Heeeyho Readers! Let's talk about survivalism.
Are you prepared to flee your home in a hurry? Would you be able to gather everything you need in under 10 minutes? What kind of skills and equipment do you need to survive anywhere?
Those questions are inspired in @riverflows' post wild camp & survival items. Along the lines, she talks about 10 crucial things for a survival situation. Important, isn't it? Not only the post is awesome, but thanks to her tag I found a home to talk about survivalism, which is generally embedded — though not as explicit — in my hobo-style travel content.
The outdoors & more community focuses on.. well... outdoor activities. Do'h! It encompasses everything I love: camping, fishing, hunting, adventuring, survivalism and lots of pew pew pew. There, @galenkp has put out a contest for us to shake that buttie and talk about our experiences on the matter. {Insert excited shuffle}. For those feeling shy, he's outlined several topics to inspire you loose-brained folks. Leeeeeeeeeees go!
My ready-to-go survival items
Before listing my ready-to-go survival items, let's define what I perceive as a survival situation. Survivalism can range from a day without internet (hello gen Z) to a full chaos zombie apocalypse. I don't go that far. To me, a survival situarion is having to deal with life anywhere with a handful of stuff (e.g.: while backpacking, as a refugee, after bankrupcy, etc — all plausible). My strategy rely on the following premises:
- No matter what, strangers are generally compassionate. This premise mitigates certain situations where I might not be prepared (e.g.: falling to sickness, failing to obtain food, protection, etc).
- I prefer to stay within the law in most cases. That means, in 99% of the situations I won't have any firearms, hunting equipment, huge knifes, machetes. Unless, of course, society really goes to shit.
- I don't have knowledge on natural herbs nor I'm carrying books on wilderness survivalism. The less weight, the better.
- Be it a weekend camping trip, a multi-month journey across wild Patagonia, or a run-away from home, everything needs to fit in a 50L backpack.
That said, the following items are always within hand's reach and ready to go.
Shelter
I'm no social media bearded men using twenty ways to pitch a tent, like @riverflows so brilliantly said. Shelter is the uttermost important priority when hobo-style traveling or living outdoors for any reason, so I count on what's worked for ages: a good waterproof tent, mattress, and sleeping bag.
With this setup I have slept under bridges, in the bushes, out in the open, on gas stations, and against any weather conditions (sun, snow, rain, wind).
I won't detail the equipments per se, otherwise this post will become ginormous. Essentially, this tent model offers a heap of different options: serves as a simple tarp or a full insect-proof shelter; small enough to hide in the bushes; discrete color.
Combined with a well-made sleeping bag and mattress, the range of sheltering options is enormous. And considering everything is so lightweight, it's not a hassle to carry on medium-sized backpack.
Cooking Gear
Titanium pans and a Jet Boil are awesome, but too expensive. Mostly, I carry a mini gas burner, an army mug, and an old aluminum pan (seen on the picture below). Whenever gas canisters aren't available I can toss the pan over fire without remorse. This kit follows me everywhere.
Water filtration
Whenever I go adventuring outdoors, a water filter is the one item that is always on my backpack. Boiling water is not always an option — it takes time and consumes propane, which is crucial for prolonged days away from civilization. On the other hand, having something lightweight, easy-to-use, and effective saves a lot of time.
I've written a post about the awesome Sawyer Mini filter: Survival Equipment: Awesome way to obtain drinkable water
To be honest, I've used the Sawyer four times since purchase in 2019, but on all those situations it was a life-saver. This is the type of survival item that you won't discover its worth until life really goes south. Always remember what happens to essential items (bottle water) when the economy collapses.
Good ole Swiss knife
Rambo-style knives are cool, but a Swiss knife is cooler. What else can I add? I've never felt the need of a huge knife. Maybe in a severe survival situation where I need to butcher an animal, though that is unlikely.
Medical Kit
Not fancy here. Basic medicines, bandages, stuff for allergy, painkillers, etc etc. The best practice here is to be careful. I don't plan to break any bones alone from civilization.
A medical kit is always under hand's reach, be it at home or outdoors. Se the picture below where I had a medical kit strapped to the bicycle while traveling.
Dry bags!
Most people don't give due respect to such a simple piece of kit. Dry bags not only protect from water out most important stuff, but they also serve for other creative purposes. I've used dry bags as a pillow, washing machine, water collector, etc. Countless times I found myself soaked to the bone, but fully safe because the spare clothes were safe in a dry bag.
Lightweight fishing kit
This piece of kit is a new addition to my ready-to-go items. Having fishing skills is crucial if you want to easily find food, and a good lightweight equipment makes the task easier.
Why going full Macgyver improvising a hook with a paper clip when you can have a fishing kit ready to go?
My go-to kit consists of different sized hooks, fishing heel, 6" rod, two or three artificial baits, pliers and nothing more. I want to add more artificial baits for the various fish around my state.
If I ever need to survive on my own, at least food I know how to find.
Skills
I envy Riverflow's mushroom foraging ability and herbs knowledge. Having that level of wilderness skills is undoubtedly life-saver. However, I don't see myself alone in a situation so critical that I need to rely on that.
Sure, Chris McCandless would have survived if he knew exactly what he was eating, but I'd never put myself in his situation. Would you? As I said, even if the world goes to shit and we need to survive off the land, people will remain compassionate and find ways to help each other.
Ways to make fire
Last, but not least, I'd like to add ways to make fire as a general topic, instead of an isolated item. Flint, matches, BIC lighter, Zippo — you name it. I carry every one of them. Fire is life.
Conclusion
There will be items popping in my mind as soon as this post goes live. {Sight}. As you can see, I'm not a paranoid survivalist with incredibly complex EDC kits for every-single-situation. My experience comes from traveling with bare minimum resources (read money). After putting myself under various circumstances, I believe we don't need much to survive.
A way to think of plausible survival situations is to observe what's happening/happened around the world: lockdowns, supply chain collapses, wars, bankrupcy. The worst that can happen at the blink of an eye is bankruptcy.
What would you do if you lost everything and had to live on the streets?
If you've read this far and decide to participate in the contest, please tag me in your post so I can interact.
Peace.
Did you know that I have a book out? Check this!
Access Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/6500272773?
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
