Urban Bushcraft

If you ever find yourself in a survival situation in a remote environment panic will set in unless you have a plan, that is where the priorities of survival come in. I find the Bear Gyrlls approach more friendly than other survival guides that were written more for military types then your average woodsman. I will cover each priority in greater detail at a later date.

Please Remember What’s First = Protection Rescue Water Food

Protection starts with the clothes on your back. Are they suitable for where you are traveling? For the Weather you are expecting? If your like me you will always have a set of waterproofs, clean dry socks and a woolly hat in your bag, living in England I always prepare for rainy cold weather. Next in protection is making a shelter to keep yourself out of the wind, cold, rain, sun etc and make yourself a little sanctuary, outside may not be great but this space is yours to control. This will be followed up by fire, learn and practice as many different techniques for starting a fire as possible in varying conditions so you are prepared for the worst should you ever face it. Your fire can then be used to keep you warm, raise moral, cook, boil water for drinking and signalling which leads us to the next priority.

Rescue is just that, getting out of this situation. Hopefully before you departed for this trip you left a plan with someone who will raise the alarm if you do not check in, this information can then be given to the rescue teams who will have been alerted to your being missing and can help them locate you quicker if they know where you are. You should have at the very least a whistle, torch and ideally a heliograph or another reflective item which will do the same job. Other handy items to have would be a signal panel, radio beacon, strobe light, a mobile phone assuming you are in an area with signal, satellite phone or a spot device.

Water, your body is made up of a large percentage of water and you will only last 3 days without it. Less if dehydration is further assisted by heat exposure such as being in a desert. You should aim to be drinking 2 litres or water a day, more if you are exerting yourself as 1 kg lost through sweat is equal to a litre of water lost. You will need a container to carry/collect your water and a method of ensuring it is safe to drink, getting ill from drinking dirty water will result in you losing more water from your system.

So then we come to food. Everything you do burns calories, these need to be replaced to keep you going until you are rescued. Trapping, Fishing, Hunting or Foraging whatever approach you take you will need to eat so take the time to learn how to track and trap, set up a simple fishing rig and identify some plants which are edible.