For the average hunter or outdoor enthusiast, overcoming a survival situation does not have to be as complicated as you will see dramatized on television. Jumping off a cliff into freezing cold water then proceeding to eat an already dead animal, drinking your own urine, and sleeping inside a dead camel are all major no no’s that any trained survival expert will explain otherwise.
In this article you will learn the 5 basic skills required to get you through an emergency. Remember; simple advice used with common sense will go a long way.
There are hundreds of ways to build shelters, light fire, procure tinder, purify water, collect food and thrive with minimal gear. It can be daunting the extent of information out there, so learning these base level skills that you can adapt to any situation will set you up for success.
A common theme to search and rescue operations throughout New Zealand, Americas, and Europe, is that people find themselves in a place and at a time they did not expect. You may be a prepared hunter with years of experience in the backcountry, but it is usually one or two small unfortunate events that can lead to an emergency. A recent study conducted by a group of researchers in North America found that over 90% of land rescues occur less than 20km from populated areas in Northern America and Europe, with a high percentage of these being day trips.
So, what does this mean? Always head out prepared.
It doesn’t help a reliance on technology is ingrained in our society, and thus false confidence. People who rely on GPS are not used to navigating their way through towns without modern technology or using their cognition to navigate dense bush or backcountry.
Search and Rescue teams are highly competent and organized people; however, for their own safety they will not be out looking for you once darkness falls or the weather gets too severe. They will wait until first light the next morning. This could be a brutal night out if you are caught unprepared or injured in bad weather.
SO, WHAT SURVIVAL SKILLS SHOULD I LEARN?
Not only are survival skills engaging to learn, but the senses are sharpened and your ability to adapt and improvise is developed. This in turn leads to increased self-confidence. With self-confidence comes the ability to adapt to rapidly changing environments and overcome difficulties. It is also a great skill base for the young hunters starting to venture out on their own.
SURVIVAL RULES OF 3
This is a tool used to prioritize energy and tasks in emergencies. Remember, these skills can be significantly altered by your mental or physical state.
You will survive 3 Minutes: Without oxygen, being submerged in icy water or a loss of blood from severe bleeding. Blood loss from a massive arterial bleed can kill you just as fast as a blocked airway. Learn how to use a tourniquet and learn how to clear someone’s airway. We’ll talk more about this later.
3 HOURS without shelter (in an extreme environment i.e. driving rain and wind, snow etc). Protection is a priority; without either proper clothing or emergency shelter building skills, you could well suffer or lay your head down for a forever sleep.
As the famous explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes put it “There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing”.
3 DAYS without water (if sheltered from the extreme environment). You will feel the effects of dehydration after 12 hours so don’t think you have 3 days before you start to feel miserable. After 72 hours you will be crippled with dehydration and near the third day, you could well be nearing the light at the end of the tunnel. Severe dehydration will sneak up on you while doing extended physical activity.
Lastly, 3 WEEKS without food (if you have water and shelter). Good luck having the energy to do anything after eating no food for more than a week!
Below are five hard skills that you can learn, practice or teach your children. Every wilderness emergency or survival scenario differs depending on the incident that has occurred, items carried, time of day and geographical location.
SKILL #1 – OBSERVATION, AWARENESS & NAVIGATION
Practice using your mind instead of the GPS. Always have a map and compass on you for the area you are in. Stop now and then to check where you are, using the terrain around you and a map, then confirm on your GPS if needed. This is a great way to ignite the grey matter and open your awareness to your surroundings. At least you’re not being dutifully motivated by some heinous whiskey and cigarette smelling corporal recently back from the ‘ghan, angry at life, and wants you to die on a navigational exercise for no good reason.
Sorry, flashbacks.
Simple mental notes of prominent features along your route are a lifesaver, helping you to know your direction back to safety.
Learn to observe the natural patterns around you i.e. observe what star clusters are up each night, and what they mean for navigation. Learn which is the prominent direction of river flow or which direction the mountain ranges run in your area, you can observe this on a map before going into an area.
Note where the prominent features or ridgelines lead to and in which direction, then physically point that out to yourself once you’re on the ground. This is precisely how special operations soldiers do it when moving into unknown ground with only a map study of the area. If they can do it… you’re a hearty outdoors person… you can do it too.
SKILL #2 – FIRST AID
When something bad happens, medical skills and supplies may be the very first things you need (rather than shelter, water, and all the rest). Sure, the cold air could kill you in a few hours, but that life threatening bleed will kill you in a matter of minutes without effective medical care. You’ll need to deal with major injuries right away, with first aid skills and supplies. The best way to be prepared in this arena it to get some hands-on first aid training and carry a medical kit. Medical skills are the most likely “survival” skills that you’ll use in your lifetime. Make this a top priority.
SKILL #3 – FIRE & SIGNALING
In any survival emergency, the fire-starting gear in your survival kit will be worth its weight in gold. Considering the many of uses that fire provides, from water boiling, to heating, lighting, and cooking, it makes sense to carry multiple fire starting methods in your kit, but even these can be inadequate in cold, wet, and windy weather. Carry a container of fire-starting fuels in your survival kit for these frigid and damp occasions. Cotton balls, drier lint, curls of birch bark, and even greasy snack chips can turn the small flame of a match into the roaring flame of a campfire. Fire is your friend out there, and it’s also a great signal for help.
Signaling, meanwhile is not as popular to practice as fire making, shelter building, or other survival basics, but the skills of signaling are your ticket to go home and they should be taken seriously. Carrying a whistle in your survival kit can signal your distress to others, day or night, as long as you have breath to blow it. A signal mirror can be helpful too, giving you a signal range much farther than the whistle can carry. Your fire may be the best low-tech signal of all, but bringing a charged mobile phone beats everything—if you can get a phone signal in the area you are venturing through. Signaling isn’t necessarily the first thing you’d do in a wilderness survival or disaster setting, nor is it the third thing you do, or the last thing on the list. This can be done at any time, and it should be done often. Burn a big fire at night for a signal. Blast your whistle while you go to collect water. Try texting a loved one for help (over and over), since texting takes less signal than connecting a phone call.
SKILL #4 – PROTECTION FROM THE ELEMENTS
Since the deep cold can kill in hours and intense heat can kill in a day, shelter is usually your first physical survival priority if there are no life-threatening injuries. There are many ways you can build a shelter or enhance one you may already have (like your home or vehicle). With some practice, you can create your own wilderness shelter from available materials like sticks and vegetation. You can also stuff your clothing with leaves for warmth. Just make sure you have a backup plan for shelter that accompanies you wherever you go. A small lightweight poncho, space blanket or survival bivy can fit in your purse, pack, or pocket—and provide you with lifesaving shelter.
A simple emergency day tarp or the ability to create adequate survival shelters will allow you to sleep comfortably, or at least weather out a storm. Understand that when sleeping at night, most of your heat loss occurs through conduction; this is where warmth is transferred out of you and into the ground or something colder than you.
The simplest form of shelter is a debris shelter, this will trap your body heat inside. This can be made from a structure of branches and as much organic debris as you can pile on top, underneath and all around. The priority here is to create a very thick thermal layer of vegetation between yourself and the ground to battle conduction.
You need to minimize airflow and ensure that it is tight to move inside. This way your body heat can circulate and not escape.
You can then upgrade if you have time and create a lean-to shelter that is based on the same principles, but you now have room to create a fire close to the entrance or bring mates inside too.
SKILL #5 – WATER
Normally, we say “food and water,” giving an unreasonably high importance to eating. Let’s face facts, even though most people are used to three square meals a day and plenty of snacks, we need water a lot more than we need food. In particularly hot, dry, and windy conditions, you could die from dehydration in less than three days if no water is available. So before you head out into the wilderness, make sure you take plenty of water with you, as well as the supplies for water disinfection. This way, when you locate water, you can make it safe to drink. For a pocket-sized survival kit, it’s hard to beat the light weight and effectiveness of Katadyn’s MicroPUR water disinfection tablets. Drop one tablet into a quart of dirty water, wait a few hours and it will be perfectly safe to drink.
The fact of the matter is that unpredicted events will happen to anyone, it happens to the best of us, even experienced hunters are prone to mistakes and unforeseen accidents.
By learning a few basic survival skills and understanding the importance of being prepared, you can set yourself up for success. It pays to always leave home or camp with the essentials in your day bag.
Get your head right
While shelter and water are vital for survival, maintaining a positive attitude and mental strength are equally important in dire survival situations. Having a positive attitude acts as a guiding light, improving your mindset and clarity of thought. Developing mental toughness allows you to endure harsh conditions and accomplish necessary tasks. Additionally, understanding the “Rule of Threes” helps in prioritizing needs. This rule suggests that you can survive approximately 3 minutes without air or in cases of severe bleeding, 3 hours without shelter in cold and wet environments, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Although these time frames can vary, they provide a helpful framework for organizing and addressing our needs. Remember to stay positive, remain resilient, avoid panic, work diligently, and tackle the most critical issue first.
