Just Where Do You Begin? "Don't Die In The Woods

Don’t Die In The Woods – It’ll Ruin Your Day!

Tips For Survival For The Beginner

Just where do you start if you’re an absolute beginner at this outdoor survival business? Suppose you’ve never camped out in the woods—or anywhere else. Maybe you’ve never even taken a long walk? What do you do first?

One of my principles is that happy outdoor adventures begin with good planning and preparation, and these start with good information. Here a few tips:

Search the Internet for "outdoor survival", "camping", "hiking" and "backpacking" (well, you’ve found Tips For Survival, haven’t you?).

Identify several forums and read the questions posted there. You’ll meet a number of other newcomers looking for information.

Locate several outdoor and camping supply websites such as USOUTDOOR.COM, Trails.com, altrec.com and Moosejaw. Look at what they have to offer.

Browse the racks of your local supermarkets, bookstores and news stands. Have a look through some of the magazines that interest you. They always include lots of advertisements for outdoor clothing, gear, boots and equipment of all sorts, and a number of tips for survival with style.

Check out Amazon.com. Search for books on outdoor survival, camping, hiking and backpacking.

Locate your nearest outdoor, camping, hunting and mountaineering stores. Walk around and look at stuff. Ask questions. Staff will be glad to help—they want to sell you things.

Check out all your hardware stores, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, military surplus and even the local bargain store (every town has one and you may pick up some goodies for not much money).

Forget for the moment about tents, sleeping bags and overnight adventures deep in the woods far from civilization. Begin with day trips on easy, well-marked trails.

All you really need is a map of the area, a guidebook describing the trails (a good guidebook should rank trails as easy, not-so-easy and horrible), a compass, a first aid kit, some decent shoes, a couple of water bottles, a sack of dried fruit, a bit of beef jerky, some warm clothes if the weather is cold and an inexpensive backpack to put them all in.

At this point you don’t need stoves, cook pots, walking sticks or even hiking boots. These will all come later. If it looks like rain, you will want to pack inexpensive plastic ponchos for everybody in the group. Otherwise, save your money.

If you’ve never done any walking, for this first adventure find an easy trail that makes a loop of no more than three or four miles in total. Walk at a pace that’s comfortable for everyone in the group. Stop and rest when you feel like it. Drink some of your water and eat some of your food. Enjoy yourself; this is what it’s all about.

As you get fit, and as you gain confidence based on experience, make your outings more ambitious. Find trails that are longer and more challenging. Buy a little stove so you can make hot drinks when you stop for lunch. Experiment with gear you’ve read about and you think might like to add to your kit.

Gradually build up your kit to include everything you need for your adventures. Experiment with new equipment—especially new boots!—on short, easy trips. Fire up your new stove for the first time in your back yard on a sunny day, not on the side of a mountain in a raging blizzard.

As your confidence and competence grow, your trips will be more demanding—and more fun! Know your limits—push them, certainly, but don’t exceed them. Return safely from each adventure and immediately plan the next one. It’s up to you.

Here’s another of our tips for survival: Be a happy camper by not dying in the woods! Think 'safety' and behave safely.

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