Guest Post: Jack Neely; 7 Must Have Items for Wilderness Survival

 You need more than just your wits around you to survive the treacherous terrain and obstacles that the wilderness will throw to you. Time and again, we have been regaled with stories of campers and hikers who succumbed to the adversity of the wilderness after things went downhill and the unexpected happened.

Life has a way of throwing mean curve balls at us, so if you're planning for such an excursion you wouldn't want to be caught in crosshairs of fate by stepping out without these 7 items. 

A Survival Knife

This one should be a no-brainer, really. A good, sharp knife will come in handy in a number of hiking and camping activities such as cutting ropes, pruning off branches, cutting bandages, building emergency tents and shelters, opening packages among others. If possible, look or buy a fixed blade knife as they are often more durable and resilient than folding and conventional knives. 

As you probably already know, you have to keep your knife prime and ready all the time by cleaning and sharpening it frequently. The last thing that you would want is a rusty, blunt blade in the face of an emergency.

A Water Bottle



There is nowhere the phrase; "water is life" applies better than in the wilderness. The scorching sun coupled with a rugged, vicious terrain will without a doubt do a number on you. In fact, more campers die or succumb to dehydration than to anything else; you don't want to be one of them.

Among the first things you should remember to pack in your campers bag has to be a stainless steel water bottle. Avoid plastic or aluminum bottles as they will be rendered useless as soon as your water supply runs out. With a steel bottle, you could even boil the little water you come across in the wild to disinfect it before using it.

Fire Matches - Has to be Waterproof

After water, fire and warmth are the next vital things you wouldn't want to miss in the wilderness. As far as this goes, box strike matches that you use in your kitchen are as good as the next blade of grass as they will be of no use to you as soon as they become damp.

 Instead of these, carry magnesium starter matches that can still work properly even when drenched in jungle dew. But even then, make sure that you store the matches in a waterproof bag just to be safe.

A Compass

Don't count on your phone's GPS to guide you back to civilization when you're setting out for that desert challenge hike. Chances are, it will be dead even before sundown of the next day. And even if you think you know the hiking direction, remember that walking in a straight line in a place with no distinctive landmarks (like in a dense jungle or a bare desert) is often impossible. And as the rule of the thumb, a nautical compass works hand-in-hand with a geographical map.

A Flashlight



Just in case you get lost - as it often happens - a tactical flashlight will help your rescue time spot you when they start combing the area in search for survivors. Additionally, flashing the light from such a torch around is a good way of keeping wild animals away especially if you can't make or maintain a fire, maybe due to stormy or windy weather. You can read more about this here.

Versatile Ropes and Cordage



A paracord bracelet or simply a folded up rope can be a very useful accessory in a wilderness survival situation. Such ropes are pivotal in a variety of activities such as constructing an emergency shelter, making bow drills for fire-starting or just for crafting up primitive traps.

While you might argue that you can make cordage easily out of natural inner barks of trees or various wild herbs, such makeshift ropes are not as strong as industrial cordage. Furthermore, you will end up consuming a lot of time and energy that could have been used doing something else better.

A First Aid Kit



On this, you don't have to carry the whole kit especially if you're going to hike for a long distance and plan to travel light. Instead, make sure that you have just the basic items such as plenty of sterile gauze, tape and band aids. While at this, if you have the time, it is advisable to come up with your own makeshift kit, rather than buying prepackaged kits. Not only will you know the exact first-aid accessories you have packed with you, most importantly, you will also know how to use each item contained in the kit.

About the Author

Jack Neely is a fitness expert, survivalist, and world traveler. He’s been in several life or death situations, and he’s making an effort to spread his knowledge around the web to help others survive these situations as well. He’s also on the content team at The Tactical Guru.