Camping or taking part in other outdoor activities where you’re likely to be miles away from your home comforts can be difficult. Surviving outdoors can give you a sense of achievement. There are some skills you can learn and items to take with you to make this easier. Some of these may be more surprising than others.
Choosing a pair of glasses
Choosing a pair of glasses might not seem like an obvious necessity if surviving in the outdoors, but it can be crucial for anyone who has vision problems. It’s important to see your surroundings, and getting a pair of glasses can help with that. In fact, most people can benefit from a pair of prescription or non-prescription sunglasses, as even in winter the sun can obscure vision and make it difficult to see where you’re going. In the outdoors, this is more likely to lead to accidents. Choosing from a selection of sunglasses from EyeBuyDirect means you can navigate the outdoors with confidence, and all the skills you learn for survival will be easier to carry out.
Learning to build and start a fire
If you’ve never built a fire before, it’s best to start small by gathering dry sticks. Once you know how and are confident you can keep it under control, you can use larger pieces of wood, but always be conscious of nearby trees or anything else which could unintentionally go up in flames.
The simplest way to start your fire is with waterproof matches. More advanced methods of starting a fire should only be used when you’re more experienced.
Finding water sources
Even if you bring water with you, it’s helpful to know how to find other sources of drinkable water, or how to make water drinkable. These include rain or melted snow. Boiling water first will reduce the risk of you catching any diseases.
Making a shelter
If you think learning to tie knots isn’t a useful skill, you’re wrong. It’s an important part of making a shelter. No matter what materials you use, these will need to be secured. Even if you’re camping and have a tent with you, knowing how you make your own shelter means if the worse happens and you end up without your tent, you can make a temporary shelter to protect yourself from the elements. This can be made from anything you have nearby, whether that’s the remains of your damaged tent, broken trees or sticks. In the worst-case scenario, you will find anything can be better than nothing.
Catching your own food
Learning to fish means being able to catch your own food. If you’re able to create your own makeshift weapons or fishing nets, you can catch and eat fish or wild animals. These may not be your first choice of meal if you were in a restaurant, but in the outdoors, they can prevent you from going hungry. Knowing how to cook these without giving yourself food poisoning is important too.
Learning survival skills is essential. It can mean surviving in the outdoors whether through choice or because a camping experience has gone wrong.
