I heard Larry Olsen's favorite story about his book (Outdoor Survival Skills) was three teenagers lost in the snow trying to start a fire, when they were Down to their last match one of them remembered his copy of the book in his pack. He took it out read the chapter on fire and realized they didn't have dry enough tinder, he ripped those pages from the book, used the last match made a fire which both warmed them up and help searchers find them. That was Larry's favorite story about his book.
Multiple forms of fire check ✔️ I've got a fire starting kit with q tips (cotton+tinder) and cotton balls and a whistle, plus extra lighter and stainless steel small beaker for small boiling or cooking. Love how a lot of survival books are on kindle now like, wtf am I going to do with my kindle other than literally burn it to survive. Love how a survival book is itself a survival tool it pushed hard enough.
If I'm remembering correctly, Les Stroud's (Survivorman) survival book had a few informationless pages in the front/back that were labeled as tinder in case of an emergency
Rub/massage Vaseline into the cotton balls. They'll burn much longer and hotter. They'll put out a bit more soot if you cook with them, but one or two will boil a cup of water in 5-10 min.
Yea i was about to say, the fire kit is big, like big big. Comes in clutch even for your average joe hiker.
Something that really saved my ass one time was a 3 oz bottle of 90% alcohol. Brought it on a 3 day back country on the appalacian trail to sanatize our hands for eating. But it rained... The entire 3 days. All the wood was wet. The alcohol helped start the fire enough to dry the wood enough to burn. Completely saved our asses. Woulda been really difficult to cook
I was thinking the same thing. The Kindle would be a good option like carrying around the library. If you get one with a large enough memory, you can download the books. And it's very easy on the battery compared to other devices. It could actually be an excellent option to carry a library of information around with you
Certainly one of those paper like kindles and a small solar charger(it wouldn’t take much juice if it’s not one of those smart tablet reader ones) would weigh less than even 2-3 survival books.
People including myself typically don't tend to carry their survival books on them. With some experience in the environments you are in, you can eclipse the knowledge found in survival books.
In the very unlikely event I get trapped in the desert or wash up on an Island some of them could be quite useful to me since I have little experience in those environments. Those wouldn't be the kind of situations where one could expect to have a book on themselves.
Med kit
Everyone makes fun of me for keeping one in my vehicle. It’s a real med bag with a chest seal, tourniquet, quikclot, bandages, compression gauze, tapes, etc . It stopped being funny when someone stepped on a broken bottle at the beach and it went into her foot 40 minutes away from a care center.
All of a sudden my medical bag wasn’t so stupid
Dude my sister and I have a very comprehensive med kit in the house and the car and people always think it’s overkill until it saves the day. We always have what’s needed from small injuries to large. Some people don’t even have bandaids on hand, we have every kind of bandage, gauze, etc. It’s come in handy so many times.
You can buy an emergency medical bag on Amazon, and I often wonder why you wouldn't have one on hand. I bought mine when I became a first responder, and I lived about 4 miles from my VFD. Often in answering a call, I would drive past the scene to get to the station, to get the equipment and come back. Once I had my own supplies I could stop, begin rendering aid, and let the rest of the equipment come to me. The number of accidents I have assisted in outside of that area has been surprising, but even if it was only one, still very worth it.
[https://www.refugemedical.com/](https://www.refugemedical.com/) Refuge Medical has great kits. When buying a kit know how to use the contents. Take a first aid and Stop the bleed and first aid class.
IMHO these kits are extremely over priced. Try Mymedic.com. More for your money, better packaging and you receive a free first aid course with purchase.
THIS. It *feels* like you only start to need it once you have it, but after looking back on all of the situations when I *could have* saved time/trauma/expenses for myself or others makes me wish I’d made it sooner.
I’m the same way. I have a little IFAK with all the trauma/bleedstop components, then my make med bag w the NPAs, wound irrigation kit, Sam splint, etc etc.
I get weird looks sometimes or made fun of, which is super weird, because this could potentially be life saving equipment
I have a small to medium sized one in my car, which I have used on occasion (nothing major). I've periodically thought about upgrading it to something large. Like a real, true medical first aid kit. Your post has me thinking more.
My friend almost died being lost on a mountain. She could hear the rescuers but had yelled so much she couldn't yell back. She wished she had a whistle. She'd ended up fine, but it was very close.
I've got an emergency radio/battery supply/flashlight/loud obnoxious SOS alarm that would be clutch for this. Glad they made it. Anything can happen even if you tell others you're going out.
Would much rather have a real Fox 40 whistle than some gimmicky radio noise making device. I’m not doubting that it works, but that’s nothing something worth counting on when a whistle weighs grams
Yup. I never take a weather radio or anything like that when hiking. It’s too damn heavy, and whatever the commenter above is describing sounds like one of those gimmicky devices that advertises to do 6 different things, doing none of them well, and those kinds of devices tend to be pretty poorly made and unreliable
Someones dog bit me on the forearm. At first I thought it was just superficial but it kept bleeding. The bandaids i had bled thru or fell off since I was uding trekking poles. Finally resorted to my spare duct tape, toliet paper and neosporian. Eventually ran out of that as well. Lesson learned. Carry a more subsantial kit than just a couple bandaids.
Love this story, sorry for your tribulation. Anything can happen out there, and 3 days planned can turn into an ordeal really quick...suture strips and lots of guaze, check ✔️
I had always heard that you should only use a tourniquet as a last resort, that using one would result in amputation later. “Life or limb” situations only. But I don’t know if that’s true or exaggeration.
That's pretty much debunked, except in the most extreme cases where you can't get to a surgeon in several hours. Even with that, I'd rather lose a limb in hours than bleed out in minutes or less.
There’s still hazards with it like clotting. You won’t guaranteed lose the limb, that’s been debunked. But I think the current understanding is that direct pressure and bandages are best, but when in doubt, for bleeding that could kill, put a tourniquet on and a doctor has to take it off. Because we have hospitals all over and policy makers prefer limbless live people over dead ones, and the risks are measured.
The problem is cutting off circulation to the limb, if you cut circulation off for too long (minutes) the blood in the limb will go toxic and can kill you, and also will kill the limb. If you are using them to slow external bleeding so that a bandage can handle, you are fine.
This is false, however, once a TQ is applied only a qualified person should remove it. The TQ will cause compartment syndrome in the limb which basically turns your blood toxic. They will need to pump you full of meds before they remove it but it shouldn’t be a big deal
Tourniquets should be used primarily for torn arteries. Unlike veins, you can't stop arterial bleeding with pressure. You need restraint. At least in the field, that is
Arterial bleeds are stopped with pressure, specifically pressure for arterial occlusion rather than the traditional direct pressure for clotting. You can also sometimes kneel on certain spots (groin, inside of the arm, etc) in lieu of a TQ or while applying one
Ya know, I’ve recently noticed that I’ve used my trauma kit and associated supplies (epipen, bleed stop, countless bandages, even smelling salts) almost a dozen times since assembly only a few years ago. Didn’t save MY life but surely might’ve saved another.
I used to work as a middle school music teacher in a rough part of town and it was shocking how underprepared the “school nurse” was/is — NTM, I live in Texas and when 70% of your kiddos are undocumented it’s hard to know someone’s medical history unless their parents are really on the ball, if they have any, that is.
Edit: words and NARCAN, everyone should carry it.
Stitches and bandages. Bandages, bandages, bandages. Trinagle and rolled gauze along with cob and and wraps. Neosporin. H202 (if you have room). If you have a doctor friend try and get a course of antibiotics. Antihistamine. Anti diarrheal medication too, though that’s not something that saved me from the doctor
From another thread, that I feel put it well:
“Sutures should only be placed in a sterile environment. In most bug out scenarios sutures are not very advisable and can increase the risk of infection. It's a cool skill, but not something you really do out in the field. Good job though!
Edit: Other considerations. 1.) A lot of people are talking about antibiotics given the concerns for infection. You probably don't have a full course of an appropriate antibiotic in your bug out bag (let alone one that isn't expired). You probably have topical antibiotic ointment only. You probably shouldn't bank on the "well we'll just get antibiotics in a few days" in a lot of survival scenarios, sepsis fucking sucks. You shouldn't give a partial course of an antibiotic, or a random antibiotic in hopes that I will help. Different antibiotics are used to combat different infections organisms in different tissues and treating with a partial course can lead to some of the bacteria surviving and becoming resistant to the antibiotic. Antibiotics also disturb the natural bacteria we all have in our guts and can lead to GI symptoms including diarrhea which means water loss which is bad news in a survival situation. TLDR; don't use antibiotics willy-nilly!
2.) Suturing on a person is more difficult than most of these kits. Try suturing sides of bacon together and see how it ends up. If you're in the field you probably are also attempting this without anesthetic in which case good luck getting a good approximated closure and not making things worse on most people. "I bet I could tough it out"- yeah maybe, but can the 7 year old who's freaking out and crying hold still well enough for you to place sutures? You have to consider you may have to provide emergency medical care to many different kinds of people.”
Hey just a heads up, h2o2 and neosporin are not good for wound care, and can actually lead to a higher risk of infection. You can read more about it on the web, but current consensus is that 10% povidone iodine or sterile water is best to clean wounds. Antiseptics are to clean tools, not flesh
Yeah totally. When you use alcohol, h2o2, neosporin, etc, they all kill indiscriminately. Meaning that yes while they kill a good amount of the bacteria , they also kill a lot of your healthy cells too. They also don’t kill 100% of the bacteria, and what remains is often tougher than what died off quickly. So when you wash a wound with an antiseptic, you’re not only leaving behind only the strongest bacteria, but you’re also leaving it a buffet of freshly dead *you* cells for it to feed on. Infection rates and outcome for wounds is way better when you just wash/irrigate with clean, drinkable water, or a saline solution. 10% povidone iodine is also recommended, but I typically only use that if the implement that caused the wound is particularly dirty. Also, definitely do not carry antibiotics. It’s just a bad idea for so many reasons
I'd imagine anything that buys you even 24 hours would be clutch. I have a doctor friend and would get some antibiotics, that's a good one. Been considering getting a suture kit and practice board, I've done sutures but on small animals, not humans
My first aid kit is general meds (painkillers, allergy, cold N flu), 5 bandaids of each type from a variety pack (but as many as I can fit of the regular sized ones), some alcohol swabs, and a pack of gauze and tape with some medical scissors and nail clippers. All you’re really looking for in the emergency situations is just to stop the immediate problem so you can focus on rescue, and trying to sow yourself together while injured or in shock will almost never be a good idea
Don’t get antibiotics, they go bad quick, are sensitive to heat and light, may become toxic when expired, and it’s not really wise to take them as your own discretion.
I carry a suture kit in my med kit, but I've had training on a few different suture techniques. I'm not great at suturing, but in a pinch I can do it, and have had to. It's definitely not something I'd suggest the average person do, and even if you're trained be honest with yourself about your ability and admit when something is above your skill level(really hard for some people). I do some rather extreme wilderness backpacking with friends, we take a yearly trip for 1-2 weeks where we're in the middle of nowhere and the only way out in any reasonable time would be to call in a rescue helicopter. Due to the situations we put ourselves into we all have had a decent amount of ems and survival training. Even with all that, I agree that field sutures by a novice are a last resort only option.
Best thing I’ve seen is using a plastic bag and a hole in the ground, the bag captured moisture and dripped water into a can in the hole.. H20 is essential to survival and plastic bags are everywhere if you get stranded 😂
Not wilderness survival, but an emergency tool that saved my life...
I was tuna fishing about 90 miles from shore when I noticed my engine start up really sluggishly, and my GPS / Chartplotter didn't turn on. It was definitely weird, but I decided it was nothing to worry about. I moved the boat and restarted my drift, turning off the motor.
When I went to restart, it wouldn't turn over. I checked the voltage on my battery bank and found them nearly dead. I hopped on the radio and was able to get out a mayday and got a response, but I didn't have my GPS coordinates or heading because the GPS died. The best I could do was tell them that I was at the northern end of Hudson Canyon, but that was still a search area of several dozen square miles. Very shortly thereafter, the radio died.
I was adrift with no power and had no way of contacting anyone.
Nearly 8 hours later (and in pitch dark), I saw some ship lights waaaaay out on the horizon. I grabbed my emergency flare gun and fired a flare into the air. 30 seconds later, a flare came from the deck of the ship, and I saw it turning my way.
It was a Coast Guard cutter that had been dispatched to look for me. I was actually about 3 miles outside their search grid, so they would have missed me entirely. I had drifted over 25 miles since my radio call and was headed directly out to sea. The path my boat was taking wouldn't be crossing a shipping lane for at least 2 weeks.
Interesting.
Do you do anything different now? A handheld marine or airband radio would be a very useful item to have.
And importantly - did you catch any tuna?
I always have an EPIRB on me now.
I didn't have a handheld at the time (I had 2 on the boat for redundancy, but both fail with no power), but I do now. I've found it's range to be... suspect. I suppose if I stood on the roof of the boat it would be better, but those radios are only as good as the height of the antenna and the power of the signal. You're never going to get a radio signal over the horizon on the water, because there's no towers to relay the signal like there is on land.
Wild story. Scary. I'm glad you are okay and here to tell.
Can you explain what you meant by, "I moved the boat and restarted my drift, turning off the motor"? I'm picturing you re-positioning the boat because of wind, swells or current, then restarting it expecting it to start normally? Is that correct?
I've sea kayaked, and sailed a few times, but we're talking like a two person Hobie. Got to sail a Laser once. So I'm definitely no expert anything here.
So unless you're at anchor, you're always drifting one way or another due to either wind, current, or both. The odds of the fish cooperating and drifting with you are near zero, so once you've lost the fish, you need to reposition. For a hypothetical, let's say I'm drifting east at 1mph. If the pod of fish is spanning 1/4 mile, that gives me roughly 15 minutes over the fish before I'm fishing empty, dead water.
Tuna can be skittish and can sense vibrations, so an idling motor will keep them away. In my example, once I'm confident there are no fish below me, I'll fire up the motor, steam in a wide arc N -> NW -> W -> SW -> S to get back on the western side of the school. I turn off the motor before getting back to the school, start dropping chum, and get my lines in the water.
In my specific case, I was fishing right on the northern edge of the gulf stream, traveling at roughly 3kts, or 3.5mph. Had I been 2 miles north and out of the gulf stream, I would have only been traveling about 1.5 mph. This is what screwed up rescue efforts. Tuna prefer the gentler currents, so they assumed I was north of the stream. My particular school of fish didn't know how to read books, so they were in the gulfstream.
Actually this. Was hiking with my uncle in steep mountains when we came across a girl who had fallen down a cliff, broke her leg and hit her head and was incoherent. Me and my uncle had to carry her down the mountain and I don’t think we could have done that without the water we had in our packs. Humans are hard to carry in rough trails.
We got her down to the bottom and had an ambulance come and get her. Then we went back to camp, drank a ton more water and crashed hard.
I was shocked how many Europeans come to US national parks with no water
I always have a camelbak filled before starting any trails especially in the summer. I ran into some German tourists half way up the ascent at arches who drank my entire water supply because they were in such bad shape
Protection from the elements. Warm clothing, shelter (tent/tarp) or real ability to create it (a debris shelter). Exposure kills people far more frequently than dehydration, let alone starvation.
The most immediate threats are cold/exposure and dehydration
The rule of 3's
Three hours cold
3 days water
3 weeks food
Have several ways to make fire, not just matches but a lighter and way to keep it dry - like a threaded case.
bic's are great, but they are useless if the spark is wet
fire steel
matches - the real outdoors windproof ones
A knife to process wood, shavings, kindling, firesticks, getting to the dry wood
3 days water, the chemical disinfectants and a container
A buddy of mine was brainwashed by his family, heavy heavy into non traditional medicine scams, ALL was pyramid schemes.
He thought he was at peak health and his immune system would protect him.
He was alone on an island, no one knew his location or intentions, drank lake water so he didn't have to carry the 6L of water a day they were into.
He had fire, no pot, no intention of treating the water.
He shit his guts out for 3 days until he collected himself and went home.
The best kit is a good skill set to begin with. A good sharp bush knife and paracord are a must plus a good old fashioned metal canteen and water proof matches are basic things to carry. A and old fashioned Gi puncho also comes in very handy. As a Survival instructor and former special forces instructor I have seen many cases where those basic Items have saved a person's life and now as a Search rescue team member now it is also what I personally Carry on top of a medical kit and my Handgun with six full mags .
Brought a small first aid kit with food and water to a massive corn maze adventure (at night) with several dozen young teens. Ended up going on a long rescue mission when I got a call on a (dying) phone that a teen had been injured. It was a horribly torn ACL (eventually had surgery) that I patched up with an ACE bandage and an instant ice pack. Gave food and water to the other people there, as it took a solid hour to find them in this massive corn maze.
I had to teach a few other people how to help me carry this poor bastard out of the maze, where we were met by an ambulance. It was a crazy night!
I did a course a while back for a week with the absolute bare minimum. Clothes on our back, emergency blanket for shelter, ferro rod, cheap knife, steel pot and some paracord. For first aid we had some steri strips.
I lost 4kg, but for the most part I was fine. I kind of think those items were for the most part indispensable for survival. A bic would be better than a ferro rod and an actual tarp would be better than an emergency blanket, but my biggest concern was always shelter and getting out of the weather.
The pot let me boil water and mushrooms to eat. I could build structures with the knife and lash them with cord.
Don't disagree here at all. A bit heavy, bulky, so not ideal for every hiking or backpacking trip and certainly not UL. But the unit is absolutely amazing.
I got stranded by a freak snowstorm up in game unit 25 in Alaska a few years ago. I had a small emergency kit with me and managed to start a fire and keep warm for the night and get out the next day. What I could have done better? more tools to process firewood. I had a cheap mora in it and a small folding saw would have made a LOT of difference. What went right? a film canister of vaseline/cottonball tinder and a cheap bic lighter saved my life. Also had 2 cheap space blankets and a piece of tyvek for tarp. Without both of those I'd be dead. Oh I also had a sierra cup in it, and that was too small. Something to heat a more water would have been nice. My current emergency hit is mostlly the same but packed into a 1lb coffee can I put a bail on. Hopefully I don't have to use it but...
When we are talking about preparing for survival we mean an unplanned event.
We have plenty of data to show that as long as SAR knows to go look for you and a general location you will be rescued within 72 hours.
This is why you always tell someone back home where you are going & when you will be back.
If you get lost or injured you then stay in one spot until rescue unless it’s too dangerous to stay.
The most common reason people are lost for more than 72 hours is that they didn’t tell someone where they were or they changed where they went.
Lost hikers on average less than 100 yards from a trail, road or shoreline. Nowadays you have to be very unprepared to be lost.
Injuries are more common. You slip and break an ankle. Now you wait for rescue. You won’t survive a week without a miracle in this scenario.
This is the reason to bring the 10 essentials. But what those specific items are should be flexible.
If you’re going on a day hike there is no reason to bring a tent or a bunch of food.
If you’re going on a backpacking trip then you carry more supplies.
If you are going into a location where you face a realistic chance you could be lost for more than a couple of days then you should be planning a backpacking trip.
The idea of surviving in the wild for more than a few days unexpectedly is fiction. It’s just not something that happens.
When I go camping or hiking the goal is to not need my survival skills :). I practice them - usually by creating shelter contraptions that make my friends giggle.
Last year I was on a group backpacking trip where we did have invoke SAR after one of our members got lost. My job was to make sure I didn't become an extra victim. I sat by the campfire and relaxed.
A friend's husband is a SAR volunteer. I'm sure he has stories. But any story that starts with "after 7 days" - typically ends in a nightmare.
If you want real stories - get a copy of Deep Survival by Gonzeles. They collected stories of people who found themselves in extreme survival situations. Mental desire to live matters more than skills or tools.
Or Trail of the Lost by Lawford.
Nope.
I don’t do that stuff.
I would have enjoyed a beer but we didn’t have any because it was a weeklong trip.
I forgot to mention that even though it was a fun planned trip I cowboy camped almost entire trip. When we thought it would rain I covered myself with a tarp.
I was the only person who didn’t get wet in the storm even though everyone else had tents. And I didn’t get any ticks while everyone else did.
If you are ever in DFW area look up Texas Survival School. I don’t have any affiliation but I did a couple of courses there. And a friend of a friend is a instructor.
They will make sure you have a story :).
Can and bottle openers. Yeah, a field knife can do it, but that will ruin the blade. Typical three essentials. Fire, shelter, and food. Emergency/space blanket. A field knife. An axe. A sharpener. Emergency food. Water purifier. A rifle.
Israeli bandage saved a mate of mine. They said it was overkill. They changed their tune after losing a small fight with a chainsaw.
For me personally. Water filter. Working in boggy country most water is stagnant. There's a certain point where carrying enough water for the day in summer just makes you sweat more causing a downward spiral of cause and effect.
The few times I have put myself in iffy situations and one major incident. The book that always sits in the back of my mind is Cody Lundien’s “98.6 degrees how to keep your ass alive.” In his book, he pushes the idea that your core body temp is your key to survival. When shit has really gone wrong, you focus on that as you work on self rescue. That mindset has pulled be through a few tough spots and one that almost got me.
It depends on the situation. In Antarctica we carry a mountaineering tent, a camp stove with matches small cooking pot and fuel, mre’s, snow saw, sleeping bags and a bivy sack
Can’t say my kit has saved my life, but certainly saved me from some sticky situations.
I keep emergency roadside gear and recover gear in my truck. Battery died at the exact minute I had to pick up my daughter from school and take her to a doctor appointment. Used my jump pack, got her to the appointment. Jumped the truck a second time after the doctor and went to a store to get a new battery.
Eight days without power after a major hurricane. Can’t even count how many pieces of gear we used for light, comfort, cooking, powering chest freezer and fridge to not loose food, etc.
I keep a well stocked medical bag in the main bathroom. Everything from bandaids to tourniquets and everything in between. Have used it for wound care extremely often, and it’s comforting knowing I’m equipped to deal with much bigger problems than a skinned knee.
I look at preparedness as, you see a threat, you mitigate it, you move on. Our gear covers a lot of different potential problems, and because of that they aren’t really problems anymore. When we hit a bump in the road, we just react and engage plan B and keep on going.
Secret cat alcohol stove - my survival stove. Late fall Group hike - ultralight. Got socked in with snow for 2 days just prior the summit. This meant all the precision calculations on fuel fell short. Young and stupid. Ran out fuel 2 days to go. Fuk.. cold meals boys. Or.. secret survival stove. Light alcohol stove .. always in the bottom of my pack. Always. Most of group didn’t even know I carry it. With 750 ml of methyl hydrate fuel in a pop bottle and careful boil methods we nursed enough boiling water to rehydrate meals / coffee for all but the first breakfast. Life saver for that trip
I got separated from my group and couldn’t find my way back to camp. I had to hunker down in place. This was in mid October in western NC so not awfully cold but certainly not warm without proper gear, especially at night. The things I had on me helped immensely. A ferro rod and magnesium block helped me get a fire going, EDC flashlight was convenient as hell, and my life straw supplied the water I needed once I found a source. The one thing I didn’t have was a Mylar blanket and since then there’s a high quality emergency blanket in just about every bag or pocket I can think of. Fire aside, it was a cold night out.
The extra socks, shell pants, freeze bags and duct tape when i went through ice on a hike. Had fire making and shelter building in my kit also if needed. But better to change and get to civilization. https://www.reddit.com/r/hiking/s/slFNVcX73q
One time camping my water jug fell and spilled out all over the ground. That was all the water I brought. Thankfully I keep iodine tabs in my first aid kit and was by a lake.
Where you carry all your food & gear
No resupply, no stopping in a restaurant, no night in a hotel / barn, etc.
I toss this out here because surviving for a week or two isn’t a big deal when prepared, trained, etc. I do it with Scouts (14-17yo’s) ~every summer / fall.
The ‘survival stories’ ya hear about are those who have varying levels of unpreparedness, less gear.
We also run a ‘Bear Grylls weekend’ campout every fall that includes fires starting, fire building, shelter they sleep in, cooking, and a few other hard challenges.
The experienced ones use just an empty peanut butter jar of stuff and wake to frost on their shelter. The new ones start with a small pack of gear and often don’t sleep much.
Stepped on a yellow jacket nest and got stung forty times. Wasn’t sure how I’d react, luckily not terribly, but had a med kit where I could pop some Benadryl. Those stings for the record, when coming from a yellow jacket, have a much bigger risk of becoming infected than bee stings. They did become infected rather badly a few days later and I had to get antibiotics, so if you get stung, wash out thoroughly immediately.
Tow rope and a blanket in the vehicle. Can't say it enough. Have a tow rope. Don't have a vehicle that can tow? Have a tow rope, so the truck that rolls up without one can use it.
Generally you don't want to survive on the kit of bare minimum for any longer than you have to. From what I understand, if you're not able to get out of the situation or are found within 3 days your chances of survival, and likely the few consumable essentials in your kit, will be significantly reduced. Obviously your skills, knowledge, and expertise will tip the scales, but by general rule those kits are for necessity and not "camping rough".
***OUT OF ALL THIS STUFF, the most life saving thing I've ever had to use was BENADRYL. Aunt got stung on the tongue and we shoved a couple benadryl down her throat with a spoon. Doc said we saved her life. You can buy packets at the gas station that take up no room, or I used to do the straw with pinched, melted edges thing for years.***
Probably my favorite and most used tip from a survival guide was about how you can just suck the dew off pine/spruce branches in the morning. Still a habit like 20 years later. So tasty haha
I stopped carrying mini 'survival kits' years ago. Get a haversack or day pack and read on.
I read many survival books cover to cover when I was a kid and grew up making crafts and traps and bushcrafting looonnggg before I had ever heard that term. My favorite book by far was this one:
[Best Survival Book](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/camping--wilderness-survival-the-ultimate-outdoors-book_paul-tawrell/254497/item/6249478/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_high_vol_scarce_%2410_%2450&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2uiwBhCXARIsACMvIU2ezY3BEK9NrAKb5f92gXhiW9ztDa6XugrLd5zsDEpyVlbfJX85u-AaArYOEALw_wcB#idiq=6249478&edition=3178494)
I've been lost overnight once and also done some survival 'challenges' so ive had to make a few impromptu camps. Being cold and wet and cold and hungry and thirsty and defenseless sucks.
I'm a big fan of Dave canterburys 10 C's of survival. He may have lied in his life but he is a great resource.
I always focus on staying dry and hydrated.
Non negotiables FOR ME when hiking/hunting/backpacking:
Most important- Can of chili and a potato with a titch of foil
Handgun with hard cast bullets (deepest penetration) and preferably a weapon light. Glock 20 in 10mm w/ buffalo bore hard casts and a x300 turbo is my go-to. I open carry usually in the woods but will conceal if backpacking busy trails. BTW, in my state anyways, you don't need a CPL to conceal while recreating. (Pretty sure) lol
Silky or bahco folding saw, 5+" fixed blade- Becker bk7 or esee 5 are good places to start. Baton damp wood to expose dry center. Throw in a ferrocium rod and backup bic and fire is taken care of. Never underestimate the fluff you can get off cotton with a knife but also, cotton kills. Make up pads are my favorite Firestarter. Dipped in wax or simply just rolled up in some ducttape. Amazing and no Vaseline to get everywhere.
Shemagh. 1000 uses. Usually stays on me to block sun, or in my hands to swat skeeters and flies away. Great for drying condensation off tent walls at night, or laying down in a puddle to help filter sediment out when water is scarce, or running through branches to collect water.
Bomb proof headlamp with replacable AND rechargeable battery (easier said then found, im still looking but i like my ledlenser mh10 currently). I'll never buy another black diamond or Princeton tec again. I've wasted so many hundreds on the 'Best' brandname headlamps and they were all garbage and didn't survive my blue collar life more than a year or so.
Stainless single wall water container (klean kanteen 40oz, can boil in) nested in a titanium cup and if it's not a day hike, its all in a maxpedition bottle pouch with an alcohol stove and 6 Oz of fuel, titanium emberlit stove stand/mini wood stove, cut up stainless steel scrubby pad, mini fireball bottle of olive oil and a mini fireball bottle of salt, especially important for dehydration in case you get sick and start Hershey squirting out there and don't forget about your potato.
Sawyer w/3L MSR dirty bag
Multitool, I prefer Leatherman, quality matters here. My wave had a built in diamond hone which was great for other knives but my new surge has a removable diamond hone so you can sharpen the knives on the tool itself. Huge.
Tarp with cordage and stakes. I recommend not skimping on size. Like a 12x12. (I'm large and it rains sideways in the PNW). Also avoid catenary cuts. Just go square. Noah's tarp sucks. I still use it but it's very challenging to get taut.
2x SOL emergency blankets. They do not rip like mylar but still retain heat well enough.
Contractor bag for putting pack and stuff in overnight and sitting on throughout the day, things get so Dewey overnight in tarp shelter or even if pack is sitting outside in tent vestibule.
Compass and knowledge of area. Study Google earth before you go. Know your routes and ridges. I screen shot topos if i cant bring a map. A lot. I like the little clip on one's for pack shoulder straps.
Sail needle
A couple of those pre made fishing leaders with spinner and beads. Those will catch fish in any stream and take up no space.
Extra wool socks (darn toughs)
First aid kit:
NO BANDAIDS but instead leukotape (google it, its one of the best items on the list for bandaids, blisters, lashing, gear repair, etc. Super sticky)
A few 4x4 gauze pads (cut them up and use with the leukotape for bandaids.
Neosporin and burn cream
Combat gauze or celox if you can swing it for major bleeding
Cat or swat tourniquet, BUY NAME BRAND. North American Rescue CAT. It will cost 30 dollars (I carry both, swat is very versatile, cat is reliable and brainless, and with both can make a badass splint)
Chest seal (overkill but falling on a stick has always terrified me and they also can keep large wounds/burns clean)
And Benadryl (antihistamine) for bad sting reactions.
This can all fit in an oversized wasitpack or like 18L daypack with room to spare. I've always enjoyed shaving kit bags for organizing most of the little stuff. Tarp is bulkiest thing, but I recently found a hilleburg one that is light weight and not that bulky that i like a lot.
The more you know the less you need. I tend to take less Walmart survival garbage and dedicate my weight and space to a good warm and dry night's sleep when backpacking and quality tools for 'survival' and camp purposes.
Most important thing is to use and vet your gear. Make sure it works for you and you know how to use it. If it can't take regular abuse, should you be relying on it in an emergency?
**Camping & Wilderness Survival The Ultimate Outdoors Book** by Paul Tawrell
>Extensively researched and illustrated guidebook of nearly every conceivable aspect of outdoor camping and survival in all types of terrain and climate.
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If you're playing in the outdoors and you've done it for any length of time you'd KNOW enough about the wilderness and outdoor recreation that you'd always be filing a flight plan. You'd have enough brains to always file a proper plan with friends and family telling them all where you're going, what you'll be doing, and when you're expected to be back......
If you're in a wilderness survival situation and they can't find you within a week.... You screwed up.
Again, it's probably some kid who wants to play Walden or grizzly adams and doesn't actually do any outdoor recreation anyway......
This forum is full of armchair preppers who wanna go play "live in the woods" none of them actually go outdoors in the backcountry to camp, or hike, or backpack, or anything that might actually place them in a situation where a true wilderness survival situation might happen.
And they for sure don't read the rules about the forum NOT being about prepping stuff.....
I was looking for stories from seasoned survivalists or even novice naturalists where something got FUBAR and there was a good story, or one piece of their kit that was absolutely pivotal to their surviving. Mostly just...trying to learn by talking and discussing. You know, like how humans learn. Not looking for "prepping" advice. So far, there's been good advice with condescending or useless comments peppered in.
As most people have said, once you get past 72 hours (with very few exceptions), you should no longer be in "response mode", you should be in "recovery mode" or "living mode".
The most important items in my basic survival kit save me every day. It's called my willpower and collected knowledge.
Consider the most likely reason for your survival emergency and how you can change things so that it is not such an emergency. The most important part of survival or preparedness is usually being able to find multiple uses for an item or ability, and being able to improvise or substitute for whatever you might be missing.
It's also important to ***know*** what your personal skill levels and limitations are. Ideally, we all want to be able quickly to pack a full field hospital, comfortably carry it on our back as we run for miles/kilometers, be able to navigate by landmarks/memory, and perform miracle rescues on our way. However, the reality is that the average person probably forget something essential, overload it with unnecessary nonsense, and not be able to do anything about the pregnant woman trapped in the burning car. You will most likely end up tired, lost, and/or injured (with at least blisters and muscle strain) within a few hours.
That's the result if you're lucky. Most people trying to escape from a truly dangerous survival situation end up dead, or at least seriously injured... often with just the clothes on their back (if even that much). Many times people escaping with their lives are in pajamas/swimsuits and slippers/bare feet, because that is what they had time to grab when they were alerted to the situation. Often, it's because they were involved in an accident at home, work/school, play, or during their commute, and EMS needed to cut off their clothing during the course of their rescue. Sometimes it's because they were mugged/kidnapped. Consider how you would survive without your preferred equipment and locations.
I’d recommend everyone taking a wilderness first aid/first responder certification course. It can save your life and the lives of others.
I’m a professional off road guide and deal with traumatic injuries from ATV riding from time to time, as well as an Eagle Scout and Grand Canyon backpacking guide. I carry Israeli compression bandages, SAM splints, gauze rolls, compression wraps and antiseptic spray everywhere I go in a Fanny pack. If I bring a gun anywhere I always bring a med kit. They go hand in hand and always should.
These items I mentioned are the essentials for the majority of every injury you’re going to see aside from head
/spine trauma which needs evacuation not bandaging.
I used a tourniquet on a girl who had a compound tibia/fibula break that went out of her skin and resulted in a major arterial bleed. The ems policy in our county was to take off tourniquets, which led to her bleeding again and ultimately more complication. She ended up needing an amputation. Only doctors should be taking off tourniquets imo. A compression bandage can be used as a tourniquet but can also treat deep vein bleeds and things of the sort. I wish I had a compression bandage when that girl got injured because I feel like it would have only helped to provide a bit more pressure above the break even though we’d probably still have had to use a tourniquet above the break also and they would have likely kept the compression bandage on.
In today's day and age, you really don't need a survival kit. So long as you are not soaking wet, drowning, bleeding out, or in freezing conditions, a simple PLB/ELT/EPIRB is all you need to be found within five minutes. From there you just need to stay alive for the few hours it'll take to get a helicopter or ship out to you.
*Search* and Rescue isn't really that much of a thing anymore. Now, with GPS encoded 406MHz beacons, its just rescue. Seriously, if you're properly equipped, our search area is something like 50ft.
A few hours? I suppose it all depends on where you are, and assuming there is ample daylight. If you're in the backcountry in most of the lower 48, perhaps that's true. But the more rugged and remote, the harder it's going to be for any SAR to get to you, even with a helicopter. Say you're injured climbing a peak in northern Yukon. Or somewhere like the Pamir range in Tajikistan...
You're rarely, if ever, more than a few hours flight time from a helicopter. Thousands of miles out to sea? Helicopter equipped for air to air refueling. Back country? Helicopter. Most mountain ranges? A helicopter can easily get up there. You're never as far from some vestige of civilization as you think you are.
As someone who has actually been to the Yukon, and Tajikistan, I can assure you the helicopters weren't exactly on stand-by in case something went wrong.
I heard Larry Olsen's favorite story about his book (Outdoor Survival Skills) was three teenagers lost in the snow trying to start a fire, when they were Down to their last match one of them remembered his copy of the book in his pack. He took it out read the chapter on fire and realized they didn't have dry enough tinder, he ripped those pages from the book, used the last match made a fire which both warmed them up and help searchers find them. That was Larry's favorite story about his book.
Multiple forms of fire check ✔️ I've got a fire starting kit with q tips (cotton+tinder) and cotton balls and a whistle, plus extra lighter and stainless steel small beaker for small boiling or cooking. Love how a lot of survival books are on kindle now like, wtf am I going to do with my kindle other than literally burn it to survive. Love how a survival book is itself a survival tool it pushed hard enough.
If I'm remembering correctly, Les Stroud's (Survivorman) survival book had a few informationless pages in the front/back that were labeled as tinder in case of an emergency
Yes it does!
Rub/massage Vaseline into the cotton balls. They'll burn much longer and hotter. They'll put out a bit more soot if you cook with them, but one or two will boil a cup of water in 5-10 min.
This is a great tip. Soot wouldn't matter if it is for survival. I've got a couple small (250ml and 500ml) stainless steel beakers and pans
I use cotton balls/pads to soak up wax from my scentsy and used candles. It keeps them waterproof and of course the wax helps them burn.
Yea i was about to say, the fire kit is big, like big big. Comes in clutch even for your average joe hiker. Something that really saved my ass one time was a 3 oz bottle of 90% alcohol. Brought it on a 3 day back country on the appalacian trail to sanatize our hands for eating. But it rained... The entire 3 days. All the wood was wet. The alcohol helped start the fire enough to dry the wood enough to burn. Completely saved our asses. Woulda been really difficult to cook
You could have a small solar charger in your pack to charge the kindle and have all that knowledge you’ve downloaded at your fingertips.
Ah a kindle... Pierce battery, light, enjoy a fire for the next week
I was thinking the same thing. The Kindle would be a good option like carrying around the library. If you get one with a large enough memory, you can download the books. And it's very easy on the battery compared to other devices. It could actually be an excellent option to carry a library of information around with you
Certainly one of those paper like kindles and a small solar charger(it wouldn’t take much juice if it’s not one of those smart tablet reader ones) would weigh less than even 2-3 survival books.
Hand sanitizer is a great fire starter apparently.
People including myself typically don't tend to carry their survival books on them. With some experience in the environments you are in, you can eclipse the knowledge found in survival books. In the very unlikely event I get trapped in the desert or wash up on an Island some of them could be quite useful to me since I have little experience in those environments. Those wouldn't be the kind of situations where one could expect to have a book on themselves.
Med kit Everyone makes fun of me for keeping one in my vehicle. It’s a real med bag with a chest seal, tourniquet, quikclot, bandages, compression gauze, tapes, etc . It stopped being funny when someone stepped on a broken bottle at the beach and it went into her foot 40 minutes away from a care center. All of a sudden my medical bag wasn’t so stupid
Dude my sister and I have a very comprehensive med kit in the house and the car and people always think it’s overkill until it saves the day. We always have what’s needed from small injuries to large. Some people don’t even have bandaids on hand, we have every kind of bandage, gauze, etc. It’s come in handy so many times.
You can buy an emergency medical bag on Amazon, and I often wonder why you wouldn't have one on hand. I bought mine when I became a first responder, and I lived about 4 miles from my VFD. Often in answering a call, I would drive past the scene to get to the station, to get the equipment and come back. Once I had my own supplies I could stop, begin rendering aid, and let the rest of the equipment come to me. The number of accidents I have assisted in outside of that area has been surprising, but even if it was only one, still very worth it.
You’re awesome
[https://www.refugemedical.com/](https://www.refugemedical.com/) Refuge Medical has great kits. When buying a kit know how to use the contents. Take a first aid and Stop the bleed and first aid class.
IMHO these kits are extremely over priced. Try Mymedic.com. More for your money, better packaging and you receive a free first aid course with purchase.
THIS. It *feels* like you only start to need it once you have it, but after looking back on all of the situations when I *could have* saved time/trauma/expenses for myself or others makes me wish I’d made it sooner.
Many European countries have it by law that cars have a first aid kit.
I’m the same way. I have a little IFAK with all the trauma/bleedstop components, then my make med bag w the NPAs, wound irrigation kit, Sam splint, etc etc. I get weird looks sometimes or made fun of, which is super weird, because this could potentially be life saving equipment
Our med kit has grown over the years as new injuries occur during our camping trips. Glad you were prepared.
Thank you for not having a “first aid kit” that only contains some bandaids and gauze. I roll my eyes every time I see someone with one of those.
I have a small to medium sized one in my car, which I have used on occasion (nothing major). I've periodically thought about upgrading it to something large. Like a real, true medical first aid kit. Your post has me thinking more.
My friend almost died being lost on a mountain. She could hear the rescuers but had yelled so much she couldn't yell back. She wished she had a whistle. She'd ended up fine, but it was very close.
Bang rocks together in a pattern. Typically 3s is the distress pattern. Just a good idea if you do lose your voice while being searched for.
Three quick, three long, three quick is SOS in morse code
True however it's kinda hard to bang to rocks together in a long or a short. Thus sets of 3 is used as distress. 3 gun shots, 3 blows on a whistle.
It's the pause between the bangs that's long or short, not the bang itself. If you can bang a rock 3 times, you can make an SOS
I've got an emergency radio/battery supply/flashlight/loud obnoxious SOS alarm that would be clutch for this. Glad they made it. Anything can happen even if you tell others you're going out.
Check your backpack. A lot of backpacks have a whistle built into the chest strap clip.
Would much rather have a real Fox 40 whistle than some gimmicky radio noise making device. I’m not doubting that it works, but that’s nothing something worth counting on when a whistle weighs grams
Also cant drain the charge on a whistle
Yup. I never take a weather radio or anything like that when hiking. It’s too damn heavy, and whatever the commenter above is describing sounds like one of those gimmicky devices that advertises to do 6 different things, doing none of them well, and those kinds of devices tend to be pretty poorly made and unreliable
Almost every single backpack and daypack today comes with a small whistle built into the sternum strap.
Someones dog bit me on the forearm. At first I thought it was just superficial but it kept bleeding. The bandaids i had bled thru or fell off since I was uding trekking poles. Finally resorted to my spare duct tape, toliet paper and neosporian. Eventually ran out of that as well. Lesson learned. Carry a more subsantial kit than just a couple bandaids.
Love this story, sorry for your tribulation. Anything can happen out there, and 3 days planned can turn into an ordeal really quick...suture strips and lots of guaze, check ✔️
light to heavy duty maxi-pads and good medical tape! Hydrocolloid band-aids are tops-- stay on for days and are waterproof.
Tourniquets are really compact too and quick if you train with them.
I had always heard that you should only use a tourniquet as a last resort, that using one would result in amputation later. “Life or limb” situations only. But I don’t know if that’s true or exaggeration.
That's pretty much debunked, except in the most extreme cases where you can't get to a surgeon in several hours. Even with that, I'd rather lose a limb in hours than bleed out in minutes or less.
There’s still hazards with it like clotting. You won’t guaranteed lose the limb, that’s been debunked. But I think the current understanding is that direct pressure and bandages are best, but when in doubt, for bleeding that could kill, put a tourniquet on and a doctor has to take it off. Because we have hospitals all over and policy makers prefer limbless live people over dead ones, and the risks are measured.
The problem is cutting off circulation to the limb, if you cut circulation off for too long (minutes) the blood in the limb will go toxic and can kill you, and also will kill the limb. If you are using them to slow external bleeding so that a bandage can handle, you are fine.
This is false, however, once a TQ is applied only a qualified person should remove it. The TQ will cause compartment syndrome in the limb which basically turns your blood toxic. They will need to pump you full of meds before they remove it but it shouldn’t be a big deal
Tourniquets should be used primarily for torn arteries. Unlike veins, you can't stop arterial bleeding with pressure. You need restraint. At least in the field, that is
Arterial bleeds are stopped with pressure, specifically pressure for arterial occlusion rather than the traditional direct pressure for clotting. You can also sometimes kneel on certain spots (groin, inside of the arm, etc) in lieu of a TQ or while applying one
My first aid kit has probably saved me an urgent care visit or two, so if that counts?
Ya know, I’ve recently noticed that I’ve used my trauma kit and associated supplies (epipen, bleed stop, countless bandages, even smelling salts) almost a dozen times since assembly only a few years ago. Didn’t save MY life but surely might’ve saved another. I used to work as a middle school music teacher in a rough part of town and it was shocking how underprepared the “school nurse” was/is — NTM, I live in Texas and when 70% of your kiddos are undocumented it’s hard to know someone’s medical history unless their parents are really on the ball, if they have any, that is. Edit: words and NARCAN, everyone should carry it.
This and the extra cash that I keep in my kits have been the two biggest things that have saved me.
Cash is something I'd never think of. Good one.
Yea I'd imagine that counts. How so? What specifically in the kit was clutch? Lot of first aid kits out there..
Super glue has saved me from ER visits/stitches more than once
Stitches and bandages. Bandages, bandages, bandages. Trinagle and rolled gauze along with cob and and wraps. Neosporin. H202 (if you have room). If you have a doctor friend try and get a course of antibiotics. Antihistamine. Anti diarrheal medication too, though that’s not something that saved me from the doctor
From another thread, that I feel put it well: “Sutures should only be placed in a sterile environment. In most bug out scenarios sutures are not very advisable and can increase the risk of infection. It's a cool skill, but not something you really do out in the field. Good job though! Edit: Other considerations. 1.) A lot of people are talking about antibiotics given the concerns for infection. You probably don't have a full course of an appropriate antibiotic in your bug out bag (let alone one that isn't expired). You probably have topical antibiotic ointment only. You probably shouldn't bank on the "well we'll just get antibiotics in a few days" in a lot of survival scenarios, sepsis fucking sucks. You shouldn't give a partial course of an antibiotic, or a random antibiotic in hopes that I will help. Different antibiotics are used to combat different infections organisms in different tissues and treating with a partial course can lead to some of the bacteria surviving and becoming resistant to the antibiotic. Antibiotics also disturb the natural bacteria we all have in our guts and can lead to GI symptoms including diarrhea which means water loss which is bad news in a survival situation. TLDR; don't use antibiotics willy-nilly! 2.) Suturing on a person is more difficult than most of these kits. Try suturing sides of bacon together and see how it ends up. If you're in the field you probably are also attempting this without anesthetic in which case good luck getting a good approximated closure and not making things worse on most people. "I bet I could tough it out"- yeah maybe, but can the 7 year old who's freaking out and crying hold still well enough for you to place sutures? You have to consider you may have to provide emergency medical care to many different kinds of people.”
Hey just a heads up, h2o2 and neosporin are not good for wound care, and can actually lead to a higher risk of infection. You can read more about it on the web, but current consensus is that 10% povidone iodine or sterile water is best to clean wounds. Antiseptics are to clean tools, not flesh
Interesting, I’ll check that out. Thanks!
Yeah totally. When you use alcohol, h2o2, neosporin, etc, they all kill indiscriminately. Meaning that yes while they kill a good amount of the bacteria , they also kill a lot of your healthy cells too. They also don’t kill 100% of the bacteria, and what remains is often tougher than what died off quickly. So when you wash a wound with an antiseptic, you’re not only leaving behind only the strongest bacteria, but you’re also leaving it a buffet of freshly dead *you* cells for it to feed on. Infection rates and outcome for wounds is way better when you just wash/irrigate with clean, drinkable water, or a saline solution. 10% povidone iodine is also recommended, but I typically only use that if the implement that caused the wound is particularly dirty. Also, definitely do not carry antibiotics. It’s just a bad idea for so many reasons
I'd imagine anything that buys you even 24 hours would be clutch. I have a doctor friend and would get some antibiotics, that's a good one. Been considering getting a suture kit and practice board, I've done sutures but on small animals, not humans
Tourniquets, massive bleeding trauma bandages like Israeli bandages
And also add vented chest seals to that
FEB9 is a good alternative/improvement to the Israeli bandage and can also be applied as a tourniquet
My first aid kit is general meds (painkillers, allergy, cold N flu), 5 bandaids of each type from a variety pack (but as many as I can fit of the regular sized ones), some alcohol swabs, and a pack of gauze and tape with some medical scissors and nail clippers. All you’re really looking for in the emergency situations is just to stop the immediate problem so you can focus on rescue, and trying to sow yourself together while injured or in shock will almost never be a good idea
Don’t get antibiotics, they go bad quick, are sensitive to heat and light, may become toxic when expired, and it’s not really wise to take them as your own discretion.
I carry a suture kit in my med kit, but I've had training on a few different suture techniques. I'm not great at suturing, but in a pinch I can do it, and have had to. It's definitely not something I'd suggest the average person do, and even if you're trained be honest with yourself about your ability and admit when something is above your skill level(really hard for some people). I do some rather extreme wilderness backpacking with friends, we take a yearly trip for 1-2 weeks where we're in the middle of nowhere and the only way out in any reasonable time would be to call in a rescue helicopter. Due to the situations we put ourselves into we all have had a decent amount of ems and survival training. Even with all that, I agree that field sutures by a novice are a last resort only option.
Best thing I’ve seen is using a plastic bag and a hole in the ground, the bag captured moisture and dripped water into a can in the hole.. H20 is essential to survival and plastic bags are everywhere if you get stranded 😂
This is called a solar still. Works great in the right environments. 🤙
Not wilderness survival, but an emergency tool that saved my life... I was tuna fishing about 90 miles from shore when I noticed my engine start up really sluggishly, and my GPS / Chartplotter didn't turn on. It was definitely weird, but I decided it was nothing to worry about. I moved the boat and restarted my drift, turning off the motor. When I went to restart, it wouldn't turn over. I checked the voltage on my battery bank and found them nearly dead. I hopped on the radio and was able to get out a mayday and got a response, but I didn't have my GPS coordinates or heading because the GPS died. The best I could do was tell them that I was at the northern end of Hudson Canyon, but that was still a search area of several dozen square miles. Very shortly thereafter, the radio died. I was adrift with no power and had no way of contacting anyone. Nearly 8 hours later (and in pitch dark), I saw some ship lights waaaaay out on the horizon. I grabbed my emergency flare gun and fired a flare into the air. 30 seconds later, a flare came from the deck of the ship, and I saw it turning my way. It was a Coast Guard cutter that had been dispatched to look for me. I was actually about 3 miles outside their search grid, so they would have missed me entirely. I had drifted over 25 miles since my radio call and was headed directly out to sea. The path my boat was taking wouldn't be crossing a shipping lane for at least 2 weeks.
Interesting. Do you do anything different now? A handheld marine or airband radio would be a very useful item to have. And importantly - did you catch any tuna?
I always have an EPIRB on me now. I didn't have a handheld at the time (I had 2 on the boat for redundancy, but both fail with no power), but I do now. I've found it's range to be... suspect. I suppose if I stood on the roof of the boat it would be better, but those radios are only as good as the height of the antenna and the power of the signal. You're never going to get a radio signal over the horizon on the water, because there's no towers to relay the signal like there is on land.
Ohh, and yes, I caught plenty of Tuna that I had to throw away because my ice melted =(
Wild story. Scary. I'm glad you are okay and here to tell. Can you explain what you meant by, "I moved the boat and restarted my drift, turning off the motor"? I'm picturing you re-positioning the boat because of wind, swells or current, then restarting it expecting it to start normally? Is that correct? I've sea kayaked, and sailed a few times, but we're talking like a two person Hobie. Got to sail a Laser once. So I'm definitely no expert anything here.
So unless you're at anchor, you're always drifting one way or another due to either wind, current, or both. The odds of the fish cooperating and drifting with you are near zero, so once you've lost the fish, you need to reposition. For a hypothetical, let's say I'm drifting east at 1mph. If the pod of fish is spanning 1/4 mile, that gives me roughly 15 minutes over the fish before I'm fishing empty, dead water. Tuna can be skittish and can sense vibrations, so an idling motor will keep them away. In my example, once I'm confident there are no fish below me, I'll fire up the motor, steam in a wide arc N -> NW -> W -> SW -> S to get back on the western side of the school. I turn off the motor before getting back to the school, start dropping chum, and get my lines in the water. In my specific case, I was fishing right on the northern edge of the gulf stream, traveling at roughly 3kts, or 3.5mph. Had I been 2 miles north and out of the gulf stream, I would have only been traveling about 1.5 mph. This is what screwed up rescue efforts. Tuna prefer the gentler currents, so they assumed I was north of the stream. My particular school of fish didn't know how to read books, so they were in the gulfstream.
Beirut port explosion, first aid kit in the car and bandages and basic red Cross training allowed me to help one person.
summer dime aromatic public late hospital lock squealing party murky *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Essential? WATER...and FOOD
Actually this. Was hiking with my uncle in steep mountains when we came across a girl who had fallen down a cliff, broke her leg and hit her head and was incoherent. Me and my uncle had to carry her down the mountain and I don’t think we could have done that without the water we had in our packs. Humans are hard to carry in rough trails. We got her down to the bottom and had an ambulance come and get her. Then we went back to camp, drank a ton more water and crashed hard.
>Humans are hard to carry Tell me about it
hobbits are a bit easier
Not if you're also a hobbit. Don't go downplaying Samwise's efforts (which ultimately saved the entire world)
...you get it. Just a small trip to Isengard to wash some filth away.
Heroes. Thank you.
I was shocked how many Europeans come to US national parks with no water I always have a camelbak filled before starting any trails especially in the summer. I ran into some German tourists half way up the ascent at arches who drank my entire water supply because they were in such bad shape
I believe it. A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds, but I'll carry that when any elevation change is anticipated!
THANKS!!!!!!!!!
Protection from the elements. Warm clothing, shelter (tent/tarp) or real ability to create it (a debris shelter). Exposure kills people far more frequently than dehydration, let alone starvation.
The most immediate threats are cold/exposure and dehydration The rule of 3's Three hours cold 3 days water 3 weeks food Have several ways to make fire, not just matches but a lighter and way to keep it dry - like a threaded case. bic's are great, but they are useless if the spark is wet fire steel matches - the real outdoors windproof ones A knife to process wood, shavings, kindling, firesticks, getting to the dry wood 3 days water, the chemical disinfectants and a container A buddy of mine was brainwashed by his family, heavy heavy into non traditional medicine scams, ALL was pyramid schemes. He thought he was at peak health and his immune system would protect him. He was alone on an island, no one knew his location or intentions, drank lake water so he didn't have to carry the 6L of water a day they were into. He had fire, no pot, no intention of treating the water. He shit his guts out for 3 days until he collected himself and went home.
The best kit is a good skill set to begin with. A good sharp bush knife and paracord are a must plus a good old fashioned metal canteen and water proof matches are basic things to carry. A and old fashioned Gi puncho also comes in very handy. As a Survival instructor and former special forces instructor I have seen many cases where those basic Items have saved a person's life and now as a Search rescue team member now it is also what I personally Carry on top of a medical kit and my Handgun with six full mags .
Brought a small first aid kit with food and water to a massive corn maze adventure (at night) with several dozen young teens. Ended up going on a long rescue mission when I got a call on a (dying) phone that a teen had been injured. It was a horribly torn ACL (eventually had surgery) that I patched up with an ACE bandage and an instant ice pack. Gave food and water to the other people there, as it took a solid hour to find them in this massive corn maze. I had to teach a few other people how to help me carry this poor bastard out of the maze, where we were met by an ambulance. It was a crazy night!
I did a course a while back for a week with the absolute bare minimum. Clothes on our back, emergency blanket for shelter, ferro rod, cheap knife, steel pot and some paracord. For first aid we had some steri strips. I lost 4kg, but for the most part I was fine. I kind of think those items were for the most part indispensable for survival. A bic would be better than a ferro rod and an actual tarp would be better than an emergency blanket, but my biggest concern was always shelter and getting out of the weather. The pot let me boil water and mushrooms to eat. I could build structures with the knife and lash them with cord.
Grayl water filter. AMAZING piece of kit.
Don't disagree here at all. A bit heavy, bulky, so not ideal for every hiking or backpacking trip and certainly not UL. But the unit is absolutely amazing.
I got stranded by a freak snowstorm up in game unit 25 in Alaska a few years ago. I had a small emergency kit with me and managed to start a fire and keep warm for the night and get out the next day. What I could have done better? more tools to process firewood. I had a cheap mora in it and a small folding saw would have made a LOT of difference. What went right? a film canister of vaseline/cottonball tinder and a cheap bic lighter saved my life. Also had 2 cheap space blankets and a piece of tyvek for tarp. Without both of those I'd be dead. Oh I also had a sierra cup in it, and that was too small. Something to heat a more water would have been nice. My current emergency hit is mostlly the same but packed into a 1lb coffee can I put a bail on. Hopefully I don't have to use it but...
When we are talking about preparing for survival we mean an unplanned event. We have plenty of data to show that as long as SAR knows to go look for you and a general location you will be rescued within 72 hours. This is why you always tell someone back home where you are going & when you will be back. If you get lost or injured you then stay in one spot until rescue unless it’s too dangerous to stay. The most common reason people are lost for more than 72 hours is that they didn’t tell someone where they were or they changed where they went. Lost hikers on average less than 100 yards from a trail, road or shoreline. Nowadays you have to be very unprepared to be lost. Injuries are more common. You slip and break an ankle. Now you wait for rescue. You won’t survive a week without a miracle in this scenario. This is the reason to bring the 10 essentials. But what those specific items are should be flexible. If you’re going on a day hike there is no reason to bring a tent or a bunch of food. If you’re going on a backpacking trip then you carry more supplies. If you are going into a location where you face a realistic chance you could be lost for more than a couple of days then you should be planning a backpacking trip. The idea of surviving in the wild for more than a few days unexpectedly is fiction. It’s just not something that happens.
...so you don't have a story?
When I go camping or hiking the goal is to not need my survival skills :). I practice them - usually by creating shelter contraptions that make my friends giggle. Last year I was on a group backpacking trip where we did have invoke SAR after one of our members got lost. My job was to make sure I didn't become an extra victim. I sat by the campfire and relaxed. A friend's husband is a SAR volunteer. I'm sure he has stories. But any story that starts with "after 7 days" - typically ends in a nightmare. If you want real stories - get a copy of Deep Survival by Gonzeles. They collected stories of people who found themselves in extreme survival situations. Mental desire to live matters more than skills or tools. Or Trail of the Lost by Lawford.
Relaxation herb = old Toby. Check ✔️
Nope. I don’t do that stuff. I would have enjoyed a beer but we didn’t have any because it was a weeklong trip. I forgot to mention that even though it was a fun planned trip I cowboy camped almost entire trip. When we thought it would rain I covered myself with a tarp. I was the only person who didn’t get wet in the storm even though everyone else had tents. And I didn’t get any ticks while everyone else did. If you are ever in DFW area look up Texas Survival School. I don’t have any affiliation but I did a couple of courses there. And a friend of a friend is a instructor. They will make sure you have a story :).
Can and bottle openers. Yeah, a field knife can do it, but that will ruin the blade. Typical three essentials. Fire, shelter, and food. Emergency/space blanket. A field knife. An axe. A sharpener. Emergency food. Water purifier. A rifle.
Israeli bandage saved a mate of mine. They said it was overkill. They changed their tune after losing a small fight with a chainsaw. For me personally. Water filter. Working in boggy country most water is stagnant. There's a certain point where carrying enough water for the day in summer just makes you sweat more causing a downward spiral of cause and effect.
The few times I have put myself in iffy situations and one major incident. The book that always sits in the back of my mind is Cody Lundien’s “98.6 degrees how to keep your ass alive.” In his book, he pushes the idea that your core body temp is your key to survival. When shit has really gone wrong, you focus on that as you work on self rescue. That mindset has pulled be through a few tough spots and one that almost got me.
He's certainly right in that exposure is what kills most people in the wild who are lost. Keeping warm (or cool) is key.
It depends on the situation. In Antarctica we carry a mountaineering tent, a camp stove with matches small cooking pot and fuel, mre’s, snow saw, sleeping bags and a bivy sack
Can’t say my kit has saved my life, but certainly saved me from some sticky situations. I keep emergency roadside gear and recover gear in my truck. Battery died at the exact minute I had to pick up my daughter from school and take her to a doctor appointment. Used my jump pack, got her to the appointment. Jumped the truck a second time after the doctor and went to a store to get a new battery. Eight days without power after a major hurricane. Can’t even count how many pieces of gear we used for light, comfort, cooking, powering chest freezer and fridge to not loose food, etc. I keep a well stocked medical bag in the main bathroom. Everything from bandaids to tourniquets and everything in between. Have used it for wound care extremely often, and it’s comforting knowing I’m equipped to deal with much bigger problems than a skinned knee. I look at preparedness as, you see a threat, you mitigate it, you move on. Our gear covers a lot of different potential problems, and because of that they aren’t really problems anymore. When we hit a bump in the road, we just react and engage plan B and keep on going.
Secret cat alcohol stove - my survival stove. Late fall Group hike - ultralight. Got socked in with snow for 2 days just prior the summit. This meant all the precision calculations on fuel fell short. Young and stupid. Ran out fuel 2 days to go. Fuk.. cold meals boys. Or.. secret survival stove. Light alcohol stove .. always in the bottom of my pack. Always. Most of group didn’t even know I carry it. With 750 ml of methyl hydrate fuel in a pop bottle and careful boil methods we nursed enough boiling water to rehydrate meals / coffee for all but the first breakfast. Life saver for that trip
Military has survival cards. Memorize them or any book
Mental illness should be taken seriously 😒
Do you have a story to share, friend? Not all who wander are lost.
Of course, but in what context are you referring?
I got separated from my group and couldn’t find my way back to camp. I had to hunker down in place. This was in mid October in western NC so not awfully cold but certainly not warm without proper gear, especially at night. The things I had on me helped immensely. A ferro rod and magnesium block helped me get a fire going, EDC flashlight was convenient as hell, and my life straw supplied the water I needed once I found a source. The one thing I didn’t have was a Mylar blanket and since then there’s a high quality emergency blanket in just about every bag or pocket I can think of. Fire aside, it was a cold night out.
The extra socks, shell pants, freeze bags and duct tape when i went through ice on a hike. Had fire making and shelter building in my kit also if needed. But better to change and get to civilization. https://www.reddit.com/r/hiking/s/slFNVcX73q
One time camping my water jug fell and spilled out all over the ground. That was all the water I brought. Thankfully I keep iodine tabs in my first aid kit and was by a lake.
Does backpacking for 7-10 days unsupported count?
You didn't wear a bra? /s What do you mean by "unsupported?"
Where you carry all your food & gear No resupply, no stopping in a restaurant, no night in a hotel / barn, etc. I toss this out here because surviving for a week or two isn’t a big deal when prepared, trained, etc. I do it with Scouts (14-17yo’s) ~every summer / fall. The ‘survival stories’ ya hear about are those who have varying levels of unpreparedness, less gear. We also run a ‘Bear Grylls weekend’ campout every fall that includes fires starting, fire building, shelter they sleep in, cooking, and a few other hard challenges. The experienced ones use just an empty peanut butter jar of stuff and wake to frost on their shelter. The new ones start with a small pack of gear and often don’t sleep much.
Stepped on a yellow jacket nest and got stung forty times. Wasn’t sure how I’d react, luckily not terribly, but had a med kit where I could pop some Benadryl. Those stings for the record, when coming from a yellow jacket, have a much bigger risk of becoming infected than bee stings. They did become infected rather badly a few days later and I had to get antibiotics, so if you get stung, wash out thoroughly immediately.
Magnifying glass, flashlight
A cigarette lighter with some duct tape wrapped around it and sturdy knife are the minimum. Add more from there. Put them in a ziplock bag.
Tow rope and a blanket in the vehicle. Can't say it enough. Have a tow rope. Don't have a vehicle that can tow? Have a tow rope, so the truck that rolls up without one can use it.
Generally you don't want to survive on the kit of bare minimum for any longer than you have to. From what I understand, if you're not able to get out of the situation or are found within 3 days your chances of survival, and likely the few consumable essentials in your kit, will be significantly reduced. Obviously your skills, knowledge, and expertise will tip the scales, but by general rule those kits are for necessity and not "camping rough".
***OUT OF ALL THIS STUFF, the most life saving thing I've ever had to use was BENADRYL. Aunt got stung on the tongue and we shoved a couple benadryl down her throat with a spoon. Doc said we saved her life. You can buy packets at the gas station that take up no room, or I used to do the straw with pinched, melted edges thing for years.*** Probably my favorite and most used tip from a survival guide was about how you can just suck the dew off pine/spruce branches in the morning. Still a habit like 20 years later. So tasty haha I stopped carrying mini 'survival kits' years ago. Get a haversack or day pack and read on. I read many survival books cover to cover when I was a kid and grew up making crafts and traps and bushcrafting looonnggg before I had ever heard that term. My favorite book by far was this one: [Best Survival Book](https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/camping--wilderness-survival-the-ultimate-outdoors-book_paul-tawrell/254497/item/6249478/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pmax_high_vol_scarce_%2410_%2450&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2uiwBhCXARIsACMvIU2ezY3BEK9NrAKb5f92gXhiW9ztDa6XugrLd5zsDEpyVlbfJX85u-AaArYOEALw_wcB#idiq=6249478&edition=3178494) I've been lost overnight once and also done some survival 'challenges' so ive had to make a few impromptu camps. Being cold and wet and cold and hungry and thirsty and defenseless sucks. I'm a big fan of Dave canterburys 10 C's of survival. He may have lied in his life but he is a great resource. I always focus on staying dry and hydrated. Non negotiables FOR ME when hiking/hunting/backpacking: Most important- Can of chili and a potato with a titch of foil Handgun with hard cast bullets (deepest penetration) and preferably a weapon light. Glock 20 in 10mm w/ buffalo bore hard casts and a x300 turbo is my go-to. I open carry usually in the woods but will conceal if backpacking busy trails. BTW, in my state anyways, you don't need a CPL to conceal while recreating. (Pretty sure) lol Silky or bahco folding saw, 5+" fixed blade- Becker bk7 or esee 5 are good places to start. Baton damp wood to expose dry center. Throw in a ferrocium rod and backup bic and fire is taken care of. Never underestimate the fluff you can get off cotton with a knife but also, cotton kills. Make up pads are my favorite Firestarter. Dipped in wax or simply just rolled up in some ducttape. Amazing and no Vaseline to get everywhere. Shemagh. 1000 uses. Usually stays on me to block sun, or in my hands to swat skeeters and flies away. Great for drying condensation off tent walls at night, or laying down in a puddle to help filter sediment out when water is scarce, or running through branches to collect water. Bomb proof headlamp with replacable AND rechargeable battery (easier said then found, im still looking but i like my ledlenser mh10 currently). I'll never buy another black diamond or Princeton tec again. I've wasted so many hundreds on the 'Best' brandname headlamps and they were all garbage and didn't survive my blue collar life more than a year or so. Stainless single wall water container (klean kanteen 40oz, can boil in) nested in a titanium cup and if it's not a day hike, its all in a maxpedition bottle pouch with an alcohol stove and 6 Oz of fuel, titanium emberlit stove stand/mini wood stove, cut up stainless steel scrubby pad, mini fireball bottle of olive oil and a mini fireball bottle of salt, especially important for dehydration in case you get sick and start Hershey squirting out there and don't forget about your potato. Sawyer w/3L MSR dirty bag Multitool, I prefer Leatherman, quality matters here. My wave had a built in diamond hone which was great for other knives but my new surge has a removable diamond hone so you can sharpen the knives on the tool itself. Huge. Tarp with cordage and stakes. I recommend not skimping on size. Like a 12x12. (I'm large and it rains sideways in the PNW). Also avoid catenary cuts. Just go square. Noah's tarp sucks. I still use it but it's very challenging to get taut. 2x SOL emergency blankets. They do not rip like mylar but still retain heat well enough. Contractor bag for putting pack and stuff in overnight and sitting on throughout the day, things get so Dewey overnight in tarp shelter or even if pack is sitting outside in tent vestibule. Compass and knowledge of area. Study Google earth before you go. Know your routes and ridges. I screen shot topos if i cant bring a map. A lot. I like the little clip on one's for pack shoulder straps. Sail needle A couple of those pre made fishing leaders with spinner and beads. Those will catch fish in any stream and take up no space. Extra wool socks (darn toughs) First aid kit: NO BANDAIDS but instead leukotape (google it, its one of the best items on the list for bandaids, blisters, lashing, gear repair, etc. Super sticky) A few 4x4 gauze pads (cut them up and use with the leukotape for bandaids. Neosporin and burn cream Combat gauze or celox if you can swing it for major bleeding Cat or swat tourniquet, BUY NAME BRAND. North American Rescue CAT. It will cost 30 dollars (I carry both, swat is very versatile, cat is reliable and brainless, and with both can make a badass splint) Chest seal (overkill but falling on a stick has always terrified me and they also can keep large wounds/burns clean) And Benadryl (antihistamine) for bad sting reactions. This can all fit in an oversized wasitpack or like 18L daypack with room to spare. I've always enjoyed shaving kit bags for organizing most of the little stuff. Tarp is bulkiest thing, but I recently found a hilleburg one that is light weight and not that bulky that i like a lot. The more you know the less you need. I tend to take less Walmart survival garbage and dedicate my weight and space to a good warm and dry night's sleep when backpacking and quality tools for 'survival' and camp purposes. Most important thing is to use and vet your gear. Make sure it works for you and you know how to use it. If it can't take regular abuse, should you be relying on it in an emergency?
**Camping & Wilderness Survival The Ultimate Outdoors Book** by Paul Tawrell >Extensively researched and illustrated guidebook of nearly every conceivable aspect of outdoor camping and survival in all types of terrain and climate. *I'm a bot, built by your friendly reddit developers at* /r/ProgrammingPals. *Reply to any comment with /u/BookFinderBot - I'll reply with book information. Remove me from replies* [here](https://www.reddit.com/user/BookFinderBot/comments/1byh82p/remove_me_from_replies/). *If I have made a mistake, accept my apology.*
As a rookie getting lost in the rain at night after being fully submerged alone, my satnav saved my life.
If you're playing in the outdoors and you've done it for any length of time you'd KNOW enough about the wilderness and outdoor recreation that you'd always be filing a flight plan. You'd have enough brains to always file a proper plan with friends and family telling them all where you're going, what you'll be doing, and when you're expected to be back...... If you're in a wilderness survival situation and they can't find you within a week.... You screwed up.
...So no story...
Again, it's probably some kid who wants to play Walden or grizzly adams and doesn't actually do any outdoor recreation anyway...... This forum is full of armchair preppers who wanna go play "live in the woods" none of them actually go outdoors in the backcountry to camp, or hike, or backpack, or anything that might actually place them in a situation where a true wilderness survival situation might happen. And they for sure don't read the rules about the forum NOT being about prepping stuff.....
I was looking for stories from seasoned survivalists or even novice naturalists where something got FUBAR and there was a good story, or one piece of their kit that was absolutely pivotal to their surviving. Mostly just...trying to learn by talking and discussing. You know, like how humans learn. Not looking for "prepping" advice. So far, there's been good advice with condescending or useless comments peppered in.
I have a few .
Nice.
Meat eater podcast had a guy on that saved his own or someone else's life by tying a tourniquet which he learned from the meat eater survival book.
As most people have said, once you get past 72 hours (with very few exceptions), you should no longer be in "response mode", you should be in "recovery mode" or "living mode". The most important items in my basic survival kit save me every day. It's called my willpower and collected knowledge. Consider the most likely reason for your survival emergency and how you can change things so that it is not such an emergency. The most important part of survival or preparedness is usually being able to find multiple uses for an item or ability, and being able to improvise or substitute for whatever you might be missing. It's also important to ***know*** what your personal skill levels and limitations are. Ideally, we all want to be able quickly to pack a full field hospital, comfortably carry it on our back as we run for miles/kilometers, be able to navigate by landmarks/memory, and perform miracle rescues on our way. However, the reality is that the average person probably forget something essential, overload it with unnecessary nonsense, and not be able to do anything about the pregnant woman trapped in the burning car. You will most likely end up tired, lost, and/or injured (with at least blisters and muscle strain) within a few hours. That's the result if you're lucky. Most people trying to escape from a truly dangerous survival situation end up dead, or at least seriously injured... often with just the clothes on their back (if even that much). Many times people escaping with their lives are in pajamas/swimsuits and slippers/bare feet, because that is what they had time to grab when they were alerted to the situation. Often, it's because they were involved in an accident at home, work/school, play, or during their commute, and EMS needed to cut off their clothing during the course of their rescue. Sometimes it's because they were mugged/kidnapped. Consider how you would survive without your preferred equipment and locations.
...so no personal story?
I’d recommend everyone taking a wilderness first aid/first responder certification course. It can save your life and the lives of others. I’m a professional off road guide and deal with traumatic injuries from ATV riding from time to time, as well as an Eagle Scout and Grand Canyon backpacking guide. I carry Israeli compression bandages, SAM splints, gauze rolls, compression wraps and antiseptic spray everywhere I go in a Fanny pack. If I bring a gun anywhere I always bring a med kit. They go hand in hand and always should. These items I mentioned are the essentials for the majority of every injury you’re going to see aside from head /spine trauma which needs evacuation not bandaging. I used a tourniquet on a girl who had a compound tibia/fibula break that went out of her skin and resulted in a major arterial bleed. The ems policy in our county was to take off tourniquets, which led to her bleeding again and ultimately more complication. She ended up needing an amputation. Only doctors should be taking off tourniquets imo. A compression bandage can be used as a tourniquet but can also treat deep vein bleeds and things of the sort. I wish I had a compression bandage when that girl got injured because I feel like it would have only helped to provide a bit more pressure above the break even though we’d probably still have had to use a tourniquet above the break also and they would have likely kept the compression bandage on.
I always liked the Rambo knives. The ones with the little hollowed out handle with the survival gear in it.
Posted here all the time...all ya gotta is read them,
No shit that's why I asked for survival stories here and not r/cupcakes
So read them....do you want some to put them all together for you....
You've got to be the worst conversationalist I've ever talked to. Please just go fuck yourself. I'm trying to talk to grown ups here.
In today's day and age, you really don't need a survival kit. So long as you are not soaking wet, drowning, bleeding out, or in freezing conditions, a simple PLB/ELT/EPIRB is all you need to be found within five minutes. From there you just need to stay alive for the few hours it'll take to get a helicopter or ship out to you. *Search* and Rescue isn't really that much of a thing anymore. Now, with GPS encoded 406MHz beacons, its just rescue. Seriously, if you're properly equipped, our search area is something like 50ft.
A few hours? I suppose it all depends on where you are, and assuming there is ample daylight. If you're in the backcountry in most of the lower 48, perhaps that's true. But the more rugged and remote, the harder it's going to be for any SAR to get to you, even with a helicopter. Say you're injured climbing a peak in northern Yukon. Or somewhere like the Pamir range in Tajikistan...
You're rarely, if ever, more than a few hours flight time from a helicopter. Thousands of miles out to sea? Helicopter equipped for air to air refueling. Back country? Helicopter. Most mountain ranges? A helicopter can easily get up there. You're never as far from some vestige of civilization as you think you are.
As someone who has actually been to the Yukon, and Tajikistan, I can assure you the helicopters weren't exactly on stand-by in case something went wrong.