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10 essential tips to help you survive in the wilderness

If you found yourself in a survival situation, would you be able to cope? Here are 10 tips from a bushcraft expert to help you get through.
By Will Gray
6 min readPublished on
Whenever you head into the wilderness, there’s a chance things could turn bad, so it’s good to know how to cope if you end up in a survival situation. Josh James – also known as ‘The Kiwi Bushman’ – is an expert in bushcraft and helped Rob Warner make his way through the remote wilderness in New Zealand, while filming his new show, Rob Warner's Wild Rides, with pro mountain biker Matt Jones. Watch the episode in the player above.
Rob Warner, Matt Jones and Josh James greet each other on a survival camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Josh James, Rob Warner and Matt Jones

© Miles Holden

Survival is exhausting and hard, so the easier you can make it on yourself, the more chance you have of surviving
Josh James
Whether you’re on a simple day-hike or a multi-day trip into the bush, you never know when you might need to hit survival mode. “Survival is exhausting and hard,” says James. “So the easier you can make it on yourself, the more chance you have of surviving.” But there’s way more to it than just chewing grubs and lighting fires with sticks. It’s as much about the skills as it is about preparing your mind to cope with any situation.
So, here are some top tips to get you through.
1. Be prepared
Take time to learn what you might come across before you go out – because being prepared and anticipating the problems you might encounter could help you avoid a survival situation altogether.
Rob Warner and Matt Jones wait to get helicoptered to a survival camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Whatever trip you go on make sure you pack everything you need

© Miles Holden

2. Stay calm
Panic is one of the biggest dangers of all when you’re out in the wilderness. If you get nervous or scared, the body naturally goes into ‘fight or flight’ mode. Being able to control that is crucial.
“When the shit hits the fan, slow down, think clearly and choose wisely. S.T.O.P. (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan). Nine out of 10 times a situation will arise due to a crisis, bad decisions, being ill prepared, an accident or natural disaster. Keep calm and tap into the vagus nerve,” James says.
When the shit hits the fan, slow down, think clearly and choose wisely
Josh James
Rob Warner and Matt Jones participate in kayaking with their bikes in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Matt staying calm when kayaking, Rob less so

© Miles Holden

When you panic, adrenaline starts to pump through the body, your heart rate and breathing accelerates, digestion slows or stops, blood vessels constrict and muscles get tense. The vagus nerve helps get the body back under control – and you can stimulate it by slow deep breathing, singing or humming and even adding Omega-3 into your diet.
3. Build your skill set
Survival isn't a game of chance it’s a game of skill, so learn as many skills, techniques and survival strategies as you can. Take courses, read books and magazines, watch YouTube -– just be careful where you look.
"Half of the stuff printed in survival books is false," James reveals. "Choose skills that work for you, develop your own technique and hone it. I think of skills as tools. Every time I learn one, I add it to my tool belt."
Rob Warner, Josh James and Matt Jones carry a tree trunk to their wilderness camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

A fire needs wood and wood needs to be chopped

© Miles Holden

4. Keep practicing
However full your tool belt is, it’s useless if you don’t know how to use what’s on it. You need to practice your skills regularly and keep them sharp, so they come naturally when you need them.
Josh James preps a tent for Rob Wild Rides crew at their wilderness camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Putting up a tent can be troublesome unless you know how

© Miles Holden

“Use your tools on a regular basis and don’t let them get rusty. In a survival situation you'll be tired, hungry and stressed. You want to be able to crack into the practical side of things without having to think about it – so your mind can deal with a plan of attack,” James advises.
5. Know how to plan
Before you go on a trip, you need to make as many plans as you can. Have a ‘Plan A’ but also a ‘Plan B’, ‘Plan C’ and even more in your pocket. You need to be flexible and prepared to switch if things go wrong.
"While executing Plan A, be thinking about a Plan B, so if you need to use it you can crack straight into it," James says. "Try to constantly stay one step ahead of yourself. Know when to call it and when to walk away."
Josh James speaks at a meeting with the Rob's Wild Ride crew at a wilderness camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Josh gets down to the basics of survival with the Rob's Wild Ride crew

© Miles Holden

6. Pack the important stuff
Packing is a major part of preparation, but it’s very much about personal preference and depends on the conditions you expect to encounter. Travel light and only pack what you need, but never forget the essentials.
Josh James cuts into a cooked bush animal whille Rob Warner and Matt Jones watch on at their wilderness camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

A knife is a must on a survival jaunt

© Miles Holden

“I take different things every time I go out. There’s no set list. It’s fun to do it that way as long as I don’t forget the important things – knife and EPIRB (emergency position-indicating radio beacon),” says James.
7. Learn what to eat
There’s far more to eating wild than munching on squishy grubs and staying away from poisonous toadstools. Know your bush tucker and how to eat it, because having a menu of what to look for can keep you from starving.
Rob Warner stands with Josh James and holds up a possum in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Your environment can provide you with valuable nutrition

© Miles Holden

There are a lot of things we can eat out there, so learn how to identify natural edibles in the plant and animal kingdom
Josh James
Rob Warner collects spring water into his riding bottle during a trail tide on the Old Ghost Road in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Finding a natural source of fresh water is critical

© Miles Holden

Get a book on edible vegetation – ideally specific to the region you’re in – and if you can’t identify what you see, don’t eat it. Generally, insects like crickets and grasshoppers are ok; things with more than six legs are not. And if you're going to eat slugs, cook them first to kill the parasites.
8. Learn how build a shelter
You need to protect yourself from the elements because if you don’t, then depending on what climate you're in, you can quickly become cold, wet or overheated. If it goes to the extreme, your body won’t be able to cope.
“Learn how to build different types of shelters. Once again, practice of this knowledge is key. It’s one thing to read about it and another thing to do it,” James explains.
Shelter for Rob Warner, Matt Jones and the Rob Wild Rides crew at their wilderness camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Paddles double as posts to hang up a shade sheet

© Miles Holden

Before you build any shelter, plan it. What you’re sheltering from and how long for defines how robust it needs to be. And pick the right site – near water, but safe from flooding, naturally sheltered and with lots of natural materials to hand.
9. Know how to make a good fire
Always plan to build a fire because you never know when you might need to stay warm. Even if you aren’t planning to be out overnight, you could injure yourself and need to stay warm while waiting for a rescue.
Rob Warner and Matt Jones build a fire at their wilderness camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

Building a fire in the wild is no easy task

© Miles Holden

"Look for dry standing wood and split it with a knife. It’s key to get enough small kindling and dry wood to get the fire moving. Normally I’d always take a rubber inner tube or some kind of fire lighter," James explains.
Rob Warner, Josh James and Matt Jones sit around a fire at their wilderness camp in the Buller District of New Zealand.

A good fire will serve you well

© Miles Holden

Never light a fire direct on wet ground because it will steam and put it out. Build a bed of dry wood first. That bed can be as big as you like and as the fire starts to burn on top, the burning embers drop down into the dry wood to keep it going.
10. Stay positive
Survival is a mind game. You need to know your body’s limits and be prepared to push them to the extreme, but but not beyond. The mind’s an amazing weapon and an amazing tool. Learn how to use it wisely.
Joah James profile shot 'The Kiwi Bushman' in New Zealand.

Stay focussed, stay positive

© Miles Holden

“95 percent of survival is mental attitude. Look on the bright side, stay focused and stay positive. Learn how to tap into the reticular activating system (RAS). Use your senses to guide you in any situation,” James advises.
The RAS filters the information coming into your brain and affects what you pay attention to and how important you judge it to be. If you think about something and imagine it happening, it just may happen.

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British mountain bike slopestyle rider Matt Jones is constantly pushing the boundaries, both in competitions and on video.

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