The Ultimate Guide to Survival

By: Abbi Gunter

Imagine this: You are on a plane, and you’ve never been good with flying so you’re trying to calm your nerves. You have a movie to watch and a book to read, there’s nothing to worry about. Halfway through the flight you finish your movie and are well into your book when you hear something. It was loud, the plane starts shaking, everyone is panicking. Suddenly everything goes dark. You come to and you hear the cries of your fellow passengers. You have a pounding headache but get up anyways. There’s fire all around you but you’re not in the air anymore, you’re stranded. You suddenly realize that you are now reliving the first episode of Lost and you have no idea what to do.

Maybe your situation isn’t as extreme as this one is, but the point is things happen. Things happen to people when they least expect it so we have to be ready for anything. Maybe it’s as simple as getting lost on a hiking trip. Maybe you want to go camping but don’t know how. These “boy scout” skills may seem useless, and maybe they will be, but in the event that something does happen, you need to be educated. At least enough to know how to survive on your own for a while.

Basic rules

Before we start with the hard stuff, it’s important to get to know some of the basic rules you’ll need to know when you’re on your own. I will start with one of the most important ones: “The Rule of Threes.” A human can survive for:

• 3 minutes without air
• 3 hours without a regulated body temperature (shelter)
• 3 days without water
• 3 weeks without food

Remembering these rules set a guideline for your survival and helps you prioritize. Because you can survive the least amount of time on land without a shelter you should make that your first priority, then water, then food.

Next you’ll need to make a plan. Surviving in the wilderness is not a matter of just going with the flow and seeing what happens. You need to make a plan and execute the plan. If you have yet to find a source of water, make a plan to search for a clean water source. Don’t just wander around hoping the water will find you because it won’t, death will. On this note, if you ever run into a survival life or death situation, remember “SPEAR”. Stop, Plan, Execute, Assess, Re-evaluate. This means that you need to stop -don’t act rashly- and think. Form a plan depending on your situation and expect the plan to go completely off the rails. Then assess your situation and Re-evaluate to form a new plan.

Shelter

Now that we have gone over the basics it is time to talk more in depth about the most important things. The first one being: Shelter. We know from “The Rule of Threes” that we can only last 3 hours without shelter, you need to make this your first priority. The Earth is dangerous, especially when you have direct exposure to it. Many people that end up in survival situations die of hypothermia. This can be avoided as long as you know how to make a proper shelter.

The shelter that you make yourself must serve many purposes as a house would. First you have to take in consideration the location, make sure it is away from hazards, you don’t want to put yourself in any more danger than you have to. You are going to want to make sure it provides protection from the rain, wind, and other hazards. Lastly you are going to make sure you have some source of heat near your shelter so you can stay warm on chilly nights.

A very practical type of shelter that you can make is a debris hut. I included a video showing you how to make one. These can provided shelter and they are very easy to make needing very little materials.

Water

We already know that water is one of the most important things that you are going to need in order to survive. Which is why it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it is higher on the list than food and fire. If we look at the rule of threes we can see that a person can only survive 3 days without water, so you need to make this one of your top priorities.

Many people die of dehydration and/or the debilitating effects of water-born pathogens from untreated water. In order to avoid these the first step is finding a good water source. The absolute best sources for clean drinking water in a wilderness settings are springs, head-water streams, and collecting morning dew.

Once you have found a good source of water you need to purify it. There are many popular forms of water purification including filtering pumps and chemical treatments, which are great and useful if you have those materials, however not everybody has that luxury in the middle of nowhere. The process that I suggest is probably the most widely known process. This is the process of boiling the water in order to remove the viruses and bacteria in it. This method is proven to work and it is safe for use. All you have to do is bring your water to a boil and allow it to continue to boiled for about 2–3 minutes.

By remembering the basic rules, building a shelter, and having clean water to drink, you can survive for many weeks on your own in the wilderness.

Fire

Although having a fire is not needed for you to survive, it will be very helpful in any survival situation. There are many ways you can use a fire including staying warm, cooking food, and drying your clothes. There are so many different ways to start a fire, however it is still extremely helpful for you to carry fire starting tools with you at all times. It is important for you to know how to start a fire in any situation so I recommend practicing it a lot. If you are having trouble trying to start I fire I included an instructional video on how it is done.

Conclusion

Using these basic survival tips you will be able to survive in the wilderness for many weeks. Make sure you practice these skills and if you ever come into a survival situation, above all else, remember the rule of threes. Good luck! Wether you’re just browsing the internet or actually need tips for camping, I hope that this article was in some way helpful for all your survival needs.

works cited

“Basic Survival Skills.” Alderleaf Wilderness College, www.wildernesscollege.com/basic-survival-skills.html.