The great outdoors can be dangerous at times. Forests and mountains are the native territories of bears, foxes, wolves and who knows what other animals. Most of them are used to stay away from the paths used by humans, but there are enough exceptions to give you some food for thought. Besides, life in the wilderness is not that easy. You have to fight for everything, so you must have the right tools to do it.
If you can’t start a fire, how are you going to keep warm during cold nights? How are you going to cook your food? If you don’t have a solid knife, how are you going to be bale to cut tree branches for building a shelter?
The first thing you have to do before going on your shopping spree is to identify the absolutely necessary items. You’ll want to consider some good fire starters and lighters to start with. Next, you should think about emergency blankets, feet warmers and other similar equipment. If you get caught by a cold rain, you may get sick, if you don’t have such protective gear to keep you warm. Next, you have to think about potential dangers in the area you intend to go. You may want to take some bear sprays, bug repellents, pepper spray and a mace.
Since nobody can survive too much without water and food, you need to consider buying a water purifier and emergency food. You may not be able to carry too much weight, so you should take into consideration you may have to fish and hunt to secure your meals in the wilderness. Some traps and a bow could help you grab some food without having to face big dangers. At the same time, you should avoid taking too many things with you, as you’re going to need to carry them around for many miles. Your bag should be lightweight, yet complete, and choosing only the right items is going to be your biggest challenge.
Once you’ve decided upon your top priorities, you should go ahead and see what’s available on the market. It is very important that you buy high quality stuff, as you can’t afford your outdoor survival gear to fail on you. When your life is at stake, you want to have a knife made from the best stainless steel possible. You want everything in your bag to work seamlessly. This is why quality is of utmost importance in such situations.
You should always shop brands that are survival experts such as Mountain House, Adventure Medical and Cabela’s. If this is your first survival kit, you may want to ask an expert for advice. You can find such experts in outdoor survival in adventure forums. Ask them everything you want to know, because this is the only way to understand how to make the difference between a trustworthy brand and a scam. You can’t afford to buy low quality gear, because it could cost you your health and perhaps your life.