The 3 most important things I’ve learned about bushcraft and survival

Everyone has their own way of learning about bushcraft, but for me, it involved just simply being outside all the time. I love the outdoors and have spent more than my fair share of time in the countryside, so if it ever came to relying on my abilities in a survival situation I’d like to think I’d have a pretty good chance at staying alive. This overconfidence in my abilities led me to realize one of the most important things about the outdoors, which brings us to the first of the 3 most important things I’ve learned about bushcraft and survival.

1 – You are never, EVER above having an accident

I used to hunt rabbits on a large area of farmland a few years ago and because rabbits were a bit of a pest in the area, various farmers came forward and said it was ok to hunt on their land too. I ended up with permission to hunt on more land than I’d be able to use and on one particular piece there was a small woodland at the bottom of a very steep valley. I’d walked through those woods so many times and knew them well, so on this particular trip I headed into the trees and because I didn’t want to be interrupted, I left my phone at home. At the bottom of the valley is a small stream about 7 or 8 feet wide but very shallow, and sitting across the stream is a fallen pine tree, but one of the giant fully grown ones that are about 3 feet wide and weigh several tons.

I walked across the fallen tree as I always did, but this time when standing in the middle, an almighty crack echoed through the trees and I fell directly down, as if the floor had instantly vanished. One half of the trunk was under tension and moved away from me, but the other half fell downwards and landed so close to my boot that it was touching the edge of the fabric. Two more inches and it would have crushed my foot, and six more inches and I probably wouldn’t have a leg anymore, but the worst thing is that if it did hit me, I had no phone and was well out of shouting distance from the nearest house, not to mention being in the middle of a stream. The tiniest change in fall direction could very possibly have ended my life from a situation I shouldn’t have risked in the first place but did so because I was so sure that “I” would be ok and I was capable enough to avoid such a silly accident. Now I always remember things like that situation if I’m ever considering trying something risky, because now I know it’s impossible to be immune from accidents in the wilderness, no matter how well-prepared or confident you might be.

2 – Knowledge is everything

There’s a show that can be found on YouTube called “Survivor” that puts regular people on a desert island and gives them survival-related tasks to complete. On one such task, two of the competitors have to start a fire with a knife and a large piece of flint. They are given all the tools and even provided with some kindling to catch the spark, but they then spend the next 20 minutes hacking away at the piece of flint-like they are trying to carve a statue without ever igniting the tinder. Someone with a load of gear and no survival knowledge at all wouldn’t last as long as an expert with nothing.

One of the best places to get an example of this are popular tourist mountains, like Snowdon in Wales. If you ever climb such a mountain during tourist season you will undoubtedly see many people who went out and bought top-notch hiking jackets and walking poles. I’ve even seen people with brand-new walking boots worth £200+ and special hiking stove-backpacks for a meal on the way up, but I wouldn’t bet that their expensive clothing and “professional” hiking gear would keep them alive if they had to survive in the wild for a few days. Having the knowledge without the gear is better than having the gear without the knowledge, but obviously having both is the preferable choice.

3 – Strong and sturdy beats flashy and multiple

The best and most reliable tools out there are the single-purpose ones that are well-built and made to last. There’s nothing wrong with having more than one tool on something, but single-purpose items will always be stronger than something that’s multi-tooled. A good example would be the survival shovel, with its many functions allowing it to be used for almost anything you’d ever need, but its axe edge won’t last anywhere near as long as an actual axe. Tools like this are made for short-term survival situations like having to make a small shelter you’d need for a couple of nights and not for building anything more substantial. If you tried to chop through something more than 6 inches thick with the axe edge of the survival shovel, you’d need to buy a new one before you made it through. Small multi-tool items like survival cards and Swiss army knives are always worth taking, but should never be a replacement for an important primary tool like an axe or knife.