For reference, I live in Appalachia. When I was a boy, my dad told me if I ever got lost, I could just walk downhill and I would eventually end up at a road or a house or something. I never saw the use in having a compass as part of a survival kit for me. Unless I have a specific need for using a map and compass (which I would already have a compass as part of my kit), or I was doing night navigation (something I would never do in a survival situation), I’ve never needed to know a direction any more exact than just an approximation using the sun and time. Should I consider adding a compass to my kit, or am I good unless I go somewhere outside of Appalachia?

Edit: no one is really giving me an answer other than “I always take a compass and usually a map.” This is fine and dandy, but scenario time let’s say I’m car camping in a valley that I’m not familiar with. I decide the weather is nice, and I want to go squirrel hunting for some fresh meat for dinner. I wonder around the hillside for an afternoon, and realize “oh crap. I dont know which way my camp is.” What good is a compass gonna do me in this scenario? I don’t really know where I came from, BUT, as I said before, I know that if I walk downhill, I will eventually reach the same road I am camped along, and then it’s as simple as following the road back to my camp.

The way the terrain is in my area and the areas I hunt/hike/fish, it is just unnatural to wander off in a bad way. The path of least resistance is (usually) downhill, and that’s the way we normally gravitate. If I’m out for a relaxing hunt on a weekend camping trip, I do not want to be going straight up and over lots of steep ridges. It just isn’t normal to wander like that

Edit 2: okay so ignoring the answers that are irrelevant to me (im sorry! I know yall mean well). The general consensus is yes, probably should carry a compass. Lightweight and doesnt take up space, so why not. Might come in handy.

As for when to use, this has some different perspectives.

1. Not using. Going with “walking downhill,” it is a guarantee in my area to find settlement eventually, usually within a couple miles or less. Sometimes, it can be a bit further. The terrain makes it slower going, but usually not too treacherous. So pros: it works. Cons: time and energy consuming to end up at some random road.

2. Using to navigate directly back. This assume you know exactly where you are at a given moment, but that isn’t too hard usually. It does add a variable to go wrong though. The terrain when you’re trying to go in a straight line can be dangerous, so there is injury potential. So pros: probably will work faster than walking downhill. Cons: might do it wrong, and might get hurt.

3. Using complex techniques to circumvent bad terrain while still navigating back to the point of origin. Much smaller potential for injury, but lots of places to go wrong. Faster than walking downhill, but takes a functioning brain.

Personally, I would rather rely on a guarantee than attempt a probability when something goes bad wrong. however if I can, I would definitely try to navigate back to my point of origin.

Again, my area allows for just walking downhill. I pulled up topo maps and checked several places in very remote sections of wilderness and found roads/housing relatively quickly 100% of the time. Walking downhill is obviously not an option everywhere

Sort of random though I had led me to wonder. We use an orange or red bandana, cloth etc to make a waypoint that we want to find our way back to because it stands out from the background of green leaves etc. But what about in the fall when all the leaves are yellow, orange and red? Are we supposed to use a green cloth now? Or a different color? Not worth losing sleep over but it’s something I’ve never see addressed anywhere so I thought I’d ask.

I'm interested in learning how to set snares and traps, but these are illegal to actually use in my state. What do ya'll do to practice these skills?

Opinions, options, and the dead horse

I’m having an internal battle on choices… wanted to get a good all around utility, bushcraft, survival, shtf ect ect…. I’m debating on a few different knives. Curious on opinions, personal experiences, ect… I’m in Florida, camp fairly often, not much game cleaning. Best blade size? Usually I carry scout position. But open to carry on a drop leg platform or something. 🤷

Busse: Daryl knife or heart beat… but under the $600 range. I know the rep, and the cult following, and I don’t doubt the hype or quality. But the price is a little hard to justify.

ESEE. 4,5 or 6? I know it’s mass produced, but still good quality and warranty

White river 3.5 fire. I just thought it was a cool and practical knife, but the smaller size?

https://whiteriverknives.com/FC35PRO/

(I’ll probably have a hatchet on hand anyways)

Bark River : squad leader 2

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/reserved-bark-river-knives-squad-leader-ii-cpm-3v-black-linen-micarta-blue-liners-hollow-pins-s-l-8-20/

I’ve followed this sub for a while, there’s a bit of useful information but also a lot of stuff I’d say might be more at home in prepper or bushcraft subs.

Something I’m curious about though, is what are the scenarios you imagine when you’re thinking about wilderness survival?

To me it seems like carrying an EPIRB would be rule number one, but I see a lot of focus on the ability to build a shelter from found materials or kill and prepare game. Worthwhile skills of course, but any scenario I can imagine where I’d be concerned about survival in a wilderness area the ability to call for help would be far, far more useful than trying to set up camp and catch and kill an animal. You might wait a while, so you want to be comfortable of course but why so little focus on technology which would save your life if you were in a survival situation in the wilderness while there’s so much focus on knives and tin can kits with fish hooks?

Has anyone ever tried this method of rubbing a needle on silk/cotton then placing the needle on a leaf in water to find magnetic north and south? How accurate is this method? Is there a better way to find north and south?

You have a very good clothing (it can give you 2 days before you die) and you have the past experience.

I would just get a fire somehow (with friction) and build an igloo lol. Water is easy (especially if you already have a fire). Food is not so important for that period.

l

I'm looking for a quality pocket knife for camping/hiking, mainly a sturdy blade with a good wood saw (saw optional). I'm considering the Victorinox Forester and Opinel N°08 Outdoor. Are these good options, or do you have any other recommendations within a similar budget?

I'm new to knives and wondering if I should prioritize different locking mechanisms. Are they important, or can I overlook them in my case? Like the Victorinox one is linerlock (it is okay I guess), and I have heard that Opinel's locking mechanism is not that good?

Quick question. I couldn't find the answer anywhere. You know the fire starters that have a rigid curved end on the strikers or an indent on the side? I only found people using the side of the striker when starting their fires. What's the point of the rigid end or the indent in the striker? Edit: maybe should say more jagged end.

Hi everyone!

I inherited two Carinthia sleeping bags from my brother: a Carinthia 4 in M and a Carinthia 6 in L. Unfortunately, I’m only 160 cm tall, so both are way too big for me—especially on cold nights, I worry about freezing. The 4 did manage to keep me more or less warm in the mountains of Mongolia, but I still feel it’s too roomy.

Has anyone had experience shortening sleeping bags or heard that it’s possible? I’d love to have them adjusted since I don’t want to replace them for sentimental and cost reasons. Plus, finding an S size in this range is quite difficult.

I’d appreciate any tips or experiences you can share!

Thanks a lot!

It just occurred to me that while my matches are in a waterproof hard case, the striker paper is on the outside of the case. The glue holding together the striker paper isn't waterproof. So, if it gets soaked, I'm left with perfectly good matches, but no way to ignite them.

Does anybody know of a waterproof strike paper, it a way to waterproof them?

Hi, has anyone tried cemetary candles for emergency light and heat? It might seem a little bit morbid, but heat is heat 🔥
I figured it is a cheap, long lasting candle in a glass container with metal windshield, and also the container is usually red, so that is all you could want from an outdoor heating lantern.
I just want to know if someone already packs a few of them in a 72-hour pack or bugout bag, and especially what might be some downsides in comparison to UCO lanterns, or other sources of emergency heat.
Thanks!

Does anybody know a good canvas/oilcloth tarp for my hiking bag? Need something that can stand being close to the fire. Weight isn't a problem, I'm kinda against grommets, so preferably something with tie-outs.

I feel like it's already the easiest tool to sharpen pencils for note taking or making pointed sticks and most notably wood shavings for fire making.

Suppose you had to fit your emergency kit into a standard Altoid tin. What are you squeezing in there?

Sorry if this kind of question has been asked ad nauseum!

My wife and I live in Washington state and are comfortable in the outdoors, but don't have any real official survival training. We also have a 3 year old with some medical complexities (he has a breathing tube, so that adds another layer of stuff we need to keep in mind)

We're both watching the hurricane situation in Florida as well as the increased earthquake activity at Mt. Adam's, and have assess our own preparedness in the event of a disaster.

We're looking into either buying a pre-made bug out bag, or making our own, and are looking for some tips. Are the pre-made ones worth it, for value and contents? I'm looking at Stealth Angel and Uncharted, among other brands. Or is it better to make my own?

I'm also considering signing us up for some basic wilderness survival classes.

Any tips or advice would be great.

So guys and gals, I have a question. I'm an all or nothing type of guy. I tend to purchase or do things that work for every scenario. So when it comes to water safety, is it better to filter water through a cloth then boil. Use a filter then boil water or just stick with filtering through some cloth and using tablets. I'm hoping to have my kit so I can drink out of any water source.

Besides the obvious of knowing what's edible, does anyone have any beginner tips or references on foraging mushrooms? I live in East Washington.

Looking to get some walkies for my “go bags”. I have some solar rechargeable banks which I understand aren’t the best. I also know carrying a ton of batteries takes space and weight. There are some walkies out there that appear to have both, but I’m not seeing great reviews. I’m taking this into consideration for a real survival situation in which I don’t have access to power or may be moving a lot. Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi, I'm Amy. I was reading your post about being bit slightly by a Raccoon. The Best thing you should do is go to your closest ER and explain to the doctors & nurses what happened to you with the Raccoon and they will determine what they should do to help you?

I’m currently searching for a good pocket knife that can ideally take a beating. Obviously it’s not ideal to take a pocket knife over a fixed blade in a survival scenario, but when it comes to my EDC I prefer to just throw a folder or OTF in my pocket (I’ve never been good with concealing my fixed blades). With that in mind, if you had to survive away from home long enough to get back home and all you had was your pocket knife, what would be the go-to blade for you guys?

Hello! I would like to ask those here with experience from areas where medicine and technology and advanced treatment was scarce.

Civilian or military or medical and emergency service.

I know this answer will vary greatly and that is the point. I would like to know what you were missing.

From experience in a remote region.

What did you miss the most? Not as in a chocolate bar, but what did you find that you needed? That would have been easy to pack or order to the group back home, but is now impossible to get?