If you have ever gone camping there is a chance that you got there, got setup and settled in and when you went to make dinner, turn the furnace on or went to get some water from the faucet and found something didn’t work. All the reason to be prepared for any situation.
Whether you are simply going camping at a commercial campground, taking a short hike, or backpacking into a state park wilderness area… be prepared. Never leave to chance those few articles that may become lifesavers. Above all, always let someone know your plans and when you plan to return.
The Essentials
Tips For Starting A Fire
If you’ve gone camping and the gas has ran out or the stove has failed to light, here are some basic fire starting tips to help the already frustrating situation.
- When starting a fire find dry wood.
- Use the inner bark of trees.
- Look for dead branches at the bottom of fir or pine trees, these branches are dead from lack of sunlight and usually dry due to protection from branches above.
- Start the fire with small tinder and work your way up slowly increasing it in size.
- Take small branches and shred then with a knife or your fingers.
- You can use dead grass, bird’s nests, wasp nests (unoccupied of course), inner bark from dead trees, or a strip of cloth from the tail of your shirt.
- Anything that will ignite quickly.
- Place this in the center. Around this, build a Tepee of small dry twigs.
- Once this is burning, slowly feed your fire with larger and larger pieces of wood. Do not let it go out.
Tips For Building A Shelter
Note: Don’t make the mistake of building a large shelter.
- Make a shelter just large enough to accommodate you. Especially on cold climates. The larger the shelter, the harder to heat.
- Use materials at hand.
- Dig out a pit and line it with a material to keep you off the bare ground. Use leaves, grass or pine bows.
- Create an ‘A’ frame with a cross support and cover it with branches, brush and leaves to make resistant to water and wind.
Tips For Acquiring Water
Water is readily available in most areas. Treat all water as if it were contaminated. The last thing you need in a survival situation in a virus.
- Boil all water before use. Most organisms cannot survive during a 10 – 12 minute boiling.
- Look ate the base of hills for water that may have settled at the base.
- Look for birds and watch their flight patterns, they usually keep a water source in their path.
- Create a solar still with a plastic bag.
- Dig holes to catch rain water.
- Dig into the bed of a dry creek, there may be water underground.
Find A Food Source
Although starving to death is a slow process and most people can endure 2 to 3 weeks without food and still survive, food should still be on the list of priorities to maintain our sanity and we will need the energy.
- Fish can be food source if near a river or stream. Caught with a line and hook, spear, or trap.
- Know your plants before eating them, Stay away from mushrooms and any plants with a milky sap.
- Cattail, tree bark and acorns are preferred.
- Look for fowl like ducks or geese, you could throw a rock in their midst and get luck to hit one and take it down. If not, look for their eggs they have left behind.
Signalling For Help
In the event that you are wanting to be rescued, follow these tips. The most important signal you have is your fire. Learn the skill of fire starting and practice it often.
- Build your fire where it can be seen if you want to be found. Build on a hill top or in a clearing or on a lake shore.
- During the daytime the smoke from your fire can be seen for many miles and in most wilderness areas there are fire watchers and rangers that investigate smoke sightings.
- Both arms above your head indicate you need help.
- One arm raised above your head indicates “No Assistance Required”
- Signal mirrors, lids from a can, broken glass with one side coated with mud, a brightly colored jacket or shirt tied to a long stick can all be used to attract attention.
A List Of Items That Should Be Included In Your Basic Survival Kit
- Waterproof matches or a disposable lighter.
- Fire starter
- Rigid blade knife (Preferably serrated on one side of the blade) w/ sheath
- Folding saw
- Compass
- Map of the area you are in
- Signal mirror
- Flashlight
- Plastic tarp
- 50 to 100 feet of nylon cord (1/8 inch is adequate)
- First aid kit
- Full canteen
- Emergency food rations
- Water purification tablets/filter.
- Fish hooks and fishing line
- Police whistle
- Toilet paper