This is the first in a series of eleven articles on the
top ten wilderness survival skills, things you should know before
you go into the wilderness – Author’s Note
Every
survival expert has a different list of the top ten wilderness
survival skills
and makes different choices as to which ones are more important than others,
which ones should be number one, two, three, et cetera. I used two criteria to help me build my list
and to decide which skills were the most important.
Criteria
number one is it must be something that you can improve with practice. Things that can be improved with practice are
habits, attitudes, and skills; and all of these could be put on the list! I decided that gear and equipment, since the
actual equipment can’t be improved with practice, should not go on the list. However, a habit of always having a map a
compass, and a survival kit, having a good survival attitude or being able to
start a fire or build a shelter, since these all can be improved with practice,
would most definitely be on the list.
The “Rule of Threes”, graphic by the Author.
The
second criteria, the “Rule of Threes”, is what ranks the various
wilderness survival skills by importance and makes the list into a listing of
priorities.
The Number
One, Top Ten Wilderness Survival Skill: Good Habits
The
number one, top ten wilderness survival skill on my list is, actually, a
collection of good habits. If you are
careful and cultivate these habits so that every time you head out into the
wilderness you have followed them, then if the worst happens and you become “misplaced”,
you are much more likely to be found, and found alive! There are three good habits that you should
always practice of before you journey into the wilderness, make a trip-plan,
always carry the “10 Essentials”, or at least a survival kit, and always
dress for the worst weather you might encounter, in layers.
Make and
Communicate a Trip-Plan or Itinerary
A trip itinerary, from the Washington Trails
Association, HERE.
Just
like a pilot always completes and files a flight plan before taking off, you
should always make a trip-plan or itinerary and give it to someone, a responsible someone, at your home base,
before heading out into the wilderness. The reason for this is the
“72-hour rule”. Most “misplaced”
people, in the United States, are found within 72 hours of being reported
missing. In fact, experts note that 85%
of “misplaced” persons are found alive within 12 hours and 97% are found alive
within the first 24 hours of being reported missing. The key statement is “of being reported
missing”; that is why it is so very important to have a trip plan and to
always tell someone, a
responsible someone at your home base, when you are leaving, the route you are taking,
where you are going, where you plan on camping and when you will be back. And never, never, never, ever change your
plans without first telling this someone.
The more that others know about your planned
path and your departure and arrival times, the less time that you will spend
waiting for rescue in the case of an emergency.
As well as leaving a copy of your trip plan
with a responsible someone at your home base, leave another copy in your car in
the parking lot at the trailhead.
Another thing that is good to leave in your car, is a copy of the
footprints of each member of your party, labeled with a magic mark, and made by
stepping on a piece of aluminum foil. If
you are misplaced and search and rescue must track you, this will help them to
find you.
Aluminum foil
footprints, photograph by the Author.
It is a good habit to
always carry a way to call for help if you need it, and when in doubt call for
help! Carry either a cell phone, a SPOT
device, or a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), and know how to use them.
Always have
the 10 Essentials...
A photograph of the BSA “If You Become Lost” card, by
the Author.
Always
carry the “10 Essentials”, or at the very least, carry a survival kit with you
every time you enter the wilderness.
An
excellent beginning survival kit is the “Minimum Item Survival Kit”,
which consist of a quart sized Ziploc® style freezer bag, to be used to carry
an emergency, high-energy, individually wrapped snack of your choice, a
pea-less whistle, a brightly colored, orange or yellow, bandana, and a signal
mirror (or even an old CD or some aluminum foil wrapped around a 3 inch by 5 inch,
7.5 by 12.5 cm, piece of cardboard). You
should also carry with it, but not in the quart bag, a knit cap, a 16.9 oz. (500
ml) bottle of water and one or two1, orange or clear, 42-gallon, 3.0
mil contractor bags to use for an emergency shelter.
A water bottle, photograph by the Author.
The
items in the “Minimum Item Survival Kit” are designed to be used by children,
who might lack the strength, coordination, or skills, to safely use things like
matches, a lighter or a knife. This kit
can also be used by the elderly and anyone else with a minimum of skills, practice,
and physical ability.
Every
member of your group should, at the very least, carry a “Minimum Item Survival
Kit” and know how to use the items in it.
If you are an adult, you should also always have on you, a knife, and
the means to start a fire (some tinder, a tea-candle, and a lighter or
matches). For more on survival kits read
“A Survival Kit, Your Ace in the Hole ©”, HERE.
On
top of the back-up water bottle in your minimum item survival kit, which is for
emergencies, you should also always carry a Nalgene bottle, or a canteen whenever
you head out into the wilderness, even if only for a day trip. For longer or more intense trips, you need to
carefully plan out your water supply and how you intend to resupply your water,
when you run low. Personally, I prefer
metal water bottles, which I can use to boil water in if I am stuck out and
need to purify drinking water. For more
on purifying your drinking water read “Water Disinfection: When is boiled,
boiled enough…? ©”, HERE.
Some examples of metal water bottles, photograph by
the Author.
Always
Dress for the Worst Weather, in Layers
Before
you head out into the wilderness, plan what layers and clothes you will wear
and need, because your clothes are your first line of defense for temperature
regulation and shelter against the wind, the wet, and the cold. Maintaining your body temperature in the
normal range of 98.6oF (37oC) is your first priority. Your clothes will also protect you from bugs,
the Sun and other physical hazards.
Always dress for the worst weather that you might encounter and plan accordingly
for the expected daytime and night-time temperatures and weather.
An excerpt from Naval Arctic Operations Manual: Part 1 General Information, pages 159.
Dress
in layers, when you adventure in the wilderness, so that you can easily add or
remove clothing, as you or the outdoors becomes warmer or colder. Since you want to avoid sweat soaking your
clothes2. Layers wick away
sweat, adjust insulation, and protect against wind, rain, and snow. There are three layers, and each layer has
its own function. The base layer is the
most important as it is against your skin and keeps you dry, and this layer
should be of wool, synthetics, or silk, since these fabrics transport
perspiration away from your skin and dry fast.
The middle layer, or insulating layer, helps you retain heat by trapping
warmed air close to your body and it should be made of wool, fleece, or goose
down. The outer layer is sometimes also
called the shell layer, and should be a wind and water-resistant or, better
yet, a waterproof layer, to protect you from the rain, the snow, and the wind. This layer is your rain gear and is vital in severe
weather because wind and water can quickly chill you and KILL YOU!
According
to Yana Radenska, a search and rescue volunteer with the Washington Trails
Association, you should also “test” your layers to see if you have
packed or are wearing enough layers and clothes. To test your layers, put on all the clothes
that you planned on taking, from your base layer to your hat and gloves. Now, sit down and wait, because if you were
injured or misplaced overnight, this is what you would do while waiting for
rescue. She noted “Most people are
surprised by how cold they get from simply not moving. Even on a nice summer day you can get chilled
within 10 minutes. Now think about if it
were dark or rainy” 3. If
your layers don’t hold up to the test, and you get chilled, pack some extra
clothes and a waterproof jacket or poncho.
The
extra clothes that the “10 Essentials” refers to, are the additional layers
that you will need to make the long hours of an “unexpected overnighter”
survivable. It is always better to pack
more layers and to be prepared, because in the case of an unexpected
overnighter, those extra clothes will be worth their weight in gold. And don’t worry if you don’t end up wearing
that poncho or sweater, Ms. Radenska continued by saying, “On a normal hike,
you should never put on everything that you’ve packed. If you do, you are not prepared for the worst”. Also, bring a pack to put the clothes you
have removed into, because clothes tied around your waist, or tied on the
outside of your pack, will snag, get lost or get wet.
And
remember no matter what season it is, it is important that you stay dry! During the spring or fall, and even during
the summer, while wet clothes might not freeze, they can still overcool you and
cause hypothermia. And this is why you
should not wear cotton clothes, because cotton clothing, when soaked in dew,
sweat, rain, etc., loses 70% of its insulating value due to conduction and
evaporation. Wet cotton clothing has often
been the cause of frostbite injury, hypothermia, and death and for that reason
it has been called the “Death Cloth”.
Instead of cotton, wear wool or synthetics like polypropylene,
polyester, fleece or Gortex, because wool and polypropylene will still insulate
when wet. For more on clothes, layering
and the outdoors read, “Comfortably Cold, What’s That?©”, HERE.
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “The Top Ten Wilderness
Survival Skills...Number Two ©”, where we will talk about being aware in the
wilderness and exactly what that means for your chances of survival.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
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That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 One
42-gallon, 3.0 mil contractor bag, which is 32 inches (81 cm) wide by 50 inches
(127 cm) high is needed for a small child and two are needed for a large child
or an adult.
2 If you are beginning to overheat, remove your hat or if you are
becoming too cold put on your hat, since heat loss from your bare
head can be up to 33% at 60oF (15oC), up to 50% at 40oF
(4oC) and up to 75% at 5oF (-15oC). Also, besides removing layers, if you are
becoming too warm you can open your
zippers and vents or loosen your clothes by loosening the waist belt of your
outer-most layer. If you are becoming
cold you can close your vents and zippers and tighten your waist belt. Don’t remove your outer most weather-proof
layer, instead remove your middle, insulating layers and then put your
weather-proof layer back on. Whenever, you
stop to rest, put an insulating layer back on, under your weather-proof layer,
and whenever you begin to increase activity, remove one of your insulating
layers.
The Naval Arctic Operations Manual also has some helpful tips,
which are below.
A
hat is essential and, in the winter, spring or fall, or in cold climates, take
a wool or synthetic knit cap or fleece hood or hat, because of heat loss from
your bare head. In the summer, or in hot
climates, take a wide brimmed, waterproof hat to keep the Sun off your head and
face. Also, in cold climates or during the
winter, spring or fall, protect your hands, because cold, numb hands are
useless. If your hands get cold and you
don’t have gloves or mittens, put a spare pair of socks on them or put them
inside your coat or in your pockets.
From
Polar Manual, by Captain Earland E. Hedblom.
3
Washington Trails Association
Sources
Hedblom,
Captain Earland E. MC, USN; Polar Manual,
Fourth Edition, [National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, 1965], p. 37, https://ia800305.us.archive.org/33/items/PolarManual4thEd1965/Polar%20Manual%204th%20ed%20%281965%29.pdf,
accessed 12/07/2019
Navy, Department of the, Naval Arctic
Operations Manual: Part 1 General Information, [Department of the Navy, 1949,
Revised in 1950], p. 157-175,
https://ia600301.us.archive.org/27/items/navalarcticopera00unit/navalarcticopera00unit.pdf, accessed August 28, 2018
Washington Trails
Association, “Help Search and Rescue Help You”, [© 2021 Washington Trails
Association], originally from the Washington Trails magazine, https://www.wta.org/go-outside/trail-smarts/search-and-rescue/help-search-and-rescue-help-you, accessed October 5, 2021
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