When Survival Items are Not Available

[BrigerSeal]

Guy, I just wanna ask, what if you get lost in the forest with nothing in you to use to survive? I mean, if the survival items are not available, what is the best alternative for it?
I am referring to the primitive ways to survive. Can anyone give me ideas? Thanks..:::

[wildWoman]

I'd try to stay warm, dry, hydrated and put. Since I always leave my itinerary with my partner, I'd be bailed out within a couple hours to a couple days.

[billy]

If staying put isn't possible then you could try and move to high ground. Then find a road or river. Roads and Rivers will lead you to civilization

[1stimestar]

Up here if you get lost in the woods with nothing on you, you better hope you left your itinerary with someone. Getting lost can easily become permanent.

[billy]

What is this Itinerary I keep hearing about. Is it just your route?

[Rick]

Billy - Welcome to the forum and thank you for your service. A trip plan is a document that you leave with someone responsible. It lists, among other things, your expected time of return as well as your location. If something happens to you while out and you were to arrive home at, say, 6:00 p.m. and you don't then the responsible person has all the information they need to relay to SAR. It's the difference between being rescued in a few hours vs. a few days. Sometimes folks don't know there is a problem until you don't show up for work on Monday. Not good. Here's a copy of a plan that's about the best I've ever seen and one I use on every outing.

http://www.adventuresmart.ca/downloads/TripPlan.pdf

[Graf]

Thats when your knowledge kicks in. You need to learn the basics and practice them. Water should be the priority how to find and purfiy it. Fire from scratch. Shelters from scratch. Traps, snares, hunting weapons from scratch. There is no substitute for knowledge and practice your life could depend on it someday.

[crashdive123]

Guy, I just wanna ask, what if you get lost in the forest with nothing in you to use to survive? I mean, if the survival items are not available, what is the best alternative for it?
I am referring to the primitive ways to survive. Can anyone give me ideas? Thanks..:::

I gotta ask - since you are going to an area of wilderness that you are unfamiliar with, why are you going unprepared? If your intent was to rely only on primitive skill, then your question indicates that the individual went unprepared. If I am missing something and you want to create a scenario that will yield the answers you are seeking - try and make it a little more realistic. Here's a tool that may help. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...rio-Check-List

[Sarge47]

Well, you see, I follow the Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared" religiously. That means that I NEVER go out into the wild without the proper gear. However, if I felt that I needed training in primitive methods then I would find the resources needed to learn those skills and start practicing them.

[hunter63]

Guy, I just wanna ask, what if you get lost in the forest with nothing in you to use to survive? I mean, if the survival items are not available, what is the best alternative for it?
I am referring to the primitive ways to survive. Can anyone give me ideas? Thanks..:::

I gonna go out on a limb here and try to rephrase that question.
Do you mean you have found your self in the wild, (plug in kind of wild here) thru no fault of yours,....plane crash, vehicle crash/destroyed, canoe /boat accident, riding with an unprepared friend, running from a natural disaster.....?

You wouldn't get up in the morning, just walk of of your house naked and expect to make it thru the day in most locations, so you have to meet your basic needs..... just to get thru the day...in your house (make your list here..........Now think of what you would need to get by in the rest of the world......and start working on it.

This is when all the prep work you do, or need to start doing, to satisfy your needs at the time.
Shelter, fire, water, food..... rescue

That is kinda what this site is all about........procuring knowledge and gear so as to NOT find your self in that situation where you have nothing or don't know how.

[Sourdough]

DON'T get lost is my rule.

[natertot]

Good luck with that.

[SARKY]

I just don't see how anyone could wind up in the wild without anything useable as survival gear..... unless you were abducted (by aliens?) striped naked and left who knows where.

[hunter63]

Yeah well, you know what happened to Gillian, The Skipper, Professor.....and the rest.......Gingivitis (they all started getting long red hair and freckles)

I like to think I could get by with very little, .......and work toward that goal, personally.

Will I ever have to?, I certainly hope not.....but.........

[kyratshooter]

Hey, at least he is not running off to the woods to escape reality!

He is simply contemplating getting lost there with no connection to reality.

Being prepared is either something one concentrates on or it is something one does as a normal course of life. It is often difficult for those here to realize there are people that walk out of their home with no skills, no knowledge and no equipment, but they do so every day.

I wake up and put on my pants. In the left pocket goes my Case pen knife, in the right pocket goes my Gerber linerlock. My money goes in my right pocet and is in a clip which is also a utility knife. My wallet holds a survival card and a knife hone card.

My belt contains more than 90 feet of 550 cord, an exacto knife blade sewn in the leather tab and a welded stainless steel buckle.

I put on my shoes; the laces give me 6 feet of cordage instantly and if I am in my hiking boots the laces are 10 feet of 550 cord.

I grab my keys to leave the house. I have a swiss Army knife, whistle, ferro-rod and tinder as well as a compass on my keychain. I also have a split ring on the keys and the keys themselves. I also have my cell phone which gives me instant and widespread communication as well as a battery which can be used for a number of alternate purposes.

The same bowl that holds keys and phone is the home of my CCW pistol, it goes in the right front pocket.

All that is the gear I have on me before I walk out of the house daily. The goal is as Hunter said, never to wander through life with no gear worrying about what to do if an emergency occurrs.

If I get to the truck we start a new civilization, and I do not have the best equipped truck on the forum!

Being in the woods with empty pockets is a foreign concept to everyone that has been on this site for any length of time.

[BENESSE]

Maybe he's counting on getting lucky...you know, since luck trumps skill and preparedness every time.

[kyratshooter]

That is the state of most of our society today Ms. B.

Walking around with empty pockets, although something I have never been accussed of, is not a shock to me.

My father, God rest his soul, was one of these people. He never carried a pocket knife or any other device that was of any normal use. Not even money! And that was not because he had credit cards, they were not common back then. The man was actually too cheap to buy lunch!

I have seen him fight a well taped package for an eternity and finally give up and set it aside due to lack of pocket knife, nail clippers or even blunt tipped scissors. It would never even cross his mind to ask to borrow my pocket knife or ask me to open the parcel.

He was one of those helpless intelectuals with a list of degrees and no concept of reality. He could set up a chemistry rescearch project that filled half a basketball stadium and knew every purpose for every inch of the equipment but could not turn on the kitchen stove. I have seen him sit and eat cold food for lack of knowing how to operate the microwave.

We can probably chalk up my compulsive preperations and proximity to all kinds of gear to rebellion against my upbringing.

[Rick]

I went and put some stuff in my pockets so I can be one of them pre pared boys. I got a washer, a ten penny nail, two cough drops (cherry flavored), a used staple and a broken ink pen. I'm off to the wilderness to test my survival skills. Either that or run to the post office for a bit.

[wildWoman]

I just don't see how anyone could wind up in the wild without anything useable as survival gear..... unless you were abducted (by aliens?) striped naked and left who knows where.

People have managed to get lost when going for a pee in the bushes at night.
And if a person doesn't have a survival kit tethered to themselves at absolutely all times bar none, I can think of a few more situations - a bear tearing into your tent and gear, swamping your boat, going through the ice, crashing with a plane, getting chased around by rutting moose or elk ... it's just a matter of getting seperated from your gear.

[Rick]

And that whole thing with aliens and being naked....I'd just as soon not talk about it.