Expert Tips For Surviving The Great Outdoors

Everyone likes to get outdoors, whether for a camping trip or a long walk in the wilderness. What if you want to spend a long trip outdoors to get away from modern life? Or maybe you get lost and need some survival tips? Well, read on for some great tricks and tips about surviving in the wild!

Water - The Elixir Of Life

First things first, you’re going to need water to survive any length of time, anywhere! You’ll need to find, collect, and contain clean water for drinking. Create a large surface using a tarp or plastic sheet of some kind; the bigger the surface the more you’ll collect. Create a runoff area into a large, clean bottle, pot, or tub to hold the water. Most rainwater is safe to drink, though you may want to boil the water first for extra safety, which leads on to…

How To Build A Fire

A fire can keep you warm at night and also give you a place to heat food or water. Matt from Gear Disciple says, “Just because you’re out in the wild doesn’t mean you can’t cook some of your favorite stovetop meals.” So how do you get that fire started? If you’re out on a planned trip, then you may have a camping stove, lighter, or matches. If not, you can build a classic fire using a tinder bundle of dry leaves and twigs, rope fiber, or cotton. Start that fire with flint sparks or wood friction technique and build from there!

What About Shelter?

If this trip was pre-planned, we can only hope that you remembered to take a tent! If you find yourself needing to build a shelter, this can be more tricky! You need to protect yourself from the elements, especially overnight. Build something small, enough to squeeze in and preserve that body heat. Use fallen branches or other large items to construct a lean-to frame, and slowly fill in the gaps with smaller pieces of wood, vegetation, and branches, until you have formed as much of a seal as possible.

Keep Your Cool!

One of the biggest challenges you may face when lost or alone in the wilderness is to keep focused and relaxed. Panic or lose your cool and you’ll forget simple things about survival. Running around aimlessly stressed and upset will use too much of your energy, making you weaker. Start slow, relax, and come up with a plan of action. Then work through the steps here and put your survival plan into action.

Make Some Tools

If you have taken a knife or other tools with you on your trip, then use them wisely to catch food and build a shelter. If you are not on a planned trip, you may need to make a spear or other items for hunting, fishing, and building. A simple spear-like hunting tool can be made from whittling wood with a stone or flint. You can even tie a sharpened rock onto the end of a straight stick using some vine or other vegetation. Make one of these and you just might be able to catch some dinner!

Avoid Bugs!

Woodland and jungle are full of insects, and some of them can be quite bitey!! You’ll want to try and avoid getting multiple nasty bites whilst living out in the open. If you happen to have any insect repellent, get spraying! If you don’t, what else is there you can use?!

• Lavender

Lavender is pretty easy to come across in most wooded areas and by far the nicest smelling on our list! Grab some lavender and rub it onto all your exposed skin. Lavender has been proven to be almost as effective as off-the-shelf bug sprays.

• Very Smokey Fire

Topping your fire with lots of fresh green vegetation will cause a large plume of smoke. Bugs will struggle to sense you and find you through thick smoke. Who knows, the smoke may also aid your rescue mission!

• Wild Onions

Wild onions, leeks, or garlic may be found in plenty of woods. If you manage to find onions or leeks, smash them up and use the juices to cover your skin. Garlic should be eaten and even hung up around your shelter to deter bugs. If you’re sharing a tent with anyone though, do apologize for the smell!

Listed here are plenty of tips to help you survive the great outdoors. Whether you’re a regular outdoorsman or happen to find yourself in need of some tips during a surprise moment of survival, then hopefully these can help. Happy exploring!