It may be hard to imagine that you can end up lost in a jungle, or any similar wild environment, but why not be prepared if such situation comes up?
Nature can be tough with humans, especially when you find yourself in a place without gadgets, technology or any other tool that might help you survive the extreme conditions.
If you are in a jungle with no help around you, here is what you can do to survive the first night, until the rescuers reach you:
You have to know that water is the top thing you have to secure when you are outdoors.
When there is no source of water and forest streams, a simple plastic, shopping bag tied around the bottom of the stem of a plant can help you. How? In one hour, it can collect about 50 millilitres of water.
There are conditions for condensation and moisture from the surface of the earth, ripped leaves, grass or moss. It is necessary to dig a hole in the centre and put something to collect the water, all of which should be covered by the bag, which is exposed to sunlight. So you can get about 300 millilitres of water for 24 hours.
An ordinary plastic bag can also serve for other purposes, and that is why it is the indispensable “accessory” for a jungle. For example, it can be filled with water so it collects the sunlight as if it were lenses at one point, and this can cause fire.
Fire is necessary for many reasons: to have light, to get warm, to perhaps boil some water, to scare animals if they approach. But basically, water and fire are first to be found or made in the jungle.
The modern methods of survival suggest that various traps can be used to find food, which can be made by means of a knife and a shoe tie. With such resources, even a very cautious animal can be killed, such as a wild deer.
However, it is not necessary to lose sight of the fact that successful hunting is possible only if the trap is placed on the path through which animals pass.
However, you shouldn’t eat everything. You never know if it is safe, and by safe, we mostly refer to mushrooms that can be found in the jungle. If you haven’t ever had a proper education on which mushrooms are not poisonous, then refrain from those.
A man who has remained alone in the woods may have difficulties to make a shelter with his own bare hands and large branches. That is why there are easier ways to make shelter depending on the relief and vegetation.
For a shelter in the jungle, it is possible to use wood with a thick treetop whose branches were broken by wind and can be further covered with peat or branch of coniferous wood. The shelter can be quickly made by bending and tilting the tiny trees and branches along the thick trees. If you find some mud, you can use it to glue branches or other materials you find suitable for building.
For good planning of further activities, weather conditions should also be anticipated. If you are experiencing bad weather conditions time, you should stay in the shelter, and when the weather gets better, you should look for a way out of the woods.
The weather can be predicted by many phenomena. The worsening of weather is announced by the following occurrences: a strong wind blows, there is the absence of dew, blooms of petals, the ants are hiding in anthills, no insects visible in the air or over the plants, bees return to the hives and the worms are getting out from the ground.
Bear in mind that you have to be calm and have positive thinking and willpower, if you find yourself in such situation. Panicking cannot help you and you have to stay strong. We do hope that no one will ever find him/herself in the jungle, but if it happens, you will now know what to do.
Howard Scalia is a 37-year-old former Scout leader from Austin, Texas, and a respected blog writer at