Survival Information

When getting ready for an epic outdoor adventure, it is easy to disregard the first-aid kit. We know testing your GoPro is more exciting than bandages and ointment, but it will not save your life in the wild. Take the time to put together a kit with everything you might need, and you will be all set for safe travels no matter where the open road takes you. Just start with the basics and add to it depending on your adventure.

The Basics
The foundation of every first-aid kit starts with these essentials:

Preparing for a mountain camping trip, even in summer, requires careful consideration. Afternoon squalls are common in the Rocky Mountains as well as in the Sierra Nevada, and can bring rain, hail, sleet, high winds and snow even in the middle of July or August. Temperatures can roller-coaster 50 degrees or more during the course of a day, and altitude sickness affects some people even below 5,000 feet. Whether you’re car camping or backpacking, thinking ahead and preparing for all eventualities is essential. Here are some tips.

You can be thrown into a survival situation when you least expect it. And because it is impossible to know when you might experience such a thing, it is vital you prepare before you set out on your woodlands adventure.

Here are three common survival tips every outdoor enthusiast should know:

Building a Signal Fire
If you get lost on a hike or encounter bad weather that leaves you stranded, stay calm, assess your surroundings and start a signal fire. It takes a few basic fire-starting skills.

When temperatures rise outside, so do the number of people enjoying the outdoors. But the beauty of nature can also bring harm.

While it seems like dressing in layers for cold weather is a simple process, each year people ask the same questions. Do I really lose more heat from my head? How exactly does wind chill affect me? We answered six of the most common questions about base layers to make sure that you aren't left out in the cold this winter.

by J. Wayne Fears:   Before we get started on survival hunting tactics, there’s something you need to know. In all of North America, if you get lost in the woods—by whatever happenstance—it’s nearly a certainty you will be rescued within 72 hours of authorities being notified. In the Lower 48, cut that to 24 hours or less.

It happened so quickly. The sudden plunge took your breath away. You lost your footing in the trout stream, ventured over a section of thin ice, or leaned out a little too far to snag the last duck decoy.

“The Bloodletting on the Bloodvein.” That’s what my Canadian wilderness adventure pals dubbed our fishing and paddling excursion along the Bloodvein River in Ontario and Manitoba. We’d anticipated pleasurable days of gliding the river while fishing for lunch or dinner.

You’re ready to improve your outdoor survival skills. A quick Google search brings up dozens of survival school options in the United States. But how do you evaluate a school or course and choose one of the best?

A knife is widely regarded as the single most important survival tool for those who venture into the wilderness. It can obviously cut things — an important task in the woods — but with a little know-how, can be applied to many jobs and take the places of other heavier or not available tools.