With popular TV shows like “Man Vs. Wild”  and  “Survivorman” demonstrating their hosts survival skills in exotic places such as,  the Arctic Circle, deserts of North Africa, and the jungles of Panama, I think as viewers we tend to forget these guys are the best at what they do and have been training and fine tuning there skills for years.  As survivalist I think we all love to get out there and try out new gear and test out skills, but you gotta be reasonable in how you go about it. Take  41year old Richard Code for example. Code was a devoted fan of Canada’s Survivorman show and decided to put himself to the test in the Ontario bush in the dead of winter without a parka. When interviewed by  Yahoo Canada, his friend told the reporter:

“Code was well aware of the dangers, and prepared carefully for his trips, taking an axe, knife, and a top-of-the-line 17-function utility tool.”

In what world was does an axe, knife, utility tool and no jacket prepare you for10 degree nights and heavy snow fall? I hope the late Mr. Code’s story provides an eye-opening lesson about using your noodle BEFORE you head outdoors.

[Via Equip 2 Endure]

A bear attack is one of those things everyone thinks cannot happen to them. But with so many people, and fewer places for bears, conflicts are inevitable. Find out below how to avoid being attacked by a bear and avoid being a story on the evening news. (if you’re not worried about bear attacks, read this post)

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**Warning** some videos may be considered very graphic and may not be suitable for everyone

Woman Survives Vicious Bear Attack

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Deep in the mountains, Ben Stubbs sleeps in a log, eats spinifex and learns how to start a fire without matches.

One of the most important survival tools in the Australian bush is a condom. The bigger the better.

I have pages of survival notes from my instructor, Lee, yet if I were in a real emergency, the usefulness of a condom would be the first thing I’d remember.

I am with four other “survivor” students on High n Wild’s weekend survival course in the Blue Mountains. The Greater Blue Mountains region is larger than the Netherlands, so it makes sense to have a few survival techniques up my sleeve in case I wander down the wrong side of a mountain one day.

From Katoomba, we head west through the scooped green gorges that fall away to the forest floor hundreds of metres below. We drive further into the bush, past dirt bikes and weekend four-wheel-drivers. Our destination is Deep Pass, a flat area below the canyons on the edge of the Wollemi wilderness region. It is an unusual scenario: we are deliberately getting lost, to learn what to do if we get lost by accident. (more…)