Master essential wilderness survival skills with tips and advice from the experts at Backpacker Magazine. Our experts teach you how to build fires, forage for food, find shelter, survive animal attacks, and get the most out of every piece of gear you bring into the wilderness.
Master essential wilderness survival skills with tips and advice from the experts at Backpacker Magazine. Our experts teach you how to build fires, forage for food, find shelter, survive animal attacks, and get the most out of every piece of gear you bring into the wilderness.
At the military's top-secret survival school, Air Force crews learn how to escape their worst-case scenario — shot down behind enemy lines. With the highest level of access ever granted to a journalist, our scout learns how to escape when Mother Nature is only one of your worries.
A hair-raising tale of wilderness terror that will haunt your backcountry dreams
A hair-raising tale of wilderness terror that will haunt your backcountry dreams
A hair-raising tale of wilderness terror that will haunt your backcountry dreams
A hair-raising tale of wilderness terror that will haunt your backcountry dreams
A hair-raising tale of wilderness terror that will haunt your backcountry dreams
Q&A with Guest Editor Bear Grylls
Use this knot to tie logs together when making a raft.
Don’t be prey. Learn where you’re likely to encounter North America’s deadliest predators.
Without a drink, a hiker can die in as little as a day. We tested three techniques for conjuring H20 out of thin air. Plus: 5 easy ways to stay hydrated in hot climates.
Check out Kristy Holland's author page.
After an off-trail slide tosses two hikers down a slope, they’re trapped by their injuries.
When you’re lost or injured, you need a foolproof way to get your rescuers’ attention. Ted’s testing team tried more than 25 devices—here are their ratings of 9 top tools.
Cougar attacks are vanishingly rare, but that doesn't mean they never happen.
Five hikers fight a raging river before attempting a dangerous bushwhack to safety.
Hollywood climbing: Survivable or surreal?
A dayhiker fights for her life—as her body shuts down.
Student and president of the Hiking Club at the University of Colorado, Boulder
Name: Neil Perterson, 63 Predicament: Swept into a surge channel; stuck in a cave
Waves, currents, and tides threaten thousands of miles of American trails (any within a quarter of a mile of a waterway), and hikers can get caught in the barrage. Headland-sculpting, beach-pounding waves can swallow an unwary trekker without so much as a burp. Learn how to recognize, negotiate, and avoid nearshore hazards
The star of "Man vs. Wild" talks gear, luxury items, and survival advice.
Ultralight and critter-proof chainmail food storage bags
Identify this high-altitude killer.
Seven lucky-to-be-alive subscribers share their real-life backcountry disasters. HereÂ’s how they survived, and what you can learn from their mistakes.
Bad decisions and running scared got this reader struck by lightning--but he survived.
A scape of pulmonary edema sends this reader down the mountain, fast.
Rising water sends this reader running--and hiding--in Utah.
Recognize these avalanche-risk signs and learn how to choose routes that avoid them.
Compact, ultralight saw is a lifesaver
Pocket-sized waterproof survival and first aid kit
Stacked with survival tips
Fast-paced family dice frenzy
Look around, not just at your map.
Don't scrimp on survival equpiment.
Ventilate your tent to avoid this danger.
Stay alert in canyon country.
What not to wear in a lightning storm.
Dangerously thirsty in the desert?
Do a T-rescue for a flipped sea kayak.
Hard-won-lessons and tips about medical emergencies from the front lines of survival.
Hard-won-lessons and tips about whitewater kayaking from the front lines of survival.
Play it safe against altitude sickness.
Use what you have at any given moment to alleviate a medical emergency in the backcountry.
Once you've stabilized a backcountry injury or illness, the next step is to prevent the patient from worsening. Here's some key steps to take.
Use these three assessment tools to examine every patient thoroughly after you've stopped any immediate threats to life. Trauma victims are more common in the backcountry; start your inspection with a head-to-toe exam. For ill patients, begin by asking about medical history and taking vitals.
When an emergency strikes, your mind can go blank. These easy clues and rhymes will help you remember what do to first.
Get ready for your summer adventure with these these essential on-trail skills.
With 1 million bears roaming North America, chances are pretty good that you'll cross paths with one of them at some point. To make every encounter safe, from grizzly bears to black bears, bone up on bruin identification and etiquette.
Every backpacker dreams of a glory job in the outdoors. Here's what it takes to make the grade for 8 of the toughest ones out there.
Every backpacker dreams of a glory job in the outdoors. Senior Editor Shannon Davis heads to Mt. Rainier--and a grueling tryout with premier guide operation RMI--to find out what it takes to make the grade.
Submit your video! Win a trip to Rainier and the title of America's Toughest Backpacker.
Keep the Wenger EvoWood S557 multitool handy to cut, clamp, screw or slice.
Learn to tie a basic, but essential knot, staunch a bleeder, and purify water.
It's the final push. Complete the final week's challenge and get ready for next week's call to submit your video.
Use these first aid techniques to control and treat a bleeding wound.
Learn to tie a figure-8 loop–one of the most common and useful knots.
George Dunn, co-owner of International Mountain Guides, recalls personal adventures and gives tips about climbing Mount Rainier.
Join the effort to make mobile phones safer for the trail.
Our resident bruin expert answers all your questions in our weekly feature, 'Ask A Bear.'
Build on week one's regimen by mastering even more survival and navigation skills and improving your overall fitness level.
Rev up for the first week of our plan to make you the ultimate tough guy, or gal.
You've done it now. Gone on a simple walk and gotten lost, or broken your ankle. It's cold. You didn't bring gear. Don't just curl up and wait. Get a fire going.
Lost and alone without your gear? Don't just sit there. Get a fire going.
Learn to make a handy survival bracelet with this step-by-step slideshow.
A lightweight, waterproof survival kit you can customize for your needs
Spot's new gadget adds satellite reception to smartphones anywhere.
Climb higher, live longer, and eat better, o.k. be better, with these skills.
Travel confidently across any type of landscape.
A bargain of a satellite phone.
A simple magnesium rod that's an easy fire starter.
Thinks it's difficult to build a fire on snow? Think again with these tried and true tips.
Find avalanche victims as quickly with this beacon.
Pack this unflappable tinder and tiny solid fuel stove in your emergency kit.
Rope caught up in a bad way. Here's what to do.
You're hiking. You slip. You're hurt. But the first-aid kit is back in the car--12 miles away. What should you do?
When the ground is drenched, look in your pack for dry, flammable fuel.
The click, click, crap of a dead battery is about as welcome as the rattle of a diamondback in the latrine. Here's what to do.
Now you've done it, fumblefingers: bobbled your belay/rappel device or dropped your harness, with one 5.8 pitch left before the summit and three pitches below you back to the ridge. What to do?
Drowning is the #2 cause of outdoor deaths (falls are #1), so avoid wading waist-deep or too-fast rivers (a tossed, fist-size rock shouldn't move downstream before sinking), but if no choice exists:
"Hello, this is 911. Please state your emergency." If you're calling for backcountry help on your cell phone, what you say--or sob incoherently--next could determine when you get rescued.