“Failing to plan is planning to fail” -Alan Lakein

While you were reading the title you probably thought: “Why do I need to learn about wilderness survival?” First off, it’s good to know about your natural world and things around you, even if you live in a densely populated area. In the case of a natural disaster, it’s important to have a plan. If you find yourself stuck in the wilderness, you need to know how to survive and get out.

Obviously, if you find yourself stuck somewhere you can ask for help or call someone to pick you up. What if you’re somewhere you’ve never been and there’s no service and, even worse, no Google?

Let’s say, for the sake of this article, you were in a plane crash and you find yourself alone with no signs of the plane or other people.

First, you need to look around. Get to know your environment. Is it cold or warm? Is it dark or in the middle of the day? Is it wet outside or dry? What season is it? Use your brain. If it’s cold, you need a fire and shelter. The ground being wet or dry will affect your shelter building. If it’s warm, you need shade. In all situations, you’ll need a 1) shelter, 2) a fire, 3) a source of water, and 4) food.

Shelter: There are many types of shelter, and the type depends on your environment. In general, a shelter is made to either:

1. Keep you dry
2. Shelter you from the wind/snow
3. Retain heat
4. Store things

Making a shelter is one of the first things you should do. It’s good to look for a tree that you can lean sticks and brush against. By doing this you can create an easy teepee. This is a good start, but in order to keep out the rain and snow and wind, you will need to line the walls with leaves, bark, grass, and moss.

The next thing (or the first thing to do depending on your situation), is to build a fire. A fire can be made many ways in the wild, but the easiest is using a match or lighter if you have one, obviously.1 Fire is useful for warmth, cooking food, and signalling, which we will talk about later. You can also make fires by using a bow drill to rub wood against wood and make heat through friction. You can also use a mirror or magnifying glass, as I’m sure you did as a kid, to start fires from the light of the sun. I won’t focus much on these methods because it is hard to explain. If you’re interested and are not sure how to make fire using the above stated methods, we suggest that you look it up.

Water is something you need to survive. It’s best to find a running water source because generally that is cleaner. If you drink contaminated water, it can make you very sick. Make sure your water is clean. An easy way to do so is to boil it, which kills most bacteria. You can also make a makeshift filter using a plastic bag with gravel, sand and charcoal. In terms of food, you’ll have to rely on your knowledge of hunting and plant identification. It’s important that you don’t eat anything that is raw or poisonous.

1: It’s a good idea to carry a lighter and knife when you can. A fixed blade knife with a magnesium stick for sparking to light fires is ideal. This will still work if it’s wet (And you can buy it on Amazon.com for relatively cheap.)

****DISCLAIMER: I am not a survival expert. It’s just something I enjoy. In this article I am not going into much detail, because then it would be a very long article.

(http://76unity.com/wp-content/uploads/Building-debris-hut-shelter.png )