Surviving in the Natural World

If you listen to many of the shows on television, certain "survival experts" would have you believe survival entails hunkering down under a tree in the forest, fighting everything mother nature throws at you, and making it through. It is all about going toe to toe with the old girl, and beating her at her own game. You can watch British ex military operatives rush through terrain, making snap decisions, and at times quite literally jumping off cliffs into the abyss. This theatrical approach only works when you have a camera crew and medical team with you, or at the very least, within close proximity. In a survival situation, haste kills. It is important to slow down, take stock of your situation and your surroundings, and formulate a plan to keep yourself safe until you get back home.

My idea of survival is a little bit different. I like to think survival is simply being able to live comfortably in the wild. I am not talking about having your recliner and satellite television under a pine tree, but with some basic knowledge and a little planning, you can thrive in a "survival" situation. I practice long term survival. Our ancestors did it, I see no reason we cannot as well. Unlike many self proclaimed "survival experts" I do not see nature as a malevolent force hell bent upon our destruction. Nature is not sentient. It has no knowledge of us, and as such, it does not throw trouble our way. Nature simply is. We cannot beat nature. It may not make for good television, but simply put, survival is finding a way to adapt our behavior to thrive in any conditions in which we find ourselves.

The most important tools in your survival kit are your Intellect and your willpower. I have seen it time and again; a person can have all the latest survival do-dads, but without the proper mind set, that "will to survive", they will not make it. They failed before they even began.

I developed the acronym A.D.A.P.T. to describe my survival philosophy.

• Assess your situation.
• Develop a plan.
• Adjust your thinking.
• Prepare for alternatives.
• Thrive.

Assess

In a survival situation, it is extremely important to stop and assess your situation. You need to ask yourself a few important questions. Am I hurt? Am I in immediate danger? What items do I have with me? What items are in my immediate surroundings? When facing a survival situation, spending a few moments taking stock of your situation is perhaps the most important thing you can do. When scared, people will often panic, and become disoriented. This can quite literally be a death sentence. When presented with an adverse situation, it is wise to find a safe place to sit down, and calm yourself. You must remember that the decisions you make will have a profound impact, either positive or negative, upon your immediate future.

Develop

In a survival situation once you know what you have to work with, you must come up with a plan to satisfy your immediate basic needs. This plan must cover things like finding or building shelter, obtaining fire, water, and food. It must also include security. In most areas, humans are not at the top of the food chain. How will you protect yourself from animals and insects hell bent on making a meal of you? How will you signal for rescue? If rescue does not come, what are your options for self rescue?

Adjust

In a survival situation one must adjust their way of thinking. You will more than likely have to do things, or eat things, that seem foreign to you. Flexibility is the mainstay of survival. The ability to roll with any situation can help you make it home alive. Even after developing the perfect survival plan, if your situation changes, you must be willing to throw out all or part of said plan. If you face a setback, the ability to adjust, coupled with a positive attitude will keep you from losing it.

Prepare

Even with a great plan, and the willingness to adjust, you must also have built in contingencies. In the event of extraordinary rains, what will you do? How will you maintain a fire. What if it snows? How will you signal for rescue? If rescue does not happen, how can you self rescue? What if you are hurt in some manner? While contingency plans cannot account for all eventualities, they can give you a good start at protecting yourself from most of them. They can also make it easier to adjust to changing situations.

Thrive

I do not believe in simply surviving a situation. Proper planning and implementation will allow you to meet your basic needs in a survival situation. If however you constantly work to improve your situation, you can actually thrive. Once you find and purify water for your immediate needs, try working on a means to collect and store a constant supply of potable water. Building an array of snares, deadfalls, and fish traps, can provide a steady supply of calories which will provide you the time and energy to improve your living conditions. A great shelter with a nice hearth, along with plenty of clean water, and a steady supply of food, will definitely allow you to thrive in any setting. The most important thing to remember is that in order to truly thrive in the wilderness, just like back in your real life, you should always work to improve your situation.

While I have presented these survival steps in what I feel to be the best order, the first thing you must understand is that everything is subject to change. You must be willing to ADAPT your actions as your situation changes.

Shelter is the most important survival need. Do not plan on lucking into an abandoned cabin nestled comfortably into a forgotten wooded glen. There are however, numerous naturally occurring shelters one can make use of; caves and some old mine shafts can serve the survivalist well. There are some inherent dangers that must be weighed, but there are also some undeniable benefits. They are usually a constant temperature year round. They are also easily defended; you can build a fire to the front of the opening to ward off wild animals. If caves, outcroppings, or mine shafts are not available, one can also shelter under the stump of a large uprooted tree. If there is not an "under" to the uprooted tree, but rather a "by", you can easily lean branches against the open side of the root ball, and cover these with leaves, ferns, and or evergreen boughs to create a warm, cozy, and dry, little shelter. If you carry a 12' x 12' tarp, you can quickly build a number of different shelters that will keep you warm and dry... (Learn More)

Never underestimate the importance of fire. In a survival situation, fire is NEVER guaranteed. When it is raining and the wind is blowing, fire can be extremely difficult to make. Under the correct conditions friction fires can be made quite easily. Ferrocerium and or magnesium rods make things easier. A lighter or matches makes it easier still. You can also make fire by crossing the terminals on your car battery, and using the resulting sparks to ignite tinder. If you wear glasses, you can focus the sun's rays onto your tinder bundle, and get fire. The ways for you to schieve fire are only limited by your imagination, and perhaps physics... (Learn More)

Water is just as important as shelter. If there is one hard fast rule which governs all mankind it is the fact that we must have water. It is much more important than food. A person can live 4 weeks without eating, but will die a horrible death after 3-5 days without water... (Learn More)

While afield, we can operate in the safest manner possible and still suffer an injury. It is important to be able to treat things such as cuts, scrapes, reactions to bites and stings, slips, trips, sprains, and strains. There are myriad first-aid requirements, and just as many firts-aid kits on the market. However... (Learn More)

Calories can be found in unexpected places. It is important to understand that regardless of the amount of food you have available, in a survival situation you should never eat until you have a good source of water. The act of digesting food requires water. If you are not getting enough water, eating will speed dehydration... (Learn More)

Unless you are sure someone will come looking for you, it may fall upon you to get yourself out. With a few basic techniques and some instruction in basic navigation, you can make it out alive... (Learn More)

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, oh my. Books and movies color our world view. While this can be a good thing, it can, just as often, be bad. That line from a popular movie would have us believe those are the things with which we must be concerned when in the forest. While some animals can pose a minimal threat, all too often the greatest threats come from things you might not first think about. Situational awareness is extremely important... (Learn More)