These Camping Must-Haves Could Save Your Life, According To Survivalists

Safety and emergency preparedness are typically two notions that most folks already take into consideration when it comes to camping and outdoor adventures. That still doesn’t mean it’s not important to take stock of what’s in your current stash of gear, or, if you’re a wilderness newbie, to learn what essentials to take.

Cody Lundin is an Arizona-based survival instructor who teaches primitive living skills and urban preparedness. He said that the specific essential gear that a person takes outdoors is really based upon “their bioregion, the intention of the trip, personal skill level and experience.”

“In other words, if I head into the mountains with spruce and fir trees, or if I go into one of our four North American deserts, the gear that I carry may change to adapt to that specific landscape,” he said, adding that winter survival and desert survival are opposite outdoor temperature extremes that can kill the unprepared hiker or camper.

Regardless, Lundin said that there are items that have been carried in the wilderness for thousands of years by native peoples that are just as valid today in a modern outdoor survival kit.

So now that you’ve already got your tent, your sleeping bag is packed and the s’mores provisions are locked and loaded, consider the following list of items that Ludin and other wilderness experts say they always bring out into field — — plus guidance on how to make your next camping trip safe and fun.