just makes me realize how smart humans are and how these fragile, no claw no sharp teeth no tough skin creatures came to take over the world. with intelligence.
I love finding someone underrated like this on RU-vid, not demanding i SMASH THE LIKE BUTTON AND RING THAT BELL BROS. quality content, entertaining without drama, spot on stuff. keep making this stuff!
That was damn well done! I live in Tucson and spend a lot of time in the desert; you picked an excellent shelter-- I've been in small caves in this area that were used by generations of the locals way, way back as hunting shelters, and their fire-rings were still there. Congrats on finding as much food as you did; another very good source early in the year are yucca flowers if you can find them-- they're good raw as well as stewed or added to meat. Also, a *really* good canteen to use in a pinch is a Saguaro cactus "boot", the hollow that forms in the plant when a bird or rodent chews it out to build their home in. The plant grows a layer of scar-tissue around the hole that's like a thick lining of bark, mostly waterproof-- when a saguaro dies, you can usually find several boots among its skeleton. Some of them can get as much as several feet long.
Amazing. I've been consuming a lot of survival and build type of content. This, by far, has been the most amazing one I've seen. Absolutely loved it. Walks in with no shoes, a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and a shirt and proceeds to thrive and create. Just crazy and wonderful. Inspiring.
Excellent Video Tom, I'm in the twilight of my life so it's too late for me try it out. Having said that, it's given me so much pleasure to walk along with you. Keep going , thank you & keep going. Chris fro the UK.
No it isn't your twilight [not to mention that dawn and dusk are best in the deserts] I knew a guy who was 102-106. You can still enjoy the magnificent solitude of deserts at any time of life!
Wow, I am really impresed of all the useful things you coud make in the desert. This is for sure one of the best videos about desert survival I have ever seen!
Ok I have to comment again after seeing most of your comments. You sir are an excellent survivalist teacher. Things I personally never knew and I have an abundance of experience myself. My issue is I OVER-think things. You keep it simple and honest. Exactly what we need to learn. ty again
So great that you show that men can make what you need in nature and without fancy expensive tools. You can also make furniture and small cabins with simple means. You must first map local resources before planning what to do. But knowledge is also important, so you know what can be used and how to use it. This also applies to food resources and catches and fishing methods, as well as water resources. Trancelated from Norwegian by Google.
Everyone who lives in Arizona should watch both parts of this video. Incredibly useful information if I ever found myself in a lone survival type situation.
"I'm trying not to fall in love cuz this could break my heart" is great...it looks/looked great and you got all self-conscious about it. Wow, I really enjoyed your resilience to the patience it takes to do this but be completely effective and worth the time put into it. Thank you.
Tom, absolutely awesome & glad to see new videos. I understand the time, money & energy you put into making gr8 quality & informative content. So thank again!
I grew up in the Sonora dessert in Casa Grande. I spent lots of time out in the boonies. I thought I knew a lot about getting by out there but you have now doubled my knowledge. Thanks.
have you ever thought about going out and doing more than a week? with a prolonged time you'd be able to make more pottery, a better shelter, and possibly show how to preserve meats?
I'm always wary when choosing to click on a randomly suggested RU-vid survival channel. I've seen plenty of poor videos with bad advice. I'm glad I watched this. Wonderfully shot, with sensible instructions. Shying away from things like weaving and pottery is folly, and making use of "primitive" techniques is often particularly wise.
This is amazing. I was at this filming location the other week and was thinking how hard it would be to survive out here in such a harsh environment. But this guy makes it look easy. Btw this mountain range is prime habitat for mountain lions. He’s got some stones sleeping out there
Thank you for all of the hard work that went into making this very informative and beneficial video. I grew up in the Eastern U.S. and acquired skills for that area but now live in Arizona and I truly appreciate the skills you have shared for living in the desert. I wish you continued success on all of your endeavors.
Was gonna say something snarky about how he wasn't that good. Now I realize he's good enough. Cuz that's all that matters. His knowledge is worth sharing and I hope it hangs in the back of every person's mind that sees it. It just might save your life. He may seem to be a dork, but his heart is truly where it should be.
Tom, I really enjoyed your video. I live in this region, and this is something I am always looking to learn about. Have you thought about making a summer survival video for the Sonoran Desert? It is such a hostile environment in the summer here, but many ancestral native tribes not only survived but flourished here for thousands of years. We have lost so much of their wisdom. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
This guy is absolutely brilliant. It's so rare to find a RU-vidr that you want to devote hours of watchtime too. So informative and his knowledge and skills blows my mind
🌻Fascinating, just happened to stumble across your chanel and I'm hooked❤ in part one, I have learned sooo much, should I need to survive a day or two, three, four... I'm confident that I will glance around and immediately recall all the types of plants, how to build shelter, how to start a fire, weave my own basket how to trap for food, where and how to find water (if I'm lucy)and I'm not even through part two😍Thank you so much for such a packed minute by minute educational video, tutorial Thanks, and a whole bunch of love and Positive energy sent your way👍❤🌻
keep up the Absolutely awesome work man, it sucked to have found your channel at the point where you hadn't made a recent video, but hell, to see you return in style, and show how it's done, you deserve any and all credit. all the best man :) hope to see more of your adventures soon
I have just fount this videos today, i was curious about survival skills because i was playing a survival game called Dont Starve haha, but looking this video was really entertaining.
Thanks for the video. Well done. U be safe and keep teaching. My dad taught us desert survival when younger. The barrel cactus definitely a myth. But traps fire and food available is amazing. Making fire shelters after water #1. Thought I was dumb at 1st but got me and my brothers a whole lot of peace of mine. Memories was good.👍
Wow. This is awesome. I love those "survive for a week" you do, I loved the eastern forest one, and this desert one was also insanely instructive and interesting. Makes me want to go out in the wilds and try it (with some precautions, of course, since I'm not a hardened survivor :) ). I hope we see more of those, they're as inspirational as they're interesting!
When I was young, I found a book on outdoor survival and it was my favorite read. I could endlessly reread all the sections on making traps, finding edible plants, making fire, etc. I once made a fire using my shoelaces to make a bow but that was it. I never got a chance to actually rough it. Tom makes it look easy. Patience and persistence seem to be a real necessities when you are in a survival situation. I got a real vicarious thrill watching this.
I watch all the survival shows on TV and yet this guy is teaching me all kinds of new things! Making pots in particular is something the others just don't do, even when they have clay available.
Good technique and very old too. The pottery shards that were found and dated to ~18,000BCE in China show signs of having been made very much like this. Theirs was, by the internal patterns, formed over a reed or grass ball rather than a sand ball, and then held onto the ball with impressing. Theirs was probably fired on the grass.
I love people like you. People who know how to survive and not just depend on the government for survival because you never know when shit will hit the fan haha
Awesome vid as usual! Keep making them. We appreciate your time and effort. I love all of your videos and watch them all. It would be amazing if you could make videos more regularly.
Nicely Done! You effectively showed us all how to live sustainably in the desert and you made it look reasonably easy - at least for a patient, focused person or persons... definitely subscribed after watching this. Much thanks for an excellent presentation!
I've been watching videos and practicing survival skills for a couple of years and you've made the best video on desert survival that I've seen on RU-vid. I can't wait to see some of your other work. I'm really interested in taking a class from you and will be visiting your patreon page.Keep up the great work Mr. McElroy you seem like a very good instructor.
man i used to make rope ALL THE TIME at school out of painters tape, plants, even paper towels and i made this old roman-style sling and that was a lot of fun to play with.
Just total bad Ass! You sir deserve a standing ovation!!I live in the Sonoran desert and have been itching to practice all these survival skills your channel is definitely one of the BEST!!
Last year I took off on a roadtrip and it started raining and rained for three days by the end of three days my feet had turned to jello and had started to rot when I took my boots off large pieces of meat came loose with my socks,it was cloudy and overcast for another three days so I sat and scaped all the loose wet material loose and just hung my feet in the air, finally the sun came out and was able to dry my feet, my boots were so bad I was unable to use them I had to hike a couple mile into town to find a pair of shoes this was very painful with all the damage that was done,after a week I was able to continue on my 45 day 7 state roadtrip. just want to stress here how important it is to keep your feet dry and take care
In a situation of survival in the desert, how do you cleanse yourself after defecating, since there is no water in abundance? It is not a relevant question but it is a real situation. Thanks and congratulations for your videos!!
Thanks. Good to be back....didn't know so many people noticed my absence. I have a few adventures on the schedule after some classes in Australia. Im not sure but mostly I just get excited about a certain ecosystem. Northern Australia and the Amazon seem exciting to me right now. We'll see.
You are Fantastic, I hope if I ever end up stranded in the desert I will be able to recall what I have watched you do, really cool thank you really appreciate the video may God bless you and be with you.
You sir are a real bad-ass! Really great video, wish I ran across your channel earlier on. Funny thing is, you look like a total California surfer boy but not, or are you... lol Hope you have a class in Cali, I would like to join. You have a great talent and a lot of patience. Keep it up bro!
Tom McElroy-Wild Survival Wow , guess I did! What I meant to say was you don't look like you would be into this kinda stuff just by judging the cover on the book. Just goes to show you how diverse things can be. I will check out your website and keep these coming, be safe man.
