Useful Tricks. And Weird Info.

Surviving with no supplies

Getting caught without supplies isn't common, but it can happen. Surviving in the woods has been done throughout history, and it's something that most people can learn to do with a little practice. With no supplies, surviving is often challenging but it can be rewarding. Survival with no supplies typically means that no knife or other items are used while in the woods. This kind of survival requires creativity and improvising, but is very doable.
InstructionsDifficulty: Challenging
Surviving With No Supplies

Step 1
Survey what is around you and what you have on hand right away. This will let you determine what you can make and how easily you can make it. Look for tree types, vines that would work as rope, and possible fuel sources.

Step 2
Collect sharp rocks to use as knives, and wooden sticks to carve, roast with and build shelter from. Also collect any random items that could be used in helpful ways, like fishing lines, bones and shells.

Step 3
Construct a shelter as quickly as possible. You can use a fallen tree, a large tree with shelter underneath it or a cave. Make sure it is protected from the wind and pile materials, like pine boughs, on top to waterproof the shelter and keep you warm.

Step 4
Find food. Until an hour before dusk, this should be your next priority. Hunt for edible berries---like salmon-berries and wild huckleberries---and pine nuts. Consider catching insects, and if you know how to hunt with no supplies you can also get meat. Drink water from the cleanest possible streams and as far from contamination sources as possible.

Step 5
Build a fire using the tools around you. Instead of a bow drill or matches, start a fire by rubbing the end of a dry stick into the groove of a larger piece of wood until you have glowing embers in the groove---then blow softly while putting moss and larger fuels consecutively on it. Pine sap makes a very good fire starter in wetter climates.

Step 6
Prepare dinner and then collect enough wood to see you through the night. You will have to do this each day to keep the fire going.

Step 7
Cover the coals from your fire in green boughs to keep them hot for the day. This will prevent you from having to start a fire again in the evening.

Step 8
Make mornings the time to find the food you need and scout your surroundings. As you go through your day, collect other items that you can use. Keep a positive mental attitude and always encourage yourself when you make something that works or succeed at a task.

Tips & Warnings

Lining the shelter with leaves and pine boughs will insulate it. Build a fire against a dry rock or bank to reflect heat back onto you.

Lining the shelter with leaves and pine boughs will insulate it.

Build a fire against a dry rock or bank to reflect heat back onto you.

If you are planning a survival trip, always tell someone when you are leaving, where you are going and when you will be back.