Introduction

Have you ever fantasized about surviving in the wild? Have you felt that after watching so many survival shows, you should be able to survive in the wilderness for a few days? I understand this feeling because I thought the same way. As someone who grew up in the city and prefers staying indoors, I recently decided to participate in a three-day wilderness survival training. This experience completely transformed my understanding of wilderness survival, making me realize the truth in the saying "book learning is shallow." To be honest, before attending the training, I always thought wilderness survival was just about setting up tents, making fires, and finding food, but the actual experience made me realize I had oversimplified everything.

Preliminary Preparation

Before departure, the instructor repeatedly emphasized the importance of preparation. He was right - I discovered that many people focus on seemingly cool skills while ignoring the most basic preparation work. Like me before, I was only focused on studying various fire-starting techniques but never thought about first learning to identify poisonous plants.

Speaking of plant identification, this truly opened my eyes. North America alone has dozens of poisonous plants, and many look completely ordinary, not dangerous at all. I remember the instructor showed us a photo of a three-leafed plant that looked very ordinary, like common weeds you'd see by the roadside. "What is this?" he asked us. No one could answer; we all looked blank, including me. "This is poison oak. If you accidentally touch it, your skin will blister and itch terribly, and in severe cases, you'll need to go to the hospital." The instructor's words made us all gasp. What's scarier is that such plants are everywhere in the wild, and without learning to identify them beforehand, you could easily fall victim.

Besides plant identification, another particularly important thing is to inform friends and family of your itinerary. Honestly, I thought this was overkill at first - I wasn't going on an expedition, so why be so formal? Then the instructor told us a true story: a hiking enthusiast went hiking alone, got lost in the mountains, and it took three whole days to find him. Why was he found so quickly? Because he had told his family his detailed route and expected return time before leaving. Without this information, the search and rescue team wouldn't have known where to start looking. This story made me realize that in the wilderness, any detail could be a matter of life and death.

Another important preparation is physical training. Don't think that watching many survival videos means you can survive in the wild - if your physical condition can't keep up, all skills are just theoretical. The instructor suggested that before attending the training, we should at least be able to walk 5 kilometers with weight without getting too tired. This was absolutely correct - on the first day of hiking, I almost couldn't continue due to poor physical condition. Walking on rugged mountain paths carrying nearly 15 kilograms of equipment is an experience you can't understand just by watching videos.

Equipment List

Speaking of equipment, what shocked me most was waterproofing. The instructor had us take everything out of our backpacks, then poured a cup of water into them. The result was predictable - everything got soaked in those bags without waterproofing. I was using a regular backpack, and my spare clothes and fire starters were all ruined. The instructor said this was minor compared to what could happen in a downpour.

What's most important in the wilderness? Not food, not tents, but a waterproof pack liner. This view completely overturned my understanding. The instructor said: "In the wilderness, wet equipment is useless, and useless things can kill you." I still remember this clearly. Think about it - how can you sleep in a wet sleeping bag? How can you wear wet clothes? How can you use wet fire starters?

Multi-tools are also essential equipment, but you need to choose the right ones. I had bought a viral-marketed multi-tool online that looked really cool and could transform into dozens of tools. But in the wilderness, I found it completely impractical - either functions were too fragile or too cumbersome. The instructor recommended sturdy folding knives paired with reliable compasses. He said: "In the wilderness, a good knife can solve 80% of problems." This wasn't an exaggeration - just on the first day, I used the knife for splitting firewood, making stakes, cutting rope, and various other tasks.

Speaking of compasses, you can't just buy a cheap one. The instructor showed us his compass that he'd used for over a decade - though worn on the outside, it still pointed accurately. He said: "In the wilderness, a compass is your eyes - an inaccurate compass is more dangerous than no compass at all." Indeed, in dense forests, a slight directional deviation could mean a difference of several kilometers.

The equipment list includes some seemingly insignificant but actually important items. Like waterproof matchboxes - these are real lifesavers. The instructor said that during one outdoor activity, all his fire starters got wet, and this waterproof matchbox saved the day. Also, emergency blankets - light as paper but surprisingly good at keeping warm. The instructor said although they look rudimentary, they can really save lives in the wild.

[To be continued...]