Mental, physical and practical preparedness are a hiker’s first task.
Sizing up situations and risks comes immediately after.
Every scenario has its own features, and an emergency situation is in constant changing.
In an emergency scenario, you may consider the possibility of facing several hazards: a change of weather conditions, presence of predators, illness, and so on.
Needless to say that each one requires a specific planning in terms of:
- risk analysis
- resources
- mindset and pragmatic approach to solve critical issues
- skills
- gear
In this article we will focus on the essential survival skills you need to master when any emergency arises.
Surviving in the Outdoors
Far from being a foregone answer to all the problems risen up in an urban scenario, surviving in the Outdoors isn’t easy easier.
First of all, being an Outdoor enthusiast for all your life doesn’t make you an expert. In fact, there is a substantial difference in spending some weekends out for camping, hiking, climbing , hunting or whatever and mastering real skills which could literally save your life.
One thing is sure: the Outdoors represents a valuable resource of different materials: wood, water, food..
The first critical issue consists of taking advantage of them without exploiting what surrounds you.
The second one is related to the true level of your skills.
Starting from the famous, wise words “Use it or lose it”, you cannot rekindle some abilities you gained during your Boy Scouts years and pretend you are still good at some – or even all – of them.
Without a constant, methodical practice, in fact, it is easy to forget some of them.
Furthermore, tension, anguish, panic, fear could overcome.
These variables could seriously compromise the positive application of your skills.
The pros are all consistent with the inner natural dimension of being off grid:
- abundance of timber to make fire, to build a shelter, and so on
- presence of game
- presence of water
- possibility to move and to live undetected
- decrease of risks to handle with potential ill-intentioned people and, in general, with high-risk situations
The cons are mainly connected with:
- scarcity of availability or total absence of modern devices you may need (GPS, mobile phones..)
- potential impossibility to find vehicles
- inconvenience of being offgrid due to the presence of predators, insects, suffering from the elements and so on
Just to mention the most evident disadvantages you may run across.
By saying that, surviving in the great Outdoors for a good amount of time could be reality only if you are 100% ready to accept both sides of the medal.
Indeed it always had a certain, romantic flare, but.. are you fit for that?
Be straight forward to yourself when asking this question, especially if you are out with your family.
Duties and responsibility must take over to some childish perspectives and illusions that have no real concreteness.
A physical and mental preparation could be achieved by spending as much time as we can off in the backwoods, experiencing different weather conditions, pushing ourselves to the limit, testing our attitude and skills.
Essential Survival Skills for Surviving in the Outdoors
At this point, it is right and proper to cluster the essential survival skills into macro groups.
Navigation
Bugging out in an area you are familiar with is obviously the most reasonable option.
Having already scouted a specific place can actually help you in:
- detecting the right place where setting your shelter
- identifying the existing resources
- bringing some items in it
- starting to build a shelter
But what if you need to rush into a context you have never seen before?
In this case, a good, detailed map of the area is mandatory.
Along with that, you will be required in being good at using a compass and being accustomed to set reference points while you move on.
Narural navigation and orientation are the first skills you need to gain and master.
Shelter
Once identified an ideal place where to bug out, setting up a temporary or long term shelter comes as second necessity. There would be a lot to say on this topic.
Making a shelter requires practical skills, like handling a blade in the correct way (knife, axe, saw and so on) and the ability to make knots in order to make it solid, resistant and responding to all the requirements connected with:
- safety
- heating
- comfort
Heating
Setting up a shelter cannot go away from heating, especially when bad weather strikes in.
By that, starting a fire involves to gather the proper tinder as well as the right wood to burn and to use as a deflector.
There are several methods to start a fire, from using a ferrod till by friction: each one has its own issues, related to resources, percentage of humidity, your physical and mental performance.
Knowing all of them is certainly good, but never underestimate the power of common sense: when you feel fatigue your performances cannot hit the top. The low level of calories, for example, will undermine any success.
Nutrition
Gathering edible plants and berries isn’t as easy as it may appear. Just think about to Christopher McCandless story. Running into mistakes is very, very likely.
Therefore it is pretty reasonable not only to always have with you a manual of local edible plants containing good photos (not sketches!) of the flora of a specific area, but also to do a toxicity test before eating any of them.
Collecting and pot boiling water is another remarkable matter. You cannot even think to stay one week out if you don’t know how to do that.
Hunting and fishing requires the perfect and deep knowledge of the weapon you use (rifle, bow, spear and so on) and, additionally to that, all the practical actions related to skinning, processing meat and to conserve it.
Beside that, knowing how to track and how to approach game is an essential part of hunting. Without that, any attempt to hunt will sort out to be sterile.
Therefore, Tracking skills come into use to pursue your hunting goals, as well as to gather from the terrain all the information you need to live and move in the off grid leaving minimum sign of your passage.
Self defence
Handling a weapon in a safe way, knowing how to use and to maintain it is often an underrated skill when bugging out.
Mishaps can be just around the corner even if you are in the middle of nowhere.
If humans cannot be no more an issue, predators may be: bears, mountain lions, you name it.
Having a firearm and ammo and taking care of them is one of the things you must consider when you bug out.
How to learn essential survival skills
Reading books, watching videos on YouTube are just good starting points, but you have to work on yourself, and, even better, to attend classes and be paired by professionals.
There is plenty of good Survival Schools all over the US, offering focused courses to teach you how to start fire, how to build a shelter.
They will lead you into the right direction, giving you all the tools in order to make you learn and fix your mistakes in the proper way.
Be curious, make questions, be eager to learn should be your credo.
Test your essential survival skills on field
Once again, it is important to refresh your skills every time you have the chance to do that.
Even more important, share them with the rest of your family is always a good way to go.
Children always prove to be excellent learners as their mind is totally open to apprehend every new thing they come in contact with.
Sharing is not only caring, it is consistent with growing together and helping each other for the greater good.
Plan some testing weekend on field, and try to simulate a bug out situation: this will be of a tremendous help when an emergency situation may strike.
About The Author
Article by Kyt Lyn Walken. Official Representative and Instructor for Hull’s Tracking School and Certified Conservation Ranger for the NGO Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide.
