"Monday should be interesting"

[rebel]

Thats because we start a new list of items that you, the members, feel are important. Lets look at shelter and water items. Thanks for the input on this.

[your_comforting_company]

not sure if i'm on the right track here, but as far as shelter, I have a cheap wally world tent with a rainfly. seems like when i bought it years ago it was about 30 bucks and sleeps 4. goes up in 5 mins and tears down in 6. I take an extra tarp to block wind if it's windy or use it for an outdoor shelter to sit under. saplings make decent poles, you just need a little cordage to tie it up.

If you need to improvise a shelter, cordage is about the only thing you need around here. you can find palmetto stands as large as a house and they make great thatching. put them on top of your normal debris and they divert rain very well. saplings for the framework, notched and lashed, pile on debris and tie on the palmettos (or vice versa)

add to this a machete and good whittling knife (like old hickory blades) and you've got pretty much everything you need to make shelter in the woods.

unless it's been raining a lot the creeks have plenty of water, you just go drink it. If the creek is muddy you find a nice clay bank and usually you can find a place where water runs out of the cliff. I had pix of this, but I think my kids deleted them from the camera
. I've never used any chemical pills to purify water. we just boil it if needed, but it's normally really clean. Lilies have lots of water in the stems and most are non-toxic so you could get water that way but it's not as tasty as the clay bank water. We've been doing this for as long as I can remember and I've never gotten sick from the water. Alternatively you would need some kind of pot or container to boil water in for about 10 - 15 minutes and just let it cool.

tent or tarp
cordage
saplings
knife and machete
canteen
bowl or container for boiling

maybe i'm on the right track. if not feel free to delete this post.