Several years ago my uncle, who was a pilot, donated some old flying reference books to me, among which was a priceless 1955 training manual from the Department of the Air Force.

It is a text rich with survival goodness beyond anything available on the shelves at Barnes and Noble or Amazon. It is excellent bathroom reading material, allowing you to build up your repertoire of survival skills one-by-one with each passing day.

From here on out I'll post a new nugget of Air Force knowledge whenever inspiration strikes, in illustrated comic book format.

Fire and cooking

Let's start this out with an old classic that can be found in any survival manual: Techniques for starting fires and cooking food. I really have to hand it to the Air Force-- The manual is comprehensive. Before it delves into anything technical, like starting fires, signaling search planes, or the proper method for climbing vertical rock, it addresses the core issues: Do you have the will to survive?

The rest sounds like quotes from The Edge starring Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, but it is good stuff. Attitude is everything, and as I just learned, if you become dehydrated enough, your wounds won't bleed until you drink water again. There's a silver lining to everything, and the optimist will prevail.

Let's make some fire:

Now let's cook stuff:

All Creatures Great and Small...for dinner

Unless you managed to grab your .22 rifle from the burning remains of your craft as you made your hasty exit, chances are you're going to need to trap your food. Here's a few examples of how the Air Force survival experts recommend you do it.

Small Animals:

Large animals:

Stay tuned for the next installment.