At Home In the Wilderness

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When calamity strikes, sit down and think things through before taking action. Relax, and realize that you can stay in the wilderness as long as you wish ...with the Earth Mother helping you every step of the way. Instead of giving in to panic, look upon the event as an opportunity to enjoy an unplanned vacation!

If you approach a survival situation with a negative attitude-thinking, "I can't stand sleeping in a smelly, bug-infested shelter in the middle of these damp, scary woods"—you will certainly have nothing but problems. But if you think, "Here I am all by myself in this magnificent forest, surrounded by the richest scents of nature, lying in the embrace of the earth and sleeping in a shelter I made myself" ...your experience can actually be grand and harmonious.

You'll also go a long way toward increasing your mental comfort by accepting the fact that you cannot immediately have everything you want, but can have everything you need. Most people, when lost, instantly become concerned about what they're going to eat. Yet of the four necessities for survival-shelter, water, fire, and food, food is often the least important requirement. Most Americans can go well over 30 days without eating.

Fire ranks next to last on the list because, if you have a good shelter, you don't really need a fire. Water, of course, is essential (one can survive only a few days without it), but—as I'll explain in MOTHER NO. 72—you can easily collect water in almost any situation.

A person stranded in a harsh environment, though, may not live through a single night if he or she doesn't have an adequate shelter. Therefore, I feel that anyone interested in wilderness survival should begin his or her education by learning how to construct a protective

REQUIREMENTS FOR A GOOD SHELTER

[1] A shelter must give you complete protection from the elements. It should be able to ward off violent storms, hot sun, high winds, frost, and dampness.

[2] A shelter must be able to keep you warm and dry even if you don't have blankets, coats, sleeping bags, or heavy clothing (people in survival situations often find themselves equipped with only the clothes on their backs).

[3] A shelter should provide a warm, dry work area as well as a sleeping compartment, so that you can handle important survival chores without being exposed to the weather.

[4] A shelter should give a sense of security. It ought to be a sanctuary ...a place where your cares drop off and you find rest.

WHERE TO PUT IT

The location of your structure is just as important as the type of shelter you build. The best-constructed survival but won't keep you comfortable, even in mild weather, if it's set up in a poor site. So, in choosing a suitable location, you'll want to keep in mind that the natural surroundings themselves can supply a lot of protection.

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