Learn Top Survival Techniques About Wilderness Travel

By Author: Peter Dkpori
Total Articles: 6
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Most wilderness travel escapes do go perfectly well, your flight is on time, your guide meets you at the airport, and you sleep under the stars with plenty of food and drink. There is a darker side that adventure travellers should be aware of and, in this guide we hope you remember just a few pieces of information that could help one day to save you from starving, thirst, disease or even death. If your backpack does go missing or you get separated from your tour group, don’t panic! These steps will help bring out the bushman in all of you.

Step one - Control your emotions

For most people the first reaction in an emergency situation is to panic. If you do become stranded in the wilderness you will have to quickly learn that the situation you are presented with is real, but try and maintain a positive manner that will help you deal with your predicament. Don’t kid yourself, anticipate your situation being hard and long, get your thoughts turned to being in your surroundings for some time, get used to it and deal with it. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Step two - STOP

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... When the heart is racing and adrenalin pumping, it’s easy to loose track of what is important and what is not. Spending a day building a device so you have clean drinking water is not much use if you’re in the rain forest, where water is plentiful. Survival experts have been teaching travellers the technique of S.T.O.P for years, Stop, Think, Observe and Plan. So stop, clear your mind and think about tasks in order of importance and don’t put too much pressure on the less important jobs at hand. Observe your surroundings to help you plan your tasks, and if you’re in a safe spot with water and food at hand, be happy.

Step three – Know where to get clean water

Finding clean, drinkable water in wilderness travel situations is very important. Do not underestimate the importance of water in a survival situation. The human body can function for weeks with very little or no food but, without water you will quickly become ill and die. Depending on your location water can be sourced from many locations, apart from the desert. Most survival experts recommend you boil any water you find first to kill any bacteria, but this will depend on if you have a fire and pot to hand. You can find other ways to clean water by using items of your own clothing to act as a filter, old netting you find or stones. The option to collect rainwater, if it’s available, is great but be sure to stock up, as it may not rain again for days.

Step four - Make a shelter

Now you have water try and erect some form of shelter to protect you from the outside elements. Use rocks, caves and trees to your advantage, place old sticks and soft branches on the floor to act as a ground sheet.

A lean-to is a simple shelter that consists of branches or wood placed against the side of a large rock or tree.

Step five - Find food

If your stay in the wilderness has passed a few days you will be desperate for some nourishment. If you are lucky you may have already located some berries or plant life you recognise, but man can’t survive on these alone and you will need to locate another food source, protein. Other animal offerings can help you survive in the toughest situations but remember what dangers steeling from other predators can bring. However, if you do find eggs in a nest, remains of other dead animals killed by wolves or birds then fair game. Protein is essential for you to keep strong, and you will quickly find out your gag reflex tolerance from some of these raw delights. Once you get experienced learn how to create simple animal traps with wood and holes covered in thin branches.

Step six – Learn how to start a fire without matches

Fire provides warmth, light, protection from animals and insects, and aids as a rescue signal. When you’re in a survival situation, don’t count on matches. Even if you have them, windy and wet situations will render them virtually useless. Thus, it’s essential that a man know how to start a fire without matches.

The fire-plow is a friction method of ignition and been used for centuries. Literally, rubbing a hardwood shaft against a softer wood base pushes out small particles of wood fibers. As you apply more pressure on each stroke, the friction heat intensifies and ignites.

Another technique is the direct spark method. It’s the easiest of the primitive methods if you have a flint or other hard, sharp-edged rock and carbon steel available (stainless steel will not produce a good spark). This method requires a loose-jointed wrist and practice. When a spark has caught in the tinder, blow on it. The spark will spread and burst into flames.

Step seven - HELP

Now you are safely set up, your thoughts need to turn to getting out of the situation. Signalling for help can either be achieved by using a mirror against the suns rays, spelling out HELP in large 4 meter tall letters, so pilots can see them from the air, using wood, rocks, old junk, anything you can find.

This survival guide can only teach you how to prepare for any failures that may happen during wilderness travel excursions, but let’s hope you never have to use them.

Need of hour is to find an honest and reliable travel company to fulfill your all requirements about wilderness travel and make you happy.