Wilderness Survival Priority 7: Food

Yes, worrying about food is the last thing on the list in any wilderness survival situation

It's not that you need not worry about food. It is that food is the least of your worries. Being hungry is no fun, but it won't kill you. Not for 2-4 weeks, at least.

You can go a week or two without food if necesary—and your precious energies are far better used securing steps 1-6 (first aid, shelter, fire, signaling, and water) than in trying to get food (catching fish or animals, gathering edible plants).

Supposedly, you have packed enough food to last your entire trip, plus trail snacks, plus an emergency ration.

If you are sitting around waiting to be rescued and not continuing to hike, you will be burning far fewer calories, which means that store of food can be stretched to last a whole lot longer.

(Also, this is 116, so you've probably packed way too much food anyway. You do know most people do not have both a peanut-buttter-and-jelly sandwich AND a cheese and salami sandwich for lunch?)

Even a weekend backpacking trip's-worth of food should last you a week if rationed wisely. No need to start rooting around for nuts and berries or attempting to trap animals just yet. (That was written in jest, of course. You should never eat wild berries, or mushrooms for that matter. Many are poisonous. OK, that time on the Black Forest Trail didn't count; we knew for a fact those were blueberries.)

Related pages

• The 7 wilderness survival priorities
• The 10 essentials
• Wilderness first aid
• Packing lists
• Leave No Trace principals
• Useful links (including where to get gear)
• Troop calendar (upcoming trips)
• The trips program