How to Survive in the Wild

Whether you’re lost in the forest or testing your mettle against nature, you need to be prepared if you’re trying to survive in the wild. Certain survivalist celebrities might tell you to drink specific bodily fluids. But, as long as you stick to the basics and do what you have to to find water, build a shelter, obtain food, and stay warm, those celebrities will be eating crow figuratively while you potentially eat crow literally.

Method 1

Method 1 of 6:

Finding Water

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1
Locate a body of water like a river, stream, lake, or pond. Water flows downhill, so you should look for bodies of water in depressions in the earth and valleys. If you’re in a mountainous region, there’s a reasonable chance that if you walk parallel to a mountain you’ll find a stream or river eventually.^{[1]XResearch source}
- If you do find a body of water, you should build your shelter near it. Don’t build the shelter on the water’s edge, though, because chances are that (possibly dangerous) animals will frequent the area to quench their thirst.^{[2]XResearch source}
2
Sterilize water from lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers. You should always boil any water that you collect from a body of water in nature. If you have a metal container, you can put it on your fire to boil for at least 20 minutes to sterilize it. If you don’t have a container you can put onto a fire, you can still boil the water with a boiling pit.
- To boil water with a boiling pit, dig a hole approximately 2 feet (0.61 m) long by 2 feet (0.61 m) wide by 2 feet (0.61 m) deep next to your campfire.
- Then, separate out the clay from the soil (it will be sticky and reddish), and line the hole with the clay, making sure there are no cracks or openings in the layer of clay.
- Then, use a container like a hat or a shoe to transport water from your water source to the boiling pit until it’s full
- Once your pit is full, heat rocks on your campfire. Heat them for approximately 10 minutes, then start dropping them in the pit. Rotate freshly hot rocks with ones in the pit that have cooled down until you have a steady boil for 20 minutes.
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3
Dig for water if you can’t find a lake, pond, stream, or river. Before you go to sleep, dig a hole that is approximately 1 foot (0.30 m) long by 1 foot (0.30 m) wide by 1 foot (0.30 m) deep. The hole should fill with water overnight. The water will be muddy, so you should strain it with a piece of cloth like your shirt.
- If you don’t have a container to strain your water into, you can use your shirt to soak up water and then wring it into your mouth. The shirt should hold on to most of the mud.
In the mornings, you can use your shirt to collect dew. Just press it into the ground and it should soak up some water that you can wring into your mouth. During the day, trail your shirt behind you through the underbrush. It should pick up some moisture from the leaves that you can also wring into your mouth.^{[3]XResearch source}
5
Follow ants climbing trees to find pockets of moisture in the bark. If you see ants climbing trees, there’s a good chance they’re traveling toward a deposit of moisture that is collecting in one of the tree’s grooves. Follow the line of ants to their destination on the tree and, if it’s within reach, press your shirt against the water deposit to soak up the moisture. Then you can wring the water into your mouth.^{[4]XResearch source}
- Be careful not to swallow any ants using this method; they could have pincers. ^{[5]XResearch source}

Method 2

Method 2 of 6:

Building a Shelter

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1
Find a fallen tree or cliffside. You’ll want to build your shelter against a large surface that can block out any wind and hide you from predatory animals. Search near your water source (if you have one) for fallen trees or rock outcroppings.
- Make sure there are no animals already living in the vicinity.
2
Lean large branches against the tree or cliffside. The forest floor is usually littered with fallen branches, so you shouldn’t need to chop any off of the trees themselves. Search for larger branches in the forest, and lean them against the tree or rock as close together as possible.
- Ideally, the branches should be as straight as possible and approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) in length and 2 inches (5.1 cm) to 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter.
- Make the shelter small, but still large enough to fit your whole body if it’s curled up. The smaller the shelter, the easier it will be for you to warm it with your body heat.
No matter how straight your large branches are or how close together you place them, there will be gaps between them. Fill in those gaps with smaller branches. Then, cover the entire shelter with leaves and debris from the forest floor.
4
Line the ground inside the shelter with dry leaves or pine needles. You won’t be able to conserve body heat if you’re sleeping on the damp ground. Pile a layer of dry leaves or pine needles (or both) inside your shelter to provide some insulation against the cold dirt beneath you.
- You should replace the bedding in your shelter every day that you can find dry leaves or needles.
If you’re in a desert rather than a forested area, start your shelter by digging a depression in the ground. Use the sand you dig up to form a protective barrier around the depression. Then, cover the depression with brush if you can find it or with any cloth you might have available to protect yourself from the elements.^{[6]XResearch source}
To build a snow trench shelter, dig a trench into the snow a little longer than your body and pile the snow you dig up around the trench to form a barrier against the elements. Then, create the roof of your shelter by forming a lattice pattern with sticks over your shelter and pile packed snow on top.^{[7]XResearch source}

Method 3

Method 3 of 6:

Obtaining Food

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1
Eat bugs. Bugs can be a good source of protein and sustenance when you’re out in the wild. Search on the ground and dig in the dirt for bugs like worms, beetles, grasshoppers, and crickets. Look particularly in patches of damp earth and in rotting logs. Bugs love moisture.^{[8]XResearch source}
- Don’t just eat any bug, because some are poisonous or have pincers.^{[9]XResearch source}
- Before you eat the bugs, remove their extremities and outer shells if they have them. Then crush them with a rock and cook the pulp over your fire.^{[10]XResearch source}
2
Use trees for nuts and edible bark. Search at the base of trees for edible nuts like acorns. These can be roasted on a fire and are a valuable source of protein. Some trees, particularly pines, spruces, and firs (all evergreens with needles) also have edible inner bark. Once you’ve found one of these trees, you can dig into the bark with a rock to get to the rubbery, cream-colored edible inner layer.^{[11]XResearch source}
- Pine needles can also be steeped in hot water to make a tea. Pine needle tea is a source of valuable nutrients, particularly Vitamin C.^{[12]XResearch source}
  - Do not drink pine needle tea if you are pregnant, as it has been shown to be harmful to unborn babies.^{[13]XResearch source}
3
Search for bird nests on the ground and in low-hanging branches. As you move around during the day, keep an eye out for bird nests on the ground among tree roots or in the branches of trees with eggs in them. You can collect the eggs, and even possibly catch the bird itself if you hang out until it returns to the nest.^{[14]XResearch source}
- To cook an egg without a pan, gently tap a hole in the top 1 centimetre (0.39 in) wide by 1 centimetre (0.39 in) long with a small branch.^{[15]XResearch source}
- Then, use a stick to pull some of the coals from the fire to the edge of your fire pit, and make a bed for the egg with a circular depression in it.^{[16]XResearch source}
- Place the egg in the coal bed and let it cook for approximately 5 to 10 minutes (you should be able to tell if it’s cooked by looking through the hole on the top).^{[17]XResearch source}
- Once the egg is cooked, you can peel off the shell and eat it!^{[18]XResearch source}
4
Fashion a spear and carry it with you to catch small animals. Find a young hardwood sapling and use a rock to cut it down. You’ll want a sapling that is approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) in length and at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 2 inches (5.1 cm) in diameter. Use your rock to cut off any branches and sharpen the end into a point. Then harden the point by holding it over your fire.^{[19]XResearch source}
- If you carry your spear with you during the day, you can use it to opportunistically kill small animals like rabbits, squirrels, frogs, and fish that you can roast over your fire.
5
Look for cactus plants and lizards to eat if you’re in the desert. A wide variety of cactus plants have edible pads (leaves) that can be eaten raw. First, wrap your hand in your shirt to protect it from the spines and break the pads off the plant. Then, use a rock to scrape off the spines before eating the pad. To catch a lizard, on the other hand, try to act opportunistically. If there are lizards nearby, sit as still as possible until they approach, then grab them as quickly as you can.^{[20]XResearch source}
- If you intend to eat a lizard, cook it as thoroughly as possible to avoid salmonella. Focus on eating the tail meat. Avoid the mouth, because that’s where salmonella tends to be most prevalent.^{[21]XResearch source}
If you’re near the ocean in a colder climate, you can catch fish by digging holes in areas where the high tide meets the low tide (you’ll have to observe the tides first to identify the right places for your holes). Fish will get trapped in these holes as the tide recedes. If you’re not near the ocean, you can still catch fish by fashioning a spear and using to catch fish in rivers and lakes.^{[22]XResearch source}

Method 4

Method 4 of 6:

Building a Fire

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1
Build a fire pit. Make a fire pit at least 5 feet (1.5 m) away from your shelter by digging a hole 2 feet (0.61 m) long by 2 feet (0.61 m) wide by 6 inches (15 cm) deep with a rock and circling the edge of the hole with stones.^{[23]XResearch source}
- Once you’ve dug your fire pit, form a small pile of leaves or pine needles as your kindling.^{[24]XResearch source}
2
Make a bow drill. Find a piece of hardwood or rock that has a divot in it for the top of your drill to rest in. Then, find a piece of softwood and carve a hole through it with a sharp rock. Create a triangular cut from the edge of the softwood to the hole, with the point of the triangle at the hole. Find a green, pliable branch and tie one of your shoestrings to either end of it to form a bow. Then find a hardwood stick approximately .75 inches (1.9 cm) in diameter to serve as your drill.^{[25]XResearch source}
- If you don’t have shoelaces and you’re in a forested area, you can create a string by digging into a tree with a rock to the fibrous inner layer, pulling out the fibers, and tying them together.
- If you’re not in a forested area and need string, you can create it by cutting off bits of your hair and tying them together.
- If you don’t have enough hair, you can make a string by tying together pieces of brush.
3
Use your bow drill to start a fire. Position your softwood in your firepit so that the kindling fills the triangular cut on the edge. Then, put your drill in the hole with the string of your bow wrapped around it in a single loop with the bow parallel to the ground. Hold the softwood firmly with your foot and place the top of the drill in the divot of the hardwood or rock you found to hold it securely in position. Then draw the bow back and forth so that the drill spins and creates friction on the softwood and makes a spark.^{[26]XResearch source}
- After several minutes of vigorous sawing, you should start to see smoke. Once you do, you can blow on the kindling gently to encourage the spark to spread.^{[27]XResearch source}
- Once your kindling has started burning, form a pyramid around it with twigs and bark in the center, then build another pyramid around that with small branches, and a final pyramid around the whole thing with larger branches.^{[28]XResearch source}
- Once you’ve started your first fire, you should keep it burning continuously by adding wood to it throughout the day.^{[29]XResearch source}

Method 5

Method 5 of 6:

Protecting Yourself from the Elements

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Bodies create heat as they metabolize food, so you should use this to your advantage. Eat high fat foods like nuts, bugs, and small animals just before you go to sleep so that your body creates warmth at night when it’s coldest out.^{[30]XResearch source}
2
Cover yourself with dirt, debris, and leaves when you go to sleep. When you go to sleep in your shelter for the night, cover yourself with a few layers of dirt, debris, and leaves that you’ve collected during the day. This can serve as insulation against the cold night air.^{[31]XResearch source}
- Don’t make yourself so warm that you sweat. Sweat will cool your body down and make your bedding damp, which will interfere with its ability to insulate you from the cold.^{[32]XResearch source}
This is particularly important in tropical climates where rain occurs frequently. If it’s raining, you should stay in your shelter. If you get wet, try to dry yourself and your clothes as thoroughly as possible. Staying wet can potentially cause illnesses and fungal infections.^{[33]XResearch source}

Method 6

Method 6 of 6:

Staying Safe and Healthy

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1
Avoid predators. Predators will be an issue regardless of what part of the world you’re in. To avoid encountering them, try to provide them with advance warnings of your approach by whistling or singing as your travel. You should also keep your camp free of food smells by discarding your food remains far away from it. It’s also a good idea to give any fresh animal kills you encounter a wide berth, since some predators will wander away from their food for a while before returning to it.^{[34]XResearch source}
- If you do encounter a predator, don’t panic. Don’t look the animal in the eye, and move calmly away from it while making yourself look as big as possible by waving your arms in the air.^{[35]XResearch source}
This is particularly important in tropical climates, where the warm, moist weather can speed infections and many of the local insects may be poisonous. If you don’t have long sleeves or pants, cover your skin by wrapping leaves around your arms and legs and tying them on with pliable twigs.^{[36]XResearch source}
If you’re in a forested area, you can splint a broken bone by lining up 2 tree branches on either side of the bone and tying them in place with shoelaces or young, pliable branches. If you’re not in a forested area with access to branches, you’ll need to avoid moving the bone as much as possible so that it can heal properly. Regardless, you’ll need to rest as much as possible so the bone has the energy it needs to mend.^{[37]XResearch source}
If you feel yourself starting to get sick, or have already gotten sick, the most important care you can give yourself is to stay hydrated and rested. Stay inside your shelter and keep water nearby while you convalesce. You should also try to stay warm. Cold bodies don’t heal as quickly.^{[38]XResearch source}

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Question
How do you survive if you get lost in the woods?
Britt Edelen
Boy Scout
Britt Edelen was an active member of his local Boy Scouts troop near Athens, Georgia from ages 8 to 16. As a Scout, he went on dozens of camping trips, learned and practiced many wilderness survival skills, and spent countless hours appreciating the great outdoors. In addition, Britt worked as a counselor for several summers at an adventure camp in his hometown, which allowed him to share his passion for and knowledge of the outdoors with others.
Britt Edelen
Boy Scout
Expert Answer
If you can, follow a water source up toward its source. That water is going to be safer to drink because it hasn't been contaminated by as many things going downhill. Also, if you climb, you're more likely to find a lookout spot where you can see what's going on around you.
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How do I prepare the caught meat when in the wild?
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Skin it, gut it, remove the head and meat, cut the meat into strips and cook it over a fire. Boil in clean water if possible.
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What should I do if I'm with a friend and they start panicking?
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Try to calm your friend down as best you can. First, guide them through some breathing exercises to slow their heart rate and breathing down. Then, talk them through what's going to happen: explain how you're going to survive until help comes, what you're going to do to attract help, etc. Finally, tell them exactly what you need them to do. Someone who is experiencing a lot of anxiety can be easily overwhelmed, so if you leave them to figure it out for themselves, they may end up back in a panic attack.
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Tips

Survival in the wilderness is all about creating and storing adequate levels of energy. Make sure you eat plenty, get adequate amounts of sleep, and don’t make unnecessary movements.
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If you encounter a large animal, move slowly away from it until you are out of range. Quick movements will signal that you are a threat, and even non-predatory animals may attack.
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Staying hydrated should be your first priority. You can survive several days without shelter and a few weeks without food, but you will start to experience the effects of dehydration within a few days.
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