Survive the wilderness

[Lamb]

Could you survive out in the wilderness on your own? What would you eat? How would you build a shelter? Could you kill an animal and make a fire to cook it?

 

[psalms 91]

Yes I could and I would survive off of what is available such as nuts, bark which can be used for teas, plants that can be eaten and some used for medicine, sap from walnut trees to make syrup, many things. QAs for shelter if nothing else a tarp over some brachs and if really hard up cover with leaves

 

[tango]

Could you survive out in the wilderness on your own? What would you eat? How would you build a shelter? Could you kill an animal and make a fire to cook it?

I guess a lot would depend on circumstance and duration. Unless you're needing to survive in the wild for an extended period eating isn't the highest priority, not by a long shot. It seems the standard thing people wonder if they find themselves lost is "what can I find to eat?" when it's far more important to find or make shelter and find water. You can survive for weeks without food but without water you've got a few days at the most.

I would like to know a lot more about local edible plants and general survival techniques. There are all sorts of things you can use to make a shelter, if you happen to have them with you. I remember reading a while back about hikers who get lost and have to survive until they are found, and how an overnight hiker has an immediate advantage over a day hiker. The overnight hiker will have some form of tent, probably a small stove and the like. The day hiker who was expecting to go into the woods for a couple of hours and then back to the car probably won't have anything for shelter, inadequate food and water for an unexpected overnight stop, and so will have to improvise absolutely everything. I also read how people assume that "help is coming" when the reality is that help probably isn't actually coming until the morning. It takes a while before "they are late" officially turns into "they could easily be lost in the woods" and unless there's a compelling reason to do it there's little appetite for conducting a search in failing light so you'll probably have to spend at least one night whatever happens.