How To Survive Like Ray Mears

” I love the outdoors, I love going out into the wilderness and taking a firm hold of nature, using my instinctual behaviour to survive the rigours of outdoor living……at least that’s my intention.

I have found myself lost countless times in woodlands, heath lands, meadows and even open planes in my time and normally end up trekking miles off track to some nearby village and end up getting a taxi home, but I thought the other day, what if I cant just get in a taxi? what if I get lost in such a vast expanse that it would take days to find civilisation?

Ray mears to me is the best bloke you would want with you in such a situation, but that’s not likely to happen is it, so here is some simple practical advice to get you out of the shit if you find yourself lost in the wilderness.

The first thing to do before you even step out of the house is tell someone close where you are going and what time you will be back, I don’t mean telling the old drunk man in your pub that talks to himself, I mean telling someone reliable like your mum or dad, or a close friend.

Essentials to take:

Lighter

Sheet of tarpaulin

Compass

Sharp Machete or large knife

Bungee cords

Tent Pegs

A survival guide book, and a book on edible plants

Always take a mobile phone with you and give your number to several people that you know would get worried about you if you were gone for a long period of time, also contact your local police station and inform them that you are going on long trek into deep wilderness, just so they are aware of your whereabouts.

OK so your lost in the woods, like a dick you thought you were Christopher Columbus on a road of discovery, now of course your lost so what now? well if you can see yourself spending a few days in the wild you first need to get a decent shelter made up, don’t go over the top and try and build a fancy cabin with a log fire because you will fail.

Take the sheet of tarpaulin that you took with you and lay it out flat, attach a bungee cord to 2 corners of the sheet, then you need to strap the 2 corners with the bungees on between 2 trees and use 2 tent pegs to pin down the opposite corners so you end up with the sheet being stretched in a wedge shape from the trees down to the ground, and that my friends is how you make the most basic shelter, its no Ritz but will keep you dry.

Now you need a fire, use the lighter to get one going and make sure you keep it away from your shelter.

If it is summer keep out of direct sunlight to avoid heat stroke, and if in the winter keep out of direct winds as this can cause frost bite.

If you want clean drinking water all you need to do is dig a hole about 3 feet deep and near a river or lake and line it with some plastic, a carrier bag or if you have a big enough tarpaulin you could cut off some of that, then line the hole with the plastic, leave it over night and in the morning you should have a decent amount of clean safe drinking water.

When you go to sleep under your shelter don’t be tempted to sleep with your boots and socks on, if you do your quickly going to develop athletes foot or worse foot rot which is not what you need when your lost, so take them off and leave them near the fire to dry off, keep your feet warm by sleeping feet towards the fire.

Food is going to be difficult to find, but as you are a clever bloke and told everyone where your going its only a matter of days before someone finds you, so hunt around for things to keep you going, use the edible plants book to seek out some tasty berries and such, or you could just eat the book if your lazy.

The most important things to do in a situation like this is to keep dry, keep warm, drink plenty of water and never go to far from your camp, sit it out and the rescue services will find you, don’t try and wander off looking for help as you will probably die.

Has anyone got any cool survival stories? if so then tell us.