When hiking or hunting in the wilderness, it’s easy to run out supplies.
Sometimes the trip takes longer than you predicted. This may pose you to risks of starvation and dehydration.
You will be required to employ some special skills to access basic needs, including food, shelter, and clothing.
In case you run out of supplies in the wilderness, the following survival tips will help you.
- Don’t Panic and Be Optimistic
Anxiety can hinder your thinking capability.
In this situation, you should stay calm and maintain a positive attitude.
Staying focused will help you assess your situation, think straight, and know where to begin.
- Make Shelter
The major cause of death in the wilderness is hypothermia.
Hypothermia occurs when the body loses heat more than it can produce. It is worsened if your clothes are wet.
When it gets cold, you can find or make a shelter. The best way is to find natural shelter. This may be an overhanging cliff or a huge fallen tree.
You can also make a small shelter using sticks, strong branches, and barks of fallen trees.
- Find Clean Water
The next thing you think of after shelter is water. You will start dehydrating a few hours after your last drink.
You should bear in mind that dehydration can be fatal in the wilderness.
Rainwater trapped by tree barks, holes, non-toxic leaves, and waterproof clothes may be safer for drinking
Instead of eating snow to get water, it is advisable to melt it first using fire, or the sun
You can also find water by observing the terrain. For instance; if you move parallel to a mountain or hill you can find water at the lowest level. Certain plants can also indicate the presence of water.
Furthermore, you can collect water from vegetation. This water is formed as dew. You can drink water droplets that fall from these leaves
- Build a Fire
Fire is an essential need when it comes to surviving in the wilderness. It can protect you from animals, keep you warm, and help you roast food and boil water.
You can start a fire without a lighter in many ways. One of them is using spectacles. It involves focusing sun rays on tinder.
You can also start a fire by use of friction. Friction produces enough heat that lights tinder.
It is important to note that the wood and tinder should be as dry as possible to produce fire.
- Obtain Food
With water, shelter, and possibly fire, you can survive barely a week or two. But you need food to provide energy and warmth to your body.
The wilderness is a rich source of food only if you have the skills to harvest it from its source
Make sure you have the ability to differentiate between edible and poisonous berries and herbs.
Berries are a rich source of energy. Other plant sources of food include tree inner barks, nut trees, salad greens, and edible flowers
If you are near a lake, you can access proteins by trapping fish and other water animals. To trap fish, you must learn to make fishing materials manually.
Another great source of food is hunting wild animals. Check the best hunting tips on nativecompass.com.
You can trap and kill small wild animals such as hare, squirrels, and moles. You can learn the routes these animals follow to hunt them with ease.
- Learn How to Send Signals
You might need to send a signal to your people for rescue when you run out of supplies. This may include; using smoke, loud whistles, and screams.
When you are equipped with these skills, you’ll probably survive in any wilderness.
