Survivalist Tip: Along with your collection of knives that I recommended in an earlier post, you’ll probably need a machete. These are large cleaver-like cutting tools used for slicing through thick vegetation. The ancient Mayans cleared the jungles of southern México and Central America with flint versions of machetes and built their massive city-states. Present-day Mayans just use chainsaws, tractors and sometimes goats. If you live in or near a forested area and have to flee your home for whatever reason – flooding, tick infestation, unwelcome in-laws – a machete will be useful to chop through thick under- and overgrowth. You can also use it to slice through protein-rich food sources like blueberries and grub worms. Once the chaos subsides and you’ve eliminated some unnecessary vegetation, you can then build a new settlement – complete with a blueberry garden and goat herd.
Chief Writing Wolf 