The Editors of Outdoor Life - The Ultimate Wilderness Survival Handbook: 172 Ultimate Tips and Tricks

THE EDITORS of Outdoor Life

INTO THE WILDAND OUT AGAIN.

These days, its all too easy to think that survival skills are a lost and useless artas practical as knowing how to plow with an ox. The reality is that modern life puts the unprepared in precarious situations. And perversely, just when we really need to know how to signal with smoke or build a fire in the rainwhen we wander too far in the woods, lose our way, break down, fall down, or go down the wrong trailthe skills necessary to dig our way out of the hole have all but eroded away. Those are the problems this book addresses. When you have to survive for an hour or a long cold night or longer, you can. Lucky is the man who can spark flame and sleep soundly on a fire bed, ready for the long hike home in the morning.

Since its founding in 1898, Outdoor Life magazine has provided survival tips, wilderness skills, gear reports, and other essential information for hands-on outdoor enthusiasts. Each issue delivers the best advice in sportsmanship as well as thrilling true-life tales; detailed gear reviews, insider hunting, shooting, and fishing hints, and much more to nearly 1 million readers. Its survival-themed website also covers disaster preparedness and the skills needed to thrive anywherefrom the backcountry to urban jungles.

Waterbury Publications, Inc. , Des Moines, IA

Creative Director Ken Carlson

Editorial Director Lisa Kingsley

Associate Design Director Doug Samuelson

Associate Editor Tricia Bergman

Production Designer Mindy Samuelson

Copy Editor Peg Smith

Proofreader Gretchen Kauffman

Indexer Kevin Broccoli

Photography courtesy of Shutterstock Images except where otherwise noted: Alamy : 157 Peter Barrot/Digital Studio : 22 Bill Buckley : Table of contents (Elk bull) Eddie Berman : 94 Brad Fenson : 76 Cliff Gardiner and John Keller : 3 (a, c, d, f, k, l), 18, 24 (Cedar bark, tinder fungus), 32 Getty Images : 148 iStockphoto : 37, 104 (Poison oak), 152 Alexander Ivanov : Index (Recurve Knife), 3 (g, j), 9, 24 (duct tape, egg carton and sawdust, cottonballs and petroleum jelly, flare, tube, dryer lint, Spanish moss, birch bark, sagebrush bark, punk wood, cattail fluff) Donald M. Jones : 8 Pippia Morris : 3 (h) Ted Morrison : 124 T. Edward Nickens : 3 (i), closing pages (birds over lake) Pelican Products Inc. : 26 Travis Rathbone : 141 Dan Saelinger : 12, 100 Dusan Smetana : Table of contents (person starting fire), table of contents (man in forest), 46, Lost in the Woods closing image (man in forest)

Illustrations courtesy of Conor Buckley : 1, 2, 21, 30, 48, 61, 68, 77, 85, 90, 93, 98, 106, 122, 128, 131, 135, 137, 140, 143, 144, 145, 151 Liberum Donum : 127, 160 Hayden Foell : 54, 56, 82, 110, 112 Joshua Kemble : 50 Raymond Larrett : 38, 58, 95, 111 Daniel Marsiglio : 10, 41, 43, 84, 115, 126, 142 Robert L. Prince : 19 Jameson Simpson : 34, 39, 71 Jaime Spinello : 27, 29, 72, 102, 116 Mike Sudal : 121 Bryon Thompson : 45, 65, 89, 107, 158 Lauren Towner : 20, 25, 42, 124 Paul Williams : 15, 33 Waterbury Publications , Inc.: Chapter intro icons

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO SURVIVE?

Fire, water, shelter, and food. The essentials are available anywhere, if youve got your wits and a few essential tools. Thanks to floatplanes and helicopters, were going farther and farther into the wilds. When we get there, we rely too heavily on things that go blank when the batteries die. Its what you carry in your head and on your back that will ensure you get back to civilization in one piece. Having a few good survival skills comes in just as handy when you need to whip up a hot trail lunch as when you need to warm your frozen fingers enough to weave a brush raft. So the next time some city slicker chuckles at the dryer lint youre saving for DIY fire starter, just remind yourself: You may never need this stuffuntil you do.

Ever heard of the Ten Essentials? The original list of ten essential outdoor items was drawn up in the 1930s for mountain climbers and outdoor enthusiasts. A Seattle-based group called the Mountaineers designed the list for two reasons. First, it gave people a list of gear to acquire in case of emergency. Second, it provided a support system in the event that someone had to unexpectedly stay outdoors overnight (or longer). The classic ten essentials are a map, compass, sunglasses and sunscreen (counted as one item), extra clothing, flashlight, first-aid supplies, fire starter, matches, knife, and extra food. The group has since updated the list by focusing on systems rather than specific items.

The original list has some useful selections, but jumping forward 80 years, the updated list has two game changers: Hydration and emergency shelter are the two most critical elements of survival (barring any first-aid items needed for injuries). Water and shelter are glaringly absent in the original Ten Essentials, but, thankfully for a new generation of outdoor adventurers, the updated list provides a great framework.

THE UPDATED TEN ESSENTIAL SYSTEMS

Navigation (map and compass)

Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen)

Insulation (extra clothing and outerwear)

Illumination (headlamp or flashlight)

First-aid supplies

Fire (waterproof matches, lighter, and candles)

Repair kit and tools (duct tape, multitool, and other tools)