Quick Tip #7

If you find yourself in a survival situation and need to filter water but you don’t have a commercially made filter you can make one. One way that you can make a simple filter is to use a sock filled with some charcoal from the fire (cold not hot), sand and pebbles. You first place a 1-2″ layer of crushed up coals in the bottom of the sock. Then you add a 1-2″ layer of sand on top of the charcoal. Lastly you put a 1-2″ layer of pebbles or small stones on top of the sand. Now continue to keep layering these same materials in the same order until the sock is full and pebbles are the top layer.
All you do is hang the sock up if you can and carefully pour water into the top center of the sock. Make sure that you have a collection container underneath the bottom of the sock to collect the filtered water as it pours out. This is just a simple way to make a filter with materials you will most likely have in a survival situation. You can also use a plastic bag to house the filter materials but you will have to poke some small holes in the bottom of the bag to allow filtered water to drain out of the bag. Have fun making your own water filters at home and testing them out so that if you are ever in a survival situation you’ll know what works best and how to make one. As always all survival skills need to be practiced. Have you ever made a homemade water filter? How did it work?