (kindling?)
7. A ceramic dinner plate.
8. Lots of aluminum cans, most crushed, but some not, and some unbroken beer bottles (none unopened and full).
9. a size large man's winter jacket (in the middle of the street!)
10. a 4 foot ethernet connection cord.

I gotta have a talk with the neighbors!

On the down side, I have been chased by a dog who ran right through the "invisible fence."

There is a lot of useful "trash" in all urban areas.

Check out an abandoned "homeless camp", if possible", although the safest way to do so is in a group or ( best) by going to YouTube.

I don't ever advise anyone to just walk into someone's camp. Acceptable ettiquette is to "Hello the camp" and then wait for answer that invites one in! To just barge into one's camp is equated as a home invasion by many people.

If you're not invited into the camp, it's best to leave. Just sharing my opinion...

An interesting exercise, let’s see.


Well, where I am here in Kentucky there are no shorelines to speak of, but alas, there is plenty of flotsam and jetsam from all the trash people throw out of their cars. Sad really, and it frustrates me to no end (I live on the main road and am constantly picking up what people throw out their windows as they drive by). Some of the more useful items I have found include:

· Assorted cans for use in boiling and/or holding water
· Assorted plastic bottles to hold water
· Assorted cardboard and paper products for fire starting
· Broken glass that might be used as improvised cutting tools, spear tips, and so on
· Assorted wire of various gauges, could be useful in making snares, “pot” handles for the cans, and so on

On the natural side, there is/are:

· plenty of trees around to make use of in building shelter and improvising other items, and obviously for making fire
· Assorted rivers, streams and lakes (the river and some streams being the closest, the closest of the small lakes are anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes of driving, not sure if I’d really want to try to make it there on foot so not sure if I can really count those or not).

Now that I think about it, there IS all the assorted stuff that washes down the “river “ (it runs directly behind my house, it is officially a river due to it’s length, but it is not very wide at all), including buckets and other assorted containers. Will have to look into this some more and see what else turns up. Usually what ends up in the "river" is, yup you guessed it, more trash.

Usable trash is one of the main reasons I carry a multi-tool. I read a lot of post where posters say there is not much need of a multi-tool in the woods. To me, in a bad situation I want to be able to use as much of the trash as I can and a multi-tool makes that much more possible.

David Enoch

I'm one of the guys who stopped carrying a multitool in th woods...but you make a very good point. Time to rethink my thinking.
-Blast

I'm with you when it comes to a multitool in the woods. My Wave is not ultralight, by any means, but I find it quite useful, even in deep wilderness. It is often the best saw I have available and it has been handy many times. The trick is to ensure that you have command of a minimal tool kit - that may or may not include a Wave.

It is really amazing what you can find along the trail - trash is everywhere. My best find was a perfectly fine Buck 110, just sitting in a clearing....