Whenever I post a survival skill that needs carbon as an ingredient I get people saying sarcastically “Like everybody walks around with carbon”. What some people don’t realize is how easy it is to make carbon which is essentially charcoal. Charcoal is a very important survival substance used in first aid, to treat food poisoning, allergic reactions, insect bites, and in making water filters. The more crushed the charcoal is the better because the surface area is bigger and that’s why activated charcoal works better than charcoal. Activated charcoal, however, is very difficult to make when on your own, but you can still make charcoal more effective if you can’t find a close by store to buy it from. While you can get charcoal from the remains of your campfire, making more efficient charcoal has its own process. Watch these videos below to see how you can make charcoal and near activated charcoal. If you use sawdust instead of sticks your final product will be closer to activated charcoal.
