10 tips to become a wilderness survivor

10 tips to become a wilderness survivor

(Scott Hammond)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Mental preparation will not only keep you from getting lost, it may save you when you are lost. Before you hike, backpack, ski or snowmobile into Utah’s backcountry, make sure you have the right things in your pack, your mind and your heart.

In 2012, Victoria survived for four days in the Escalante wilderness with a broken leg until searchers found her just hours before succumbing to hypothermia. But more than her pack preparation, her knowledge and spirit saved her.

"The fact that I was lost, that I could not move or help myself was the worst of it," Victoria Grover said. "All I had was what was in my pack, and what was in my heart and head."

When people travel into wilderness areas around Utah, they should always be prepared for an emergency. Here are a few tips of how to survive in the middle of nowhere if you are stranded:

First, prepare your pack and carry the right stuff. Victoria Grover carried a dollar store poncho that she used to keep warm, collect firewood, and trap water. It was the best dollar she ever spent.

Second, know what to do in survival situations. What do we do if we don’t know where to go? What do we do if others are injured, immobile or distraught? Victoria Grover knew what to do when she broke her leg. She knew how to make a splint, how to build a one-match fire, how to build a coal bed in the sand and sleep on it. She had rehearsed her survival skills many times.

Third, the most important preparation is in the heart. How do we suppress fear, and build resilience and our will to live? If we are prepared, the wilderness is less dangerous than a city street.

The Boy Scouts of America Motto motto says “Be Prepared.” Every Boy Scout is required to carry 10 essential items with them at all times when they are in the woods. It is not hard to determine what to carry (matches, water bottle, jacket, etc.) but it is hard to make sure you always have those essential items with you on a trip.

Pack Essentials: 3 Pounds that could save your life:
  • Matches (or a small fire starter)
  • Knife or multi-tool
  • Maps and Compass (not a GPS)
  • Emergency whistle
  • Water
  • Snacks bars (1,200 calories minimum)
  • Emergency blanket or bivy bag
  • Flashlight
  • First Aid Kit (Band-Aids, aspirin, disinfectant)
  • Poncho
  • Extra clothing (knit cap, gloves, jacket)

The right stuff varies based on the season and environment, but it is always best to be over prepared. My experience in wilderness search and rescue has taught me 10 criteria regarding physical, mental and spiritual preparation for a safe environment.

Always carry emergency supplies

Could you survive for 48 hours with what you have with you? My plans for a 30-minute hike are irrelevant when something unexpected happens. Even if I plan to be gone a short while, I prepare to be out for two full days. My search pack is very light but complete.

I carry food, shelter, emergency clothing, first aid, maps, compass, a GPS, emergency clothing, and a flashlight, all of which weigh less than 4 pounds. As a K-9 SAR volunteer, I add smoke flares, and a ham radio, but a fully charged cell phone is even more useful.

If I am in a hot desert environment, I carry enough water for my dog and myself for two days. Utah has had three deaths from dehydration in the last two years on short desert trails. Water takes most of the pack. If I am in the high country, where streams are common, I still carry two liters of water and means to purify more.

Wear appropriate clothing

Have the right clothing for the range of temperatures you'll encounter? A few years ago we searched in the Uintah Mountains for a young boy wearing only jeans and a tee shirt. He survived overnight in freezing temperatures by piling dirt and leaves over himself. A jacket would have worked better.

For Victoria Grover, an extra layer and a poncho was just enough to keep her alive for four bitterly cold nights, while nursing a broken leg. I always carry a wool hat, gloves, and an extra pair of wool socks. More than once they have helped dull the effect of a surprise weather event.

Have proper footwear for the outdoors

Have the right shoes for the terrain? My footwear assumptions were rocked last year when I searched for two days in the High Uintahs with a young woman who had conditioned her feet so that she could walk barefoot in the woods. She hiked without complaint or problems.

But most of us need the right boots or shoes. Keep your feet dry or your wet skin will soften and the friction in your boot will accelerate blistering. Break your boots in before any long hikes.

Familiarize yourself with terrain and have GPS

Skills to have before going into the wilderness:
Know how to:
  • Read a map and compass
  • Give first aid
  • Start a one-match fire
  • Build an emergency shelter

Know where you're going and how to get back? It is surprising how many people start a hike dependent on one or two people in the group to tell them all where to go. If they get separated, they really do not know where they are. Look back as you hike every two or three hundred feet so the terrain looks familiar when you return. Bring a map and compass, and know how to read it. I rely mostly on GPS, but a GPS can run out or batteries. Maps never do.

Victoria Grover knew to go near water, not just because she needed to hydrate, but she knew searchers would be there. In Utah, most searches end near water. Most trails lead to water, and most water leads to civilization.

Never leave home without a return time, and tell others where you will be and when to expect your return. Never leave the trailhead with a group without a rendezvous point if you get separated.

Learn how to make a fire

Know how to make a fire? Knowing how to make fire with flint and steel, a magnifying glass, or a fire bow is interesting, but it takes time from other essential activities. Instead, just carry matches in a waterproof container in your pocket. If you lose your pack, you still have your matches.

Practice making a “one match fire.” Gather tinder and small wood, and then several times more wood than you might think necessary before you light the match. A fire warms, cooks and signals. But the psychological benefit is immeasurable.

Know how to stay warm and dry

Know how to stay warm and dry? It is very hard to get dry once you are wet in the outdoors. The most common injury to search subjects, even in the summer, is hypothermia. Staying warm and dry not only means wearing the right clothes, it means knowing when to take a break, seek shelter or build shelter. It means knowing how to not overexert, and how to cross water safely.

Make the most of your environment

Communicate and plan before your trip:
  • Tell people where you are going and when you will return.
  • Have a rendezvous point.
  • Make sure everyone has pack essentials.
  • Make sure everyone knows where they are going.

Know how to leverage the environment? Every environment in Utah has advantages that can help you survive if you are willing to open your eyes and see what is before you. The Uintah and Wasatch Mountains offer berries in season, abundant water, easy deadfall to make shelter, and clearly contoured terrain where going downhill will almost always lead you to a road or a trail.

In the desert, a high perch can help you see far away greenery that is likely to have water and shade. Even deep snow offers the ability to make a snow cave and shelter.

Make yourself seen

Know how to be seen? In the summer of 2013, we searched for a lost 8-year old boy in Rich Country. He was found because he had the sense to go out in a field, in the sunshine and wait until he was seen. Yet many children hide. They are afraid of being in trouble. Adults and teenagers are so ashamed of being lost that they burn energy walking around.

If you are lost, and you know people are looking for you, make yourself seen. Build a fire. Burn green branches to make smoke. Flash with a mirror. Blow your whistle. Wave a poncho or tent fly.

Learn to overcome fear

Know how to stop being afraid? Fear is a brick of toxic waste too heavy for any pack. It burns calories and limits vision. Every person I have interviewed who has been lost has had a moment in their ordeal when they had to jettison fear and embrace possibility in order to be found.

Rita Critein, who survived for 49 days in a van during a winter in northern Nevada, told me fear knocked on her door every day. “I didn’t let him in,” she said. “I wanted to live.”

Learn to generate hope

Know how to generate hope? Eliminating fear is not enough. Hope is the motivation for survival. Hope is generated with a vision of the ideal future. For Victoria, she imagined herself sitting with her family and seeing her grandchildren. The ability to imagine the best is a propelling image that motivates survival.

Every person I've interviewed who has been lost generated hope through prayer. Some were non-believers, yet every one had a conversation with God and reported feeling comfort and clarity.

The Utah wilderness is a classroom for life lessons. Wilderness survival happens when people encounter the unanticipated. If you anticipate the range of possibilities in any environment and prepare your pack, your mind and your heart, you will find yourself thriving rather than surviving.


Scott C. Hammond, PhD, is a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. He is the author of "Lessons of the Lost: Finding Hope and Resilience in Work, Life, and the Wilderness." He can be reached at scott.hammond@usu.edu.

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