You are lost in the Swedish wilderness… Now what?
One. Decision time
You’re on a hike in the forest on your nature vacation. After a few hours of walking, the trail gets smaller and narrower. Is this even a path? Have I been here before? By the time you realize that you have no idea where you are, the sun is already lowering behind the trees. You walk around trying to find the path but all these trees look the same. At some point in sinks in. You are lost and your phone has no signal. Now what? You have a decision to make. Are you going to keep walking, or set up camp for the night?
Statistics show that you have the best chance of survival if you stay where you are. That is at least, If you let people know where you are going beforehand. Luckily you were smart and you did. Well, sort of. You told your sister you would go for a one-day hike in National Park X.
Two. Situation check
The next step is to assess the situation. First of all, you want to know if you are okay yourself. How is your physical health? Are you hurt? No, you say to yourself. I’m physically fine, just a little panic. So, you breathe through your nose into your belly to calm down and ground yourself. The sooner you accept the situation, the better you will be able to handle it. It is time to make a plan. Let’s see what you have on you. You open your backpack and see that you have a little water left in your aluminum drinking bottle, you have a cell phone but no signal, a lighter does not work… but you brought a knife. Oh, and you also have your rain jacket.
Three. Prioritize
People can go 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. All of those would suck but at least we don’t have to worry about the air. Hopefully, you don’t have to stay here for more than a couple of days but the negative effects of dehydration kick in way before 3 days. So, water is a priority. There is a lake close by but you’re not sure if the water is drinkable. You could boil the water to make it fit to drink but then you need a fire and your lighter does not work… While you’re sitting there, getting your thoughts in order, the temperature is starting to drop. It will be a cold night. Time to stop overthinking and take action.
Four. Taking action
You decide to use a fallen tree to make a simple A-frame shelter to protect you, and your fire from the wind. You hear the sound of howling wolves in the distance. They would not come anywhere near you, but you really want that fire now. You take your knife and cut off a piece of birch bark. The paper-like outer bark is perfect to start your fire. The lighter is empty but it still gives a spark. You prepare all the stages of fire building to nurture the spark into a flame and then a steady fire. You fill up your aluminum bottle and put it in the fire. You know a tick with a stick to get it out when it has boiled for a couple of minutes. You don’t wait for it to cool down but make a cup of vitamin C-rich pine thee. Hmmm… If I wasn’t lost, this would be kind of nice, you think to yourself.
Five. Planning ahead
The next day, hunger kicks in. You find some trash near the lake indicating that there have been people there before. There must be a path close by but in the forest, you can get lost, just meters from a road. Better to stay put. By now people are looking for you and as long as you keep the fire going with the material to make a smoke signal when a helicopter passes, you have the best chance right there. Time to upgrade your shelter a bit and think of what a great story this will be when you get home. That survival course wasn’t such a bad investment after all! So… what’s for breakfast?