Contents
Introduction ....................................................................... v
i
1. Trip Planning and Preparation ..............................1
2. Survival Kits ............................................................. 15
3. Psychological Aspects of Survival .......................37
4. Signaling ..................................................................53
5. Water .........................................................................67
6. Fire.............................................................................95
7. Shelter .....................................................................139
8. Food.........................................................................179
9. Survival Travel and Navigation ......................... 213
10. Dangers and Hazards ......................................... 249
11. Weather ..................................................................275
12. Clothing..................................................................285
13. Survival First Aid .................................................. 299
14. Essential Survival Skills .......................................319
15. When Disaster Strikes Close to Home ............ 341
Author’s Note .................................................................349
Checklists.......................................................................351
About the Author
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
Acknowledgments .......................................................359
Index ...............................................................................32
Introduction
INDEX
action, taking, 50–51
Aframe
shelter, 156, 157,161–62, 165
Africa, food in, 211
alcohol, 314, 335
Algonquin Provincial Park, 217–18
allergic reactions, 184, 313–14
altitude sickness, 316
anger, 48, 50
animal activity, tracks and other signs of,
44, 195, 202
animal dung, used for fire, 108, 133
animal fats, used for fire, 108, 109
animals. See also creepy crawlies; critters;
predators and dangerous animals
edible, 185–87, 208–11 (see also game)
poisonous
ants, 262
fish, 188, 273
mussels, 5
platypus, 272
scorpions and spiders, 168, 313–14
snakes, 314
warning signs, 186
water from, 86
animal trails, following, 75. See also tracks
antidiarrheal tablets, 24, 356
antihistamines, 24, 356
antiseptic ointment, 24, 356
ants
anthills, 146
bullet ants (Maunyi), 145–6
as food, 185
and plants, 265
poisonous, 262
and water, 76
anxiety, 47–48. See also calm
Arama, Dave, 265, 266
Arctic regions
clothing for, 288, 297
fire considerations in, 138
food in, 209
hazards in, 271
shelter in, 171
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 246–47
water considerations in, 90–91
weather in, 283
arid regions
clothing for, 297
fire considerations in, 136
food in, 208
hazards in, 269–70
shelter in, 166–67
survival kit for, 31
travel and navigation in, 245
water considerations in, 89–90
weather in, 283
assessing and prioritizing, 41–45, 303, 343
audio signals, 62–63
avalanches, 177, 248, 273–74
banana leaves, 158
bandages, 24, 25, 356
bandana, 20, 22, 353
bark
cedar, 137
used for roofing material, 169
barometers, 280
batteries, 34, 132
bears, 254, 256
Beauchamp, Allan “Bow,” 78, 87
bentpole
frame shelter, 163
bird down, 107
birds
catching, 202
following, 75–76
bites, 248, 263, 272, 296, 313–14
blankets, 34
solar, 29, 247
“space,” 29
bleeding, 312
blisters, 292, 315
blizzards, 271, 282. See also Stolpa, Jennifer
and James
body parts to protect in survival situations,
303
boiling water, 87
bone, making knives from, 330, 332, 333
boots, 35
boreal forests home survival kit, 357–58
clothing for, 297 personal survival kit, 353
fire considerations in, 136 vehicle survival kit, 355
food in, 208 chemical lights, 58
hazards in, 270 chimney, making a, 103
shelter in, 168–69 chlorine, 87
survival kit for, 31 Clement, Jonathan, 49–50
travel and navigation in, 245–46 climate, 220, 278–79. See also weather
water considerations in, 90 clothing,
boredom, 50–51 dangerous, 292boulder, 170 extra, 293
bowhunting,
49 keeping it dry and clean, 292–93, 302–3
bowline knot, 326, 327 making, 34, 293–94, 296burns, 307 maintaining, 282–93butane lighters. See lighters protective, 265–66
butterfly sutures, 24 regionspecific
considerations, 297–98
research and planning, 12–13, 287–91
traditional vs. hightech
gear, 291–92
calm, staying, 42, 49–50 for vehicle survival kit, 34
canyons clothing signals, 61
clothing for, 297 clouds, 248, 280
fire considerations in, 136 clove hitch, 326–28
food in, 208 clubs, making, 327, 335, 337
hazards in, 269–70 coastal regions
survival kit for, 31 fire considerations in, 138
water considerations in, 89–90 food in, 210
weather in, 283 hazards in, 272–73
Caribbean Ocean, 91 shelter in, 176–77
carrion, eating, 207 survival kit for, 33
carry bag, making a makeshift, 221 water considerations in, 92
carryingweather in, 284
fire, 111coconuts, falling, 272
gear, 220 coconut water, 83
people, 222, 223 cold weather, 267–69. See also clothing
cedar, 97 water considerations in, 90–91
cedar bark, 137 compass,
celestial objects as navigation tools, learning to use a, 8
240–41 making an improvised, 27, 236–38
cell phones, 34, 63, 64 parts of a, 230–31
chair, makeshift, 222 using it with a map, 232–236
charcoal, 70, 207, 315 using it without a map, 231–232
charred cloth, 117–20 conditioning, vi
checklists confidence, 251
complete survival kit, 354 control over situation, gaining, 47
firstaid
kit, 356 cooking and food preparation, 186–87, 205
36 | Index 5
cook set, 34
cook stove, 34
cotton balls, 107
couples and survival kits, 18
creepy crawlies, 185, 186, 262–63.
See also insects
critters, catching, preparing and eating,
185–187
cups, collapsible metal, 22
dangers, 251–52. See also specific topics
deadfall traps
Doug’s, 199–200
figure-four, 198–99
Paiute, 200, 201
dehydration, 69–74, 182, 267, 270, 305.
See also water, drinking
depression, 50–51
deserts
clothing for, 297
fire considerations in, 136
food in, 208
hazards in, 269–70
survival kit for, 31
water considerations in, 69–70, 89–90
weather in, 283
destination, knowing your, 5–6
dew, collecting, 77–78
diarrhea, 24, 315
disease, 312–13. See also health problems
dislocations, joint, 310, 311
distillation. See solar still
double figure eight knot, 327, 329
down, bird, 107
dressing (game), 204
eating. See also food; specific topics
carrion, 207
charcoal, 207
edges, making, 331–32, 335
edibility test, 184–85
edibles, wild. See also poisonous plants
availability, 183
latitude and, 183–84
myths regarding, 182–84, 264
personal sensitivities, 184
plant identification, 183
region-specific, 208–11
education and training, 5
electrolytes, 315
e-mail, 29
emergencies, vi, 11, 18, 45
Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), 63
Emergency Position-Indicating Radio
Beacons (EPIRBs), 27, 63
energy, managing your, 182
EpiPen, 313
equipment. See gear
eye protection, 247, 337
fear, 47–50. See also calm
figure eight knot, 327, 329
fire bow
components, 121–23
method, 126–31
process, 124–26
fire considerations, region-specific,
136–38
fire ingenuity, 134
fire piston, 115
fire(s), 97–99. See also fire-starting devices,
fire bow
building, 104–10, 134
how long to leave, 109–10
maintaining and transporting, 108–11
natural disasters and, 345, 347
in rain and snow, 134
resurrecting, 110
to scare away animals, 258
selecting site for, 99–100
size of, 100–102, 104
ways to make, 112, 335
when ground is wet, 100
fireside smoke, 280
fire-starting devices, 22–23, 32. See also
fire(s), ways to make
fire-starting tinder, 23–24, 105–7, 137
firestarting
tools and methods,
lastditch,
112–13, 117–22, 132–33
(see also fire bow)
primary, 112, 114–16, 335
first aid, 24–25, 301–2, 303–4, 348, 355.
See also injuries
fish, 187–89, 272–73
fishing equipment, 25, 32, 187–89, 334
fishing techniques, 190–92
flag trees, 239
flares, 25, 34, 58
flashlights, 25, 34, 58, 334
flint and steel, 120
flint strikers, 23, 115, 116
flowers, 239
food. See also starvation; specific topics
critters and creepy crawlies, 185–87
dried, 22, 205–6
group vs. solo survival and, 211–12
importance of research, 181
and managing your energy, 182
Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), 35
myth of wild edibles, 182–84
natural disasters and, 345
preserving, 205–6
regional considerations, 208–12
survival concerns, 181
footwear, 224, 296
forests, temperate
fire considerations in, 136
food in, 208
hazards in, 270
shelter in, 168–69
survival kit for, 31
water considerations in, 90
fractures, 308–9
friction, fire by, 120
frostbite, 268, 271, 305, 306
frustration, 48, 50
fuel, 34, 335
game, 193–201. See also specific topics
garbage bags, 25–26
Garner, Thomas and Tamitha, 219–20
367 |Index
gas leaks, 347
gear
carrying, 220
choosing appropriate, 11–13
traditional vs. hightech,
291–92
Getgood, David, 162
glass, 335, 347
Glass, Hugh, 50
global positioning system (GPS), 25, 242
goggles, 247, 334
GoreTex,
291
grasses, dried (used for fire), 108
ground signals, 61–62
group vs. solo survival, 52, 65, 211–12, 274,
317, 340
guide, relying on yourself vs. the, 9
gum, fishing with, 334
hand lens, 26
hand sanitizer as fire starter, 335
hanging shelter, 164
hazards, 251–52. See also specific topics
headache, 312
health problems, 10. See also disease
heat exhaustion and heat stroke, 269, 310,
312
herbal medicines, 302
Holladay, David, 7
home survival kit, 357–58
hunting, 32, 203, 334
hunting tools, making, 203–4
hurricanes, 281
hygiene, importance of, 302–3. See also
clothing, maintaining
hypothermia, 268, 269, 305–6
ice
crossing, 228
eating, 76–77, 90, 91
sea, 91
weak, 228
infections, 316
injuries, 304, 312–16. See also first aid
insects, 76, 265. See also creepy crawlies
iodine, 87
Jeremiah Johnson (movie), 99, 256
joint injuries, 308–10
jungles
clothing for, 297–98
fire considerations in, 138
food in, 210
hazards in, 271–72, 279
shelter in, 176
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 248
water considerations in, 92, 279
weather in, 283
Kalahari Desert
Bushmen, 6, 82
Stroud’s experiences in, 69–70, 86, 89,
113, 136, 200, 252, 259, 270, 322
Kamler, Kenneth, v, vi
kindling, 107
Kinta, 158
knives. See also edges; wood, splitting
belt, 20, 22
making, 330–33, 335
sharpening, 22, 333
Swiss Army–style, 26
knots, 326–29
knowledge, vi, 10–11, 42–45
Kruger, Douw, 98
laser flares, 58
leantos,
156–58
lenses, 26, 132
lighters, 23, 114
lightning storms, 282
lint, 107
local guidance regarding weather, 279
local knowledge and experts, 5, 7
loneliness, 50–51
luck, vi
MacGyver (TV show), 333
magnesium flint strikers. See flint strikers
magnetic needle of compass, 231
magnetic north, 235
magnetized needles, 27, 236
magnifying glass, 26, 132
maps, learning to use, 8
road, 35
in survival kit, 26
taking bearings with, 234
taking bearings without, 231–32
topographic, 229, 233
matches, 23, 114–15
Maunyi, 145–46
Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), 35
medication, 24
mental and psychological attitude, 343
mental fitness, testing your, 10–11
mental keys to surviving, 44
“mess kit” See cook set
metal, making knives from, 330
mirrors, signal. See signal mirrors
money, 26
moon, as navigation tool, 241
moose, 217–18, 261
moss, 239
moss cups, 78
mountainous areas
food in, 210–11
hazards in, 273–74
shelter in, 177
travel and navigation in, 248
water considerations on, 93–94
weather in, 284
multitool,
26–27
mushrooms, 264–65
natural disasters close to home, 343–48
nature
“becoming one” with, 51, 52
vs. man, 51–52
navigation. See also specific topics
basic survival, 228–29
natural disasters and, 346
regionspecific,
245–48
using natural features for, 239–42
needles, for compass
magnetized, 231, 236
magnetizing, 27
nighttime travel, 224
noose, 195
notebook, 28
Ontario, 144, 217
packs, making, 337–38
painkillers, 24
Paiute deadfall, 200, 201
panic, 46–47
parachute cord, 27–28
parasites, 70
pencil, 28
Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs), 27, 63
physical fitness, 9–10
planning and preparation, 3, 4
informing others of your plans, 13–14
natural disasters and, 344
for survival, 3–5, 45
for survival travel, 218
for the worst situation, 11, 18, 45
plants. See also edibles, wild
healing, 302
water from, 82–83
plastic bottle, purifying water with a, 334
“playing dead,” 256
poisonous animals, 186, 272–73
poisonous plants, 264–66. See also edibles,
wild
polar regions
food in, 209
hazards in, 271
shelter in, 171
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 246–47
water considerations in, 90–91
weather in, 283
potassium permanganate, used to make
fire, 132, 133
369 | Index
predators and dangerous animals, 253, 261
accidental predators, 253–56
creating an early warning system for, 260
securing your shelter from, 259–60
tips on dealing with, 260–61
true predators, 256–59
prescription medicine, 24
prioritizing, 41–43, 45
quinzee, making a, 171, 174–75
quuliit (seal oil lamp), 108, 109
rabbit snare, 196
rafts, making, 226
rags signals, 61
rain, 25–26
rainwater, collecting and drinking, 77,
91–92
Ralston, Aron, 39–40
rapids, swimming in, 227
rawhide, 324
rescuers, 64–65
research, doing your, 4–8, 10–11. See also
specific topics
rivers, rising, 272. See also water
Robertson, Dougal and Linda, 91
rock(s)
making knives from, 330
splitting, to make an edge, 331
water from, 85
root bed, 169–70
rope
as part of safety kit, 27–28
making, 324, 326, 335
twisting, 325
route, knowing your, 5–6
safety pins, 28
salt, as preservative, 206
sandstorms, 283
sanitizer, hand, 335
satellite phones, 64
saw, folding, 28
sawdust, 107
scissors, 26–27
scorpions, 187
sea and open water
clothing for, 298
food in, 209
hazards in, 271
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 248
water considerations on, 91–92
sea ice, old vs. new, 91
seasickness, 271
selfreliance,
8
sendansos.com, 14
shadow stick, 237
sharks, 258–59, 272
sharpening stone, 22
shelter construction basics
bed, 147–49
frame, 150
windand
waterproofing, 151
shelters, 141–43
creating, 32
fire in, 152–53
frame, 150
heated ground, 153
importance of site selection, 144–46
longterm,
154, 156–65
natural disasters and, 345
regionspecific
considerations, 166–78
shortterm,
154–58
shingling a shelter, 151
shock, 307
shoulder dislocation, 310, 311
sickness, 312–13
signal fires, 59. See also fires, size of
making, 60–61
signaling for rescue, 45, 55, 344
signal mirrors, 28, 56, 57–58
signals, 55. See also SOS messages
making your own, 58–59, 335
readytouse,
56–58
simple, 61
targeted, 55–63
technological, 55, 63–64
simplicity, thinking, 322
skinning game, 204
sky, watching, 75, 281
sleep, 157, 168, 266
slush, eating, 76–77, 90
smoke, 59. See also signal fires
smoking food, 205–6
snakebites, 314
snakes, 248. See also creepy crawlies
snares, 194–97
snare wire, 29
snow. See also avalanches
eating, 76–77, 90, 91
sheltering with, 171
snowblindness, 246, 271
snow cave, making a, 172–73
snowshoes, 337–38, 339
snow shovel, 36
solar blanket, 247
solar still, making a, 80–81
Sonoran Desert of Arizona, 136
SOS messages, 14. See also signals
sound. See audio signals
spears, making, 335–37
spiders. See creepy crawlies
splints, 308–9
SPOT satellite messenger, 29, 63–64
sprains, 310
squirrel snare, 197
stars as navigation tools, 240
starvation, 266–67. See also food
steel wool, 132
stings, 313–14
Stolpa, Jennifer and James, 13–14, 33–34
streams. See water
stress and stressors, 41. See also calm
stretcher, makeshift, 222, 223
sunglasses, 247, 337
surgical blades, 25
survival, vi, 18. See also specific topics
survival guilt, 51
survival kits, vi, 17
carrying case, 21, 34
complete, 21–30, 354
disadvantages of prefab, 18–19
home, 357–58
making it yourself, 18–19
natural disasters and, 344
personal, 19–21, 353
tailoring them to your destination,
31–33
top five items in, 32
vehicle, 33–36, 355
survival situations, reacting to, 46–51
survival skills. See also specific topics
essential, 348
getting over the squeamishness of
destruction, 323
thinking like a sculptor, 321–22
thinking simplicity, 322
Survivorman (TV show), v
survivors, characteristics of, 40
swamp areas
food in, 211
shelter in, 178
water considerations in, 93
sweating, 290, 291, 295
tape
duct, 22
marker or “surveyor’s,” 26
tarp, 36
tarp shelters, 165
text messaging, 29, 34
thirst, 73
thread, 27
three, as number signaling distress, 59, 63
throwing sticks, 203–4, 335
thunderstorms, 282
tidal waves. See tsunamis
tinder. See firestarting
tinder
tipi, 164
toilet paper, 36
tools, 36, 323–24. See also specific tools
torches, making, 338
tracking insects, 76
tracks, animal, 202. See also animal trails
trailblazing, 242–44
traps, 193, 198
bottle, 200
Doug’s deadfall, 199–200
371 |Index
figurefour
deadfall, 198
Paiute deadfall, 200, 201
where to set, 194–97
travel, survival, 64–65, 346. See also specific
topics
natural disasters and, 346
at night, 224
planning and preparing for, 218
rate of travel, 222
regionspecific,
245–48
by water, 225–28
whether to stay or leave, 215–21
traveling in a straight line, 244
travel partners/group, 9. See also group vs.
solo survival
Traverse, Chris, vi, 295–96
trees
for navigation, 239, 242–44
water from, 82, 83
tree torch, 61
“tree wells,” 160–61
triangle, three signal fires in shape of, 59
tsunamis, 273
underwear, as hunting tool, 334
ungulates, angry, 261
urine, 86
vegetation, observing changes in, 75
vegetation still, making a, 78–79
vehicle survival kit, 33–36, 355
vehicle wreckage signals, 62
vines, as source of water, 82
Wabakimi, Ontario, 144
watch, used as makeshift compass, 238
water
crossing, 226–28
rationing and preserving it in your
body, 72
traveling by, 225
untreated, 70, 71
water, drinking, 34, 69–71, 182websites, 14
filtering, 89 well water, 83–84
finding and collecting, 74–86 whistle, 30
natural disasters and, 344 widowmakers, 145
physiology and, 73–74 wikiup,
164
regionspecific
considerations, 89–94 will to live, vi, 39–40
shelter’s distance from, 145 wind, 146, 280
water, open. See sea and open water wind chill, 282
waterproofing, 26 wind patterns, 280
waterproof matches, 115 windproofing shelter, 151
water purification, 32, 86–89, 334 “wind tunnel” shelter, 144
water purification tablets, 29 wires
water purifying straw, 29–30 and electrical fires, 347water sources, 74–79 snare, 29
waxandcotton
fuel wads, 23–24 wood, 146weather, 146, 220, 252–53, 277. See also choose, 146
specific weather conditions as fuel for fire, 108, 135–36
vs. climate, 278–79knives from, 333
dangerous, 281–83 splitting, 32, 135–36
natural disasters and, 347 for water collection, 78
preparing to stay alive in dangerous,wounds, 316
277–78
regionspecific
dangers hazards, 283–84
ways to interpret signs and predict,Ziploc bags, 30
279–81
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Les Stroud, expert survivalist, is also a filmmaker, singersongwriter,
and creator
of the television show Survivorman. A member of the prestigious Explorers
Club, Les has produced, hosted, and appeared in many television specials,
including Shark Week, Surviving Alaska, and Off the Grid with Les Stroud. He
has been guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Larry King Live, The Late Late
Show, The Hour, and been featured in Men’s Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and
numerous other publications. Visit him at www.lesstroudonline.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information
on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Credits
Illustrations by Beverley Hawksley.
Cover design: Luke Despatie & The Design Firm
Cover photography: Laura Bombier
Copyright
SURVIVE!. Copyright © 2008 by Les Stroud Productions Inc. All rights
reserved under International and PanAmerican
Copyright Conventions. By
payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive,
nontransferable
right to access and read the text of this ebook
onscreen.
No part
of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded,
decompiled,
reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or
mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written
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ISBN 9780061716836
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It was decidedly fate. Soon after quitting the music industry and resolving
to live a life of outdoor adventure at the age of 25, I opened the newspaper
one morning and saw a small ad for a wilderness survival course. Not long
after, I found myself on my first solo outing: curled up in my shelter, boots
sticking out the entrance, rain teeming down . . . and I was giddy. I realized
then and there that I was reliving my boyhood days of building shelters behind
our family cottage, only this time I could stay out all night. I was hooked, and
since then, wilderness survival has figured prominently in my life.
In Surviving the Extremes, Dr. Kenneth Kamler writes, “Human beings
are the only animal whose emotions, spiritual imperatives and lust for
adventure override our survival instincts. We get into trouble because we
have an insatiable desire to explore. We know very well we have assumed
risks when we travel in an extreme environment and that our decisions
could have fatal consequences.” My own insatiable lust for adventure has
seen me voluntarily place myself, time and time again, in survival ordeals
or extreme adventures. I used to do it for fun, and I guess I still do.
I have always channeled my creative energy toward filling voids,
doing things that nobody else has done. Creating a survival series for television
was no different. I had seen lots of survival films; they seemed dry,
boring, and of little interest to anyone but the hardestcore
survivalists.
What was missing was the drama that unfolds in reallife
situations. I realized
that to really show how to survive you need to go out and actually do
it—and film the experience. Out of this thinking, my idea for producing a
television series, eventually called Survivorman, was born.
From the getgo,
I vowed not to let Survivorman make a mockery of
survival by incorporating games and challenges, or by cheating my way
through it by staying in hotels every night or bringing along a makeup
artist to help me look dirty. There would be no camera crew to offer me
food and assistance. I needed to be out there, alone, just as I had for years
trained to be, actually surviving, or at least coming as close as I could to
simulating that experience.
| iV
Dr. Kamler notes, and I agree, that there are four forces at work in
the struggle for survival. Knowledge—well, you’ve got a good start by reading
this book. Conditioning—an oftenoverlooked
aspect of preparation
for wilderness adventure. Luck—my dad would have called it “dumb” luck;
hopefully you’ve got some! And the single most important force of all: the
will to live. Without it, people have perished beside packs of supplies. With
it, others in similar situations have survived seemingly impossible ordeals.
To this list I would add survival kit. Certain gear can make a huge difference
in your struggle to survive.
Snowmobiler Chris Traverse certainly had most of these forces when
he got lost on his way home from a fishing trip in northern Manitoba in
March 2008. To reach safety, he had to endure five days of walking through
waistdeep
snow without supplies. I was humbled when Chris credited Survivorman
with helping him survive.
Stories like Chris’s are a large part of what led me to write this book
and to make sure that, like my TV show, there is nothing phony about
my work. The field of wilderness survival is cluttered enough with information.
I stick to triedandtrue
methods, providing the background and
explaining the skills that I know can help you to survive. The skills are ones
that anyone can easily learn and use, and that should work anywhere, anytime.
I also provide essential checklists, which you’ll find at the end of the
book; photocopy these and use them to plan your next adventure. Preparation
is everything.
Yet no matter how prepared you may be, you should never lose sight
of the fact that a survival situation is an emergency. It may seem fun on a
survivalskills
weekend when you’re fully fed, guided by an instructor, and
surrounded by a group of likeminded
students, all smiles and dirty faces.
But in a reallife
ordeal, “fun” is not part of the equation.
Survival is not about smelling the pines and feeling the breeze on
your weathered and tanned face. Survival is not fun. It’s not pretty. It’s
never comfortable. It may involve eating gross things, enduring pain and
deprivation, and battling fatigue and loneliness. It may involve danger. It’s
about life or death. If you want to learn how to survive, read on
I
n everyday life, planning for survival isn’t an issue. Our
societies have created extensive systems designed to bail us out
in times of emergency. Should you be unfortunate enough to be
involved in a car accident, chances are high that an ambulance will soon
arrive and take you to an emergency room.
Well, there’s a big difference between waiting on the side of the
highway for an ambulance and shivering on the side of a remote river
in northern Canada with all your food and supplies washed downstream
because you just wrecked your canoe running a Class IV rapid. Dialing 911
is not going to help you. The ambulance is not going to come. This is where
trip planning and preparation come in.
I’m talking about more than just menu planning here. It’s great to
know that you’re going to eat dehydrated chicken teriyaki with rice on the
third day of your paddling trip, but what will you do if all your food is gone?
That is a completely different situation, and one in which trip planning and
preparation with an eye toward survival can make all the difference in the
world. The most common cause of death in the wilderness is unpreparedness.
Most people do some preparation before their adventures. Not to prepare
would be the height of foolhardiness. But beyond arranging route,
destination, camping spots, and meals, too few outdoor enthusiasts actually
plan for the possibility of a survival situation.
Why? I suspect there are several reasons. Most people don’t consider
the possibility of finding themselves in such a situation to start
with, which can be a grave mistake. Others probably think they have
enough survival skills, knowledge, and training, and therefore don’t
need to contemplate the specifics of a particular trip. Some may feel that
thinking of worst-case scenarios is pessimistic, and that it takes the fun
out of anticipating a trip. But it’s not pessimistic to anticipate emergencies.
It’s just good bush sense.
And the importance of planning and preparing for your particular
trip can’t be overstated, because every region is different, sometimes in
subtle ways. You could dramatically increase your chances of making it
through a survival situation by getting just a few tips about the locale.
The more experienced you are in wilderness travel, the more likely
you’ll have developed your own list of must-haves to bring on your
adventures. Remember that each person is responsible for his or her
own survival!
Do Your Research
PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR YOUR ADVENTURE BEGINS with research, a fairly
easy undertaking in today’s information-rich digital age. Between the
Internet and the countless books available in public libraries, the foundation
is there for anyone to begin to build a location-specific store of knowledge
for just about any region on earth.
Printed publications offer other benefits too, aside from the significant
information they can yield. First, you can carry small guidebooks and
pamphlets with you and—assuming they haven’t washed down the river
with your canoe—refer to them along the way. Second, reading about your
destination ahead of time gets you excited about the trip and empowers
you with information that might save your life.
One thing to keep in mind when reading books or online materials,
though, is that while they may describe, for example, the types of plants
that can be sources of water in a specific area, you cannot be 100 percent
sure that you’ll be able to identify a plant unless someone has personally
taught you how. In this book, for instance, I note that you can find water
in the chevron of the leaves of most banana trees. That’s all well and good,
but you may need someone to show you a banana tree, and teach you how
to distinguish it from similar-looking plants.
Ideally, anyone going on a backcountry wilderness trip should take
the time to train in that region with a local expert, one who can offer such
vital advice as which plants are edible and which ones will kill you. Take
the time to find an expert, and try to dedicate at least one day with him or
her on the land. The training and teaching may even be available in your
own area. The first survival courses I ever took (to prepare me for northern
Ontario) were offered in a city . . . Toronto.
Although local experts obviously know the best ways to build shelter,
make fire, gather food, and locate water, I often find that it’s not the big lessons
they teach that ultimately help me the most but the little nuggets of
wisdom they throw out in passing. For example, when a native Costa Rican
taught me how to eat mussels, he shared a tip with me: if the water that
drips out of the mussel is green, it’s poisonous; if it’s clear, then it’s good
to eat. That information was nowhere to be found in any of the books on
the region, but it could have saved my life. On another occasion, a Kalahari
Bushman taught me how to catch small weaver birds by hand by walking
up to their nests at night and simply plucking them out of their holes.
This is the kind of tip that you can’t find anywhere else, but that may prove
invaluable if you’re stranded . . . and starving.
I realize that spending time with a local expert takes time and money.
Most people have only one or two weeks off work and can’t dedicate time
for training or education while on vacation. But if you can, it will make you
more self-reliant, enhancing your trip in ways you never thought possible,
even if you never get caught in a survival situation.
Ask the Right Questions
Now that you’ve committed yourself to learning about the area, your next
question is this: What should I be looking for?
First, you should be intimate with your route and destination.
Outdoor adventurers can spend hours looking at maps. It’s kind of like,
well . . . map porn.
Carefully study your maps to get a feel for the land before you see it.
As you come to understand an area’s features, you will begin to visualize
Had I not taken the time to learn from Kalahari Bushmen, I would have missed out on a
plentiful—and easy-to-catch—source of food: the weaver bird (which, as shown here, I
am attempting to pull out of a nest).
the terrain in your head. Later, when you’re out there, nothing will surprise
you. Beyond this, here are the vital things you should always know about
any region you plan to visit:
What kind of vegetation, trees, or plants can you expect to find?
Which, if any, of these are edible?
Where are the water sources?
What kinds of animals are there, and which are dangerous?
What’s the worst possible weather for that area and season? (Checking the
weather forecast is a must, as well: if conditions look bad, maybe you should
postpone your trip for a while.)
What will the day and night temperatures be?
When do the high and low tides occur, and what are the levels?
Who are the local people, what are their customs or taboos, and are they friendly?
People can play a bigger part in your wilderness adventure than you
may think, and unfriendly people may prove a significant hurdle to overcome,
even where I live in Canada. There is a river in northern Ontario
There is no substitute for local knowledge. Here, I pick up the finer details of making fire
with a hand drill from desert expert David Holladay in Nevada.
Trip Planning and Preparation | 7
that flows through a region that was once rife with controversy, part of
the old “loggers versus treehuggers”
chestnut. At one point, the local logging
community decided to take out their anger on anyone who traveled
the river. More than once over a threeyear
period, groups of paddlers and
anglers reached the parking lot at the end of their trips to find their tires
slashed. Imagine if the campers had emerged with a timesensitive
casualty
in tow!
Learn to Use a Map and Compass
THISBOOKOFFERSANEXTENSIVE CHAPTERONWILDERNESSNAVIGATION, but
nobody should venture into the wild without at least the basic skills to
interpret a topographical map and use a compass. You don’t play hockey
without learning how to skate; you don’t go sailing without learning how
to sail; and you don’t fire a rifle without learning how to shoot. So don’t
venture into the wilderness without learning how to navigate. There are
numerous local college courses available on the subject. Take one!
Always carry a map, whether you’re on your own or with a guide.
If you’re with a guide but have neglected to bring a map, ask to see your
guide’s as often as possible. Familiarize yourself with it, as well as with
the route you are traveling. Your guide should not be annoyed by this,
but rather pleasantly surprised that someone else on the trip is willing to
become knowledgeable in case the worst should happen. After all, what
would you do if your guide became incapacitated?
In preparing yourself by reviewing a route map, you may notice, for
example, that a road runs parallel to the river or trail you’re traveling on.
This is good to know should you run into trouble: A half day’s walk due
east will put me onto a road and into the path of possible rescue. You may also
see landmarks such as bridges, buildings, or even small towns. You would
never have known that if you hadn’t looked at the map before it got lost or
washed down the river.
Rely on Yourself, Not Your Guide
I’VE OFTEN FOUND THAT PEOPLE ARE FAIRLY GOOD about researching a trip if
they’re going by themselves or in a small group. Where they get lazy is
when they go with a guide. Assumptions are made that the guide a) knows
what he or she is doing, b) knows the area really well, and c) has made all
the necessary provisions in case of emergency.
Trust your guide, but don’t rely on him or her. In other words, you
must be selfreliant.
Remember that your guide, like you, is human. Guides
have been known to make errors—whether out of lack of experience or
bad judgment—that lead their parties into otherwise avoidable survival
situations. And some of the grimmest survival stories ever told are borne
of the fact that people blindly relied on their guides. Your guide will be
grateful if you take responsibility for yourself, and you’ll feel empowered
by doing so.
knowledge and skills with your partners before disaster
stroud’s Tip
If you’re traveling in a group, share your survival
strikes. Make sure that everybody has a basic understanding of
the steps they should take in an emergency. Remember, if you have
an accident and are facing possible death, your travel companions
are the ones you’ll have to trust to see you through to safety.
Get in Shape and Know Your Limits
ASWITHANY PURSUITTHATPLACESPHYSICALDEMANDSUPONTHEBODY, you’ll
stand a better chance of making it through a survival ordeal if you already
have a baseline level of physical fitness. How far you can trek in a day,
how well you can build a shelter under extreme weather conditions, how
effectively you can dig a hole for a solar still—all are directly related to
your strength and conditioning. And with physical fitness comes greater
selfconfidence
and selfesteem,
both of which are critical to maintaining
the will to live.
In general, the more we human beings focus on good nutrition and
attain a high level of physical fitness, the more capable we are of accomplishing
tasks, the more focused we are in our thoughts, and the more
clearheaded
we are. These are all attributes you’ll need if you find yourself
struggling to survive.
For me, the importance of being physically fit is magnified when I
venture into the wild. I am accepting the risk of undertaking these activities,
and I have a responsibility to myself, my travel partners, and my family
to be properly prepared. This isn’t to say you can’t trek into the wilderness
if you’re not fit. But if you do, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage
from the start.
As part of physical preparation, consider seeing to any nagging or
chronic health (including dental) conditions that may impede you. In the
Hollywood movie Cast Away, Tom Hanks’s character, Chuck Noland, was
marooned on an island with a painfully abscessed tooth. To me, that was
one of the most realistic parts of the film, because these things can happen.
If you are traveling in a group, it’s also a good idea to know what health
issues your partners have, in case you need to look after them.
If you suffer from a chronic condition such as diabetes or high blood
pressure, take this into account when planning your trip. And always carry
enough medication to last you for longer than you expect.
Finally, if you’re planning to travel to an exotic or tropical location,
make sure you receive any vaccinations you may need for diseases such as
yellow fever, malaria, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, smallpox, polio, diphtheria,
and tuberculosis; an antitetanus
injection is also a must. Failure to get
the proper vaccines may leave you vulnerable to diseases prevalent in the
area. Note that some vaccinations must be administered over the course
of several months, so look into this well ahead of your departure.
Test Your Mental Fitness
THOUGH OFTEN OVERLOOKED, MENTAL PREPAREDNESS is an important part of the
survival equation. And the best way to prepare yourself mentally for an outdoor
adventure is to gain knowledge. Knowledge really is power, and it brings
you the confidence you need to survive should disaster strike. Review the
10 | Survive!
suggestions outlined in this chapter to help guide you through the research
process. Before you leave, you should do the following:
gather as much information as possible from printed sources
contact a local expert who can inform you about the specifics of the
destination: its flora and fauna, dangers, and any benefits or advantages (such
as shelters, escape routes, or water sources) offered by the terrain
receive at least basic training in wilderness survival and navigation skills
gage your level of fitness and determine that you’re ready for your trip
prepare a regionspecific
survival kit
If you’ve completed all the above tasks, you’ll know that if you find
yourself in an emergency, you are as prepared as you can possibly be.
The other thing you can do to prepare mentally for a trip—and for any
survival situation in which you may find yourself—is to accept that the worst
can happen. If you head into any outdoor adventure with the notion that “It
can’t happen to me,” you’re deluding yourself.
You should think exactly the opposite: “It can happen to me. I could
end up in the middle of this wilderness alone, even though I’m rafting in
a group of 12,” or “I could get turned around and lost, even though it’s just
a Sunday hike and there are 75 other people out here today.” Once you
accept the fact that an emergency could happen to you, the next logical
step is to prepare so that it’s less likely to happen and so that you’re ready
to handle it if it does.
Choose the Right Gear
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ANY EQUIPMENT YOU BRING on an outdoor adventure
is up to the task: strong and versatile. Don’t ask yourself if it will function
under the best conditions, but rather, will it do so under the worst conditions?
If not, do you want to stake your life on it?
Your equipment preparation is almost entirely dependent on your destination.
Again, I recommend that you speak with someone local or, alternatively,
talk to another traveler who has done the same sort of activity in the
same place. They will help you to determine what equipment you need.
You can also learn about equipment by meandering around local
outdoor stores that are tailored to the activity you’ll be doing. These are
great places to meet people, especially other customers, who may have
experience that could help you. Also consider posting a notice on a board
in stores like these, to get in touch with other adventurers who may have
knowledge to share.
stroud’s Tip
Do not select your equipment based solely on
what’s suggested in books and other print materials; these
sources may contain too many errors and omissions, or may
be out of date. It is important that you learn from other travelers’
personal experiences.
Assuming that you now have all the right equipment for your excursion,
the next step is to make sure you know how to use it. Don’t make the
mistake of thinking that you will have the chance to learn about your gear
during your adventure. Your survival ordeal could take place within the first
few hours of the trip, and you might panic because you don’t know, for example,
how to set up your tent in a storm. So get yourself out in the backyard,
on the deck, or even in the living room, and spend a few hours acquainting
yourself with your gear. Practice setting it up and taking it down. Even more
important, figure out how to fix it if it breaks; it may have to last you for a lot
longer, or under more difficult circumstances, than you think!
Equipment planning and preparation pertains to clothing as well, yet
another category in which a little local knowledge goes a long way. Don’t
always trust the salespeople at your local outdoor store. I’ve seen many cases
where a clerk has recommended the wrong item of clothing just because he’s
been told to push a particular brand. Again, try to speak with other travelers
who have been to where you’re going. Remember, poor clothing choices
won’t make much of a difference if everything goes right, but they can sure
go a long way toward making you miserable should things go wrong.
Wind, rain, cold, poisonous creepy crawlies, and extreme heat are
some of the elements you may face. Your clothing should be able to with
stand all of these. Make sure it fits well and is not too restrictive. You want
clothes that will keep you dry and warm but that also offer enough ventilation
to prevent overheating (see “Clothing,” Chapter 12).
clothing should enable you to withstand extreme elements
stroud’s Tip
Think of your clothing as your first shelter. Proper
without building a shelter. So whether you’re surviving in the
bitter cold of the Arctic or in a torrential downpour in the jungle,
you should be able to stand still in only your clothing and survive.
While in the Canadian Arctic, I was outfitted with a caribou parka
and pants, traditional Inuit gear. In temperatures as low as –58.F
(–50.C), these enable the wearer to stand in a blizzard, impervious
to the cold. Now that’s a great shelter!
Inform Others of Your Plans
TELLING PEOPLE WHEN AND WHERE YOU’RE GOING is a vital aspect of trip preparation.
Unfortunately, people sometimes get lazy in this regard. Don’t. If
you do, you may find yourself in the same situation as Jennifer and James
Stolpa, a young couple who, along with their fivemonthold
son Clayton,
got lost in a blizzard in northern Nevada in the early 1990s.
While driving to a family funeral in Idaho, they found their planned
route closed by a snowstorm. They decided to take a detour but didn’t tell
anybody about the change. Their truck later became stuck in the snow, and
they found themselves stranded 40 miles (64 km) from civilization.
The Stolpas spent the first four days of their ordeal in their truck’s
campershell.
When nobody came along to rescue them (nobody knew
where they were), they decided to attempt walking to safety, towing Clayton
in a makeshift sled. When Jennifer could no longer walk, James found
a cave for her and Clayton to stay in, while he continued on in search of
help. Over the next 60 hours, James slogged almost 50 miles (80 km) in his
sneakers before stumbling, incoherent, into the view of a passing motorist,
who then helped rescue his wife and son.
Could this emergency situation have been avoided? I believe so. First
of all, the Stolpas didn’t execute the best judgment in traveling against
weather advisories and taking a back route to Idaho. But where they really
went astray was in failing to inform anyone of their plan, a mistake that
cost them their toes (lost to frostbite) and nearly their lives.
So anytime you’re undertaking a backcountry adventure—or any
journey that takes you into remote areas—make sure that at least two different
people (including local authorities) know, when appropriate:
the nature of your activity
when you’re starting out
when you’re scheduled to finish
your route
how they can communicate with you
how they can find you if there’s a problem
Fortunately, technology has come a long way in making wilderness
travel safer. Websites such as SendAnSOS.com will allow you to enter your
own personal travel plan. If you don’t sign in to the site after your return
date, it will automatically send an SOS message to your contacts. Devices
such as the SPOT satellite messenger not only allow others to keep track
of your progress but also send an SOS message to your contacts when you
push the Help button.
If you take advantage of all the planning resources and fail-safes
available to today’s outdoor enthusiasts, you will radically increase your
chances of making it through any survival situation.
P
reparation and planning arm you with the tools you need
to make it through a crisis alive and well, not to mention that they
strengthen your psychological state. And among pretrip
tasks, none
is as crucial as putting together your personal survival kit.
Most people take the time before heading into the backcountry to
obtain the necessary basic equipment such as proper clothing, a tent, and
a stove. But you may not realize that your basic survival kit could be the
single most important thing you carry with you on any expedition. At various
times, I’ve ventured into the world’s most remote areas with different
sorts of survival gear: fully stocked survival kits, basic “whatever I can
carry” survival kits, and sometimes even no kit at all. Survival items have
dangled from my belt or hung around my neck. Sometimes they’ve been
in fanny packs I barely noticed and other times in fanny packs so heavy I
would have preferred not to carry them at all (but did anyway).
How you set up your kit is limited only by your imagination. Why
not fill the hollow end of your fishing rod with a lighter and some kind of
ignitable tinder such as cotton balls? Or if you’re a mountain biker, pop off
your handlebar grips and fill your handlebars with a few items, such as fire
starter, some cord or rope, or a multitool.
Once I even had a kit that was
drilled into the stock of a rifle.
Take Responsibility for Your Own Survival
WHILE TEACHING SURVIVAL COURSES, early in the week I would announce to
my students that we were going for a wilderness hike the next morning.
When they asked me what they should take along, I would casually tell
them, “Whatever you think you need for a hike in the bush.”
The next day, midway through the hike, I would stop and ask everyone
to show me what they had brought. There was always one person
armed to the teeth with survival gear. A few more would be carrying a few
basic survival items, and others would be carrying almost nothing.
I was often struck by how many people would go out not expecting
the unexpected. Here they were, hiking into the bush, and most were
carrying very little to help them if disaster struck. When you’re in the
wilderness, you never know when or where or how an emergency may
occur. Disaster often strikes in mysterious ways. And you may be separated
from your travel companions at any time. Just as you shouldn’t rely
completely on your guide, you shouldn’t rely completely on your partner
or partners.
This kind of wrongthinking
was never more obvious than when
couples took my course. They were usually proud to show off their one very
wellequipped
pack, invariably carried by the husband. In those instances,
I would pull the wife aside and say, “So, now . . . what do you have?” Only
then would it occur to her that she had nothing that would help her in a
survival situation. She was relying on her husband, not on herself.
Creating a survival kit is a personal undertaking and one that should
never be left to someone else, no matter how close you are to them. To be
left alone without a few basic survival items is to court death.
Make It Yourself
WHEN IT COMES TO SURVIVAL KITS, most of us are faced with two options: buy
a prefab kit at our local outdoors store, or make it ourselves. To my mind,
there is no question which route to go: Make your own.
There are a few reasons I feel this way. First, the primary motivation
for the company that makes the prefab kit is profit, not necessarily
18 | Survive!
your survival. They’re going to try to cut costs wherever possible. This
means the kit may not contain the best of everything. Something in
there is going to be cheap or unnecessary, and take up precious room
and weight. It might be the flimsy plastic whistle that cracks the first
time you drop it, or matches that snap when you try to strike them.
With a prefab kit, something is bound to let you down when you need
it most.
Second, most people who buy a prefab kit never become acquainted
with the proper use of its contents. Some never even open the kit before
setting off on their adventure. Why? Because they trust it. They just throw
it into their daypack
and forget about it, feeling sure they have done the
right thing just by bringing it. I’ve seen people walk around with a flint
striker on their belt or a compass in their pocket that they’ve never tried
and haven’t a clue how to use.
Third, I have yet to see a prefab kit that contains all the necessities
from top to bottom.
Your personal survival kit should be based on the suggestions I make
in this chapter, but even more important, it should be your own creation—
one that takes into account the region you’ll be traveling in, the season, the
weather, and your anticipated activities. If you are leading others, the kit’s
contents should also reflect the fact that you may have to help others in
the group survive.
My recommendation is that you purchase your kit items individually
so that you know what you’ve bought will stand up to the rigors of a
survival situation. The mere fact that you take the time to select the items
increases the chances that you’re going to check them out, make sure they
work, and get to know how to use them.
Your Personal Survival Kit
A personal survival kit isn’t a separate pack that you carry in addition to the
everyday gear on a wilderness expedition. In fact, your personal survival kit
is not really a “kit” at all but the most important survival gear you should
carry with you at all times—on your belt, in your pockets, or around your
neck. Why? The answer is simple: You may leave a fanny pack behind on
a portage or when you stop for a snack. It happens all the time. But you’ll
never leave a pocket behind.
Your personal survival kit starts with a sturdy belt knife, which has a
multitude of uses. Consider it a survival kit unto itself. The biggest benefit
of a belt knife is its strength, which allows it to be used to pry and twist
objects you might not otherwise be able to manipulate. Used properly, a
belt knife will split wood. It will easily whittle and shape wood components
for traps, snares, and shelters.
Don’t underestimate the importance of keeping your knife sharp.
If you’re not overloaded in terms of weight, carry a sharpening stone
in your complete survival kit (which we discuss later in this chapter). In a
pinch, however, you can sharpen your belt knife on just about any smooth
stone you find in the bush. Sandstone is quite effective, and quartz and
granite also work well.
Here is a list of the personal survival kit items that you should carry at
all times, whether you stash them in your pockets or wear them clipped to
your belt or around your neck. Each member of a group should have his or
her own
bandana
compass
flashlight (small, LED)
garbage bags (2, preferably orange, large)
lighter (my preference is a butane lighter that works like a little blowtorch)
matches (strikeanywhere
type) in a waterproof metal case
(with a striker, just in case)
magnesium flint striker (hey, I like fires!)
metal cup (folding; for boiling water)
multitool
or Swiss Army–style knife (make sure it has a small saw blade)
painkillers (a few)
parachute cord or similar rope (about 25 feet [7.5 m] of 1/4inch
[0.6cm]
cord)
protein bar (e.g., PowerBar)
sharp belt knife
solar, or “space,” blanket (small)
whistle
Ziploc bag (medium or large)
This may sound like a weighty list, but remember that you can also
carry a couple of these items, such as the whistle and magnesium flint
striker, on a piece of rope or parachute cord around your neck. Remember,
too, that when everything is spread out on your belt or among your various
pockets (obviously, wearing clothes with lots of pockets is helpful) you’ll
hardly notice them at all.
Your Complete Survival Kit
Now that you’ve ensured your survival by strategically stowing a few basic—
yet supremely helpful—items on yourself, it’s time to build your complete survival
kit. Just because you’re carrying the same thing on your body (a lighter
in your pocket, for example) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put one in your
complete survival kit. The items in your pockets are your failsafes;
always
double up on these items between your personal and complete survival kits.
When building your complete survival kit, keep in mind that the heavier and
bulkier you make it, the more likely it’s going to be a hindrance rather than a
benefit. And as soon as your kit becomes a burden, you increase the chances
that you won’t take some of the items with you in the first place or that you’ll
leave them behind during a trip. If it’s a screaming hot day and I’m climbing a
mountain, do I want to be carrying around 20 pounds (9 kg) of extra gear? You
have to strike the balance: the kit needs to be large enough to carry certain
essential items, but small enough that it doesn’t become a nuisance. Leave the
gear hording to the gear geeks; your job is not to impress your partners but
to enjoy your trip or adventure . . . and to survive if you need to.
You can choose any sort of carrying case into which your survival
gear will fit, but you want the container to be large enough to hold items
of various sizes, easy to stow and carry, durable, and, if possible, waterproof.
I like using a coffee can with a lid as my survival kit because it
holds almost all the items I need and can also be used to boil liquid or
cook food. Assuming the lid fits snugly, I can even use it to carry water
or hot coals.
What follows is a list of the items essential to any kit (some can be
used for more than one purpose). You can gather all of them quickly by
consulting the Complete Survival Kit Checklist on page 354 before setting
out on your adventure. Remember that you will have to modify this list
depending on your particular destination, season, weather, and activity:
Bandana: This multipurpose
garment will protect your head from the sun,
but it can also be used as an emergency bandage or, when dipped in water,
as a cool compress.
Belt knife (with sharpening stone): If you happen to lose your knife, having
a backup in your survival kit could be a big help.
Candle: A candle can help you get a fire going if you light it and allow the
wax to drip into the tinder.
Cup (metal, collapsible): A cup can be used for drinking or to boil water.
Dried food: Most survival kits contain everything under the sun except
extra food. I realize dried food adds to the weight and bulkiness of your kit,
but nothing will give you a physical and psychological boost like knowing
that you have an energy bar or two on hand. Fat is important. Peanuts are
an excellent and compact source of fat and protein.
Duct tape: The wonders of ultradurable
and supersticky
duct tape have
long been lauded in the outdoor community, with good reason: it can
repair just about any kind of outdoor equipment. And it can also be useful
in bandaging wounds and other minor injuries. Just make sure you use it
in conjunction with a piece of cloth; don’t apply it directly to a wound.
Recent years have seen the introduction of colored duct tape. And
while you may have a problem with patching your gear with pink or yellow,
keep in mind that it’ll stand out more than battleship gray. Duct tape is also
excellent as a fire starter; it holds the flame the way a candle would.
Firestarting
devices: Fire is one of the most beneficial things you can have
with you, no matter where you find yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’re in
the desert or the jungle, for even in the world’s hottest places, fire makes
all the difference to survival. Firestarting
devices should be a priority in
your kit.
I am always asked what my favorite firestarting
method is. Is it flint
and steel? Magnesium flint striker? Fire and piston? What I can tell you
is that making fire without a firestarting
device is extremely difficult, so
make sure you give yourself options. I love knowing that I have several
options with me and that I’m prepared for almost any situation.
stroud’s Tip
Some people think it’s a good idea to waterproof
their matches by dipping them in wax. Leave that to
the gear geeks. Instead, buy solid strikeanywhere
matches
and invest in a good waterproof container.
My preference is a butane lighter, the kind that shoots a flame like a propane
torch. These work upside down and in the wind, two great advantages.
A lighter will eventually run out of fuel, but only after a few hundred fires.
Furthermore, in a survival emergency, the first fire is the most important.
Always carry a highquality
lighter, because depending on where you
are, it may well be a challenge to keep your fire going. You don’t want to
add the stress of firestarting
to your list of worries.
In addition to a lighter, I like to carry a magnesium flint striker (which
in a pinch can be used as a signaling device), a fire piston (if weight is not an
issue), and some solid strikeanywhere
matches with a striker (just to be sure)
in a waterproof container such as a film canister. Note that plastic containers
can be unsafe to keep matches in because, though a remote possibility, static
electricity can ignite the matches. A metal container is best.
Just make sure—as with everything in your survival kit—that you
know how to use these fire starters. Take the time to practice making a
fire with them before disaster strikes. I recommend that you carry at least
one of these fire starters on you, as part of your personal survival kit (for
example, in a pocket), and a couple more in your complete survival kit. See
“Fire,” Chapter 6, for more on this topic.
Firestarting
tinder: There are a few different types of commercially available
tinder, including pellets, pastes, and shavings. I like having three or
four waxandcotton
fuel wads. A small piece of this added to the tinder
you collect in the bush will flame up from a simple spark and keep going
like a candle flame until your fire is roaring. You should also add bits of
tinder, such as birch bark or dried grass, to your survival kit as you come
across them during your travels.
The waxandcotton
cube, one of the best commercially available tinders you can buy,
holds a flame for a long time.
Firstaid
kit:
antidiarrheal tablets and painkillers: If you get diarrhea on vacation in
Mexico, you’re disappointed. Get it in the jungles of Borneo and you could
be dead. Pain, on the other hand, won’t necessarily kill you, but painkillers
such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen can increase your chances of survival
if you have to make your way down a mountain with a small injury or even a
pounding headache. For a really nasty injury such as a broken leg, powerful
painkillers such as Demerol (meperidine) can save an injured person
from slipping into fatal shock. Pack all medicines in waterproof, airtight
containers.
antihistamines: They are handy for allergies, as well as for insect bites and stings.
bandages and antiseptic ointment: An “ouch” kit can help prevent infection.
butterfly sutures: These will hold together deeper and more serious wounds.
prescription medicine: Always bring extra.
surgical blades: Light and small, these are for more than just dressing wounds.
They can be used for whittling, cleaning fish, or skinning and gutting game.
triangle bandages: Use these as wound dressings or as slings.
Fishing lures (3), hooks, sinkers, a leader, and fishing line: As a rule, you’re
better off keeping heavier line in your survival kit. The weight and volume
difference between 10pound
and 30pound
test is nominal, but the difference
in strength is significant. Most people avoid lures, but they don’t
add much weight to your kit and can significantly improve your chances of
catching dinner. Throw in a leader as well, just in case you want to try for
“the big one.”
Flares: You want to be found, right? The more compact the flare, the better.
They can also be used to start fires.
Flashlight (small, LED): These little lights can be very bright, which makes
them good not only for locating things at night, but for signaling too. You
might also consider packing a couple of extra batteries. When you buy a
flashlight, make sure you get one with a white, yellow, green, or blue light
(red LEDs are not very bright).
GPS (Global Positioning System), in addition to a map and compass:
The GPS has revolutionized wilderness travel. The beauty of a GPS is
that it provides you with precise, realtime
information regarding your
location, at all times and in all weather conditions. As long as it has
enough battery power, a GPS will determine your latitude, longitude,
and altitude.
Garbage bags (2, orange, large): Garbage bags can make the difference
between life and death because of the multitude of purposes for which
they are useful. They fold down to practically nothing, don’t weigh much,
and fit easily into a pocket. But make sure you get the 45gallon
(170L)
orange ones (which can be readily seen), not green bags (which can’t).
You can turn a garbage bag into a raincoat, or a makeshift jacket to
protect you from cold and wind, by tearing or cutting a hole in the top
for your head and holes in the sides for your arms. You can signal with it
because it’s bright and highly visible. Your wondrous, orange plastic sheet
can also act as a rain-catch if you need water or be used in the construction
of vegetation and solar stills (although the best type of bag for a vegetation
still is a clear plastic one. See “Water,” Chapter 5).
My favorite use for garbage bags is as waterproofing for a shelter. No
matter how adept you are, it is exceptionally difficult to build from scratch
a shelter that is completely waterproof. If you have a garbage bag on hand,
just cut it open so that it forms a single sheet (the 45-gallon ones will be
4 feet x 6 feet [1.2 m x 1.8 m]) and you have a ready-made roof.
Hand lens (small): A small hand lens such as a Fresnel lens is essentially a
magnifying glass that can be used to start fires or inspect small injuries.
Map and compass: Topographical maps are your best source of detailed information
in the backcountry; carry them whenever possible. If you are carrying
one, you owe it to yourself also to carry a high-quality compass that you know
how to use. There are many excellent books and college courses on compass
use and map reading. See “Survival Travel and Navigation,” Chapter 9.
Marker or “surveyor’s” tape: Bright red or orange tape can be hung from
your shelter to help attract rescue or be used to mark a trail.
Money: A $20 or $50 bill won’t help you procure water in the wilderness,
but it sure comes in handy when you eventually make your way out to a
highway. Once you scramble out of the bush, the money in your kit will
allow you to buy something to eat and drink, and take care of any immediate
needs. You may also want to put a credit card in your kit.
Multi-tool: When I set out for a week of survival, I believe there’s nothing
more crucial than a multi-tool. A twist on the classic Swiss Army–style
knife, the multi-tool takes things to the next level with the addition of an
integrated set of pliers, which has many uses in the wilderness. I often use
the pliers on my multi-tool to take a pot of boiling water off a fire.
Make sure that the multi-tool you choose includes a saw blade. You
won’t use it much for felling trees, but a saw blade is excellent for making
traps and snares. Scissors also come in handy in a survival situation, so
make sure your multi-tool has a pair. And remember, quality counts! Don’t
buy a cheap model or you will regret it.
Needle and thread: It’s a good idea to carry a needle and thread, yet in all
the years I’ve been participating in survival-related activities, I think I’ve
used these only once, to mend a torn canoe pack. Bring a needle with a
very large eye so that it can be threaded with thick materials, such as sinew
and coarse thread. Perhaps the best use for the needle is in first aid, to
remove splinters and slivers.
stroud’s Tip
You can magnetize a needle by rubbing it in
one direction on a magnetic item, such as the speaker of
a radio. When you float the magnetized needle in water, on
a leaf or on a piece of paper, the needle will point north/south.
Once you determine which end is north, color that end of the needle
with a marker.
PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) or EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating
Radio Beacon): While these units do not contact your family at the same time
as they contact search and rescue organizations (the way SPOT does), they
are excellent for notifying emergency personnel or the military, and have
saved many lives.
Parachute cord or similar rope (about 50 feet [15 m] of 1/4-inch [0.5 cm]
cord): As romantic as it may sound to make rope out of bark and roots, the
fact is that the process is slow, tedious, and often difficult. On the other
hand, having a good spool of parachute cord can make a tremendous difference
in a survival situation. You can use it to make shelters, fire bows,
signals, snares or traps, and for countless other purposes.
I’ve singled out parachute cord here because it is legendary for its
strength. Constructed of an outer sheath surrounding seven inner strands,
true parachute cord is one of the strongest and lightest ropes you can find,
and it’s rated at 550-pound test.
Survival Kits | 27
Parachute cord can be bulky in large quantities, however, so it helps
to come up with innovative ways to carry it. Some travelers wrap it around
the handles of their belt knives; others use it in lieu of shoelaces, as every
little bit helps when it comes to lightening your load.
Pencil and notebook: Use these to write your personal survival log, in which
you take note of efforts and discoveries you’ve made. It will help boost your
morale, act as a reference guide, and support your memory should it begin to
fail. Perhaps its most important use is in leaving a note for potential rescuers
if you move on, to let them know where you have gone.
Safety pins: These are helpful when making repairs to clothing and other
gear. Safety pins can also be used as fish hooks.
Saw (folding): Here’s an item I really love, although admittedly a folding
saw is bulkier and heavier than most items you’ll see in a typical
survival kit. Nevertheless, it’s worth its weight in gold, because it
completely transforms how you can build shelters or keep a fire going,
both of which are crucial (physically and psychologically) in a survival
ordeal.
It used to be that you could get only poorquality
folding saws, but
they’ve come a long way in recent years in terms of quality and durability.
My favorites are the onepiece
units with a blade that folds into the
handle. When folded they’re about 10 inches (25 cm) long.
Signal mirror: When choosing a signal mirror, you have a couple of
options. Personally, I prefer hand mirrors that are designed to act as signaling
devices. You can distinguish these by the small hole in the middle,
which is used for sighting passing aircraft.
Like any item in your survival kit, your signal mirror can also serve
other functions, such as grooming or first aid. If you get something in your
eye (which happens more often than you’d think), a little mirror is invaluable.
Something as seemingly innocuous as a pine needle in your eye can
cause intense pain if you can’t get it out. A good signal mirror can also
serve as a fire starter by reflecting the sun’s rays.
Snare wire: Like parachute cord, snare wire has a multitude of uses, the
most important of which is catching your potential dinner! Snare wire
meant for rabbits is the most appropriate.
Solar or “space” blanket (small): A solar blanket reflects your own body
heat back to you, which is effective if you need to get warm in a hurry.
Granted, it doesn’t feel warm and cozy, but it works better than anything
else you can get for the weight.
The potential danger with solar blankets is that they do not breathe
or permit perspiration to escape, so they have the potential to leave you
damper and colder than when you started. Don’t roll up in one or use it as
an underlayer
inside a jacket; simply wrap it around you.
Solar blankets are terrific reflectors and can be used for signaling if
necessary, as a makeshift tarp to waterproof your shelter, or as a raincatch.
While surviving in the Canadian Rocky Mountains outside of Revelstoke,
British Columbia, I used one as a roof, and it made for the warmest shelter
I can remember. Be careful with solar blankets around fire, however. They
can melt within seconds when touched by flames.
SPOT satellite messenger: The SPOT enables you to send emails
by satellite,
and includes your latitude and longitude coordinates. It will even
track you and send your coordinates to 10 contacts by email
or text message
every 10 minutes. The SPOT goes beyond a GPS to the next level of
safety. A GPS will tell you where you are. The SPOT will tell your rescuers
where you are.
Water purification tablets: Each iodinebased
water purification tablet will
purify 1 to 2 quarts (1 to 2 L) of water, depending on the level of contamination.
Iodinebased
tablets can also be used in first aid. Simply crush one
tablet and add about a teaspoon of water. This will yield a strong topical
solution of iodine, which can be used to disinfect wounds.
Waterpurifying
straw: A relatively new innovation, the waterpurifying
straw uses a combination of iodine and resin to purify water as you drink.
Each straw is good for 20 to 25 gallons (75 to 95 L) of water, depending on
how dirty the water is. Some of these nifty little straws claim to reduce bacteria
and viruses by as much as 96 percent!
Whistle: Get the sturdiest, loudest, brightest, and most obnoxious one you
can find. My favorites are manufactured by Fox 40.
Ziploc bags (large): In a pinch, these bags have many uses, including storing
and carrying water. Ziplocs can also be used for keeping sensitive
items, such as firestarting
tinder, dry. You can even fill them with snow
and put them under your coat to melt the snow into a drink of water.
Your complete survival kit items should help you make it through almost
any situation, provided you know how to use them.
A wellplanned,
complete survival kit will help you make it through the toughest situations.
Tailor Your Kit to Your Destination
THINK OF YOUR COMPLETE SURVIVAL KIT as something that should evolve
and change according to your needs, rather than as something that you
assemble once and toss into your pack each time you travel. The complete
survival kit I’ve listed above should help you through most emergencies,
but survival is situation-specific, and certain tools that may help
you in the Arctic or the boreal forest will do you little good in the desert
or jungle.
And as you’ll soon see, different forces are at work in different areas.
Ignore them at your peril. If I’m going tripping in the boreal forest of
northern Ontario in the middle of May, the first thing I know I need is
bug netting, which is specific to that region and time of year. Do I need
to pack bug netting if I’m skiing across the Arctic tundra in the middle of
November? Nope. It’s important that you take these factors into consideration
before every trip.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Acquiring water is paramount when traveling in these areas, so your survival
kit should address this critical fact. Make sure you carry a clear garbage
bag in your kit in case you need to construct a solar still or vegetation
still. A long, thin drinking tube is useful too. You might also consider carrying
a small trowel or collapsible shovel to make digging for water easier.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Blackflies and mosquitoes were reputed to have driven many of the early
Canadian explorers insane. So I highly recommend bug netting for any
region where you expect to be dealing with insects. Why netting as opposed
to bug spray? Several reasons. Bug spray is bulky and heavy, whereas netting
is light and can be folded to take up very little space. Also, while you will
eventually run out of bug spray, your netting will last indefinitely, provided
it doesn’t tear (and even then, you can repair it).
You may also consider taking along a bug shirt and bug pants, a variety
of which are now on the market.
stroud’s Tip
LES’S TOP FIVE SURVIVAL KIT ITEMS
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Most of the drinking water you’ll find in the world’s polar regions comes
from snow and ice, which is notoriously devoid of vital mineral content.
This deficiency won’t hurt you over short periods of time, but over the
course of a few weeks it can begin to seriously affect you. You can offset
this problem by carrying mineral tablets, which can be either chewed, or
dissolved in drinking water.
In summer, bug netting is a vital addition to your survival kit. And in
the spring, sunglasses will protect your eyes from snowblindness, which
can result when the sun reflects off the snow all day and all night.
On the Sea or Open Water
As in arid regions, the most important aspect of survival on open water is
procuring drinking water. For this reason, it is essential that you carry a
desalination or distillation device. Clearly these are too bulky to carry in
a standard survival kit, but you will need one or the other nonetheless.
Jungles
One of the most critical—yet frequently overlooked—items you need in
the jungle is foot fungus medication. The constant rain and humidity of the
jungle environment is murder on the feet, and foot fungus is inevitable. Let
it become too severe and it can impede your ability to walk, which could
threaten your life. And always carry more than one pair of socks.
Shelter is crucial in the jungle, so take an extra garbage bag or two.
Insects can be a huge problem in certain areas and at certain times of year,
so take bug netting too.
Coastal Regions
You’ll greatly increase your chances of eating well in coastal regions if you
add a small, folded fishnet to your survival kit. This will also come in handy
if you expect to be near a river or lake.
Your Vehicle Survival Kit
RANKING HIGH IN THE MOSTIGNOREDBUTMOSTNEEDED
CATEGORY of survival
equipment is a vehicle survival kit. Every driver should have one, but it is
even more important if you live in (or travel through) areas of remote wilderness,
or places prone to extreme weather, such as snowstorms and thunderstorms,
where the risk of finding yourself in a survival situation is greater.
Regardless of how well stocked your vehicle survival kit may be, make sure
you bring additional food and drink with you on any extended journey.
As a rule, if you get into trouble, you should stay with your vehicle
until help arrives, especially now that you’ll have a wellequipped
vehicle
survival kit. And if you’ve got gas, then you have a source of fuel for firestarting.
Your primary concern, however, should be to get your vehicle back
on the road and let it carry you to safety.
If you decide to leave your vehicle, do so only when the weather permits
and if you feel confident in your ability to travel by land. And don’t leave
your car or truck without cutting, ripping, and tearing anything and everything
out of it that you think may help you in your quest to survive. One day
you will be able to buy a new vehicle; buying a new life is not an option.
I once had the privilege of recreating
for television the survival scenario
faced by James and Jennifer Stolpa, the couple who became lost with
their car (and baby) in a mountain blizzard. In my reenactment,
I made
sure I used everything the vehicle offered before I bade it farewell, a strategy
the Stolpas failed to employ, even though they had no winter gear with
them and only casual shoes. For instance, I cut the foam from inside the
seats of the truck, covered it with the vehicle’s seat covers, and secured it
to my feet with seatbelt
material. The result was a set of warm makeshift
boots that allowed me to travel on top of the snow, rather than through it,
as if I were wearing snowshoes. It may seem like overkill, but it saved my
feet from frostbite. The Stolpas were not so lucky.
Your vehicle survival kit should have an appropriate case. If budget is a
consideration, any backpack or duffel bag will suffice. Ideally, you should get
something that is both sturdy and waterproof. Always keep the kit stowed in
your vehicle. See the complete Vehicle Survival Kit Checklist on page 355.
Your vehicle survival kit should include all of the items in the complete
survival kit plus the following:
Cell phone: The problem with a cell phone is that if you’re stuck in a
remote area, chances are you won’t have cell coverage. You can, however,
carry speaker wire. Secure the wire to the highest point you can reach (or
climb to) and attach it to your phone’s antenna. You might not get enough
coverage to make a call, but because text messaging operates on a weaker
signal, the wire may bring help.
Clothing (warm) and blankets: Pack an extra set of weatherappropriate
clothes, including socks, gloves, and hats for every passenger, as well as
blankets, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and a solar or “space” blanket.
Cook set: Cook sets (also known as “mess kits”) are compact sets of pots
and/or pans. They allow you to boil up a hot brew, or cook food.
Cook stove and fuel: This is a luxurious extra, to be sure, but one that will
greatly increase your chances of survival if you’re stuck for any length of
time.
Drinking water: Make sure there is enough room in the bottle to allow for
expansion should it freeze.
Flares: These are great for signaling but can also be used, if necessary, to
start a fire. You will likely have just a few of these, so use them only when
needed.
Flashlight (small, LED) with extra batteries: Also available are flashlights
you can crank by hand, which never need batteries. Some of these even
come with sirens and cellphone
chargers. Make sure the one you buy is
compatible with your phone.
They’re not pretty, but boots such as these—which I made from the foam of a truck’s
seats and some seatbelt
webbing—might just save your feet from frostbite.
Food, including MREs: MREs—or Meals Ready to Eat—are available at
most camping stores and Army & Navy supply shops. This stuff lasts forever
and often comes with its own fuel source for heating. Energy bars are
also a good option; look for ones that pack the most calories. Many people
ignore the importance of salt in their diets. Carry some with your extra
food or take along powdered energy drinks high in sodium to replenish
electrolytes.
Road maps (local): Make sure you carry maps of regions in which you
travel frequently, and before traveling to a new area, add a map of the
region to your kit.
Snow shovel (collapsible or folding) and tire chains: You likely won’t need
these if you live in Florida, but freak snowstorms have killed people in
places where snow hadn’t been seen in years. If your vehicle gets stuck in
the snow, you can use your hands to dig, but a shovel will do the job faster
and better. Tire chains can help you when road conditions are slippery.
Tarp: Throw in an orange one, for visibility, sized roughly 8 feet by 9 feet
(2.5 m x 2.7 m).
Toilet paper: It’s an often overlooked item, but toilet paper can sure come in
handy—not just for the obvious purpose. It can be stuffed into your clothes
to increase their insulating power, and it can be used as tinder for fires.
Tools: Useful tools include a screwdriver, pliers, a wrench, a hatchet or axe,
and jumper cables.
Y
ou’re stranded, stuck, likely alone, in a place that a few moments
ago was a wonderland of adventure but now has become a living
nightmare. Your next move is crucial to your survival.
But surviving in the wilderness is about more than knowledge and
skill. It requires clearheaded,
rational thinking, mental toughness, and a
positive attitude. It requires a neveryielding
will to live.
This will to live, which stems from a positive attitude, is what will
keep you going and get you out alive. It’s what gets you up in the morning.
It’s what makes you put one foot in front of the other when you’re completely
exhausted. Fuel and maintain your will to live and you stand a very
good chance of making it home. Lose it and your survival hinges on nothing
more than dumb luck.
Although it may seem like some people have a genetic disposition
for it, the will to live is a conscious decision. I will make it out of this. I
will live. I will survive. You may be without the comforts of home, but you
can work to make yourself more comfortable. You may be scared of being
alone in the dark, but you can make a fire to keep the fear away. You may be
hungry, but you can identify at least one or two things in the area to eat.
The importance of the will to survive is illustrated in the many tales of
people with little training who have managed to see themselves through harrowing
ordeals. The story of Aron Ralston is one of my favorites. Aron was an
experienced outdoorsman and mountaineer, but he had had almost no survival
training when, during a canyoneering trip in Utah’s Blue John Canyon
in 2003, his hand and forearm got trapped under a massive boulder.
With very little water and food to sustain him, and his hand and forearm
crushed, Aron spent five days trying to lift, pry, and chip away at the
boulder that held him captive. Nothing worked. To his credit, he realized
that the only way he would ever live to see his family and friends again was
to snap the two bones in his forearm and cut his arm off, which is exactly
what he did.
In that crisis, Aron had nobody to count on but himself, and his book,
Between a Rock and a Hard Place, vividly describes the emotional roller
coaster he experienced. In the end, it was his intense will to live that saved
him. I wonder how many other people would have made it through such
an ordeal.
For each story like Aron’s, however, there are many sad tales of individuals
who, though they were knowledgeable about the ways of the wilderness,
panicked and died. It wasn’t their skill that abandoned them; it
was their ability to think straight under the most stressful of circumstances.
If you can maintain your composure and your will to live, you will make it
through virtually any survival situation.
You can bolster your will to live in many ways, first and foremost
by thinking about the people you love and for whom you want to survive.
Some turn to spirituality or religion in times of great stress; you may
derive comfort, confidence, and strength from prayer and meditation.
Studies of survivors show that having a goal may empower them. The goal
to see their loved ones again. The goal of revenge. The goal of telling of the
event. Having a goal and keeping it in sight is a driving force in survival.
Make no mistake about it: when you find yourself in a survival situation
you will confront stresses that can break the resolve of even the toughest individual.
If you fail to anticipate these stresses, they can turn you into a mass
of indecision waiting for the end to come, or worse, a panicstricken
lunatic
wasting precious energy on tasks that don’t increase your chances of surviving.
In survival, as in life, your attitude will affect your outcome. If you play the
victim, you will be one. If you imagine yourself the hero, you will be one.
A very ablebodied
woman once told me that she knew she could
never handle being alone in the wilderness, and, in fact, would likely kill
herself should she end up in such a situation. Clearly, she was defeated
from the start. She would be much better off thinking something like this:
If this trip falls apart, I know I can make it out of here. Heck, I’ll be a hero and
even write a book about it! Now that’s confidence.
Stress and Stressors
MOSTOFUSHAVEUTTEREDTHEWORDS “I AM SO STRESSED!” at one point
or another. Stress is a given in the modernday
world, but there are
few stressors felt as acutely as those you’ll face when alone in a survival
situation.
Despite the pressure it heaps upon our shoulders, stress can sometimes
be a beneficial force. Stressors can stimulate us to perform at our
peak level, giving us the chance not only to take advantage of our strengths
but to work on our weaknesses. But stress can be as destructive as it is constructive.
Too much of it can lead to distress, an unhealthy condition that
may turn to panic.
Like the emotions I discuss later in this chapter, the key to succeeding
in a survival situation is confronting and managing the stressors you may
face. These are many and varied, and include injury and illness, hunger,
thirst, the environment, cold or heat, lack of knowledge, fatigue, or negative
group dynamics, boredom and depression, loneliness and isolation, a general
lack of control, and of course, death.
Each of these needs to be acknowledged, confronted, and dealt with.
Remember that when you’re fighting for your life, you don’t want any disadvantages
at all. If there are any facing you, you can’t sweep them aside.
In a survival situation, there’s no ignoring and no procrastinating.
Now What? Assessing and Prioritizing
YOU MAY BE STRESSED, SCARED, PANICKY, UPSET, LONELY, and perhaps even
humiliated. Don’t worry; this will pass. Let it pass right now. Relax and
know that you have what it takes to get through this. Don’t focus on what
is beyond your control.
Psychological Aspects of Survival | 41
Before doing anything else (assuming you’ve removed yourself from
any immediate danger), you need to stop. Sit down, take a deep breath,
and calm yourself. Do not move until you have allowed yourself enough
time to assess your circumstances and formulate a plan. There may be no
return from a silly mistake. Do not give in to feelings of panicproducing
fear, guilt, and frustration. What’s done is done and cannot be undone.
Recognize that you are now in a survival situation and must keep your wits
about you if you are to make it back to safety.
Indeed, your brain is one of the most important tools you can rely
upon. Use it!
Relieve Fear Through Knowledge
BEGIN BY ASSESSING YOUR BODY FOR ANY INJURIES and deal with those as soon
as possible. Once you have taken care of yourself, assess your environment
and the specifics of your emergency.
Who knows where you were going?
Is anyone expecting you? If so, when?
Is it possible to walk out of your current location on your own, or will you need
to be rescued to get out?
Are you certain of the way out?
What do you have to keep you alive?
To answer the last question, figure out what you have at hand that
will help you survive. This could be equipment that you carried with you—
such as a tent, a knife, and food—or aspects of your environment, such
as a cave or a lake. If it’s physically possible, lay out all your immediate
resources on a tarp or blanket or even the ground to get a good mental
picture of what you have available. Seeing it spread out may spark ideas as
to how items could work together or what you can make out of your supplies.
In making these assessments, you’re providing yourself with one of
the most important tools in your survival kit: knowledge.
Armed with your increasing base of knowledge, you can begin to
make a plan to deal intelligently and systematically with your needs. The
Keeping a positive frame of mind is essential to survival, especially if you find yourself
suddenly alone. Stay focused on how you can improve your situation and you’ll find the
strength to go on.
time you take to assess and prioritize will go a long way toward reducing
your stress and any possible negative emotions, as you break your situation
down into individual hurdles or challenges and see how your worstcase
scenario improves:
Worstcase
scenario: I’m going to freeze to death out here.
No, wait: there’s an old trapper’s cabin over on that hill with a stove
inside it and dead trees around. So now the worstcase
scenario is that
I’m left out here to die alone, but at least I’ll be warm.
No, wait: my family knows that I had to be out of here within two days,
and they know where I am. So now my worstcase
scenario is that I’m
going to be stuck for a few days alone in a cabin. But there’s wood, and I
can melt snow and drink water, so I’ll be all right.
Focus on the tasks at hand and follow your plan, but also stay flexible
enough to revise your plan if it isn’t working, You may need to improvise.
Adaptability and ingenuity are keys to survival.
When it comes to improvising in the wilderness, you need to look at
the world anew. Don’t think of objects in your surroundings in the traditional
way but in terms of how they will help you on your journey to safety.
That tree may be a rotting birch, but peel the bark off and you’ve got yourself
one terrific roof shingle for a shelter.
On one occasion, my sister Laura and I were paddling a canoe on a
pristine lake in northern Ontario. I prefer paddling close to shore, where
all the action is: beaver houses, animal tracks, birds. We came to this one
particularly dense section of forest. To me, it seemed enchanted, and
I imagined an inspiring time walking through it and breathing in its
smells. My daydream was interrupted by my sister, who mentioned how
intimidating she found the thought of being left alone in such a dark and
imposinglooking
forest. The difference between us, of course, was our
knowledge and experience. I already had a fair bit of survival knowledge,
had spent time in such forests, and viewed them as a second home.
After three days of survival instruction, Laura had grown immeasurably
in her comfort level with such places.
There’s also some benefit to talking out loud, whether to yourself, to
nearby animals, or to the trees and the rocks. Verbalizing your predicament
can help clear your head and put you on the road to survival. Remember
the movie Cast Away? Tom Hanks’s character, Chuck Noland, turned a
simple volleyball into his companion, “Wilson,” with whom he could talk,
share his emotions, and even work out plans.
Here are the mental keys to surviving:
Maintain the will to live.
Confront and manage the situation.
Acquire knowledge.
Adapt and use ingenuity.
Go with the flow of nature.
Prioritize
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS I’m asked about survival is this: “After
calming down, what should I do first?” Certain essential elements will be
your primary focus during any emergency: shelter, water, fire, food, and
a rescue signal. But it’s impossible to say which of these you should first
focus your energies on, for it changes with every situation.
I take a threepronged
approach to prioritizing my needs:
Your situation is the emergency. But if there are
pressing safety and/or health concerns, deal with them immediately. In some
cases, the weather presents an emergency, so building a shortterm
makeshift
shelter is critical.
Why is this number two? Survival is about getting home, the
sooner the better. Rescue is crucial, so start making a signal as soon as possible.
I classify everything after those first two steps
as longterm
survival. Why does this come third? Well, you wouldn’t want to
go to the effort of making a shelter and gathering cattails to eat, only to see
a plane fly overhead and realize you could have been rescued if you’d built a
signal fire to attract attention.
Whatever tactic you choose, you will improve your chances of success
if you’re realistic about your prospects for rescue and set an appropriate
time frame for your ordeal in the wilderness. Don’t lay the groundwork for
what may become bitter disappointment by telling yourself you’re going
to be rescued in two days when more likely you’ll be on your own for two
weeks. The old adage “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” is a valuable
one to keep in mind. You’ll find it much easier to adjust to pleasant
surprises than to unpleasant ones.
Reacting to a Survival Situation
HOW WILL YOU REACT TO A WILDERNESS EMERGENCY? The answer to this allimportant
question is as individual as you are. It’s impossible to predict
exactly how you will react. Don’t feel weak, ashamed, or guilty for having
conflicting feelings! If anything, these responses help illustrate your
humanity, and it’s that humanness that will give you the tools to survive.
It may even help you, in the long run, to break down for a short
time and release destructive emotions. Most grown men (even the macho
ones) will admit to crying at some point during a survival ordeal. And
all of them recognize afterwards that shedding those emotions enabled
them to “give their heads a shake” and pick themselves up, ready to carry
on. Sometimes a good screaming or crying fit is all you need to turn your
dejected mental state into a determined (“enough of this feeling sorry
for myself ”) state.
In fact, these emotions, while initially disconcerting, may actually
motivate you to find a way out of your situation. Some people have been
embarrassed by the mistakes they made that left them in a lifethreatening
situation but used that feeling—and the desire to make up for that mistake
(and possibly to regain their good name)—to get themselves to safety.
Of all the emotions that prove motivational, none is as powerful as
love. With love set squarely in your sights, you will make it through your
ordeal, to see your spouse, children, family, and friends again.
Panic
Panic is a common yet debilitating reaction that affects many, particularly
in the early stages of survival ordeals. Panic can be especially dangerous in
a group setting, since it’s contagious and spreads rapidly.
Physiologically, it can be a motivating force in that it speeds up our
body processes. But panic can also use up incredible amounts of energy,
which is why people invariably feel exhausted after these episodes.
The most common response to panic is to move now and move fast.
So you start thrashing through the bush, running in the sand, or paddling
feverishly up the river hoping to come across something familiar to you.
These are dangerous reactions, however, unless you have to get out of that
spot immediately for safety reasons.
Instead of fleeing instantly, stop, calm yourself down, and assess. And
then make a plan. Knowledge is power. When you assess your situation,
you’re giving yourself knowledge and therefore the power to control your
fate. Resist panic; it will do nothing to help you.
Fear and Anxiety
Fear and anxiety are close cousins of panic, but with important distinctions.
Unlike panic, which tends to overwhelm a person like a wave, fear
and anxiety take slightly longer to cultivate. No matter how tough you may
be, there will likely come a point during a survival situation where you will
be scared and/or anxious.
Remember that fear is a normal reaction and can be helpful if kept
under control—it adds a dash of caution to circumstances where recklessness
could lead to injury or mistakes. But allow it to overcome you and it
can be a paralyzing force, impeding your ability to perform the essential
tasks of survival. It can send you running through the woods blindly looking
for a way out of your living nightmare. Make every effort to keep fear
from turning into panic.
Anxiety may actually help to motivate you since it sets in motion an
instinctual drive to “make things right.” Focusing on survivalrelated
tasks
will reduce your anxiety little by little, increasing your sense of wellbeing
and decreasing your fear.
stroud’s Tip
For most people in survival situations, fear strikes in the middle of
the night, when complete darkness has fallen and the area around you is
filled with strange, discomforting sounds. One of the little tricks I’ve come
up with to minimize my fear is to prepare for it.
In the few hours before dusk, I take time to scan my surroundings,
imagining what they will look like once darkness falls. Later that night, I
realize, “I’m in the exact same spot with the exact same surroundings, only
they’re dark.” It may sound like a simplistic solution, but it works for me,
and I’m in the dark a lot out there!
The key is not to let fear and anxiety take control of you. Acknowledge
your fear and anxiety—and the normalcy of your reaction—but stop
there. Don’t give in to them. Recognize that with every effort you make
toward your own survival, your fear and anxiety will diminish. Bravery and
courage are based not on fearlessness but on healthy fear.
Anger and Frustration
I am fortunate in that I do not get terribly frightened in survival situations,
but I can’t claim I don’t feel my share of anger and frustration. These emotions
almost always come from the awareness that I’ve made mistakes or
haven’t anticipated events. When I feel anger or frustration coming on, I
remind myself to back off and reassess, because there is always another
answer.
The danger in succumbing to anger is that it makes you lash out.
You take your anger out by breaking a branch against a tree when you
should be dealing with your immediate survival needs. Not only will you
waste time by lashing out, you’ll waste valuable energy and perhaps sustain
an injury as well. Frustration and anger tend to result in impulsive
reactions, irrational behavior, and poorly thoughtout
decisions. In some
cases, these emotions might even cause you to throw up your hands and
declare, “I quit!”
To deal with these feelings, take the same tack as with most of the
other emotions we’re discussing here: stop, calm down, and dedicate your
physical and emotional energy to formulating a plan for getting yourself
out of the emergency.
Having said that, for some, there is a benefit that can be derived
from anger, assuming that they can keep their anger level at a minimal,
Survivormanpected television could be so educational!
»
Stay Calm, Stay Alive
Necessity really is the mother of invention. This is a lesson Jonathan
Clement, a 13yearold
Calgary teenager, learned the hard
way. Little did he know that when his father, Gerry, took him on his
first bowhunting
trip, a freak accident would harm his dad—but
that Jonathan’s own quick thinking would save his father’s life.
Gerry and Jonathan had set out to explore the headwaters
of Oldman River in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, but soon after
their adventure began, Jonathan accidentally launched an arrow
into his father’s leg. When Gerry looked down at his thigh, it was
spurting blood “like in a horror film. I knew [the arrow] had hit
an artery and I was in major trouble, but my little guy, almost
immediately, kicked into survival mode.”
Though Jonathan had inadvertently caused the injury, his
actions afterward demonstrated his steady resolve to set things
right. Upon seeing the fountain of blood, he instantly removed
one of his dad’s socks and created a makeshift tourniquet to
stem the flow. When asked how he’d known what to do, Jonathan
said he’d seen the technique on TV: “I knew because I
watched a show called , where a guy’s out in the
wilds for days.” I’m sure that Jonathan’s father had never susWith
the tourniquet in place, the young teen helped his father
walk back to their campsite, which was over a mile away. As relieved
as they were to get behind the wheel of their pickup truck, misfortune
soon struck again. During their drive for help, the truck’s
undercarriage got stuck in the rocky terrain, and Jonathan and
Gerry were forced to make their way back to camp on foot. Gerry
was still losing a lot of blood, so his son carefully guided him back
to their site.
Soon after they arrived, Gerry fainted, hitting his head as
he fell. All the while, Jonathan remained calm, though he admits
he was worried about his father’s condition. “Once we got a fire
going, it was better,” the boy recalls. “My dad was pretty cold,
but I was okay.”
simmering level. They use anger to fuel their will to live: they’re angry
with the person responsible for getting them into the situation and want
to get back at them. There’s the story of Hugh Glass, an early American
fur trapper whose two travel companions left him to die after a grizzly
bear attack. Fueled by his hatred of the men who abandoned him, Glass
traveled some 200 miles (322 km)—with a broken leg—to safety.
The two spent a grim night by the campfire, hoping that the
bleeding would slow down and that someone in the area would spot
the smoke. As his father dozed, Jonathan took it upon himself to wake
up every few minutes and check on his dad, to “make sure he was
snoring.”
At daybreak, with no help in sight and his father’s condition
worsening, Jonathan set out for help, knowing full well that he’d be
crossing the heart of bear country. Despite the danger, he traveled
on foot for over three miles before eventually stumbling upon other
campers, who were able to help him and his father to a hospital.
Jonathan’s poise under frightening circumstances helps show
that survival isn’t about macho gestures but about staying calm and
using your head. Gerry Clement, a proud father whose life was saved
by his son’s good judgment, says his boy was “an absolute hero.”
Loneliness, Boredom, and Depression
Let’s face it, if you’re alone in the wilderness doing nothing for days on
end, it can get very, very boring in no time at all. Boredom can then bring
on negative, introspective thoughts, which in turn can lead to depression.
When people feel depressed, they start to give up. Their focus shifts
from improving their situation to convincing themselves that there is nothing
to be done. The problem with these two emotional states, and depression
in particular, is that they are insidious—they creep up on you. Add to
the mix the fact that you’re probably hungry and tired, maybe injured and
scared, and it’s easy to see how depression can take hold. Don’t let it, for it
will only eat away at your will to live.
Remember that it’s normal to feel miserable in a survival situation,
especially during the first few days. Your success in defeating this misery
rests squarely on your ability to be proactive and do something, anything, to
better your situation. Even if it’s only adding one bough to the roof of your
shelter, add it. Even if it’s making just one deadfall trap a day, make it.
Activity bars the mind from negative thoughts, staving off loneliness,
boredom, and depression. There will always be something new and helpful
you can do to improve your circumstances, and planning and completing
each task will help to break the monotony of your ordeal. Each successive
accomplishment will better your attitude.
Having said that, be careful not to go to the other extreme and try to take
on the whole world at once, which may be overwhelming. Take one step at a
time. There is surprising comfort in tucking into a little shelter at night with a
flame nearby, knowing your world to be only that which exists a few inches in
front of your face. Pull your coat over your head and face and know that for the
moment, that is your own small world. You control it and it is safe.
Guilt
Guilt is a common response in a survival situation, especially in the case of
an accident that has resulted in loss of life. As one of the survivors (or the
only survivor) of an accident, a person undoubtedly will be burdened with
guilt over being spared while others died. It is natural to feel this way.
But guilt, like most of the other emotions I describe in this chapter,
can be channeled for the betterment of your situation. Use it as motivation
to try harder. Perhaps you were spared for some greater purpose in
life. Live to carry on the work of those killed, or to tell their stories to their
loved ones.
Man Versus Nature
SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO CHARACTERIZE THE QUEST FOR SURVIVAL in a wilderness
setting as a battle between man and nature. Others like to anthropomorphize
nature as an omniscient and benevolent woman that will
look after them as long as you give her the proper respect. These are the
same people who say you should try to “become one” with nature. At best,
“becoming one” with nature is a bad cliche. At worst, it leads you into a
passive mindset,
which can get you into real trouble.
Several years ago, my wife, Sue Jamison, and I spent an entire year living
in the bush and replicating life as it was lived 500 years ago: no metal,
no matches, no plastic, and no nylon. While we hunted, fished, and foraged,
and lived in a way similar to that of native peoples hundreds of years ago, we
never felt like we were one with nature. It’s just not like that out there. Survival
can be harsh at the best of times. If you become one with anything or
anyone while you are trying to survive out there, it is with yourself.
Nature is neutral. It doesn’t want to help you, and it doesn’t want to kill
you. Yet there is a positive energy in the wilderness that can be emotionally
and spiritually uplifting, and can fill you with strength to carry on and complete
the tasks that you need to, even in the worst survival scenarios.
Survival is not about “man versus wild.” Nor, at the other extreme,
is it about “becoming one” with nature. The key to survival is the middle
ground of “going with the flow” of nature. There is a time to push against
the rain and a time to wait it out. There is a time to travel hard and a time
to hunker down. There is a time to let go of emotions and there is a time
to buck up and straighten your back against your troubles.
But make no mistake about it. Nature must be respected, watched,
listened to, and considered constantly, if you expect to survive.
Group Versus Solo Survival
MOST ASPECTS OF SURVIVAL ARE EASIER when more than one traveler is present,
but the group dynamic may well prove most beneficial when it comes
to the psychological aspects of survival. You can derive significant comfort
from the presence of other people in what may be the most trying
moments of your life. And you can boost your feelings of self-worth and
confidence by comforting those in your group who need support.
Of course, there’s another side to this. Not everything is rosy within a
group. Panic is frighteningly contagious and can spread like wildfire.
The solution is to acknowledge a strong and effective group leader.
Most groups will not be proactive enough to actually elect a leader; one
typically emerges naturally. A strong, competent, and confident leader will
help quell the fears and doubts the group may be feeling, and will focus
each individual’s efforts on the tasks necessary for survival.
52 | Survive!
T
he irony of survival is that for all the planning and preparation
you do to stay alive in the wild, all you really want is to go home.
Survival instructors tend to romanticize survival by teaching the many
excellent, sometimes advanced skills that will help you live as long as possible
in remote areas, but the bottom line in a true survival situation is that
you’re scared, hungry, tired, and cold. You just want out of this nightmare.
Signaling can be key to getting you home, and sooner rather than later.
Debate continues as to which aspect of survival should take first priority,
but I believe that once you’ve established your immediate safety and
if there is no urgency about shelter, your next step should be getting signals
ready. And since you never really know when a potential rescuer may
appear, you need to be ready to signal immediately and at all times. It would
be nice to be saved quickly, but the reality is that it could be hours, days, or
even weeks, before somebody spots your signal.
Signaling devices fall into two categories: targeted signals that need
to be seen or heard by someone passing by, and technological signals that
send information about location or situation to someone a greater distance
away.
Targeted Signals
TARGETED SIGNALS ARE SIGNALS that need to be seen or heard by a target—a
person on foot or in a plane or boat, for example—to be effective. There are
those that are ready to use and those that you need to make yourself.
If you are using a visual signal that you want to be seen by passing
aircraft, locate it in a clear, flat area on the highest possible terrain. Know
that if you are spotted by an aircraft, it will probably not land immediately.
Look for the pilot to acknowledge your signal by flying low, dropping a
message, dipping the plane’s wings, or flashing lights.
No matter what type of signal you make, know how to use it and be
ready to get it going on short notice. You may have only seconds, and a
missed opportunity could cost you your life.
ReadytoUse
Signals
Readytouse
signals are the easiest ones to employ in the wilderness
because they’re typically the product of some sort of technological innovation.
At least one of these devices should be in your complete survival kit.
Signal mirror: A signal mirror’s reflection can be seen as far away as 50
miles (80 km) on a clear, sunny day. Signal mirrors can also work on overcast
days and with moonlight, although with less range.
True signal mirrors come with an aiming hole in the middle, but any
mirror or reflective material (like a square of tinfoil) can be aimed at its
target. Face the target and stretch out your arm so that your hand is just
beneath the target. With your other hand, hold the mirror near your head
and aim the reflected light directly onto your hand. Tilt the mirror up and
down rapidly. Given the range of the signal mirror, you should flash any
airplane you see, no matter how far away it may seem. The internationally
recognized SOS signal is three short reflections followed by three longer
ones followed again by three short ones.
Generally, the larger the mirror the more light it will reflect. Glass
mirrors reflect better than any other material, but also are the most easily
broken; metal mirrors (including stainless steel), on the other hand, scratch
easily and are also subject to rust, particularly in saltwater environments.
Using a Signal Mirror with a Sighting Hole
1. To effectively use a signal mirror with a
sighting hole, hold the mirror fairly close to
your face. Through the hole, you should be
able to see a bright glow.
2. Align the glow so that it covers yourtarget; this is where the sun’s reflection
will shine.
Using a Signal Mirror Without a Sighting Hole
1. Face the target and stretch out your2. Tilt the mirror rapidly up and down.
arm so your hand is just beneath the
target.
3. Aim the reflected light directly ontoyour outstretched hand as shown.
Chemicals: Potassium permanganate is an example of a chemical that can
be used to make a temporary sign on water or a more permanent one in
snow (it dyes the snow purple) to signal for rescue.
Chemical lights: Although some companies make chemical lights for survival
situations, these are not very bright and usually can’t be seen from
more than a mile away. Chemical lights are most easily seen when swung
in wide arcs or sweeps; all have a limited storage life that runs out quickly
after exposure to air.
Flares: Flares are an effective way to signal someone and they have saved
lives all around the world. They work only for a short time, however, so
don’t use them until you’re sure they’ll be seen.
Flashlight: These don’t have the same range as signal mirrors but work in
the same way and are very useful at night. Be careful not to waste battery
power; there’s no point dangling your flashlight in a tree all night unless
there’s a chance someone may see it.
Laser flares: Take flashlights one step further, with a more powerful, colorful,
and visible beam and you’ve got the laser flare. Another benefit of laser
flares is that they’re compact and longlasting.
Signals You Make Yourself
If you’re not fortunate enough to have a readytouse
signal on hand, there
are still a few signaling options available. These can be as effective as the
readytouse
variety, but require more effort and are subject to the vagaries
of your environment.
The Signal Fire: Signals fires must be built in a wide-open space. Timing is
everything; they must be ready for the moment when a plane passes overhead.
Stay with a signal fire once you have lit it, in case the pilot attempts
to communicate with you.
During the day, the most visible part of a signal fire is the smoke, so
you will also want to have items on hand that create as much of it as possible.
Rubber and plastic work well (producing black smoke), as do fresh
(green) branches and boughs, which produce white smoke. Moss or punky
wood also work well.
Given the choice, go for black smoke, since it is not likely to be confused
with a campfire. Either way, smoke is most effective on clear, calm days.
Wind, rain, snow, and clouds disperse or shield smoke, significantly decreasing
the chances it will be seen. In addition, smoke is not nearly as important
at night, when the flame itself will be more easily spotted from above.
Some survival guides say you’ll have a better chance of attracting
attention if you prepare three signal fires and position them in the shape
of a triangle, a commonly recognized distress symbol. I tried this during a
winter survival course. On the day that the plane finally flew over, the temperature
hovered near –40.F (–40.C), and I had been surviving for seven
days and had little energy left.
When I heard the plane approaching, I had to run with burning bark
from my survival fire to the signal fire, which was about 60 yards (55 m)
away, in the middle of a frozen lake. When I got the first point of the triangle
lit, I had to run the 40 yards (37 m) to each of the other points to
set them burning as well. My hands felt frozen, I nearly put out the bark
I was running with, and I taxed my remaining energy reserves doing all
that running.
The pilot saw my signal fires and came down to rescue me. Once we
were in the air, though, I was shocked to see that the triangle I had made—
which had seemed so big and spread out on the ground—looked surprisingly
small from the air. In the end, one very large fire would have served the
same purpose and would have saved me a lot of energy—and firewood.
Making a Signal Fire
1. To make a signal fire, begin by making
a tripod of three trees.
2. If you have extra rope, weave it across
the base of the tripod to make a platform.
Fill the platform with dry, quickburning
materials such as birch bark.
On top, place smokeproducing
materials,
like damp moss, punky wood,
rubber, or plastic.
3. Ignite the signal fire when you believe
a plane will see it.
stroud’s Tip
anything
letters SOSBush pilots have told me that if they see
that looks out of the ordinary on the ground—whether it
appears to be a signal fire or even just a tarp laid flat in the
middle of an open space—they will stop to check it out, regardless
of whether it’s an “official” distress signal such as a triangle or the
. Don’t overlook the value of a simple signal as well. A
coat hung on a tree has saved more than one life.
The Tree Torch: A variation on the signal fire is the tree torch, which
involves setting a single tree on fire. Although standing dead trees will
light most easily, live trees can also be set on fire, particularly ones that
bear sap. Paper birch trees are also very good tree torches; their thin bark
lights easily.
To make a tree torch, place dry wood in the lower branches and
light them. The flame will flare upward and should ignite the leaves
overhead. When creating a tree torch, select an isolated tree so you don’t
start a forest fire!
Although signal fires are the most common type of signal you make
yourself, there are other everyday (perhaps unexpected) items you can use
to signal and improve your chances of being found.
Clothing and rag signals: You can attract attention to yourself by wearing
bright-colored clothing that stands out against your surroundings (fluorescent
orange works best). If there’s no risk of them getting wet or blown
away, drape some of your extra clothing on nearby branches. Tie a brightly
colored rag or piece of clothing to your shelter too.
Ground signals: When making a signal on the ground, pick an open area that
can be seen easily from overhead. Remember that things are a lot smaller
when viewed from overhead, so size matters. Go as big as you can.
Those orange garbage bags in your survival kit have so many uses;
they make excellent ground signals since they usually provide stark contrast
against earth tones. Lay them flat in a highly visible area and secure
them with rocks to attract the attention of passing aircraft. If you don’t have
one of these bags, try orange surveyor’s tape, aluminum foil, or anything
bright or reflective. Spelling out SOS or HELP is internationally recognized
but can be laborintensive.
If you don’t have the materials or energy to do
so, a large V or X should do the trick.
If you have nothing in your kit with which to make a traditional signal,
you can use natural materials to attract attention to yourself. Use rocks,
logs, brush, seaweed, or branches formed in words or arrows or any obvious
marking. If you don’t have any of these materials on hand, you can still
make a signal by clearing away or burning bushes and other ground cover,
or even tramping down snow.
Vehicle wreckage signals: In some cases, your survival situation may
include a vehicle (car, snowmobile, plane, or canoe). Your vehicle is big
and conspicuous and will attract attention. Stay with it if you suspect rescue
may be on its way. If you can fashion your vehicle into your shelter, all
the better. Now it’s serving two purposes.
In addition, you may be able to use parts of the vehicle to attract
attention. Arrange them in a way that makes them conspicuous. Your vehicle’s
lights and horn are also powerful means of attracting attention.
If you can get a tire off your car (or have a spare), add it to your signal
fire. Burning rubber creates thick black smoke. (Burning a tire is not the
most environmentally friendly option available, but when it comes to life
or death, that is not an issue. Your goal is to live; you can dedicate yourself
to environmental causes when you return to safety.)
Oils and fuels are also good for creating smoke, especially when rags
are soaked in them.
Audio signals: Although audio signals aren’t effective in alerting aircraft,
they can work well for signaling to groundbased
rescuers and passersby.
Even if you’re not sure that someone is looking for you, it can’t hurt to
make as much noise as possible.
One audio signal that does not work very well in the wilderness is
your voice; it doesn’t carry far enough. A survival whistle, however, is excellent,
and the better commercial ones can be heard more than a mile away.
Gunshots are also audible from a great distance, though you will have to
balance the need for ammunition for other survival uses with the chance
of someone hearing your shot.
,
stroud’s Tip
No matter what type of noise you are making,
the international signal for distress can come in handy.
Whether you’re clanging pots together, blowing on a whistle,
or blasting from an air siren, repeat the sound three straight timeswhich indicates you’re in need of help.
Technological Signals
UNLIKE TARGETED SIGNALS, WHICH NEED TO BE SEEN OR HEARD by someone in
your direct vicinity to be effective, technological signals carry your message
over greater distances. If technology shines anywhere during a survival situation,
it’s in signaling. Cell phones, satellite phones, twoway
radios, and
PLBs have saved the lives of countless stranded adventurers.
EPIRBs (Emergency PositionIndicating
Radio Beacons), ELTs (Emergency
Locator Transmitters), and PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons): Among a
class of devices known as tracking transmitters, these beacons all function
by sending a distress signal that allows searchandrescue
personnel to
locate your position almost immediately. EPIRBs commonly signal maritime
distress; ELTs signal aircraft distress; and PLBs are for personal use.
Although the basic idea behind all these devices is to get the person rescued
within 24 hours of activation, this is not always the case, particularly in
developing nations. I once made a survival film off the coast of Belize. My sailboat
captain explained the reality that the authorities there probably would not
act if I set off a locator beacon, and that they might not even know what it was.
He dared me to set mine off and see what happened. I did and . . . nothing.
SPOT satellite messenger: First implemented by SPOT Inc., the satellite
messenger is one of the greatest technological innovations to hit the world
of outdoor adventuring—and surviving—in recent years.
The SPOT device is a handheld
unit that serves as a distress beacon
like a PLB but does much more, primarily through oneway
text messaging
and email.
SPOT will send a preprogrammed
distress message (with
your exact GPS location) requesting help from up to 10 programmed contacts,
each of whom will read your message on their computer or phone.
It will also inform your contacts of your location (using Google Maps) and
let them know you are okay. The device will even allow your friends and
family to track your progress using Google Maps. But for a real emergency,
you press the “911” button, which informs local searchandrescue
teams
of your need for help.
Cell phones and satellite phones: Your cell phone will transmit information
about your location, even if there is no service in your area—so keep
it on as long as possible. Text messaging has greater range than your cell
phone may indicate, since it works on a different signal.
In years gone by, satellite phones were bulky, weighed a ton, and had
questionable coverage. With technological innovation, however, they have
become cheaper and more compact. On the downside, satellite phones
have a limited battery life.
hope people
stroud’s Tip
By far the best devices you can have with you are the
SPOT satellite messenger and a satellite phone. With these,
when you send a message, you can be sure that somebody
is receiving it. With any other form of communication, you
get the message.
On the Move
IF YOU DECIDE TO LEAVE YOUR EMERGENCY LOCATION, it’s important that you
give potential rescuers as much information as possible about your journey.
If you have paper and pencil available, leave a detailed note in a
safe, dry, and conspicuously marked location. Let them know when you
left, where you are going, how you are traveling (by boat or on foot), your
64 | Survive!
physical state, how many of you there are, and the extent of your supplies.
You should also mark your direction of travel with an arrow. Rocks
and branches can be laid on the ground to point rescuers in the same
direction, or you can use your knife to cut directional signs into trees.
When Rescue Arrives
WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOUR SIGNAL ACTUALLY WORKS? Assuming you are now in
the clear can be a big mistake.
If you are being rescued by an aircraft such us a light plane or helicopter,
remove all loose materials from the landing area to prevent them
from being sucked into propellers and rotors. Sometimes a helicopter may
not be able to land where you’re stranded, so they may need the aid of a
device to lift you from the ground. In all cases, follow the instructions of
your rescuers to the letter.
Group Versus Solo Survival
ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF BEING IN A GROUP is that you have more eyes and
ears trained on the possibility of rescue, and more people available to
attract attention when the time comes. You can also build more and bigger
signals, and, if necessary, spread them out over a greater area.
As in all aspects of survival, adaptability and ingenuity are paramount
when it comes to making a rescue signal. Some victims have cut or burned
down a hydro pole. When hydro workers eventually came out to fix it, the
lost were found.
Set fire to a small island if you have to. If it were me, I wouldn’t hesitate
if it meant seeing my family again. I could live with myself if I had to
take drastic measures to be rescued. How about you?
N
o fire. No shelter. No food. Except in the most extreme cases,
doing without these won’t kill you . . . at least not quickly. But nothing
compares in seriousness to the lack of water. So while I always
seek out locations with good supplies of firewood, shelter material, and food
sources, I would trade them all for a constant supply of clean water. Always
try to conserve what you have, and start looking for an alternative source as
soon as possible.
You can live for more than three weeks without food, but you likely
won’t make it much past three days without water. Granted, in a crisis,
some people have survived as long as 10 days without water, but their
ability to function will have been radically reduced after the third day. And
depending on your circumstances, in as few as 24 hours you could start
suffering the harsh effects of dehydration, particularly in a hot, dry, and
windy location such as the desert. First the migraines and headaches kick
in, followed by a rapid drop in energy. Now let’s see you get that fire going,
build that shelter, or make a bunch of scorpion traps!
After only 24 hours surviving in the Kalahari Desert, the lack of water
in my body brought on terrible headaches. On my fifth day there, with temperatures
in the sun and on the sand pushing 140.F (60.C), my water ran
out altogether. Over those five days, I had urinated only once, and that was
after having drunk a gallon (about 4 L) of water for each of the first four days.
On the fifth and sixth days, the few ounces I made by chewing plants and
distilling my own urine still didn’t suffice. Even the act of eating the plants
used up water in my system needed for digestion. The very act of chewing
in extremely hot weather used up energy I didn’t have to spare. Sometimes
doing nothing is better than trying something that doesn’t work.
Fortunately, I could walk out of the desert. But what if you can’t? Our
bodies need 2 to 3 quarts (2 to 3 L) of water each day. Throw in heat, cold,
stress, exertion, or diarrhea, and you need much more. To survive in the
wilderness you need to know how to find water, make water, and even prevent
your body from losing water.
One thing that people get hung up on with water (assuming they’re
lucky enough to find it) is whether it’s clean enough to drink. They aren’t
sure whether to drink it at all, for fear of getting sick. I go over this in
greater detail later in this chapter, but for now, learn this mantra: Drink,
drink, drink. You will die a lot faster from dehydration than from the
effects of drinking untreated water. In fact, in all but the rarest circumstances,
drinking untreated water won’t kill you. Even if you do contract
parasites, most of them won’t hit you for at least a week, if not longer.
Should you make it out alive, you can treat most of them (albeit with
powerful drugs).
stroud’s Tip
After drinking questionable water, crush up some
charcoal and place it in a rag. Strain water through the rag
and drink the black liquid. It can prevent stomach upset.
Make sure you use charcoal from nonpoisonous
wood sources!
And water in remote areas usually is safe to drink. Sure, if you’re
downstream from an African village or just outside a town that happens to
use the stream as its septic system, you’re probably going to ingest pathogens.
Then again, if you’re that close to civilization, you’re not in a survival
situation at all! I’ve been infected with giardia, a nasty parasite that wreaks
havoc on your bowels, after drinking from a seemingly pristine lake. I’ve
suffered horrible bowel cramps after drinking from a seemingly pristine
river. But I lived to tell the tales. And I haven’t died of dehydration.
I happen to be a huge fan of adventure races, events lasting anywhere
from eight hours to two weeks, where contestants bike, run, paddle,
and take on many other types of adventure travel through remote wilderness.
The first one who makes it to the finish line, even if it is a week later,
wins. During one such race, organizers had warned contestants not to
drink the water along the route without first treating it, for fear of ingesting
giardia.
The first stretch of the race was a slog through miles of thick bush
during the height of mosquito and blackfly season, with temperatures
cresting at 86.F (30.C). The race leaders took 24 hours to complete that
stage. Many other teams, including mine, took nearly twice that.
At the first checkpoint in the race, a station where you can stop,
check your time, and even eat a bit of food, most teams arrived looking
terrible and suffering from the dry heaves. Not mine, though. Why? At
every stream, river, or swamp—even the muddy ones—I forced myself
and them to drink, because I knew that otherwise, under those extreme
conditions, dehydration would soon shut us down. So when we finally
made it to the first checkpoint (even though we were one of the last
teams to get there), it was noted that we were in better shape than any
other team.
It seems all the other teams were scared to drink untreated water,
and none of them wanted to commit 15 minutes to treating their water
for fear of losing ground in the race. So they ran on, hurting themselves in
the process through dehydration. Not only did my team feel fine but none
of us got sick, even though we drank from dozens of streams and swamps
without filtering.
That said, never be cavalier about water. It is quite possible to drink
from contaminated water sources and within hours find yourself knocked
down from pain and diarrhea, only making your ordeal even worse. Your
best bet is to assume that all water is contaminated and to purify it if you
can do so.
But if your choice is between drinking untreated water or dying of
dehydration . . . drink.
Rationing and Preserving Water in Your Body
ALMOST AS IMPORTANT AS PROCURING WATER TO DRINK is the ability to preserve
the water stores in your body. The best way to do this is to minimize your
exertion, if at all possible. With this in mind, I have one simple rule from
my friend Dave Arama: If you don’t have to stand, sit; if you don’t have to
sit, lie down. You also lose more water when you talk than when you don’t,
and when you breathe through your mouth as opposed to your nose.
Of course, when you’re in a survival situation and trying to build a
shelter, gather food, find water, or just get out, you don’t have the luxury of
sitting around. Nevertheless, there are measures you can take to keep your
body’s water loss to a minimum.
First, although you will have to work, try to keep your workload to
a consistent level that minimizes perspiration. After all, through sweating,
one of your body’s primary methods of cooling itself, you lose moisture
through your pores. In hot, windy conditions, you may find yourself
tempted to strip down to all but the bare minimum of clothing. Don’t! One
of the fastest ways to have water sucked from your body is through convection:
those warm breezes will only serve to dehydrate you more. So wear
a loosefitting
shirt to slow the process, and get out of the wind if you can.
You also lose a fair bit of moisture through your head, so cover it to help
slow the loss of moisture, as long as you can do so without overheating.
What about rationing any water supplies you have on hand? Like
many topics I cover in this book, this one is bound to spark debate among
survivalists. Let’s say you have enough water to drink 8 ounces (237 ml) a
day for one week, but you think you may be on your own for two weeks.
You have a couple of choices: Drink the water in a week and hope you find
another primary water source in the meantime, or cut your daily intake
down to 4 ounces (118 ml) and stretch it out for two weeks.
Some survivalists argue that you’re better off drinking the 8 ounces a
day, thus keeping the water in your body and your organs fully hydrated. But
I believe that if you’re stuck for a long period of time and are unable to find
an ample water supply, having those 4 ounces every day can be an incredible
physical and psychological boost. Although I can’t prove that physiologically
this is the best strategy, personally I would opt for rationing.
stroud’s Tip
Make sure you have enough water for yourself, given the
situation. Make sure everyone in the group has enough water
for themselves. Repeat these two lines over and over!
Physiology
TOAPPRECIATE THEIMPORTANCEOFWATER FOROURWELLBEING,
let me remind
you that you should drink a minimum of a gallon (about 4 L) each day,
even if you’re sitting in the shade doing nothing. Water is constantly being
used by our bodies through normal processes such as breathing. Throw in
the extra stress of surviving in the wilderness—which may entail extreme
physical activity, perspiration, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding as a result
of injury—and you can see how the situation can become dire. Even digestion,
particularly after eating foods that are sweet or spicy, as well as those
high in salt or protein, uses up precious stores of water in our system.
From everything I’ve read, death by dehydration is horrible and painful.
In fact, you can start to feel the many adverse physical and mental
effects of dehydration after dropping your body’s water supply by as little
as 1 percent. In addition to the headaches I noted above, nausea, poor
judgment, and depression are all symptoms of dehydration, symptoms
you don’t want to be dealing with anytime, let alone when you’re trying to
survive in the wild.
Thirst is not a good indicator of your body’s need for water: you may not
notice when you need more. While surviving beside a lake in Canada’s boreal
forest during a heat wave, I forced myself to drink about 8 ounces (237 ml) of
water every hour, whether I felt thirsty or not. This simple act kept me feeling
refreshed and even helped mask the hunger pains I otherwise would have
suffered, as I had little food at the time. Oh, I was still hungry, but drinking
regularly, almost constantly, seemed to take away the pain.
So in a survival situation, setting a mandatory time to drink each
day, especially in the winter (when you don’t normally feel like drinking),
will help you get past your mind’s lack of attentiveness, itself another
symptom of dehydration. If you are not alone in your ordeal, then you
have the added responsibility (and sometimes advantage) of looking out
for the others in your group. The buddy system used by underwater divers
should be used in survival as well. Check others for red or pink skin
and excessive sweating, two sure signs of overheating. A dehydrated person
will often be slow, clumsy, or withdrawn, and show poor judgment (I
must have a lot of chronically dehydrated friends!). This simple test also
works well: pinch the skin on the back of the hand. If the pinched skin
returns very slowly—that is, does not “snap” back quickly—to its original
shape and form, the person is suffering from dehydration. Another sign
is urine color. Dark yellow indicates dehydration. And if you are not peeing
at all, you are not drinking enough water, period.
Some guidebooks distinguish between mild, moderate, and critical levels
of dehydration. Don’t get bogged down in semantics. Dehydration is a
quick killer and preventing it should remain among your highest priorities.
Finding and Collecting Water
REGARDLESS OF YOUR LOCATION, KEEP THIS IN MIND: Almost every environment
has water present to some degree. Your ability to survive will likely depend
on your ability to find and collect it. The more proficient you are at identifying
indicators of nearby water, the better off you’ll be.
I separate waterfinding
and watercollecting
methods into what I
call primary sources and lastditch
efforts. The amount of water the human
body needs to thrive is much more than what you can get by licking dew
off leaves or peeing in a hole and distilling the condensed water. If you are
going to make it out of the wilderness alive, you will need, often desperately,
to find a primary water source.
Locating Primary Water Sources
The best primary sources of water are those that flow. These include rivers,
streams, and creeks. If these aren’t available, you have to move on to
progressively more stagnant bodies of water. Lakes and ponds are the next
best primary sources, followed by swamps, marshes, fens, bogs, et cetera.
Snow, slush, and ice are also primary sources of water.
To locate a primary source, your best bet is to study the topography
of your surroundings. You need to understand the different indicators of
water around you and react to them.
Look at the water source you have found. Scan the shoreline or check
upstream for contaminants such as dead animals. The higher the altitude
of your source (such as a mountain stream), the purer the water. Remember
that even the sweetestsmelling
and freshestlooking
mountain streams
may have an upstream contaminant you can’t see.
Walk Downhill: There are subtle differences among regions, but walking
downhill is usually an effective strategy for locating water because it is a
sucker for gravity. Valley bottoms are great places to find water.
Observe Changes in Vegetation: Be on the lookout for changes in
vegetation, which may indicate availability of water. If you see a place
where vegetation is darker or denser than in the surrounding area, there’s
a good chance you’ll find water there, even if you have to dig for it.
Watch the Sky: Another small trick that I’ve often used in survival situations
(but it takes a seasoned eye) is to look for subtle changes in the color of the
sky. Typically, the sky directly over a source of water will look bluer than the
rest of the sky, reflecting the water source. And early in the morning, due
to moisture content and temperature differences, lowlying
clouds and fog
tend to congregate directly over a body of water.
Follow Animal Trails: Animals need water too, and their trails may lead
you to a lifegiving
source. If you see numerous game trails, they may even
make a formation, much like a series of veins (or like a river system on a
topographical map). Where the sections join and create a V, the point of the
V will indicate the direction of water. But be warned that following animal
trails can sometimes lead you nowhere.
Follow Birds: Birds congregate near water, and the direction of bird flight
in the early morning or late afternoon might indicate a source. Graineating
birds are never too far from water; when they fly straight and low
they are usually headed for water. But note that these are subtle indicators
and following them doesn’t guarantee you’ll find a source.
Bear in mind too that most wild creatures urinate and defecate in the
same place they drink. So once you’ve located a primary source of water,
move at least a couple hundred yards from the spot where the game trail
meets the water, preferably upstream. Giardia cysts tend to sit closer to the
surface of a lake, so if you can weigh a vessel down and send it to the lower
depths you have a better chance of retrieving uncontaminated water. A
weighted jar or can with a rope tied to it works well. Once you’re sure the
vessel is full of lowerlevel
water, pull it up quickly to minimize the amount
of surface water that gets in.
Track Insects: If you see insects (especially bees or ants) going into a hole
in a tree, there may be water in the hole. Plastic tubing can be used to
siphon the water, or a cloth can be stuffed in the hole to absorb it. The
presence of swarming insects also indicates that water is near. Bees are
never more than a few miles from a water source, although they have
irregular watering times.
Use Ice, Snow, and Slush: If you find yourself trying to stay alive in a part
of the world or during a season of the year when ice, snow, and slush are
present, you have a good source of water at your fingertips, particularly
if you are able to make fire. As with many aspects of survival strategy,
however, opinions about eating ice, snow, and slush are subject to debate;
mine don’t jibe with the prevailing sentiment.
Many instructors will tell you that you should avoid eating snow,
largely because it will reduce the temperature of your body, which will then
consume precious energy during warming. This is true, but given the vital
role that water plays in survival, I believe the opposite. Eating snow and
ice will cool your body down and may slightly abrade the inside of your
mouth. But if it’s the morning and you’re working hard to assure other
aspects of your survival, eating snow can help to maintain an optimal body
temperature. And the fact is, you need that liquid.
You have to be careful about eating ice and snow later in the day,
though, when you’re tired and the air is cooling off. Eating snow when
your defenses are down can do you more harm than good. This applies
not just in the dead of winter, but in springtime too—anytime you are
eating snow.
The ideal is to be able to melt the ice and snow and even heat it
before you drink it. If I don’t have a fire available, I like to fill a water
bottle (or similar vessel, or even a Ziploc bag) with snow, and slip it inside
my clothing during the day while I work or in my sleeping bag (not
touching my body) at night while I sleep. It takes a while for the first bit
to melt, but once that’s done, the rest melts quickly. If I can manage to
do this overnight without chilling myself, it’s great to wake up to find the
water melted and ready to drink.
Water from snow (or rain, for that matter) is very low in salt and
minerals, which we need to survive. But that is a longerterm
concern
that should not affect your decision to eat snow, if you need to, during a
survival ordeal. Add edible plants and grasses to your melting pot to help
supplement these missing nutrients.
LastDitch
Water Sources
If you have exerted your best efforts to find a primary source of water and
have come up empty, you need to turn to lastditch
water sources, those
that may not keep you thriving but will at least keep you alive for a while.
Collect Rain: Most of us have heard about the ravages of acid rain, but
this isn’t a concern when it comes to survival: you can drink rainwater
anywhere on earth. To harvest enough to keep yourself going, you need
to use as big a catchment area as possible and contain the water in some
sort of receptacle. If you don’t have a suitable container on hand, dig a
hole in the ground. This should hold water for a while, but you will need
to line it with clay, plastic, or some other impermeable material, and keep
it covered.
Collect Dew: Heavy dew has been known to provide water for wilderness
survivors, and there are various ways to procure it.
If you find yourself in an area of long grass, heavy with morning
dew, you can make like native Australians and tie rags or tufts of fine grass
around your ankles while walking through the dewcovered
grass. As the
rags or grass tufts absorb the dew, wring the water into a container. Don’t
underestimate the effectiveness of this procedure! It is surprising how much
you can get. If there’s no long grass in the area, the only source of dew you’ll
have is on leaves, which you can lick. Here you’ll run a significant risk, however:
some leaves contain oils or toxins that might aggravate your system or
cause diarrhea, resulting in you feeling worse than when you started.
them up and wring them out.
stroud’s Tip
My friend and survival companion Allan “Bow”
Beauchamp has a couple of unique watercollection
methods that are very effective: Moss cups can collect large
amounts of rainwater. Here’s what to do. Cut a large square sheet of
green moss and lay this on the ground mossside
up, or, bestcase
scenario, right on a flat rock. Then, using rocks and dirt, bank up
the sides of the moss sheet until you have what looks like a square
moss “cup.” Using one large piece is the best and will retain the
most water. You can also collect punky wood and leave it out on the
ground for the night. When you wake up in the morning you’ll find
that dew will have settled in these dry pieces of wood. Simply pick
Make a Vegetation Still: Vegetation stills can be used in many parts of
the world and require only a few simple components, though collecting
the water does demand patience. It can take as long as 24 hours to obtain
up to 1 quart (1 L) of water, and that’s under ideal conditions.
You will need some green, leafy vegetation—gathered from trees,
bushes, shrubs, or grasses—along with a clear plastic bag and a small rock.
Choose a sunny location with a slope on which to place the still, and follow
these steps:
Fill the bag with air by turning the open end into the breeze or by “scooping”
air into it.
Remove from your gathered vegetation any sticks or spines that might
puncture the bag. Fill the bag half to threequarters
full of the vegetation (or
tie the bag onto the end of a branch). Do not use poisonous plants; they will
produce poisonous liquid.
Place a small rock in the bag to weigh it down.
If you have a piece of tubing, a small straw, or a hollow reed, insert one end into
the mouth of the bag before closing (remember to tie off or plug the tubing
so that air will not escape). This will allow you to drink the condensed water
without untying the bag. Then tie the bag securely shut as close to the end as
possible; it’s important to maximize the amount of air space in the bag.
Place the bag on a slope in full sunlight. The mouth of the bag should be
positioned higher than the base of the bag (which contains the rock), to keep
the bag from slipping or blowing away and to keep the water dripping to the
lowest point.
To drink: If you don’t have a tube to draw the condensed water from the still,
loosen the tie around the bag’s mouth and drain. Retie the mouth securely
and reposition the still to allow further condensation.
Change the vegetation in the bag after extracting most of the water from it, to
ensure a regular supply of water.
If you can’t fill a bag with vegetation, tying it to the end of a branch with lots of leaves
will do the trick. Just make sure it’s in a sunny spot. If this tree had been poisonous, the
water it produced could also have been poisonous. Don’t take chances unless you’re sure
of the source tree or bush.
Make a Solar Still: I’m always leery of survival skills that require the
effort of digging a hole. Nevertheless, the solar still can be an effective
method of collecting water, particularly in a very dry location such
as a desert. To make a solar still, however, you need four components: a
sunny spot, a receptacle in which to catch the water, a clear plastic sheet
approximately 6 square feet (.5 m2), and some type of weight to place
on top of the plastic. You’ll also need to dig a hole, so a shovel or trowel
would be useful.
You can build a solar still without digging a hole if you are lucky
enough to have a large container like a barrel. When surviving on a small
tropical island off the coast of Belize, I had at my disposal one half of the
large plastic container that my life raft had come in. Using this container
saved me a great deal of digging.
Solar stills can take a couple of hours (or more) to make, and their
yield is not very high. How much you get depends largely on the ambient
temperature, the types of vegetation you include, and access to direct sun.
A still such as this may produce water for two to four days depending on
the moisture content of the soil or sand itself, and must be moved every so
often. The added bonus, however, is that the outside of it also serves as a
great dew or rain-catch. You’ll likely need at least three solar stills to meet
your daily water-consumption needs.
Here are the steps for building a solar still:
Select a sunny site where you believe the soil contains the most moisture. The
lower and damper the spot, the better.
Dig a bowl-shaped hole about 3 feet (1 m) around and 2 feet (.5 m) deep.
If possible, fill the hole with non-poisonous vegetation. Pour salt water, water
contaminated with bacteria or urine into and onto the sides of the hole.
Place your collecting receptacle (the wider the better) at the bottom of the
hole, preferably in its own small hole. Do not let any impure water, salt water
or urine get in the receptacle (cup).
If you are lucky enough to have a drinking tube (or can fashion one out of
available materials), settle it into the receptacle and stretch it out so that it
terminates above ground. The tube allows you to step up to the still and drink
from it without disturbing it.
Cover the hole with the plastic sheet; the sheet should be anchored around
its perimeter with rocks or other heavy objects. Place a small rock or other
weighted object in the center of the plastic sheet, ensuring that the lowest
point of the sheet is now directly above the receptacle.
The idea behind a solar still is that solar energy heats the air, soil, and
vegetation (if available) in the hole by passing through the plastic sheet.
Moisture from the soil—all soil has moisture—evaporates and condenses
on the low point in the plastic. Added vegetation (nonpoisonous!),
such as
leaves, grasses, or seaweed, can help speed up the process, and since solar
stills also purify water, the condensed water that collects on the underside
of the sheet will be fit to drink.
Creating a Solar Still
1. A lastditch
watermaking
method, the solar still can
produce and purify enough
water to keep you going for
a while. Place a receptacle in
the middle of a vegetationlined
hole.
2. Put a plastic sheet on top of
the hole, with a stone over
the receptacle. The receptacle
under the plastic catches and
collects the droplets that condense
from the vegetation.
Water from Plants
The Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert live where heat extremes are a part of
life. In adapting to this harsh climate, they have mastered the art of extracting
water from plants. They are able to travel long distances, seeking out
roots along the way, which they cut into chunks and mash. The water they
squeeze out and drink helps to replenish them.
The Bushmen know that where there is vegetation, they can find
water. But in most cases, the process is painfully slow and produces only
enough liquid to wet the mouth. What’s more, for you or me to be able to
locate and correctly identify a waterbearing
root or plant requires instruction
from a local expert. Even then, the chances of finding one of these
plants are slim, making it not worth the effort for most people.
Despite my hesitation about relying on plant innards to provide
water, there are a few notable exceptions to the rule. Green bamboo is an
excellent source of clear, odorless water. Simply bend the green bamboo
stalk, tie it down, and cut off the top. Water will drip from the stalk during
the night into a waiting receptacle.
Reaching into a rotted birch tree, pulling out the wet, spongy and
punky wood and squeezing it in your hands can also produce water.
Banana or plantain trees provide water too, if you have a tool to cut one
down. Chop down the tree, leaving a stump about 12 inches (30 cm) high.
Make a bowlshaped
depression by scooping out the center of the stump;
water from the roots will immediately start to fill the hollow. The first few
fillings will be bitter, but the rest should be palatable. The stump will supply
water for a few days.
Vines can be a good source of water if you can properly identify them.
(Poison ivy and moonseed are both poisonous vines, and they’re found not
just in tropical jungles but elsewhere.) The most water I’ve ever found in a
plant came from a water vine I discovered when I was surviving for a week
in the swamps of Georgia.
To extract water from a vine, cut a notch as high as you can reach.
Make sure this is the first cut; if you cut the bottom first, the water will
recede with capillary action. Next, cut the vine off close to the ground. Catch
the liquid dropping from the cut vine in a container or in your mouth. When
in the Georgian swamps I simply cut one end of the vine, let it drip for hours
into a can, and ended up with fresh clear water (and a few swimming ants).
Some plants, such as the pitcher plant in northern Ontario, act as
natural receptacles, catching water in their cupshaped
cavities. But again,
you must have had onsite
instruction in plant identification to be sure you
are collecting water from nonpoisonous
plants.
The milk from unripe (green) coconuts will also provide your body
with muchneeded
liquid, though it’s not water. While you may survive for
some time on milk from mature coconuts, note that these contain an oil
that acts as a laxative. However, I’ve survived primarily on coconut water
mixed with rainwater for a week in two separate tropical locations without
any ill effects.
The following trees (most of which are found in tropical locations)
can also provide water:
Palms, such as buri, coconut, sugar, rattan, and nips, contain a sugary,
drinkable liquid. If you bruise a lower frond and pull it down, the tree will
excrete liquid at the site of the injury. Cut another slice every 12 hours to renew
the flow.
The Baobab tree, which is found in the sandy plains of northern Australia and
Africa, collects water during the wet season in its bottlelike
trunk. Water can
occasionally be found in these trees even after weeks of dry weather.
Some of the trees in the banana family can hold up to 2 quarts (2 L) of water
at the base of the chevron of their leaf stalks (where the leaves attach to the
trunk).
Water from a Well
Remember when you were a kid at the beach and you dug a hole so deep
that water eventually started seeping through the walls of your creation?
Well, you can use this method to procure fresh water in a survival situation.
(If you’re going to the effort of digging a hole, however, and have the
necessary hardware on hand, you’d be better off making a solar still.)
I have dug for water in many places, often to no avail, but was successful
when surviving in the plains and forested regions of northern
South Africa. There, I found a mudhole
contaminated by wild boar feces
and urine. I moved a short distance downstream of the mudhole
and
dug a small hole in the soft sand. Within a short time I had a hole full of
water—muddy, but free of animal feces and bacterial pollutants.
You will need to dig a hole deep enough to allow the water to seep in.
How quickly it enters the hole will depend on how deep you dig and the
concentration of water in the soil. Once seepage begins, use a rag to absorb
the fluid, then wring it into your mouth or into a container. You may find
water
wherever green vegetation is found
wherever damp surface sand is found
in valleys and other lowlying
areas
at the foot of the concave banks of dry riverbeds
at the foot of cliffs or rocky outcroppings
in the first depression behind the first sand dune of dry desert lakes
Dig in a dry riverbed like this one and you may find water.
What a difference a storm makes! This riverbed was bone dry but suddenly started flowing
as a result of faraway rains.
Water from Rocks
No, this is not a misprint! Believe it or not, rocks can be good (though
inconsistent) sources of water, even in extraordinarily dry regions such as
the desert. Depressions, holes, or fissures in rocks may collect water during
rainfall. Any kind of flexible tubing can be used to suck the water from
these difficulttoreach
spaces. Some types of porous rock may even act
like sponges, soaking up water during a rainfall. You can get the water by
inserting flexible tubing into a crack or hole in the rock. But bear in mind
that every rodent in the area will also drink from—and likely urinate or
defecate in or near—this same water. So if you can collect the water and
boil it, you’re better off. Wiping the dew off rocks in the morning with
grass or cloth is another method of obtaining water from rocks.
Water from Animals
Fish usually contain a drinkable fluid, although you have to be careful.
Large fish in particular will have a reservoir of water along the spine. You
don’t want to drink the juice from the flesh, however, as it is very rich in
protein, and digesting it actually depletes (rather than replenishes) your
body’s water stores.
Gross though it may seem, animal eyeballs contain water. Extract it
by cutting a small slice in the eyeball and sucking it.
Water from Urine
Few survival issues cause as much controversy as this one.
Some people are huge proponents of drinking urine—even in non-
survival situations! Urine therapy has been used in various cultures for
millennia. This therapy involves drinking urine or massaging it into one’s
skin for medicinal or cosmetic purposes. During the Renaissance, some
people even used urine to clean their teeth.
My feelings on drinking urine? Don’t do it! The primary dangers
come from its salt and toxin content (the same dangers apply to drinking
salty ocean water). The salt content (about 2 percent) tends to cause
further dehydration, so it’s a case of one step forward and two steps
back. Urine also contains metabolic waste by-products, such as formaldehyde,
ammonia, and dissolved heavy metals. The less diluted it is, the
greater the concentration of the by-products you’ll be ingesting. There
are numerous documented cases of people dying from drinking their
own urine.
If any case, if you’re already dehydrated, you’ll produce little urine.
When I was surviving in the Kalahari Desert, the one time I did pee during
the week, I produced very little and it was a disgusting yellow-brown color.
A safer option than drinking your urine is using a solar still, as described
previously, to distill your urine.
Purifying and Filtering Water
THERE IS ONE HARD AND FAST RULE regarding water purification and filtration:
If you have the ability and energy to do it, do it.
86 | Survive!
containers on hand:
them horizontal in the sun. Cover the clean container with some
sand or soil and leave the contaminated container exposed to the
stroud’s Tip
Here is a neat trick developed by survival expert Allan
“Bow” Beauchamp, assuming you’re lucky enough to
have two large plastic bottles (like a Pepsi bottle) or similar
“Fill one bottle onequarter
full with urine. Tape the mouth
of this container to the mouth of the second container. Now lay
sun. The contaminated container will heat up, causing evaporation.
Moisture will migrate into the previously empty, clean container,
leaving the residual waste behind.”
As I mention above, rainwater collected in clean containers or from
nonpoisonous
plants is safe for drinking. You should, however, purify water
from all other sources. The quickest and easiest way to do so is with water
purification tablets, iodine, or chlorine. If using iodine, which has been
shown in medical experiments to be more effective than chlorine, mix no
more than five drops per quart (liter) of water. Shake well and let the water
stand for 30 minutes before drinking. Two drops of chlorine bleach is sufficient
for a quart of water.
Note that these quantities are for relatively clean water. If you’re using
water that you suspect is contaminated, double the amounts suggested here.
You should also increase the amount of time that the water sits before drinking,
to give the agents time to kill any microorganisms.
Since it’s unlikely that you’ll have any of these items on hand, you’ll
probably have to revert to the old standby: boiling. You should boil water
for five minutes to ensure you kill all possible harmful pathogens. Some
people say you can get away with as little as one minute of boiling at sea
level, adding one minute for each additional 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea
level. Note that boiling will not neutralize chemical pollutants.
In both Africa and Alaska, I was able to bring water to a boil in plastic
and glass bottles. The method is simple and is best accomplished if you
have a rope and some long branches. Follow these steps:
Your plastic bottle will become black and misshapen but should not melt through, if you
are careful.
Make a tripod by propping three similarsized
sticks together.
Tie the rope to the top of the bottle using a clove hitch.
Suspend the waterfilled
bottle above a fire so that the flames lick the bottle
without completely engulfing it or going above the waterline. Boiling water
over hot coals minimizes the risk that your bottle will melt, although this can
still happen if the bottle gets too close to the coals. Heat until the water boils;
you do not want to overheat the bottle so that it breaks or melts.
I suspect some fairly nasty chemicals are released when a common water
bottle is heated this way, but I would rather take my chances with them than
with the parasites.
Filtration without a highquality,
storebought
filter is not as ideal
as purification because filtration likely won’t remove harmful microorganisms
from the water. What filtration will do is remove larger matter
such as dirt and sediment, sticks, leaves, and any bugs or critters
living in the water.
The simplest way of filtering or clearing stagnant, foulsmelling
water is to place it in a container and let it stand for 12 hours or so. There
are several, more active methods of filtering; most involve letting the
water flow through layers of different types of material such as pebbles,
sand, cloth, and charcoal. You can layer these materials over a receptacle
with openings at either end, such as a piece of bamboo or hollow log.
Construct your filter so that the water passes through successively
less porous layers of filtering material over a receptacle. A typical filter
might begin with pebbles or stones, followed by sand, cloth, and then
crushed charcoal (not ash), which is by far the best filtering medium available.
As with most filtering systems, the water will become progressively
clearer the more you filter it.
RegionSpecific
Water Considerations
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Searching for a primary source of water should be your main goal, but in
the world’s drier places there’s less chance of finding one. For this reason,
you’re likely limited to creating stills and ground wells to collect water.
A prevailing thought is that your best bet for finding water in arid
regions is to look in valley basins or at the bases of sand dunes. But knowledge
of your particular locale may tell you something different. When I
was in the Kalahari Desert, I learned that the best place to find water was
not at the bottom of the sand dunes but rather at the top. The hills there
act like wicking agents and actually draw the water from the ground up.
So it made more sense for me to look for plants (which had water in their
roots) near the tops of the dunes rather than between dunes, where the
only thing growing was brittle grass.
Given the sometimes radical temperature variations that can occur
in these areas, you also might be lucky enough to find condensation on
metal surfaces in the morning. Use a rag to absorb the water, then wring
the water out into an appropriate receptacle.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
These areas have primary water sources in abundance. Follow game trails
to valley bottoms or use topographic indicators to locate streams, rivers, or
lakes. Watch out for stagnant and still water, or areas potentially contaminated
with animal feces such as those close to beaver dams.
The Arctic and Polar Regions (cold weather season)
Winter is the toughest time to convince people to keep rehydrating. It’s cold—
who feels like drinking cold water as well? Yet I have always found that I am in
much more need of drinking on winter treks than in tropical locations.
There are a number of reasons for this. Often your exertion level is
higher: walking in snowshoes or deep snow takes lots of energy. And when
it’s cold, the very dry ambient air sucks the moisture out of you in much
the same way that the desert wind does. I eat snow constantly while I work
and travel outside in the winter. Clear and regular urination is the reward,
indicating to me that I am properly hydrated. Dehydration in cold conditions
also hastens chilling, substantially increasing your risk of hypothermia
and frostbite.
Luckily, you are surrounded by all the water you need, thought it’s in an
altered physical state. Melting it is your goal, but if that is not an option, eat
snow and ice, particularly in the morning or while you’re working hard.
Slush is best for melting because it’s mostly water anyway, followed
by ice, which is denser than snow, and then snow. If you’re melting snow,
pack as much into your pot as possible. Always retain some water in the
pot, as it will make your next melting session much easier.
If you’re not lucky enough to have a pot on hand, there are other
(though slower) methods. You can improvise a sack from an item of clothing
or other fabric. Fill the sack with slush, ice, or snow and suspend it near
your fire. Place a receptacle under the sack to catch the drippings.
Another technique is to place ice or packed snow on a rock over a fire.
Hold the ice in place with small stones or other heavy objects and tilt the rock
slightly to let the melted water run off. Collect the drippings in a receptacle.
It is also possible to spread snow out on a dark sheet (such as a tarp
or garbage bag), and let it melt in the sun and then drip into a container
or a depression made in the sheet. This requires the right air temperature,
however—not too far below freezing—and a spot protected from
chilling winds. You can also use a piece of coiled birch bark and small hot
stones to melt snow into liquid, or even warm it for drinking.
If you need to collect sea ice, it’s important to know the difference
between new sea ice, which is essentially frozen, salty sea water, and old
sea ice, which is a remnant of a glacier that has calved off and is therefore
fresh water. New ice is milky or gray in color, does not break easily, has
sharp edges, and tastes extremely salty. Old ice, on the other hand, is a
distinctive blue or black, shatters easily, has rounded corners, and tastes
relatively free of salt. You can lick the salty ice once a day, however, to
satisfy your body’s need for that nutrient.
On the Sea or Open Water
Having spent a week surviving in a life raft in the Caribbean Ocean, I
understand how difficult it can be to obtain fresh water. Yet for all that
I experienced during my week adrift, it was nothing compared to the 38
days that Dougal Robertson, his wife, Linda, and their children endured in
1972 when their boat sank after being rammed by a pod of killer whales
200 miles (322 km) from the Galapagos Islands.
The Robertsons used their ingenuity and intense will to live to survive
for five and a half weeks on the open sea. They caught rainwater in the
canopy of their dinghy. When the water became dirty and contaminated
from the paint peeling off their raft canopy, Linda resorted to administering
water enemas to her family with a plastic bottle, which allowed them
to absorb it without actually ingesting the contaminants.
Rainwater is an important source of water when you’re at sea. Maximize
the area in which you’re catching it, and ensure that your catchment
system is clean. Wipe off all encrusted salt with sea water just before it
rains. Rainwater is relatively clean and safe to drink (though not completely
free of pollutants), so it would be a shame to contaminate it by
catching it in a dirty receptacle. You can also use rags to collect dew and
condensation from your boat.
When you’re on the open sea, you can readily obtain drinking water
from salt water by using a storebought
still or, provided you have the
materials, to make an aboveground
solar still. To do so, follow the instructions
earlier in this chapter but use a large receptacle such as a bucket
instead of a hole.
Jungles
Procuring water usually is not an issue in the jungle, as these tend to be
extremely rainy places. Locating a primary water source should not be a
problem, and harvesting rainwater is also an option.
In the Amazon rain forest, I found that the feeder streams to the
rivers were better than the rivers themselves, which were subject to huge
variations in height, volume, and turbidity. Rivers in these areas can rise by
10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m) not long after heavy rainfalls, and turn the color of
chocolate milk with all the mud and dirt they’re carrying. Feeder streams
are cleaner and less variable.
Plants, particularly water vines, and bamboo, banana, and plantain
trees, can also be an excellent source of water.
Coastal Regions
If you’re stuck on a beach and have no primary water source available, you
can get a good supply from the ground itself by digging a beach well. Walk
well back from the ocean’s edge. When you reach the base of the back of
the first dune, begin digging. The water you obtain here should be sufficiently
filtered by the sand to desalinate it, especially the top few inches.
Should the water still be salty, you can desalinate it yourself, although
the process takes a lot of energy. Build a fire and place rocks in it to heat
them. Drop the hot rocks in the water still to create steam, and catch the
steam in a cloth held over the hole. The desalinated water can then be
wrung from the cloth.
Here’s an easier way to find fresh water on the coast: when the tide is
out, look for small rivulets making their way to the sea. These may indicate
a freshwater stream just above the lowtide
line.
Swamps
Though most people find it hard to believe, I don’t have a problem drinking
unpurified swamp water in North America. It’s not as clean and refreshing
as water from a mountain stream, but it will keep you alive, and that,
after all, is the goal. Clearly, filtering and purifying is recommended, but
if you don’t have that capability, as I’ve said before, better to drink than
dehydrate.
The obvious issue with swamps and bogs is that the water tends to
be slow moving and full of muck. But this doesn’t necessarily mean it contains
parasites. On the contrary, I’ve drunk water from a clear river that
wreaked havoc on my gastrointestinal system and I’ve drunk water from
swamps with no ill effects.
Obviously, you want to filter swamp water as best you can, to minimize
the sediment and dirt you’re ingesting. At a minimum, you should
let it sit for 12 hours, so that the heavier stuff settles.
If you follow a game trail to a swamp, it’s especially important that
you collect your water a good distance away from where the animals congregate
and do their business.
As I mentioned in the Coastal Regions section, you can also use the
earth to filter swamp water by digging a pit about 50 feet (15 m) from the
edge of the swamp. The water that fills your pit may still require filtration,
but it should be cleaner than swamp water.
Mountains
Mountains are good sources of water, especially in temperate climates.
Depending on the season, snow and ice may be available for melting or
eating. Snow lingers long into the summer at higher altitudes, particularly
on north-facing slopes and in hollows.
Water courses are fairly obvious on mountains, so it shouldn’t take
more than a few moments of surveying the topography for you to determine
places where there’s a regular flow. Look for deep fissures and valleys
in mountainsides where water accumulates after precipitation. And if all else
fails, follow the mountain down to the nearest valley where you’ll increase
your chances of finding water.
On mountains, water often collects in deep fissures and valleys such as this one. Here,
I’m drinking straight from the source.
I
will never forget the first time I was surviving in a forest
and made a fire using only what I could find. Before the trek, I had
been practicing with the firebow
method and some cedar in my basement,
but when I needed cedar on the trip, I couldn’t find any. So considering
the characteristics of cedar, I chose another semisoft
wood for the
baseboard and spindle of my fire bow: poplar.
As the first gentle column of smoke wafted up from the wood, I felt
euphoric. It was a pivotal moment for me, and I realized that no matter
how bad a situation I might find myself in, I could always make it better
because I could make fire without traditional firestarting
devices such as
matches or lighters. Over the years, the impact of that day hasn’t diminished
one bit. Once I learned how to make fire without matches, my confidence
in my ability to survive in the wilderness jumped tenfold.
Fire does so much more than keep you warm. With fire you can signal
for rescue, purify your water and cook your food, you can have light,
make tools, and keep away the bogeyman. In short, the ability to make and
maintain a fire is a huge advantage for your survival.
In some areas fire plays a bigger role as a psychological boost than
as a physical one. In the jungle, you don’t need a fire for heat, and possibly
not even for food preparation, because you can eat fruit. But a fire will
keep away the jaguar more effectively than just about anything else, and
that goes a long way toward making you safe. The Waorani of the Amazon
jungle never let their fires die. And for good reason: try making a fire after
it has rained for six straight hours (and that’s during the dry season!).
For me, fire is like a child that needs to be protected, respected, cared
for, and ultimately, loved and appreciated. I can’t count all the nights I have
huddled in the dead of winter over a little fire in a claustrophobic shelter
surrounded by snow, warming just enough of my face and hands to keep
the chill away.
Many matters of wilderness survival are controversial, however, and
fire is no exception. For example, two different survival experts I had the
privilege of studying with in Africa held opposing views on the use of fire
in lion territories. One felt that fire attracted lions; the other felt it served
as a repellent.
Here is the perspective of my friend and survival crony Douw Kruger:
During a survival course for air force pilots, I was leading three groups
of eight people in the bush. They were instructed to build proper
shelters to protect against lions and hyenas. During my inspection I
found that the last group had put only small branches without thorns
around their shelter. It was almost dark and too late to gather proper
branches.
That night a group of young lions was walking on the road about
100 yards (90 m) away and must have seen the fire. They approached
and found seven humans sleeping on the ground and one (the night
watch) sleeping against a tree, all within a shelter designed at best to
keep out housecats.
When the first lion pushed his head through the branches, the
watch awoke and the excitement began! The pilots kept the lions at bay
by hitting with sticks or throwing rocks. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Needless to say, the next night their shelter was so well constructed
that not even an elephant could penetrate it!
Fire is a part of nature, so animals are used to it. Big wildfires
might scare them, but a small, stationary fire will not. In fact, it may
make them curious and draw them to investigate. The reason fire makes
you feel safe is that you can see what is going on around you and you
have some burning wood to use as a weapon if necessary. But the
downside of a fire is that it makes you visible from a long distance.
In the end, I did opt for a fire in the middle of lion territory, primarily
because too many years of using fire for comfort won out. For me, it seemed
to be the right choice. I needed the psychological boost, and I wanted to cook
the freshwater crab I had caught. However, I stayed up all night listening to
growls in the distance. I would learn later that lions had made a kill about 500
yards (457 m) from my shelter that night. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss!
Fire is very, very important. I will put up with many deprivations in a
survival situation, but please don’t ask me to go without fire.
Select Your Site Carefully
INMYFAVORITEMOVIE OFALLTIME, Jeremiah Johnson, the title character
(played by Robert Redford) struggles to start a fire with a piece of flint,
some charred cloth, and a steel striker. Huddled down in the snow with the
wind whipping furiously, he finally gets his spark to take and then blows
the ember into a small flame, only to have a big clump of snow fall from
the branches above and put it out!
That’s why the first step in the firemaking
journey is to choose an
appropriate location. We can all anticipate the risks associated with having
a fire inside our shelter (although, you can do it, provided you’re smart
about it), but other risks are often ignored.
Your fire should be sheltered from the wind, rain, or snow. Make sure
you have lots of firewood or flammable material close at hand (but not so
close that it could lead to a forest fire or could fall on you and cause injury).
Large boulders work well as protection against the elements: they not only
act as a windbreak but also absorb the fire’s heat and reflect it back at you.
Make sure you don’t pick a low spot that will fill with water if it starts
raining. Choose a place that seems dry relative to the surrounding area,
since a fire draws moisture from the ground beneath it as it burns. If the
ground is really wet, your fire won’t even get going.
Always consider safety when it comes to fire, which can spread in
ways you might not expect. A root can burn underground for many yards,
allowing a fire to pop up elsewhere, developing into a fullblown
forest
fire, sometimes even a year later. Overhanging dry leaves can catch easily
and start a forest fire.
tricks is to build the fire
provides additional fuel
stroud’s Tip
If the ground is wet
and covered with snow,
one of my fire-saving
on a platform of wood,
even if it’s rotten. This
protects my fire from
the moisture below and
when the fire gets going.
Consider the flow of oxygen as well. Oxygen is a critical component
of fire, and if you build your fire too deep in the ground or shelter it too
much, it may not get the oxygen it needs. You’ll waste a lot of time and
energy if you have to keep it going by blowing on it.
What Type of Fire Should You Make?
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF FIRE: the small one that protects you from the
elements (and that you may even keep inside your shelter), and the big,
conspicuous fire that also acts as a signal for possible rescue (provided
you have enough fuel to keep it going). Keeping both alight simultaneously
may be difficult, especially if you need to spend time seeing to other
aspects of your survival.
In fact, keeping just one fire going at all times can be a challenge,
and your ability to do so depends on the amount of firewood available.
But if you have enough wood, then you should never let your fire die out.
It’s what all forest-dwelling and primitive peoples did, and I figure they
must’ve known a thing or two about survival.
If you build a small fire inside your shelter, you must stay in there with
it. So the trick is to maintain the big fire outside and then bring it inside
when it rains or you are bedding down for the night. Most adventurers keep
If you can master the skill of making a small fire right outside your shelter, you’ll keep
the heat inside with you. It makes your survival experience not only more comfortable,
but also comforting.
their fire right outside their shelter, then crawl into the shelter to sleep (only
to wake up to a cold or rain-doused pile of ashes the next morning).
All of the same rules of site selection apply when making a fire
inside your shelter, but there are additional considerations. Oxygen
supply is one. You defeat the purpose of having a fire inside if you have
to keep your shelter open to the chilly air in order to feed the fire the
oxygen it needs.
Be careful not to make your fire in a shelter built against a rock
with a big overhang. On one survival course, a young couple did just
that. The fire heated the rock to the point that a Volkswagen-sized chunk
cracked off. Had they been in the shelter at the time, they would have
been crushed. I couldn’t stop thinking about this story when I was surviving
in the Utah Canyonlands inside a tiny cave, fire by my head and
thousands of tons of canyon rock above me. If you find yourself in a
similar situation, make sure that there is at least 4 feet (1.2 m) of distance
between the top of your flames and the rock overhead.
Butch Cassidy and his “Wild Bunch” hid from the law in these same Utah caves.
Perhaps the most serious risk with an inside fire is that you might
burn your shelter. I’ve made hundreds of inside fires, and for many years
I’ve never had a problem. But once, on the coast of Alaska, I awoke one
morning to find several-foot-high flames reaching up through my shelter’s
driftwood roof. Had I not been only feet from the ocean, the whole shelter
would’ve burned down.
Driftwood made a great shelter on the Alaskan coast, but nearly burned down when my
inside fire grew too big.
Making a Chimney
1. Smoke inhalation is an issue with an
inside fire, so make sure your smoke
2. Constructing a chimney tunnel with a
direct route to your flames will feed air to
can escape through a chimney. your fire without cooling you down.
3. This birch bark vent allows air to circu-4. Your shelter will be warm from the fire
late from outside of the shelter right to and the chimney will allow oxygen to
your interior fire. circulate to keep the fire going.
In any survival situation you should make the biggest, hottest fire possible,
provided you build it safely and have plenty of fuel. I have spent many
cold and unpleasant nights huddled by a tiny fire trying to keep warm—but
only when I didn’t have a choice. Don’t waste your time thinking small when
you can go big: a big fire will kick the chill right out of you.
An emergency is no time to wax environmental and worry that you’re
burning too many trees. And the advantage of making a massive fire is that
once it gets going, you can burn almost anything, including big, punky
logs that smolder forever, which means you can reserve small, dry wood
for kindling.
During my plane crash survival experience in northern Ontario, I
made a fire that was eventually about 6 feet (1.8 m) long and 4 feet (1.2 m)
high. With a blaze that big and so much heat being generated, I was able to
sit against a nearby tree and fall asleep in the middle of a cold and snowy
winter—without a shelter! There’s little risk of waking up to find a fire this
size cold and dead, and in any case, the mounds of redhot
coals sitting
there can easily be used to get it going again.
The other benefit of a big fire over a small one is that it takes much
more rain or snow to put it out. I’ve had fires going that were so hot they
continued to burn right through a downpour.
Believe it or not, a big fire requires less work and effort to maintain
than a small one. You simply need to add a few large pieces of wood every
once in a while to keep it roaring along. With a small fire, you’ll burn all the
small branches in the area to constantly feed its flames, and you’ll spend a
significant amount of your time and energy finding and collecting these
branches. On top of this, if you need to leave the fire for a while, you run
a real risk of it going out while you’re gone.
A pilot friend of mine once found himself stranded on a beach covered
with driftwood. He made a massive blaze that kept him warm until
rescue. It was the right thing to do.
Preparation
THE GREATEST ENEMY OF A SUCCESSFUL FIRE is your impatience. It is vital that
you are diligent in preparing your fire, though it may seem tedious.
104 | Survive!
An important aspect of fire preparation—especially if you’re using one
of the lastditch
efforts I describe later in this chapter—is making sure you
have enough fuel before you produce a glowing ember or a small flame. You
don’t want to get to the point where you have a flame, only to discover that
you don’t have any tinder or kindling to add to it. This is one of the most frustrating
things that can happen in the wilderness, and it happens all the time.
A strategy I use with my survival students is to have them gather as
much wood as they think they need for the night. Once they’re finished,
and without looking at their pile, I tell them to get five times the amount
they just collected. Even after they have done that, many of them run out of
firewood before morning. It may sound like an exaggeration but it’s true:
most people misjudge their firewood needs by a ratio of five to one.
And don’t take for granted the fact that you have a primary firestarting
method such as a lighter or matches, either. What if your lighter
breaks or your matches get wet? Now the fire you’ve just started may be
the only fire you will ever light. Do not let it die just because you don’t have
enough fuel available.
A big, dry tinder bundle is the key to success, followed by lots of dry
kindling and lots of dry (and if possible, split) wood. You also need to make
sure that your fire doesn’t spread. Clear an area immediately surrounding
your fire pit, particularly if you’re in a wooded or brushcovered
area. You
can even build a wall from damp logs or rocks to both protect your fire from
wind and reflect heat back to you. Remember, however, that wet and porous
rocks (such as those pulled from a river or lake) have been known to explode
violently when heated, so avoid using these very close to (or in) your fire.
Build Your Fire
WHEN IT COMES TO GATHERING FUEL FOR YOUR FIRE, you’ll need tinder, kindling,
and large fuel. Each component is critical, but none more so than tinder.
Tinder: Stages 1 to 3
If you don’t have a lighter or matches and are making a friction fire by, say,
rubbing two sticks together, the step that takes you from glowing ember to
tinder ignition is critical, and one at which many people fail.
Though you shouldn’t discount the tissue in your pants, the pages in
this book, or even the lint in your belly button, your primary source of tinder
in the wilderness will be fluffy, dead, and dry plant material. The greatest
lesson you can learn here is this: Remembering the names of plants
means nothing in a survival situation. What’s important when it comes to
firestarting
are plant characteristics.
When I first learned survival, I was taught that you can ignite milkweed
fluff with a single spark. And it’s true—it goes up like gasoline! But
what I discovered later is that almost any plant with a light, fluffy part (usually
the seed pods, and especially those that will blow easily in the wind)
will do the same thing. Fireweed, various grasses, cattails, and numerous
other plant species throughout the world work too. So rather than looking
for milkweed, look for any plant with the characteristics of milkweed. Shoot
a spark into it and you should have fire.
Don’t get caught up searching for specific plants such as birch bark in
Canada, white cedar bark in Kansas, or coconut husks in the tropics. Rather,
keep your eyes open for plants that have the characteristics of good tinder.
Think “Hey, that coconut husk is hairy and light and fluffy. I wonder if that
works?” Not surprisingly, coconut husk is great tinder.
So, what characteristics should you be looking for in your tinder? Most
important, it should be dry. Damp tinder leads to great frustration . . . and ultimately,
no fire. Tinder also needs to be thin, light, and fluffy. If something has
these characteristics, it will ignite into flame when a spark is introduced.
Note that dry leaves make surprisingly poor tinder. Most dead leaves
need a fair bit of heat to ignite, making them a poor choice for firestarting
without matches or lighter.
I like to divide tinder into three stages. Stage 1 tinder is the lightest,
stroud’s Tip
If you are traveling through an area that has loads of
dry tinder, gather it now, and gather lots. You don’t want
to end up later in a survival location without tinder sources
nearby, regretting that you didn’t fill those big pockets in your
hiking pants when you had the chance.
fluffiest stuff you can find—fine, very thin, even wispy material such as dead
grass, birch bark, Spanish moss, or scraped cedar bark. These materials are
best at capturing a spark or ember when formed into a bird’snestshaped
bundle. Once the bundle catches, you can blow it until it glows and ignites.
Stage 2 tinder is slightly thicker and more substantial than stage 1 tinder,
and includes toothpickthick
bits of wood, pine needles, or thinly peeled
bark such as birch bark. These materials will take the flame you created with
your stage 1 tinder, hold it a little longer, and burn brighter. You can jump
right to this stage if you are lighting your fire with matches or a lighter.
Stage 3 tinder is another baby step up, to the smallest pieces of burnable
material, such as pencilthick
dead and dry twigs. These will take the secondary
flame and hold it even longer than stage 2 tinder. Remember, however,
that although the flame may seem more substantial at this stage, you still don’t
have a fire. Sure, you have a flame, but it would take little to put it out.
The following are other possible sources of tinder:
Bird down: I’ve never used bird down, but it certainly has the characteristics of
good tinder.
Cotton balls: These are fantastic as tinder, and you may have them in your
firstaid
kit (the end of a Qtip
works too). Cotton takes a spark well and
converts it to flame. If you daub a bit of petroleum jelly or lip balm (which also
may be in your firstaid
kit) on the cotton, it will hold the flame longer than
cotton alone.
Lint: This is a favorite in many survival books, but lint is difficult to find in a
survival situation.
Sawdust: You can make a little by cutting wood with your folding saw.
Produces a good stage 2 tinder.
Kindling
Once your stage 3 tinder has caught, you can progress to the kindling level.
Kindling is not as readily combustible as tinder, so don’t use it until you
have a discernible flame.
Kindling generally comprises small twigs and sticks that are thin
enough to burn easily but thick enough to last longer than a few seconds.
You will slowly graduate from those that are about the thickness of a pencil
to those that are the thickness of your thumb.
Fuel
Eventually you will get to the point where you can add large pieces of wood
to your fire. As always, work your way up slowly in terms of thickness. Wristand
forearmthick
wood is the most common type of fuel for survival fires,
but don’t hesitate to add larger pieces of split wood and even logs, as long as
you’ve got a sufficient amount of fuel available and a solid flame.
When selecting wood for fuel (or for any stage of building a fire, for
that matter), choose standing dead trees. They are far drier than anything
else you’ll find in the wild. Avoid wood that’s lying on the ground, because
it will have absorbed a fair bit of moisture from the ground.
Wood is your primary source of fuel, but there are other sources,
including animal droppings, dried grasses, and animal fats.
Animal droppings: Dried dung patties from cows, deer, moose, elephants,
rhinos, or other ungulates (grazing, grasseating
animal) can be very good
for starting and maintaining fires. These are essentially concentrated plant
waste—the natural version of the starter logs and briquettes that are popular
these days. Animal dung doesn’t flame very well, but makes for excellent
coals.
Dried grasses: If you don’t have much large fuel on hand but find yourself
surrounded by grasslands, you can twist grass into tight bundles. By
increasing the density of the grass, you make it more woodlike.
It will
burn quickly, though, so make sure you have lots on hand.
Animal fats: Chances are you won’t have much animal fat available, and
what extra you do have you will likely eat to stay alive. For years, however,
pioneers rendered animal fat such as whale blubber into fuel for their oil
lamps. Long before that, the Inuit people used rendered seal fat to fuel
their quuliit, the soapstone lamps in their igloos.
Maintaining Your Fire
BUILDING YOUR FIRE IS JUST THE FIRST STEP. The second is making sure it
doesn’t go out; otherwise, you will have to start again from scratch. The
For millennia, the Inuit have been using quuliit (seal oil lamps) such as this one to heat
their igloos.
bigger the fire you have (provided you have the fuel), the more likely it will
keep going, even if you get hit with rain or snow, go to sleep, or need to
leave it for a while to carry out other survival tasks.
Should you decide to leave your fire for a few hours, first, make sure
it’s not in an especially windy area, or else you’ll burn through your fuel
too quickly and also increase the risk of starting a forest fire. Try to find a
location that affords at least a little protection for your fire, whether near
rocks or in a place that offers natural protection from the elements. The
exception, of course, is in the case of a signal fire, which should be out in
the open and as visible as possible.
How long you leave your fire largely depends on how much fuel you
have to add to it. If you’ve got plenty of fuel and you have made a big fire,
you should be able to stay away for as long as eight hours and come back
to hot coals, from which you can restart the fire. The smaller the fire, the
less time you’ll be able to stay away.
stroud’s Tip
Once you get a fire going, make it a practice to never
come back to your base camp without a piece of firewood,
even if it’s just one stick. This way you’re always adding to
your firewood stock. We’ve been doing this as a habit in my family
for years. Even when my children were little, they always returned
to the campsite with a twig or stick in their hands.
Resurrect a Fire
CHANCES ARE THAT IF YOU LEAVE your fire for any length of time, you’ll return
to something much smaller than what you left, usually just a pile of hot
coals or a warm bed of ashes. In these cases, it is vital that you have all the
stages of firestarting
materials already on hand, so that you can get the
fire going again immediately.
Just how much your fire has burned down will determine which stage
of tinder (or kindling) you need to get it started again. You should have gathered
what you’ll need before leaving and stored everything in a dry, protected
area. You shouldn’t have to scramble to get your tinder, kindling, and fuel.
I’m amazed sometimes at how far gone a fire can be and still be resurrected
into flame. In the canyonlands of Utah, I awoke to a fire that had
been reduced to nothing but white ash. Rather than sweep off the blanket
of ash to search for hot coals at the bottom (which would have risked putting
them out by cooling them down), I slid the empty cable I had ripped
off my mountain bike into the ash. I then blew gently through the tube,
which supplied oxygen directly to the warmest part of the pile of ash and
coals without removing the protective blanket of ash. The coals began to
glow, then slowly transferred their heat to the other dead coals around
them. Only then did I brush away the ash and gradually begin adding tinder
to the now redhot
coals.
How to Carry Fire
WHEN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES FORCE YOU TO MOVE, taking your fire with you
may save you a lot of trouble in the long run. This is why I recommend
including a coffee tin with a lid in your survival kit. You can put some red
coals and other tinder inside, where it will smolder while you travel. You can
also make a fire bundle, light the end as if it were a large cigar, and carry the
glowing bundle to your next destination.
A fire bundle is a collection of tinder
that begins with the finest material in
the middle and graduates out to the
shell or covering.
Tie the material tightly together into a
cigar shape. Once lit, it should smolder
for hours.
A properly lit fire bundle can last for
days.
Ways to Make Fire
GIVEN THE MANY AND VARIED PURPOSES A FIRE SERVES in a survival situation,
the ability to make one is an important skill. If you’re a dedicated outdoors
person, you should be able to get a fire going just about anywhere, even if
it’s been raining for two straight weeks and even in the pouring rain. If this
sounds daunting, don’t worry, with the right knowledge and training, you
can do it too.
There are several wellknown
methods of making fire—some of them
easier than others—so you’re really limited only by your imagination. Should
you find yourself stranded and with no available firemaking
method, start
thinking like the Professor from Gilligan’s Island, and get creative.
I’ve seen some adventurers make fires by concentrating the rays of the
sun through the concave depression of a teaspoon, and others, by concentrating
the sun’s rays through an ice cube. Ingenious methods, to be sure,
though I wouldn’t want to stake my life on them. That’s why it’s important to
be practiced at several ways of making fire (see “Survival Kits,” Chapter 2).
As with all survival tasks, there are primary and lastditch
tools for
making fire. Primary methods are relatively simple, and will make your
wilderness ordeal easier to survive. Lastditch
implements are well proven
in the field, but they are difficult and finicky, subject to a host of variables
that may not necessarily be in your control.
Here are the primary tools for making fire:
lighter
strikeanywhere
matches
magnesium flint striker
fire piston
Here are some lastditch
tools for making fire:
friction: fire bow, fire plow, and hand drill
sparks: rock and steel, flint and steel, battery
chemicals
the sun’s rays
I used one of the craziest lastditch
methods ever to make a fire in the Kalahari Desert.
I polished the bottom of a pop can with chocolate (which has waxy properties) and sand
to reflect the sun’s rays onto the tinder I’d gathered.
Fire | 113
Primary FireStarting
Tools
Is it cool to know how to make fire using a hand drill or fire bow? Yes, and
these are skills that dedicated outdoors people should know. But survival
is not about proving that you’re some kind of earthskills
guru; it’s about
dedicating your energies to getting home safely or getting rescued. That’s
why, for making fire, nothing compares with a lighter, some solid strikeanywhere
matches, a flint striker, or a fire piston. Even with those items,
building a fire can be a challenge; without those, all bets are off.
Butane Lighter
Nothing compares with a good ’ol butane lighter for starting a fire. As
simple as it may be to make a fire this way, however, there are still a few
considerations.
First of all, make sure that whatever lighter you have is in good working
order, and either waterproof or in a waterproof container. If you fall in
the lake or river with a traditional lighter in your pocket, it won’t function
when you come out. I prefer a fluorescent orange one. Ugly, I know, but
a lot easier to find in a pile of dried leaves than that cool camouflage one
from the outdoors store.
My favorite kinds are the butane lighters that act like little torches
and can’t be extinguished by a gust of wind or a few drops of rain, as can
traditional lighters with other types of fuel. These butane lighters shoot
out a hot jet of blue flame that stands up to the toughest conditions. Note
that over time, lighter fluid will evaporate, and all lighters have a finite life
span: make sure yours has plenty of fuel and use it only when you absolutely
have to. You never know how long you’re going to need it!
Matches
Matches have been starting fires successfully for a long time, so they should
be at least one component of your firemaking
strategy. My preference is
the solid, strikeanywhere
type found in any local hardware store; make sure
you store them in a watertight container. Even though these matches do,
essentially, strike anywhere, provide yourself with a backup by tearing the
striker edge off the side of the box and including it in the container with
your matches.
In outdoors stores you may come across boxes of matches that claim
to be waterproof. Don’t buy these; they’re the biggest ripoff
going! These
matches are tiny and flimsy and come in a little cardboard box with a striker
on the outside edge. If the box gets wet, the striker edge also gets wet, and
now you’ve got nowhere to strike your dainty little waterproof matches.
Magnesium Flint Strikers
Wonderful devices, magnesium flint strikers can be struck anywhere, come
with their own emergency fuel source (the magnesium shavings themselves),
and—best of all—you can get them soaking wet and they still work
like a charm.
But the real beauty of the magnesium flint striker is that it produces a
powerful spray of sparks. If you don’t have any other tinder material available,
you can scrape magnesium shavings off the flint stick itself and light
these with a spark.
Fire Piston
A relatively new addition to my collection of firestarting
devices, the fire
piston gives me the ability to start a fire quickly and easily. In a nutshell,
the fire piston works because heat is generated when air is compressed.
The fire piston is made up of three components: an outer barrel, a
plunger with a hollow tip, and a gasket. Insert a small piece of tinder (usually
a dry, punky wood bit) into the hollow tip of the plunger, which fits
into the barrel. Then thrust the plunger down one (or more) times and the
tinder should ignite. The compression of the air inside creates the heat
that ignites the tinder.
Fire pistons are not without their drawbacks: they are a little bigger
and bulkier than other primary firestarting
methods, and their success relies
heavily on a gasket, which can get worn out or lost. And although all firestarting
methods require the right selection of tinder, the fire piston seems
dependent on it. You need the right type, and it has to be very dry. But if your
other option is a lastditch
firestarting
method, opt for the fire piston.
Lighting a Fire with a
Magnesium Flint Striker
1. Use a knife or similar hard object to shave a pile of magnesium off the striker. The pile
should be about the size of a nickel, and 1/4 of an inch (0.5 cm) high.
2. Strike a spark into the filings for a fast, hot flame.
LastDitch
FireStarting
Tools
Once you’ve exhausted the primary tools of starting a fire, you now have to
turn to what I call the lastditch
efforts. Other books and survival instructors
call these primitive tools: they were used by our ancestors thousands of
years ago. If you have no choice but to make a fire by one of these methods,
rest assured that they do work, although you may pay for your flame
in blood, sweat, and tears.
Charred Cloth
One of my favorite ways to make fire is to char cloth. Making charred
cloth is a bit of a chickenandegg
exercise, because you actually need
fire first. But once you have created charred cloth, it will go a long way
toward saving your matches or lighter fluid, as you need only a single
spark to reignite it.
As the name indicates, you need cloth to make charred cloth. Linen
is the traditional fabric of choice, but I use 100percent
cotton and it works
well. Punky wood or bark can be used instead of cloth. Either way, your
fabric must be natural; synthetics won’t work. Your piece should be a few
inches square.
Take a can with a tightfitting
lid and punch a small hole in each end.
Put the cloth inside the can and place the can in the coals of a fire. Make
sure the cloth inside does not ignite, or you’ll be left with nothing in the
can but a small pile of ashes. As the cloth begins to heat up, it emits gases
that fill the interior of the can, driving out the air. These gases are vented
through the holes, appearing as small jets of flame. This will be followed,
eventually, by smoke.
When the smoke subsides, turn the can over to ensure even charring
of the cloth (this momentarily increases the amount of smoke coming out
of the holes in the can). When the smoke again dies down, the process is
finished and the can should be removed from the fire. At this point, plug
the holes with twigs to create a tightfitting
seal. If air gets into the can
while it is still hot, your cloth will ignite and burn.
After the can has cooled (wait at least 10 minutes), open it and remove
the charred cloth. If properly charred, it should be uniformly black.
Making a Charred Cloth
1. You will need a can, a punctured lid, and a fire.
2. Place the closed can on the fire. Once you see flame coming out of the can’s holes,
you’re nearing the end of the process. Smoke will soon follow, signaling that you
should remove the can from the coals.
3. Allow the can to cool, then open it up. It doesn’t look like much, but this charred
cloth is ready to take a new spark . . . and re-ignite easily the next time you want to
start a fire.
The magic of charred cloth is that when a spark hits it, a tiny red ember
on the cloth slowly grows larger. The ember is virtually impossible to blow
out and will increase in intensity if oxygen is introduced. It’s relatively easy
to start a fire with charred cloth, and it allows you to save your primary fire-
starting tools for circumstances when you need them most.
While surviving beside a downed plane in northern Ontario, I made a
small container from some thin metal I had found inside the plane. I then
ripped canvas from the body of the plane, placed it in the metal container,
and charred the cloth by putting the container in a fire. Later, when I needed
to make a new fire, I struck a rock I had found in a creek bed against the back
of my axe to throw a spark into the charred cloth. It gave me the ember I
needed to build a new fire.
If you don’t have a metal container, you can also char cloth by partially
burning small strips of cotton and quickly smothering them in dry
sand or soil.
Flint and Steel
There are many ways of generating sparks. One way is to strike a flint rock
(such as I found in the creek bed) or other hard, sharpedged
rock with a
piece of highcarbon
steel.
Friction
Of the lastditch
efforts, the most common are the three methods of making
a friction fire, or “rubbing two sticks together.” These are the fire bow,
the hand drill, and the fire plow. The hand drill and fire plow are advanced
skills, so I do not cover them here. The fire bow is a method you can
employ effectively, though not easily, if caught in a survival ordeal.
beforestroud’s Tip
What type of fire warms twice? The friction fire. It
not only keeps you warm once you get it going, but also
warms you while you’re trying to make it, even in the winter.
But try to sweat as little as possible while building your fire. Anticipate
the fact that you’ll be working hard for the next little while,
and remove layers of clothing as necessary you start sweating.
Fire Bow
The fire bow is an effective lastditch
firestarting
method, but it depends
very much on the availability of the necessary materials.
Components: The fire bow is made up of four components: the baseboard,
the spindle, the bearing block, and the bow.
The baseboard is the part of your fire bow that eventually produces
the smoldering mound of wood dust that will (hopefully) start your fire.
You can use various types of wood depending on your geographic location,
but in my home location in northcentral
Canada, I prefer semisoft
woods
such as cedar, poplar, aspen, or basswood.
Choosing the proper wood for the baseboard is critical because
the spindle, a long stick that rubs against the baseboard, will grind
the baseboard away as you spin. Some instructors prefer a hardwood
spindle because they feel it’s more effective at grinding the baseboard.
Personally, I prefer semisoft
wood for both pieces, because then you’re
grinding not only the baseboard but also the spindle, possibly producing
double the wood dust for your effort. Choosing a wood for a friction
fire mostly comes down to what works for you. To test if a wood
is semisoft,
jam your thumbnail into the wood. If it makes an impression,
it’s semisoft
or soft.
After practice, the most important aspect of making a proper friction
fire is finding the right kind of wood. This is where a little local knowledge
goes a long way. How else would you know that the dry saguaro cactus
makes a great frictionfire
fuel, or that if you’re in the boreal forest of
northern Ontario you’re better off using poplar, cedar, aspen, or birch than
pine, which is so full of resin that it polishes instead of burns?
Your spindle should be as straight as possible. The spindle will turn rapidly
as you move your bow, creating friction on the baseboard. The size of the
spindle is up to you, but I typically shoot for one 8 inches (20 cm) in length and
as thick as my thumb. Make sure the wood you use is dead and dry.
Most people use branches because these are naturally the right size
and shape. In fact, the molecules inside a tree branch are tighter together
than those throughout the rest of the tree, making the wood a bit harder.
By comparison, the heartwood of the tree—the wood right in the middle
of the trunk—is softer. Therefore, you’re better off finding a downed tree,
breaking off a piece, and carving it into a spindle. Basswood branches
(dead and dry ones) are superb spindles.
The bearing block is the part of your fire bow that you use to apply
weight and pressure to the top of your spindle. Many things can be used
for this purpose, but I like a piece of rock with a small indentation knocked
into it, where the spindle can sit.
You might also consider using a piece of bone; the kneeknuckle
bones
of a deer or other ungulate work well. Travelers often use a piece of wood as
the bearing block, but if you do so, lubricate the point where the spindle contacts
the bearing block so that it doesn’t grab. Beeswax, ear wax, pine pitch, or
oil from your skin or hair can all serve as lubricants in a pinch.
My friend and fellow survival instructor Doug Getgood was once
using a piece of wood as his bearing block and accidentally got the ember
forming in the bearing block instead of the baseboard, likely because the
bearing block was softer than the baseboard. Accepting the circumstances,
he turned the whole set upside down and got his fire going that way.
The bow ties your entire fire bow drill together. It can be any kind of
wood, as long as it’s strong and has a slight bend to it. Hopefully you’ve got
some kind of parachute cord or other strong rope, shoelace, or string on hand.
If you don’t, you may have to resort to making your own, which is an extremely
slow and laborious process (see “Essential Survival Skills,” Chapter 14).
The Fire Bow
bearing block
spindle
fire bow
baseboard
tinder
Fire Bow Components
Various baseboards, each of which An alternative twostick
method for the
successfully resulted in fire with the baseboard (courtesy of Allan “Bow” Beaufire
bow. champ): instead of making a notch in
the base, simply place the spindle in the
groove of the two branches, and the dust
will fall through.
A bearing block can be made from almost
anything, as long as the material is heavy
and allows you to bear down on the spindle.
Fire bows, with some handmade
cord made from basswood bark.
They’re different shapes, sizes, and types
of wood, but these spindles all worked.
The Process: As with any firemaking
method, preparation is the key to
success in making a fire bow. Once you have your four components ready,
make sure your tinder bundle is as big as possible, at least the size of a
fivepin
bowling ball. Fibrous materials like scraped cedar bark tend to
work best.
Then get comfortable and settle in for what may be a long process: it
can take from minutes to hours. You don’t want to get halfway through—
just to the point where you’re getting wisps of smoke—and realize you’re
kneeling on a rock and can’t take the pain any longer. Also, ensure that
nothing will inhibit the motion of the bow.
stroud’s Tip
There are two schools of thought on where to put
your tinder pile with the fire bow. One says that you should
have a small piece of leaf or bark under the baseboard to catch
your ember, which you then transfer to your tinder pile. I feel this
just adds an extra step to the process, as well as the risk that you’ll
drop the ember, or that it will go out, or be blown by the wind.
I prefer to put my tinder directly under the notchedout
hole in
the baseboard, so that the ember falls right where it’s intended to
go. Put the finest tinder in the center, just below the notch. Make
sure that you pat down the tinder bundle enough that it doesn’t
sneak up and get caught in the spindle during the spinning process.
Rest the baseboard on the tinder bundle to flatten it out (make sure the ground
isn’t damp!). Your body should be positioned such that if you drove a steel rod
straight down through the top of your shoulder blade, it would go through the
back of your hand, through the spindle, and right down to the baseboard.
Place one foot—the one opposite the bowing arm—on the baseboard
and start slowly with a fluid backandforth
motion, applying gentle
pressure to the bearing block. Don’t forget to breathe! Focus on your
breathing and establish an even rhythm.
I find that placing a bare foot on the baseboard gives me a better
feel and more control than a pair of boots. By wearing boots you also run
the risk of accidentally kicking the baseboard when you decide it’s time to
transfer your ember to your tinder pile. But comfort is important here, so
wear what feels right.
Once you have achieved a slow, fluid motion (it’s all about the feel), and
as you get comfortable with the process, gradually build up your speed, pushing
down a little harder on the bearing block. Eventually, you will find that
you’re spinning as fast and pushing as hard as you can, without the spindle
binding or popping out on you.
At this point, three of your senses play a critical role: touch, hearing,
and sight. You want to feel a grinding going on between the spindle and the
baseboard. You should also be listening carefully to the sound you’re producing.
You don’t want to hear chirping, squawking, or squeaking, which indicate
that you’re polishing the wood, not grinding it. If that occurs, stop and
roughen (or chip) the hole and the end of the spindle to increase the friction
between them. If the noise continues, this may mean that you have chosen
the wrong type of wood for one of your components.
After this, your sight comes into play. You’ll see fine wisps of smoke
appearing in the baseboard. This is your cue not to stop but rather to keep
going using maximum speed and pressure. At some point, the smoke you
see will not be from the grinding of the spindle into the baseboard but
from the ember that has formed in the clump of wood dust in the baseboard.
The curl of smoke you see then will be thicker and whiter than the
wisps you first noticed while spinning the spindle.
What if you’re not alone? It takes time to establish the rhythm, but
doing the fire bow with two people can be more effective that with one
person alone. One person assumes the standard solo position and holds
the bearing block, with the other in a comfortable position facing his
or her partner. Each person holds an end of the bow, pushing or pulling
as required. If you can master the rhythm, the twoperson
method
allows you to spin much faster and longer than if you are by yourself.
stroud’s Tip
Don’t let your forehead sweat drip onto the ember
you’re creating. This can put it out!
The Grand Finale: One of the most common (and significant) mistakes
people make with the fire bow is at the end of the process. They’ll get the
smoke and the ember, then blow it by trying to make the fire as fast as they
can because they think the ember is going to burn out. You don’t have to
jump up like a jackrabbit; the ember is not going to burn out in a matter
of seconds. You’ve put a lot of kinetic energy into that glowing mass, and
if you treat it right, it will smolder for a while.
So once you’re pretty confident that you have an ember down there,
pull away slowly and cautiously, all the while holding the baseboard down
with your hands to make sure you don’t upset it when you take your foot
away. You’ll need to transfer the ember to the tinder pile very carefully.
Slide your hands underneath the tinder bundle, and gently close it
around the ember, being careful not to suffocate it. (You will likely be shaking
from exhaustion at this point, which is normal.) Essentially, you’re creating a
mini-furnace in the middle of the tinder pile. Blow softly onto the pile until the
heat from the ember transfers onto the tinder and catches the tinder itself.
Blow slowly at first. Once you’ve got a glowing red ping-pong-ball-
sized mass inside the tinder pile, you won’t likely blow it out, so you can
begin blowing more vigorously.
At this point you should be ready to transfer your tinder pile to your
fire pit, where you can begin to add stage 2 and 3 tinder, followed by small,
dry kindling.
The Fire Bow Method
1. Make a fire bow using a piece
of wood with a slight bend in it
and any piece of cord (shoelace,
string, rope, etc.).
2. Next, prepare the baseboard by
making a small indentation for
the spindle to grind into.
3. Cut the spindle on each end like
a pointed crayon.
4. Loop the spindle in the fire bow
string. The string should be
tense, but not too tight or too
loose.
5. Grip the string and bow as
shown so that you can adjust
the tension. As I push and pull
the bow, I like to feel the string
with my fingers, which allows
me to tighten the pressure on it
as needed. Be sure to spin the
spindle only enough to make a
small indentation.
6. Your body position, the string tension,
and the smoothness of your
motion are critical to success with
the fire bow. You should be able
to drive an imaginary straight
line down through the shoulder of
the arm holding the fire bow, your
hand, and the spindle. Get the
feel of the motion while “seating”
the spindle in the indentation.
7. Note how the black wood dust
that was created by the spinning
has spread around the hole, with
no place to go to form an ember.
8. Cut a notch into the baseboard,
next to the indentation, to give
the hot dust a place to fall and
catch a spark. Note how the
notch nearly reaches the center
of the indentation.
9. Put the finest tinder under the
indentation, just below the notch.
Surround the rest of your baseboard
with stage 1 tinder.
10. Return to the action position
described in Step 6, and begin to
spin again while slowly increasing
the downward pressure on the
spindle through the bearing block.
11. When smoke begins to form, this
is your signal to give it all you’ve
got. Once the actual ember
forms, the curl of smoke you see
will be thicker and whiter than
the wisps you first noticed when
spinning the spindle.
12. Lift the baseboard slowly and
carefully, and transfer the ember
from the notch in the baseboard
to the middle of the stage 1
tinder pile.
13. You might find that the ember
sticks to the baseboard. The best
way to dislodge it is to give the
board a couple of light taps or
a nudge with a twig, so that the
ember breaks away and falls into
the tinder bundle.
14. Gently lift the tinder bundle.
15. Blow into the tinder pile from
underneath (as if you are praying
to the fire gods), so you don’t
burn your hands. If you’re lucky,
the tinder will ignite into flame.
16. But remember: it’s only a flame!
You don’t have a fullfledged
fire yet. Carefully transfer the
flame to your stage 2 tinder.
Other LastDitch
FireStarting
Methods
There are a variety of other lastditch
techniques for starting fires. All of these
require supplies that you may not normally carry, but as long as you’ve got sufficient
tinder, you can get a roaring blaze going with any of these methods.
Provided you have a lens or some type of highly reflective object, you
can use the rays of the sun to make a fire. You can find lenses in binoculars,
cameras, telescopic sights, and magnifying glasses, but don’t limit yourself.
As I mention earlier, I’ve seen people get fires started by concentrating the
rays of the sun off the inside of a teaspoon, or through an ice cube.
Clearly, the success of these methods requires a bright, sunny day
and usually intense sun. Your tinder pile is also critical: you’ll have no luck
igniting a pile of twigs or objects of similar size, so make sure you’ve got
light, dry tinder material. Angle the lens to concentrate the sun’s rays on a
single spot on the tinder until it begins to smolder.
Another way to get a fire going is with steel wool and batteries. To
get a hot, glowing ember quickly, simply run two batteries end to end in
series so that the positive end of one is contacting the negative end of the
other. You can use any type of battery that has a positive point on one end
and a negative point on the other, but D cells work the best.
Stretch out the steel wool so that it contacts each of the battery terminals.
Almost instantly, the steel will puff up and ignite. Make sure you
have your tinder pile at the ready, because this all happens very quickly!
Finally, there are ways to make fire from various chemical combinations,
although you have to be sure that your combination won’t produce a noxious
gas that will leave you gasping for air—or worse. In the past, I’ve had great success
using potassium permanganate combined with sugar.
To become adept at any of these methods, whether primary or lastditch,
it makes sense to take time to practice them. I acquired these skills
over the course of several summers. Each year, I chose a different firestarting
method and that would be the only way I would make fire during
my camping trips that season. One summer I allowed myself to use only
a flint striker; the next, I used only a piece of rock and steel; and the next,
only the fire bow. By practicing this on safe, easy camping trips (I was an
outdoors adventure guide for many years) and through repeated efforts, I
finely honed these skills.
In Africa I used a small vial of potassium permanganate and glycerin to make a fire.
The tinder is rhino dung.
Dried animal dung makes a great fire Believe it or not, dry dung doesn’t smell
starter because it has all the characterwhen
burned.
istics of good tinder.
Making Fire in the Rain and Snow
MAKING FIRE WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE can be difficult enough
when the weather is dry. Add a constant rain, and most people just give up.
Don’t! With a little forethought and diligence, you can get a fire going—
and keep it going—even under these conditions.
The first trick is finding dry material in the rain, particularly tinder and
kindling. This is possible, if you know what to look for and where to look.
First, you need to search for materials that are protected by natural shelter.
This means looking under overhangs, in animal holes and dens, in caves, and
in rotted logs. Holes or crevices are where you have your best chance of finding
dry tinder and kindling.
If you’re not able to find tinder and kindling, though, you should be
able to make it. Here’s where having a folding saw and belt knife really
comes in handy.
First, look for forearmthick
branches. Cut off a section about a foot
(30 cm) long. You might be surprised to find that other than the outer 1/8
inch (3.5 mm) the rest of the wood is dry. Now you need to split it.
You can then take some of those twigs and make fine wood shavings
from them. Soon you’ll have a pile of a dry tinder and kindling, all
of which you’ve made from one forearmthick
branch in the pouring rain
(see next page).
Fire Ingenuity
WHILE SURVIVING BESIDE A DOWNED PLANE IN NORTHERN ONTARIO, I was able
to make fire with gasoline from the busted gas tank, two long strips of
metal from the frame of the plane, the plane’s battery, and some tinder.
I touched each metal strip to a battery terminal, then brought the
other ends together to create a spark. At first I was trying to spark the liquid,
which didn’t work. But when I remembered about the fumes, I put a
cloth on top of the cup of gas (which allowed the fumes to concentrate),
then sparked the air space above the liquid. Without matches, and with
barely 2 ounces (59 ml) of gasoline, a battery, and some metal, I successfully
made fire.
Splitting Wood with a Knife
1. Stand the branch on its end andplace the blade of your belt knife (or
a sharp object such as a stone) on
the top center of the log.
2. Strike the back of your blade with a
heavy object, preferably wood or
bone, knocking it farther down until
the wood eventually splits.
3. Hit the tip of the knife once it becomes 4. Using this method, you can continue to
embedded in the wood. split the wood into successively thinner
pieces, all of which will be completely dry.
A variation on this method also worked in the middle of the Kalahari
Desert. I had no gas this time, but took some local tinder and formed it
into a tight bundle, soaked it in oil from the vehicle’s oil filter, and placed
it on top of the battery, where I again crossed the terminals with a piece of
metal for a spark . . . and got fire.
Duct tape holds a flame like a candle and is a great way to get and
keep your fire going. Road flares too can be used. And lip balm or petroleum
jelly daubed on cotton also takes and holds a flame well.
RegionSpecific
Fire Considerations
FIREISSUBJECT TOTHEVAGARIESOFGEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. What works as
fuel in one place may not work at all in another. Here again, local knowledge
and expertise help tremendously.
In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, I used some bits of mesquite wood
in one of my fires. I was surprised to find that a small fire there lasted a
very long time, much longer than a similarsized
fire would have lasted in
the boreal forest. There were a number of variables at play.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Although making and maintaining fire in these regions is compromised by
the fact that often there is a significant lack of fuel (particularly wood), the good
news is that whatever fuel you can find is usually already dead and very dry, so
it burns well. Dried cactuses, for example, are an excellent source of fuel. The
irony is that in the desert you usually find the best wood to make the easiest
fire during the heat of the day, when the need for fire is almost nonexistent.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Perhaps the greatest advantage offered by these regions is the readily available
supply of fuel. The trick is to be aware that sooner or later it’s going to
rain, so gather your material when you have the chance and try to shelter
and protect it as best you can.
Lowlying,
gnarly pine shrubs and trees are renowned for the incredible
amount of sap they build up. These are very flammable and make great
stage 2 tinder when shaved down with a belt knife.
The bark of the cedar tree is a good source of tinder. Squirrels, chipmunks, and other
rodents will scrape the bark of these trees into a light fluff and use it for their nests.
You can create this same type of fluff by scraping cedar bark with the back of your
knife blade or a rock.
Tinder fungi grow on birch
trees in temperate forests.
Tinder fungi are large, black,
and lumpy on the outside,
orangebrown
on the inside.
They catch a spark very well
and are a great firestarting
material.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Believe it to not, you can get a fire going in these regions, although it’s
likely not going to be a big one (unless you’re on the coast and have ample
driftwood on hand, see below). One of the reasons why the Inuit are so
accustomed to eating raw food is that they can’t build big fires.
But even on the tundra, it’s surprising how many twigs and small
scrub bushes you can find if you look hard enough.
In addition, mosses in the Arctic burn reasonably well, provided
they’re sufficiently dry. Inuit have used seal oil lamps for thousands of
years, so that’s an option as well.
Jungles
Rain is your biggest threat to fire in the jungle, where it can easily fall for
10 or 12 hours a day. The challenge, then, is to shelter your fire.
Even so, any fire you get in the jungle isn’t likely to be a roaring one.
The general dampness of the area and the restricted availability of dry fuel
will limit you to a small fire. But fire will still provide you with a psychological
boost, warmth if needed, and the ability to cook your food—and it
may help keep the animals away.
Coastal Regions
Driftwood is a godsend in coastal regions, and often there is lots of it.
Although some of it will be very dry, don’t assume it will all be so. In my
experience, at least half of all driftwood is waterlogged and unusable as
firewood.
T
he controversy over what is the most pressing initial
survival task will continue as long as there are survival stories to
be told. After you have calmed down and assessed your situation,
your priorities will shift among several needs, depending on the variables
involved. Water is crucial—without it you won’t live long—but you can
survive for quite some time without food. And in some circumstances, I
have lasted many days without bothering to make a fire. But if the deck is
stacked against you in terms of the elements, nothing will kill you quicker
than lack of shelter. Remember, however, that searchers have a much more
difficult time finding victims who have made a shelter, which is, after all,
the perfect camouflage.
You don’t need a log cabin to call home in these situations (though it
would be nice). Your shelter can be extremely simple. But there’s no question
that you will need something—anything—to shelter you, beginning
on your first night. Though the primary purpose of shelter is to protect you
from the elements, it offers other advantages. It gives you a place to store
and protect your supplies. A shelter also provides psychological comfort
when you’re facing the possibility of a predator attack. In reality, it would
take a matter of seconds for an aggressive 600hundredpound
bear to tear
apart a tent, but there’s something about that thin piece of nylon between
us and the wilderness that makes us feel safe.
Although shelters are not barriers against wildlife, they can be deterrents.
Even a flimsy nylon tent or roof of pine boughs may serve to confuse
the animal long enough to buy you time to decide your next move . . . at
least that’s the hope. In Africa, for example, I used thorn bushes to build a
5foothigh
(1.5 m) thorn corral that effectively deterred curious lions from
getting too close. If the lions really had wanted to get me, the corral would
not have stopped them, despite the fact that thorns in Africa can grow to
be 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) long!
A survival partnerincrime
with me for many an adventure, Doug
Getgood, relates this next story: “During a survival course I was on in Utah,
a group of students went to sleep in a substantial brush shelter, big enough
to fit a number of people. In the middle of the night, a large black bear
crept into the shelter, reached over two students and grabbed the one that
was ‘just right.’ Nobody even awoke until they heard her screams and she
was already halfway out the door, with the bear’s mouth clamped around
her ankle. They eventually scared off the bear, but clearly it had no fear and
understood the purpose of the door!”
Humans are creatures of habit, so one of the most comforting qualities
we can hope for in a survival situation is familiarity. As soon as you
realize you’re lost, your entire world becomes unfamiliar, intimidating,
and scary. A shelter gives you “home.” And the sooner you start undertaking
familiar tasks and routines, the sooner you begin to build confidence
and overcome your fear. Creating a shelter, big or small, is a significant
accomplishment that will boost both your mental and physical wellbeing.
You can also use a shelter as a place in which to plan operations, or as a
workshop for making survival aids.
Exactly what type of shelter you should build depends on your surroundings,
the time of year, the climate, and the expected length of your
ordeal. You’re not going to make an Aframe,
smalllog
shelter in the sand
dunes of a desert, and you can’t build an igloo in the jungle. The ability to
make a successful shelter is not about memorizing methods thrown at you
in a book. It’s about understanding the basic characteristics of a good survival
shelter, and then using your abilities to improvise and invent.
One of my first survival teachers, Dave Arama, says, “Most lost persons
become lost very late in the day . . . therefore, the ability to improvise
and build quickly, and have shelter items in a survival kit, are critical.”
The first order of business is to look around at your supplies and
what the surroundings provide and decide what you can use, break, cut,
make, or put together that will give you shelter. Sometimes you just get
lucky. In Africa, I landed on the ground in a hotair
balloon in a mixed
forest and plains area. The parachute material from the balloon provided
plenty of waterproof roofing for a shelter that I made with the balloon’s
basket. I was even able to design a hammock from the fabric to keep me
off the ground at night, and a blanket to keep me warm.
Take stock of all the manmade
materials you have on hand, and don’t be squeamish about
destroying what you have if you can use it to make something that will keep you alive.
The Importance of Site Selection
THE FIRST DECISION YOU’LL MAKE with regard to a shelter—no matter
how long you think you’ll need it—is where to put it. Even if you have
all the right materials, building your shelter in the wrong place could
be a fatal mistake.
The first time I made a survival film, I flew to a beautiful area in
Ontario known as Wabakimi. I built my shelter in a spot I figured would
work both for filming and survival: close to a smooth rock outcropping on
a small remote lake. It worked great . . . for a few nights. Then the wind
turned on me and my shelter became a wind tunnel. I spent one entire
night pacing on the outcropping and doing pushups
to try to avoid hypothermia.
My poor choice of shelter location was the reason I had to endure
that horrible night. Well, that and the fact that I hadn’t been diligent in
ensuring that my shelter was sealed off and had a tightfitting
door!
What do you need to consider in selecting a site? First, choose a spot
that is relatively flat and free of loose rocks. And as my buddy and premier
desert survival expert David Holladay says, always remember the five W’s:
widowmakers, water, wigglies, wind, and wood.
I spent one long and miserable night in the “wind tunnel” shelter in the Wabakimi area
of northern Ontario.
Widowmakers: Widowmakers are the standing dead trees just waiting to
come down in the next big wind storm. It can be dangerous to build your
shelter in the midst of widowmakers—though you may not have a choice.
Water: Your shelter needs to be as close as possible to a source of drinking
water; the farther you have to travel for water, the more energy and precious
calories you burn in doing so. That said, you shouldn’t choose an otherwise
poor location—for example, the coldest or buggiest spot in the valley—just for
the water source. Try to balance the proximity to water with other factors.
And while you want to be close to a source of drinking water, make
sure you don’t build your shelter where the water will get to you, such as
in a dry streambed that may fill the next time it rains, or in any depression
that may turn into a puddle. Remember, flash floods kill more people each
year than most other natural occurrences.
Wigglies: Build your shelter in a
place that keeps you as far as possible
from the wigglies: biting,
stinging, slithering, and crawling
creatures such as snakes, spiders,
and ants. In the Amazon, the bullet
ant—which the Waorani call
the Maunyi—grows to be nearly
2 inches (5 cm) long and sports
a massive pair of mandibles. Jim
Yost, my guide and Waorani interpreter,
describes the painful bite/
sting combination of the bullet
ant this way: “Imagine jamming
a scorchinghot
pair of pliers into
your skin, squeezing and twisting
them as hard as possible, and
keeping them there for at least
five hours.” The Waorani fear this Bullet ants live in colonies of about 60
more than a snakebite; they know occupants. They will attack humans if
that three to six stings from the their nests are disturbed.
Maunyi can knock a full-grown man to the ground, if not kill him. So avoid
building close to anthills because ants and snakes use these as shelters.
Weather/Wind: Protection from the wind is a critical consideration in site
selection, for of all the elements, wind is the most likely to cause hypothermia.
It will slice through your temporary home no matter how well-built it is.
Build your shelter in a location that is as protected as possible. If you’re in hilly
terrain, make sure your site is on the leeward (downwind) side of a rise.
Wood: Assuming you are surviving in a part of the world that offers wood,
choose a spot that is close to it, both for building and for burning.
Beyond the five Ws, temperature is an important consideration when
selecting a site. If you’re in hilly terrain and seeking warmth, it’s typically
better to pick a spot about three-quarters of the way up a hill. Cold air settles
in the valleys at night, and the hilltops are often windy; both will chill
you in the middle of the night.
Another place to avoid putting up a shelter (in Africa especially) is under
or next to a fruit tree. Fruit attracts insects and animals, and ripe fruit will
fall on your shelter interfering with much-needed sleep. Bird droppings will
mess up your survival area. Avoid building on or near animal trails because
passing creatures might destroy your shelter and possibly hurt you.
Remember that time of year and geographic location will play a large
part in determining the ideal location for your shelter. You will want to
choose a location that is close to a source of drinking water, and in warm
regions or in summer, as free from insects as possible. In cold regions or in
stroud’s Tip
Don’t get hung up on what kind of shelter to
build. Anything that keeps you warm, dry, and protected is
a good shelter, regardless of the design. Remember, though,
that shelters made from forest materials are camouflaged and
difficult to see from above—not a good thing when there’s a chance
that passing planes are looking for you.
the winter, seek a site that offers protection from the cold prevailing winds,
is close to wood for fuel, and has direct sun exposure.
Shelter Construction Basics
Step 1: The Bed
When you are ready to build your shelter, don’t make the mistake of starting
with the frame. You’re better off creating your bed and then building
your shelter around it. Why? First, with this approach you’ll have lots of
room to build the bed, rather than constructing in the cramped confines
of your shelter. Second, you’ll be able to correctly size your bed and, as a
result, your shelter. One of the most common mistakes travelers make in
building their first shelter is making it too small. More times than I can
remember, people I’ve known have made the bed too small, built a terrific
shelter around it, then crawled inside, only to look down and see their feet
sticking out the door!
It’s also important to create distance between you and the ground,
either by elevating your bed or by putting as much material as you can
underneath you. This step is vital! Aside from the wind, nothing will suck
the heat out of your body more quickly than sleeping on the ground.
If you have wood available, you can get yourself off the ground by starting with a layer of logs.
Your next step is to cover those logs with your insulation/bedding layer. This can be made
of almost anything, as long as it’s somewhat soft and provides loft. Boughs, grass, or
leaves work well in many environments. Snow and boughs work well in the winter.
148 | Survive!
You can use almost any type of material available for your insulation/
bedding, but be careful not to choose a poisonous plant such as poison ivy,
or anything that’s infested with insects that are likely to feast on you during
the night. Be careful even when gathering materials (such as grass), as
you could be disturbing a poisonous snake or spider. Poke long grass with
a stick before reaching in with your bare hands.
Whatever you use for your insulation/bedding layer, you should use
much, much more than you think necessary. You might put down 6 inches
(15 cm) of spruce boughs or leaves and grass, but once you roll around on
them all night, they’ll flatten down to almost nothing and you’ll be lying
on the hard ground again before daylight.
Most people don’t change their bedding during a survival ordeal,
although changing it may not be a bad idea (provided you’ve got the
materials) if you’re stuck somewhere for a very long time. Regularly
replacing your bedding gives you a sense of pride in your surroundings,
a continued level of comfort, and keeps your mind occupied, satisfying
the allimportant
psychological aspect of survival.
The Cree of northern Quebec have a weaving method for evergreen boughs that renders
their floor and bedding soft. They replace it often for freshness.
Step 2: The Shelter Frame
Once your bed is built, it’s time to turn your attention to the frame of your
shelter. No matter what type of shelter you decide to build, keep in mind
these key points:
Don’t underestimate the importance of the roof’s pitch. A flat roof is very difficult to keep
from leaking. The steeper the pitch the better.
The pitch of the roof should be steep enough to shed rain and snow easily.
This is especially important if you don’t have a piece of plastic, such as a tarp,
as part of your roof.
The roof should be strong enough that it will hold the weight of whatever
insulation materials you’re going to use along with any snow that may fall on
it. A sign of a great shelter is that it can support your weight (although that’s
not always necessary).
Insulation is important as it will keep the heat where it belongs—inside the shelter.
After your roof and walls are built, insulate them with anything and everything you
can get your hands on, the thicker and fluffier (i.e., the “loftier”) the better.
Pay attention to your body while constructing your shelter. Building is one of
the most strenuous tasks in a survival situation, so don’t wear yourself out.
Stop often to rest, drink water on a regular basis, if your supply allows, and if
it’s cold outside, pace yourself so that you don’t sweat too much.
The boughs of evergreen trees work well as roof insulation, as do plant fluff, grass,
leaves, bark, moss, fur, or even snow.
Step 3: Windproofing and Waterproofing
Windproofing and waterproofing a survival shelter is difficult, particularly
if you don’t have some sort of plastic sheeting. Increasing the pitch
of the roof helps substantially, as does using whatever material you have
available as shingles.
Shingling a Shelter: There are many ways to shingle a shelter, depending
on the materials you have at hand.
To shingle a shelter, start at
the bottom and apply each
subsequent layer of roofing
material (bark works best)
by slightly overlapping the
previous layer.
Large strips of birch bark can
be very useful as roofing.
Always enclose your shelter
to make it as windproof as
possible.
Fire in Your Shelter
Your shelter’s primary purposes are to keep you warm and to increase your
sense of wellbeing,
and there is no better way to achieve these goals than
to build a fire inside. This isn’t possible in all shelters, however, and you’ll
need to be very careful even where it is possible. But should conditions
permit, it’s worth the effort to use this technique in a survival situation. An
inside fire takes you one step up from feeling like an animal in a hole.
If you’re planning to have a fire inside your shelter, you’ll have to
create the space for it before you do anything else, even before making a
bed. Clear an area for your fire pit against a boulder, sand embankment, or
a few bowlingballsized
rocks you’ve moved together, as any of these will
help to reflect heat into the shelter. Create a barrier between the fire and
your bed area with rocks (best option), dirt, or wet and punky logs. When
building the frame for the shelter, make a smoke hole in the roof, allow
for the height of the flames, and ensure that no combustible material is
directly above it or close enough to catch fire. Oxygen should be able enter
the shelter to get to the fire without blowing across your body. Finally, create
a space to pile and protect your collected firewood. See “Fire,” Chapter
6, for more on building fires within your shelter.
The benefit of a fire in your shelter is that it will keep you warm and
comforted at night or when trapped inside due to storms. Although the fire
will not be big (a long, narrow fire along a rock face will keep the length
of your body warm), it requires serious effort. Shelter fires need to be fed
constantly with small pieces of dry wood, so you’ll sleep very little. You
sleep 20 minutes; the fire dies, you get cold; you wake up and feed the fire
. . . and so on until the first rays of sun bring you the relief you have been
praying for all night.
stroud’s Tip
Build your shelter big enough that you fit comfortably in it
without feeling claustrophobic, but to maximize your shelter’s
heat retention, don’t make it so large that you have extra air
space to keep warm. Also, build your door as small as possible and
lower in elevation than your bed (particularly important in the cold).
Heated Ground Shelter
An aggressive and calorieburning
(yet effective) way to keep your shelter
warm without a fire inside is to build a fire in the place where your
shelter will be (on a large, flat rock is perfect). While your large fire burns
throughout the day, prepare the materials you will need to construct your
bed, walls, and roof.
As day turns to night, let your fire die down and cover the hot coals
with an inch (2.5 cm) of soil or sand. Construct your shelter and mattress
directly over this spot. Heat will emanate from the coals throughout the night,
keeping you toasty and warm. If you have built your shelter on a large, flat
rock, push the hot coals off to the side (they will become the small fire that
you keep inside your shelter all night). Then put your forestdebris
mattress
on the heated rock. I have often done this so efficiently that I can’t even crawl
into the shelter for two or three hours because my bed is too hot!
Emergency ShortTerm
and LongTerm
Shelters
THERE ARE A FEW BASIC SHELTER TYPES, all of which can be modified and
adapted according to location, the materials offered by your surroundings,
and whatever you brought with you.
An important distinction must be made between emergency shortterm
shelters and longterm
shelters. Emergency shortterm
shelters are
the ones you need right now, usually on your first night or two, to protect
you from the elements and from any immediate dangers. These shelters
tend to be crude, cramped, uncomfortable to varying degrees, leaky, drafty,
and largely unable to stand up to the rigors of human occupation for any
length of time. They will, however, keep you alive for a short time, and
that’s why it’s critical to know how to build one.
Once you’ve spent a night or two in an emergency shortterm
shelter,
it’s important to think about a longerterm
solution to your predicament.
In building a longterm
shelter, you’ll pay more attention to comfort and
practicality. For this reason, building a longterm
shelter is generally harder,
takes longer, requires more materials, and will use more of your energy. But
if you have the other aspects of your survival covered, a longterm
shelter
will act as a tremendous psychological benefit. You’ll be warmer, more comfortable,
better protected, and better rested . . . and more likely to survive.
Emergency ShortTerm
Shelters
Sleeping sitting up against a tree trunk or rock is miserable, and during a
survival ordeal you must do everything you can to find shelter that will
keep you warm and dry, and allow you to get some rest. To succeed at finding
and successfully using an emergency shortterm
shelter, remember
that you are, in essence, an animal. So make like an animal and toss aside
your aversion to filthy clothes and grimy fingernails.
Children often do much better in these situations than adults, because
they have no qualms about getting dirty and, for example, crawling into
a rotted log for shelter. As adults, on the other hand, we are burdened by
our phobias. Crawling into that rotted log might protect me from the snow and
wind, but it just looks so filthy, slimy, and full of insects. Insects, by the way,
are a fair concern, but that rotted log may be the one thing that will keep
you warm and dry that night, and save your life.
The simplest form of emergency shortterm
shelter is something
many of us played with during the autumns of our childhoods: fallen leaves.
If you find yourself lost in a deciduous forest in the autumn, it doesn’t take
too much time or effort to create a big pile of leaves, into which you can
slither like a worm. You’d be surprised how much warmth leaves will hold.
Natural hollows in the ground or fallen trees are another form of
emergency shortterm
shelter, and work especially well if you can fill them
(and cover yourself!) with leaves. Caves or animal dens also work, but make
very sure they are no longer inhabited.
Crawling like an animal into a pile of forest debris (making a “nest”) can get you through
a night or two.
The LeanTo:
A ShortTerm/
LongTerm
Hybrid
Straddling the line between emergency shortterm
shelter and longterm
shelter is the leanto.
This structure requires some constructive effort, making
it more effort than a true emergency shortterm
shelter, but not really suitable
as a longterm
shelter because it has many drawbacks.
The leanto
offers wind protection from only one side. This may be
fine if the wind always comes at you from only one direction. But if the wind
changes, the leanto
offers little, if any, protection against the elements, and
you will find yourself getting slammed with wind and rain on your bed and
your fire. In addition, absolutely no heat is retained in a leanto.
When weather isn’t an issue or scarcity of building materials makes
constructing a full shelter challenging, use the leanto.
To build a leanto,
place a cross beam between two trees that are far enough apart to fit your
sleeping body. The cross beam should also be high enough to allow you
I wouldn’t want to spend a very long time in a leanto,
though it’s okay for a night or two.
If you’re going to the effort of making one, why not make another wall and build yourself
a proper Aframe,
which is a terrific longterm
shelter.
to sit up comfortably. If you can’t find two trees a suitable distance apart,
you can make do with two Yshaped
branches or tripods. Place these far
enough apart to fit your sleeping body, and drive them into the ground.
Lay the cross beam between the two Y supports.
Line the cross beam with branches (use as many as you can), which
will act as the ribbing for your roof. The steeper the ribbing, the more
effectively the roof will shed rain. If you have plastic sheeting, drape the
sheeting across the ribbing as a waterproofing layer. Be careful not to
puncture the sheeting.
If you don’t have a tarp, crisscross a layer of windbreak/roofing
materials over the ribbing. Keep adding layers until you feel the shelter
will provide the protection you need.
To reinforce your leanto,
you can build a short wall underneath the
high end of the structure. Drive two sets of stakes into the ground, far
enough apart to hold the logs you will use for the wall.
Stack logs inside these stakes. You can make the wall more airtight
by filling the cracks between the logs with dirt, grass, moss, or any other
suitable material you can find. Once complete, this kind of wall works well
as a fire reflector, particularly if built with green logs, which don’t ignite as
quickly as older logs.
Leantos
are not my favorite shelter in any location where wind is an
issue—which is almost everywhere. In a place like the Amazon jungle, however,
where the nearconstant
rain comes down in torrents, these shelters can
be quite effective, especially if the roof hangs far enough over the front.
Consider the leanto
as your first step toward a more secure Aframe
structure. Close in the open side of a leanto
and you have an Aframe
that
is strong and protected on all sides.
stroud’s Tip
Lack of sleep is extremely dangerous and will lead to
frustration, clouded thinking, clumsiness, depression, and
despair. But sleeping during the day in the warmth of the
sun reduces your chances of rescue. So ensure that you get as
much sleep at night as possible by making a good shelter.
In the Amazon, Kinta, one of my Waorani guides, taught me to use banana leaves to
rainproof
my leanto.
158 | Survive!
Long-Term Shelters
Making the transition from emergency short-term shelter to long-term
shelter is necessary if you realize that rescue is not coming soon. Crawling
into a pile of leaves might work for a night or two, but it’s not going to keep
you alive for three weeks and proves particularly uncomfortable in the rain.
As you consider your long-term shelter, think comfort. Try to build
a temporary home that will at least allow you to sit up. Being able to
stand in your shelter is a luxury that few wilderness shelters can accommodate,
so don’t make this your goal. The following shelters can be created
in many geographic regions, depending on the natural features and
materials available.
Finding a Long-Term Shelter: The ideal long-term shelter is one that you
don’t have to make at all, saving you an incredible amount of energy . . .
and potential grief. If you’re on the move, the key is to determine, calmly,
whether you should spend the night in the dry cave you just stumbled
across or keep moving, in which case you’ll have to make a shelter in a few
hours anyway.
In fact, in some parts of the world—especially North America—local
authorities construct survival cabins in strategic locations throughout the wilderness.
These structures not only provide much-needed shelter in emergencies,
they are usually stocked with a small supply of survival gear and food.
As part of your trip planning and preparation, you should look into the
availability of such shelters and note their locations on your topographical
maps. I once came upon such a shelter in the northern Canadian region of
Labrador, after a long day of running a dog team and with bad weather closing
in. Though the relatively new, 100-square-foot (9-m2) cabin had no food
or supplies, it came with a wood stove and some split wood, turning my concerns
about staying dry and comfortable that night into non-issues.
Beyond man-made structures, your next best option is finding a
natural shelter that will serve your long-term needs, although these are
rare in some areas. The best natural shelter is one that you don’t have
to build, that is big enough, and that allows you to have a fire inside.
One of the few structures that fits these criteria is a cave. In Utah, I
found shelter in a small cave that had been used by Butch Cassidy and the
“Wild Bunch” during their desperado days.
Because I had consulted with local expert A rock “calf” big enough to crush you.
David Holladay before the trip, I knew that
the type of rock in this cave didn’t “calve
off,” so it was safe to make a fire inside.
The danger you’ll face in a cave is making a fire inside it. As you can
imagine, the rocks that form caves are not used to heat, so a fire may lead to
a fracture and cause a piece of rock to break off from the cave roof.
If you’re lucky enough to find a large cave, don’t get lost while exploring
it. Mark the walls or the floor, or even tie a piece of cord to the cave mouth.
Bear in mind that caves sometimes have occupants already or may attract
other animals seeking shelter while you’re there. If you do make a fire, build
it near the cave mouth to prevent other animals from entering (then again,
some of those animals seeking shelter could be a source of food!).
Complete natural and manmade
shelters are rare. Don’t expend
energy going out of your way to search for one; just consider yourself
extremely fortunate if you find one.
When discussing natural winter shelters, many survival manuals
mention “tree wells,” snowless rings found at the base of coniferous
trees and surrounded by walls of snow, which (they say) require no
additional construction (not true; they always do). I have spent many
winter nights snowshoeing around the forests of North America, and I
rarely find one of these magical, readytosleepin,
treewell
snow shelters.
They are predominant, however, in the mountains of the North
American West Coast, but finding one takes a lot of searching and
wastes your time and energy. You’ll likely have to make a treepit
shelter,
which I discuss later in this chapter.
If you can’t find a cave, the next best natural shelter is an overhang.
Making Your Own LongTerm
Shelters: The thing to remember about
these shelters is that they can be built in many geographic regions,
depending on the natural features and materials you have on hand.
Your ability to construct a viable longterm
shelter, as with so many
survival tasks, depends on your adaptability and ingenuity.
The AFrame:
Unlike the leanto,
the Aframe
is a longterm
shelter
that, if properly constructed and maintained, can serve you well for an
extended period. Aframes
can be made to be strong, to adequately (if
not completely) repel the rain, and, when well enough insulated, to keep
heat in and wind out. One of the best things about the Aframe
is that
you can continually improve it by adding more roofing, insulation, and
waterproofing materials every time you return to your camp.
To make an Aframe
(oneperson
version), first clear the area (and
create a fire pit, if necessary) and make your bed. Then, find a fallen
tree that will act as a ridge pole (around 12 feet [3.6 m] long) as well as
a standing tree with a thick, sturdy branch about 4 feet (1.2 m) off the
ground. Rest one end of the ridge pole against the inner edge of the
branch, where it meets the trunk of the tree. If you can’t find a tree to
lean the ridge pole against, use a boulder, two forked branches, a root
bed, or any other similar structure. Now line the pole on either side
with a series of branches that will serve as ribbing; these should extend
away from the ridge pole at approximately 45 degrees and be spaced a
few inches apart. The steeper the ribbing, the more effectively the roof
will shed rain.
Try to keep the top end of the ribbing poles no more than an inch
or two (2.5 to 5 cm) higher than the ridge pole they are resting against,
or you will not be able to cap the peak with shingles. If the ribbing poles
are thin or you feel the need, crisscross
another layer of insulating/roofing
material over these branches. Then cover the roof with anything and
everything that may provide insulation. Get down on your hands and
knees like an animal and even scrape up debris from the forest floor to
use for insulation.
Don’t forget to pile some insulating material at the entrance to your
Aframe,
which you can pull toward you once you are inside. (Did you
remember to build the door lower than the shelter itself, or at least at
the low end of the shelter?) You can construct a door by lashing together
some sticks and small branches in a grid pattern. A door will provide more
insulation if you make two stick grids this way, place a layer of insulation
between them, and then lash them together.
Doug Getgood, who spent a winter sleeping in an Aframe,
had this
to add: “The problem I had when I spent my winter in the debris hut was
that I leaned the ridge pole against a tree. When the rains fell, the water
would run down the tree, then channel down the ridge pole and drip all
over me. I would have much preferred to use two forked sticks, thus eliminating
the problem. When I did use the tree, I extended the ridge pole
about 6 feet (1.8 m) past the tree. This gave me a working and changing
area in the front, and a smaller sleeping area in the back.”
The BentPole
Frame Shelter: The bentpole
frame shelter is a fantastic
solution if you are in an area with a lot of 6foot
(1.8m)
shrubs or
underbrush with trunks approximately the thickness of a pool cue. Collect
at least 20 of these “poles,” then strip them of their branches and leaves.
1. After you’ve collected at least 202. Tie off the branches at the top to hold
poles, strip them of their branches them in place.
and leaves. Jab the branches into the
ground while making the general
shape of the shelter.
3. Then, using whatever materials you have on hand, layer your insulation and windproof
materials over top.
The Hanging Shelter: Hanging shelters—hammocks or platform beds—
are useful in two ways. First, they get you off the ground, thereby
keeping you warm. Second, they put some distance between you and
any creepy crawlies, such as scorpions, snakes, spiders, and other biting
or stinging critters.
A platform bed, such as this one I built in the Amazon, is a good alternative to a
hammock.
The WikiUp
(or Tipi): A close relative of the tipi so ingeniously used by
many North American native groups, the wikiup
comprises three center
poles that are tied or fitted together at the top to form the basis of a tripod
frame. For additional support, place more poles against the tripod. Cover
these poles with any material you can find in the surrounding area. By
comparison, a tipi uses the same rough frame, but its walls are covered
with whatever manmade
materials you have available, whether a tarp,
plastic sheeting, parachute materials, or even canvas.
The beauty of both these shelters is that they are very strong, shed
the rain well due to their steep wall pitch, let you sit up (sometimes even
stand up!), and allow you to have a fire inside because the smoke exits the
shelter through the top. Building an air trench to provide oxygen to the
fire helps to force the smoke out.
Tarp Shelters: If you have a survival kit, you should have at least two garbage
bags, and maybe even a solar, or “space,” blanket. Items such as these (or a
tarp if you’re lucky enough to have one) are invaluable in making shelters
because they can be used almost on their own as a tent, provided you also
have some kind of rope or cord.
When using a plastic sheet as your only roof material, however,
remember that rainwater and other precipitation may collect in pockets.
This can cause leaks and even bring your entire shelter down on you!
Any time you incorporate a plastic sheet into the construction of a
shelter, be careful not to puncture, rip, or otherwise damage the sheet. Not
only will the sheet no longer be waterproof, it will continue to tear once
the process has started.
In the desert and other arid environments, a plastic sheet can be used
in conjunction with rocky outcroppings or sand mounds to provide muchneeded
protection from the sun.
Anywhere there are trees, you can stretch your rope between two, then
drape the plastic sheeting over them to make a rudimentary Aframe.
Use
rocks or other heavy objects to hold down the edges of the plastic. Similarly,
you can use your plastic sheeting to make a leanto.
stroud’s Tip
I advise against digging shelters unless you have no
other option. Not only is digging laborintensive,
but (other
than in snow) there are very few places you can dig effectively
without running into some kind of natural obstacle such as roots
or rocks. Even desert sand is extremely hard to dig into.
If, on the other hand, you are lucky enough to find a hole
or depression in the ground, by all means use it as the basis of
your shelter (assuming it’s not in an area that collects water). After
clearing out any debris you may find inside, build a roof by adding
branches and other deadwood. Cover the roof frame with plastic
sheeting (if you have it), leaves, and earth.
I used a solar blanket as part of my shelter’s roof during a rainy week in the mountains
of British Columbia, Canada. I dug into the sandy ground to create shelter. It was the
warmest shelter I’ve ever made.
Region-Specific Shelter Considerations
THE TYPE OF SHELTER YOU MAKE is going to be largely—if not entirely—
dependent on the region in which you find yourself. Your location will
determine what materials you have to use, the type of shelter you require,
how much protection you need from the elements and animals, and
whether you need a fire inside.
166 | Survive!
I had enough parachute material during my week in Africa to make this hammock and
another shelter.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
These are environments where you should have the benefit of rock
overhangs and caves, usually lots of them. Early American bandits and
gunslingers used the cave systems of the West as their hideaways for
decades.
Staying out of the rain is not of particular concern in the desert,
so shelter becomes less important in that respect. Where shelter plays a
vital role, however, is in keeping you out of the sun and the wind. Rocky
outcroppings and overhangs afford at least some protection from the
elements. Caves offer still more protection. Study local topography and
try to identify features that might house a cave.
Sleeping in a shelter during a weekend survival course
ing in a survival shelter is alwaysstroud’s Tip
with a group of wellfed
friends often doesn’t give a fair
indication of just how miserable it can be to sleep in a true
survival shelter, when all you really want to do is go home. Sleepuncomfortable,
usually barely
warm enough, often claustrophobic, and always smoky (if you’ve got
a fire going). But don’t be discouraged. All the shelter has to do is
keep you warm and dry, and allow you to get some sleep.
If you need to build a shelter in the desert, plastic sheeting such as
garbage bags, solar blankets, and tarps are vital. You can construct a sunbreak
by suspending plastic sheeting from a rocky overhang or stretching
it between mounds of sand.
No matter what type of shelter you end up using in the desert, your
bed should be up off the ground and away from poisonous critters, such
as scorpions and spiders, which are attracted to your body’s warmth. Also
keep footwear off the ground while you sleep, and in the morning before
you put them back on, hold them upside down and bang them together
to check for scorpions. Scorpions get more people by invading their shoes
than any other way.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
If you have to make a shelter in a survival situation, this is the place to do
it. The abundance of trees not only gives you ample fuel for making fire, it
also provides lots of natural materials.
The best suppliers of shelterbuilding
materials in the forest are
coniferous trees such as spruces and pines, and rotting birch trees. The
boughs of the evergreen trees are terrific wall and roof materials and are
particularly good at repelling rain if angled with the butt end of the broken
branch toward the sky (they’re not quite so good at repelling the wind,
however), and can double as insulation/bedding materials.
Large sheets of old bark can provide you with ample roofing material. Bark is often filled
with small holes, but these can usually be covered by laying the bark in shingles.
As with any natural material, boughs may not always be where you
need them to be. Once, while teaching survival skills to a husband and
wife, I was touting the benefits of boughs as shelter materials. It was a
perfect teaching opportunity, because we were walking right through a
“Christmas tree” forest. Two hundred yards later, however, we had left the
spruce forest and entered a deciduous forest, where there wasn’t a bough
to be seen! Our discussion naturally turned to making an emergency shortterm
shelter out of leaves.
A couple hundred yards can make all the difference in the world
when it comes to survival. When you travel, make a note of the natural
materials you see.
You might be lucky enough to come across a tree that’s been blown
down by the wind, root bed and all. These root beds are walls of earth as
large as 10 feet (3 m) in diameter that often stand up perpendicular to the
ground and can be used to form the walls of a shelter.
You may also come across a boulder in the forest. If it’s large enough,
use this as one wall of your shelter, as described above for root beds.
A root bed is also great to use in an emergency shortterm
situation because it provides
a readymade
windbreak and wall.
The added benefit of incorporating a boulder into your shelter’s construction is that if you
build a fire up against it, it will reflect the heat back at you.
The Arctic and Polar Regions (or anywhere in the snow)
The best shelter to use in the Arctic (in the winter) is the igloo. The problem
with igloo building, however, is that it takes skill and practice. Few
people can make an igloo on their first try if they haven’t been trained. You
have to know what kind of snow to look for—it feels like you’re cutting
into Styrofoam—and understand the process. A few photos in a book will
not give you the instruction you need to build one successfully. That’s why
it’s imperative that everybody planning to travel in the Arctic in the winter
take a survival course, and one that includes igloo building.
Another option in areas of ample snow is the snow cave. Although
most books make the snow cave seem like an easy shelter to build, it’s not
(at least not the first time). I’ve been in survival mode in the middle of winter
where there was snow all around me, and still I could not find a suitable
spot for a snow cave. In the right location, however, a snow cave can
provide protection that could save your life in winter conditions.
Related to the snow cave is the quinzee. The difference between a quinzee
and a snow cave is that a snow cave requires that you find a snowdrift
and dig into it. With a quinzee, you take matters into your own hands and
make the pile of snow yourself, then dig out a cave. This can work, but I
hesitate to call it a survival shelter because a) you have to be in a place where
you can maneuver enough snow into a large pile, b) you need a shovel (or
at least a snowshoe) for digging, c) building it exhausts you, and d) you get
soaking wet while making it.
If you decide to make a quinzee, dig your entry hole on the side
away from the wind. And with any snowcave
shelter, make sure you poke
a hole in the ceiling for ventilation. Finally, make a small fire inside for a
few minutes to glaze the ceiling. The iceglazed
ceiling will reflect your
body heat back inside and any moisture will drain down the sides rather
than drip on you.
Whether you decide to build a snow cave or quinzee, the effort you
exert making one (as well as the snow that accumulates all over your body)
will make you wet. So brush off snow constantly and remove layers as necessary
to minimize sweating.
Summer in the Arctic changes your perspective greatly, and your first
priority will be getting away from the bugs. Choose as windy an area as
possible; that’s where the bugs won’t be.
Making a Snow Cave
1. Start by digging a snow trench. A snow trench is the emergency shortterm
version
of the snow cave. As you dig, use the excess snow to make the walls higher.
172 | Survive!
2. Make a bed on the floor of the trench using available materials and cover the top
with branches to make the roof frame.
3. Close the roof off to the weather with a tarp or emergency blanket. If you don’t have
this type of manmade
material on hand, you can also use boughs, bark, or leaves.
Making a Quinzee
1. Find a spot that has a large enough deposit of snow for a quinzee, or the right pitch
and angle to allow you to dig a snow cave. This is a task unto itself.
2. Place a few sticks at strategic locations throughout your snow shelter. Then, if you
come upon one when you’re digging out from the inside of the quinzee, you’ll know
how far you’ve come and how thick the wall is.
3. Hollow out the snow pile to create a cave. The inside platform must be higher than
the entrance so that the cold air flows out and the warm air stays in.
4. Keep a pole inside with you while you dig your cave. It can save your life if the roof
collapses. Should this happen, twist the pole slowly until it bores an opening in the
snow above you.
stroud’s Tip
It’s important to keep the inside of winter shelters free
from snow. Native peoples, particularly the Inuit, are fastidious
about shaking off every last fleck of snow before they
crawl inside a shelter. You need to be the same way. If you aren’t,
the snow will melt, leaving you damp and miserable.
Jungles
The best type of shelter in the jungle is a leanto
combined with a hammock
or platform bed to keep you protected from the critters that live on
the jungle floor.
Wind is not usually a consideration because of the denseness of the
vegetation, and a leanto
should allow you to make a fire. Just make sure
your bed is well up off the ground! A Waorani friend of mine once woke
up to find a snake sleeping curled around his legs. He lay still for the next
seven hours until the snake finally moved on, apparently fully rested.
Your jungle survival kit should contain bug netting, which will make
all the difference in the quality of your sleep. Drape it over your bed or
cover yourself with it to keep most flying and stinging insects from getting
to you.
Coastal Regions
Most coastal regions provide ample materials for shelter, as they are usually
not too far from temperate forests. Driftwood is another possible
shelterbuilding
material found along the coast.
One oftenignored
material in these regions that may help you when
constructing a shelter is the flotsam (beach junk) that washes up on shore.
You may find items such as fishing nets, pieces of plastic, and barrels, all of
which you—the adaptive and ingenious survivor—can use to your benefit.
In some coastal areas you may find enough large rocks to construct a
rock shelter. Build the shelter in the shape of a U, and cover the roof with
any suitable material, including driftwood. Be warned, though: these shelters
are labor intensive and difficult to build, especially if you are lacking
food and energy.
I built this shelter from flotsam collected from the beach.
Mountains
Mountainous areas are often surrounded by forests, so any of the shelters
that use trees or are mentioned in the boreal/temperate forest section
apply here as well.
A possibility in coniferous mountain forests where the snow is deep
is to dig a tree well, also known as a tree-pit shelter. Locate a tree with low-
hanging boughs and dig out the snow around the trunk until you reach
your desired depth and diameter, or until you reach the ground. Clear
away any dead bottom branches that are in the way (use them for firewood).
You can place evergreen boughs or other material in the bottom of
the pit for comfort and insulation.
No matter where you build your shelter in the mountains, take into
account the risk of avalanche, rockslide, or rockfall.
Swamps
The ground near swamps is generally damp, so your primary concern is to
make sure your bed is well off the ground. One option is to make a swamp
bed. Find three or four trees clustered together. Use sturdy poles to connect
the trees at the same height; this is the frame of your bed. You can either rest
the poles against the trees’ branches or attach them using rope or cord. Now
fill the space within your frame with a series of cross pieces. Cover the top of
the bed with any soft insulation/bedding materials you can find.
While a swamp bed can get you out of the water, it can’t get you away from alligators.
A
lmost everybody who travels, it seems, worries about
starving in a survival situation. In reality such concerns are largely
overblown: you can survive for a month (or longer) without putting
any food in your body. This is hard for some people to wrap their heads
around, since most who live in developed nations are comfortably used
to eating three or more meals a day. The thought of going days—or even
hours—without a substantial meal is a scary proposition. But though it’s
not necessarily comfortable to go for a stretch without food, it is possible.
Your quest for food will be easier if before you leave you research
what you can eat, how to catch or pick it, and how to make it edible. There
may be food in abundance all around you in the wild, but you have to know
it’s there, and if necessary, how to prepare it. And there’s danger in consuming
something without knowing if it’s edible.
The first time I saw star fruit was in Costa Rica. As I stared, wondering
if they were poisonous, my survival buddy and military survival expert
Mike Kiraly was stuffing his face with them. Had it not been for him, I
might never have tried them, thereby missing out on an important and
abundant food source.
Many early explorers died from scurvy while sleeping on beds of
spruce boughs, which when boiled into tea would have provided all the
vitamin C they needed.
Manage Your Energy
THE MAIN EFFECT YOU’LL NOTICE FROM LACK OF FOOD is a significant decrease
in your energy level. In many survival situations, I’m fine without eating
for a week, but I really notice the loss of energy. As my energy fades and I
tire quickly, I can work for only an hour or so at a time, and then I have to
sit down and rest for 20 or 30 minutes. Then I work a little more, only to
have to sit or lie down again. I repeat that pattern throughout the day.
So forget about needing massive quantities of food on which to feast,
accept the stomach growling as part of your ordeal, and focus on getting
something, anything, into your system that will increase your energy.
Closely manage your activity level so that you require less food than
usual. This means sitting down if you don’t need to stand, lying down if
you don’t need to sit, and sleeping if you don’t need to be awake. Anything
you can do to slow your heart rate and relax will preserve your energy for
the things you need to do to stay alive. The major risk you run from lack of
energy is that it can lead to listlessness, apathy, and ultimately, depression.
stroud’s tip
The more food you eat, the more water your body
needs for digestion. So if you are short on water, then eat
less food, or you’ll speed up the dehydration process. On the
other hand, if you’re near a large source of fresh drinking water,
force yourself to drink every half hour. This not only keeps your system
flushed and clean but also makes your stomach feel like something’s in
there. This is a trick I use all the time while filming survival ordeals.
The Myth of Wild Edibles
PERHAPS NOTHING IS AS OVERROMANTICIZED
IN THE world of survival as the
notion of gathering and eating wild edibles such as plants and mushrooms.
Many people envision the wilderness as providing a bounty of plants to
feast upon. Don’t be fooled; the search for plants to eat can be fraught with
danger. These are the some of the challenges you’ll encounter.
182 | Survive!
Identification
Plant identification in various parts of the world is difficult at the best of
times, even if you have a book telling you their Latin names and accompanied
by photos. The same plant may look different depending on your
location or the time of year, and this is not easily gleaned from most
guidebooks. Some plants are safe to eat, abundant, and easily identified,
but for the most part reading a book is not the way to learn about most
wild edibles. You really need an expert on the local vegetation to offer you
firsthand
education on location: you should smell it, touch it, taste it. Then,
when the time comes, you’ll know it.
Availability
Contrary to popular notion, wild edibles often are not plentiful. There
are some regional exceptions, such as coconut trees on tropical islands
or prickly pear cacti in the Sonoran Desert. But even with coconuts, once
you’ve eaten what’s fallen on the ground and knocked down what you can
reach with a stick, you’ve got to climb 30 to 60 feet (9 to 18 m) up the tree
to get at the rest, and that’s not easy to do.
The truth is, you might have to walk for miles before you find a single
wild edible. When I was in the Amazon, the only significant source of
fruit I found was in an overgrown jungle area that had previously been a
farm. Otherwise there was nothing but big green leaves everywhere, which
my Waorani teachers didn’t eat.
Even while spending a year in the wilderness in northern Ontario,
my wife, Sue, and I found only one or two places where the blueberries and
raspberries grew so thick that we couldn’t eat all of them in one sitting.
Season
Most wild edibles, especially fruits, grow only at certain times of the year.
Latitude
The availability of wild edibles is regionspecific.
As a rule, the farther you
are from the equator, the less abundant wild edibles become. So if you’re
in the Rocky Mountains, the best time to find wild edibles is really limited
to spring and berry season. Everything but berries is unpalatable and difficult
to digest.
The farther you get from the equator, the more you have to rely
on meat or critters for food. That said, it seemed peculiar to me that the
Waorani of the Amazon could not teach me about very many wild green
edibles. It turned out they believe that because greenery is eaten by the
small animals it will make them weak, so they stick primarily to meat,
manioc (a potato-like root), and a few fruits.
Personal Sensitivities
You may have a severe allergic reaction to a plant you’ve never before
eaten. Given this risk and the many other variables in identifying and eating
wild edibles, your best bet is to know two or three that are plentiful and
easily identified for each of the world’s regions. These are listed later in
this chapter as my Top Three Wild Edibles and Top Three Critters.
The Edibility Test
IF YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO EAT WILD PLANTS that you cannot identify, you
should employ a last-ditch effort called the edibility test, which exposes
your body to the plant in slow increments.
Since the edibility test requires a lot of time and effort (and potential
risk), make sure there is enough of the plant available to make the test
worthwhile. Note that it does not work with all poisonous plants! Here are
the steps to follow:
Test only a single plant type at a time; don’t eat anything else during the test
period.
Rub the plant on a sensitive part of your body such as your wrist; wait
45 minutes to an hour for signs of any adverse effects like nausea, hives,
dizziness, or shortness of breath.
If there’s no negative effect, take a small part of the plant and prepare it the
way you plan on eating it.
Before eating, touch a small part of the prepared plant to your outer lip to test
for burning, tingling, or itching.
If there is no reaction after five minutes, place the plant on your tongue. Hold
it there for 15 minutes.
If there is no reaction after 15 minutes, chew a very small amount for 15
minutes; observe for any adverse effect. Do not swallow.
If you still feel fine after chewing for 15 minutes, swallow it.
Wait eight hours. If you begin to notice any adverse effects, induce vomiting
and drink as much water as possible. If there are no adverse effects, eat a
small handful of the plant.
Wait another eight hours. If there are still no negative effects, you are
likely safe.
into your system.
stroud’s Tip
In almost all parts of the world most grasses are
chewable. Don’t swallow the grass itself, just chew it
and swallow the juice. It’s a good way to get some nutrients
Critters and Creepy Crawlies
THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT CRITTERS is that they are plentiful in many parts of
the world. From worms to ants to frogs, there are usually lots of items on
the menu. The problem, obviously, is that most of us find the prospect of
eating bugs and slugs and snails downright disgusting, a phenomenon
known as plate fright. Believe me, after a few days without food, you get
over plate fright pretty quickly.
Almost every culture on the planet has either an active or recent
history of eating critters as part of its diet, whether it be tarantulas in the
Amazon, chocolate ants in India, or grubs in northern Ontario. We’re not
alone, either: most predators and biggame
animals will eat bugs too. If
you’re at risk of starving, the fact that these creatures are almost universally
high in protein and fat may make them more appealing. Don’t forget that
insect larvae are also edible.
To successfully eat critters, follow a few basic rules:
Get over plate fright. Remember, your ancestors feasted on slimy, wriggly
creatures. Why can’t you?
Recognize these warning signs of potentially poisonous creatures. Avoid those that
» are very hairy
» are brightly colored
» give off a strong odor
» sting or bite
» may carry diseases from parasites such as flies, mosquitoes, and ticks
» move very slowly and out in the open. Poisonous creatures are not afraid
because they know they are poisonous!
Though generally you should stay away from poisonous creatures,
there are some that you can eat, provided you remove their dangerous bits.
In the desert, I survived almost exclusively on scorpions. Once I cut away
the stinger, they tasted like shrimp. Of course you’ll have to consult a local
expert beforehand, as attempting to eat something known to be poisonous
should only be a last resort.
If you lack the knowledge, perform an edibility test on anything you
suspect might make you sick.
Gathering and Catching Critters
Many edible creatures, such as frogs and snakes, prefer damp, dark places
like rotting logs and rock crevices. Just make sure you don’t shove your
hand into one of these places without first inspecting it.
If you’re close to a body of water such as a lake, you have only to sit by
the shore to see how many critters there are. For example, you may see a dozen
or more leeches swim by in a matter of minutes; reach down and scoop them
out. They do taste better cooked, by the way—kind of like little anchovies.
When I was in the Kalahari Desert, I trapped dozens of scorpions
with something akin to a bottle trap. All I did was dig a little hole about an
inch (2.5 cm) from the scorpion hole and drop a jar into it. When a scorpion
came out of its hole, it would fall into the jar and get stuck.
Cooking and Preparing Critters
The safest way to eat critters is to cook them first, since this kills the parasites
carried by many, particularly those with a hard outer shell.
First you should get rid of as much waste as possible. This means eliminating
the entrails or squeezing out the waste, provided you know where the
critter’s anus is. Worms will clean themselves out naturally if you submerge
them in water for a few minutes. Grasshoppers can be cleaned by holding on
to the head with one hand, the body with the other, and pulling.
All edible critters should be verified by a local expert. Taking a chance on
some harmless-looking frog in Costa Rica, for example, could result in death.
Scorpion Hole
Bottle Trap
This bottle trap will work wherever scorpions are found. It even works with just a hole,
if you make the sides steep enough. Scorpions can’t climb vertically very well. The trap
needs to be placed right at the opening of the small scorpion hole, as shown.
Fish
FISH ARE A FANTASTIC SOURCE OF SURVIVAL FOOD. You can leave your hook in the
water 24 hours a day and let it work for you while you rest or do other things.
But don’t think that catching fish is easy, no matter how remote your location
and how abundant they may be. Luck is definitely part of the equation.
When I was in Alaska, I fished from my sea kayak with a long line,
a well-made fish hook, and a big chunk of bait. Though the salmon were
jumping all around my kayak, nothing would take my bait. During that
same time I had a fishnet in the water for 48 hours and saw schools of
salmon running by, and still couldn’t catch a fish dinner.
Although there are no poisonous freshwater fish, the skin of some
saltwater fish is poisonous when eaten raw. Several species of tropical
fish are also very poisonous; the only way to identify these is to have
consulted a local expert. Without that knowledge, you have to decide if
eating a fish is worth the risk. Try the edibility test on fish you suspect
of being poisonous.
As with any creature you catch in the wild, try to eat all parts of the
fish. The skin (provided it’s not poisonous) has lots of nutritional value, so
eat that too. Many experts advise against eating fish that appears spoiled
(sunken eyes, strong smell, strange color), but I believe that as a lastditch
effort, it’s okay to eat. If you become ill after eating what you suspect to be
a rotten fish, however, either consume some charcoal (described on page 207)
or induce vomiting.
Catching Fish
Of the various fishing methods available, the most common is the hook
and line. You need only some type of basic cord or rope, the thinner and
more transparent the better (and, of course, some kind of hook). If you
don’t have any thin line, you can unravel a piece of clothing, such as a
sweater, or unwind a piece of cord or rope to use the component threads.
To greatly improve your chances with hook and line, use bait. If your
food supply is limited, using it for bait is a tradeoff:
you may have to sacrifice
some of what you have for the prospect of acquiring something larger.
Insects, raw meat, and worms are all good bait. In all cases, fish are much
more likely to take bait that is native to their waters.
If you don’t have bait, you can try your hand at making lures. An
effective lure can be anything that moves and therefore catches the fish’s
attention: a piece of credit card, the zipper off your pants, a piece of thread,
a coin, or a key. Obviously, the more hooks you have in the water, the
greater your chances of catching something. If you’re near a moving body
of water, consider stringing a line across (tying it to a couple of trees or
rocks) and attaching to it several other lines and baited hooks.
More elaborate than hook and line are fish traps. These take time to
build, but can also reap greater rewards under the right circumstances. The
most common type of fish trap is essentially a stick fence that helps to corral
the fish or move them in the direction you want them to go.
If you don’t have fish hooks with you, they’re easy to make from bones and thorns; metal
objects such as safety pins and nails work well too. Ironically, fish bones are great to make
into fish hooks because they are easily carved.
To make a simple fish trap, tie a series of sticks together with rope
or cord (you want the water to flow through, not the fish). You can make
one or more sections, depending on your needs. Push the sections into the
soil bottom of the waterway. Ideally, the fish will be channeled into an area
where you can then spear or net them.
In coastal regions, you can use the tide to help you trap fish. Build
a circle of rocks on an area of beach that is covered by water only at high
tide. The tide brings small fish in with it. As the tide recedes, fish may get
caught in the trap.
Although fish trapping is possible, I have yet to be in a survival situation
where I’ve had the time or energy to do it. Fishtrapping
methods are
closer to being traditional living skills than survival skills. They are not as
easy as they look, take a long time to accomplish, require a lot of energy, and
you must have all the necessary supplies (or be able to adapt what you do
have). You also have to be in the ideal place to attempt these methods during
the right season. There are a lot of ifs in this scenario!
Ranking pretty high in the realm of romanticizing wilderness survival
is the idea of drugging fish. Though it is possible to introduce concoctions
Fishing Techniques
Build walls in narrow channels to trap fish in one area. Then, you can spear them (but
beware—it’s not easy!).
Build a rustic “fishing pole” that has several lines instead of just one. This way, you
increase your chances of catching a fish.
Use sticks and logs to create a fish trap. Once you corral the fish, they are easier to catch.
of certain plants to water sources to stun or kill fish, this is an exercise better
left to experts in plant identification. Even if you have a local teach you which
plants to use, your chances of catching fish this way are slim.
And although Tom Hanks made it look easy in Cast Away, there is
nothing easy about spearing fish. If by some lucky coincidence you find
yourself in an area where many fish congregate in a small pool, however,
consider making a barbed fishing spear. Take a long piece of wood, no more
than an inch or two (2.5 to 5 cm) in diameter. To be effective, you first have to
whittle the tip to a very sharp point. Carve a few barbs (curved upward) into
the top of the stick to prevent a fish from sliding off after you spear it.
The barbed fishing spear is made
from a long piece of wood, no more
than an inch or two (2.5 to 5 cm) in
diameter. For the spear to be effective,
you first have to whittle each tip
to a sharp point.
Carving a few upwardcurving
barbs
into the top of your spear will prevent
the fish from sliding off after you
spear it.
If you have a net or can make one, you can either set it in or drag
it through the water to catch fish and other creatures such as freshwater
shrimp. Another effective fishing method with a net—particularly in smaller
bodies of water such as streams and creeks—is to build a border around the
perimeter of the net, usually with sticks. Attach a series of ropes or cords
around the edge of the net, all of which come together at a central point
about a foot or two (30 to 60 cm) above the net. Attach another (lead) rope to
these and drape it over a nearby branch. Hold the far end of the lead rope in
your hands. Dangle the flat net in the water. When fish swim over the center
portion, quickly raise the net.
Finally, fish are attracted to light at night. If you have a light source,
try pointing it at the water while using your primary fishing method.
Waorani women are masters of net fishing,
as seen here in the feeder streams
of the Amazon.
Torch fishing in the South Pacific
increased my chances of catching fish,
because fish are often attracted to
bright light. It also allowed me to see
sleeping fish. The task was not without
danger, however. Accidentally stepping
on a stonefish could have proved fatal.
Game
THE NOTION OF CATCHING GAME IN A SURVIVAL SITUATION is an attractive one,
mostly because you can end up eating something substantial that tastes
like the meat many of us eat on a daily basis. The reality, however, is that
catching game is difficult, especially if you’re talking about anything larger
than a rabbit.
Without a gun, ammunition, and hunting experience, the idea that
you might kill big game is wishful thinking at best. So what does that leave
us with? Small game.
Trapping and Snaring Small Game
Once you accept the reality that nabbing big game is an exercise limited
to only a handful of survival situations, the world of small game
opens before you. The advantage of trapping and snaring small game
is the same as that of fishing: you can set a series of traps that work
while you don’t. Done properly—and in the right location—these simple
devices can add enough sustenance to your diet to keep you going
for a while.
In addition to (hopefully) providing you with food, the other benefit
of creating traps and snares is that it is proactive and enables you to
feel like you’re doing something to better your situation. When you build
these tools, you’re concentrating for hours on a specific survival task. This
helps to occupy your mind—and to defeat boredom, apathy, and depres-
sion—thus helping to keep you alive.
Another benefit of traps and snares is that they’re effective anywhere
in the world. A figure-four deadfall, for instance, will work just as well in
the African savannah as in the northern boreal forest.
There’s strength in numbers when it comes to traps. The more you
set, the more luck you’ll have. If you can set 45 rabbit snares, do it. You’ll
have to invest more energy at the front end, but you’re also setting yourself
up for greater rewards at the back end.
Although many people tout the benefits of complex traps and snares,
my philosophy is to follow the KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid! The
elaborate ones require tremendous effort and expertise and often don’t
yield any more than the basic ones.
You’ll increase your chances of success if you use bait in your traps
and snares. Begin by scattering some of it around your trap. This will
encourage the animal to develop a taste for the bait. When the outer supply
is exhausted, the animal likely will venture into the trap, its desire for
more of the bait overcoming its natural sense of caution. Keep in mind
that most types of traps and snares do not always kill the animal, and
a trapped animal that’s still alive (and probably injured), no matter how
small, can be a formidable opponent, clawing, biting, and scratching. In
these cases, you must hit the animal on the head with a club or some other
heavy object to kill it. It won’t be pretty. Survival never is.
If you are lucky enough to snare or trap an animal, remember that
you’re not looking for a few choice pieces, the way you might when you
shop at the butcher. In a survival situation, you eat everything on the animal,
with the exception of the bowels and excrement, and (of course) any
known poisonous bits.
Snares
A basic snare is a simple device: a looped cord or rope that tightens around
an animal as it walks through. Getting a snare to work exactly as designed
often requires a bit of finetuning,
though. The loop must be big enough
for the animal’s head, not so big that the animal walks through unscathed,
and at the right height off the ground for the animal’s head.
A variation on the simple snare is the drag noose. Place forked sticks
on either side of the animal trail and lay a crosspiece from one to the other
across the trail (well above the height of the animal’s head). Dangle the
noose from the crosspiece. If the animal becomes ensnared in the noose,
the crosspiece becomes dislodged and caught in surrounding vegetation.
The animal tires quickly as it struggles to get free.
Where to Set Snares and Traps
Never set traps and snares too far from your shelter. You don’t want to have
to travel a great distance to reach them, for two reasons. First, you waste
energy going back and forth to check the traps. More important, if the
distance is prohibitive, you may not travel to the location every day. And if
you are lucky enough to trap something but wait too long to retrieve it, you
may find that some other animal has come along and eaten your catch.
Always position any trap or snare in a location where there is evidence
of animal activity: runs and trails, tracks, droppings, chewed or
rubbed vegetation. Try to disturb the area as little as possible when setting
the trap, otherwise you will tip animals off as to your presence.
The best areas to set traps and snares for small game are where different
types of forest meet, such as where an oldgrowth
forest turns into a
swamp. The big animals come there for the small animals, which are there
for the smaller animals, and they are all there for a drink.
A simple snare is nothing more than a noose positioned along an animal’s path and
attached to a stake. The idea is that the noose tightens around the animal’s throat as it
passes through the snare. As the animal struggles to get out, the noose tightens.
stroud’s Tip
A simple noose is all you need to make an effective snare.
To make one, tie a small loop at the end of the rope. Pass the
working end of the rope through the loop to form the noose.
Rabbit snare: Use a rope or cord to make a noose; drape it loosely over some
foliage growing close to the ground. Attach the lead rope of the snare to a
bowed branch overhead, then continue the lead rope to a trigger mechanism
that will release at the slightest movement. If you’re lucky, the rabbit will walk
through the noose but catch the rope with a leg or paw. This releases the trigger,
sending the bowed branch skyward and catching the rabbit in the noose.
The catch mechanism is a critical part of the rabbit snare. It must be tight enough that
it doesn’t release accidentally but sensitive enough to release when the rabbit passes
through it.
The cord shown here is attached to
a bowed branch. The branch needs
to be strong enough to support the
weight of a rabbit.
Squirrel snare: Since squirrels are relatively plentiful in many parts of
the world, squirrel snares can be a huge boost to your survival efforts.
A squirrel snare is a long pole or branch that you lean against a tree at
approximately a 45degree
angle.
The idea behind the squirrel snare is that the squirrel will use the
pole to climb the tree. Should it feel the noose on its neck, it will try to
leap to safety and hang itself.
To build a squirrel snare, loosely wrap three or four wire nooses (a few inches in diameter)
on the top and sides of the pole. You want the squirrel to pass through at least one of
them when going up or down the pole. Placing bait between the snares is effective.
Traps
Even without snare wire or some kind of string or rope, you can catch
game by building traps. These run the gamut from very simple and basic to
extremely intricate and may include the use of rope. As with so many things
in survival, the simpler the better . . . and often the more successful.
Figurefour
deadfall: A figurefour
deadfall works by crushing its prey.
To be effective, the weight must be heavy enough to kill, or at least
immobilize your intended prey.
To make the trap, gather three sticks of approximately the same
size—anything from a few inches to a couple of feet (7.5 to 60 cm) if you
are going after big game—and notch them as shown in the picture.
Note that making an effective figurefour
deadfall takes practice; the
skill with which you cut the angles in the sticks will determine how effectively
it releases.
Figurefour
deadfall sticks (top to bottom): the upright stick, the release stick, and the
bait stick.
Release stick
Bait stick Upright stick
Bait is set on the bait stick first. The sticks are then placed together in the shape of the number
four, with the weight leaning against the (release) top stick. When the animal begins to nibble
on the bait, the trap releases, crushing the animal.
Doug’s deadfall: This is similar to the figurefour
deadfall. To build this
trap you need three sticks of varying length (two short ones and one
longer one) and a heavy crushing object such as a flat stone.
Doug’s deadfall uses components similar to those of the figurefour
deadfall: two upright
sticks and a bait stick.
Upright sticks
Bait stick
For Doug’s deadfall, bait is placed on the end of the longer stick. When an animal disturbs
the upright sticks, the rock or trap should fall, crushing the prey beneath.
Paiute deadfall: Similar to the figurefour
deadfall (but easier to set), the
Paiute deadfall incorporates a piece of rope into its design. You need three
long sticks of approximately equal length, and one short stick. See photo
captions on the next page for detailed instructions.
Bottle trap: Similar to the scorpion trap I used in the Kalahari, a bottle trap
is effective in catching small rodents such as mice and voles.
Dig a hole about a foot (30 cm) deep, making sure it’s wider at the
bottom than the top and that the hole in the top is as small as possible, but
big enough to fit your prey. Place a long piece of bark or wood an inch or
two (2.5 to 5 cm) off the ground and over the hole; you can use rocks or
bark to elevate the wood.
Small rodents will seek shelter from danger under your bark or wood
and fall into the hole. They will not be able to climb out because of the
angle of the walls. Use caution when checking this trap, however: snakes
like holes too!
Making a Paiute Deadfall
1. Gather and whittle Paiute deadfall
sticks: (from top to bottom)
the diagonal stick, the catch
stick, the upright stick, and the
bait stick.
2. To set up a Paiute deadfall, bait
the stick, then set up the trap as
shown. The diagonal stick holds
the weight of the rock.
3. Here is the Paiute deadfall from another angle. If an animal disturbs the bait stick,
the catch stick will release. The diagonal stick will fly up, the rock will fall, and dinner
will be served.
Birds
ALL SPECIES OF BIRDS ARE EDIBLE, but I do not consider them an important
part of my smallgame
diet, for two reasons: birds are very difficult to
catch, and bird traps tend to be complex and hard to build.
If you hope to have any chance of catching birds, you must make
tracking them a significant part of your trip preparation and planning, and
have extremely good luck. When I was in the Cook Islands, for example,
I happened to be there during the one or two weeks when Brown Booby
hatchlings were trying to take flight. They were practically falling out of
their nests right at my feet! Had I been there a couple of weeks earlier or
later, however, I would not have seen them.
Believe it or not, the easiest birds to catch are songbirds, because you
might find several dozen of them together in a tree or bush. The throwing
stick (see page 203) is the best primitive hunting tool for nabbing songbirds.
If you have a net (or can make one), one method of hunting birds is
to string a net between trees near their nests. Birds tend to use the same
flyways, and you may snare one this way. If you find some nests, bird eggs
are also a good food source.
Tracks and Other Signs of Animal Activity
IS IT NECESSARY TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between squirrel and mouse tracks?
No. You couldn’t care less whether the animal you’re after is a shrew or a
vole or a pika; all you want to do is eat it. All you need to know about tracks
is where they are, which indicates where the animals are, and consequently,
where you should set your traps and snares.
In addition to watching for tracks, you can determine where animals
spend their time by keeping an eye out for trails or runs, droppings, nests
or burrows, holes, and scratchings.
Hunting
UNLESS YOU’RE AN EXPERIENCED HUNTER and have a weapon with you, you
won’t have much success hunting for your food. I have yet to meet someone
who can run down and catch a deer with their bare hands. In North America
more than half of all people who get lost in the wilderness are hunters. But
remember that hunting is laborintensive,
and as your energy level dwindles,
so will your ability to hunt effectively.
Making Hunting Tools
The best hunting tools, like the best traps and snares, are the ones you
can create simply and easily. For this reason you won’t find me explaining
how to make bows and arrows. Not only are they extremely difficult
to make but learning how to use them effectively takes practice. A person
can’t, without years of experience, take a bent branch, attach a rope to it,
and bring down a deer.
The simplest yet most versatile hunting tool in a survival situation is
the throwing stick. A throwing stick is a wristthick
piece of hardwood in a
A throwing stick is used intuitively:
you throw it at an animal or bird in
the hope of dazing or killing it. In
essence, the throwing stick is opportunistic
hunting. You should always
have one with you, so that if you spook
a bird or small animal while walking,
you have the stick ready.
curved J shape that looks like a miniature hockey stick, about 1.5 to 2.5 feet
(0.5 to .75 m) in length. Some people sharpen one end of the stick, though
that’s not necessary. The throwing stick can be used for protection from
wild animals and can also double as a digging stick.
A throwing stick does you little good, however, if it’s not at hand
when you need it. In the African plains, I was hiking with my throwing
stick strapped to my backpack. A few minutes into the walk, I stirred up
some ground birds about 5 feet (1.5) away from me. Of course, I missed the
chance to kill them because by the time I got my throwing stick out, they
were gone. That’s a mistake I won’t make again.
You do not want to travel long distances with the throwing stick looking
for game; this requires too much energy and the stick is not accurate.
Use it only when an opportunity presents itself.
Skinning and Dressing
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PREDATORS, make sure you clean game some
distance from your camp, preferably near a water source. To skin large
game, lay the animal on its back and split the hide from throat to tail,
avoiding the sex organs. Turn your knife blade up to ensure that you cut
only the hide and stomach muscles, not the internal organs, as cutting
internal organs such as the stomach or kidneys can sometimes introduce
foultasting
liquids, effectively spoiling your catch.
Smaller game is easier to skin. Cut the hide along the bottom or back
legs and across the anus. Insert your fingers under the hide on both sides
of the cut and pull it apart, using the knife to cut away places where the
skin is holding on. The skin should slide back quite easily.
Carefully cut through the stomach muscles. The exposed internal
organs can now be cut or pulled out; they are attached only at the throat
and anus. Don’t throw them away, though: most are edible. At the very least,
they can be used for bait. You can eat the lungs, heart, kidneys, and liver
(but be wary of liver that appears discolored or diseased). Avoid stomach
and intestines, and although the stomach contents may be edible (such as
crawfish inside fish) they should be considered a lastditch
food source.
Cooking
ASFAR AS I’MCONCERNED, there is only one way to cook food in a survival
situation: boil it. Boiling food is most effective because many of the nutrients
remain in the cooking liquid, and there is also something comforting
about drinking warm broth.
It’s true that boiled food can taste pretty bland, but I’d rather put up
with bland flavor in an emergency than eat something that was grilled or
cooked on an open fire, with many of the nutrients and fat dripped away.
If you don’t have the option of boiling because you lack a pot, then
you must use an alternative method. Spit cooking can be accomplished
by skewering your meal on a green sapling and suspending it over a
small fire. The hot coals of a fire work best here; high flames will only
singe your meal without cooking the inside. Turn the spit regularly to
cook the meat through.
Another effective method is rock frying. Heat a couple of flat rocks in
your fire, then place your food directly on the rocks to fry it.
Preserving Food
IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE MORE FOOD than you can eat at any
given time, the greatest tragedy is to see it go bad. For this reason, it’s
important to know the various methods of preserving food in the wild.
First, cut away all the fat. Fat can be rendered on its own and used as a
food source, as bait, as grease in a qulliq (candle), as waterproofing, and more.
If weather allows, the easiest technique is to hang your food to dry.
Find a sunny, windy place, and set up a few sticks and logs to create hanging
racks. Cut the meat into thin strips and hang it over the racks. After a
couple of days it will be dry. You may find the meat turns black and crusty,
and this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it prevents flies from laying
their eggs in the meat and becoming maggots. (But if they do, keep the
maggots—they’re edible too!)
A better way to dry meat is to smoke it. Hang thinly sliced meat
from your racks, but also build a small, smoky (punky wood works best)
When meat has been properly smoked, it will look dry, shrunken, and brittle. It doesn’t
need to be cooked to be eaten. Here the meat is drying in the sun while the smoke keeps
the flies away.
fire underneath. Smoking not only gives the meat great flavor, it prevents
the flies from getting at it. If you have cloth among your supplies, you can
wrap some of it around the racks to make an enclosure, which speeds up
the process by keeping the smoke and heat in. For generations, Native
North Americans have used tipis as smokehouses.
Finally, you can preserve meat by soaking it in salt water. Salt water
must cover the meat completely. If you happen to have lots of salt, you can
layer the meat, covering each layer in salt. In both cases, be sure to wash
the salt off the meat before cooking it.
Eating Carrion
CARRION—THECARCASS OFADEADANIMAL—is something many of us would
never consider eating. Until we’re trying to stay alive in the wild, that is.
Most readers of this book live in a society where the only interaction
they have with rotten food is when they throw it in the garbage. And
in an age when food has spent time on a truck, train, or ship, has traveled
between continents, and has been handled by dozens of people before it
hits the grocery store shelves, that’s probably smart.
But in the wild, it’s amazing what kinds of rotten (or seemingly rotten)
foods our stomachs can handle. That’s why I ate a rotting fish when
I was in Alaska. Even though it had been out in the sun all day, I figured
it wouldn’t hurt me, and I was right. Most cultures in the not-too-distant
past included raw or rotting meat as a staple of their diet. For example, the
Montagnais of northern Quebec fill the stomach of a woodland caribou
with its internal organs and let it hang in the heat of summer in a tree for
a couple of weeks. Then, when it has turned into what can graciously be
described as stinky mush, they eat it as a delicacy.
If you resort to eating carrion, you should cook it whenever possible. But
if I were presented with the choice between uncooked carrion and starvation,
I’d eat the carrion.
Eating Charcoal
IF YOU FIND YOUR STOMACH BECOMING UPSET because of your new diet, eating
charcoal (pieces of burnt wood from your fire) may help cure what
ails you. Charcoal will absorb many drugs and toxins from the gastrointestinal
tract.
African survival expert Douw Kruger uses charcoal extensively for
stomach problems. He grinds charcoal into a teaspoonful of fine powder,
mixes it with water, and consumes this a few times a day as necessary.
Don’t take too much, though, as it can cause constipation. And don’t ever
eat charcoal made from poisonous wood.
RegionSpecific
Food Considerations
THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN GATHERING AND CATCHING FOOD in a wilderness environment
is knowing a few plants and creatures native to each region. The
wild plants and creatures listed below are safe to eat, easy to identify, and
found in relative abundance.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Top Three Wild Edibles:
pads of the prickly pear cactus
fruit of the prickly pear cactus
mesquite beans
Top Three Critters:
mice and rats
grasshoppers and scorpions
rattlesnakes: Be sure to cut off and bury the head and its potentially lethal fangs.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Top Three Wild Edibles:
cattails
berries (in season)
wild teas (from needles, leaves, and fruit): spruce, blueberry, blackberry,
raspberry, Labrador
Top Three Critters:
creepy crawlies (earthworms, grubs, grasshoppers)
rodents (including squirrels)
rabbits
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Top Three Wild Edibles:
caribou lichen (reindeer moss)
berries (in season)
willow shoots
Top Three Critters:
rodents
bird eggs (in season): The Arctic is one of the few places where you can find
entire colonies of bird eggs.
fish: Fishing in a place like the boreal forest is an uncertain undertaking. You
could walk through miles of thick bush without finding a lake. In the Arctic
in the summer, however, there are all kinds of running streams. (There aren’t
always fish in them, but checking streams is worth a shot.)
On the Sea or Open Water
Top Three Wild Edibles:
bull kelp
seaweed
any other type of greenery
Top Three Critters:
barnacles and other crustaceans that attach themselves to the bottom of your
vessel
small fish that follow in the shade of your vessel
plankton: You can catch plankton by trailing an open sock behind your vessel.
The plankton collect in the sock, giving you a teaspoonful of salty mush.
(Of course, you should also try your hand at catching big fish from your
vessel, but this isn’t easy to do. Some have sustained themselves by killing
birds that occasionally landed on their vessels.)
Jungles
Top Three Wild Edibles:
fruit
palm nuts
palm hearts
Top Three Critters:
fish from feeder streams (small, shallow, muddy little runoffs from rainfall):
If you have a net, you can often scoop small fish and crustaceans from
these streams.
fish from rivers
insects and grubs (as long as you can distinguish the benign ones from the
poisonous ones)
Coastal Regions
Top Three Wild Edibles:
bull kelp
bladderwrack seaweed
sea lettuce
Top Three Critters:
creepy crawlies (earthworms, grubs, grasshoppers)
rodents (including squirrels)
rabbits
Mountains
Top Three Wild Edibles:
berries (in season)
wild teas
mushrooms (only if an experienced mushroom hunter has taught you which
ones are safe)
Top Three Critters:
rodents (including squirrels)
rabbits
creepy crawlies (earthworms, grubs, grasshoppers)
Swamps
Top Three Wild Edibles:
cattails
pond lily tubers
wild teas
Top Three Critters:
frogs and leeches
snakes and turtles
rodents
Africa
Top Three Wild Edibles:
wild cucumbers
wild melons
gemsbuck (marama) bean roots and bulbs
Top Three Critters:
snakes, lizards, and tortoises
ground birds and sociable weaver birds (found in big nests in trees)
rodents and mongoose
Group Versus Solo Survival
BEING PART OF A GROUP THAT’S STRUGGLING FOR SURVIVAL can be both a blessing
and a curse when food is an issue. There is the obvious advantage of
having more people to collect food and identify food sources. But when
Food | 211
it comes to rationing food, you may find that the other members of your
group have vastly different opinions about the proper proportions.
Another benefit of being in a group is that you may find it easier to
eat things you might otherwise consider disgusting. If you’re hungry and
see your buddy eating maggots, for example, you just might do it too.
And with more people in your group, there’s a greater chance that
at least one of them is a proficient hunter or angler, which could radically
change the food landscape for everyone.
On the downside, there can be endless discussions about favorite
foods and what you miss the most (as you feast on a slug or two). These
conversations can lead to a couple of hours of euphoria but are inevitably
followed by depression as the reality of your situation becomes clearer.
W
hen you’re struggling to survive, most of your decisions
revolve around prioritizing your immediate needs: should you
search for water, food, or shelter? Should you make a signal or a
fire? All are vital to your well-being; the only decision to make is which
one should come first, and the answer usually becomes obvious when
you take into account your circumstances, the region, and the weather
in which you find yourself. But perhaps the single most important (and
difficult) decision you will face in the wilderness is whether you should
move or stay put.
There may be instances, for example, in which you have to move at
least a short distance to escape an immediate hazard, such as a rockfall or
an avalanche. Barring that, however, the choice to stay or go is never an
easy one. There are pros and cons to each.
Should You Stay or Should You Go?
MANY PEOPLE—PARTICULARLY THOSE who have attended survival classes—
have had it drummed into their heads by their instructors that they should
stay put no matter what the circumstances. Unfortunately, this is not always
the best advice.
| 215
You may find yourself in a spot that offers you ample food and water,
protection from the elements, and even wood for a fire. But at the same
time, you’re in a remote location and nobody is going to come looking for
you, so there’s only one hope of seeing home again: you’ve got to make it
out on your own.
Here are some crucial questions to ask yourself before moving on:
Do you know which way safety lies and how to get there?
If not, do you run the risk of getting even more lost?
How far will you have to travel to reach safety?
Are you or any of your travel partners injured, and do you have the physical
strength to walk out?
Do you have enough supplies to make it to your destination?
Does anybody know where you are, and is there a chance they’ll come looking
for you?
If so, how long before they even start looking?
Are you on a wellused
trail that might have other travelers and potential
rescuers heading your way?
Which is more dangerous: where you are now, or where you have to travel?
Does the current location offer necessityoflife
benefits such as water, shelter,
fire/fuel, and food?
Are you now with a vehicle or other large object that may be seen easily from
the air?
In many situations, staying in one place is the best thing you can
do. After all, there’s no guarantee that there’s anywhere better just around
the bend. As a general rule, if you don’t have any idea where to go or
how you will provide for yourself along the way, then staying put makes
sense. Most studies show that people walk in circles when they are lost, due
to the unfamiliar terrain and land features in their way. As a result, they
become even more lost and make it harder for searchers to find them.
Here are some reasons to stay:
You’re injured and run the risk of getting more hurt while on the move.
Moving may take you into more dangerous territory.
You’re with a large vehicle, which not only offers shelter but is a lot easier to
spot (especially from the sky) than you would be walking alone through the
bush.
You can build a better camp, create a signal fire, and maybe even start hunting
and scavenging for food.
Some individuals (friends, family, or official personnel) were informed of your
route and destination. Chances are they’ll begin searching for you shortly after
you don’t show up at your destination or return home. If you head off down a
different path, you may miss them—and rescue—completely.
Your chances of being rescued are better if you left behind a trip or flight
plan. Within the first 24 to 72 hours, there’s a high probability of rescuers finding
you alive. After five or six days, they are more likely to find bodies.
Yet as good an idea as staying put may seem, there are times when
moving is the best option. On one occasion I was searching for a place to
teach a survival course in a swampy part of Algonquin Provincial Park, a
wellknown
Ontario park. I was at the peak of my teaching days and starting
to get overconfident. I headed out into the bush, off the established
trails, without telling anyone where I was going. Even my wife was not
expecting to hear back from me for at least three days.
After finding the perfect spot to teach—in a swamp a few miles into
the bush—I started my hike back to my hidden and waiting canoe. Not
more than 30 feet (9 m) away, a beautiful cow moose was grazing in the
setting sun. I decided to try out my moose call and see how she would
respond. I cupped my hands in front of my mouth and made the sound
of a female moose.
It was the rutting season, and during this “season of love,” the
bull moose may be the most dangerous animal on the continent.
These creatures have been known to attack and destroy tractortrailer
trucks.
So I didn’t make a bull sound for fear of bringing an angry male around.
This gentle cow moose just looked up once and then went back to
eating. So I made the call again. This time, no response at all. I shrugged
and turned to continue on my merry way. That’s when more than half a
ton of angry male moose, his truckdestroying
antlers pointed at me, came
charging out of the bush beside the female. Clearly, he was not amused.
I ran for all I was worth through the thick boreal forest. Several hundred
yards later I spotted a partially fallen tree and scrambled up, out of
reach of the bull. He stayed below the tree grunting, snorting, and stomping,
all the while trampling down the small trees in the area.
I suddenly remembered (and this is the point of the story) that nobody
knew where I was, and nobody was expecting me anytime soon. If I didn’t
do something quickly in the failing fall sunlight, I would be there for the
night . . . or longer. I realized I had to move.
After several minutes, I climbed down and hit the ground running,
and with the bull moose still giving chase, eventually wound my way back
to the lakeshore, where I slipped quietly into the water (fully clothed) and
swam as stealthily as possible back to my canoe. To this day, that experience
remains the most frightening and dangerous situation I have ever
faced in the wilderness.
Planning and Preparing for Survival Travel
SURVIVAL TRAVEL IS VERY, VERY DIFFERENT from any other kind of wilderness
travel. For that reason, it is imperative that you take the time to prepare
for the journey that lies before you. Leave only when you’re completely
ready to do so.
Before you head out, set up some kind of sign that tells anyone who’s
looking for you or comes upon your camp that a) you were there, b) how long
ago you left, and c) which direction you went. You can leave a note, leave a
marker pointing in your direction of travel, or conspicuously mark your trail.
Orange surveyor’s tape is the best for marking, if you have it. If you’re writing
a note, the more details you can include, the better, such as the status of
your supplies and your health.
If possible, before you go, build up a stock of food and water, and
pack any protective clothing you think you’ll need. Make at least a couple
of tinderballs
to take with you and store them in a dry, protected place for
the journey. If possible, also bring signaling gear.
found themselves stranded in a snowstorm in a secluded part
were and hope rescue teams would find them in time or leave the
»
LifeorDeath
Decisions
When it comes to getting out of a survival situation alive, the
toughest choice facing any of us is the one between staying put
in the hopes of being rescued or venturing out for help. Often,
it’s a lifeordeath
decision.
This was the dire predicament facing Thomas and Tamitha
Garner, a suburban couple from Salt Lake City, when they
of southwestern Utah. A sudden winter storm paralyzed their
vehicle, cutting them off from civilization and virtually all hope
of immediate rescue. Stuck in the snowblanketed
mountains
for 12 agonizing days, the Garners struggled to survive in their
pickup truck, with two boxes of granola bars, some frozen bottled
water, a can of spray deodorant, some carburetor cleaner, a
lighter, and Medusa, the family dog.
Dressed only in jeans and light coats, they kept warm by starting
the truck from time to time. For nine frigid days and nights,
Thomas and Tamitha carefully rationed the granola bars and water,
but eventually, when they were reduced to eating Medusa’s remaining
kibble, they knew they had to make a choice: stay where they
cold comfort of the truck to set out in search of help.
Thomas, a former Eagle Scout, got to work. Recalling an
episode of “I Shouldn’t Be Alive: The Science of Survival,” in
which I fashioned a set of makeshift snowshoes from seatbelts
and foam carseat
padding, he created boots using the truck’s
seat cushions and a few bungee cords. With his wife in sneakers
behind him and Medusa in tow, he blazed a trail through
snow well over two feet deep. When night fell, all three huddled
around a fire, which they made by lighting carburetor cleaner.
When the fire waned, they kept it going with spray deodorant.
The couple and their dog continued hiking—despite dehydration,
exhaustion, and frostbite—for an astonishing three
and chose well.
days and nights, covering 15 miles (24 km) in deep snow. When
in doubt, Tamitha repeated her mantra, “One more day and I’ll be
home.” On the 12th day of their ordeal, the couple spotted a bright
yellow snowplow in the distance and flagged it down.
Because of their resourcefulness and sound decisionmaking,
the Garners—and Medusa—made it out alive. At that critical moment
when they were forced to choose, they weighed their options carefully
Travel Considerations
ONCEYOU MAKE THEDECISIONTOHITTHETRAIL, there are many factors you
need to consider.
Weather and Climate
How will shortterm
weather conditions affect you? This is a vital consideration.
If a violent storm is brewing in the distance, stay put, at least for
the time being. Most big weather—especially violent weather—comes and
goes fairly quickly. Traveling all day in the rain with poor rain gear is a sure
recipe for hypothermia.
Carrying Gear
When you’re on the move, you’ll likely need a way to carry the things that will
help keep you alive on the journey (hopefully your survival kit is one of them).
The less equipment you have to carry in your hands, the better off you’ll
be. You’re going to need your hands to protect you from falling, to move
obstacles from your path, and to mark your trail. If you’re fortunate enough
to have a backpack, great. But what if you don’t?
With a few raw materials and a little time and effort, you can construct
a makeshift carry bag. All you need is a blanket or similar item and
some rope. Make your carrier sturdy so that you can travel as fast and as far
as possible. It would be tragic to arrive at your destination after a grueling
day of wilderness travel to find that you’d lost your lighter because it fell
out of your makeshift bag.
Making a Makeshift Carry Bag
1. To construct a makeshift carry bag, lay all your equipment out on a blanket or similar
ground cover.
2. Roll up and tie as shown.3. Using this rollup
method, you can
carry your supplies on your shoulder and
have your hands relatively free.
Carrying People
You may find yourself in an emergency where you need to carry an injured
person. Injured travelers pose a real challenge, one that is nearly impossible
for a single ablebodied
person to handle. Transporting another person is
much more manageable when two or more are doing the carrying.
If you need to carry small children, you can put them in a backpack frame
or makeshift carry bag. For larger children or adults, you can make a chair or
stretcher out of poles. A rough stretcher can be carried by two people, although
it is an exhausting task. If you are the sole ablebodied
person, your only option
for transporting your injured partner is to make a sledge that can be dragged.
This type of device is a stretcher with crossed front handles that point (or curve)
upward, allowing the carrier to pull without having to crouch too low. See “Survival
First Aid,” Chapter 13, for more advice on coping with injuries.
Rate of Travel
THE STAKES OF SURVIVAL TRAVEL ARE HIGH, so you can’t afford to make any mistakes.
Know that your rate of travel will be considerably slower than normal.
Move deliberately, carefully, and at a medium pace; it is not a race. Most
important, know where you are headed!
Set realistic travel goals for yourself. Pick a destination that you’re pretty
sure you can reach without exhausting yourself. It can be demoralizing to set
a goal and then not attain it. The faster you go, the greater the risk that you’ll
hurt yourself and the more likely you’ll bypass a route or trail that may lead
you to safety. You may even miss the cave that could provide shelter for the
night, or the cabin tucked in the woods. Go at a reasonable pace and the world
will open up in front of your eyes; you’ll begin to see the possibilities before
you, possibilities that may make all the difference to your survival.
stroud’s Tip
While you’re traveling, look backward often to see where
you’ve come from so that you can recognize that view if
you have to return. Few people do this, but it’s well worth the
mere seconds it takes.
If you’re traveling in pairs and one of you becomes injured, fashioning a stretcher with
crossed handles will allow you to walk upright as you pull the stretcher.
Survival Travel and Navigation | 223
Traveling at Night
Traveling at night is a risky undertaking and one I don’t generally recommend.
The greatest—and most obvious—danger here is that you can’t see
where you are putting your feet, so you risk stepping on a poisonous snake,
or falling and injuring yourself. Furthermore, unless you know the area like
the back of your hand, your ability to see in the dark—a fork in the trail
or a possible shelter—is almost nil. And most predators are more active at
night than during the day, so you may be exposing yourself to the possibility
of attack. Finally, traveling at night may force you to sleep during the day,
which is the time when rescuers (if there are any) will be looking for you.
On the rare occasion when you absolutely must keep moving at
night, it can be safe to travel on certain flatwater
rivers or lakes. However,
I would recommend this only if you are proficient at canoeing.
The main exception to the “don’t travel at night” rule is when you are
in the desert, where daytime temperatures may be too high to allow a safe
journey. Nighttime travel in the desert can be glorious; when the temperature
drops, the heavens open up above you, and you can use the stars or a
full moon for navigation.
I have traveled at night in the Amazon jungle. As I stepped outside
of an old, abandoned native hut in the failing light, I looked up to see a
large jaguar staring back at me. I knew it would take me a while to follow
the dense jungle trail back to my destination, a tiny Waorani village, but
I weighed the risks and took my chances. Using the light from my video
camera to guide me and with the jaguar on my heels the entire way, I
finally made it back to the village (which, incidentally, was surrounded by
a chainlink
fence . . . to keep out jaguars!). I learned the next morning that
my stalker had been a male jaguar weighing more than 200 pounds.
stroud’s Tip
When traveling, take particularly good care of your feet.
If you have extra socks, change them regularly, and avoid
walking in wet footgear.
Traveling by Water
Whether it be a swamp, river, lake, or stream, traveling by water may be the
best route to safety if your only other alternative is to hack through dense
and tangled bush. As you may suspect, however, water travel comes with its
own set of risks. That body of water may seem calm and peaceful now, but
what will you do if you encounter rapids or if a wind storm kicks up while
you’re in the middle of the lake? You also need to consider the possibility
that the water may be home to dangerous creatures such as (depending on
where you are) alligators, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, polar bears, walrus,
sea lions, sharks, or elephants. And then there’s the additional responsibility
of waterproofing your gear.
When it comes to exactly how you travel by water, there are few
options. Clearly, it’s best if you have your own vessel, like a boat or canoe.
Barring that, you’re limited to making something, which usually means
a raft. And as romantic as Huck Finn may have made it seem, making a
raft—and traveling with it—is not easy to do. If this is your only option
for safe travel, or you are convinced that making your way down a certain
watercourse will lead you more quickly to safety, then it will be worth the
effort. Just be sure to test your creation before loading it and setting out;
never trust your survival to a flimsy raft.
If you can’t swim or have little boating experience, stay as close to the
shore as possible. When approaching bends in a river, keep to the inside
edge where the current is less forceful. Swiftmoving
rivers can pose a variety
of hazards, including snags (submerged trees and other foliage that can
grab your vessel), sweepers (overhanging limbs and trees), rapids (portage
around them; don’t attempt to run them), and waterfalls.
If you’re following a river on foot and come to an impasse that forces
you to take to the water with no vessel, there are a couple of lastditch
ways
to float downstream, but these are extremely dangerous. You could try to
hang onto some sort of inflatable waterproof container (such as your trusty
orange garbage bags), or if you have something buoyant like a food container,
try to build something atop it. Cattails are also quite buoyant, and
travelers have been known to construct floats from them.
Making Rafts
Make a simple raft platform by collecting logs
of a uniform size and tying them together in any
of the three ways shown.
Construct a rudder pole on your raft, if
yourself away from obstacles.
Rafts can be hard to make in survival situations. Depending on your circumstances,
you may be able to tie up a raft that can transport you some distance.
possible. This way, you’ll be able to steer
Crossing Water
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF MOVING WATER. If you can get to your
destination without crossing water, you’re better off.
You must find the right spot to cross, and it may not be where you first
reach the water. Look for the shallowest or slowestflowing
section (sometimes
the most frothy, whitewater
section is actually the easiest place to
cross as that is where the water is shallow enough to expose rocks you can
step on). Make sure that you know you can get up the opposite bank before
you enter the water.
When crossing moving water such as a river or stream, you should
always face the current and lean your body upstream against it. Never turn
your back to the current and never lean downstream, or you run the risk
of being swept away. Use a stick, branch, or other aid to help you maintain
your balance. It only takes 6 inches (15 cm) of moving water to knock
down a full-grown man.
If you have to swim in rapids, keep your hind end as high as possible to avoid injuring
your spine. Use your feet to repel any rocks you hit, and keep your feet high so they don’t
snag in a rock crevice, flip you over, and turn you face down. Paddle backward with your
arms to reach a safe exit point.
Slide your feet along the bottom rather than taking large strides,
which would leave you on one leg for much of the crossing time. If you’re
wearing a backpack, undo the hip strap and loosen the shoulder straps so
that you can slip it off if you get knocked over. Don’t let go of it if you can
help it; but you also don’t want it to take you under. Never attempt water
crossings in bare feet. It’s a rough compromise to make, especially if your
boots or shoes are dry, but wet shoes are less debilitating than a twisted or
broken ankle or severely gashed foot.
If you’re crossing in a group, the strongest person should face the current
with the rest in line behind, each holding the person in front by the waist.
The stronger members of the group break the force of the river for the weaker
ones. You can also cross as a group with each member in line locking arms.
The strongest person is always in front, with the weakest in the middle. Yet
another option is to secure a rope to objects on either bank; people can work
their way across while holding the rope from the downstream side.
If you do slip and fall and find yourself being swept away, make sure
you’re floating on your back with your feet facing downstream. Your toes
should be pointing out of the water (or as close to the surface as possible),
and your rear end should be lifted as high out of the water as you can manage,
to prevent your cracking your tailbone.
There are thousands of horror stories of travelers who fell out of
their boats and subsequently drowned because they let their feet dangle
under the surface and catch on trees or rocks or other debris in the water.
Once this happens, the force of the flow throws you face first, and holds
you under until you drown. Keeping your feet in front of you prevents
this from happening and allows you to push yourself away from rocks and
other obstacles as you float downstream.
There may be times when you need to cross frozen water. Although
this can be an easy way to shorten your journey, it’s not without risk. Falling
into water in the middle of winter can be deadly. A pair of ice picks bought
at any sports store and a flotation survival suit could save your life.
Expect weak ice in the following places:
where objects protrude through the ice
in straight sections in rivers
where snow banks extend over the ice
at a confluence of water courses
wherever you see sinkholes
where you see darker sections under the snow
Basic Survival Navigation
IF YOU VENTURE INTO THE WILD without basic navigation skills such as how to
use a compass, you put yourself at unnecessary risk. The essentials of navigation
are fairly straightforward and easy to master, and can be learned by
anybody. As you learn how to paddle a canoe, build a campfire, or set up a
228 | Survive!
tent, also learn to read a map and use a compass. I highly recommend that
you get some hands-on experience well before venturing out on your own.
Many colleges offer night courses on the subject.
The Map
A topographical map improves your chances of survival many times over,
but only if you know how to use it and always protect it from damage.
Before setting off, check the date of your map. Depending on its age,
you may find that some features have changed, which could drastically
throw off your perception of where you are. I have seen entire lakes disappear
(and new ones appear) on old maps.
Make sure that you can interpret the map’s symbols and identify
major terrain features.
To correctly use any map, you first need to orient it. In simplest terms,
a map is oriented when it is placed flat on a horizontal surface, and its north
and south markings correspond with north and south on your compass (or
at least with your understanding of where north, south, east, and west lie).
If you’re not sure where north is, you can still orient the map using terrain
association. To do this, you must know your approximate location on the
map. Seek out the major terrain features in your vicinity (such as hilltops, valleys,
and ridges), and identify them on the map. This is more difficult in “close”
places such as the jungle and the forest, so you may need to wait until you reach
something more easily identified. Some topographic maps also mark different
types of vegetation, which may help you to determine your location.
Knowing your map-based route is noted as a major priority in “Trip
Planning and Preparation,” the first chapter of this book. If you are on a
charter trip, sit down with your guide on the first day to familiarize yourself
with the map.
The Compass
The compass course I took at my local college always ended with an orienteering
race. It became tradition that those of us who also took survival courses
were under big-time peer pressure to win. Fortunately for me, I avoided much
teasing by winning the year I took the course. My time, however, was not as
good as my survival buddy Doug Getgood’s had been a few years earlier, so I
felt it appropriate that he join me in writing this, and the next, section.
In a world where the technosavvy
are all too used to having electronic
gadgets flash and beep at them, the simple compass sometimes
seems almost boring. After all, it just sits there, pointing north. Yet, simple
though it may be, the compass is the one instrument above all others that
will help you find your way out of the wilderness. Basic compass understanding
is vital to your survival.
If you can comfortably and effectively use a compass, you can stand in
the middle of nowhere, pick a destination off in the distance and be confident
that no matter how many obstacles lie in your path, you will get there.
Parts of a Compass
To use a compass, you first have to understand its various parts. The compass
shown below is an orienteering compass, a very practical one when
used with a topographic map.
The compass has three basic parts:
Base plate: Shows the directionoftravel
arrow, parallel orienteering lines
that are used in conjunction with a map, and the index mark.
Rotating compass housing
Orienteering lines
Magnetic needle
North pointer
Base plate
Directionoftravel
arrow
Magnifying lens
Parts of a compass.
Rotating compass housing: Rotates in either direction. Its border is
inscribed with numbers and markings. It begins with N for north and ends
where it began, 360 degrees later. On the bottom of the compass housing
is the red orienteering arrow, as well as parallel orienteering lines.
Magnetic needle: Balanced inside the compass housing, the magnetic needle
is usually red and always points to magnetic north (as long as the compass
is held flat and is not placed near certain types of metal).
Taking a Bearing Without a Map
In simple terms, a bearing (one of the 360 points on a compass) is the
direction you want to travel in relation to magnetic north. The idea behind
taking a bearing is that it allows you to travel in a chosen direction using
landmarks as navigational aids. Hillsides, big rocks, unique-looking trees,
ponds, and lakes can all be used for this purpose. See the picture captions
and other steps that follow for instructions on taking a bearing.
Face the direction you want to go. Level the compass to allow the magnetic
needle to swing freely, and point the direction-of-travel arrow in the direction
that you have chosen.
Now spin the compass housing until the orienteering arrow is directly
underneath the magnetic needle. The bearing is shown at the index mark (e.g.,
148.). Choose a topographical landmark in that direction that you can easily
differentiate from others around it.
Keeping your compass at the chosen setting, take your eyes away from the
compass and make your way toward the object. Once you reach the object,
find another landmark in your path in the same direction. This is done by
doing the “compass shuffle.” As before, put the compass flat in your hand.
Make sure the bearing still reads 148° (or whichever bearing you’ve chosen)
and shuffle your body until the red end of the magnetic needle is directly over
top of the red portion of the orienteering arrow. The directionoftravel
arrow
will point to where you want to go.
Always place the back end of the compass near or against your stomach
with the directionoftravel
arrow pointing ahead. This way both you and
the compass will always be facing the same direction. Don’t simply stare
at your compass and walk, as you could easily sway to one side and not
actually head in a straight line. If you choose a landmark in the right
direction, you can put the compass down and make your way to that
landmark, walking around obstacles en route. Adventure racers use this
method very effectively, noting a landmark in the distance and running
between landmarks at top speed.
To reverse your steps you can do one of two things:
Align the white (south) end of the magnetic needle with the red portion of the
orienteering arrow and follow the directionoftravel
arrow back, OR
Add 180 degrees (half of the 360 degrees of a circle) to your original
148degree
setting (180 + 148 = 328) and travel back to where you started.
Ensure in this case that all red arrows are aligned.
The Map and Compass
THE BEST MAP TO USE in conjunction with an orienteering compass is a topographic
map. The following is a basic introduction to working with a map
and compass. As I explain above, it’s wise to further your studies in the field
of orienteering with a local educator.
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The Topographic Map
A topographic map is a scaled replica of an outdoor location. The average
topographic map has a scale of 1:50,000, where 1 inch equals 50,000
inches. It shows contour lines, grid lines, man-made objects, and natural
features such as lakes, swamps, and rivers.
The contour lines are to help you to decipher various terrain features
such as peaks and valleys, cliffs and slopes. Grid lines run both
north and south (up and down, called grid north) as well as east and west
(left and right). On a 1:50,000 scaled map, the grid lines represent one
square mile. The north/south lines run almost the same direction as true
north, but not necessarily the same direction as magnetic north. The difference
between the map’s grid north and magnetic north is called the
angle of declination.
Contour lines
Grid lines
A topographic map gives you geographic detail about the landscape you’ll encounter.
Taking a Bearing with a Map
Using a pencil, mark on your map (a) the location from which you want to
take a bearing and (b) your chosen destination Then draw a straight line
connecting the two. Place the side of the compass along this line with the
direction-of-travel arrow pointing in the direction that you want to proceed.
Rotate the compass housing so that one of the orienteering lines
runs exactly parallel to or completely covers one of the north/south grid
lines on the map.
To achieve the correct reading, it is imperative that the orienteering arrow end points
toward the top of the map. The correct bearing is shown at the index mark.
Adjusting for Declination
Now that you have taken the bearing, an adjustment must be made to
correct for declination. Using the diagram on the side of the map, find
the degrees of difference between the map’s grid north and the com
pass’s magnetic north. Notice that the map below shows magnetic north,
true north (T.N.), and grid north. (For the purpose of map-and-compass
work, T.N. should be ignored.) The degree of declination is also shown.
Because the bearing was established using the map’s grid line, the grid
north marking on the diagram dictates which direction the compass
housing should be rotated. If the diagram shows magnetic north toward
the left of grid north, turn the compass housing to the left (counterclockwise).
If the diagram shows magnetic north toward the right of grid
north, turn the compass housing to the right (clockwise). In either case
you will rotate the compass housing the number of degrees indicated
on the map.
Keep in mind that magnetic north changes slightly each year. The
map will indicate how far it moves each year and how you can adjust for
the difference. The compass should now be adjusted for declination, and
will give you a true indication of what direction to travel.
Magnetic North Declination
Grid North
True North
A topographical map showing declination.
Adjusting for Declination from Field to Map
If you want to convert a bearing taken in the field to a map, use the magnetic
needle as your starting point. Using the topographical map’s diagram for
declination as a reference, rotate the compass housing toward grid north.
stroud’s Tip
When transferring from map to field, rotate the compass
housing toward magnetic north. When transferring from
field to map, rotate the compass housing toward grid north.
Making Improvised Compasses
ALTHOUGH IT MAY BE DAUNTING TO SEE YOUR COMPASS FLOAT down the river
or plummet to the bottom of a crevasse, don’t panic. There are ways to
determine north, south, east, and west from ordinary materials that you
may be carrying or that you can find in your immediate surroundings.
None of these methods is very accurate, but each will give you an idea of
where the major directions lie.
Water
Compass needle pointing northMagnetized needle
Paper
Magnetized needle and paper in water method. A magnetized needle will always point
north/south. See tip on page 27 to learn how to magnetize a needle.
Shadow stick: The shadow stick method uses the sun to determine direction.
Stand with the west mark to your left. North is in front of you, east
to the right, and south behind. This method cannot be used effectively in
regions above 60 degrees latitude.
Using a Shadow Stick to Determine Direction
1. Start by poking a stick or branch into 2. Wait about 15 minutes, during which
the ground. Choose a level spot where time the shadow tip will move. Mark
you know a distinctive shadow will be the new position of the tip. Repeat.
cast. Mark the tip of the shadow; this
mark will always be west.
East West
3. Draw a straight line through the
marks; this is an approximate east/
west line.
Watch method: Although it can be off by as much as 24 degrees and
doesn’t work everywhere on the planet, a watch can sometimes be used as
a makeshift compass. If your watch is digital, draw a watch (with hands) on
a circle of paper with the correct time on it and use the following method
to determine your direction.
This method should be used during standard time; in daylight saving
time, the north/south line is found between the hour hand and 1 o’clock.
If it is before noon, use halfway to the right side of the hour hand; if it is
after noon, use halfway to the left of the hour hand.
In the south temperate zone (the area between the Tropic of Capricorn
and the Antarctic Circle), point 12 o’clock toward the sun. Halfway between
the 12 o’clock position and the hour hand will be a north line. During daylight
saving time, the north line lies midway between the hour hand and 1
o’clock. Note that this method becomes less accurate the nearer you are
to the equator.
S
12 o’clock
Sun
If you are in the north temperate zone (the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the
Arctic Circle), point the hour hand of your watch directly at the sun. Then draw an
imaginary line halfway between the hour hand and 12 o’clock. This imaginary line
points south.
Using Natural Features to Navigate
WEATHER CAN BE A VERY IMPORTANT TOOL when navigating through the wilderness,
but remember: don’t ever rely on just one sign. Rather, use as many as
you can in combination to reduce the risk that you’ll make a mistake.
If your trip preparation and planning has told you the direction of the
prevailing wind, you can use that knowledge to help guide you, since wind
has pronounced effects on vegetation and land forms. The growth of certain
trees, called flag trees, is largely affected by wind patterns. The branches of
these trees (such as white pine) will not grow into the wind but rather in the
same direction as the prevailing wind. Flag trees generally point either east
or west, but this is subject to regional variation.
Moss tends to grow on the north side of trees because there’s less
sunlight. But that doesn’t mean you won’t find moss on the south side of
a tree or even all around the trunk. Again, it’s best to look for such signs
in combination. The meltoff
around boulders is usually on the south to
southwest side.
In the northern temperate climate, many flowers will face either south or east to maximize
their exposure to the sun. The barrel cactus in the Sonoran Desert does the same.
Celestial objects are good navigation tools, particularly the North
Star. Although you may think that the stars are constantly moving across
the night sky, in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Star always holds
its position. To find the North Star, first find the Big Dipper. Draw an
imaginary line connecting the two stars that form the rightmost
part
of the ladle. Continue the line a distance about five times greater than
the depth of the ladle, which will lead you to the last star in the handle
of the Little Dipper. This is the North Star. Make a marking or lay a
stick on the ground pointing north (to the star). Once daylight comes,
you can use this to establish your direction.
North Star
Big Dipper
Little Dipper
You can find the North Star by locating the end stars of the Big Dipper. Follow the line they
make diagonally north and you’ll find the bright light of the North Star.
In the southern hemisphere, you can use the Southern Cross (and its
two pointer stars) to determine south. Start with the star that marks the top
of the cross and draw an imaginary line through its long axis. Now draw
a line that starts midway between the two pointer stars and comes out at
a right angle to it. This line should cross your first imaginary line through
the long axis of the cross. The intersection of these two lines is close to
the South Pole.
You can also use the moon to navigate or at least gain a rough
idea of where north and south lie. If the moon is a crescent, draw an
imaginary line through the ends of the crescent down to the horizon. If
you’re in the northern hemisphere, the point where it touches is south;
if you’re in the southern hemisphere, it’s north.
If the moon rises before the sun sets, the illuminated side will be west. If it rises after midnight,
its illuminated side will be east.
Following beside a stream or river may seem like a logical plan,
since it can lead you to civilization . . . or into endless wilderness. You
can walk along gravel riverbanks with ease or find that the forest on the
edge of the river is too thick to penetrate. Only solid knowledge of an
area, gained during your planning and preparation stage, will help you
decide what to do.
Nor are train tracks or power lines necessarily the path home.
You could find a town just around the bend . . . or walk through miles
of nothingness along a line no longer in use. Power lines also have a
nasty habit of leading to a swamp or lake across which the wires have
been strung.
While making one of my survival films, I once came upon a set of
train tracks. Although I later received a lot of mail chastising me for not
following the tracks to safety, at the time, I had been certain there was a
highway only a few miles east of the tracks. Since I didn’t have a clue where
the tracks would take me, I went with the sure thing, crossed the tracks, hit
the highway, and found my way home.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
GPS ISASATELLITEBASED
NAVIGATION SYSTEM that can provide accurate locational
data anywhere, at any time. A GPS unit displays your current location
in latitude and longitude coordinates; if you enter the map coordinates
of your destination, it will also tell you the direction you should travel.
Most GPS units also have an electronic compass. Purchase one with a coil
antenna that gets good signals under tree canopy and a memory card with
topographical maps, so that you can track your movements and easily use
the “goto”
feature to find any place on the map.
Remember, though, that GPS units run on batteries, which may die
at the worst possible moment. Never rely on a GPS. You should also know
how to use a map and compass.
Trailblazing
THOUGH OFTEN OVERLOOKED, an important aspect of survival travel and navigation
is marking the surrounding natural features (also known as trailblazing)
while you move. Other travelers may see these indicators that
you’ve left behind, increasing your chances of being rescued. These markings
are also useful if you decide that the path you’re taking is wrong and
you want to go back.
The best way to blaze a trail is to use a sharp object, such as a belt
knife, axe, or machete, to cut a small piece of bark off a tree. You can also
use the orange surveyor’s tape from your survival kit.
When trailblazing, make sure you mark both sides of the tree (the
direction you came from and the direction you’re going). This way you’ll
The best choice for trailblazing targets are young green trees whose bark has not yet
hardened. The bark of older trees is much harder and will quickly dull your knife.
Survival Travel and Navigation | 243
see the marks if you have to turn around. Many adventurers have gotten
hopelessly lost because they forgot to do this.
If you don’t have an object on hand that will slice pieces of bark, you can
also blaze your trail by bending or breaking branches. Make sure you bend
the branches at eye level and point them in the direction you’re traveling.
Blazes are most effective when placed at eye level so that you can see them from a distance
without actually looking for them. Make as many as your physical strength and
circumstances allow.
Traveling in a Straight Line
MOST PEOPLE WALK IN CIRCLES WHEN LOST, generally clockwise. We often move
to the right because that is the side that people usually keep to when walking
down a hallway and climbing stairs. A righthanded
person’s right leg is usually
less flexible than the left, causing the left leg to take longer strides.
As a result, traveling straight in a survival situation is not as easy as
you may think. Here’s a good strategy: Consciously move in alternating
directions around obstacles in your path. Go around them sometimes to
the right, and sometimes to the left.
RegionSpecific
Travel and Navigation
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
In these regions, the decision whether to move depends primarily on your
current supply of water and the likelihood of your finding it somewhere else.
If you don’t think you have enough water to complete the journey and are
not likely to find some on the way, you shouldn’t go at all, unless you have
no choice.
Anyone who has ever hopped their way across a scalding beach with
an ice cream cone in hand will understand that walking on desert sand—no
matter how good your footgear—is just as difficult. It’s best to stick to brushy
and grassy places where the ground is a bit firmer. Snakes and spiders also
seek grassy places, so you increase your risk of being bitten, but this is still
the best way to go. If there are no shrubby or grassy areas, travel on the hard
valley floor between dunes, not on top of them.
If you are unlucky enough to get caught in a desert sandstorm, stop
moving immediately or try to get to the leeside of a natural shelter. Mark your
direction of travel, sit or lie down in that direction, cover your head (especially
your mouth and nose) with a cloth, and wait until the storm abates.
When traveling through canyon country, you have to be extremely
cautious around slot canyons (narrow canyons with high walls), which
have seen the deaths of many unsuspecting travelers. The danger here
is flash flooding, which happens with little warning. Flash floods can rip
through slot canyons on perfectly calm, bluesky
days, generally because
a major storm has occurred elsewhere and all the surface runoff is collecting
in the canyon. The wall of water can be as high as 60 feet (18 m).
A strong breeze or a sound like thunder are signs that a flash flood is
approaching.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
The denseness of the trees often complicates travel in boreal and other
temperate forests by preventing the traveler from gaining a good longdistance
view of the surroundings. Your skill with a compass will come
into play here, as you’ll need to take frequent bearings to make your way
out. You can also climb a tree to get a better view.
The rivers, streams, swamps, and lakes common in boreal and temperate
forests open up the terrain and provide an excellent means of travel and
navigation, provided you have a boat and the skill to travel on water.
The greatest danger in traveling in the boreal forest is overestimating
how fast you’re moving. It is common to travel barely a mile and feel
like you have traveled several.
tracted and failsstroud’s Tip
When moving through the forest (and the jungle) in a
group, chances are the person in front of you will hold the
branches, to prevent them from whipping back into your
face. This may be a considerate gesture, but don’t rely on it. There
will invariably come a moment when the person in front gets disto
hold the branch. If you’re not paying attention,
you’re going to get it in the eye, which can be serious. Always hold a
hand up for protection or stay well enough back.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Those who have not had the opportunity to travel in the world’s polar
regions are missing some of the greatest scenery on earth. The problem,
especially when ice fog sets in, is that you can feel like you’re traveling
inside a giant pingpong
ball.
The pingpong
ball effect can be extremely disorientating and make
it nearly impossible to tell the sky from the ground; everything is white. In
the Arctic, I once nearly walked off the edge of a 30foot
(9m)
snow cliff.
It was only at the last minute that I realized what I was about to do and
stopped. I had to get down on my hands and knees before I could actually
detect the difference in the landscape a few feet in front of me!
Generally, the wideopen
vistas make traveling in the Arctic enjoyable
and the natural land features (if there’s no fog!) easy to distinguish.
But bear in mind that whenever you’re in a region with heavy snow cover,
you run the risk of snowblindness on bright, sunny days. Snowblindness
is a sunburn on your retina, and it’s a debilitating injury that can last for
several days.
Do not, under any circumstances, travel if a heavy snowstorm or blizzard
is approaching. You should also avoid traveling when the wind, which
can create bitterly cold temperatures, is strong.
Protect your eyes from the sun’s UV rays with either sunglasses or ski goggles. If you don’t
have protective lenses, fashion what you can out of birch bark, paper, or any other fabric.
Just leave a couple of horizontal slits to see through.
Because you can see through a solar blanket, you can use a piece of one to protect your
eyes if you don’t have sunglasses.
On the Sea or Open Water
When traveling on open water, it helps to be aware of the subtle signs that
land may be near: stationary cumulus clouds in a clear sky (or in a cloudy
sky where the other clouds are moving); a greenish tint in the sky in the
tropics; lightercolored
reflection on clouds in the Arctic; and increased
bird life (and sounds). Lightercolored
water also indicates shallow water,
as does an increased amount of floating debris.
Jungles
The jungle is probably one of the toughest ecosystems in the world to
travel through (hence the popular phrase “It’s a jungle out there”). You
often don’t know exactly where you are or where you’re going, nor do you
always have the luxury of a trail or river to follow. Where possible, stick to
traveling near water, as you are more likely to come upon a village.
As part of your planning and prep, bring a good machete. Slashing
and cutting the growth in your way opens up a path and also keeps the
many creepy crawlies from biting you or hitching a ride on you.
You also need to be vigilant about looking up as well as down while
you walk. Snakes are found as often in trees as on the ground.
Walking across logs is very different in the jungle than in the temperate
forest. In the forest, I would advise you to step over logs or around
them to avoid slipping and twisting an ankle. In the jungle, the opposite is
true: you’re better off stepping on a log rather than over it. Many poisonous
snakes like to hide just under the crux (small space or hole underneath) of
the log. Snakebites occur when travelers step over a log and place their feet
down on the other side, exposing their ankles to snakes.
Mountains
Streams will eventually lead you off a mountain, but this does not mean that
you won’t at some point find yourself at the top of a 100foot
(30m)
waterfall—
that’s the downside. As long as the water course is lined with trees, however, you
will likely find handholds and footholds to help you make your way down.
Avalanches are the main travel hazard you’ll face in the mountains,
although rockslides can also occur after heavy rainfalls. Avoid ridges and
mountaintops during lightning storms, and because of the risk of flash
flooding, stay away from lowlying
areas after major storms.
T
he wilderness may be a dangerous place at times, but we
tend to play up the hazard in our minds. One of the most beneficial
characteristics you can have in a survival situation is confidence. If you
believe you can make it through the bad times and you’re not intimidated
by the forces of nature, you will increase your chances of survival.
To see yourself to safety, you must play both offense and defense.
On the offensive end are proactive measures such as signaling, finding
water, making fire, building a shelter, and finding food. The defensive end
includes protecting yourself from the many hazards inherent to the wild.
In other words, it doesn’t matter how much water is available to drink if
you get bitten by a poisonous cape cobra while lapping it up.
The thing to remember about the dangers of the wild (from animals
to creepy crawlies to weather) is that they are not, by their nature, malevolent
forces trying to do you in. To the contrary, they are just there, doing what they
do. Your actions will determine whether these elements affect you negatively.
For example: you are rushing through the boreal forest and not paying
attention to where you’re going, only to run headlong into a hornets’
nest or trip and snap your ankle in a hole. Now you’re in some serious
trouble, which you could have avoided had you simply slowed down and
paid closer attention. The potential for danger was always there, but your
actions determined how it affected you.
Or let’s say you’ve been blessed with glorious weather for a few days
and have chosen not to make a shelter. Invariably, the bad weather comes,
and now you’re in a desperate situation trying to keep your fire going and
stay warm in the pouring rain. The weather was coming anyway. Only your
choice not to make a shelter exposed you to the danger.
Remember that of all the hazards you’ll face in a survival situation,
it’s not the bigimpact
things (such as predators and poisonous snakes)
that are most likely to get in your way. Rather, it’s the little things that you
tend to ignore but which exist in abundance that will slow you down; small
problems which can snowball if ignored for too long.
Weather
OF ALL THE POTENTIAL DANGERS YOU WILL FACE in a survival situation, none is
more formidable than the weather. People can tell all the stories they want
about dangerous animals, poisonous creatures, or getting ill from eating
the wrong plant, but for me, weather is the most frightening variable of all.
It’s the greatest foe you’ll face. I have yet to be bitten by a snake, to be stung
badly by wasps, or to succumb to starvation in my travels. But I always have
to put up with or hide from bad weather.
It could be too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. It could be too
windy or too calm. But no matter what the weather is, it’s going to affect
you in some way, whether it’s offering you an advantage by being pleasant
and giving you time to accomplish the survival tasks you need to do,
or coming down on you hard as something you have to endure until you
get respite.
In the Kalahari Desert, my greatest concern was the blistering heat,
which I had to escape somehow. Luckily, I found a small tree (the only
one for a few square miles), which I huddled under for hours. There was a
20degree
difference between areas in the shade and those in the sun, and
that little tree helped me survive.
Ignore the weather and you radically decrease your chances of seeing
home again; acknowledge and respect it and you’ve taken the first step toward
survival. These are the weather events (in no particular order) that you should
be prepared to deal with, depending on your region and the time of year:
blizzards and wind chill
extreme heat
floods
hurricanes
sandstorms
thunderstorms/lightning storms
See “Weather,” Chapter 11, for a more detailed description of how to handle
these events.
Predators and Dangerous Animals
NOTHING GETS AS MUCH PLAY IN THE MEDIA as people getting mauled or killed
by animals. And while it may be true that people occasionally are killed by animals,
in the overwhelming majority of these instances, the death was due not
to the actions of a true predator but to what I call an “accidental predator.”
An accidental predator (such as a black bear) is primarily concerned
with getting its food, usually small or hoofed animals, fish, or plants.
Encounters with accidental predators occur when human beings invade
their territories.
True predators (such as great white sharks or tigers), on the other
hand, are opportunistic and look at people as opportunities. Sometimes
we serve them this opportunity on a silver platter by venturing into their
territories unprotected.
Animals of every sort have an uncanny ability to sense your state of
mind, whether you feel confident or fearful. Exude fear and they’ll be all
over you. Act confident and strong and they’ll think twice about attacking.
Sharks, for example, don’t like the idea of their prey fighting back, so the
toughest way for a shark to come at you is from the front.
Make sure you’re familiar with the creatures you may meet before
you head out on your journey.
Accidental Predators
The majority of the animals we fear when we head into the wilderness—
including black bears, poisonous snakes, or elephants—are not predators
looking for human prey at all. Creatures such as these are occasionally
associated with killing humans, but these deaths are usually the result of
circumstance rather than premeditation. Here’s a list of what I consider
the most common accidental predators:
wolves, coyotes, and other similar canine creatures
mountain lions, cougars, jaguars, pumas, panthers, and other similar small cats
black bears, grizzly bears, Kodiak bears, brown bears, and other similar bears
sharks (other than great white sharks)
Have a healthy respect for animals in the wild, but don’t let that evolve
into an irrational fear of them. Once your respect becomes fear, you lose your
ability to act rationally in a confrontation, and you may freeze, to your peril.
Say, for example, that you have no fresh water, the localized weather
conditions are poor, and you have little fuel for fire. You know from your
map that there’s a better spot a few miles away, but you’re too afraid to
move because you believe you may encounter a bear along the way. Your
fear of the bear is actually hindering your ability to survive.
Generally, accidental predators want nothing to do with humans.
Problems occur when we present ourselves to them in a compromising
position, whether it’s getting between them and their food, getting
between a mother and her young, or simply getting too close and startling
them. They are bigger and stronger than us, and when they react out of
fear, the outcome usually is not in our favor.
Now, there have been instances where rogue animals have killed
humans in a seemingly predatory fashion. Though exceedingly rare, rogue
animals are dangerous, because they are unpredictable and don’t act the
way the rest of their species does.
Habituated animals (bears, in particular) can also prove dangerous
because they have become accustomed to humans and do not necessarily
see us as a threat. Habituated animals are those that have learned to equate
people with food, because people do things like leave garbage lying outside
the house, or feed the animals in the backyard or park to get a nice photo.
In Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, there was a time when
mothers were seen spreading peanut butter on their children’s faces so
that a severalhundredpound
black bear would lick it off, all for a picture!
The good news for the adventurer is that habituated animals are rarely
found in remote areas.
You can prevent encounters with accidental predators by taking
these steps:
Make your presence known.
When you’re traveling in an area where you know there are accidental predators,
be as noisy as possible. Sing, yell, blow a whistle, wear a bear bell . . . anything
that will inform animals of your presence. If they hear you, chances are they’ll
take off. Early in my days of survival training, I had to walk alone in a remote
area of northern Ontario. I knew the area was thick with black bears (there was
bear scat everywhere), so I simply played my harmonica as I walked along. It gave
me comfort on a number of levels.
Keep your camp area clean and free of excessive food smells.
If you come upon a freshly killed animal in grizzly territory, give it a wide berth.
Grizzlies will often wander some distance from their kill, but you can be sure
they sense when something else is getting close to it.
Don’t travel alone through the territory of large predators if you don’t have to.
There are as many strategies for dealing with large animals as there
are animals themselves. What works in an encounter with a puma may
not work with a grizzly bear. However, in general terms, here’s what you
should do if you happen upon an accidental predator:
Don’t panic! Turning and running may well incite an instinctive predatorial
response in the animal, since you are telling it that you are prey. So if it
wasn’t interested in you at first, it sure is now!
Calmly and deliberately move away from the animal. Do not make jerky
movements, which may startle it. Keep facing it, but do not look it in the eye.
Some animals may interpret eye contact as a challenge. (An exception to this rule
is sharks, which will take much longer to attack if you keep your eyes on them.)
Make yourself seem as big and threatening as possible by waving your arms
over your head, making lots of noise, or joining arms with your travel mates.
Remember that you are the visitor! No matter how intent you were on heading
in a certain direction, taking a certain path, or making camp in a certain spot,
move elsewhere!
Many years ago, I was writing an exam for a job as a river guide on the
Nahanni River in northern Canada. One of the questions on the exam
asked what you should do if a bear wandered into your camp and would
not leave, even after you made as much noise as possible, banged pots, and
threw rocks in an attempt to scare it away. My reply was to leave. The examiner
told me I was the first applicant in three years to get the answer right.
After all, it’s the animal’s home and territory, not ours. We are the visitors.
Years of research and thousands of anecdotal accounts of encounters
have shown that the only animals worth fooling by “playing dead” are the
North American grizzly and Kodiak bears. For all other accidental predators,
human aggressive displays tend to win the day, because these accidental
predators can’t afford to get injured. In one case, a woman thwarted
a bear attack by reaching out and tweaking the bear’s nose. That’s all it took!
The bear was so freaked out, it lumbered away. These animals don’t know
if you have the ability to seriously injure them, so they spook easy. Only the
grizzly has a good handle on just how much bigger it is than you.
As the character Bearclaw replied in my favorite movie, Jeremiah
Johnson, when asked by Jeremiah why they were hiding behind their
horses even though the elk could see their feet, “Elk don’t know how
many feet a horse has!”
True Predators
Even the most intimidating and dangerous of animals do not come into
the world programmed to kill humans, nor are they taught to hunt us.
We’re not on the menu of the following creatures:
African lions
great white sharks
polar bears
saltwater crocodiles
tigers
Polar bears learn how to hunt seals; lions learn how to hunt gazelles
and zebras. Predators are dependent on their physical health and strength
to catch their next meal, so they have a great fear of getting injured. When
they first encounter you, their instinct is not to attack you and eat you but
rather to take off because you present an unknown. And in the wilderness,
an unknown is usually a threat. You should be more scared when an animal’s
curiosity overrides its fear of you.
So why is it, then, that we hear stories of maneating
lions or polar
bears stalking Inuit across the tundra? Because in addition to being predators
of other animals, true predators are also opportunistic eaters. If something
comes into their world that is soft, smelly, and fleshy (like you and
me), these creatures may recognize us as a potential meal.
Here’s what you can do to protect yourself in true predator country:
Avoid detection: Humans tend to be loud, bumbling creatures in the wild. If
you’re in true predator terrain, move as stealthily as possible. To avoid giving
the predator an opportunity, try not to attract any attention to yourself.
Make as much noise as possible: (You’re going to hate me for this
contradiction!) Noise can scare animals away. This alternative is likely better
attempted when you’re with a group of people, as there’s safety in numbers.
(These completely opposite methods indicate just how difficult it is to predict
what an animal will do, or how you should behave, during an encounter.)
Create obstacles: When you’re stationary for any length of time, try to use
natural materials to create a buffer between you and the animal. This is
particularly important for your shelter. In Africa, I built a corral from acacia
thorns around my shelter. It wouldn’t have stopped a lion that was intent on
getting me, but it would have deterred one long enough to buy me time to
plan my escape.
Plan an escape route: Even with protection, sometimes the best route to safety
is an escape route. In Africa, even with a fence of thorn bushes for protection,
I made sure my shelter was built against a tree in case the pride of lions
wandering the area decided to pay a visit. I hung a rope from the tree into my
shelter so that I had the option of climbing the tree to get out of range.
African lions, polar bears, tigers, sharks, and saltwater crocodiles—
they’re all big and can kill us with little effort. It may seem that you have
little chance against a 500to
2,000pound
(227to
907kg)
animal, but
remember that perhaps more than any other wild creatures, true predators
( just like accidental predators) cannot afford to get injured. Unlike
benign creatures such as rabbits (which can sustain an injury but continue
to forage for food), if a predator is seriously hurt, its ability to hunt—and
therefore to eat—is impaired. For instance, a wolf that suffers a broken jaw
from a tangle with a moose is as good as dead. Animals such as these will
often retreat rather than fight.
stroud’s Tip
Your fire may not be as effective as you thought in keeping
you safe from animals. A small fire will provide warmth,
light to see what is going on around the shelter, and burning
logs that can be used as “weapons” to scare off animals. But big
fires can attract curious predators, and also insects and scorpions.
Build your fire using heavy, hard wood that will burn slowly through
the night, provide longlasting
coals, and offer strong “missiles” as
weapons in case of an attack.
But if a true predator attacks you, your only chance may be to fight
back. If you end up in a body of salt water during a survival situation, don’t
create a lot of turbulence by thrashing about, as sharks are attracted to this
type of behavior. While filming a TV special on sharks in the Caribbean, I
was treading water with a number of lemon sharks beneath me and two
tiger sharks close by (accidental and true predators). We posed the question
whether it was better to swim as fast as possible to the boat or lie still
and let the boat come to get me. When I made my move by swimming
quickly and splashing a lot, a huge shark darted straight for me, excited by
my movements.
Never enter the water if you are bleeding, as a shark can detect even
the smallest amount of blood in the water. Finally, do not throw entrails
or garbage into the water, as this, too, may attract sharks. Look behind any
cruise ship that throws its food refuse overboard and you will see hundreds
of sharks.
If you do encounter a shark, your only option is to defend yourself.
A shark’s most sensitive place is its nose; direct your blows there.
Remember that sharks like to attack from behind, so try to face the shark
at all times. Keep your back against a coral reef or wreckage, if there is
any. Go backtoback
with your dive buddy and put any object you have,
your underwater video camera, for example, between yourself and the
shark. Oh . . . and get out of the water!
Swimming with Caribbean reef sharks in the Bahamas was thrilling, though intimidating.
Secure Your Shelter from Predator Attack
In making my survival films in the African plains and the Kalahari Desert,
I had the wonderful opportunity to learn from Koos Moorecroft, Raphael
Gunduza, and Douw Kruger, three of the most knowledgeable survival
experts in Africa. I asked Douw to give me his thoughts on dealing with
the wild animals of Africa:
Surviving in the African wilderness means that you must take
precautions to limit encounters with animals like lions, leopards, and
hyenas, especially at night when a survivor in a shelter is nothing more
than a sitting duck.
This is not to say these predators will come after you like maneaters,
but they are curious animals and might investigate for an easy
meal. Their senses are extremely well developed and they will smell your
presence from a distance and see your movements easily at night.
These animals all move very quietly, so it’s not easy to hear
them. The best you can (and must) do is secure your shelter or sleeping
place, and plan an escape route for an emergency situation. You
can also install an earlywarning
system to wake you up when something
is moving around the shelter.
Securing your shelter should be planned and done properly,
as you are dealing with powerful and clever predators. If not, you will
have nothing more than a false sense of security, which may end up
as a nasty surprise. Spending a little extra energy securing your shelter
properly will provide a safe place, which will reward you with a good
night’s sleep.
Create an EarlyWarning
System
When alone at night in a survival situation, you’ll have better peace of
mind if you’ve put up something that will warn you in advance of a predator’s
approach. Use a long, thin piece of string or fishing line as a trip line
around the perimeter of your shelter, about a foot and a half (0.5 meter)
off the ground. Connect the line to anything that will make noise when
moved or banged together.
Even a small rock balanced on a piece of wood over a larger rock will
wake you if it’s knocked over in the quiet of the night. You can also use any
number of trapping trigger mechanisms to get a big log to fall on a dry,
thinner log to create a loud cracking sound.
Tips on Dealing with Dangerous Animals
There are numerous theories as to the best way to deal with dangerous
animals, but here are a few tips:
Prepare properly, as if you are expecting an unwelcome visitor.
Do not keep meat or other smelly stuff in or near your shelter. Suspend food
by a rope from a tree branch 50 yards (46 m) or more away.
Do not leave anything outside your shelter, as it will be chewed up and carried
away by lions and hyenas.
Do not build a large fire, as it will attract some animals and insects.
Urinate on the bushes around the outside of the shelter during the day. It can
be smelled from a greater distance than if you urinate on the ground, and the
odor may help to keep animals away.
Do not leave your shelter at night!
Angry Ungulates
Despite the bad press animals such as bears, cougars, and lions get, there’s
another group that’s rarely written about or discussed in this vein, and
yet they can be some of the most dangerous creatures you’ll ever cross
paths with in the wilderness (even if they won’t eat you): ungulates, or
hoofed mammals.
In the rutting (mating) season, a bull moose can turn into 1,500
pounds (680 kg) of testosteronedriven
rage. They’ve been known to attack
vehicles. Get too close to one during this time and you may never live to
tell the tale. For that matter, all ungulates—even the seemingly gentle
elk—pose a significant danger during the rut.
The females of these species can also be formidable foes when they’re
with their young and can kill a person with one kick of their hooves.
Other Dangerous Animals
elephants: Need I say more?
buffalo, musk oxen, water buffalo: Powerful and very smart, those in Africa are
considered to be the most aggressive animals you will encounter.
hippopotamuses: Surprisingly, hippopotamuses are responsible for more
deaths every year than lions.
rhinoceroses: Nervous and defensive, each of these animals has an ohsobig
horn.
ostriches: An ostrich protecting its nest can slice open your rib cage with one
swipe of its claws.
Creepy Crawlies
CREEPY CRAWLIES ARE ALL THOSE STINGING and biting creatures that give most
of us the shivers. This group includes snakes, lizards, spiders, scorpions,
ants, bees, ticks, and leeches. It is important to know something about
these creatures and how to travel safely through their world.
As nasty as creatures like the tarantula may seem, creepy crawlies
abide by the same guidelines as their kin in the animal world: except in
the case of rare exceptions like leeches and ticks, they want nothing to do
with you and are not on the lookout for you. Solid pretrip
research will tell
you what you need to watch out for.
The only ways you will get bitten or stung by creepy crawlies is if you
abruptly enter their space and scare them, if they enter your space and get
scared (usually in camp or at night), or if you provoke them. For that reason,
slow, deliberate movement is essential at all times.
You are at much greater risk from creepy crawlies than from predators
and other dangerous animals, due to their numbers. I once spent
seven days alone in the jungle and although I encountered no snakes, I
saw lots of monstersized
poisonous ants, a couple of spiders, and a poisonous
frog.
The rule of thumb when it comes to creepy crawlies is to minimize
your exposure to them. In the desert, for example, where there are lots of
scorpions around, I build my bed up off the ground so that I won’t find one
in with me when I wake up.
Most creepy crawly encounters occur during the night when creatures
such as scorpions, snakes, and spiders seek out warmth, and you represent
nothing more to them than a large mass of radiant energy. So as
ridiculous as it may seem, they really just want to snuggle up with you. It’s
only when you move quickly, accidentally or out of panic, that you get bitten.
You could literally sleep through the night and not even realize that a
number of poisonous creatures had crossed your skin.
A man in Africa once had a black mamba (arguably the most aggressive
and dangerous snake in the world) slither down into his sleeping
bag to get warm for the night. The man was nearly hysterical when he
realized this and was convinced the snake would bite him. His camping
mates decided that in one swift motion two of them would yank him out
by his shoulders while two others whipped the sleeping bag off his feet.
They did just that, and in the few seconds it took to complete the task, the
snake bit the man 13 times, killing him. Chances are the snake eventually
would have left if the man had lain still and waited it out.
When it comes to avoiding creepy crawlies, a little local knowledge
goes a long way. Learn before you head out what you need to watch for
and where it lives. Generally, you should follow these rules to minimize
contact with creepy crawlies:
Keep your hands and feet out of dark places such as rock crevices, heavy brush,
or hollow logs. If you need to get into such places for supplies or shelter,
first use a long stick to probe the area and scare out any problem critters.
Indeed, any time you slam your foot down beside a crevice, crack, or hole,
you’re risking a bite, because these are the places where snakes like to curl up.
Bringing your foot down right beside one might be enough to get you bitten.
Close up your pants, sleeves, and necklines tightly.
Get up off the ground when you sleep. If you have bug netting, wrap yourself
in it (rather than just placing it on top of you).
Don’t leave your clothes or shoes lying around on the ground while you sleep,
and always shake them out and check them before you put them back on.
Most scorpion stings occur on the foot after a scorpion has spent the night in
a traveler’s shoe or boot.
Wear protective clothing if possible. Most snakebites occur at the ankles, so
leather boots that cover this area can help. Bug jackets and pants, as well as
general mosquito netting, help fend off most flying, biting insects.
Pay attention! Creepy crawlies are not that easy to spot, so stay alert as you
move through their world. Look up. You don’t want to walk headlong into a
hornets’ nest, or grab a branch that’s covered in stinging ants. Look down if
you’re walking through heavy brush or tall grass.
Don’t bother them and they won’t bother you. In the Amazon jungle, a
Waorani man toyed with a spider by poking it with a stick. He just kept poking
and poking, and eventually the spider decided it had had enough, jumped 5
feet (1.5 m) at the guy’s face, and sank his fangs right into his nose. He later
told me it was one of the most painful things he’d ever experienced.
Poisonous Plants
AS THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SUFFERED THROUGH a bout of poison ivy can attest,
coming into contact with a poisonous plant—let alone ingesting it—can
be an extremely unpleasant experience. Poisoning from plants can result
in anything from minor irritation to death.
An important part of your trip planning and preparation is to learn
which plants you’ll encounter when you’re in the wild, especially since
many edible plants have poisonous look-alikes. Also, don’t believe the following
misconceptions about poisonous plants:
Misconception: “Eat what the animals eat.”
Fact: Not true. Animals sometimes eat plants that are poisonous to the
rest of us.
Misconception: “If I boil the plant, the toxins will be removed.”
Fact: In some cases, boiling doesn’t remove all toxins.
Misconception: “Red . . . you’re dead.”
Fact: Some red plants are poisonous, but not all.
Misconception: “White . . . just right.”
Fact: Many white plants and berries are poisonous.
If you don’t know what a plant is, don’t touch it or eat it. Eating
the wrong plant can kill you. Nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal
cramps, depressed heartbeat and respiration, headaches, and hallucinations
are all symptoms of poisoning.
If you suspect you’ve eaten a poisonous plant, immediately induce
vomiting. This will bring up some of the toxic matter, but not all. After
vomiting, if you have an ample supply of water, drink as much as possible
to dilute the poison.
When you have no knowledge of a plant, suspect it’s edible, and have
no other choice but starvation, then you need to do an edibility test before
you ingest any quantity of it. (For more on edibility tests, refer to “Food,”
Chapter 8.) However, never eat mushrooms! Identifying mushrooms is
a very exact science, and if you eat the wrong one, it can kill you quickly.
Mushrooms offer little nutrition in return for the chance you are taking.
My friend in survival Dave Arama has this to add: “In a survival situation,
and on an empty stomach, even a mildly toxic plant can kill you.
With a full stomach as in our everyday lives, ingesting a mildly toxic plant
will probably result in a stomach ache or in the worstcase
scenario a quick
visit to the hospital.”
If you suspect that your skin has come into contact with a poisonous
plant, your first course of action should be to try to remove the
oil by washing the area with soap and cold water. If there is no water
nearby, use dirt or sand to wipe your skin (but not if blisters have already
appeared there).
The toxin and the infection can be spread by touching the infected
area and then touching another part of your body, so resist the urge to
scratch! Bandage the infected area to prevent any other part of your body
from coming in contact with the infection.
Aside from the dangers of touching and eating unknown plants,
there is another littleknown
way that plants can be harmful: if you burn
them. People have experienced lifethreatening
health issues from burning
piles of poison ivy and inadvertently breathing the smoke.
Plants can prove hazardous through more than just their poisons,
too. Many are covered in spikes, spines, barbs, or thorns that can cause
excruciating pain that, if left unattended, can result in festering wounds.
One unfortunate hiker who was walking carelessly through the desert
tripped and held out his hand to break his fall. He landed on a saguaro
cactus, and a 4inch
(10cm)
spine went right through his palm and out
the other side.
Some plants can be hazardous because of the insects they host. Certain
plants and insects help each other out. For example, there is a bush in
the Amazon jungle that is home to a very protective type of ant. Get too
close to the bush and the ants will actually jump out and attack you. Grab
the bush and all bets are off. For this reason, wear gloves when possible
and tuck your pants into your socks whenever you travel in creepycrawly
country, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
Don’t overlook the importance of footwear as protective clothing. One
time in Arizona, I stopped in the middle of a hike because of excruciating
pain on the top of one foot. It turned out to be a teddy-bear cactus making
its way through my leather boots. The only scorpion sting I ever got was
while wearing sandals in the desert. The scorpion also stung me on my
index finger as I pulled it off my foot (and the numbness lingered for nearly
two years).
Lack of Sleep
IT MAY SEEM BENIGN IN THE CONTEXT OF HUGE WEATHER EVENTS, predators,
and deadly plants, but lack of sleep may well pose a more significant threat
than any of these other hazards. Though it takes significant sleep deprivation
to kill a human, the risk from it lies in how it affects your ability to
function in the wild. Lack of sleep has been shown to adversely affect brain
function, growth, healing, and general ability.
We tend to sleep poorly in survival situations, but it is important
to try to get as much sleep as possible. Sleep keeps you fresh, alert, and
well-functioning, and it cuts down on your energy requirements when
you are awake.
As survival instructor Dave Arama likes to say, “If you don’t have to
walk, sit down, and if you don’t have to sit down, lie down.” To that I add
that if you don’t have to be awake (particularly to signal for rescue), sleep.
My most restful naps happen at around 2 p.m., during the warmth of the
day. It’s the wrong time to sleep if you want to be rescued, but when sleeping
at night is often so difficult, I’ll take what I can get to keep my sanity.
Starvation
HUMAN BEINGS CERTAINLY NEED FOOD TO SURVIVE, but most of us overestimate
the significance of food in a survival situation. This, I’ve found, is one
of the greatest risks you’ll encounter regarding food in the wild: thinking
you need three meals a day to function properly.
The truth is, you can survive for a very long time without food, sometimes
as long as a month. You won’t be functioning very well after the first
couple of weeks, but you won’t necessarily die, either.
While making my survival films, the primary issue I face due to not
eating is lack of energy. I work for 20 minutes, then have to sit down and
rest for the same amount of time. Then I work again for another 20 minutes
until I am exhausted and need to rest again. This continues until I somehow
get something to eat. See “Food,” Chapter 8, for more information.
Dehydration
THE DECISION AS TO WHETHER TO DRINK UNPURIFIED WATER comes down to a
question of risk. Can drinking unpurified water kill you? Definitely. But
with a few exceptions, it can take a week or more before the effects of
drinking bad water are felt. Dehydration, on the other hand, will kill you
more quickly; after only three to four days your ability to function well is
reduced.
Clearly, your first choice should be for clean or filtered water. But if
you have no other choice, drink the unpurified water and hope that you
can reach safety in time to deal with the waterborne
illnesses you may
have contracted as a result.
Use some common sense when you see a tainted water source. Can
you get to other water? Is it contaminated with something you think
could be deadly, or is it just dirty? Remember, sparkling clean water can
hide some pretty nasty diseases too. See “Water,” Chapter 5, for more
information.
Cold Weather
WHILE FILMING A SPECIAL FOR THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL on surviving in
Alaska, I had the distinct pleasure of jumping through an ice hole cut in an
Alaskan lake and spending 13 minutes immersed in frigid water with one
of the world’s renowned experts in the study of cold on the human body. I
asked my friend Gordon Giesbrecht, PhD, professor of thermophysiology,
to pen the following sections on hypothermia and frostbite.
Hypothermia
When people play in the wilderness, one danger they commonly recognize
is hypothermia, the lowering of the body’s core temperature from its normal
level of 98.6.F (37.C) to 95.F (35.C) or lower.
The onset of hypothermia is slow and usually undetected by the victim.
Even in ice water it may take 30 minutes or more to become hypothermic.
In cold air, it takes hours or even days.
If you are stranded in a cold air environment, the cold/wet/wind triad
can be deadly. Many folks set off on a pleasant day with minimal extra
clothing and supplies, only to be overtaken by wind and rain. These conditions
can be deadly if you don’t have a day pack with some extra clothing.
Traveling partners need to watch each other for signs of hypothermia,
which can be described as the “umbles”: grumbles, fumbles, stumbles, and
tumbles. Change in personality, loss of fine and gross motor movement,
and shivering are potential signs that you are too cold. Get into a shelter,
rest, and ingest highcalorie
drinks and foods until you feel better.
Frostbite
Frostbite is the freezing of tissue. Mild frostbite involves freezing superficial
layers—skin—while severe frostbite involves freezing flesh below the
skin. Obviously, the deeper the freezing, the more damage is done.
Water within tissues freezes and forms ice crystals, and these
sharp fragments damage the tissue (one reason why you should never
rub the site of frostbite). The major problem resulting from frostbite is
the destruction of capillaries. These small vessels are responsible for the
exchange of oxygen and nutrients between the blood and tissue. Once
tissue is thawed, the frostbitten area can become flushed as blood flow
returns to it. But because the capillaries have been destroyed, the blood
cannot provide lifegiving
oxygen.
Our advice to outdoors enthusiasts is this: Never accept numbness.
As nerves get progressively colder, sensations progress from cold, to pain,
to numbness, to nothing. Numbness is a warning that tissue is nearing the
freezing point. At that point, you must get the numb body part out of the
cold or add insulation. Simply putting your hands in your armpits can all
but guarantee that they won’t freeze. If your fingers freeze even when they
are in your armpits, your biggest problem isn’t frostbite.
“Professor Popsicle” Gordon Giesbrecht and I spent nearly 13 long minutes submerged in
the frigid waters of a remote Alaskan lake to test my body’s reaction to hypothermia.
Region-Specific Hazards
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
By far the worst danger in the world’s warmer and drier regions is the sun,
but it’s not the only hazard. You will also find yourself exposed to poisonous
creepy crawlies, thorn-covered plants and cacti, contaminated water,
and eye irritation from the constant dust and blowing sand.
Extreme heat can affect you in several serious ways. Heat cramps
and heat exhaustion are caused by a shortage of water and salt in the body.
Symptoms include headache, profuse sweating, weakness, dizziness, irritability,
cramps, and sometimes even mental confusion. If you experience
any of these symptoms, get into the shade to cool off. Sprinkling water on
your body may also help.
Heat stroke is more severe than heat exhaustion and begins to impede
the body’s natural ability to cool itself. If not treated quickly, it can lead to
death. Symptoms include hot, dry skin and a visible lack of sweat, as well as
headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, and vomiting. If you suspect heat
stroke, get into the shade and pour water on your body if possible (even if
the water is contaminated). Consume water every few minutes, but only in
small quantities; large amounts will bring on vomiting.
My most dangerous survival moment occured in the Kalahari Desert.
Two days of drinking hot water and having the sun and wind suck
the moisture out of me brought me frighteningly close to heat stroke. It
was 117.F (47.C) in the shade and 142.F (61.C) in the sun. By midnight
I actually had the sensation that I was getting hotter, though the sun had
long since disappeared. Only careful attention to staying immobile and
constantly wiping my neck and head with a damp bandana kept me alive.
Heat stroke can hit you fast and can kill.
Dehydration is another risk in these regions, particularly when there’s
wind. The combination of heat and wind will suck the moisture right out
of your body. Seek protection from the wind as well as the sun.
The most significant weather event you’ll encounter in the desert
is a sandstorm. If you have the misfortune of being caught in one,
try to get downwind of a shelter. Cover your mouth and nose, and wait.
Sand in some deserts can be alkaline and irritating if it finds its way into
your many orifices. Breathing in the salty air that blows up from the salt
“pans” in a place like the Kalahari Desert can cause serious sinus and
lung irritation.
Finally, remember that mirages can and do occur in these regions
and they present a hazard (they’ve also been known to occur in the Arctic).
The greatest risk is that a mirage will create optical illusions of what
seems to be water in the distance. These illusions can entice you to travel
in a direction you otherwise wouldn’t or shouldn’t go. Be skeptical of the
big lake you see in the distance.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Forest fires have become more frequent in the last few decades. The upside
of finding yourself close to one is that fires attract firefighters, increasing
your chance of rescue. The downside is that you may die. Move in the
opposite direction from the fire by determining the prevailing wind. If
possible, make your way to a lake. Remember that fire travels faster uphill
than downhill.
Underestimating the difficulty of travel in a forest can be a real threat
as well. It might seem like your destination is only a mile away, but a mile
through some types of thick forest can be hours of pure hell.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
At the top of the list for polar dangers is the weather. Blizzards have taken
the lives of many very experienced Arctic travelers. Do not, under any circumstances,
travel in a blizzard. If a blizzard strikes (or is imminent), return
to your shelter immediately. If you don’t yet have a shelter, build one right
away. If you don’t have time to do this, at least get out of the wind.
Frostbite is another everpresent
danger in the world’s cold places.
Proper clothing is your first line of defense in preventing frostbite, but
protecting yourself from the elements—especially the wind—is equally
important. See “Survival First Aid,” Chapter 13.
Snowblindness, which is essentially a sunburn on your retina, is also
a real hazard in these parts. On sunny days, the sun’s rays reflect off snow
and ice and come at you from all directions. Snowblindness causes excruciating
pain and can leave you without proper vision for as long as three
days. Protect your eyes in any way you can.
On the Sea or Open Water
As with snowblindness in the Arctic, sunblindness is a sunburn of the retina
caused by the reflection of the sun’s rays on the water.
Seasickness is a malady that affects some people and doesn’t touch
others at all. If you’re prone to it, bring seasickness medication in your
firstaid
kit. When you’re on the open water in a sizable vessel, staying
above deck may help. Some say that looking across the horizon instead of
at the waves can help. Focusing on small, dexterityassociated
tasks, on the
other hand, may promote seasickness.
If you do get seasick, allowing yourself to vomit may provide almost
immediate relief.
Jungles
Freshwater rivers and lakes in the jungle can host a number of dangerous
creatures such as alligators and crocodiles, not all of which are visible from
the shore or your boat. Many of these animals have been known to attack
boats and other vessels, so plan your trip carefully by avoiding proximity
to them whenever possible.
You’ll find many smaller, though no less hazardous, critters along the
way. The black piranha is the most dangerous freshwater fish in the world.
Limited to northern South America, they are small but have very big teeth,
and they travel in large schools capable of devouring a person in minutes.
They are most dangerous in shallow waters during the dry season.
Electric eels—which can be 6 . feet (2 m) long—are usually found in
South America and are capable of generating up to 500 volts of electricity.
Large freshwater turtles may seem like an easy meal, but the snapping turtles
of North and South America have been known to bite the fingers and toes off
unsuspecting people. Even the platypus, which is found only in Australia, has a
poisonous spur on each hind foot that can inflict intensely painful wounds.
Far less dramatic but no less a hazard are falling coconuts, silly as
that may sound. More people are killed in the tropics every year from falling
coconuts than from shark attacks. Victims are usually at the base of a
palm tree when it happens. Be careful where you decide to sleep; most of
these deaths occur at night.
Rising river levels pose a real threat in the tropics, even if a storm
is not apparent in your immediate area. Jungle rivers can rise by as much
as 20 feet (6 m) in a few hours, even though the rise is caused by storm
systems many miles away.
I think the jungles of this planet are home to more dangers than any
other region. An entire book could be dedicated to the subject. From caterpillars
to freshwater stingrays, from a deluge of rain to killer ants, from
roaming jaguars to wasps as long as pencils, jungles are home to a bewildering
array of events and creatures that can hurt or kill you. Yet, jungles
are amazingly beautiful places to experience, and they are still my favorite
ecosystem for adventuring. They can be for you too, if you’re careful.
Coastal Regions
Oceans rival jungles for the most hazards to travelers. Salt water is home to
numerous threatening creatures, none as feared as the shark. Shark attacks
are rare, however, and usually considered accidents. You can best avoid
shark attack by avoiding shark habitat.
In shallow waters, you’ll find many creatures that can inflict pain and
cause infection to develop if you happen to step on them. Invertebrates
such as jellyfish are capable of injecting venom by biting or stinging, or
through spines located in their fins and tentacles. Although jellyfish-related
deaths are relatively uncommon, invertebrate bites or stings can be fatal.
Wear protective footwear when wading near the shoreline. Shuffle your
feet along the bottom of the water body (rather than raising them up and
stepping), as most of these critters sting from the top rather than from the
side. Stingrays, especially those of the tropical variety, can be quite nasty in
the shallows.
If you are fishing in these areas, remember that not all fish can be
eaten. Though there are no hard-and-fast rules to distinguish edible from
poisonous fish, most of the poisonous ones live in shallow water around
reefs or lagoons, have box-like or round bodies with shell-like skins covered
with bony plates or spines, and have small, parrot-like mouths. As is
often the case, being informed about the potentially dangerous creatures
in a region can go a long way toward preparing you.
Like mountain areas, coastal regions can be susceptible to fast, violent
weather changes. Storms can blow in seemingly without notice; be
prepared to seek appropriate shelter.
If you’re planning on traveling by water, you should have a working
knowledge of local tide patterns, including currents and rip tides. If you’re
on land, make sure you build your shelter beyond the high-tide mark.
Very low on the probability scale but high on the danger scale are
tsunamis, series of waves generated by undersea disturbances such as
earthquakes. Tsunamis can cause waves to travel as fast as 450 miles (724
km) per hour, reaching heights of 100 feet (30 m). Tsunamis are sometimes
preceded by rapid changes in water level; they typically arrive as a series of
successive crests (high water levels) and troughs (low water levels).
If you suspect a tsunami is approaching, move to higher ground
immediately. Stay away from the shore. Finally, do not assume that the
danger has passed if a lengthy period of time elapses between waves. Tsunami
crests can be 90 minutes apart.
Mountains
Full-blown rockslides and mudslides are significant hazards in mountainous
country but are fairly rare. Much more common is the rockfall, which
can occur at any time. Take extra care when traveling at the base of rock
walls, cliffs, or rocky slopes.
When snow is present, the risk of an avalanche occuring is a real one.
Stay away from open, exposed slopes that are bare of vegetation, as this is
a sign that avalanches regularly rip through the area. The most dangerous
slopes are ones that are 34 degrees to 45 degrees, as these hold lots of snow
but are steep enough to let it go frequently. The more trees that are present
(and the larger they are), the more likely it is that the area is relatively
safe from avalanches.
If you get caught in or near an avalanche, seek shelter (if possible)
on the downhill side of boulders or trees. Crouch low, face away from the
slide, and cover your nose and mouth. Experts recommend using a swimming
motion, which may keep you near the top of the slide. If you have
the ability to do so, try to make your way to the top of the slide while it is
slowing down but still moving. I highly recommend wearing an avalanche
beacon when traveling in the mountains.
The upper regions of mountains can also be prone to sudden
weather changes. Lightning may also be present; if so, seek shelter and
stay off ridges.
Group Versus Solo Survival
ASWITHMOSTASPECTS OFSURVIVAL, being in a group helps because you
benefit from the combined knowledge of the members. Somebody in the
group may know about the specific hazards present in a region, which
should help you stay well away from the danger.
T
o a certain extent, you can control many aspects of survival—
water, fire, shelter, and food. But weather may be the toughest
challenge you face in a survival situation because it is one of the few
things you can’t control.
Understand one truth of the wilderness: No matter how beautiful a
day it is, the weather will eventually get bad, often quickly and sometimes
violently so. And if you’re not prepared for the worst, you reduce your
chances of making it home alive.
In our daytoday
lives, most of us are illprepared
for bad weather.
Why should we worry? We can always go home or duck into a coffee shop
if things get bad. But there is no relief from bad weather in the wilderness.
You’re either ready for it or you’re not. And the stakes are high: rough
weather can kill you. Weather is the most important “flow” to go with when
lost in the wild.
Prepare to Stay Alive
IFYOU’RE IN A REMOTE AREA AND have failed to anticipate bad weather, you’re
stuck when it hits. Searching for firewood, trying to build a shelter, or looking
for food and water in driving rain or snow can be deadly.
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Preparing for bad weather, therefore, is a high priority for the adventurer.
Preparation may be as simple as moving your firewood to a dry spot
or as complex as building a shelter that will protect you against a coming
blizzard. Whether I’m in a survival situation or just on a camping trip, I’m
always doing one of two things regarding the weather: taking advantage
of the good weather to prepare for the bad or hunkering down during bad
weather and doing what I can “inside.” Bad weather can present a perfect
opportunity to take care of little jobs that don’t require you to be outside.
Given the proper amount of materials, space, heat, and light, you can
accomplish tasks like sharpening knives, building traps and snares, creating
fishing implements, mending your clothing, or working on a signal
device while a storm rages around you.
Once the weather brightens up again (and it will), you will have your
chance to gather those wild berries you know are in a particular spot, travel
to another location, hunt, or fish.
Weather Versus Climate
WEATHERANDCLIMATE ARETWO DISTINCTBEASTS. While weather can change
on a dime, climate is the average weather that predominates in an area
over a long period of time. It’s a variable that’s largely known and understood,
and one that can and should be prepared for well in advance of your
trip. Preparation could mean the difference between life and death.
If your local research uncovers the fact that weather can
change quickly in a region, don’t underestimate it. Be ready.
stroud’s Tip
I knew before visiting the Amazon jungle that it rained a lot. There
are basically two seasons: wet and wetter (it is, after all, a rain forest).
Though I visited during the “less wet” season, I discovered that it could
still rain for three days at a time. The pretrip
research I did on the climate
made a huge difference to my survival for the next seven days. I also
heeded warnings that rivers could rise 20 feet (6 m) in a few hours. I tied
my dugout canoe to a spot on a tree 8 feet (2.4 m) off the ground, and still
the force of the flood threatened to snap the tether rope!
In the jungle, don’t assume water levels will remain static for any period of time. I almost
lost my dugout canoe—and my primary mode of travel—to a swollen river.
Ways to Predict Weather and Interpret
Weather Signs
PREDICTING WEATHER OFTEN BOILS DOWN to one basic question: How long is
the good weather going to last? The answer will tell you how long you’ve
got to complete the other tasks important to your survival, particularly if
you’re planning on traveling. Learning some basic forecasting methods
could save you from being caught out in a storm.
Local Guidance
Since weather is so areaspecific,
the best way to discover natural predictors
is to talk to locals. They will know the subtle signs in their environment
that are almost impossible to relate in the pages of a book. You may have
someone say to you, “If you notice that all the birds suddenly stop singing
while you’re out there, bad weather is coming.” Listen to the experts.
Barometers
If you’re lucky enough to have one, a barometer makes predicting weather
a heck of a lot easier. Decreasing air pressure usually indicates the approach
of a lowpressure
system, which brings clouds and precipitation. Increasing
air pressure, on the other hand, means that a high pressure system is
approaching, bringing with it fine weather.
Wind and Wind Patterns
To predict wind patterns, start by gaining an understanding of the prevailing
winds for an area. You can then detect if a wind is coming from a different
direction. If this occurs, or if winds are beginning to swirl around
every which way, a change in weather may be coming.
Clouds
I still have a hard time naming all the different types of cloud patterns,
whether they be cumulonimbus or nimbostratus. I can, however, make a
pretty good guess as to what they foretell, and that’s largely based on a few
general characteristics:
The darker and lower the clouds, the more likely they are to carry precipitation.
The higher and finer the clouds, the better the weather will be (though it may
become windy).
A general increase in the density of clouds may indicate a change in the
weather. I’ve been in many situations where this was an indicator that a system
was developing.
The approach of a long bank of clouds on the horizon on an otherwise fair day
may also indicate that foul weather is on its way.
Fireside Smoke
You can actually use the smoke from your fire to help make very rough
weather predictions. If the smoke rises steadily with little change, the
pleasant weather you’re currently enjoying should stay for a while. If you
see that the smoke begins to swirl after rising a little way, or if it seems to
be beaten down, a storm or shower may be on its way.
If you’re near a lake and notice that the smoke hangs low over the
water, rain may be approaching.
The Sky
There is a reason why adages persist through generations: they’re largely
true. “Red skies at night, sailor’s delight; red skies in the morning, sailors
take warning.” This is more of a short-term indicator but a good one
nonetheless. A red sky at dusk indicates that the weather will stay fair for at
least the next few hours; if the sky is red at dawn, however, beware: a low-
pressure system (and possibly a storm) may be on its way. Don’t confuse a
red sky with a red sun in the morning. If the sun is red at sunrise but the
sky is normal in color, the day should be fair. If you find yourself in hilly or
mountainous terrain, pay attention to how the early-morning mist moves.
If it lifts early in the morning, you will likely have a fair day. If it has not
moved by early afternoon, it likely won’t, and you may experience some
precipitation later.
The night sky can also help you predict the weather. If it is clear at
night, the weather should stay calm. If you can’t see many stars one night
after a few clear ones, you may be in for a change.
Dangerous Weather
DANGEROUS WEATHER EVENTSMAYWELLBERESPONSIBLE for killing more people
in survival situations than any other danger or hazard. Familiarizing
yourself with weather events will help you prepare for them and know how
to react when they hit.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes occur in relatively few places on this earth, but when they do,
they can be devastating. It’s not likely that your little stick shelter could
withstand the force of a hurricane, so if one is on its way, seek out something
more substantive, such as a cave.
If you’re in a coastal region, perhaps the greatest risk from hurricanes
is the storm surge, a dome of ocean water that can reach as high as 20 feet
(6 m) and 50 to 100 miles (80 to 160 km) wide.
Thunderstorms and Lightning Storms
Most of the time, thunderstorms give notice of their impending arrival
with dark, threatening clouds and distant lightning and thunder. You can
estimate your distance from an approaching thunderstorm by counting
the number of seconds that elapse between a flash of lightning and the
next clap of thunder. Divide this number by five and you have a rough idea
of how many miles away the storm is.
All thunderstorms are accompanied by lightning, which is one of the
primary risks of being outside in a survival situation when one hits. The
best thing you can do during a thunderstorm is hunker down and hope
your shelter is strong enough to withstand the onslaught. If you do get
caught outside, avoid natural lightning rods such as tall, isolated trees in
open areas; stay away from hilltops and other high, exposed places. And
remember that dead or rotting trees and branches can fall during severe
thunderstorms.
At one point while living in the boreal forest for a year, my wife, Sue,
and I were holed up in our tipi during an intense storm. The wind was so
strong that our tiny lake even had whitecaps on it. That’s when we noticed
that the tree we had built our shelter beside had nearly blown over. Had it
done so, the entire root system would have lifted up right in the middle of
our shelter and ripped it apart. We were also worried about lightning striking
the tree. Our poor location choice for the shelter, made on an earlier,
sunny day, resulted in our holding on to our walls and our wits that day
and waiting out a potentially devastating storm. We got lucky, that time.
Blizzards and Wind Chill
Never go out in whiteout conditions, when you can’t see more than a few feet
in front of you! If you have no choice but to do so, make sure you layer your
clothing so that you can remove items as you warm up. Try not to sweat profusely,
as this will only soak your clothes and make you even colder.
Wind chill can often accompany a blizzard, though not necessarily.
Wind chill is a calculation of how cold it feels based on temperature
and wind speed. If the temperature is extremely cold and there is a steady
wind, stay inside. Wind chill is the culprit in most cases of frostbite or
hypothermia.
Sandstorms
Sandstorms are exclusive to deserts and can be devastating when they
occur. If you see one approaching, get downwind of a shelter, cover your
mouth and nose, and wait it out.
Region-Specific Dangers and Hazards
BECAUSE WEATHER CAN BE LOCALIZED to very small geographic areas, the best
way to learn about prevailing weather patterns is to do serious research
before departing on any trip. Locals will be your greatest source of information
here, so try to spend time, either before or at the beginning of your
trip, with someone who has been on the land.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Though more of a climatic concern than a weather event, extreme
heat can be a serious problem in these regions. Extreme heat can cause
cramps, exhaustion, and even stroke. If you’re becoming overcome by the
heat, get out of the sun and try to pour some water on your body. Consume
water in small amounts. Extreme heat kills and does so by pushing
your body beyond its natural limits. Under normal circumstances, your
body deals with heat by producing perspiration to cool itself through
evaporation. In instances of extreme heat (and humidity), however, this
evaporation process is slowed, forcing your body to work harder to maintain
a normal temperature.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Wind chill is the result of cold temperatures and wind. Do not expose
yourself to these elements in combination for any length of time.
Jungles
River levels can rise as a result of a distant storm. Tropical rivers can rise by
as much as 20 feet (6 m) in a few hours. If you see the water level rising, get
as far away from the river as possible, preferably to higher ground.
Coastal Regions
Coastal regions are susceptible to sudden, violent weather changes. Thunderstorms
can arrive with little notice; hurricanes are far less likely, though
more dangerous.
Tsunamis are even less likely, though utterly devastating when they
occur. If you see that the entire ocean has receded in what seems like a
crazy, extremely low tide, it is a sign of an impending tsunami . . . so head
for the hills!
Mountains
Sudden weather changes, including lightning, occur in the upper regions
of mountains. In winter, mountains are subject to significant amounts of
snowfall, and blizzards are also common.
B
efore you have time to build that first shelter, before you
have the time to make a fire and even before you have the time to
figure out what you’re going to do next, your clothing is already
working for you. Your clothing is your first shelter and therefore your primary
defense against the elements.
Yet despite its importance, most travelers don’t give clothing the
attention it deserves. Remember that people have died simply because
they wore the wrong clothing. Never underestimate the value of the
right clothes.
In choosing clothing for your expedition or adventure, you need to
ask yourself this question: “What does my clothing have to do?” It must
protect you from the wind and the rain, from the dry, from the cold and the
heat, from poisonous plants and creepy crawlies. It has to get you through
the various stages of the day and the night, and to be of a construction and
weight that allows you to travel without it becoming a hassle.
Research and Planning
RESEARCHING AND PLANNING WHAT CLOTHING (including extra clothing) you’re
going to take with you on a wilderness adventure is as vital as any other
preparation for your journey, including planning your route and the food
required. What could be more important than the clothes on your back?
To figure out the most appropriate clothing to take, spend time talking
with the people who know. Whether it’s the staff at the closest outdoors
store, your experienced outdoorsy friends, or local guides at your
destination, try to get as much information as you can from people who
have first-hand experience with the area you’ll be visiting or the activities
you’ll be doing.
In the case of boots or shoes, you can help prevent blisters by wearing
them around town to break them in before you go on your trip. You
want to know before you go whether they’ll actually work for you. The
same goes for your clothing. Find out now whether your new raincoat will
keep you protected in a downpour.
Dressing for survival is easy when you’re taking a survival
course, because you know what’s coming. The trick is to
dress appropriately for your adventure activities (hiking, fish-
ing, hunting, kayaking, et cetera) and still be prepared if you end
up in a survival ordeal. It’s a matter of fashion versus function. A lot of
high-tech clothing is not adequate when you’re fighting to survive.
stroud’s Tip
In the Arctic, I arrived with all the high-tech gear I could get my
hands on. In the end, though, I traded it to a local Inuit hunter for his caribou
parka and pants. It was then that I truly realized how clothing can act
as your first shelter, your primary line of defense against the elements. In
those clothes, I could literally stand still in the wind and cold and not feel
a thing. The clothing was my shelter. So don’t close your mind to the effectiveness
of traditional clothing, which though it looks rustic, may work better
than anything you could buy in a store.
What you wear really depends on where you are going, the activity,
and the season. But with few exceptions, layering (as opposed to using
just one layer, like a snowmobile suit) is the best bet. With layering, which
means three to five layers of clothing from your skin to your outer shell,
Perhaps the greatest coldweather
clothing ever conceived: full caribou parka and pants.
you can strip down or dress back up again depending on the weather and
how you are feeling. Layering is a hassle, because it takes time to put on
or take off several pieces of clothing to get warmer or cooler, but it could
save your life. Perhaps the best thing layering does for you is help to prevent
sweating, a factor critical to survival. Peeling off layers allows you to
cool yourself down gradually as you work or travel, while still keeping you
as warm as you need to be.
In the gungho
early years of my survival training, I would merrily
work for hours to make a robust shelter, no matter what the weather. Soon
I’d be soaked in sweat. As night fell and temperatures dropped, I often
found myself without enough time to dry my clothes, even if I had a fire.
The chills I felt were devastating. If I had had the foresight to layer my
clothes, I would have staved off hypothermiainducing
chills.
When doing strenuous labor in the cold, don’t sweat! Staying dry will keep you warm later,
but if you sweat, you’ll feel the chill for hours after.
You sweat . . . you die. It’s as simple as that. Never allow
yourself to sweat in a survival situation.
stroud’s Tip
Layering is vital in every type of climate. Even deserts are notorious for
cooling at night; you don’t have to be in a cold climate or season to become
hypothermic. In fact, many cases of hypothermia occur every year in the fall
and spring, when people are fooled by a nice day followed by a cold night.
Wearing enough layers can make the difference in a survival circumstance.
Traditional or HighTech
Gear?
INMYADVENTURING, THE QUESTION OFTEN is whether I should wear hightech
or more traditional gear. Hightech
clothing is usually light and warm,
brightly colored, and easily packed and transported. However, should the
worst happen and you find yourself in a survival situation (like a canoe
dumped in rapids in the middle of northern Canada), such clothing rarely
stands up to a few days spent in a bush shelter or sleeping beside a fire.
Take GoreTex
as a perfect example of the conflict between rugged
and hightech.
GoreTex
is a fantastic material. It will keep you fairly dry
in damp conditions because it sheds the rain and still breathes. But try
sleeping beside a fire in it: one spark, one touch of an ember, and GoreTex
melts. So hightech
clothing may be great for outdoor adventuring, but it’s
less than ideal in survival situations.
Not so with wool, cotton, or canvaslike
materials, which are tough
and can handle the rigors when you’re pushing through dense forest to
get firewood or food. With these materials, an ember will burn a hole only
in the spot where it lands, and often not before you can flick it off. On the
other hand, cotton is horrible if it gets wet because it takes so long to dry.
Wool is very heavy, especially when it gets wet, yet it retains 80 percent of
its insulating value.
In the end, the best option in a survival situation is to have a combination
of lightweight, hightech
clothing for your underlayers
and some
rugged traditional clothing for your outer layers. But this usually applies only
for survival courses or hunting and fishing trips, not sea kayaking, mountain
climbing, hiking, or other similar adventures. For anything that requires a
high level of physical activity, the lighter, hightech
gear wins out.
If you plan on taking survival courses and don’t want to
drop a fortune on new gear, go the other route: buy secondhand
clothing such as wool sweaters.
stroud’s Tip
When Clothing Kills
CLOTHING DOESN’TALWAYSFIT ORWORK the way it’s intended to, which can
be deadly in a survival situation. If you begin to feel any kind of chafing
or rubbing from your clothes or shoes—especially on your feet—stop and
deal with it immediately. When you’re fighting to survive, you’re not going
to finish the day in the comfort and cleanliness of your home, where you
can take a bath, throw your clothes in the laundry basket, and tend to your
wounds. In the wild, you can’t afford to wait.
Perhaps nobody better understands the urgency of such situations
than adventure racers. They know that they have 1 to 10 days of nonstop
tromping through the bush ahead of them, so if they begin to feel any type
of hot spot developing, they stop and do whatever they can to prevent it
from getting worse. If they don’t, it could cripple them. Remember, you
can’t walk on a foot full of blisters, and if you can’t walk, you can’t perform
any of the tasks necessary to survive.
Keep It Dry and Clean
INASURVIVALSITUATION, YOU SHOULD STRIKE a symbiotic relationship with
your clothing: It protects you, and you should also protect it.
To the best of your ability, keep your clothing dry. Now, that doesn’t
mean you shouldn’t crawl into that old rotting log to sleep for the night,
292 | Survive!
especially if that will keep you alive. But if the opportunity arises the next
day to dry some of your clothing, take advantage of it. Clean and dry clothing
will last much longer than wet clothing, which will rot and disintegrate.
Dirt and dampness also reduce the effectiveness of clothes as insulation.
Keeping your clothing clean also reduces the possibility of skin
infection. If you don’t have a way to wash your clothes, at least shake
them out and leave them in direct sunlight for a couple of hours. If possible,
never go to bed wearing damp clothing, as this increases your risk
of hypothermia.
Extra Is Always Better
CLOTHING TENDS TO GET PRETTY BEAT UP in survival ordeals, so the more you
have with you, the better. You can never have too much clothing, unless its
bulk or weight prevents you from traveling to safety. If you end up carrying
so much clothing and gear that it takes your energy away from looking
for food and water, then it’s time to make the difficult decision about what
you’re going to leave behind.
Making Clothing
THOUGH THIS IS A FAVORITE TOPIC OF SURVIVALISTS, the fact is that you’re
not going to make clothing in a survival situation. Making clothing
from the bush is camp craft and it takes many months. Sure, you can
make a coat out of cedar bark; you can kill an animal and tan its hide.
But that is about wilderness living, not survival. If your survival situation
lasts long enough for you to make clothing from natural materials,
you’re probably past the survival stage and have decided to call the
wilderness your home.
There are a couple of materials, however, that you may be able to use
to make emergency clothing if necessary and that don’t require too much
time or expertise. The first is birch bark. If you are able to peel off a large
enough strip of birch bark, you can fashion it into a crude hat or rain poncho.
But it’s not easy. Native North Americans were able to peel new birch
bark cleanly only in the spring; try to peel bark from dead trees, when they
are rotting but hopefully not too far gone.
If you are a skilled hunter or trapper, or are fortunate enough to catch
an animal, you can use the animal skin as a primitive form of clothing. The
skin of a snowshoe hare peels easily off the carcass. Cut only along the bottom
end, from foot to foot, and then roll it back like you are pulling off a wet
sock. With the fur on the inside, you can use the skin as a mitt or a sock. If
you have the skin of a larger animal such as a deer, you can cut a head hole
and slip the skin on like a poncho, with the fur facing in toward your body.
Before doing that, though, remember that most animals also carry
pests such as ticks, lice, and fleas. If you have enough water available, wash
the skin or even smoke it over a fire; if not, just give it a good shake. Try
to remove as much of the fat and meat as possible, and dry it out before
you wear it.
Another thing you can quite easily do using natural materials is boost
the insulation abilities of your existing clothing. If you have loose-fitting
clothing and have remembered to layer, you can stuff the various layers
When using leaves or other plant matter for insulation, look for the driest materials you
can find. These natural materials will increase the insulating abilities of whatever you are
wearing.
»
You Sweat, You Die
It was –10 degrees celsius in the dead of winter when his snowmobile
ran out of gas. He had no food, water, or matches, and
was completely lost in the northern Manitoba wilderness, a vast
expanse of isolated bush hundreds of miles from any urban
centre. But Christopher Traverse, a 24yearold
construction
worker, had a survivor’s instinct, and he remembered some tips
he had learned from watching my survival films.
With the temperature dropping steadily on that first bonechilling
night, Chris modeled a shelter after one he’d seen me
construct, fashioning a makeshift bed and enclosure out of the
scant resources he had at hand—spruce branches and his snowmobile.
And that’s how he survived the massive blizzard that
descended later that night.
The next morning, he began a threeday
trek through
waistdeep
snow, which he often ate. He would later tell me
that he remembered how I point out that as long as you eat
snow during the day while you’re working (and not later as you
cool down), you can keep yourself hydrated without increasing
your risk of hypothermia.
Far off on the horizon, Chris spotted the glowing beacon
of the Devil’s Lake communication tower. He was determined
to make it there. Walking 12 hours a day, he also recalled another
of my favorite survival tips: “If you sweat, you die.” So
Chris was careful to air out his socks every night to keep the
sweat from freezing his feet, and he wisely reserved one layer of
dry clothes for sleeping.
An eagle followed Chris overhead everyday, and he began
to think of it as his elder guide, coaxing him to carry on.
Search crews also soared above him, but despite his best efforts,
he couldn’t get their attention. They couldn’t see him through
the heavy snowfall. He kept walking.
After five grueling days, Chris found a highway, flagged a
Greyhound bus and made it to the aptly named Last Resort
Convenience Store. There, he was picked up by the RCMP, who
were astonished to find him in such good condition. When
asked how he’d managed to survive, Chris responded, “I just
held my composure. I didn’t let fright pull me down.”
When Chris and I spoke after his ordeal, we knew immediately
there was something in his story, similar to so many of
mine, something that he could only ever share with people who
have had similar experiences. Spending the majority of a cold,
dark night jumping up and down trying not to freeze to death in
the middle of the bush is not something most people can relate
to. But using his wits and a few survival skills he’d seen on my
shows, Chris had made it out of the wilderness . . . alive.
with light, airy materials such as leaves or cattail fluff. In essence, you are
creating a downlike
layer in your clothes, which will greatly increase their
ability to keep you warm.
Footwear
THE IMPORTANCE OF PACKING AND wearing the right footwear cannot be
overstated. All it takes is the wrong footwear to make walking nearly
impossible. Simply put, if you can’t walk, you may not survive. Blisters,
foot fungus, and swollen feet can often be prevented with the right pair
of shoes, sandals, hikers, or boots. Solid ankle support is important for
rough bushwhacking or hiking. In the jungles, you have to strike a balance:
wearing boots to protect yourself from poisonous bites and yet
avoiding foot fungus caused by wearing hiking shoes that are too hot
or constricting. The best thing for cold weather is footwear that is just
slightly too big—big enough to be able to wriggle your toes to help keep
the circulation flowing for warmth.
RegionSpecific
Clothing Considerations
RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Nothing will better prepare you for the different
types of clothing you’ll need in various parts of the world like checking
with people who know that area.
Boreal Forests and Arctic Regions
Because of the sometimesdramatic
temperature swings in these areas,
the most important consideration is layering. Make sure you have enough
items of various weight to deal with both cold and heat.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
You lose much less water from your body if you wear a lightcolored,
loosefitting
shirt, which will protect you from the moisturesucking
properties
of the wind. It’s not always easy to keep clothing on when the air is so hot,
but remember that it will keep you alive in the long run.
Whenever I’ve underestimated clothing requirements, it’s been in
the world’s hot and dry places. My initial thought would be, “I’m going to
be in a desert, I don’t need much clothing.” But in the Kalahari—where the
temperature on the surface of the sand in the sun hits 150.F (67.C) during
the day—I still found myself cold at night. There can be a 50.F difference
between daytime highs and nighttime lows, and a person’s body doesn’t
handle the great difference in temperatures very well.
Add to this the fact that you might be sleeping on the ground—
which will draw the heat right out of you—and the potential for a cold
wind, and there’s a possibility that you could become chilled and hypothermic.
And at the very least, the cold will prevent you from sleeping at
night, which will make the rest of your survival experience more miserable
than it needs to be.
Jungles
Clothing in the jungle needs to be protected from the neverending
dampness.
Cotton rots alarmingly quickly in this sort of area. Try to dry clothing
whenever the rain subsides and the sun comes out.
Because there are so many poisonous things to bump into in the
jungle, your clothes should also afford you a layer of protection from them.
This means covering your body to keep it safe from the biting, pricking,
bloodsucking,
and stinging things that lurk there.
Long pants work better than shorts, and long pants that are tucked
into socks work better than ones that hang loose. Jungles by their very
nature are hot and humid, however, and the last thing you want to do is
tuck in your long pants. So when packing, choose pants you can see yourself
wearing tucked in for the duration of your journey. Beware of the “zipoff
” pants that change from long to short; the zipper around the thigh can
severely chafe in the heat of the jungle.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are native peoples, such as the
Waorani, who live in the Amazon jungle. They spend a lot of their time
naked, because clothes rot so quickly. And clothes take a long time to dry
after hours of jungle rain; naked skin does not. The biggest difference
between the Waorani and us is that they have generations of knowledge
about the jungle in which they live. They know every plant and creature
that can hurt them as they run naked through the thick growth. (They still
end up with numerous bites and stings!) I wouldn’t take the chance on
the naked approach, not without years of jungle living under my belt, so
to speak.
The Waorani men also wear a string around their waist. It is tied to
their foreskin to keep their penis out of the way while they travel through
the jungle. Their cultural belief is that when you wear the string around
your waist you are “clothed.” When you don’t wear the string, you are
naked, and this is considered shameful. I wore my pants.
On the Sea or Open Water
Similar to snowblindness in the Arctic, sunblindness can affect you out on the
open water. Always carry a brimmed hat and sunglasses for water travel.
L
ike the animals, you will soon realize that nothing limits your
effectiveness in the wild more than an injury. What separates us from
the beasts, however, is that we can treat ourselves (although there is
evidence to suggest that some animals treat themselves with herbal medicines
by eating certain plants when they have upset stomachs).
Although you have a responsibility to yourself and your travel mates
to know as much about wilderness first aid as possible, this is something
that can’t be mastered by reading a book. I strongly recommend you prepare
for your adventure by taking a wilderness firstaid
course.
Even then, for all the first aid you may know, a more important factor
in survival is injury prevention. All your movements should be planned,
methodical, and cautious. If you want to be a TV stuntman, go ahead and
leap from cliffs and dash across raging rivers. If you want to survive, then
protect yourself against injuries in the first place.
Your Survival FirstAid
Kit
AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENTS of your survival kit are the firstaid
items. Ensure too that you are familiar with the kit’s contents and know
how to use them. See “Survival Kits,” Chapter 2.
| 301
Like your complete survival kit, your firstaid
kit should be customized
for the area you’re visiting and (to a lesser extent) the activity you’re doing.
Herbal Medicines and Healing Plants
WHILE IT’SAPPEALINGTOTHINK that you might be able to heal yourself with
plants in the wild, the chances of your doing so are even slimmer than the
chances of your finding safe plants to eat. Nor is using plants to heal as
simple as picking the plant and either eating it or applying it to your skin.
In many cases, complex concoctions require careful preparation.
Healing plants are also region specific and the product of generations
of experimentation and use. Near Georgian Bay, Ontario, jewelweed
grows right alongside poison ivy and can be a great traditional
remedy as a preventative wash for poison ivy. But to use it effectively,
you need to learn how to recognize both plants. When I was in the Amazon,
Waorani medicine was helpful in curing the fungus on my feet, but
it came from a native woman who drew on her own experience and that
of her people.
The Importance of Hygiene
SURVIVAL IS DIRTY, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore basic hygiene,
which is an important way to ward off infection and disease, and to prevent
minor injuries from becoming major.
If water is available, try to wash yourself daily, with or without soap.
Your hands, hair, feet, and armpits are the likeliest areas of infestation and
infection; pay special attention to them.
Always keep your hands clean, since germs found there can infect
you and your food. Wash them frequently, especially after a bowel movement.
Your hair should also be kept as clean as possible to prevent infestation
by fleas and lice.
Another significant aspect of personal hygiene is keeping your
clothes clean. This may mean making like your ancient ancestors and
scrubbing clothing in a river with rocks. If you don’t have a water source
nearby, shake your clothes out (especially your underwear and socks) and
leave them to dry in the sun for a few hours whenever possible.
Prevent mouth infections and abscesses by brushing your teeth
daily, whether or not you have toothpaste. Improvise a toothbrush with
a young, green twig, assuming you are sure it’s not poisonous (based on
all the excellent pretrip
training you did on the local flora and fauna!).
Peel the bark off the end of the twig and chew it until the fibers begin to
separate. You can use these fibers to dislodge any food bits that accumulate
in your teeth. You can also wrap a piece of cloth around your finger
to brush your teeth; small amounts of baking soda, sand, or salt can act
as abrasives. Fishing line can double as dental floss.
If you find yourself getting damp and musty but don’t have sufficient
water on hand, strip and let your body dry in the air for at least an
hour, while wiping yourself (especially the areas I just mentioned) with a
clean rag. Be careful not to let yourself cool down too much. It’s better to
do a wipedown
early in the day or when the day is at its warmest.
The four body parts you should protect in survival
situations are your eyes, feet, hands, and stomach.
All these are vital parts of the body, needed for survival.
stroud’s Tip
Finally, do not soil your site with urine and feces. Choose an area at
least 100 yards (91 m) from your camp that will serve as your “outhouse”
and use it. Dig as deep a pit as possible and deposit your feces into it, covering
it up afterward.
Prioritizing Survival First Aid
ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL TASKS you may have to take on in a survival
situation is prioritizing first aid, also known as triage. This is where you
choose to treat the person with the most lifethreatening
injury, working
your way down the line to the least severe injury.
Survival First Aid | 303
If you are treating only one injured person, you should take the following
steps:
Check breathing: Check the victim’s airway. Make sure it’s open and the victim
is breathing. If not, start mouthtomouth
resuscitation.
Check for unconsciousness: If the victim is unconscious but breathing,
place him or her on one side with the top leg at a right angle to the body.
Use his or her hand to support the head and tilt the head back to ensure
an open airway.
Check for bleeding: Stop any bleeding.
Check for shock: Treat shock.
Major and Minor Injuries
WILDERNESS INJURIES USUALLY FALL into one of two general categories: major
or minor. Luckily, most are minor. Although these will not stop you in your
tracks, remember that any minor injury left untreated in the wilderness
can quickly become a major one. For this reason, all injuries in the wilderness
should be taken seriously.
For example, if you’re in the Amazon and suffer a small cut, you’ll
still be able to function normally. However, that little cut can rapidly grow
infected and become a major problem. If you are walking and get a blister
on your foot, you may be able to keep up the pace (and endure the pain)
for a day or two more. But left untreated, that blister can virtually cripple
you, preventing you from reaching safety.
I was once in an adventure race with three other teammates, when
one of the members of our group began to experience irritation and chafing
in her groin. We had to keep moving and didn’t treat her when it was
still a minor discomfort, and as a result, within 24 hours it turned into a
fullblown
infection, to the point where she could no longer walk.
stroud’s Tip
Don’t ignore any injury, no matter how minor.
Major Injuries and Illnesses
THE KEY TO DEALING WITH MAJOR INJURIES AND ILLNESSES is to prevent them
from occurring (to the extent that you can). Should you or anyone in
your party suffer from the following maladies, you need to act quickly
and decisively; in the wilderness, injuries and illnesses can become lifethreatening
very quickly.
Dehydration
Dehydration is a serious risk in the world’s hot and dry regions, and one
that can kill you within a few days. Finding protection from the wind and
sun will slow the rate at which you lose water, but you will eventually need
to get to a water source. If your only choice is to drink unpurified water, do
it. I’d rather take my chances with parasites than die of dehydration.
Since you also lose valuable salts when you dehydrate, you should
consider including an overthecounter
electrolyte replacement product
in your firstaid
kit. If you don’t have one, add a quarterteaspoon
of salt
to a quart (liter) of water.
Dehydration victims should drink frequently, and in small amounts.
Hypothermia and Frostbite
Once again I have asked my friend Gordon Giesbrecht, PhD, professor of
thermophysiology, to chime in on how to handle hypothermia and frostbite:
Hypothermia: A hypothermic victim takes a while to become that way
(anywhere from one hour to several days). It is critical to treat a cold
victim as gently as possible. Quick, rough actions could be fatal due to
changes in core temperature, blood pressure, and work required by the
heart. Follow these steps:
Handle the victim as gently as possible.
Keep the victim horizontal.
Don’t let the victim walk or struggle.
Get the victim to shelter as soon as possible.
Once in shelter, consider removing the victim’s wet clothing, usually by
cutting it off.
Place victim in as much insulation as possible (sleeping bags, blankets, et cetera).
If you have any source of heat, apply it to the chest and armpits. This could
include a heat pack (fueled by electricity, chemicals, or charcoal, for instance),
warm water bottles, or a healthy (that is, a warm) member of the group.
If possible, wrap the victim loosely in a vapor barrier such as plastic.
Only if the victim is awake and alert, give him or her food or drink with high
caloric value (for example, hot chocolate or a chocolate bar). Monitor the victim
for problems breathing and signs of worsening condition. Also check the feet
and hands to make sure they are not getting cold.
Frostbite: Frostbite can have devastating effects, especially if treated
improperly. For more than 200 years, the common remedy for frostbite
was to rub the frozen area with snow or submerge it in cold water. This
was an overreaction and is no longer recommended. Here are the do’s
and don’ts of frostbite treatment:
Never rub frostbite.
Never expose frostbite to anything cold.
Never try to warm frostbite with dry heat from a fire or over a stove.
Never rewarm a frostbitten area if there is a chance it could freeze again
(e.g., if you are out in the mountains with several days remaining to walk
to safety).
Warm a frostbitten area either by contact with warm human skin or by
immersion in warm water at about 99.F (37.C).
Do not burst any blisters that may develop.
Resist amputating dark or even black tissue; in many instances much or all of
the tissue may survive, given enough time and tender care.
stroud’s Tip
Remember this rhyme: fingers, toes, ears, and nose.
These are the areas that are prone to frostbite.
Shock
Shock is a natural reaction that occurs in most seriously (and even notsoseriously)
injured people. It can affect you on two levels. The first, the
good reaction, is the one that provides you with potentially superhuman
strength and helps you get out of potentially dangerous situations. This is
the characteristic of shock that lets a person with a broken femur crawl for
miles to safety or lift a car to free a trapped child. It’s also called an adrenaline
rush. The dangerous part of shock is what comes afterwards—the
debilitating part that renders you unable to help yourself.
To treat shock, lay the victim on the ground, insulated from the
ground, if possible. If the victim is conscious, elevate the legs about 12
inches (30 cm). If the victim is unconscious, roll him or her onto one side
to prevent choking on vomit and other fluids.
Maintain the victim’s body heat, either by protecting against the elements
or adding external sources of heat. Give the conscious victim small
doses of sugary solution to drink if he or she is able to drink, and if possible,
make sure the person rests for at least 24 hours.
Burns
Burns can be dangerous in the wilderness, and are a very real risk, given
the importance of fire to your survival. The worst burn I ever saw was on
a camping trip when a girl lifted a frying pan with bacon and dumped the
grease down her arm.
These types of burns (from oils and grease) are especially serious
because they will continue to “cook” under the skin even after you’ve
removed the burning material from the body part. Regardless of the cause
of the burn, the first thing to do is immerse the area in cold but not freezing
water. If you need to cover the wounds (for transporting a victim),
apply dressings and rags that have been soaked in cold, clean water. If not,
keep drizzling water over the wounds until rescue arrives.
With wilderness burns, there is risk of infection. After cooling, treat
all burns as you would an open wound. With a covered wound, change or
sterilize dressings daily by boiling. But it is best to keep the burn uncovered
and to drizzle cool water on it constantly.
Finally, never apply butter or similar salves to burns. The only creams
you should use are antibiotic or burn creams.
Joint Injuries
Joint injuries include fractures (breaks), dislocations, and sprains. They can
be among the most debilitating wilderness injuries, since they will prevent
you from one of your most important survival goals: moving. Prevent joint
injuries by exercising caution at all times.
Fractures: Fractures are the most serious of joint injuries, more so if they
are open or compound fractures, where the bone protrudes through the
skin. In these cases, it’s obvious immediately that a bone has been broken.
If the bone does not break the skin, signs of fractures include extreme pain
and tenderness, loss of function, swelling, general deformity of the area,
and a grating sound or feeling.
To treat a fracture, you must immobilize and splint the broken bone.
A splint is a solid surface, such as a stick, that you tie to the area to keep
the bone immobilized.
A stick or pole is best for making a splint, although even rolledup
towels or clothing
can work.
Try to pad the splint where it contacts the skin to prevent chafing; tie it tightly enough to
secure it, but don’t cut off blood circulation.
Make sure the knots are against the wood and not the skin.
Dislocations: A dislocation is the separation of a bone joint causing it to
move out of alignment. This type of injury needs to be treated as soon
as possible, to prevent the muscles from seizing up around it. The most
complete way to treat a dislocation is to “reduce” it, which means setting
the bones back in their proper alignment. Reductions are very painful,
but worth the pain if done properly. Even the inexperienced should try to
reduce a dislocation, as the alternative is a useless limb.
The only way to tell if a reduction has been successful is by comparing
the look of the injured joint to the joint on the opposite side. Other
than reduction, your other option is to immobilize a dislocated joint by
splinting it.
Sprains: These occur when tendons and ligaments are overstretched. The
most obvious signs of sprain are excessive swelling, bruising, and tenderness.
Sprains are best treated with the RICE method: Rest, Ice, Compression,
Elevation:
Rest the area for as long as possible.
Ice for 24 hours, followed by heat. Chances are you won’t have ice with you, so
search for anything that will cool the area. Water from a cold stream, river or
lake works well.
Compress by wrapping the area snugly to prevent movement without cutting
off circulation.
Elevate the area whenever it’s not being used, to minimize swelling.
Heat Exhaustion or Stroke
Heat stroke impedes the body’s natural ability to cool itself, and can lead to
death if not treated quickly. Symptoms include hot, dry skin, and a visible lack
of sweat, as well as headache, dizziness, confusion, and nausea/vomiting.
If you suspect heat stroke, it’s important to get the victim into the
shade. Remove restrictive clothing to allow evaporation to occur, which
helps to cool the skin. You must then cool the body by pouring water on
it, even if the water is contaminated. Allow the water to evaporate off the
skin; you can speed the cooling process by fanning the victim. As with
dehydration, the victim should consume water in small amounts every few
minutes; large amounts bring on vomiting.
To treat shoulder dislocation, heavy objects can be used to pull the bones back into place.
This can be extremely painful but allows for the quickest recovery. Do not attempt this
procedure unless you have had proper wilderness firstaid
instruction.
Survival First Aid | 311
The key areas to cool during heat stroke are where there are major
arteries: the neck, wrists, armpits, groin, and head. Cooling the back of the
knees is also a good idea. You can also massage the victim’s limbs to move
cooled blood from the extremities to the internal organs.
Bleeding
If not stopped, major bleeding can quickly lead to death. Bleeding can be
controlled with direct pressure, elevation, or (as a last resort) tourniquets.
The most effective of these strategies is direct pressure applied to
the wound. Elevate and hold the wound long enough to not only stop the
bleeding but to seal off the wound.
If you’ve injured an extremity, elevating it as high as possible above
the heart will slow blood loss. Note that this method doesn’t stop bleeding
completely; you need to use it in conjunction with direct pressure.
Although some people recommend tourniquets for bleeding, these
should be used only for lifeordeath
situations, when no other method
can control the flow of blood. Tourniquets present a high risk because if
they’re left on too long they can cause gangrene and lead to the loss of the
limb below the tourniquet.
Minor Injury and Illness
AT FIRST BLUSH, MINOR INJURIES AND ILLNESSES may not seem as important or
dire as their major counterparts, but they deserve as much of your attention.
These are insidious injuries. Ignore them for too long and they will
likely become major before you know it.
Headache
Headaches are a common and potentially debilitating aspect of survival,
so carry some ibuprofen or acetaminophen in your firstaid
kit. Drinking
lots of water and massaging the aching area can also help.
Sickness and Disease
Sickness and disease can be major or minor, but once your defenses are down
and your immunity starts to plummet, you’re more susceptible to both.
Once you become sick, your energy levels suffer, as do your survival
efforts. The result could be a dangerous snowball effect. If you don’t have
the energy to build a shelter, for example, you will increase your exposure
to the elements and your susceptibility to conditions such as hypothermia.
What you do to treat yourself now will affect what happens in the minutes,
hours, days, and weeks to come.
Bites and Stings
Since bites and stings range from very minor to very major events, the
best approach is to avoid them by wearing proper clothing and not putting
your hands or feet in dark places without first investigating. Check
yourself daily to make sure no strange creatures are hitching a ride
on your body. Try not to scratch bites and stings, as they may become
infected.
For bee, wasp, and hornet stings, the most important consideration
is whether you or someone in your group has a severe allergy. If so, you
should carry an epinephrine (“epi”) pen and antihistamines.
You can get an EpiPen prescription from most physicians; just
explain that you’re traveling to a remote area and there’s a chance you
may get stung by an unknown insect. Be warned, however: if you have a
true anaphylactic reaction to a bite or sting, an EpiPen will only help to
prevent your throat from closing for about 15 minutes or so, the time it
would usually take to get a victim to a hospital. EpiPens are expensive and
expire after 12 to 18 months, so keep your firstaid
kit updated. Carrying
two EpiPens is a good idea. Note that while epinephrine opens up the
airway, it does not stop the cause of the constriction. You must also take
antihistamines to counter the body’s production of histamine, which is
what closes up your airways in the first place.
If you get stung by a bee or other similar creature, remove the stinger
immediately. This can usually be done by scraping up and away (not pulling
out) from the area with a fingernail or knife blade.
Being bitten by a spider or stung by a scorpion is more serious, and
little can be done in the way of treatment unless you’re lucky enough to
have an antivenin on hand. If a member of your group is bitten or stung
by one of these, watch for anaphylaxis, clean and dress the area, and also
treat the victim for shock, vomiting, and diarrhea, should they occur. Some
spider bites result in ulcerated areas that refuse to heal. Dress the ulcers
to prevent infection.
Snakebites can also be serious, if not deadly, though the majority of
snakebite victims suffer little or no effects from poisoning. Infection is a
real concern, however, due to the bacteria in the snake’s mouth, so clean
and disinfect the area immediately. Try to calm the victim and treat for
shock, if necessary.
Staying calm after a snakebite is easier said than done. I can’t imagine
what I would have done if bitten by a snake in the Amazon. I was miles
away from anywhere and it would have been difficult to get out. And that’s
the paradox: When you’re bitten by a snake, what you want to do is run for
help, yet it’s the one thing you cannot do because it only serves to increase
the rate at which the venom spreads through your system.
Try to determine if the snake was poisonous or not. If in doubt,
assume it was! Give the victim as much fluid as possible, and remove constricting
items such as belts, watches, and bracelets.
In treating snakebites, avoid the following:
Cutting: Opening the wound is ineffective in removing the venom, and the
open wound might become infected.
Alcohol: Similarly, this is ineffective for wound or patient.
Tourniquet: Constricting the bite might cause more damage and pain, and
even after the loss of a limb if applied incorrectly.
To treat snakebite, follow these steps:
Calm the patient and keep him or her still.
Apply a broad bandage (crepe) tightly around the whole limb, as for a sprained
ankle. This will retard absorption of the venom but still let blood through to
supply the bitewound
with needed blood.
Check vital signs.
Immobilize the limb with a splint.
If it’s not possible to reach a doctor within hours and you have antivenin,
test for allergic reaction first by injecting a little under the victim’s skin or
inject antihistamine first. (Always carry an injectable antihistamine in your
firstaid
kit.)
Diarrhea
Diarrhea is common in survival situations and is another minor sickness
that can become major.
There are two important things to understand about diarrhea. First,
diarrhea is your body’s way of ridding itself of an irritant. Let it run its
course for 6 to 12 hours. However, diarrhea can also rapidly lead to dehydration.
Through it, you lose valuable water and electrolytes, which need
to be replenished.
The best way to replenish yourself is to drink some water, preferably
clean and purified. Drink small amounts frequently (which will help your
bowel absorb the fluid) rather than drinking a huge amount at one sitting
(which will overwhelm your stomach and trigger more diarrhea).
If you’re in a group, keep in mind that diarrhea can be embarrassing
for the person who has it, so try to create an environment of understanding
and comfort. You might also designate a private place for that person
to go, to reduce awkwardness.
Charcoal is an effective remedy for diarrhea because it is highly
absorbent, and will absorb drugs and toxins from the gastrointestinal tract.
Grind a teaspoon of charcoal from your fire and mix it with water. Consume
this a few times a day, as necessary.
If you have electrolyte replacement powders in your firstaid
kit, they
will help replace the electrolytes lost through diarrhea. Loperamide is also
useful to have in your kit; it can plug you up in cases where the diarrhea
just won’t stop. I’d let the diarrhea run its course for at least a day before
resorting to loperamide.
Blisters
Blisters also rank high on the list of problems that start out minor but can
become major. The best way to treat blisters is to prevent them from happening
in the first place, by keeping your socks and feet dry and clean.
If you do develop a blister—particularly on your foot—do not puncture
it or otherwise open it, as this makes it susceptible to infection. Rather,
apply some sort of padding to relieve pressure and reduce friction. Stay off
your feet as much as possible until the blister subsides. If you have a blister
that breaks open, treat it as an open wound.
Wounds
Wounds can be minor or major. If they’re major, the biggest risk is excessive
bleeding. The most significant risk from minor wounds is infection,
so clean the wound immediately and cover it with a clean dressing.
Change the dressing at least once a day to prevent infection. If you don’t
have any extra clean dressing material available, you can reuse the existing
dressing by boiling it for at least three minutes to sterilize. Allow it
to cool before applying. Let the wound air dry during that time. Gaping
wounds can be closed with the butterfly sutures in your first-aid kit.
If you have antibiotic cream, apply it to the wound. Antibiotic pills
should be used only for treating wound infections, not for preventing
them.
Infections
In a survival situation, there’s a very good chance that a wound may become
infected. You can tell by the redness that appears around the wound and
the consistent discharge of pus.
Treat infections by applying warm compresses on the area for 30
minutes three or four times daily. Change the compress as it cools. You can
also drain the wound by opening and poking it with an implement you’ve
sterilized, such as a knife tip held in a fire and then allowed to cool.
Altitude Sickness
Depending on how high you are, altitude sickness can range from mild discomfort
and shortness of breath to life-threatening cerebral edema. Symptoms
range from drowsiness and weakness to persistent rapid pulse and vomiting.
The best way to cure altitude sickness is to get the victim to lower
altitudes immediately. Some victims of mild altitude sickness can control
symptoms by consciously taking large, exaggerated breaths.
Group Versus Solo Survival
IFYOU’RE INJURED, YOU’RE FAR BETTER OFF in a group because you’ll have
people around who can help you. Members of the group can lift and move
a sick or injured person.
One difficult decision you may have to make in a survival situation is
whether to leave an injured person or stay with them. If you are in a group
of two, leave only if your travel partner’s injuries are lifethreatening,
you
can’t help him or her, and you know where safety and help lie. Before leaving,
stabilize the victim, place him or her comfortably in a shelter, and
mark the area so that you can find it on your return.
In larger groups, send the fastest and most capable travelers for help
while others stay behind to tend to the wounded. Again, those who leave
should do so only if they are sure they will be able to reach help.
L
ike your prehistoric ancestors, you have the ability to harness
those great human qualities of adaptability and ingenuity that
could save your life during a survival situation. Whether it’s making a
fish hook from the bones of a decaying animal or a crude knife from a piece
of rock, the ability to improvise and create survival tools from materials at
hand will help you when you’ve got nothing else with which to work.
Think Like a Sculptor
ALTHOUGH MOST OF US ENVISION WILDERNESS as being completely untouched
by humankind, the world is not that big anymore. In many ways, this is
not a good thing, but it may help you in a survival situation because you
are more likely than you think to come across abandoned junk that may
be useful.
Some of the best places for finding useful odds and ends are coastal
regions, where the sea often washes up intriguing bits. You should look
upon this stuff as if you were a sculptor: Don’t consider what it is, but what
it could be. That piece of scrap metal might look like a piece of garbage, but
if you change your lens you might see six fish hooks, a knife blade, and
a pot for melting water. When I was in Labrador, I came upon an empty
can of naphtha gas. After a little cutting, bending, and reshaping, I had
changed it into a simple wood stove.
In the Kalahari Desert, the most effective “junk” I found included a
few jars and cans in an old truck. They worked like a charm to trap scorpions,
which were the basis for my diet there. In Alaska, the roof of my shelter
was two big pieces of plastic that I discovered under a couple of rocks.
All of it started as garbage, but for me it meant survival.
Think Simplicity
ALTHOUGH THERE IS A DESIRE AMONG HARD-CORE SURVIVALISTS to make elaborate
and sophisticated tools in the bush, I’ve found that the best man-
made survival tools are the most basic. A simple snare, a simple fish hook:
these are often the most effective things you can make. Creating complex
traps, snares, and shelters is fine when you have time and energy, neither
of which you typically have in abundance in an emergency!
Survival is a humbling situation. Any notions you may have entertained
about building incredible tools will be swept away quickly (right
behind those ideas you once had about the importance of staying clean).
Attempting to construct complex survival tools can lead to immense
frustration as well. The worst thing you can do in a situation like this is
spend hours trying to build something, only to find that it doesn’t work.
A simple version often suits the purpose but takes only a fraction of the
time to make.
While my wife, Sue, and I spent the year living off the land in northern
Ontario, we wanted to make a blanket of rabbit pelts. We figured we’d
need about 100 pelts, and my first thought was to build an elaborate set of
snares and traps. In the end, though, over a few weeks, I set out a couple
dozen simple snares, which were really effective and took very little time
to construct. I’m sure I wouldn’t have had any better luck with a more
elaborate setup.
Get Over the Squeamishness of Destruction
ONEOFTHETHINGSTHATMANYPEOPLESTRUGGLEWITH, even under the most
dire circumstances, is destroying something they cherish to make a survival
tool. But there’s really no other choice: if it’s ultimately going to save your life
or limbs, do it. Whether this be cutting your credit card into pieces, filing your
house key to a point, cutting up your car seats, or burning the spare tire in your
car to attract attention, recognize that these are actions born of necessity.
At the same time, however, you must have the foresight to visualize
whether the object you’re destroying may be more useful to you later in its
original form. You don’t want to sacrifice your snowmobile’s windshield,
only to get the machine going later and suffer frostbite or hypothermia on
the way home because you’ve got no protection from the wind.
During the winter of 2008, a Utah couple got lost with their vehicle
and was trapped in the snow in a remote area. Following their 12day
ordeal, they explained at a news conference that they had seen one of my
shows, in which I explained how to cut the stuffing out of car seats to make
“snowshoes.” They did exactly that and walked through the deep snow to
safety without losing their toes or feet to frostbite. They had had a decision
to make: keep their car seats intact or survive. They chose life.
Tools You Can Make
ONE OF THE MOST OFTEN IGNORED BUT SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS of making your
own survival tools is not the purpose they are meant to serve, but how
the act of creating them prepares you psychologically for your ordeal.
The creative process will keep your mind focused, distract you from the
misery of your circumstances, and generally improve your mental state.
Sure, you may make a snare or a trap and not be successful with it at first,
but making the effort is much better than doing nothing at all, because
doing something, anything, gives you hope that your efforts may bear
fruit. This all ties into the allimportant
will to live: if you have a reason
to survive, you likely will make it through alive.
of hopeIn a survival situation, you must exist in a constant state
if you are to make it out alive.
stroud’s Tip
Making Rope
Making your own rope from natural materials may sound complex, but it’s
easier than you think. And having rope will greatly improve your chance
of survival because it can be used in so many different ways.
Rope helps build traps. It fixes clothing, ties off wounds, holds
shelters together, and binds your stuff together when the time to travel
comes. My favorite ropemaking
materials are milkweed stem, evening
primrose bark, spruce roots, and cedar bark. Rope from trees is typically
made from the shredded inner bark. As with finding plants to use for
tinder, your efforts here will helped immensely if you understand characteristics
rather than memorize names. Quite simply, you are looking
for anything fibrous.
The problem with rope making is that it’s not always easy to find the
right materials, especially because they are seasonally dependent. In other
words, some plants become most fibrous in late fall or early winter, when
they have dried to the point that they’re no longer green. For others, such
as tree bark, the best time is early spring.
If you are fortunate enough to have caught a large game animal,
sinew and rawhide work well as rope (particularly for binding and lashing
things together), although these are fairly involved undertakings. Sinew
is the product of the tendons (strands lying flat against the leg bones). To
make sinew, first dry the tendons, then rub them on a rough surface (or
smash them with a club or rock) so they separate into fibers. These fibers
can then be used as rope; they work better when moistened.
Rawhide is thin strips cut from the animal’s hide and can be used
even if the fur is still on.
Twisting Rope
1. It may sound complicated, but basic rope
twisting is simple. Start with fibrous material,
such as husks from the yucca plant.
Separate the husks into strands.
3. Twist each piece between two fingers in a
clockwise motion. Then, wrap the two pieces
together in a counterclockwise
motion.
2. Gather sufficient strands to be able to
build a rope as thick as you need it. Roll
or rough up strands together to get separate
pieces.
4. This simple method works with manydifferent types of materials.
5. Once you’ve completed winding thepieces together, you will have a strong
rope to use for many purposes.
Making Rope from Sinew
1. Rub the sinew on a rough surface to 2. These fibers can be woven together to
separate it into strands. form a durable rope.
Making Knots
A NATURAL PARTNER TO ROPE MAKING is the ability to tie knots. Like many
survival skills, this one can be overlearned, because there are hundreds of
different types of knots, some of which have very specific uses.
You don’t need to learn hundreds. I’ve found that knowing just a few
simple knots will help you through almost any survival situation, enabling
you to make more effective shelters, fishing implements, snares, and traps.
Les’s Top Three Knots
Bowline: The bowline is a perfect survival knot because of its great strength
and the ease with which it can be tied. It forms a loop (though not a noose)
at the end of a rope, and it is typically used for securing a rope to an object.
To tie a bowline, start by making a loop a short distance from the end of
the rope. Pass the working end of the rope up through the loop, wrap it around
the base, and pull it back down through the loop to finish the bowline.
Clove Hitch: The clove hitch is nothing more than two loops “stacked” on
each other. It’s a great simple knot for securing rope between trees or poles,
and for hanging things from a horizontal pole. Be aware, though, that to be
A bowline knot is a simple one to learn, and it’s very strong.
effective it requires a load on each end, and it has been known to slip.
To tie a clove hitch, work from left to right. Make a loop somewhere
along the length of the rope. Then make a second identical loop to the
immediate right of the first. Stack the second (right) loop on top of the first.
Place both loops over the pole and pull the free ends of the rope to tighten.
If you’re tying a clove hitch to a standing object such as a tree, begin by
wrapping the rope once around the tree. After the working end of the rope
passes around the tree, it should cross over the main stem of the rope. Wrap the
working end of the rope around the tree again, this time passing it through the
loop you’ve just created. Pull both ends of the rope taut to finish the knot.
Figure Eight (and Double Figure Eight): Though traditionally used in
climbing, the figure eight and double figure eight are also great for tying
rope to other objects. They bind so well, though, that untying them can be
a real chore. Make a long loop by passing the working end of the rope back
under the main rope stem. Cross the working end over the main rope stem
and pass it up through the loop from the bottom. Repeat this procedure
for the double figure eight.
Clove Hitch
1. Form two loops as shown.
2. Stack one on top of the other.
3. When tied properly around a tree or
pole, this knot will selftighten.
4. Here I used a clove hitch and a small
stone to secure a tarp corner.
Figure Eight
To make a figure eight knot, the string goes around the tree and then
follows its own path back.
1. The figure eight: first stage.
2. The double figure eight: second stage.
Making Knives
KNIVESCOMEINTOPLAY in almost every aspect of survival. If you’re without
a knife, there are ways of making basic knives that will do the job. All
you need is a semisharp
edge. That edge can be made from a number of
materials, including rock, metal, bone, or even wood.
Knives from Rock
One of the oldest skills known to humankind is taking a piece of solid rock
and breaking it to form a cutting edge. Over time this became a complicated
and refined skill, now referred to as flint knapping. The good news is that
you need only learn the basics to fashion a knife edge sharp enough to get
you through most situations. No, it won’t be as sharp as a steel knife, but a
survival blade will give you a rough, serrated edge for cutting or scraping.
The most useful blades I have made while surviving have come from
throwing a rock—one I hoped would break—against another rock (while
carefully protecting my eyes) until I had shearedoff
edges sharp enough
to cut into wood.
Refined flint knapping is a useful primitive living skill, but too
advanced for the survival situations to which this book is dedicated. Like
bow making, flint knapping takes much time and mentored practice to
master. With that in mind, the following pictures illustrate the most rudimentary
methods for breaking a rock down to a usable edge.
Knives from Metal
When making survival knives, there is simply no substitute for metal. The
biggest challenge is finding a piece that’s roughly the right size and shape.
Rub the metal against a hard surface to sharpen the point and blade (this
will take a long time, so sit down and be patient). Unlike most survival
knives, a metal blade will require a handle to protect your hands. Tape,
cloth, or rope can all be used as knife handles.
Knives from Bone
Bone knives work better for puncturing than for cutting or scraping because
they don’t hold an edge very well. To make this type of knife, you need to
start with a decentsize
bone, such as a leg bone from a large mammal.
Splitting a Rock to Make an Edge
1. Splitting a rock in two can bea relatively easy undertaking,
provided you find the right
rock. Use a larger rock to
hammer the smaller one.
2. Here, I’ve made a perfect split.
3. Given the right material, asplit rock can be used effectively
as a cutting or scraping edge,
and can be further sharpened
by rubbing it against another
rock.
4. Your rudimentary rock knife
has many uses, so keep it
safe. Here, I’m making tinder
by cutting into a dry branch.
You can use a variety of materials to make cutting edges and knives, as well as handles
for any metal blades you are lucky enough to salvage.
Shards of bone are useful as knives in a pinch, though they need refinement after shattering.
Lay the bone on a hard object and shatter it by striking it with a
heavy object. Chances are you’ll find a suitably pointy piece among
the shattered bits. You can refine its shape by rubbing the bone piece
on a rough rock. If you have only small bones or shards to work with,
before rubbing, tie one to a piece of wood or other similar object.
You can also make a bone blade by scoring the bone along its length
until you can insert a chisel of sorts and split the bone lengthwise.
Scoring a bone. Bone blades of various shapes and sizes
made by scoring.
Knives from Wood
As with bone, it is difficult to get a sharp edge from wood, so wood knives
are best suited for puncturing and scraping. This is certainly a last-ditch
knife-making method, as it requires time, patience, and diligence. To make
a wood knife, start with a piece of hardwood about 12 inches (30 cm) long
and 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter; the blade should be 6 inches (15 cm) long.
Shave the wood down to a point by rubbing it against a rough, hard surface,
such as a rock.
You can further harden the blade by drying it over a fire until it’s
slightly charred. The drier the wood, the harder the point will become.
To sharpen a real knife, use a clockwise circular motion
and push the blade away from you across the stone while
applying consistent pressure on the blade. Try to keep it at a
constant angle, say, 45 degrees. Do not drag the knife toward you
under pressure, as this may create burrs on the blade. Regularly add
water to the stone, if you have it. Reducing pressure gradually while
you work will produce a finer edge.
stroud’s Tip
My Favorite MacGyverisms
ASMANYOFYOUKNOW, the hit TV show MacGyver (1985–1992) was based on
the exploits of secret agent Angus MacGyver, whose claim to fame was his
uncanny ability to use common items (and a Swiss Army knife) to improvise
oftencomplex
devices. During the many survival ordeals I’ve experienced,
I’ve often tried to emulate MacGyver, with varying levels of success. Here is
a short list of MacGyverisms I’ve managed in the field.
Using Underwear as a Hunting Tool
Desperate to catch fish, I cut the elastic strap from my underwear, combined
it with a common ballpoint pen and a found piece of bamboo to
make a Hawaiian sling spear.
Fishing with Gum
In the swamps of Georgia, I made a fishing lure out of a credit card that
I cut into pieces. Then I used bubble gum to make a very thick bubble,
pinched it off at the bottom, and used it as my fishing float. Had I been
successful—there are 100pound
(45kg)
catfish in those swamps!—I could
have enjoyed a very substantial meal.
Making Goggles out of a Snowmobile Cushion
One of the most insidious dangers in the Arctic is snowblindness. While
surviving there, I cut a strip off my snowmobile’s seat cushion to make
goggles. All I needed was a knife to make the cut. In that survival situation,
the goggles saved my eyes.
Purifying Water with a Plastic Bottle
In Africa, I suspended a plastic water bottle over a fire, letting the flames
just lick the bottom of the bottle but not consume it. I was able to boil
water without significantly melting the plastic.
Making a Flashlight from Car Parts
Use wire to connect the battery directly to the leads on the headlamps.
Making Rope from Car Parts
Wire from any vehicle’s engine makes great rope.
Making Signals from Reflective Objects
Anything shiny is enough to flash sunlight at a passing airplane to attract
rescue.
Making Knives from Glass
Broken glass can be used as an effective cutting tool.
Using Hand Sanitizer as a Fire Starter
Just about anything with a high percentage of alcohol can be used to make
a fire.
Making a Throwing Stick
A THROWING STICK is a solid chunk of hardwood, approximately 18 inches
(45 cm) long, that you can grip and throw efficiently, much the way you
would a boomerang. Your purpose is to aim it well enough to stun or kill
a rabbit, squirrel, or bird that’s within range. It can be very effective when
thrown at a group of roosting songbirds (see “Food,” Chapter 8).
Making Clubs and Spears
ALTHOUGH SPEARS AND CLUBS were used by our prehistoric ancestors for
hunting and warring, you’ll likely find that they are most useful for protection
and reassurance when you’re in a place where there might be dangerous
or predatory animals around. If you are surviving in a jungle, for
example, and you know there might be 7-foot (2-m) cobras underfoot, a
long piece of wood feels mighty good in your hands. You can make the tip
of the spear itself quite sharp, or tie a handmade blade to the end.
But the usefulness of spears and clubs doesn’t end there. Like ropes
and knives, these are versatile items that can be used for just about anything,
from digging holes to knocking fruit from nearby trees to pounding
To put a little distance between me and possible predators in Africa, I attached a handmade
spear to a hunting knife.
336 | Survive!
stakes in the ground. So go ahead and make one even if you don’t think
you have a use for it at the time. Eventually, you will.
Like the throwing stick, a club is simply a tree branch. Size matters. Too
long and you won’t be able to swing it easily or quickly. Too short and it won’t
do any damage to whatever you’re trying to hit. Hardwood is the best material,
if you can find it. You can make a club more effective (especially for killing
newly caught small game in your snare) by weighting one end. Tying a
rock or similar heavy object to the end is the most common way to do this.
Making Eye Protection
SUNGLASSES ARE MORE THAN A FASHION STATEMENT. In the wild, exposure to
the elements wreaks havoc not only on your body but also on your eyes.
Unfortunately, sunglasses are not particularly robust items, and even if you
bring a pair along with you, chances are they will get broken or lost during
your survival ordeal.
You must protect your eyes against sunblindness (when you’re on open
water), and snowblindness (when you’re surrounded by snow). In essence, both
of these conditions are sunburns on your retina, causing discomfort and blindness
for up to three days. Worse yet, being blind in an emergency—no matter
how long the episode lasts—can mean the difference between life and death.
The Inuit protected their eyes by making sun goggles from caribou
or walrus bone. When I was in the Arctic, I didn’t have the luxury of these
materials, so I made my own from a slit cut in a strip of vinyl. You can use
almost anything for sun goggles as long as it limits the amount of sun
beating against your eyes (see page 247).
Making Packs
WHEN YOU’RE ON THE MOVE, there is nothing worse than trying to carry
all your vital survival materials in your hands or arms. It’s not only slow,
cumbersome, and frustrating, it’s also dangerous because it impedes your
ability to use your hands at a moment’s notice.
Essential Survival Skills | 337
You can use almost anything to make a pack on the fly, including plant
fibers and bark, wood, rope, animal skins, or any other type of material you
may have on hand.
To make a pack, lay a piece of square material on the ground, with
your relevant items on one edge. Roll the material and the items toward
the opposite edge. Once the bundle is cylindrical, securely tie off each end
with one long piece of rope, about 6 feet (1.8 m) long. You can now use the
long rope to drape the pack over your shoulder. Add extra ties along the
length of the bundle to prevent contents from falling out (see page 221).
Making Snowshoes
Good for a multitude of uses, spruce boughs also make great snowshoes.
Clump them together into the approximate size and shape you need, then
tie the bundle together with some rope or cord. Lash the shoes to your feet,
and you’re off (see page 339).
Making Torches
As you may suspect, in a wilderness emergency there are many times when
you will need to see in the dark but don’t have a flashlight. As long as you
have a fire, you will have light. Although there are many different ways to
make a survival torch, the bark torch is one of the simplest yet most effective.
You’ll need a stick for the handle and a fairly thick strip of flexible bark (birch
bark works very well) about 2 feet (60 cm) long and 6 inches (15 cm) wide.
Wrap the bark around the stick, and tie the base of the bark coil to
the stick to secure it. Now wrap some cord or rope around the bark coil
to prevent it from opening. You can burn the bark itself, but the torch will
burn better if you fill the coil with flammable material, such as grass, small
sticks, or small pieces of bark. Once you’ve lit the material inside the coil,
it should last a good, long time (see page 339).
Here, I’m wearing snowboots and sprucebough
snowshoes, which make walking on top
of snow a lot easier.
You could simply light some cloth on fire, but a correctly made torch will last much longer,
increasing your chances of nighttime survival.
Group Versus Solo Survival
BEING IN A GROUP CAN BE A REAL BENEFIT when it comes to creating and sharing
tools. You will have not only the benefit of a wider range of expertise
and skills, but more people on hand to make the tools you need to survive.
Your group will likely need only one good knife, for example, but three
people can make it more easily than one!
I
f you think about it, your chances of finding yourself in a
true wilderness survival situation are slim, even if you’re an avid outdoors
person. In fact, you have a greater chance of getting caught in a
natural disaster close to home. From hurricanes and earthquakes to tsunamis,
from fires and floods and blackouts to extreme heat and cold spells,
there are many ways that things can go dangerously wrong right in your
own backyard.
Mental and Psychological Attitude
WHEN FACING A NATURAL DISASTER, you should call on the same psychological
strength that is so critical in wilderness survival. Do not panic; stop and
assess the situation. Recognize that you will go through a range of emotions.
Prioritize your needs.
Where natural disaster survival differs from true wilderness survival
is in your ability, in most cases, to stay in touch with the outside world during
the ordeal. If possible, stay connected through the media (for example,
using a rechargeable handcrank
radio), if only to find out what else might
be coming at you and how and when rescue/relief efforts may arrive.
Planning and Preparation
YOU NEED TO GET PAST THE “ITCAN’THAPPENTOME” ATTITUDE and understand
that disasters can occur anywhere, anytime. The best way to prepare
is to keep a few key items handy, just in case, in your home survival kit.
Like any survival kit, the one for your home must be tailored to your
region and the events that are most likely to occur there. I live in Ontario,
Canada, where earthquakes are rare. However, there’s a good chance we could
be struck by a blizzard and suffer a subsequent blackout, which could mean
I’d be out of power, out of water (since I’m on a pump system), and out of
heat. And if it was a prolonged blackout, I could eventually run out of food.
I recommend that you keep in your survival kit a oneweek
supply of
everything you need to live. Refer to the checklist in the back of this book
for everything you’ll need to include.
Signaling
THEABILITYTOMAKEANEFFECTIVE SIGNAL is important in disasters at or close
to home. People are often trapped after natural disasters and need to signal
for rescue, which is bound to come eventually. But if you’re trapped, you
will definitely need to let people know where you are and how you are.
Water
IF YOU HAVE THE LUXURY OF KNOWING IN ADVANCE that a disaster will occur,
fill your bathtub, as well as any other sink or receptacle you have available,
with tap water. This is routine at our house when bad weather is on the
way, and has paid off more than once. A water filter (not the cheap one
that sits in a pitcher in your refrigerator) is useful if your supply becomes
tainted or if you’re getting your water from a nearby river or lake.
Remember that the water in the back tank of your toilet is perfectly
drinkable, as it comes right from the tap and never contacts the bowl itself.
Ice cubes that you’ve left in your freezer are another potential (though
admittedly limited) source.
Fire
IFYOULIVEINACOLDCLIMATE, or disaster occurs during winter weather, you
may need a fire source to keep yourself warm and to cook. Making a fire
will not be an issue, since there should be firestarting
materials on hand;
the trick comes in building and maintaining the fire in a safe place. The
only safe places to make a fire that will keep the inside of a house warm are
a wood stove or a fireplace. Fuelbased
space heaters are also good backups.
An electric stove can be used for heat, but you need to be extremely
careful, particularly if there are small children around. Don’t ever use your
gas stove to heat your home.
Shelter
MOST NATURAL DISASTERS LEAVE YOUR HOME INTACT, which is a good thing.
If that’s not the case, you need to look at your situation through a different
lens and try to improvise shelter, perhaps by moving to your car or
setting up a tent. If you don’t have either of these on hand, you’re back to
finding or creating shelter the same way you would in a wilderness survival
situation. You need a shelter to keep warm and dry, and protected
from the elements.
Food
INMOSTCASESWHENDISASTERSTRIKES, you will have a refrigerator full of
food, all of which begins to spoil once the power goes out. Be sure to eat
the most perishable foods first. You can preserve meats by using the drying
methods described in “Food,” Chapter 8. You can also place fish such
as salmon in a dish or Ziploc bag and cover it with lemon juice (the process
used to make ceviche). The citric acid “cooks” the fish through a process
called naturation and preserves it for at least a few days.
Travel and Navigation
THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO TRAVEL after a natural disaster is as critical
when you are at home as when you’re in the wilderness. If you are
considering moving, the first thing to do is make sure the route is free of
hazards. Listen to the radio before heading to the next community, so that
you know, for example, whether a river has broken its banks upstream and
is flooding the highway.
When it comes to navigation, GPS units are invaluable for locating
street addresses. After Hurricane Katrina, I flew down to New Orleans to
meet a woman and talk to her about her experience, but she had given me
only her street address, not terribly useful because all the street signs had
been wiped out. Luckily, the GPS unit in my car led me right to her house.
Don’t think it can’t happen to you! New Orleans and other parts of southern Louisiana
were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
Dangers and Hazards
WHEN DEALING WITH A NATURAL DISASTER it helps to recognize that the central
event may have spawned other dangers around you, both seen and unseen.
Think like a firefighter and address the risks of “gas, glass, fire, and wire.”
Gas: Check to see whether there’s any gas leaking in your house, such as
natural gas or propane. Try to shut off the main valve into the house only
if you have experience or training in doing so. If you suspect a gas leak,
do not start a fire in your house, and leave the house if possible. If staying
inside is safer than going out, keep the windows open for maximum
ventilation.
Glass: Check for broken glass throughout the house and clean up as necessary.
This will help prevent accidental cuts and potential infections in what
might be unsanitary conditions.
Fire: This is one of the greatest dangers you’ll face. Check for gas leaks, oil
tank ruptures, and other types of leaks that can cause fire.
Wire: Electrical problems can result in fire. Also, check for exposed, live
wires in the home, particularly if you have small children.
Unfortunately, most people give little thought to socalled
urban
disasters, even though many people will experience at least one in their
lifetime. Be prepared, be ingenious, play it safe, and you will likely live
to tell the tale. Remember that when all is said and done, everything is
replaceable . . . except life.
Weather
SINCE WEATHER MAY WELL BE THE CAUSE of the natural disaster, stay in touch
with the outside world for updates. Weather will dictate the extent of your
survival activities; you also need to know if and when bad weather is going
to exacerbate your problems, and when it is expected to subside.
When Disaster Strikes Close to Home | 347
First Aid
EVERYONE—NOT JUST THOSE TRAVELING IN THE WILDERNESS—should have a
basic first-aid course under his or her belt. First aid can make the difference
between life and death. Check with your local college for programs.
Essential Survival Skills
RELYONYOURINGENUITYANDADAPTABILITY! Look at everyday objects around
you and decide if, say, your couch would be better used as a survival tool
than as furniture. In the case of any cherished memorabilia that may be
used in an emergency, you need to get over the squeamishness of destruction.
If it’s a choice between your life and protecting a keepsake, the keepsake
has to go.
Author’s Note
INWRITING SURVIVE!, I have tried to pull as much wilderness survival information
from my memory as I can. Given that the past eight years have
seen me survive in some of the most challenging environments on earth,
much is still fresh in my mind.
Before I started producing Survivorman, I figured that my survival
skills, all learned in North America, were pretty well honed. However, surviving
alone in the jungles, deserts, oceans, and mountains of this planet
have taught me how much I didn’t know. And I’m still learning.
From the herbal remedies of the Waorani to the hunting skills of the
Inuit, there are many wonderful survival skills that exist only within disappearing
cultures. When I spent time in the Amazon, for example, I was
amazed to learn that there were still 70 confirmed uncontacted tribes living
in its jungles. Call me naive, but I had been convinced that everyone who
could have been discovered had been discovered. Clearly that isn’t so.
At the other extreme, new technologies are making survival easier
and involve little more than pushing a button and waiting for rescue. PLBs
and EPIRBs, cell phones and BlackBerries, and the new SPOT messenger
technology have all made wilderness travel safer than ever.
In my research, I discovered that many survival publications are filled
with outdated or untested skills and methods that may not help at all if you
are in real jeopardy. Throughout the writing process, I always put myself
in the position of an inexperienced person, lost and alone, and in need of
basic survival knowledge that would keep him or her alive.
In my TV show, I like to throw in the occasional advanced survival skill.
But that’s just for fun, and this book is not about having fun. It’s about surviving.
That’s why I have stuck to the most essential, trusted, and universal
skills—skills that have kept me alive in the farflung
corners of the globe.
So, if this book is in your hands because you are in trouble, don’t
panic: calm down and assess your situation. Skim the book to the chapters
that pertain to you. Make a plan. I sincerely hope there is something here
that will improve your knowledge base and provide you with some practical
ideas . . . even if it means ripping out some of the pages to start a fire!
You will survive. And perhaps like mine, your story can be told
someday.
CHECKLISTS
Personal Survival Kit Checklist
Please see pages 19 to 21 for a detailed description of the elements of this
survival kit.
bandana
compass
flashlight (small, LED)
garbage bags (2, preferably orange, large)
lighter (my preference is a butane lighter that works like a little blowtorch)
matches (strikeanywhere
type) in a waterproof metal case (with a
striker, just in case)
magnesium flint striker (hey, I like fires!)
metal cup (folding, for boiling water)
multitool
or Swiss Army–style knife (make sure it has a small saw
blade)
painkillers (a few)
parachute cord or similar rope (about 25 feet [7.5 m] of 1/4inch
[0.6cm]
cord)
protein bar
sharp belt knife
solar, or “space,” blanket (small)
whistle
Ziploc bag (medium or large)
coffee can or similar receptacle (in which to place all items)
Complete Survival Kit Checklist
Please see pages 21 to 30 for a detailed description of the elements of this
survival kit.
bandana
belt knife (with sharpening
stone)
candle
cup (metal, collapsible; for
boiling water)
dried food
duct tape
firestarting
devices: lighter
and/or magnesium flint striker
and strikeanywhere
matches
in a waterproof case (with a
striker)
firestarting
tinder
firstaid
kit: See checklist on
page 356
fishing lures (3), hooks,
sinkers, and fishing line
flares
flashlight (small, LED)
GPS (Global Positioning
System)
garbage bags (2, preferably
orange)
hand lens (small)
map and compass
marker or “surveyor’s” tape
money
multitool
or Swiss Army–style
knife (with a small saw blade)
needle and thread
parachute cord or similar rope
(about 25 feet [15 m] of
1/4inch
[0.6cm]
cord)
pencil and notebook
protein bars
safety pins
saw (folding)
signal mirror
snare wire
solar, or “space,” blanket
SPOT satellite messenger/
EPIRB/PLB
water purification tablets
waterpurifying
straw
whistle
Ziploc bags (large)
Vehicle Survival Kit Checklist
Please see pages 33 to 36 for a detailed description of the elements of this
survival kit. In addition to the complete survival kit, you should keep the
following in your vehicle:
cell phone food, including MREs
clothing (warm) and (Meals Ready to Eat)
blankets road maps (local)
cook set (pots/pans) snow shovel (collapsible or foldcook
stove and fuel ing) and tire chains
drinking water tarp
flares toilet paper
flashlight tools
FirstAid
Kit Checklist
Please see pages 24 and 25 for a detailed description of the elements of
this firstaid
kit.
antidiarrheal tablets
antihistamines
antiseptic ointment
bandages
butterfly sutures
painkillers
prescription medicines (if applicable)
surgical blades
triangle bandages
Home Survival Kit Checklist
When assembling this survival kit, keep in mind that the size of your
household will affect the quantity needed for several kit items.
Essential Items
axe or saw
basic tool box (hammer, nails, screwdriver, pliers, adjustable wrench,
screwin
hooks, etc.)
belt knife (with sharpening stone)
camp stove (one burner) with all necessary supplies
cash
childcare
items, if applicable (diapers, formula, bottles, etc.)
clothing and footwear suitable for outdoor temperatures
cooking container(s)
duct tape
emergency candles
fire extinguisher
firstaid
kit and extra prescription medicines
flashlight
garbage bags (2, preferably orange, large)
lighter (butane is best)
matches (strikeanywhere
type) in a waterproof metal case
mealreplacement
drinks (7day
supply per person)
multitool
or Swiss Army–style knife
nonperishable
food (7day
supply per person)
pencil/pen and paper
portable toilet and sanitation supplies
rope or parachute cord
rubber gloves
shovel
sleeping bags
solar or handcrank
powered light, radio, and cell phone charger
thermal blankets
tissue packs and wet wipes
tube tent and/or tarp >>
Checklists | 357
Home Survival Kit Checklist (continued)
water purification tablets
water, for drinking, cooking, and washing (7day
supply of 7.5 gallons
[28L] per person)
waterless soap or hand sanitizer
Other Useful Items:
emergency plans, contact lists, meeting place information, etc.
eyewear (extra glasses, contact lenses, cleaning solution)
fishing and/or hunting equipment
generator with extension cord
light sticks
petcare
items, if applicable (litter, carriers, bags, leashes, etc.)
portable heater
rain ponchos with hood
recreational items (board games, cards, books, harmonica)
siphon hose (rubber)
smoke/carbon monoxide detector (for stove/heater use)
spare gasoline for vehicle
wash basin
water filter
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am greatly and deeply indebted to those who have helped me make this
book happen.
Mike Vlessides is the ghostwriter, or perhaps more appropriately the
editor, of this book. He spent hundreds of hours talking longdistance
on
the phone with me, pulling from my memory everything he could, to put
down on these pages. Without Mike, and his tremendous patience, creative
skill, and diligence, this book would never have been possible.
Laura Bombier is the photographer for this book. She is also the stills
photographer for the TV series Survivorman and as such has traveled the
globe with me, trying to capture the essence of what I do. And capture it
she has! Her creative skill is second to none, and her partnership with me
on this book has brought it to heights I could never have achieved without
her.
Beverley Hawksley is the illustrator for Survive! I did not want the
same old line drawings; I wanted the technical aspects to be combined
with artistic beauty. Beverley captured that vision fantastically. Beverley’s
work is inspired, beautiful, and powerful. She is an artist in the purest sense
of the title.
I enlisted the help of a group of survivalinstructor
friends to read
every word and throw their comments back to me, challenging anything
thought to be not quite right. To Doug Getgood, Dave Arama, and Douw
Kruger, thank you so very much. You saved me from a couple of blunders
and some forgetfulness, helping to make this book the best it can be.
Along the way, I have learned so much from some great people in the
field and often had my preconceived notions changed forever. Thank you
to “Desert” David Holladay, Mike Kiraly, Allan “Bow” Beauchamp, Brian
Brewster, Charlie Ford, Belly John, Frank Gagliano, Belize Sailing Charters,
Lee Gutteridge, Koos Moorecroft, Raphael Gunduza, Douw Kruger,
Ngaa Kitai, Dave Reid, Sam Omik, Jim Yost, Tomo, Kinta, Anna, Ippa, and
Duey (from the Amazon rain forest), Ron Durheim of Alaska Aquatics, Fred
Rowe and Frank Yamick (my very first teachers), Matt Graham, John and
Geri McPherson, Robert J. Wilson, Gino Ferri, Ernie and Donna Nichols of
Huron Air, Wes Werbowy, and Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht.
Sue, Raylan and Logan: You have put up with my absence, which
was a hard sacrifice. You have feared for my safety. You have created an
environment that nurtured and cared for me greatly during many times
of stress and challenge. Raylan and Logan, I know it’s really hard to understand
a dad who is away on adventures so much, but I miss you every
single moment. You are the lights of my life, and I love you more than
anything.
A special thanks to my “team.” Wendy Turner: I am there for you and
you are there for me—it’s a beautiful thing; Beth Cavanagh, Andy Peterson,
Max Attwood, Andrew Sheppard, Parres Allen, Barry Farrell, and Dan
Larade: I have constantly felt bolstered and supported by you all and am
very proud to call you my friends. Now “get back to work!”
Luke Despatie, for cover design and so much more—thank you so
very much.
Also a nod of thanks to the Survivorman gang, who have fought hard
through the challenges of making that series: Dave Brady, Seaghan Han-
cocks, Barry Clark, and Dan Reynolds. And none of it would have happened
were it not for the first acceptance by Jane Mingay and Jane Gilbert of
Discovery Canada and Anna Stambolic of OLN. Thank you, Patrice Baillargeon.
As always, thanks, Mom. And thanks to my sister, Laura. A very special
thank you to Peter Dale, whose faith in me got me into of all this in the first
place.
Also a special thank you to Rick Broadhead, who came out of nowhere
to quickly become a trusted literary agent and friend. Thank you for helping
me navigate the waters of publishing, Rick.
Thank you Brad Wilson and Anne Cole, editors for HarperCollins. I
am so very proud to become a member of the HarperCollins family. You
have renewed my faith that large, successful corporations can also treat
one lone person with integrity and respect, and I am very grateful for the
incredible support, belief, and gentle advice you have given me.
—Les Stroud, from somewhere out in the wilderness
Introduction ....................................................................... v
i
1. Trip Planning and Preparation ..............................1
2. Survival Kits ............................................................. 15
3. Psychological Aspects of Survival .......................37
4. Signaling ..................................................................53
5. Water .........................................................................67
6. Fire.............................................................................95
7. Shelter .....................................................................139
8. Food.........................................................................179
9. Survival Travel and Navigation ......................... 213
10. Dangers and Hazards ......................................... 249
11. Weather ..................................................................275
12. Clothing..................................................................285
13. Survival First Aid .................................................. 299
14. Essential Survival Skills .......................................319
15. When Disaster Strikes Close to Home ............ 341
Author’s Note .................................................................349
Checklists.......................................................................351
About the Author
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
Acknowledgments .......................................................359
Index ...............................................................................32
Introduction
INDEX
action, taking, 50–51
Aframe
shelter, 156, 157,161–62, 165
Africa, food in, 211
alcohol, 314, 335
Algonquin Provincial Park, 217–18
allergic reactions, 184, 313–14
altitude sickness, 316
anger, 48, 50
animal activity, tracks and other signs of,
44, 195, 202
animal dung, used for fire, 108, 133
animal fats, used for fire, 108, 109
animals. See also creepy crawlies; critters;
predators and dangerous animals
edible, 185–87, 208–11 (see also game)
poisonous
ants, 262
fish, 188, 273
mussels, 5
platypus, 272
scorpions and spiders, 168, 313–14
snakes, 314
warning signs, 186
water from, 86
animal trails, following, 75. See also tracks
antidiarrheal tablets, 24, 356
antihistamines, 24, 356
antiseptic ointment, 24, 356
ants
anthills, 146
bullet ants (Maunyi), 145–6
as food, 185
and plants, 265
poisonous, 262
and water, 76
anxiety, 47–48. See also calm
Arama, Dave, 265, 266
Arctic regions
clothing for, 288, 297
fire considerations in, 138
food in, 209
hazards in, 271
shelter in, 171
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 246–47
water considerations in, 90–91
weather in, 283
arid regions
clothing for, 297
fire considerations in, 136
food in, 208
hazards in, 269–70
shelter in, 166–67
survival kit for, 31
travel and navigation in, 245
water considerations in, 89–90
weather in, 283
assessing and prioritizing, 41–45, 303, 343
audio signals, 62–63
avalanches, 177, 248, 273–74
banana leaves, 158
bandages, 24, 25, 356
bandana, 20, 22, 353
bark
cedar, 137
used for roofing material, 169
barometers, 280
batteries, 34, 132
bears, 254, 256
Beauchamp, Allan “Bow,” 78, 87
bentpole
frame shelter, 163
bird down, 107
birds
catching, 202
following, 75–76
bites, 248, 263, 272, 296, 313–14
blankets, 34
solar, 29, 247
“space,” 29
bleeding, 312
blisters, 292, 315
blizzards, 271, 282. See also Stolpa, Jennifer
and James
body parts to protect in survival situations,
303
boiling water, 87
bone, making knives from, 330, 332, 333
boots, 35
boreal forests home survival kit, 357–58
clothing for, 297 personal survival kit, 353
fire considerations in, 136 vehicle survival kit, 355
food in, 208 chemical lights, 58
hazards in, 270 chimney, making a, 103
shelter in, 168–69 chlorine, 87
survival kit for, 31 Clement, Jonathan, 49–50
travel and navigation in, 245–46 climate, 220, 278–79. See also weather
water considerations in, 90 clothing,
boredom, 50–51 dangerous, 292boulder, 170 extra, 293
bowhunting,
49 keeping it dry and clean, 292–93, 302–3
bowline knot, 326, 327 making, 34, 293–94, 296burns, 307 maintaining, 282–93butane lighters. See lighters protective, 265–66
butterfly sutures, 24 regionspecific
considerations, 297–98
research and planning, 12–13, 287–91
traditional vs. hightech
gear, 291–92
calm, staying, 42, 49–50 for vehicle survival kit, 34
canyons clothing signals, 61
clothing for, 297 clouds, 248, 280
fire considerations in, 136 clove hitch, 326–28
food in, 208 clubs, making, 327, 335, 337
hazards in, 269–70 coastal regions
survival kit for, 31 fire considerations in, 138
water considerations in, 89–90 food in, 210
weather in, 283 hazards in, 272–73
Caribbean Ocean, 91 shelter in, 176–77
carrion, eating, 207 survival kit for, 33
carry bag, making a makeshift, 221 water considerations in, 92
carryingweather in, 284
fire, 111coconuts, falling, 272
gear, 220 coconut water, 83
people, 222, 223 cold weather, 267–69. See also clothing
cedar, 97 water considerations in, 90–91
cedar bark, 137 compass,
celestial objects as navigation tools, learning to use a, 8
240–41 making an improvised, 27, 236–38
cell phones, 34, 63, 64 parts of a, 230–31
chair, makeshift, 222 using it with a map, 232–236
charcoal, 70, 207, 315 using it without a map, 231–232
charred cloth, 117–20 conditioning, vi
checklists confidence, 251
complete survival kit, 354 control over situation, gaining, 47
firstaid
kit, 356 cooking and food preparation, 186–87, 205
36 | Index 5
cook set, 34
cook stove, 34
cotton balls, 107
couples and survival kits, 18
creepy crawlies, 185, 186, 262–63.
See also insects
critters, catching, preparing and eating,
185–187
cups, collapsible metal, 22
dangers, 251–52. See also specific topics
deadfall traps
Doug’s, 199–200
figure-four, 198–99
Paiute, 200, 201
dehydration, 69–74, 182, 267, 270, 305.
See also water, drinking
depression, 50–51
deserts
clothing for, 297
fire considerations in, 136
food in, 208
hazards in, 269–70
survival kit for, 31
water considerations in, 69–70, 89–90
weather in, 283
destination, knowing your, 5–6
dew, collecting, 77–78
diarrhea, 24, 315
disease, 312–13. See also health problems
dislocations, joint, 310, 311
distillation. See solar still
double figure eight knot, 327, 329
down, bird, 107
dressing (game), 204
eating. See also food; specific topics
carrion, 207
charcoal, 207
edges, making, 331–32, 335
edibility test, 184–85
edibles, wild. See also poisonous plants
availability, 183
latitude and, 183–84
myths regarding, 182–84, 264
personal sensitivities, 184
plant identification, 183
region-specific, 208–11
education and training, 5
electrolytes, 315
e-mail, 29
emergencies, vi, 11, 18, 45
Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), 63
Emergency Position-Indicating Radio
Beacons (EPIRBs), 27, 63
energy, managing your, 182
EpiPen, 313
equipment. See gear
eye protection, 247, 337
fear, 47–50. See also calm
figure eight knot, 327, 329
fire bow
components, 121–23
method, 126–31
process, 124–26
fire considerations, region-specific,
136–38
fire ingenuity, 134
fire piston, 115
fire(s), 97–99. See also fire-starting devices,
fire bow
building, 104–10, 134
how long to leave, 109–10
maintaining and transporting, 108–11
natural disasters and, 345, 347
in rain and snow, 134
resurrecting, 110
to scare away animals, 258
selecting site for, 99–100
size of, 100–102, 104
ways to make, 112, 335
when ground is wet, 100
fireside smoke, 280
fire-starting devices, 22–23, 32. See also
fire(s), ways to make
fire-starting tinder, 23–24, 105–7, 137
firestarting
tools and methods,
lastditch,
112–13, 117–22, 132–33
(see also fire bow)
primary, 112, 114–16, 335
first aid, 24–25, 301–2, 303–4, 348, 355.
See also injuries
fish, 187–89, 272–73
fishing equipment, 25, 32, 187–89, 334
fishing techniques, 190–92
flag trees, 239
flares, 25, 34, 58
flashlights, 25, 34, 58, 334
flint and steel, 120
flint strikers, 23, 115, 116
flowers, 239
food. See also starvation; specific topics
critters and creepy crawlies, 185–87
dried, 22, 205–6
group vs. solo survival and, 211–12
importance of research, 181
and managing your energy, 182
Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), 35
myth of wild edibles, 182–84
natural disasters and, 345
preserving, 205–6
regional considerations, 208–12
survival concerns, 181
footwear, 224, 296
forests, temperate
fire considerations in, 136
food in, 208
hazards in, 270
shelter in, 168–69
survival kit for, 31
water considerations in, 90
fractures, 308–9
friction, fire by, 120
frostbite, 268, 271, 305, 306
frustration, 48, 50
fuel, 34, 335
game, 193–201. See also specific topics
garbage bags, 25–26
Garner, Thomas and Tamitha, 219–20
367 |Index
gas leaks, 347
gear
carrying, 220
choosing appropriate, 11–13
traditional vs. hightech,
291–92
Getgood, David, 162
glass, 335, 347
Glass, Hugh, 50
global positioning system (GPS), 25, 242
goggles, 247, 334
GoreTex,
291
grasses, dried (used for fire), 108
ground signals, 61–62
group vs. solo survival, 52, 65, 211–12, 274,
317, 340
guide, relying on yourself vs. the, 9
gum, fishing with, 334
hand lens, 26
hand sanitizer as fire starter, 335
hanging shelter, 164
hazards, 251–52. See also specific topics
headache, 312
health problems, 10. See also disease
heat exhaustion and heat stroke, 269, 310,
312
herbal medicines, 302
Holladay, David, 7
home survival kit, 357–58
hunting, 32, 203, 334
hunting tools, making, 203–4
hurricanes, 281
hygiene, importance of, 302–3. See also
clothing, maintaining
hypothermia, 268, 269, 305–6
ice
crossing, 228
eating, 76–77, 90, 91
sea, 91
weak, 228
infections, 316
injuries, 304, 312–16. See also first aid
insects, 76, 265. See also creepy crawlies
iodine, 87
Jeremiah Johnson (movie), 99, 256
joint injuries, 308–10
jungles
clothing for, 297–98
fire considerations in, 138
food in, 210
hazards in, 271–72, 279
shelter in, 176
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 248
water considerations in, 92, 279
weather in, 283
Kalahari Desert
Bushmen, 6, 82
Stroud’s experiences in, 69–70, 86, 89,
113, 136, 200, 252, 259, 270, 322
Kamler, Kenneth, v, vi
kindling, 107
Kinta, 158
knives. See also edges; wood, splitting
belt, 20, 22
making, 330–33, 335
sharpening, 22, 333
Swiss Army–style, 26
knots, 326–29
knowledge, vi, 10–11, 42–45
Kruger, Douw, 98
laser flares, 58
leantos,
156–58
lenses, 26, 132
lighters, 23, 114
lightning storms, 282
lint, 107
local guidance regarding weather, 279
local knowledge and experts, 5, 7
loneliness, 50–51
luck, vi
MacGyver (TV show), 333
magnesium flint strikers. See flint strikers
magnetic needle of compass, 231
magnetic north, 235
magnetized needles, 27, 236
magnifying glass, 26, 132
maps, learning to use, 8
road, 35
in survival kit, 26
taking bearings with, 234
taking bearings without, 231–32
topographic, 229, 233
matches, 23, 114–15
Maunyi, 145–46
Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), 35
medication, 24
mental and psychological attitude, 343
mental fitness, testing your, 10–11
mental keys to surviving, 44
“mess kit” See cook set
metal, making knives from, 330
mirrors, signal. See signal mirrors
money, 26
moon, as navigation tool, 241
moose, 217–18, 261
moss, 239
moss cups, 78
mountainous areas
food in, 210–11
hazards in, 273–74
shelter in, 177
travel and navigation in, 248
water considerations on, 93–94
weather in, 284
multitool,
26–27
mushrooms, 264–65
natural disasters close to home, 343–48
nature
“becoming one” with, 51, 52
vs. man, 51–52
navigation. See also specific topics
basic survival, 228–29
natural disasters and, 346
regionspecific,
245–48
using natural features for, 239–42
needles, for compass
magnetized, 231, 236
magnetizing, 27
nighttime travel, 224
noose, 195
notebook, 28
Ontario, 144, 217
packs, making, 337–38
painkillers, 24
Paiute deadfall, 200, 201
panic, 46–47
parachute cord, 27–28
parasites, 70
pencil, 28
Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs), 27, 63
physical fitness, 9–10
planning and preparation, 3, 4
informing others of your plans, 13–14
natural disasters and, 344
for survival, 3–5, 45
for survival travel, 218
for the worst situation, 11, 18, 45
plants. See also edibles, wild
healing, 302
water from, 82–83
plastic bottle, purifying water with a, 334
“playing dead,” 256
poisonous animals, 186, 272–73
poisonous plants, 264–66. See also edibles,
wild
polar regions
food in, 209
hazards in, 271
shelter in, 171
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 246–47
water considerations in, 90–91
weather in, 283
potassium permanganate, used to make
fire, 132, 133
369 | Index
predators and dangerous animals, 253, 261
accidental predators, 253–56
creating an early warning system for, 260
securing your shelter from, 259–60
tips on dealing with, 260–61
true predators, 256–59
prescription medicine, 24
prioritizing, 41–43, 45
quinzee, making a, 171, 174–75
quuliit (seal oil lamp), 108, 109
rabbit snare, 196
rafts, making, 226
rags signals, 61
rain, 25–26
rainwater, collecting and drinking, 77,
91–92
Ralston, Aron, 39–40
rapids, swimming in, 227
rawhide, 324
rescuers, 64–65
research, doing your, 4–8, 10–11. See also
specific topics
rivers, rising, 272. See also water
Robertson, Dougal and Linda, 91
rock(s)
making knives from, 330
splitting, to make an edge, 331
water from, 85
root bed, 169–70
rope
as part of safety kit, 27–28
making, 324, 326, 335
twisting, 325
route, knowing your, 5–6
safety pins, 28
salt, as preservative, 206
sandstorms, 283
sanitizer, hand, 335
satellite phones, 64
saw, folding, 28
sawdust, 107
scissors, 26–27
scorpions, 187
sea and open water
clothing for, 298
food in, 209
hazards in, 271
survival kit for, 32
travel and navigation in, 248
water considerations on, 91–92
sea ice, old vs. new, 91
seasickness, 271
selfreliance,
8
sendansos.com, 14
shadow stick, 237
sharks, 258–59, 272
sharpening stone, 22
shelter construction basics
bed, 147–49
frame, 150
windand
waterproofing, 151
shelters, 141–43
creating, 32
fire in, 152–53
frame, 150
heated ground, 153
importance of site selection, 144–46
longterm,
154, 156–65
natural disasters and, 345
regionspecific
considerations, 166–78
shortterm,
154–58
shingling a shelter, 151
shock, 307
shoulder dislocation, 310, 311
sickness, 312–13
signal fires, 59. See also fires, size of
making, 60–61
signaling for rescue, 45, 55, 344
signal mirrors, 28, 56, 57–58
signals, 55. See also SOS messages
making your own, 58–59, 335
readytouse,
56–58
simple, 61
targeted, 55–63
technological, 55, 63–64
simplicity, thinking, 322
skinning game, 204
sky, watching, 75, 281
sleep, 157, 168, 266
slush, eating, 76–77, 90
smoke, 59. See also signal fires
smoking food, 205–6
snakebites, 314
snakes, 248. See also creepy crawlies
snares, 194–97
snare wire, 29
snow. See also avalanches
eating, 76–77, 90, 91
sheltering with, 171
snowblindness, 246, 271
snow cave, making a, 172–73
snowshoes, 337–38, 339
snow shovel, 36
solar blanket, 247
solar still, making a, 80–81
Sonoran Desert of Arizona, 136
SOS messages, 14. See also signals
sound. See audio signals
spears, making, 335–37
spiders. See creepy crawlies
splints, 308–9
SPOT satellite messenger, 29, 63–64
sprains, 310
squirrel snare, 197
stars as navigation tools, 240
starvation, 266–67. See also food
steel wool, 132
stings, 313–14
Stolpa, Jennifer and James, 13–14, 33–34
streams. See water
stress and stressors, 41. See also calm
stretcher, makeshift, 222, 223
sunglasses, 247, 337
surgical blades, 25
survival, vi, 18. See also specific topics
survival guilt, 51
survival kits, vi, 17
carrying case, 21, 34
complete, 21–30, 354
disadvantages of prefab, 18–19
home, 357–58
making it yourself, 18–19
natural disasters and, 344
personal, 19–21, 353
tailoring them to your destination,
31–33
top five items in, 32
vehicle, 33–36, 355
survival situations, reacting to, 46–51
survival skills. See also specific topics
essential, 348
getting over the squeamishness of
destruction, 323
thinking like a sculptor, 321–22
thinking simplicity, 322
Survivorman (TV show), v
survivors, characteristics of, 40
swamp areas
food in, 211
shelter in, 178
water considerations in, 93
sweating, 290, 291, 295
tape
duct, 22
marker or “surveyor’s,” 26
tarp, 36
tarp shelters, 165
text messaging, 29, 34
thirst, 73
thread, 27
three, as number signaling distress, 59, 63
throwing sticks, 203–4, 335
thunderstorms, 282
tidal waves. See tsunamis
tinder. See firestarting
tinder
tipi, 164
toilet paper, 36
tools, 36, 323–24. See also specific tools
torches, making, 338
tracking insects, 76
tracks, animal, 202. See also animal trails
trailblazing, 242–44
traps, 193, 198
bottle, 200
Doug’s deadfall, 199–200
371 |Index
figurefour
deadfall, 198
Paiute deadfall, 200, 201
where to set, 194–97
travel, survival, 64–65, 346. See also specific
topics
natural disasters and, 346
at night, 224
planning and preparing for, 218
rate of travel, 222
regionspecific,
245–48
by water, 225–28
whether to stay or leave, 215–21
traveling in a straight line, 244
travel partners/group, 9. See also group vs.
solo survival
Traverse, Chris, vi, 295–96
trees
for navigation, 239, 242–44
water from, 82, 83
tree torch, 61
“tree wells,” 160–61
triangle, three signal fires in shape of, 59
tsunamis, 273
underwear, as hunting tool, 334
ungulates, angry, 261
urine, 86
vegetation, observing changes in, 75
vegetation still, making a, 78–79
vehicle survival kit, 33–36, 355
vehicle wreckage signals, 62
vines, as source of water, 82
Wabakimi, Ontario, 144
watch, used as makeshift compass, 238
water
crossing, 226–28
rationing and preserving it in your
body, 72
traveling by, 225
untreated, 70, 71
water, drinking, 34, 69–71, 182websites, 14
filtering, 89 well water, 83–84
finding and collecting, 74–86 whistle, 30
natural disasters and, 344 widowmakers, 145
physiology and, 73–74 wikiup,
164
regionspecific
considerations, 89–94 will to live, vi, 39–40
shelter’s distance from, 145 wind, 146, 280
water, open. See sea and open water wind chill, 282
waterproofing, 26 wind patterns, 280
waterproof matches, 115 windproofing shelter, 151
water purification, 32, 86–89, 334 “wind tunnel” shelter, 144
water purification tablets, 29 wires
water purifying straw, 29–30 and electrical fires, 347water sources, 74–79 snare, 29
waxandcotton
fuel wads, 23–24 wood, 146weather, 146, 220, 252–53, 277. See also choose, 146
specific weather conditions as fuel for fire, 108, 135–36
vs. climate, 278–79knives from, 333
dangerous, 281–83 splitting, 32, 135–36
natural disasters and, 347 for water collection, 78
preparing to stay alive in dangerous,wounds, 316
277–78
regionspecific
dangers hazards, 283–84
ways to interpret signs and predict,Ziploc bags, 30
279–81
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Les Stroud, expert survivalist, is also a filmmaker, singersongwriter,
and creator
of the television show Survivorman. A member of the prestigious Explorers
Club, Les has produced, hosted, and appeared in many television specials,
including Shark Week, Surviving Alaska, and Off the Grid with Les Stroud. He
has been guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Larry King Live, The Late Late
Show, The Hour, and been featured in Men’s Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and
numerous other publications. Visit him at www.lesstroudonline.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information
on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Credits
Illustrations by Beverley Hawksley.
Cover design: Luke Despatie & The Design Firm
Cover photography: Laura Bombier
Copyright
SURVIVE!. Copyright © 2008 by Les Stroud Productions Inc. All rights
reserved under International and PanAmerican
Copyright Conventions. By
payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive,
nontransferable
right to access and read the text of this ebook
onscreen.
No part
of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded,
decompiled,
reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or
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It was decidedly fate. Soon after quitting the music industry and resolving
to live a life of outdoor adventure at the age of 25, I opened the newspaper
one morning and saw a small ad for a wilderness survival course. Not long
after, I found myself on my first solo outing: curled up in my shelter, boots
sticking out the entrance, rain teeming down . . . and I was giddy. I realized
then and there that I was reliving my boyhood days of building shelters behind
our family cottage, only this time I could stay out all night. I was hooked, and
since then, wilderness survival has figured prominently in my life.
In Surviving the Extremes, Dr. Kenneth Kamler writes, “Human beings
are the only animal whose emotions, spiritual imperatives and lust for
adventure override our survival instincts. We get into trouble because we
have an insatiable desire to explore. We know very well we have assumed
risks when we travel in an extreme environment and that our decisions
could have fatal consequences.” My own insatiable lust for adventure has
seen me voluntarily place myself, time and time again, in survival ordeals
or extreme adventures. I used to do it for fun, and I guess I still do.
I have always channeled my creative energy toward filling voids,
doing things that nobody else has done. Creating a survival series for television
was no different. I had seen lots of survival films; they seemed dry,
boring, and of little interest to anyone but the hardestcore
survivalists.
What was missing was the drama that unfolds in reallife
situations. I realized
that to really show how to survive you need to go out and actually do
it—and film the experience. Out of this thinking, my idea for producing a
television series, eventually called Survivorman, was born.
From the getgo,
I vowed not to let Survivorman make a mockery of
survival by incorporating games and challenges, or by cheating my way
through it by staying in hotels every night or bringing along a makeup
artist to help me look dirty. There would be no camera crew to offer me
food and assistance. I needed to be out there, alone, just as I had for years
trained to be, actually surviving, or at least coming as close as I could to
simulating that experience.
| iV
Dr. Kamler notes, and I agree, that there are four forces at work in
the struggle for survival. Knowledge—well, you’ve got a good start by reading
this book. Conditioning—an oftenoverlooked
aspect of preparation
for wilderness adventure. Luck—my dad would have called it “dumb” luck;
hopefully you’ve got some! And the single most important force of all: the
will to live. Without it, people have perished beside packs of supplies. With
it, others in similar situations have survived seemingly impossible ordeals.
To this list I would add survival kit. Certain gear can make a huge difference
in your struggle to survive.
Snowmobiler Chris Traverse certainly had most of these forces when
he got lost on his way home from a fishing trip in northern Manitoba in
March 2008. To reach safety, he had to endure five days of walking through
waistdeep
snow without supplies. I was humbled when Chris credited Survivorman
with helping him survive.
Stories like Chris’s are a large part of what led me to write this book
and to make sure that, like my TV show, there is nothing phony about
my work. The field of wilderness survival is cluttered enough with information.
I stick to triedandtrue
methods, providing the background and
explaining the skills that I know can help you to survive. The skills are ones
that anyone can easily learn and use, and that should work anywhere, anytime.
I also provide essential checklists, which you’ll find at the end of the
book; photocopy these and use them to plan your next adventure. Preparation
is everything.
Yet no matter how prepared you may be, you should never lose sight
of the fact that a survival situation is an emergency. It may seem fun on a
survivalskills
weekend when you’re fully fed, guided by an instructor, and
surrounded by a group of likeminded
students, all smiles and dirty faces.
But in a reallife
ordeal, “fun” is not part of the equation.
Survival is not about smelling the pines and feeling the breeze on
your weathered and tanned face. Survival is not fun. It’s not pretty. It’s
never comfortable. It may involve eating gross things, enduring pain and
deprivation, and battling fatigue and loneliness. It may involve danger. It’s
about life or death. If you want to learn how to survive, read on
I
n everyday life, planning for survival isn’t an issue. Our
societies have created extensive systems designed to bail us out
in times of emergency. Should you be unfortunate enough to be
involved in a car accident, chances are high that an ambulance will soon
arrive and take you to an emergency room.
Well, there’s a big difference between waiting on the side of the
highway for an ambulance and shivering on the side of a remote river
in northern Canada with all your food and supplies washed downstream
because you just wrecked your canoe running a Class IV rapid. Dialing 911
is not going to help you. The ambulance is not going to come. This is where
trip planning and preparation come in.
I’m talking about more than just menu planning here. It’s great to
know that you’re going to eat dehydrated chicken teriyaki with rice on the
third day of your paddling trip, but what will you do if all your food is gone?
That is a completely different situation, and one in which trip planning and
preparation with an eye toward survival can make all the difference in the
world. The most common cause of death in the wilderness is unpreparedness.
Most people do some preparation before their adventures. Not to prepare
would be the height of foolhardiness. But beyond arranging route,
destination, camping spots, and meals, too few outdoor enthusiasts actually
plan for the possibility of a survival situation.
Why? I suspect there are several reasons. Most people don’t consider
the possibility of finding themselves in such a situation to start
with, which can be a grave mistake. Others probably think they have
enough survival skills, knowledge, and training, and therefore don’t
need to contemplate the specifics of a particular trip. Some may feel that
thinking of worst-case scenarios is pessimistic, and that it takes the fun
out of anticipating a trip. But it’s not pessimistic to anticipate emergencies.
It’s just good bush sense.
And the importance of planning and preparing for your particular
trip can’t be overstated, because every region is different, sometimes in
subtle ways. You could dramatically increase your chances of making it
through a survival situation by getting just a few tips about the locale.
The more experienced you are in wilderness travel, the more likely
you’ll have developed your own list of must-haves to bring on your
adventures. Remember that each person is responsible for his or her
own survival!
Do Your Research
PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR YOUR ADVENTURE BEGINS with research, a fairly
easy undertaking in today’s information-rich digital age. Between the
Internet and the countless books available in public libraries, the foundation
is there for anyone to begin to build a location-specific store of knowledge
for just about any region on earth.
Printed publications offer other benefits too, aside from the significant
information they can yield. First, you can carry small guidebooks and
pamphlets with you and—assuming they haven’t washed down the river
with your canoe—refer to them along the way. Second, reading about your
destination ahead of time gets you excited about the trip and empowers
you with information that might save your life.
One thing to keep in mind when reading books or online materials,
though, is that while they may describe, for example, the types of plants
that can be sources of water in a specific area, you cannot be 100 percent
sure that you’ll be able to identify a plant unless someone has personally
taught you how. In this book, for instance, I note that you can find water
in the chevron of the leaves of most banana trees. That’s all well and good,
but you may need someone to show you a banana tree, and teach you how
to distinguish it from similar-looking plants.
Ideally, anyone going on a backcountry wilderness trip should take
the time to train in that region with a local expert, one who can offer such
vital advice as which plants are edible and which ones will kill you. Take
the time to find an expert, and try to dedicate at least one day with him or
her on the land. The training and teaching may even be available in your
own area. The first survival courses I ever took (to prepare me for northern
Ontario) were offered in a city . . . Toronto.
Although local experts obviously know the best ways to build shelter,
make fire, gather food, and locate water, I often find that it’s not the big lessons
they teach that ultimately help me the most but the little nuggets of
wisdom they throw out in passing. For example, when a native Costa Rican
taught me how to eat mussels, he shared a tip with me: if the water that
drips out of the mussel is green, it’s poisonous; if it’s clear, then it’s good
to eat. That information was nowhere to be found in any of the books on
the region, but it could have saved my life. On another occasion, a Kalahari
Bushman taught me how to catch small weaver birds by hand by walking
up to their nests at night and simply plucking them out of their holes.
This is the kind of tip that you can’t find anywhere else, but that may prove
invaluable if you’re stranded . . . and starving.
I realize that spending time with a local expert takes time and money.
Most people have only one or two weeks off work and can’t dedicate time
for training or education while on vacation. But if you can, it will make you
more self-reliant, enhancing your trip in ways you never thought possible,
even if you never get caught in a survival situation.
Ask the Right Questions
Now that you’ve committed yourself to learning about the area, your next
question is this: What should I be looking for?
First, you should be intimate with your route and destination.
Outdoor adventurers can spend hours looking at maps. It’s kind of like,
well . . . map porn.
Carefully study your maps to get a feel for the land before you see it.
As you come to understand an area’s features, you will begin to visualize
Had I not taken the time to learn from Kalahari Bushmen, I would have missed out on a
plentiful—and easy-to-catch—source of food: the weaver bird (which, as shown here, I
am attempting to pull out of a nest).
the terrain in your head. Later, when you’re out there, nothing will surprise
you. Beyond this, here are the vital things you should always know about
any region you plan to visit:
What kind of vegetation, trees, or plants can you expect to find?
Which, if any, of these are edible?
Where are the water sources?
What kinds of animals are there, and which are dangerous?
What’s the worst possible weather for that area and season? (Checking the
weather forecast is a must, as well: if conditions look bad, maybe you should
postpone your trip for a while.)
What will the day and night temperatures be?
When do the high and low tides occur, and what are the levels?
Who are the local people, what are their customs or taboos, and are they friendly?
People can play a bigger part in your wilderness adventure than you
may think, and unfriendly people may prove a significant hurdle to overcome,
even where I live in Canada. There is a river in northern Ontario
There is no substitute for local knowledge. Here, I pick up the finer details of making fire
with a hand drill from desert expert David Holladay in Nevada.
Trip Planning and Preparation | 7
that flows through a region that was once rife with controversy, part of
the old “loggers versus treehuggers”
chestnut. At one point, the local logging
community decided to take out their anger on anyone who traveled
the river. More than once over a threeyear
period, groups of paddlers and
anglers reached the parking lot at the end of their trips to find their tires
slashed. Imagine if the campers had emerged with a timesensitive
casualty
in tow!
Learn to Use a Map and Compass
THISBOOKOFFERSANEXTENSIVE CHAPTERONWILDERNESSNAVIGATION, but
nobody should venture into the wild without at least the basic skills to
interpret a topographical map and use a compass. You don’t play hockey
without learning how to skate; you don’t go sailing without learning how
to sail; and you don’t fire a rifle without learning how to shoot. So don’t
venture into the wilderness without learning how to navigate. There are
numerous local college courses available on the subject. Take one!
Always carry a map, whether you’re on your own or with a guide.
If you’re with a guide but have neglected to bring a map, ask to see your
guide’s as often as possible. Familiarize yourself with it, as well as with
the route you are traveling. Your guide should not be annoyed by this,
but rather pleasantly surprised that someone else on the trip is willing to
become knowledgeable in case the worst should happen. After all, what
would you do if your guide became incapacitated?
In preparing yourself by reviewing a route map, you may notice, for
example, that a road runs parallel to the river or trail you’re traveling on.
This is good to know should you run into trouble: A half day’s walk due
east will put me onto a road and into the path of possible rescue. You may also
see landmarks such as bridges, buildings, or even small towns. You would
never have known that if you hadn’t looked at the map before it got lost or
washed down the river.
Rely on Yourself, Not Your Guide
I’VE OFTEN FOUND THAT PEOPLE ARE FAIRLY GOOD about researching a trip if
they’re going by themselves or in a small group. Where they get lazy is
when they go with a guide. Assumptions are made that the guide a) knows
what he or she is doing, b) knows the area really well, and c) has made all
the necessary provisions in case of emergency.
Trust your guide, but don’t rely on him or her. In other words, you
must be selfreliant.
Remember that your guide, like you, is human. Guides
have been known to make errors—whether out of lack of experience or
bad judgment—that lead their parties into otherwise avoidable survival
situations. And some of the grimmest survival stories ever told are borne
of the fact that people blindly relied on their guides. Your guide will be
grateful if you take responsibility for yourself, and you’ll feel empowered
by doing so.
knowledge and skills with your partners before disaster
stroud’s Tip
If you’re traveling in a group, share your survival
strikes. Make sure that everybody has a basic understanding of
the steps they should take in an emergency. Remember, if you have
an accident and are facing possible death, your travel companions
are the ones you’ll have to trust to see you through to safety.
Get in Shape and Know Your Limits
ASWITHANY PURSUITTHATPLACESPHYSICALDEMANDSUPONTHEBODY, you’ll
stand a better chance of making it through a survival ordeal if you already
have a baseline level of physical fitness. How far you can trek in a day,
how well you can build a shelter under extreme weather conditions, how
effectively you can dig a hole for a solar still—all are directly related to
your strength and conditioning. And with physical fitness comes greater
selfconfidence
and selfesteem,
both of which are critical to maintaining
the will to live.
In general, the more we human beings focus on good nutrition and
attain a high level of physical fitness, the more capable we are of accomplishing
tasks, the more focused we are in our thoughts, and the more
clearheaded
we are. These are all attributes you’ll need if you find yourself
struggling to survive.
For me, the importance of being physically fit is magnified when I
venture into the wild. I am accepting the risk of undertaking these activities,
and I have a responsibility to myself, my travel partners, and my family
to be properly prepared. This isn’t to say you can’t trek into the wilderness
if you’re not fit. But if you do, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage
from the start.
As part of physical preparation, consider seeing to any nagging or
chronic health (including dental) conditions that may impede you. In the
Hollywood movie Cast Away, Tom Hanks’s character, Chuck Noland, was
marooned on an island with a painfully abscessed tooth. To me, that was
one of the most realistic parts of the film, because these things can happen.
If you are traveling in a group, it’s also a good idea to know what health
issues your partners have, in case you need to look after them.
If you suffer from a chronic condition such as diabetes or high blood
pressure, take this into account when planning your trip. And always carry
enough medication to last you for longer than you expect.
Finally, if you’re planning to travel to an exotic or tropical location,
make sure you receive any vaccinations you may need for diseases such as
yellow fever, malaria, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, smallpox, polio, diphtheria,
and tuberculosis; an antitetanus
injection is also a must. Failure to get
the proper vaccines may leave you vulnerable to diseases prevalent in the
area. Note that some vaccinations must be administered over the course
of several months, so look into this well ahead of your departure.
Test Your Mental Fitness
THOUGH OFTEN OVERLOOKED, MENTAL PREPAREDNESS is an important part of the
survival equation. And the best way to prepare yourself mentally for an outdoor
adventure is to gain knowledge. Knowledge really is power, and it brings
you the confidence you need to survive should disaster strike. Review the
10 | Survive!
suggestions outlined in this chapter to help guide you through the research
process. Before you leave, you should do the following:
gather as much information as possible from printed sources
contact a local expert who can inform you about the specifics of the
destination: its flora and fauna, dangers, and any benefits or advantages (such
as shelters, escape routes, or water sources) offered by the terrain
receive at least basic training in wilderness survival and navigation skills
gage your level of fitness and determine that you’re ready for your trip
prepare a regionspecific
survival kit
If you’ve completed all the above tasks, you’ll know that if you find
yourself in an emergency, you are as prepared as you can possibly be.
The other thing you can do to prepare mentally for a trip—and for any
survival situation in which you may find yourself—is to accept that the worst
can happen. If you head into any outdoor adventure with the notion that “It
can’t happen to me,” you’re deluding yourself.
You should think exactly the opposite: “It can happen to me. I could
end up in the middle of this wilderness alone, even though I’m rafting in
a group of 12,” or “I could get turned around and lost, even though it’s just
a Sunday hike and there are 75 other people out here today.” Once you
accept the fact that an emergency could happen to you, the next logical
step is to prepare so that it’s less likely to happen and so that you’re ready
to handle it if it does.
Choose the Right Gear
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT ANY EQUIPMENT YOU BRING on an outdoor adventure
is up to the task: strong and versatile. Don’t ask yourself if it will function
under the best conditions, but rather, will it do so under the worst conditions?
If not, do you want to stake your life on it?
Your equipment preparation is almost entirely dependent on your destination.
Again, I recommend that you speak with someone local or, alternatively,
talk to another traveler who has done the same sort of activity in the
same place. They will help you to determine what equipment you need.
You can also learn about equipment by meandering around local
outdoor stores that are tailored to the activity you’ll be doing. These are
great places to meet people, especially other customers, who may have
experience that could help you. Also consider posting a notice on a board
in stores like these, to get in touch with other adventurers who may have
knowledge to share.
stroud’s Tip
Do not select your equipment based solely on
what’s suggested in books and other print materials; these
sources may contain too many errors and omissions, or may
be out of date. It is important that you learn from other travelers’
personal experiences.
Assuming that you now have all the right equipment for your excursion,
the next step is to make sure you know how to use it. Don’t make the
mistake of thinking that you will have the chance to learn about your gear
during your adventure. Your survival ordeal could take place within the first
few hours of the trip, and you might panic because you don’t know, for example,
how to set up your tent in a storm. So get yourself out in the backyard,
on the deck, or even in the living room, and spend a few hours acquainting
yourself with your gear. Practice setting it up and taking it down. Even more
important, figure out how to fix it if it breaks; it may have to last you for a lot
longer, or under more difficult circumstances, than you think!
Equipment planning and preparation pertains to clothing as well, yet
another category in which a little local knowledge goes a long way. Don’t
always trust the salespeople at your local outdoor store. I’ve seen many cases
where a clerk has recommended the wrong item of clothing just because he’s
been told to push a particular brand. Again, try to speak with other travelers
who have been to where you’re going. Remember, poor clothing choices
won’t make much of a difference if everything goes right, but they can sure
go a long way toward making you miserable should things go wrong.
Wind, rain, cold, poisonous creepy crawlies, and extreme heat are
some of the elements you may face. Your clothing should be able to with
stand all of these. Make sure it fits well and is not too restrictive. You want
clothes that will keep you dry and warm but that also offer enough ventilation
to prevent overheating (see “Clothing,” Chapter 12).
clothing should enable you to withstand extreme elements
stroud’s Tip
Think of your clothing as your first shelter. Proper
without building a shelter. So whether you’re surviving in the
bitter cold of the Arctic or in a torrential downpour in the jungle,
you should be able to stand still in only your clothing and survive.
While in the Canadian Arctic, I was outfitted with a caribou parka
and pants, traditional Inuit gear. In temperatures as low as –58.F
(–50.C), these enable the wearer to stand in a blizzard, impervious
to the cold. Now that’s a great shelter!
Inform Others of Your Plans
TELLING PEOPLE WHEN AND WHERE YOU’RE GOING is a vital aspect of trip preparation.
Unfortunately, people sometimes get lazy in this regard. Don’t. If
you do, you may find yourself in the same situation as Jennifer and James
Stolpa, a young couple who, along with their fivemonthold
son Clayton,
got lost in a blizzard in northern Nevada in the early 1990s.
While driving to a family funeral in Idaho, they found their planned
route closed by a snowstorm. They decided to take a detour but didn’t tell
anybody about the change. Their truck later became stuck in the snow, and
they found themselves stranded 40 miles (64 km) from civilization.
The Stolpas spent the first four days of their ordeal in their truck’s
campershell.
When nobody came along to rescue them (nobody knew
where they were), they decided to attempt walking to safety, towing Clayton
in a makeshift sled. When Jennifer could no longer walk, James found
a cave for her and Clayton to stay in, while he continued on in search of
help. Over the next 60 hours, James slogged almost 50 miles (80 km) in his
sneakers before stumbling, incoherent, into the view of a passing motorist,
who then helped rescue his wife and son.
Could this emergency situation have been avoided? I believe so. First
of all, the Stolpas didn’t execute the best judgment in traveling against
weather advisories and taking a back route to Idaho. But where they really
went astray was in failing to inform anyone of their plan, a mistake that
cost them their toes (lost to frostbite) and nearly their lives.
So anytime you’re undertaking a backcountry adventure—or any
journey that takes you into remote areas—make sure that at least two different
people (including local authorities) know, when appropriate:
the nature of your activity
when you’re starting out
when you’re scheduled to finish
your route
how they can communicate with you
how they can find you if there’s a problem
Fortunately, technology has come a long way in making wilderness
travel safer. Websites such as SendAnSOS.com will allow you to enter your
own personal travel plan. If you don’t sign in to the site after your return
date, it will automatically send an SOS message to your contacts. Devices
such as the SPOT satellite messenger not only allow others to keep track
of your progress but also send an SOS message to your contacts when you
push the Help button.
If you take advantage of all the planning resources and fail-safes
available to today’s outdoor enthusiasts, you will radically increase your
chances of making it through any survival situation.
P
reparation and planning arm you with the tools you need
to make it through a crisis alive and well, not to mention that they
strengthen your psychological state. And among pretrip
tasks, none
is as crucial as putting together your personal survival kit.
Most people take the time before heading into the backcountry to
obtain the necessary basic equipment such as proper clothing, a tent, and
a stove. But you may not realize that your basic survival kit could be the
single most important thing you carry with you on any expedition. At various
times, I’ve ventured into the world’s most remote areas with different
sorts of survival gear: fully stocked survival kits, basic “whatever I can
carry” survival kits, and sometimes even no kit at all. Survival items have
dangled from my belt or hung around my neck. Sometimes they’ve been
in fanny packs I barely noticed and other times in fanny packs so heavy I
would have preferred not to carry them at all (but did anyway).
How you set up your kit is limited only by your imagination. Why
not fill the hollow end of your fishing rod with a lighter and some kind of
ignitable tinder such as cotton balls? Or if you’re a mountain biker, pop off
your handlebar grips and fill your handlebars with a few items, such as fire
starter, some cord or rope, or a multitool.
Once I even had a kit that was
drilled into the stock of a rifle.
Take Responsibility for Your Own Survival
WHILE TEACHING SURVIVAL COURSES, early in the week I would announce to
my students that we were going for a wilderness hike the next morning.
When they asked me what they should take along, I would casually tell
them, “Whatever you think you need for a hike in the bush.”
The next day, midway through the hike, I would stop and ask everyone
to show me what they had brought. There was always one person
armed to the teeth with survival gear. A few more would be carrying a few
basic survival items, and others would be carrying almost nothing.
I was often struck by how many people would go out not expecting
the unexpected. Here they were, hiking into the bush, and most were
carrying very little to help them if disaster struck. When you’re in the
wilderness, you never know when or where or how an emergency may
occur. Disaster often strikes in mysterious ways. And you may be separated
from your travel companions at any time. Just as you shouldn’t rely
completely on your guide, you shouldn’t rely completely on your partner
or partners.
This kind of wrongthinking
was never more obvious than when
couples took my course. They were usually proud to show off their one very
wellequipped
pack, invariably carried by the husband. In those instances,
I would pull the wife aside and say, “So, now . . . what do you have?” Only
then would it occur to her that she had nothing that would help her in a
survival situation. She was relying on her husband, not on herself.
Creating a survival kit is a personal undertaking and one that should
never be left to someone else, no matter how close you are to them. To be
left alone without a few basic survival items is to court death.
Make It Yourself
WHEN IT COMES TO SURVIVAL KITS, most of us are faced with two options: buy
a prefab kit at our local outdoors store, or make it ourselves. To my mind,
there is no question which route to go: Make your own.
There are a few reasons I feel this way. First, the primary motivation
for the company that makes the prefab kit is profit, not necessarily
18 | Survive!
your survival. They’re going to try to cut costs wherever possible. This
means the kit may not contain the best of everything. Something in
there is going to be cheap or unnecessary, and take up precious room
and weight. It might be the flimsy plastic whistle that cracks the first
time you drop it, or matches that snap when you try to strike them.
With a prefab kit, something is bound to let you down when you need
it most.
Second, most people who buy a prefab kit never become acquainted
with the proper use of its contents. Some never even open the kit before
setting off on their adventure. Why? Because they trust it. They just throw
it into their daypack
and forget about it, feeling sure they have done the
right thing just by bringing it. I’ve seen people walk around with a flint
striker on their belt or a compass in their pocket that they’ve never tried
and haven’t a clue how to use.
Third, I have yet to see a prefab kit that contains all the necessities
from top to bottom.
Your personal survival kit should be based on the suggestions I make
in this chapter, but even more important, it should be your own creation—
one that takes into account the region you’ll be traveling in, the season, the
weather, and your anticipated activities. If you are leading others, the kit’s
contents should also reflect the fact that you may have to help others in
the group survive.
My recommendation is that you purchase your kit items individually
so that you know what you’ve bought will stand up to the rigors of a
survival situation. The mere fact that you take the time to select the items
increases the chances that you’re going to check them out, make sure they
work, and get to know how to use them.
Your Personal Survival Kit
A personal survival kit isn’t a separate pack that you carry in addition to the
everyday gear on a wilderness expedition. In fact, your personal survival kit
is not really a “kit” at all but the most important survival gear you should
carry with you at all times—on your belt, in your pockets, or around your
neck. Why? The answer is simple: You may leave a fanny pack behind on
a portage or when you stop for a snack. It happens all the time. But you’ll
never leave a pocket behind.
Your personal survival kit starts with a sturdy belt knife, which has a
multitude of uses. Consider it a survival kit unto itself. The biggest benefit
of a belt knife is its strength, which allows it to be used to pry and twist
objects you might not otherwise be able to manipulate. Used properly, a
belt knife will split wood. It will easily whittle and shape wood components
for traps, snares, and shelters.
Don’t underestimate the importance of keeping your knife sharp.
If you’re not overloaded in terms of weight, carry a sharpening stone
in your complete survival kit (which we discuss later in this chapter). In a
pinch, however, you can sharpen your belt knife on just about any smooth
stone you find in the bush. Sandstone is quite effective, and quartz and
granite also work well.
Here is a list of the personal survival kit items that you should carry at
all times, whether you stash them in your pockets or wear them clipped to
your belt or around your neck. Each member of a group should have his or
her own
bandana
compass
flashlight (small, LED)
garbage bags (2, preferably orange, large)
lighter (my preference is a butane lighter that works like a little blowtorch)
matches (strikeanywhere
type) in a waterproof metal case
(with a striker, just in case)
magnesium flint striker (hey, I like fires!)
metal cup (folding; for boiling water)
multitool
or Swiss Army–style knife (make sure it has a small saw blade)
painkillers (a few)
parachute cord or similar rope (about 25 feet [7.5 m] of 1/4inch
[0.6cm]
cord)
protein bar (e.g., PowerBar)
sharp belt knife
solar, or “space,” blanket (small)
whistle
Ziploc bag (medium or large)
This may sound like a weighty list, but remember that you can also
carry a couple of these items, such as the whistle and magnesium flint
striker, on a piece of rope or parachute cord around your neck. Remember,
too, that when everything is spread out on your belt or among your various
pockets (obviously, wearing clothes with lots of pockets is helpful) you’ll
hardly notice them at all.
Your Complete Survival Kit
Now that you’ve ensured your survival by strategically stowing a few basic—
yet supremely helpful—items on yourself, it’s time to build your complete survival
kit. Just because you’re carrying the same thing on your body (a lighter
in your pocket, for example) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put one in your
complete survival kit. The items in your pockets are your failsafes;
always
double up on these items between your personal and complete survival kits.
When building your complete survival kit, keep in mind that the heavier and
bulkier you make it, the more likely it’s going to be a hindrance rather than a
benefit. And as soon as your kit becomes a burden, you increase the chances
that you won’t take some of the items with you in the first place or that you’ll
leave them behind during a trip. If it’s a screaming hot day and I’m climbing a
mountain, do I want to be carrying around 20 pounds (9 kg) of extra gear? You
have to strike the balance: the kit needs to be large enough to carry certain
essential items, but small enough that it doesn’t become a nuisance. Leave the
gear hording to the gear geeks; your job is not to impress your partners but
to enjoy your trip or adventure . . . and to survive if you need to.
You can choose any sort of carrying case into which your survival
gear will fit, but you want the container to be large enough to hold items
of various sizes, easy to stow and carry, durable, and, if possible, waterproof.
I like using a coffee can with a lid as my survival kit because it
holds almost all the items I need and can also be used to boil liquid or
cook food. Assuming the lid fits snugly, I can even use it to carry water
or hot coals.
What follows is a list of the items essential to any kit (some can be
used for more than one purpose). You can gather all of them quickly by
consulting the Complete Survival Kit Checklist on page 354 before setting
out on your adventure. Remember that you will have to modify this list
depending on your particular destination, season, weather, and activity:
Bandana: This multipurpose
garment will protect your head from the sun,
but it can also be used as an emergency bandage or, when dipped in water,
as a cool compress.
Belt knife (with sharpening stone): If you happen to lose your knife, having
a backup in your survival kit could be a big help.
Candle: A candle can help you get a fire going if you light it and allow the
wax to drip into the tinder.
Cup (metal, collapsible): A cup can be used for drinking or to boil water.
Dried food: Most survival kits contain everything under the sun except
extra food. I realize dried food adds to the weight and bulkiness of your kit,
but nothing will give you a physical and psychological boost like knowing
that you have an energy bar or two on hand. Fat is important. Peanuts are
an excellent and compact source of fat and protein.
Duct tape: The wonders of ultradurable
and supersticky
duct tape have
long been lauded in the outdoor community, with good reason: it can
repair just about any kind of outdoor equipment. And it can also be useful
in bandaging wounds and other minor injuries. Just make sure you use it
in conjunction with a piece of cloth; don’t apply it directly to a wound.
Recent years have seen the introduction of colored duct tape. And
while you may have a problem with patching your gear with pink or yellow,
keep in mind that it’ll stand out more than battleship gray. Duct tape is also
excellent as a fire starter; it holds the flame the way a candle would.
Firestarting
devices: Fire is one of the most beneficial things you can have
with you, no matter where you find yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’re in
the desert or the jungle, for even in the world’s hottest places, fire makes
all the difference to survival. Firestarting
devices should be a priority in
your kit.
I am always asked what my favorite firestarting
method is. Is it flint
and steel? Magnesium flint striker? Fire and piston? What I can tell you
is that making fire without a firestarting
device is extremely difficult, so
make sure you give yourself options. I love knowing that I have several
options with me and that I’m prepared for almost any situation.
stroud’s Tip
Some people think it’s a good idea to waterproof
their matches by dipping them in wax. Leave that to
the gear geeks. Instead, buy solid strikeanywhere
matches
and invest in a good waterproof container.
My preference is a butane lighter, the kind that shoots a flame like a propane
torch. These work upside down and in the wind, two great advantages.
A lighter will eventually run out of fuel, but only after a few hundred fires.
Furthermore, in a survival emergency, the first fire is the most important.
Always carry a highquality
lighter, because depending on where you
are, it may well be a challenge to keep your fire going. You don’t want to
add the stress of firestarting
to your list of worries.
In addition to a lighter, I like to carry a magnesium flint striker (which
in a pinch can be used as a signaling device), a fire piston (if weight is not an
issue), and some solid strikeanywhere
matches with a striker (just to be sure)
in a waterproof container such as a film canister. Note that plastic containers
can be unsafe to keep matches in because, though a remote possibility, static
electricity can ignite the matches. A metal container is best.
Just make sure—as with everything in your survival kit—that you
know how to use these fire starters. Take the time to practice making a
fire with them before disaster strikes. I recommend that you carry at least
one of these fire starters on you, as part of your personal survival kit (for
example, in a pocket), and a couple more in your complete survival kit. See
“Fire,” Chapter 6, for more on this topic.
Firestarting
tinder: There are a few different types of commercially available
tinder, including pellets, pastes, and shavings. I like having three or
four waxandcotton
fuel wads. A small piece of this added to the tinder
you collect in the bush will flame up from a simple spark and keep going
like a candle flame until your fire is roaring. You should also add bits of
tinder, such as birch bark or dried grass, to your survival kit as you come
across them during your travels.
The waxandcotton
cube, one of the best commercially available tinders you can buy,
holds a flame for a long time.
Firstaid
kit:
antidiarrheal tablets and painkillers: If you get diarrhea on vacation in
Mexico, you’re disappointed. Get it in the jungles of Borneo and you could
be dead. Pain, on the other hand, won’t necessarily kill you, but painkillers
such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen can increase your chances of survival
if you have to make your way down a mountain with a small injury or even a
pounding headache. For a really nasty injury such as a broken leg, powerful
painkillers such as Demerol (meperidine) can save an injured person
from slipping into fatal shock. Pack all medicines in waterproof, airtight
containers.
antihistamines: They are handy for allergies, as well as for insect bites and stings.
bandages and antiseptic ointment: An “ouch” kit can help prevent infection.
butterfly sutures: These will hold together deeper and more serious wounds.
prescription medicine: Always bring extra.
surgical blades: Light and small, these are for more than just dressing wounds.
They can be used for whittling, cleaning fish, or skinning and gutting game.
triangle bandages: Use these as wound dressings or as slings.
Fishing lures (3), hooks, sinkers, a leader, and fishing line: As a rule, you’re
better off keeping heavier line in your survival kit. The weight and volume
difference between 10pound
and 30pound
test is nominal, but the difference
in strength is significant. Most people avoid lures, but they don’t
add much weight to your kit and can significantly improve your chances of
catching dinner. Throw in a leader as well, just in case you want to try for
“the big one.”
Flares: You want to be found, right? The more compact the flare, the better.
They can also be used to start fires.
Flashlight (small, LED): These little lights can be very bright, which makes
them good not only for locating things at night, but for signaling too. You
might also consider packing a couple of extra batteries. When you buy a
flashlight, make sure you get one with a white, yellow, green, or blue light
(red LEDs are not very bright).
GPS (Global Positioning System), in addition to a map and compass:
The GPS has revolutionized wilderness travel. The beauty of a GPS is
that it provides you with precise, realtime
information regarding your
location, at all times and in all weather conditions. As long as it has
enough battery power, a GPS will determine your latitude, longitude,
and altitude.
Garbage bags (2, orange, large): Garbage bags can make the difference
between life and death because of the multitude of purposes for which
they are useful. They fold down to practically nothing, don’t weigh much,
and fit easily into a pocket. But make sure you get the 45gallon
(170L)
orange ones (which can be readily seen), not green bags (which can’t).
You can turn a garbage bag into a raincoat, or a makeshift jacket to
protect you from cold and wind, by tearing or cutting a hole in the top
for your head and holes in the sides for your arms. You can signal with it
because it’s bright and highly visible. Your wondrous, orange plastic sheet
can also act as a rain-catch if you need water or be used in the construction
of vegetation and solar stills (although the best type of bag for a vegetation
still is a clear plastic one. See “Water,” Chapter 5).
My favorite use for garbage bags is as waterproofing for a shelter. No
matter how adept you are, it is exceptionally difficult to build from scratch
a shelter that is completely waterproof. If you have a garbage bag on hand,
just cut it open so that it forms a single sheet (the 45-gallon ones will be
4 feet x 6 feet [1.2 m x 1.8 m]) and you have a ready-made roof.
Hand lens (small): A small hand lens such as a Fresnel lens is essentially a
magnifying glass that can be used to start fires or inspect small injuries.
Map and compass: Topographical maps are your best source of detailed information
in the backcountry; carry them whenever possible. If you are carrying
one, you owe it to yourself also to carry a high-quality compass that you know
how to use. There are many excellent books and college courses on compass
use and map reading. See “Survival Travel and Navigation,” Chapter 9.
Marker or “surveyor’s” tape: Bright red or orange tape can be hung from
your shelter to help attract rescue or be used to mark a trail.
Money: A $20 or $50 bill won’t help you procure water in the wilderness,
but it sure comes in handy when you eventually make your way out to a
highway. Once you scramble out of the bush, the money in your kit will
allow you to buy something to eat and drink, and take care of any immediate
needs. You may also want to put a credit card in your kit.
Multi-tool: When I set out for a week of survival, I believe there’s nothing
more crucial than a multi-tool. A twist on the classic Swiss Army–style
knife, the multi-tool takes things to the next level with the addition of an
integrated set of pliers, which has many uses in the wilderness. I often use
the pliers on my multi-tool to take a pot of boiling water off a fire.
Make sure that the multi-tool you choose includes a saw blade. You
won’t use it much for felling trees, but a saw blade is excellent for making
traps and snares. Scissors also come in handy in a survival situation, so
make sure your multi-tool has a pair. And remember, quality counts! Don’t
buy a cheap model or you will regret it.
Needle and thread: It’s a good idea to carry a needle and thread, yet in all
the years I’ve been participating in survival-related activities, I think I’ve
used these only once, to mend a torn canoe pack. Bring a needle with a
very large eye so that it can be threaded with thick materials, such as sinew
and coarse thread. Perhaps the best use for the needle is in first aid, to
remove splinters and slivers.
stroud’s Tip
You can magnetize a needle by rubbing it in
one direction on a magnetic item, such as the speaker of
a radio. When you float the magnetized needle in water, on
a leaf or on a piece of paper, the needle will point north/south.
Once you determine which end is north, color that end of the needle
with a marker.
PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) or EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating
Radio Beacon): While these units do not contact your family at the same time
as they contact search and rescue organizations (the way SPOT does), they
are excellent for notifying emergency personnel or the military, and have
saved many lives.
Parachute cord or similar rope (about 50 feet [15 m] of 1/4-inch [0.5 cm]
cord): As romantic as it may sound to make rope out of bark and roots, the
fact is that the process is slow, tedious, and often difficult. On the other
hand, having a good spool of parachute cord can make a tremendous difference
in a survival situation. You can use it to make shelters, fire bows,
signals, snares or traps, and for countless other purposes.
I’ve singled out parachute cord here because it is legendary for its
strength. Constructed of an outer sheath surrounding seven inner strands,
true parachute cord is one of the strongest and lightest ropes you can find,
and it’s rated at 550-pound test.
Survival Kits | 27
Parachute cord can be bulky in large quantities, however, so it helps
to come up with innovative ways to carry it. Some travelers wrap it around
the handles of their belt knives; others use it in lieu of shoelaces, as every
little bit helps when it comes to lightening your load.
Pencil and notebook: Use these to write your personal survival log, in which
you take note of efforts and discoveries you’ve made. It will help boost your
morale, act as a reference guide, and support your memory should it begin to
fail. Perhaps its most important use is in leaving a note for potential rescuers
if you move on, to let them know where you have gone.
Safety pins: These are helpful when making repairs to clothing and other
gear. Safety pins can also be used as fish hooks.
Saw (folding): Here’s an item I really love, although admittedly a folding
saw is bulkier and heavier than most items you’ll see in a typical
survival kit. Nevertheless, it’s worth its weight in gold, because it
completely transforms how you can build shelters or keep a fire going,
both of which are crucial (physically and psychologically) in a survival
ordeal.
It used to be that you could get only poorquality
folding saws, but
they’ve come a long way in recent years in terms of quality and durability.
My favorites are the onepiece
units with a blade that folds into the
handle. When folded they’re about 10 inches (25 cm) long.
Signal mirror: When choosing a signal mirror, you have a couple of
options. Personally, I prefer hand mirrors that are designed to act as signaling
devices. You can distinguish these by the small hole in the middle,
which is used for sighting passing aircraft.
Like any item in your survival kit, your signal mirror can also serve
other functions, such as grooming or first aid. If you get something in your
eye (which happens more often than you’d think), a little mirror is invaluable.
Something as seemingly innocuous as a pine needle in your eye can
cause intense pain if you can’t get it out. A good signal mirror can also
serve as a fire starter by reflecting the sun’s rays.
Snare wire: Like parachute cord, snare wire has a multitude of uses, the
most important of which is catching your potential dinner! Snare wire
meant for rabbits is the most appropriate.
Solar or “space” blanket (small): A solar blanket reflects your own body
heat back to you, which is effective if you need to get warm in a hurry.
Granted, it doesn’t feel warm and cozy, but it works better than anything
else you can get for the weight.
The potential danger with solar blankets is that they do not breathe
or permit perspiration to escape, so they have the potential to leave you
damper and colder than when you started. Don’t roll up in one or use it as
an underlayer
inside a jacket; simply wrap it around you.
Solar blankets are terrific reflectors and can be used for signaling if
necessary, as a makeshift tarp to waterproof your shelter, or as a raincatch.
While surviving in the Canadian Rocky Mountains outside of Revelstoke,
British Columbia, I used one as a roof, and it made for the warmest shelter
I can remember. Be careful with solar blankets around fire, however. They
can melt within seconds when touched by flames.
SPOT satellite messenger: The SPOT enables you to send emails
by satellite,
and includes your latitude and longitude coordinates. It will even
track you and send your coordinates to 10 contacts by email
or text message
every 10 minutes. The SPOT goes beyond a GPS to the next level of
safety. A GPS will tell you where you are. The SPOT will tell your rescuers
where you are.
Water purification tablets: Each iodinebased
water purification tablet will
purify 1 to 2 quarts (1 to 2 L) of water, depending on the level of contamination.
Iodinebased
tablets can also be used in first aid. Simply crush one
tablet and add about a teaspoon of water. This will yield a strong topical
solution of iodine, which can be used to disinfect wounds.
Waterpurifying
straw: A relatively new innovation, the waterpurifying
straw uses a combination of iodine and resin to purify water as you drink.
Each straw is good for 20 to 25 gallons (75 to 95 L) of water, depending on
how dirty the water is. Some of these nifty little straws claim to reduce bacteria
and viruses by as much as 96 percent!
Whistle: Get the sturdiest, loudest, brightest, and most obnoxious one you
can find. My favorites are manufactured by Fox 40.
Ziploc bags (large): In a pinch, these bags have many uses, including storing
and carrying water. Ziplocs can also be used for keeping sensitive
items, such as firestarting
tinder, dry. You can even fill them with snow
and put them under your coat to melt the snow into a drink of water.
Your complete survival kit items should help you make it through almost
any situation, provided you know how to use them.
A wellplanned,
complete survival kit will help you make it through the toughest situations.
Tailor Your Kit to Your Destination
THINK OF YOUR COMPLETE SURVIVAL KIT as something that should evolve
and change according to your needs, rather than as something that you
assemble once and toss into your pack each time you travel. The complete
survival kit I’ve listed above should help you through most emergencies,
but survival is situation-specific, and certain tools that may help
you in the Arctic or the boreal forest will do you little good in the desert
or jungle.
And as you’ll soon see, different forces are at work in different areas.
Ignore them at your peril. If I’m going tripping in the boreal forest of
northern Ontario in the middle of May, the first thing I know I need is
bug netting, which is specific to that region and time of year. Do I need
to pack bug netting if I’m skiing across the Arctic tundra in the middle of
November? Nope. It’s important that you take these factors into consideration
before every trip.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Acquiring water is paramount when traveling in these areas, so your survival
kit should address this critical fact. Make sure you carry a clear garbage
bag in your kit in case you need to construct a solar still or vegetation
still. A long, thin drinking tube is useful too. You might also consider carrying
a small trowel or collapsible shovel to make digging for water easier.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Blackflies and mosquitoes were reputed to have driven many of the early
Canadian explorers insane. So I highly recommend bug netting for any
region where you expect to be dealing with insects. Why netting as opposed
to bug spray? Several reasons. Bug spray is bulky and heavy, whereas netting
is light and can be folded to take up very little space. Also, while you will
eventually run out of bug spray, your netting will last indefinitely, provided
it doesn’t tear (and even then, you can repair it).
You may also consider taking along a bug shirt and bug pants, a variety
of which are now on the market.
stroud’s Tip
LES’S TOP FIVE SURVIVAL KIT ITEMS
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Most of the drinking water you’ll find in the world’s polar regions comes
from snow and ice, which is notoriously devoid of vital mineral content.
This deficiency won’t hurt you over short periods of time, but over the
course of a few weeks it can begin to seriously affect you. You can offset
this problem by carrying mineral tablets, which can be either chewed, or
dissolved in drinking water.
In summer, bug netting is a vital addition to your survival kit. And in
the spring, sunglasses will protect your eyes from snowblindness, which
can result when the sun reflects off the snow all day and all night.
On the Sea or Open Water
As in arid regions, the most important aspect of survival on open water is
procuring drinking water. For this reason, it is essential that you carry a
desalination or distillation device. Clearly these are too bulky to carry in
a standard survival kit, but you will need one or the other nonetheless.
Jungles
One of the most critical—yet frequently overlooked—items you need in
the jungle is foot fungus medication. The constant rain and humidity of the
jungle environment is murder on the feet, and foot fungus is inevitable. Let
it become too severe and it can impede your ability to walk, which could
threaten your life. And always carry more than one pair of socks.
Shelter is crucial in the jungle, so take an extra garbage bag or two.
Insects can be a huge problem in certain areas and at certain times of year,
so take bug netting too.
Coastal Regions
You’ll greatly increase your chances of eating well in coastal regions if you
add a small, folded fishnet to your survival kit. This will also come in handy
if you expect to be near a river or lake.
Your Vehicle Survival Kit
RANKING HIGH IN THE MOSTIGNOREDBUTMOSTNEEDED
CATEGORY of survival
equipment is a vehicle survival kit. Every driver should have one, but it is
even more important if you live in (or travel through) areas of remote wilderness,
or places prone to extreme weather, such as snowstorms and thunderstorms,
where the risk of finding yourself in a survival situation is greater.
Regardless of how well stocked your vehicle survival kit may be, make sure
you bring additional food and drink with you on any extended journey.
As a rule, if you get into trouble, you should stay with your vehicle
until help arrives, especially now that you’ll have a wellequipped
vehicle
survival kit. And if you’ve got gas, then you have a source of fuel for firestarting.
Your primary concern, however, should be to get your vehicle back
on the road and let it carry you to safety.
If you decide to leave your vehicle, do so only when the weather permits
and if you feel confident in your ability to travel by land. And don’t leave
your car or truck without cutting, ripping, and tearing anything and everything
out of it that you think may help you in your quest to survive. One day
you will be able to buy a new vehicle; buying a new life is not an option.
I once had the privilege of recreating
for television the survival scenario
faced by James and Jennifer Stolpa, the couple who became lost with
their car (and baby) in a mountain blizzard. In my reenactment,
I made
sure I used everything the vehicle offered before I bade it farewell, a strategy
the Stolpas failed to employ, even though they had no winter gear with
them and only casual shoes. For instance, I cut the foam from inside the
seats of the truck, covered it with the vehicle’s seat covers, and secured it
to my feet with seatbelt
material. The result was a set of warm makeshift
boots that allowed me to travel on top of the snow, rather than through it,
as if I were wearing snowshoes. It may seem like overkill, but it saved my
feet from frostbite. The Stolpas were not so lucky.
Your vehicle survival kit should have an appropriate case. If budget is a
consideration, any backpack or duffel bag will suffice. Ideally, you should get
something that is both sturdy and waterproof. Always keep the kit stowed in
your vehicle. See the complete Vehicle Survival Kit Checklist on page 355.
Your vehicle survival kit should include all of the items in the complete
survival kit plus the following:
Cell phone: The problem with a cell phone is that if you’re stuck in a
remote area, chances are you won’t have cell coverage. You can, however,
carry speaker wire. Secure the wire to the highest point you can reach (or
climb to) and attach it to your phone’s antenna. You might not get enough
coverage to make a call, but because text messaging operates on a weaker
signal, the wire may bring help.
Clothing (warm) and blankets: Pack an extra set of weatherappropriate
clothes, including socks, gloves, and hats for every passenger, as well as
blankets, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, and a solar or “space” blanket.
Cook set: Cook sets (also known as “mess kits”) are compact sets of pots
and/or pans. They allow you to boil up a hot brew, or cook food.
Cook stove and fuel: This is a luxurious extra, to be sure, but one that will
greatly increase your chances of survival if you’re stuck for any length of
time.
Drinking water: Make sure there is enough room in the bottle to allow for
expansion should it freeze.
Flares: These are great for signaling but can also be used, if necessary, to
start a fire. You will likely have just a few of these, so use them only when
needed.
Flashlight (small, LED) with extra batteries: Also available are flashlights
you can crank by hand, which never need batteries. Some of these even
come with sirens and cellphone
chargers. Make sure the one you buy is
compatible with your phone.
They’re not pretty, but boots such as these—which I made from the foam of a truck’s
seats and some seatbelt
webbing—might just save your feet from frostbite.
Food, including MREs: MREs—or Meals Ready to Eat—are available at
most camping stores and Army & Navy supply shops. This stuff lasts forever
and often comes with its own fuel source for heating. Energy bars are
also a good option; look for ones that pack the most calories. Many people
ignore the importance of salt in their diets. Carry some with your extra
food or take along powdered energy drinks high in sodium to replenish
electrolytes.
Road maps (local): Make sure you carry maps of regions in which you
travel frequently, and before traveling to a new area, add a map of the
region to your kit.
Snow shovel (collapsible or folding) and tire chains: You likely won’t need
these if you live in Florida, but freak snowstorms have killed people in
places where snow hadn’t been seen in years. If your vehicle gets stuck in
the snow, you can use your hands to dig, but a shovel will do the job faster
and better. Tire chains can help you when road conditions are slippery.
Tarp: Throw in an orange one, for visibility, sized roughly 8 feet by 9 feet
(2.5 m x 2.7 m).
Toilet paper: It’s an often overlooked item, but toilet paper can sure come in
handy—not just for the obvious purpose. It can be stuffed into your clothes
to increase their insulating power, and it can be used as tinder for fires.
Tools: Useful tools include a screwdriver, pliers, a wrench, a hatchet or axe,
and jumper cables.
Y
ou’re stranded, stuck, likely alone, in a place that a few moments
ago was a wonderland of adventure but now has become a living
nightmare. Your next move is crucial to your survival.
But surviving in the wilderness is about more than knowledge and
skill. It requires clearheaded,
rational thinking, mental toughness, and a
positive attitude. It requires a neveryielding
will to live.
This will to live, which stems from a positive attitude, is what will
keep you going and get you out alive. It’s what gets you up in the morning.
It’s what makes you put one foot in front of the other when you’re completely
exhausted. Fuel and maintain your will to live and you stand a very
good chance of making it home. Lose it and your survival hinges on nothing
more than dumb luck.
Although it may seem like some people have a genetic disposition
for it, the will to live is a conscious decision. I will make it out of this. I
will live. I will survive. You may be without the comforts of home, but you
can work to make yourself more comfortable. You may be scared of being
alone in the dark, but you can make a fire to keep the fear away. You may be
hungry, but you can identify at least one or two things in the area to eat.
The importance of the will to survive is illustrated in the many tales of
people with little training who have managed to see themselves through harrowing
ordeals. The story of Aron Ralston is one of my favorites. Aron was an
experienced outdoorsman and mountaineer, but he had had almost no survival
training when, during a canyoneering trip in Utah’s Blue John Canyon
in 2003, his hand and forearm got trapped under a massive boulder.
With very little water and food to sustain him, and his hand and forearm
crushed, Aron spent five days trying to lift, pry, and chip away at the
boulder that held him captive. Nothing worked. To his credit, he realized
that the only way he would ever live to see his family and friends again was
to snap the two bones in his forearm and cut his arm off, which is exactly
what he did.
In that crisis, Aron had nobody to count on but himself, and his book,
Between a Rock and a Hard Place, vividly describes the emotional roller
coaster he experienced. In the end, it was his intense will to live that saved
him. I wonder how many other people would have made it through such
an ordeal.
For each story like Aron’s, however, there are many sad tales of individuals
who, though they were knowledgeable about the ways of the wilderness,
panicked and died. It wasn’t their skill that abandoned them; it
was their ability to think straight under the most stressful of circumstances.
If you can maintain your composure and your will to live, you will make it
through virtually any survival situation.
You can bolster your will to live in many ways, first and foremost
by thinking about the people you love and for whom you want to survive.
Some turn to spirituality or religion in times of great stress; you may
derive comfort, confidence, and strength from prayer and meditation.
Studies of survivors show that having a goal may empower them. The goal
to see their loved ones again. The goal of revenge. The goal of telling of the
event. Having a goal and keeping it in sight is a driving force in survival.
Make no mistake about it: when you find yourself in a survival situation
you will confront stresses that can break the resolve of even the toughest individual.
If you fail to anticipate these stresses, they can turn you into a mass
of indecision waiting for the end to come, or worse, a panicstricken
lunatic
wasting precious energy on tasks that don’t increase your chances of surviving.
In survival, as in life, your attitude will affect your outcome. If you play the
victim, you will be one. If you imagine yourself the hero, you will be one.
A very ablebodied
woman once told me that she knew she could
never handle being alone in the wilderness, and, in fact, would likely kill
herself should she end up in such a situation. Clearly, she was defeated
from the start. She would be much better off thinking something like this:
If this trip falls apart, I know I can make it out of here. Heck, I’ll be a hero and
even write a book about it! Now that’s confidence.
Stress and Stressors
MOSTOFUSHAVEUTTEREDTHEWORDS “I AM SO STRESSED!” at one point
or another. Stress is a given in the modernday
world, but there are
few stressors felt as acutely as those you’ll face when alone in a survival
situation.
Despite the pressure it heaps upon our shoulders, stress can sometimes
be a beneficial force. Stressors can stimulate us to perform at our
peak level, giving us the chance not only to take advantage of our strengths
but to work on our weaknesses. But stress can be as destructive as it is constructive.
Too much of it can lead to distress, an unhealthy condition that
may turn to panic.
Like the emotions I discuss later in this chapter, the key to succeeding
in a survival situation is confronting and managing the stressors you may
face. These are many and varied, and include injury and illness, hunger,
thirst, the environment, cold or heat, lack of knowledge, fatigue, or negative
group dynamics, boredom and depression, loneliness and isolation, a general
lack of control, and of course, death.
Each of these needs to be acknowledged, confronted, and dealt with.
Remember that when you’re fighting for your life, you don’t want any disadvantages
at all. If there are any facing you, you can’t sweep them aside.
In a survival situation, there’s no ignoring and no procrastinating.
Now What? Assessing and Prioritizing
YOU MAY BE STRESSED, SCARED, PANICKY, UPSET, LONELY, and perhaps even
humiliated. Don’t worry; this will pass. Let it pass right now. Relax and
know that you have what it takes to get through this. Don’t focus on what
is beyond your control.
Psychological Aspects of Survival | 41
Before doing anything else (assuming you’ve removed yourself from
any immediate danger), you need to stop. Sit down, take a deep breath,
and calm yourself. Do not move until you have allowed yourself enough
time to assess your circumstances and formulate a plan. There may be no
return from a silly mistake. Do not give in to feelings of panicproducing
fear, guilt, and frustration. What’s done is done and cannot be undone.
Recognize that you are now in a survival situation and must keep your wits
about you if you are to make it back to safety.
Indeed, your brain is one of the most important tools you can rely
upon. Use it!
Relieve Fear Through Knowledge
BEGIN BY ASSESSING YOUR BODY FOR ANY INJURIES and deal with those as soon
as possible. Once you have taken care of yourself, assess your environment
and the specifics of your emergency.
Who knows where you were going?
Is anyone expecting you? If so, when?
Is it possible to walk out of your current location on your own, or will you need
to be rescued to get out?
Are you certain of the way out?
What do you have to keep you alive?
To answer the last question, figure out what you have at hand that
will help you survive. This could be equipment that you carried with you—
such as a tent, a knife, and food—or aspects of your environment, such
as a cave or a lake. If it’s physically possible, lay out all your immediate
resources on a tarp or blanket or even the ground to get a good mental
picture of what you have available. Seeing it spread out may spark ideas as
to how items could work together or what you can make out of your supplies.
In making these assessments, you’re providing yourself with one of
the most important tools in your survival kit: knowledge.
Armed with your increasing base of knowledge, you can begin to
make a plan to deal intelligently and systematically with your needs. The
Keeping a positive frame of mind is essential to survival, especially if you find yourself
suddenly alone. Stay focused on how you can improve your situation and you’ll find the
strength to go on.
time you take to assess and prioritize will go a long way toward reducing
your stress and any possible negative emotions, as you break your situation
down into individual hurdles or challenges and see how your worstcase
scenario improves:
Worstcase
scenario: I’m going to freeze to death out here.
No, wait: there’s an old trapper’s cabin over on that hill with a stove
inside it and dead trees around. So now the worstcase
scenario is that
I’m left out here to die alone, but at least I’ll be warm.
No, wait: my family knows that I had to be out of here within two days,
and they know where I am. So now my worstcase
scenario is that I’m
going to be stuck for a few days alone in a cabin. But there’s wood, and I
can melt snow and drink water, so I’ll be all right.
Focus on the tasks at hand and follow your plan, but also stay flexible
enough to revise your plan if it isn’t working, You may need to improvise.
Adaptability and ingenuity are keys to survival.
When it comes to improvising in the wilderness, you need to look at
the world anew. Don’t think of objects in your surroundings in the traditional
way but in terms of how they will help you on your journey to safety.
That tree may be a rotting birch, but peel the bark off and you’ve got yourself
one terrific roof shingle for a shelter.
On one occasion, my sister Laura and I were paddling a canoe on a
pristine lake in northern Ontario. I prefer paddling close to shore, where
all the action is: beaver houses, animal tracks, birds. We came to this one
particularly dense section of forest. To me, it seemed enchanted, and
I imagined an inspiring time walking through it and breathing in its
smells. My daydream was interrupted by my sister, who mentioned how
intimidating she found the thought of being left alone in such a dark and
imposinglooking
forest. The difference between us, of course, was our
knowledge and experience. I already had a fair bit of survival knowledge,
had spent time in such forests, and viewed them as a second home.
After three days of survival instruction, Laura had grown immeasurably
in her comfort level with such places.
There’s also some benefit to talking out loud, whether to yourself, to
nearby animals, or to the trees and the rocks. Verbalizing your predicament
can help clear your head and put you on the road to survival. Remember
the movie Cast Away? Tom Hanks’s character, Chuck Noland, turned a
simple volleyball into his companion, “Wilson,” with whom he could talk,
share his emotions, and even work out plans.
Here are the mental keys to surviving:
Maintain the will to live.
Confront and manage the situation.
Acquire knowledge.
Adapt and use ingenuity.
Go with the flow of nature.
Prioritize
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS I’m asked about survival is this: “After
calming down, what should I do first?” Certain essential elements will be
your primary focus during any emergency: shelter, water, fire, food, and
a rescue signal. But it’s impossible to say which of these you should first
focus your energies on, for it changes with every situation.
I take a threepronged
approach to prioritizing my needs:
Your situation is the emergency. But if there are
pressing safety and/or health concerns, deal with them immediately. In some
cases, the weather presents an emergency, so building a shortterm
makeshift
shelter is critical.
Why is this number two? Survival is about getting home, the
sooner the better. Rescue is crucial, so start making a signal as soon as possible.
I classify everything after those first two steps
as longterm
survival. Why does this come third? Well, you wouldn’t want to
go to the effort of making a shelter and gathering cattails to eat, only to see
a plane fly overhead and realize you could have been rescued if you’d built a
signal fire to attract attention.
Whatever tactic you choose, you will improve your chances of success
if you’re realistic about your prospects for rescue and set an appropriate
time frame for your ordeal in the wilderness. Don’t lay the groundwork for
what may become bitter disappointment by telling yourself you’re going
to be rescued in two days when more likely you’ll be on your own for two
weeks. The old adage “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” is a valuable
one to keep in mind. You’ll find it much easier to adjust to pleasant
surprises than to unpleasant ones.
Reacting to a Survival Situation
HOW WILL YOU REACT TO A WILDERNESS EMERGENCY? The answer to this allimportant
question is as individual as you are. It’s impossible to predict
exactly how you will react. Don’t feel weak, ashamed, or guilty for having
conflicting feelings! If anything, these responses help illustrate your
humanity, and it’s that humanness that will give you the tools to survive.
It may even help you, in the long run, to break down for a short
time and release destructive emotions. Most grown men (even the macho
ones) will admit to crying at some point during a survival ordeal. And
all of them recognize afterwards that shedding those emotions enabled
them to “give their heads a shake” and pick themselves up, ready to carry
on. Sometimes a good screaming or crying fit is all you need to turn your
dejected mental state into a determined (“enough of this feeling sorry
for myself ”) state.
In fact, these emotions, while initially disconcerting, may actually
motivate you to find a way out of your situation. Some people have been
embarrassed by the mistakes they made that left them in a lifethreatening
situation but used that feeling—and the desire to make up for that mistake
(and possibly to regain their good name)—to get themselves to safety.
Of all the emotions that prove motivational, none is as powerful as
love. With love set squarely in your sights, you will make it through your
ordeal, to see your spouse, children, family, and friends again.
Panic
Panic is a common yet debilitating reaction that affects many, particularly
in the early stages of survival ordeals. Panic can be especially dangerous in
a group setting, since it’s contagious and spreads rapidly.
Physiologically, it can be a motivating force in that it speeds up our
body processes. But panic can also use up incredible amounts of energy,
which is why people invariably feel exhausted after these episodes.
The most common response to panic is to move now and move fast.
So you start thrashing through the bush, running in the sand, or paddling
feverishly up the river hoping to come across something familiar to you.
These are dangerous reactions, however, unless you have to get out of that
spot immediately for safety reasons.
Instead of fleeing instantly, stop, calm yourself down, and assess. And
then make a plan. Knowledge is power. When you assess your situation,
you’re giving yourself knowledge and therefore the power to control your
fate. Resist panic; it will do nothing to help you.
Fear and Anxiety
Fear and anxiety are close cousins of panic, but with important distinctions.
Unlike panic, which tends to overwhelm a person like a wave, fear
and anxiety take slightly longer to cultivate. No matter how tough you may
be, there will likely come a point during a survival situation where you will
be scared and/or anxious.
Remember that fear is a normal reaction and can be helpful if kept
under control—it adds a dash of caution to circumstances where recklessness
could lead to injury or mistakes. But allow it to overcome you and it
can be a paralyzing force, impeding your ability to perform the essential
tasks of survival. It can send you running through the woods blindly looking
for a way out of your living nightmare. Make every effort to keep fear
from turning into panic.
Anxiety may actually help to motivate you since it sets in motion an
instinctual drive to “make things right.” Focusing on survivalrelated
tasks
will reduce your anxiety little by little, increasing your sense of wellbeing
and decreasing your fear.
stroud’s Tip
For most people in survival situations, fear strikes in the middle of
the night, when complete darkness has fallen and the area around you is
filled with strange, discomforting sounds. One of the little tricks I’ve come
up with to minimize my fear is to prepare for it.
In the few hours before dusk, I take time to scan my surroundings,
imagining what they will look like once darkness falls. Later that night, I
realize, “I’m in the exact same spot with the exact same surroundings, only
they’re dark.” It may sound like a simplistic solution, but it works for me,
and I’m in the dark a lot out there!
The key is not to let fear and anxiety take control of you. Acknowledge
your fear and anxiety—and the normalcy of your reaction—but stop
there. Don’t give in to them. Recognize that with every effort you make
toward your own survival, your fear and anxiety will diminish. Bravery and
courage are based not on fearlessness but on healthy fear.
Anger and Frustration
I am fortunate in that I do not get terribly frightened in survival situations,
but I can’t claim I don’t feel my share of anger and frustration. These emotions
almost always come from the awareness that I’ve made mistakes or
haven’t anticipated events. When I feel anger or frustration coming on, I
remind myself to back off and reassess, because there is always another
answer.
The danger in succumbing to anger is that it makes you lash out.
You take your anger out by breaking a branch against a tree when you
should be dealing with your immediate survival needs. Not only will you
waste time by lashing out, you’ll waste valuable energy and perhaps sustain
an injury as well. Frustration and anger tend to result in impulsive
reactions, irrational behavior, and poorly thoughtout
decisions. In some
cases, these emotions might even cause you to throw up your hands and
declare, “I quit!”
To deal with these feelings, take the same tack as with most of the
other emotions we’re discussing here: stop, calm down, and dedicate your
physical and emotional energy to formulating a plan for getting yourself
out of the emergency.
Having said that, for some, there is a benefit that can be derived
from anger, assuming that they can keep their anger level at a minimal,
Survivormanpected television could be so educational!
»
Stay Calm, Stay Alive
Necessity really is the mother of invention. This is a lesson Jonathan
Clement, a 13yearold
Calgary teenager, learned the hard
way. Little did he know that when his father, Gerry, took him on his
first bowhunting
trip, a freak accident would harm his dad—but
that Jonathan’s own quick thinking would save his father’s life.
Gerry and Jonathan had set out to explore the headwaters
of Oldman River in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, but soon after
their adventure began, Jonathan accidentally launched an arrow
into his father’s leg. When Gerry looked down at his thigh, it was
spurting blood “like in a horror film. I knew [the arrow] had hit
an artery and I was in major trouble, but my little guy, almost
immediately, kicked into survival mode.”
Though Jonathan had inadvertently caused the injury, his
actions afterward demonstrated his steady resolve to set things
right. Upon seeing the fountain of blood, he instantly removed
one of his dad’s socks and created a makeshift tourniquet to
stem the flow. When asked how he’d known what to do, Jonathan
said he’d seen the technique on TV: “I knew because I
watched a show called , where a guy’s out in the
wilds for days.” I’m sure that Jonathan’s father had never susWith
the tourniquet in place, the young teen helped his father
walk back to their campsite, which was over a mile away. As relieved
as they were to get behind the wheel of their pickup truck, misfortune
soon struck again. During their drive for help, the truck’s
undercarriage got stuck in the rocky terrain, and Jonathan and
Gerry were forced to make their way back to camp on foot. Gerry
was still losing a lot of blood, so his son carefully guided him back
to their site.
Soon after they arrived, Gerry fainted, hitting his head as
he fell. All the while, Jonathan remained calm, though he admits
he was worried about his father’s condition. “Once we got a fire
going, it was better,” the boy recalls. “My dad was pretty cold,
but I was okay.”
simmering level. They use anger to fuel their will to live: they’re angry
with the person responsible for getting them into the situation and want
to get back at them. There’s the story of Hugh Glass, an early American
fur trapper whose two travel companions left him to die after a grizzly
bear attack. Fueled by his hatred of the men who abandoned him, Glass
traveled some 200 miles (322 km)—with a broken leg—to safety.
The two spent a grim night by the campfire, hoping that the
bleeding would slow down and that someone in the area would spot
the smoke. As his father dozed, Jonathan took it upon himself to wake
up every few minutes and check on his dad, to “make sure he was
snoring.”
At daybreak, with no help in sight and his father’s condition
worsening, Jonathan set out for help, knowing full well that he’d be
crossing the heart of bear country. Despite the danger, he traveled
on foot for over three miles before eventually stumbling upon other
campers, who were able to help him and his father to a hospital.
Jonathan’s poise under frightening circumstances helps show
that survival isn’t about macho gestures but about staying calm and
using your head. Gerry Clement, a proud father whose life was saved
by his son’s good judgment, says his boy was “an absolute hero.”
Loneliness, Boredom, and Depression
Let’s face it, if you’re alone in the wilderness doing nothing for days on
end, it can get very, very boring in no time at all. Boredom can then bring
on negative, introspective thoughts, which in turn can lead to depression.
When people feel depressed, they start to give up. Their focus shifts
from improving their situation to convincing themselves that there is nothing
to be done. The problem with these two emotional states, and depression
in particular, is that they are insidious—they creep up on you. Add to
the mix the fact that you’re probably hungry and tired, maybe injured and
scared, and it’s easy to see how depression can take hold. Don’t let it, for it
will only eat away at your will to live.
Remember that it’s normal to feel miserable in a survival situation,
especially during the first few days. Your success in defeating this misery
rests squarely on your ability to be proactive and do something, anything, to
better your situation. Even if it’s only adding one bough to the roof of your
shelter, add it. Even if it’s making just one deadfall trap a day, make it.
Activity bars the mind from negative thoughts, staving off loneliness,
boredom, and depression. There will always be something new and helpful
you can do to improve your circumstances, and planning and completing
each task will help to break the monotony of your ordeal. Each successive
accomplishment will better your attitude.
Having said that, be careful not to go to the other extreme and try to take
on the whole world at once, which may be overwhelming. Take one step at a
time. There is surprising comfort in tucking into a little shelter at night with a
flame nearby, knowing your world to be only that which exists a few inches in
front of your face. Pull your coat over your head and face and know that for the
moment, that is your own small world. You control it and it is safe.
Guilt
Guilt is a common response in a survival situation, especially in the case of
an accident that has resulted in loss of life. As one of the survivors (or the
only survivor) of an accident, a person undoubtedly will be burdened with
guilt over being spared while others died. It is natural to feel this way.
But guilt, like most of the other emotions I describe in this chapter,
can be channeled for the betterment of your situation. Use it as motivation
to try harder. Perhaps you were spared for some greater purpose in
life. Live to carry on the work of those killed, or to tell their stories to their
loved ones.
Man Versus Nature
SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO CHARACTERIZE THE QUEST FOR SURVIVAL in a wilderness
setting as a battle between man and nature. Others like to anthropomorphize
nature as an omniscient and benevolent woman that will
look after them as long as you give her the proper respect. These are the
same people who say you should try to “become one” with nature. At best,
“becoming one” with nature is a bad cliche. At worst, it leads you into a
passive mindset,
which can get you into real trouble.
Several years ago, my wife, Sue Jamison, and I spent an entire year living
in the bush and replicating life as it was lived 500 years ago: no metal,
no matches, no plastic, and no nylon. While we hunted, fished, and foraged,
and lived in a way similar to that of native peoples hundreds of years ago, we
never felt like we were one with nature. It’s just not like that out there. Survival
can be harsh at the best of times. If you become one with anything or
anyone while you are trying to survive out there, it is with yourself.
Nature is neutral. It doesn’t want to help you, and it doesn’t want to kill
you. Yet there is a positive energy in the wilderness that can be emotionally
and spiritually uplifting, and can fill you with strength to carry on and complete
the tasks that you need to, even in the worst survival scenarios.
Survival is not about “man versus wild.” Nor, at the other extreme,
is it about “becoming one” with nature. The key to survival is the middle
ground of “going with the flow” of nature. There is a time to push against
the rain and a time to wait it out. There is a time to travel hard and a time
to hunker down. There is a time to let go of emotions and there is a time
to buck up and straighten your back against your troubles.
But make no mistake about it. Nature must be respected, watched,
listened to, and considered constantly, if you expect to survive.
Group Versus Solo Survival
MOST ASPECTS OF SURVIVAL ARE EASIER when more than one traveler is present,
but the group dynamic may well prove most beneficial when it comes
to the psychological aspects of survival. You can derive significant comfort
from the presence of other people in what may be the most trying
moments of your life. And you can boost your feelings of self-worth and
confidence by comforting those in your group who need support.
Of course, there’s another side to this. Not everything is rosy within a
group. Panic is frighteningly contagious and can spread like wildfire.
The solution is to acknowledge a strong and effective group leader.
Most groups will not be proactive enough to actually elect a leader; one
typically emerges naturally. A strong, competent, and confident leader will
help quell the fears and doubts the group may be feeling, and will focus
each individual’s efforts on the tasks necessary for survival.
52 | Survive!
T
he irony of survival is that for all the planning and preparation
you do to stay alive in the wild, all you really want is to go home.
Survival instructors tend to romanticize survival by teaching the many
excellent, sometimes advanced skills that will help you live as long as possible
in remote areas, but the bottom line in a true survival situation is that
you’re scared, hungry, tired, and cold. You just want out of this nightmare.
Signaling can be key to getting you home, and sooner rather than later.
Debate continues as to which aspect of survival should take first priority,
but I believe that once you’ve established your immediate safety and
if there is no urgency about shelter, your next step should be getting signals
ready. And since you never really know when a potential rescuer may
appear, you need to be ready to signal immediately and at all times. It would
be nice to be saved quickly, but the reality is that it could be hours, days, or
even weeks, before somebody spots your signal.
Signaling devices fall into two categories: targeted signals that need
to be seen or heard by someone passing by, and technological signals that
send information about location or situation to someone a greater distance
away.
Targeted Signals
TARGETED SIGNALS ARE SIGNALS that need to be seen or heard by a target—a
person on foot or in a plane or boat, for example—to be effective. There are
those that are ready to use and those that you need to make yourself.
If you are using a visual signal that you want to be seen by passing
aircraft, locate it in a clear, flat area on the highest possible terrain. Know
that if you are spotted by an aircraft, it will probably not land immediately.
Look for the pilot to acknowledge your signal by flying low, dropping a
message, dipping the plane’s wings, or flashing lights.
No matter what type of signal you make, know how to use it and be
ready to get it going on short notice. You may have only seconds, and a
missed opportunity could cost you your life.
ReadytoUse
Signals
Readytouse
signals are the easiest ones to employ in the wilderness
because they’re typically the product of some sort of technological innovation.
At least one of these devices should be in your complete survival kit.
Signal mirror: A signal mirror’s reflection can be seen as far away as 50
miles (80 km) on a clear, sunny day. Signal mirrors can also work on overcast
days and with moonlight, although with less range.
True signal mirrors come with an aiming hole in the middle, but any
mirror or reflective material (like a square of tinfoil) can be aimed at its
target. Face the target and stretch out your arm so that your hand is just
beneath the target. With your other hand, hold the mirror near your head
and aim the reflected light directly onto your hand. Tilt the mirror up and
down rapidly. Given the range of the signal mirror, you should flash any
airplane you see, no matter how far away it may seem. The internationally
recognized SOS signal is three short reflections followed by three longer
ones followed again by three short ones.
Generally, the larger the mirror the more light it will reflect. Glass
mirrors reflect better than any other material, but also are the most easily
broken; metal mirrors (including stainless steel), on the other hand, scratch
easily and are also subject to rust, particularly in saltwater environments.
Using a Signal Mirror with a Sighting Hole
1. To effectively use a signal mirror with a
sighting hole, hold the mirror fairly close to
your face. Through the hole, you should be
able to see a bright glow.
2. Align the glow so that it covers yourtarget; this is where the sun’s reflection
will shine.
Using a Signal Mirror Without a Sighting Hole
1. Face the target and stretch out your2. Tilt the mirror rapidly up and down.
arm so your hand is just beneath the
target.
3. Aim the reflected light directly ontoyour outstretched hand as shown.
Chemicals: Potassium permanganate is an example of a chemical that can
be used to make a temporary sign on water or a more permanent one in
snow (it dyes the snow purple) to signal for rescue.
Chemical lights: Although some companies make chemical lights for survival
situations, these are not very bright and usually can’t be seen from
more than a mile away. Chemical lights are most easily seen when swung
in wide arcs or sweeps; all have a limited storage life that runs out quickly
after exposure to air.
Flares: Flares are an effective way to signal someone and they have saved
lives all around the world. They work only for a short time, however, so
don’t use them until you’re sure they’ll be seen.
Flashlight: These don’t have the same range as signal mirrors but work in
the same way and are very useful at night. Be careful not to waste battery
power; there’s no point dangling your flashlight in a tree all night unless
there’s a chance someone may see it.
Laser flares: Take flashlights one step further, with a more powerful, colorful,
and visible beam and you’ve got the laser flare. Another benefit of laser
flares is that they’re compact and longlasting.
Signals You Make Yourself
If you’re not fortunate enough to have a readytouse
signal on hand, there
are still a few signaling options available. These can be as effective as the
readytouse
variety, but require more effort and are subject to the vagaries
of your environment.
The Signal Fire: Signals fires must be built in a wide-open space. Timing is
everything; they must be ready for the moment when a plane passes overhead.
Stay with a signal fire once you have lit it, in case the pilot attempts
to communicate with you.
During the day, the most visible part of a signal fire is the smoke, so
you will also want to have items on hand that create as much of it as possible.
Rubber and plastic work well (producing black smoke), as do fresh
(green) branches and boughs, which produce white smoke. Moss or punky
wood also work well.
Given the choice, go for black smoke, since it is not likely to be confused
with a campfire. Either way, smoke is most effective on clear, calm days.
Wind, rain, snow, and clouds disperse or shield smoke, significantly decreasing
the chances it will be seen. In addition, smoke is not nearly as important
at night, when the flame itself will be more easily spotted from above.
Some survival guides say you’ll have a better chance of attracting
attention if you prepare three signal fires and position them in the shape
of a triangle, a commonly recognized distress symbol. I tried this during a
winter survival course. On the day that the plane finally flew over, the temperature
hovered near –40.F (–40.C), and I had been surviving for seven
days and had little energy left.
When I heard the plane approaching, I had to run with burning bark
from my survival fire to the signal fire, which was about 60 yards (55 m)
away, in the middle of a frozen lake. When I got the first point of the triangle
lit, I had to run the 40 yards (37 m) to each of the other points to
set them burning as well. My hands felt frozen, I nearly put out the bark
I was running with, and I taxed my remaining energy reserves doing all
that running.
The pilot saw my signal fires and came down to rescue me. Once we
were in the air, though, I was shocked to see that the triangle I had made—
which had seemed so big and spread out on the ground—looked surprisingly
small from the air. In the end, one very large fire would have served the
same purpose and would have saved me a lot of energy—and firewood.
Making a Signal Fire
1. To make a signal fire, begin by making
a tripod of three trees.
2. If you have extra rope, weave it across
the base of the tripod to make a platform.
Fill the platform with dry, quickburning
materials such as birch bark.
On top, place smokeproducing
materials,
like damp moss, punky wood,
rubber, or plastic.
3. Ignite the signal fire when you believe
a plane will see it.
stroud’s Tip
anything
letters SOSBush pilots have told me that if they see
that looks out of the ordinary on the ground—whether it
appears to be a signal fire or even just a tarp laid flat in the
middle of an open space—they will stop to check it out, regardless
of whether it’s an “official” distress signal such as a triangle or the
. Don’t overlook the value of a simple signal as well. A
coat hung on a tree has saved more than one life.
The Tree Torch: A variation on the signal fire is the tree torch, which
involves setting a single tree on fire. Although standing dead trees will
light most easily, live trees can also be set on fire, particularly ones that
bear sap. Paper birch trees are also very good tree torches; their thin bark
lights easily.
To make a tree torch, place dry wood in the lower branches and
light them. The flame will flare upward and should ignite the leaves
overhead. When creating a tree torch, select an isolated tree so you don’t
start a forest fire!
Although signal fires are the most common type of signal you make
yourself, there are other everyday (perhaps unexpected) items you can use
to signal and improve your chances of being found.
Clothing and rag signals: You can attract attention to yourself by wearing
bright-colored clothing that stands out against your surroundings (fluorescent
orange works best). If there’s no risk of them getting wet or blown
away, drape some of your extra clothing on nearby branches. Tie a brightly
colored rag or piece of clothing to your shelter too.
Ground signals: When making a signal on the ground, pick an open area that
can be seen easily from overhead. Remember that things are a lot smaller
when viewed from overhead, so size matters. Go as big as you can.
Those orange garbage bags in your survival kit have so many uses;
they make excellent ground signals since they usually provide stark contrast
against earth tones. Lay them flat in a highly visible area and secure
them with rocks to attract the attention of passing aircraft. If you don’t have
one of these bags, try orange surveyor’s tape, aluminum foil, or anything
bright or reflective. Spelling out SOS or HELP is internationally recognized
but can be laborintensive.
If you don’t have the materials or energy to do
so, a large V or X should do the trick.
If you have nothing in your kit with which to make a traditional signal,
you can use natural materials to attract attention to yourself. Use rocks,
logs, brush, seaweed, or branches formed in words or arrows or any obvious
marking. If you don’t have any of these materials on hand, you can still
make a signal by clearing away or burning bushes and other ground cover,
or even tramping down snow.
Vehicle wreckage signals: In some cases, your survival situation may
include a vehicle (car, snowmobile, plane, or canoe). Your vehicle is big
and conspicuous and will attract attention. Stay with it if you suspect rescue
may be on its way. If you can fashion your vehicle into your shelter, all
the better. Now it’s serving two purposes.
In addition, you may be able to use parts of the vehicle to attract
attention. Arrange them in a way that makes them conspicuous. Your vehicle’s
lights and horn are also powerful means of attracting attention.
If you can get a tire off your car (or have a spare), add it to your signal
fire. Burning rubber creates thick black smoke. (Burning a tire is not the
most environmentally friendly option available, but when it comes to life
or death, that is not an issue. Your goal is to live; you can dedicate yourself
to environmental causes when you return to safety.)
Oils and fuels are also good for creating smoke, especially when rags
are soaked in them.
Audio signals: Although audio signals aren’t effective in alerting aircraft,
they can work well for signaling to groundbased
rescuers and passersby.
Even if you’re not sure that someone is looking for you, it can’t hurt to
make as much noise as possible.
One audio signal that does not work very well in the wilderness is
your voice; it doesn’t carry far enough. A survival whistle, however, is excellent,
and the better commercial ones can be heard more than a mile away.
Gunshots are also audible from a great distance, though you will have to
balance the need for ammunition for other survival uses with the chance
of someone hearing your shot.
,
stroud’s Tip
No matter what type of noise you are making,
the international signal for distress can come in handy.
Whether you’re clanging pots together, blowing on a whistle,
or blasting from an air siren, repeat the sound three straight timeswhich indicates you’re in need of help.
Technological Signals
UNLIKE TARGETED SIGNALS, WHICH NEED TO BE SEEN OR HEARD by someone in
your direct vicinity to be effective, technological signals carry your message
over greater distances. If technology shines anywhere during a survival situation,
it’s in signaling. Cell phones, satellite phones, twoway
radios, and
PLBs have saved the lives of countless stranded adventurers.
EPIRBs (Emergency PositionIndicating
Radio Beacons), ELTs (Emergency
Locator Transmitters), and PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons): Among a
class of devices known as tracking transmitters, these beacons all function
by sending a distress signal that allows searchandrescue
personnel to
locate your position almost immediately. EPIRBs commonly signal maritime
distress; ELTs signal aircraft distress; and PLBs are for personal use.
Although the basic idea behind all these devices is to get the person rescued
within 24 hours of activation, this is not always the case, particularly in
developing nations. I once made a survival film off the coast of Belize. My sailboat
captain explained the reality that the authorities there probably would not
act if I set off a locator beacon, and that they might not even know what it was.
He dared me to set mine off and see what happened. I did and . . . nothing.
SPOT satellite messenger: First implemented by SPOT Inc., the satellite
messenger is one of the greatest technological innovations to hit the world
of outdoor adventuring—and surviving—in recent years.
The SPOT device is a handheld
unit that serves as a distress beacon
like a PLB but does much more, primarily through oneway
text messaging
and email.
SPOT will send a preprogrammed
distress message (with
your exact GPS location) requesting help from up to 10 programmed contacts,
each of whom will read your message on their computer or phone.
It will also inform your contacts of your location (using Google Maps) and
let them know you are okay. The device will even allow your friends and
family to track your progress using Google Maps. But for a real emergency,
you press the “911” button, which informs local searchandrescue
teams
of your need for help.
Cell phones and satellite phones: Your cell phone will transmit information
about your location, even if there is no service in your area—so keep
it on as long as possible. Text messaging has greater range than your cell
phone may indicate, since it works on a different signal.
In years gone by, satellite phones were bulky, weighed a ton, and had
questionable coverage. With technological innovation, however, they have
become cheaper and more compact. On the downside, satellite phones
have a limited battery life.
hope people
stroud’s Tip
By far the best devices you can have with you are the
SPOT satellite messenger and a satellite phone. With these,
when you send a message, you can be sure that somebody
is receiving it. With any other form of communication, you
get the message.
On the Move
IF YOU DECIDE TO LEAVE YOUR EMERGENCY LOCATION, it’s important that you
give potential rescuers as much information as possible about your journey.
If you have paper and pencil available, leave a detailed note in a
safe, dry, and conspicuously marked location. Let them know when you
left, where you are going, how you are traveling (by boat or on foot), your
64 | Survive!
physical state, how many of you there are, and the extent of your supplies.
You should also mark your direction of travel with an arrow. Rocks
and branches can be laid on the ground to point rescuers in the same
direction, or you can use your knife to cut directional signs into trees.
When Rescue Arrives
WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOUR SIGNAL ACTUALLY WORKS? Assuming you are now in
the clear can be a big mistake.
If you are being rescued by an aircraft such us a light plane or helicopter,
remove all loose materials from the landing area to prevent them
from being sucked into propellers and rotors. Sometimes a helicopter may
not be able to land where you’re stranded, so they may need the aid of a
device to lift you from the ground. In all cases, follow the instructions of
your rescuers to the letter.
Group Versus Solo Survival
ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF BEING IN A GROUP is that you have more eyes and
ears trained on the possibility of rescue, and more people available to
attract attention when the time comes. You can also build more and bigger
signals, and, if necessary, spread them out over a greater area.
As in all aspects of survival, adaptability and ingenuity are paramount
when it comes to making a rescue signal. Some victims have cut or burned
down a hydro pole. When hydro workers eventually came out to fix it, the
lost were found.
Set fire to a small island if you have to. If it were me, I wouldn’t hesitate
if it meant seeing my family again. I could live with myself if I had to
take drastic measures to be rescued. How about you?
N
o fire. No shelter. No food. Except in the most extreme cases,
doing without these won’t kill you . . . at least not quickly. But nothing
compares in seriousness to the lack of water. So while I always
seek out locations with good supplies of firewood, shelter material, and food
sources, I would trade them all for a constant supply of clean water. Always
try to conserve what you have, and start looking for an alternative source as
soon as possible.
You can live for more than three weeks without food, but you likely
won’t make it much past three days without water. Granted, in a crisis,
some people have survived as long as 10 days without water, but their
ability to function will have been radically reduced after the third day. And
depending on your circumstances, in as few as 24 hours you could start
suffering the harsh effects of dehydration, particularly in a hot, dry, and
windy location such as the desert. First the migraines and headaches kick
in, followed by a rapid drop in energy. Now let’s see you get that fire going,
build that shelter, or make a bunch of scorpion traps!
After only 24 hours surviving in the Kalahari Desert, the lack of water
in my body brought on terrible headaches. On my fifth day there, with temperatures
in the sun and on the sand pushing 140.F (60.C), my water ran
out altogether. Over those five days, I had urinated only once, and that was
after having drunk a gallon (about 4 L) of water for each of the first four days.
On the fifth and sixth days, the few ounces I made by chewing plants and
distilling my own urine still didn’t suffice. Even the act of eating the plants
used up water in my system needed for digestion. The very act of chewing
in extremely hot weather used up energy I didn’t have to spare. Sometimes
doing nothing is better than trying something that doesn’t work.
Fortunately, I could walk out of the desert. But what if you can’t? Our
bodies need 2 to 3 quarts (2 to 3 L) of water each day. Throw in heat, cold,
stress, exertion, or diarrhea, and you need much more. To survive in the
wilderness you need to know how to find water, make water, and even prevent
your body from losing water.
One thing that people get hung up on with water (assuming they’re
lucky enough to find it) is whether it’s clean enough to drink. They aren’t
sure whether to drink it at all, for fear of getting sick. I go over this in
greater detail later in this chapter, but for now, learn this mantra: Drink,
drink, drink. You will die a lot faster from dehydration than from the
effects of drinking untreated water. In fact, in all but the rarest circumstances,
drinking untreated water won’t kill you. Even if you do contract
parasites, most of them won’t hit you for at least a week, if not longer.
Should you make it out alive, you can treat most of them (albeit with
powerful drugs).
stroud’s Tip
After drinking questionable water, crush up some
charcoal and place it in a rag. Strain water through the rag
and drink the black liquid. It can prevent stomach upset.
Make sure you use charcoal from nonpoisonous
wood sources!
And water in remote areas usually is safe to drink. Sure, if you’re
downstream from an African village or just outside a town that happens to
use the stream as its septic system, you’re probably going to ingest pathogens.
Then again, if you’re that close to civilization, you’re not in a survival
situation at all! I’ve been infected with giardia, a nasty parasite that wreaks
havoc on your bowels, after drinking from a seemingly pristine lake. I’ve
suffered horrible bowel cramps after drinking from a seemingly pristine
river. But I lived to tell the tales. And I haven’t died of dehydration.
I happen to be a huge fan of adventure races, events lasting anywhere
from eight hours to two weeks, where contestants bike, run, paddle,
and take on many other types of adventure travel through remote wilderness.
The first one who makes it to the finish line, even if it is a week later,
wins. During one such race, organizers had warned contestants not to
drink the water along the route without first treating it, for fear of ingesting
giardia.
The first stretch of the race was a slog through miles of thick bush
during the height of mosquito and blackfly season, with temperatures
cresting at 86.F (30.C). The race leaders took 24 hours to complete that
stage. Many other teams, including mine, took nearly twice that.
At the first checkpoint in the race, a station where you can stop,
check your time, and even eat a bit of food, most teams arrived looking
terrible and suffering from the dry heaves. Not mine, though. Why? At
every stream, river, or swamp—even the muddy ones—I forced myself
and them to drink, because I knew that otherwise, under those extreme
conditions, dehydration would soon shut us down. So when we finally
made it to the first checkpoint (even though we were one of the last
teams to get there), it was noted that we were in better shape than any
other team.
It seems all the other teams were scared to drink untreated water,
and none of them wanted to commit 15 minutes to treating their water
for fear of losing ground in the race. So they ran on, hurting themselves in
the process through dehydration. Not only did my team feel fine but none
of us got sick, even though we drank from dozens of streams and swamps
without filtering.
That said, never be cavalier about water. It is quite possible to drink
from contaminated water sources and within hours find yourself knocked
down from pain and diarrhea, only making your ordeal even worse. Your
best bet is to assume that all water is contaminated and to purify it if you
can do so.
But if your choice is between drinking untreated water or dying of
dehydration . . . drink.
Rationing and Preserving Water in Your Body
ALMOST AS IMPORTANT AS PROCURING WATER TO DRINK is the ability to preserve
the water stores in your body. The best way to do this is to minimize your
exertion, if at all possible. With this in mind, I have one simple rule from
my friend Dave Arama: If you don’t have to stand, sit; if you don’t have to
sit, lie down. You also lose more water when you talk than when you don’t,
and when you breathe through your mouth as opposed to your nose.
Of course, when you’re in a survival situation and trying to build a
shelter, gather food, find water, or just get out, you don’t have the luxury of
sitting around. Nevertheless, there are measures you can take to keep your
body’s water loss to a minimum.
First, although you will have to work, try to keep your workload to
a consistent level that minimizes perspiration. After all, through sweating,
one of your body’s primary methods of cooling itself, you lose moisture
through your pores. In hot, windy conditions, you may find yourself
tempted to strip down to all but the bare minimum of clothing. Don’t! One
of the fastest ways to have water sucked from your body is through convection:
those warm breezes will only serve to dehydrate you more. So wear
a loosefitting
shirt to slow the process, and get out of the wind if you can.
You also lose a fair bit of moisture through your head, so cover it to help
slow the loss of moisture, as long as you can do so without overheating.
What about rationing any water supplies you have on hand? Like
many topics I cover in this book, this one is bound to spark debate among
survivalists. Let’s say you have enough water to drink 8 ounces (237 ml) a
day for one week, but you think you may be on your own for two weeks.
You have a couple of choices: Drink the water in a week and hope you find
another primary water source in the meantime, or cut your daily intake
down to 4 ounces (118 ml) and stretch it out for two weeks.
Some survivalists argue that you’re better off drinking the 8 ounces a
day, thus keeping the water in your body and your organs fully hydrated. But
I believe that if you’re stuck for a long period of time and are unable to find
an ample water supply, having those 4 ounces every day can be an incredible
physical and psychological boost. Although I can’t prove that physiologically
this is the best strategy, personally I would opt for rationing.
stroud’s Tip
Make sure you have enough water for yourself, given the
situation. Make sure everyone in the group has enough water
for themselves. Repeat these two lines over and over!
Physiology
TOAPPRECIATE THEIMPORTANCEOFWATER FOROURWELLBEING,
let me remind
you that you should drink a minimum of a gallon (about 4 L) each day,
even if you’re sitting in the shade doing nothing. Water is constantly being
used by our bodies through normal processes such as breathing. Throw in
the extra stress of surviving in the wilderness—which may entail extreme
physical activity, perspiration, vomiting, diarrhea, and bleeding as a result
of injury—and you can see how the situation can become dire. Even digestion,
particularly after eating foods that are sweet or spicy, as well as those
high in salt or protein, uses up precious stores of water in our system.
From everything I’ve read, death by dehydration is horrible and painful.
In fact, you can start to feel the many adverse physical and mental
effects of dehydration after dropping your body’s water supply by as little
as 1 percent. In addition to the headaches I noted above, nausea, poor
judgment, and depression are all symptoms of dehydration, symptoms
you don’t want to be dealing with anytime, let alone when you’re trying to
survive in the wild.
Thirst is not a good indicator of your body’s need for water: you may not
notice when you need more. While surviving beside a lake in Canada’s boreal
forest during a heat wave, I forced myself to drink about 8 ounces (237 ml) of
water every hour, whether I felt thirsty or not. This simple act kept me feeling
refreshed and even helped mask the hunger pains I otherwise would have
suffered, as I had little food at the time. Oh, I was still hungry, but drinking
regularly, almost constantly, seemed to take away the pain.
So in a survival situation, setting a mandatory time to drink each
day, especially in the winter (when you don’t normally feel like drinking),
will help you get past your mind’s lack of attentiveness, itself another
symptom of dehydration. If you are not alone in your ordeal, then you
have the added responsibility (and sometimes advantage) of looking out
for the others in your group. The buddy system used by underwater divers
should be used in survival as well. Check others for red or pink skin
and excessive sweating, two sure signs of overheating. A dehydrated person
will often be slow, clumsy, or withdrawn, and show poor judgment (I
must have a lot of chronically dehydrated friends!). This simple test also
works well: pinch the skin on the back of the hand. If the pinched skin
returns very slowly—that is, does not “snap” back quickly—to its original
shape and form, the person is suffering from dehydration. Another sign
is urine color. Dark yellow indicates dehydration. And if you are not peeing
at all, you are not drinking enough water, period.
Some guidebooks distinguish between mild, moderate, and critical levels
of dehydration. Don’t get bogged down in semantics. Dehydration is a
quick killer and preventing it should remain among your highest priorities.
Finding and Collecting Water
REGARDLESS OF YOUR LOCATION, KEEP THIS IN MIND: Almost every environment
has water present to some degree. Your ability to survive will likely depend
on your ability to find and collect it. The more proficient you are at identifying
indicators of nearby water, the better off you’ll be.
I separate waterfinding
and watercollecting
methods into what I
call primary sources and lastditch
efforts. The amount of water the human
body needs to thrive is much more than what you can get by licking dew
off leaves or peeing in a hole and distilling the condensed water. If you are
going to make it out of the wilderness alive, you will need, often desperately,
to find a primary water source.
Locating Primary Water Sources
The best primary sources of water are those that flow. These include rivers,
streams, and creeks. If these aren’t available, you have to move on to
progressively more stagnant bodies of water. Lakes and ponds are the next
best primary sources, followed by swamps, marshes, fens, bogs, et cetera.
Snow, slush, and ice are also primary sources of water.
To locate a primary source, your best bet is to study the topography
of your surroundings. You need to understand the different indicators of
water around you and react to them.
Look at the water source you have found. Scan the shoreline or check
upstream for contaminants such as dead animals. The higher the altitude
of your source (such as a mountain stream), the purer the water. Remember
that even the sweetestsmelling
and freshestlooking
mountain streams
may have an upstream contaminant you can’t see.
Walk Downhill: There are subtle differences among regions, but walking
downhill is usually an effective strategy for locating water because it is a
sucker for gravity. Valley bottoms are great places to find water.
Observe Changes in Vegetation: Be on the lookout for changes in
vegetation, which may indicate availability of water. If you see a place
where vegetation is darker or denser than in the surrounding area, there’s
a good chance you’ll find water there, even if you have to dig for it.
Watch the Sky: Another small trick that I’ve often used in survival situations
(but it takes a seasoned eye) is to look for subtle changes in the color of the
sky. Typically, the sky directly over a source of water will look bluer than the
rest of the sky, reflecting the water source. And early in the morning, due
to moisture content and temperature differences, lowlying
clouds and fog
tend to congregate directly over a body of water.
Follow Animal Trails: Animals need water too, and their trails may lead
you to a lifegiving
source. If you see numerous game trails, they may even
make a formation, much like a series of veins (or like a river system on a
topographical map). Where the sections join and create a V, the point of the
V will indicate the direction of water. But be warned that following animal
trails can sometimes lead you nowhere.
Follow Birds: Birds congregate near water, and the direction of bird flight
in the early morning or late afternoon might indicate a source. Graineating
birds are never too far from water; when they fly straight and low
they are usually headed for water. But note that these are subtle indicators
and following them doesn’t guarantee you’ll find a source.
Bear in mind too that most wild creatures urinate and defecate in the
same place they drink. So once you’ve located a primary source of water,
move at least a couple hundred yards from the spot where the game trail
meets the water, preferably upstream. Giardia cysts tend to sit closer to the
surface of a lake, so if you can weigh a vessel down and send it to the lower
depths you have a better chance of retrieving uncontaminated water. A
weighted jar or can with a rope tied to it works well. Once you’re sure the
vessel is full of lowerlevel
water, pull it up quickly to minimize the amount
of surface water that gets in.
Track Insects: If you see insects (especially bees or ants) going into a hole
in a tree, there may be water in the hole. Plastic tubing can be used to
siphon the water, or a cloth can be stuffed in the hole to absorb it. The
presence of swarming insects also indicates that water is near. Bees are
never more than a few miles from a water source, although they have
irregular watering times.
Use Ice, Snow, and Slush: If you find yourself trying to stay alive in a part
of the world or during a season of the year when ice, snow, and slush are
present, you have a good source of water at your fingertips, particularly
if you are able to make fire. As with many aspects of survival strategy,
however, opinions about eating ice, snow, and slush are subject to debate;
mine don’t jibe with the prevailing sentiment.
Many instructors will tell you that you should avoid eating snow,
largely because it will reduce the temperature of your body, which will then
consume precious energy during warming. This is true, but given the vital
role that water plays in survival, I believe the opposite. Eating snow and
ice will cool your body down and may slightly abrade the inside of your
mouth. But if it’s the morning and you’re working hard to assure other
aspects of your survival, eating snow can help to maintain an optimal body
temperature. And the fact is, you need that liquid.
You have to be careful about eating ice and snow later in the day,
though, when you’re tired and the air is cooling off. Eating snow when
your defenses are down can do you more harm than good. This applies
not just in the dead of winter, but in springtime too—anytime you are
eating snow.
The ideal is to be able to melt the ice and snow and even heat it
before you drink it. If I don’t have a fire available, I like to fill a water
bottle (or similar vessel, or even a Ziploc bag) with snow, and slip it inside
my clothing during the day while I work or in my sleeping bag (not
touching my body) at night while I sleep. It takes a while for the first bit
to melt, but once that’s done, the rest melts quickly. If I can manage to
do this overnight without chilling myself, it’s great to wake up to find the
water melted and ready to drink.
Water from snow (or rain, for that matter) is very low in salt and
minerals, which we need to survive. But that is a longerterm
concern
that should not affect your decision to eat snow, if you need to, during a
survival ordeal. Add edible plants and grasses to your melting pot to help
supplement these missing nutrients.
LastDitch
Water Sources
If you have exerted your best efforts to find a primary source of water and
have come up empty, you need to turn to lastditch
water sources, those
that may not keep you thriving but will at least keep you alive for a while.
Collect Rain: Most of us have heard about the ravages of acid rain, but
this isn’t a concern when it comes to survival: you can drink rainwater
anywhere on earth. To harvest enough to keep yourself going, you need
to use as big a catchment area as possible and contain the water in some
sort of receptacle. If you don’t have a suitable container on hand, dig a
hole in the ground. This should hold water for a while, but you will need
to line it with clay, plastic, or some other impermeable material, and keep
it covered.
Collect Dew: Heavy dew has been known to provide water for wilderness
survivors, and there are various ways to procure it.
If you find yourself in an area of long grass, heavy with morning
dew, you can make like native Australians and tie rags or tufts of fine grass
around your ankles while walking through the dewcovered
grass. As the
rags or grass tufts absorb the dew, wring the water into a container. Don’t
underestimate the effectiveness of this procedure! It is surprising how much
you can get. If there’s no long grass in the area, the only source of dew you’ll
have is on leaves, which you can lick. Here you’ll run a significant risk, however:
some leaves contain oils or toxins that might aggravate your system or
cause diarrhea, resulting in you feeling worse than when you started.
them up and wring them out.
stroud’s Tip
My friend and survival companion Allan “Bow”
Beauchamp has a couple of unique watercollection
methods that are very effective: Moss cups can collect large
amounts of rainwater. Here’s what to do. Cut a large square sheet of
green moss and lay this on the ground mossside
up, or, bestcase
scenario, right on a flat rock. Then, using rocks and dirt, bank up
the sides of the moss sheet until you have what looks like a square
moss “cup.” Using one large piece is the best and will retain the
most water. You can also collect punky wood and leave it out on the
ground for the night. When you wake up in the morning you’ll find
that dew will have settled in these dry pieces of wood. Simply pick
Make a Vegetation Still: Vegetation stills can be used in many parts of
the world and require only a few simple components, though collecting
the water does demand patience. It can take as long as 24 hours to obtain
up to 1 quart (1 L) of water, and that’s under ideal conditions.
You will need some green, leafy vegetation—gathered from trees,
bushes, shrubs, or grasses—along with a clear plastic bag and a small rock.
Choose a sunny location with a slope on which to place the still, and follow
these steps:
Fill the bag with air by turning the open end into the breeze or by “scooping”
air into it.
Remove from your gathered vegetation any sticks or spines that might
puncture the bag. Fill the bag half to threequarters
full of the vegetation (or
tie the bag onto the end of a branch). Do not use poisonous plants; they will
produce poisonous liquid.
Place a small rock in the bag to weigh it down.
If you have a piece of tubing, a small straw, or a hollow reed, insert one end into
the mouth of the bag before closing (remember to tie off or plug the tubing
so that air will not escape). This will allow you to drink the condensed water
without untying the bag. Then tie the bag securely shut as close to the end as
possible; it’s important to maximize the amount of air space in the bag.
Place the bag on a slope in full sunlight. The mouth of the bag should be
positioned higher than the base of the bag (which contains the rock), to keep
the bag from slipping or blowing away and to keep the water dripping to the
lowest point.
To drink: If you don’t have a tube to draw the condensed water from the still,
loosen the tie around the bag’s mouth and drain. Retie the mouth securely
and reposition the still to allow further condensation.
Change the vegetation in the bag after extracting most of the water from it, to
ensure a regular supply of water.
If you can’t fill a bag with vegetation, tying it to the end of a branch with lots of leaves
will do the trick. Just make sure it’s in a sunny spot. If this tree had been poisonous, the
water it produced could also have been poisonous. Don’t take chances unless you’re sure
of the source tree or bush.
Make a Solar Still: I’m always leery of survival skills that require the
effort of digging a hole. Nevertheless, the solar still can be an effective
method of collecting water, particularly in a very dry location such
as a desert. To make a solar still, however, you need four components: a
sunny spot, a receptacle in which to catch the water, a clear plastic sheet
approximately 6 square feet (.5 m2), and some type of weight to place
on top of the plastic. You’ll also need to dig a hole, so a shovel or trowel
would be useful.
You can build a solar still without digging a hole if you are lucky
enough to have a large container like a barrel. When surviving on a small
tropical island off the coast of Belize, I had at my disposal one half of the
large plastic container that my life raft had come in. Using this container
saved me a great deal of digging.
Solar stills can take a couple of hours (or more) to make, and their
yield is not very high. How much you get depends largely on the ambient
temperature, the types of vegetation you include, and access to direct sun.
A still such as this may produce water for two to four days depending on
the moisture content of the soil or sand itself, and must be moved every so
often. The added bonus, however, is that the outside of it also serves as a
great dew or rain-catch. You’ll likely need at least three solar stills to meet
your daily water-consumption needs.
Here are the steps for building a solar still:
Select a sunny site where you believe the soil contains the most moisture. The
lower and damper the spot, the better.
Dig a bowl-shaped hole about 3 feet (1 m) around and 2 feet (.5 m) deep.
If possible, fill the hole with non-poisonous vegetation. Pour salt water, water
contaminated with bacteria or urine into and onto the sides of the hole.
Place your collecting receptacle (the wider the better) at the bottom of the
hole, preferably in its own small hole. Do not let any impure water, salt water
or urine get in the receptacle (cup).
If you are lucky enough to have a drinking tube (or can fashion one out of
available materials), settle it into the receptacle and stretch it out so that it
terminates above ground. The tube allows you to step up to the still and drink
from it without disturbing it.
Cover the hole with the plastic sheet; the sheet should be anchored around
its perimeter with rocks or other heavy objects. Place a small rock or other
weighted object in the center of the plastic sheet, ensuring that the lowest
point of the sheet is now directly above the receptacle.
The idea behind a solar still is that solar energy heats the air, soil, and
vegetation (if available) in the hole by passing through the plastic sheet.
Moisture from the soil—all soil has moisture—evaporates and condenses
on the low point in the plastic. Added vegetation (nonpoisonous!),
such as
leaves, grasses, or seaweed, can help speed up the process, and since solar
stills also purify water, the condensed water that collects on the underside
of the sheet will be fit to drink.
Creating a Solar Still
1. A lastditch
watermaking
method, the solar still can
produce and purify enough
water to keep you going for
a while. Place a receptacle in
the middle of a vegetationlined
hole.
2. Put a plastic sheet on top of
the hole, with a stone over
the receptacle. The receptacle
under the plastic catches and
collects the droplets that condense
from the vegetation.
Water from Plants
The Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert live where heat extremes are a part of
life. In adapting to this harsh climate, they have mastered the art of extracting
water from plants. They are able to travel long distances, seeking out
roots along the way, which they cut into chunks and mash. The water they
squeeze out and drink helps to replenish them.
The Bushmen know that where there is vegetation, they can find
water. But in most cases, the process is painfully slow and produces only
enough liquid to wet the mouth. What’s more, for you or me to be able to
locate and correctly identify a waterbearing
root or plant requires instruction
from a local expert. Even then, the chances of finding one of these
plants are slim, making it not worth the effort for most people.
Despite my hesitation about relying on plant innards to provide
water, there are a few notable exceptions to the rule. Green bamboo is an
excellent source of clear, odorless water. Simply bend the green bamboo
stalk, tie it down, and cut off the top. Water will drip from the stalk during
the night into a waiting receptacle.
Reaching into a rotted birch tree, pulling out the wet, spongy and
punky wood and squeezing it in your hands can also produce water.
Banana or plantain trees provide water too, if you have a tool to cut one
down. Chop down the tree, leaving a stump about 12 inches (30 cm) high.
Make a bowlshaped
depression by scooping out the center of the stump;
water from the roots will immediately start to fill the hollow. The first few
fillings will be bitter, but the rest should be palatable. The stump will supply
water for a few days.
Vines can be a good source of water if you can properly identify them.
(Poison ivy and moonseed are both poisonous vines, and they’re found not
just in tropical jungles but elsewhere.) The most water I’ve ever found in a
plant came from a water vine I discovered when I was surviving for a week
in the swamps of Georgia.
To extract water from a vine, cut a notch as high as you can reach.
Make sure this is the first cut; if you cut the bottom first, the water will
recede with capillary action. Next, cut the vine off close to the ground. Catch
the liquid dropping from the cut vine in a container or in your mouth. When
in the Georgian swamps I simply cut one end of the vine, let it drip for hours
into a can, and ended up with fresh clear water (and a few swimming ants).
Some plants, such as the pitcher plant in northern Ontario, act as
natural receptacles, catching water in their cupshaped
cavities. But again,
you must have had onsite
instruction in plant identification to be sure you
are collecting water from nonpoisonous
plants.
The milk from unripe (green) coconuts will also provide your body
with muchneeded
liquid, though it’s not water. While you may survive for
some time on milk from mature coconuts, note that these contain an oil
that acts as a laxative. However, I’ve survived primarily on coconut water
mixed with rainwater for a week in two separate tropical locations without
any ill effects.
The following trees (most of which are found in tropical locations)
can also provide water:
Palms, such as buri, coconut, sugar, rattan, and nips, contain a sugary,
drinkable liquid. If you bruise a lower frond and pull it down, the tree will
excrete liquid at the site of the injury. Cut another slice every 12 hours to renew
the flow.
The Baobab tree, which is found in the sandy plains of northern Australia and
Africa, collects water during the wet season in its bottlelike
trunk. Water can
occasionally be found in these trees even after weeks of dry weather.
Some of the trees in the banana family can hold up to 2 quarts (2 L) of water
at the base of the chevron of their leaf stalks (where the leaves attach to the
trunk).
Water from a Well
Remember when you were a kid at the beach and you dug a hole so deep
that water eventually started seeping through the walls of your creation?
Well, you can use this method to procure fresh water in a survival situation.
(If you’re going to the effort of digging a hole, however, and have the
necessary hardware on hand, you’d be better off making a solar still.)
I have dug for water in many places, often to no avail, but was successful
when surviving in the plains and forested regions of northern
South Africa. There, I found a mudhole
contaminated by wild boar feces
and urine. I moved a short distance downstream of the mudhole
and
dug a small hole in the soft sand. Within a short time I had a hole full of
water—muddy, but free of animal feces and bacterial pollutants.
You will need to dig a hole deep enough to allow the water to seep in.
How quickly it enters the hole will depend on how deep you dig and the
concentration of water in the soil. Once seepage begins, use a rag to absorb
the fluid, then wring it into your mouth or into a container. You may find
water
wherever green vegetation is found
wherever damp surface sand is found
in valleys and other lowlying
areas
at the foot of the concave banks of dry riverbeds
at the foot of cliffs or rocky outcroppings
in the first depression behind the first sand dune of dry desert lakes
Dig in a dry riverbed like this one and you may find water.
What a difference a storm makes! This riverbed was bone dry but suddenly started flowing
as a result of faraway rains.
Water from Rocks
No, this is not a misprint! Believe it or not, rocks can be good (though
inconsistent) sources of water, even in extraordinarily dry regions such as
the desert. Depressions, holes, or fissures in rocks may collect water during
rainfall. Any kind of flexible tubing can be used to suck the water from
these difficulttoreach
spaces. Some types of porous rock may even act
like sponges, soaking up water during a rainfall. You can get the water by
inserting flexible tubing into a crack or hole in the rock. But bear in mind
that every rodent in the area will also drink from—and likely urinate or
defecate in or near—this same water. So if you can collect the water and
boil it, you’re better off. Wiping the dew off rocks in the morning with
grass or cloth is another method of obtaining water from rocks.
Water from Animals
Fish usually contain a drinkable fluid, although you have to be careful.
Large fish in particular will have a reservoir of water along the spine. You
don’t want to drink the juice from the flesh, however, as it is very rich in
protein, and digesting it actually depletes (rather than replenishes) your
body’s water stores.
Gross though it may seem, animal eyeballs contain water. Extract it
by cutting a small slice in the eyeball and sucking it.
Water from Urine
Few survival issues cause as much controversy as this one.
Some people are huge proponents of drinking urine—even in non-
survival situations! Urine therapy has been used in various cultures for
millennia. This therapy involves drinking urine or massaging it into one’s
skin for medicinal or cosmetic purposes. During the Renaissance, some
people even used urine to clean their teeth.
My feelings on drinking urine? Don’t do it! The primary dangers
come from its salt and toxin content (the same dangers apply to drinking
salty ocean water). The salt content (about 2 percent) tends to cause
further dehydration, so it’s a case of one step forward and two steps
back. Urine also contains metabolic waste by-products, such as formaldehyde,
ammonia, and dissolved heavy metals. The less diluted it is, the
greater the concentration of the by-products you’ll be ingesting. There
are numerous documented cases of people dying from drinking their
own urine.
If any case, if you’re already dehydrated, you’ll produce little urine.
When I was surviving in the Kalahari Desert, the one time I did pee during
the week, I produced very little and it was a disgusting yellow-brown color.
A safer option than drinking your urine is using a solar still, as described
previously, to distill your urine.
Purifying and Filtering Water
THERE IS ONE HARD AND FAST RULE regarding water purification and filtration:
If you have the ability and energy to do it, do it.
86 | Survive!
containers on hand:
them horizontal in the sun. Cover the clean container with some
sand or soil and leave the contaminated container exposed to the
stroud’s Tip
Here is a neat trick developed by survival expert Allan
“Bow” Beauchamp, assuming you’re lucky enough to
have two large plastic bottles (like a Pepsi bottle) or similar
“Fill one bottle onequarter
full with urine. Tape the mouth
of this container to the mouth of the second container. Now lay
sun. The contaminated container will heat up, causing evaporation.
Moisture will migrate into the previously empty, clean container,
leaving the residual waste behind.”
As I mention above, rainwater collected in clean containers or from
nonpoisonous
plants is safe for drinking. You should, however, purify water
from all other sources. The quickest and easiest way to do so is with water
purification tablets, iodine, or chlorine. If using iodine, which has been
shown in medical experiments to be more effective than chlorine, mix no
more than five drops per quart (liter) of water. Shake well and let the water
stand for 30 minutes before drinking. Two drops of chlorine bleach is sufficient
for a quart of water.
Note that these quantities are for relatively clean water. If you’re using
water that you suspect is contaminated, double the amounts suggested here.
You should also increase the amount of time that the water sits before drinking,
to give the agents time to kill any microorganisms.
Since it’s unlikely that you’ll have any of these items on hand, you’ll
probably have to revert to the old standby: boiling. You should boil water
for five minutes to ensure you kill all possible harmful pathogens. Some
people say you can get away with as little as one minute of boiling at sea
level, adding one minute for each additional 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea
level. Note that boiling will not neutralize chemical pollutants.
In both Africa and Alaska, I was able to bring water to a boil in plastic
and glass bottles. The method is simple and is best accomplished if you
have a rope and some long branches. Follow these steps:
Your plastic bottle will become black and misshapen but should not melt through, if you
are careful.
Make a tripod by propping three similarsized
sticks together.
Tie the rope to the top of the bottle using a clove hitch.
Suspend the waterfilled
bottle above a fire so that the flames lick the bottle
without completely engulfing it or going above the waterline. Boiling water
over hot coals minimizes the risk that your bottle will melt, although this can
still happen if the bottle gets too close to the coals. Heat until the water boils;
you do not want to overheat the bottle so that it breaks or melts.
I suspect some fairly nasty chemicals are released when a common water
bottle is heated this way, but I would rather take my chances with them than
with the parasites.
Filtration without a highquality,
storebought
filter is not as ideal
as purification because filtration likely won’t remove harmful microorganisms
from the water. What filtration will do is remove larger matter
such as dirt and sediment, sticks, leaves, and any bugs or critters
living in the water.
The simplest way of filtering or clearing stagnant, foulsmelling
water is to place it in a container and let it stand for 12 hours or so. There
are several, more active methods of filtering; most involve letting the
water flow through layers of different types of material such as pebbles,
sand, cloth, and charcoal. You can layer these materials over a receptacle
with openings at either end, such as a piece of bamboo or hollow log.
Construct your filter so that the water passes through successively
less porous layers of filtering material over a receptacle. A typical filter
might begin with pebbles or stones, followed by sand, cloth, and then
crushed charcoal (not ash), which is by far the best filtering medium available.
As with most filtering systems, the water will become progressively
clearer the more you filter it.
RegionSpecific
Water Considerations
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Searching for a primary source of water should be your main goal, but in
the world’s drier places there’s less chance of finding one. For this reason,
you’re likely limited to creating stills and ground wells to collect water.
A prevailing thought is that your best bet for finding water in arid
regions is to look in valley basins or at the bases of sand dunes. But knowledge
of your particular locale may tell you something different. When I
was in the Kalahari Desert, I learned that the best place to find water was
not at the bottom of the sand dunes but rather at the top. The hills there
act like wicking agents and actually draw the water from the ground up.
So it made more sense for me to look for plants (which had water in their
roots) near the tops of the dunes rather than between dunes, where the
only thing growing was brittle grass.
Given the sometimes radical temperature variations that can occur
in these areas, you also might be lucky enough to find condensation on
metal surfaces in the morning. Use a rag to absorb the water, then wring
the water out into an appropriate receptacle.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
These areas have primary water sources in abundance. Follow game trails
to valley bottoms or use topographic indicators to locate streams, rivers, or
lakes. Watch out for stagnant and still water, or areas potentially contaminated
with animal feces such as those close to beaver dams.
The Arctic and Polar Regions (cold weather season)
Winter is the toughest time to convince people to keep rehydrating. It’s cold—
who feels like drinking cold water as well? Yet I have always found that I am in
much more need of drinking on winter treks than in tropical locations.
There are a number of reasons for this. Often your exertion level is
higher: walking in snowshoes or deep snow takes lots of energy. And when
it’s cold, the very dry ambient air sucks the moisture out of you in much
the same way that the desert wind does. I eat snow constantly while I work
and travel outside in the winter. Clear and regular urination is the reward,
indicating to me that I am properly hydrated. Dehydration in cold conditions
also hastens chilling, substantially increasing your risk of hypothermia
and frostbite.
Luckily, you are surrounded by all the water you need, thought it’s in an
altered physical state. Melting it is your goal, but if that is not an option, eat
snow and ice, particularly in the morning or while you’re working hard.
Slush is best for melting because it’s mostly water anyway, followed
by ice, which is denser than snow, and then snow. If you’re melting snow,
pack as much into your pot as possible. Always retain some water in the
pot, as it will make your next melting session much easier.
If you’re not lucky enough to have a pot on hand, there are other
(though slower) methods. You can improvise a sack from an item of clothing
or other fabric. Fill the sack with slush, ice, or snow and suspend it near
your fire. Place a receptacle under the sack to catch the drippings.
Another technique is to place ice or packed snow on a rock over a fire.
Hold the ice in place with small stones or other heavy objects and tilt the rock
slightly to let the melted water run off. Collect the drippings in a receptacle.
It is also possible to spread snow out on a dark sheet (such as a tarp
or garbage bag), and let it melt in the sun and then drip into a container
or a depression made in the sheet. This requires the right air temperature,
however—not too far below freezing—and a spot protected from
chilling winds. You can also use a piece of coiled birch bark and small hot
stones to melt snow into liquid, or even warm it for drinking.
If you need to collect sea ice, it’s important to know the difference
between new sea ice, which is essentially frozen, salty sea water, and old
sea ice, which is a remnant of a glacier that has calved off and is therefore
fresh water. New ice is milky or gray in color, does not break easily, has
sharp edges, and tastes extremely salty. Old ice, on the other hand, is a
distinctive blue or black, shatters easily, has rounded corners, and tastes
relatively free of salt. You can lick the salty ice once a day, however, to
satisfy your body’s need for that nutrient.
On the Sea or Open Water
Having spent a week surviving in a life raft in the Caribbean Ocean, I
understand how difficult it can be to obtain fresh water. Yet for all that
I experienced during my week adrift, it was nothing compared to the 38
days that Dougal Robertson, his wife, Linda, and their children endured in
1972 when their boat sank after being rammed by a pod of killer whales
200 miles (322 km) from the Galapagos Islands.
The Robertsons used their ingenuity and intense will to live to survive
for five and a half weeks on the open sea. They caught rainwater in the
canopy of their dinghy. When the water became dirty and contaminated
from the paint peeling off their raft canopy, Linda resorted to administering
water enemas to her family with a plastic bottle, which allowed them
to absorb it without actually ingesting the contaminants.
Rainwater is an important source of water when you’re at sea. Maximize
the area in which you’re catching it, and ensure that your catchment
system is clean. Wipe off all encrusted salt with sea water just before it
rains. Rainwater is relatively clean and safe to drink (though not completely
free of pollutants), so it would be a shame to contaminate it by
catching it in a dirty receptacle. You can also use rags to collect dew and
condensation from your boat.
When you’re on the open sea, you can readily obtain drinking water
from salt water by using a storebought
still or, provided you have the
materials, to make an aboveground
solar still. To do so, follow the instructions
earlier in this chapter but use a large receptacle such as a bucket
instead of a hole.
Jungles
Procuring water usually is not an issue in the jungle, as these tend to be
extremely rainy places. Locating a primary water source should not be a
problem, and harvesting rainwater is also an option.
In the Amazon rain forest, I found that the feeder streams to the
rivers were better than the rivers themselves, which were subject to huge
variations in height, volume, and turbidity. Rivers in these areas can rise by
10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m) not long after heavy rainfalls, and turn the color of
chocolate milk with all the mud and dirt they’re carrying. Feeder streams
are cleaner and less variable.
Plants, particularly water vines, and bamboo, banana, and plantain
trees, can also be an excellent source of water.
Coastal Regions
If you’re stuck on a beach and have no primary water source available, you
can get a good supply from the ground itself by digging a beach well. Walk
well back from the ocean’s edge. When you reach the base of the back of
the first dune, begin digging. The water you obtain here should be sufficiently
filtered by the sand to desalinate it, especially the top few inches.
Should the water still be salty, you can desalinate it yourself, although
the process takes a lot of energy. Build a fire and place rocks in it to heat
them. Drop the hot rocks in the water still to create steam, and catch the
steam in a cloth held over the hole. The desalinated water can then be
wrung from the cloth.
Here’s an easier way to find fresh water on the coast: when the tide is
out, look for small rivulets making their way to the sea. These may indicate
a freshwater stream just above the lowtide
line.
Swamps
Though most people find it hard to believe, I don’t have a problem drinking
unpurified swamp water in North America. It’s not as clean and refreshing
as water from a mountain stream, but it will keep you alive, and that,
after all, is the goal. Clearly, filtering and purifying is recommended, but
if you don’t have that capability, as I’ve said before, better to drink than
dehydrate.
The obvious issue with swamps and bogs is that the water tends to
be slow moving and full of muck. But this doesn’t necessarily mean it contains
parasites. On the contrary, I’ve drunk water from a clear river that
wreaked havoc on my gastrointestinal system and I’ve drunk water from
swamps with no ill effects.
Obviously, you want to filter swamp water as best you can, to minimize
the sediment and dirt you’re ingesting. At a minimum, you should
let it sit for 12 hours, so that the heavier stuff settles.
If you follow a game trail to a swamp, it’s especially important that
you collect your water a good distance away from where the animals congregate
and do their business.
As I mentioned in the Coastal Regions section, you can also use the
earth to filter swamp water by digging a pit about 50 feet (15 m) from the
edge of the swamp. The water that fills your pit may still require filtration,
but it should be cleaner than swamp water.
Mountains
Mountains are good sources of water, especially in temperate climates.
Depending on the season, snow and ice may be available for melting or
eating. Snow lingers long into the summer at higher altitudes, particularly
on north-facing slopes and in hollows.
Water courses are fairly obvious on mountains, so it shouldn’t take
more than a few moments of surveying the topography for you to determine
places where there’s a regular flow. Look for deep fissures and valleys
in mountainsides where water accumulates after precipitation. And if all else
fails, follow the mountain down to the nearest valley where you’ll increase
your chances of finding water.
On mountains, water often collects in deep fissures and valleys such as this one. Here,
I’m drinking straight from the source.
I
will never forget the first time I was surviving in a forest
and made a fire using only what I could find. Before the trek, I had
been practicing with the firebow
method and some cedar in my basement,
but when I needed cedar on the trip, I couldn’t find any. So considering
the characteristics of cedar, I chose another semisoft
wood for the
baseboard and spindle of my fire bow: poplar.
As the first gentle column of smoke wafted up from the wood, I felt
euphoric. It was a pivotal moment for me, and I realized that no matter
how bad a situation I might find myself in, I could always make it better
because I could make fire without traditional firestarting
devices such as
matches or lighters. Over the years, the impact of that day hasn’t diminished
one bit. Once I learned how to make fire without matches, my confidence
in my ability to survive in the wilderness jumped tenfold.
Fire does so much more than keep you warm. With fire you can signal
for rescue, purify your water and cook your food, you can have light,
make tools, and keep away the bogeyman. In short, the ability to make and
maintain a fire is a huge advantage for your survival.
In some areas fire plays a bigger role as a psychological boost than
as a physical one. In the jungle, you don’t need a fire for heat, and possibly
not even for food preparation, because you can eat fruit. But a fire will
keep away the jaguar more effectively than just about anything else, and
that goes a long way toward making you safe. The Waorani of the Amazon
jungle never let their fires die. And for good reason: try making a fire after
it has rained for six straight hours (and that’s during the dry season!).
For me, fire is like a child that needs to be protected, respected, cared
for, and ultimately, loved and appreciated. I can’t count all the nights I have
huddled in the dead of winter over a little fire in a claustrophobic shelter
surrounded by snow, warming just enough of my face and hands to keep
the chill away.
Many matters of wilderness survival are controversial, however, and
fire is no exception. For example, two different survival experts I had the
privilege of studying with in Africa held opposing views on the use of fire
in lion territories. One felt that fire attracted lions; the other felt it served
as a repellent.
Here is the perspective of my friend and survival crony Douw Kruger:
During a survival course for air force pilots, I was leading three groups
of eight people in the bush. They were instructed to build proper
shelters to protect against lions and hyenas. During my inspection I
found that the last group had put only small branches without thorns
around their shelter. It was almost dark and too late to gather proper
branches.
That night a group of young lions was walking on the road about
100 yards (90 m) away and must have seen the fire. They approached
and found seven humans sleeping on the ground and one (the night
watch) sleeping against a tree, all within a shelter designed at best to
keep out housecats.
When the first lion pushed his head through the branches, the
watch awoke and the excitement began! The pilots kept the lions at bay
by hitting with sticks or throwing rocks. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Needless to say, the next night their shelter was so well constructed
that not even an elephant could penetrate it!
Fire is a part of nature, so animals are used to it. Big wildfires
might scare them, but a small, stationary fire will not. In fact, it may
make them curious and draw them to investigate. The reason fire makes
you feel safe is that you can see what is going on around you and you
have some burning wood to use as a weapon if necessary. But the
downside of a fire is that it makes you visible from a long distance.
In the end, I did opt for a fire in the middle of lion territory, primarily
because too many years of using fire for comfort won out. For me, it seemed
to be the right choice. I needed the psychological boost, and I wanted to cook
the freshwater crab I had caught. However, I stayed up all night listening to
growls in the distance. I would learn later that lions had made a kill about 500
yards (457 m) from my shelter that night. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss!
Fire is very, very important. I will put up with many deprivations in a
survival situation, but please don’t ask me to go without fire.
Select Your Site Carefully
INMYFAVORITEMOVIE OFALLTIME, Jeremiah Johnson, the title character
(played by Robert Redford) struggles to start a fire with a piece of flint,
some charred cloth, and a steel striker. Huddled down in the snow with the
wind whipping furiously, he finally gets his spark to take and then blows
the ember into a small flame, only to have a big clump of snow fall from
the branches above and put it out!
That’s why the first step in the firemaking
journey is to choose an
appropriate location. We can all anticipate the risks associated with having
a fire inside our shelter (although, you can do it, provided you’re smart
about it), but other risks are often ignored.
Your fire should be sheltered from the wind, rain, or snow. Make sure
you have lots of firewood or flammable material close at hand (but not so
close that it could lead to a forest fire or could fall on you and cause injury).
Large boulders work well as protection against the elements: they not only
act as a windbreak but also absorb the fire’s heat and reflect it back at you.
Make sure you don’t pick a low spot that will fill with water if it starts
raining. Choose a place that seems dry relative to the surrounding area,
since a fire draws moisture from the ground beneath it as it burns. If the
ground is really wet, your fire won’t even get going.
Always consider safety when it comes to fire, which can spread in
ways you might not expect. A root can burn underground for many yards,
allowing a fire to pop up elsewhere, developing into a fullblown
forest
fire, sometimes even a year later. Overhanging dry leaves can catch easily
and start a forest fire.
tricks is to build the fire
provides additional fuel
stroud’s Tip
If the ground is wet
and covered with snow,
one of my fire-saving
on a platform of wood,
even if it’s rotten. This
protects my fire from
the moisture below and
when the fire gets going.
Consider the flow of oxygen as well. Oxygen is a critical component
of fire, and if you build your fire too deep in the ground or shelter it too
much, it may not get the oxygen it needs. You’ll waste a lot of time and
energy if you have to keep it going by blowing on it.
What Type of Fire Should You Make?
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF FIRE: the small one that protects you from the
elements (and that you may even keep inside your shelter), and the big,
conspicuous fire that also acts as a signal for possible rescue (provided
you have enough fuel to keep it going). Keeping both alight simultaneously
may be difficult, especially if you need to spend time seeing to other
aspects of your survival.
In fact, keeping just one fire going at all times can be a challenge,
and your ability to do so depends on the amount of firewood available.
But if you have enough wood, then you should never let your fire die out.
It’s what all forest-dwelling and primitive peoples did, and I figure they
must’ve known a thing or two about survival.
If you build a small fire inside your shelter, you must stay in there with
it. So the trick is to maintain the big fire outside and then bring it inside
when it rains or you are bedding down for the night. Most adventurers keep
If you can master the skill of making a small fire right outside your shelter, you’ll keep
the heat inside with you. It makes your survival experience not only more comfortable,
but also comforting.
their fire right outside their shelter, then crawl into the shelter to sleep (only
to wake up to a cold or rain-doused pile of ashes the next morning).
All of the same rules of site selection apply when making a fire
inside your shelter, but there are additional considerations. Oxygen
supply is one. You defeat the purpose of having a fire inside if you have
to keep your shelter open to the chilly air in order to feed the fire the
oxygen it needs.
Be careful not to make your fire in a shelter built against a rock
with a big overhang. On one survival course, a young couple did just
that. The fire heated the rock to the point that a Volkswagen-sized chunk
cracked off. Had they been in the shelter at the time, they would have
been crushed. I couldn’t stop thinking about this story when I was surviving
in the Utah Canyonlands inside a tiny cave, fire by my head and
thousands of tons of canyon rock above me. If you find yourself in a
similar situation, make sure that there is at least 4 feet (1.2 m) of distance
between the top of your flames and the rock overhead.
Butch Cassidy and his “Wild Bunch” hid from the law in these same Utah caves.
Perhaps the most serious risk with an inside fire is that you might
burn your shelter. I’ve made hundreds of inside fires, and for many years
I’ve never had a problem. But once, on the coast of Alaska, I awoke one
morning to find several-foot-high flames reaching up through my shelter’s
driftwood roof. Had I not been only feet from the ocean, the whole shelter
would’ve burned down.
Driftwood made a great shelter on the Alaskan coast, but nearly burned down when my
inside fire grew too big.
Making a Chimney
1. Smoke inhalation is an issue with an
inside fire, so make sure your smoke
2. Constructing a chimney tunnel with a
direct route to your flames will feed air to
can escape through a chimney. your fire without cooling you down.
3. This birch bark vent allows air to circu-4. Your shelter will be warm from the fire
late from outside of the shelter right to and the chimney will allow oxygen to
your interior fire. circulate to keep the fire going.
In any survival situation you should make the biggest, hottest fire possible,
provided you build it safely and have plenty of fuel. I have spent many
cold and unpleasant nights huddled by a tiny fire trying to keep warm—but
only when I didn’t have a choice. Don’t waste your time thinking small when
you can go big: a big fire will kick the chill right out of you.
An emergency is no time to wax environmental and worry that you’re
burning too many trees. And the advantage of making a massive fire is that
once it gets going, you can burn almost anything, including big, punky
logs that smolder forever, which means you can reserve small, dry wood
for kindling.
During my plane crash survival experience in northern Ontario, I
made a fire that was eventually about 6 feet (1.8 m) long and 4 feet (1.2 m)
high. With a blaze that big and so much heat being generated, I was able to
sit against a nearby tree and fall asleep in the middle of a cold and snowy
winter—without a shelter! There’s little risk of waking up to find a fire this
size cold and dead, and in any case, the mounds of redhot
coals sitting
there can easily be used to get it going again.
The other benefit of a big fire over a small one is that it takes much
more rain or snow to put it out. I’ve had fires going that were so hot they
continued to burn right through a downpour.
Believe it or not, a big fire requires less work and effort to maintain
than a small one. You simply need to add a few large pieces of wood every
once in a while to keep it roaring along. With a small fire, you’ll burn all the
small branches in the area to constantly feed its flames, and you’ll spend a
significant amount of your time and energy finding and collecting these
branches. On top of this, if you need to leave the fire for a while, you run
a real risk of it going out while you’re gone.
A pilot friend of mine once found himself stranded on a beach covered
with driftwood. He made a massive blaze that kept him warm until
rescue. It was the right thing to do.
Preparation
THE GREATEST ENEMY OF A SUCCESSFUL FIRE is your impatience. It is vital that
you are diligent in preparing your fire, though it may seem tedious.
104 | Survive!
An important aspect of fire preparation—especially if you’re using one
of the lastditch
efforts I describe later in this chapter—is making sure you
have enough fuel before you produce a glowing ember or a small flame. You
don’t want to get to the point where you have a flame, only to discover that
you don’t have any tinder or kindling to add to it. This is one of the most frustrating
things that can happen in the wilderness, and it happens all the time.
A strategy I use with my survival students is to have them gather as
much wood as they think they need for the night. Once they’re finished,
and without looking at their pile, I tell them to get five times the amount
they just collected. Even after they have done that, many of them run out of
firewood before morning. It may sound like an exaggeration but it’s true:
most people misjudge their firewood needs by a ratio of five to one.
And don’t take for granted the fact that you have a primary firestarting
method such as a lighter or matches, either. What if your lighter
breaks or your matches get wet? Now the fire you’ve just started may be
the only fire you will ever light. Do not let it die just because you don’t have
enough fuel available.
A big, dry tinder bundle is the key to success, followed by lots of dry
kindling and lots of dry (and if possible, split) wood. You also need to make
sure that your fire doesn’t spread. Clear an area immediately surrounding
your fire pit, particularly if you’re in a wooded or brushcovered
area. You
can even build a wall from damp logs or rocks to both protect your fire from
wind and reflect heat back to you. Remember, however, that wet and porous
rocks (such as those pulled from a river or lake) have been known to explode
violently when heated, so avoid using these very close to (or in) your fire.
Build Your Fire
WHEN IT COMES TO GATHERING FUEL FOR YOUR FIRE, you’ll need tinder, kindling,
and large fuel. Each component is critical, but none more so than tinder.
Tinder: Stages 1 to 3
If you don’t have a lighter or matches and are making a friction fire by, say,
rubbing two sticks together, the step that takes you from glowing ember to
tinder ignition is critical, and one at which many people fail.
Though you shouldn’t discount the tissue in your pants, the pages in
this book, or even the lint in your belly button, your primary source of tinder
in the wilderness will be fluffy, dead, and dry plant material. The greatest
lesson you can learn here is this: Remembering the names of plants
means nothing in a survival situation. What’s important when it comes to
firestarting
are plant characteristics.
When I first learned survival, I was taught that you can ignite milkweed
fluff with a single spark. And it’s true—it goes up like gasoline! But
what I discovered later is that almost any plant with a light, fluffy part (usually
the seed pods, and especially those that will blow easily in the wind)
will do the same thing. Fireweed, various grasses, cattails, and numerous
other plant species throughout the world work too. So rather than looking
for milkweed, look for any plant with the characteristics of milkweed. Shoot
a spark into it and you should have fire.
Don’t get caught up searching for specific plants such as birch bark in
Canada, white cedar bark in Kansas, or coconut husks in the tropics. Rather,
keep your eyes open for plants that have the characteristics of good tinder.
Think “Hey, that coconut husk is hairy and light and fluffy. I wonder if that
works?” Not surprisingly, coconut husk is great tinder.
So, what characteristics should you be looking for in your tinder? Most
important, it should be dry. Damp tinder leads to great frustration . . . and ultimately,
no fire. Tinder also needs to be thin, light, and fluffy. If something has
these characteristics, it will ignite into flame when a spark is introduced.
Note that dry leaves make surprisingly poor tinder. Most dead leaves
need a fair bit of heat to ignite, making them a poor choice for firestarting
without matches or lighter.
I like to divide tinder into three stages. Stage 1 tinder is the lightest,
stroud’s Tip
If you are traveling through an area that has loads of
dry tinder, gather it now, and gather lots. You don’t want
to end up later in a survival location without tinder sources
nearby, regretting that you didn’t fill those big pockets in your
hiking pants when you had the chance.
fluffiest stuff you can find—fine, very thin, even wispy material such as dead
grass, birch bark, Spanish moss, or scraped cedar bark. These materials are
best at capturing a spark or ember when formed into a bird’snestshaped
bundle. Once the bundle catches, you can blow it until it glows and ignites.
Stage 2 tinder is slightly thicker and more substantial than stage 1 tinder,
and includes toothpickthick
bits of wood, pine needles, or thinly peeled
bark such as birch bark. These materials will take the flame you created with
your stage 1 tinder, hold it a little longer, and burn brighter. You can jump
right to this stage if you are lighting your fire with matches or a lighter.
Stage 3 tinder is another baby step up, to the smallest pieces of burnable
material, such as pencilthick
dead and dry twigs. These will take the secondary
flame and hold it even longer than stage 2 tinder. Remember, however,
that although the flame may seem more substantial at this stage, you still don’t
have a fire. Sure, you have a flame, but it would take little to put it out.
The following are other possible sources of tinder:
Bird down: I’ve never used bird down, but it certainly has the characteristics of
good tinder.
Cotton balls: These are fantastic as tinder, and you may have them in your
firstaid
kit (the end of a Qtip
works too). Cotton takes a spark well and
converts it to flame. If you daub a bit of petroleum jelly or lip balm (which also
may be in your firstaid
kit) on the cotton, it will hold the flame longer than
cotton alone.
Lint: This is a favorite in many survival books, but lint is difficult to find in a
survival situation.
Sawdust: You can make a little by cutting wood with your folding saw.
Produces a good stage 2 tinder.
Kindling
Once your stage 3 tinder has caught, you can progress to the kindling level.
Kindling is not as readily combustible as tinder, so don’t use it until you
have a discernible flame.
Kindling generally comprises small twigs and sticks that are thin
enough to burn easily but thick enough to last longer than a few seconds.
You will slowly graduate from those that are about the thickness of a pencil
to those that are the thickness of your thumb.
Fuel
Eventually you will get to the point where you can add large pieces of wood
to your fire. As always, work your way up slowly in terms of thickness. Wristand
forearmthick
wood is the most common type of fuel for survival fires,
but don’t hesitate to add larger pieces of split wood and even logs, as long as
you’ve got a sufficient amount of fuel available and a solid flame.
When selecting wood for fuel (or for any stage of building a fire, for
that matter), choose standing dead trees. They are far drier than anything
else you’ll find in the wild. Avoid wood that’s lying on the ground, because
it will have absorbed a fair bit of moisture from the ground.
Wood is your primary source of fuel, but there are other sources,
including animal droppings, dried grasses, and animal fats.
Animal droppings: Dried dung patties from cows, deer, moose, elephants,
rhinos, or other ungulates (grazing, grasseating
animal) can be very good
for starting and maintaining fires. These are essentially concentrated plant
waste—the natural version of the starter logs and briquettes that are popular
these days. Animal dung doesn’t flame very well, but makes for excellent
coals.
Dried grasses: If you don’t have much large fuel on hand but find yourself
surrounded by grasslands, you can twist grass into tight bundles. By
increasing the density of the grass, you make it more woodlike.
It will
burn quickly, though, so make sure you have lots on hand.
Animal fats: Chances are you won’t have much animal fat available, and
what extra you do have you will likely eat to stay alive. For years, however,
pioneers rendered animal fat such as whale blubber into fuel for their oil
lamps. Long before that, the Inuit people used rendered seal fat to fuel
their quuliit, the soapstone lamps in their igloos.
Maintaining Your Fire
BUILDING YOUR FIRE IS JUST THE FIRST STEP. The second is making sure it
doesn’t go out; otherwise, you will have to start again from scratch. The
For millennia, the Inuit have been using quuliit (seal oil lamps) such as this one to heat
their igloos.
bigger the fire you have (provided you have the fuel), the more likely it will
keep going, even if you get hit with rain or snow, go to sleep, or need to
leave it for a while to carry out other survival tasks.
Should you decide to leave your fire for a few hours, first, make sure
it’s not in an especially windy area, or else you’ll burn through your fuel
too quickly and also increase the risk of starting a forest fire. Try to find a
location that affords at least a little protection for your fire, whether near
rocks or in a place that offers natural protection from the elements. The
exception, of course, is in the case of a signal fire, which should be out in
the open and as visible as possible.
How long you leave your fire largely depends on how much fuel you
have to add to it. If you’ve got plenty of fuel and you have made a big fire,
you should be able to stay away for as long as eight hours and come back
to hot coals, from which you can restart the fire. The smaller the fire, the
less time you’ll be able to stay away.
stroud’s Tip
Once you get a fire going, make it a practice to never
come back to your base camp without a piece of firewood,
even if it’s just one stick. This way you’re always adding to
your firewood stock. We’ve been doing this as a habit in my family
for years. Even when my children were little, they always returned
to the campsite with a twig or stick in their hands.
Resurrect a Fire
CHANCES ARE THAT IF YOU LEAVE your fire for any length of time, you’ll return
to something much smaller than what you left, usually just a pile of hot
coals or a warm bed of ashes. In these cases, it is vital that you have all the
stages of firestarting
materials already on hand, so that you can get the
fire going again immediately.
Just how much your fire has burned down will determine which stage
of tinder (or kindling) you need to get it started again. You should have gathered
what you’ll need before leaving and stored everything in a dry, protected
area. You shouldn’t have to scramble to get your tinder, kindling, and fuel.
I’m amazed sometimes at how far gone a fire can be and still be resurrected
into flame. In the canyonlands of Utah, I awoke to a fire that had
been reduced to nothing but white ash. Rather than sweep off the blanket
of ash to search for hot coals at the bottom (which would have risked putting
them out by cooling them down), I slid the empty cable I had ripped
off my mountain bike into the ash. I then blew gently through the tube,
which supplied oxygen directly to the warmest part of the pile of ash and
coals without removing the protective blanket of ash. The coals began to
glow, then slowly transferred their heat to the other dead coals around
them. Only then did I brush away the ash and gradually begin adding tinder
to the now redhot
coals.
How to Carry Fire
WHEN YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES FORCE YOU TO MOVE, taking your fire with you
may save you a lot of trouble in the long run. This is why I recommend
including a coffee tin with a lid in your survival kit. You can put some red
coals and other tinder inside, where it will smolder while you travel. You can
also make a fire bundle, light the end as if it were a large cigar, and carry the
glowing bundle to your next destination.
A fire bundle is a collection of tinder
that begins with the finest material in
the middle and graduates out to the
shell or covering.
Tie the material tightly together into a
cigar shape. Once lit, it should smolder
for hours.
A properly lit fire bundle can last for
days.
Ways to Make Fire
GIVEN THE MANY AND VARIED PURPOSES A FIRE SERVES in a survival situation,
the ability to make one is an important skill. If you’re a dedicated outdoors
person, you should be able to get a fire going just about anywhere, even if
it’s been raining for two straight weeks and even in the pouring rain. If this
sounds daunting, don’t worry, with the right knowledge and training, you
can do it too.
There are several wellknown
methods of making fire—some of them
easier than others—so you’re really limited only by your imagination. Should
you find yourself stranded and with no available firemaking
method, start
thinking like the Professor from Gilligan’s Island, and get creative.
I’ve seen some adventurers make fires by concentrating the rays of the
sun through the concave depression of a teaspoon, and others, by concentrating
the sun’s rays through an ice cube. Ingenious methods, to be sure,
though I wouldn’t want to stake my life on them. That’s why it’s important to
be practiced at several ways of making fire (see “Survival Kits,” Chapter 2).
As with all survival tasks, there are primary and lastditch
tools for
making fire. Primary methods are relatively simple, and will make your
wilderness ordeal easier to survive. Lastditch
implements are well proven
in the field, but they are difficult and finicky, subject to a host of variables
that may not necessarily be in your control.
Here are the primary tools for making fire:
lighter
strikeanywhere
matches
magnesium flint striker
fire piston
Here are some lastditch
tools for making fire:
friction: fire bow, fire plow, and hand drill
sparks: rock and steel, flint and steel, battery
chemicals
the sun’s rays
I used one of the craziest lastditch
methods ever to make a fire in the Kalahari Desert.
I polished the bottom of a pop can with chocolate (which has waxy properties) and sand
to reflect the sun’s rays onto the tinder I’d gathered.
Fire | 113
Primary FireStarting
Tools
Is it cool to know how to make fire using a hand drill or fire bow? Yes, and
these are skills that dedicated outdoors people should know. But survival
is not about proving that you’re some kind of earthskills
guru; it’s about
dedicating your energies to getting home safely or getting rescued. That’s
why, for making fire, nothing compares with a lighter, some solid strikeanywhere
matches, a flint striker, or a fire piston. Even with those items,
building a fire can be a challenge; without those, all bets are off.
Butane Lighter
Nothing compares with a good ’ol butane lighter for starting a fire. As
simple as it may be to make a fire this way, however, there are still a few
considerations.
First of all, make sure that whatever lighter you have is in good working
order, and either waterproof or in a waterproof container. If you fall in
the lake or river with a traditional lighter in your pocket, it won’t function
when you come out. I prefer a fluorescent orange one. Ugly, I know, but
a lot easier to find in a pile of dried leaves than that cool camouflage one
from the outdoors store.
My favorite kinds are the butane lighters that act like little torches
and can’t be extinguished by a gust of wind or a few drops of rain, as can
traditional lighters with other types of fuel. These butane lighters shoot
out a hot jet of blue flame that stands up to the toughest conditions. Note
that over time, lighter fluid will evaporate, and all lighters have a finite life
span: make sure yours has plenty of fuel and use it only when you absolutely
have to. You never know how long you’re going to need it!
Matches
Matches have been starting fires successfully for a long time, so they should
be at least one component of your firemaking
strategy. My preference is
the solid, strikeanywhere
type found in any local hardware store; make sure
you store them in a watertight container. Even though these matches do,
essentially, strike anywhere, provide yourself with a backup by tearing the
striker edge off the side of the box and including it in the container with
your matches.
In outdoors stores you may come across boxes of matches that claim
to be waterproof. Don’t buy these; they’re the biggest ripoff
going! These
matches are tiny and flimsy and come in a little cardboard box with a striker
on the outside edge. If the box gets wet, the striker edge also gets wet, and
now you’ve got nowhere to strike your dainty little waterproof matches.
Magnesium Flint Strikers
Wonderful devices, magnesium flint strikers can be struck anywhere, come
with their own emergency fuel source (the magnesium shavings themselves),
and—best of all—you can get them soaking wet and they still work
like a charm.
But the real beauty of the magnesium flint striker is that it produces a
powerful spray of sparks. If you don’t have any other tinder material available,
you can scrape magnesium shavings off the flint stick itself and light
these with a spark.
Fire Piston
A relatively new addition to my collection of firestarting
devices, the fire
piston gives me the ability to start a fire quickly and easily. In a nutshell,
the fire piston works because heat is generated when air is compressed.
The fire piston is made up of three components: an outer barrel, a
plunger with a hollow tip, and a gasket. Insert a small piece of tinder (usually
a dry, punky wood bit) into the hollow tip of the plunger, which fits
into the barrel. Then thrust the plunger down one (or more) times and the
tinder should ignite. The compression of the air inside creates the heat
that ignites the tinder.
Fire pistons are not without their drawbacks: they are a little bigger
and bulkier than other primary firestarting
methods, and their success relies
heavily on a gasket, which can get worn out or lost. And although all firestarting
methods require the right selection of tinder, the fire piston seems
dependent on it. You need the right type, and it has to be very dry. But if your
other option is a lastditch
firestarting
method, opt for the fire piston.
Lighting a Fire with a
Magnesium Flint Striker
1. Use a knife or similar hard object to shave a pile of magnesium off the striker. The pile
should be about the size of a nickel, and 1/4 of an inch (0.5 cm) high.
2. Strike a spark into the filings for a fast, hot flame.
LastDitch
FireStarting
Tools
Once you’ve exhausted the primary tools of starting a fire, you now have to
turn to what I call the lastditch
efforts. Other books and survival instructors
call these primitive tools: they were used by our ancestors thousands of
years ago. If you have no choice but to make a fire by one of these methods,
rest assured that they do work, although you may pay for your flame
in blood, sweat, and tears.
Charred Cloth
One of my favorite ways to make fire is to char cloth. Making charred
cloth is a bit of a chickenandegg
exercise, because you actually need
fire first. But once you have created charred cloth, it will go a long way
toward saving your matches or lighter fluid, as you need only a single
spark to reignite it.
As the name indicates, you need cloth to make charred cloth. Linen
is the traditional fabric of choice, but I use 100percent
cotton and it works
well. Punky wood or bark can be used instead of cloth. Either way, your
fabric must be natural; synthetics won’t work. Your piece should be a few
inches square.
Take a can with a tightfitting
lid and punch a small hole in each end.
Put the cloth inside the can and place the can in the coals of a fire. Make
sure the cloth inside does not ignite, or you’ll be left with nothing in the
can but a small pile of ashes. As the cloth begins to heat up, it emits gases
that fill the interior of the can, driving out the air. These gases are vented
through the holes, appearing as small jets of flame. This will be followed,
eventually, by smoke.
When the smoke subsides, turn the can over to ensure even charring
of the cloth (this momentarily increases the amount of smoke coming out
of the holes in the can). When the smoke again dies down, the process is
finished and the can should be removed from the fire. At this point, plug
the holes with twigs to create a tightfitting
seal. If air gets into the can
while it is still hot, your cloth will ignite and burn.
After the can has cooled (wait at least 10 minutes), open it and remove
the charred cloth. If properly charred, it should be uniformly black.
Making a Charred Cloth
1. You will need a can, a punctured lid, and a fire.
2. Place the closed can on the fire. Once you see flame coming out of the can’s holes,
you’re nearing the end of the process. Smoke will soon follow, signaling that you
should remove the can from the coals.
3. Allow the can to cool, then open it up. It doesn’t look like much, but this charred
cloth is ready to take a new spark . . . and re-ignite easily the next time you want to
start a fire.
The magic of charred cloth is that when a spark hits it, a tiny red ember
on the cloth slowly grows larger. The ember is virtually impossible to blow
out and will increase in intensity if oxygen is introduced. It’s relatively easy
to start a fire with charred cloth, and it allows you to save your primary fire-
starting tools for circumstances when you need them most.
While surviving beside a downed plane in northern Ontario, I made a
small container from some thin metal I had found inside the plane. I then
ripped canvas from the body of the plane, placed it in the metal container,
and charred the cloth by putting the container in a fire. Later, when I needed
to make a new fire, I struck a rock I had found in a creek bed against the back
of my axe to throw a spark into the charred cloth. It gave me the ember I
needed to build a new fire.
If you don’t have a metal container, you can also char cloth by partially
burning small strips of cotton and quickly smothering them in dry
sand or soil.
Flint and Steel
There are many ways of generating sparks. One way is to strike a flint rock
(such as I found in the creek bed) or other hard, sharpedged
rock with a
piece of highcarbon
steel.
Friction
Of the lastditch
efforts, the most common are the three methods of making
a friction fire, or “rubbing two sticks together.” These are the fire bow,
the hand drill, and the fire plow. The hand drill and fire plow are advanced
skills, so I do not cover them here. The fire bow is a method you can
employ effectively, though not easily, if caught in a survival ordeal.
beforestroud’s Tip
What type of fire warms twice? The friction fire. It
not only keeps you warm once you get it going, but also
warms you while you’re trying to make it, even in the winter.
But try to sweat as little as possible while building your fire. Anticipate
the fact that you’ll be working hard for the next little while,
and remove layers of clothing as necessary you start sweating.
Fire Bow
The fire bow is an effective lastditch
firestarting
method, but it depends
very much on the availability of the necessary materials.
Components: The fire bow is made up of four components: the baseboard,
the spindle, the bearing block, and the bow.
The baseboard is the part of your fire bow that eventually produces
the smoldering mound of wood dust that will (hopefully) start your fire.
You can use various types of wood depending on your geographic location,
but in my home location in northcentral
Canada, I prefer semisoft
woods
such as cedar, poplar, aspen, or basswood.
Choosing the proper wood for the baseboard is critical because
the spindle, a long stick that rubs against the baseboard, will grind
the baseboard away as you spin. Some instructors prefer a hardwood
spindle because they feel it’s more effective at grinding the baseboard.
Personally, I prefer semisoft
wood for both pieces, because then you’re
grinding not only the baseboard but also the spindle, possibly producing
double the wood dust for your effort. Choosing a wood for a friction
fire mostly comes down to what works for you. To test if a wood
is semisoft,
jam your thumbnail into the wood. If it makes an impression,
it’s semisoft
or soft.
After practice, the most important aspect of making a proper friction
fire is finding the right kind of wood. This is where a little local knowledge
goes a long way. How else would you know that the dry saguaro cactus
makes a great frictionfire
fuel, or that if you’re in the boreal forest of
northern Ontario you’re better off using poplar, cedar, aspen, or birch than
pine, which is so full of resin that it polishes instead of burns?
Your spindle should be as straight as possible. The spindle will turn rapidly
as you move your bow, creating friction on the baseboard. The size of the
spindle is up to you, but I typically shoot for one 8 inches (20 cm) in length and
as thick as my thumb. Make sure the wood you use is dead and dry.
Most people use branches because these are naturally the right size
and shape. In fact, the molecules inside a tree branch are tighter together
than those throughout the rest of the tree, making the wood a bit harder.
By comparison, the heartwood of the tree—the wood right in the middle
of the trunk—is softer. Therefore, you’re better off finding a downed tree,
breaking off a piece, and carving it into a spindle. Basswood branches
(dead and dry ones) are superb spindles.
The bearing block is the part of your fire bow that you use to apply
weight and pressure to the top of your spindle. Many things can be used
for this purpose, but I like a piece of rock with a small indentation knocked
into it, where the spindle can sit.
You might also consider using a piece of bone; the kneeknuckle
bones
of a deer or other ungulate work well. Travelers often use a piece of wood as
the bearing block, but if you do so, lubricate the point where the spindle contacts
the bearing block so that it doesn’t grab. Beeswax, ear wax, pine pitch, or
oil from your skin or hair can all serve as lubricants in a pinch.
My friend and fellow survival instructor Doug Getgood was once
using a piece of wood as his bearing block and accidentally got the ember
forming in the bearing block instead of the baseboard, likely because the
bearing block was softer than the baseboard. Accepting the circumstances,
he turned the whole set upside down and got his fire going that way.
The bow ties your entire fire bow drill together. It can be any kind of
wood, as long as it’s strong and has a slight bend to it. Hopefully you’ve got
some kind of parachute cord or other strong rope, shoelace, or string on hand.
If you don’t, you may have to resort to making your own, which is an extremely
slow and laborious process (see “Essential Survival Skills,” Chapter 14).
The Fire Bow
bearing block
spindle
fire bow
baseboard
tinder
Fire Bow Components
Various baseboards, each of which An alternative twostick
method for the
successfully resulted in fire with the baseboard (courtesy of Allan “Bow” Beaufire
bow. champ): instead of making a notch in
the base, simply place the spindle in the
groove of the two branches, and the dust
will fall through.
A bearing block can be made from almost
anything, as long as the material is heavy
and allows you to bear down on the spindle.
Fire bows, with some handmade
cord made from basswood bark.
They’re different shapes, sizes, and types
of wood, but these spindles all worked.
The Process: As with any firemaking
method, preparation is the key to
success in making a fire bow. Once you have your four components ready,
make sure your tinder bundle is as big as possible, at least the size of a
fivepin
bowling ball. Fibrous materials like scraped cedar bark tend to
work best.
Then get comfortable and settle in for what may be a long process: it
can take from minutes to hours. You don’t want to get halfway through—
just to the point where you’re getting wisps of smoke—and realize you’re
kneeling on a rock and can’t take the pain any longer. Also, ensure that
nothing will inhibit the motion of the bow.
stroud’s Tip
There are two schools of thought on where to put
your tinder pile with the fire bow. One says that you should
have a small piece of leaf or bark under the baseboard to catch
your ember, which you then transfer to your tinder pile. I feel this
just adds an extra step to the process, as well as the risk that you’ll
drop the ember, or that it will go out, or be blown by the wind.
I prefer to put my tinder directly under the notchedout
hole in
the baseboard, so that the ember falls right where it’s intended to
go. Put the finest tinder in the center, just below the notch. Make
sure that you pat down the tinder bundle enough that it doesn’t
sneak up and get caught in the spindle during the spinning process.
Rest the baseboard on the tinder bundle to flatten it out (make sure the ground
isn’t damp!). Your body should be positioned such that if you drove a steel rod
straight down through the top of your shoulder blade, it would go through the
back of your hand, through the spindle, and right down to the baseboard.
Place one foot—the one opposite the bowing arm—on the baseboard
and start slowly with a fluid backandforth
motion, applying gentle
pressure to the bearing block. Don’t forget to breathe! Focus on your
breathing and establish an even rhythm.
I find that placing a bare foot on the baseboard gives me a better
feel and more control than a pair of boots. By wearing boots you also run
the risk of accidentally kicking the baseboard when you decide it’s time to
transfer your ember to your tinder pile. But comfort is important here, so
wear what feels right.
Once you have achieved a slow, fluid motion (it’s all about the feel), and
as you get comfortable with the process, gradually build up your speed, pushing
down a little harder on the bearing block. Eventually, you will find that
you’re spinning as fast and pushing as hard as you can, without the spindle
binding or popping out on you.
At this point, three of your senses play a critical role: touch, hearing,
and sight. You want to feel a grinding going on between the spindle and the
baseboard. You should also be listening carefully to the sound you’re producing.
You don’t want to hear chirping, squawking, or squeaking, which indicate
that you’re polishing the wood, not grinding it. If that occurs, stop and
roughen (or chip) the hole and the end of the spindle to increase the friction
between them. If the noise continues, this may mean that you have chosen
the wrong type of wood for one of your components.
After this, your sight comes into play. You’ll see fine wisps of smoke
appearing in the baseboard. This is your cue not to stop but rather to keep
going using maximum speed and pressure. At some point, the smoke you
see will not be from the grinding of the spindle into the baseboard but
from the ember that has formed in the clump of wood dust in the baseboard.
The curl of smoke you see then will be thicker and whiter than the
wisps you first noticed while spinning the spindle.
What if you’re not alone? It takes time to establish the rhythm, but
doing the fire bow with two people can be more effective that with one
person alone. One person assumes the standard solo position and holds
the bearing block, with the other in a comfortable position facing his
or her partner. Each person holds an end of the bow, pushing or pulling
as required. If you can master the rhythm, the twoperson
method
allows you to spin much faster and longer than if you are by yourself.
stroud’s Tip
Don’t let your forehead sweat drip onto the ember
you’re creating. This can put it out!
The Grand Finale: One of the most common (and significant) mistakes
people make with the fire bow is at the end of the process. They’ll get the
smoke and the ember, then blow it by trying to make the fire as fast as they
can because they think the ember is going to burn out. You don’t have to
jump up like a jackrabbit; the ember is not going to burn out in a matter
of seconds. You’ve put a lot of kinetic energy into that glowing mass, and
if you treat it right, it will smolder for a while.
So once you’re pretty confident that you have an ember down there,
pull away slowly and cautiously, all the while holding the baseboard down
with your hands to make sure you don’t upset it when you take your foot
away. You’ll need to transfer the ember to the tinder pile very carefully.
Slide your hands underneath the tinder bundle, and gently close it
around the ember, being careful not to suffocate it. (You will likely be shaking
from exhaustion at this point, which is normal.) Essentially, you’re creating a
mini-furnace in the middle of the tinder pile. Blow softly onto the pile until the
heat from the ember transfers onto the tinder and catches the tinder itself.
Blow slowly at first. Once you’ve got a glowing red ping-pong-ball-
sized mass inside the tinder pile, you won’t likely blow it out, so you can
begin blowing more vigorously.
At this point you should be ready to transfer your tinder pile to your
fire pit, where you can begin to add stage 2 and 3 tinder, followed by small,
dry kindling.
The Fire Bow Method
1. Make a fire bow using a piece
of wood with a slight bend in it
and any piece of cord (shoelace,
string, rope, etc.).
2. Next, prepare the baseboard by
making a small indentation for
the spindle to grind into.
3. Cut the spindle on each end like
a pointed crayon.
4. Loop the spindle in the fire bow
string. The string should be
tense, but not too tight or too
loose.
5. Grip the string and bow as
shown so that you can adjust
the tension. As I push and pull
the bow, I like to feel the string
with my fingers, which allows
me to tighten the pressure on it
as needed. Be sure to spin the
spindle only enough to make a
small indentation.
6. Your body position, the string tension,
and the smoothness of your
motion are critical to success with
the fire bow. You should be able
to drive an imaginary straight
line down through the shoulder of
the arm holding the fire bow, your
hand, and the spindle. Get the
feel of the motion while “seating”
the spindle in the indentation.
7. Note how the black wood dust
that was created by the spinning
has spread around the hole, with
no place to go to form an ember.
8. Cut a notch into the baseboard,
next to the indentation, to give
the hot dust a place to fall and
catch a spark. Note how the
notch nearly reaches the center
of the indentation.
9. Put the finest tinder under the
indentation, just below the notch.
Surround the rest of your baseboard
with stage 1 tinder.
10. Return to the action position
described in Step 6, and begin to
spin again while slowly increasing
the downward pressure on the
spindle through the bearing block.
11. When smoke begins to form, this
is your signal to give it all you’ve
got. Once the actual ember
forms, the curl of smoke you see
will be thicker and whiter than
the wisps you first noticed when
spinning the spindle.
12. Lift the baseboard slowly and
carefully, and transfer the ember
from the notch in the baseboard
to the middle of the stage 1
tinder pile.
13. You might find that the ember
sticks to the baseboard. The best
way to dislodge it is to give the
board a couple of light taps or
a nudge with a twig, so that the
ember breaks away and falls into
the tinder bundle.
14. Gently lift the tinder bundle.
15. Blow into the tinder pile from
underneath (as if you are praying
to the fire gods), so you don’t
burn your hands. If you’re lucky,
the tinder will ignite into flame.
16. But remember: it’s only a flame!
You don’t have a fullfledged
fire yet. Carefully transfer the
flame to your stage 2 tinder.
Other LastDitch
FireStarting
Methods
There are a variety of other lastditch
techniques for starting fires. All of these
require supplies that you may not normally carry, but as long as you’ve got sufficient
tinder, you can get a roaring blaze going with any of these methods.
Provided you have a lens or some type of highly reflective object, you
can use the rays of the sun to make a fire. You can find lenses in binoculars,
cameras, telescopic sights, and magnifying glasses, but don’t limit yourself.
As I mention earlier, I’ve seen people get fires started by concentrating the
rays of the sun off the inside of a teaspoon, or through an ice cube.
Clearly, the success of these methods requires a bright, sunny day
and usually intense sun. Your tinder pile is also critical: you’ll have no luck
igniting a pile of twigs or objects of similar size, so make sure you’ve got
light, dry tinder material. Angle the lens to concentrate the sun’s rays on a
single spot on the tinder until it begins to smolder.
Another way to get a fire going is with steel wool and batteries. To
get a hot, glowing ember quickly, simply run two batteries end to end in
series so that the positive end of one is contacting the negative end of the
other. You can use any type of battery that has a positive point on one end
and a negative point on the other, but D cells work the best.
Stretch out the steel wool so that it contacts each of the battery terminals.
Almost instantly, the steel will puff up and ignite. Make sure you
have your tinder pile at the ready, because this all happens very quickly!
Finally, there are ways to make fire from various chemical combinations,
although you have to be sure that your combination won’t produce a noxious
gas that will leave you gasping for air—or worse. In the past, I’ve had great success
using potassium permanganate combined with sugar.
To become adept at any of these methods, whether primary or lastditch,
it makes sense to take time to practice them. I acquired these skills
over the course of several summers. Each year, I chose a different firestarting
method and that would be the only way I would make fire during
my camping trips that season. One summer I allowed myself to use only
a flint striker; the next, I used only a piece of rock and steel; and the next,
only the fire bow. By practicing this on safe, easy camping trips (I was an
outdoors adventure guide for many years) and through repeated efforts, I
finely honed these skills.
In Africa I used a small vial of potassium permanganate and glycerin to make a fire.
The tinder is rhino dung.
Dried animal dung makes a great fire Believe it or not, dry dung doesn’t smell
starter because it has all the characterwhen
burned.
istics of good tinder.
Making Fire in the Rain and Snow
MAKING FIRE WHEN YOU’RE STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE can be difficult enough
when the weather is dry. Add a constant rain, and most people just give up.
Don’t! With a little forethought and diligence, you can get a fire going—
and keep it going—even under these conditions.
The first trick is finding dry material in the rain, particularly tinder and
kindling. This is possible, if you know what to look for and where to look.
First, you need to search for materials that are protected by natural shelter.
This means looking under overhangs, in animal holes and dens, in caves, and
in rotted logs. Holes or crevices are where you have your best chance of finding
dry tinder and kindling.
If you’re not able to find tinder and kindling, though, you should be
able to make it. Here’s where having a folding saw and belt knife really
comes in handy.
First, look for forearmthick
branches. Cut off a section about a foot
(30 cm) long. You might be surprised to find that other than the outer 1/8
inch (3.5 mm) the rest of the wood is dry. Now you need to split it.
You can then take some of those twigs and make fine wood shavings
from them. Soon you’ll have a pile of a dry tinder and kindling, all
of which you’ve made from one forearmthick
branch in the pouring rain
(see next page).
Fire Ingenuity
WHILE SURVIVING BESIDE A DOWNED PLANE IN NORTHERN ONTARIO, I was able
to make fire with gasoline from the busted gas tank, two long strips of
metal from the frame of the plane, the plane’s battery, and some tinder.
I touched each metal strip to a battery terminal, then brought the
other ends together to create a spark. At first I was trying to spark the liquid,
which didn’t work. But when I remembered about the fumes, I put a
cloth on top of the cup of gas (which allowed the fumes to concentrate),
then sparked the air space above the liquid. Without matches, and with
barely 2 ounces (59 ml) of gasoline, a battery, and some metal, I successfully
made fire.
Splitting Wood with a Knife
1. Stand the branch on its end andplace the blade of your belt knife (or
a sharp object such as a stone) on
the top center of the log.
2. Strike the back of your blade with a
heavy object, preferably wood or
bone, knocking it farther down until
the wood eventually splits.
3. Hit the tip of the knife once it becomes 4. Using this method, you can continue to
embedded in the wood. split the wood into successively thinner
pieces, all of which will be completely dry.
A variation on this method also worked in the middle of the Kalahari
Desert. I had no gas this time, but took some local tinder and formed it
into a tight bundle, soaked it in oil from the vehicle’s oil filter, and placed
it on top of the battery, where I again crossed the terminals with a piece of
metal for a spark . . . and got fire.
Duct tape holds a flame like a candle and is a great way to get and
keep your fire going. Road flares too can be used. And lip balm or petroleum
jelly daubed on cotton also takes and holds a flame well.
RegionSpecific
Fire Considerations
FIREISSUBJECT TOTHEVAGARIESOFGEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. What works as
fuel in one place may not work at all in another. Here again, local knowledge
and expertise help tremendously.
In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, I used some bits of mesquite wood
in one of my fires. I was surprised to find that a small fire there lasted a
very long time, much longer than a similarsized
fire would have lasted in
the boreal forest. There were a number of variables at play.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Although making and maintaining fire in these regions is compromised by
the fact that often there is a significant lack of fuel (particularly wood), the good
news is that whatever fuel you can find is usually already dead and very dry, so
it burns well. Dried cactuses, for example, are an excellent source of fuel. The
irony is that in the desert you usually find the best wood to make the easiest
fire during the heat of the day, when the need for fire is almost nonexistent.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Perhaps the greatest advantage offered by these regions is the readily available
supply of fuel. The trick is to be aware that sooner or later it’s going to
rain, so gather your material when you have the chance and try to shelter
and protect it as best you can.
Lowlying,
gnarly pine shrubs and trees are renowned for the incredible
amount of sap they build up. These are very flammable and make great
stage 2 tinder when shaved down with a belt knife.
The bark of the cedar tree is a good source of tinder. Squirrels, chipmunks, and other
rodents will scrape the bark of these trees into a light fluff and use it for their nests.
You can create this same type of fluff by scraping cedar bark with the back of your
knife blade or a rock.
Tinder fungi grow on birch
trees in temperate forests.
Tinder fungi are large, black,
and lumpy on the outside,
orangebrown
on the inside.
They catch a spark very well
and are a great firestarting
material.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Believe it to not, you can get a fire going in these regions, although it’s
likely not going to be a big one (unless you’re on the coast and have ample
driftwood on hand, see below). One of the reasons why the Inuit are so
accustomed to eating raw food is that they can’t build big fires.
But even on the tundra, it’s surprising how many twigs and small
scrub bushes you can find if you look hard enough.
In addition, mosses in the Arctic burn reasonably well, provided
they’re sufficiently dry. Inuit have used seal oil lamps for thousands of
years, so that’s an option as well.
Jungles
Rain is your biggest threat to fire in the jungle, where it can easily fall for
10 or 12 hours a day. The challenge, then, is to shelter your fire.
Even so, any fire you get in the jungle isn’t likely to be a roaring one.
The general dampness of the area and the restricted availability of dry fuel
will limit you to a small fire. But fire will still provide you with a psychological
boost, warmth if needed, and the ability to cook your food—and it
may help keep the animals away.
Coastal Regions
Driftwood is a godsend in coastal regions, and often there is lots of it.
Although some of it will be very dry, don’t assume it will all be so. In my
experience, at least half of all driftwood is waterlogged and unusable as
firewood.
T
he controversy over what is the most pressing initial
survival task will continue as long as there are survival stories to
be told. After you have calmed down and assessed your situation,
your priorities will shift among several needs, depending on the variables
involved. Water is crucial—without it you won’t live long—but you can
survive for quite some time without food. And in some circumstances, I
have lasted many days without bothering to make a fire. But if the deck is
stacked against you in terms of the elements, nothing will kill you quicker
than lack of shelter. Remember, however, that searchers have a much more
difficult time finding victims who have made a shelter, which is, after all,
the perfect camouflage.
You don’t need a log cabin to call home in these situations (though it
would be nice). Your shelter can be extremely simple. But there’s no question
that you will need something—anything—to shelter you, beginning
on your first night. Though the primary purpose of shelter is to protect you
from the elements, it offers other advantages. It gives you a place to store
and protect your supplies. A shelter also provides psychological comfort
when you’re facing the possibility of a predator attack. In reality, it would
take a matter of seconds for an aggressive 600hundredpound
bear to tear
apart a tent, but there’s something about that thin piece of nylon between
us and the wilderness that makes us feel safe.
Although shelters are not barriers against wildlife, they can be deterrents.
Even a flimsy nylon tent or roof of pine boughs may serve to confuse
the animal long enough to buy you time to decide your next move . . . at
least that’s the hope. In Africa, for example, I used thorn bushes to build a
5foothigh
(1.5 m) thorn corral that effectively deterred curious lions from
getting too close. If the lions really had wanted to get me, the corral would
not have stopped them, despite the fact that thorns in Africa can grow to
be 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) long!
A survival partnerincrime
with me for many an adventure, Doug
Getgood, relates this next story: “During a survival course I was on in Utah,
a group of students went to sleep in a substantial brush shelter, big enough
to fit a number of people. In the middle of the night, a large black bear
crept into the shelter, reached over two students and grabbed the one that
was ‘just right.’ Nobody even awoke until they heard her screams and she
was already halfway out the door, with the bear’s mouth clamped around
her ankle. They eventually scared off the bear, but clearly it had no fear and
understood the purpose of the door!”
Humans are creatures of habit, so one of the most comforting qualities
we can hope for in a survival situation is familiarity. As soon as you
realize you’re lost, your entire world becomes unfamiliar, intimidating,
and scary. A shelter gives you “home.” And the sooner you start undertaking
familiar tasks and routines, the sooner you begin to build confidence
and overcome your fear. Creating a shelter, big or small, is a significant
accomplishment that will boost both your mental and physical wellbeing.
You can also use a shelter as a place in which to plan operations, or as a
workshop for making survival aids.
Exactly what type of shelter you should build depends on your surroundings,
the time of year, the climate, and the expected length of your
ordeal. You’re not going to make an Aframe,
smalllog
shelter in the sand
dunes of a desert, and you can’t build an igloo in the jungle. The ability to
make a successful shelter is not about memorizing methods thrown at you
in a book. It’s about understanding the basic characteristics of a good survival
shelter, and then using your abilities to improvise and invent.
One of my first survival teachers, Dave Arama, says, “Most lost persons
become lost very late in the day . . . therefore, the ability to improvise
and build quickly, and have shelter items in a survival kit, are critical.”
The first order of business is to look around at your supplies and
what the surroundings provide and decide what you can use, break, cut,
make, or put together that will give you shelter. Sometimes you just get
lucky. In Africa, I landed on the ground in a hotair
balloon in a mixed
forest and plains area. The parachute material from the balloon provided
plenty of waterproof roofing for a shelter that I made with the balloon’s
basket. I was even able to design a hammock from the fabric to keep me
off the ground at night, and a blanket to keep me warm.
Take stock of all the manmade
materials you have on hand, and don’t be squeamish about
destroying what you have if you can use it to make something that will keep you alive.
The Importance of Site Selection
THE FIRST DECISION YOU’LL MAKE with regard to a shelter—no matter
how long you think you’ll need it—is where to put it. Even if you have
all the right materials, building your shelter in the wrong place could
be a fatal mistake.
The first time I made a survival film, I flew to a beautiful area in
Ontario known as Wabakimi. I built my shelter in a spot I figured would
work both for filming and survival: close to a smooth rock outcropping on
a small remote lake. It worked great . . . for a few nights. Then the wind
turned on me and my shelter became a wind tunnel. I spent one entire
night pacing on the outcropping and doing pushups
to try to avoid hypothermia.
My poor choice of shelter location was the reason I had to endure
that horrible night. Well, that and the fact that I hadn’t been diligent in
ensuring that my shelter was sealed off and had a tightfitting
door!
What do you need to consider in selecting a site? First, choose a spot
that is relatively flat and free of loose rocks. And as my buddy and premier
desert survival expert David Holladay says, always remember the five W’s:
widowmakers, water, wigglies, wind, and wood.
I spent one long and miserable night in the “wind tunnel” shelter in the Wabakimi area
of northern Ontario.
Widowmakers: Widowmakers are the standing dead trees just waiting to
come down in the next big wind storm. It can be dangerous to build your
shelter in the midst of widowmakers—though you may not have a choice.
Water: Your shelter needs to be as close as possible to a source of drinking
water; the farther you have to travel for water, the more energy and precious
calories you burn in doing so. That said, you shouldn’t choose an otherwise
poor location—for example, the coldest or buggiest spot in the valley—just for
the water source. Try to balance the proximity to water with other factors.
And while you want to be close to a source of drinking water, make
sure you don’t build your shelter where the water will get to you, such as
in a dry streambed that may fill the next time it rains, or in any depression
that may turn into a puddle. Remember, flash floods kill more people each
year than most other natural occurrences.
Wigglies: Build your shelter in a
place that keeps you as far as possible
from the wigglies: biting,
stinging, slithering, and crawling
creatures such as snakes, spiders,
and ants. In the Amazon, the bullet
ant—which the Waorani call
the Maunyi—grows to be nearly
2 inches (5 cm) long and sports
a massive pair of mandibles. Jim
Yost, my guide and Waorani interpreter,
describes the painful bite/
sting combination of the bullet
ant this way: “Imagine jamming
a scorchinghot
pair of pliers into
your skin, squeezing and twisting
them as hard as possible, and
keeping them there for at least
five hours.” The Waorani fear this Bullet ants live in colonies of about 60
more than a snakebite; they know occupants. They will attack humans if
that three to six stings from the their nests are disturbed.
Maunyi can knock a full-grown man to the ground, if not kill him. So avoid
building close to anthills because ants and snakes use these as shelters.
Weather/Wind: Protection from the wind is a critical consideration in site
selection, for of all the elements, wind is the most likely to cause hypothermia.
It will slice through your temporary home no matter how well-built it is.
Build your shelter in a location that is as protected as possible. If you’re in hilly
terrain, make sure your site is on the leeward (downwind) side of a rise.
Wood: Assuming you are surviving in a part of the world that offers wood,
choose a spot that is close to it, both for building and for burning.
Beyond the five Ws, temperature is an important consideration when
selecting a site. If you’re in hilly terrain and seeking warmth, it’s typically
better to pick a spot about three-quarters of the way up a hill. Cold air settles
in the valleys at night, and the hilltops are often windy; both will chill
you in the middle of the night.
Another place to avoid putting up a shelter (in Africa especially) is under
or next to a fruit tree. Fruit attracts insects and animals, and ripe fruit will
fall on your shelter interfering with much-needed sleep. Bird droppings will
mess up your survival area. Avoid building on or near animal trails because
passing creatures might destroy your shelter and possibly hurt you.
Remember that time of year and geographic location will play a large
part in determining the ideal location for your shelter. You will want to
choose a location that is close to a source of drinking water, and in warm
regions or in summer, as free from insects as possible. In cold regions or in
stroud’s Tip
Don’t get hung up on what kind of shelter to
build. Anything that keeps you warm, dry, and protected is
a good shelter, regardless of the design. Remember, though,
that shelters made from forest materials are camouflaged and
difficult to see from above—not a good thing when there’s a chance
that passing planes are looking for you.
the winter, seek a site that offers protection from the cold prevailing winds,
is close to wood for fuel, and has direct sun exposure.
Shelter Construction Basics
Step 1: The Bed
When you are ready to build your shelter, don’t make the mistake of starting
with the frame. You’re better off creating your bed and then building
your shelter around it. Why? First, with this approach you’ll have lots of
room to build the bed, rather than constructing in the cramped confines
of your shelter. Second, you’ll be able to correctly size your bed and, as a
result, your shelter. One of the most common mistakes travelers make in
building their first shelter is making it too small. More times than I can
remember, people I’ve known have made the bed too small, built a terrific
shelter around it, then crawled inside, only to look down and see their feet
sticking out the door!
It’s also important to create distance between you and the ground,
either by elevating your bed or by putting as much material as you can
underneath you. This step is vital! Aside from the wind, nothing will suck
the heat out of your body more quickly than sleeping on the ground.
If you have wood available, you can get yourself off the ground by starting with a layer of logs.
Your next step is to cover those logs with your insulation/bedding layer. This can be made
of almost anything, as long as it’s somewhat soft and provides loft. Boughs, grass, or
leaves work well in many environments. Snow and boughs work well in the winter.
148 | Survive!
You can use almost any type of material available for your insulation/
bedding, but be careful not to choose a poisonous plant such as poison ivy,
or anything that’s infested with insects that are likely to feast on you during
the night. Be careful even when gathering materials (such as grass), as
you could be disturbing a poisonous snake or spider. Poke long grass with
a stick before reaching in with your bare hands.
Whatever you use for your insulation/bedding layer, you should use
much, much more than you think necessary. You might put down 6 inches
(15 cm) of spruce boughs or leaves and grass, but once you roll around on
them all night, they’ll flatten down to almost nothing and you’ll be lying
on the hard ground again before daylight.
Most people don’t change their bedding during a survival ordeal,
although changing it may not be a bad idea (provided you’ve got the
materials) if you’re stuck somewhere for a very long time. Regularly
replacing your bedding gives you a sense of pride in your surroundings,
a continued level of comfort, and keeps your mind occupied, satisfying
the allimportant
psychological aspect of survival.
The Cree of northern Quebec have a weaving method for evergreen boughs that renders
their floor and bedding soft. They replace it often for freshness.
Step 2: The Shelter Frame
Once your bed is built, it’s time to turn your attention to the frame of your
shelter. No matter what type of shelter you decide to build, keep in mind
these key points:
Don’t underestimate the importance of the roof’s pitch. A flat roof is very difficult to keep
from leaking. The steeper the pitch the better.
The pitch of the roof should be steep enough to shed rain and snow easily.
This is especially important if you don’t have a piece of plastic, such as a tarp,
as part of your roof.
The roof should be strong enough that it will hold the weight of whatever
insulation materials you’re going to use along with any snow that may fall on
it. A sign of a great shelter is that it can support your weight (although that’s
not always necessary).
Insulation is important as it will keep the heat where it belongs—inside the shelter.
After your roof and walls are built, insulate them with anything and everything you
can get your hands on, the thicker and fluffier (i.e., the “loftier”) the better.
Pay attention to your body while constructing your shelter. Building is one of
the most strenuous tasks in a survival situation, so don’t wear yourself out.
Stop often to rest, drink water on a regular basis, if your supply allows, and if
it’s cold outside, pace yourself so that you don’t sweat too much.
The boughs of evergreen trees work well as roof insulation, as do plant fluff, grass,
leaves, bark, moss, fur, or even snow.
Step 3: Windproofing and Waterproofing
Windproofing and waterproofing a survival shelter is difficult, particularly
if you don’t have some sort of plastic sheeting. Increasing the pitch
of the roof helps substantially, as does using whatever material you have
available as shingles.
Shingling a Shelter: There are many ways to shingle a shelter, depending
on the materials you have at hand.
To shingle a shelter, start at
the bottom and apply each
subsequent layer of roofing
material (bark works best)
by slightly overlapping the
previous layer.
Large strips of birch bark can
be very useful as roofing.
Always enclose your shelter
to make it as windproof as
possible.
Fire in Your Shelter
Your shelter’s primary purposes are to keep you warm and to increase your
sense of wellbeing,
and there is no better way to achieve these goals than
to build a fire inside. This isn’t possible in all shelters, however, and you’ll
need to be very careful even where it is possible. But should conditions
permit, it’s worth the effort to use this technique in a survival situation. An
inside fire takes you one step up from feeling like an animal in a hole.
If you’re planning to have a fire inside your shelter, you’ll have to
create the space for it before you do anything else, even before making a
bed. Clear an area for your fire pit against a boulder, sand embankment, or
a few bowlingballsized
rocks you’ve moved together, as any of these will
help to reflect heat into the shelter. Create a barrier between the fire and
your bed area with rocks (best option), dirt, or wet and punky logs. When
building the frame for the shelter, make a smoke hole in the roof, allow
for the height of the flames, and ensure that no combustible material is
directly above it or close enough to catch fire. Oxygen should be able enter
the shelter to get to the fire without blowing across your body. Finally, create
a space to pile and protect your collected firewood. See “Fire,” Chapter
6, for more on building fires within your shelter.
The benefit of a fire in your shelter is that it will keep you warm and
comforted at night or when trapped inside due to storms. Although the fire
will not be big (a long, narrow fire along a rock face will keep the length
of your body warm), it requires serious effort. Shelter fires need to be fed
constantly with small pieces of dry wood, so you’ll sleep very little. You
sleep 20 minutes; the fire dies, you get cold; you wake up and feed the fire
. . . and so on until the first rays of sun bring you the relief you have been
praying for all night.
stroud’s Tip
Build your shelter big enough that you fit comfortably in it
without feeling claustrophobic, but to maximize your shelter’s
heat retention, don’t make it so large that you have extra air
space to keep warm. Also, build your door as small as possible and
lower in elevation than your bed (particularly important in the cold).
Heated Ground Shelter
An aggressive and calorieburning
(yet effective) way to keep your shelter
warm without a fire inside is to build a fire in the place where your
shelter will be (on a large, flat rock is perfect). While your large fire burns
throughout the day, prepare the materials you will need to construct your
bed, walls, and roof.
As day turns to night, let your fire die down and cover the hot coals
with an inch (2.5 cm) of soil or sand. Construct your shelter and mattress
directly over this spot. Heat will emanate from the coals throughout the night,
keeping you toasty and warm. If you have built your shelter on a large, flat
rock, push the hot coals off to the side (they will become the small fire that
you keep inside your shelter all night). Then put your forestdebris
mattress
on the heated rock. I have often done this so efficiently that I can’t even crawl
into the shelter for two or three hours because my bed is too hot!
Emergency ShortTerm
and LongTerm
Shelters
THERE ARE A FEW BASIC SHELTER TYPES, all of which can be modified and
adapted according to location, the materials offered by your surroundings,
and whatever you brought with you.
An important distinction must be made between emergency shortterm
shelters and longterm
shelters. Emergency shortterm
shelters are
the ones you need right now, usually on your first night or two, to protect
you from the elements and from any immediate dangers. These shelters
tend to be crude, cramped, uncomfortable to varying degrees, leaky, drafty,
and largely unable to stand up to the rigors of human occupation for any
length of time. They will, however, keep you alive for a short time, and
that’s why it’s critical to know how to build one.
Once you’ve spent a night or two in an emergency shortterm
shelter,
it’s important to think about a longerterm
solution to your predicament.
In building a longterm
shelter, you’ll pay more attention to comfort and
practicality. For this reason, building a longterm
shelter is generally harder,
takes longer, requires more materials, and will use more of your energy. But
if you have the other aspects of your survival covered, a longterm
shelter
will act as a tremendous psychological benefit. You’ll be warmer, more comfortable,
better protected, and better rested . . . and more likely to survive.
Emergency ShortTerm
Shelters
Sleeping sitting up against a tree trunk or rock is miserable, and during a
survival ordeal you must do everything you can to find shelter that will
keep you warm and dry, and allow you to get some rest. To succeed at finding
and successfully using an emergency shortterm
shelter, remember
that you are, in essence, an animal. So make like an animal and toss aside
your aversion to filthy clothes and grimy fingernails.
Children often do much better in these situations than adults, because
they have no qualms about getting dirty and, for example, crawling into
a rotted log for shelter. As adults, on the other hand, we are burdened by
our phobias. Crawling into that rotted log might protect me from the snow and
wind, but it just looks so filthy, slimy, and full of insects. Insects, by the way,
are a fair concern, but that rotted log may be the one thing that will keep
you warm and dry that night, and save your life.
The simplest form of emergency shortterm
shelter is something
many of us played with during the autumns of our childhoods: fallen leaves.
If you find yourself lost in a deciduous forest in the autumn, it doesn’t take
too much time or effort to create a big pile of leaves, into which you can
slither like a worm. You’d be surprised how much warmth leaves will hold.
Natural hollows in the ground or fallen trees are another form of
emergency shortterm
shelter, and work especially well if you can fill them
(and cover yourself!) with leaves. Caves or animal dens also work, but make
very sure they are no longer inhabited.
Crawling like an animal into a pile of forest debris (making a “nest”) can get you through
a night or two.
The LeanTo:
A ShortTerm/
LongTerm
Hybrid
Straddling the line between emergency shortterm
shelter and longterm
shelter is the leanto.
This structure requires some constructive effort, making
it more effort than a true emergency shortterm
shelter, but not really suitable
as a longterm
shelter because it has many drawbacks.
The leanto
offers wind protection from only one side. This may be
fine if the wind always comes at you from only one direction. But if the wind
changes, the leanto
offers little, if any, protection against the elements, and
you will find yourself getting slammed with wind and rain on your bed and
your fire. In addition, absolutely no heat is retained in a leanto.
When weather isn’t an issue or scarcity of building materials makes
constructing a full shelter challenging, use the leanto.
To build a leanto,
place a cross beam between two trees that are far enough apart to fit your
sleeping body. The cross beam should also be high enough to allow you
I wouldn’t want to spend a very long time in a leanto,
though it’s okay for a night or two.
If you’re going to the effort of making one, why not make another wall and build yourself
a proper Aframe,
which is a terrific longterm
shelter.
to sit up comfortably. If you can’t find two trees a suitable distance apart,
you can make do with two Yshaped
branches or tripods. Place these far
enough apart to fit your sleeping body, and drive them into the ground.
Lay the cross beam between the two Y supports.
Line the cross beam with branches (use as many as you can), which
will act as the ribbing for your roof. The steeper the ribbing, the more
effectively the roof will shed rain. If you have plastic sheeting, drape the
sheeting across the ribbing as a waterproofing layer. Be careful not to
puncture the sheeting.
If you don’t have a tarp, crisscross a layer of windbreak/roofing
materials over the ribbing. Keep adding layers until you feel the shelter
will provide the protection you need.
To reinforce your leanto,
you can build a short wall underneath the
high end of the structure. Drive two sets of stakes into the ground, far
enough apart to hold the logs you will use for the wall.
Stack logs inside these stakes. You can make the wall more airtight
by filling the cracks between the logs with dirt, grass, moss, or any other
suitable material you can find. Once complete, this kind of wall works well
as a fire reflector, particularly if built with green logs, which don’t ignite as
quickly as older logs.
Leantos
are not my favorite shelter in any location where wind is an
issue—which is almost everywhere. In a place like the Amazon jungle, however,
where the nearconstant
rain comes down in torrents, these shelters can
be quite effective, especially if the roof hangs far enough over the front.
Consider the leanto
as your first step toward a more secure Aframe
structure. Close in the open side of a leanto
and you have an Aframe
that
is strong and protected on all sides.
stroud’s Tip
Lack of sleep is extremely dangerous and will lead to
frustration, clouded thinking, clumsiness, depression, and
despair. But sleeping during the day in the warmth of the
sun reduces your chances of rescue. So ensure that you get as
much sleep at night as possible by making a good shelter.
In the Amazon, Kinta, one of my Waorani guides, taught me to use banana leaves to
rainproof
my leanto.
158 | Survive!
Long-Term Shelters
Making the transition from emergency short-term shelter to long-term
shelter is necessary if you realize that rescue is not coming soon. Crawling
into a pile of leaves might work for a night or two, but it’s not going to keep
you alive for three weeks and proves particularly uncomfortable in the rain.
As you consider your long-term shelter, think comfort. Try to build
a temporary home that will at least allow you to sit up. Being able to
stand in your shelter is a luxury that few wilderness shelters can accommodate,
so don’t make this your goal. The following shelters can be created
in many geographic regions, depending on the natural features and
materials available.
Finding a Long-Term Shelter: The ideal long-term shelter is one that you
don’t have to make at all, saving you an incredible amount of energy . . .
and potential grief. If you’re on the move, the key is to determine, calmly,
whether you should spend the night in the dry cave you just stumbled
across or keep moving, in which case you’ll have to make a shelter in a few
hours anyway.
In fact, in some parts of the world—especially North America—local
authorities construct survival cabins in strategic locations throughout the wilderness.
These structures not only provide much-needed shelter in emergencies,
they are usually stocked with a small supply of survival gear and food.
As part of your trip planning and preparation, you should look into the
availability of such shelters and note their locations on your topographical
maps. I once came upon such a shelter in the northern Canadian region of
Labrador, after a long day of running a dog team and with bad weather closing
in. Though the relatively new, 100-square-foot (9-m2) cabin had no food
or supplies, it came with a wood stove and some split wood, turning my concerns
about staying dry and comfortable that night into non-issues.
Beyond man-made structures, your next best option is finding a
natural shelter that will serve your long-term needs, although these are
rare in some areas. The best natural shelter is one that you don’t have
to build, that is big enough, and that allows you to have a fire inside.
One of the few structures that fits these criteria is a cave. In Utah, I
found shelter in a small cave that had been used by Butch Cassidy and the
“Wild Bunch” during their desperado days.
Because I had consulted with local expert A rock “calf” big enough to crush you.
David Holladay before the trip, I knew that
the type of rock in this cave didn’t “calve
off,” so it was safe to make a fire inside.
The danger you’ll face in a cave is making a fire inside it. As you can
imagine, the rocks that form caves are not used to heat, so a fire may lead to
a fracture and cause a piece of rock to break off from the cave roof.
If you’re lucky enough to find a large cave, don’t get lost while exploring
it. Mark the walls or the floor, or even tie a piece of cord to the cave mouth.
Bear in mind that caves sometimes have occupants already or may attract
other animals seeking shelter while you’re there. If you do make a fire, build
it near the cave mouth to prevent other animals from entering (then again,
some of those animals seeking shelter could be a source of food!).
Complete natural and manmade
shelters are rare. Don’t expend
energy going out of your way to search for one; just consider yourself
extremely fortunate if you find one.
When discussing natural winter shelters, many survival manuals
mention “tree wells,” snowless rings found at the base of coniferous
trees and surrounded by walls of snow, which (they say) require no
additional construction (not true; they always do). I have spent many
winter nights snowshoeing around the forests of North America, and I
rarely find one of these magical, readytosleepin,
treewell
snow shelters.
They are predominant, however, in the mountains of the North
American West Coast, but finding one takes a lot of searching and
wastes your time and energy. You’ll likely have to make a treepit
shelter,
which I discuss later in this chapter.
If you can’t find a cave, the next best natural shelter is an overhang.
Making Your Own LongTerm
Shelters: The thing to remember about
these shelters is that they can be built in many geographic regions,
depending on the natural features and materials you have on hand.
Your ability to construct a viable longterm
shelter, as with so many
survival tasks, depends on your adaptability and ingenuity.
The AFrame:
Unlike the leanto,
the Aframe
is a longterm
shelter
that, if properly constructed and maintained, can serve you well for an
extended period. Aframes
can be made to be strong, to adequately (if
not completely) repel the rain, and, when well enough insulated, to keep
heat in and wind out. One of the best things about the Aframe
is that
you can continually improve it by adding more roofing, insulation, and
waterproofing materials every time you return to your camp.
To make an Aframe
(oneperson
version), first clear the area (and
create a fire pit, if necessary) and make your bed. Then, find a fallen
tree that will act as a ridge pole (around 12 feet [3.6 m] long) as well as
a standing tree with a thick, sturdy branch about 4 feet (1.2 m) off the
ground. Rest one end of the ridge pole against the inner edge of the
branch, where it meets the trunk of the tree. If you can’t find a tree to
lean the ridge pole against, use a boulder, two forked branches, a root
bed, or any other similar structure. Now line the pole on either side
with a series of branches that will serve as ribbing; these should extend
away from the ridge pole at approximately 45 degrees and be spaced a
few inches apart. The steeper the ribbing, the more effectively the roof
will shed rain.
Try to keep the top end of the ribbing poles no more than an inch
or two (2.5 to 5 cm) higher than the ridge pole they are resting against,
or you will not be able to cap the peak with shingles. If the ribbing poles
are thin or you feel the need, crisscross
another layer of insulating/roofing
material over these branches. Then cover the roof with anything and
everything that may provide insulation. Get down on your hands and
knees like an animal and even scrape up debris from the forest floor to
use for insulation.
Don’t forget to pile some insulating material at the entrance to your
Aframe,
which you can pull toward you once you are inside. (Did you
remember to build the door lower than the shelter itself, or at least at
the low end of the shelter?) You can construct a door by lashing together
some sticks and small branches in a grid pattern. A door will provide more
insulation if you make two stick grids this way, place a layer of insulation
between them, and then lash them together.
Doug Getgood, who spent a winter sleeping in an Aframe,
had this
to add: “The problem I had when I spent my winter in the debris hut was
that I leaned the ridge pole against a tree. When the rains fell, the water
would run down the tree, then channel down the ridge pole and drip all
over me. I would have much preferred to use two forked sticks, thus eliminating
the problem. When I did use the tree, I extended the ridge pole
about 6 feet (1.8 m) past the tree. This gave me a working and changing
area in the front, and a smaller sleeping area in the back.”
The BentPole
Frame Shelter: The bentpole
frame shelter is a fantastic
solution if you are in an area with a lot of 6foot
(1.8m)
shrubs or
underbrush with trunks approximately the thickness of a pool cue. Collect
at least 20 of these “poles,” then strip them of their branches and leaves.
1. After you’ve collected at least 202. Tie off the branches at the top to hold
poles, strip them of their branches them in place.
and leaves. Jab the branches into the
ground while making the general
shape of the shelter.
3. Then, using whatever materials you have on hand, layer your insulation and windproof
materials over top.
The Hanging Shelter: Hanging shelters—hammocks or platform beds—
are useful in two ways. First, they get you off the ground, thereby
keeping you warm. Second, they put some distance between you and
any creepy crawlies, such as scorpions, snakes, spiders, and other biting
or stinging critters.
A platform bed, such as this one I built in the Amazon, is a good alternative to a
hammock.
The WikiUp
(or Tipi): A close relative of the tipi so ingeniously used by
many North American native groups, the wikiup
comprises three center
poles that are tied or fitted together at the top to form the basis of a tripod
frame. For additional support, place more poles against the tripod. Cover
these poles with any material you can find in the surrounding area. By
comparison, a tipi uses the same rough frame, but its walls are covered
with whatever manmade
materials you have available, whether a tarp,
plastic sheeting, parachute materials, or even canvas.
The beauty of both these shelters is that they are very strong, shed
the rain well due to their steep wall pitch, let you sit up (sometimes even
stand up!), and allow you to have a fire inside because the smoke exits the
shelter through the top. Building an air trench to provide oxygen to the
fire helps to force the smoke out.
Tarp Shelters: If you have a survival kit, you should have at least two garbage
bags, and maybe even a solar, or “space,” blanket. Items such as these (or a
tarp if you’re lucky enough to have one) are invaluable in making shelters
because they can be used almost on their own as a tent, provided you also
have some kind of rope or cord.
When using a plastic sheet as your only roof material, however,
remember that rainwater and other precipitation may collect in pockets.
This can cause leaks and even bring your entire shelter down on you!
Any time you incorporate a plastic sheet into the construction of a
shelter, be careful not to puncture, rip, or otherwise damage the sheet. Not
only will the sheet no longer be waterproof, it will continue to tear once
the process has started.
In the desert and other arid environments, a plastic sheet can be used
in conjunction with rocky outcroppings or sand mounds to provide muchneeded
protection from the sun.
Anywhere there are trees, you can stretch your rope between two, then
drape the plastic sheeting over them to make a rudimentary Aframe.
Use
rocks or other heavy objects to hold down the edges of the plastic. Similarly,
you can use your plastic sheeting to make a leanto.
stroud’s Tip
I advise against digging shelters unless you have no
other option. Not only is digging laborintensive,
but (other
than in snow) there are very few places you can dig effectively
without running into some kind of natural obstacle such as roots
or rocks. Even desert sand is extremely hard to dig into.
If, on the other hand, you are lucky enough to find a hole
or depression in the ground, by all means use it as the basis of
your shelter (assuming it’s not in an area that collects water). After
clearing out any debris you may find inside, build a roof by adding
branches and other deadwood. Cover the roof frame with plastic
sheeting (if you have it), leaves, and earth.
I used a solar blanket as part of my shelter’s roof during a rainy week in the mountains
of British Columbia, Canada. I dug into the sandy ground to create shelter. It was the
warmest shelter I’ve ever made.
Region-Specific Shelter Considerations
THE TYPE OF SHELTER YOU MAKE is going to be largely—if not entirely—
dependent on the region in which you find yourself. Your location will
determine what materials you have to use, the type of shelter you require,
how much protection you need from the elements and animals, and
whether you need a fire inside.
166 | Survive!
I had enough parachute material during my week in Africa to make this hammock and
another shelter.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
These are environments where you should have the benefit of rock
overhangs and caves, usually lots of them. Early American bandits and
gunslingers used the cave systems of the West as their hideaways for
decades.
Staying out of the rain is not of particular concern in the desert,
so shelter becomes less important in that respect. Where shelter plays a
vital role, however, is in keeping you out of the sun and the wind. Rocky
outcroppings and overhangs afford at least some protection from the
elements. Caves offer still more protection. Study local topography and
try to identify features that might house a cave.
Sleeping in a shelter during a weekend survival course
ing in a survival shelter is alwaysstroud’s Tip
with a group of wellfed
friends often doesn’t give a fair
indication of just how miserable it can be to sleep in a true
survival shelter, when all you really want to do is go home. Sleepuncomfortable,
usually barely
warm enough, often claustrophobic, and always smoky (if you’ve got
a fire going). But don’t be discouraged. All the shelter has to do is
keep you warm and dry, and allow you to get some sleep.
If you need to build a shelter in the desert, plastic sheeting such as
garbage bags, solar blankets, and tarps are vital. You can construct a sunbreak
by suspending plastic sheeting from a rocky overhang or stretching
it between mounds of sand.
No matter what type of shelter you end up using in the desert, your
bed should be up off the ground and away from poisonous critters, such
as scorpions and spiders, which are attracted to your body’s warmth. Also
keep footwear off the ground while you sleep, and in the morning before
you put them back on, hold them upside down and bang them together
to check for scorpions. Scorpions get more people by invading their shoes
than any other way.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
If you have to make a shelter in a survival situation, this is the place to do
it. The abundance of trees not only gives you ample fuel for making fire, it
also provides lots of natural materials.
The best suppliers of shelterbuilding
materials in the forest are
coniferous trees such as spruces and pines, and rotting birch trees. The
boughs of the evergreen trees are terrific wall and roof materials and are
particularly good at repelling rain if angled with the butt end of the broken
branch toward the sky (they’re not quite so good at repelling the wind,
however), and can double as insulation/bedding materials.
Large sheets of old bark can provide you with ample roofing material. Bark is often filled
with small holes, but these can usually be covered by laying the bark in shingles.
As with any natural material, boughs may not always be where you
need them to be. Once, while teaching survival skills to a husband and
wife, I was touting the benefits of boughs as shelter materials. It was a
perfect teaching opportunity, because we were walking right through a
“Christmas tree” forest. Two hundred yards later, however, we had left the
spruce forest and entered a deciduous forest, where there wasn’t a bough
to be seen! Our discussion naturally turned to making an emergency shortterm
shelter out of leaves.
A couple hundred yards can make all the difference in the world
when it comes to survival. When you travel, make a note of the natural
materials you see.
You might be lucky enough to come across a tree that’s been blown
down by the wind, root bed and all. These root beds are walls of earth as
large as 10 feet (3 m) in diameter that often stand up perpendicular to the
ground and can be used to form the walls of a shelter.
You may also come across a boulder in the forest. If it’s large enough,
use this as one wall of your shelter, as described above for root beds.
A root bed is also great to use in an emergency shortterm
situation because it provides
a readymade
windbreak and wall.
The added benefit of incorporating a boulder into your shelter’s construction is that if you
build a fire up against it, it will reflect the heat back at you.
The Arctic and Polar Regions (or anywhere in the snow)
The best shelter to use in the Arctic (in the winter) is the igloo. The problem
with igloo building, however, is that it takes skill and practice. Few
people can make an igloo on their first try if they haven’t been trained. You
have to know what kind of snow to look for—it feels like you’re cutting
into Styrofoam—and understand the process. A few photos in a book will
not give you the instruction you need to build one successfully. That’s why
it’s imperative that everybody planning to travel in the Arctic in the winter
take a survival course, and one that includes igloo building.
Another option in areas of ample snow is the snow cave. Although
most books make the snow cave seem like an easy shelter to build, it’s not
(at least not the first time). I’ve been in survival mode in the middle of winter
where there was snow all around me, and still I could not find a suitable
spot for a snow cave. In the right location, however, a snow cave can
provide protection that could save your life in winter conditions.
Related to the snow cave is the quinzee. The difference between a quinzee
and a snow cave is that a snow cave requires that you find a snowdrift
and dig into it. With a quinzee, you take matters into your own hands and
make the pile of snow yourself, then dig out a cave. This can work, but I
hesitate to call it a survival shelter because a) you have to be in a place where
you can maneuver enough snow into a large pile, b) you need a shovel (or
at least a snowshoe) for digging, c) building it exhausts you, and d) you get
soaking wet while making it.
If you decide to make a quinzee, dig your entry hole on the side
away from the wind. And with any snowcave
shelter, make sure you poke
a hole in the ceiling for ventilation. Finally, make a small fire inside for a
few minutes to glaze the ceiling. The iceglazed
ceiling will reflect your
body heat back inside and any moisture will drain down the sides rather
than drip on you.
Whether you decide to build a snow cave or quinzee, the effort you
exert making one (as well as the snow that accumulates all over your body)
will make you wet. So brush off snow constantly and remove layers as necessary
to minimize sweating.
Summer in the Arctic changes your perspective greatly, and your first
priority will be getting away from the bugs. Choose as windy an area as
possible; that’s where the bugs won’t be.
Making a Snow Cave
1. Start by digging a snow trench. A snow trench is the emergency shortterm
version
of the snow cave. As you dig, use the excess snow to make the walls higher.
172 | Survive!
2. Make a bed on the floor of the trench using available materials and cover the top
with branches to make the roof frame.
3. Close the roof off to the weather with a tarp or emergency blanket. If you don’t have
this type of manmade
material on hand, you can also use boughs, bark, or leaves.
Making a Quinzee
1. Find a spot that has a large enough deposit of snow for a quinzee, or the right pitch
and angle to allow you to dig a snow cave. This is a task unto itself.
2. Place a few sticks at strategic locations throughout your snow shelter. Then, if you
come upon one when you’re digging out from the inside of the quinzee, you’ll know
how far you’ve come and how thick the wall is.
3. Hollow out the snow pile to create a cave. The inside platform must be higher than
the entrance so that the cold air flows out and the warm air stays in.
4. Keep a pole inside with you while you dig your cave. It can save your life if the roof
collapses. Should this happen, twist the pole slowly until it bores an opening in the
snow above you.
stroud’s Tip
It’s important to keep the inside of winter shelters free
from snow. Native peoples, particularly the Inuit, are fastidious
about shaking off every last fleck of snow before they
crawl inside a shelter. You need to be the same way. If you aren’t,
the snow will melt, leaving you damp and miserable.
Jungles
The best type of shelter in the jungle is a leanto
combined with a hammock
or platform bed to keep you protected from the critters that live on
the jungle floor.
Wind is not usually a consideration because of the denseness of the
vegetation, and a leanto
should allow you to make a fire. Just make sure
your bed is well up off the ground! A Waorani friend of mine once woke
up to find a snake sleeping curled around his legs. He lay still for the next
seven hours until the snake finally moved on, apparently fully rested.
Your jungle survival kit should contain bug netting, which will make
all the difference in the quality of your sleep. Drape it over your bed or
cover yourself with it to keep most flying and stinging insects from getting
to you.
Coastal Regions
Most coastal regions provide ample materials for shelter, as they are usually
not too far from temperate forests. Driftwood is another possible
shelterbuilding
material found along the coast.
One oftenignored
material in these regions that may help you when
constructing a shelter is the flotsam (beach junk) that washes up on shore.
You may find items such as fishing nets, pieces of plastic, and barrels, all of
which you—the adaptive and ingenious survivor—can use to your benefit.
In some coastal areas you may find enough large rocks to construct a
rock shelter. Build the shelter in the shape of a U, and cover the roof with
any suitable material, including driftwood. Be warned, though: these shelters
are labor intensive and difficult to build, especially if you are lacking
food and energy.
I built this shelter from flotsam collected from the beach.
Mountains
Mountainous areas are often surrounded by forests, so any of the shelters
that use trees or are mentioned in the boreal/temperate forest section
apply here as well.
A possibility in coniferous mountain forests where the snow is deep
is to dig a tree well, also known as a tree-pit shelter. Locate a tree with low-
hanging boughs and dig out the snow around the trunk until you reach
your desired depth and diameter, or until you reach the ground. Clear
away any dead bottom branches that are in the way (use them for firewood).
You can place evergreen boughs or other material in the bottom of
the pit for comfort and insulation.
No matter where you build your shelter in the mountains, take into
account the risk of avalanche, rockslide, or rockfall.
Swamps
The ground near swamps is generally damp, so your primary concern is to
make sure your bed is well off the ground. One option is to make a swamp
bed. Find three or four trees clustered together. Use sturdy poles to connect
the trees at the same height; this is the frame of your bed. You can either rest
the poles against the trees’ branches or attach them using rope or cord. Now
fill the space within your frame with a series of cross pieces. Cover the top of
the bed with any soft insulation/bedding materials you can find.
While a swamp bed can get you out of the water, it can’t get you away from alligators.
A
lmost everybody who travels, it seems, worries about
starving in a survival situation. In reality such concerns are largely
overblown: you can survive for a month (or longer) without putting
any food in your body. This is hard for some people to wrap their heads
around, since most who live in developed nations are comfortably used
to eating three or more meals a day. The thought of going days—or even
hours—without a substantial meal is a scary proposition. But though it’s
not necessarily comfortable to go for a stretch without food, it is possible.
Your quest for food will be easier if before you leave you research
what you can eat, how to catch or pick it, and how to make it edible. There
may be food in abundance all around you in the wild, but you have to know
it’s there, and if necessary, how to prepare it. And there’s danger in consuming
something without knowing if it’s edible.
The first time I saw star fruit was in Costa Rica. As I stared, wondering
if they were poisonous, my survival buddy and military survival expert
Mike Kiraly was stuffing his face with them. Had it not been for him, I
might never have tried them, thereby missing out on an important and
abundant food source.
Many early explorers died from scurvy while sleeping on beds of
spruce boughs, which when boiled into tea would have provided all the
vitamin C they needed.
Manage Your Energy
THE MAIN EFFECT YOU’LL NOTICE FROM LACK OF FOOD is a significant decrease
in your energy level. In many survival situations, I’m fine without eating
for a week, but I really notice the loss of energy. As my energy fades and I
tire quickly, I can work for only an hour or so at a time, and then I have to
sit down and rest for 20 or 30 minutes. Then I work a little more, only to
have to sit or lie down again. I repeat that pattern throughout the day.
So forget about needing massive quantities of food on which to feast,
accept the stomach growling as part of your ordeal, and focus on getting
something, anything, into your system that will increase your energy.
Closely manage your activity level so that you require less food than
usual. This means sitting down if you don’t need to stand, lying down if
you don’t need to sit, and sleeping if you don’t need to be awake. Anything
you can do to slow your heart rate and relax will preserve your energy for
the things you need to do to stay alive. The major risk you run from lack of
energy is that it can lead to listlessness, apathy, and ultimately, depression.
stroud’s tip
The more food you eat, the more water your body
needs for digestion. So if you are short on water, then eat
less food, or you’ll speed up the dehydration process. On the
other hand, if you’re near a large source of fresh drinking water,
force yourself to drink every half hour. This not only keeps your system
flushed and clean but also makes your stomach feel like something’s in
there. This is a trick I use all the time while filming survival ordeals.
The Myth of Wild Edibles
PERHAPS NOTHING IS AS OVERROMANTICIZED
IN THE world of survival as the
notion of gathering and eating wild edibles such as plants and mushrooms.
Many people envision the wilderness as providing a bounty of plants to
feast upon. Don’t be fooled; the search for plants to eat can be fraught with
danger. These are the some of the challenges you’ll encounter.
182 | Survive!
Identification
Plant identification in various parts of the world is difficult at the best of
times, even if you have a book telling you their Latin names and accompanied
by photos. The same plant may look different depending on your
location or the time of year, and this is not easily gleaned from most
guidebooks. Some plants are safe to eat, abundant, and easily identified,
but for the most part reading a book is not the way to learn about most
wild edibles. You really need an expert on the local vegetation to offer you
firsthand
education on location: you should smell it, touch it, taste it. Then,
when the time comes, you’ll know it.
Availability
Contrary to popular notion, wild edibles often are not plentiful. There
are some regional exceptions, such as coconut trees on tropical islands
or prickly pear cacti in the Sonoran Desert. But even with coconuts, once
you’ve eaten what’s fallen on the ground and knocked down what you can
reach with a stick, you’ve got to climb 30 to 60 feet (9 to 18 m) up the tree
to get at the rest, and that’s not easy to do.
The truth is, you might have to walk for miles before you find a single
wild edible. When I was in the Amazon, the only significant source of
fruit I found was in an overgrown jungle area that had previously been a
farm. Otherwise there was nothing but big green leaves everywhere, which
my Waorani teachers didn’t eat.
Even while spending a year in the wilderness in northern Ontario,
my wife, Sue, and I found only one or two places where the blueberries and
raspberries grew so thick that we couldn’t eat all of them in one sitting.
Season
Most wild edibles, especially fruits, grow only at certain times of the year.
Latitude
The availability of wild edibles is regionspecific.
As a rule, the farther you
are from the equator, the less abundant wild edibles become. So if you’re
in the Rocky Mountains, the best time to find wild edibles is really limited
to spring and berry season. Everything but berries is unpalatable and difficult
to digest.
The farther you get from the equator, the more you have to rely
on meat or critters for food. That said, it seemed peculiar to me that the
Waorani of the Amazon could not teach me about very many wild green
edibles. It turned out they believe that because greenery is eaten by the
small animals it will make them weak, so they stick primarily to meat,
manioc (a potato-like root), and a few fruits.
Personal Sensitivities
You may have a severe allergic reaction to a plant you’ve never before
eaten. Given this risk and the many other variables in identifying and eating
wild edibles, your best bet is to know two or three that are plentiful and
easily identified for each of the world’s regions. These are listed later in
this chapter as my Top Three Wild Edibles and Top Three Critters.
The Edibility Test
IF YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO EAT WILD PLANTS that you cannot identify, you
should employ a last-ditch effort called the edibility test, which exposes
your body to the plant in slow increments.
Since the edibility test requires a lot of time and effort (and potential
risk), make sure there is enough of the plant available to make the test
worthwhile. Note that it does not work with all poisonous plants! Here are
the steps to follow:
Test only a single plant type at a time; don’t eat anything else during the test
period.
Rub the plant on a sensitive part of your body such as your wrist; wait
45 minutes to an hour for signs of any adverse effects like nausea, hives,
dizziness, or shortness of breath.
If there’s no negative effect, take a small part of the plant and prepare it the
way you plan on eating it.
Before eating, touch a small part of the prepared plant to your outer lip to test
for burning, tingling, or itching.
If there is no reaction after five minutes, place the plant on your tongue. Hold
it there for 15 minutes.
If there is no reaction after 15 minutes, chew a very small amount for 15
minutes; observe for any adverse effect. Do not swallow.
If you still feel fine after chewing for 15 minutes, swallow it.
Wait eight hours. If you begin to notice any adverse effects, induce vomiting
and drink as much water as possible. If there are no adverse effects, eat a
small handful of the plant.
Wait another eight hours. If there are still no negative effects, you are
likely safe.
into your system.
stroud’s Tip
In almost all parts of the world most grasses are
chewable. Don’t swallow the grass itself, just chew it
and swallow the juice. It’s a good way to get some nutrients
Critters and Creepy Crawlies
THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT CRITTERS is that they are plentiful in many parts of
the world. From worms to ants to frogs, there are usually lots of items on
the menu. The problem, obviously, is that most of us find the prospect of
eating bugs and slugs and snails downright disgusting, a phenomenon
known as plate fright. Believe me, after a few days without food, you get
over plate fright pretty quickly.
Almost every culture on the planet has either an active or recent
history of eating critters as part of its diet, whether it be tarantulas in the
Amazon, chocolate ants in India, or grubs in northern Ontario. We’re not
alone, either: most predators and biggame
animals will eat bugs too. If
you’re at risk of starving, the fact that these creatures are almost universally
high in protein and fat may make them more appealing. Don’t forget that
insect larvae are also edible.
To successfully eat critters, follow a few basic rules:
Get over plate fright. Remember, your ancestors feasted on slimy, wriggly
creatures. Why can’t you?
Recognize these warning signs of potentially poisonous creatures. Avoid those that
» are very hairy
» are brightly colored
» give off a strong odor
» sting or bite
» may carry diseases from parasites such as flies, mosquitoes, and ticks
» move very slowly and out in the open. Poisonous creatures are not afraid
because they know they are poisonous!
Though generally you should stay away from poisonous creatures,
there are some that you can eat, provided you remove their dangerous bits.
In the desert, I survived almost exclusively on scorpions. Once I cut away
the stinger, they tasted like shrimp. Of course you’ll have to consult a local
expert beforehand, as attempting to eat something known to be poisonous
should only be a last resort.
If you lack the knowledge, perform an edibility test on anything you
suspect might make you sick.
Gathering and Catching Critters
Many edible creatures, such as frogs and snakes, prefer damp, dark places
like rotting logs and rock crevices. Just make sure you don’t shove your
hand into one of these places without first inspecting it.
If you’re close to a body of water such as a lake, you have only to sit by
the shore to see how many critters there are. For example, you may see a dozen
or more leeches swim by in a matter of minutes; reach down and scoop them
out. They do taste better cooked, by the way—kind of like little anchovies.
When I was in the Kalahari Desert, I trapped dozens of scorpions
with something akin to a bottle trap. All I did was dig a little hole about an
inch (2.5 cm) from the scorpion hole and drop a jar into it. When a scorpion
came out of its hole, it would fall into the jar and get stuck.
Cooking and Preparing Critters
The safest way to eat critters is to cook them first, since this kills the parasites
carried by many, particularly those with a hard outer shell.
First you should get rid of as much waste as possible. This means eliminating
the entrails or squeezing out the waste, provided you know where the
critter’s anus is. Worms will clean themselves out naturally if you submerge
them in water for a few minutes. Grasshoppers can be cleaned by holding on
to the head with one hand, the body with the other, and pulling.
All edible critters should be verified by a local expert. Taking a chance on
some harmless-looking frog in Costa Rica, for example, could result in death.
Scorpion Hole
Bottle Trap
This bottle trap will work wherever scorpions are found. It even works with just a hole,
if you make the sides steep enough. Scorpions can’t climb vertically very well. The trap
needs to be placed right at the opening of the small scorpion hole, as shown.
Fish
FISH ARE A FANTASTIC SOURCE OF SURVIVAL FOOD. You can leave your hook in the
water 24 hours a day and let it work for you while you rest or do other things.
But don’t think that catching fish is easy, no matter how remote your location
and how abundant they may be. Luck is definitely part of the equation.
When I was in Alaska, I fished from my sea kayak with a long line,
a well-made fish hook, and a big chunk of bait. Though the salmon were
jumping all around my kayak, nothing would take my bait. During that
same time I had a fishnet in the water for 48 hours and saw schools of
salmon running by, and still couldn’t catch a fish dinner.
Although there are no poisonous freshwater fish, the skin of some
saltwater fish is poisonous when eaten raw. Several species of tropical
fish are also very poisonous; the only way to identify these is to have
consulted a local expert. Without that knowledge, you have to decide if
eating a fish is worth the risk. Try the edibility test on fish you suspect
of being poisonous.
As with any creature you catch in the wild, try to eat all parts of the
fish. The skin (provided it’s not poisonous) has lots of nutritional value, so
eat that too. Many experts advise against eating fish that appears spoiled
(sunken eyes, strong smell, strange color), but I believe that as a lastditch
effort, it’s okay to eat. If you become ill after eating what you suspect to be
a rotten fish, however, either consume some charcoal (described on page 207)
or induce vomiting.
Catching Fish
Of the various fishing methods available, the most common is the hook
and line. You need only some type of basic cord or rope, the thinner and
more transparent the better (and, of course, some kind of hook). If you
don’t have any thin line, you can unravel a piece of clothing, such as a
sweater, or unwind a piece of cord or rope to use the component threads.
To greatly improve your chances with hook and line, use bait. If your
food supply is limited, using it for bait is a tradeoff:
you may have to sacrifice
some of what you have for the prospect of acquiring something larger.
Insects, raw meat, and worms are all good bait. In all cases, fish are much
more likely to take bait that is native to their waters.
If you don’t have bait, you can try your hand at making lures. An
effective lure can be anything that moves and therefore catches the fish’s
attention: a piece of credit card, the zipper off your pants, a piece of thread,
a coin, or a key. Obviously, the more hooks you have in the water, the
greater your chances of catching something. If you’re near a moving body
of water, consider stringing a line across (tying it to a couple of trees or
rocks) and attaching to it several other lines and baited hooks.
More elaborate than hook and line are fish traps. These take time to
build, but can also reap greater rewards under the right circumstances. The
most common type of fish trap is essentially a stick fence that helps to corral
the fish or move them in the direction you want them to go.
If you don’t have fish hooks with you, they’re easy to make from bones and thorns; metal
objects such as safety pins and nails work well too. Ironically, fish bones are great to make
into fish hooks because they are easily carved.
To make a simple fish trap, tie a series of sticks together with rope
or cord (you want the water to flow through, not the fish). You can make
one or more sections, depending on your needs. Push the sections into the
soil bottom of the waterway. Ideally, the fish will be channeled into an area
where you can then spear or net them.
In coastal regions, you can use the tide to help you trap fish. Build
a circle of rocks on an area of beach that is covered by water only at high
tide. The tide brings small fish in with it. As the tide recedes, fish may get
caught in the trap.
Although fish trapping is possible, I have yet to be in a survival situation
where I’ve had the time or energy to do it. Fishtrapping
methods are
closer to being traditional living skills than survival skills. They are not as
easy as they look, take a long time to accomplish, require a lot of energy, and
you must have all the necessary supplies (or be able to adapt what you do
have). You also have to be in the ideal place to attempt these methods during
the right season. There are a lot of ifs in this scenario!
Ranking pretty high in the realm of romanticizing wilderness survival
is the idea of drugging fish. Though it is possible to introduce concoctions
Fishing Techniques
Build walls in narrow channels to trap fish in one area. Then, you can spear them (but
beware—it’s not easy!).
Build a rustic “fishing pole” that has several lines instead of just one. This way, you
increase your chances of catching a fish.
Use sticks and logs to create a fish trap. Once you corral the fish, they are easier to catch.
of certain plants to water sources to stun or kill fish, this is an exercise better
left to experts in plant identification. Even if you have a local teach you which
plants to use, your chances of catching fish this way are slim.
And although Tom Hanks made it look easy in Cast Away, there is
nothing easy about spearing fish. If by some lucky coincidence you find
yourself in an area where many fish congregate in a small pool, however,
consider making a barbed fishing spear. Take a long piece of wood, no more
than an inch or two (2.5 to 5 cm) in diameter. To be effective, you first have to
whittle the tip to a very sharp point. Carve a few barbs (curved upward) into
the top of the stick to prevent a fish from sliding off after you spear it.
The barbed fishing spear is made
from a long piece of wood, no more
than an inch or two (2.5 to 5 cm) in
diameter. For the spear to be effective,
you first have to whittle each tip
to a sharp point.
Carving a few upwardcurving
barbs
into the top of your spear will prevent
the fish from sliding off after you
spear it.
If you have a net or can make one, you can either set it in or drag
it through the water to catch fish and other creatures such as freshwater
shrimp. Another effective fishing method with a net—particularly in smaller
bodies of water such as streams and creeks—is to build a border around the
perimeter of the net, usually with sticks. Attach a series of ropes or cords
around the edge of the net, all of which come together at a central point
about a foot or two (30 to 60 cm) above the net. Attach another (lead) rope to
these and drape it over a nearby branch. Hold the far end of the lead rope in
your hands. Dangle the flat net in the water. When fish swim over the center
portion, quickly raise the net.
Finally, fish are attracted to light at night. If you have a light source,
try pointing it at the water while using your primary fishing method.
Waorani women are masters of net fishing,
as seen here in the feeder streams
of the Amazon.
Torch fishing in the South Pacific
increased my chances of catching fish,
because fish are often attracted to
bright light. It also allowed me to see
sleeping fish. The task was not without
danger, however. Accidentally stepping
on a stonefish could have proved fatal.
Game
THE NOTION OF CATCHING GAME IN A SURVIVAL SITUATION is an attractive one,
mostly because you can end up eating something substantial that tastes
like the meat many of us eat on a daily basis. The reality, however, is that
catching game is difficult, especially if you’re talking about anything larger
than a rabbit.
Without a gun, ammunition, and hunting experience, the idea that
you might kill big game is wishful thinking at best. So what does that leave
us with? Small game.
Trapping and Snaring Small Game
Once you accept the reality that nabbing big game is an exercise limited
to only a handful of survival situations, the world of small game
opens before you. The advantage of trapping and snaring small game
is the same as that of fishing: you can set a series of traps that work
while you don’t. Done properly—and in the right location—these simple
devices can add enough sustenance to your diet to keep you going
for a while.
In addition to (hopefully) providing you with food, the other benefit
of creating traps and snares is that it is proactive and enables you to
feel like you’re doing something to better your situation. When you build
these tools, you’re concentrating for hours on a specific survival task. This
helps to occupy your mind—and to defeat boredom, apathy, and depres-
sion—thus helping to keep you alive.
Another benefit of traps and snares is that they’re effective anywhere
in the world. A figure-four deadfall, for instance, will work just as well in
the African savannah as in the northern boreal forest.
There’s strength in numbers when it comes to traps. The more you
set, the more luck you’ll have. If you can set 45 rabbit snares, do it. You’ll
have to invest more energy at the front end, but you’re also setting yourself
up for greater rewards at the back end.
Although many people tout the benefits of complex traps and snares,
my philosophy is to follow the KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid! The
elaborate ones require tremendous effort and expertise and often don’t
yield any more than the basic ones.
You’ll increase your chances of success if you use bait in your traps
and snares. Begin by scattering some of it around your trap. This will
encourage the animal to develop a taste for the bait. When the outer supply
is exhausted, the animal likely will venture into the trap, its desire for
more of the bait overcoming its natural sense of caution. Keep in mind
that most types of traps and snares do not always kill the animal, and
a trapped animal that’s still alive (and probably injured), no matter how
small, can be a formidable opponent, clawing, biting, and scratching. In
these cases, you must hit the animal on the head with a club or some other
heavy object to kill it. It won’t be pretty. Survival never is.
If you are lucky enough to snare or trap an animal, remember that
you’re not looking for a few choice pieces, the way you might when you
shop at the butcher. In a survival situation, you eat everything on the animal,
with the exception of the bowels and excrement, and (of course) any
known poisonous bits.
Snares
A basic snare is a simple device: a looped cord or rope that tightens around
an animal as it walks through. Getting a snare to work exactly as designed
often requires a bit of finetuning,
though. The loop must be big enough
for the animal’s head, not so big that the animal walks through unscathed,
and at the right height off the ground for the animal’s head.
A variation on the simple snare is the drag noose. Place forked sticks
on either side of the animal trail and lay a crosspiece from one to the other
across the trail (well above the height of the animal’s head). Dangle the
noose from the crosspiece. If the animal becomes ensnared in the noose,
the crosspiece becomes dislodged and caught in surrounding vegetation.
The animal tires quickly as it struggles to get free.
Where to Set Snares and Traps
Never set traps and snares too far from your shelter. You don’t want to have
to travel a great distance to reach them, for two reasons. First, you waste
energy going back and forth to check the traps. More important, if the
distance is prohibitive, you may not travel to the location every day. And if
you are lucky enough to trap something but wait too long to retrieve it, you
may find that some other animal has come along and eaten your catch.
Always position any trap or snare in a location where there is evidence
of animal activity: runs and trails, tracks, droppings, chewed or
rubbed vegetation. Try to disturb the area as little as possible when setting
the trap, otherwise you will tip animals off as to your presence.
The best areas to set traps and snares for small game are where different
types of forest meet, such as where an oldgrowth
forest turns into a
swamp. The big animals come there for the small animals, which are there
for the smaller animals, and they are all there for a drink.
A simple snare is nothing more than a noose positioned along an animal’s path and
attached to a stake. The idea is that the noose tightens around the animal’s throat as it
passes through the snare. As the animal struggles to get out, the noose tightens.
stroud’s Tip
A simple noose is all you need to make an effective snare.
To make one, tie a small loop at the end of the rope. Pass the
working end of the rope through the loop to form the noose.
Rabbit snare: Use a rope or cord to make a noose; drape it loosely over some
foliage growing close to the ground. Attach the lead rope of the snare to a
bowed branch overhead, then continue the lead rope to a trigger mechanism
that will release at the slightest movement. If you’re lucky, the rabbit will walk
through the noose but catch the rope with a leg or paw. This releases the trigger,
sending the bowed branch skyward and catching the rabbit in the noose.
The catch mechanism is a critical part of the rabbit snare. It must be tight enough that
it doesn’t release accidentally but sensitive enough to release when the rabbit passes
through it.
The cord shown here is attached to
a bowed branch. The branch needs
to be strong enough to support the
weight of a rabbit.
Squirrel snare: Since squirrels are relatively plentiful in many parts of
the world, squirrel snares can be a huge boost to your survival efforts.
A squirrel snare is a long pole or branch that you lean against a tree at
approximately a 45degree
angle.
The idea behind the squirrel snare is that the squirrel will use the
pole to climb the tree. Should it feel the noose on its neck, it will try to
leap to safety and hang itself.
To build a squirrel snare, loosely wrap three or four wire nooses (a few inches in diameter)
on the top and sides of the pole. You want the squirrel to pass through at least one of
them when going up or down the pole. Placing bait between the snares is effective.
Traps
Even without snare wire or some kind of string or rope, you can catch
game by building traps. These run the gamut from very simple and basic to
extremely intricate and may include the use of rope. As with so many things
in survival, the simpler the better . . . and often the more successful.
Figurefour
deadfall: A figurefour
deadfall works by crushing its prey.
To be effective, the weight must be heavy enough to kill, or at least
immobilize your intended prey.
To make the trap, gather three sticks of approximately the same
size—anything from a few inches to a couple of feet (7.5 to 60 cm) if you
are going after big game—and notch them as shown in the picture.
Note that making an effective figurefour
deadfall takes practice; the
skill with which you cut the angles in the sticks will determine how effectively
it releases.
Figurefour
deadfall sticks (top to bottom): the upright stick, the release stick, and the
bait stick.
Release stick
Bait stick Upright stick
Bait is set on the bait stick first. The sticks are then placed together in the shape of the number
four, with the weight leaning against the (release) top stick. When the animal begins to nibble
on the bait, the trap releases, crushing the animal.
Doug’s deadfall: This is similar to the figurefour
deadfall. To build this
trap you need three sticks of varying length (two short ones and one
longer one) and a heavy crushing object such as a flat stone.
Doug’s deadfall uses components similar to those of the figurefour
deadfall: two upright
sticks and a bait stick.
Upright sticks
Bait stick
For Doug’s deadfall, bait is placed on the end of the longer stick. When an animal disturbs
the upright sticks, the rock or trap should fall, crushing the prey beneath.
Paiute deadfall: Similar to the figurefour
deadfall (but easier to set), the
Paiute deadfall incorporates a piece of rope into its design. You need three
long sticks of approximately equal length, and one short stick. See photo
captions on the next page for detailed instructions.
Bottle trap: Similar to the scorpion trap I used in the Kalahari, a bottle trap
is effective in catching small rodents such as mice and voles.
Dig a hole about a foot (30 cm) deep, making sure it’s wider at the
bottom than the top and that the hole in the top is as small as possible, but
big enough to fit your prey. Place a long piece of bark or wood an inch or
two (2.5 to 5 cm) off the ground and over the hole; you can use rocks or
bark to elevate the wood.
Small rodents will seek shelter from danger under your bark or wood
and fall into the hole. They will not be able to climb out because of the
angle of the walls. Use caution when checking this trap, however: snakes
like holes too!
Making a Paiute Deadfall
1. Gather and whittle Paiute deadfall
sticks: (from top to bottom)
the diagonal stick, the catch
stick, the upright stick, and the
bait stick.
2. To set up a Paiute deadfall, bait
the stick, then set up the trap as
shown. The diagonal stick holds
the weight of the rock.
3. Here is the Paiute deadfall from another angle. If an animal disturbs the bait stick,
the catch stick will release. The diagonal stick will fly up, the rock will fall, and dinner
will be served.
Birds
ALL SPECIES OF BIRDS ARE EDIBLE, but I do not consider them an important
part of my smallgame
diet, for two reasons: birds are very difficult to
catch, and bird traps tend to be complex and hard to build.
If you hope to have any chance of catching birds, you must make
tracking them a significant part of your trip preparation and planning, and
have extremely good luck. When I was in the Cook Islands, for example,
I happened to be there during the one or two weeks when Brown Booby
hatchlings were trying to take flight. They were practically falling out of
their nests right at my feet! Had I been there a couple of weeks earlier or
later, however, I would not have seen them.
Believe it or not, the easiest birds to catch are songbirds, because you
might find several dozen of them together in a tree or bush. The throwing
stick (see page 203) is the best primitive hunting tool for nabbing songbirds.
If you have a net (or can make one), one method of hunting birds is
to string a net between trees near their nests. Birds tend to use the same
flyways, and you may snare one this way. If you find some nests, bird eggs
are also a good food source.
Tracks and Other Signs of Animal Activity
IS IT NECESSARY TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between squirrel and mouse tracks?
No. You couldn’t care less whether the animal you’re after is a shrew or a
vole or a pika; all you want to do is eat it. All you need to know about tracks
is where they are, which indicates where the animals are, and consequently,
where you should set your traps and snares.
In addition to watching for tracks, you can determine where animals
spend their time by keeping an eye out for trails or runs, droppings, nests
or burrows, holes, and scratchings.
Hunting
UNLESS YOU’RE AN EXPERIENCED HUNTER and have a weapon with you, you
won’t have much success hunting for your food. I have yet to meet someone
who can run down and catch a deer with their bare hands. In North America
more than half of all people who get lost in the wilderness are hunters. But
remember that hunting is laborintensive,
and as your energy level dwindles,
so will your ability to hunt effectively.
Making Hunting Tools
The best hunting tools, like the best traps and snares, are the ones you
can create simply and easily. For this reason you won’t find me explaining
how to make bows and arrows. Not only are they extremely difficult
to make but learning how to use them effectively takes practice. A person
can’t, without years of experience, take a bent branch, attach a rope to it,
and bring down a deer.
The simplest yet most versatile hunting tool in a survival situation is
the throwing stick. A throwing stick is a wristthick
piece of hardwood in a
A throwing stick is used intuitively:
you throw it at an animal or bird in
the hope of dazing or killing it. In
essence, the throwing stick is opportunistic
hunting. You should always
have one with you, so that if you spook
a bird or small animal while walking,
you have the stick ready.
curved J shape that looks like a miniature hockey stick, about 1.5 to 2.5 feet
(0.5 to .75 m) in length. Some people sharpen one end of the stick, though
that’s not necessary. The throwing stick can be used for protection from
wild animals and can also double as a digging stick.
A throwing stick does you little good, however, if it’s not at hand
when you need it. In the African plains, I was hiking with my throwing
stick strapped to my backpack. A few minutes into the walk, I stirred up
some ground birds about 5 feet (1.5) away from me. Of course, I missed the
chance to kill them because by the time I got my throwing stick out, they
were gone. That’s a mistake I won’t make again.
You do not want to travel long distances with the throwing stick looking
for game; this requires too much energy and the stick is not accurate.
Use it only when an opportunity presents itself.
Skinning and Dressing
IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT PREDATORS, make sure you clean game some
distance from your camp, preferably near a water source. To skin large
game, lay the animal on its back and split the hide from throat to tail,
avoiding the sex organs. Turn your knife blade up to ensure that you cut
only the hide and stomach muscles, not the internal organs, as cutting
internal organs such as the stomach or kidneys can sometimes introduce
foultasting
liquids, effectively spoiling your catch.
Smaller game is easier to skin. Cut the hide along the bottom or back
legs and across the anus. Insert your fingers under the hide on both sides
of the cut and pull it apart, using the knife to cut away places where the
skin is holding on. The skin should slide back quite easily.
Carefully cut through the stomach muscles. The exposed internal
organs can now be cut or pulled out; they are attached only at the throat
and anus. Don’t throw them away, though: most are edible. At the very least,
they can be used for bait. You can eat the lungs, heart, kidneys, and liver
(but be wary of liver that appears discolored or diseased). Avoid stomach
and intestines, and although the stomach contents may be edible (such as
crawfish inside fish) they should be considered a lastditch
food source.
Cooking
ASFAR AS I’MCONCERNED, there is only one way to cook food in a survival
situation: boil it. Boiling food is most effective because many of the nutrients
remain in the cooking liquid, and there is also something comforting
about drinking warm broth.
It’s true that boiled food can taste pretty bland, but I’d rather put up
with bland flavor in an emergency than eat something that was grilled or
cooked on an open fire, with many of the nutrients and fat dripped away.
If you don’t have the option of boiling because you lack a pot, then
you must use an alternative method. Spit cooking can be accomplished
by skewering your meal on a green sapling and suspending it over a
small fire. The hot coals of a fire work best here; high flames will only
singe your meal without cooking the inside. Turn the spit regularly to
cook the meat through.
Another effective method is rock frying. Heat a couple of flat rocks in
your fire, then place your food directly on the rocks to fry it.
Preserving Food
IF YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE MORE FOOD than you can eat at any
given time, the greatest tragedy is to see it go bad. For this reason, it’s
important to know the various methods of preserving food in the wild.
First, cut away all the fat. Fat can be rendered on its own and used as a
food source, as bait, as grease in a qulliq (candle), as waterproofing, and more.
If weather allows, the easiest technique is to hang your food to dry.
Find a sunny, windy place, and set up a few sticks and logs to create hanging
racks. Cut the meat into thin strips and hang it over the racks. After a
couple of days it will be dry. You may find the meat turns black and crusty,
and this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it prevents flies from laying
their eggs in the meat and becoming maggots. (But if they do, keep the
maggots—they’re edible too!)
A better way to dry meat is to smoke it. Hang thinly sliced meat
from your racks, but also build a small, smoky (punky wood works best)
When meat has been properly smoked, it will look dry, shrunken, and brittle. It doesn’t
need to be cooked to be eaten. Here the meat is drying in the sun while the smoke keeps
the flies away.
fire underneath. Smoking not only gives the meat great flavor, it prevents
the flies from getting at it. If you have cloth among your supplies, you can
wrap some of it around the racks to make an enclosure, which speeds up
the process by keeping the smoke and heat in. For generations, Native
North Americans have used tipis as smokehouses.
Finally, you can preserve meat by soaking it in salt water. Salt water
must cover the meat completely. If you happen to have lots of salt, you can
layer the meat, covering each layer in salt. In both cases, be sure to wash
the salt off the meat before cooking it.
Eating Carrion
CARRION—THECARCASS OFADEADANIMAL—is something many of us would
never consider eating. Until we’re trying to stay alive in the wild, that is.
Most readers of this book live in a society where the only interaction
they have with rotten food is when they throw it in the garbage. And
in an age when food has spent time on a truck, train, or ship, has traveled
between continents, and has been handled by dozens of people before it
hits the grocery store shelves, that’s probably smart.
But in the wild, it’s amazing what kinds of rotten (or seemingly rotten)
foods our stomachs can handle. That’s why I ate a rotting fish when
I was in Alaska. Even though it had been out in the sun all day, I figured
it wouldn’t hurt me, and I was right. Most cultures in the not-too-distant
past included raw or rotting meat as a staple of their diet. For example, the
Montagnais of northern Quebec fill the stomach of a woodland caribou
with its internal organs and let it hang in the heat of summer in a tree for
a couple of weeks. Then, when it has turned into what can graciously be
described as stinky mush, they eat it as a delicacy.
If you resort to eating carrion, you should cook it whenever possible. But
if I were presented with the choice between uncooked carrion and starvation,
I’d eat the carrion.
Eating Charcoal
IF YOU FIND YOUR STOMACH BECOMING UPSET because of your new diet, eating
charcoal (pieces of burnt wood from your fire) may help cure what
ails you. Charcoal will absorb many drugs and toxins from the gastrointestinal
tract.
African survival expert Douw Kruger uses charcoal extensively for
stomach problems. He grinds charcoal into a teaspoonful of fine powder,
mixes it with water, and consumes this a few times a day as necessary.
Don’t take too much, though, as it can cause constipation. And don’t ever
eat charcoal made from poisonous wood.
RegionSpecific
Food Considerations
THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN GATHERING AND CATCHING FOOD in a wilderness environment
is knowing a few plants and creatures native to each region. The
wild plants and creatures listed below are safe to eat, easy to identify, and
found in relative abundance.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Top Three Wild Edibles:
pads of the prickly pear cactus
fruit of the prickly pear cactus
mesquite beans
Top Three Critters:
mice and rats
grasshoppers and scorpions
rattlesnakes: Be sure to cut off and bury the head and its potentially lethal fangs.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Top Three Wild Edibles:
cattails
berries (in season)
wild teas (from needles, leaves, and fruit): spruce, blueberry, blackberry,
raspberry, Labrador
Top Three Critters:
creepy crawlies (earthworms, grubs, grasshoppers)
rodents (including squirrels)
rabbits
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Top Three Wild Edibles:
caribou lichen (reindeer moss)
berries (in season)
willow shoots
Top Three Critters:
rodents
bird eggs (in season): The Arctic is one of the few places where you can find
entire colonies of bird eggs.
fish: Fishing in a place like the boreal forest is an uncertain undertaking. You
could walk through miles of thick bush without finding a lake. In the Arctic
in the summer, however, there are all kinds of running streams. (There aren’t
always fish in them, but checking streams is worth a shot.)
On the Sea or Open Water
Top Three Wild Edibles:
bull kelp
seaweed
any other type of greenery
Top Three Critters:
barnacles and other crustaceans that attach themselves to the bottom of your
vessel
small fish that follow in the shade of your vessel
plankton: You can catch plankton by trailing an open sock behind your vessel.
The plankton collect in the sock, giving you a teaspoonful of salty mush.
(Of course, you should also try your hand at catching big fish from your
vessel, but this isn’t easy to do. Some have sustained themselves by killing
birds that occasionally landed on their vessels.)
Jungles
Top Three Wild Edibles:
fruit
palm nuts
palm hearts
Top Three Critters:
fish from feeder streams (small, shallow, muddy little runoffs from rainfall):
If you have a net, you can often scoop small fish and crustaceans from
these streams.
fish from rivers
insects and grubs (as long as you can distinguish the benign ones from the
poisonous ones)
Coastal Regions
Top Three Wild Edibles:
bull kelp
bladderwrack seaweed
sea lettuce
Top Three Critters:
creepy crawlies (earthworms, grubs, grasshoppers)
rodents (including squirrels)
rabbits
Mountains
Top Three Wild Edibles:
berries (in season)
wild teas
mushrooms (only if an experienced mushroom hunter has taught you which
ones are safe)
Top Three Critters:
rodents (including squirrels)
rabbits
creepy crawlies (earthworms, grubs, grasshoppers)
Swamps
Top Three Wild Edibles:
cattails
pond lily tubers
wild teas
Top Three Critters:
frogs and leeches
snakes and turtles
rodents
Africa
Top Three Wild Edibles:
wild cucumbers
wild melons
gemsbuck (marama) bean roots and bulbs
Top Three Critters:
snakes, lizards, and tortoises
ground birds and sociable weaver birds (found in big nests in trees)
rodents and mongoose
Group Versus Solo Survival
BEING PART OF A GROUP THAT’S STRUGGLING FOR SURVIVAL can be both a blessing
and a curse when food is an issue. There is the obvious advantage of
having more people to collect food and identify food sources. But when
Food | 211
it comes to rationing food, you may find that the other members of your
group have vastly different opinions about the proper proportions.
Another benefit of being in a group is that you may find it easier to
eat things you might otherwise consider disgusting. If you’re hungry and
see your buddy eating maggots, for example, you just might do it too.
And with more people in your group, there’s a greater chance that
at least one of them is a proficient hunter or angler, which could radically
change the food landscape for everyone.
On the downside, there can be endless discussions about favorite
foods and what you miss the most (as you feast on a slug or two). These
conversations can lead to a couple of hours of euphoria but are inevitably
followed by depression as the reality of your situation becomes clearer.
W
hen you’re struggling to survive, most of your decisions
revolve around prioritizing your immediate needs: should you
search for water, food, or shelter? Should you make a signal or a
fire? All are vital to your well-being; the only decision to make is which
one should come first, and the answer usually becomes obvious when
you take into account your circumstances, the region, and the weather
in which you find yourself. But perhaps the single most important (and
difficult) decision you will face in the wilderness is whether you should
move or stay put.
There may be instances, for example, in which you have to move at
least a short distance to escape an immediate hazard, such as a rockfall or
an avalanche. Barring that, however, the choice to stay or go is never an
easy one. There are pros and cons to each.
Should You Stay or Should You Go?
MANY PEOPLE—PARTICULARLY THOSE who have attended survival classes—
have had it drummed into their heads by their instructors that they should
stay put no matter what the circumstances. Unfortunately, this is not always
the best advice.
| 215
You may find yourself in a spot that offers you ample food and water,
protection from the elements, and even wood for a fire. But at the same
time, you’re in a remote location and nobody is going to come looking for
you, so there’s only one hope of seeing home again: you’ve got to make it
out on your own.
Here are some crucial questions to ask yourself before moving on:
Do you know which way safety lies and how to get there?
If not, do you run the risk of getting even more lost?
How far will you have to travel to reach safety?
Are you or any of your travel partners injured, and do you have the physical
strength to walk out?
Do you have enough supplies to make it to your destination?
Does anybody know where you are, and is there a chance they’ll come looking
for you?
If so, how long before they even start looking?
Are you on a wellused
trail that might have other travelers and potential
rescuers heading your way?
Which is more dangerous: where you are now, or where you have to travel?
Does the current location offer necessityoflife
benefits such as water, shelter,
fire/fuel, and food?
Are you now with a vehicle or other large object that may be seen easily from
the air?
In many situations, staying in one place is the best thing you can
do. After all, there’s no guarantee that there’s anywhere better just around
the bend. As a general rule, if you don’t have any idea where to go or
how you will provide for yourself along the way, then staying put makes
sense. Most studies show that people walk in circles when they are lost, due
to the unfamiliar terrain and land features in their way. As a result, they
become even more lost and make it harder for searchers to find them.
Here are some reasons to stay:
You’re injured and run the risk of getting more hurt while on the move.
Moving may take you into more dangerous territory.
You’re with a large vehicle, which not only offers shelter but is a lot easier to
spot (especially from the sky) than you would be walking alone through the
bush.
You can build a better camp, create a signal fire, and maybe even start hunting
and scavenging for food.
Some individuals (friends, family, or official personnel) were informed of your
route and destination. Chances are they’ll begin searching for you shortly after
you don’t show up at your destination or return home. If you head off down a
different path, you may miss them—and rescue—completely.
Your chances of being rescued are better if you left behind a trip or flight
plan. Within the first 24 to 72 hours, there’s a high probability of rescuers finding
you alive. After five or six days, they are more likely to find bodies.
Yet as good an idea as staying put may seem, there are times when
moving is the best option. On one occasion I was searching for a place to
teach a survival course in a swampy part of Algonquin Provincial Park, a
wellknown
Ontario park. I was at the peak of my teaching days and starting
to get overconfident. I headed out into the bush, off the established
trails, without telling anyone where I was going. Even my wife was not
expecting to hear back from me for at least three days.
After finding the perfect spot to teach—in a swamp a few miles into
the bush—I started my hike back to my hidden and waiting canoe. Not
more than 30 feet (9 m) away, a beautiful cow moose was grazing in the
setting sun. I decided to try out my moose call and see how she would
respond. I cupped my hands in front of my mouth and made the sound
of a female moose.
It was the rutting season, and during this “season of love,” the
bull moose may be the most dangerous animal on the continent.
These creatures have been known to attack and destroy tractortrailer
trucks.
So I didn’t make a bull sound for fear of bringing an angry male around.
This gentle cow moose just looked up once and then went back to
eating. So I made the call again. This time, no response at all. I shrugged
and turned to continue on my merry way. That’s when more than half a
ton of angry male moose, his truckdestroying
antlers pointed at me, came
charging out of the bush beside the female. Clearly, he was not amused.
I ran for all I was worth through the thick boreal forest. Several hundred
yards later I spotted a partially fallen tree and scrambled up, out of
reach of the bull. He stayed below the tree grunting, snorting, and stomping,
all the while trampling down the small trees in the area.
I suddenly remembered (and this is the point of the story) that nobody
knew where I was, and nobody was expecting me anytime soon. If I didn’t
do something quickly in the failing fall sunlight, I would be there for the
night . . . or longer. I realized I had to move.
After several minutes, I climbed down and hit the ground running,
and with the bull moose still giving chase, eventually wound my way back
to the lakeshore, where I slipped quietly into the water (fully clothed) and
swam as stealthily as possible back to my canoe. To this day, that experience
remains the most frightening and dangerous situation I have ever
faced in the wilderness.
Planning and Preparing for Survival Travel
SURVIVAL TRAVEL IS VERY, VERY DIFFERENT from any other kind of wilderness
travel. For that reason, it is imperative that you take the time to prepare
for the journey that lies before you. Leave only when you’re completely
ready to do so.
Before you head out, set up some kind of sign that tells anyone who’s
looking for you or comes upon your camp that a) you were there, b) how long
ago you left, and c) which direction you went. You can leave a note, leave a
marker pointing in your direction of travel, or conspicuously mark your trail.
Orange surveyor’s tape is the best for marking, if you have it. If you’re writing
a note, the more details you can include, the better, such as the status of
your supplies and your health.
If possible, before you go, build up a stock of food and water, and
pack any protective clothing you think you’ll need. Make at least a couple
of tinderballs
to take with you and store them in a dry, protected place for
the journey. If possible, also bring signaling gear.
found themselves stranded in a snowstorm in a secluded part
were and hope rescue teams would find them in time or leave the
»
LifeorDeath
Decisions
When it comes to getting out of a survival situation alive, the
toughest choice facing any of us is the one between staying put
in the hopes of being rescued or venturing out for help. Often,
it’s a lifeordeath
decision.
This was the dire predicament facing Thomas and Tamitha
Garner, a suburban couple from Salt Lake City, when they
of southwestern Utah. A sudden winter storm paralyzed their
vehicle, cutting them off from civilization and virtually all hope
of immediate rescue. Stuck in the snowblanketed
mountains
for 12 agonizing days, the Garners struggled to survive in their
pickup truck, with two boxes of granola bars, some frozen bottled
water, a can of spray deodorant, some carburetor cleaner, a
lighter, and Medusa, the family dog.
Dressed only in jeans and light coats, they kept warm by starting
the truck from time to time. For nine frigid days and nights,
Thomas and Tamitha carefully rationed the granola bars and water,
but eventually, when they were reduced to eating Medusa’s remaining
kibble, they knew they had to make a choice: stay where they
cold comfort of the truck to set out in search of help.
Thomas, a former Eagle Scout, got to work. Recalling an
episode of “I Shouldn’t Be Alive: The Science of Survival,” in
which I fashioned a set of makeshift snowshoes from seatbelts
and foam carseat
padding, he created boots using the truck’s
seat cushions and a few bungee cords. With his wife in sneakers
behind him and Medusa in tow, he blazed a trail through
snow well over two feet deep. When night fell, all three huddled
around a fire, which they made by lighting carburetor cleaner.
When the fire waned, they kept it going with spray deodorant.
The couple and their dog continued hiking—despite dehydration,
exhaustion, and frostbite—for an astonishing three
and chose well.
days and nights, covering 15 miles (24 km) in deep snow. When
in doubt, Tamitha repeated her mantra, “One more day and I’ll be
home.” On the 12th day of their ordeal, the couple spotted a bright
yellow snowplow in the distance and flagged it down.
Because of their resourcefulness and sound decisionmaking,
the Garners—and Medusa—made it out alive. At that critical moment
when they were forced to choose, they weighed their options carefully
Travel Considerations
ONCEYOU MAKE THEDECISIONTOHITTHETRAIL, there are many factors you
need to consider.
Weather and Climate
How will shortterm
weather conditions affect you? This is a vital consideration.
If a violent storm is brewing in the distance, stay put, at least for
the time being. Most big weather—especially violent weather—comes and
goes fairly quickly. Traveling all day in the rain with poor rain gear is a sure
recipe for hypothermia.
Carrying Gear
When you’re on the move, you’ll likely need a way to carry the things that will
help keep you alive on the journey (hopefully your survival kit is one of them).
The less equipment you have to carry in your hands, the better off you’ll
be. You’re going to need your hands to protect you from falling, to move
obstacles from your path, and to mark your trail. If you’re fortunate enough
to have a backpack, great. But what if you don’t?
With a few raw materials and a little time and effort, you can construct
a makeshift carry bag. All you need is a blanket or similar item and
some rope. Make your carrier sturdy so that you can travel as fast and as far
as possible. It would be tragic to arrive at your destination after a grueling
day of wilderness travel to find that you’d lost your lighter because it fell
out of your makeshift bag.
Making a Makeshift Carry Bag
1. To construct a makeshift carry bag, lay all your equipment out on a blanket or similar
ground cover.
2. Roll up and tie as shown.3. Using this rollup
method, you can
carry your supplies on your shoulder and
have your hands relatively free.
Carrying People
You may find yourself in an emergency where you need to carry an injured
person. Injured travelers pose a real challenge, one that is nearly impossible
for a single ablebodied
person to handle. Transporting another person is
much more manageable when two or more are doing the carrying.
If you need to carry small children, you can put them in a backpack frame
or makeshift carry bag. For larger children or adults, you can make a chair or
stretcher out of poles. A rough stretcher can be carried by two people, although
it is an exhausting task. If you are the sole ablebodied
person, your only option
for transporting your injured partner is to make a sledge that can be dragged.
This type of device is a stretcher with crossed front handles that point (or curve)
upward, allowing the carrier to pull without having to crouch too low. See “Survival
First Aid,” Chapter 13, for more advice on coping with injuries.
Rate of Travel
THE STAKES OF SURVIVAL TRAVEL ARE HIGH, so you can’t afford to make any mistakes.
Know that your rate of travel will be considerably slower than normal.
Move deliberately, carefully, and at a medium pace; it is not a race. Most
important, know where you are headed!
Set realistic travel goals for yourself. Pick a destination that you’re pretty
sure you can reach without exhausting yourself. It can be demoralizing to set
a goal and then not attain it. The faster you go, the greater the risk that you’ll
hurt yourself and the more likely you’ll bypass a route or trail that may lead
you to safety. You may even miss the cave that could provide shelter for the
night, or the cabin tucked in the woods. Go at a reasonable pace and the world
will open up in front of your eyes; you’ll begin to see the possibilities before
you, possibilities that may make all the difference to your survival.
stroud’s Tip
While you’re traveling, look backward often to see where
you’ve come from so that you can recognize that view if
you have to return. Few people do this, but it’s well worth the
mere seconds it takes.
If you’re traveling in pairs and one of you becomes injured, fashioning a stretcher with
crossed handles will allow you to walk upright as you pull the stretcher.
Survival Travel and Navigation | 223
Traveling at Night
Traveling at night is a risky undertaking and one I don’t generally recommend.
The greatest—and most obvious—danger here is that you can’t see
where you are putting your feet, so you risk stepping on a poisonous snake,
or falling and injuring yourself. Furthermore, unless you know the area like
the back of your hand, your ability to see in the dark—a fork in the trail
or a possible shelter—is almost nil. And most predators are more active at
night than during the day, so you may be exposing yourself to the possibility
of attack. Finally, traveling at night may force you to sleep during the day,
which is the time when rescuers (if there are any) will be looking for you.
On the rare occasion when you absolutely must keep moving at
night, it can be safe to travel on certain flatwater
rivers or lakes. However,
I would recommend this only if you are proficient at canoeing.
The main exception to the “don’t travel at night” rule is when you are
in the desert, where daytime temperatures may be too high to allow a safe
journey. Nighttime travel in the desert can be glorious; when the temperature
drops, the heavens open up above you, and you can use the stars or a
full moon for navigation.
I have traveled at night in the Amazon jungle. As I stepped outside
of an old, abandoned native hut in the failing light, I looked up to see a
large jaguar staring back at me. I knew it would take me a while to follow
the dense jungle trail back to my destination, a tiny Waorani village, but
I weighed the risks and took my chances. Using the light from my video
camera to guide me and with the jaguar on my heels the entire way, I
finally made it back to the village (which, incidentally, was surrounded by
a chainlink
fence . . . to keep out jaguars!). I learned the next morning that
my stalker had been a male jaguar weighing more than 200 pounds.
stroud’s Tip
When traveling, take particularly good care of your feet.
If you have extra socks, change them regularly, and avoid
walking in wet footgear.
Traveling by Water
Whether it be a swamp, river, lake, or stream, traveling by water may be the
best route to safety if your only other alternative is to hack through dense
and tangled bush. As you may suspect, however, water travel comes with its
own set of risks. That body of water may seem calm and peaceful now, but
what will you do if you encounter rapids or if a wind storm kicks up while
you’re in the middle of the lake? You also need to consider the possibility
that the water may be home to dangerous creatures such as (depending on
where you are) alligators, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, polar bears, walrus,
sea lions, sharks, or elephants. And then there’s the additional responsibility
of waterproofing your gear.
When it comes to exactly how you travel by water, there are few
options. Clearly, it’s best if you have your own vessel, like a boat or canoe.
Barring that, you’re limited to making something, which usually means
a raft. And as romantic as Huck Finn may have made it seem, making a
raft—and traveling with it—is not easy to do. If this is your only option
for safe travel, or you are convinced that making your way down a certain
watercourse will lead you more quickly to safety, then it will be worth the
effort. Just be sure to test your creation before loading it and setting out;
never trust your survival to a flimsy raft.
If you can’t swim or have little boating experience, stay as close to the
shore as possible. When approaching bends in a river, keep to the inside
edge where the current is less forceful. Swiftmoving
rivers can pose a variety
of hazards, including snags (submerged trees and other foliage that can
grab your vessel), sweepers (overhanging limbs and trees), rapids (portage
around them; don’t attempt to run them), and waterfalls.
If you’re following a river on foot and come to an impasse that forces
you to take to the water with no vessel, there are a couple of lastditch
ways
to float downstream, but these are extremely dangerous. You could try to
hang onto some sort of inflatable waterproof container (such as your trusty
orange garbage bags), or if you have something buoyant like a food container,
try to build something atop it. Cattails are also quite buoyant, and
travelers have been known to construct floats from them.
Making Rafts
Make a simple raft platform by collecting logs
of a uniform size and tying them together in any
of the three ways shown.
Construct a rudder pole on your raft, if
yourself away from obstacles.
Rafts can be hard to make in survival situations. Depending on your circumstances,
you may be able to tie up a raft that can transport you some distance.
possible. This way, you’ll be able to steer
Crossing Water
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF MOVING WATER. If you can get to your
destination without crossing water, you’re better off.
You must find the right spot to cross, and it may not be where you first
reach the water. Look for the shallowest or slowestflowing
section (sometimes
the most frothy, whitewater
section is actually the easiest place to
cross as that is where the water is shallow enough to expose rocks you can
step on). Make sure that you know you can get up the opposite bank before
you enter the water.
When crossing moving water such as a river or stream, you should
always face the current and lean your body upstream against it. Never turn
your back to the current and never lean downstream, or you run the risk
of being swept away. Use a stick, branch, or other aid to help you maintain
your balance. It only takes 6 inches (15 cm) of moving water to knock
down a full-grown man.
If you have to swim in rapids, keep your hind end as high as possible to avoid injuring
your spine. Use your feet to repel any rocks you hit, and keep your feet high so they don’t
snag in a rock crevice, flip you over, and turn you face down. Paddle backward with your
arms to reach a safe exit point.
Slide your feet along the bottom rather than taking large strides,
which would leave you on one leg for much of the crossing time. If you’re
wearing a backpack, undo the hip strap and loosen the shoulder straps so
that you can slip it off if you get knocked over. Don’t let go of it if you can
help it; but you also don’t want it to take you under. Never attempt water
crossings in bare feet. It’s a rough compromise to make, especially if your
boots or shoes are dry, but wet shoes are less debilitating than a twisted or
broken ankle or severely gashed foot.
If you’re crossing in a group, the strongest person should face the current
with the rest in line behind, each holding the person in front by the waist.
The stronger members of the group break the force of the river for the weaker
ones. You can also cross as a group with each member in line locking arms.
The strongest person is always in front, with the weakest in the middle. Yet
another option is to secure a rope to objects on either bank; people can work
their way across while holding the rope from the downstream side.
If you do slip and fall and find yourself being swept away, make sure
you’re floating on your back with your feet facing downstream. Your toes
should be pointing out of the water (or as close to the surface as possible),
and your rear end should be lifted as high out of the water as you can manage,
to prevent your cracking your tailbone.
There are thousands of horror stories of travelers who fell out of
their boats and subsequently drowned because they let their feet dangle
under the surface and catch on trees or rocks or other debris in the water.
Once this happens, the force of the flow throws you face first, and holds
you under until you drown. Keeping your feet in front of you prevents
this from happening and allows you to push yourself away from rocks and
other obstacles as you float downstream.
There may be times when you need to cross frozen water. Although
this can be an easy way to shorten your journey, it’s not without risk. Falling
into water in the middle of winter can be deadly. A pair of ice picks bought
at any sports store and a flotation survival suit could save your life.
Expect weak ice in the following places:
where objects protrude through the ice
in straight sections in rivers
where snow banks extend over the ice
at a confluence of water courses
wherever you see sinkholes
where you see darker sections under the snow
Basic Survival Navigation
IF YOU VENTURE INTO THE WILD without basic navigation skills such as how to
use a compass, you put yourself at unnecessary risk. The essentials of navigation
are fairly straightforward and easy to master, and can be learned by
anybody. As you learn how to paddle a canoe, build a campfire, or set up a
228 | Survive!
tent, also learn to read a map and use a compass. I highly recommend that
you get some hands-on experience well before venturing out on your own.
Many colleges offer night courses on the subject.
The Map
A topographical map improves your chances of survival many times over,
but only if you know how to use it and always protect it from damage.
Before setting off, check the date of your map. Depending on its age,
you may find that some features have changed, which could drastically
throw off your perception of where you are. I have seen entire lakes disappear
(and new ones appear) on old maps.
Make sure that you can interpret the map’s symbols and identify
major terrain features.
To correctly use any map, you first need to orient it. In simplest terms,
a map is oriented when it is placed flat on a horizontal surface, and its north
and south markings correspond with north and south on your compass (or
at least with your understanding of where north, south, east, and west lie).
If you’re not sure where north is, you can still orient the map using terrain
association. To do this, you must know your approximate location on the
map. Seek out the major terrain features in your vicinity (such as hilltops, valleys,
and ridges), and identify them on the map. This is more difficult in “close”
places such as the jungle and the forest, so you may need to wait until you reach
something more easily identified. Some topographic maps also mark different
types of vegetation, which may help you to determine your location.
Knowing your map-based route is noted as a major priority in “Trip
Planning and Preparation,” the first chapter of this book. If you are on a
charter trip, sit down with your guide on the first day to familiarize yourself
with the map.
The Compass
The compass course I took at my local college always ended with an orienteering
race. It became tradition that those of us who also took survival courses
were under big-time peer pressure to win. Fortunately for me, I avoided much
teasing by winning the year I took the course. My time, however, was not as
good as my survival buddy Doug Getgood’s had been a few years earlier, so I
felt it appropriate that he join me in writing this, and the next, section.
In a world where the technosavvy
are all too used to having electronic
gadgets flash and beep at them, the simple compass sometimes
seems almost boring. After all, it just sits there, pointing north. Yet, simple
though it may be, the compass is the one instrument above all others that
will help you find your way out of the wilderness. Basic compass understanding
is vital to your survival.
If you can comfortably and effectively use a compass, you can stand in
the middle of nowhere, pick a destination off in the distance and be confident
that no matter how many obstacles lie in your path, you will get there.
Parts of a Compass
To use a compass, you first have to understand its various parts. The compass
shown below is an orienteering compass, a very practical one when
used with a topographic map.
The compass has three basic parts:
Base plate: Shows the directionoftravel
arrow, parallel orienteering lines
that are used in conjunction with a map, and the index mark.
Rotating compass housing
Orienteering lines
Magnetic needle
North pointer
Base plate
Directionoftravel
arrow
Magnifying lens
Parts of a compass.
Rotating compass housing: Rotates in either direction. Its border is
inscribed with numbers and markings. It begins with N for north and ends
where it began, 360 degrees later. On the bottom of the compass housing
is the red orienteering arrow, as well as parallel orienteering lines.
Magnetic needle: Balanced inside the compass housing, the magnetic needle
is usually red and always points to magnetic north (as long as the compass
is held flat and is not placed near certain types of metal).
Taking a Bearing Without a Map
In simple terms, a bearing (one of the 360 points on a compass) is the
direction you want to travel in relation to magnetic north. The idea behind
taking a bearing is that it allows you to travel in a chosen direction using
landmarks as navigational aids. Hillsides, big rocks, unique-looking trees,
ponds, and lakes can all be used for this purpose. See the picture captions
and other steps that follow for instructions on taking a bearing.
Face the direction you want to go. Level the compass to allow the magnetic
needle to swing freely, and point the direction-of-travel arrow in the direction
that you have chosen.
Now spin the compass housing until the orienteering arrow is directly
underneath the magnetic needle. The bearing is shown at the index mark (e.g.,
148.). Choose a topographical landmark in that direction that you can easily
differentiate from others around it.
Keeping your compass at the chosen setting, take your eyes away from the
compass and make your way toward the object. Once you reach the object,
find another landmark in your path in the same direction. This is done by
doing the “compass shuffle.” As before, put the compass flat in your hand.
Make sure the bearing still reads 148° (or whichever bearing you’ve chosen)
and shuffle your body until the red end of the magnetic needle is directly over
top of the red portion of the orienteering arrow. The directionoftravel
arrow
will point to where you want to go.
Always place the back end of the compass near or against your stomach
with the directionoftravel
arrow pointing ahead. This way both you and
the compass will always be facing the same direction. Don’t simply stare
at your compass and walk, as you could easily sway to one side and not
actually head in a straight line. If you choose a landmark in the right
direction, you can put the compass down and make your way to that
landmark, walking around obstacles en route. Adventure racers use this
method very effectively, noting a landmark in the distance and running
between landmarks at top speed.
To reverse your steps you can do one of two things:
Align the white (south) end of the magnetic needle with the red portion of the
orienteering arrow and follow the directionoftravel
arrow back, OR
Add 180 degrees (half of the 360 degrees of a circle) to your original
148degree
setting (180 + 148 = 328) and travel back to where you started.
Ensure in this case that all red arrows are aligned.
The Map and Compass
THE BEST MAP TO USE in conjunction with an orienteering compass is a topographic
map. The following is a basic introduction to working with a map
and compass. As I explain above, it’s wise to further your studies in the field
of orienteering with a local educator.
232 | Survive!
The Topographic Map
A topographic map is a scaled replica of an outdoor location. The average
topographic map has a scale of 1:50,000, where 1 inch equals 50,000
inches. It shows contour lines, grid lines, man-made objects, and natural
features such as lakes, swamps, and rivers.
The contour lines are to help you to decipher various terrain features
such as peaks and valleys, cliffs and slopes. Grid lines run both
north and south (up and down, called grid north) as well as east and west
(left and right). On a 1:50,000 scaled map, the grid lines represent one
square mile. The north/south lines run almost the same direction as true
north, but not necessarily the same direction as magnetic north. The difference
between the map’s grid north and magnetic north is called the
angle of declination.
Contour lines
Grid lines
A topographic map gives you geographic detail about the landscape you’ll encounter.
Taking a Bearing with a Map
Using a pencil, mark on your map (a) the location from which you want to
take a bearing and (b) your chosen destination Then draw a straight line
connecting the two. Place the side of the compass along this line with the
direction-of-travel arrow pointing in the direction that you want to proceed.
Rotate the compass housing so that one of the orienteering lines
runs exactly parallel to or completely covers one of the north/south grid
lines on the map.
To achieve the correct reading, it is imperative that the orienteering arrow end points
toward the top of the map. The correct bearing is shown at the index mark.
Adjusting for Declination
Now that you have taken the bearing, an adjustment must be made to
correct for declination. Using the diagram on the side of the map, find
the degrees of difference between the map’s grid north and the com
pass’s magnetic north. Notice that the map below shows magnetic north,
true north (T.N.), and grid north. (For the purpose of map-and-compass
work, T.N. should be ignored.) The degree of declination is also shown.
Because the bearing was established using the map’s grid line, the grid
north marking on the diagram dictates which direction the compass
housing should be rotated. If the diagram shows magnetic north toward
the left of grid north, turn the compass housing to the left (counterclockwise).
If the diagram shows magnetic north toward the right of grid
north, turn the compass housing to the right (clockwise). In either case
you will rotate the compass housing the number of degrees indicated
on the map.
Keep in mind that magnetic north changes slightly each year. The
map will indicate how far it moves each year and how you can adjust for
the difference. The compass should now be adjusted for declination, and
will give you a true indication of what direction to travel.
Magnetic North Declination
Grid North
True North
A topographical map showing declination.
Adjusting for Declination from Field to Map
If you want to convert a bearing taken in the field to a map, use the magnetic
needle as your starting point. Using the topographical map’s diagram for
declination as a reference, rotate the compass housing toward grid north.
stroud’s Tip
When transferring from map to field, rotate the compass
housing toward magnetic north. When transferring from
field to map, rotate the compass housing toward grid north.
Making Improvised Compasses
ALTHOUGH IT MAY BE DAUNTING TO SEE YOUR COMPASS FLOAT down the river
or plummet to the bottom of a crevasse, don’t panic. There are ways to
determine north, south, east, and west from ordinary materials that you
may be carrying or that you can find in your immediate surroundings.
None of these methods is very accurate, but each will give you an idea of
where the major directions lie.
Water
Compass needle pointing northMagnetized needle
Paper
Magnetized needle and paper in water method. A magnetized needle will always point
north/south. See tip on page 27 to learn how to magnetize a needle.
Shadow stick: The shadow stick method uses the sun to determine direction.
Stand with the west mark to your left. North is in front of you, east
to the right, and south behind. This method cannot be used effectively in
regions above 60 degrees latitude.
Using a Shadow Stick to Determine Direction
1. Start by poking a stick or branch into 2. Wait about 15 minutes, during which
the ground. Choose a level spot where time the shadow tip will move. Mark
you know a distinctive shadow will be the new position of the tip. Repeat.
cast. Mark the tip of the shadow; this
mark will always be west.
East West
3. Draw a straight line through the
marks; this is an approximate east/
west line.
Watch method: Although it can be off by as much as 24 degrees and
doesn’t work everywhere on the planet, a watch can sometimes be used as
a makeshift compass. If your watch is digital, draw a watch (with hands) on
a circle of paper with the correct time on it and use the following method
to determine your direction.
This method should be used during standard time; in daylight saving
time, the north/south line is found between the hour hand and 1 o’clock.
If it is before noon, use halfway to the right side of the hour hand; if it is
after noon, use halfway to the left of the hour hand.
In the south temperate zone (the area between the Tropic of Capricorn
and the Antarctic Circle), point 12 o’clock toward the sun. Halfway between
the 12 o’clock position and the hour hand will be a north line. During daylight
saving time, the north line lies midway between the hour hand and 1
o’clock. Note that this method becomes less accurate the nearer you are
to the equator.
S
12 o’clock
Sun
If you are in the north temperate zone (the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the
Arctic Circle), point the hour hand of your watch directly at the sun. Then draw an
imaginary line halfway between the hour hand and 12 o’clock. This imaginary line
points south.
Using Natural Features to Navigate
WEATHER CAN BE A VERY IMPORTANT TOOL when navigating through the wilderness,
but remember: don’t ever rely on just one sign. Rather, use as many as
you can in combination to reduce the risk that you’ll make a mistake.
If your trip preparation and planning has told you the direction of the
prevailing wind, you can use that knowledge to help guide you, since wind
has pronounced effects on vegetation and land forms. The growth of certain
trees, called flag trees, is largely affected by wind patterns. The branches of
these trees (such as white pine) will not grow into the wind but rather in the
same direction as the prevailing wind. Flag trees generally point either east
or west, but this is subject to regional variation.
Moss tends to grow on the north side of trees because there’s less
sunlight. But that doesn’t mean you won’t find moss on the south side of
a tree or even all around the trunk. Again, it’s best to look for such signs
in combination. The meltoff
around boulders is usually on the south to
southwest side.
In the northern temperate climate, many flowers will face either south or east to maximize
their exposure to the sun. The barrel cactus in the Sonoran Desert does the same.
Celestial objects are good navigation tools, particularly the North
Star. Although you may think that the stars are constantly moving across
the night sky, in the Northern Hemisphere, the North Star always holds
its position. To find the North Star, first find the Big Dipper. Draw an
imaginary line connecting the two stars that form the rightmost
part
of the ladle. Continue the line a distance about five times greater than
the depth of the ladle, which will lead you to the last star in the handle
of the Little Dipper. This is the North Star. Make a marking or lay a
stick on the ground pointing north (to the star). Once daylight comes,
you can use this to establish your direction.
North Star
Big Dipper
Little Dipper
You can find the North Star by locating the end stars of the Big Dipper. Follow the line they
make diagonally north and you’ll find the bright light of the North Star.
In the southern hemisphere, you can use the Southern Cross (and its
two pointer stars) to determine south. Start with the star that marks the top
of the cross and draw an imaginary line through its long axis. Now draw
a line that starts midway between the two pointer stars and comes out at
a right angle to it. This line should cross your first imaginary line through
the long axis of the cross. The intersection of these two lines is close to
the South Pole.
You can also use the moon to navigate or at least gain a rough
idea of where north and south lie. If the moon is a crescent, draw an
imaginary line through the ends of the crescent down to the horizon. If
you’re in the northern hemisphere, the point where it touches is south;
if you’re in the southern hemisphere, it’s north.
If the moon rises before the sun sets, the illuminated side will be west. If it rises after midnight,
its illuminated side will be east.
Following beside a stream or river may seem like a logical plan,
since it can lead you to civilization . . . or into endless wilderness. You
can walk along gravel riverbanks with ease or find that the forest on the
edge of the river is too thick to penetrate. Only solid knowledge of an
area, gained during your planning and preparation stage, will help you
decide what to do.
Nor are train tracks or power lines necessarily the path home.
You could find a town just around the bend . . . or walk through miles
of nothingness along a line no longer in use. Power lines also have a
nasty habit of leading to a swamp or lake across which the wires have
been strung.
While making one of my survival films, I once came upon a set of
train tracks. Although I later received a lot of mail chastising me for not
following the tracks to safety, at the time, I had been certain there was a
highway only a few miles east of the tracks. Since I didn’t have a clue where
the tracks would take me, I went with the sure thing, crossed the tracks, hit
the highway, and found my way home.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
GPS ISASATELLITEBASED
NAVIGATION SYSTEM that can provide accurate locational
data anywhere, at any time. A GPS unit displays your current location
in latitude and longitude coordinates; if you enter the map coordinates
of your destination, it will also tell you the direction you should travel.
Most GPS units also have an electronic compass. Purchase one with a coil
antenna that gets good signals under tree canopy and a memory card with
topographical maps, so that you can track your movements and easily use
the “goto”
feature to find any place on the map.
Remember, though, that GPS units run on batteries, which may die
at the worst possible moment. Never rely on a GPS. You should also know
how to use a map and compass.
Trailblazing
THOUGH OFTEN OVERLOOKED, an important aspect of survival travel and navigation
is marking the surrounding natural features (also known as trailblazing)
while you move. Other travelers may see these indicators that
you’ve left behind, increasing your chances of being rescued. These markings
are also useful if you decide that the path you’re taking is wrong and
you want to go back.
The best way to blaze a trail is to use a sharp object, such as a belt
knife, axe, or machete, to cut a small piece of bark off a tree. You can also
use the orange surveyor’s tape from your survival kit.
When trailblazing, make sure you mark both sides of the tree (the
direction you came from and the direction you’re going). This way you’ll
The best choice for trailblazing targets are young green trees whose bark has not yet
hardened. The bark of older trees is much harder and will quickly dull your knife.
Survival Travel and Navigation | 243
see the marks if you have to turn around. Many adventurers have gotten
hopelessly lost because they forgot to do this.
If you don’t have an object on hand that will slice pieces of bark, you can
also blaze your trail by bending or breaking branches. Make sure you bend
the branches at eye level and point them in the direction you’re traveling.
Blazes are most effective when placed at eye level so that you can see them from a distance
without actually looking for them. Make as many as your physical strength and
circumstances allow.
Traveling in a Straight Line
MOST PEOPLE WALK IN CIRCLES WHEN LOST, generally clockwise. We often move
to the right because that is the side that people usually keep to when walking
down a hallway and climbing stairs. A righthanded
person’s right leg is usually
less flexible than the left, causing the left leg to take longer strides.
As a result, traveling straight in a survival situation is not as easy as
you may think. Here’s a good strategy: Consciously move in alternating
directions around obstacles in your path. Go around them sometimes to
the right, and sometimes to the left.
RegionSpecific
Travel and Navigation
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
In these regions, the decision whether to move depends primarily on your
current supply of water and the likelihood of your finding it somewhere else.
If you don’t think you have enough water to complete the journey and are
not likely to find some on the way, you shouldn’t go at all, unless you have
no choice.
Anyone who has ever hopped their way across a scalding beach with
an ice cream cone in hand will understand that walking on desert sand—no
matter how good your footgear—is just as difficult. It’s best to stick to brushy
and grassy places where the ground is a bit firmer. Snakes and spiders also
seek grassy places, so you increase your risk of being bitten, but this is still
the best way to go. If there are no shrubby or grassy areas, travel on the hard
valley floor between dunes, not on top of them.
If you are unlucky enough to get caught in a desert sandstorm, stop
moving immediately or try to get to the leeside of a natural shelter. Mark your
direction of travel, sit or lie down in that direction, cover your head (especially
your mouth and nose) with a cloth, and wait until the storm abates.
When traveling through canyon country, you have to be extremely
cautious around slot canyons (narrow canyons with high walls), which
have seen the deaths of many unsuspecting travelers. The danger here
is flash flooding, which happens with little warning. Flash floods can rip
through slot canyons on perfectly calm, bluesky
days, generally because
a major storm has occurred elsewhere and all the surface runoff is collecting
in the canyon. The wall of water can be as high as 60 feet (18 m).
A strong breeze or a sound like thunder are signs that a flash flood is
approaching.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
The denseness of the trees often complicates travel in boreal and other
temperate forests by preventing the traveler from gaining a good longdistance
view of the surroundings. Your skill with a compass will come
into play here, as you’ll need to take frequent bearings to make your way
out. You can also climb a tree to get a better view.
The rivers, streams, swamps, and lakes common in boreal and temperate
forests open up the terrain and provide an excellent means of travel and
navigation, provided you have a boat and the skill to travel on water.
The greatest danger in traveling in the boreal forest is overestimating
how fast you’re moving. It is common to travel barely a mile and feel
like you have traveled several.
tracted and failsstroud’s Tip
When moving through the forest (and the jungle) in a
group, chances are the person in front of you will hold the
branches, to prevent them from whipping back into your
face. This may be a considerate gesture, but don’t rely on it. There
will invariably come a moment when the person in front gets disto
hold the branch. If you’re not paying attention,
you’re going to get it in the eye, which can be serious. Always hold a
hand up for protection or stay well enough back.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Those who have not had the opportunity to travel in the world’s polar
regions are missing some of the greatest scenery on earth. The problem,
especially when ice fog sets in, is that you can feel like you’re traveling
inside a giant pingpong
ball.
The pingpong
ball effect can be extremely disorientating and make
it nearly impossible to tell the sky from the ground; everything is white. In
the Arctic, I once nearly walked off the edge of a 30foot
(9m)
snow cliff.
It was only at the last minute that I realized what I was about to do and
stopped. I had to get down on my hands and knees before I could actually
detect the difference in the landscape a few feet in front of me!
Generally, the wideopen
vistas make traveling in the Arctic enjoyable
and the natural land features (if there’s no fog!) easy to distinguish.
But bear in mind that whenever you’re in a region with heavy snow cover,
you run the risk of snowblindness on bright, sunny days. Snowblindness
is a sunburn on your retina, and it’s a debilitating injury that can last for
several days.
Do not, under any circumstances, travel if a heavy snowstorm or blizzard
is approaching. You should also avoid traveling when the wind, which
can create bitterly cold temperatures, is strong.
Protect your eyes from the sun’s UV rays with either sunglasses or ski goggles. If you don’t
have protective lenses, fashion what you can out of birch bark, paper, or any other fabric.
Just leave a couple of horizontal slits to see through.
Because you can see through a solar blanket, you can use a piece of one to protect your
eyes if you don’t have sunglasses.
On the Sea or Open Water
When traveling on open water, it helps to be aware of the subtle signs that
land may be near: stationary cumulus clouds in a clear sky (or in a cloudy
sky where the other clouds are moving); a greenish tint in the sky in the
tropics; lightercolored
reflection on clouds in the Arctic; and increased
bird life (and sounds). Lightercolored
water also indicates shallow water,
as does an increased amount of floating debris.
Jungles
The jungle is probably one of the toughest ecosystems in the world to
travel through (hence the popular phrase “It’s a jungle out there”). You
often don’t know exactly where you are or where you’re going, nor do you
always have the luxury of a trail or river to follow. Where possible, stick to
traveling near water, as you are more likely to come upon a village.
As part of your planning and prep, bring a good machete. Slashing
and cutting the growth in your way opens up a path and also keeps the
many creepy crawlies from biting you or hitching a ride on you.
You also need to be vigilant about looking up as well as down while
you walk. Snakes are found as often in trees as on the ground.
Walking across logs is very different in the jungle than in the temperate
forest. In the forest, I would advise you to step over logs or around
them to avoid slipping and twisting an ankle. In the jungle, the opposite is
true: you’re better off stepping on a log rather than over it. Many poisonous
snakes like to hide just under the crux (small space or hole underneath) of
the log. Snakebites occur when travelers step over a log and place their feet
down on the other side, exposing their ankles to snakes.
Mountains
Streams will eventually lead you off a mountain, but this does not mean that
you won’t at some point find yourself at the top of a 100foot
(30m)
waterfall—
that’s the downside. As long as the water course is lined with trees, however, you
will likely find handholds and footholds to help you make your way down.
Avalanches are the main travel hazard you’ll face in the mountains,
although rockslides can also occur after heavy rainfalls. Avoid ridges and
mountaintops during lightning storms, and because of the risk of flash
flooding, stay away from lowlying
areas after major storms.
T
he wilderness may be a dangerous place at times, but we
tend to play up the hazard in our minds. One of the most beneficial
characteristics you can have in a survival situation is confidence. If you
believe you can make it through the bad times and you’re not intimidated
by the forces of nature, you will increase your chances of survival.
To see yourself to safety, you must play both offense and defense.
On the offensive end are proactive measures such as signaling, finding
water, making fire, building a shelter, and finding food. The defensive end
includes protecting yourself from the many hazards inherent to the wild.
In other words, it doesn’t matter how much water is available to drink if
you get bitten by a poisonous cape cobra while lapping it up.
The thing to remember about the dangers of the wild (from animals
to creepy crawlies to weather) is that they are not, by their nature, malevolent
forces trying to do you in. To the contrary, they are just there, doing what they
do. Your actions will determine whether these elements affect you negatively.
For example: you are rushing through the boreal forest and not paying
attention to where you’re going, only to run headlong into a hornets’
nest or trip and snap your ankle in a hole. Now you’re in some serious
trouble, which you could have avoided had you simply slowed down and
paid closer attention. The potential for danger was always there, but your
actions determined how it affected you.
Or let’s say you’ve been blessed with glorious weather for a few days
and have chosen not to make a shelter. Invariably, the bad weather comes,
and now you’re in a desperate situation trying to keep your fire going and
stay warm in the pouring rain. The weather was coming anyway. Only your
choice not to make a shelter exposed you to the danger.
Remember that of all the hazards you’ll face in a survival situation,
it’s not the bigimpact
things (such as predators and poisonous snakes)
that are most likely to get in your way. Rather, it’s the little things that you
tend to ignore but which exist in abundance that will slow you down; small
problems which can snowball if ignored for too long.
Weather
OF ALL THE POTENTIAL DANGERS YOU WILL FACE in a survival situation, none is
more formidable than the weather. People can tell all the stories they want
about dangerous animals, poisonous creatures, or getting ill from eating
the wrong plant, but for me, weather is the most frightening variable of all.
It’s the greatest foe you’ll face. I have yet to be bitten by a snake, to be stung
badly by wasps, or to succumb to starvation in my travels. But I always have
to put up with or hide from bad weather.
It could be too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. It could be too
windy or too calm. But no matter what the weather is, it’s going to affect
you in some way, whether it’s offering you an advantage by being pleasant
and giving you time to accomplish the survival tasks you need to do,
or coming down on you hard as something you have to endure until you
get respite.
In the Kalahari Desert, my greatest concern was the blistering heat,
which I had to escape somehow. Luckily, I found a small tree (the only
one for a few square miles), which I huddled under for hours. There was a
20degree
difference between areas in the shade and those in the sun, and
that little tree helped me survive.
Ignore the weather and you radically decrease your chances of seeing
home again; acknowledge and respect it and you’ve taken the first step toward
survival. These are the weather events (in no particular order) that you should
be prepared to deal with, depending on your region and the time of year:
blizzards and wind chill
extreme heat
floods
hurricanes
sandstorms
thunderstorms/lightning storms
See “Weather,” Chapter 11, for a more detailed description of how to handle
these events.
Predators and Dangerous Animals
NOTHING GETS AS MUCH PLAY IN THE MEDIA as people getting mauled or killed
by animals. And while it may be true that people occasionally are killed by animals,
in the overwhelming majority of these instances, the death was due not
to the actions of a true predator but to what I call an “accidental predator.”
An accidental predator (such as a black bear) is primarily concerned
with getting its food, usually small or hoofed animals, fish, or plants.
Encounters with accidental predators occur when human beings invade
their territories.
True predators (such as great white sharks or tigers), on the other
hand, are opportunistic and look at people as opportunities. Sometimes
we serve them this opportunity on a silver platter by venturing into their
territories unprotected.
Animals of every sort have an uncanny ability to sense your state of
mind, whether you feel confident or fearful. Exude fear and they’ll be all
over you. Act confident and strong and they’ll think twice about attacking.
Sharks, for example, don’t like the idea of their prey fighting back, so the
toughest way for a shark to come at you is from the front.
Make sure you’re familiar with the creatures you may meet before
you head out on your journey.
Accidental Predators
The majority of the animals we fear when we head into the wilderness—
including black bears, poisonous snakes, or elephants—are not predators
looking for human prey at all. Creatures such as these are occasionally
associated with killing humans, but these deaths are usually the result of
circumstance rather than premeditation. Here’s a list of what I consider
the most common accidental predators:
wolves, coyotes, and other similar canine creatures
mountain lions, cougars, jaguars, pumas, panthers, and other similar small cats
black bears, grizzly bears, Kodiak bears, brown bears, and other similar bears
sharks (other than great white sharks)
Have a healthy respect for animals in the wild, but don’t let that evolve
into an irrational fear of them. Once your respect becomes fear, you lose your
ability to act rationally in a confrontation, and you may freeze, to your peril.
Say, for example, that you have no fresh water, the localized weather
conditions are poor, and you have little fuel for fire. You know from your
map that there’s a better spot a few miles away, but you’re too afraid to
move because you believe you may encounter a bear along the way. Your
fear of the bear is actually hindering your ability to survive.
Generally, accidental predators want nothing to do with humans.
Problems occur when we present ourselves to them in a compromising
position, whether it’s getting between them and their food, getting
between a mother and her young, or simply getting too close and startling
them. They are bigger and stronger than us, and when they react out of
fear, the outcome usually is not in our favor.
Now, there have been instances where rogue animals have killed
humans in a seemingly predatory fashion. Though exceedingly rare, rogue
animals are dangerous, because they are unpredictable and don’t act the
way the rest of their species does.
Habituated animals (bears, in particular) can also prove dangerous
because they have become accustomed to humans and do not necessarily
see us as a threat. Habituated animals are those that have learned to equate
people with food, because people do things like leave garbage lying outside
the house, or feed the animals in the backyard or park to get a nice photo.
In Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, there was a time when
mothers were seen spreading peanut butter on their children’s faces so
that a severalhundredpound
black bear would lick it off, all for a picture!
The good news for the adventurer is that habituated animals are rarely
found in remote areas.
You can prevent encounters with accidental predators by taking
these steps:
Make your presence known.
When you’re traveling in an area where you know there are accidental predators,
be as noisy as possible. Sing, yell, blow a whistle, wear a bear bell . . . anything
that will inform animals of your presence. If they hear you, chances are they’ll
take off. Early in my days of survival training, I had to walk alone in a remote
area of northern Ontario. I knew the area was thick with black bears (there was
bear scat everywhere), so I simply played my harmonica as I walked along. It gave
me comfort on a number of levels.
Keep your camp area clean and free of excessive food smells.
If you come upon a freshly killed animal in grizzly territory, give it a wide berth.
Grizzlies will often wander some distance from their kill, but you can be sure
they sense when something else is getting close to it.
Don’t travel alone through the territory of large predators if you don’t have to.
There are as many strategies for dealing with large animals as there
are animals themselves. What works in an encounter with a puma may
not work with a grizzly bear. However, in general terms, here’s what you
should do if you happen upon an accidental predator:
Don’t panic! Turning and running may well incite an instinctive predatorial
response in the animal, since you are telling it that you are prey. So if it
wasn’t interested in you at first, it sure is now!
Calmly and deliberately move away from the animal. Do not make jerky
movements, which may startle it. Keep facing it, but do not look it in the eye.
Some animals may interpret eye contact as a challenge. (An exception to this rule
is sharks, which will take much longer to attack if you keep your eyes on them.)
Make yourself seem as big and threatening as possible by waving your arms
over your head, making lots of noise, or joining arms with your travel mates.
Remember that you are the visitor! No matter how intent you were on heading
in a certain direction, taking a certain path, or making camp in a certain spot,
move elsewhere!
Many years ago, I was writing an exam for a job as a river guide on the
Nahanni River in northern Canada. One of the questions on the exam
asked what you should do if a bear wandered into your camp and would
not leave, even after you made as much noise as possible, banged pots, and
threw rocks in an attempt to scare it away. My reply was to leave. The examiner
told me I was the first applicant in three years to get the answer right.
After all, it’s the animal’s home and territory, not ours. We are the visitors.
Years of research and thousands of anecdotal accounts of encounters
have shown that the only animals worth fooling by “playing dead” are the
North American grizzly and Kodiak bears. For all other accidental predators,
human aggressive displays tend to win the day, because these accidental
predators can’t afford to get injured. In one case, a woman thwarted
a bear attack by reaching out and tweaking the bear’s nose. That’s all it took!
The bear was so freaked out, it lumbered away. These animals don’t know
if you have the ability to seriously injure them, so they spook easy. Only the
grizzly has a good handle on just how much bigger it is than you.
As the character Bearclaw replied in my favorite movie, Jeremiah
Johnson, when asked by Jeremiah why they were hiding behind their
horses even though the elk could see their feet, “Elk don’t know how
many feet a horse has!”
True Predators
Even the most intimidating and dangerous of animals do not come into
the world programmed to kill humans, nor are they taught to hunt us.
We’re not on the menu of the following creatures:
African lions
great white sharks
polar bears
saltwater crocodiles
tigers
Polar bears learn how to hunt seals; lions learn how to hunt gazelles
and zebras. Predators are dependent on their physical health and strength
to catch their next meal, so they have a great fear of getting injured. When
they first encounter you, their instinct is not to attack you and eat you but
rather to take off because you present an unknown. And in the wilderness,
an unknown is usually a threat. You should be more scared when an animal’s
curiosity overrides its fear of you.
So why is it, then, that we hear stories of maneating
lions or polar
bears stalking Inuit across the tundra? Because in addition to being predators
of other animals, true predators are also opportunistic eaters. If something
comes into their world that is soft, smelly, and fleshy (like you and
me), these creatures may recognize us as a potential meal.
Here’s what you can do to protect yourself in true predator country:
Avoid detection: Humans tend to be loud, bumbling creatures in the wild. If
you’re in true predator terrain, move as stealthily as possible. To avoid giving
the predator an opportunity, try not to attract any attention to yourself.
Make as much noise as possible: (You’re going to hate me for this
contradiction!) Noise can scare animals away. This alternative is likely better
attempted when you’re with a group of people, as there’s safety in numbers.
(These completely opposite methods indicate just how difficult it is to predict
what an animal will do, or how you should behave, during an encounter.)
Create obstacles: When you’re stationary for any length of time, try to use
natural materials to create a buffer between you and the animal. This is
particularly important for your shelter. In Africa, I built a corral from acacia
thorns around my shelter. It wouldn’t have stopped a lion that was intent on
getting me, but it would have deterred one long enough to buy me time to
plan my escape.
Plan an escape route: Even with protection, sometimes the best route to safety
is an escape route. In Africa, even with a fence of thorn bushes for protection,
I made sure my shelter was built against a tree in case the pride of lions
wandering the area decided to pay a visit. I hung a rope from the tree into my
shelter so that I had the option of climbing the tree to get out of range.
African lions, polar bears, tigers, sharks, and saltwater crocodiles—
they’re all big and can kill us with little effort. It may seem that you have
little chance against a 500to
2,000pound
(227to
907kg)
animal, but
remember that perhaps more than any other wild creatures, true predators
( just like accidental predators) cannot afford to get injured. Unlike
benign creatures such as rabbits (which can sustain an injury but continue
to forage for food), if a predator is seriously hurt, its ability to hunt—and
therefore to eat—is impaired. For instance, a wolf that suffers a broken jaw
from a tangle with a moose is as good as dead. Animals such as these will
often retreat rather than fight.
stroud’s Tip
Your fire may not be as effective as you thought in keeping
you safe from animals. A small fire will provide warmth,
light to see what is going on around the shelter, and burning
logs that can be used as “weapons” to scare off animals. But big
fires can attract curious predators, and also insects and scorpions.
Build your fire using heavy, hard wood that will burn slowly through
the night, provide longlasting
coals, and offer strong “missiles” as
weapons in case of an attack.
But if a true predator attacks you, your only chance may be to fight
back. If you end up in a body of salt water during a survival situation, don’t
create a lot of turbulence by thrashing about, as sharks are attracted to this
type of behavior. While filming a TV special on sharks in the Caribbean, I
was treading water with a number of lemon sharks beneath me and two
tiger sharks close by (accidental and true predators). We posed the question
whether it was better to swim as fast as possible to the boat or lie still
and let the boat come to get me. When I made my move by swimming
quickly and splashing a lot, a huge shark darted straight for me, excited by
my movements.
Never enter the water if you are bleeding, as a shark can detect even
the smallest amount of blood in the water. Finally, do not throw entrails
or garbage into the water, as this, too, may attract sharks. Look behind any
cruise ship that throws its food refuse overboard and you will see hundreds
of sharks.
If you do encounter a shark, your only option is to defend yourself.
A shark’s most sensitive place is its nose; direct your blows there.
Remember that sharks like to attack from behind, so try to face the shark
at all times. Keep your back against a coral reef or wreckage, if there is
any. Go backtoback
with your dive buddy and put any object you have,
your underwater video camera, for example, between yourself and the
shark. Oh . . . and get out of the water!
Swimming with Caribbean reef sharks in the Bahamas was thrilling, though intimidating.
Secure Your Shelter from Predator Attack
In making my survival films in the African plains and the Kalahari Desert,
I had the wonderful opportunity to learn from Koos Moorecroft, Raphael
Gunduza, and Douw Kruger, three of the most knowledgeable survival
experts in Africa. I asked Douw to give me his thoughts on dealing with
the wild animals of Africa:
Surviving in the African wilderness means that you must take
precautions to limit encounters with animals like lions, leopards, and
hyenas, especially at night when a survivor in a shelter is nothing more
than a sitting duck.
This is not to say these predators will come after you like maneaters,
but they are curious animals and might investigate for an easy
meal. Their senses are extremely well developed and they will smell your
presence from a distance and see your movements easily at night.
These animals all move very quietly, so it’s not easy to hear
them. The best you can (and must) do is secure your shelter or sleeping
place, and plan an escape route for an emergency situation. You
can also install an earlywarning
system to wake you up when something
is moving around the shelter.
Securing your shelter should be planned and done properly,
as you are dealing with powerful and clever predators. If not, you will
have nothing more than a false sense of security, which may end up
as a nasty surprise. Spending a little extra energy securing your shelter
properly will provide a safe place, which will reward you with a good
night’s sleep.
Create an EarlyWarning
System
When alone at night in a survival situation, you’ll have better peace of
mind if you’ve put up something that will warn you in advance of a predator’s
approach. Use a long, thin piece of string or fishing line as a trip line
around the perimeter of your shelter, about a foot and a half (0.5 meter)
off the ground. Connect the line to anything that will make noise when
moved or banged together.
Even a small rock balanced on a piece of wood over a larger rock will
wake you if it’s knocked over in the quiet of the night. You can also use any
number of trapping trigger mechanisms to get a big log to fall on a dry,
thinner log to create a loud cracking sound.
Tips on Dealing with Dangerous Animals
There are numerous theories as to the best way to deal with dangerous
animals, but here are a few tips:
Prepare properly, as if you are expecting an unwelcome visitor.
Do not keep meat or other smelly stuff in or near your shelter. Suspend food
by a rope from a tree branch 50 yards (46 m) or more away.
Do not leave anything outside your shelter, as it will be chewed up and carried
away by lions and hyenas.
Do not build a large fire, as it will attract some animals and insects.
Urinate on the bushes around the outside of the shelter during the day. It can
be smelled from a greater distance than if you urinate on the ground, and the
odor may help to keep animals away.
Do not leave your shelter at night!
Angry Ungulates
Despite the bad press animals such as bears, cougars, and lions get, there’s
another group that’s rarely written about or discussed in this vein, and
yet they can be some of the most dangerous creatures you’ll ever cross
paths with in the wilderness (even if they won’t eat you): ungulates, or
hoofed mammals.
In the rutting (mating) season, a bull moose can turn into 1,500
pounds (680 kg) of testosteronedriven
rage. They’ve been known to attack
vehicles. Get too close to one during this time and you may never live to
tell the tale. For that matter, all ungulates—even the seemingly gentle
elk—pose a significant danger during the rut.
The females of these species can also be formidable foes when they’re
with their young and can kill a person with one kick of their hooves.
Other Dangerous Animals
elephants: Need I say more?
buffalo, musk oxen, water buffalo: Powerful and very smart, those in Africa are
considered to be the most aggressive animals you will encounter.
hippopotamuses: Surprisingly, hippopotamuses are responsible for more
deaths every year than lions.
rhinoceroses: Nervous and defensive, each of these animals has an ohsobig
horn.
ostriches: An ostrich protecting its nest can slice open your rib cage with one
swipe of its claws.
Creepy Crawlies
CREEPY CRAWLIES ARE ALL THOSE STINGING and biting creatures that give most
of us the shivers. This group includes snakes, lizards, spiders, scorpions,
ants, bees, ticks, and leeches. It is important to know something about
these creatures and how to travel safely through their world.
As nasty as creatures like the tarantula may seem, creepy crawlies
abide by the same guidelines as their kin in the animal world: except in
the case of rare exceptions like leeches and ticks, they want nothing to do
with you and are not on the lookout for you. Solid pretrip
research will tell
you what you need to watch out for.
The only ways you will get bitten or stung by creepy crawlies is if you
abruptly enter their space and scare them, if they enter your space and get
scared (usually in camp or at night), or if you provoke them. For that reason,
slow, deliberate movement is essential at all times.
You are at much greater risk from creepy crawlies than from predators
and other dangerous animals, due to their numbers. I once spent
seven days alone in the jungle and although I encountered no snakes, I
saw lots of monstersized
poisonous ants, a couple of spiders, and a poisonous
frog.
The rule of thumb when it comes to creepy crawlies is to minimize
your exposure to them. In the desert, for example, where there are lots of
scorpions around, I build my bed up off the ground so that I won’t find one
in with me when I wake up.
Most creepy crawly encounters occur during the night when creatures
such as scorpions, snakes, and spiders seek out warmth, and you represent
nothing more to them than a large mass of radiant energy. So as
ridiculous as it may seem, they really just want to snuggle up with you. It’s
only when you move quickly, accidentally or out of panic, that you get bitten.
You could literally sleep through the night and not even realize that a
number of poisonous creatures had crossed your skin.
A man in Africa once had a black mamba (arguably the most aggressive
and dangerous snake in the world) slither down into his sleeping
bag to get warm for the night. The man was nearly hysterical when he
realized this and was convinced the snake would bite him. His camping
mates decided that in one swift motion two of them would yank him out
by his shoulders while two others whipped the sleeping bag off his feet.
They did just that, and in the few seconds it took to complete the task, the
snake bit the man 13 times, killing him. Chances are the snake eventually
would have left if the man had lain still and waited it out.
When it comes to avoiding creepy crawlies, a little local knowledge
goes a long way. Learn before you head out what you need to watch for
and where it lives. Generally, you should follow these rules to minimize
contact with creepy crawlies:
Keep your hands and feet out of dark places such as rock crevices, heavy brush,
or hollow logs. If you need to get into such places for supplies or shelter,
first use a long stick to probe the area and scare out any problem critters.
Indeed, any time you slam your foot down beside a crevice, crack, or hole,
you’re risking a bite, because these are the places where snakes like to curl up.
Bringing your foot down right beside one might be enough to get you bitten.
Close up your pants, sleeves, and necklines tightly.
Get up off the ground when you sleep. If you have bug netting, wrap yourself
in it (rather than just placing it on top of you).
Don’t leave your clothes or shoes lying around on the ground while you sleep,
and always shake them out and check them before you put them back on.
Most scorpion stings occur on the foot after a scorpion has spent the night in
a traveler’s shoe or boot.
Wear protective clothing if possible. Most snakebites occur at the ankles, so
leather boots that cover this area can help. Bug jackets and pants, as well as
general mosquito netting, help fend off most flying, biting insects.
Pay attention! Creepy crawlies are not that easy to spot, so stay alert as you
move through their world. Look up. You don’t want to walk headlong into a
hornets’ nest, or grab a branch that’s covered in stinging ants. Look down if
you’re walking through heavy brush or tall grass.
Don’t bother them and they won’t bother you. In the Amazon jungle, a
Waorani man toyed with a spider by poking it with a stick. He just kept poking
and poking, and eventually the spider decided it had had enough, jumped 5
feet (1.5 m) at the guy’s face, and sank his fangs right into his nose. He later
told me it was one of the most painful things he’d ever experienced.
Poisonous Plants
AS THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SUFFERED THROUGH a bout of poison ivy can attest,
coming into contact with a poisonous plant—let alone ingesting it—can
be an extremely unpleasant experience. Poisoning from plants can result
in anything from minor irritation to death.
An important part of your trip planning and preparation is to learn
which plants you’ll encounter when you’re in the wild, especially since
many edible plants have poisonous look-alikes. Also, don’t believe the following
misconceptions about poisonous plants:
Misconception: “Eat what the animals eat.”
Fact: Not true. Animals sometimes eat plants that are poisonous to the
rest of us.
Misconception: “If I boil the plant, the toxins will be removed.”
Fact: In some cases, boiling doesn’t remove all toxins.
Misconception: “Red . . . you’re dead.”
Fact: Some red plants are poisonous, but not all.
Misconception: “White . . . just right.”
Fact: Many white plants and berries are poisonous.
If you don’t know what a plant is, don’t touch it or eat it. Eating
the wrong plant can kill you. Nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal
cramps, depressed heartbeat and respiration, headaches, and hallucinations
are all symptoms of poisoning.
If you suspect you’ve eaten a poisonous plant, immediately induce
vomiting. This will bring up some of the toxic matter, but not all. After
vomiting, if you have an ample supply of water, drink as much as possible
to dilute the poison.
When you have no knowledge of a plant, suspect it’s edible, and have
no other choice but starvation, then you need to do an edibility test before
you ingest any quantity of it. (For more on edibility tests, refer to “Food,”
Chapter 8.) However, never eat mushrooms! Identifying mushrooms is
a very exact science, and if you eat the wrong one, it can kill you quickly.
Mushrooms offer little nutrition in return for the chance you are taking.
My friend in survival Dave Arama has this to add: “In a survival situation,
and on an empty stomach, even a mildly toxic plant can kill you.
With a full stomach as in our everyday lives, ingesting a mildly toxic plant
will probably result in a stomach ache or in the worstcase
scenario a quick
visit to the hospital.”
If you suspect that your skin has come into contact with a poisonous
plant, your first course of action should be to try to remove the
oil by washing the area with soap and cold water. If there is no water
nearby, use dirt or sand to wipe your skin (but not if blisters have already
appeared there).
The toxin and the infection can be spread by touching the infected
area and then touching another part of your body, so resist the urge to
scratch! Bandage the infected area to prevent any other part of your body
from coming in contact with the infection.
Aside from the dangers of touching and eating unknown plants,
there is another littleknown
way that plants can be harmful: if you burn
them. People have experienced lifethreatening
health issues from burning
piles of poison ivy and inadvertently breathing the smoke.
Plants can prove hazardous through more than just their poisons,
too. Many are covered in spikes, spines, barbs, or thorns that can cause
excruciating pain that, if left unattended, can result in festering wounds.
One unfortunate hiker who was walking carelessly through the desert
tripped and held out his hand to break his fall. He landed on a saguaro
cactus, and a 4inch
(10cm)
spine went right through his palm and out
the other side.
Some plants can be hazardous because of the insects they host. Certain
plants and insects help each other out. For example, there is a bush in
the Amazon jungle that is home to a very protective type of ant. Get too
close to the bush and the ants will actually jump out and attack you. Grab
the bush and all bets are off. For this reason, wear gloves when possible
and tuck your pants into your socks whenever you travel in creepycrawly
country, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
Don’t overlook the importance of footwear as protective clothing. One
time in Arizona, I stopped in the middle of a hike because of excruciating
pain on the top of one foot. It turned out to be a teddy-bear cactus making
its way through my leather boots. The only scorpion sting I ever got was
while wearing sandals in the desert. The scorpion also stung me on my
index finger as I pulled it off my foot (and the numbness lingered for nearly
two years).
Lack of Sleep
IT MAY SEEM BENIGN IN THE CONTEXT OF HUGE WEATHER EVENTS, predators,
and deadly plants, but lack of sleep may well pose a more significant threat
than any of these other hazards. Though it takes significant sleep deprivation
to kill a human, the risk from it lies in how it affects your ability to
function in the wild. Lack of sleep has been shown to adversely affect brain
function, growth, healing, and general ability.
We tend to sleep poorly in survival situations, but it is important
to try to get as much sleep as possible. Sleep keeps you fresh, alert, and
well-functioning, and it cuts down on your energy requirements when
you are awake.
As survival instructor Dave Arama likes to say, “If you don’t have to
walk, sit down, and if you don’t have to sit down, lie down.” To that I add
that if you don’t have to be awake (particularly to signal for rescue), sleep.
My most restful naps happen at around 2 p.m., during the warmth of the
day. It’s the wrong time to sleep if you want to be rescued, but when sleeping
at night is often so difficult, I’ll take what I can get to keep my sanity.
Starvation
HUMAN BEINGS CERTAINLY NEED FOOD TO SURVIVE, but most of us overestimate
the significance of food in a survival situation. This, I’ve found, is one
of the greatest risks you’ll encounter regarding food in the wild: thinking
you need three meals a day to function properly.
The truth is, you can survive for a very long time without food, sometimes
as long as a month. You won’t be functioning very well after the first
couple of weeks, but you won’t necessarily die, either.
While making my survival films, the primary issue I face due to not
eating is lack of energy. I work for 20 minutes, then have to sit down and
rest for the same amount of time. Then I work again for another 20 minutes
until I am exhausted and need to rest again. This continues until I somehow
get something to eat. See “Food,” Chapter 8, for more information.
Dehydration
THE DECISION AS TO WHETHER TO DRINK UNPURIFIED WATER comes down to a
question of risk. Can drinking unpurified water kill you? Definitely. But
with a few exceptions, it can take a week or more before the effects of
drinking bad water are felt. Dehydration, on the other hand, will kill you
more quickly; after only three to four days your ability to function well is
reduced.
Clearly, your first choice should be for clean or filtered water. But if
you have no other choice, drink the unpurified water and hope that you
can reach safety in time to deal with the waterborne
illnesses you may
have contracted as a result.
Use some common sense when you see a tainted water source. Can
you get to other water? Is it contaminated with something you think
could be deadly, or is it just dirty? Remember, sparkling clean water can
hide some pretty nasty diseases too. See “Water,” Chapter 5, for more
information.
Cold Weather
WHILE FILMING A SPECIAL FOR THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL on surviving in
Alaska, I had the distinct pleasure of jumping through an ice hole cut in an
Alaskan lake and spending 13 minutes immersed in frigid water with one
of the world’s renowned experts in the study of cold on the human body. I
asked my friend Gordon Giesbrecht, PhD, professor of thermophysiology,
to pen the following sections on hypothermia and frostbite.
Hypothermia
When people play in the wilderness, one danger they commonly recognize
is hypothermia, the lowering of the body’s core temperature from its normal
level of 98.6.F (37.C) to 95.F (35.C) or lower.
The onset of hypothermia is slow and usually undetected by the victim.
Even in ice water it may take 30 minutes or more to become hypothermic.
In cold air, it takes hours or even days.
If you are stranded in a cold air environment, the cold/wet/wind triad
can be deadly. Many folks set off on a pleasant day with minimal extra
clothing and supplies, only to be overtaken by wind and rain. These conditions
can be deadly if you don’t have a day pack with some extra clothing.
Traveling partners need to watch each other for signs of hypothermia,
which can be described as the “umbles”: grumbles, fumbles, stumbles, and
tumbles. Change in personality, loss of fine and gross motor movement,
and shivering are potential signs that you are too cold. Get into a shelter,
rest, and ingest highcalorie
drinks and foods until you feel better.
Frostbite
Frostbite is the freezing of tissue. Mild frostbite involves freezing superficial
layers—skin—while severe frostbite involves freezing flesh below the
skin. Obviously, the deeper the freezing, the more damage is done.
Water within tissues freezes and forms ice crystals, and these
sharp fragments damage the tissue (one reason why you should never
rub the site of frostbite). The major problem resulting from frostbite is
the destruction of capillaries. These small vessels are responsible for the
exchange of oxygen and nutrients between the blood and tissue. Once
tissue is thawed, the frostbitten area can become flushed as blood flow
returns to it. But because the capillaries have been destroyed, the blood
cannot provide lifegiving
oxygen.
Our advice to outdoors enthusiasts is this: Never accept numbness.
As nerves get progressively colder, sensations progress from cold, to pain,
to numbness, to nothing. Numbness is a warning that tissue is nearing the
freezing point. At that point, you must get the numb body part out of the
cold or add insulation. Simply putting your hands in your armpits can all
but guarantee that they won’t freeze. If your fingers freeze even when they
are in your armpits, your biggest problem isn’t frostbite.
“Professor Popsicle” Gordon Giesbrecht and I spent nearly 13 long minutes submerged in
the frigid waters of a remote Alaskan lake to test my body’s reaction to hypothermia.
Region-Specific Hazards
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
By far the worst danger in the world’s warmer and drier regions is the sun,
but it’s not the only hazard. You will also find yourself exposed to poisonous
creepy crawlies, thorn-covered plants and cacti, contaminated water,
and eye irritation from the constant dust and blowing sand.
Extreme heat can affect you in several serious ways. Heat cramps
and heat exhaustion are caused by a shortage of water and salt in the body.
Symptoms include headache, profuse sweating, weakness, dizziness, irritability,
cramps, and sometimes even mental confusion. If you experience
any of these symptoms, get into the shade to cool off. Sprinkling water on
your body may also help.
Heat stroke is more severe than heat exhaustion and begins to impede
the body’s natural ability to cool itself. If not treated quickly, it can lead to
death. Symptoms include hot, dry skin and a visible lack of sweat, as well as
headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, and vomiting. If you suspect heat
stroke, get into the shade and pour water on your body if possible (even if
the water is contaminated). Consume water every few minutes, but only in
small quantities; large amounts will bring on vomiting.
My most dangerous survival moment occured in the Kalahari Desert.
Two days of drinking hot water and having the sun and wind suck
the moisture out of me brought me frighteningly close to heat stroke. It
was 117.F (47.C) in the shade and 142.F (61.C) in the sun. By midnight
I actually had the sensation that I was getting hotter, though the sun had
long since disappeared. Only careful attention to staying immobile and
constantly wiping my neck and head with a damp bandana kept me alive.
Heat stroke can hit you fast and can kill.
Dehydration is another risk in these regions, particularly when there’s
wind. The combination of heat and wind will suck the moisture right out
of your body. Seek protection from the wind as well as the sun.
The most significant weather event you’ll encounter in the desert
is a sandstorm. If you have the misfortune of being caught in one,
try to get downwind of a shelter. Cover your mouth and nose, and wait.
Sand in some deserts can be alkaline and irritating if it finds its way into
your many orifices. Breathing in the salty air that blows up from the salt
“pans” in a place like the Kalahari Desert can cause serious sinus and
lung irritation.
Finally, remember that mirages can and do occur in these regions
and they present a hazard (they’ve also been known to occur in the Arctic).
The greatest risk is that a mirage will create optical illusions of what
seems to be water in the distance. These illusions can entice you to travel
in a direction you otherwise wouldn’t or shouldn’t go. Be skeptical of the
big lake you see in the distance.
Boreal and Other Temperate Forests
Forest fires have become more frequent in the last few decades. The upside
of finding yourself close to one is that fires attract firefighters, increasing
your chance of rescue. The downside is that you may die. Move in the
opposite direction from the fire by determining the prevailing wind. If
possible, make your way to a lake. Remember that fire travels faster uphill
than downhill.
Underestimating the difficulty of travel in a forest can be a real threat
as well. It might seem like your destination is only a mile away, but a mile
through some types of thick forest can be hours of pure hell.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
At the top of the list for polar dangers is the weather. Blizzards have taken
the lives of many very experienced Arctic travelers. Do not, under any circumstances,
travel in a blizzard. If a blizzard strikes (or is imminent), return
to your shelter immediately. If you don’t yet have a shelter, build one right
away. If you don’t have time to do this, at least get out of the wind.
Frostbite is another everpresent
danger in the world’s cold places.
Proper clothing is your first line of defense in preventing frostbite, but
protecting yourself from the elements—especially the wind—is equally
important. See “Survival First Aid,” Chapter 13.
Snowblindness, which is essentially a sunburn on your retina, is also
a real hazard in these parts. On sunny days, the sun’s rays reflect off snow
and ice and come at you from all directions. Snowblindness causes excruciating
pain and can leave you without proper vision for as long as three
days. Protect your eyes in any way you can.
On the Sea or Open Water
As with snowblindness in the Arctic, sunblindness is a sunburn of the retina
caused by the reflection of the sun’s rays on the water.
Seasickness is a malady that affects some people and doesn’t touch
others at all. If you’re prone to it, bring seasickness medication in your
firstaid
kit. When you’re on the open water in a sizable vessel, staying
above deck may help. Some say that looking across the horizon instead of
at the waves can help. Focusing on small, dexterityassociated
tasks, on the
other hand, may promote seasickness.
If you do get seasick, allowing yourself to vomit may provide almost
immediate relief.
Jungles
Freshwater rivers and lakes in the jungle can host a number of dangerous
creatures such as alligators and crocodiles, not all of which are visible from
the shore or your boat. Many of these animals have been known to attack
boats and other vessels, so plan your trip carefully by avoiding proximity
to them whenever possible.
You’ll find many smaller, though no less hazardous, critters along the
way. The black piranha is the most dangerous freshwater fish in the world.
Limited to northern South America, they are small but have very big teeth,
and they travel in large schools capable of devouring a person in minutes.
They are most dangerous in shallow waters during the dry season.
Electric eels—which can be 6 . feet (2 m) long—are usually found in
South America and are capable of generating up to 500 volts of electricity.
Large freshwater turtles may seem like an easy meal, but the snapping turtles
of North and South America have been known to bite the fingers and toes off
unsuspecting people. Even the platypus, which is found only in Australia, has a
poisonous spur on each hind foot that can inflict intensely painful wounds.
Far less dramatic but no less a hazard are falling coconuts, silly as
that may sound. More people are killed in the tropics every year from falling
coconuts than from shark attacks. Victims are usually at the base of a
palm tree when it happens. Be careful where you decide to sleep; most of
these deaths occur at night.
Rising river levels pose a real threat in the tropics, even if a storm
is not apparent in your immediate area. Jungle rivers can rise by as much
as 20 feet (6 m) in a few hours, even though the rise is caused by storm
systems many miles away.
I think the jungles of this planet are home to more dangers than any
other region. An entire book could be dedicated to the subject. From caterpillars
to freshwater stingrays, from a deluge of rain to killer ants, from
roaming jaguars to wasps as long as pencils, jungles are home to a bewildering
array of events and creatures that can hurt or kill you. Yet, jungles
are amazingly beautiful places to experience, and they are still my favorite
ecosystem for adventuring. They can be for you too, if you’re careful.
Coastal Regions
Oceans rival jungles for the most hazards to travelers. Salt water is home to
numerous threatening creatures, none as feared as the shark. Shark attacks
are rare, however, and usually considered accidents. You can best avoid
shark attack by avoiding shark habitat.
In shallow waters, you’ll find many creatures that can inflict pain and
cause infection to develop if you happen to step on them. Invertebrates
such as jellyfish are capable of injecting venom by biting or stinging, or
through spines located in their fins and tentacles. Although jellyfish-related
deaths are relatively uncommon, invertebrate bites or stings can be fatal.
Wear protective footwear when wading near the shoreline. Shuffle your
feet along the bottom of the water body (rather than raising them up and
stepping), as most of these critters sting from the top rather than from the
side. Stingrays, especially those of the tropical variety, can be quite nasty in
the shallows.
If you are fishing in these areas, remember that not all fish can be
eaten. Though there are no hard-and-fast rules to distinguish edible from
poisonous fish, most of the poisonous ones live in shallow water around
reefs or lagoons, have box-like or round bodies with shell-like skins covered
with bony plates or spines, and have small, parrot-like mouths. As is
often the case, being informed about the potentially dangerous creatures
in a region can go a long way toward preparing you.
Like mountain areas, coastal regions can be susceptible to fast, violent
weather changes. Storms can blow in seemingly without notice; be
prepared to seek appropriate shelter.
If you’re planning on traveling by water, you should have a working
knowledge of local tide patterns, including currents and rip tides. If you’re
on land, make sure you build your shelter beyond the high-tide mark.
Very low on the probability scale but high on the danger scale are
tsunamis, series of waves generated by undersea disturbances such as
earthquakes. Tsunamis can cause waves to travel as fast as 450 miles (724
km) per hour, reaching heights of 100 feet (30 m). Tsunamis are sometimes
preceded by rapid changes in water level; they typically arrive as a series of
successive crests (high water levels) and troughs (low water levels).
If you suspect a tsunami is approaching, move to higher ground
immediately. Stay away from the shore. Finally, do not assume that the
danger has passed if a lengthy period of time elapses between waves. Tsunami
crests can be 90 minutes apart.
Mountains
Full-blown rockslides and mudslides are significant hazards in mountainous
country but are fairly rare. Much more common is the rockfall, which
can occur at any time. Take extra care when traveling at the base of rock
walls, cliffs, or rocky slopes.
When snow is present, the risk of an avalanche occuring is a real one.
Stay away from open, exposed slopes that are bare of vegetation, as this is
a sign that avalanches regularly rip through the area. The most dangerous
slopes are ones that are 34 degrees to 45 degrees, as these hold lots of snow
but are steep enough to let it go frequently. The more trees that are present
(and the larger they are), the more likely it is that the area is relatively
safe from avalanches.
If you get caught in or near an avalanche, seek shelter (if possible)
on the downhill side of boulders or trees. Crouch low, face away from the
slide, and cover your nose and mouth. Experts recommend using a swimming
motion, which may keep you near the top of the slide. If you have
the ability to do so, try to make your way to the top of the slide while it is
slowing down but still moving. I highly recommend wearing an avalanche
beacon when traveling in the mountains.
The upper regions of mountains can also be prone to sudden
weather changes. Lightning may also be present; if so, seek shelter and
stay off ridges.
Group Versus Solo Survival
ASWITHMOSTASPECTS OFSURVIVAL, being in a group helps because you
benefit from the combined knowledge of the members. Somebody in the
group may know about the specific hazards present in a region, which
should help you stay well away from the danger.
T
o a certain extent, you can control many aspects of survival—
water, fire, shelter, and food. But weather may be the toughest
challenge you face in a survival situation because it is one of the few
things you can’t control.
Understand one truth of the wilderness: No matter how beautiful a
day it is, the weather will eventually get bad, often quickly and sometimes
violently so. And if you’re not prepared for the worst, you reduce your
chances of making it home alive.
In our daytoday
lives, most of us are illprepared
for bad weather.
Why should we worry? We can always go home or duck into a coffee shop
if things get bad. But there is no relief from bad weather in the wilderness.
You’re either ready for it or you’re not. And the stakes are high: rough
weather can kill you. Weather is the most important “flow” to go with when
lost in the wild.
Prepare to Stay Alive
IFYOU’RE IN A REMOTE AREA AND have failed to anticipate bad weather, you’re
stuck when it hits. Searching for firewood, trying to build a shelter, or looking
for food and water in driving rain or snow can be deadly.
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Preparing for bad weather, therefore, is a high priority for the adventurer.
Preparation may be as simple as moving your firewood to a dry spot
or as complex as building a shelter that will protect you against a coming
blizzard. Whether I’m in a survival situation or just on a camping trip, I’m
always doing one of two things regarding the weather: taking advantage
of the good weather to prepare for the bad or hunkering down during bad
weather and doing what I can “inside.” Bad weather can present a perfect
opportunity to take care of little jobs that don’t require you to be outside.
Given the proper amount of materials, space, heat, and light, you can
accomplish tasks like sharpening knives, building traps and snares, creating
fishing implements, mending your clothing, or working on a signal
device while a storm rages around you.
Once the weather brightens up again (and it will), you will have your
chance to gather those wild berries you know are in a particular spot, travel
to another location, hunt, or fish.
Weather Versus Climate
WEATHERANDCLIMATE ARETWO DISTINCTBEASTS. While weather can change
on a dime, climate is the average weather that predominates in an area
over a long period of time. It’s a variable that’s largely known and understood,
and one that can and should be prepared for well in advance of your
trip. Preparation could mean the difference between life and death.
If your local research uncovers the fact that weather can
change quickly in a region, don’t underestimate it. Be ready.
stroud’s Tip
I knew before visiting the Amazon jungle that it rained a lot. There
are basically two seasons: wet and wetter (it is, after all, a rain forest).
Though I visited during the “less wet” season, I discovered that it could
still rain for three days at a time. The pretrip
research I did on the climate
made a huge difference to my survival for the next seven days. I also
heeded warnings that rivers could rise 20 feet (6 m) in a few hours. I tied
my dugout canoe to a spot on a tree 8 feet (2.4 m) off the ground, and still
the force of the flood threatened to snap the tether rope!
In the jungle, don’t assume water levels will remain static for any period of time. I almost
lost my dugout canoe—and my primary mode of travel—to a swollen river.
Ways to Predict Weather and Interpret
Weather Signs
PREDICTING WEATHER OFTEN BOILS DOWN to one basic question: How long is
the good weather going to last? The answer will tell you how long you’ve
got to complete the other tasks important to your survival, particularly if
you’re planning on traveling. Learning some basic forecasting methods
could save you from being caught out in a storm.
Local Guidance
Since weather is so areaspecific,
the best way to discover natural predictors
is to talk to locals. They will know the subtle signs in their environment
that are almost impossible to relate in the pages of a book. You may have
someone say to you, “If you notice that all the birds suddenly stop singing
while you’re out there, bad weather is coming.” Listen to the experts.
Barometers
If you’re lucky enough to have one, a barometer makes predicting weather
a heck of a lot easier. Decreasing air pressure usually indicates the approach
of a lowpressure
system, which brings clouds and precipitation. Increasing
air pressure, on the other hand, means that a high pressure system is
approaching, bringing with it fine weather.
Wind and Wind Patterns
To predict wind patterns, start by gaining an understanding of the prevailing
winds for an area. You can then detect if a wind is coming from a different
direction. If this occurs, or if winds are beginning to swirl around
every which way, a change in weather may be coming.
Clouds
I still have a hard time naming all the different types of cloud patterns,
whether they be cumulonimbus or nimbostratus. I can, however, make a
pretty good guess as to what they foretell, and that’s largely based on a few
general characteristics:
The darker and lower the clouds, the more likely they are to carry precipitation.
The higher and finer the clouds, the better the weather will be (though it may
become windy).
A general increase in the density of clouds may indicate a change in the
weather. I’ve been in many situations where this was an indicator that a system
was developing.
The approach of a long bank of clouds on the horizon on an otherwise fair day
may also indicate that foul weather is on its way.
Fireside Smoke
You can actually use the smoke from your fire to help make very rough
weather predictions. If the smoke rises steadily with little change, the
pleasant weather you’re currently enjoying should stay for a while. If you
see that the smoke begins to swirl after rising a little way, or if it seems to
be beaten down, a storm or shower may be on its way.
If you’re near a lake and notice that the smoke hangs low over the
water, rain may be approaching.
The Sky
There is a reason why adages persist through generations: they’re largely
true. “Red skies at night, sailor’s delight; red skies in the morning, sailors
take warning.” This is more of a short-term indicator but a good one
nonetheless. A red sky at dusk indicates that the weather will stay fair for at
least the next few hours; if the sky is red at dawn, however, beware: a low-
pressure system (and possibly a storm) may be on its way. Don’t confuse a
red sky with a red sun in the morning. If the sun is red at sunrise but the
sky is normal in color, the day should be fair. If you find yourself in hilly or
mountainous terrain, pay attention to how the early-morning mist moves.
If it lifts early in the morning, you will likely have a fair day. If it has not
moved by early afternoon, it likely won’t, and you may experience some
precipitation later.
The night sky can also help you predict the weather. If it is clear at
night, the weather should stay calm. If you can’t see many stars one night
after a few clear ones, you may be in for a change.
Dangerous Weather
DANGEROUS WEATHER EVENTSMAYWELLBERESPONSIBLE for killing more people
in survival situations than any other danger or hazard. Familiarizing
yourself with weather events will help you prepare for them and know how
to react when they hit.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes occur in relatively few places on this earth, but when they do,
they can be devastating. It’s not likely that your little stick shelter could
withstand the force of a hurricane, so if one is on its way, seek out something
more substantive, such as a cave.
If you’re in a coastal region, perhaps the greatest risk from hurricanes
is the storm surge, a dome of ocean water that can reach as high as 20 feet
(6 m) and 50 to 100 miles (80 to 160 km) wide.
Thunderstorms and Lightning Storms
Most of the time, thunderstorms give notice of their impending arrival
with dark, threatening clouds and distant lightning and thunder. You can
estimate your distance from an approaching thunderstorm by counting
the number of seconds that elapse between a flash of lightning and the
next clap of thunder. Divide this number by five and you have a rough idea
of how many miles away the storm is.
All thunderstorms are accompanied by lightning, which is one of the
primary risks of being outside in a survival situation when one hits. The
best thing you can do during a thunderstorm is hunker down and hope
your shelter is strong enough to withstand the onslaught. If you do get
caught outside, avoid natural lightning rods such as tall, isolated trees in
open areas; stay away from hilltops and other high, exposed places. And
remember that dead or rotting trees and branches can fall during severe
thunderstorms.
At one point while living in the boreal forest for a year, my wife, Sue,
and I were holed up in our tipi during an intense storm. The wind was so
strong that our tiny lake even had whitecaps on it. That’s when we noticed
that the tree we had built our shelter beside had nearly blown over. Had it
done so, the entire root system would have lifted up right in the middle of
our shelter and ripped it apart. We were also worried about lightning striking
the tree. Our poor location choice for the shelter, made on an earlier,
sunny day, resulted in our holding on to our walls and our wits that day
and waiting out a potentially devastating storm. We got lucky, that time.
Blizzards and Wind Chill
Never go out in whiteout conditions, when you can’t see more than a few feet
in front of you! If you have no choice but to do so, make sure you layer your
clothing so that you can remove items as you warm up. Try not to sweat profusely,
as this will only soak your clothes and make you even colder.
Wind chill can often accompany a blizzard, though not necessarily.
Wind chill is a calculation of how cold it feels based on temperature
and wind speed. If the temperature is extremely cold and there is a steady
wind, stay inside. Wind chill is the culprit in most cases of frostbite or
hypothermia.
Sandstorms
Sandstorms are exclusive to deserts and can be devastating when they
occur. If you see one approaching, get downwind of a shelter, cover your
mouth and nose, and wait it out.
Region-Specific Dangers and Hazards
BECAUSE WEATHER CAN BE LOCALIZED to very small geographic areas, the best
way to learn about prevailing weather patterns is to do serious research
before departing on any trip. Locals will be your greatest source of information
here, so try to spend time, either before or at the beginning of your
trip, with someone who has been on the land.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
Though more of a climatic concern than a weather event, extreme
heat can be a serious problem in these regions. Extreme heat can cause
cramps, exhaustion, and even stroke. If you’re becoming overcome by the
heat, get out of the sun and try to pour some water on your body. Consume
water in small amounts. Extreme heat kills and does so by pushing
your body beyond its natural limits. Under normal circumstances, your
body deals with heat by producing perspiration to cool itself through
evaporation. In instances of extreme heat (and humidity), however, this
evaporation process is slowed, forcing your body to work harder to maintain
a normal temperature.
The Arctic and Polar Regions
Wind chill is the result of cold temperatures and wind. Do not expose
yourself to these elements in combination for any length of time.
Jungles
River levels can rise as a result of a distant storm. Tropical rivers can rise by
as much as 20 feet (6 m) in a few hours. If you see the water level rising, get
as far away from the river as possible, preferably to higher ground.
Coastal Regions
Coastal regions are susceptible to sudden, violent weather changes. Thunderstorms
can arrive with little notice; hurricanes are far less likely, though
more dangerous.
Tsunamis are even less likely, though utterly devastating when they
occur. If you see that the entire ocean has receded in what seems like a
crazy, extremely low tide, it is a sign of an impending tsunami . . . so head
for the hills!
Mountains
Sudden weather changes, including lightning, occur in the upper regions
of mountains. In winter, mountains are subject to significant amounts of
snowfall, and blizzards are also common.
B
efore you have time to build that first shelter, before you
have the time to make a fire and even before you have the time to
figure out what you’re going to do next, your clothing is already
working for you. Your clothing is your first shelter and therefore your primary
defense against the elements.
Yet despite its importance, most travelers don’t give clothing the
attention it deserves. Remember that people have died simply because
they wore the wrong clothing. Never underestimate the value of the
right clothes.
In choosing clothing for your expedition or adventure, you need to
ask yourself this question: “What does my clothing have to do?” It must
protect you from the wind and the rain, from the dry, from the cold and the
heat, from poisonous plants and creepy crawlies. It has to get you through
the various stages of the day and the night, and to be of a construction and
weight that allows you to travel without it becoming a hassle.
Research and Planning
RESEARCHING AND PLANNING WHAT CLOTHING (including extra clothing) you’re
going to take with you on a wilderness adventure is as vital as any other
preparation for your journey, including planning your route and the food
required. What could be more important than the clothes on your back?
To figure out the most appropriate clothing to take, spend time talking
with the people who know. Whether it’s the staff at the closest outdoors
store, your experienced outdoorsy friends, or local guides at your
destination, try to get as much information as you can from people who
have first-hand experience with the area you’ll be visiting or the activities
you’ll be doing.
In the case of boots or shoes, you can help prevent blisters by wearing
them around town to break them in before you go on your trip. You
want to know before you go whether they’ll actually work for you. The
same goes for your clothing. Find out now whether your new raincoat will
keep you protected in a downpour.
Dressing for survival is easy when you’re taking a survival
course, because you know what’s coming. The trick is to
dress appropriately for your adventure activities (hiking, fish-
ing, hunting, kayaking, et cetera) and still be prepared if you end
up in a survival ordeal. It’s a matter of fashion versus function. A lot of
high-tech clothing is not adequate when you’re fighting to survive.
stroud’s Tip
In the Arctic, I arrived with all the high-tech gear I could get my
hands on. In the end, though, I traded it to a local Inuit hunter for his caribou
parka and pants. It was then that I truly realized how clothing can act
as your first shelter, your primary line of defense against the elements. In
those clothes, I could literally stand still in the wind and cold and not feel
a thing. The clothing was my shelter. So don’t close your mind to the effectiveness
of traditional clothing, which though it looks rustic, may work better
than anything you could buy in a store.
What you wear really depends on where you are going, the activity,
and the season. But with few exceptions, layering (as opposed to using
just one layer, like a snowmobile suit) is the best bet. With layering, which
means three to five layers of clothing from your skin to your outer shell,
Perhaps the greatest coldweather
clothing ever conceived: full caribou parka and pants.
you can strip down or dress back up again depending on the weather and
how you are feeling. Layering is a hassle, because it takes time to put on
or take off several pieces of clothing to get warmer or cooler, but it could
save your life. Perhaps the best thing layering does for you is help to prevent
sweating, a factor critical to survival. Peeling off layers allows you to
cool yourself down gradually as you work or travel, while still keeping you
as warm as you need to be.
In the gungho
early years of my survival training, I would merrily
work for hours to make a robust shelter, no matter what the weather. Soon
I’d be soaked in sweat. As night fell and temperatures dropped, I often
found myself without enough time to dry my clothes, even if I had a fire.
The chills I felt were devastating. If I had had the foresight to layer my
clothes, I would have staved off hypothermiainducing
chills.
When doing strenuous labor in the cold, don’t sweat! Staying dry will keep you warm later,
but if you sweat, you’ll feel the chill for hours after.
You sweat . . . you die. It’s as simple as that. Never allow
yourself to sweat in a survival situation.
stroud’s Tip
Layering is vital in every type of climate. Even deserts are notorious for
cooling at night; you don’t have to be in a cold climate or season to become
hypothermic. In fact, many cases of hypothermia occur every year in the fall
and spring, when people are fooled by a nice day followed by a cold night.
Wearing enough layers can make the difference in a survival circumstance.
Traditional or HighTech
Gear?
INMYADVENTURING, THE QUESTION OFTEN is whether I should wear hightech
or more traditional gear. Hightech
clothing is usually light and warm,
brightly colored, and easily packed and transported. However, should the
worst happen and you find yourself in a survival situation (like a canoe
dumped in rapids in the middle of northern Canada), such clothing rarely
stands up to a few days spent in a bush shelter or sleeping beside a fire.
Take GoreTex
as a perfect example of the conflict between rugged
and hightech.
GoreTex
is a fantastic material. It will keep you fairly dry
in damp conditions because it sheds the rain and still breathes. But try
sleeping beside a fire in it: one spark, one touch of an ember, and GoreTex
melts. So hightech
clothing may be great for outdoor adventuring, but it’s
less than ideal in survival situations.
Not so with wool, cotton, or canvaslike
materials, which are tough
and can handle the rigors when you’re pushing through dense forest to
get firewood or food. With these materials, an ember will burn a hole only
in the spot where it lands, and often not before you can flick it off. On the
other hand, cotton is horrible if it gets wet because it takes so long to dry.
Wool is very heavy, especially when it gets wet, yet it retains 80 percent of
its insulating value.
In the end, the best option in a survival situation is to have a combination
of lightweight, hightech
clothing for your underlayers
and some
rugged traditional clothing for your outer layers. But this usually applies only
for survival courses or hunting and fishing trips, not sea kayaking, mountain
climbing, hiking, or other similar adventures. For anything that requires a
high level of physical activity, the lighter, hightech
gear wins out.
If you plan on taking survival courses and don’t want to
drop a fortune on new gear, go the other route: buy secondhand
clothing such as wool sweaters.
stroud’s Tip
When Clothing Kills
CLOTHING DOESN’TALWAYSFIT ORWORK the way it’s intended to, which can
be deadly in a survival situation. If you begin to feel any kind of chafing
or rubbing from your clothes or shoes—especially on your feet—stop and
deal with it immediately. When you’re fighting to survive, you’re not going
to finish the day in the comfort and cleanliness of your home, where you
can take a bath, throw your clothes in the laundry basket, and tend to your
wounds. In the wild, you can’t afford to wait.
Perhaps nobody better understands the urgency of such situations
than adventure racers. They know that they have 1 to 10 days of nonstop
tromping through the bush ahead of them, so if they begin to feel any type
of hot spot developing, they stop and do whatever they can to prevent it
from getting worse. If they don’t, it could cripple them. Remember, you
can’t walk on a foot full of blisters, and if you can’t walk, you can’t perform
any of the tasks necessary to survive.
Keep It Dry and Clean
INASURVIVALSITUATION, YOU SHOULD STRIKE a symbiotic relationship with
your clothing: It protects you, and you should also protect it.
To the best of your ability, keep your clothing dry. Now, that doesn’t
mean you shouldn’t crawl into that old rotting log to sleep for the night,
292 | Survive!
especially if that will keep you alive. But if the opportunity arises the next
day to dry some of your clothing, take advantage of it. Clean and dry clothing
will last much longer than wet clothing, which will rot and disintegrate.
Dirt and dampness also reduce the effectiveness of clothes as insulation.
Keeping your clothing clean also reduces the possibility of skin
infection. If you don’t have a way to wash your clothes, at least shake
them out and leave them in direct sunlight for a couple of hours. If possible,
never go to bed wearing damp clothing, as this increases your risk
of hypothermia.
Extra Is Always Better
CLOTHING TENDS TO GET PRETTY BEAT UP in survival ordeals, so the more you
have with you, the better. You can never have too much clothing, unless its
bulk or weight prevents you from traveling to safety. If you end up carrying
so much clothing and gear that it takes your energy away from looking
for food and water, then it’s time to make the difficult decision about what
you’re going to leave behind.
Making Clothing
THOUGH THIS IS A FAVORITE TOPIC OF SURVIVALISTS, the fact is that you’re
not going to make clothing in a survival situation. Making clothing
from the bush is camp craft and it takes many months. Sure, you can
make a coat out of cedar bark; you can kill an animal and tan its hide.
But that is about wilderness living, not survival. If your survival situation
lasts long enough for you to make clothing from natural materials,
you’re probably past the survival stage and have decided to call the
wilderness your home.
There are a couple of materials, however, that you may be able to use
to make emergency clothing if necessary and that don’t require too much
time or expertise. The first is birch bark. If you are able to peel off a large
enough strip of birch bark, you can fashion it into a crude hat or rain poncho.
But it’s not easy. Native North Americans were able to peel new birch
bark cleanly only in the spring; try to peel bark from dead trees, when they
are rotting but hopefully not too far gone.
If you are a skilled hunter or trapper, or are fortunate enough to catch
an animal, you can use the animal skin as a primitive form of clothing. The
skin of a snowshoe hare peels easily off the carcass. Cut only along the bottom
end, from foot to foot, and then roll it back like you are pulling off a wet
sock. With the fur on the inside, you can use the skin as a mitt or a sock. If
you have the skin of a larger animal such as a deer, you can cut a head hole
and slip the skin on like a poncho, with the fur facing in toward your body.
Before doing that, though, remember that most animals also carry
pests such as ticks, lice, and fleas. If you have enough water available, wash
the skin or even smoke it over a fire; if not, just give it a good shake. Try
to remove as much of the fat and meat as possible, and dry it out before
you wear it.
Another thing you can quite easily do using natural materials is boost
the insulation abilities of your existing clothing. If you have loose-fitting
clothing and have remembered to layer, you can stuff the various layers
When using leaves or other plant matter for insulation, look for the driest materials you
can find. These natural materials will increase the insulating abilities of whatever you are
wearing.
»
You Sweat, You Die
It was –10 degrees celsius in the dead of winter when his snowmobile
ran out of gas. He had no food, water, or matches, and
was completely lost in the northern Manitoba wilderness, a vast
expanse of isolated bush hundreds of miles from any urban
centre. But Christopher Traverse, a 24yearold
construction
worker, had a survivor’s instinct, and he remembered some tips
he had learned from watching my survival films.
With the temperature dropping steadily on that first bonechilling
night, Chris modeled a shelter after one he’d seen me
construct, fashioning a makeshift bed and enclosure out of the
scant resources he had at hand—spruce branches and his snowmobile.
And that’s how he survived the massive blizzard that
descended later that night.
The next morning, he began a threeday
trek through
waistdeep
snow, which he often ate. He would later tell me
that he remembered how I point out that as long as you eat
snow during the day while you’re working (and not later as you
cool down), you can keep yourself hydrated without increasing
your risk of hypothermia.
Far off on the horizon, Chris spotted the glowing beacon
of the Devil’s Lake communication tower. He was determined
to make it there. Walking 12 hours a day, he also recalled another
of my favorite survival tips: “If you sweat, you die.” So
Chris was careful to air out his socks every night to keep the
sweat from freezing his feet, and he wisely reserved one layer of
dry clothes for sleeping.
An eagle followed Chris overhead everyday, and he began
to think of it as his elder guide, coaxing him to carry on.
Search crews also soared above him, but despite his best efforts,
he couldn’t get their attention. They couldn’t see him through
the heavy snowfall. He kept walking.
After five grueling days, Chris found a highway, flagged a
Greyhound bus and made it to the aptly named Last Resort
Convenience Store. There, he was picked up by the RCMP, who
were astonished to find him in such good condition. When
asked how he’d managed to survive, Chris responded, “I just
held my composure. I didn’t let fright pull me down.”
When Chris and I spoke after his ordeal, we knew immediately
there was something in his story, similar to so many of
mine, something that he could only ever share with people who
have had similar experiences. Spending the majority of a cold,
dark night jumping up and down trying not to freeze to death in
the middle of the bush is not something most people can relate
to. But using his wits and a few survival skills he’d seen on my
shows, Chris had made it out of the wilderness . . . alive.
with light, airy materials such as leaves or cattail fluff. In essence, you are
creating a downlike
layer in your clothes, which will greatly increase their
ability to keep you warm.
Footwear
THE IMPORTANCE OF PACKING AND wearing the right footwear cannot be
overstated. All it takes is the wrong footwear to make walking nearly
impossible. Simply put, if you can’t walk, you may not survive. Blisters,
foot fungus, and swollen feet can often be prevented with the right pair
of shoes, sandals, hikers, or boots. Solid ankle support is important for
rough bushwhacking or hiking. In the jungles, you have to strike a balance:
wearing boots to protect yourself from poisonous bites and yet
avoiding foot fungus caused by wearing hiking shoes that are too hot
or constricting. The best thing for cold weather is footwear that is just
slightly too big—big enough to be able to wriggle your toes to help keep
the circulation flowing for warmth.
RegionSpecific
Clothing Considerations
RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Nothing will better prepare you for the different
types of clothing you’ll need in various parts of the world like checking
with people who know that area.
Boreal Forests and Arctic Regions
Because of the sometimesdramatic
temperature swings in these areas,
the most important consideration is layering. Make sure you have enough
items of various weight to deal with both cold and heat.
Arid Regions, Deserts, and Canyons
You lose much less water from your body if you wear a lightcolored,
loosefitting
shirt, which will protect you from the moisturesucking
properties
of the wind. It’s not always easy to keep clothing on when the air is so hot,
but remember that it will keep you alive in the long run.
Whenever I’ve underestimated clothing requirements, it’s been in
the world’s hot and dry places. My initial thought would be, “I’m going to
be in a desert, I don’t need much clothing.” But in the Kalahari—where the
temperature on the surface of the sand in the sun hits 150.F (67.C) during
the day—I still found myself cold at night. There can be a 50.F difference
between daytime highs and nighttime lows, and a person’s body doesn’t
handle the great difference in temperatures very well.
Add to this the fact that you might be sleeping on the ground—
which will draw the heat right out of you—and the potential for a cold
wind, and there’s a possibility that you could become chilled and hypothermic.
And at the very least, the cold will prevent you from sleeping at
night, which will make the rest of your survival experience more miserable
than it needs to be.
Jungles
Clothing in the jungle needs to be protected from the neverending
dampness.
Cotton rots alarmingly quickly in this sort of area. Try to dry clothing
whenever the rain subsides and the sun comes out.
Because there are so many poisonous things to bump into in the
jungle, your clothes should also afford you a layer of protection from them.
This means covering your body to keep it safe from the biting, pricking,
bloodsucking,
and stinging things that lurk there.
Long pants work better than shorts, and long pants that are tucked
into socks work better than ones that hang loose. Jungles by their very
nature are hot and humid, however, and the last thing you want to do is
tuck in your long pants. So when packing, choose pants you can see yourself
wearing tucked in for the duration of your journey. Beware of the “zipoff
” pants that change from long to short; the zipper around the thigh can
severely chafe in the heat of the jungle.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are native peoples, such as the
Waorani, who live in the Amazon jungle. They spend a lot of their time
naked, because clothes rot so quickly. And clothes take a long time to dry
after hours of jungle rain; naked skin does not. The biggest difference
between the Waorani and us is that they have generations of knowledge
about the jungle in which they live. They know every plant and creature
that can hurt them as they run naked through the thick growth. (They still
end up with numerous bites and stings!) I wouldn’t take the chance on
the naked approach, not without years of jungle living under my belt, so
to speak.
The Waorani men also wear a string around their waist. It is tied to
their foreskin to keep their penis out of the way while they travel through
the jungle. Their cultural belief is that when you wear the string around
your waist you are “clothed.” When you don’t wear the string, you are
naked, and this is considered shameful. I wore my pants.
On the Sea or Open Water
Similar to snowblindness in the Arctic, sunblindness can affect you out on the
open water. Always carry a brimmed hat and sunglasses for water travel.
L
ike the animals, you will soon realize that nothing limits your
effectiveness in the wild more than an injury. What separates us from
the beasts, however, is that we can treat ourselves (although there is
evidence to suggest that some animals treat themselves with herbal medicines
by eating certain plants when they have upset stomachs).
Although you have a responsibility to yourself and your travel mates
to know as much about wilderness first aid as possible, this is something
that can’t be mastered by reading a book. I strongly recommend you prepare
for your adventure by taking a wilderness firstaid
course.
Even then, for all the first aid you may know, a more important factor
in survival is injury prevention. All your movements should be planned,
methodical, and cautious. If you want to be a TV stuntman, go ahead and
leap from cliffs and dash across raging rivers. If you want to survive, then
protect yourself against injuries in the first place.
Your Survival FirstAid
Kit
AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENTS of your survival kit are the firstaid
items. Ensure too that you are familiar with the kit’s contents and know
how to use them. See “Survival Kits,” Chapter 2.
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Like your complete survival kit, your firstaid
kit should be customized
for the area you’re visiting and (to a lesser extent) the activity you’re doing.
Herbal Medicines and Healing Plants
WHILE IT’SAPPEALINGTOTHINK that you might be able to heal yourself with
plants in the wild, the chances of your doing so are even slimmer than the
chances of your finding safe plants to eat. Nor is using plants to heal as
simple as picking the plant and either eating it or applying it to your skin.
In many cases, complex concoctions require careful preparation.
Healing plants are also region specific and the product of generations
of experimentation and use. Near Georgian Bay, Ontario, jewelweed
grows right alongside poison ivy and can be a great traditional
remedy as a preventative wash for poison ivy. But to use it effectively,
you need to learn how to recognize both plants. When I was in the Amazon,
Waorani medicine was helpful in curing the fungus on my feet, but
it came from a native woman who drew on her own experience and that
of her people.
The Importance of Hygiene
SURVIVAL IS DIRTY, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore basic hygiene,
which is an important way to ward off infection and disease, and to prevent
minor injuries from becoming major.
If water is available, try to wash yourself daily, with or without soap.
Your hands, hair, feet, and armpits are the likeliest areas of infestation and
infection; pay special attention to them.
Always keep your hands clean, since germs found there can infect
you and your food. Wash them frequently, especially after a bowel movement.
Your hair should also be kept as clean as possible to prevent infestation
by fleas and lice.
Another significant aspect of personal hygiene is keeping your
clothes clean. This may mean making like your ancient ancestors and
scrubbing clothing in a river with rocks. If you don’t have a water source
nearby, shake your clothes out (especially your underwear and socks) and
leave them to dry in the sun for a few hours whenever possible.
Prevent mouth infections and abscesses by brushing your teeth
daily, whether or not you have toothpaste. Improvise a toothbrush with
a young, green twig, assuming you are sure it’s not poisonous (based on
all the excellent pretrip
training you did on the local flora and fauna!).
Peel the bark off the end of the twig and chew it until the fibers begin to
separate. You can use these fibers to dislodge any food bits that accumulate
in your teeth. You can also wrap a piece of cloth around your finger
to brush your teeth; small amounts of baking soda, sand, or salt can act
as abrasives. Fishing line can double as dental floss.
If you find yourself getting damp and musty but don’t have sufficient
water on hand, strip and let your body dry in the air for at least an
hour, while wiping yourself (especially the areas I just mentioned) with a
clean rag. Be careful not to let yourself cool down too much. It’s better to
do a wipedown
early in the day or when the day is at its warmest.
The four body parts you should protect in survival
situations are your eyes, feet, hands, and stomach.
All these are vital parts of the body, needed for survival.
stroud’s Tip
Finally, do not soil your site with urine and feces. Choose an area at
least 100 yards (91 m) from your camp that will serve as your “outhouse”
and use it. Dig as deep a pit as possible and deposit your feces into it, covering
it up afterward.
Prioritizing Survival First Aid
ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL TASKS you may have to take on in a survival
situation is prioritizing first aid, also known as triage. This is where you
choose to treat the person with the most lifethreatening
injury, working
your way down the line to the least severe injury.
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If you are treating only one injured person, you should take the following
steps:
Check breathing: Check the victim’s airway. Make sure it’s open and the victim
is breathing. If not, start mouthtomouth
resuscitation.
Check for unconsciousness: If the victim is unconscious but breathing,
place him or her on one side with the top leg at a right angle to the body.
Use his or her hand to support the head and tilt the head back to ensure
an open airway.
Check for bleeding: Stop any bleeding.
Check for shock: Treat shock.
Major and Minor Injuries
WILDERNESS INJURIES USUALLY FALL into one of two general categories: major
or minor. Luckily, most are minor. Although these will not stop you in your
tracks, remember that any minor injury left untreated in the wilderness
can quickly become a major one. For this reason, all injuries in the wilderness
should be taken seriously.
For example, if you’re in the Amazon and suffer a small cut, you’ll
still be able to function normally. However, that little cut can rapidly grow
infected and become a major problem. If you are walking and get a blister
on your foot, you may be able to keep up the pace (and endure the pain)
for a day or two more. But left untreated, that blister can virtually cripple
you, preventing you from reaching safety.
I was once in an adventure race with three other teammates, when
one of the members of our group began to experience irritation and chafing
in her groin. We had to keep moving and didn’t treat her when it was
still a minor discomfort, and as a result, within 24 hours it turned into a
fullblown
infection, to the point where she could no longer walk.
stroud’s Tip
Don’t ignore any injury, no matter how minor.
Major Injuries and Illnesses
THE KEY TO DEALING WITH MAJOR INJURIES AND ILLNESSES is to prevent them
from occurring (to the extent that you can). Should you or anyone in
your party suffer from the following maladies, you need to act quickly
and decisively; in the wilderness, injuries and illnesses can become lifethreatening
very quickly.
Dehydration
Dehydration is a serious risk in the world’s hot and dry regions, and one
that can kill you within a few days. Finding protection from the wind and
sun will slow the rate at which you lose water, but you will eventually need
to get to a water source. If your only choice is to drink unpurified water, do
it. I’d rather take my chances with parasites than die of dehydration.
Since you also lose valuable salts when you dehydrate, you should
consider including an overthecounter
electrolyte replacement product
in your firstaid
kit. If you don’t have one, add a quarterteaspoon
of salt
to a quart (liter) of water.
Dehydration victims should drink frequently, and in small amounts.
Hypothermia and Frostbite
Once again I have asked my friend Gordon Giesbrecht, PhD, professor of
thermophysiology, to chime in on how to handle hypothermia and frostbite:
Hypothermia: A hypothermic victim takes a while to become that way
(anywhere from one hour to several days). It is critical to treat a cold
victim as gently as possible. Quick, rough actions could be fatal due to
changes in core temperature, blood pressure, and work required by the
heart. Follow these steps:
Handle the victim as gently as possible.
Keep the victim horizontal.
Don’t let the victim walk or struggle.
Get the victim to shelter as soon as possible.
Once in shelter, consider removing the victim’s wet clothing, usually by
cutting it off.
Place victim in as much insulation as possible (sleeping bags, blankets, et cetera).
If you have any source of heat, apply it to the chest and armpits. This could
include a heat pack (fueled by electricity, chemicals, or charcoal, for instance),
warm water bottles, or a healthy (that is, a warm) member of the group.
If possible, wrap the victim loosely in a vapor barrier such as plastic.
Only if the victim is awake and alert, give him or her food or drink with high
caloric value (for example, hot chocolate or a chocolate bar). Monitor the victim
for problems breathing and signs of worsening condition. Also check the feet
and hands to make sure they are not getting cold.
Frostbite: Frostbite can have devastating effects, especially if treated
improperly. For more than 200 years, the common remedy for frostbite
was to rub the frozen area with snow or submerge it in cold water. This
was an overreaction and is no longer recommended. Here are the do’s
and don’ts of frostbite treatment:
Never rub frostbite.
Never expose frostbite to anything cold.
Never try to warm frostbite with dry heat from a fire or over a stove.
Never rewarm a frostbitten area if there is a chance it could freeze again
(e.g., if you are out in the mountains with several days remaining to walk
to safety).
Warm a frostbitten area either by contact with warm human skin or by
immersion in warm water at about 99.F (37.C).
Do not burst any blisters that may develop.
Resist amputating dark or even black tissue; in many instances much or all of
the tissue may survive, given enough time and tender care.
stroud’s Tip
Remember this rhyme: fingers, toes, ears, and nose.
These are the areas that are prone to frostbite.
Shock
Shock is a natural reaction that occurs in most seriously (and even notsoseriously)
injured people. It can affect you on two levels. The first, the
good reaction, is the one that provides you with potentially superhuman
strength and helps you get out of potentially dangerous situations. This is
the characteristic of shock that lets a person with a broken femur crawl for
miles to safety or lift a car to free a trapped child. It’s also called an adrenaline
rush. The dangerous part of shock is what comes afterwards—the
debilitating part that renders you unable to help yourself.
To treat shock, lay the victim on the ground, insulated from the
ground, if possible. If the victim is conscious, elevate the legs about 12
inches (30 cm). If the victim is unconscious, roll him or her onto one side
to prevent choking on vomit and other fluids.
Maintain the victim’s body heat, either by protecting against the elements
or adding external sources of heat. Give the conscious victim small
doses of sugary solution to drink if he or she is able to drink, and if possible,
make sure the person rests for at least 24 hours.
Burns
Burns can be dangerous in the wilderness, and are a very real risk, given
the importance of fire to your survival. The worst burn I ever saw was on
a camping trip when a girl lifted a frying pan with bacon and dumped the
grease down her arm.
These types of burns (from oils and grease) are especially serious
because they will continue to “cook” under the skin even after you’ve
removed the burning material from the body part. Regardless of the cause
of the burn, the first thing to do is immerse the area in cold but not freezing
water. If you need to cover the wounds (for transporting a victim),
apply dressings and rags that have been soaked in cold, clean water. If not,
keep drizzling water over the wounds until rescue arrives.
With wilderness burns, there is risk of infection. After cooling, treat
all burns as you would an open wound. With a covered wound, change or
sterilize dressings daily by boiling. But it is best to keep the burn uncovered
and to drizzle cool water on it constantly.
Finally, never apply butter or similar salves to burns. The only creams
you should use are antibiotic or burn creams.
Joint Injuries
Joint injuries include fractures (breaks), dislocations, and sprains. They can
be among the most debilitating wilderness injuries, since they will prevent
you from one of your most important survival goals: moving. Prevent joint
injuries by exercising caution at all times.
Fractures: Fractures are the most serious of joint injuries, more so if they
are open or compound fractures, where the bone protrudes through the
skin. In these cases, it’s obvious immediately that a bone has been broken.
If the bone does not break the skin, signs of fractures include extreme pain
and tenderness, loss of function, swelling, general deformity of the area,
and a grating sound or feeling.
To treat a fracture, you must immobilize and splint the broken bone.
A splint is a solid surface, such as a stick, that you tie to the area to keep
the bone immobilized.
A stick or pole is best for making a splint, although even rolledup
towels or clothing
can work.
Try to pad the splint where it contacts the skin to prevent chafing; tie it tightly enough to
secure it, but don’t cut off blood circulation.
Make sure the knots are against the wood and not the skin.
Dislocations: A dislocation is the separation of a bone joint causing it to
move out of alignment. This type of injury needs to be treated as soon
as possible, to prevent the muscles from seizing up around it. The most
complete way to treat a dislocation is to “reduce” it, which means setting
the bones back in their proper alignment. Reductions are very painful,
but worth the pain if done properly. Even the inexperienced should try to
reduce a dislocation, as the alternative is a useless limb.
The only way to tell if a reduction has been successful is by comparing
the look of the injured joint to the joint on the opposite side. Other
than reduction, your other option is to immobilize a dislocated joint by
splinting it.
Sprains: These occur when tendons and ligaments are overstretched. The
most obvious signs of sprain are excessive swelling, bruising, and tenderness.
Sprains are best treated with the RICE method: Rest, Ice, Compression,
Elevation:
Rest the area for as long as possible.
Ice for 24 hours, followed by heat. Chances are you won’t have ice with you, so
search for anything that will cool the area. Water from a cold stream, river or
lake works well.
Compress by wrapping the area snugly to prevent movement without cutting
off circulation.
Elevate the area whenever it’s not being used, to minimize swelling.
Heat Exhaustion or Stroke
Heat stroke impedes the body’s natural ability to cool itself, and can lead to
death if not treated quickly. Symptoms include hot, dry skin, and a visible lack
of sweat, as well as headache, dizziness, confusion, and nausea/vomiting.
If you suspect heat stroke, it’s important to get the victim into the
shade. Remove restrictive clothing to allow evaporation to occur, which
helps to cool the skin. You must then cool the body by pouring water on
it, even if the water is contaminated. Allow the water to evaporate off the
skin; you can speed the cooling process by fanning the victim. As with
dehydration, the victim should consume water in small amounts every few
minutes; large amounts bring on vomiting.
To treat shoulder dislocation, heavy objects can be used to pull the bones back into place.
This can be extremely painful but allows for the quickest recovery. Do not attempt this
procedure unless you have had proper wilderness firstaid
instruction.
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The key areas to cool during heat stroke are where there are major
arteries: the neck, wrists, armpits, groin, and head. Cooling the back of the
knees is also a good idea. You can also massage the victim’s limbs to move
cooled blood from the extremities to the internal organs.
Bleeding
If not stopped, major bleeding can quickly lead to death. Bleeding can be
controlled with direct pressure, elevation, or (as a last resort) tourniquets.
The most effective of these strategies is direct pressure applied to
the wound. Elevate and hold the wound long enough to not only stop the
bleeding but to seal off the wound.
If you’ve injured an extremity, elevating it as high as possible above
the heart will slow blood loss. Note that this method doesn’t stop bleeding
completely; you need to use it in conjunction with direct pressure.
Although some people recommend tourniquets for bleeding, these
should be used only for lifeordeath
situations, when no other method
can control the flow of blood. Tourniquets present a high risk because if
they’re left on too long they can cause gangrene and lead to the loss of the
limb below the tourniquet.
Minor Injury and Illness
AT FIRST BLUSH, MINOR INJURIES AND ILLNESSES may not seem as important or
dire as their major counterparts, but they deserve as much of your attention.
These are insidious injuries. Ignore them for too long and they will
likely become major before you know it.
Headache
Headaches are a common and potentially debilitating aspect of survival,
so carry some ibuprofen or acetaminophen in your firstaid
kit. Drinking
lots of water and massaging the aching area can also help.
Sickness and Disease
Sickness and disease can be major or minor, but once your defenses are down
and your immunity starts to plummet, you’re more susceptible to both.
Once you become sick, your energy levels suffer, as do your survival
efforts. The result could be a dangerous snowball effect. If you don’t have
the energy to build a shelter, for example, you will increase your exposure
to the elements and your susceptibility to conditions such as hypothermia.
What you do to treat yourself now will affect what happens in the minutes,
hours, days, and weeks to come.
Bites and Stings
Since bites and stings range from very minor to very major events, the
best approach is to avoid them by wearing proper clothing and not putting
your hands or feet in dark places without first investigating. Check
yourself daily to make sure no strange creatures are hitching a ride
on your body. Try not to scratch bites and stings, as they may become
infected.
For bee, wasp, and hornet stings, the most important consideration
is whether you or someone in your group has a severe allergy. If so, you
should carry an epinephrine (“epi”) pen and antihistamines.
You can get an EpiPen prescription from most physicians; just
explain that you’re traveling to a remote area and there’s a chance you
may get stung by an unknown insect. Be warned, however: if you have a
true anaphylactic reaction to a bite or sting, an EpiPen will only help to
prevent your throat from closing for about 15 minutes or so, the time it
would usually take to get a victim to a hospital. EpiPens are expensive and
expire after 12 to 18 months, so keep your firstaid
kit updated. Carrying
two EpiPens is a good idea. Note that while epinephrine opens up the
airway, it does not stop the cause of the constriction. You must also take
antihistamines to counter the body’s production of histamine, which is
what closes up your airways in the first place.
If you get stung by a bee or other similar creature, remove the stinger
immediately. This can usually be done by scraping up and away (not pulling
out) from the area with a fingernail or knife blade.
Being bitten by a spider or stung by a scorpion is more serious, and
little can be done in the way of treatment unless you’re lucky enough to
have an antivenin on hand. If a member of your group is bitten or stung
by one of these, watch for anaphylaxis, clean and dress the area, and also
treat the victim for shock, vomiting, and diarrhea, should they occur. Some
spider bites result in ulcerated areas that refuse to heal. Dress the ulcers
to prevent infection.
Snakebites can also be serious, if not deadly, though the majority of
snakebite victims suffer little or no effects from poisoning. Infection is a
real concern, however, due to the bacteria in the snake’s mouth, so clean
and disinfect the area immediately. Try to calm the victim and treat for
shock, if necessary.
Staying calm after a snakebite is easier said than done. I can’t imagine
what I would have done if bitten by a snake in the Amazon. I was miles
away from anywhere and it would have been difficult to get out. And that’s
the paradox: When you’re bitten by a snake, what you want to do is run for
help, yet it’s the one thing you cannot do because it only serves to increase
the rate at which the venom spreads through your system.
Try to determine if the snake was poisonous or not. If in doubt,
assume it was! Give the victim as much fluid as possible, and remove constricting
items such as belts, watches, and bracelets.
In treating snakebites, avoid the following:
Cutting: Opening the wound is ineffective in removing the venom, and the
open wound might become infected.
Alcohol: Similarly, this is ineffective for wound or patient.
Tourniquet: Constricting the bite might cause more damage and pain, and
even after the loss of a limb if applied incorrectly.
To treat snakebite, follow these steps:
Calm the patient and keep him or her still.
Apply a broad bandage (crepe) tightly around the whole limb, as for a sprained
ankle. This will retard absorption of the venom but still let blood through to
supply the bitewound
with needed blood.
Check vital signs.
Immobilize the limb with a splint.
If it’s not possible to reach a doctor within hours and you have antivenin,
test for allergic reaction first by injecting a little under the victim’s skin or
inject antihistamine first. (Always carry an injectable antihistamine in your
firstaid
kit.)
Diarrhea
Diarrhea is common in survival situations and is another minor sickness
that can become major.
There are two important things to understand about diarrhea. First,
diarrhea is your body’s way of ridding itself of an irritant. Let it run its
course for 6 to 12 hours. However, diarrhea can also rapidly lead to dehydration.
Through it, you lose valuable water and electrolytes, which need
to be replenished.
The best way to replenish yourself is to drink some water, preferably
clean and purified. Drink small amounts frequently (which will help your
bowel absorb the fluid) rather than drinking a huge amount at one sitting
(which will overwhelm your stomach and trigger more diarrhea).
If you’re in a group, keep in mind that diarrhea can be embarrassing
for the person who has it, so try to create an environment of understanding
and comfort. You might also designate a private place for that person
to go, to reduce awkwardness.
Charcoal is an effective remedy for diarrhea because it is highly
absorbent, and will absorb drugs and toxins from the gastrointestinal tract.
Grind a teaspoon of charcoal from your fire and mix it with water. Consume
this a few times a day, as necessary.
If you have electrolyte replacement powders in your firstaid
kit, they
will help replace the electrolytes lost through diarrhea. Loperamide is also
useful to have in your kit; it can plug you up in cases where the diarrhea
just won’t stop. I’d let the diarrhea run its course for at least a day before
resorting to loperamide.
Blisters
Blisters also rank high on the list of problems that start out minor but can
become major. The best way to treat blisters is to prevent them from happening
in the first place, by keeping your socks and feet dry and clean.
If you do develop a blister—particularly on your foot—do not puncture
it or otherwise open it, as this makes it susceptible to infection. Rather,
apply some sort of padding to relieve pressure and reduce friction. Stay off
your feet as much as possible until the blister subsides. If you have a blister
that breaks open, treat it as an open wound.
Wounds
Wounds can be minor or major. If they’re major, the biggest risk is excessive
bleeding. The most significant risk from minor wounds is infection,
so clean the wound immediately and cover it with a clean dressing.
Change the dressing at least once a day to prevent infection. If you don’t
have any extra clean dressing material available, you can reuse the existing
dressing by boiling it for at least three minutes to sterilize. Allow it
to cool before applying. Let the wound air dry during that time. Gaping
wounds can be closed with the butterfly sutures in your first-aid kit.
If you have antibiotic cream, apply it to the wound. Antibiotic pills
should be used only for treating wound infections, not for preventing
them.
Infections
In a survival situation, there’s a very good chance that a wound may become
infected. You can tell by the redness that appears around the wound and
the consistent discharge of pus.
Treat infections by applying warm compresses on the area for 30
minutes three or four times daily. Change the compress as it cools. You can
also drain the wound by opening and poking it with an implement you’ve
sterilized, such as a knife tip held in a fire and then allowed to cool.
Altitude Sickness
Depending on how high you are, altitude sickness can range from mild discomfort
and shortness of breath to life-threatening cerebral edema. Symptoms
range from drowsiness and weakness to persistent rapid pulse and vomiting.
The best way to cure altitude sickness is to get the victim to lower
altitudes immediately. Some victims of mild altitude sickness can control
symptoms by consciously taking large, exaggerated breaths.
Group Versus Solo Survival
IFYOU’RE INJURED, YOU’RE FAR BETTER OFF in a group because you’ll have
people around who can help you. Members of the group can lift and move
a sick or injured person.
One difficult decision you may have to make in a survival situation is
whether to leave an injured person or stay with them. If you are in a group
of two, leave only if your travel partner’s injuries are lifethreatening,
you
can’t help him or her, and you know where safety and help lie. Before leaving,
stabilize the victim, place him or her comfortably in a shelter, and
mark the area so that you can find it on your return.
In larger groups, send the fastest and most capable travelers for help
while others stay behind to tend to the wounded. Again, those who leave
should do so only if they are sure they will be able to reach help.
L
ike your prehistoric ancestors, you have the ability to harness
those great human qualities of adaptability and ingenuity that
could save your life during a survival situation. Whether it’s making a
fish hook from the bones of a decaying animal or a crude knife from a piece
of rock, the ability to improvise and create survival tools from materials at
hand will help you when you’ve got nothing else with which to work.
Think Like a Sculptor
ALTHOUGH MOST OF US ENVISION WILDERNESS as being completely untouched
by humankind, the world is not that big anymore. In many ways, this is
not a good thing, but it may help you in a survival situation because you
are more likely than you think to come across abandoned junk that may
be useful.
Some of the best places for finding useful odds and ends are coastal
regions, where the sea often washes up intriguing bits. You should look
upon this stuff as if you were a sculptor: Don’t consider what it is, but what
it could be. That piece of scrap metal might look like a piece of garbage, but
if you change your lens you might see six fish hooks, a knife blade, and
a pot for melting water. When I was in Labrador, I came upon an empty
can of naphtha gas. After a little cutting, bending, and reshaping, I had
changed it into a simple wood stove.
In the Kalahari Desert, the most effective “junk” I found included a
few jars and cans in an old truck. They worked like a charm to trap scorpions,
which were the basis for my diet there. In Alaska, the roof of my shelter
was two big pieces of plastic that I discovered under a couple of rocks.
All of it started as garbage, but for me it meant survival.
Think Simplicity
ALTHOUGH THERE IS A DESIRE AMONG HARD-CORE SURVIVALISTS to make elaborate
and sophisticated tools in the bush, I’ve found that the best man-
made survival tools are the most basic. A simple snare, a simple fish hook:
these are often the most effective things you can make. Creating complex
traps, snares, and shelters is fine when you have time and energy, neither
of which you typically have in abundance in an emergency!
Survival is a humbling situation. Any notions you may have entertained
about building incredible tools will be swept away quickly (right
behind those ideas you once had about the importance of staying clean).
Attempting to construct complex survival tools can lead to immense
frustration as well. The worst thing you can do in a situation like this is
spend hours trying to build something, only to find that it doesn’t work.
A simple version often suits the purpose but takes only a fraction of the
time to make.
While my wife, Sue, and I spent the year living off the land in northern
Ontario, we wanted to make a blanket of rabbit pelts. We figured we’d
need about 100 pelts, and my first thought was to build an elaborate set of
snares and traps. In the end, though, over a few weeks, I set out a couple
dozen simple snares, which were really effective and took very little time
to construct. I’m sure I wouldn’t have had any better luck with a more
elaborate setup.
Get Over the Squeamishness of Destruction
ONEOFTHETHINGSTHATMANYPEOPLESTRUGGLEWITH, even under the most
dire circumstances, is destroying something they cherish to make a survival
tool. But there’s really no other choice: if it’s ultimately going to save your life
or limbs, do it. Whether this be cutting your credit card into pieces, filing your
house key to a point, cutting up your car seats, or burning the spare tire in your
car to attract attention, recognize that these are actions born of necessity.
At the same time, however, you must have the foresight to visualize
whether the object you’re destroying may be more useful to you later in its
original form. You don’t want to sacrifice your snowmobile’s windshield,
only to get the machine going later and suffer frostbite or hypothermia on
the way home because you’ve got no protection from the wind.
During the winter of 2008, a Utah couple got lost with their vehicle
and was trapped in the snow in a remote area. Following their 12day
ordeal, they explained at a news conference that they had seen one of my
shows, in which I explained how to cut the stuffing out of car seats to make
“snowshoes.” They did exactly that and walked through the deep snow to
safety without losing their toes or feet to frostbite. They had had a decision
to make: keep their car seats intact or survive. They chose life.
Tools You Can Make
ONE OF THE MOST OFTEN IGNORED BUT SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS of making your
own survival tools is not the purpose they are meant to serve, but how
the act of creating them prepares you psychologically for your ordeal.
The creative process will keep your mind focused, distract you from the
misery of your circumstances, and generally improve your mental state.
Sure, you may make a snare or a trap and not be successful with it at first,
but making the effort is much better than doing nothing at all, because
doing something, anything, gives you hope that your efforts may bear
fruit. This all ties into the allimportant
will to live: if you have a reason
to survive, you likely will make it through alive.
of hopeIn a survival situation, you must exist in a constant state
if you are to make it out alive.
stroud’s Tip
Making Rope
Making your own rope from natural materials may sound complex, but it’s
easier than you think. And having rope will greatly improve your chance
of survival because it can be used in so many different ways.
Rope helps build traps. It fixes clothing, ties off wounds, holds
shelters together, and binds your stuff together when the time to travel
comes. My favorite ropemaking
materials are milkweed stem, evening
primrose bark, spruce roots, and cedar bark. Rope from trees is typically
made from the shredded inner bark. As with finding plants to use for
tinder, your efforts here will helped immensely if you understand characteristics
rather than memorize names. Quite simply, you are looking
for anything fibrous.
The problem with rope making is that it’s not always easy to find the
right materials, especially because they are seasonally dependent. In other
words, some plants become most fibrous in late fall or early winter, when
they have dried to the point that they’re no longer green. For others, such
as tree bark, the best time is early spring.
If you are fortunate enough to have caught a large game animal,
sinew and rawhide work well as rope (particularly for binding and lashing
things together), although these are fairly involved undertakings. Sinew
is the product of the tendons (strands lying flat against the leg bones). To
make sinew, first dry the tendons, then rub them on a rough surface (or
smash them with a club or rock) so they separate into fibers. These fibers
can then be used as rope; they work better when moistened.
Rawhide is thin strips cut from the animal’s hide and can be used
even if the fur is still on.
Twisting Rope
1. It may sound complicated, but basic rope
twisting is simple. Start with fibrous material,
such as husks from the yucca plant.
Separate the husks into strands.
3. Twist each piece between two fingers in a
clockwise motion. Then, wrap the two pieces
together in a counterclockwise
motion.
2. Gather sufficient strands to be able to
build a rope as thick as you need it. Roll
or rough up strands together to get separate
pieces.
4. This simple method works with manydifferent types of materials.
5. Once you’ve completed winding thepieces together, you will have a strong
rope to use for many purposes.
Making Rope from Sinew
1. Rub the sinew on a rough surface to 2. These fibers can be woven together to
separate it into strands. form a durable rope.
Making Knots
A NATURAL PARTNER TO ROPE MAKING is the ability to tie knots. Like many
survival skills, this one can be overlearned, because there are hundreds of
different types of knots, some of which have very specific uses.
You don’t need to learn hundreds. I’ve found that knowing just a few
simple knots will help you through almost any survival situation, enabling
you to make more effective shelters, fishing implements, snares, and traps.
Les’s Top Three Knots
Bowline: The bowline is a perfect survival knot because of its great strength
and the ease with which it can be tied. It forms a loop (though not a noose)
at the end of a rope, and it is typically used for securing a rope to an object.
To tie a bowline, start by making a loop a short distance from the end of
the rope. Pass the working end of the rope up through the loop, wrap it around
the base, and pull it back down through the loop to finish the bowline.
Clove Hitch: The clove hitch is nothing more than two loops “stacked” on
each other. It’s a great simple knot for securing rope between trees or poles,
and for hanging things from a horizontal pole. Be aware, though, that to be
A bowline knot is a simple one to learn, and it’s very strong.
effective it requires a load on each end, and it has been known to slip.
To tie a clove hitch, work from left to right. Make a loop somewhere
along the length of the rope. Then make a second identical loop to the
immediate right of the first. Stack the second (right) loop on top of the first.
Place both loops over the pole and pull the free ends of the rope to tighten.
If you’re tying a clove hitch to a standing object such as a tree, begin by
wrapping the rope once around the tree. After the working end of the rope
passes around the tree, it should cross over the main stem of the rope. Wrap the
working end of the rope around the tree again, this time passing it through the
loop you’ve just created. Pull both ends of the rope taut to finish the knot.
Figure Eight (and Double Figure Eight): Though traditionally used in
climbing, the figure eight and double figure eight are also great for tying
rope to other objects. They bind so well, though, that untying them can be
a real chore. Make a long loop by passing the working end of the rope back
under the main rope stem. Cross the working end over the main rope stem
and pass it up through the loop from the bottom. Repeat this procedure
for the double figure eight.
Clove Hitch
1. Form two loops as shown.
2. Stack one on top of the other.
3. When tied properly around a tree or
pole, this knot will selftighten.
4. Here I used a clove hitch and a small
stone to secure a tarp corner.
Figure Eight
To make a figure eight knot, the string goes around the tree and then
follows its own path back.
1. The figure eight: first stage.
2. The double figure eight: second stage.
Making Knives
KNIVESCOMEINTOPLAY in almost every aspect of survival. If you’re without
a knife, there are ways of making basic knives that will do the job. All
you need is a semisharp
edge. That edge can be made from a number of
materials, including rock, metal, bone, or even wood.
Knives from Rock
One of the oldest skills known to humankind is taking a piece of solid rock
and breaking it to form a cutting edge. Over time this became a complicated
and refined skill, now referred to as flint knapping. The good news is that
you need only learn the basics to fashion a knife edge sharp enough to get
you through most situations. No, it won’t be as sharp as a steel knife, but a
survival blade will give you a rough, serrated edge for cutting or scraping.
The most useful blades I have made while surviving have come from
throwing a rock—one I hoped would break—against another rock (while
carefully protecting my eyes) until I had shearedoff
edges sharp enough
to cut into wood.
Refined flint knapping is a useful primitive living skill, but too
advanced for the survival situations to which this book is dedicated. Like
bow making, flint knapping takes much time and mentored practice to
master. With that in mind, the following pictures illustrate the most rudimentary
methods for breaking a rock down to a usable edge.
Knives from Metal
When making survival knives, there is simply no substitute for metal. The
biggest challenge is finding a piece that’s roughly the right size and shape.
Rub the metal against a hard surface to sharpen the point and blade (this
will take a long time, so sit down and be patient). Unlike most survival
knives, a metal blade will require a handle to protect your hands. Tape,
cloth, or rope can all be used as knife handles.
Knives from Bone
Bone knives work better for puncturing than for cutting or scraping because
they don’t hold an edge very well. To make this type of knife, you need to
start with a decentsize
bone, such as a leg bone from a large mammal.
Splitting a Rock to Make an Edge
1. Splitting a rock in two can bea relatively easy undertaking,
provided you find the right
rock. Use a larger rock to
hammer the smaller one.
2. Here, I’ve made a perfect split.
3. Given the right material, asplit rock can be used effectively
as a cutting or scraping edge,
and can be further sharpened
by rubbing it against another
rock.
4. Your rudimentary rock knife
has many uses, so keep it
safe. Here, I’m making tinder
by cutting into a dry branch.
You can use a variety of materials to make cutting edges and knives, as well as handles
for any metal blades you are lucky enough to salvage.
Shards of bone are useful as knives in a pinch, though they need refinement after shattering.
Lay the bone on a hard object and shatter it by striking it with a
heavy object. Chances are you’ll find a suitably pointy piece among
the shattered bits. You can refine its shape by rubbing the bone piece
on a rough rock. If you have only small bones or shards to work with,
before rubbing, tie one to a piece of wood or other similar object.
You can also make a bone blade by scoring the bone along its length
until you can insert a chisel of sorts and split the bone lengthwise.
Scoring a bone. Bone blades of various shapes and sizes
made by scoring.
Knives from Wood
As with bone, it is difficult to get a sharp edge from wood, so wood knives
are best suited for puncturing and scraping. This is certainly a last-ditch
knife-making method, as it requires time, patience, and diligence. To make
a wood knife, start with a piece of hardwood about 12 inches (30 cm) long
and 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter; the blade should be 6 inches (15 cm) long.
Shave the wood down to a point by rubbing it against a rough, hard surface,
such as a rock.
You can further harden the blade by drying it over a fire until it’s
slightly charred. The drier the wood, the harder the point will become.
To sharpen a real knife, use a clockwise circular motion
and push the blade away from you across the stone while
applying consistent pressure on the blade. Try to keep it at a
constant angle, say, 45 degrees. Do not drag the knife toward you
under pressure, as this may create burrs on the blade. Regularly add
water to the stone, if you have it. Reducing pressure gradually while
you work will produce a finer edge.
stroud’s Tip
My Favorite MacGyverisms
ASMANYOFYOUKNOW, the hit TV show MacGyver (1985–1992) was based on
the exploits of secret agent Angus MacGyver, whose claim to fame was his
uncanny ability to use common items (and a Swiss Army knife) to improvise
oftencomplex
devices. During the many survival ordeals I’ve experienced,
I’ve often tried to emulate MacGyver, with varying levels of success. Here is
a short list of MacGyverisms I’ve managed in the field.
Using Underwear as a Hunting Tool
Desperate to catch fish, I cut the elastic strap from my underwear, combined
it with a common ballpoint pen and a found piece of bamboo to
make a Hawaiian sling spear.
Fishing with Gum
In the swamps of Georgia, I made a fishing lure out of a credit card that
I cut into pieces. Then I used bubble gum to make a very thick bubble,
pinched it off at the bottom, and used it as my fishing float. Had I been
successful—there are 100pound
(45kg)
catfish in those swamps!—I could
have enjoyed a very substantial meal.
Making Goggles out of a Snowmobile Cushion
One of the most insidious dangers in the Arctic is snowblindness. While
surviving there, I cut a strip off my snowmobile’s seat cushion to make
goggles. All I needed was a knife to make the cut. In that survival situation,
the goggles saved my eyes.
Purifying Water with a Plastic Bottle
In Africa, I suspended a plastic water bottle over a fire, letting the flames
just lick the bottom of the bottle but not consume it. I was able to boil
water without significantly melting the plastic.
Making a Flashlight from Car Parts
Use wire to connect the battery directly to the leads on the headlamps.
Making Rope from Car Parts
Wire from any vehicle’s engine makes great rope.
Making Signals from Reflective Objects
Anything shiny is enough to flash sunlight at a passing airplane to attract
rescue.
Making Knives from Glass
Broken glass can be used as an effective cutting tool.
Using Hand Sanitizer as a Fire Starter
Just about anything with a high percentage of alcohol can be used to make
a fire.
Making a Throwing Stick
A THROWING STICK is a solid chunk of hardwood, approximately 18 inches
(45 cm) long, that you can grip and throw efficiently, much the way you
would a boomerang. Your purpose is to aim it well enough to stun or kill
a rabbit, squirrel, or bird that’s within range. It can be very effective when
thrown at a group of roosting songbirds (see “Food,” Chapter 8).
Making Clubs and Spears
ALTHOUGH SPEARS AND CLUBS were used by our prehistoric ancestors for
hunting and warring, you’ll likely find that they are most useful for protection
and reassurance when you’re in a place where there might be dangerous
or predatory animals around. If you are surviving in a jungle, for
example, and you know there might be 7-foot (2-m) cobras underfoot, a
long piece of wood feels mighty good in your hands. You can make the tip
of the spear itself quite sharp, or tie a handmade blade to the end.
But the usefulness of spears and clubs doesn’t end there. Like ropes
and knives, these are versatile items that can be used for just about anything,
from digging holes to knocking fruit from nearby trees to pounding
To put a little distance between me and possible predators in Africa, I attached a handmade
spear to a hunting knife.
336 | Survive!
stakes in the ground. So go ahead and make one even if you don’t think
you have a use for it at the time. Eventually, you will.
Like the throwing stick, a club is simply a tree branch. Size matters. Too
long and you won’t be able to swing it easily or quickly. Too short and it won’t
do any damage to whatever you’re trying to hit. Hardwood is the best material,
if you can find it. You can make a club more effective (especially for killing
newly caught small game in your snare) by weighting one end. Tying a
rock or similar heavy object to the end is the most common way to do this.
Making Eye Protection
SUNGLASSES ARE MORE THAN A FASHION STATEMENT. In the wild, exposure to
the elements wreaks havoc not only on your body but also on your eyes.
Unfortunately, sunglasses are not particularly robust items, and even if you
bring a pair along with you, chances are they will get broken or lost during
your survival ordeal.
You must protect your eyes against sunblindness (when you’re on open
water), and snowblindness (when you’re surrounded by snow). In essence, both
of these conditions are sunburns on your retina, causing discomfort and blindness
for up to three days. Worse yet, being blind in an emergency—no matter
how long the episode lasts—can mean the difference between life and death.
The Inuit protected their eyes by making sun goggles from caribou
or walrus bone. When I was in the Arctic, I didn’t have the luxury of these
materials, so I made my own from a slit cut in a strip of vinyl. You can use
almost anything for sun goggles as long as it limits the amount of sun
beating against your eyes (see page 247).
Making Packs
WHEN YOU’RE ON THE MOVE, there is nothing worse than trying to carry
all your vital survival materials in your hands or arms. It’s not only slow,
cumbersome, and frustrating, it’s also dangerous because it impedes your
ability to use your hands at a moment’s notice.
Essential Survival Skills | 337
You can use almost anything to make a pack on the fly, including plant
fibers and bark, wood, rope, animal skins, or any other type of material you
may have on hand.
To make a pack, lay a piece of square material on the ground, with
your relevant items on one edge. Roll the material and the items toward
the opposite edge. Once the bundle is cylindrical, securely tie off each end
with one long piece of rope, about 6 feet (1.8 m) long. You can now use the
long rope to drape the pack over your shoulder. Add extra ties along the
length of the bundle to prevent contents from falling out (see page 221).
Making Snowshoes
Good for a multitude of uses, spruce boughs also make great snowshoes.
Clump them together into the approximate size and shape you need, then
tie the bundle together with some rope or cord. Lash the shoes to your feet,
and you’re off (see page 339).
Making Torches
As you may suspect, in a wilderness emergency there are many times when
you will need to see in the dark but don’t have a flashlight. As long as you
have a fire, you will have light. Although there are many different ways to
make a survival torch, the bark torch is one of the simplest yet most effective.
You’ll need a stick for the handle and a fairly thick strip of flexible bark (birch
bark works very well) about 2 feet (60 cm) long and 6 inches (15 cm) wide.
Wrap the bark around the stick, and tie the base of the bark coil to
the stick to secure it. Now wrap some cord or rope around the bark coil
to prevent it from opening. You can burn the bark itself, but the torch will
burn better if you fill the coil with flammable material, such as grass, small
sticks, or small pieces of bark. Once you’ve lit the material inside the coil,
it should last a good, long time (see page 339).
Here, I’m wearing snowboots and sprucebough
snowshoes, which make walking on top
of snow a lot easier.
You could simply light some cloth on fire, but a correctly made torch will last much longer,
increasing your chances of nighttime survival.
Group Versus Solo Survival
BEING IN A GROUP CAN BE A REAL BENEFIT when it comes to creating and sharing
tools. You will have not only the benefit of a wider range of expertise
and skills, but more people on hand to make the tools you need to survive.
Your group will likely need only one good knife, for example, but three
people can make it more easily than one!
I
f you think about it, your chances of finding yourself in a
true wilderness survival situation are slim, even if you’re an avid outdoors
person. In fact, you have a greater chance of getting caught in a
natural disaster close to home. From hurricanes and earthquakes to tsunamis,
from fires and floods and blackouts to extreme heat and cold spells,
there are many ways that things can go dangerously wrong right in your
own backyard.
Mental and Psychological Attitude
WHEN FACING A NATURAL DISASTER, you should call on the same psychological
strength that is so critical in wilderness survival. Do not panic; stop and
assess the situation. Recognize that you will go through a range of emotions.
Prioritize your needs.
Where natural disaster survival differs from true wilderness survival
is in your ability, in most cases, to stay in touch with the outside world during
the ordeal. If possible, stay connected through the media (for example,
using a rechargeable handcrank
radio), if only to find out what else might
be coming at you and how and when rescue/relief efforts may arrive.
Planning and Preparation
YOU NEED TO GET PAST THE “ITCAN’THAPPENTOME” ATTITUDE and understand
that disasters can occur anywhere, anytime. The best way to prepare
is to keep a few key items handy, just in case, in your home survival kit.
Like any survival kit, the one for your home must be tailored to your
region and the events that are most likely to occur there. I live in Ontario,
Canada, where earthquakes are rare. However, there’s a good chance we could
be struck by a blizzard and suffer a subsequent blackout, which could mean
I’d be out of power, out of water (since I’m on a pump system), and out of
heat. And if it was a prolonged blackout, I could eventually run out of food.
I recommend that you keep in your survival kit a oneweek
supply of
everything you need to live. Refer to the checklist in the back of this book
for everything you’ll need to include.
Signaling
THEABILITYTOMAKEANEFFECTIVE SIGNAL is important in disasters at or close
to home. People are often trapped after natural disasters and need to signal
for rescue, which is bound to come eventually. But if you’re trapped, you
will definitely need to let people know where you are and how you are.
Water
IF YOU HAVE THE LUXURY OF KNOWING IN ADVANCE that a disaster will occur,
fill your bathtub, as well as any other sink or receptacle you have available,
with tap water. This is routine at our house when bad weather is on the
way, and has paid off more than once. A water filter (not the cheap one
that sits in a pitcher in your refrigerator) is useful if your supply becomes
tainted or if you’re getting your water from a nearby river or lake.
Remember that the water in the back tank of your toilet is perfectly
drinkable, as it comes right from the tap and never contacts the bowl itself.
Ice cubes that you’ve left in your freezer are another potential (though
admittedly limited) source.
Fire
IFYOULIVEINACOLDCLIMATE, or disaster occurs during winter weather, you
may need a fire source to keep yourself warm and to cook. Making a fire
will not be an issue, since there should be firestarting
materials on hand;
the trick comes in building and maintaining the fire in a safe place. The
only safe places to make a fire that will keep the inside of a house warm are
a wood stove or a fireplace. Fuelbased
space heaters are also good backups.
An electric stove can be used for heat, but you need to be extremely
careful, particularly if there are small children around. Don’t ever use your
gas stove to heat your home.
Shelter
MOST NATURAL DISASTERS LEAVE YOUR HOME INTACT, which is a good thing.
If that’s not the case, you need to look at your situation through a different
lens and try to improvise shelter, perhaps by moving to your car or
setting up a tent. If you don’t have either of these on hand, you’re back to
finding or creating shelter the same way you would in a wilderness survival
situation. You need a shelter to keep warm and dry, and protected
from the elements.
Food
INMOSTCASESWHENDISASTERSTRIKES, you will have a refrigerator full of
food, all of which begins to spoil once the power goes out. Be sure to eat
the most perishable foods first. You can preserve meats by using the drying
methods described in “Food,” Chapter 8. You can also place fish such
as salmon in a dish or Ziploc bag and cover it with lemon juice (the process
used to make ceviche). The citric acid “cooks” the fish through a process
called naturation and preserves it for at least a few days.
Travel and Navigation
THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO TRAVEL after a natural disaster is as critical
when you are at home as when you’re in the wilderness. If you are
considering moving, the first thing to do is make sure the route is free of
hazards. Listen to the radio before heading to the next community, so that
you know, for example, whether a river has broken its banks upstream and
is flooding the highway.
When it comes to navigation, GPS units are invaluable for locating
street addresses. After Hurricane Katrina, I flew down to New Orleans to
meet a woman and talk to her about her experience, but she had given me
only her street address, not terribly useful because all the street signs had
been wiped out. Luckily, the GPS unit in my car led me right to her house.
Don’t think it can’t happen to you! New Orleans and other parts of southern Louisiana
were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
Dangers and Hazards
WHEN DEALING WITH A NATURAL DISASTER it helps to recognize that the central
event may have spawned other dangers around you, both seen and unseen.
Think like a firefighter and address the risks of “gas, glass, fire, and wire.”
Gas: Check to see whether there’s any gas leaking in your house, such as
natural gas or propane. Try to shut off the main valve into the house only
if you have experience or training in doing so. If you suspect a gas leak,
do not start a fire in your house, and leave the house if possible. If staying
inside is safer than going out, keep the windows open for maximum
ventilation.
Glass: Check for broken glass throughout the house and clean up as necessary.
This will help prevent accidental cuts and potential infections in what
might be unsanitary conditions.
Fire: This is one of the greatest dangers you’ll face. Check for gas leaks, oil
tank ruptures, and other types of leaks that can cause fire.
Wire: Electrical problems can result in fire. Also, check for exposed, live
wires in the home, particularly if you have small children.
Unfortunately, most people give little thought to socalled
urban
disasters, even though many people will experience at least one in their
lifetime. Be prepared, be ingenious, play it safe, and you will likely live
to tell the tale. Remember that when all is said and done, everything is
replaceable . . . except life.
Weather
SINCE WEATHER MAY WELL BE THE CAUSE of the natural disaster, stay in touch
with the outside world for updates. Weather will dictate the extent of your
survival activities; you also need to know if and when bad weather is going
to exacerbate your problems, and when it is expected to subside.
When Disaster Strikes Close to Home | 347
First Aid
EVERYONE—NOT JUST THOSE TRAVELING IN THE WILDERNESS—should have a
basic first-aid course under his or her belt. First aid can make the difference
between life and death. Check with your local college for programs.
Essential Survival Skills
RELYONYOURINGENUITYANDADAPTABILITY! Look at everyday objects around
you and decide if, say, your couch would be better used as a survival tool
than as furniture. In the case of any cherished memorabilia that may be
used in an emergency, you need to get over the squeamishness of destruction.
If it’s a choice between your life and protecting a keepsake, the keepsake
has to go.
Author’s Note
INWRITING SURVIVE!, I have tried to pull as much wilderness survival information
from my memory as I can. Given that the past eight years have
seen me survive in some of the most challenging environments on earth,
much is still fresh in my mind.
Before I started producing Survivorman, I figured that my survival
skills, all learned in North America, were pretty well honed. However, surviving
alone in the jungles, deserts, oceans, and mountains of this planet
have taught me how much I didn’t know. And I’m still learning.
From the herbal remedies of the Waorani to the hunting skills of the
Inuit, there are many wonderful survival skills that exist only within disappearing
cultures. When I spent time in the Amazon, for example, I was
amazed to learn that there were still 70 confirmed uncontacted tribes living
in its jungles. Call me naive, but I had been convinced that everyone who
could have been discovered had been discovered. Clearly that isn’t so.
At the other extreme, new technologies are making survival easier
and involve little more than pushing a button and waiting for rescue. PLBs
and EPIRBs, cell phones and BlackBerries, and the new SPOT messenger
technology have all made wilderness travel safer than ever.
In my research, I discovered that many survival publications are filled
with outdated or untested skills and methods that may not help at all if you
are in real jeopardy. Throughout the writing process, I always put myself
in the position of an inexperienced person, lost and alone, and in need of
basic survival knowledge that would keep him or her alive.
In my TV show, I like to throw in the occasional advanced survival skill.
But that’s just for fun, and this book is not about having fun. It’s about surviving.
That’s why I have stuck to the most essential, trusted, and universal
skills—skills that have kept me alive in the farflung
corners of the globe.
So, if this book is in your hands because you are in trouble, don’t
panic: calm down and assess your situation. Skim the book to the chapters
that pertain to you. Make a plan. I sincerely hope there is something here
that will improve your knowledge base and provide you with some practical
ideas . . . even if it means ripping out some of the pages to start a fire!
You will survive. And perhaps like mine, your story can be told
someday.
CHECKLISTS
Personal Survival Kit Checklist
Please see pages 19 to 21 for a detailed description of the elements of this
survival kit.
bandana
compass
flashlight (small, LED)
garbage bags (2, preferably orange, large)
lighter (my preference is a butane lighter that works like a little blowtorch)
matches (strikeanywhere
type) in a waterproof metal case (with a
striker, just in case)
magnesium flint striker (hey, I like fires!)
metal cup (folding, for boiling water)
multitool
or Swiss Army–style knife (make sure it has a small saw
blade)
painkillers (a few)
parachute cord or similar rope (about 25 feet [7.5 m] of 1/4inch
[0.6cm]
cord)
protein bar
sharp belt knife
solar, or “space,” blanket (small)
whistle
Ziploc bag (medium or large)
coffee can or similar receptacle (in which to place all items)
Complete Survival Kit Checklist
Please see pages 21 to 30 for a detailed description of the elements of this
survival kit.
bandana
belt knife (with sharpening
stone)
candle
cup (metal, collapsible; for
boiling water)
dried food
duct tape
firestarting
devices: lighter
and/or magnesium flint striker
and strikeanywhere
matches
in a waterproof case (with a
striker)
firestarting
tinder
firstaid
kit: See checklist on
page 356
fishing lures (3), hooks,
sinkers, and fishing line
flares
flashlight (small, LED)
GPS (Global Positioning
System)
garbage bags (2, preferably
orange)
hand lens (small)
map and compass
marker or “surveyor’s” tape
money
multitool
or Swiss Army–style
knife (with a small saw blade)
needle and thread
parachute cord or similar rope
(about 25 feet [15 m] of
1/4inch
[0.6cm]
cord)
pencil and notebook
protein bars
safety pins
saw (folding)
signal mirror
snare wire
solar, or “space,” blanket
SPOT satellite messenger/
EPIRB/PLB
water purification tablets
waterpurifying
straw
whistle
Ziploc bags (large)
Vehicle Survival Kit Checklist
Please see pages 33 to 36 for a detailed description of the elements of this
survival kit. In addition to the complete survival kit, you should keep the
following in your vehicle:
cell phone food, including MREs
clothing (warm) and (Meals Ready to Eat)
blankets road maps (local)
cook set (pots/pans) snow shovel (collapsible or foldcook
stove and fuel ing) and tire chains
drinking water tarp
flares toilet paper
flashlight tools
FirstAid
Kit Checklist
Please see pages 24 and 25 for a detailed description of the elements of
this firstaid
kit.
antidiarrheal tablets
antihistamines
antiseptic ointment
bandages
butterfly sutures
painkillers
prescription medicines (if applicable)
surgical blades
triangle bandages
Home Survival Kit Checklist
When assembling this survival kit, keep in mind that the size of your
household will affect the quantity needed for several kit items.
Essential Items
axe or saw
basic tool box (hammer, nails, screwdriver, pliers, adjustable wrench,
screwin
hooks, etc.)
belt knife (with sharpening stone)
camp stove (one burner) with all necessary supplies
cash
childcare
items, if applicable (diapers, formula, bottles, etc.)
clothing and footwear suitable for outdoor temperatures
cooking container(s)
duct tape
emergency candles
fire extinguisher
firstaid
kit and extra prescription medicines
flashlight
garbage bags (2, preferably orange, large)
lighter (butane is best)
matches (strikeanywhere
type) in a waterproof metal case
mealreplacement
drinks (7day
supply per person)
multitool
or Swiss Army–style knife
nonperishable
food (7day
supply per person)
pencil/pen and paper
portable toilet and sanitation supplies
rope or parachute cord
rubber gloves
shovel
sleeping bags
solar or handcrank
powered light, radio, and cell phone charger
thermal blankets
tissue packs and wet wipes
tube tent and/or tarp >>
Checklists | 357
Home Survival Kit Checklist (continued)
water purification tablets
water, for drinking, cooking, and washing (7day
supply of 7.5 gallons
[28L] per person)
waterless soap or hand sanitizer
Other Useful Items:
emergency plans, contact lists, meeting place information, etc.
eyewear (extra glasses, contact lenses, cleaning solution)
fishing and/or hunting equipment
generator with extension cord
light sticks
petcare
items, if applicable (litter, carriers, bags, leashes, etc.)
portable heater
rain ponchos with hood
recreational items (board games, cards, books, harmonica)
siphon hose (rubber)
smoke/carbon monoxide detector (for stove/heater use)
spare gasoline for vehicle
wash basin
water filter
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am greatly and deeply indebted to those who have helped me make this
book happen.
Mike Vlessides is the ghostwriter, or perhaps more appropriately the
editor, of this book. He spent hundreds of hours talking longdistance
on
the phone with me, pulling from my memory everything he could, to put
down on these pages. Without Mike, and his tremendous patience, creative
skill, and diligence, this book would never have been possible.
Laura Bombier is the photographer for this book. She is also the stills
photographer for the TV series Survivorman and as such has traveled the
globe with me, trying to capture the essence of what I do. And capture it
she has! Her creative skill is second to none, and her partnership with me
on this book has brought it to heights I could never have achieved without
her.
Beverley Hawksley is the illustrator for Survive! I did not want the
same old line drawings; I wanted the technical aspects to be combined
with artistic beauty. Beverley captured that vision fantastically. Beverley’s
work is inspired, beautiful, and powerful. She is an artist in the purest sense
of the title.
I enlisted the help of a group of survivalinstructor
friends to read
every word and throw their comments back to me, challenging anything
thought to be not quite right. To Doug Getgood, Dave Arama, and Douw
Kruger, thank you so very much. You saved me from a couple of blunders
and some forgetfulness, helping to make this book the best it can be.
Along the way, I have learned so much from some great people in the
field and often had my preconceived notions changed forever. Thank you
to “Desert” David Holladay, Mike Kiraly, Allan “Bow” Beauchamp, Brian
Brewster, Charlie Ford, Belly John, Frank Gagliano, Belize Sailing Charters,
Lee Gutteridge, Koos Moorecroft, Raphael Gunduza, Douw Kruger,
Ngaa Kitai, Dave Reid, Sam Omik, Jim Yost, Tomo, Kinta, Anna, Ippa, and
Duey (from the Amazon rain forest), Ron Durheim of Alaska Aquatics, Fred
Rowe and Frank Yamick (my very first teachers), Matt Graham, John and
Geri McPherson, Robert J. Wilson, Gino Ferri, Ernie and Donna Nichols of
Huron Air, Wes Werbowy, and Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht.
Sue, Raylan and Logan: You have put up with my absence, which
was a hard sacrifice. You have feared for my safety. You have created an
environment that nurtured and cared for me greatly during many times
of stress and challenge. Raylan and Logan, I know it’s really hard to understand
a dad who is away on adventures so much, but I miss you every
single moment. You are the lights of my life, and I love you more than
anything.
A special thanks to my “team.” Wendy Turner: I am there for you and
you are there for me—it’s a beautiful thing; Beth Cavanagh, Andy Peterson,
Max Attwood, Andrew Sheppard, Parres Allen, Barry Farrell, and Dan
Larade: I have constantly felt bolstered and supported by you all and am
very proud to call you my friends. Now “get back to work!”
Luke Despatie, for cover design and so much more—thank you so
very much.
Also a nod of thanks to the Survivorman gang, who have fought hard
through the challenges of making that series: Dave Brady, Seaghan Han-
cocks, Barry Clark, and Dan Reynolds. And none of it would have happened
were it not for the first acceptance by Jane Mingay and Jane Gilbert of
Discovery Canada and Anna Stambolic of OLN. Thank you, Patrice Baillargeon.
As always, thanks, Mom. And thanks to my sister, Laura. A very special
thank you to Peter Dale, whose faith in me got me into of all this in the first
place.
Also a special thank you to Rick Broadhead, who came out of nowhere
to quickly become a trusted literary agent and friend. Thank you for helping
me navigate the waters of publishing, Rick.
Thank you Brad Wilson and Anne Cole, editors for HarperCollins. I
am so very proud to become a member of the HarperCollins family. You
have renewed my faith that large, successful corporations can also treat
one lone person with integrity and respect, and I am very grateful for the
incredible support, belief, and gentle advice you have given me.
—Les Stroud, from somewhere out in the wilderness
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