I made some of these mistakes when I was young and inexperienced, and I made some of the mistakes when I was older and should have known better.
I was too embarrassed to confess these to my prepping friends because I consider myself an experienced outdoors guy.
My mistakes ranged from underestimating the strength of a shallow river to thinking I could scramble up the smooth slope of a ravine.
I was lucky enough to learn from my mistakes and become a better outdoorsman, but the experience was not without some embarrassment.
Stay On The Trail – No Matter What
Hiking is a great way to get outdoors, enjoy nature, and practice your skills but it can also be dangerous if you’re unprepared or don’t follow the rules.
Once I made the mistake of veering off the trail while hiking in an unfamiliar area.
I had a topographical map and wanted to see some off-trail terrain.
I figured I could get back onto the path later that afternoon near the campsite.
But the terrain was more difficult than I expected, forcing me to backtrack.
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I then doubled down on my first mistake by trying to take another shortcut I thought I could read on the map.
I spent two days wandering through the wilderness, trying to get back to the trail. After a while I was exhausted, semi-dehydrated, and starting to become panicked.
Eventually I made it back onto the trail by joining up where I had left the path in the first place, but it was a frightening and stressful experience that taught me a valuable lesson.
Unless you are familiar with the terrain, stay on the trail!
Crossing Water And Waterproof Bags
It was a hot summer’s day, and I was hiking through a local nature reserve. It was the perfect day to be out in nature.
My path took me across a wide but shallow river with a fast flowing current.
There was a hanging bridge a few miles downstream where I needed to cross, but I could see the trail on the opposite side of the river and thought to spare my weary legs.
Related: 5 Wilderness Survival “Rules” That Are Actually Myths
I figured I could easily cross it without any trouble. I stepped into the river, and though it felt too unsafe, I thought I was overreacting.
Before I knew it, I was swept along by the water. I grabbed onto a nearby tree branch and clung on for dear life.
Eventually I managed to make it back to shore, but all my gear was soaked through and through. I underestimated the river’s strength and had to walk for hours in damp clothes.
This made for a very uncomfortable and dangerous journey I will never forget.
You Are Not A Monkey – Don’t Act Like One
I was on a hiking trip in the mountains and had decided to take a detour down a ravine. I was familiar with the area and wanted to try a route I had seen before but never had time to explore.
The route took me up a dry ravine with many smooth rocks. I reached a point where I had to turn back or climb up a twenty feet high, smooth rock-face that didn’t look dangerous.
I proceeded to climb up the smooth and slick wall of the ravine.
To my shock and dismay, I found myself stuck halfway up. Unable to move up or down, and I became quite panicked.
After a few long moments of deliberation, I realized that the only way to escape my predicament was to jettison my backpack.
⇒ 3 Naive Mistakes You’re Making In A Crisis That Put You At Risk
I reluctantly detached my backpack from my body and watched in dismay as it slid down the ravine and out of sight. I was able to climb to safety, but with my heart pounding and my palms sweaty from fear.
Then I had to walk a long way around back to the ravine to retrieve my backpack. Thankfully, my pack was still intact when I reached it.
I had learned my lesson and from then onwards, I never scramble up rocks unless equipped and with experienced climbers in my group.
The Golden Rule Of The Fires – Never Leave A Fire Unattended
I was camping in the wilderness and decided to make a campfire for the night.
I made sure to make the fire a safe distance away from anything that could catch fire.
And I also cleared away any debris that could catch fire.
I was sure the fire was a safe size, but from exhaustion, I fell asleep next to it without extinguishing the fire.
The night was cool and I fell asleep next to the fire with my boots still on. In the middle of the night, I woke with a jolt, and it felt like my foot was on fire.
I sat up and noticed that the sole of one of my boots was smoldering. I jumped up and quickly stamped out the fire on the sole of the boot.
Thankfully my foot wasn’t burned but the runner sole of the boot was hard and deformed. I had to finish the hike with one shoe coming apart as I walked.
When we think about what could go wrong in a survival situation, we always tend to think about gear and equipment first. But, as I have learnt, sometimes it’s basic common sense that could cause your downfall.
Stick to the basics. Don’t think you can outwit the common sense advice that all children are taught as the basic rules of camping and hiking.
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Ah golden rules
There’s nothing like the feeling you get when you wander off course, and when you get to a point where you can get your bearings…. you are nowhere near where you “knew” you were.
Amazing how the surroundings can look the same and different all at the same time…
I don’t even keep an overnight fire in my heater at home because as sure as I do it will start smoking. I burn a morning and evening fire that will burn out about the time I go to sleep. Just to take off the chill or to cook a meal. I like to get to know an area well. Then I forage off trails for edibles without fear of getting lost. I like a day in an area where I’ll camp to learn the trails, then near the trails before venturing far off trail. By then I know the lay of the l and better. I often go to live off the land and stream or lake fishing. Only taking necessities for the weather and what I’ll find to eat there. I like to learn new areas with new to me edibles. I have books now for different climates to polish up my foraging skills whoever I go. I even bought a hugh textbook from a college class on native used plants for food and medicines. It names areas, Tribes, plants, and methods of use. Interesting how different tribes often used the same plants but for very different uses and very different preparation methods.
Welcome back Clergylady, it is good to see you. You have been missed.
Clergylady, could you give the title of the book about native plants from the college course please? Thank you
If the author was “too ashamed” to admit something, they wouldn’t. I’m in grammar police mode; ignore me.
I was a military trained point man and was well versed in map reading, compass navigation, and the sort. On a hiking trip along the Skyline Drive in Virginia, armed with a contour and elevation map like I had been trained on, we missed a trail marker and landed in a near death situation along a waterfall feature of nearly 200 feet. We had nowhere to go but forward which led up a near vertical incline. several hours we fought and scraped to get to the summit where we crossed the stream (the waterfall) and got back on the correct trail. I thought I could not make a simple mistake to misread a map but the more you think you knw the more you don’t.
What the hell are you talking about. Why didn’t you back track
A friend and I were camping and we had a few beers. One of the beers had a hole in the can, so I threw it in the fire (not sure why I didn’t just drink it). I assume the pressure built up in the can, and the pinhole was not large enough to let out the pressure. About 20 minutes later, the fire exploded. Embers were everywhere and my buddy’s tent was ruined with hundreds of pinholes from the embers. It took a good while to make sure all the embers were extinguished. The lesson I learned was – never waste a beer.
Charl – Big or little, we always learn best from our mistakes and everyone, yes everyone makes them. The best way to add value to these learning experiences, is to use them as an opportunity to help others so that they do not make the same mistakes we did. Thats what you did here and that’s worth it’s weight in gold.
You very well have started a forest fire ( if in a wooded area ), not to mention started your clothing on fire or a tinder in the eye. Just lucky this time and hopefully there won’t be a second time!
Beer, soda, etc, anything in an aluminum can. Blows stuff everywhere. Toss in a can of green beans or similar. Sounds like a shotgun goin off and you don’t want to be right next to it! Bout the most dangerous though is hair spray, wd40, or the big boy on the block, automotive starting fluid. Those are friggin bombs with shrapnel. Dangerous! Blew the sides out of a 55gal steel barrel one time with a mostly empty can of hair spray. Cloud of smoke and dust went up, neighbors windows rattled and i was Really lucky not to get an ass tannin over that one, lol.
LOL, great comments, being trained also in map & compass navigation I have been lucky I guess. It seems impossible to really get lost with that training but you don’t find those elevation markers on the ground in front of you and just because when you were standing on that hill orienting your map and compass you thought you had it all figured out, but when you got down off that hill everything suddenly looks unfamiliar. Even then it is not easy sometimes but it is easier than starting down in the valley and trying to wing it. Now with GPS we get lazy and don’t even try to do it old school. I always carry a compass when out in the field because technology is going to let you down at some point.
I did it too. Took a girl, first outdoor date to State Park with large bluff-hill. Arrived about 2pm. Walked trail. Decided to explore off trail and downhill. I didn’t go very far, maybe 50-feet. Walked around. Shadows forming (don’t know why, maybe sun started dropping, maybe clouds forming, maybe hill was blocking son. Don’t know. I thought I had gone too far to get back to trail. Uphill walk seems different than downhill walk in terms of distance. Getting darker and breezy-colder. I tell girl, “I’m embarrassed, I’m lost”. She smirk-smiled. She said, “lets go this way—it ended up being parallel to the trail, still down-hill, and not so far from the parking lot where we ended up. Had I been smarter, I could have brought strips of old white T-shirt to tie to trees at every “sighting distance” (where you can still see it when turning around) (the bread-crumb principle), and with the last strip @ the trail. But no, I was just smart enough to be embarrassingly stupid. She married me anyway, now @ 50 years.
Ur blessed, i can’t get a gal to make it past the 5-7 year mark. I don’t beat em, cheat on em or cuss em, don’t steal from them, i fix all their vehicles, take care of their kids, etc. They say the 3rd time is the charm so maybe that’ll do it. And i cheat on the park hikes, there’s a very nice state park near my place and i’ve hiked all over it ever since i was a rug rat.
I absolutely love the information that I have found on this website. I have been a prepper for the last 12 years. I admit that I am not the best at it, but this site has helped me immensely! Thank you all for the information provided. I am a 65 year old single woman who truly believes that the world is headed for big trouble and I plan to be as prepared as I can be. Thanks again!!
You are correct, it is headed for a “reset” and it won’t be good for the general public i’m afraid. I’m a 58 YO single guy and i’m in the middle of building my first and last home. Just want to get it finished and moved into b4 SHTF.
ran into all those problems ove rthe years. However the boots were on someone elses feet. Took 4 of us to drag him out adding an extra day to our hike. I will amdit to get turnrd sround but never really worried about not finding my proper direction. a Asyou did I always had a topo and a compass. I would practice regulalrly at local parks. before goign out for a longer period.
On the topic of boots, I once camped in sub-freezing conditions and left my boots outside my sleeping area during the night. We had crossed a very shallow stream the day before and the boots where wet and did not dry before nightfall. Learned the hard way that frozen solid boots aren’t all that fun to have to put on first thing in the morning. Same goes for our water containers. We left them out, and they froze solid in the night. Lesson being keep temperature sensitive things close to you in your tent or in your sleeping gear, and try not to get wet in the cold, during the winter, before bed. Dry out first.
I have spent most of my life in the woods either camping, hunting, fishing and working and have gotten turned around twice. Once while working and took the wrong ridge back to my truck. I realized that I took a wrong turn and walked back down the hill to where I knew the terrain and re-evaluated what went wrong. The second time was elk hunting. I was chasing an elk herd and the fog came in and you couldn’t see 5′ in front of you in 2′ of snow. It took me all day and most of the night to get back to camp. Knowing your area and having a map helps.