Survival Kits: What You Need to Survive in the Wilderness
You need a personalized, high-quality, and compact kit to help you survive while you are out in the woods. These tools and essentials should always be with you so that you can use them in times of need and emergencies. Read more about hiking checklists in this link here.
For an individual, the average time they should survive in the wilderness is about 72 hours. This means that they can consider themselves safe in the meantime when they can hunt for food and shelter during the first three days, whether they are in a rainforest or a desert. Here are some of the things that you need so that you can live and conquer the jungle.
What to Get
Portable Kits and Bags
Some people may like carrying bulky tools and essentials if they go out camping. However, when you face a survival experience in the wilderness, you need to focus on very portable and lightweight things. Regardless if you are hiking, trail running, backpacking, and more, you should be able to throw your kits in your backpack, and forget about them for a few hours because of their lightweight features.
If you can’t carry them with you when you are canoeing or hiking, then there’s no point in buying them in the first place. You need to be prepared for the possible scenarios that will put you in the best situation possible.
There are five things that you need while you are out. If you want to stay healthy and live for three days and more, the kit that you have should cover signals, water, first aid, knife, and navigation. You can get a more comprehensive list of survival kits that you may need. These are complete packages that contain the essentials whenever you need them.
Signals
Mirror
You can get a signaling mirror that can attract someone’s attention from bush planes. The mirror can reflect the light and allow others to pinpoint your exact location. You can get your reflection projected, which makes it easier for search parties to find you.
Small Whistle
In case you hear the search party looking near your vicinity, you can use a whistle to alert them of your presence. Whistling three times can indicate that the person is in distress, and the other team will reply with a whistle as well to let you know that they can help you.
Personal Locator Beacons
If you are very far from the city and are hiking in Alaska, for example, alerting with a waterproof locator beacon can inform rescue teams of your location right away. They can track your GPS coordinates, and this equipment can act as a radio beacon for your rescuers. They don’t require subscriptions, and they are more on the recreational side, but they can help you nonetheless.
Water
You need to take care of your health and make sure that you stay hydrated while you are in the woods. If you see a lake or any water source, it is best to treat it before drinking. If you were injured, drinking contaminated water would give you diarrhea, and it will not go well with your weak condition.
Ziploc Bags
If you need containers for treating water found in rivers and lakes, placing them in Ziplocs for freezers can be the best option. You can use a single water treatment tablet in a quart-size, which can be more than enough for your needs. Most tablets that are aqua tabs can treat a liter of water in under 30 minutes.
First Aids
First aids are your go-to whenever you may experience sprains, broken legs, cuts, punctures, broken ankles, and other injuries while you are in the woods. Everything can occur when in a survival situation, and it is best to be prepared. You can carry several small bandages inside your backpack and couple them with duct tapes. There are rolls of tapes that you can use as slings, and they can keep your puncture wound securely.
Fire
When you have a fire, your body can become comfortable, especially if it begins to drop at night. Read more about starting fires here: https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/survival/wilderness/how-to-start-a-fire.htm. You need lighters that have sufficient fuels. Get waterproof matches, especially if you are on fishing trips. Even stormproof games could burn for more than 10 seconds and relight afterward even if they were completely submerged.
Get Tinder
Tinder can be in the form of cotton balls that were dipped in petroleum jelly for a time. When you are ready for a fire, you can fluff one and get the light and fire to burn. These can help you burn wood more quickly, and they are excellent for rainy weather.
Knives
Folding knives are your best friends while you are in a rainforest. You can cut fruit trees with them, gather wood, and make a shelter using these handy tools. You can carry the sharpest one out there, and you may be ready to kill a bear. You are just kidding! Although if you are in the wild for less than a week, the most likely things that you can do with your knife is to cut boughs of pine, bandages, and kindling.
Navigation
You must try to find your way back into civilization even if it’s in the middle of the night. Some of the things that you can carry with you are the following:
Compass
The compass is excellent for navigation, and they can come in smaller forms. You can keep them deep in your pockets or attach one on your lanyard for easier access. If you have a mirror type of compass, you are already killing two birds with one stone. You can signal your location to rescue teams nearby while finding your way out of the woods.
A Final Word
Aside from the things mentioned above, there are a lot of other essentials that you need to pack. The internet has a lot of in-depth guides, blogs, and forums where you can get a good idea of the things that you need while you are out and about. If you get the things that were specified above, except that you can fare better in the wilds and you will be able to have an unforgettable experience.