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1. Underestimating the risk

Survival situations often begin as nothing more imposing than a day hike in familiar territory. You take off down a pleasant path that you’ve hunted many times before, so you’re confident that nothing can go wrong. My file cabinet is full of stories that begin just like that … then something DOES go wrong (an unexpected snowstorm blows in, you step off the trail and twist your ankle badly, clouds descend and wrap everything in dense fog and you get disoriented, a snake bites, a cougar attacks, a bear steps out of the brush and takes a swipe at you, etc.), and the whole thing ends up in the headlines as a survival incident. Part of the problems is that we tend to overestimate our abilities. That’s because most of us have never been tested to the extreme, so we don’t really know what our abilities are. It’s the shortage of experience that leads to a lack of good judgment, and that leads to disaster. And the rest of the problem is that we underestimate the risks posed by an unpredictable lady called Mother Nature. 

The solution to this problem is to always expect the unexpected. Have a plan of action to cover every contingency. If you’re in bear country, expect to encounter bears. Take precautions (make noise to alert bears that you’re in the area); use your nose, eyes and ears to alert you to the possible presence of bears; and learn how to respond to a bear confrontation. 

The same goes for every other potential risk. Anticipate the worst, and carry appropriate survival gear to get you through a few unexpected nights in the woods, if conditions deteriorate or you become stranded for any reason. 

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2. Poor route selection 

Choosing a poor route, as you move through the wilderness is a recipe for disaster. Outdoorsmen of little experience or poor judgment will sometimes opt for a shorter route between two points, even if it poses greater risk than would be faced if a longer route were chosen. This poor judgment is even displayed on TV these days, as the host of a popular program that touts itself as pitting man vs. the wild foolishly climbs down the face of a waterfall, using a vine as his rappelling rope, when he could have (and should have) hiked farther and taken a different route.  Or he scrambles pell-mell down a scree slope, hooting and hollering like a child who has no understanding of the potential consequences. To top it all off, he boldly advises his viewing audience that he is showing them how to survive in an extreme environment. This is not good survival education, and it’s going to get somebody hurt. 

 In the wilderness, if you become injured, a survival situation has begun. You simply can’t afford an injury, especially if you are alone. And if you’re in company with others, your injury puts the whole group at heightened risk. It slows everyone down, and the contribution you would have been able to make, had you remained healthy, is diminished. Always search out and use the route that poses the least risk of injury.

A companion to choosing the best route is to move at a safe pace. On the aforementioned TV show, the host foolishly moves across the landscape as if he’s in a race, running through uneven terrain, jumping into space to grab a limb, leaping from boulder to boulder. Moving too fast is asking for trouble in the form of injury and/or exhaustion. Slow down, place your feet carefully, maintain your balance, relax so you don’t expend energy needlessly, and move at a pace that keeps you from sweating.