Survival skills

Okay I have a huge forest in my back yard and i was going to practice my survival skills out there during summer in a controlled situation. Survival skills can come in handy when you least expect it so i decided to practice now at a young age before i might need it. I was going to try to survive for a week on barely anything to start with. A can, pocket knife, lighter, and a bottle. I have been learning how to make shelter find food and other survival skills. I was wondering if anyone else has tryed this and if anyone has any tips.

I haven't done anything like that, but you should bring a cellphone or something just in case something happens and you need to call for help.

Safety first!

Take tools and building supplies.

Build a bunker in the forest. Hide it.

That would be a superior survival advantage when the time comes to use such skills again.

I ran away from home when I was 14 years old. I stayed gone for 10 days and LOVED it.
That was 21 years ago though and I've been wanting to brush up on those skills again.

Plus, back then I lived in Pensacola, FL. Now I live in central West Virginia.
Our "Farm" has 83+ acres of mostly forest. For years now, I've been wanting to go out for a week or so.
There's NO CELL SERVICE. There are also bears and bobcats, wild dogs, foxes and "wolves" (or so I've heard regarding the last one. I think my neighbors are stupid though. We once brought a stray home that all the neighbors called a wolf but it was OBVIOUSLY a mut with a lot of collie in it :roll:)

If you have iTunes, there's a few survivalist podcasts.
Here's a link to one I found. http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/book-list

As long as you know what you're doing, go for it.

Remember, shelter, fire, water, food...

Water is most important. You can survive a week, or more without eating anything. But you'll likely day 2-4 days in without water. And you could die the first night without shelter. Fire is necessary for making water drinkable. Never take a risk, unless you're in a REAL survival situation... and even then, set up a fire a get it boiling unless you absolutely can't. You can easily get an illness that will kill you very quickly if you drink dirty water.

So, clean water, shelter... and you can make it for a week or more. Food is a luxury when surviving :P

Indeed, i used to live with a friend in highschool, during the summers we would scout the forests, and get to know the land. Well after graduation, it became hard as hell to find a job where i live. So we decided to start some projects to pass the time. The main one was a real life recreation of the survival series Man vs Wild & SurvivorMan. We would take certain tools and random things with us, and each trip we would increase the time limit we stayed out there. The longest expedition was for 1month 2&1/2 weeks. It became intense, but was fun as hell (we stunk horribly when we finally came home).

We taught ourselves freeform rock climbing (up a solid rockface flat as hell about 65 feet up INTENSE). We also taught our selves hunting and trapping. We eventually built a small log type house beside a creek. It was one of the most refreshing, eye opening experiences we've had.

Advice:

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Scout you land first, this is a must, get and keep in your mind a good mental map.

bring a way to create fire, or find a DEFINITE one in the wilderness.

Find a good water source, like a spring, not anything that's close to any road, it may be a runoff.

Plan what type of shelter you will make, practice it.

anticipate EVERYTHING, getting caught off guard in the wilderness is a death sentence.

Always think before you waste anything, so much can be useful in different ways, you'll be surprised.

there's more, i'll think back and then post more soon.

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I have been doing this for some time actually; and these skills have come in handy many times. I have been homeless more than once, and the ability to live in the woods is a great asset. Last year I survived for six months.

I would not recommend going out there without some gear; mainly because after your first few nights you will realize just how difficult it is and how much you need. Your interest in surviving may disappear altogether. A simple thing such as bug spray can save you from having dozens of open and potentally infected sores for example if you did not have your house a few yards away. Depeding on the temperature, without the skills needed to make a warm debris shelter you may need a sleeping bag. If it rains you will need a poncho, a good pair of boots, and gaitors. You will need a good filter so you do not get a nasty disease from polluted water. I could go on and on.

You should start by getting as much gear as you can afford and train by not using a certain piece of gear on a given day; for example one day you may decide to not use your magnesium block and to try to start a fire by friction; another day you may try to weave some cordage out of plant material instead of using your parachute cord; etc.

When you have showered in the woods under a plastic bag in the middle of a hailstorm or endured three days of constant rain while hauling heavy gear out of necessity you will know what I mean. I do this because I am completely self reliant. I do not need to depend on the greed of the modern world to survive. I can tell it where to go if need be, and have done so before. It can be very romantic at times, but mostly it is very lonely and difficult. There is no one to help you or talk to you, and most of the world thinks you are a nutjob.

You can still try this outside your house without any gear at all, but I can almost promise you complete frustration. Just don't give up on the idea entirely until you have more gear, knowledge, and experience. I do not know where you live or how old you are, but some weapons would not be a bad idea either. Good luck man.

What gear do you already have? A good knife is essential. An army surplus canteen with cup is indispensable as well, and a Swiss firesteel is my preferred method of firestarting, even over the Mini Bic I carry at all times.

You can do a lot with a Mora, a firesteel, a canteen, and a small tarp if you have the knowledge of how to use these items to your advantage. I would recommend picking up the SAS survival guide. I have the pocket edition, a fat little book that's about $8 at Borders and has a veritable wealth of information in it. It's a superb reference. In addition, do check out Ray Mears, as he is quite possibly the most knowledgable and efficient bushcrafter I've come across.

How many types of shelter can you build? Master shelter first. From the debris hut to simple one-man tarp shelters to snow caves if you have the opportunity.

Then comes firemaking, as you need fire to purify water if you do't have water purification tablets, which, if you're practicing minimalist survival skills, you won't. How many ways can you start a fire? How many types of fire lay can you quickly and efficiently build? Do you know all the natural tinders in your area (cedar, poplar, birch barks, thistledown, pine needles, moss, certain fungi, etc.) and how to effectively prepare them for maximum spark-catching efficacy?

Do you know how to find and purify water? How many ways do you know to get that water ready to drink? Master five at least, using a variety of methods.

Remember the rules of twos. You can go: 2 minutes without oxygen, 2 hours without shelter, 2 days without water, and 2 weeks without food.

It's okay to bring extra stuff on your first outing. No ones going to think less of you if you pack a cell phone a compass and matches or whatever. And a bit of botany can go a long way, and basic field first aid knowledge should also be gathered.

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Originally Posted by Man of Steel

What gear do you already have? A good knife is essential. An army surplus canteen with cup is indispensable as well, and a Swiss firesteel is my preferred method of firestarting, even over the Mini Bic I carry at all times.

You can do a lot with a Mora, a firesteel, a canteen, and a small tarp if you have the knowledge of how to use these items to your advantage. I would recommend picking up the SAS survival guide. I have the pocket edition, a fat little book that's about $8 at Borders and has a veritable wealth of information in it. It's a superb reference. In addition, do check out Ray Mears, as he is quite possibly the most knowledgable and efficient bushcrafter I've come across.

How many types of shelter can you build? Master shelter first. From the debris hut to simple one-man tarp shelters to snow caves if you have the opportunity.

Then comes firemaking, as you need fire to purify water if you do't have water purification tablets, which, if you're practicing minimalist survival skills, you won't. How many ways can you start a fire? How many types of fire lay can you quickly and efficiently build? Do you know all the natural tinders in your area (cedar, poplar, birch barks, thistledown, pine needles, moss, certain fungi, etc.) and how to effectively prepare them for maximum spark-catching efficacy?

Do you know how to find and purify water? How many ways do you know to get that water ready to drink? Master five at least, using a variety of methods.

Remember the rules of twos. You can go: 2 minutes without oxygen, 2 hours without shelter, 2 days without water, and 2 weeks without food.

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I was planning on making a debris hut. I was going to use a lighter and there is alot of tinder stuff out there but i don't know what it is called. I was going to purify water with fire but i know how to make a filter to purify it that way.

This is just practice and my house is within yelling distance so i'm not worried. I am pretty resourcefull so i don't think i will waist the stuff i find. I know how to make traps and hunting weapons with nothing more than a knife, a string, and what ever is in the bush. So i think i can survive because i can get food, water fire, and shelter without a problem.

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Originally Posted by Zhaylin

I ran away from home when I was 14 years old. I stayed gone for 10 days and LOVED it.
That was 21 years ago though and I've been wanting to brush up on those skills again.

Plus, back then I lived in Pensacola, FL. Now I live in central West Virginia.
Our "Farm" has 83+ acres of mostly forest. For years now, I've been wanting to go out for a week or so.
There's NO CELL SERVICE. There are also bears and bobcats, wild dogs, foxes and "wolves" (or so I've heard regarding the last one. I think my neighbors are stupid though. We once brought a stray home that all the neighbors called a wolf but it was OBVIOUSLY a mut with a lot of collie in it :roll:)

If you have iTunes, there's a few survivalist podcasts.
Here's a link to one I found. http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/book-list

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i lived in VA for 11 years on 100 acers there's a few bobcats yes but wolves no if there was they would be in the news from eating cattle or chickens. coyotes is what your most likely to find there's very few bears if any now and foxs should run unless they have rabies

Actually going out and trying to survive without coming back isn't really that important for learning how to survive, at least not at first. What is really important is to research how to do all of the important things and then practice them. Research how to make fire without matches, how to build a shelter from your surroundings, which plants are edible and which are not. The first thing you should do is learn how to make fire with a bow drill. This is the easiest of all the extremely hard methods and the only thing it absolutely requires that you have ahead of time is some sort of string. Most people have shoelaces but if worse comes to worse, you can make one out of a strip of cloth. It is also much easier to do if you have a knife, but it isn't absolutely essential.

This is a really good step by step for making fire with a bow drill

There's quite a lot of bears in our area. Though I've never seen one, others (neighbors who AREN'T stupid lol) have seen them cross the street and get into their trash.
The only time I see a fox is after it's been run over by a car :(

I can't tell coyotes apart from wild dogs (which we have plenty of. I call them all wild dogs, but others disagree.)

I'm going to have to ship my 4 kids off somewhere for a week this summer so I can rough it in the woods. I've wanted to take them with me in the past, but that's just too dangerous until I brush up on my skills.

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Originally Posted by Xaqaria

Actually going out and trying to survive without coming back isn't really that important for learning how to survive, at least not at first. What is really important is to research how to do all of the important things and then practice them. Research how to make fire without matches, how to build a shelter from your surroundings, which plants are edible and which are not. The first thing you should do is learn how to make fire with a bow drill. This is the easiest of all the extremely hard methods and the only thing it absolutely requires that you have ahead of time is some sort of string. Most people have shoelaces but if worse comes to worse, you can make one out of a strip of cloth. It is also much easier to do if you have a knife, but it isn't absolutely essential.

This is a really good step by step for making fire with a bow drill

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I already know how to make this but haven't yet attempted it. Maybe i will try it sometime so i don't have to rely on a lighter.

We have quite a few bears up this way as well. You can see them quite often if you try. Just last week I heard a noise at 0200 and went outside with my rifle to see a frickin black bear standing on top of my beautiful '86 Firebird. I was not very happy about that. He was using it as a ladder to get on the porch. He gave me this stupid look and then ran off.

Black bears are pretty harmless though, unless you run into a starving one north of the Canadian border.

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Originally Posted by bradysdreaming

I already know how to make this but haven't yet attempted it. Maybe i will try it sometime so i don't have to rely on a lighter.

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It is important to practice these sorts of things in a controlled environment so you can be sure you know exactly how to do it before trying to do it 'out in the bush'. You said you will be within sight of your house so it probably would be okay to do it out there, but it would help to first try it in a garage or somewhere there is no wind so you can get the technique down without getting frustrated.

Being able to make fire and find food are the two most important things to know in order to survive. Shelter is actually pretty easy, most people with just a little bit of problem solving ability can come up with a survivable shelter, even if on the first night its just a pile of brush to climb into. You can go without food for several weeks, but if you don't know how to find it on the first day, chances are you never will since your environment is going to stay pretty much the same (same plants around you, same animals in your area) and it gets harder and harder to find food the more hungry you are.

Fire though even before food is priority number one, simply because it can fulfill so many of the basic necessities at once. It provides heat if you have trouble building shelter (if it rains though, you won't keep it if you don't also build/find shelter), it purifies water, it cauterizes wounds, it keeps bugs and dangerous animals at bay, and if you manage to kill an animal, it cooks meat. It is also a very important psychological comfort that will empower you to do all of the other things that you will need in order to survive. Once you are confident in your ability to make fire any time anywhere then you will feel much more secure no matter what.

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Originally Posted by Zhaylin

There's quite a lot of bears in our area. Though I've never seen one, others (neighbors who AREN'T stupid lol) have seen them cross the street and get into their trash.
The only time I see a fox is after it's been run over by a car :(

I can't tell coyotes apart from wild dogs (which we have plenty of. I call them all wild dogs, but others disagree.)

I'm going to have to ship my 4 kids off somewhere for a week this summer so I can rough it in the woods. I've wanted to take them with me in the past, but that's just too dangerous until I brush up on my skills.

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coyotes most times are small in build and have long thin faces and a grayish brown color. but they run in packs most times. if its just one make alot of noise to scare it then run the other way. if its a pack don't let them circle you its not a good outcome cause they bite hard :eek:

Taken while on my way to the national forest. It was walking through a yard that I had passed; looking for food. This is a common sight up here.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-8/1057361/Bear.jpg