Surviving An Unexpected Night In the Wilderness

http://www.takresponse.com/index/sar-news/sar-news_1.html

Each year, there are numerous stories about lost hikers or hunters in the wilderness who succumb to the elements. Many of these tragedies are preventable and involve a little preparation on the front end coupled with a dose of common sense while on the trail.

During the past twenty years of teaching survival courses, I've heard many stories about and from actual survivors. Many of these tales of hardship are prefaced with the following:

"I was only going for a short walk in the woods and got turned around."

"I got on the wrong trail back to the campsite."

"I was just trying to take a shortcut back to my car."

If you retrace the elements that lead to a person surviving a night out, you will find that the predicament begins with their mindset back home prior to the outing.