How to Live in the Jungle

Whether your plane crashes in the Amazon or you just feel like having an adventure, knowing jungle survival skills could one day save your life if you find yourself stranded. Although rainforests cover a small percentage of the Earth's surface, they contain more than 50 percent of all plant and animal species. While the thought of eating and sleeping in a tropical rainforest, or jungle, may sound like a death sentence to some, jungles are abundant with all of the essentials for survival: food, water and shelter.

Things You'll Need

• Bamboo stalks
• Knife
• Tin can
• Lighter, matches or flint
• Poncho or plastic sheet

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Instructions

• 1

  Cut open green bamboo stalks with the knife to find clean drinking water. If bamboo cannot be found, dig for water. According to "The Backpacker's Field Manual" by John Curtis, boiling is the most certain method of water purification. After scooping water from the ground into a container, allow sediment to settle. Purify it by boiling it in the tin can for one minute.

• 2

  Carve another bamboo stalk into a spear measuring 5 feet long and 1 inch wide. Cut against the grain on the bigger end of the spear to make two sharp points opposite each other. In his book "Camping & Wilderness Survival," Paul Tawrell says a bamboo spear is effective for hunting small animals such as birds, fish and frogs.

• 3

  Find fruit to eat such as bananas, coconuts, mangos, oranges and papaya. When in doubt about whether a plant or insect is safe to eat, watch the monkeys and birds to see if they eat it. If it's safe for them, it's safe for you. Use the bamboo spear to hunt for meat. Remove glands from the skin of reptiles before eating their meat.

• 4

  Gather dry wood and use the lighter or matches to start a fire for boiling water and cooking food. If neither of these is available, strike the edge of a piece of flint in a downward motion against the steel of your knife. Randy Gerke, author of "Outdoor Survival Guide" says you must use very dry kindling to spark a fire with flint and steel. Once a spark falls on the tinder, immediately give a soft blow to bring the spark to flame.

• 5

  Tie a thick vine tightly between two low pieces of underbrush. Drape the poncho or plastic sheet over the vine to create a shelter from the rain and sun. Stake down the four corners of the poncho with sharp sticks. The website Global Security says this shelter is simple enough to put up at night.