Survival
Skills that keep you alive when plans fall apart. Practical, field-tested techniques from experienced wilderness guides.
Fire Skills
Fire is your most critical survival asset — warmth, water purification, signalling, and morale all depend on it. Master multiple ignition methods before you need them.
A dry, well-constructed tinder bundle is the difference between a spark and a fire.
- Collect dry grass, birch bark shavings, or dried moss — material that crumbles when squeezed.
- Form a bird-nest shape roughly the size of both fists cupped together.
- Place your ember or spark in the centre of the nest.
- Fold the bundle loosely around the ember and blow steadily from below.
- Once it catches, lower it to your prepared fire lay and feed with small kindling.
Never blow directly onto an ember in high wind — you will extinguish it. Shield with your body first.
Pro tip: Carry a small tin of petroleum jelly-soaked cotton balls. They ignite in wet conditions when nothing else will.
without air
Airway management is always first.
without shelter in harsh conditions
Exposure kills faster than thirst.
without water
Dehydration impairs judgement first.
without food
Hunger is uncomfortable, not immediately dangerous.
Read the Field Dispatches
Our contributors write about how these skills play out in real expeditions — the moments where theory meets cold, wet, exhausted reality.