Camping to practice Survival skills and using my kit

wildmanh

wildmanh

Part time Leather Bender/Sheath maker
Joined
Jul 9, 2000
Messages
7,764
I've been toying with the idea of borrowing my brothers truck and going camping this weekend While I was surfing Bladeforums today I noticed a lot of talk about gear and tools I'm interested and it got me thinking that maybe I should plan a trip to practice my survival and camp craft skills.

It's been many a year since I made a survival shelter (used to do it frequently in scouts and in high school), or made any camp crafts so I think I'll try my hand at them again. My large day pack is also my BoB so I'll be bringing it and using whats in it to practice my skills at various things. My camera, tripod and Note book are already packed for the trip. Am planning to post about my experiences after I get back and post some pictures.

Aside from making shelters and looking for edible wild plants what kinds of things do you think I should practice while I'm camping? Camp craft and Survival skills are what I'm going to practice tomorrow and Saturday so if you have any ideas on cool things I should try please let me know. Thanks!!

Heber
 
wildmanh said:
I've been toying with the idea of borrowing my brothers truck and going camping this weekend While I was surfing Bladeforums today I noticed a lot of talk about gear and tools I'm interested and it got me thinking that maybe I should plan a trip to practice my survival and camp craft skills.

It's been many a year since I made a survival shelter (used to do it frequently in scouts and in high school), or made any camp crafts so I think I'll try my hand at them again. My large day pack is also my BoB so I'll be bringing it and using whats in it to practice my skills at various things. My camera, tripod and Note book are already packed for the trip. Am planning to post about my experiences after I get back and post some pictures.

Aside from making shelters and looking for edible wild plants what kinds of things do you think I should practice while I'm camping? Camp craft and Survival skills are what I'm going to practice tomorrow and Saturday so if you have any ideas on cool things I should try please let me know. Thanks!!

Heber
Click to expand...

Making the correct configuration of fire and shelter is a good basic thing to practice. I see a lot of campsites set up incorrectly. Practicing trap making is always a good way to pass the time. If you want to get super creative, you could make your own cookware and utencils. If you want to do some hiking, you could practice some navigation. Make your way through the forest, changing direction a few times, jot down your compass readings, and plan an alternate route back to camp by making calculations based on the readings from the path you took. Just a few ideas. Some people would rather follow a trail, but I find orienteering and exploration more fun.
 
fire making skills are probably near the top of the skills one would need in the great outdoors- maybe make things challenging (w/o making it unsafe of course) as far as what tools, what tinder, moisture (aka hosing stuff down w/ a water bottle and using it), an open windy area, etc

could practice some navigation skills- again maybe make things more challenging by using a backup compass instead of the good one, or no compass (using sun, starts, etc)- again w/ safety in mind

simply setting up a shelter and spending the night out should give you a good idea of any possible shortcomings on any of your clothing, shelter, insulation choices

have fun and be safe
 
I'd go with making fire, and building a shelter of some sort. Both are usually fun, and keep you occupied for a while. Perhaps try and identify some plants as well. That can always be helpful.
 
I'd say fire skills first. Getting it going and setting it up so it reflects heat towards your shelter if your not using a tent.
 
I agree with the beginning consensus...with it being the cooler time of year it will be a great time to work on fire skills and ignition practice. Shelter is good too and so would plant I.D.. I would think there'd be lots of the fall edibles ready by now in the northern parts of the country.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top