On 9/19/2005 I went to an REI outdoor survival class by Gene Ward of Survival and Outdoor Safety. I have been to the same class when he had it at Sportsman’s Warehouse. This time he got a little more into transpiration bag use. He said he tried his bag on a mesquite tree without much luck. He said the leaves are small and do not produce much water. Gene said the bag has to be airtight when you put it on a tree. I told him that I read that you have to change the bag once a day to get good water. He said that was likely. He said the bag kills the branch. He suggested that it might be better to take a barrel cactus and chop it up and put it in a plastic trash bag. He suggested sealing up the bag, with the cactus, so the bottom of the bag was empty and the moisture would evaporate and collect in the bottom. I have read (seen – Desert Survival DVD – Mr. Bigfoot) that the juice of the barrel cactus will make you vomit if you drink very much of it. I wonder if using evaporation and condensation will make the water more potable.

Gene was extolling the virtues of using fatwood and a ferro rod for fire starting. I have tried fatwood. It does work. Scrap some off and it will light with a ferro rod. It burns with a good flame for about one minute. Vaseline treated cotton ball burns for 7 minutes and takes no preparation time or manual dexterity. I have never seen Gene with a fixed blade knife. He likes the LeatherMan Wave. He likes the locking knife and saw blades. He does not use the back of the saw on his ferro rod. He uses a piece of hacksaw blade with the teeth filed off. He showed my wife how to use the file on her Wave to sharpen the edges of the hacksaw blade so it will work better on the ferro rod. Gene also takes a cotton ball and soaks it in melted Vaseline and then wraps it in an aluminum foil. He uses it like a candle. He said it will burn for up to an hour. He said that it is excellent for starting wet wood. Gene sells a large clear trash bag and a clear 60 gallon trash bag. The 60 gallon is good for transpiration and the large one is good for making shelter.

The best thing I learned from Gene is how to use a signal mirror 360 degrees from the sun on the horizon with a single mirror. Use the opposite hand for the eye. Keep your hand out of the way of the light, as you get close to 180 degrees you have to start tilting the mirror up and back. WoooHooo!