So The Outdoor Gear Review posted a new video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf060t2itWI

In it, he simulates a "lost in the woods" survival scenario. He's brought an overnight kit as a survival item on a day trip. OK, he explains that this is 'the middle of nowhere' so that makes sense I guess. The shelter kit consists of a tarp, ground cloth and water resistant bivy.

I'm puzzled at this because the setup is bulky, heavy, complicated, and quite open to the elements (even with the bivy). Wouldn't a lightweight tent like the Lanshan 1 be a more sensible choice for a survival item?

Just binged a whole bunch of seasons of Alone and am now interested in getting a couple essential items. Partly just to pretend that I could survive... a bit of fake-it-till-you-make-it larping. you gotta start somewhere, right? :)

I'm a sucker for pretty toys, and I'm wondering if exotac gear actually is good quality, or whether it's more sharper image style shiny objects.

would uberleben gear be a better bet than exotac?

thx for all advice!

Not instructionals, actual stories. Bonus points for wilderness survival. Just finished “The 29th Day” and I highly recommend if someone is looking for one.

I’m currently binging “I shouldn't be alive” which is about people who get themselves trapped in the wilderness one way or another and need to survive. Usually their first concern is about finding water because a human can survive only 3 days without water. However, I know that almost all foods contain a lot of water too. So I was wondering, in case you do have food but no water, can you survive for longer than 3 days?

Trying to build my own kits for EDC and the truck. Where are you guys getting bags for your med kits for EDC and something larger?

Hello survivalists of reddit.

I am preparing for the High Lonesome 100, a big mountain ultra trail race in late July here in the Sawatch Range of Colorado. Part of the required kit is an emergency bivvy.

I have to carry this during the crux of the race: Climbing Mt Shavano (14,231 ft) in the middle of the night, after having already run 60 miles, so weight is a huge consideration.

The race director has recommended the SOL Emergency Bivvy which comes in at 3.8 oz

I have been looking around for something even a tad bit lighter, even if only getting down to 3.7 or 3.5 oz.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated

Hello. I live in Ohio and I really want to get into bushcrafting. Tangentially, I intend to make it my lifestyle. I would really appreciate some extensive responses to my questions offering advice and knowledge to succeed in this endeavor. I have a 100L backpack, hatchet, blastmatch fire starter, 11" machete with saw, solar power charger, and something like 300 feet of paracord. Any spare money I have is going towards cooking equipment, more knives, multiools, niche tools, etc, and anything else you guys may recommend. Anyways, thank you very much, and here are my main questions, but feel free to tell me anything related.

1. Where should I begin? There are some state parks with specific spots for 'primitive camping', is that a good beginners place? I really want to go arctic camping in places like Alaska eventually.
2. What food items should I bring? I typically see MRE style food brought, but my stomach usually doesn't agree with very dense foods like rice, a lot of bread, pastas, etc.
3. Who should I watch/what should I read to get more knowledge? I watch "The Outdoor Boys" on YouTube, and I'm heavily interested in the Transcendentalism movement which partly deals with bushcrafting or at least the idea of surviving on your own, so I'm currently reading Walden by Thoreau. Any other good recommendations for the more survival aspect of it?
4. How do I find communities outside of the internet?
5. What other equipment should I bring? I want to hunt while I'm out so I'm bringing a .410 but what other things should I have for hunting or just in general?

Thank you guys very much again for any responses.

Tomorrow I’m going to get paid to help a relative of mine with yard work and I live in south Texas and he said he found a coral snake a while back when doing his yard work. I’m terrified of snakes and I hate the idea of potentially dying in a stupid way like a snake bite. I was wondering, is it easy to spot snakes or at least avoid them if possible? Also if I were to get bit by a venomous snake what should I do? This is a serious question, I didn’t know where else to post this.

I am interested in learning about outdoor survival, are Peterson fields guides a good book series to get my feet wet in all that? I’m trying to find good sources of knowledge for all that.

First, Hello. So, I'm a writer and have a certain passion for survival related books. Despite that, however, my knowledge on the subject is close to nonexistent regarding anything but weapons and hunting tools. And even there, it's cursory at best. Therefore, I would like to expand my knowledge to make sure that the information in what I write is as accurate as possible. And for that, I need that information. Close to all of it. Now, having said that, is there a list out there on the Internet or guidebooks besides Wikipedia that are both very thorough and accurate so that I can use them as a sort of guideline? Main points of interest would be medical knowledge and hygiene before any sort of scientific advancements and maybe some techniques that replicate some modern technology. Like the underground fridge, of which I have no idea how it works.

Thank you in advance!

Hi all,

I’m looking for a pouch to take with me on hikes with basic “survival” gear such as sawyer mini filter, bic lighter, headlamp and maybe a like a bushbox mini stove (among other smaller items). Nothing huge. I don’t know which size to take. The FTIM 5x7 or 6x9. I don’t want a huge pouch. I can’t imagine the sizes though. Anyone with these pouches could help me get an idea of size and if it would fit the sawyer mini filter or a mini stove. How do you like these pouches?

Thanks!

I've crafted my first bow drill set, my spindle is made out of oak or the equivalent, and my hearthboard is semi punk wood. I'm a guy who can bench 250+, and I am just going at it with all I can, trying new forms, variations, more downward pressure... 200+ good strokes sliding across the whole bow multiple times and my hearthboard just does not smoke or even turn black. My bearing block smokes only a tiny bit after 100 very aggressive strokes but not the board, and it also loves to squeak. I see guys doing much slower strokes with the bow and getting it to smoke with far less effort than I'm exerting, to anyone who knows friction fire help would be greatly appreciated thank you.

A lot of the outdoors is in reality monocropped agriculture or spruce/pine plantations. How would one go about surviving there long term? Any plants or animals specific to those environments that are a good food Source? And how can you effiecently forage them? Thanks a lot.

I am between these two deciding on a new knife…

Which do you think is the better knife for general wilderness carry/use?

There is a noticeable weight/size difference between the two,

As I update and put together my fire kit, I am looking for a recommendation. I have a zippo typhoon match case filled with UCo storm matches, but i would like to add some extra striker paper for redundancy.

Does brand matter? What kind of striker paper has good grit and is easy to light with?

Thanks

I'm looking for a lightweight water filtration system one could use for individual use, that can fit in a large hiking pack, and fill up a 3L Camelbak. For use in survival situations, hunting, camping in mountain areas. Preferably one you can drink right away without having to boil. Thanks!

Hey guys, I need some ideas here. I want to be able to boil potable water in the wilderness without fire (military base). I was thinking of using an MRE heater, with another pouch inserted with the water I want to boil. I'm also not sure what I could use for that... I'm just looking for ideas here.

There are plenty of posts about what to keep in a car for survival situations, but anyone care to brainstorm with me what parts/components of the car itself could be used for survival if, for example, broken down in a remote area?

I've a colleague who saved someone's life by improvising a tourniquet from a wiper blade after the man was pinned between two vehicles, as an example of what I'm thinking about.

Fluids as fire accelerants, seatbelts as cordage, spare as signal fire, etc.

Just a potentially fun experiment. Thanks!

Can you baton reliably without worry of breaking, companion HD has a 3.2mm spine and the standard companion has a 2.0mm spine, do I need to worry about blade breaking or chipping, I might do feather sticks often too, should I be ok with the standard companion

I plan to conserve calories, is it worth the weight

Thru-hiker in training here! I'm putting together my "roast my preparedness" post, preparing for a shake-down hike/camping trip to Round Valley campground in New Jersey and doing up-hill climbs with 30-ish pounds of weights in my otherwise empty bag.

What are some things nobody ever thinks to bring? What do you wish you brought with you your first time?

I used the LifeStraw bottle while traveling to Colombia and used their filter bottle to drink tap water there and it was ok and never got sick but it seems like these bottles are really suited for backpacking in areas where there is less likelihood of chemical contaminants. Would it make more sense to use a filter that is designed to remove all contaminants including chemical? There's a lot of marketing of these things that they are safe for travel everywhere but you have to make specific choices I guess.

Hey all,

I am putting together a redundant fire starting kit, that fits into my Pelican 1030 micro case.

Here are the contents:

-magnesium bar

-lightning strike fire steel

-fat wood

-Vaseline soaked cotton

storm matches

-bic

What are your thoughts? Anything I should add?

I spend time in the backcountry, in the winter, so being able to keep warm is super important to me.

Are there any survival tablets that work? iPad or android?

Piggybacking off of this post, what are some android apps that would be useful/smart to have on a phone in the wild? seeing the phone as an information device, not as a toy or social tool.

Carrying a whole library in my pocket is my main reason for this. why lug 10 books when i can have a waterproof solar charged ever-book?

the people who think a smartphone cant have a use in a survival situation are stuck in a naturalistic fallacy mindset. its just another tool..

Hi I’ve been mulling over which bag to get for sometime as their is a thousand options out there. I have a surplus mss sleep system I bought a few years back and it’s awesome for all kinds of weather conditions but heavy as shit lol. Im looking for a bag that is a solid 3 season bag preferably synthetic. Been looking at wiggys a lot they seem like a solid option just curious what other people are using thanks