I'm a little embarrassed to admit that should I ever venture out into the wilderness, I would definitely not survive. I lack basic survival skills and nature would eat me alive.
That being said, I always admired folks who could go camping for days (or weeks), who could cook up a warm (and edible) meal over a campfire.
Do a few of these and try something new out every time. Maybe you want to work on building skills like fire making. Maybe you want to try out new equipment such as using a camping stove with dehydrated food instead of a fire. Or try out techniques like packing all of your stuff in a backpacking pack and take it on hikes to see how what you'd need (and possibly not need) go backpacking.
Once you feel comfortable start expanding out. Maybe try a day hike where you cover more ground (but don't overdo it at first, stay within what you know for a fact you are capable of). Do an out and back one where you start at your car, and end back up at your car. Maybe try going for one night of backpacking to "wilderness" camp sites at a local park. These sites are usually a short hike from where you'll park with no amenities. Practice your skills. Enjoy the nature.
From there figure out what you are enjoying and maximize that. Do you like the hiking? The camping? Just hanging out with friends around a campfire? Do that. It's not about how extreme you can make it, it's about what you like. If hiking makes you miserable and all you want to do is sleep outdoors for a few nights with a stable fire, then there is no shame in sticking to car camping. There will be purists who look down on it, but who cares?
Try new things, find what you enjoy, and don't push yourself more than you know you are capable of.
If you wanted to bootstrap by yourself or with other inexperienced friends- I would start by getting a car accessible campsite, and then use that as a base camp. Go on small hikes that take you back to your site. Very few survival skills are needed for that sort of thing- you can get started with a cooler, a grill, and a bundle of firewood.
If you enjoy that, then start using more primitive tools and trying larger hikes in future trips, and you can work your way up to backpacking or whatever your goals are
1. Only go deep into nature (out of cell range) with someone experienced.
2. Obtain a rescue device (Apple satellite cell, Garmin GPS emergency beacon, etc).
3. If stranded in a vehicle stay with the vehicle!
Also, pack 2-3x the water you think you will need.
This. Or pack the water you think you need AND have a water filtration system with known locations of accessible water.
And in the Alps, you have areas with so many tourists the path is affectionally called a highway, but it would take 2 hours of hiking to get into cell range because mountains block signals.
I think it depends more on how many people you’re likely to meet per hour than cell range.
This also goes for driving - especially in winter! Do not leave the commonly travelled roads if you don't know what you're doing! A stuck car gets freezing cold quite fast in many places.
It’s a classic case of moral hazard [1].
I think the above is probably the most important. Having someone experienced within arms reach would be the best bet when/if shit hits the fan.
Not just that. One can learn a lot from the mere presence of someone more experienced. How do they prepare, what do they bring, how do they pace themselves, how do they make decisions. Basically it makes it more likely that you don’t even get near the bad situation.
The problem with private wilderness survival classes you may find in the community, even the light versions, is that they tend to come with a very particular political slant. And that slant tends toward the paranoid.
Although, that is my experience in multiple mid-western states; so it may not translate to other parts of the country.
I scoff at this notion. Each of us is a weak, fragile hairless monkey. There is no such thing as “civilisation”. It is just other monkeys just like you and me caring about fellow monkeys so much that we go to extremes to protect each other. Civilisation is the term one uses to describe these combined efforts. It is not something which makes you weak, it is the way we choose to cling together and protect each other. It is our way to face the survival challenges.
1. Look up the 10 Essentials and learn what they are/how to use them.
2. Search for Wilderness First Aid (2 day) or Wilderness First Responder (10 day) courses in your area. The focus is on how to assess and treat problems after they've occurred, but in the process you'll learn what the potential dangers are and how to avoid them or notice them early. For example, you can get hypothermia at surprisingly high temperatures (50 degrees F) in the right conditions, and some of the symptoms are paradoxical.
3. This one might be a bit controversial, but look up the Boy Scouts of America requirements for tenderfoot, second class, and first class scout. Before kids can start earning badges, the Boy Scouts require them to learn a fairly rigorous and comprehensive set of skills in order to not die in the process (first aid, camping, starting a fire and camp cooking, navigation, knot tying, swimming, etc., as well as some ideological requirements that you can skip). Some of these, like what to do when you're lost, you can learn from books or YouTube videos targeted to scouts. For others, you'll at least know what you don't know and the right words to look up to find classes. For example, searching for 'map skills' might not find what you're looking for, but there may be an 'orienteering' club in your area.
There are some big ones like the Sierra Club in CA, Appalachian Mountain Club in the northeast, the Mountaineers and Mazamas in the northwest, etc. They might have classes or trips that interest you, or be able to point you to smaller clubs in your area.
Clubs are usually lower-key than classes, and they go out regularly. So you can get a lot of experience and advice for free, or a small membership fee. (And maybe make some new friends.)
There are also activity-specific organizations and clubs out there. The American Alpine Club has local chapters of climbers. American Whitewater has a network of affiliate river running clubs. Etc.
1) Just go out to a forest/whatever and eat a packed lunch.
See what you're missing. Maybe an insulated container for food/drinks? Camp-compatible cutlery? Something to sit on? Better shoes? Windproof clothes?
When you feel comfortable enough, graduate to step 2
2) Make a meal in the wild, maybe have a nap or read a book.
Get a Trangia or Primus gas cooker and some ingredients you can cook a meal with. A ready-made camping meal is just fine or you can get fancy and cook everything from scratch.
Again see if you're missing something. Maybe something to wash the dishes? If you're cooking something, you either need to carry more water or have a way of purifying an existing source. Maybe a small solar panel + powerbank for your device(s). A better backpack that can fit all the gear without weighing you down?
For napping, nothing beats a Ticket To The Moon hammock. They're light but durable and you're not laying on the ground. They do need trees though, so for deserts they're not really optimal :) The pro-models with the integrated mosquito net are amazingly simple to set up.
Again, repeat steps 1 & 2 until you feel comfortable enough to move to the next step:
3) Sleeping outdoors
This is the costliest bit. The two main routes to take are either hammock or tent. For both you need a sleeping bag. Good tents are expensive, so maybe look into borrowing or renting. For hammock camping you'll want an underquilt and a tarp on top so you don't get cold or wet.
I recommend being brave about this and doing the first night(s) on your backyard or a friend's. If there are any issues you can just abort and walk inside.
After you're comfortable and equipped for all three steps, you can start planning longer multi-day trips along popular paths.
I heavily recommend getting/renting a Garmin inReach if you're going solo or outside of cell range.
Don't think this is the part people romanticize, I think it's the whole "I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't think I want one" and the "Instead, I will walk into the wild" that does it for people.
He could have poisoned himself with something else, or been attacked by a wild animal, or treaded on some treacherous ground and broken a leg, all of this outside the reach of human help, and he did this on purpose.
> "Instead, I will walk into the wild"
But this is what I don't get. "I will commit suicide by walking into the wild without resources or knowledge", what's admirable about that? He was basically playing Russian Roulette! I mean, I get that suicide itself is the stuff of romantic ideation, maybe that's the thing?
I don't think it's the suicide aspect, and - maybe besides the point - personally I don't think the guy was trying to die (not anymore or less than a freeclimber).
Maybe the Webster 1913 definition for "romantic" can help shed a light:
> Characterized by strangeness or variety; suggestive of adventure; suited to romance; wild; picturesque; -- applied to scenery; as, a romantic landscape.
I know what "romantic" means. I don't think McCandless was a romantic; I think he was reckless. His romanticism was entirely artificial -- Krakauer's opinion that he "threw away the map" on purpose since there are no really unexplored lands anymore hints at this -- and he didn't need to live this rough life, he strived to put himself in harm's way. Someone who crosses the highway with their eyes closes is not a romantic, they are simply stupid.
And like I said in another comment, I think he completely misread Jack London and failed to learn the lesson from that writer: that wilderness is ruthless and will kill you the minute you let your guard down, or simply out of bad luck.
Zooming out a bit, you could also say he died because he churned the philosophy of using the aids and crutches of civilization to maximize his hedonistic well-being at all cost - which is maybe a more interesting and ambiguous point to discuss than whether maps are useful ;)
Many herbivores are poisoned only when desperated to find alternative sources of food. He probably tried and failed to find other sources of food, so he ate legumes, that caused serious damage in their nervous system, and left him unable to walk and hunt anymore
Yet McCandless was essentially reckless rather than heroic. It's not that hard to die if you put yourself in an extreme situation, without preparing yourself or having any safeguards. It's a form of Russian roulette rather than "rejecting society"; though, I suppose, suicide is the ultimate form of rejecting society.
I see that he liked Jack London. So do I! However, I must wonder how thoroughly he read London's work, especially his Klondike gold rush stories, because very often in the stories the main character ends up dead, defeated by bad luck and an unsympathetic wilderness which is hostile to clueless men. I mean, did he read "To Build a Fire"?
(and cooking a meal on a camping stove is just cooking, nothing magical)
Then make sure you let them know you are back.
Far too many people get lost and nobody knows where they have gone.
- If you go hiking, take a small backpack. It should have an extra layer of clothing, some snacks, and water, at minimum.
- Never eat anything unless you are 100% certain you know what it is and it is non-toxic. Only drink from a lake or stream in an emergency, and then purify or boil the water if possible.
- Always bring a hat. Like the girl in the article, I've found myself in unexpected relentless sun.
- Wear sensible shoes. The definition of 'sensible' depends on what you're doing, but when in doubt go slightly overkill.
- Never go into nature alone. Ideally, go with a group of at least 3 people. Then if 1 person is seriously hurt, 1 person can stay with them and the last person can go for help.
- Always tell someone where you are going and when you plan to return. When you get back, tell them you're safe. For a simple weekend campout, that means telling a friend or family member. For a strenuous full-day hike, that means stopping at a ranger station before and after the hike.
- Never go off trail (both because it's easy to get lost, and because it's bad to trample mother nature).
- Always have maps - ideally paper ones. Even for a simple trail, pull out a cell phone and take a picture of the map at the trailhead.
- Bring more supplies (including food and water) than you think you need. With each trip you'll learn more about what you wish you had and what you brought but didn't use.
- Bring backups of critical things. Two flashlights, two ways to start fires, and two knives of some description (they don't have to be fancy).
- Have a realistic view of your limits (and your gear's limits). Seeing a nifty rock face doesn't mean you know how to climb it. Even if you know how, you probably don't have climbing equipment with you.
- Animals are not your friends. Research in advance what animals to expect wherever you're going, and what precautions to take. Camping in bear country is different than camping in raccoon country, for example.
- Research where you're going and pack accordingly. Is there running water? If not, plan how you will get and purify water. Are fires allowed? If not, plan how you will cook your food.
If this whole list is intimidating, just start simply and enjoy figuring things out - it can be a lot of fun as long as you come prepared (and try to over plan and over-pack at first while you learn).
Being an Australian it always entertains when you hear Americans talking about how everything in Australia is out to kill you... Truth is, almost nothing in Australia is out to kill you unless you really annoy it and you are far more likely to have problems with dying of exposure and heat exhaustion.
In the US on the other hand it seems you have lots of real predators who are out looking for a free feed that you need to take real care about. I had no idea raccoons were potentially dangerous.
I suppose it's all about what you are familiar with. I have no problem heading off walking in the Australian bush, with full knowledge that there are snakes out there that could bite me if I did something stupid but you rarely see them and if you do they are flaked out on a rock asleep. I'd be very cautious about bushwalking in the US, as I've no idea of the risks.