Infolific » Wilderness Survival

How to Find Surface Water

Chris Needham — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:17:57 +0000

Streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, and springs are likely to be the easiest sources of water for you to find. However, out in the middle of the wilderness, determining the location of these water sources could be time consuming. As such, it's best to become familiar ahead of time with the [...]

Eating Bugs for Survival

Chris Needham — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 01:53:25 +0000

Although the thought may disgust you, eating bugs may mean the difference between life and death in an extended survival situation. Sure, you can go for weeks without food, but you will be weak and have difficulties thinking and staying alert. It would be much better to set aside your [...]

Distilling Water in the Wilderness

Chris Needham — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:01:15 +0000

There is no purer or safer water than water that has been distilled i.e. condensed from evaporation. And if you're in an environment where the sun shines brightly enough to warm the surroundings, creating a water still is a great way to take cover of one your greatest survival needs. [...]

Surviving a Fall Through Ice

Chris Needham — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:11:18 +0000

Whether you're snowmobiling across a frozen lake, skating on a pond that is now an ice rink, or simply crossing some snow-covered body of water to get to the other side, you run the risk of falling through the ice. This remains true even if you think the temperature has [...]

Tarantula Bites

Chris Needham — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:37:51 +0000

Despite what you've seen in the movies, tarantulas are not inherently aggressive and are more likely to skitter away rather than bite you. Of course, if you pick one up you're asking for trouble. Even better news is that most tarantulas do not deliver fatal bites although some people experience [...]

Mountain Survival

Chris Needham — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:37:20 +0000

This time around Survivorman, Les Stroud, shows us some tactics for surviving 7 days in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia -- home to high winds, snow, and bitter cold temperatures. In addition, the weather can change without notice in the mountains as storms are hidden until they are upon [...]

Desert Survival

Chris Needham — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:12:13 +0000

Deserts are generally thought as being vast, wind-swept tracts of land covered by nothing other than sand. While such deserts do exist, there are also barren, dry salt and rock deserts along with deserts that have enough grasses and shrubs to sustain small numbers of wildlife such as goats. What [...]

Surviving a Tsunami

Chris Needham — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:43:17 +0000

A tsunami is not a tidal wave. They are in no way related to the gravitational forces that influence the tides. Instead, tsunamis are a series of long waves traveling through the ocean. These waves are formed by geological disturbances such as earthquakes, underwater volcanic eruptions, and landslides. They can [...]

Can You Survive By Drinking Sea Water?

Chris Needham — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:45:02 +0000

Can a human survive on drinking sea water? If you were stuck at sea, is eating fish a good alternate? What alternate can you resort to that might keep you alive for several weeks? Entwined answered: The level of salt in sea water, when absorbed into the body, causes water [...]

How to Find Subsurface Water

Chris Needham — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:32:34 +0000

Emergency water sources come form surprising places sometimes. Whether from the ground or from plants, a little work and creativity can yield sufficient water to keep you alive for a long time should the need arise. Here are some alternative tactics to try when the more common water sources aren't [...]

Surviving in Cold Water

Chris Needham — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 11:45:19 +0000

When traveling across the oceans it's easy to forget that the water is likely to be quite cold even when the weather is warm. In fact, water temperatures below 70 degrees can cause hypothermia. Crazy, isn't it? So in a catastrophe where you find yourself floating in the water, your [...]

Tree Based Survival Shelters

Chris Needham — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:00:29 +0000

If someone is going to get lost, it's likely to be in the woods. Not too surprising really since forests are big attractions to hikers and campers. The trees also make it easy to get lost since they restrict visibility and make it difficult to maintain one's bearings. The good [...]

Which Way is North?

Chris Needham — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:02:52 +0000

If you have a compass, getting your bearings is easy. Unfortunately, if you were prepared enough to bring a long a compass, you probably were prepared enough to not get lost. So what do you do when a compass isn't at hand? Well, there several ways to figure out which [...]

Surviving When Lost at Sea

Chris Needham — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:45:35 +0000

You wouldn't normally consider the ocean as wilderness and so a site such as this one that focuses on a wilderness survival tactics might not normally discuss it. But Les Stroud, of Survivorman, did an episode in Costa Rica and simulated the situation of being lost at sea with just [...]

Wilderness Survival Book

Chris Needham — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:18:03 +0000

Gregory Davenport was once a U.S. Air Force Survival Instructor. His training and knowledge make him ideally suited to impart practical wilderness survival techniques to the rest of us. And he does just this in his book, Wilderness Survival. Written in 1997, this book is a little old, but given [...]

Prioritizing and Improvising for Wilderness Survival

Chris Needham — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:47:17 +0000

Prioritizing The five basic elements of survival are personal protection, signaling, sustenance, travel, and health. Recognizing and prioritizing these essentials will help settle many of the fears you may have. The exact order in which they're met will, of course, depend upon the environmental difficulties you're currently dealing with. In [...]

Building a Fire - Basics

Chris Needham — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:21:54 +0000

In a survival situation, being able to build a fire can be one of the most important skills to have. Not only does a fire provide light and warmth, but it allows you to cook food, purify water, and drying clothing. It's also an important signaling mechanism. And finally, a [...]

Be the Next TV Survival Expert

Chris Needham — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 09:16:51 +0000

I received an e-mail from a casting director for the Discovery Channel. I'm posting it here in case any of you are interested in creating the next Discovery Channel hit... I'm a Casting Director for the Discovery Channel and we are looking for its next long running hit series. I [...]

Emergency Water Supplies - Rain, Snow, Ice, and Dew

Chris Needham — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:19:59 +0000

You've undoubtedly heard or read that people can survive for only a few days without water. And so finding a safe source of water becomes a top priority in just about every survival situation where rescue could be days away. Precipitation can often be an excellent source of water requiring [...]

Arctic Survival

Chris Needham — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:58:19 +0000

I'm not a fan of cold weather and the arctic is the last place I'd want to visit. Fortunately, Survivorman, Les Stroud, thinks this is a perfect environment to showcase survival skills tailored to cold climates. His 7-day adventure starts on Baffin Island, well in to the Canadian Arctic -- [...]