Category: hiking

Whether you will be dayhiking or doing a multi-day backpacking trip, these items will insure a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience.

One of the most important things is having a map of the trail you will explore. Get one at the park visitor center or find one online that you can download. This will keep you from getting lost, help you identify new trails to check out and possibly help rescuers locate you if you’re in trouble.

A map reading compass will help you find your bearings and keep you from getting lost. Using the map and compass together will keep you correctly oriented to know which direction you’re heading.

Always carry two, one liter water bottles. Two liters is the minimum daily intake but chances are you will require more. Hiking is a physical activity and through perspiration, exposure and climate you can become dehydrated quickly. Bring some type of water purifier with you. For personal use, I take liquid treatment with me. Although you can survive a month without food, you will only last a few days without water.

Have extra food with you. Enough so that you could get through another day if necessary. Some companies produce compressed whole food bars that serve as complete meal replacements. My favorite is called the Pro Bar. Taking a few of these with will extend your energy levels if you need them.

Given the many outdoor-related television shows and You Tube videos available it becomes clear how important outdoor survival skills are to surviving the wilderness. Because there is so much to consider, what are the 5 most important survival skills to know and apply?

While all these presentations help, it is still the time you take to answer the following 5 questions that can make or break your level of preparation and prevention for your next adventure.

Therefore, can you answer yes to each of these questions? And is your answer a resounding yes! More important, can you prove you know and can apply the answers.

Remember it is one thing to understand wilderness survival skills; it is yet another to be skilled in the skills.

1) Can you build a shelter in less than an hour to minimize effort and conserve energy “for the seasonal activity?” Take into consideration the equipment you have available and the surroundings in which you find yourself. And you have to decide when is enough, enough? The balance of shelter versus effort needs your attention.

2) How do you stay found along your trip if assistance is needed? Unless it is dangerous where you are, stay put, stay found! When you read the stories of people who are lost and they keep moving only to experience worse conditions, it makes sense to learn the importance of staying found. Then build a base of operations around you, knowing help will arrive because your family and friends will start a call out when you don’t report in.

There are times when a person wants to go boating, and they want to have a fun experience, and that means they are going to need some sort of boat. The best thing that you can do is purchase a good inflatable raft. Sea Eagle make some great inflatable rafts which can be used for many different applications. Some of these are fly fishing, rafting, floating off into oblivion, or whatever it is that you happen to want. These rafts usually hold three people, and they are extremely durable. There are several different types of inflatable rafts from Sea Eagle, and below we have listed a few of them for you to read about.

The first on the list is the Sea Eagle 6 (SE6). This little beauty is designed to handle 650 pounds. It can comfortable for two people with not much gear so in reality it was designed for one person with not a lot of gear to haul. It is able to use a motor up to 2hp with using the motor mount option. This boat inflatable is extremely light weighing at only 25 pounds.

The Sea Eagle 8 (SE8) is the most popular of the inflatable rafts that are offered. This boat inflatable is designed for a single person, highly maneuverable, rugged and durable. This makes for an excellent raft for both fishing and floating down the river, however this inflatable raft is not to be confused with the Sea Eagle (r)8.