It can be one of the scariest scenarios a person can face. You’re lost in the wilderness. How did this happen? How did everything go so wrong? You were just out on a hike and came to an overlook. You took a shortcut off-trail to get some stellar pictures but lost sight of the trail. It is getting close to sunset and the light in the forest is minimal.
You headed back in what you thought was the way you came, but there was no trail. You turned around and went the other way and still no trail. It looks like you will be spending the night in the woods.
Now comes the tough part. You need to prioritize how to spend your time to stay alive as long as possible. You will feel panic start to set in, but you must fight it. Sit down and take a few deep breaths. Now it is time to come up with a plan. You inventory everything you have with you that could help you survive.
Now you start to remember your wilderness survival training. You think about the four pillars of wilderness survival and start to evaluate your situation. There are lots of different learning tools to help you develop your survival knowledge. The four pillars of survival is a rule designed to force your focus on things that really matter.
Just last week, I saw a survivalist on television that used his first day to build a semi-functional canoe. I saw another build a chair. The four pillars of survival state that these items are not vital to survival, and therefore should be set aside for another day. In this article, we will cover how the four pillars of wilderness survival can help you, and how to work with each one.
What Are the Four Pillars of Survival?
Just like any learning tool, the four pillars of survival will help you focus and recall important information in stressful situations. It works just like “Stop, Drop, and Roll” for fire safety or SING for self-defense. The four pillars of survival was the first learning tool I memorized when I first started studying survival. I find it to be one of the two most useful survival learning tools along with the Rule of 3s.
The four pillars of survival are food, water, fire, and shelter. These are the four resources that you need in order to survive in the wild. When you calm down and create your plan for survival, these are the points of focus that must be considered. The importance of each of these individual resources will vary based on specific circumstances, but they are all important. For example, fire and shelter are not quite as important if it is summer and night temperatures are 70F.
In addition to using the four pillars of survival to help in an actual survival scenario, they can also help you prepare for one. Any time you build a survival kit, you should first consider the four pillars of survival. The first pieces of gear I pack are always items for food, water, fire, and shelter. This ensures that I have those needs covered even if I run out of space in the pack.
Fire
I am addressing each of the four pillars of survival in the typical order of importance. In most climates, fire is going to be one of your first priorities. The rule of threes states that you can only survive about three hours in the cold without warmth from fire or shelter. While a shelter is a more permanent solution, a fire can warm you up with minimal time spent building and starting the fire. Unless you have a tarp or emergency blanket with you, fire is a faster way to get warm.
Fire doesn’t just keep us warm, although that is the most important function. Hypothermia is the number one reason for people dying in wilderness survival scenarios. This is the condition in which the internal body temperature drops below 95F. When this happens you will experience confusion, disorientation, clumsiness, extreme shivering, and eventually organ failure and death. Sometimes people report a feeling of being too hot as their body starts to shut down. People have been known to strip off their clothes when hypothermia gets really bad.
In addition to providing warmth, fire helps to light my camp, cook my food, boil water for purification, and sterilize tools. The glow from the fire will scare away predators, and the smoke keeps bugs away. You can preserve meat with the smoke and can use the soot for camouflage or to make a water filter. Charcoal is also good to clean your teeth and to settle an upset stomach. It is one of the most versatile resources you can have in the wilderness.
A good fire begins with a good fire starter. I try to always keep one or two on me at all times because of how important they are. You will see plenty of survivalists struggle with friction fire for hours or even days. That is never your best option. I suggest keeping at least one lighter with you for starting fires. I prefer a Zippo style lighter as they are windproof, hands-free, and can be refilled with any flammable liquid.
In addition, I like to carry at least one ferro rod with me. Ferro rods are fire starters that are windproof, waterproof, require no fuel, and shoot sparks at over 3000F. While a lighter can get your fire started faster, a ferro rod is the most reliable fire starter you can have. Fire lenses and friction fire kits are great, but they are never my first choice. When I know I am heading into the wilderness, I also like to bring waterproof and windproof tinder such as Wetfire Cubes or Firestix. Wetfire Cubes will take a spark and stay lit for a few minutes in any conditions. Firestix require a flame, but they will stay lit for 20 to 30 minutes in any conditions.
Preparation for your fire is one of the most important parts of the process. You must find good amounts of dry tinder, kindling, and fuel logs if you expect your fire to last all night. Tinder is the fine, dry material that you use to get a flame going with your fire starter. You can use dry leaves, dry pine needles, or dry grasses. If everything is wet, try to find a bird’s nest, cattail fluff, birch bark, or pine resin. All of these materials will light even in the rain.
Kindling is the medium-sized material used to light the fuel logs. This consists of sticks between the thickness of a pencil and the thickness of your thumb. You want the kindling to be as dry as possible, so try to target dead trees or branches that are up off of the ground. Finally, you want fuel logs which are any pieces of wood thicker than your kindling. These logs will keep your fire going through the night to keep you warm. The general rule is that you want enough tinder to wrap both hands around, enough kindling to wrap both arms around, and enough fuel logs for a pile up to your knee.
There are several fire designs you can use depending on your need. The easiest and fastest option is the teepee fire. For most people, this is the first design you learn. Start by using your kindling sticks to form a teepee shape by leaning them against each other. Be sure to leave a space so you can put your lit tinder bundle inside. Next, you will lean some of your smaller fuel logs against the teepee making it more stable. Light your tinder bundle and blow on it gently to feed the flame. Then place it inside your teepee and give it more oxygen if needed. Once your fuel logs are lit, you should just be able to add more as needed.
If you have more time to build your fire and prefer not to feed it logs all night, you can build an upside-down fire. This design will control the flow of oxygen to conserve your fuel logs. Start by placing six or seven big fuel logs side by side. Use sand or dirt to fill in the gaps between the logs. Then put down another layer of logs perpendicular to the first. Fill in the gaps and keep repeating with each layer using smaller fuel logs. When you have the height you want, build a teepee fire on top. Once lit, it will slowly burn from the top down. When properly constructed, you can sleep all night without adding any more logs.
Shelter
The next pillar of survival is shelter. Shelter will keep you dry, block the wind, protect you from the sun, and insulate warmth. It can also keep dangerous predators from making you a meal. You will see survival programs showing people building large, elaborate shelters for survival. This is the opposite of what you really want to do. Simple and small is best for survival shelters. You want to expend the fewest number of calories possible on the build. You also need to preserve your resources, and the poles you use for your shelter could also be used for firewood. Finally, you need a small shelter so that you have a smaller amount of air space to keep warm.
In order to be efficient in your shelter build, you should take advantage of all of the resources around you. Caves, rock faces, fallen logs, and large spruce trees can all be used as part of your shelter to make it more stable and to make the build go quicker. Keep an eye out for these features as you look for your campsite. You will want to be close enough to a water source that you can easily walk there a few times a day. However, you should be at least 100 feet away to avoid insects, predators, and flooding. Try to find a flat area on medium to high ground with lots of building and fire materials in the area. Before you build, clear out all of the sticks, rocks, and plants from where you intend to build your shelter.
One of the simplest and most useful shelter designs is a lean-to. To build this shelter, try to find two trees about eight feet apart with branches about four or five feet off of the ground. You will need a 10-foot ridge pole, so find a dead pole and break it to the right length. You should always wedge poles between two trees and then push forward to break them to length. Never stomp on them or break them over your knee as it can cause injury. Now you will want to rest the ridge pole in the crotch of the branches and trunk about four or five feet off of the ground.
If you do not have branches at the right height, you can use cordage to tie your ridge pole to the trunk of the tree. Also, if you cannot find two trees about eight feet apart you can bury poles in the ground that would serve the same purpose. Now you will want to collect poles about five to six feet long. Lean the poles against the ridge pole at a 45-degree angle on one side only. Be sure you are blocking the prevailing winds with the direction you face the roof.
Once you have all of the poles in place, you will need to pile up insulation on top. This can be dry leaves, dry grasses, or spruce boughs. You should always have enough material to block the wind. If you expect rain, you will need at least four feet of insulation to keep it from getting through. You should also have some sort of a bed to keep you at least four inches off of the ground. This is not for comfort. If you lie directly on the ground, it will suck the warmth out of your body. I usually just pile up about a foot of insulation so that it is four inches thick when compacted. With this shelter, you can keep a fire going all night or you just use it to block the wind.
If there is no chance of starting a fire, a debris hut is a better option. This is basically a big, natural sleeping bag designed to hold in your body heat. Start with two support poles about four feet long and a ridge pole about 10 feet long. Form a tripod, and secure it with cordage if you have any. You will now want a variety of poles anywhere from one to four feet long to lean at a 45 degree angle on both sides of the shelter. Pile up insulation inside for a bed, place the poles on both sides, and then pile at least four feet of insulation on top. You want it just big enough that you can fit inside. Then pull your pack in to block the opening, or you can build a door if you really want to.
If you happen to find yourself in the arctic where there may be no trees for building materials, you will need a snow cave. This design uses the snow to block the wind and hold in body heat. You should first find a drift or spot that the snow is at least four feet deep. If needed, you can pile up the snow from the area to make it taller. Then, dig down to the ground and dig forward to create a door. It should be just big enough for you to crawl inside.
Now, Take sticks about 12 inches long and stick them in the top of your shelter at various places. This is your warning that you are digging too close to the surface. Now you just need to scoop out enough snow so that you can lie down and sleep. I suggest making a small platform for your bed a few inches above the ground. This will allow moisture and cold air to settle in the low spot. If you have any insulation you should put it down on your platform. You can light a candle to create some extra warmth, and pull your pack into the opening as a door.
If you happen to be lucky enough to have a tarp or emergency blanket with you, be sure to use that for your shelter. You can add it as a waterproof layer to a lean-to or debris hut. You can also use the reflective side of the emergency blanket to reflect heat from a fire back to you. Just attach it shiny side down to the bottom of your lean-to roof. If you are in a hurry, you can build a lean-to with just the tarp or emergency blanket. Use cordage to tie two of the corners to trees. Then hold the other two corners to the ground with stakes or rocks. Now you just need a bed and you have your shelter. It can be built in 10 minutes if you are running out of daylight or a storm is moving in.
Water
The rule of threes states that you can survive about three days without water. As is with all of these rules, this is a generalization. Three days assumes you are an average person in average condition doing a normal amount of work in comfortable temperatures. If you are working hard all day in the sun, you will need water sooner. There are times when a person can die in less than a day without water. Once you have warmth covered, you need to be finding and purifying water.
In most environments, finding water is not that tough. Water flows downhill, so start heading towards lower ground. Streams flow into lakes and rivers, so always follow small water to big water. This is where people are normally found. You can even follow a dry creek bed if needed. If you are in an especially dry climate, get to a high point and look for a concentration of green plants. This is often where you will find a watering hole. If you get there and don’t find any water, get to the lowest spot and try digging down a few feet. Sometimes the water is just below the surface. You can also follow game trails to water as most animals will follow the same path to water every day.
If you are still having trouble finding water, you can get it in other ways. If it is going to rain, always try to create a rain catchment system. The best way to do this is to use a tarp or emergency blanket inside a shallow hole in the ground to collect the water. Plants can often provide a water source. Coconuts can be found in most tropical climates, and coconut water is packed with electrolytes. Prickly pear cactus in the desert can be eaten as a water source, and water vines in jungles and forests can be cut for a quick drink. Just pace yourself as water coming from plants can upset your stomach if too much is consumed. If you are in an arctic environment, do not eat snow. Snow is 90% air and 10% water, plus it will lower your internal body temperature. You are better off melting ice as ice is 90% water and 10% ice.
Once you find water, most sources need to be purified. All of the sources I already mentioned are fine to drink as is water from a spring. Just make sure it does not smell funny as this can be a sign of mineral deposits like sulfur. For all other water sources, it should be purified. Tainted water is full of bacteria and parasites that can make you sick. Often this illness involved vomiting and diarrhea that make you even more dehydrated. It has been said that to get sick like this in a survival scenario is often a death sentence.
I try to always carry a filter bottle with me. It looks just like any water bottle, but the filter eliminates 99.999% of waterborne pathogens. You can also carry a straw-style filter, or you can bring a gravity-fed bladder filter for large groups or a more permanent camp. As a backup, I like to bring iodine tablets. Two of these dropped in a water bottle will give you potable water in about 30 minutes. The safest way to purify water is to boil it. If you have a fire, this is the way to go. It used to be taught that the water had to boil for 30 minutes. We now know you just need to bring it to a boil and you are safe.
If these purification methods are not an option, you have a few other choices. You can dig a proximity well next to a water source to filter some of the pathogens. Start about six feet from the edge of the water and dig down a foot or two below the waterline. Water should slowly seep into your well filling the hole. If it pours in fast, move out a few more feet and try again. Let the water sit for 30 minutes so the debris settles. You can build your own water filter by adding layers of gravel, sand, and charcoal to a plastic bottle. You can also use UV light to purify clear water just by filling a clear plastic bottle and setting it in the sun for at least six hours.
Food
If you are lucky enough to have some food with you, it will need to be rationed to last as long as possible. You will want to supplement anything you currently have with other food sources. My very first option is always wild edibles. On a 20 minute walk in the forest, I can usually come back with a bucket full of plants, berries, and mushrooms that can be eaten raw or cooked. The key is just knowing your area and which plants are safe. It is one of the most efficient ways you can acquire food.
Some plants found in most of the world that are edible are dandelions, clover, sorrel, henbit, chickweed, plantain, wild onions, and violets. When it comes to berries, the color tells the story. Blue and black colored berries are safe 90% of the time. Red berries are safe 50% of the time. White and green berries are only safe 10% of the time. I only eat mushrooms if I am 100% certain they are safe as the consequences are steep. If you are unsure of a plant, test it out. First, break it up in your fingers and rub it on the inside of your wrist. Give it 20 minutes and then rub it on the inside of your bottom lip. After 20 minutes, try eating a small amount. If at any point you feel sick you can stop the process. Otherwise, you are good to eat more.
Fishing is typically my second choice for food. Fish provide you with the fats, oils, and proteins that you will not get from wild edibles. If you happen to have fishing gear with you, life may be easy. If not, you can go handlining or rig a trotline as long as you have cordage and hooks. You can even make hooks out of bone, sticks, or aluminum cans. Handlining is just the process of throwing and retrieving your line by hand. A trotline is designed for passive fishing. You attach several baited lines to one primary line and then stretch it out across the water. Then you come back and check it once or twice a day.
Trapping is your next option. Trapping also gets you those fat and protein that you really need. The problem is that it takes a full trap line to get a reliable source of meat. On TV you see people set one or two traps and come back the next day to a rabbit or squirrel. In real life, it just doesn’t work that way. In order to get meat regularly, you need to set and maintain 20 to 30 traps. You don’t need to set them all at once. Just set a few a day and keep checking the ones already set.
Snare traps are an easy option for small game. You can use any cordage for a snare, but copper wire is even better. With wire, you can shape and bend it to set exactly how you want it to. Start by finding signs of animal activity. This could be tracks, droppings, or game trails. Fold over the end of your cordage and use an overhand knot to create a loop. Then take the other end and feed it through the loop creating a slip knot. Now position the snare to catch either the foot or neck of your target animal. Always be sure your loop is just big enough for your target animal. You can then attach your snare to a tree, rock, or spring pole.
Deadfall traps are another good option. For this design, you will need a flat surface and a large, flat rock. You also need two sticks one to two feet lone with one of them having a slight curve. The straight stick is your support stick. You need to round off one end with your knife. The other is your bait stick. Sharpen one end, and make the other flat like a boat paddle. Put any bait you have on the sharp end of the bait stick and lift the rock putting that end towards the back of the trap. Then put the flat end against the underside of the rock. Place the round end of the support stick against the other side of the bait stick and allow it to hold up the weight. When the bait stick is moved, it should kick out and let the rock drop smashing your prey. Traps should be checked once or twice a day so predators and scavengers don’t get your meat.
I know this is a lot of information to take in. Don’t feel like you need to understand all of this at once. For right now, it is just important that you understand the four pillars of survival. Just remember to keep it simple and the rest of the details will come to you as needed. The worst thing you can do in a survival situation is to panic, and the four pillars of survival can give you a plan and help keep you calm. Just start working your way through the tasks that support this rule and before you know it you will be headed home safely.