Category Archives: Survival and Bushcraft Tips

There’s more to survival than just stockpiling food rations and building an impenetrable shelter. You’ll also need to ensure you’re in good physical condition to battle the odds if the situation deteriorates. After all, it’s the survival of the fittest and the physically fit will always have a better chance of surviving incredibly hard times.

Physical fitness is generally crucial for mental, physiological, and emotional well-being. Some studies show that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can improve thinking and cognition. In addition, it also reduces short-term anxiety for adults.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also notes that regular physical exercise can reduce health risks like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer risks, etc. It also increases your chances of living a longer life.  

You’ll need to be more fit than ever if an emergency occurs.

Reasons to Get Fit for Survival

Here are some reasons fitness is crucial for survival. They include:

Carrying Weight

Whether you’re carrying an emergency survival kit or scavenged supplies, you’ll need the strength to carry the weight over large distances.

Fending for Yourself

You’ll need to have the stamina and strength to defend yourself from criminals and attackers. You also need that same stamina and strength to survive in the wilderness. You’ll probably have to hunt your food. Consider asking yourself: do you have the fitness to carry the deer you painstakingly hunted? If the answer’s no, you need to work on fitness.

Increasing Your Stamina

It’s no secret that the fitter you are, the longer you can withstand prolonged activity. Therefore, you have to build your stamina to survive. Consider incorporating cardio exercises into your workout regimen to ensure you have the stamina required.

Exercises to Build Strength

Here are some essential exercises to build strength for survival fitness. They include:

Deadlifts

Deadlifts are a compound exercise that works out your glutes, arms, back, core, and hamstrings. You can’t go wrong with it. However, ensure you follow the proper form to prevent injuries.

Squats

Squats are another compound exercise that helps you develop the necessary core and lower-body strength for survival. You can start doing squats without any equipment.

Pushups and Planks

Pushups and planks are fantastic exercises for developing your upper-body strength. These exercises are tried-and-tested and have been a staple in the fitness community for decades.

Pull-ups

You know you’re approaching peak physical fitness when you can crank out pull-ups without breaking a sweat. Pull-ups are phenomenal exercises that work your upper-body strength.

Bench Press

The bench press is another exercise the fitness community swears by, and for a good reason. Presses help enhance upper body strength.

How to Know If You’re Fit for Survival

Here’s how to know if you’re fit for survival:

• You can comfortably survive on 1,500 calories while performing vigorous physical activity.
• You carry a 30-pound backpack for at least eight to ten hours.
• You can lift a seven-gallon water container and carry it at least 100 feet.
• You can carry a 150-pound person for 100 feet.
• You’re able to swim across an average river.
• Running a mile over unpaved ground isn’t challenging.
• You can defend yourself against an opponent.

Bushcraft shelters are crucial for wilderness survival.

Humans are simultaneously resilient and fragile. Pause momentarily and think about why we build homes and shelters. We do so to protect ourselves from the elemental forces around us. When people get lost in the wilderness, they often perish for several reasons. However, the primary factor behind it is due to lack of shelter. Our bodies need warmth to survive.

The weather can significantly change when we don’t have a modern built house or building around us for protection. Many survival experts often recommend following the rules of threes. You can survive approximately three minutes without air. Likewise, you can last three hours without shelter and three days without water.  

Shelter is one of the four essential survival priorities. Hence, you’ll need to learn how to create an effective bushcraft shelter for yourself in any environment to survive. 

What are Bushcraft Shelters?

Bushcraft shelters are shelters you engineer using the natural materials and elements around you. A common misconception often exists that survival and bushcraft are the same things. However, that’s not true. Survival refers to the process of keeping yourself safe and secure during unanticipated emergencies. On the flip side, bushcraft refers to the art of sustaining yourself for prolonged periods in the wilderness with minimal resources at your disposal.

Basics of Bushcraft Shelters

There are some basics you’ll want to follow when building a bushcraft shelter. For instance, you’ll want to build a bushcraft shelter close to a water source. However, you don’t want to be too close to water because insects will pester you. In addition, the noise of running water can also provide a disguise for a dangerous animal.  

Likewise, you’ll want to avoid building a bushcraft shelter on a hilly surface. Higher altitudes are more exposed to wind and lightning. It’ll be challenging for you to maintain warmth on a hilltop. However, you also want to avoid building your shelter in a place prone to flash flooding. So, you’ll want to stay away from low areas and dry stream beds.  

Survival experts also unanimously agree that you should establish a good shelter before nightfall. You don’t want to get caught in the darkness without shelter, particularly in cold weather. 

Wind chill also causes your body to lose heat quickly. Hence, you’ll want to build a bushcraft shelter that blocks wind in cold environments. Some environments are also unsuitable for sleeping on the ground, like forests. Hence, you’ll need an elevated sleeping area for protection.  

Lastly, another crucial thing to consider is ventilation. Your shelter will need ventilation. Otherwise, you’ll breathe the same air repeatedly, causing carbon dioxide poisoning.

Types of Bushcraft Shelters

Here are elements you can use for bushcraft shelters. They include:

Trees

Many trees often have a dense, low canopy of leaves you can use to build a bushcraft shelter. These shelters will suffice in mild environments.

Caves

Caves also make great shelters. Humans have historically used caves for shelters for centuries. However, you’ll want to approach caves cautiously because animals often reside in them. It’s also not uncommon for some caves to have a freshwater source inside. 

Snow Shelters

Snow can also help you prepare a bushcraft shelter. Snow provides excellent insulation and windbreak. You can use heavy snow to create walls by compacting them

Get Started Prepping with FR-1 Defense

Here on our website we also have our Shelter Building Digital Ebook to help newcomers become resilient and get a head start on a survival skill like shelter building. For more info digital resources click on this text right here. Alternatively, you can browse our other digital resources as well.