Surviving when lost is a very fundamental skill that harkens back to the days when we were wild animals hunting our prey on the African Savannah. It’s practically what we were actually built to do and yet most of us have become so dependent on technology and thee luxuries of today that we wouldn’t stand a chance spending a day and night in the wilderness. Not only is this a shame for our own sense of honour - that we’re domesticated to the point of being unable to survive on our own like a poodle in a pack of wolves - but also because sometimes you’re going to need to be able to survive out there. And apart from anything else it impresses people when you survival techniques…

When lost the first and most important thing you need to do is to get your bearings. The idea is to be slowly be heading towards civilisation and if you walk for hours in the wrong direction then that will be pretty depressing - the most important survival techniques then revolve around getting your bearing. The best way to get a view point then is to get to some high ground which can mean either climbing a tree or a mountain to get a view over your surroundings, and this way you can get an idea of which way to head. Otherwise you can use the position of the sun and stars to decide whether you need to head North, South, East or West - though this method will only work if you already have some idea of where you are. Remember that the brightest sky in the sky, aptly named the North star, faces North and that the Sun rises in the West and sets in the East. Finally, failing both these methods of deciding on a direction, you can always follow a river in the direction it’s flowing as all rivers flow towards the sea and most beaches have people living around them. In some cases the river will dwindle out and in others it will meat a lake or pond, but if you can find where it continues you can carry on and if not hopefully you will be nearer to population than you were previously. If there’s a road then that’s obviously even better to follow as that will certainly lead to other people and there’s also a chance you might be able to get help if someone sees you passing by.

Now you’re on your way it’s then simply a matter of heading towards your destination as efficiently as possible. If salvation is near then you can go hungry for a while and avoid eating or drinking anything dodgy/unusual, but otherwise you’re going to have to start looking for things to eat and drink - and potentially a safe place to sleep for the night. Knowing how to build a fire is an important skill for any of these purposes and will keep you warm while you sleep (when your body temperature drops) and will stave off predators which may be an issue depending on where you are lost. Furthermore though it can be used to cook your food so killing any diseases meat might be carrying and to boil water and that’s where the most well known of fire techniques - making fire from scratch - comes in handy.

Making a fire is a tricky process, but if you can find wood and flammable materials such as ferns then it’s simply a matter of technique and patience. The method we’re going to describe here is called the ‘drill’ method (possibly the method first used by early man) and it requires both a flat board and a thin stick used to generate friction. For a flat board you can use a flat piece of bark or wood and for the stick any thick and mostly straight branch or large twig should do the job. The best woods to use are walnut, cedar, juniper, willow or cypress and the main aim is to create a spark so make sure both of these items are completely dry, and if they aren’t try drying them with your clothes or in the sun.

Now build yourself a pile of flammable materials, dry leaves, dry grass, dry twigs and dry ferns and heather. Don’t make it too big as you can start adding things once you’ve got it burning. Now place your board on top of the pile and create a ‘dent’ or nick in the side for the bottom of your stick to slot into. Hold the board in place with your foot and make sure the twig stays firmly pressed against it as that’s what’s going to generate the friction. Now take the stick between the palms of your hands and spin it by moving them in opposite directions and back. Do this as quickly and as powerfully as you possibly can and then keep it up for as long as you can. This takes time and diligence but eventually a spark should catch onto the flammable parts of your pile and catch alight at which point you will have made fire. If the sparks simply become glowing embers then try blowing on them to give it the oxygen it needs. Once you’ve done this you’ve mastered one of the most basic survival techniques there are - this was what originally separated man from beast.

If you’re sleeping here then make sure the fire has enough fuel and set up camp nearby in order to get some of the heat. If there’s a strong chance of rain then you will want to build yourself some form of shelter which can be done by leaning branches against a tree (fallen trees are even more well suited to this) and can use stones or flat branches to hold them in place. If you then lie leaves or a blanket over the top it can provide even more shelter. Failing this however, getting inside a nearby bush can be a great way to provide some natural shelter though prepare for a very uncomfortable night’s sleep. Building a shelter is another fun but crucial of the main survival techniques. If there are more than one of you then you should sleep close as you will benefit from each other’s body heat.

The other use for a fire is to cook food and this might well become an issue if you’re walking for a long time. While it is possible to eat certain mushrooms and insects, this should be left to the experts who have studied survival techniques for years as one wrong move can be fatal. Instead it’s best to stick only to foods you recognise. This will mean fruit from trees such as apples if you’re luck enough to find them and maybe blackberries. Believe it or not you can also actually eat stinging nettles and these are fortunately fairly common to come by - they don’t taste great but beggars can‘t be choosers. At some point though you’re going to have to find something more substantial and that will be meat - apologies if you’re a vegetarian but there really aren’t many vegetarian lasagnes out in the wilderness.

Building a rudimentary bow and arrow is something all guys would like to be able to do and would certainly be one of the coolest survival techniques. However it’s also something that’s unlikely to work without a lot of practice and it’s most likely more reliable to stick to more basic methods. If there’s a road near you then you may be able to find road kill where someone’s already done the job for you and then this simply requires gutting and cooking. If you can fid a duck, brutal though it may sound, these are one of the easiest animals to kill if you catch them by surprise - this isn’t recommended however unless you’re truly in dire straights. Otherwise though catching animals is very hard to do and surprisingly the best way is actually to use small but sharp stones which you can use as projectiles to kill birds, rabbits or deer.

More pressing survival techniques however are those revolving around water - as you’re far more likely to become thirsty before you become hungry and will much more quickly die from dehydration (your body has lots of fat reserves (I’m not saying you personally…) that it can burn for energy). Finding water is difficult however as all water sources can potentially contain bacteria and disease. What may look like fresh running water for example may well contain limes disease and be just as fatal as not drinking anything at all. For this reason it is highly important that you boil all water before drinking it.

We’ve already told you how to make a fire so basically you’re now using a hob method to boil it. Depending on what you have with you you may need to craft your own container and should then fill it with very small amounts of water in order to make sure it boils quickly. As well as boiling it however you should also filter the water to make doubly sure it’s as clean as it can be. To do this you simply need to run it through some cloth, such as your clothing, or use cloth to soak it up then ring it out - and this way you won’t get any pond-skaters in your drink (if you find it impossible to boil your water then simply wringing it or filtering it will be better than nothing).

These survival techniques are fine if you happen to find a stream or lake however, but that may well be a luxury you aren’t afforded. Should this be the case then other sources of water must be found and these can include rain water - either manually collected by you or found in puddles on the ground (and this is less likely to contain bacteria and disease too so is the preferred method if you can’t boil it); snow if you have it which can be eaten as it is or melted and drained (avoid the top and bottom layers); water at the bottom of holes that you dig; water created through condensation if you have plastic or cellophane; or finally water that collects under rocks at the base of mountains (where it all runs down). Many plants contain water too, and if you’re in a barren area then cacti can be dissected for water also. Once you have your water be sure not to drink it all in one go, but rather to sip it gently (apart from anything else if you’re dehydrated then drinking rapidly can make you ill). Another method that takes discipline is simply to hold water in your mouth which will allow your body to gently absorb some of the moisture over a period of time.

So there you have it, with these survival techniques you have an action plan and a bearing, you have water, you have food, you have warmth and you have shelter. This should be all you need assuming you have no call for first aid, and hopefully it will see you to safety.

Mack LeMouse

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