Backpacking Survival Kit - Don't Go Into The Woods Without One!

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Steve_Thibeault]Steve Thibeault
Any time you venture into the outdoors, you should have with you at least some basic survival supplies. You never know what may happen. Just a few months ago in August, Pamela Salant of Portland, Oregon ended up lost in the woods for four days after taking a wrong turn while hiking. She suffered a broken leg and survived her ordeal eating berries and bugs, drinking water from a creek. Her situation would have been dramatically improved had she taken with her just a small backpacking survival kit.
A backpacking survival kit should contain items that will satisfy your immediate needs for food, water, shelter, and fire building. Further, it should have some first aid supplies and a means of signaling for help.
The human body can last a few weeks without food but having in your kit a few granola bars, protein bars, and dried fruit will not only stave off hunger pains but also give you energy to continue your efforts to reach safety. You might also consider adding a few items that may help you procure food in the wild, such as a small fishing kit and snare wire.
When it comes to acquiring wild foods, you need to keep in mind energy expenditure. It makes little sense to expend energy acquiring a food that will not provide you with at least an equal amount of energy back when you consume it. Thus, don't plan on spending hours hunting when the odds are good you will come up empty. Fishing and trapping are better plans as they expend far less energy.
Water is more crucial to survival than food. Under normal conditions, the body can last a few days without it but being lost in the woods is likely not going to qualify as being normal. But, water is heavy and difficult to transport on foot in anything other than small quantities. Start with having at least one or two 1L size water bottles. These are probably the largest you can comfortably carry. Add to your backpacking survival kit means to purify additional water you may find in a river, stream, or lake. Water purification tablets will serve this purpose well.
Your emergency shelter supplies are somewhat climate contingent. There is little need for a huge, bulky sleeping bag except perhaps in the coldest areas. An emergency blanket, sometimes called a space blanket, will serve your needs well in most situations. They are so small and lightweight, toss a few of them into your kit. This gives you the option of not only wrapping yourself in one but also suspending one above you to keep rain or snow off. Add in a quantity of 550 paracord to assist you in building an expedient lean to type of shelter.
Every camp, even an emergency one, should have a fire. A fire will keep you warm, provide light, cook your food, and provide a source of psychological comfort. While it is certainly possible to make fire from nothing more than the naturally occurring items you may find in the woods, it is far easier to just bring along supplies to do the job. A couple butane lighters, a handful of strike anywhere matches, and/or a magnesium striker will all do well. Bring along a supply of tinder as well. In inclement weather, it is sometimes difficult to find dry tinder otherwise.
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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Backpacking-Survival-Kit---Dont-Go-Into-The-Woods-Without-One!&id=6634055] Backpacking Survival Kit - Don't Go Into The Woods Without One!