THE SERIOUSLY ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE

[asavarserkul]

I thought it would be good to have a survival guide here, when someone isnt a quite an expert in the wilderness or wants to take a trip through the forests. This is a good guide I have found on the Net. You can make it to the Ultimate survival guide EVER created. If someone knows more tips of surviving in the wilderness or curing hallucinations of pancakes can post it in the comments.

(This is all I can post, the Forum dont let me post more to this )

THE ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE

Basic Wilderness Survival Skills

The advances in the development of outdoor clothing, equipment, emergency food and techniques have been growing rapidly in recent years. For those beginners interested in using the outdoors there is unlimited information on wilderness survival skills and equipment available. However, experience is the best teacher in any outdoor situation and your reaction in a wilderness survival situation depends on your education. Always keep in mind that it can happen to you. Those who are mentally and physically prepared to survive are more likely to do so. To deal with an emergency situation one must be able to make decisions, improvise and remain calm.

Fear - For anyone faced with a wilderness emergency survival situation, fear is a normal reaction. Unless an emergency situation has been anticipated, fear is generally followed by panic then pain, cold, thirst, hunger, fatigue, boredom and loneliness. It is extremely important to calmly assess the situation and not allow these seven enemies to interfere with your survival.

Pain - Pain may often be ignored in a panic situation. Remember to deal with injuries immediately before they become even more serious.

Cold - Cold lowers the ability to think, numbing the body and reducing the will to survive. Never allow yourself to stop moving or to fall asleep unless adequately sheltered.

Thirst - Dehydration is a common enemy in an emergency situation and must not be ignored. It can dull your mind, causing you to overlook important survival information.

Hunger - Hunger is dangerous but seldom deadly. It may reduce your ability to think logically and increase your susceptibility to the effects of cold, pain and fear.

Fatigue - Fatigue is unavoidable in any situation so it is best to keep in mind that it can and will lower your mental ability. Remember that in an emergency situation this is often the bodies way of escaping a difficult situation.

Boredom & Loneliness - These enemies are quite often unanticipated and may lower the mind's ability to deal with the situation.

HOW TO:

Build a Fire

Building a fire is the most important task when dealing with survival in the wilderness. Be sure to build yours in a sandy or rocky area or near a supply of sand and water as to avoid forest fires. The most common mistakes made by those attempting to build a fire are: choosing poor tinder, failing to shield precious matches from the wind and smothering the flames with too large pieces of fuel. The four most important factors when starting a fire are spark - tinder - fuel - oxygen.

The most common ways to create spark are:

1. Waterproof, strike-anywhere matches are your best bet. Matches may be water-proofed by dipping them in nail polish. Store your matches in a waterproof container.

2. A cigarette lighter is also a good way to produce a spark, with or without fuel.

3. The flint and steel method is one of the oldest and most reliable methods in fire starting. Aim the sparks at a pile of dry tinder to produce a fire.

4. The electric spark produced from a battery will ignite a gasoline dampened rag.

5. Remove half of the powder from a bullet and pour it into the tinder. Next place a rag in the cartridge case of the gun and fire. The rag should ignite and then may be placed into the tinder.

6. Allow the suns rays to pass through a magnifying glass onto the tinder.

Dry grass, paper or cloth lint, gasoline-soaked rags and dry bark are all forms of tinder. Place your tinder in a small pile resembling a tepee with the driest pieces at the bottom. Use a fire starter or strip of pitch if it is available.

It is important to keep in mind that smaller pieces of kindling such as, twigs, bark, shavings and gasoline, are necessary when trying to ignite larger pieces of fuel. Gather fuel before attempting to start your fire. Obviously dry wood burns better and wet or pitchy wood will create more smoke. Dense, dry wood will burn slow and hot. A well ventilated fire will burn best.

Build a Shelter

A small shelter which is insulated from the bottom, protected from wind and snow and contains a fire is extremely important in wilderness survival. Before building your shelter be sure that the surrounding area provides the materials needed to build a good fire, a good water source and shelter from the wind.

Wilderness shelters may include:

1. Natural shelters such as caves and overhanging cliffs. When exploring a possible shelter tie a piece of string to the outer mouth of the cave to ensure you will be able to find your way out. Keep in mind that these caves may already be occupied. If you do use a cave for shelter, build your fire near its mouth to prevent animals from entering.

2. Enlarge the natural pit under a fallen tree and line it with bark or tree boughs.

3. Near a rocky coastal area, build a rock shelter in the shape of a U, covering the roof with driftwood and a tarp or even seaweed for protection.

4. A lean-to made with poles or fallen trees and a covering of plastic, boughs, thick grasses or bark is effective to shelter you from wind, rain and snow.

5. A wigwam may be constructed using three long poles. Tie the tops of the poles together and upright them in an appropriate spot. Cover the sides with a tarp, boughs, raingear or other suitable materials. Build a fire in the center of the wigwam, making a draft channel in the wall and a small hole in the top to allow smoke to escape.

6. If you find yourself in open terrain, a snow cave will provide good shelter. Find a drift and burrow a tunnel into the side for about 60 cm (24 in) then build your chamber. The entrance of the tunnel should lead to the lowest level of you chamber where the cooking and storage of equipment will be. A minimum of two ventilating holes are necessary, preferably one in the roof and one in the door.

CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT

Clothing

Clothing must provide warmth and offer protection from the elements. Layers of light, natural fibers are best. Hats are a must, as they offer protection from both the heat and cold. Water proof outer layers are necessary.

Equipment

Equipment must be easily manageable and promote survival in any situation. Items to carry in your pockets may include a fire starter, waterproof matches and/or lighter, a pocket knife, goggles, compass, small first-aid kit and some sort of trail food.

Survival Kit

Items for your survival kit should be packed in a waterproof container that can double as a cooking pot and water receptacle and be attached to your belt.

Backpack

In addition to a survival kit, a good, comfortable backpack is mandatory. Loads of about 18 kg (40 lb.) are average. Items to include are; flashlight, extra jacket, socks and mittens, a pocket saw, gas camp stove, first aid kit, emergency food, and a tent and fly.

[robdoar]

I don't know about ultimate, but some good stuff above.

Just remember, reading, and doing, are entirely different things.

[blynx]

I agree with robdoar while its not the "ultimate" survival guide the name suggests it does however offer some basic survival tips. Again knowing how to do something is one thing but implementing it when the situation arises is a whole other story.

[asavarserkul]

I know that its not ultimate, but I wanted to begin with something where others can add there expirience of survival to it. ;D

[Raven 2010]

ALL CAPS flashy line I say it trying to get click

[Larken]

When you are in a survival situation in real life or in TLD, you should think in terms of the rule of threes.  

Rule 1:  You can live for three hours in the cold without finding warmth before becoming hypothermic.

Rule 2:  You can live for three days without hydration.

Rule 3:  You can live for three weeks without food.

Those things should determine your priorities when surviving.

BTW, in the interest of giving credit where credit is due, this list is something I committed to memory when reading material from Cody Lundin.  http://codylundin.com/

[ChillPlayer]

Seems more to be a generic rather than ultimate survival guide but it's a good start. Btw if you are observant of your own state of mind TLD can be a good teacher for how you react under stress on the psychological side, especially if you play it "for real" and not cheesing the mechanics.

[elloco999]

16 hours ago, Larken said:

When you are in a survival situation in real life or in TLD, you should think in terms of the rule of threes.  

Rule 1:  You can live for three hours in the cold without finding warmth before becoming hypothermic.

Rule 2:  You can live for three days without hydration.

Rule 3:  You can live for three weeks without food.

Those things should determine your priorities when surviving.

BTW, in the interest of giving credit where credit is due, this list is something I committed to memory when reading material from Cody Lundin.  http://codylundin.com/

This is a good guideline but I do have some remarks:

1: Warmth can also come from clothing. In the right clothes it's possible to stay outside for much longer than 3 hours and without any clothes you won't last an hour in a blizzard.

2: In TLD you won't make it 3 weeks without food. In real life you may be able to survive for 3 weeks without food, but that depends on the climate as well. In very cold weather you need much more calories to keep warm, so you won't last as long without food. And don't think you'll still be running around chopping wood and all if you haven't eaten anything for two weeks. You may not be dead yet but you don't have any energy to change your situation either. So without help you will most likely die anyway.

3: There is also 3 minutes without air

16 hours ago, ChillPlayer said:

Seems more to be a generic rather than ultimate survival guide but it's a good start. Btw if you are observant of your own state of mind TLD can be a good teacher for how you react under stress on the psychological side, especially if you play it "for real" and not cheesing the mechanics.

I think this was meant to be a community effort to create the ultimate survival guide, but the community didn't respond...

[Yarbrough08]

More depth is needed in most parts, it is unfortunate that the forum will not let your post be more thorough.

If you really want to prepare for a survival situation you need to learn the area that you might encounter this situation. What most TV shows and guides don't tell you about is the massive amount of research that is done on local flora and fauna. Some are dangerous and/or can kill you, some are medicinal; it pays to know which is which.

LEARN TO TRAP: I know some people may think that a deer will save them, but in most survival situations its something as small as a rabbit that will get you the calories you need to save your life. [rabbit is a bad example since you cannot survive by eating rabbits alone] Learning to clean a kill is also vital knowledge to know and just because you know how to clean one animal does not mean that you know how to clean any animal; not all animals share the exact same anatomy - (biology 101 lol). Clean your kill/catch away from your camp/shelter, the smell may attract unwanted guests in the form of predators looking for an easy meal. Likewise discard the remains and leftovers away from your camp AND water source, since they will attract predators, insects, and bacteria/diseases.

If you are a vegetarian you need to learn even more about the local flora, knowledge in this case really is power. Consider suspending your vegetarian diet, calories are hard to come by in an actual survival situation - its hard to be picky. With that said most people will have a vegan diet anyway, turns out that most people have lost touch with the primitive hunter gatherer side of humanity. Animals will be harder to catch/trap/kill than most people think, we are just too noisy/smelly/slow - just not as 'tuned' to nature as we used to be.

THIRST IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT: you will dehydrate while chopping wood in freezing temps about as fast as if you were in hot temps - only you would not know it. Just because you are not aware that you are sweating does not mean that you are not. Always drink plenty of sterilized water. To sterilize it, boil the water (rolling boil) for at least 3 minutes - if you cannot boil the water in the container that you have, drop hot rocks that have been sitting in the fire into the container until it boils. NEVER DRINK WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST; contrary to popular belief, moving water & precipitation is not sterile/safe and can make you sick just the same as stagnate water.

The rule of 3's is mostly bogus; there are too many variables to determine how long someone can survive in hot or cold weather, or how long they can last without water/food. Before you go camping/hiking, know what the weather is going to do for the next couple days and dress appropriately. The boy scout's saying 'always be prepared' is great here - unless you want to find out the hard way to 'improvise, adapt, and overcome' (Marine Corp).

For cold weather: prepare to keep warm with layers - fire will be your best friend in this situation. Exercise if you need to raise your core body temp, but be careful not to start sweating too much - this can be dangerous. If you do start sweating (for whatever reason), remove layers of clothing until you stop. If you clothes get wet for any reason, you need to remove them as soon as possible. Do not put wet clothes back on until they are dried - nothing will draw the heat away from you faster than wet clothes (unless you are submerged in water)

For hot weather: pack extra water instead of layers; however, thin layers can still be useful to keep the sun off of you. Stay in the shade as much as possible -  in some cases it may be up to 15 degrees cooler in the shade. Try to rest at least 15 minutes an hour to prevent heat exhaustion/stroke. Know the symptoms of heat exhaustion and how to treat it; if you stop sweating you are in an emergency situation (heat stroke) and it may be too late.

Something that is not discussed much is the bathroom... Do not use the bush/tree next to your camp - instead, make your bathroom at least ~100 meters (~100 yds) away preferably downhill from your camp & water source. Insects will be attracted to your bathroom, bacteria will grow on you waste, insects will pick us this bacteria - you do not need this near your camp. Burying can help (and is advised), but will not eliminate the problem - consider making multiple bathroom locations.

Everyday should be spent trying to improve your situation: improve your water collection capabilities, improve your calorie count, improve your shelter, and improve your visibility.

When improving your visibility remember that straight lines help differentiate man-made objects from natural ones, and groups of 3 indicate a signal/message. In case of air support, burning green leaves produce the most smoke. 'S O S' is the standard symbol for help, if you make an SOS sign - make it large, in an open area away from trees, preferably on a hill side (if available).

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