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Wilderness Medicine “The Big 4/4 Survival”
By:
Byron Templeton
Wilderness survival may require you to forage for food or medicine in order to stay alive. While the Earth is bountiful with animals and enveloped by plant life, certain survival situations can make this task seem impossible depending on the location, the season, and a person’s knowledge base. Hunting an animal for food requires a certain level of physical capabilities and skill sets. In most cases, if the person in the survival scenario is not trained in the skill sets of hunting and trapping, to pursue an animal for food could prove to be a deadly waste of caloric expenditure and could even possibly further endanger their life by encountering a wild animal. Even the consumption of small animals or insects can be dangerous and requires some knowledge of what is safe to eat and how to find them, as well as a certain level of determination to eat them, as most people don’t find things like grasshoppers too appetizing. Plants make for great survival food and medicine because they require little energy to obtain and prepare. But, they can be just as deadly as an animal. Even just one bite of the wrong thing and you end up on the wrong side of the grass. It is absolutely imperative that you know what plant you have before you stick it in your mouth or attempt to make any kind of medicine with it. Having good reputable resources and field guides to refer to are a must. I strongly suggest that you do your own personal research and studies of the plant life in the surrounding area in which you live and whatever areas you wish to explore. Your personal experience with each plant and knowledge base will expand and give you confidence, but never fail to correctly identify the plant in your resources before using it unless you are 100% sure. When in doubt, don’t put it in your mouth. Once you’ve correctly identified an edible plant, you’ve also got to know its specific qualities and uses. Are there only certain parts of the plant I can use? Which parts are best used for food and which parts for medicine? What is the nutritional or medicinal value of the plant? How do I prepare the plant for food or can it be eaten raw? These are all valid questions you should be asking yourself in a survival situation. Even if you’ve answered all these questions with absolute confidence, it is still risky using plants you’ve never been exposed to so it is important to use only small quantities at first to observe if there are any negative reactions to the plant. The Big Four are plants that are very common and easy to find throughout the U.S. and available at almost any time of the year. They are relatively safe to eat and can be used for very effective wilderness medicine. Just knowing these four plants could save your life. I first read about The Big Four in Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. At that time, I lived on my parent’s farm in West Virginia where these four plants are very abundant. I experimented with all of them, so as we look at each of these four plants individually I’ll share some of my own personal experiences with them.
1. Grasses:
Grass of almost every kind is edible and actually quite nutritious. It is loaded with vitamins and minerals. Ever wonder why your dog or cat will go outside and chew on grass? They could be trying to get certain nutrients out of the grass that they are lacking in their food. The young shoots can be eaten raw, but the more fibrous grasses should just be chewed on to extract the juices and then spit out. You can make nutritious teas from grass or if you’re thirsty, you can squeeze out the collected dew from the grass for safe drinking water. Grass seeds are highly nutritious as well and filled with protein, but be careful because some seeds can be toxic or infected with fungus. If you aren’t familiar with a certain type of grass, it is suggested that you roast the seeds and if there are any seeds of a black to purplish color, don’t eat them. Try chewing some grass from a safe location free of chemicals and high animal traffic. You may want to wash it off good before you chew it, but you’ll be surprised that it’s actually pretty good. 2. Cattails:
Cattails are a wealth of resources to use for survival, and you can find them around almost any pond, marsh, swamp, or wet grounds. Young shoots and stalks can be boiled or eaten raw during early spring, and the green flower heads can be husked and boiled in the late spring. You can eat the pollen heads raw or dry them out to be used as flour during the early summer, and from late summer to winter you can eat the roots either raw or boiled. I’ve personally tried the roots raw, and they are gritty and starchy. Cattails can also be useful in many other areas for survival. The ripe flowers can be mashed into a medicinal salve for cuts and burns, and a sticky juice can be found in between the young leaves which can be used as a very effective styptic, antiseptic, and anesthetic. You can pull apart the seed heads to form a fuzzy, downy material that can be used as good tinder for starting fires or insulating material to keep you warm and comfortable. The stalks are also durable enough to make hand drills out of them and arrow shafts. I once made arrow shafts out of cattail stalks for my younger nephews and was really surprised at how well they worked. 3. Pine Trees: 
Pine trees are another useful plant you can utilize in almost any survival situation. The needles are very high in vitamin C and can be boiled into a nutritious tea. It’s best to chop them up a little bit and boil them for five minutes or so. I did this once with pine needles from the pines in the backyard of our farm. The tea is really quite good on its own, but even better with a little honey mixed in with it. My mother, who is a picky eater, even enjoyed it. The protein rich male pollen anthers can be eaten in the springtime. The seeds from the mature cones can be eaten and even the inner bark of the pine tree is edible. Pine trees also produce pine resin (the sticky sap) which can be used to make pitch for glue. Pine resin is also very volatile and can be used as good fire starter. The needles can be used for other purposes as well such as bedding, roofing for shelters, baskets, and fletching for arrows. 4. Acorns: 
Acorns are nuts that come from Oak trees which are quite common across North America. Acorns served as a staple food for Native American tribes and many other ancient people. They are a high source of protein and healthy fat, but you must know how to properly prepare them because they contain a toxic substance called gallotannin. When eaten this substance forms gallic and tannic acids which can cause damage to the mouth, esophagus, and digestive tract. The tannins also give the acorns a very bitter taste. You have to leach out the tannins with running water for several hours or boil the acorns. Acorns from white oak and pin oak trees are okay to eat raw. I was very curious when I learned about acorns so I collected a bunch of acorns from the woods behind my parent’s farm in West Virginia. I ate some raw which was a mistake because they are extremely bitter, and I boiled some which helped but it wasn’t near long enough to get rid of the bitterness. The good thing is even if you don’t like your boiled acorns, you can use the water you boiled them in for medicinal purposes. It can be applied to wounds as an antiseptic and gargled for sore throats and toothaches. I’ve also heard of acorns being mashed into butter and ground into flour. Byron Templeton is currently a medical student aspiring to become a Naturopathic Doctor and a pioneer in various health fields. He previously attended the Clarksburg Beauty Academy of Massage Therapy and graduated with honors. He practiced as a national and state licensed massage therapist at Travis Physical Therapy in West Virginia for 6 years. During that time, Byron also worked as a certified ISSA personal trainer for 8 years and graduated from Fairmont State University in West Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in biology. Byron desires to progress naturopathic medicine while staying true to the philosophy, principles, and practice of nature cure. Visit NaturopathicKnights.Com. 
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