Some of what I learned in Wilderness Survival Course

The following should not be taken as an authoritative and comprehensive review of Wilderness Survival issues. It is provided in order to highlight the advantages of enrolling in a Wilderness Survival Course.

Planning & Prevention

To borrow a slogan - "be prepared"! The best way to survive a survival situation is to not get in to the situation in the first place. Discover as much as possible about the situation you are venturing into, the likely skills and equipment needed. Are you prepared to handle whatever you might encounter? What is the terrain like? The weather possibilities? Are you physically up to the trip? Do you have, and know how to use a survival kit? What types of health/emergency first aid issues might you encounter - Dehydration? Frostbite? Concussion? Broken bones? Do you know how to recognize and treat symptoms?

Prepare for the worst case scenario. Does a responsible buddy know where you are going, how you are getting there and back, when to expect you, your physical description, your boot print, your car description, license plate etc. If you are going on an extended trip, and access permits, arrange to contact this buddy on set days, if you fail to do so he/she can alert the authorities that you are missing, when/where you were last heard from etc. When deciding what to put in the information package for your buddy, you can't over do it. Indicate all the above, as well as the color of your tent, exterior clothing, signalling devices you carry, how many extra days food you brought, copy of the topo map with route marked, medical conditions, doctors phone number, etc. Answering these questions, and compiling this package will also help you assess your equipment list.

Equipment Check

The equipment you will take is largely a matter of personal taste and type of trip. Tailor your gear to the environment you will experience. Some items, such as compass, magnesium stick, knife and survival kit etc., are vital and should be worn on your person. Make sure you include a survival kit and first aid kit, in addition to your basic gear. Test your equipment prior to departure. This will help get you re-familiarized with the equipment and make sure it is working properly.

Route

Plan your route, map it out, share it with a buddy, and stick to it! Learn how use a compass and read a topo map. Practice these skills until they become second nature. Teach them to a friend to help reinforce them in your own mind. Include the highway route(s) you will be taking to and from the trailhead in your buddy package. Deliberately switching routes on the trail, or on the way to the trail, puts you in danger. In the event a search becomes necessary the search begins with your planned route and nearby vicinity. If you get lost and cannot easily retrace your steps, or use your map/compass to get back on track, do not wander around trying to find your way back. Stay put. No sense in getting even further lost.

Sample First Aid Kit

Remember that without the requisite knowledge and skills for applying first aid, the kit isn't as useful as it might otherwise be. Take the time to learn first-aid basics. Many first-aid organizations also offer a wilderness first aid course. In addition to some basic first-aid supplies, you will want to include items specific to the area you will be travelling, eg anti-malaria tablets where warranted.

Vital Equipment

Some items are just too vital to be stored where you might accidentally loose them. The safest place for vital equipment is hanging from a strong cord around your neck. Should you lose your bags, backpack etc., at least your neck items will be saved. Hanging them around your neck also allows you to easily bring them into service, and helps ensure they won't get left behind somewhere. Wear the following around your neck:

• compass - ready for use
• whistle - more effective than shouting
• wristwatch- less likely to break casing or fall off
• penknife - unattached is easily mislaid
  

Survival Kit

To be worn on the your person at all times. If you store it in your pack and then get separated from the pack, you will have also lost the survival kit. The kit should contain the absolute minimum amount of gear you wouldn't want to be without. Many items can have more than one use. Seal the kit in a waterproof container. If you have prepared well, you won't have to open it. Learn how to make use of the survival gear. Nothing can substitute for hands-on experience.

5 Survival Priorities

• positive attitude - Keep a positive attitude and a will to survive. Not so easy when you are out there with darkness approaching. This is perhaps the hardest survival skill to master. Your mind may give you reasons to keep moving, even though your survival training tells you to stay put. Your fears and worries may suggest panic. Deprived of proper nutrition you may hallucinate. One strategy for avoiding negative thoughts is to busy oneself with the practical considerations of survival. If you don't know where you are, STOP, sit down and collect your thoughts. Decide if you are lost. If you cannot easily retrace your steps, relax, assess your situation and supplies. Wandering around will only get you further lost. Don't panic. Remember you have prepared for this situation. Don't fret all those "what if's". Instead, do something constructive for NOW, to get you through the first night. You are lost, the situation is serious, but with a cool head it need not be life threatening. All you *have* to do on the first night (apart from tending to any injuries) is to build a shelter, light a fire, and gather enough firewood to get you into the next day. Start with the Shelter.
• shelter - They say you can live 2 to 3 weeks without food, 2 to 3 days without water, but only 2 to 3 hours without shelter should a storm hit. Look around you, look at your supplies. Any shelter materials? A rock outcrop? Tarpauline? A good survival course will teach you how to safely build a shelter using the resources available to you. The shelter does not have to be perfect on the first night, you can improve on it tomorrow. Erect something that will keep you out of the elements for the night. Depending on the type of shelter, you may be able to put a fire inside with you.
• fire - Essential for heat, purifying water via boiling, etc. Good for bolstering the spirits too. You'll want to collect and keep a 2 days supply of firewood, protect it from the elements if possible. To get your fire started you can use some of the supplies in your emergency kit, or find tinder and kindling from nature's offerings. (Dry grasses, peeled birch bark, cattail fluff, small twigs, wood shavings, etc.) Once you have the fire established, it may already be dark, in which case, relax for the night, there's not much else you can safely do in the dark. If it's still light, you can look for sources of water.
• water - If water is not immediately nearby, you may need to wander away from camp looking for sources. If this is the case, use your trail blazing tape to mark your trail and return by reversing your steps. If you cannot find a river, puddle, lake, snow etc. nearby you will have to use a different water collection method. A plastic bag tied around a tree branch will collect condensation droplets. It is best to learn more than one emergency method. Any water collected from rivers, streams, lakes, even puddles, should be boiled for a minimum of 5 to 10 mins to kill bacteria. Water purifying tablets are a not too tasty alternative if you have no means of boiling water. If you haven't had any water for a while, sip don't gulp. If you gulp you will just throw it back up again, losing even more valuable body fluids.
• signals - If you have planned your trip well, and left an itinerary and planned exit date with a buddy, the search crew will be looking for you soon. You'll want to find a way to let them know where you are. Use your trail tape to blaze a circle around the circumference of your camp area. Find a nearby clearing, light a smokey fire or arrange a bright colored cloth, or periodically use the flares in your emergency kit. Know the path to the clearing well, remove any thing you might trip over, you may need to get there quickly should a plane pass overhead. A reflective surface can signal to an overpassing plane, or across a lake. A strobe light works well at night, but is limited by battery life. Your itinerary should have included a list of the signalling devices you carried with you. If you have become separated from your gear, you will have to improvise using the materials around you. You should always be prepared to manage should the man-made technology you carry with you fail. Many books outline signalling methods, practicing will help you become more familiar with the various techniques and enable you to adapt to the circumstances you find yourself in. The basics would also be covered in a introductory survival course.

  As a footnote to this section, relax and remain close to your shelter unless you can meet ALL the following conditions:

  1. know where you are and where you want to go.
     
  2. have a means of setting direction.
     
  3. have clothing that will stand up to any conditions likely to be encountered.
  4. have sufficient food, fuel and shelter that you can carry.
     
  5. have means to indicate route taken, eg trail blazing tape.
     
  6. you are strong enough to make the journey AND to set up another base camp as needed.

  Subsequent days in camp can be spent improving the shelter, gathering food and water supplies, and tending to camp and signal fires. Additional knowledge, such as the ability to distinguish edible plants from poisonous ones, or how to snare and prepare meat, becomes increasingly useful as the days pass. Minimally, you should take the time to learn a few of the plant foods basic to region you are going to be in. Your diet will be boring, but at least you will be getting enough to sustain you.