AFTER EARTH Survival Tips - Episode 4: What To Eat

Survivalist Les Stroud explains how to find food that is safe to eat in the wilderness.

Connect To After Earth:

[FF]

I actually had no idea this is what you would do to test out any sort of plant you're unfamiliar with, Les is an awesome guy, he gives so much great knowledge!

[NickSalvation]

This test becomes less effective the less you know because you'll want to test each and every thing you come across. In a real survival situation you won't have that kind of time. That's why I'm a firm believer in learning about the plants and animals in the environment you'll be spending time in so that if you do end up in a survival situation you'll have a better understanding of what to do.

[SgtSplatter]

your body would have reacted to the poison in the plant well before step 4. tingling, burning or itching is usually a good indicator.

[vintagemilan]

You can also cook it, because some plants are posinious only raw.

[frannelk]

I never thought about this simple test, very clever.

[zombietinder]

It's great to see Les Stroud back in action! Can't wait for the new episodes of Survivorman!

[donrussell]

food is not really an issue for at least 24 hours, and that's a worst case scenario, if you were hungry before you went into the bush, it's cold, etc. If you ate well, aint stressed, it's warm enough and travel is easy, food's not an issue for several days. There's often much more pressing items to deal with than just getting food. Like sickness, injury, getting wet, cold, etc. You will NOT, however, be able to keep working hard for 3 weeks like many claim. You'll be in deep trouble in just 4-5 days, in warm weather, if you're pushing hard without food. yes, you can just lie around for 3 weeks without food, in warm weather, but when you're hiking or working, you burn 2-4x as many calories as when just lying around.

[artmurie]

Great advice, also preferably try to find animals or insects as food because they most often let you know if they are poisonous or toxic by their colour or over confident actions, such as a scorpion isn't bright red but when they rear up you can tell they have  something in their back pocket. 

[juamont]

awsome, i love this series, les is amazing, and i'll watch the movie for shure!

[rocksolidfossils]

Thanks so much for this! Jesus loves you!

[dericluong]

It would have been helpful if the graphics show a breakdown of hows long to wait and the total amount of hours before you know the food is okay to eat. STEP1 - 3 hours. STEP2 - 1 hour. STEP3 - 12 hours. STEP4 - 24 hours. A total of 40 hours, 2 days. Unless you plan on hanging around the area.

[RafYaelsWorld]

Swimming is essential for survival. It would also be handy to know how to handle a knife, climb trees and make a fire. Roadeavour gears can make this survival tasks much easier.

[donrussell]

make sure you have enough of the plant to be worth all that hassle, enough water to help you drink it and if any processing is required, that you have the means to do it. Mostly, plants aint worth the trouble, with rare exceptions, like acorns or cattails. Instead, look to eat insects, grubs, worms, fish, amphibians, reptiles. If you do this instead of messing with plants, you'll get a lot more food value for your trouble. Roast them until dry, crumble them between your hands, into a soup.

[Bliink]

I tested this with pizza. After 48 hours it was safe, but developed mold :/

[SgtSplatter]

3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 WEEKS without food. rather go without food for a couple of days than be dead from a toxic plant.

[juliencadoret]

This test is for oxalic acid but there's a second one:
-the hydrocyanic acid ( it smell the peach or the bitter almond)

[ericchen]

Approx 40 hours is a long time to test a food while starving. Someone commented that all of the tests could be performed at the same time, but Les sounds like the tests need to be done in sequential steps: rub on skin (few hours), rub on lips (wait), nibble no-swallow spit (12+ hours), small bit chew swallow (24 hours), bon appetit.

[SgtSplatter]

if you don't know what sort of plant it is. Quite a few of the safe edible plants out there actually have a very poisonous look a like. Wild Angelicas are safe but they look very similar to hemlocks and cowbanes. Looks like an orange? are you sure? strychnine looks like an orange. is it a strawberry or the poisonous duchesnia? yeah even if I know what the plant is I'll still do the test just to be safe.

[juliashenandoah]

Fantastic, brilliant and simple toxivity test!
But unfortunately eating grass and shrubbery does not give enough nutrients to the body, always try to find some fruits and vegetables :)

[Rattuzi]

So i need to rub it on my skin wait few hours then taste it and wait 12 hours after that i should swallow 1 small bite and wait 24 hours? Im not gonna comment it... Anyone could explain?