If You Need to Survive in the Wild, You Need These

Departing the modern world to live in the wild isn’t the sort of thing you want to do on a whim. To keep from ending up like Chris McCandless, you need to pair the right gear with your skill set.

For the purposes of this article, I’m going to assume you have your basic hunting kit already figured out. You know what kind of rifle and shotgun you need to handle bit game in your area. I’m also assuming that you’ve got the right tent or other shelter to meet your needs along with a sleeping bag rated to the lowest temps in the area.

I’m also assuming you’ve got the basic clothing items figured out. You know to bring a proper hat for the weather, and you’ve got enough socks to make sure you can always keep your feet dry.

For the purposes of this article, we’re going to look at some wilderness survival items you might be tempted to leave behind or take a shortcut on to save some money. We’ll also look a spin through some nuts-and-bolts items that you might want to tweak or what sets one type apart from the others.

A Proper Compass

Getting lost is arguably the number one reason people get into trouble in the wild.

I had a cousin who got lost on a back country hunting trip in Montana using the same compass my dad used to have glued to the dash of his minivan!

If you’re going to try to live in the wild, you need a proper compass with features like adjustable declination, sighting mirror, and a clinometer.

This will let you make your own map, or justify your position based on the tallest landmarks in the area.

Related: Essential Survival Know-Hows Modern People Have Forgotten

I also recommend one that has some sort of low-light or illumination feature. The last thing you want to do is drop a buck at sunset, then get lost because you can’t read your compass at a glance while dragging it back to camp.

Good Knives

My great-grandfather considered himself one of the last mountain men. The saying he passed down through me to my daughter is “Never go into the woods with less than a knife.”

I recommend two knives. The first is a high-quality folding pocketknife for simple things like cutting food or whittling a stick. The other is the knife that does all the real work, and bushcraft.

To read the rest of my guide and discover how to stay safe and self-reliant in the wilderness, visit www.askaprepper.com.