How to not die outside

4 rules from the military's top gear and survival expert

Post summary

• Spending more time in the wilderness is one of the best things you can do for your physical and mental health.

• But you need to be prepared if things turn dangerous.

• We spoke to John Barklow, a Navy wilderness survival and gear savant, about the four most important rules for staying safe outdoors.

• We’ll cover everything from preparation and gear to mindset and nutrition.

Housekeeping

• This post, like all Monday posts, is free to all subscribers. But only Members get full access to all three Two Percent posts, our full archives, and more. Become a Member:

• ICYMI:

  • On Wednesday, we covered the 1-second rule that changes behavior faster than therapy and 5 other lessons from 90 years of behavioral science.

  • Friday’s Gear Not Stuff—related to today’s post—covered two outdoor essentials and top picks for each.

• Shoutout to our partners:

  • Function Health offers 5x deeper insights into your health than typical bloodwork. They’re offering a $100 discount right now. Head to my landing page functionhealth.com/michaeleaster to sign up with your credit applied.

  • Momentous made me feel good about supplements again. They’re trusted by pro sports teams, the U.S. military—and Two Percent. Their Fuel hydration powder is a lifesaver in dangerous situations. Use discount code EASTER for 35% off.

Audio version

The post

The Three-Day Effect is one of the most fascinating ideas I learned while reporting The Comfort Crisis. Spending three or more days in the wilderness each year can be uniquely beneficial for our mental health, focus, creativity, and productivity.

Research shows that three days in the wilderness improves creativity by 50 percent and significantly dropped PTSD symptoms and stress levels in a group of veterans. And the benefits last.

We can, however, still get benefits from much less. Even just five hours monthly in nearby nature—like a state park or surrounding wilderness—increases happiness and decreases depression, according to researchers from Finland.

Which is to say, a lot of good things happen when we head into nature. Especially in the fall, when the weather is crisp and the leaves are turning.

Of course, bad things can also happen.

The wilderness is uncomfortable and unpredictable. You might think you’re going out for a couple of hours, but then a storm catches you off guard. Altitude drains you. You get lost. Also: bears.

Today’s post covers the four essentials of staying safe outdoors from John Barklow, who’s worth listening to. Barklow:

• Developed methods that the U.S. Special Operations Forces use to survive and thrive in austere outdoor environments.

• Created clothing and equipment systems for military missions in extreme conditions.

• Has hunted, skied, and climbed in some of the world’s most remote places.

Here’s a fun story to give you a sense of Barklow’s background.

In the late 1990s, the Navy sent Barklow to Kodiak Island, Alaska, as a one-man think tank developing tactics and gear that SEALs could use to survive in the harshest mountain environments.

Then 9/11 happened. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan and found itself fighting in austere mountain environments. Barklow suddenly became one of the military’s most important minds. His wisdom directly impacted how the U.S. conducted mountain warfare in Afghanistan and the gear systems our soldiers used. And he’s now sharing his wisdom with us and others.

If you want to go deeper, Barklow has a massive deep-dive course on Outdoor Class. It covers planning, staying safe, and surviving epic backcountry tasks.

1. Plan Your Route and Get Your Mind Right

Section summary

Lay the groundwork so you don’t get lost—but also get your mind right, so if you do get lost, you’re comfortable spending a night outdoors.

The details

First, tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to return. That simple act prevents many problems from turning deadly.

Then make sure your phone is fully charged and that you’ve downloaded maps of the area (they won’t work without signal otherwise). From there, test your phone’s satellite text capabilities and remember to keep the phone on Airplane mode to preserve battery.

This lays the groundwork for success. But I always remember a saying among Green Berets: Never get lost; always look cool; if you get lost, look cool.

Even the best get lost and have things go wrong. GPS can fail¹. Batteries die, and signals get blocked by mountains and canyons. Storms can also roll in and make it impossible to tell where you are. You can roll an ankle and need help.

If you do get in a dangerous situation, the best thing to do is often nothing at all.

Besides having the right gear (see the next point), you also need the right mindset. People often make dumb decisions because they’re afraid of spending a night alone outdoors.

“Be mentally prepared to spend 24 hours away from your vehicle,” Barklow said. In a bad situation, the safest move is often to hunker down under a tree.

The Pinedale, Wyoming Search and Rescue, which handles all search and rescue operations for the Wind River mountains, told Barklow that most of their cases involve people who planned to be out for a day but had something go wrong as the sun was setting. “These people weren’t prepared to spend the night, so they hit the SOS button on their GPS unit,” said Barklow. “And it’s entirely preventable—and expensive.”

“It’s going to be super uncomfortable overnight,” said Barklow. “But it’s not going to be death-defying. And in the morning, when things clear, you can get up and get out, and you’ll have a hell of a great story to tell.”

2. Stay Dry and Warm

Section summary

Always bring a rain jacket and a puffy jacket. They’re your first line of defense against the weather.

The details

People worry too much about bears and not enough about the weather. Statistically, the weather’s what’ll kill you.

“The vast majority of search and rescue cases are from exposure to the elements,” said Barklow. “People often forget that the weather changes as the altitude and day changes.”

As Two Percent reader and Idaho resident

Marshall R Peterson

noted on Friday’s post, “weather forecasts are interesting and useful, but not to be depended upon. Mountains have microclimates; anything goes.”

Staying dry when the weather turns is critical. Water is denser than air, so it sucks heat away from your body faster. When you’re wet, the water envelopes you and sticks to you, acting like a vacuum that sucks away your body heat and can drop your core temperature to dangerous levels.

“You can’t control the weather, but you can control being prepared should weather come in,” said Barklow.

Always pack two essentials: A rain jacket and a puffy insulated jacket. The two work as a system.

• The rain shell keeps you from getting wet and blocks wind.

• The puffy jacket traps your body heat.

In a cold and wet situation, put on the puffy jacket, then throw the rain jacket over that. Your base layer should also be made of wool or synthetic material, not cotton—cotton becomes cold when wet, increasing your risk of hypothermia.

“The rain shell and puffy don’t take up a lot of room, and they don’t cost a lot,” said Barklow. “If an unplanned emergency happens, you’ll be able to ride out a two- or three-hour storm and return with a good story as opposed to needing to call search and rescue, which is a giant financial burden.”

Of course, you’ll also want ample water and a Bic lighter. And if you’re in an area known for wicked storms, perhaps even an ultralight tarp that can work as a shelter.

• In Friday’s Gear Not Stuff, we covered my favorite rain shell and puffy jacket, plus budget options for each. Read the post here.

3. Use the STOP Protocol

Section summary

Remain calm and don’t make impulsive decisions when danger strikes.

The details

The US Forest Service says, “Panic is the greatest enemy.”

The moment people realize they’re in a sketchy situation like a bad storm, their fight-or-flight lizard brain kicks in. People catastrophize and make rash decisions.

“The worst thing that can happen is to think, ‘I just gotta get back to the car.’ But the car might be four or five miles away,” said Barklow. “You often compound the problem. Along the way to the car, you’ve become hypothermic. If you take a wrong turn through the storm because visibility is low, now you’re hypothermic and lost, which is a real problem. Or you roll an ankle or tweak a knee because the ground is slippery, and now you’re stuck and hypothermic. Or you walk off a cliff in the dark or fog. This happens more often than you’d think.”

When stress rises, become analytical. The Forest Service recommends what they call the STOP Protocol: Stop, Think, Observe, and Plan.

Stop moving, consider your situation and surroundings, and then devise a plan that takes the long view rather than just trying to escape an uncomfortable situation.

“It’s about trying to always improve your situation,” said Barklow. Most of the time, improvement comes from being willing to put yourself in the safest position and ride things out.

“Many bad storms are very fleeting. They’re an hour or two,” said Barklow. “Stay calm. Hang out. You’ll be fine.” (Note that if you’re above the treeline and there isn’t shelter, you should get below the treeline.)

4. Don’t Bonk

In short

Being exhausted gives you less room for error.

The details

Research dating back decades shows that people make worse decisions the more tired and underfed they are. Reaction times drop, and spatial awareness plummets.

If you’re exercising outdoors, the “point” is to physically push yourself. But in the wilderness, you always want some gas left in the tank.

“You don’t want to become so physically depleted that if a problem happens, you’re so far into the metaphorical black hole that you don’t have the reserves to get yourself out,” Barklow said. “The more physically and nutritionally depleted you are, the closer you’re cutting your margin of safety if something bad were to happen.”

This isn’t just for your safety—being fresh allows you to help others. “If the person you’re with gets injured or gets altitude sickness, you want to be ready enough to help get them down the mountain,” said Barklow.

This applies to the best of us. Barklow told me a story about hunting with the fittest and best navigators he knows. They’d had a successful mountain goat hunt that ran longer than they anticipated and were hammering in the dark to make it back to camp.

He said, “These guys were really experienced, but they weren’t keeping up with nutrition and hydration. And my friend who’s the absolute best navigator I know—he’s like a savant—he’s looking at our map in the dark and he looks at me and says, ‘I have no idea where we are … I can’t think straight right now.’ Luckily, I had an idea of where we were.”

If you plan to be out for a couple of hours, carry some food just in case. Bring enough water and know where you can access water. Stop every hour or so.

“What’s better than hiking, say, six hours straight, is stopping every hour and taking a ten-minute break,” Barklow explained. “Hydrate, eat something, study your map so you know where you are, put on a puffy jacket to dry out your layers, look at your surroundings, and enjoy where you are.”

I found this point to be valid while hiking the Hayduke Trail. We were far less likely to make errors when we stopped to eat and drink every few hours.

Have fun, don’t die out there.

-Michael

1. A map and compass don’t fail—but they require knowledge on how to use them. If you’re shaky on using them, keep them as backup and default to GPS.