How to Survive Alone in the Woods with Nothing but a Hatchet
Be calm in the situation: You are your most valuable resource., Go to your nearest source of water: If you do not know where that is, then go downhill until you find a moving, clean source., Wet stick: Once you find a river you can make a...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Be calm in the situation: You are your most valuable resource.
Pay attention and take note of your surroundings.
The only thing that can fail you in any environment is lack of motivation.
If you believe you will survive your chances are higher.
Its all about will-power! -
Step 2: Go to your nearest source of water: If you do not know where that is
The ideal water source would be a moving river with sandy banks. , Clean the bark off from a hard wood stick, dip the stick in water and beat the side of a sandy bank.
This will embed sand into the sides of the stick.
Keep doing so until ample abrasiveness is accomplished.
Use this stick to sharpen your axe or knife. , Larger structures also waste physical resources and energy in building and upkeep.
Also note that smaller shelters tend to trap more heat and heat up much easier than large shelters.
Make sure to face it away from the prevailing wind.
Also consider the fact that the shelter will need to drain any rain that comes. , Also note that after two days of not eating you will begin to lose energy.
During those two days it is important to find a safe food source as in that time your body will still hold ample amounts of energy.
Tips for this will be explicated below. , You can use the blunt end of your axe to snap softwood away from a tree.
Larger softwoods tend to have a great many dry branches ideal for the making of fire.
Also note that pine needles make ideal tinder.
You will need this dry wood to produce safe food and water. , Be careful not to get pitch on your hands as the sticky sap can create large blisters if worked into your skin.
The reason spruce is important is because boiling the needles into a tea makes the perfect morning drink.
Imagine a cup of nasty-tasting orange juice with seven times as much Vitamin C.
Note that this concoction will also save you from scurvy. , By successfully using snares and pitfalls one will only catch something on the rarer side of things.
As that is the case it is important to set many snares, in varied locations.
It is also important to remove all these snares before you move on. , If you cut down an ash you can pound the blunt end of the axe on a white, brown or black ash.
This will loosen long strips that can be pulled off and used as shingles.
If they break vertically while you pull them off the log simply use pitch to fill the cracks.
The ash is a sacred tree to many Native Americans.
Native basket makers will often times offer tobacco before a tree is chopped down, it would be wise to make this offering, or one that can be deemed appropriate given your resources.
This is out of respect for where the knowledge comes from and out of respect for the thing that helps you survive in adverse conditions. , Instead look to the smaller game trails that often yield quail, rabbit and smaller turkeys.
These creatures can be captured using the stringy roots of spruce or the inner bark of basswood in the form of a snare.
The basswood snare is a powerful tool but is a native technology that requires the destruction of a tree.
An offering of tobacco or some other comparable resource may be advisable.
Never compromise survival to make such an offering. , There are very few places where man hasn't been.
Signs of his presence include bottles, cans and often times wrappers useful for tinder.
Also during the autumn rocky terrain is often hidden under a layer of leaves.
Men have died because they did not check their footing with a good walking stick, as this tool can serve a number of purposes. , The earth gets cold at night.
Lay a mattress of pine, cedar, juniper boughs, palm leaves, or just small wood or pine needles.
More layers = more warmth. , Be prepared however to go anywhere from 10–50 miles (16–80 km), or much further, depending on the location. , Often times one reverts to wishful thinking in a time of crisis.
Again be prepared to travel indefinite distances or you will not survive.
In situations where you suspect that someone will be searching for you, it is generally advisable to stay put, provided you have sufficient food and water resources. , Once you give up there is nothing keeping you from dying.
Humans can and do survive on virtually any terrain on Earth.
If a technique is not successful, learn from the mistake and keep trying. -
Step 3: then go downhill until you find a moving
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Step 4: clean source.
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Step 5: Wet stick: Once you find a river you can make a traditional wet stick.
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Step 6: Create a shelter: Build it with a small silhouette in mind as the larger it is the more it will catch wind.
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Step 7: Use that axe: Once you have a relatively permanent position you have around three weeks in which you can use the axe before food deprivation can kill you or make you severely sick.
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Step 8: Search for large amounts of dry wood that can easily be dragged to your shelter.
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Step 9: You can use your axe to chop off spruce boughs.
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Step 10: The only real significant source of fat and protein in the wild is that of meat.
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Step 11: You can use your axe to make a waterproof shelter.
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Step 12: Keep an eye out for game trails; avoid those that are large as they support larger predatory threat.
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Step 13: Look for things you can use.
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Step 14: To stay warm at night
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Step 15: get up off the ground.
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Step 16: If your source of water is a river all you have to do is follow it downhill to find a road or town.
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Step 17: It pays to be prepared before you move.
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Step 18: Never revert to a state of apathy or indifference as the world is only as merciful as you make it.
Detailed Guide
Pay attention and take note of your surroundings.
The only thing that can fail you in any environment is lack of motivation.
If you believe you will survive your chances are higher.
Its all about will-power!
The ideal water source would be a moving river with sandy banks. , Clean the bark off from a hard wood stick, dip the stick in water and beat the side of a sandy bank.
This will embed sand into the sides of the stick.
Keep doing so until ample abrasiveness is accomplished.
Use this stick to sharpen your axe or knife. , Larger structures also waste physical resources and energy in building and upkeep.
Also note that smaller shelters tend to trap more heat and heat up much easier than large shelters.
Make sure to face it away from the prevailing wind.
Also consider the fact that the shelter will need to drain any rain that comes. , Also note that after two days of not eating you will begin to lose energy.
During those two days it is important to find a safe food source as in that time your body will still hold ample amounts of energy.
Tips for this will be explicated below. , You can use the blunt end of your axe to snap softwood away from a tree.
Larger softwoods tend to have a great many dry branches ideal for the making of fire.
Also note that pine needles make ideal tinder.
You will need this dry wood to produce safe food and water. , Be careful not to get pitch on your hands as the sticky sap can create large blisters if worked into your skin.
The reason spruce is important is because boiling the needles into a tea makes the perfect morning drink.
Imagine a cup of nasty-tasting orange juice with seven times as much Vitamin C.
Note that this concoction will also save you from scurvy. , By successfully using snares and pitfalls one will only catch something on the rarer side of things.
As that is the case it is important to set many snares, in varied locations.
It is also important to remove all these snares before you move on. , If you cut down an ash you can pound the blunt end of the axe on a white, brown or black ash.
This will loosen long strips that can be pulled off and used as shingles.
If they break vertically while you pull them off the log simply use pitch to fill the cracks.
The ash is a sacred tree to many Native Americans.
Native basket makers will often times offer tobacco before a tree is chopped down, it would be wise to make this offering, or one that can be deemed appropriate given your resources.
This is out of respect for where the knowledge comes from and out of respect for the thing that helps you survive in adverse conditions. , Instead look to the smaller game trails that often yield quail, rabbit and smaller turkeys.
These creatures can be captured using the stringy roots of spruce or the inner bark of basswood in the form of a snare.
The basswood snare is a powerful tool but is a native technology that requires the destruction of a tree.
An offering of tobacco or some other comparable resource may be advisable.
Never compromise survival to make such an offering. , There are very few places where man hasn't been.
Signs of his presence include bottles, cans and often times wrappers useful for tinder.
Also during the autumn rocky terrain is often hidden under a layer of leaves.
Men have died because they did not check their footing with a good walking stick, as this tool can serve a number of purposes. , The earth gets cold at night.
Lay a mattress of pine, cedar, juniper boughs, palm leaves, or just small wood or pine needles.
More layers = more warmth. , Be prepared however to go anywhere from 10–50 miles (16–80 km), or much further, depending on the location. , Often times one reverts to wishful thinking in a time of crisis.
Again be prepared to travel indefinite distances or you will not survive.
In situations where you suspect that someone will be searching for you, it is generally advisable to stay put, provided you have sufficient food and water resources. , Once you give up there is nothing keeping you from dying.
Humans can and do survive on virtually any terrain on Earth.
If a technique is not successful, learn from the mistake and keep trying.
About the Author
Deborah Gibson
Experienced content creator specializing in lifestyle guides and tutorials.
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