Beginner survival tips

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Last edited by Doug on Mon May 07, 2007 5:31 pm; edited 2 times in total

Bug Out Bag/72hr kit- Keep the major, vital survival equipment (water bottle and purifiers, MREs, fire tools, a multi-tool, simple first-aid gear, rain poncho, thermal blanket, etc) in a pack together, and keep it with you. When in t he car, when camping, when at home, in your carry on luggage in a plane, etc. The "bug-out philosophy" doesn't work in the long term, but there are times when you have to get away fast, and it helps to have some basic survival tools with you, untill you can find help.

To add on to tibby's part.

A bug out bag is great, not just for survival but I find I use my own b.o.b lots. Keeping your bag light and small as possible is what I highly recomend. You'll find with experiance you can replace certian objects with others that are easier to pack/carry.

For example, have a tarp is a great object in your B.O.B. It dosnt have to be big, but big enough to make shelter. Try to repsort to lighter material, but try to keep it as strong as possible.

Next wrap it up as tightly as possible so it is very compact. Here is an exmaple of some of my gear, i packed all the gear very tightly and small.

In the photos below I have demonstated how a effective good packing is. This way everything has easy access in your bag and is ready for use.

In my tinder kit, I have number of itmes which I keep in a tin. I have a candle, long burning small fire logs, several fire starters and a tinder bottle. ITs just an old asprin bottle packed with cotton balls. They light very fast and are great for starting fires. Keeping them in this bottle keeps them from getting wet, since my tin is used for boiling water it gets wet.

I also have a spare survival saw. Why? I have lost my axe, before and was left with almost nothing, but if you create a bow out of the saw, it works great as a handsaw.

I appolize for the qualilty of the pics, they were taken via camcorder.

Now to add on, here is the beauty of the tincan tinder kit. When you want to start fire your entire fire starting arsonal is in that can. You just pull it out of your bag and do your thing. In the past I would have objects skaterd inside. Digging through your bag is a waste of time and is frusterating.

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

That is a great kit, Max. Well done! Every time I think "Well, he should add -blank- to the kit" I realize you already covered it! Wonderfully done! That is the best kit I have ever seen, even for professionals!

Haha thanks brother, this is only a portion of what I own, but this is what I bring with me in the winter.

This is a good thread, it deserves a sticky Smile

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

Oh yeah, I understand. You really got your day pack ready, bro!!!

Yeah, good call on the sticky.

most important thing, if you realise your lost STOP. take some deep breaths and chill out. Look around you and see what is available. Check your pockets for anything usefull and then plan your shelter/fire and decide if you could escape or if waiting to be found is the best option. You should not try to do both at the same time. It would be easy'r for you to survive if you stay put (better shelter, once you make fire you can keep feeding it to keep it rather then building a new one) and it's also easy'r to be found if you stay put and let the rescue ppl look for you.

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

one major thing is before you rae going to go anywhere PRACTISE with what you have in your kit and PRACTISE with making stuff without your kit it will help alot

	Survivor Kid 909 wrote:
	one major thing is before you rae going to go anywhere PRACTISE with what you have in your kit and PRACTISE with making stuff without your kit it will help alot

Good point.

Knowing how to properly use the itmes in your kit is vital. I've practised with nearly everything I own, and I find the first time I try something its hard. Thats just common sense but homestly practise is great. Once you have those skills trying to use a little as possible is also good. Thinking out of the box and being creative can make your survivla situatuon a whole lot better/.

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

thoes are some great tips. ill be sure to add some more tomorow.

always be aware of potential dangers. Animals, large rock faces, caves are a few. What people don't tend to mention is that you have to be carefull with the primitive tools you make, your own traps (les pinched his tumb in an episode with a figure 4 deadfall), and your fire. Make sure it's not too close to your shelter or your in a big tinder box. also be aware that blowing into a tinder bundle that is producing smoke is dangerous. If you were to be breathing hard to get as much air into the ember to light your bundle and then you took a big amount of smoke into your lungs by mistake instead of air you could pass out and potentially land on your bundle.. or on a rock... or anything. Also, be carefull around your knife! look what happend to les in the costa rica episode!!!

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

Look before you leap! Always look where you are stepping - Think twice about just jumping over that log in snake territory!!! Also, it's nice to make sure you are going to land without twisting an ankle...

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The liver is evil, it must be punished!!!

Trooper, nice kit!

I really like your kit it's small, but well stocked.

	ColdSoul wrote:
	Trooper, nice kit! I really like your kit it's small, but well stocked.

Thank you, thats the gear I currently carry around. I like to switch it up for differnt seasons, but jus thinking what you need before you pack it is important then just taking everything. If i take all my gear, i need to take my full bag, all together weights nearly 45-50lbs, which is a lot to carry around.

Daffy wrote:

always be aware of potential dangers. Animals, large rock faces, caves are a few. What people don't tend to mention is that you have to be carefull with the primitive tools you make, your own traps (les pinched his tumb in an episode with a figure 4 deadfall), and your fire. Make sure it's not too close to your shelter or your in a big tinder box. also be aware that blowing into a tinder bundle that is producing smoke is dangerous. If you were to be breathing hard to get as much air into the ember to light your bundle and then you took a big amount of smoke into your lungs by mistake instead of air you could pass out and potentially land on your bundle.. or on a rock... or anything. Also, be carefull around your knife! look what happend to les in the costa rica episode!!!

Good stuff. I like the point you mentioed about starting fire with tinder budles. There is always tons of smoke and the first couple of times I ended up either dropping the darn thing or just having to let it go because of all the smoke. Keeping your head as far as possible is the bes tthing to do, expecially if you have long hair (OH btw if you have long hair clip it back before starting a fire or it could be nasty, i've seen close calls before).

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

A small piece, about 2 feet of surgical tubing has many uses.....fire starting....keeping the fire going by adding some oxygen. Use your brain.... Sling shot, to hold something....replaces bungie cords.

I've probably mentined this in the past but packing items who have multi-uses is a good idea since they cab be used in a variety of ways.

EG. Can - carry, gather, boil, store, hide etc.

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

One thing to be carefull on multi use items is that if the are disabled, lost, broken they can affect more than one facet of your outdoor experience. Remember the saying about putting all your eggs in one basket (food for thought)

Nice kit troop, Im not sure if I have anything more to say but practice and relax once you realize your lost. 80% of people who realize that their lost start running as fast as they can for as long as they can, famously said by Les Stroud.

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It's not climbing the mountain to get to the top; it's climbing the mountain to enjoy the climb.

Don't over boil your water!

In situations were you are low on water, or water is hard to come by boiling water for 15 minutes (which a lot of people do) is a waste.

Water only needs to be taken to a rolling boil at ANY altitude and you can read this link for more info:

http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/how-long-do-you-need-to-boil-water/

Hmm thats a good tip, over boiling can cause waste of water. I personally dont boil the water very long, which is not the safest method but at 100degress not much can survvive in there Cool

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic