Thinking of taking a trip to the wild to test yourself and see how well you survive? If you are this article is worthy of a read and has the low down on the basics to survive properly in the wild.
Table of Contents
#1. Find the Right Campsite
The first thing you are going to want to do is to find a well-situated campsite. This means it needs to be dry, high, and out of the way when it comes to paths or valleys. These are areas where flooding can happen causing you to get trapped in a bad situation. The campsite should also be away from natural issues such as dead branches that may fall on top of your tent in the middle of the night. You have to make sure there is some form of running water available and enough dry wood to build a fire.
#2. Create a Quality Shelter
The shelter is going to matter as it can become cold outside in the middle of the night. You will also want to make sure to use a downed tree as a way to make a lean-to. This is going to work by using a large branch against the standing tree and ensuring everything stacks into place properly. You should look at using different resources that are all around you such as smaller branches.
#3. Start a Fire
You will want to have a source of warmth near you and a campfire helps. To do this, you can use something like a battery by short-circuiting it. To do this, you are going to take the terminals and connect them with a wire/steel wood and use this to create a natural spark.
Push the spark into a tinder bundle to create the fire.
#4. Build the Fire Properly
Building fire is going to involve fibrous material (i.e. lip balm, cotton balls with vaseline), tinder bundle, dry wood, pencils, and q-tips. You are going to take a log and set it up as a base for the tinder bundle. Light the tinder bundle and began placing kindling alongside the log. This creates a lean-to. You are going to want to make sure oxygen gets through as this will grow the fire naturally.
#5. Find Clean Water
Water is essential for humans and that is going to become doubly important when you are out in the wild. There are two options available and only potable water is going to work. The other type is going to leave you dead in the middle of nowhere. It’s important to know these differences. Water that is found on the ground (i.e. puddle) is not a good idea. You have to make sure to boil any water that is using to get rid of pathogens that are lurking inside.
The right way to find clean water is through precipitation in the area (i.e rain or snow). This is clean water and is going to be easy to collect too. You don’t even have to purify this type of water making it an even better fit for your needs. A lot of people will soak up dew and use that as a clean water source too. In some cases, you may be able to find maple trees or vines to soak water out of. These are good sources that offer great-quality water.
Obviously, if things hit the wall and your survival isn’t looking rosy it’s best to have a get home bag. This will help ensure that you can get back to civilization without issue.