Survive!

  Survive!

  Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere—Alive

  Les Stroud with Michael Vlessides

  Photography by Laura Bombier

  Illustrations by Beverley Hawksley

  Contents

  Introduction

  1. Trip Planning and Preparation

  2. Survival Kits

  3. Psychological Aspects of Survival

  4. Signaling

  5. Water

  6. Fire

  7. Shelter

  8. Food

  9. Survival Travel and Navigation

  10. Dangers and Hazards

  11. Weather

  12. Clothing

  13. Survival First Aid

  14. Essential Survival Skills

  15. When Disaster Strikes Close to Home

  Author’s Note

  Checklists

  Acknowledgments

  Searchable Terms

  About the Author

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Introduction

  It was decidedly fate. Soon after quitting the music industry and resolving to live a life of outdoor adventure at the age of 25, I opened the newspaper one morning and saw a small ad for a wilderness survival course. Not long after, I found myself on my first solo outing: curled up in my shelter, boots sticking out the entrance, rain teeming down…and I was giddy. I realized then and there that I was reliving my boyhood days of building shelters behind our family cottage, only this time I could stay out all night. I was hooked, and since then, wilderness survival has figured prominently in my life.

  In Surviving the Extremes, Dr. Kenneth Kamler writes, “Human beings are the only animal whose emotions, spiritual imperatives and lust for adventure override our survival instincts. We get into trouble because we have an insatiable desire to explore. We know very well we have assumed risks when we travel in an extreme environment and that our decisions could have fatal consequences.” My own insatiable lust for adventure has seen me voluntarily place myself, time and time again, in survival ordeals or extreme adventures. I used to do it for fun, and I guess I still do.

  I have always channeled my creative energy toward filling voids, doing things that nobody else has done. Creating a survival series for television was no different. I had seen lots of survival films; they seemed dry, boring, and of little interest to anyone but the hardest-core survivalists. What was missing was the drama that unfolds in real-life situations. I realized that to really show how to survive you need to go out and actually do it—and film the experience. Out of this thinking, my idea for producing a television series, eventually called Survivorman, was born.

  From the get-go, I vowed not to let Survivorman make a mockery of survival by incorporating games and challenges, or by cheating my way through it by staying in hotels every night or bringing along a makeup artist to help me look dirty. There would be no camera crew to offer me food and assistance. I needed to be out there, alone, just as I had for years trained to be, actually surviving, or at least coming as close as I could to simulating that experience.

  Dr. Kamler notes, and I agree, that there are four forces at work in the struggle for survival. Knowledge—well, you’ve got a good start by reading this book. Conditioning—an often-overlooked aspect of preparation for wilderness adventure. Luck—my dad would have called it “dumb” luck; hopefully you’ve got some! And the single most important force of all: the will to live. Without it, people have perished beside packs of supplies. With it, others in similar situations have survived seemingly impossible ordeals. To this list I would add survival kit. Certain gear can make a huge difference in your struggle to survive.

  Snowmobiler Chris Traverse certainly had most of these forces when he got lost on his way home from a fishing trip in northern Manitoba in March 2008. To reach safety, he had to endure five days of walking through waist-deep snow without supplies. I was humbled when Chris credited Survivorman with helping him survive.

  Stories like Chris’s are a large part of what led me to write this book and to make sure that, like my TV show, there is nothing phony about my work. The field of wilderness survival is cluttered enough with information. I stick to tried-and-true methods, providing the background and explaining the skills that I know can help you to survive. The skills are ones that anyone can easily learn and use, and that should work anywhere, anytime. I also provide essential checklists, which you’ll find at the end of the book; photocopy these and use them to plan your next adventure. Preparation is everything.

  Yet no matter how prepared you may be, you should never lose sight of the fact that a survival situation is an emergency. It may seem fun on a survival-skills weekend when you’re fully fed, guided by an instructor, and surrounded by a group of like-minded students, all smiles and dirty faces. But in a real-life ordeal, “fun” is not part of the equation.

  Survival is not about smelling the pines and feeling the breeze on your weathered and tanned face. Survival is not fun. It’s not pretty. It’s never comfortable. It may involve eating gross things, enduring pain and deprivation, and battling fatigue and loneliness. It may involve danger. It’s about life or death. If you want to learn how to survive, read on….

  Chapter One

  TRIP PLANNING AND PREPARATION

  In everyday life, planning for survival isn’t an issue. Our societies have created extensive systems designed to bail us out in times of emergency. Should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in a car accident, chances are high that an ambulance will soon arrive and take you to an emergency room.

  Well, there’s a big difference between waiting on the side of the highway for an ambulance and shivering on the side of a remote river in northern Canada with all your food and supplies washed downstream because you just wrecked your canoe running a Class IV rapid. Dialing 911 is not going to help you. The ambulance is not going to come. This is where trip planning and preparation come in.

  I’m talking about more than just menu planning here. It’s great to know that you’re going to eat dehydrated chicken teriyaki with rice on the third day of your paddling trip, but what will you do if all your food is gone? That is a completely different situation, and one in which trip planning and preparation with an eye toward survival can make all the difference in the world. The most common cause of death in the wilderness is unpreparedness. Most people do some preparation before their adventures. Not to prepare would be the height of foolhardiness. But beyond arranging route, destination, camping spots, and meals, too few outdoor enthusiasts actually plan for the possibility of a survival situation.

  Why? I suspect there are several reasons. Most people don’t consider the possibility of finding themselves in such a situation to start with, which can be a grave mistake. Others probably think they have enough survival skills, knowledge, and training, and therefore don’t need to contemplate the specifics of a particular trip. Some may feel that thinking of worst-case scenarios is pessimistic, and that it takes the fun out of anticipating a trip. But it’s not pessimistic to anticipate emergencies. It’s just good bush sense.

  And the importance of planning and preparing for your particular trip can’t be overstated, because every region is different, sometimes in subtle ways. You could dramatically increase your chances of making it through a survival situation by getting just a few tips about the locale.

  The more experienced you are in wilderness travel, the more likely you’ll have developed your own list of must-haves to bring on your adventures. Remember that each person is responsible for his or her own survival!

  Do Your Research

  PLANNING AND PREPARING FOR YOUR ADVENTURE BEGINS with research, a fairly easy undertaking in today’s information-rich digital age. Between th
e Internet and the countless books available in public libraries, the foundation is there for anyone to begin to build a location-specific store of knowledge for just about any region on earth.

  Printed publications offer other benefits too, aside from the significant information they can yield. First, you can carry small guidebooks and pamphlets with you and—assuming they haven’t washed down the river with your canoe—refer to them along the way. Second, reading about your destination ahead of time gets you excited about the trip and empowers you with information that might save your life.

  One thing to keep in mind when reading books or online materials, though, is that while they may describe, for example, the types of plants that can be sources of water in a specific area, you cannot be 100 percent sure that you’ll be able to identify a plant unless someone has personally taught you how. In this book, for instance, I note that you can find water in the chevron of the leaves of most banana trees. That’s all well and good, but you may need someone to show you a banana tree, and teach you how to distinguish it from similar-looking plants.

  Ideally, anyone going on a backcountry wilderness trip should take the time to train in that region with a local expert, one who can offer such vital advice as which plants are edible and which ones will kill you. Take the time to find an expert, and try to dedicate at least one day with him or her on the land. The training and teaching may even be available in your own area. The first survival courses I ever took (to prepare me for northern Ontario) were offered in a city…Toronto.

  Although local experts obviously know the best ways to build shelter, make fire, gather food, and locate water, I often find that it’s not the big lessons they teach that ultimately help me the most but the little nuggets of wisdom they throw out in passing. For example, when a native Costa Rican taught me how to eat mussels, he shared a tip with me: if the water that drips out of the mussel is green, it’s poisonous; if it’s clear, then it’s good to eat. That information was nowhere to be found in any of the books on the region, but it could have saved my life. On another occasion, a Kalahari Bushman taught me how to catch small weaver birds by hand by walking up to their nests at night and simply plucking them out of their holes. This is the kind of tip that you can’t find anywhere else, but that may prove invaluable if you’re stranded…and starving.

  I realize that spending time with a local expert takes time and money. Most people have only one or two weeks off work and can’t dedicate time for training or education while on vacation. But if you can, it will make you more self-reliant, enhancing your trip in ways you never thought possible, even if you never get caught in a survival situation.

  Ask the Right Questions

  Now that you’ve committed yourself to learning about the area, your next question is this: What should I be looking for?

  First, you should be intimate with your route and destination. Outdoor adventurers can spend hours looking at maps. It’s kind of like, well…map porn.

  Carefully study your maps to get a feel for the land before you see it. As you come to understand an area’s features, you will begin to visualize the terrain in your head. Later, when you’re out there, nothing will surprise you. Beyond this, here are the vital things you should always know about any region you plan to visit:

  Had I not taken the time to learn from Kalahari Bushmen, I would have missed out on a plentiful—and easy-to-catch—source of food: the weaver bird (which, as shown here, I am attempting to pull out of a nest).

  What kind of vegetation, trees, or plants can you expect to find?

  Which, if any, of these are edible?

  Where are the water sources?

  What kinds of animals are there, and which are dangerous?

  What’s the worst possible weather for that area and season? (Checking the weather forecast is a must, as well: if conditions look bad, maybe you should postpone your trip for a while.)

  What will the day and night temperatures be?

  When do the high and low tides occur, and what are the levels?

  Who are the local people, what are their customs or taboos, and are they friendly?

  People can play a bigger part in your wilderness adventure than you may think, and unfriendly people may prove a significant hurdle to overcome, even where I live in Canada. There is a river in northern Ontario that flows through a region that was once rife with controversy, part of the old “loggers versus tree-huggers” chestnut. At one point, the local logging community decided to take out their anger on anyone who traveled the river. More than once over a three-year period, groups of paddlers and anglers reached the parking lot at the end of their trips to find their tires slashed. Imagine if the campers had emerged with a time-sensitive casualty in tow!

  There is no substitute for local knowledge. Here, I pick up the finer details of making fire with a hand drill from desert expert David Holladay in Nevada.

  Learn to Use a Map and Compass

  THIS BOOK OFFERS AN EXTENSIVE CHAPTER ON WILDERNESS NAVIGATION, but nobody should venture into the wild without at least the basic skills to interpret a topographical map and use a compass. You don’t play hockey without learning how to skate; you don’t go sailing without learning how to sail; and you don’t fire a rifle without learning how to shoot. So don’t venture into the wilderness without learning how to navigate. There are numerous local college courses available on the subject. Take one!

  Always carry a map, whether you’re on your own or with a guide. If you’re with a guide but have neglected to bring a map, ask to see your guide’s as often as possible. Familiarize yourself with it, as well as with the route you are traveling. Your guide should not be annoyed by this, but rather pleasantly surprised that someone else on the trip is willing to become knowledgeable in case the worst should happen. After all, what would you do if your guide became incapacitated?

  In preparing yourself by reviewing a route map, you may notice, for example, that a road runs parallel to the river or trail you’re traveling on. This is good to know should you run into trouble: A half day’s walk due east will put me onto a road and into the path of possible rescue. You may also see landmarks such as bridges, buildings, or even small towns. You would never have known that if you hadn’t looked at the map before it got lost or washed down the river.

  Rely on Yourself, Not Your Guide

  I’VE OFTEN FOUND THAT PEOPLE ARE FAIRLY GOOD about researching a trip if they’re going by themselves or in a small group. Where they get lazy is when they go with a guide. Assumptions are made that the guide a) knows what he or she is doing, b) knows the area really well, and c) has made all the necessary provisions in case of emergency.

  Trust your guide, but don’t rely on him or her. In other words, you must be self-reliant. Remember that your guide, like you, is human. Guides have been known to make errors—whether out of lack of experience or bad judgment—that lead their parties into otherwise avoidable survival situations. And some of the grimmest survival stories ever told are borne of the fact that people blindly relied on their guides. Your guide will be grateful if you take responsibility for yourself, and you’ll feel empowered by doing so.

  * * *

  STROUD’S TIP

  If you’re traveling in a group, share your survival knowledge and skills with your partners before disaster strikes. Make sure that everybody has a basic understanding of the steps they should take in an emergency. Remember, if you have an accident and are facing possible death, your travel companions are the ones you’ll have to trust to see you through to safety.

  * * *

  Get in Shape and Know Your Limits

  AS WITH ANY PURSUIT THAT PLACES PHYSICAL DEMAND SUPON THE BODY, you’ll stand a better chance of making it through a survival ordeal if you already have a baseline level of physical fitness. How far you can trek in a day, how well you can build a shelter under extreme weather conditions, how effectively you can dig a hole for a solar still—all are directly related to your strength and conditioning. And with p
hysical fitness comes greater self-confidence and self-esteem, both of which are critical to maintaining the will to live.

  In general, the more we human beings focus on good nutrition and attain a high level of physical fitness, the more capable we are of accomplishing tasks, the more focused we are in our thoughts, and the more clear-headed we are. These are all attributes you’ll need if you find yourself struggling to survive.

  For me, the importance of being physically fit is magnified when I venture into the wild. I am accepting the risk of undertaking these activities, and I have a responsibility to myself, my travel partners, and my family to be properly prepared. This isn’t to say you can’t trek into the wilderness if you’re not fit. But if you do, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage from the start.

  As part of physical preparation, consider seeing to any nagging or chronic health (including dental) conditions that may impede you. In the Hollywood movie Cast Away, Tom Hanks’s character, Chuck Noland, was marooned on an island with a painfully abscessed tooth. To me, that was one of the most realistic parts of the film, because these things can happen. If you are traveling in a group, it’s also a good idea to know what health issues your partners have, in case you need to look after them.