Survival Skills

Long-lasting Covid symptoms can affect your hiking performance at high elevations. Here's how to prepare.

Floods, falls, ornery wildlife: Find out if you have what it takes to survive a desert dayhike gone wrong.

Humans have been starting fires without matches longer than with them. Can our modern man measure up?

Stay safe and move efficiently on loose, steep terrain.

A survey of more than 700 John Muir Trail thru-hikers gave researchers insight into what makes a hiker more likely to get injured or ill while backpacking.

Running into danger to save others is a noble urge. But curb it: A hurt rescuer is worse than no rescuer at all.

And what to do when you see an injured hiker on the trail.

For decades, hikers have debated the benefits of filters. Here's where we land.

Where there’s a blade, there’s a way. Use these techniques to carve, chop, scrape, and signal your way out of trouble.

We set the record straight.

Sudden diet changes can leave backpackers in an uncomfortable situation.

That shiny sheet of plastic you have wadded up at the bottom of your daypack can help you stay alive. Will it help you stay comfortable? That’s a different story.

Think before you throw.

Four professional avalanche forecasters share their tips and gear picks for staying safe on a backcountry ski tour.

The solitude of a winter night beckons. But will our writer’s attempts to stay warm be a roaring success or a sputtering failure?

Ryan Osmun, 35, took a wrong step while hiking in Zion National Park in February and spent 10 hours stuck in the mud.

From bear tracks to brewing winter storms, keep an eye out for these signs of hazardous things coming.

Test your winter survival strategies for a chance to win a free class from AIM Adventure U.

Do you have what it takes to live through a wilderness emergency? Get the skills—and get home alive—with expert advice, skills, and real-life survival case studies from our experts.