Tips and Tricks: How to Survive in The Forest

How does one effectively navigate and survive in a forest? In the face of unforeseen challenges and the absence of immediate assistance, it is imperative to possess the requisite skills and knowledge to navigate and endure in the wilderness.

This article delves into key strategies and techniques that can transform an individual into a proficient outdoorsman, capable of thriving in the depths of the forest.

1. Orientation and Navigation:
   • Familiarize oneself with topographic maps and proficiently utilize compasses to accurately determine the location and chart a course.
   • Develop the ability to identify natural landmarks, such as solar position, prominent trees, or the flow of nearby rivers, which can serve as reliable indicators of direction.
   • Leverage modern technology, such as GPS devices or specialized smartphone applications for wilderness navigation.
2. Shelter and Fire:
   • Construction of a suitable shelter is paramount to safeguard oneself from the elements. Mastery of the art of building robust, weather-resistant structures using available resources like branches, leaves, and debris is essential.
   • Acquire proficiency in various fire-starting methods, including the use of flint and steel, friction-based techniques such as bow drilling, or even emergency measures involving battery and steel wool.
   • Gather an ample supply of firewood and learn to maintain a sustainable fire for warmth, cooking, and signaling purposes.
3. Water Sourcing and Purification:
   • Gain familiarity with local water sources, such as streams, lakes, or natural springs, and understand efficient collection methods.
   • Employ purification techniques to ensure potability, such as boiling, utilizing water filters, or employing chemical treatments such as iodine tablets.
   • In dire circumstances, acquire knowledge of extracting moisture from non-potable sources like plants, condensation traps, or even urine distillation as a last resort.
4. Food Procurement:
   • Develop proficiency in identifying edible plants, berries, and nuts that are safe for consumption within the region. Knowledge of local wildlife and their edible components is also advantageous.
   • Hone primitive hunting and trapping skills to capture small game, fish, or birds using appropriate tools and techniques.
   • Exercise caution and adhere to local regulations governing hunting and gathering to ensure environmental sustainability.
5. First Aid and Survival Kits:
   • Assemble a well-equipped survival kit comprising essential items such as a first aid kit, a knife, a flashlight, matches, and a signaling device.
   • Seek basic first aid training to address common injuries, treat wounds, and provide interim relief until professional medical assistance is available.
   • Prioritize self-care by understanding preventive measures and treatments for ailments related to exposure, dehydration, and encounters with wildlife.

Remember, survival in the forest necessitates a combination of physical preparedness, mental resilience, and practical skills. While these guidelines provide a foundational understanding of wilderness survival, continual learning, practical application, and reverence for nature are vital components to enhance one’s ability to endure and conquer the challenges that may arise in the unforgiving depths of the forest.

Find your direction without a compass: How to Survive in The Forest

Three effective methods to find his direction without a compass:

1. The sun

The sun rises in the east, points south when it is overhead and sets in the west. In the morning, if you head towards the sun, your direction is and will be your shadow will point to the west. Conversely in the afternoon. If you have an analog watch, the hands can also help you find the cardinal points. Hold the shows flat, pointing the hour hand towards the sun. The South is midway between the needle and the number 12 on the dial.

2. The North Star

In the northern hemisphere, this star always points north. To find in the sky, locate the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper, two constellation-shaped pans. The North Star is at the end of the handle of the pan of the Little Dipper.

3. The moon

If the crescent moon rises before the sun, its light side faces west. If it appears after midnight, the bright side is facing east. Also, good to know: the full moon at midnight is south and north to south, or vice versa in the new moon (unlit).

Warning: the trick that the foam of the trees pushes only the north side does not always hold, because it can push around, for several varieties of trees.

Calculate the time before sunset

Lost in nature, it may be more prudent not to run headlong into a long march to civilization while the night is about to fall. A simple method is to calculate the time remaining before the night: Place both hands except the thumbs, between the horizon and the sun line. Then simply count how many fingers are between them. A hand is one hour, 15 minutes a finger. If you have less than two hours before sunset, it’s time to start building a shelter for the night.

A survival shelter for the night

Site selection is important: flat, with little or no roots (think of your back!) In height and well drained to prevent the accumulation of water when it rains. Similarly, although reassuring, settling near a river can be dangerous in case of flash floods. The construction of the shelter survival depends largely on the energy and time you have, but it is easily possible to build a nest (relatively) cozy for one night. Use all-natural items you can find, they serve as building materials in your “cottage” savage cut trees, branches, foliage … The evergreen branches will be perfect to form a fairly thick insulating blanket. The orientation of the shelter is also important: To avoid drafts, the entry must be the opposite of the prevailing wind. If you do not have a sleeping bag, stack leaves, pine needles, and foam to trap your body heat. In steeper areas, overhanging rocks make good shelters effortlessly. Flee the caves: they can be inhabited by animals. They are also poorly ventilated and the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning produced by the fire is high. In winter, in the snowy forests, your salvation will come for the night by digging a hole in the ground under the branches of conifers, then covering branches of the background, the snowy wall, and the roof.

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Make vegetable fiber rope

It’s a valuable tool for building shelter. The most common method for making a plant cord is braiding the fibers together, in the same way as for the hair. This makes a sturdy rope. Other techniques exist and make more flexible the rope, but they require some skill and some skills in handling strings. But which plants to choose? There are hundreds of plants whose fibers may be used. Each North American region has its specific species historically used by indigenous cultures. However, some vegetables are abundant as cedar bark, basswood bark, dogbane (better known under the name “flycatcher”) or yucca. More generally, the best sources of natural fibers are dead plants. Finally, less natural, but equally effective, the plastic bag solution, unfortunately, is present everywhere on the globe, which once shredded along in the direction of the polymer can be an excellent rope.

Light a fire

For thousands of years, man has made a fire in dispensing with lighters, gas cylinders, or other modern tools, simply by rubbing two sticks together. But it is a difficult method. Other techniques are less expensive energy. The best is to ignite a fuel due to friction between a very hard stone and a knife. The dry grass, birch bark, and tinder on the bark of conifers are excellent fuel to start the fire. By striking stone, sparks fly and embrace the twigs. When the fire begins to smolder, the stoke-blowing, then gradually add the fuel.

Another technique, that of the working arc, is to use a shoelace, a string, or a strap that is fixed to a curved branch, and then wind around it a soft wood rod and dry rotate on a hard, dry wooden board. The result is a fine black powder flammable.

Once lit, the fire will not wait for you, you have to feed it. Think you make a substantial reserve of dry wood before you start. Once the fire flames properly, you can provide with bigger fuel, logs or large logs.

Survive a wildfire

This is where all the fire paradox which is both a source of warmth, and comfort, but also an eminently serious danger, especially in the forest. If you light a fire, never leave it unattended. Always have a way to turn it off, like water or sand. If a fire breaks out nearby, do not even try to run away in the opposite direction, because you can never outrun. Wrap a damp cloth around your face and protect your camp-burning fifty square meters of brush to create a safety zone.

If you feel the adventurous mood and nerves are strong enough, you can try to go over the wall of flames, but only if it does not exceed four feet high. Otherwise, lie face against the ground, covering your body with a damp cloth, if not synthetic possible.

Purify contaminated water

Purifying contaminated water is a decisive element of survival. Finding water should be the major concern of one who wants to survive in hostile environments. In Quebec, finding water does not pose (too) issues, but having access to clean water can still be problematic and cause vomiting and diarrhea. One of the best ways to purify water is to boil it. Another way is to manufacture a carbon filter. Coal is an excellent filter medium, easy to make, even if it is not 100% effective. In a container funnel, put layer after layer of a piece of cloth as a filter, crushed coal, sand, gravel, and big rock. Collect these two methods have complete drinking water.

Protection from lightning

Every year lightning made ten victims in Canada and injures 100 to 150 people, according to Environment Canada figures. The first thing to do when a storm is to determine the distance where the lightning struck. You are in the danger zone if the time interval between lightning and thunder does not exceed six seconds. It is essential to know what to do and not do if a geographically dangerous storm.

What to do: If you are in the open, adopt “the position of the lightning”; crouching, leaning forward, hands on knees, ideally on an insulating material (wax, plastic …). If you are in the forest, avoid touching trunks. If you are in a boat, crouch down to the maximum at the bottom of the boat and try to reach the shore. A recent study by the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) showed that hilly terrain is the safest to deal with a storm. Search for shelter in a valley, ditch, or depression. Take care, however, of floods and flash floods.

Don’ts: Avoid the high ground. Do not shelter under a tree, as if lightning strikes the tree, electricity can move to the ground and cause a powerful shock. Do not lie down, do not take refuge in your tent or in a small building. Dispose of (temporarily) your metal objects and your electronics. They do not attract lightning but aggravate his injury causing burns.

If dislocated or broken leg

The one and only solution to continue its journey with a sore knee is to make a splint walk. Roll into two tubes your sleeping pad, then place your knee between these tubes covering only the back of the leg. Place a hard object behind the knee to keep the leg slightly bent. Firmly attach all with one or more straps to keep the splint correctly.

Fight against hypothermia

Generally, the first idea that comes to mind when one is hardened, it is to light a fire. A method to dry effectively, but is against-productive to face hypothermia. Start a fire request of many efforts and often takes time. Right out of the water, the goal is to avoid as much heat loss. So, you immediately change into dry clothes, or if you cannot remove the maximum water from your clothes wring them. Do some light exercise, and drink warm, sweet drinks to boost your metabolism and add calories. If hypothermia is more severe, wrap yourself in a tarp and sleeping bag to quickly raise your body temperature.