How would you servive in the woods lost for 1 week!

If you were lost in the woods for 1 week and had only a string that is 6' long, a hook, a brush knife that is a foot and a half inch long, flint and steal, no map, no idea where you were could you servive.

Me and a friend decided to find out. In september of 2006, me and a friend got lost in a national park and had no idea where we were. Some how we took a deer trail and got lost. We ended up 12 miles from the trail and had seen a small creek and figured it must go back to the river so we decided to fallow it. All we did was hiked in for the day with backpacks and small gear and figured we would be out that day, wrong. lol. It was geting dark so we decided to make a small shelter for the night not having any lights or food and by the end of the night no water because my buddy decided to drink it all. So by the time the night set in we had built a small shelter agenst 2 fallen trees and covered it with peet moss and ferns to keep in heat and shelter from the rain if there were to be any. The next day we continued down the creek till we ran accross the river and fallowed it down to a large field and looked around for a trail to lead out. not knowing where we were or where the river would lead we decided to build a large shelter and hope someone would find us. By mid day we had a shelter constructed and decided to try to catch a few fish if posible, we got a few worms and tied the string to a branch and the hook on the end and after a few hours caught 2 trout. now how would we cook them, my friend had a flint and steal and decided to try to make a fire. i sat there watching my friend for 3 hours trying to get it to start. after finaly listing making smaller shavings it started to smolder and finaly start. that night we had a few fish and some berrys we found. The next day we got the fire going really good and got some moss off the trees so we could creat some smoke and it did. when we found out how much smoke we got a lot more and decided to try to make a large smoke stack the next day if nobody found us. so we caught a few more fish and ate some more berrys. the next day my friend started freeking out and couldent take being lost any more so we made the fire bigger and burnt the moss, the smoke cloud was so large you could see if for at least 3 miles. nobody showed up. it was geting colder and harder to sleep that night so i sat up thinking on what to do next. Befor i new it day came and i went and got all the moss i could find and we stared 2 fires and put the moss on them, aperntly there was a ranger station 2 miles up the hill and they seen the smoke came down and got us. they said that there was a cabin about a mile and a half down river that we could of stayed in that was on the trail that everyone traveled but we dident know. point is if you ever get stranded or lost use all your recources to get out of the situation your in.

also the river water dident make us sick and the salmon was good, berrys not so good.

I'm gonna have to declare BS.

First, you said you caught trout. Then at the end you said the salmon was good. I also don't think that you can catch either on a 6 inch long piece of string, for various reasons.

You were 12 miles off the trail, but the cabin was only 1 1/2 miles away.

It was also a little too convienient that you were just randomly carrying a piece of string and hook around.

There's just something "fishy" about your whole story .


[edit on 16-1-2007 by Yarcofin]

i dident have the time to wright all the detailed info sorry theres only 4000 characters per page and dident feel like wrighting all of this down when i go back in a few weeks when the snow clears ill take picks and show thoughs interested. plus ill post on the website im going to make for all my travels and research...sorry if looks like bs

Whilst in military i have survived on a escape and evasion out in the woods for 2 weeks. Also it depends on what clothes and footwear you have on as they can be used for varios things.

The only thing i had was a green boiler suit and a pair of boots without laces.

Before the excersise i did hide some money within the seam of my boot (Something that took a few hours prior to E+E) Sadly this was discovered when i was being interogated and i received a swift slap for this trick

It is possible to survive for as long as you want but only with the correct training and knowledge beforehand. Most Civillians these days wouldnt last 2 days as they are so reliant on technology

Firstly, and most importantly...do not panic. Panic will kill you as certainly as snakebite, or wolves, or whatever.

Find shelter. Find makings for a fire, and make one. Fire is visible for a long ways away.

Stop and think. That means find a nice comfortable rock, sit your butt down on it and think about your situation. Where are you? What do you have with you that can help? Does anyone know where you were going?

I've been out back of beyond, and a couple of times thought I might have been lost. I sat down and thought it out, and figured out what was happening. Don't just move to be moving. If people know where you may be, they can start the search process. Stay put, make yourself comfortable as possible and wait. Of course, circumstances may warrent moving, do it carefully and with planning.

Think. Don't panic. Think somemore. Shelter. Water. Lastly, but not least, fire. Do these things, and your chances are good you'll wind up with a tale to tell your grandkids.

Sadly, not very well at the moment.

If I survived the week, I would be much thinner!!!!

Having watched some Ray Mears TV shows, I would seek shelter near running water and then work from there. Not sure what my plan would be. I should have one but I do not. Something I must change

If you were lost in the woods for 1 week and had only a string that is 6' long, a hook, a brush knife that is a foot and a half inch long, flint and steal, no map, no idea where you were could you servive.

OK... Assuming im lost in British woods (which is the most likely situation for me) and assuming that i am totally lost deep in the woods, i would do the following...

CAMP

First thing would be to find somewhere suitable to set up camp... If posssible close to a fresh water stream and above anywhere that has a posibilty of flooding but sheltered from the wind...

First things first... i probably wouldnt bother trying to fish with a six inch line (although i could extend the line using my bootlaces) because British fish can be very shy and it could mean hours sitting around doing nothing when i could find better use of my time.

Shelter

I could construct a basic A-Frame but would probably go for something more eleberate (due to me liking my comfort hehe) I would try to raise my self a few inches from the floor using logs and cover these with fresh leaves and very young branches as bedding. Over this i could maybe build a lean-to.

Fire

To get a fire going i would collect the flakes of bark from the Birch tree and ignite these using my flint and steel. I would also keep some in my pocket (along with some kindling) so that i have dry tinder available at all times.

I would then set up a seperate signal fire away that is not downwind to my camp (dont wanna get smoked out)

Water

Hopefully i would be near a fresh water stream... if not i would spend the early hours of the morning collecting, as much water as possible, from the dew that settles on grass using a T-Shirt or other absorbant material.

Food

Carbs - I would collect roots of plants such as Cattail (available all year round assuming you are near water) Burdock and Dandelion (All of this plant can be eaten)

Vitimins - Forage for wild berries and fruits such as Blackberry,Rosehip and crap apples.

Protein - Best bet would be to lay snares and traps to catch squirells and rabits... The cordage to make the snares could be made from stinging neetle fibres and the leaves can be eaten or used to make a vitimin rich tea. If i was in for a real long stay i could always set up a basic smoking rack and gain a supply of long shelf life food (depending on how well the snares work)

Depending on the time of year i could also collect Nuts such as Sweet chestnut (Mmmm lovely when roasted) Beechnut and Hazelnut.


IMHO the most important thing would be to stay busy... Sitting around feeling sorry for yourself can lead to dispair and depression so best to keep yourself occupied and keep your morale up. You should take pride in even the small achievments such as making cordage and collecting a nice pile of dry fire wood.

[edit on 17-1-2007 by undercoverchef]

Maybe its just me but just sitting lost in the woods doesnt sound like a plan.

Water, temperature, shelter, fire, food always on my mind, usually in that order. Keep moving. Get downhill, find some moving water and follow it to a settlement. Sometimes the water will some out to a coast line. Great! Now look for both ships and a settlement.

Dont just sit around for a week in the woods. Surviving isnt fun or a vacation. Its unpredictable, chaotic, stressful, and should last as short a time as possible.

Maybe its just me but just sitting lost in the woods doesnt sound like a plan.

Yep - agree to some extent - but i was just looking at it in a hypothetical sense... there are times when you would need to bunker down... for example if you had an injured friend with you... in that situation you may need to set up home while the injured person recovers

But it does depend on the situation and location... In the Australian out-back anybody who tried to find there own way out would be considered a fool... always stay with your vehicle to make it easier for a rescue party (if you are stranded due to a broken down vehicle) and make yourself as visible as posible from the air...

but like i said... it depends on the situation

[edit on 17-1-2007 by undercoverchef]

I can't think of many places that I would go without a map, particularly not in the "woods". I'd always take a map, particularly if I've never been there before and if its a large expanse of country.

In any case, if you have a rough idea of where you are, you can use the sun as a compass (provided you have a watch). And traveling downhill normally leads to water, unless you're near Death Valley.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere

Dont just sit around for a week in the woods. Surviving isnt fun or a vacation. Its unpredictable, chaotic, stressful, and should last as short a time as possible.

Why not? It's unpredictable for the unprepared, chaotic for the disorganized, and stressful for the panicked. When I'm out, i enjoy my time with nature, and only wish i can get a whole week out camping.

There'd be several reasons to stay put. If i was in the local area, i'd just walk home. No matter where you are in most of the continental US, you're usually not more than 30 miles, or a day's walk. If you're somewhere really remote, it might be 75-100 miles back to babylon, and depending on terrain and weather, it might be a wise choice to stay put.

There have been a few times i've had to stay out overnight unexpectedly, mountian biking, got flats on long rides and got stuck in the dark, at around 8000' wearing nothing but a lycra jersey and bike shorts. No big deal, pine boughs made a comfy bed and blanket, and i got to camp unexpectedly and watch the stars.

I dont think that I saw this posted anywhere here, but I highly recommend watching the T.V. series "The Survivor Guy".

This guy basically goes out into ALL different types of terrain for one week at a time and survives off of what ever he is given for that show. They have basic situations, like your ski-do breaks down in the mountains, so hes uses those items from the ski-do to make shelter, ect, ect.

Its a must watch T.V. show for those that feel they need a brush up on basic survival training.

The thing that really strikes me about that show is how he shoots all the camera work himself. So if he has a shot of him walking up a hill, he needs to set the camera up at the top, walk down, they walk back up in picture.... So this guy is basically doing 2x as much as most of us would have to do in a real situation.

He can do all this camera work becuase he uses the golden rules... Stay Calm, Make Shelter, Make Fire, Find Water, all else can come later.

Well the time limit should be extende. IMO, any adult can survive one week in a temperate forest. You don't need to eat anything. Water in a forest is plentiful. So just surviving for a week, can be done by sitting for 6 1/2 days. The other half day, finding and drinking water.

I would imagine most people live in areas, where even if rural, you would find a road, rail line, home, or community in a few hours, or a day or two.

Exceptions I can see are if you are injured, or in severe weather conditions which limit or prohibit movement and travel, or if you are within some serious, remote, very sparsely populated areas -- like the coniferous forests of N. America, Scandinavia, Russia, or deep in the middle of the Sahara or S. American rain forest.

Not intending to be cute, but my goal would be not to get lost in the first place!