Terri Paajanen - A Complete Guide to Surviving in the Wilderness: Everything You Need to Know to Stay Alive and Get Rescued

A Complete Guide to

Surviving in the Wilderness

Everything You Need to Know to Stay Alive and Get Rescued

By Terri Paajanen

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

Dedication

I wouldnt have been able to write this book without Mike Wilson, who shared a great deal of his own wilderness knowledge while I was working on it. And of course, I have to thank my daughter Emily who happily tagged along on so many of our adventures.

I also greatly appreciate the help from those who supplied their own wilderness survival stories that contributed to the content of this book.

Introduction

The idea of being prepared for any type of disaster is not new, but with reality TV shows such as Survivorman and Man vs. Wild bringing the importance of wilderness survival into the public eye and making it glamorous, people are becoming aware of wilderness skills they should have, even in this modern world. It is no longer only crazy mountain folk who can make fire with flint or learn how to eat wild roots. These are skills anyone can master, and even a small kit of gear can help you survive an unexpected problem in the woods.

In the past, it was generally common knowledge how to start up a fire or read a map. Today, our lives have changed, and these skills are no longer commonplace. We travel with GPS units in our cars and rarely have the need to start a fire. Modern technology has made our lives easier, and yet it has also caused us to move away from these basic hands-on type of skills. Unfortunately, technology can fail at any time. Your learned skills, on the other hand, are always ready to use.

There are many potential disaster situations, but the most common ones are covered here, and their respective chapters offer specific gear requirements and skills you will need to survive each particular catastrophe. Overall, the techniques and skills presented should help you survive any possible scenario and be ready for anything. You will be able to make a fire, find water, forage for food, and take the right steps to getting rescued. Seem extreme? The fact is that these basic needs can be at risk in an emergency, and it might be up to you and you alone to provide for the needs of yourself and your family.