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.

Before technology entered the backcountry world of the outdoors, the primary and proven tools of navigation were a map and compass. Compass navigation remains an important component of the “Ten Essentials” for wilderness travel. Knowledge of how to use map and compass takes education and practice. Further, such knowledge will enhance GPS navigation as many [...]

  The thought was to take a quick stroll before dinner, and the plan was to be gone about 45 minutes. But now you’re lost, and the safest course of action is to stay put and spend the night. Luckily, you have your Ten Essentials, and whatever food you packed, but no tent, sleeping bag [...]

How many times have you said to yourself or have heard others say, “I am just………” as in “I’m just going to walk up the ridge and see if I can see a deer,” or “I’m just going to be out for fifteen minutes”? This sentiment can cause a survival situation, and here is how you can avoid that.

Finding yourself lost can be a terrifying experience. How you react when you discover that you are lost will often determine the eventual outcome.

In some western U.S. coast areas, people may be getting ready to evacuate. Nobody wants to worry about being forced to evacuate your home quickly, or having to just grab a few important items and head out the door. But what would you take if you did have to leave quickly? Here are some suggestions from the American Red Cross.

More people die of drowning in the desert than of thirst, according to the United States Geological Survey, and that is usually because they were surprised by a flash flood. Learn how to avoid that situation!

Can you depend on GPS and other electronic devices and technology to the point of it becoming deadly?

That seems to be an increasingly recurrent pattern of behavior in some parts of the country, as the following story: “Death By GPS’ indicates.

Being prepared for the outdoors is just common sense. This excerpt from “The Coldest War: A Memoir of Korea” by James Brady, shows that having basic survival equipment on your person is not a new idea! This book is a great read for anyone interested in military history.
And thank you to all veterans who read this!

The best survival knife in the world, or any survival item, is useless without the skills to use it.