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North American Wilderness
This page will start with “wilderness survival”, as this is one I have experience with outside of training, and supported situations. I will move beyond this limited scenario provided there is enough interest to do so.
This is assuming North American forestry or wooded area. I'm not Bear Grylls, I am not advocating the eating of grubs, or drinking of urine. If you end up living like that, you screwed up. I will try my best to set for both planned and unplanned excursions. Gear lists, preferences, ect. will vary by opinion, I am only listing those I personally “need” when providing a gear list. Think of it as a minimum. More is better provided you can carry it.
We'll start with a planned excursion. 2 weeks, summer. I will move through the seasons and then progress to unplanned, ect. I am not playing at rescue attempts, nor evasion. I am merely telling you how to be reasonably safe, and comfortable in the woods for a minimum of 14 days. Other scenarios will be addressed as I'm asked. I am not the “end all, be all” of survival experts, and I have no intention of pretending to be. I know some things, and am willing to share them. Wilderness is by far the easiest scenario.
Summer:
This is relatively easy, everything is in abundance, the trees provide cover from direct sunlight, offering shade, and humidity. Plants are available for use in most instances, and animal life is plentiful. With some care, these are all good things. We'll start with a gear list, and brief description of each, and why.
- Decent pack- I prefer Alice packs, some prefer mole, either is fine. You want a frame pack, because you can carry more weight, for longer, more comfortably. Whatever you want to attach to it, it up to you. One capable of carrying 65 pounds. Whether you pack it that heavy or not, durability is key.
- Water container- This can be a bladder in your pack, a large water bottle, a 2 liter bottle, whatever you prefer. This will be a clean water only container. I recommend no smaller than 2 liters.
- Secondary container- This should be metal. I personally prefer the old style canteens, with the canteen cup. It can be a pot, a metal cup, an empty bean can, whatever. Key is, you need to be able to heat it without damaging it. *NOTE: I have seen claims that it is unsafe to boil water in tin, or aluminum. I have yet to see definitive evidence of this, and have used both myself. Just wanted to put it out there, in case someone is concerned to avoid those materials.*
- Water sterilizer/filter- Some prefer UV sterilization pens because of their portability. I personally have no faith in them, but this is only my own personal opinion. I personally prefer microfilters, and purification tablets. You can pick them up ranging from 1.5 liters a minute output, down to around .25 liters a minute. You're looking for one that has a replaceable cartridge. .2 microns is usually suitable filtration. Some go down to .1 I think, but have never used one myself.
- Good field knife- When I say good, I do NOT mean $400. I mean good. I prefer something with around a 7” or longer blade, .165” thickness at least. If you have nothing this size or better that's dependable, you will also want a hatchet. I like that type of blade because I can baton limbs with it, something I'll get into later.
- Good flashlight- Same as above, good doesn't necessarily mean expensive. You want something that is impact resistant, and efficient. It doesn't need to be the brightest thing on the market either. You will be in the woods, your line of sight is less than the length of the beam if that light's any good at all. You should have little use for it unless there is a problem anyhow.
- 50' of 550 paracord- It's small, it's tough, it's cheap, and it's nearly unparalleled in it uses. Some can make their own cordage, it's easier to just have it on you. I made a belt of it, I wear it every day. I have 6 strand braided loops of it on my pack, that unravel to 50' also. If you're out in the wilderness, it will be the best $5 you ever spent.
- Fire starter- This is a preference/skill level decision. I know people tout the flint and steel, or magnesium strike rods, ect. They're great, truly, if you are proficient in fire starting. A pack of scrappy bic lighters will run you about $3. Usually 2-3 a pack. One of these will light you roughly 400 fires. Up to you what you want to carry. I carry all the above.
- Tinder- This is also a preference/skill level decision. Personally, I use cotton balls dipped in vaseline, and stored in a small cigarette case. I have yet to not be able to light a fire with one of them. Some require more, some nothing at all... I urge you to research a bit, and experiment. You do NOT want to realize you suck at fire building, when you need a fire.
- Extra socks- I can not stress enough how important this is, and how many people neglect their feet. You MUST take care of your feet. If you leave them in sweaty, stinking, bacteria infested socks, you will develop “swamp foot” and debilitate yourself. Your feet are one of the first things that will make you require antibiotics. Feet are nasty, and they are consistently in a bacteria laden environment. Switch your socks, and wash the ones you are not wearing.
- A decent multi-tool- This is one of those get what you pay for type of items. A $5 Dollar Store one WILL fail you. Get a good one, it will be worth it. This also gives you a knife that can be left with a finer edge. Which brings me to:
- A real sharpening kit- I don not mean a honing rod, nor a chef's pass through wheel. I mean a minimum of 2 stones, and get proficient with it. A honing sharpener will be worth nothing when you ***** the edge, and it is very possible that you will. A stone and even a minimal amount of skill will be the difference between 2 hits to get that limb, and 20.
- 3 days minimum of rations- This is because it may take a while for traps to work, for you to track, weather may work against you, ect. Contrary to what t.v. Shows, and some people will try to tell you, you CAN eat in the wilderness.
- Poncho/small tarp- This is not really required, but it saves you from a lot of misery. Obvious reasons.
- Sleeping bag/blanket- Obvious also.
Other items such as clothing, radios, chargers, ect. I leave these to you as I am only listing “must haves” if you are going in there on purpose. Other things you need or want, as your ability to carry them are at your own discretion. I am talking a couple weeks, not a lifestyle change.
There are some different schools of thought to this, I am only telling you my own methods, if you stumble across another source, that you trust more than me, please, do what you feel is right. I look for water. It can be runoff, a puddle, a creek, stream, whatever. If a source isn't immediately apparent, look at the plant life. The greener, and shorter it is, the more water it requires. Look for animal tracks, and move down hill when possible. You'll find it, be confident.
Once water is found, I try to find higher ground to build a camp. I don't want to be in the direct path of the water source if possible. Sometimes you won't know, sometimes it can't be helped, but if possible, you don't want to be camping right on animal tracks, even small animals.
I build a fire, even BEFORE I build a shelter. Again, this is a zombie site, but not an evasion scenario as I said above. Light your fire, immediately. The wildlife already knows you're there, you want a fire. I try to gather up a pile of limbs about 3 feet high, and maybe 4 feet across. The drier the better, and I only break up what I will need to burn in the next couple of hours. I can always break up the rest later, I'll have plenty of down time that night.
Next I replenish my water supply. Some filters are better than others, and some people trust theirs more than I do. I have had issues with drinking tainted water, so I try to make sure that never happens again. I filter it, then boil it, then filter it, and add the purification tabs. This is not required, just what I do. Now if your water source is particularly skanky looking, I “pit” it. Go about 10-15 feet from the edge of it, and dig. You'll hit water, and the clay and dirt that is allowing the water to remain will filter the water you are uncovering a bit. This is NOT drinkable water to me, I then pick up the above process. Once that is set, it's shelter time.
Now much of this is dependent on terrain. I try to find something with a slight hill to it. It keeps water from standing where you're laying, also tends to dry out faster, and make for more comfortable sleeping. Not a huge grade you understand, just a bit of pitch to it. Some look for overhangs, or outcroppings. I don't bother, I'm just happy I found water, the odds of finding all the above in a location are slim. Up to you though. I generally make a sturdy “A-frame” if it's early enough, if not, well, I just basically hang out, and make sure the fire is big, making sure I'm not laying in moss or anything that gives me a high probability of wearing too many bugs.
The A-frame. Some prefer lean-to shelters. I only bother with those if it's for a night or two, much longer than that, they're uncomfortable, and not the best for protection from the rain. Basically, I just gather up, or baton down about 40 limbs roughly 6-7 feet and around 2 1/2-4 inches thick, 2 need a fork in them.
Stick a forked limb into the ground, it only needs to be far enough down to stay put for a bit. Take a decently straight one from the pile, and set an end in the fork, then take the 2nd forked one, and stick it in the ground also, then prop the other end of the limb into that fork. Some lash them together, I find it unnecessary.
Simply lean the limbs against the horizontal limb, alternating sides until it is sturdy. I try not to leave much more than a few inches sticking up over the spine. Closing the distance from the spine towards the rear, closing it off. I can usually cover with around 40, if you need more, they're out there. It should look pretty well done without any additional covering. If it looks sparsely walled, you need more limbs, your gauge for length is off... hahaha Fix it up, it will be worth it. Next I line the bottom with fallen leaves (always plenty, nobody rakes in there) even though it's summer, sleeping on the ground sucks. Then my poncho/tarp.
Push dirt, and debris (leaves, pine needles, whatever's handy) up against the bottom walls of your shelter, up about 6-8 inches. This ensures that your shelter stays put in the wind. Sounds menial, but it is important. I then break boughs off the trees, doesn't matter what type, in through the poles. Take more and put them “stem” up into the woven boughs to resemble shingles. When you're done, you shouldn't be able to see inside at all from the sides. If you can see in, rain will hit you from there. I usually try to keep the fire around 10-12 feet from the entrance. I re-gather my firewood (you do this a lot) now burning larger logs as there should be a nice coal bed, and I don't currently need the light, I just want it burning. Animals will avoid the immediate area usually. On to plants.
Plants to avoid:
Starting with the obvious
- Poison Oak/ Poison Ivy/ Poison Sumac- They look very similar, and create the same effect.
Painful itchy rash, that spreads everywhere. Only real danger is risk of infection from open sores, or if you burn it, you may end up with respiratory problems. Essentially they just cause misery though.
- Rosary Pea- This one you should just be able to look at, and know you should leave it be, but some don't. This contains one of the most toxic plant based poisons in North America. Leave it.
This is assuming North American forestry or wooded area. I'm not Bear Grylls, I am not advocating the eating of grubs, or drinking of urine. If you end up living like that, you screwed up. I will try my best to set for both planned and unplanned excursions. Gear lists, preferences, ect. will vary by opinion, I am only listing those I personally “need” when providing a gear list. Think of it as a minimum. More is better provided you can carry it.
We'll start with a planned excursion. 2 weeks, summer. I will move through the seasons and then progress to unplanned, ect. I am not playing at rescue attempts, nor evasion. I am merely telling you how to be reasonably safe, and comfortable in the woods for a minimum of 14 days. Other scenarios will be addressed as I'm asked. I am not the “end all, be all” of survival experts, and I have no intention of pretending to be. I know some things, and am willing to share them. Wilderness is by far the easiest scenario.
Summer:
This is relatively easy, everything is in abundance, the trees provide cover from direct sunlight, offering shade, and humidity. Plants are available for use in most instances, and animal life is plentiful. With some care, these are all good things. We'll start with a gear list, and brief description of each, and why.
- Decent pack- I prefer Alice packs, some prefer mole, either is fine. You want a frame pack, because you can carry more weight, for longer, more comfortably. Whatever you want to attach to it, it up to you. One capable of carrying 65 pounds. Whether you pack it that heavy or not, durability is key.
- Water container- This can be a bladder in your pack, a large water bottle, a 2 liter bottle, whatever you prefer. This will be a clean water only container. I recommend no smaller than 2 liters.
- Secondary container- This should be metal. I personally prefer the old style canteens, with the canteen cup. It can be a pot, a metal cup, an empty bean can, whatever. Key is, you need to be able to heat it without damaging it. *NOTE: I have seen claims that it is unsafe to boil water in tin, or aluminum. I have yet to see definitive evidence of this, and have used both myself. Just wanted to put it out there, in case someone is concerned to avoid those materials.*
- Water sterilizer/filter- Some prefer UV sterilization pens because of their portability. I personally have no faith in them, but this is only my own personal opinion. I personally prefer microfilters, and purification tablets. You can pick them up ranging from 1.5 liters a minute output, down to around .25 liters a minute. You're looking for one that has a replaceable cartridge. .2 microns is usually suitable filtration. Some go down to .1 I think, but have never used one myself.
- Good field knife- When I say good, I do NOT mean $400. I mean good. I prefer something with around a 7” or longer blade, .165” thickness at least. If you have nothing this size or better that's dependable, you will also want a hatchet. I like that type of blade because I can baton limbs with it, something I'll get into later.
- Good flashlight- Same as above, good doesn't necessarily mean expensive. You want something that is impact resistant, and efficient. It doesn't need to be the brightest thing on the market either. You will be in the woods, your line of sight is less than the length of the beam if that light's any good at all. You should have little use for it unless there is a problem anyhow.
- 50' of 550 paracord- It's small, it's tough, it's cheap, and it's nearly unparalleled in it uses. Some can make their own cordage, it's easier to just have it on you. I made a belt of it, I wear it every day. I have 6 strand braided loops of it on my pack, that unravel to 50' also. If you're out in the wilderness, it will be the best $5 you ever spent.
- Fire starter- This is a preference/skill level decision. I know people tout the flint and steel, or magnesium strike rods, ect. They're great, truly, if you are proficient in fire starting. A pack of scrappy bic lighters will run you about $3. Usually 2-3 a pack. One of these will light you roughly 400 fires. Up to you what you want to carry. I carry all the above.
- Tinder- This is also a preference/skill level decision. Personally, I use cotton balls dipped in vaseline, and stored in a small cigarette case. I have yet to not be able to light a fire with one of them. Some require more, some nothing at all... I urge you to research a bit, and experiment. You do NOT want to realize you suck at fire building, when you need a fire.
- Extra socks- I can not stress enough how important this is, and how many people neglect their feet. You MUST take care of your feet. If you leave them in sweaty, stinking, bacteria infested socks, you will develop “swamp foot” and debilitate yourself. Your feet are one of the first things that will make you require antibiotics. Feet are nasty, and they are consistently in a bacteria laden environment. Switch your socks, and wash the ones you are not wearing.
- A decent multi-tool- This is one of those get what you pay for type of items. A $5 Dollar Store one WILL fail you. Get a good one, it will be worth it. This also gives you a knife that can be left with a finer edge. Which brings me to:
- A real sharpening kit- I don not mean a honing rod, nor a chef's pass through wheel. I mean a minimum of 2 stones, and get proficient with it. A honing sharpener will be worth nothing when you ***** the edge, and it is very possible that you will. A stone and even a minimal amount of skill will be the difference between 2 hits to get that limb, and 20.
- 3 days minimum of rations- This is because it may take a while for traps to work, for you to track, weather may work against you, ect. Contrary to what t.v. Shows, and some people will try to tell you, you CAN eat in the wilderness.
- Poncho/small tarp- This is not really required, but it saves you from a lot of misery. Obvious reasons.
- Sleeping bag/blanket- Obvious also.
Other items such as clothing, radios, chargers, ect. I leave these to you as I am only listing “must haves” if you are going in there on purpose. Other things you need or want, as your ability to carry them are at your own discretion. I am talking a couple weeks, not a lifestyle change.
There are some different schools of thought to this, I am only telling you my own methods, if you stumble across another source, that you trust more than me, please, do what you feel is right. I look for water. It can be runoff, a puddle, a creek, stream, whatever. If a source isn't immediately apparent, look at the plant life. The greener, and shorter it is, the more water it requires. Look for animal tracks, and move down hill when possible. You'll find it, be confident.
Once water is found, I try to find higher ground to build a camp. I don't want to be in the direct path of the water source if possible. Sometimes you won't know, sometimes it can't be helped, but if possible, you don't want to be camping right on animal tracks, even small animals.
I build a fire, even BEFORE I build a shelter. Again, this is a zombie site, but not an evasion scenario as I said above. Light your fire, immediately. The wildlife already knows you're there, you want a fire. I try to gather up a pile of limbs about 3 feet high, and maybe 4 feet across. The drier the better, and I only break up what I will need to burn in the next couple of hours. I can always break up the rest later, I'll have plenty of down time that night.
Next I replenish my water supply. Some filters are better than others, and some people trust theirs more than I do. I have had issues with drinking tainted water, so I try to make sure that never happens again. I filter it, then boil it, then filter it, and add the purification tabs. This is not required, just what I do. Now if your water source is particularly skanky looking, I “pit” it. Go about 10-15 feet from the edge of it, and dig. You'll hit water, and the clay and dirt that is allowing the water to remain will filter the water you are uncovering a bit. This is NOT drinkable water to me, I then pick up the above process. Once that is set, it's shelter time.
Now much of this is dependent on terrain. I try to find something with a slight hill to it. It keeps water from standing where you're laying, also tends to dry out faster, and make for more comfortable sleeping. Not a huge grade you understand, just a bit of pitch to it. Some look for overhangs, or outcroppings. I don't bother, I'm just happy I found water, the odds of finding all the above in a location are slim. Up to you though. I generally make a sturdy “A-frame” if it's early enough, if not, well, I just basically hang out, and make sure the fire is big, making sure I'm not laying in moss or anything that gives me a high probability of wearing too many bugs.
The A-frame. Some prefer lean-to shelters. I only bother with those if it's for a night or two, much longer than that, they're uncomfortable, and not the best for protection from the rain. Basically, I just gather up, or baton down about 40 limbs roughly 6-7 feet and around 2 1/2-4 inches thick, 2 need a fork in them.
Stick a forked limb into the ground, it only needs to be far enough down to stay put for a bit. Take a decently straight one from the pile, and set an end in the fork, then take the 2nd forked one, and stick it in the ground also, then prop the other end of the limb into that fork. Some lash them together, I find it unnecessary.
Simply lean the limbs against the horizontal limb, alternating sides until it is sturdy. I try not to leave much more than a few inches sticking up over the spine. Closing the distance from the spine towards the rear, closing it off. I can usually cover with around 40, if you need more, they're out there. It should look pretty well done without any additional covering. If it looks sparsely walled, you need more limbs, your gauge for length is off... hahaha Fix it up, it will be worth it. Next I line the bottom with fallen leaves (always plenty, nobody rakes in there) even though it's summer, sleeping on the ground sucks. Then my poncho/tarp.
Push dirt, and debris (leaves, pine needles, whatever's handy) up against the bottom walls of your shelter, up about 6-8 inches. This ensures that your shelter stays put in the wind. Sounds menial, but it is important. I then break boughs off the trees, doesn't matter what type, in through the poles. Take more and put them “stem” up into the woven boughs to resemble shingles. When you're done, you shouldn't be able to see inside at all from the sides. If you can see in, rain will hit you from there. I usually try to keep the fire around 10-12 feet from the entrance. I re-gather my firewood (you do this a lot) now burning larger logs as there should be a nice coal bed, and I don't currently need the light, I just want it burning. Animals will avoid the immediate area usually. On to plants.
Plants to avoid:
Starting with the obvious
- Poison Oak/ Poison Ivy/ Poison Sumac- They look very similar, and create the same effect.
Painful itchy rash, that spreads everywhere. Only real danger is risk of infection from open sores, or if you burn it, you may end up with respiratory problems. Essentially they just cause misery though.
- Nightshade- There is an old adage that if you see animals eating it, you can eat it. This will get you killed. Nightshade is extremely lethal to humans, yet many varieties of bird , goats, and small animals eat it with no issue. I urge you not to eat anything you do not recognize as edible.
- Choke Cherries- These look fine to eat, and grow on a small tree which leads people to think they are edible, they are not, they will kill you. They look like cherries, except a bit smaller. Nothing about this plant is good for you, leave it be.
- Castor bean- Mainly just California's problem, but have been known to spread around due to people planting them as decorative landscaping. These are another that is of no good use to humans, and should be avoided.
- Rosary Pea- This one you should just be able to look at, and know you should leave it be, but some don't. This contains one of the most toxic plant based poisons in North America. Leave it.
- Monks Hood / Wolfs Bane- This is one that looks nice, it's used in landscaping, however, don't eat it or burn it.
- Angel's Trumpet- Some call it Jimson Weed. It's nature's bath salts. Not fun out in the woods tripping balls, nor convulsing because you did too much. Eat it, you die, make a tea from it, maybe die. I'd just leave it, tastes like sh!t anyway.
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