Survival Basics that Help You Stay Safe Outdoors
Bushcraft Campsite - Photo Credit: Kiki Pol
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How relevant are bushcraft skills today? This is a particularly crucial question as hiking and backpacking grow in popularity. Hiking is the second most popular outdoor sport in North America, with 75% of men and 70% of women picking it as their favorite outdoor activity after running. What would you do if you became stranded in Santa Fe National Forest for 14 days? You have limited provisions.
That's where these basic bushcraft skills come in handy.
No matter where your trail, no matter what safety precautions you take, it never hurts to be prepared. As outdoor activities become more popular, so too does the importance of learning bushcraft and survival basics. Whether you’re staying on trail or exploring off the beaten path, be prepared for any survival situation in advance with these 6 basic bushcraft skills.
Makeshift Natural Water Filter - Photo Credit: Jim James
6 Bushcraft Skills for Survival
Prioritize Hydration
You can't last more than three days outdoors without water, so knowing where to find a reliable source of water and how to filter it is and essential bushcraft skill.
When backpacking, it's best to have a water filter and an alternate way to purify water with you, like iodine tablets. But what if you don't have them with you?
You can make an emergency water filtration device by layering rocks, sand, and charcoal dust and letting water run through it. This removes most of the impurities, but you should still boil the water to kill off the bacteria. But to boil water, you need a fire.
Creating fire in the wild is an advanced skill that takes even the most rugged bushcraft experts years to perfect. Without fire to boil off bacteria in natural water sources, you must maximize what you have available.
Make Fire
Hand Drill Fire - Photo Credit: Tim Smith
You need fire to boil water, cook food, scare off predators, smoke bugs away, help you stay warm, signal for help, and even cauterize wounds. Fire is a critical bushcraft skill that increases your chance of survival.
It is no easy feat to build a fire from scratch, but it isn't impossible with grit and the right materials. Gather what you need for your fire and have it together before you begin. This includes the tinder, kindling, and fuel.
Using a hand drill or a bow drill, you can attempt to make a friction fire. First, you build your tinder nest and place it into a notch within your primary piece of fireboard. Carving another small depression adjacent to this notch for airflow, you take your spindle, which should be about 2 feet long, and position this into the depression.
Now start rolling the spindle between your hands while pressing down into your fireboard.
Continue turning the spindle between your hands from the top of the spindle down to generate heat from the friction that creates your ember.
Once the glowing ember is steady, meaning you blow on it and it glows brighter, you must tap the fireboard to drop this ember onto your tinder nest. From there, you gently blow until your tinder bundle catches fire.
Place the kindling atop your tinder bundle and nurture to a comforting blaze. Sounds easy enough right?
Wrong! Even acclaimed bushcrafters still take hours to start a friction fire. That's why it's smart to bring multiple fire sources with you whenever exploring the outdoors. Lighters, matches, flint & tinder...pick your poison. Having both a fire source and a failsafe with you at all times saves you precious time and frustration should you ever become stranded in the wilderness for any reason.
Build a Shelter
Makeshift Lean-To Shelter - Photo Credit: Hugo VK
Exposing your body to extreme elements makes you more vulnerable to life-threatening conditions such as hypothermia or heatstroke.
There are many different shelters designs that keep off the worst of the elements. If you're stranded without a tent, look around and find what natural structures are already nearby.
Are there rocks? Caves? A hollow in the rock? A downed tree? Use it as a natural wall for one side of your shelter. Gather or harvest logs or large branches to lean against your wall and boom! You have a lean-to shelter.
Now fill in the holes in your roof with absorbent moss and you've got yourself a right tidy place to stay. This shelter can help keep you dry, protect you from the cold (or heat!), and put up a comforting barrier between you and wild animals while you rest.
Know Your Edible and Inedible Plants
Edible Plants - Photo Credit: Masterclass (blame them not us)
There are many plants that are safe for consumption in the wild and could save your life in a pinch. Before heading out into an area, take some time to familiarize yourself with the flora of the area. Learn the edibles that abound, and -- perhaps more important -- learn their lookalikes that are actually poisonous. It goes without saying that you shouldn't eat anything that you're not absolutely sure is safe to eat. But you can also learn the telltale signs of poisonous plants like the milky sap, fine hairs or spines, umbrella-shaped flower clusters, and waxy leaves.
Again, never risk eating something that you aren’t 100% sure is safe. According to Healthline, survival time may extend up to 2 to 3 months without food, so as long as you have a reliable source of clean water you can last without food.
Harvesting Pine Sap - Photo Credit: Larrousiney
First Aid Survival Basics and Medicinal Plants
Anyone venturing into the outdoors should know First Aid survival basics like the classic signs of heat exhaustion and hypothermia. But familiarizing yourself with natural first aid remedies that are abundant in the wild can also help you in a pinch.
Afterall, I doubt you purposefully got lost in the woods, so you could live out your own personal season of Alone. You probably got hurt or disoriented and now you have to care for yourself in the wild.
Some common remedies according to Natural News include pine sap which is a natural antiseptic that can be used to disinfect cuts because of its antibacterial, astringent and anti-inflammatory properties, and butterbur or stinging nettles that can prevent allergy symptoms from getting worse.
Again, be sure you know exactly which medicinal plant you're looking for. Applying the wrong plant product in the wrong manner can make your life even more miserable!
Ants! Aaaaaaaants! - Photo Credit: Porinimm Athithawatthee
Be Cautious of Insects
Insects can cause widespread discomfort when you're outdoors. You know how hard it is to sleep with just one mosquito in your tent. Now think about sleeping out without any mosquito netting.
It's a good thing there are some bushcrafting secrets that help keep the bugs down...
First, keep the fire smokey. Yes, I know smoke is annoying when it gets in your face, and guess what? Mosquitos find it annoying too! So, indulge in a little smoke, and keep the bugs away.
Or, if you're lucky, you may find natural bug repellants like citronella, rosemary, and pawpaw. Smoking citronella or rosemary helps to keep mosquitos away.
Conclusion: Increase Your Chances of Rescue with Bushcraft Skills that Supplement your Survival Basics
There is a subtle difference between bushcraft skills and survival basics. Bushcraft skills help keep you safe wherever you happen to be. Survival basics teach you how to stay alive and get found so that you don't have to stay long.
We went through those pretty quick, but they take time to master. So be patient with yourself as you refine your skills. And enjoy getting outdoors!
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Guest Blogger Rosy Jeffersen is a freelance writer who is passionate about getting out in the world and sharing her experiences with readers. Deeply interested in social and climate issues, she believes that stories must be both informative and empathetic to get a message across.
