Cooped Up? Get Uncooped.

When you have tried all the other sources and come up dry, a last-resort survival source of water is the easy-to-make solar still.

In a sunny, but damp spot, dig a hole about three feet in diameter and two feet deep. At the center of the bottom of the hold, dig another smaller hole, the same diameter as your water containter. The smaller hole will allow you to recess your water container a bit.

Place your water container into its hole and a thin layer of crushed green leaves across the bottom of the larger hole.

Cover the larger hole with a sheet of clear plastic, anchoring the edges of the plastic with rocks. Place a small rock at the center of the plastic sheet to depress down over your water container.

Using solar energy, the still will condense water from the ground and the vegetation onto the plastic. That water will run down to the depressed spot and drip into the water container.

Water from the ground and vegetation will condense on the sheet, roll down to the center, and drip into the container.

A word of warning: The average still will generate just a few swallows of water per day. In a true survival situation, build several.

For more details about the solar still, visit http://www.wilderness-survival-skills.com/images/solarstill.jpg.

• solar
• still
• water
• survival