Cold-Weather Fire Starting: Tested Techniques for Wet, Windy, and Sub-Zero Conditions
The Yukon River Test In the summer of 2005, I was guiding a group of German tourists on a three-day canoe trip along the Yukon River for a local outfitter. We pulled up at a remote campsite on the riverbank — the site of a former small settlement, long abandoned, the kind of place that […]
Mental Resilience in the Field: How Professionals Stay Calm When Plans Fail
The Call That Changed How I Teach Preparedness It was February, and the temperature had dropped to -38°C (-36°F) outside Inuvik when an emergency call came in. A group of workers travelling on the Dempster Highway, had gotten their truck stuck in a ditch after dark. One of them had a suspected broken wrist. Two […]
Wilderness First Aid: Treating Common Outdoor Injuries Without a Kit
How Field-Tested Improvisation Saved Lives—and What Every Backcountry Traveler Must Know Wilderness first aid risk management saved a life one afternoon when a backcountry emergency turned critical. What began as a routine backcountry navigation exercise quickly turned into a real-world test of wilderness first aid risk management. Initially, the skies were clear, the weather stable, […]
How to Build a Shelter with Only Natural Materials—A Step-by-Step Guide
A Corporate Executive’s Systematic Approach to Primitive Wilderness Shelter Building My Wake-Up Call in the Backcountry Learning how to build a shelter with natural materials fundamentally changed my approach to wilderness survival. For instance, in my former corporate life, I spent years analyzing risk matrices, reviewing structural stability reports, and evaluating million-dollar operational decisions based […]
Christmas Survival Secrets: A Wilderness Guide from Santa’s Backyard
Living at 68° North in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, I’ve learned that being Santa’s unofficial neighbor comes with its own unique set of survival challenges. While the rest of the world is sipping hot cocoa by the fireplace, I’m out here testing whether my eyelashes will freeze together before I can blink twice. Spoiler alert: they absolutely will. But here’s the thing […]
10 Essential Wilderness Survival Skills Every Beginner Must Learn
I never thought I’d need survival skills until I found myself twenty miles deep in the Rockies with a twisted ankle and an oncoming storm. At first, wilderness survival seemed like something only rugged mountaineers or reality TV stars needed. However, there is an undeniable freedom in knowing you can rely on yourself when you’re […]
Long Term Survival Skills: How to Survive and Thrive in the Wild
I have never lived outdoors long-term, but I’ve had a glimpse of what true wilderness survival might feel like. My experience in the Northwest Territories, where the sun disappears for 30 days (there is still daylight) and the sun lingers for only five hours in the depths of winter, gave me a profound appreciation for […]
Top 10 Powerful Fire Starters for Wilderness Survival
The Primal Spark of Survival A Fire-Starting Challenge in the Wild I remember the time I guided a group of German tourists on an overnight canoe trip up the Yukon River in Canada. It had been raining all day, and by the time we reached our campsite, everything was damp. The cold crept in as […]