Could You Survive Alone? The Top 5 Survival Skills You’d Need – According to the Survival Consultant from Alone Australia

Bushcraft Survival Australia

When you’re dropped in the wild with nothing but a few essential items, what separates those who survive from those who don’t.

Gordon Dedman is the Founder of Bushcraft Survival Australia, military survival instructor and Survival Consultant for Alone Australia. With decades of training and experience from around the world, Gordon knows what it takes to survive in the bush.

Here are the Top 5 Survival Skills you'd need when venturing into the bush alone – no cameras, no support crew, just your wits and knowledge.

1. Protection Skills

First aid is the most immediate action required to be conducted in the survival priority of protection. In a true survival situation, seconds can count - especially after serious injury. Relevant, practical and retainable first aid training is critical so invest in a quality provider and always carry an appropriately stocked kit tailored to your needs and environment.

Equally vital is protecting your body from the elements with appropriate clothing for your environment. Managing your clothing to prevent sweating and to maintain core body temperature is crucial. In addition to proper clothing, shelter provides essential protection. In cold climates, shelter should be just large enough to protect you while retaining heat, while in hot climates, airflow and shade are key. Be familiar with how to construct a variety of different shelters using man made and natural resources. A raised sleeping platform helps insulate you from cold or damp ground and keeps insects away.

In an emergency you need to get to safety either by letting others know you need assistance or by making your own way out (self recovery, so you need location devices and skills to attract, hold and direct attention.

2. Fire Making Skills

Fire is your bush electricity – it provides warmth, light, cooking, water purification, tool-making, protection from insects, signalling and is a major source of moral.

Being able to make fire in any environment under all conditions is essential. Know multiple methods: modern lighters, ferro rods, traditional friction fire (bow drill). It’s also important to manage the fire so it doesn’t go out.

Most people overlook the proper preparation: you’ll need

• A dry base platform
• Tinder (dry, fluffy material to catch a spark)
• Kindling (matchstick-size twigs)
• Fuel (increasing in size – up to forearm-thickness)
• A small cooking fire is all you need 90% of the time

3. Water Procurement & Purification Skills

You can survive for weeks without food – but only days without water.

The body is around 60 percent water, and in extreme conditions, you can lose up to 15 litres a day. All ground water should be assumed contaminated and treated accordingly.

Learn how to:

• Find water using landscape indicators (terrain, vegetation, animals)
• Find water using landscape indicators (terrain, vegetation, animals)
• Coarse filter to remove debris
• Purify using boiling, chemicals (iodine/chlorine), UV light, or microfiltration systems
• And understand the five contaminants: turbidity, parasites and protozoa, bacteria, viruses, and chemicals – each needs a different approach.

4. Food Gathering Skills

Food is often over-prioritised in short-term survival, and you can go several days without it. But, in long-term scenarios you need to acquire it as soon as the other survival priorities are met.

Start with low-energy tasks:

• Foraging edible plants, grubs and insects]
• Passive fishing techniques
• Passive trapping techniques – make sure you stick to the legal rules of your state
• Hunting requires the highest level of skill and burns more calories than it returns unless you know what you’re doing. Your best weapon? Knowledge and experience.

5. Navigation Skills

Bushcraft Survival Australia

The ability to navigate across country by day and night and not get lost is an essential skill that must be mastered. You should have at least a basic understanding of how to read a map and use a compass. Natural navigation is the art of finding your way by using nature. It is a process of observation and deduction involving the rare skill of being able to determine direction without the aid of instruments or tools, and only by reference to natural clues including the sun, stars, moon, land, sea, weather, wind, plants and animals.

Survival isn’t just about grit – it’s about preparation and skill.       

For those looking to push their limits, develop practical bushcraft skills, or simply be prepared for the unexpected, Bushcraft Survival Australia offers the ultimate hands-on and immersive learning experience.

For more information on the survival skills above, visit Bushcraft Survival Australia’s YouTube.

You can find more details about Bushcraft Survival Australia courses here and the full calendar is here.

For more travel inspiration read the daily online "The Holiday and Travel Magazine"
https://theholidayandtravelmagazine.blogspot.com/