Wilderness Survival

Because I am out there alot, I feel the need to discuss this important matter.  For me to continue writing about adventures, I must come back and type them into this thing we call the computer that at times can connect to our beloved world wide web which we weave.  To begin, let me start you with two qoutes.

 

“I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” — Robert Frost

 

“Traveling is like gambling: it is always connected with winning and losing, and generally where it is least expected we receive, more or less than what we hoped for.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

OK, a third one as well.

“The mountains are calling and I must go.”  –John Muir  1838-1914

So you’re ready to venture off? A weekend excursion?  A day-trip?  A week-long expedition?  A month long adventure?  Out there?  You have a planned destination, and you sort of have some idea of what it’s going to be like?  What if something goes wrong, something catastrophic!; Something that requires alot of knowledge and utilization of nearby surrounding resources to keep you alive until you get back into civilization.  Do you know what YOU need to do?

I was once told a story of (true story infact, If I could find the news article, I would share it with you– my readers) of a small family travelling in the middle of winter.  A father, mother and their child.  They were driving home, but on the way home, they ran out of gas.  The father decided to pull over and park the car on the side of the road.  The father decided he would go and seek help or for the nearby gas station.  He ventured off into the nearby woods, while the mother and child waited at the car.  It was a week later, the father never returned.  He was found in the woods dead.  The weather was too cold for them to bear.  The mother and child passed away too, due to the cold and the lack of food and water.

I also once watched a survival show, the host was walking through the jungles of Costa Rica.  He explained how a man and his wife walked through the jungles and after a day of walking, the wife gave up because it was too harsh of a walk.  The husband asked his wife to stay put while he goes off back to the rangers station to get help.  The problem was he had no clue where he was and how to get back to his wife.  Three weeks later, he finally came back and found his wife had died.

Wilderness Survival skills apply to all activities in life.  It could be that you’re in your own kitchen, or it could be that you’re out playing soccer with the kids, or you could be on a month long adventure through the Adirondacks or a week long trek in the wild rainforests of Costa Rica.  Both stories relates to how not knowing what to do and not planning more carefully resulted in terminal endings. 

The man could have saved his wife and child by staying with them and hunted local plant life for sources of food and water.  Snow, is a great source of water.  Roots are great sources of protein and water.  A fire could be made, even in the middle of winter and in the middle of snow covered ground.  If no food, one could survive on water and roots.  I mean, they were on the side of the road, eventually someone would have come by and helped them.

Now you’re thinking, well what are some basic wilderness survival skills that one should know? 

Here’s a few to begin with:

1. Mentality
2. Food
3. Fire
4. Shelter
5. Water
6. Land Navigation
7. Medical-Aid
8. Weather Conditions
9. Basic Gear
10. Protection
11. Animals

“Knowledge and Experience is Powerful.”  -Me