If you could only take 3 items

[RustyIron]

A Coldsteel Trailmaster in 3V. Coldsteel make better fixed blades.
Running shoes
A clown mask

…If I could choose a 4th additional bonus item then pants.

DUDE! You're cracking me up.
Now we know where you got the nickname, "Flash."


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[bearfacedkiller]

I’ve spent a lot of time in the backcountry. I have practiced wilderness skills for years. I can forage, I can build shelters and I can start friction fires. That’s all just a hobby I do for fun.

I can also walk 20 miles pretty easily. If I was to get separated from my gear out in the deep woods I’m happy with two thing I always have on me, a flashlight and a cell phone, because I’m gonna be walking outta there.

You should always know in which direction the closest road is and all you have to do is head that way. If that won’t work just remember that walking downhill always leads to water and water always leads to people.

I don’t need food or water because I ain’t gonna be out there for that long.

[Aladinsane]

I’ve spent a lot of time in the backcountry. I have practiced wilderness skills for years. I can forage, I can build shelters and I can start friction fires. That’s all just a hobby I do for fun.

I can also walk 20 miles pretty easily. If I was to get separated from my gear out in the deep woods I’m happy with two thing I always have on me, a flashlight and a cell phone, because I’m gonna be walking outta there.

You should always know in which direction the closest road is and all you have to do is head that way. If that won’t work just remember that walking downhill always leads to water and water always leads to people.

I don’t need food or water because I ain’t gonna be out there for that long.

I’m curious that a knife is not on your list. It seems that humans are pretty limited without a way to cut?

[bearfacedkiller]

I’ve spent a lot of time in the backcountry. I have practiced wilderness skills for years. I can forage, I can build shelters and I can start friction fires. That’s all just a hobby I do for fun.

I can also walk 20 miles pretty easily. If I was to get separated from my gear out in the deep woods I’m happy with two thing I always have on me, a flashlight and a cell phone, because I’m gonna be walking outta there.

You should always know in which direction the closest road is and all you have to do is head that way. If that won’t work just remember that walking downhill always leads to water and water always leads to people.

I don’t need food or water because I ain’t gonna be out there for that long.

I’m curious that a knife is not on your list. It seems that humans are pretty limited without a way to cut?

I always have a knife on me. I just think that in this scenario (Im in the deep woods and I’ve been separated from my pack) I’m not trying to build a shelter or any other survival stuff. I’m not even planning on spending the night. I’m just gonna put one foot in front of the other until I either hit a road or get cell service, even if that involves walking at night. If I do find myself in a scenario where I have to hunker down and start a fire there is enough wood laying on the ground around here to keep a fire going. Also, we have an abundance of birch trees which effortlessly give you the greatest tinder on earth. The stuff burns like cardboard soaked in kerosene and you don’t need a knife to gather it.


If this is a survival scenario and I am planning to stay out and survive with minimal gear just to test myself then I would take a hatchet, a Bic lighter and a tarp. A good hatchet can do almost everything a knife can do plus a whole lot more. A Bic lighter is surprisingly reliable as long as you keep it dry. Building a shelter is 1000x easier with even a small tarp.

[u.w.]

Hmmm....
a super-fast "from the hip":

Brightly colored poncho
Way to make water safe to drink (e.g. bleach, iodine, filter)
Compass

u.w.

[Bolster]

With all these ideas, I'm surprised no one carries a signal mirror....it's about 20 miles, but the signal was bright and unmistakable. I should get a nice signal mirror to play with.

I buff my bald head to a high shine before heading out on the trail. If I need to signal an airplane, I remove my hat. By nodding my head to the beat of various rock songs, I can do a pretty good job of sending rudimentary morse code.

Bonus: Backpacker girls stop and check their hair and makeup when nearby.

[Bolster]

I don’t need food or water because I ain’t gonna be out there for that long.

I think this is a great example of adaptation to your environment. Here in the eastern California desert, water would be #1 on my list. I've run out of water on hikes and it's spooky when the temp is over 100F; one time I had a filter failure and would have gladly traded my knife for a liter of water. Likewise, Aladin's priority of a whistle makes sense in dense forest. For Aicola of the Cold North, it's shelter. For Rusty, it's a bottle of beer. Etc.

Logical that we'll see different lists of three, depending on environment. For me it's (1) Water, (2) GPS/map/phone/flashlight/compass, (3) prescription glasses. (I assume clothes and shoes.) Yes I'd like a knife, but it's not in my top three.

OTOH, I usually have a knife on me, or two (if counting the D'fly)...so, like Bear, the chances of having at least one in an emergency situation are already high.

[RustyIron]

double post

[RustyIron]

For Rusty, it's a bottle of beer. Etc.

What kind of fool do you think I am??? First of all, bottles are heavy and they can break. Many top tier breweries package their product in aluminum cans. It's MUCH better for outdoor adventures. And ONE beer? That's just nonsense.

I was thinking the same thing about different environments, but I was going to remain silent because I'm a gentleman. On the other hand, I would feel really bad if I didn't speak up and something unfortunate happened. I live exactly 25 miles due east of Downtown Los Angeles. One might assume that our wilderness is a city park filled with hobos. While that might be true, one need only venture a few short miles to get into the big hills, the 10,000 foot kind. Or a couple miles more to get into the land of horny toads and cactus. For many months out of the year, if you're out there and you don't have water, you have a big problem. Seriously. Every year, people die because they get lost for a day or two and have no water. In the other parts of the year, it gets cold--really cold. Cold brings snow, snow brings ice. Every year, people freeze or plummet to their deaths. Sometimes they're never found. The terrain is too rugged. Being an outdoorsman is serious business. If you can only take three items, you're better off staying home and watching reruns of I Love Lucy.

[ChrisinHove]

Here in the crowded south of England …

Good Pub Guide, mobile-phone, umbrella.

[bearfacedkiller]

Where I live is almost a temperate hardwood rainforest. We average 46 inches of precipitation in Vermont each year with some locations being much higher. I have to log rainfall at work and we got 6.02 inches in October. I would have to go back and look but I think we had about 60 inches in 2024 where I work.

I would certainly want to have water with me but I think I could get by for a day or two without it no problem.

[Bolster]

...One might assume that our wilderness is a city park filled with hobos. While that might be true....

I regret to inform you the "park" part peters out as you head east, but the hobos are dense packed all the way out to my environs, which is even further easterly of your upscale park location. And they appear to continue east as far as my eye can see. They all have an array of defense mechanisms: odor, appearance, knives, offensive political opinions, some of them even have guns. (And of course, it goes without saying, they all have cell phones!)

Which brings us to the irony that I'm much more keen to carry a knife in my neighborhood, than I am in the great outdoors. Chances of needing it for SD are much higher, locally.

[RustyIron]

we got 6.02 inches in October. I would have to go back and look but I think we had about 60 inches in 2024

Yikes. Make one of my three items an inflatable raft. I just got back from a trip to the rural Northeast. I had a car and a pocket full of cash, so survival wasn't going to be a big issue. But I was clearly out of my element.

[RustyIron]

Which brings us to the irony that I'm much more keen to carry a knife in my neighborhood, than I am in the great outdoors. Chances of needing it for SD are much higher, locally.

So your three items are...
crack pipe, lighter, rock?

When I'm riding in the wilderness, I might have a Ladybug, water, multitool, and Clif Bar. But that's cheating because it's four items. Did you see this video from Sunday? I often ride through Whiting on my way into the Santa Anas. The trail they're on is the direct route to get up to the top. Everyone knows there's mountain lions there.

[Bolster]

So your three items are...
crack pipe, lighter, rock?

LOL -- yes, exactly!!

No, had not seen the mountain lion video...chilling...Hmm, that Buffalo Bore 180 grain Heavy Outdoorsman is looking like a good add to the hiking kit...

[R100]

Easy - knife, lighter, .22 rifle. Served me well for two and half weeks once, many years ago.

Dan

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Easy - knife, lighter, .22 rifle. Served me well for two and half weeks once, many years ago.

Dan

Great choice.

Infact, and this is on this topic, I would like your opinion and that of all of you on this discussion, in response to what a friend of mine and fellow knife guy who also hunts and fishes said.

He told me that:

1 While there is a place for every rifle and caliber ammunition, alot of folks underestimate the versatility of a well nade .22 rifle for hunting and survival. I told him I consider the Bolt Action Mauser type family of rifles great, he said large and small game are regularly taken with a .22.

2 He said if one knows what to do and where to look, there are edible plants and animals and even funguses and lichens in almost every environment.
I said what about bone dry deserts? He said even there you can find reptiles, insects, and even birds if you know where to look, and, some deserts have water holes where small fish live.

[u.w.]

#1 = True. Very, Very True

&

#2 = Also true, BUT: finding something, and finding enough to sustain you are two very, very different things.

u.w.

[R100]

Easy - knife, lighter, .22 rifle. Served me well for two and half weeks once, many years ago.

Dan

Great choice.

Infact, and this is on this topic, I would like your opinion and that of all of you on this discussion, in response to what a friend of mine and fellow knife guy who also hunts and fishes said.

He told me that:

1 While there is a place for every rifle and caliber ammunition, alot of folks underestimate the versatility of a well nade .22 rifle for hunting and survival. I told him I consider the Bolt Action Mauser type family of rifles great, he said large and small game are regularly taken with a .22.

2 He said if one knows what to do and where to look, there are edible plants and animals and even funguses and lichens in almost every environment.
I said what about bone dry deserts? He said even there you can find reptiles, insects, and even birds if you know where to look, and, some deserts have water holes where small fish live.

A good bolt action .22 would be best but the one I had during my longest stint of living off the land was one of those terrible old AR7s that takes apart and stores in the stock. Quite inaccurate so you have to get close to be sure of a kill shot but when you are stranded for a couple of weeks you have plenty of time for stalking your prey.

That time I was in a desert environment - the Strzelecki Desert in central Australia. I ate rabbits, pigeons, lizards and a snake and always had plenty of food. Australian deserts are quite rich in life though and I am very familiar with that environment. Also, I was there during a major rain event - which is how I came to be stranded for two and a half weeks. It was all part of a much longer saga where I left home in my truck on a 10 day trip and eventually got home 3 months later. I went through plenty of .22 ammo and ate a lot of different creatures during that time.

Dan

[Scandi Grind]

It was all part of a much longer saga where I left home in my truck on a 10 day trip and eventually got home 3 months later. I went through plenty of .22 ammo and ate a lot of different creatures during that time.

Dan

Wow, that sounds like a story worth a topic to tell. I'll get my popcorn.