In today’s age of GPS devices, ultralight gear, and prepackaged meals, outdoor adventures are more accessible than ever. But modern convenience often leads us to forget timeless skills that were once essential for survival in the wilderness. These skills not only enhance your self-reliance but also deepen your connection with nature and prepare you for unexpected situations.
Here are 18 classic outdoor skills every outdoor enthusiast should re-learn, along with tips for getting started.
Free: Complete Colorado 14ers Planner
Every peak. Every trailhead. Every detail: in one spreadsheet.
- All 58 peaks ranked beginner to expert
- Safety notes and seasonal windows for each
- Route difficulty, mileage, and prep tips
Table of Contents
1. Take and Follow a Bearing
A compass is more than just an outdated gadget. It’s a lifesaving tool when your GPS fails or your phone dies. Learning to take and follow a bearing ensures you can navigate safely, even in unfamiliar terrain.
Getting Started: Start with a quality baseplate compass. Learn the parts of the compass (needle, housing, and direction of travel arrow) and practice taking a bearing from a map. Align the edge of the compass with your desired path on the map, rotate the housing until the orienting lines match the map’s north, and then follow the direction of travel arrow. Practice in open areas like parks before heading into the wilderness.
2. Read a Topographic Map
Understanding contour lines, elevation changes, and map scales allows you to visualize the landscape ahead. With this skill, you can plan efficient routes, anticipate challenges, and avoid hazards like steep cliffs or water crossings.
Getting Started: Obtain a topographic map of a familiar area. Study the legend to understand symbols and contour intervals. Use your finger or a pencil to trace a potential route, noting elevation changes and features like rivers or peaks. As you hike, compare the map to the actual terrain to improve your ability to match features.
Free: Complete Colorado 14ers Planner
Every peak. Every trailhead. Every detail: in one spreadsheet.
- All 58 peaks ranked beginner to expert
- Safety notes and seasonal windows for each
- Route difficulty, mileage, and prep tips
3. Navigate Using Celestial Bodies
Before GPS or topographic maps existed, humans relied on the sun, stars, and moon for navigation. Learning to locate the North Star or use the sun’s position to determine direction can keep you oriented when all else fails.
Getting Started: To find the North Star, locate the Big Dipper constellation. The two stars at the edge of its “bowl” point directly to the North Star, which lies at the end of the Little Dipper’s handle. During the day, create a shadow stick by planting a stick in the ground and marking the tip of its shadow every 15 minutes. The shadow’s movement will reveal east to west.
4. Route-find in Challenging Terrain
Historically, most trails weren’t always well-marked. Even famous routes like the Oregon Trail relied mostly on large landmarks, leaving the specific path up to individual groups to determine. That’s often still the case in the mountains, where things get worse when conditions like fog or snow obscure your path. Learning to recognize natural landmarks, ridgelines, and valleys ensures you stay on track, even in tricky environments.
Getting Started: Begin by identifying large, obvious landmarks like peaks, rivers, or prominent trees. Pair these observations with a map and compass to track your position. In foggy or snowy conditions, mark your trail with small cairns (rock piles) or biodegradable markers to backtrack safely.
5. Read the Weather and Interpret Clouds
Nature often signals upcoming weather changes. Recognizing cloud formations, wind shifts, and drops in temperature can help you predict storms and avoid dangerous conditions, especially in high-altitude environments.
Getting Started: Learn basic cloud types: cumulonimbus clouds signal storms, while cirrus clouds suggest fair weather. Watch for sudden temperature drops or increasing wind, which often precede storms. Pair your observations with tools like a portable barometer or weather app.
6. Start a Fire Without Matches or a Lighter
Fire is essential for warmth, cooking, and signaling in emergencies. Mastering techniques like using flint and steel, or even a bow drill, ensures you can build a fire when modern tools aren’t available.
Getting Started: Gather tinder (dry grass, cotton balls, or bark shavings), kindling (twigs), and fuel wood (larger logs). Practice striking sparks with flint and steel onto the tinder. Gradually add kindling and fuel, ensuring airflow for combustion. For bow drills, carve a spindle and fireboard, and practice creating friction to produce an ember.
Free: Complete Colorado 14ers Planner
Every peak. Every trailhead. Every detail: in one spreadsheet.
- All 58 peaks ranked beginner to expert
- Safety notes and seasonal windows for each
- Route difficulty, mileage, and prep tips
7. Pick, Prepare, and Cut Firewood
Selecting the right wood and preparing it properly ensures an efficient, long-lasting fire. Skills like splitting wood with a knife and finding dry tinder in wet conditions can mean the difference between warmth and discomfort.
Getting Started: Search for dry, dead wood (snapped branches are ideal). Use a fixed-blade knife to baton wood into smaller pieces by striking the blade’s back with another piece of wood. Practice shaving feather sticks by carving thin curls into a dry branch, which will ignite easily.
8. Build a Shelter with Natural Materials
In a survival situation, knowing how to build a shelter from branches, leaves, and other natural materials can protect you from wind, rain, and cold. This skill is especially useful if you’re stranded without a tent.
Getting Started: Practice building a lean-to by propping long branches against a sturdy base (like a fallen tree or large rock). Cover the structure with smaller branches, leaves, or grass for insulation. Test its stability and protection by sitting inside during light rain.
9. Set Up an Improvised Tarp Shelter
Tarps are lightweight and versatile, but their effectiveness depends on how you set them up. Learn configurations like the lean-to or A-frame to create a shelter that provides protection in a variety of conditions.
Getting Started: Carry a tarp and paracord in your pack. Use nearby trees or trekking poles as supports, and tie adjustable knots like the taut-line hitch to secure your setup. Experiment with angles and tension to create a stable structure.
10. Forage for Edible Plants and Mushrooms
Identifying edible plants like wild berries, greens, mushrooms, and roots can provide emergency sustenance and reduce reliance on carried food. Just be sure to learn what’s safe and what’s poisonous before you experiment and start with easily identifiable plans with few dangerous look-alikes.
Getting Started: Consult regional field guides to learn about edible plants and their seasons. Focus on easily identifiable species like dandelions, cattails, or blackberries. Always cross-reference guides and avoid plants with uncertain identification.
Free: Complete Colorado 14ers Planner
Every peak. Every trailhead. Every detail: in one spreadsheet.
- All 58 peaks ranked beginner to expert
- Safety notes and seasonal windows for each
- Route difficulty, mileage, and prep tips
11. Sharpen Your Knife’s Blade
Keeping your blade sharp isn’t about prestige or even effectiveness. A dull blade is far more dangerous than a sharp one. Keeping is sharp helps keep it safe. Using a whetstone or sharpening tool also ensures your knife stays efficient for tasks like cutting rope, preparing food, or carving wood.
Getting Started: Use a whetstone with both coarse and fine grit. Wet the stone, hold the blade at a 20-degree angle, and draw it across the stone in smooth strokes. Alternate sides to maintain balance, and finish with fine-grit polishing.
12. Improvise Audible or Visual Signals
If you’re lost or in distress, signaling for help is vital. Reflective surfaces, whistles, smoke signals, or even ground markers can attract rescuers to your location.
Getting Started: Pack a signaling mirror and whistle. Practice aiming the mirror at a distant target, such as a tree or person. For ground signals, create an “X” using branches or rocks in a clearing. You can also use your headlamp or phone light (if you see rescuers nearby). You can also try making contact with them using a two-way radio.
13. Tie Proper Knots and Hitches
Knots and hitches like the bowline, taut-line hitch, clove hitch, and square knot are invaluable for securing gear, setting up shelters, or assisting in rescue situations. They’re pretty simple to learn but endlessly useful in the wild (and at home too!).
Getting Started: Use a length of paracord to practice. Focus on one knot at a time, starting with the bowline for creating loops, the taut-line hitch for adjustable tension, and the square knot for joining ropes securely. Climbers will benefit from learning the figure eight knot and double figure eight knot.
14. Cook a Meal on an Open Fire
Cooking without a stove is an art. Understanding how to manage fire temperature, use rocks or grills, and properly position cookware ensures you can prepare a satisfying meal even without modern conveniences.
Getting Started: Build a small cooking fire with a flat bed of coals. Use rocks or a lightweight grill to balance cookware. Start with simple tasks like boiling water or roasting vegetables, and work up to more complex recipes.
Free: Complete Colorado 14ers Planner
Every peak. Every trailhead. Every detail: in one spreadsheet.
- All 58 peaks ranked beginner to expert
- Safety notes and seasonal windows for each
- Route difficulty, mileage, and prep tips
15. Sew Torn Clothing or Gear
When gear breaks or clothing tears, it can compromise your comfort and safety. Carrying a needle and thread and learning basic sewing skills allow you to make field repairs and extend the life of your equipment.
Getting Started: Practice sewing on old fabrics with a strong needle and heavy-duty thread like waxed nylon. Experiment with stitching thicker materials like straps or tent fabric using a thimble for extra pressure.
16. Track Animals and Wildlife
Animal tracks can tell you about nearby water sources, food, or potential dangers. Recognizing patterns and signs helps you stay aware of your surroundings and connect more deeply with the ecosystem.
Getting Started: Study a guide to local animal tracks and practice identifying prints in mud or snow. Look for additional signs like scat, claw marks, or feeding areas.
17. Splint Injured Legs and Arms
Injuries can happen unexpectedly in the wilderness. Knowing how to use sticks, cordage, or even clothing to create a splint stabilizes the injured area and prepares for evacuation to medical care.
Getting Started: Take a wilderness first aid course. Practice splinting by using trekking poles or straight branches as supports, securing them with bandanas or strips of fabric.
18. Cache Food and Supplies
Whether you’re in bear country or on an extended expedition, knowing how to properly store food and supplies away from wildlife ensures you stay safe and keep animals wild.
Getting Started: Use the PCT method for hanging a bear bag. Tie a rock to your rope and toss it over a high branch, then suspend your food bag at least 12 feet off the ground and 6 feet away from the tree trunk.
Free: Complete Colorado 14ers Planner
Every peak. Every trailhead. Every detail: in one spreadsheet.
- All 58 peaks ranked beginner to expert
- Safety notes and seasonal windows for each
- Route difficulty, mileage, and prep tips
Conclusion: 18 Historic Skills Worth Re-Learning
These 18 forgotten skills remain relevant because they empower outdoor enthusiasts to handle challenges without relying solely on modern technology. By learning or revisiting these techniques, you’ll be better prepared, more confident, and able to enjoy the outdoors more responsibly. Best of luck in your outdoor adventures and safe travels on the trail!
Additional Resources
- Books: Bushcraft 101 by Dave Canterbury, The Art of Outdoor Living by Cliff Jacobson
- Articles: Locating Your Position on a Map Without GPS, Wilderness Survival for 14ers: 11 Tips
- Courses: Wilderness First Aid Certification, Backcountry Navigation 101 Course
- Other Resources: Leave No Trace (LNT.org), The Next Summit Resource Hub
