Outdoor Survival Skills Collection – A Must-Read for Outdoor Enthusiasts
When it comes to outdoor activities, knowledge is joy. Learn happily.
Preparing for Departure
Skill 1: How to Choose What to Pack
Gather all the items you plan to bring, put them in one room, and imagine them all packed in your backpack. Wow, here’s the first tip: if you’re not sure whether to bring something, don’t bring it. This will make your pack more compact.
Skill 2: How to Pack Your Bag
Place lighter gear at the bottom and heavier items on top. Since anyone walking tends to lean slightly forward, this keeps the weight centered on your hips rather than your shoulders. At the bottom, you can put your sleeping bag (sleeping bags often come with stuff sacks, or you can wrap them in plastic to prevent them from getting wet if you fall into water or your canoe takes on water). Then add clothes you won’t need that day: underwear, socks, down jackets, etc. Next is your sleeping pad, which should go inside the pack, not strapped to the outside. Then place your tent and rainfly. Followed by cooking gear: stove, fuel, kettle, cups, spoon, water filter, and first aid kit. Then — near the top — your food. Weather-appropriate clothing goes on top. Finally, tighten the compression straps.
Skill 3: Keep Your Pack Tall and Slim, Not Short and Wide
This is where those backpack compression straps come in — tighten them, press them down with your knees (just don’t damage the contents inside) while packing.
Skill 4: Avoid Swinging Items
When you’re walking, the swinging motion of these items wastes energy. Those cute little pouches attached to your waist belt or shoulder straps? They’re actually heavy burdens. When you need sunscreen or film, it doesn’t take much time to grab them from the top pocket of your backpack. The only exception is pepper spray. It should be within easy reach.
Skill 5: Keep All Your Food in Waterproof Bags
When you hide your supplements away from animals at night, you won’t have to rummage around for these small items. As for lunch and snacks, wrap them separately in plastic and pack them in your food bag so you can easily pull them out during breaks.
Skill 6: Keep Your Water Bottle Inside Your Pack
Don’t hang it on your butt — it’ll get heated by the sun.
Skill 7: Insect Repellent
Spray some on the back of your neck and any exposed areas of your body. During peak mosquito season, also spray your socks and the tops of your pants, as these bugs tend to crawl up from low-growing plants rather than from trees. Spray a bit on the back of your hand (not your palm), then rub it on your face. Sounds odd, but it helps keep pests away from your eyes. Also spray a bit under the brim of your hat.
Arrival
Skill 8: Relax but Maintain a Rhythm
Start slow to let your body warm up, then find your own walking pace.
Skill 9: Arrive Early
No matter where you’re going, aim to arrive by noon and secure your campsite before others start showing up. You’ll have plenty of time to set up your tent and dry your sleeping bag before bedtime. You can take a nap, go for a stroll, explore the area, or simply sit with a cup of tea, enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Skill 10: Keep Everyone Together
Skill 11: When You Feel Tired, You’re Also Hungry and Thirsty
So while resting, replenish food and water (and do it happily, of course). Don’t wait until your body starts feeling off.
The Three Urgencies
Skill 12: Don’t Drink Tea at Night
Most teas, whether caffeinated or not, will make you wake up at night needing to pee.
Tip 13: Use a urine bottle
Tip 14: Store used toilet paper in a zippered bag
Everyone has to go sometimes. It’s best to wrap your waste in old paper, put it in a zippered bag, and dispose of it at the next waste point (fire pit or simple latrine), rather than burying it on the spot. Animals love to dig up human feces (ugh, yeah, ew) and scatter the paper around.
Tip 15: Do you really need a campfire?
I rarely make fires. And it’s generally best not to have a campfire in the wild. Because if we don’t light one, that wood can support some organisms, which in turn are food for higher-level creatures in the food chain. To make a fire, you have to gather wood, start the fire, get smoked in the face until you’re in tears, and then go to sleep smelling like smoke. But if you’re cold and wet, then it’s necessary. Or when there’s something important to discuss that evening, sitting around the fire is nice.
Tip 16: Got GPS?
Where are you? How far have you gone? How fast? What places have you passed? When will it get dark? Questions like these—GPS is more useful than a compass.
Tip 17: Where to buy maps?
Big bookstores and specialty bookstores, or you can look online
Tip 18: Many maps lack detailed information.
That’s when you’ll need GPS to determine your exact location. And you can lend it to friends later.
Tip 19: Check the data
When your GPS loads a map, don’t forget to set that map.
Tip 20: Ditch the bear bell
Bears can hear bells from much farther away than you think. Try using your voice more often instead of constant jingling.
Tip 21: Contact lenses
In the past, I always wore glasses while traveling and had to deal with frames, friction, and fogging. Now I don’t—I use contact lenses that can last up to three months without needing a change.
Tip 22: What you don’t need
Toothpaste (but you do need a toothbrush and dental floss.), a bar of soap (a bit of dishwashing liquid works too), a towel (air drying is fine), a foldable lunchbox, and a mirror
Food
Tip 23: Snacks and lunch
High-energy cereal bars, beef jerky, cheese, crackers, dried fruit, cheese, steamed buns, jam, peanut oil, candy bars. No sardines or canned food. They easily make a mess. Don’t bring honey either.
Tip 24: Dinner
Instant soup and noodles, as well as some dehydrated foods. All are packaged and require no further cooking. Be careful with water—you should pour a bit more than the instructions say because these foods absorb a lot. The ingredients include vegetables, they’re easy to carry, and they don’t spoil for a long time. Remember: double portions of dehydrated food are only enough to fill one person up.
Tip 25: Breakfast with beans and rice
Put instant black bean slices or black turtle bean slices in a cup, mix with an equal amount of instant rice, add a small plastic bottle of salad and a few slices of cheese. Top it off with some cornflakes. That makes a very tasty breakfast. It gives you enough energy for the next few hours.
Tip 26: Only put water in the pot
I only use my pot to boil water, and then pour it into instant soups, beans and rice, hot chocolate, etc.: this reduces oil usage, and you don’t have to wash it thoroughly afterward.
Tip 27: The only utensils you need are a cup and spoon.
Unless you’re like me and eat some mushy stuff, then you’d need a knife and a non-stick pan and all sorts of other things.
Tip 28: Use a Gas Stove
Tip 29: Return to the Familiar Path
If you find a trail you like, make sure to return to the familiar path from time to time, otherwise you can easily get lost.
Sleeping
Tip 30: Find a Good Spot
Because it's hard to fall asleep in the wild or at high altitudes, one way is to take a bit more sleeping pills.
Tip 31: Wear a Warm Hat
Even if I'm not bald, I wear one. Wearing a pair of thin gloves also helps.
Tip 32: Use Earplugs
The various sounds of the wilderness might make it hard to sleep, and there may be other people’s snoring too, so consider using earplugs.
Tip 33: Best Camping Spots
a. Flat and Dry
b. Close to a stream or lake. This makes it easier to fetch water.
c. Must be well above the waterline to prevent it from rising in the middle of the night.
d. In the woods. This blocks the wind and provides places to tie up a rainfly, but avoid dead trees that might fall.
e. Tents should be spaced apart to avoid being disturbed by others’ snoring.
f. Near toilet facilities, for convenience and hygiene.
g. Away from lights and noise
h. In a place you love, with people you love
Essentials
Tip 34: What a Group of Four Needs for Seven Days
1 stove, 6 stove stands, 2 pots, 1 tarp, 1 water filter, 1 water bag, 1 topographic map, 1 multi-tool, 1 first aid kit, 1 nature history book, 1 outdoor book, 1 GPS, 1 compass, 2 ropes for hanging food, 1 shovel for digging a simple latrine.
Tip 35: 14 Essential Items per Person
1 whistle, 1 Swiss Army knife, lighter, headlamp, food, water, brimmed hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, small first aid kit, handkerchief (for wiping or bandaging), clothing for bad weather, medications (don’t rely on others), toilet paper.
Tip 36: What About a Compass?
Bring one if you want, but not many people know how to use it properly.
Tip 37: Umbrella
In light drizzle, this British habit can still come in handy. You can get a small one that clips onto your backpack to keep it dry and leave your hands free. (Personally, I recommend a raincoat over an umbrella.)
Tip 38: Spend as Much as You Can on Your Tent
You get what you pay for. Remember what a famous explorer once said: in the mountains, the best is just good enough.
Tip 39: Leave your tent door open at night
Closing the tent door not only leads to condensation inside, but water droplets can also form on your sleeping bag. So bring a sleeping bag rated for 0°C in summer. Then keep the air circulating—of course, use a mosquito net. (Especially in mountainous areas)
Tip 40: Bring a tarp
I always carry a 7x9-foot tarp. Tie a 12-inch rope to each of the four grommets, and use a 30-inch rope tied between two trees as the ridgepole.
How to dress
Tip 41: Smart dressing
1. Soft nylon T-shirts that feel like cotton but are more comfortable;
2. Odor-free POLYPRO underwear
3. Pants with a zipper in the middle
4. Waterproof pants with a bottom zipper that can cover your shoes
5. Women’s sports tops (for women)
6. Fleece jacket
7. Hat with strings
8. Waterproof shoes
Tip 42: Clumsy dressing
1. Jeans (terrible when wet)
2. Odor-producing POLYPRO underwear
3. Any tight-fitting clothing
4. Pants with tight cuffs — good for rock climbing, but not hiking
Tip 43: Rain gear
Wearing a thick fleece layer is very useful. When it rains, I always put on a fleece jacket, and if it’s pouring, I wear a tweed coat. Sure, I’ll sweat, but the fleece will absorb it and I can stay warm.
Tip 44: Gore-Tex socks
Wear a pair of Gore-Tex socks over your regular socks to ensure your feet stay dry
Water treatment
Tip 45: Boil or filter
When you boil water, most harmful organisms are killed. So you don’t need to filter it specially beforehand, nor do you have to boil it for five minutes. Personally, I use filtered water rather than chemically treated water, although chemically treated water is better and reduces the weight of filters.
Tip 46: Use a water bladder to fetch water from streams instead of carrying a kettle directly.
A good water bladder is light and can hold 10–20 liters of water.
Tip 47: If you have to use water for washing in the wild
Bring the water to your campsite rather than taking your gear to the water. The same goes for washing your face, brushing your teeth, or showering {this is something we should pay attention to, as it avoids polluting the entire water source. If we use it onshore, the water seeps into the ground, gets naturally filtered, and becomes much cleaner when it flows back into the water}.
When you’ve found a truly perfect spot
Tip 48: Use it as your campsite
In the morning, spread out yesterday’s clothes and sleeping bag, then go out. When you come back, you can enjoy a good sleep. {Of course, make sure the weather doesn’t turn bad.}
Tip 49: Bring kids along
Tip 50: Really think everything through
Think about how much time you spend indoors, in a season-less office, by the phone, in front of the computer. Then consider how long it’s been since you’ve been away from them. So spend half an hour or an hour each day enjoying what you’ve worked hard to get. Relax in a place of breathtaking scenery, and as a famous Canadian naturalist once said: sit quietly in the natural world, forget that you’re there, and you’ll see, hear, and feel things that amaze and delight you. That’s when you’ll know you’re home.
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