Did you know that nearly 60% of American adults have not practiced what to do in a disaster?
Over the past century, natural disasters have steadily risen in number around the world, and the only way to be prepared for a disaster is to practice how you would survive in that situation.
Outdoor activities and survival situation games are a fun way to practice different types of survival skills, such as finding food, developing patience, and increasing strength and agility.
Keep reading for some outdoor activities and survival skills games that will help YOU to be prepared for the worst!
4 Outdoor Activities to Improve Survival Skills
These are some of the best outdoor activities for improving survival skills in the wilderness! These common activities can all be tweaked to be as intense or as gentle as you want.
1. Camping
For survival enthusiasts, taking a camping trip is a great way to get into the world of wilderness survival. The great thing about camping is that anyone can find or create a camping experience that is tailored to their own level of comfort with wilderness survival and outdoor exposure!
If you are just getting started in learning about survival skills, there are many campgrounds that provide a variety of amenities such as bathrooms, running water, and electrical hookups. This kind of environment is great for people who don't feel comfortable trekking off into the full wilderness just yet.
However, for those who are more advanced in their survival prepping, many U.S. National Parks offer backcountry camping permits. Backcountry camping is a fantastic way to truly get off the beaten track and to put your survival skills to the test. You may think you've packed and carried everything you need, but how will you fare when you are out in the woods and far away from any civilization?
2. Hunting
The ability to find food is one of the most basic survival skills. Hunting is one outdoor activity that gives you the animalistic thrill of tracking down another creature before capturing it, killing it, and cooking it for dinner.
Many people even like to form hunting parties to make the experience more enjoyable. Hunting is a sport that requires a lot of patience and precision, and spending time with friends is a great way to make the time go a little faster.
When hunting, it's important to know all the rules and regulations on hunting in your area. The KleanHunts app is a great app for hunters that helps you stay aware of all the regulations in your current hunting zone as well as current hunting conditions. The app also gives you a way to log your own hunting activity!
3. Fishing
Like hunting, fishing is another way to practice obtaining food when you're in the wilderness. It is another sport that requires patience, as much of the time spent during fishing is spent quietly waiting for the fish to bite.
Depending on your location, you may also want to try spearfishing or fishing with a net. These techniques are a fun way to mix up the experience, while also helping you to learn different strategies for obtaining food in the wilderness.
4. Rock Climbing
This one could technically be turned into an indoor survival situation game if the weather's bad! Rock climbing walls are gaining in popularity around the world, and practicing indoors still helps to build the strength and agility needed for survival skills. You might also just want to practice rock climbing indoors before tackling the real rocks outside.
Once you're ready, however, rock climbing is also a fantastic outdoor activity. It is best to find a guide who can lead you through a safe, well-known area.
4 Survival Skills Games for Fun with Friends and Family
The above activities are all time-tested and loads of fun. However, they can also be time-consuming, as well. They also require specific wilderness environments that may not be accessible to all readers.
If you're looking for some basic survival situation games that can be practiced anywhere, then here are a few fun outdoor survival games to hone those skills!
1. Ten Minute Fire Drill
The basic premise of this game is that you have 10 minutes to build a fire. Use your imagination to spice up the scenario -- perhaps someone in your group has acquired hypothermia, and the only way to save them is by building an acceptable fire within the 10-minute time span.
The time crunch makes it more exciting! Rather than just practicing building a fire, it now becomes a fun challenge.
You can tweak this game however you like, depending on the skills of those involved. Perhaps they receive a box of matches or maybe just one single match. It's up to you and how intense you want the game to be!
2. Camouflage Challenge
This game is basically a survivalist's version of hide-and-seek. The players of the game are given 5 minutes to hide within a certain area, but they must also camouflage themselves in some way! They might cover themselves with leaves or smear mud all over themselves, but whatever they do must be camouflaged.
Whoever is found last is the camouflage winner!
3. Find-A-Meal Challenge
In this game, participants must seek out and harvest wild edible plants in order to create a meal. To up the ante and excitement of the game, you might want to put a 5-10 minute time limit on the finding and gathering of the plants.
The idea is to harvest the largest quantity of edible, nutrient-dense plants within the time frame. Winners should be judged not just on who gathers the most food but also based on who has the highest calorie contents in the plants they gather.
You could even turn it into a taste-testing contest if you wanted to add some extra fun to the game. Just make sure that you are absolutely positive that everything you've gathered is safe to eat!
4. Shelter Skirmish Challenge
Before starting this game, you might want to review various ways to make shelters in the wild. Then, the race is on! Participants of this game race to see who can complete the best shelter with a limited amount of supplies.
The supplies could be pre-determined and passed out equally to all participants of the game, or there could be a big supply stock in which participants must choose which supplies they will take to create their shelter.
Stay Safe and Have Fun!
This list of outdoor activities is designed to help you improve your survival skills and your ability to get through disastrous situations, but there's no reason why you can't enjoy the practice now!
Getting outdoors and bonding with friends and family during these outdoor survival games should be fun and enjoyable, and the more you practice these skills, the calmer you will be should you ever find yourself in a real disastrous situation.
Check back often for more outdoor lifestyle tips and more ways to enjoy the wild!
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