Timestamp: 20th of Fall, 516 AV
Continued from "Surviving The Jungle".
Randal talked as she worked. “Mist. Dew. Rain… all can provide water. Tie rags or twist out tuffs of grass and tie them around your ankles and walk through tall dew drenched grass. Then you can wring out the rags or grass and drink fresh from that water in the mornings. You can use an entire clearing this way. Walk across and across and across until all the dew is gone or until your container is filled and you have safe drinking water.” Randal mimicked doing so with his neck bandana and then mimicked wringing it out.
Nya kept swinging on what she thought was a small banana or plantain tree.
“Ants in the jungle tend to march into holes in trees that might hold water. You can always take your bandana and stuff it into a hole ants are disappearing into and see if you can soak up their water source. That’s usually safe to drink too… just pull the bandana out and wring it out in your mouth.” Randal advised.
Then he gestured at the tree Nya was chopping down. Five swings and she’d had most of the tree severed off at the base. “Whenever you find these sorts of trees you can get an easy access to water. Always carry a hand axe or machete in the jungle for such a purpose. Cut down the tree like you are doing… just a little above the ground. Good. Very good… now cast the trunk aside and see the stump? Hollow part of it out with your axe to form a bowl." Nya was instructed and she complied.
The tree was soft wooded and easy to cut down. The bowl was even easier to shape by swinging angular cuts into the center of the wood and cutting out wedge shaped chunks. She blinked in surprise as the deeper she got the bowl to start forming, it slowly and unexpectedly started to fill with water.
“There’s water in here!” She exclaimed, stopping to bend down to drink. It actually turned out to be a lot f water which surprised her. She wrinkled her nose and gagged at the taste though, looking up at him as if he’d somehow betrayed her.
Randal laughed before he answered her. “The first three times it fills you’ll find the water bitter and unpleasant. Sweep it out of the bowl with your hands. About the forth of fifth time the water comes straight from beneath the ground and not out of the trees water storage system and you’ll find it pleasant. Go ahead and try it.” He said, still chuckling.
Nya did as he asked, sweeping out the trunk and then watching it refill. When she thought she’d counted four, she bent to drink again. While the water wasn’t tasteless, it certainly had lost its bitterness and she was able to drink it quite easily.
“Believe it or not, that stump will continue to pull ground water up for three or four days.” Randal said, tapping the trunk happily. “It will get used by insects though if you don’t keep it covered. Even a small covering like a few banana leaves will keep pests out of it.” He added, laughing as she dipped to drink again, pleasantly surprised at what Randal said had been true.
“Is there other places that might have water which you can tell by the plants?” Nya asked, wiping the back of her mouth and smiling. She returned Randal’s hand axe to him and examined the banana tree to see if there was anything useful about it she needed to salvage. Randal indicated she should just leave it with a gesture and started walking before he answered her question.
“Green bamboo thickets are great places to find water, Nya. And it has lovely drinking water. I would recommend planting some when you finally build a house. The water from green bamboo is usually clear and doesn’t have any taste or smell to it. And it’s easy to deal with.” Randal demonstrated. He hiked about fifty yards to a patch of bamboo and felt around in some of the stalks until he found a nice young pliable stalk. Then he bent it over in an arch so its top was pointed to the ground and used the hatchet to neatly behead it. Almost immediately water started dripping from the bamboo. He smiled and caught it in his mouth and licked his lips. Then he showed her something even more useful.
“Anchor the cut off bamboo like this with a rope or a handy vine.” For the sake of demonstration, Randal just freed his belt and used that, looping the buckle around the bamboo and then finding a heavy rock to hold the other end of his belt down. The bamboo then formed an upside down U and he tied his canteen off to the top o the bamboo so that the drip fell into the canteen.
“By morning your canteen will be full. You’ll only get about a days’ worth of dripping from bamboo but it’s always pure.” The man added, then seemed to remember. “Older bamboo might contain water too, but given the choice use the older bamboo for building and the younger for water. Older bamboo doesn’t end this nicely.” Nya nodded, understanding immediately.
She went over to inspect his handiwork then cut some handy trailing vine and borrowed his axe again to set up her own green bamboo drip. “This is a lot easier than the plantain trees, but less water. The plantain is still a better option isn’t it?” Randal nodded an affirmative even as Nya asked the question.
She had another one. “What if there are no banana trees around? Like say you are on the beach or something and there are no obvious catchments for water like say depressions in rocks?” The Kelvic raised her eyes noting the pleasure he seemed to have at her question.
Randal nodded. “Now you are thinking. On the beach you can do two things. One you can dig a hole deep enough to allow water to seep into it. Obtain rocks, build a fire nearby, and then drop the hot rocks into the water until it steams. On the beach the water will be salty and you can’t drink it. But you can hold a cloth over the steam and capture it in the cloth and suck on the fabric or wring it out into your mouth or a water container. You can also use a pot or bowl and fill it with sea water. Boil the water until it steams and capture the steam the same way. It’s a grueling way to capture water, Nya, but it works. A better bet on the beach is coconuts. There are some around here too. Let me find them.” He said, looking around. Nya followed, eager to learn more.
Randal talked as she worked. “Mist. Dew. Rain… all can provide water. Tie rags or twist out tuffs of grass and tie them around your ankles and walk through tall dew drenched grass. Then you can wring out the rags or grass and drink fresh from that water in the mornings. You can use an entire clearing this way. Walk across and across and across until all the dew is gone or until your container is filled and you have safe drinking water.” Randal mimicked doing so with his neck bandana and then mimicked wringing it out.
Nya kept swinging on what she thought was a small banana or plantain tree.
“Ants in the jungle tend to march into holes in trees that might hold water. You can always take your bandana and stuff it into a hole ants are disappearing into and see if you can soak up their water source. That’s usually safe to drink too… just pull the bandana out and wring it out in your mouth.” Randal advised.
Then he gestured at the tree Nya was chopping down. Five swings and she’d had most of the tree severed off at the base. “Whenever you find these sorts of trees you can get an easy access to water. Always carry a hand axe or machete in the jungle for such a purpose. Cut down the tree like you are doing… just a little above the ground. Good. Very good… now cast the trunk aside and see the stump? Hollow part of it out with your axe to form a bowl." Nya was instructed and she complied.
The tree was soft wooded and easy to cut down. The bowl was even easier to shape by swinging angular cuts into the center of the wood and cutting out wedge shaped chunks. She blinked in surprise as the deeper she got the bowl to start forming, it slowly and unexpectedly started to fill with water.
“There’s water in here!” She exclaimed, stopping to bend down to drink. It actually turned out to be a lot f water which surprised her. She wrinkled her nose and gagged at the taste though, looking up at him as if he’d somehow betrayed her.
Randal laughed before he answered her. “The first three times it fills you’ll find the water bitter and unpleasant. Sweep it out of the bowl with your hands. About the forth of fifth time the water comes straight from beneath the ground and not out of the trees water storage system and you’ll find it pleasant. Go ahead and try it.” He said, still chuckling.
Nya did as he asked, sweeping out the trunk and then watching it refill. When she thought she’d counted four, she bent to drink again. While the water wasn’t tasteless, it certainly had lost its bitterness and she was able to drink it quite easily.
“Believe it or not, that stump will continue to pull ground water up for three or four days.” Randal said, tapping the trunk happily. “It will get used by insects though if you don’t keep it covered. Even a small covering like a few banana leaves will keep pests out of it.” He added, laughing as she dipped to drink again, pleasantly surprised at what Randal said had been true.
“Is there other places that might have water which you can tell by the plants?” Nya asked, wiping the back of her mouth and smiling. She returned Randal’s hand axe to him and examined the banana tree to see if there was anything useful about it she needed to salvage. Randal indicated she should just leave it with a gesture and started walking before he answered her question.
“Green bamboo thickets are great places to find water, Nya. And it has lovely drinking water. I would recommend planting some when you finally build a house. The water from green bamboo is usually clear and doesn’t have any taste or smell to it. And it’s easy to deal with.” Randal demonstrated. He hiked about fifty yards to a patch of bamboo and felt around in some of the stalks until he found a nice young pliable stalk. Then he bent it over in an arch so its top was pointed to the ground and used the hatchet to neatly behead it. Almost immediately water started dripping from the bamboo. He smiled and caught it in his mouth and licked his lips. Then he showed her something even more useful.
“Anchor the cut off bamboo like this with a rope or a handy vine.” For the sake of demonstration, Randal just freed his belt and used that, looping the buckle around the bamboo and then finding a heavy rock to hold the other end of his belt down. The bamboo then formed an upside down U and he tied his canteen off to the top o the bamboo so that the drip fell into the canteen.
“By morning your canteen will be full. You’ll only get about a days’ worth of dripping from bamboo but it’s always pure.” The man added, then seemed to remember. “Older bamboo might contain water too, but given the choice use the older bamboo for building and the younger for water. Older bamboo doesn’t end this nicely.” Nya nodded, understanding immediately.
She went over to inspect his handiwork then cut some handy trailing vine and borrowed his axe again to set up her own green bamboo drip. “This is a lot easier than the plantain trees, but less water. The plantain is still a better option isn’t it?” Randal nodded an affirmative even as Nya asked the question.
She had another one. “What if there are no banana trees around? Like say you are on the beach or something and there are no obvious catchments for water like say depressions in rocks?” The Kelvic raised her eyes noting the pleasure he seemed to have at her question.
Randal nodded. “Now you are thinking. On the beach you can do two things. One you can dig a hole deep enough to allow water to seep into it. Obtain rocks, build a fire nearby, and then drop the hot rocks into the water until it steams. On the beach the water will be salty and you can’t drink it. But you can hold a cloth over the steam and capture it in the cloth and suck on the fabric or wring it out into your mouth or a water container. You can also use a pot or bowl and fill it with sea water. Boil the water until it steams and capture the steam the same way. It’s a grueling way to capture water, Nya, but it works. A better bet on the beach is coconuts. There are some around here too. Let me find them.” He said, looking around. Nya followed, eager to learn more.