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Wilderness Survival Tips

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Find out info on shelters, survival kits, fire making and more.

BASICS

A healthy human can survive for several weeks without food, and several days without water, but in many cases only several hours without proper shelter from the elements. Evaluate the weather for where you are, and to what extremes it may go. Shelter from the elements or a fire may well be your first priority. There are multiple items in a decent survival kit to help you build a shelter or a fire. For shelter, a clear plastic painter’s tarp or a survival blanket can help immensely. A survival blanket can also help to reflect the warmth from a fire.

Be careful not to damage any waterproof piece of gear. Example: instead of poking holes in a tarp to tie it off, push a small pebble up from under the tarp, and tie off around it (See Construction Notes below). Try using rocks instead of stakes to hold down corners, etc etc. Getting a good night’s sleep will make everything easier on you. Try to build as good a shelter and bed as you can. The extra time and effort will pay off. Use everything you can think of for insulation. Crawling inside a big pile of leaves or pine needles is actually pretty warm and comfortable (do not attempt this near a fire !!). A large pile of fresh pine sprigs is not only a springy mattress, but is good insulation from the ground.

There are LOTS of shelter materials and types. Any survival manual will teach you about most of these. The general rule for a survival shelter is that it is not much bigger than you are (just enough room to lie down). This allows your body heat to keep it, if not warm, at least warmer than the ambient temperature. I won't go in depth telling you how to crawl under a fir tree during a blizzard. I am sticking to a few basic favorites.

SURVIVAL SKILLS PRIMER

State of mind is CRUCIAL to coping with a survival situation. A clear-headed, common sense approach will see you through... panic kills. The text of this basic instruction sheet is shown here:

 

SURVIVAL TIPS – What to do if you suddenly find yourself in that situation.

STEP ONE:   Stop! …Now take a deep breath, and resign yourself to your current circumstances. Do not panic, and do not feel ashamed at being in your predicament. Some of the best woodsmen in the world have become lost or disoriented, so set your mind to come through this with your honor intact. People have died of a combination of stupidity and panic. They run frantically, in big circles, through the woods at night trying to find their way out. The best thing to do is often to find some shelter for the night and find your way out come morning. Once you are calm, check yourself over. Your health and welfare are paramount. Address any immediate needs (injuries) as best you can, and then read on.

STEP TWO:  Take stock of what you have, and what your immediate needs are. If you are reading this, you have quite a lot to work with, as this kit contains an extensive amount of gear to help in any situation. Be creative. Most of the items can have multiple uses, and are limited only by your imagination. As for your immediate needs, here are a few simple rules. A healthy human can survive for several weeks without food, and several days without water, but in many cases only several hours without proper shelter from the elements. Evaluate the weather for where you are, and to what extremes it may go. Shelter from the elements or a fire may well be your first priority. There are multiple items in the kit to help you build a fire. As for shelter, the clear plastic painter’s tarp and the survival blanket can help. The survival blanket can also help to reflect the warmth from a fire. Be careful not to damage them or any other piece of gear. You will most likely need them later. Example: instead of poking holes in the tarp to tie it off, push a small pebble up from under the tarp, and tie off around it. Try using rocks instead of stakes to hold down corners, etc etc. Once you have some shelter from the elements, you can take a little time to plan for your other needs.

STEP THREE:  Step three is water. You must drink plenty of water even if you do not feel thirsty. An adult should drink at least a couple of liters per day (more in hot climates). If you spent the night on high ground, then plan on moving camp. In most areas, just continue to walk downhill and you will eventually find water. Watch animals or follow their tracks. They will usually lead to water. Birds also tend to congregate near water. In dry areas, you may have to consider other means, such as a solar still. If you are getting water from streams or ponds, boil before drinking, or use water purification tablets or straw.

STEP FOUR:  Signal. Some of the signaling items you have are the whistle, the mirror, the blanket, and of course, fire!  Signaling is best accomplished by making yourself as big as possible. Smoke signals work well as does anything that can be seen or heard from a long ways off.

STEP FIVE:   Food, as mentioned above is probably not something you need to consider unless you are reasonably sure that rescue is a good many days or weeks off. As a general rule, avoid plant life unless you know for a fact that something is edible. The easiest rule to remember is that if it walks, swims, crawls, or slithers… thump it, and muck it on down!  Use the knife, hooks and line, make a spear, make snares with the 80lb test cord. Use your imagination! The facts are, ALL fur bearing animals are edible. ALL birds are edible with no exceptions. Grubs found in rotten logs are edible, as are almost all insects (6 legs).

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

 - The kit was packed tightly in its container, but once unpacked, figure out where and how you want to carry everything. Keep the items you will use frequently close at hand (in your pockets if they are free of holes). You can wrap cords, fishing lines, etc around the sheath to keep them tangle free and ready to use. Use slip knots or those you can undo easily, and therefore get the most use out of every piece of gear.

 - Getting a good night’s sleep will make everything easier on you. Try to build as good a shelter and bed as you can. The extra time and effort will pay off. Use everything you can think of for insulation. Crawling inside a big pile of leaves or pine needles is actually pretty warm and comfortable (do not attempt this near a fire). A large pile of fresh pine sprigs is not only a springy mattress, but is good insulation from the ground.

 - Fire: When starting a fire find dry wood. Look for the dead branches at the very bottom of evergreen trees. Good tinder will greatly enhance your chance for success. Take small branches and shred them with a knife or your fingers. You can use dead grass, dried moss or fern, or a strip of cloth from the tail of your shirt. Use anything that will ignite quickly. Place this in the center. Around this, build a teepee of small dry twigs. Once this is burning, slowly feed your fire with larger and larger pieces of wood. Always making sure the fire is burning freely before you progress to a larger piece of wood. Once this fire is burning DO NOT let it go out. A fire is mans best friend in the wild. It provides heat, protection, a good signal, etc etc.

 - Shelter: Do not make the mistake of trying to construct a large shelter. Make it just large enough to accommodate you and not much else. This is important, especially in cold climates, because your body heat may well have to heat it. Be extremely careful if you are going to use fire to heat the shelter, as most natural shelter materials are flammable! Plan ahead, and use common sense.

 - Food: Do not even think about looking for food until you have a good (and plentiful) water source, and your signals are set up. Once you have these, and are ready to go in search of food, small animals, fish and insect life are always your best bet (remember, do not eat spiders or anything else with more than 6 legs). Setting multiple snares and fishing lines in ways that you do not have to baby-sit them is a good idea. Check them from time to time for a catch. This allows you to “hunt” without expending much energy. If you must eat plant life, stay away from mushrooms and any plant that has a milky sap. Common edible plants include cattail roots, acorns, clover, dandelions, almost all grasses that are seed bearing and the inner bark of trees such as Poplar, Willows, Birches and Conifers.

 

SURVIVAL SKILLS - WATER

Basic water finding skills

    Finding water can be an essential skill to have. A human can't live more than a few days without water. You must drink plenty of water even if you do not feel thirsty. An adult should drink at least a couple of liters per day (more in hot climates). Water can be found or readily produced even in desert conditions.  For starters, aside from Saudi Arabia, I have never lived in desert areas, and would not be likely to be found hiking in a desert. The only way that I know of to obtain water in the desert is using a solar still in conjunction with whatever scrappy plant life you can locate (see instructions below). That said, my advice if you are caught in the desert is to get the hell out of the desert (hunker down in daylight, move at night).

    In much of North America however, water is plentiful. In mountainous areas, just continue to walk downhill and you will eventually find water. Water obeys the laws of gravity quite well!  Watch animals or follow their tracks. They will usually lead to water as well. Birds also tend to congregate near water. If you are getting water from streams or ponds, boil before drinking, or use water purification tablets. If you cannot boil it or have no purification tablets, a couple methods of finding or procuring fresh water are discussed below.

Using the Earth Itself to Filter Ground Water

    The ground itself makes for a great water filter. If you are near a water source that is less than clean, use the ground to filter it. Go about 50 feet from the standing water, and dig. If your "pit" looks less than clean after you hit water, give it a few minutes, or continue scooping out water and discarding until it clears up. This same method works even for sea water. For seawater, I would move a little further inland... maybe 50 yards or more before digging. You should strike fresh water there. The further you can go without a significant increase in elevation, the better your chances of getting a good fresh water supply.

 Water Filter from All Natural Materials

    I kept wondering when the dumbasses on "Survivor" were going to think of this one (especially since their map of the area specifically listed a "charred log"), but apparently they immediately disqualify anyone who has more than two or three brain cells. Anyhow, this filter doesn't filter down to viral levels* or anything, but is surprisingly effective nonetheless. I plan on experimenting with clay in the future to see what I can come up with.

Constructing the Filter

    This unit is housed in a hollowed out log, (see cutaway view above) rolled up bark, or whatever else you can make a tube out of (a pant leg for instance). Item 1 is the crucial part. It is crushed black charcoal (not ash). This is wood that has been charred to black, and then crushed up to sand or powder consistency. Sand is packed on either side of the charcoal (Item 2). Grass, moss, leaves or other material is packed in to help retain the sand (Item3). Finally, a rock pushed into either end to hold it all in place (Item 4). The rocks are not tight enough to seal anything, they simply keep everything in place. You can skip both the grass and rocks if you have extra fabric to tie around the ends to hold in the sand. 

    Once the filter is completed, water is slowly poured in from the top and allowed to filter down through. The first few gallons of water that go through will be a bit murky. Toss these, and keep pouring... it will clear right up.

Footnote:  Viruses are typically not an issue in water sources unless you are traveling into tropical regions. Most viruses found in the waters of N. America are bacteriophages. They are dangerous to bacteria such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia and other single cell protozoa.... which are the critters you're trying to get rid of anyways. My point is that, if the charcoal layer is properly packed, this filter should trap the stuff you're primarily concerned about. In other areas, you will filter and then BOIL the water. The filter will take care of the murkiness, taste, etc  and then the boiling will get the rest.

Using Household Bleach to Purify Water

Almost all laundry bleaches, whether Clorox or any other brand, have 5.5% Sodium Hypoclorite, which is a suitable purification chemical for water. Bleach in a suitable container with an eyedropper dispenser makes a nice addition to any camping/survival kit. Make sure you do not use powdered, scented or other non-pure bleaches.

Add bleach to clear water for purification purposes in the following quantities, and let stand for a minimum of 30 minutes before drinking:
 

-     2 drops bleach per quart or liter of water*

-     4 drops per 2 quart canteen or 2 liter bottle*

-     8 drops per gallon or 4 liter bottle*

-     1/2 Tablespoon per 5 gallon bucket.*

-     1/4 cup of bleach to a 30 gallon barrel*

-     1/2 cup of bleach to a 55 gallon barrel*

 

     


*NOTE: The listed quantities are for relatively clear and clean water. These can be doubled for increased contamination levels. If you are drawing water from puddles or swamps, you should try filtering first, but the bleach quantities should be increased as well. A longer time should also be allowed before drinking in order to give the bleach time to achieve a complete kill of bacteria and viruses. A good indicator is the scent. Chlorine breaks down as it kills organisms. If you cannot detect any chlorine smell to the water, then the bleach has likely been used up, and the water could still be contaminated. Add a little more and wait another 30 or more minutes. If you can detect the odor of chlorine, then there is nothing left to kill, and the bleach has likely done its job.

Solar Still

    A solar still is a fairly efficient way to collect moisture from the soil. As you can see in the two views below, a tarp is draped over a hole in the ground. This is sealed in place with rocks, logs, sand or whatever is available. Make sure it is well sealed. The sun on the tarp heats the air underneath, which causes moisture in the soil to evaporate. This moisture has no place to go and condenses on the tarp itself. Because of the pebble in the middle, there is a sufficient slope for the condensate to run down the inside, and drip into the collection vessel.

A view from the top. From this angle, you can see the pebble in the middle, centered over the collection vessel.

Notes

  • The collection vessel can be anything... cup, bowl, tin can,  another section of tarp, even a large leaf.

  • The drinking tube shown in the pictures is a nice addition, but not absolutely necessary. You can always lift the corner, reach in and remove the collection vessel every so often. It's more work, but if all you have is a tarp, then it may be necessary.

  • If the ground itself is not yielding enough water, try tossing in vegetation. It doesn't even matter if the vegetation is edible or not, as you are effectively distilling the water. The water that is collected from a solar still is 100% pure, drinkable H2O, and does not require boiling.

Final Word

    In closing, I would like to mention that there is quite a lot of misleading information out there. I saw one site that told people how to make a "divining rod". These supposedly show you where to dig to find water. Their claims indicated that this was done with mystical psychic energy or some such crap. This is all part of the "new-age" line of Birkenstock bullshit that many out there seem eager to shovel on the unwitting. Do NOT listen to granola-headed shrub cuddlers when it comes to survival info. They will get you killed. The day I see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery" will be the day I rethink my opinion of these charlatans. Wilderness Survival is all about using common sense, not a "sixth sense".

SURVIVAL SKILLS - FIRE

Fire is one of the most basic skills to have, yet it is quite amazing how many people can't start a fire without dry wood and fuel at hand. I won't go into minute detail on this subject, as there are plenty of sites out there that already do. This site is made primarily for those who already have some modicum of outdoor skills. Fire is a skill that should be practiced by anyone who spends time away from civilization. Anyone can practice making fire in their backyard. Fire is the means to warmth, water purification, cooking food, and a general sense of well being. The following tips will help you to start fires in less than ideal conditions with limited tools (I practice with flint and steel, but prefer a lighter when available).

Rule number one for a fire is similar to that for shelter... LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!!  Find a place that is out of the wind and elements, that has ample fuel at hand, and that doesn't cause a hazard. It's hard enough surviving in a forest, it's even harder trying to survive in a forest fire! The more you do in preparation before ever striking a match, the easier it will  be to start and maintain a fire.  A large boulder is usually a prime place to build a fire. Besides acting as a wind break, it will also reflect warmth back at you, and will keep the smoke flowing up the side of the rock face, and out of your eyes.

Make your fire as small as possible... you'll use less wood, and therefore less energy. If you're using the fire as a signal, you can still keep it small, yet have a large pile of dry material ready to throw on at a moment's notice.

To build a typical campfire, you'll need three types of fuel . These are Tinder, kindling, and logs. The first rule of fire making is to always have twice as much of each as you think you'll need. Have these ready before you ever strike a match. Whereas the logs and kindling are typically just little sticks and big sticks arranged in a nice tepee or log cabin arrangement, I will not waste time comparing the burn rates of different types, etc. In a survival situation, the hard part is getting the first flame to take to your tinder. Once you have a nice little pile of tinder material burning, it's relatively easy to get the rest of the fire going, so I will not waste time explaining it. I will focus on some tinder sources and tips.

Know your tinder sources!  There are a multitude of mosses, grasses, and other thin and fibery materials that can be easily ignited. A key to these is that they need to be dry. When walking along in the woods, I collect wispy looking materials, and put them in my shirt pocket (body heat dries them out in a hurry). Some other great tinder that will light in just about any conditions are as follows

  • Cat-o-Nine Tails. The large bulb at the top of this plant has enough "fluff" to start a LOT of fires.
  • The large, black, lumpy growths on the sides of birch trees is a type of fungus that burns VERY well. Lop or break off a clump. It is orange to brownish on the inside. This can be ignited with a spark and forms a very nice coal. This material can also be used to carry fire from place to place. This stuff may be orange, but it's gold to me!
  • Low lying, gnarly pine shrubs and trees (common in sandy soils) build up amazing amounts of sap. The wood becomes infused with it and is VERY flammable. Dead branches on these fill with sap to seal them off (also makes them waterproof). Use these. A small piece can be used to start many fires. Shavings from this type of wood will ignite with nothing but a good spark. A little goes a long way. If you find a piece of this, chalk it amongst your assets, and find a pocket for it.
  • Pocket Lint... No Kidding... if you knew how flammable this stuff really was, you'd be carrying a fire extinguisher around with you. It only takes a spark. Once I learned this, I became fanatical about cleaning the lint screen in my dryer !!

 

TYPES OF FIRE

LAZY MAN FIRE - Fire making is not all about starting the fire... sometimes it's about how you maintain it! Here's a type of fire called a "Lazy Man's Fire". If you are in a survival situation, save your energy. Don't burn energy chopping firewood. Feed large branches and logs into the fire, and let the fire do all the work (see below). Be careful with these, as they must be watched more closely than a fire contained in a proper pit. As the logs burn, move each further into the fire. It's amazing how much wood you can gather when you're not wasting time chopping or sawing!

I prefer this fire type to all others, as it saves a LOT of unnecessary chopping!

DAKOTA PIT FIRE - A Dakota Pit Fire is another way to make an efficient fire that uses very little fuel, and can warm you or food easily. Whereas it is contained in a hole, it is easy to hunch over it for warmth, or to place food or water over it for cooking. The second hole is to allow oxygen to get to the fire, thus preventing it from being easily smothered. It is scalable depending solely on the size of the pits you dig.

A Dakota Pit Fire is also used when one wants to be inconspicuous. This is one of the fire types that the Air Force teaches for use by downed pilots who must evade an enemy whilst surviving. This is due to the fact that it does not throw much light, and is therefore primarily used for warmth.

Fire Piston - A VERY Cool Lighter?

One of the pieces of kit that I tried out is called a Fire piston. A fire piston is, quite simply put, one of the the coolest concepts I have come across in quite some time. Just when I think I've seen it all, some new piece of kit like this comes along, and makes me have to go camping yet again. A fire piston is based on the fact that when a gas is compressed, heat is generated. This is the reason that a bicycle pump tends to get hot (and the same reason that an aerosol can gets cold as it loses pressure).

The Fire Piston has three primary parts. An outer barrel with a smooth bore (plugged at the base), a plunger with a hollowed tip, and a gasket to seal them effectively. It is elegantly simple in its operation as well. A small piece of tinder is inserted into the hollowed tip of the plunger. The plunger is then inserted into the barrel and is given one or more hard thrusts, which ignites the tinder. You then remove the small coal that forms, and drop it into your waiting dry tinder and blow to flame.

NOTE on the Fire Piston Project !!!    What can I say about fire pistons? Yes, I tried to make one. After a few go 'rounds, I have one that "works". This was done with some machining, laborious polishing of the bore, fitting the piston with O-rings, etc etc. After making it, I found that using it is easier said than done. If you have some VERY dry tinder, and you work it just right, you can "ignite" it. This means that you'll end up with a tiny smoldering piece of lint or whatever you used for tinder.

I can't even imagine being huddled in the snow lost at night and trying to find both tinder and fuel dry enough to use with a fire piston! My survival kit contains a Bic lighter, a magnifying glass, a ferrocerium rod*, and a few other odd and ends that can be used to build a fire. As a smoker, I also typically have my trusty Zippo on my person as well.

 
SURVIVAL SKILLS - SHELTERS
 

A Rugged and Heated Shelter

This is a shelter that is a bit more work to build, but can be done without too much trouble if the right terrain features are present. It is scalable, meaning that, in a pinch, you can build one just big enough for yourself, and you can also build it big enough to shelter a small family, depending on how much work you want to do.

Step one is to find the right terrain feature. You are looking for a hiltop or a small ridge, and in conditions where it is not very hard to dig (ground is not tough or frozen). I mention hillTOP or ridge in that your fireplace depends on being able to dig through to the other side. Read on, and you will understand.

 

Step One: Find a slight rise or ridge to use. I have made the following pictures to show a cutaway view of the mound or ridge.

 

 

Step Two: Dig away the hillside to give you an area big enough to move around in. You should end up with a flat area large enough for you (and others, if necessary) to sleep in.

 

 

Step Three: You will now cover this dug out area with logs/saplings, etc. Patch large gaps with sticks, other poles, etc. You may now optionally dig out the fire pit as shown. The reason that this shelter is based off of the specific terrain feature is that your chimney needs to vent out the back as shown below. There are other ways to vent as well... use your common sense based on the terrain you choose.

 

 

Step Four: Make the door as a small dugout area at the edge of the logs at the fire end of the shelter (this is because as the fire consumes air, it will draw it from outside without drawing cold air across the sleeping area). You are now ready to cover the poles with a heavy coating of leaves, and finally with soil. See the next couple pictures.

Shown below with leaf covering, ready for soil or branches to hold it in place. Although I have shown only a few inches of leaves covering the roof, you are actually better off with a foot or two for decent waterproofing. I'm afraid that my 3D rendering software gets a little bogged down with hundreds of objects. The few hundred leaves I 3D rendered here were already quite taxing on my system, and I dared not keep adding layers!

A non-cutaway view showing the outside of the shelter, the doorway, and soil covering (I have left the edges of the leaves showing to help delineate where the shelter lies.

PRESTO... You've got a decent shelter. A nice crackling fire will keep things cheery and warm.

A Simple and Quick Shelter

This is my favorite shelter, as it is relatively quick to build (provided you find the right terrain and materials handy), and provides a warm and dry place to live. It is scalable, meaning that, in a pinch, you can build one just big enough for yourself, and you can also build it big enough to shelter a small family, depending on how much work you want to do.

Step one is to find the right terrain feature. You are looking for a depression in the ground. The size of the depression will likely be the size of your shelter, so shop around. (Note: You can always dig it out to make your shelter bigger, but the goal is to expend very little energy in the construction). Also, make sure your depression is not an area that water is likely to collect in. I look on higher ground, at the tops of small hills and such.

 

Step One: Clear all leaves and debris from hole. Save them, as you will need them later.

 

 

Step Two: Drag large branches and fallen deadwood over top of hole (if you are constructing this to last, use fresh cut (small) trees to make poles to cover the hole. Plug large gaps with sticks and brush as best you can.

 

 

Step Three: Use as much leaves and debris as you can to cover this wood in a large leafpile (this will typically waterproof the shelter pretty well if the leaves are large (Oak, Maple, etc). If you have a tarp, you can use it here, but my instructions will continue to use all-natural materials. Use the largest leaves you can find, preferably live, but dead will do. Although I have shown only a foot or so of leaves covering the roof, you are actually better off with two feet or more for decent waterproofing. I'm afraid that my 3D rendering software gets a little bogged down with hundreds of objects. The few hundred leaves I 3D rendered here were already quite taxing on my system, and I dared not keep adding layers!

 

 

Step Four: At this point, pile earth on top of the leaves (or tarp). This is primarily to keep them from blowing away and should not be deep. Use good judgment. If the wood you used to cover the hole is not very strong, then a few inches of dirt should do it. If you are building for permanence (a hunting shelter you want to return to), then build it strong with plenty of earth to cover it.

PRESTO... You've got a decent shelter. A nice crackling fire about 5 feet from the entrance will keep things cheery and warm. Be very careful if you used dead leaves or wood to construct your shelter!  If you felt industrious, you could also build a nice reflector wall behind the fire to send a bit more light and heat into the shelter itself. Lay down a nice mattress of springy pine boughs, and you are stylin to the max!

The reason that I like this type of shelter so much is that you are only building a roof. You have relied on nature to provide walls and floor. As I stated earlier, this type of shelter is very reliant on your finding the right (or nearly right) terrain features. In mountainous or hilly terrain, it shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to find an ideal location for this. In other areas, it will either take a bit longer, or require actual work to dig something   : (

 
Tarp Shelter
 

 The Tarp Shelter is probably the most basic structure you can build. You need only a tarp or sheet of plastic and some rope or cord. As you can see in the picture below, the cord has been tied between two trees and the plastic sheet draped over it. Rocks are used to hold down the corners, as it is always best to not puncture it by using stakes. The material is too thin to be punctured and still hold up to use without tearing.

    Notice that I have depicted it as being erected over a slight depression in the ground. This allows for a little more interior space, and room for a nice evergreen sprig mattress to keep one off of the ground. If you are going to do this, make sure that the depression is not located in such a way as to collect water. If necessary, build small embankments just inside the tent at either end in order to dam off any water that may trickle your way.