Get Training in Land Navigation for Survival

The folks at the Survival Summit have produced another in their series of survival skills DVD’s. This one is “Survival Land Navigation.” If you get lost, knowing how to navigate on land could mean the difference between life and death.

This article was generously contributed by Steve the Survivor from www.topsurvivalweapons.com

Can a survival watch save your life?

Most survival situation start off innocently, happening when you least expect them, like when you wander off from camp for a reason like picking berries, going to the latrine or just checking out the surrounding area. There have been too many cases of individuals wandering off to pick berries or mushrooms, who see a nice little patch a bit further, and then another patch a little further, and before they know it, the individual has been turned around and are now lost.  

You could be out on the hunt and become so focused on the target you are hunting that you stop paying attention to your location. You could be on a day hike or fishing ftrip, planning for just a few hours so you think you don’t need much gear, but then you lose the trail back or the motor on the boat dies and leaves you stranded.  

There have also been times where someone wanders off from camp, getting just a little bit lost and not able to retrace their steps.  Embarrassed to call out and look foolish for getting lost so close to camp, the individual starts looking for the camp and then a little panic sets in when it is not located quickly. Fear can lead a person to become very irrational, and end up in a real survival situation.

A survival watch could be very handy in these moments, and could save your life.  Survival watches are very high tech these days, doing much more than being waterproof and telling the time.  

Before I go any further into the benefits of survival watches, I wanted to state very clearly my belief is no one should rely solely on technology in a survival situation because technology can fail, pure and simple. Knowing how to use a compass and map, and other navigation methods like using a stick and the sun to show you the north-south line, are vital skills plus a lot of fun to learn.  Be proficient in the skills of non-technology based navigation are within everyone’s capabilities.

Survival watch features

It obviously needs to tell the time and date, be rugged, have a good battery life and be waterproof.  Beyond these basic features we can look into the gadgets which survival watches have that could help you in a survival situation.

GPS – If you know your location, locations you need to get to or the location of your vehicle via gps, you probably won’t get lost and be able to get to civilization and safety.

Altimeter – If you’re hiking in a mountainous area and don’t know your exact location with relation to your map, you could use an altimeter to help narrow down your location.  

Sunrise/sunset times – It’s so easy to lose track of time and to overestimate when the sun will set.  If it’s getting dark you could rush to put up your tent or shelter and if you’re swinging an axe or machete and it’s getting dark and you’re tired you could very easily make a mistake.   If you know the exact sunset time from your watch, you’re less likely to make a mistake.

Barometer – Knowing if a storm is close by can save you a lot of heartache.  One of the greatest dangers in the wild is getting wet and then getting hypothermia.  

Compass – Everyone should have a backup compass in their survival kit but if you’ve forgotten or lost your compass you can still navigate if you have bushcraft skills or a survival watch.  There are many different bushcraft methods which can help you to tell direction.  These include methods such as putting a stick in the ground and measuring shadows to get a north-south line, checking a tree for thicker branches (the thicker branches will point to the sun) or checking trees for moss growth and there are many more but nothing beats a compass, so having a compass on your wrist could be invaluable.

Thermometer – I like to know what the temperature is!

I love redundancy and so do most survivalists, which is why a decent survival watch is important.  There is no substitute for knowing the skills of bush navigation with nothing more than compass and map, or sun, stars and hints from nature, but a survival watch is a great backup plan.

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