Forgotten Military Survival Trick Revealed!

Here's an old military survival trick I learned that many have forgotten or discarded over the years.
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[@bobcranston3414]

So that's how you "survive" when you're a few steps in the woods behind your back yard? The other dogs barking gave it away.

[@STOKERMATIC]

The horror!!

[@urielmartinez2161]

boomer got the pin of shame lmao

[@KHudd]

The dogs didn't give it away but the fenced in backyard did though. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Going to give this trick a try and see how it does.

[@bt7843]

😂 I’m “camping” in my backyard right now. Wall tent, wood stove, barking dogs, highway traffic and wi-fi. I do this every year.

[@becca318]

​@@urielmartinez2161. I think he'll do a video again in his backyard and won't give a shit what some TG freak says. 😂

[@FaceSmushEvil]

Your diet plays a part in how tasty you are to bugs. It turns out they dont like things like black coffee, garlic, bitter and spicy stuff.

[@blueduck9409]

The 3 main staples of my own diet. Lol.

[@cdevidal]

Diet does play a part. Go carnivore. They still bite, but it doesn’t itch. I’m in Florida and got probably a thousand bites this year. Red spot for an hour then it disappears without any itch.

[@NOISlights]

Also vanilla extract avons skin so soft lotion. Or a branch of citronella lashed to your pack. All day repellent

[@coyotejake9164]

Well then, the rest of me must be made of sex and candy, because all I eat is black coffee and garlicky/spicy food, and bugs routinely bite the shit out of me.

[@dave-d-grunt]

Vitamin B is a good one

[@bushnut8305]

Nevermind the match head thing...that stove is smart... easy to get going but shields the light.

[@SamuelVSSwindell]

We used match heads to keep ticks and chiggers off, and in weeks in the field in Ft Benning, never got a single chigger bite or tick.

[@davharzin2370]

I concur about the sulfur. As a south Florida native ,the natural well water is HIGH is sulfates. I would have of my 'city' **city processed water** friends out with me , the bugs would eat them bad, but the bugs really did not bother me. the other rural folk saw this too.

[@phoenixrising4073]

Most matches use an oxidizer, most of the time it's potassium chlorate because it gives up its oxygen easily. They also mix some clay in there to slow the burn, because if you only had the chlorate and sulfur they would literally explode lol. Ask me how I kn.... nevermind. But anywho, its KClO³ + S + clay and/or paper. I would say that MRE matches do contain an oxidizer as well because they would likely not burn at all if they were pure sulfur. I edited this comment because I added some information that non-adults don't need to know. Maybe in another setting I could explain some more "interesting experiments" with matches. I'll get a pack of MRE matches this week and check em out. They may be higher in sulfur content than normal. I'll report back with my findings.

[@bearofthenorth7768]

Working in the outdoors in the Canadian summers I would always stop eating bananas from May till September and the bugs seemed to leave me alone as compared to my coworkers.😊

[@gregjung9301]

@@bearofthenorth7768interesting 😮

[@billyandrew]

I have emergency matches, but prefer grinding KMnO4 and sugar granules together with a twig or using a few drops of glycerin, in place of the sugar, if I'm in a lazy mood or too tired to bowdrill. Either method and you've a few thousand degrees of instant heat and flame, plus a source of purifying water, sterilising materials, such as dressings, socks, etc. Two grains per litre of water, (six grains for fire) I alternate it with iodine, chlorine, activated charcoal, etc. The KMnO4 removes two heavy metals, the iodine another two, but not advised for folk with thyroid problems.

[@roberttaylor7451]

We are close to the same age and this has been around since I was a kid. What I was told is that the sulfur will keep red bugs away, I live in Alabama so red bugs are as big of a concern as any insect. I have also been told by a long gone old timer that fermented piss would keep everything away. I am sure it probably would!

[@JackTheGiantKiller77]

I learned a few tricks while training at the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill Oklahoma. A can of Muzzle Blast and blinker fluid.

[@nunya___]

Blinker fluid and garlic for me. Eat the garlic, lightly sprinkle the fluid everywhere except the sphincter.

[@victorchinchillvas]

Fckn awesome, thanks Stoker!🙏🏽💪🏽🤘🏽Glad you talked about the Zippo matches as well, they stomp mud holes in everything else, but no one talks about them.

[@MarilynStangl]

Don't know about match sulfur? I'm doubtful but fresh mashed garlic has sulfur compounds that seem to do the trick. Just peel a clove or two, mash it, wait about 15-20 minutes then consume it. If you have a hard time eating garlic then mix it with some honey then down it! Tastes good and good for you!

[@ComboMuster]

Best advice! Always used garlic as a repellent for blood sucking critters (mosquitos and vampires).

[@Stoney_AKA_James]

When I attended Raner School, the Ranger Instructors (RIs) told us to eat 1 C-ration match a day to help keep chiggers off. Can't say definitely that it worked, but I didn't have any issues with chiggers!

[@donitaforrest9064]

*The British were world travellers, explorers, merchants & colonists in many tropical places, they adopted the habit of drinking Earl Grey Tea at tea time in the afternoon, just prior to evening when the heat of the day was easing, and mosquitoes would start to swarm. Oil of Bergamot is produced from an unpalatable, highly acidic citrus fruit & comes from Calabria in southern Italy, but is the delicious component of my favourite tea. I drink it often. *Citronella, known as lemon grass is also used for this purpose, infused in a tea or made into citronella candles which are only effective in the immediate area where you are to disguise human scent. *My own experience in dealing with mosquitoes was in Northern BC, Canada when i was a young backpacker. The mosquitoes in the campground were huge, but by chance I discovered that the thick skinned naval orange i had brought with me to eat, was repellant to them. I peeled the orange and ate it, and squeezed the peels to release the oils which I dabbed on my face, neck, arms and hands, anywhere exposed. This works very well, mosquitoes dislike citrus. Take a big thick skinned orange or 2 with you. A little more weight to carry but worth it in the long run, and you don't have to carry it back.

[@mikec.8556]

I personally can say only thing that prevented bites were long pants long sleeves and nets oh yeah almost forgot gloves , that’s why I love camping in the fall . Dam them bugs

[@glenstrickleriii6392]

Used it at Ft. Campbell, but used 3 match tips every other day. It really seemed to keep the chiggers and ticks from biting into your skin. The first time that I used it was in the summer time and was on a 2 week ftx. I ended up with about 5 chigger bites (that I got the first day and ate the match tips that first day in the field) and the other soldiers use the stuff with deet and got tore up with ticks and chigger bites by the time the ftx was over.

[@stumptown]

Yeah the back 40 at Campbell is no joke.

[@wolfgangkranek376]

Good to know. I looked it up, you can also buy inorganic sulfur in pharmaceutical quality to be more on the safe side.

[@WildernessMapper]

Where can you buy & what brand of inorganic sulfur?

[@dfrozendog3849]

I'll try this. I wonder if it works externally. Do not forget the one sheet of toilet paper technique. Very important.

[@AutomationDnD]

I've heard of that trick. SOMETIMES, it's just your own body chemistry that bugs like more (or less). I Lived with a buddy of mine, sharing an apartment, where fleas would EAT HIM ALIVE Nightly.... BUT I was just FINE, I'd get bit .... _A Little Bit_ I gotta TRY that trick, I heard that adding it to coffee was mostly to cut the harshness of "Bad" Coffee Nice Dog btw

[@trivialinsignific]

im so glad i found your video ! for years now a lawyer dude has been coming on my tv everyday asking if i, or anybody i know have worked or lived at camp lejeune ! somebody is looking for you !

[@fredflintstone3714]

Avon’s Skin So Soft works against biting bugs & skeeters, I live in Florida, I know it works.

[@Georgia-Vic]

Thank you Sir Stoker for your helpful and informative videos. I get my sulphur from onions and garlic which is bioavailable to human bodies!

[@billyandrew]

Hard boiled eggs, too.

[@tomcreekdevil5967]

Of all the possible uses for matches this didn't even show up on my radar screen. Living in the mosquito-infested PNW. I now need to get some of these matches. And ditto what Riggs was barking at!

[@brentgilbert4208]

I’d never heard of that, but I too would try anything! I hate mosquitos! I used to work in the special weapons storage area when I was in the Air Force, and anytime we were in an exercise. I had to open up every MRI package that our troops were going to use and remove the matches from the package. We weren’t allowed to have any matches in there. One last thing, I always thought that the pork patties were the absolute worst MRA you could possibly get!

[@mikhailkalashnikov4599]

Pork pattie, beef pattie, and ham slices, were my favorites!

[@brentgilbert4208]

@@mikhailkalashnikov4599 I am SHOCKED!!!! Lol!

[@GruntProof]

Outstanding

[@JugglesGrenades]

DAMN.....Now I'm going to have to buy some MRE's ... throw everything else away and keep the matches

[@randyrhyne8658]

Learned that in Panama in 78. It works. I still eat matchheads when the skeeters get bad.

[@trilliondollarman2514]

I wouldn't recommend eating matches due to the phosphorus content, it causes bone porosity. Get a bag of pure sulfur pellets from Lowes or other store

[@phoenixrising4073]

There shouldn't be any phosphorus in the match itself; the striker is what contains the red phosphorus. Otherwise yeah, don't consume phosphorus in large quantities lol

[@trilliondollarman2514]

@@phoenixrising4073 True of safety matches. But for those with strike anywhere, the whole tip is phosphorus... Yummy 🤤

[@TDC7594]

Not a medical expert by any stretch, but I'd be highly leery of this. Research a condition match factory workers once got called Phosphorus Necrosis or Phossy Jaw. Modern book matches are fortunately formulated differently, but still contain a small amount of phosphorus compound (phosphorus sesquisulfide) in addition to the sulfur, which can itself cause health issues.

[@JackTheGiantKiller77]

Buy a pack of Flat cotton swipes; melt candle wax and dip the flat cotton swipes in the melted candle wax and place on non stick paper to dry. When lit they'll burn for 5 to 6 minutes

[@markgoulette5056]

Best thing I've ever used is permethrin. Saturate your clothes, head gear, and shoes and let them dry. Blouse your boots low around your ankles. Use a quality insect repellent (NOT 100% DEET) for exposed areas. Out of all the time I spent in the field at Lejeune, Pendleton, Oki, the Philippines, the mountains of Colorado, and other areas, I can count on one hand the number of times I've had ticks or chiggers. ONE......never had chiggers, only one tick, between my fingers. DO NOT USE PERMETHRIN on your skin......and a head net at night is helpful, but I never needed one.

[@canadafree2087]

I wish we could buy it in Canada. Our version of the FDA has not approved it. :(

[@charlesmckinney]

I loved it in Okinawa. Brought part of it home with me. That lasted 6 years. 😅 You may have opened a real can of worms with this one. Along with sulphur you are consuming minute amounts of potassiun chlorate or potassium perchlorate depending on the formula. The red phosphorus needed to ignite the mixture is in the striker strip with safety matches. Some companies will use the sodium salts instead of the potassium. Either way, you're not consuming enough to harm you. With strike almost anywheres everything is in the match composition. Just add friction and the fun begins. I miss those old Ohio Blue Tips. They were great. I've got two boxes stashed. I've got some of the UCO and Zippo matches and intend on getting more. Too bad they're not strike anywhere. They can be modded tho. 😅 Some of the composition from the ring caps for toy guns, a few drops of water, a dip in that slurry followed by a good long drying and....be careful. 😅 Pretty sensitive....just like the matches of 50-60 years ago. I don't recommend it. Accidents could happen. These are sensitive. Mine were anyway. Dropped one. Stepped on it while looking for it and it ignited.

[@AutomationDnD]

"Accidents Could Happen" YEAH They can, Had a buddy of mine (when we were kids) sit down with firecrackers AND matches in his pants-pocket. _BIG MISTAKE_ His dang pants blew open like a grenade went off in his front pocket THAT "Hurt" .... he was relatively undamaged, Considering... but I doubt he ever did THAT Again!

[@gregjung9301]

@@AutomationDnD😂 poor guy

[@reconty2133]

Used these for years out in the field. One two week time at Ft. Hood I was the only guy eating match heads and the only guy who didn’t have chiggers. Coincidence maybe but it made me a believer.

[@johndunbar2393]

Interesting. Never heard that before. Thanks for the tip Stoker.

[@brnrecluse2946]

Great video. Stay Stoked!

[@senordupa809]

A former Marine buddy of mine told me about this when we were in the National Guard together. It didn’t seem to work as well as the anti mosquito trick I learned on active duty in Korea: eating kimchi. Eat that for 3 days before going to the field and they won’t come anywhere near you!

[@northerngirlhobbies]

Found you from Reality Survival good morning from Ontario. Nicely edited. 👍

[@dsm811]

a clove of garlic a day has always worked and Molasses will work too, don't use the "unsulphured" kind, a Tablespoon a day, and then start it a few days before the trip.

[@nytrocircus]

Hmmm. I've always though it was: match head, coffee, and tears of a Commie.

[@WilliamBowden-u7n]

Thanks for the advice.😊

[@DellFargus]

I forgot about this! Been 22 years since I got out. I do remember the deet that they used to issue to us would burn the heck out of my skin, so I seldom used it. I can say though that I never put the MRE instant coffee into a canteen cup and drank it like I was at a Starbucks (wasn't a thing back then) and I had all day to waste - we used to dump the powder right into our mouths like a dip and let it dissolve.

[@gregjung9301]

That’s a hardcore caffeine fix.

[@kennethhamby9811]

Going with the caffeinated type, good energy rush when your bushed.

[@MrMrGAsMASK]

I live in the mountains in the northern hemisphere I have learned that if you get a dragonfly pin and stick it on your hat collar etc. bug will leave you alone because dragonflies are the only true predator of all bugs try this and let me know what your opinion is?

[@slickwillie3376]

Wow that might work!

[@MrMrGAsMASK]

@@slickwillie3376 give me your feed back please it’s working for me so far

[@robertschmidt9296]

I never thought of that.

[@michaelkaiser1864]

Back in highschool, i had a buddy that chewed on strike anywheres. He started having "issues" with his chicks. We all laughted at him. STOP CHEWING THE DAMN MATCHES!!! SALT PETER GIVES YOU A SOFT PETER LOL!

[@robertkearney7339]

we were told to put vineegar in our canteen i donk know if it works but it makes some of the tast a little better

[@mattmarzula]

It was so cold, windy, and rainy last weekend that my Zippo wouldn't ignite. Walked on over to the trash and plucked out some MRE matches. One thing I hate? Not every menu comes with matches anymore.

[@zer0tzer0]

Matchheads also have potassium chlorate in them.

[@bentoncushing8693]

Okinawa Skeeters are the smartest I've encountered...always aggressive..

[@kennethhamby9811]

The sulfur helps with kidney and blather infections also.

[@robertjackson1407]

Thank you 😊

[@dwaynestewart411]

That's one I've never heard of but is very interesting. I always have some of those zippo matches and your right , they are the cats ass. They are the best I've seen. Dwayne

[@richardstyron5716]

My father in the ww2 said suffer heip , a older cousin in Vietnam said it help, so you know I had to try it, it help ,but it doesn't completely stop them

[@RicArmstrong]

Strange, I always smell sulfur after eating the MRE 😏

[@ColemanOutdoors]

Pretty cool. I've never heard this one before. They don't teach it in the Boy Scouts for obvious reasons.😅

[@STOKERMATIC]

😂🤣

[@christophertaylor1153]

My grandfather had done something similar and before long he got sick and had to be hospitalized medically.

[@PatrickMcDade-p3m]

Semper Fi Boot ... lol Never saw an MRE but could write a book on C Rats. Same matches. I still have several packs of them from back in the day. Stay safe Brother!

[@AJCsr]

If you were in Camp Legeune, chances are pretty good, that the water you were drinking had a lot more nasty crap in it than them strike anywhere matches !

[@Vosper385]

Try having Marmite on toast and see how that works, the Marmite will seep in to your blood stream and give off an odour that repels mozzies which I believe are attracted by your breath. Works here in the UK for me, repels the wife as well so there are two good reasons!

[@aywitb911]

How about eating foods high in natural sulfur such as cabbage etc or maybe try using dmso on your skin but be sure to clean your skin completely before applying it and see if that works..

[@anim8torfiddler871]

When I was five years old, I ate burnt match heads. I stopped by the time I was old enough to read... Hadn't thought about that for many decades. Hmmm. Guess I need to consider adding'em to my summer diet.

[@danielmart7940]

I haven't tried the matches yet, but, I did eat a lot of lead based paint when I was a kid, and inhaled leaded gas fumes deeply when I filled the cars at home

[@0zmose]

Just don't try it with an already burnt match. Red phosphorus is fine, but it converts to white phosphorus when it's oxidized. That can do some real nasty things to you.

[@tomcase6287]

Try a thermocell.they really do work anywhere and you dont have to eat them

[@franksullivan1873]

Dog is wondering if there is food in the bag.

[@armageddonready4071]

Since I moved out of Minnesota, no more bug problems. Bugs yes, but not like back there. That place is like being in the jungle.

[@desmo5514]

Hey , if it won't hurt you, it doesn't cost much,... if you can spare 'em, use 'em. Cheers from 🇦🇺Oz

[@tomwilliams8675]

That's why the army "invented" the mosquito head nets that went over our helmets. Of course you could just put it on with out the helmet, they had a big ring around them to keep shape. I've still got mine issued from the 80's. There's quality camping ones on the market I've purchased over the years also. The mosquitoes in Upstate New York can be a bit aggressive at times.

[@robertanderson1272]

Still have mine but the substandard unit i was in never used them stayed in wrapper until supposed to turn it in at ETS.

[@kenuber4014]

They have Sulfur salt licks for livestock for the reason as your match heads!

[@TheAcidheat]

love your videos thank You man ❤

[@JCTXFF]

Did not know this, I do use a lot of garlic, onion etc and rarely have a problem with ticks, mosquitoes and stuff. How ever I do pee on my toes when I shower, and still have NEVER had a problem with toe fungus

[@highdesertdrew1844]

Book matches like this are usually a mix of sulfur, potassium chlorate, and the striker is usually red phos and powdered glass. I don't know if eating match heads will really do anything to change how the bugs feel about you any more than eating large amounts of onions or garlic would (both contain aromatic sulfur compounds). Even with the chemicals in the match heads you're probably not consuming enough to really notice. I was out innawoods today, thankfully the bugs weren't of the biting type, but man were they annoying.

[@gregjung9301]

Garlic does work, it has a chemical that gets in your pores and mosquitoes don’t like it, same with flies. If you’ve ever been around anyone that eats a lot of garlic, you can smell it when they sweat.

[@highdesertdrew1844]

@@gregjung9301 if it doesn't start with a base of garlic or onions, is it really worth eating?

[@slickwillie3376]

There is a new fabric that mosquitos can't bite through, but it's still in development. Sure would be nice.

[@josephbrown-ut9ty]

I start adding in copius amounts of garlic to my food a cpl days befor i goto the woods and also have a bottle of sulfer pills from the pharmacy. very rare i get bitte , but the annoying buzzing makes me wish for a flame thrower at times...

[@AntiFederalist58]

Mosquitoes suck.

[@YouveBeenMiddled]

Only the female ones...

[@mikhailkalashnikov4599]

News to me but good to know, thanks!

[@JMGeranimo]

We had a guy try this, 19d Cav scouts. In the woods outside Ft Stewart. Pure mesquite hell. He ate the crap out of those things and didnt shower for weeks. Stunk to hell and back. Then someone said the cardboard mre matches used a different chemical and not the one he wanted lol. Never looked further into it lol. Smoldering pine needles in coffee cans wotked greeat though.

[@charliejones7574]

Sulphur, raw lemon...mosquitoes may take a little blood...before they get very sick very fast

[@arctodussimus6198]

That’s a new one on me. I never get mosquitoes if there’s anyone else around, but I eat a lot of garlic. Semper Fi 🇺🇸

[@lrescue_do_N_cts]

Brewer yeast one or two tablets a day start in the spring by the time they get going you'll be good

[@averilramsey7241]

The Ancient Roman Legions carried garlic, the active ingredient of which is a sulfur based compound. There are a multitude of benefits beyond protection against vampires.

[@jackdorsey4734]

When. I was at Fort 🥁 Drum we smoked cheep cigars an they did a nice job 👏 to keep the bugs 🐛 away

[@Lee-mmg]

INteresting. Gonna have to check this out. :-)

[@garygraham4571]

Keep it up bro

[@macknewman835]

Looks like you have a Winnebego parked under the label on your cap.

[@unsafe_dB_level]

If all the sulfur in the water at Ft. Stewart didn't keep bugs from biting, I'm highly suspicious that a match head would make a difference.

[@mrtrapper93]

Eat a lot of garlic, so much that it's smells when you sweat it out. That really helps, it isn't 100% but it's better than nothing!

[@JohnnyHildebrand1969]

Interesting. My dad and I would occasionally work outside into the dark with mosquitoes swarming around us. Deet sprays worked initially, but soon wore off, candles required that we stay nearby, and we were still eaten alive. If we kept busy, we'd forget about the bugs, just don't stop.

[@swampdaley6088]

Bill, mixture of extreme Indian curries and rustic beers and ciders seems to keep me toxic to bugs. Wife says it affects her similar.

[@nunya___]

They seem to ignore me after 4-5 shots of rum.

[@gregkacmar8267]

Been around the world 2 and a half times and it does work with 3 match heads , the worst was Alaska and Panama

[@ReffreyS]

Sulphur will give you smelly rotten egg farts. Probably keeps more than mosquitos away. Lol

[@moorejl57]

I have heard of crayon eaters, but match eaters?

[@tomad4051]

A rumor, I viewed on another YT video about a B-17 bomber pilot who contracted VD in Greenland. The only treatment for VD at that WW2 time was supposedly SULFUR. Any other viewer comments??

[@MichaelR58]

Good video, thanks for sharing, God bless !

[@ronwade5646]

In the NAVY we had to, not now.

[@mikemarley2389]

I heard that to screw with someone in mosquito infested areas is to give a guy a banana to eat and the mosquitos will tear him up .😊Just a rumor I heard from an old timer.

[@mattmarzula]

This definitely works.

[@timoz9960]

I know my great-aunt raised turkeys and they always had a lot of ticks on and around them so she added powdered sulphur to their feed and would even take a pinch of it herself, from time to time, claiming it kept ticks from biting her. I can't vouch for the scientific veracity of this, but she swore by it... I am inclined to believe it, as many "old wives tales" have strong basis in facts and years of experience and observations...

[@danielmart7940]

When I'm in ketosis, mosquitoes don't bother me

[@friendofcoal]

Isn't sulfur supposed to be bad if you have kidney problems or stones?

[@donwest600]

Hard to say if it works, lots of sulfur recipes out there and some claim they work. I would chalk this up to staying warm in the head lights on a cold morning.

[@MarySchipke-dg7dg]

Rub straight Habanero sauce on your skin to repel mosquitoes and other biting insects.

[@3412Studios]

yeah, mosquitos just don't care sometimes.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Truth!

[@cripplers8]

At 56 I’m learning something new everyday. Mucho Gracious Bro…..

[@nunya___]

You should have started earlier. ;)

[@cripplers8]

@@nunya___ been doing this for years. This is something I didn’t know. Not everyone is a walking encyclopedia…..

[@nunya___]

@@cripplers8 It was meant to be funny. The only way to "start learning earlier" is to be born before you were.