Women And Wilderness Survival: Could You Survive?

Ben Vitale

It appears that society seems to favor the male population when it comes to survival training. Young boys are encouraged to join the Boy Scouts in order to learn skills that society believes all males should learn. One of those skills is survival training.

Recently a friend of mine’s daughter was convinced by her girl friend to go hiking in the mountains. The proposed hike was supposed to be an afternoon hike that only lasted a few hours. The females were planning on being home by three PM. The actual names of the hikers are irrelevant… I am being intentionally ambiguous, to protect the identity of the young ladies.

Many hours passed by and the young ladies were not able to find the trail that would have brought them back home. The sun set and it was getting cold! They did not have extra clothes or survival reflective blankets. They soon learned that it is not easy to start a fire with materials that are available in the woods. They were not able to start a fire.

Their situation soon became critical, and they began to shiver from the cold! Hypothermia was now a real possibility and threat!  Fortunately the young ladies saw a camp fire in the distance and walked up to that location. A family was comping there and was able to help the females with the supplies they needed. The girls spent the night next to the camp fire. The females arrived safely at home the next day.

The girls brought three items with them, a pocket knife, matches and a compass. That was all they had. This article is not intended to be a survival guide… one must consult a survival expert in order to learn that skill. A camper should carry about 30 survival items in order to have a reasonable chance at survival.

I cannot understand why survival skills are taught primarily to males and not to females. I met a woman who is a Girl Scout leader. We started to talk about survival skills in the girl scouts, and I soon was advised that survival skills were not taught to females in the Girl Scouts. I can’t understand the rationale behind this… a female can get lost in the woods just as easily as a male can! The women told me that she wanted to provide survival training to the girl scouts, but was prohibited from doing so. The reason… Insurance! I was very surprised when the Girl Scout leader told me that many girls want to join the Boy Scouts because of the survival training.

I personally believe that all females should be versed at survival skills just as most men are! I see this as a casual shortcoming of our society. Females are often stereotyped as being delicate! Women are not delicate and are absolutely capable of learning these survival skills!  

Please follow the link below, after you finish reading this article. The link presents some of the survival equipment that is usually carried when in the woods. I also carry one additional item… a pocked map GPS with plenty of spare batteries! Do yourself a big favor and talk to a person who is versed in survival skills! Could you survive?

https://www.wildernesscollege.com/survival-gear-list.html

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