Wilderness Survival
Merit Badge

Being a “survivor” has captured the imagination of millions of TV watchers. But a survivor is much more than a TV fantasy. A survivor is someone prepared to live—and live as healthfully as possible—when life far from home doesn’t go exactly as planned. Being prepared to survive in the outdoors starts with knowing what to be prepared for. You can live days without water and weeks without food. People who don’t survive in the outdoors most often die from losing their body heat, not necessarily from starvation or dehydration. You need to be able to start a fire. And perhaps most importantly, you need to be able to build a shelter to stave off wind, rain and snow, and to keep your body heat trapped where it belongs: near your body. Here are the keys to taking shelter in the wilderness: DRESS WISELY Your first line of defense against the elements is the “shelter” you choose to wear. If you wear layers of synthetic material or wool, and carry a shell of windproof, waterproof material, you are ready for anything. You’ll trap your body heat instead of expending it on the outside world. THE RIGHT SPOT Choosing the best place to build a survival shelter is important. It should be in the driest spot you can find. Nothing sucks out body heat faster than wetness. If it isn’t too cold, build a shelter on high ground. Breezes will help keep the bugs away, and you’ll be easier to see if a search party passes nearby. If a cold wind is blowing, choose a spot sheltered by trees. But don’t build in the bottom of deep valleys or ravines where cold air settles at night. THE COCOON If it’s almost dark and you can hurriedly collect dry debris (leaves, pine needles, bark) from the forest floor, make a pile two or three feet high and longer than you are tall. When you burrow into the pile, you are in a natural sleeping bag that protects against heat loss. THE FALLEN TREE The simplest shelter is a fallen tree that has enough room under it for you to crawl in. Lean branches against the windward side of the tree (so the wind is blowing into it and not against it) to make a wall. Make the wall thick enough to keep out wind. If you can build a fire on the open side of your shelter, the heat will help keep you warm. THE LEAN-TO If you find a fallen tree without enough room under it, or a rock or a small overhang, you can build a simple lean-to. Start by leaning fallen limbs against the object, such as the top edge of an overhang, to create a wall. Lean the limbs at an angle to help shield rain. Cover the leaning limbs with leaves, boughs, pine needles, bark or whatever the forest offers. When you have built a thick wall, you can crawl underneath into your shelter. Remember to make your shelter no bigger than you need to fit you and anybody else with you. The bigger the space, the harder it is to keep warm. You can also build a lean-to by placing one end of a long stick across a low limb of a tree and propping up the other end of the stick with two more sticks. Tie the ends of the sticks together with your boot laces or belt. Lean more sticks against the horizontal stick. Then pile leaves and other forest debris against the leaning sticks until you have a wall. Once again, a fire on the open side of the lean-to will add much heat to your “room.” THE A-FRAME If you can’t make a lean-to, you can make an A-frame shelter. You’ll need two sticks four or five feet long and one stick 10 to 12 feet long. Prop the two shorter sticks up in the shape of the letter A. Prop the longer stick up at the top of the A. Tie the three sticks together where they meet. The three sticks will be in the shape of an A-frame tent with one end collapsed against the ground. Now prop up more sticks against the longer stick, and pile forest debris against the sticks until you have an insulated shelter open at the high end. A TARP When you have a tarp, sheet of plastic or Space Blanket with you, and some rope or cord, tie a line between two trees. Tie it low to the ground with just enough room for you to lie beneath. Stretch the tarp over the line. Place large rocks or logs on the ends of the tarp to hold it in place with the edges close to the ground. If it’s snowing, tie the line off higher on the trees. Steeper walls will shed snow better. Now you have an emergency tent. YOUR BED Your shelter is not complete until you have made a bed to lie in. Dry leaves work well. Make your bed a little bigger than the space your body covers and at least eight inches thick. When you snuggle into it, you are ready for the unexpected night out. BAD PLACES TO BUILD A SHELTER 1. Anywhere the ground is damp. 2. On mountaintops and open ridges where you are exposed to cold wind. 3. In the bottom of narrow valleys where cold collects at night. 4. Ravines or washes where water runs when it rains.

Megan Lamm stood on the shore with a curved wooden stick she found, some line, a small hook and a handful of worms. That’s all she needed to catch panfish. Well, that plus a little luck. “We had a lot of luck,” the 16-year-old First Class Scout says. “For whatever reason, the fish were biting. We caught six.” Scouts with linked troops 214 of Raleigh, North Carolina, not only had a good day at the lake last April, but also mastered wilderness survival skills over the weekend. A campout at Falls Lake allowed them to practice their resourcefulness — an essential survival skill. Scouts crack open acorns so they could make the insides into pancakes. ACORN PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST Nearly every year, the troops go on a campout during which they work on the Wilderness Survival merit badge. Those who have already earned it focus on advanced survival skills. The adults bring the survival gear, as well as a few challenges for the Scouts. This time, the Scouts had to fillet fish, build fires and make pancakes from acorns. Henry Cash and Savannah Jerman make a survival shelter from sticks. Leaves and pine straw were added to the roof. The first night’s activities, though, were interrupted by thunderstorms. Scouts set up shelters using trash bags but retreated from camp after lightning began crackling across the sky. “After the rain came, I had to completely redo it,” says Second Class Scout Matthew Bridgers, 13. “It was definitely uncomfortable. Once the rain was over, I didn’t have as much padding as I did before.” Scouts built shelters with wood they brought so they didn’t have to disrupt the environment. Other Scouts made survival shelters from plastic trash bags, duct tape and paracord. Large trash bags can be duct-taped together and stretched over a rope tied between two trees. It’s an easy and cheap shelter that can keep you dry overnight. Place more trash bags on the ground over a bed of pine straw, and you’ve got a soft place to rest. To stake it down, grab four rocks and wrap each trash bag corner around one, securing each with string. Kenneth Mabry empties ground acorns that had soaked in water to remove tannins. Before the Scouts went to bed, they started preparing breakfast: acorn pancakes. They broke open the oak nuts their Scoutmaster had collected and ground the insides into a flour. The flour was placed in a satchel and left to soak in water overnight. This step removed the acorns’ tannins. If you’ve ever bitten into an unripe fruit and got a mouthful of bitterness, you’re tasting tannins — a compound the plant makes to deter animals from eating its fruit until the seeds inside are mature enough to be dispersed. The next morning, the Scouts formed the acorn flour into patties and cooked them. It turned into a crumbly mess. Still, they learned a new way to make a meal from what nature provides. Quinn Bennett collects lake water to treat for drinking. ACTIVITIES GALORE Scouts working on the merit badge had plenty of skills to master: starting a fire with flint and steel, purifying water, figuring out directions using a stick’s shadow, and making symbols to signal rescue planes. It’s a wealth of knowledge that could save your life. Left: Mason Carver holds up a bluegill he caught. Right: Kenneth Mabry fishes while standing in the lake. Fishing with a paper clip — which the Scouts tried — isn’t necessarily an essential life-saving skill, but it’s a great exercise in being resourceful. Straighten a paper clip and fashion it into a hook with a pair of pliers; use a file to sharpen the end. Some Scouts tried flint knapping, the art of making tools from rock. Scouts also knapped flint and started fires using a bow-and-drill. “I definitely enjoyed getting outside,” Matthew says. “This gives me an opportunity to be rugged.” Megan Lamm cleans a fish, bought before the campout so Scouts could practice this skill. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST (OF MIND) The campout was cut short as more thunderstorms began threatening the area. By that time, though, Scouts had completed the requirements for the Wilderness Survival merit badge. More important, the Scouts received a boost to their self-esteem by trying new things, even if they didn’t turn out perfectly. In a real survival situation, positive thinking is vital to making it out alive. Noah Koch kindles a fire he started without matches. Being resourceful demands positivity. If your first try fails, try again. And if that doesn’t work, think of a different way to get the result you want. During the campout, the Scouts learned several different methods for starting fires, so if one didn’t work, they had the skills for trying another. That’s also called Being Prepared. Knowing different methods for finding or making food means Scouts don’t have to resort to buying emergency ready-to-eat meals, which they tried for lunch. To say the least, they weren’t fans of the lemon-flavored high-calorie bars. “It tasted like chapstick,” Matthew says. What’s Important? Foraging meals from nature can be a rewarding skill. In a survival situation, though, it should be low on your priority list. Exposure to the elements, injuries and dehydration are much bigger concerns. If you think you’re lost, here’s what you should do, in order of importance: STOP, which stands for “stop, think, observe and plan.” Provide first aid. Seek shelter. Build a fire. Signal for help. Drink water. Don’t worry about food. You need to be absolutely sure of what you’re eating if you forage something from nature. Some wild berries, mushrooms and flowers can make you very sick or even kill you if ingested. Fire by Friction The bow-and-drill fire-starting method relies on friction to create heat. To start a fire this way, you’ll need a bow, spindle, hand block and fireboard. You can create all of this from wood you gather. Wrap the bowstring, which can be a shoelace, around the spindle so it spins when you move the bow. Whittle a notch into the fireboard for the spindle to fit into; you’ll place your tinder beneath the notch. Hold the spindle steady with a hand block, and begin quickly moving the bow back and forth to spin the spindle. The friction from the spindle should create a spark in your tinder, which you can blow on to ignite into flames.

In his 24 years in the U.S. Army — including 21 years in Special Forces — Danny Marchant, of Fayetteville, N.C., completed his fair share of survival training, including SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) school. You could say he knows a thing or two about the Wilderness Survival merit badge; he has taught survival frequently in his career. Scouting caught up with him to get his perspective. WildernessSurvivalMBThe Point of Survival Military and Scout survival training share similarities, but there are some important differences. Soldiers trapped behind enemy lines don’t want to be found; Scouts lost in a national forest most certainly do. “Signaling is a higher priority for civilians and Scouts,” Marchant says. “Rescue is the thing.” That emphasis on surviving until rescue is one reason the Wilderness Survival merit badge doesn’t teach Scouts how to live off the land. Instead of “enhancing” the badge by covering edible plants or game traps, counselors should focus on the badge requirements. While the badge teaches a host of techniques, including signaling and building shelters, Marchant says they aren’t the most important parts of the badge. Instead, he emphasizes requirement 2, which addresses the seven priorities for survival. “The priorities are the critical part,” he says. “Your brain is the best survival tool.” Putting Techniques to the Test Marchant prefers to teach the badge on outings, which lets Scouts practice the skills in a realistic setting. Take signaling, for example. “If you’re in an area with mountains and have some hiking trails, you could theoretically have the Scouts set up some of the signaling methods and then go for a hike and see them from a higher altitude,” Marchant says. (Just make sure it doesn’t look to others like you’re having a real emergency.) Fieldwork also forces Scouts to consider context. “If you’re using a signal panel, how big does it have to be to be seen? What color works best? In the fall, orange isn’t necessarily the best color,” he says. Marchant has also had Scouts conduct experiments to see which whistles work best. Several free smartphone apps can measure sound levels. Survival Kits on the Cheap For requirement 5, Scouts must build personal survival kits, which can be an expensive proposition if you shop at outdoor retailers. “The first place I would go to build a survival kit is a pharmacy and a hardware store,” Marchant says. “You’ll find almost everything you need right there.” For example, dental floss is cheap and surprisingly strong; Marchant has even built a survival shelter using it. And cotton balls coated with petroleum jelly make great inexpensive fire starters. Tabletop Exercises Requirement 4 asks Scouts to describe how they would survive in a desert, in winter and in other challenging conditions, such as an ocean or a rainy forest. Marchant likes to present real-world scenarios he has read about in books, news reports and online forums. “They take it more seriously when they know it really happened to somebody,” he says. And if the same things ever happen to them, he knows they’ll be prepared.