An unexpected and dangerous situation can happen to you and your family at any time, on any day, and despite the need to use common sense, most people panic and are completely unprepared. Most people never think about the need to survive anything. But you, the average person, could easily be one slip, journey, natural disaster or crash away from real trouble.

This website, written by Leon Pantenburg, is about proven common sense survival techniques that any of us should know whether we live in a large or recreate in a rural area or near a wilderness. Use your common sense to survive any unexpected calamity and turn a potentially dangerous situation into a mere inconvenience. Pack the right tools with the confidence to know how to use them and you and your family will survive any emergency.

The only item on the lunch menu that first day was a three-inch square of Hudson Bay Bread gobbed with about two tablespoons of peanut butter. I’d worked up quite an appetite paddling and portaging that morning, and privately wondered where I’d get the energy to last the rest of the day.

In most cases, a properly-pitched and sited tarp shelter works very well. The advantages of a tarp over a tent are primarily in the weight-savings category. In some instances and situations, it may be the most effective shelter you can carry.

“I was looking for something the Boy Scouts can use that’s cheap,” said Pantenburg. “I wrung this thing out. We’re not talking gourmet cooking, we’re talking backpacking … Ninety percent of the time, you’re using a stove to heat water.”

For anyone venturing into the woods, there are basic rules to keep in mind, said John Gookin, the National Outdoor Leadership School curriculum and research manager. But the most important thing is to keep your head. (Good information here – Leon)

…even the lousy weather can’t change the beauty of this mountain range. It’s all worth it, when I come over a ridge and can look at all the trees and mountains. The mountains are so beautiful in the mornings, I usually get up early just to watch the sunrise. The air is usually pine-scented. Walking through the forest is like walking through a cathedral. Underfoot, there is a thick carpet of pine needles, which muffles my foot steps. I have walked right up on several herds of deer, just because I was so quiet. I’m really glad to be out here.