This is also sometimes called a bug out bag, the concept is the same. Those of you who are professional warriors (law enforcement, security personnel, bounty hunters,ect.) know exactly what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, a go bag is the term professonal warriors call a bag that has all of their necessary items and equipment. this reduces the time it requires to gather your gear and go, you simply grab and go, hince the name "go bag". Any one can use this concept. I not only have a professional go bag, but also have an everyday go bag. In my everyday go bag I have items that I utilize on a daily basis, including my wallet and keys, plus extras for emergencies such as two small suvival kits, first aid kit, trauma kit and two pairs of handcuffs. When I am ready to go to town I simply get dressed grab my bag and go. Some items you may wish to carry in your own personal go bag include but are not limited to: survial kit, first aid, wallet, keys, cell phone, paper and pen, medication, small knife, hygiene items, local maps, any other items you need. I include all of these items in my bag plus more, if I ever need something that I don't have it generally gets put in the bag as soon as possible. What you put in your own bag is completely up to you, personalize this like you would any thing else. If you have a go bag during a enviromental survival situation it can make your life a lot less complicated.

 

Whether you use a go bag or not, you should have a small personal survival kit that you can carry with you. Keep this as small as possible and only include necessities. If this is to big and cumbersome you will not carry it and it will do you no good. 

 

Panicking decreases your chance of survival, panic hinders your ability to think straight, decreases your physical ability and wastes excess energy. You must do everything you can to stay calm in a survival situation. Training before you are placed in this situation, can build confidence and comfort in the techniques and elements. During a survival situation, you can keep your mind occupied on the essentials that need to be acomplished.  

 

Practice and become proficient for one technique for each essential element for survival (water, food, shelter, fire, first aid, tools and weapons). You should be very good at one technique to procure each of these basic needs and have one or two back-up techniques that you have a basic understanding of, just in case your primary technique fails for some reason or another. In reality, not everyone is going to practice survival techniques enough to become proficient in all techniques, so focus on the essentials first. Everyone is different, a technique that is easy for one person may not be easy for another, don't assume a technique will work for you just because someone says it works for them. Try different techniques out for yourself and determine the easiest and most effective ones for you.

 

In a survival situation you will be more mentally and physically fatiqued than you normally would, you may not be aware of how fatiqued you are. You need to conserve as much energy as you can, work smarter not harder. If you need to hold something off the ground, it is sometimes easier to tie the ends of three sticks or branches together and make a tripod, instead of trying to pound sticks into hard ground. When making or building something (shelter, tools, weapons, ect.) look for things in your invironment that is already started, rather than starting from scratch. Examples: Trees close togather is easier platfor than drive in the ground, a rock with a flat surface can be used as a hammer or blunt weapon without having to pound and shape it. You your imagination and common sense to utilize what is available in your immediate area, to the best of your abilities. 

 

You do not want to survive a crash, only to be burned to death, suffocate from smoke or bleed to death. Once you regain your senses and relize you are in a survival situation immediatley use all of your senses to do a quick assessment of yourself and surroundings, Take immediate action to make yourself safe. After you have made sure you are out of immediate danger you can take a more thorough evaluation of your situation and act accordingly. 

Scavenge for usefull items.

There will be very useful items in any environment your in, if you look and think outside the box. What would normally be useless in an every day environment, can safe your life in a survival situation. Look not only in the natural environment but also any wreckage you may have available. Vines, weeds and vehicle wires can all be used for binding. Some useful items that can be used to increase your comfort or ease work can include but is not limited to: rocks, branches, vines, cans, bottles, wire, hoses, seat covers, cushion material, vehicle hood, vehicle body, trees, rods, pipe, glass, and various other objects if you use your imagination and common sense.

 

The most important part of survival is the will to live, the second is common sense or your ability to think through your situation. As we discussed above everything you need to survive is available to you if your willing and able to see it. A popular term for nature is "Mother nature" This is a very accurate term, because just like a mother, nature will give of herself in order to Clothe, feed, shelter, provide for and nurture her children. When you are in a survival situation you are natures child,  be good, respect her, obey her rules and listen to her and she will take good care of you, your in good hands. 

 

When you find items that work for a specific task, don't stop there, find other uses for the same item. Just like there is more than one way of doing things, most items can be used for more than one purpose. This is especially useful if you decide to self rescue and walk out, you will be limited to what you can carry and take with you. It is much more efficient to take items with more than one use, instead of trying to carry one item for each task. 

 

If no one knows when you are supposed to be back, it will take longer for them to determine you are missing. If no one knows where you went, no one will know where to start looking, when they realize you are missing. Try to always let someone you know and trust, know where and when you go somewhere and when you expect to return. Be as detailed as possible. This applies to not only long trips, but also short trips, you never know what can happen. The quicker someone realizes you are missing and the more knowledge they have of where you went, the more chances you have of being found and/or rescued.

 

 The most important elements in a survival situation is generally first aid, water, food, shelter and fire, However, the order of their importance will be determined by your own unique situation. If you are in a rainy or wet area water may not be the first priority. If you have a gushing wound, that could cause you to blleed to death, this will become your first priority. If you have a smaller cut but no danger of bleeding to death, it will need to be tended to to prevent infection, but it may not be the first priority, especially if you are in more danger from being exposed to the elements. Never get in the habit of tending to these concerns in any specific order, always assess the situation and determine the most important order and complete them accordingly.