What would you guys consider your 3 most important skills to know when backpacking? I'm just trying to get an idea of what kind of things I should really look into.

A map.

Common sense.

Water.

Bonus points for ignoring the idiots on Man vs. Wild or Survivorman.

The ability to read a map and have a general sense of where you are in the world.

The ability to take stock and know your own limits in both the planning and execution of a particular trip.

The ability to quiet yourself in stressful moments and make rational decisions.

Pretty much in this order although I think that 2 and 3 are about equal.
1. The ability to stop, think, and re-evaluate when things start to seem wrong
2. Fire building skills
3. Map and compass skills

The ability to observe and understand what you are observing, then take appropriate action.

The ability to navigate.

The ability to actually use what you have brought.

edited to add: I have been taking small groups to national parks which are rife with people who go out maybe a few times in their life, carry too much, don't enjoy the actual act of backpacking so much as they want to go look at scenery. I see people get sick, sore and hurt because they are not observant of their bodies or their environment. They don't realize they are walking three inches from a rattlesnake, or that the half liter bottle of water will be inadequate for the six mile round trip they are on. Backpackers will bring gear in its original store packaging and fight with a stove that came with a piezo for an hour until I loan them a match. I have walked up to someone standing on a rock ten feet off the trail and given her directions back to the trailhead, half a mile away. She didn't see the trail ten feet away. 90% of the backpackers I see out there don't know, don't care to know, and don't ask - backpacking is intended to be misery, isn't it? That's part of the deal.

I'm no great compass guru, but I can navigate by landmarks and shoot a bearing. I can see on a topo map that a route will be pain and suffering for my handful of day hikers. I am already at a better advantage than the dudes with 100 lb poorly fitted packs who go out without a map.

Observe, plan, experience, reassess, tweak the gear list, observe, plan.... I just did a trip I had gone out on a year ago, and back then it was stress and weariness and not very relaxing. I head out on the same trip this past weekend and come back feeling refreshed and ready for more, even though this time around I went out bushwhacking and climbing steeper trails. My gear list has been evolving and it all works better now, and my body is better conditioned than before; I also know and respect my limits now. The gear is only part of the whole. Skills and adaptability are the more critical pieces.

Knowing my limits.

Getting the most out of the gear I'm carrying.

Situational awareness.

You might notice that all the answers so far seem quite similar and they rarely emphasize any skill you'd associate with camping.

Most of them emphasize staying alert to your entire situation, such as always knowing where you are, whether you are thirsty and where you'll find water, where your route takes you next, what is the weather doing, and so on. I agree.

It all boils down to anticipating problems before they arise and taking early steps to ensure they stay small and easy to deal with. The more unfamiliar the setting and situation, the more caution you need to apply and the more you will need to learn as you go.

Bring that atitude to everything you do on the trail and you will learn quickly and be successful, because each experience you have will lay the foundation for future mastery and wisdom.

IMO the number 1 skill is how plan for the specific trip you will be taking. Not all backpacking trips are equal... weather, geography, terrain, season, etc.. all require different gear and knowledge bases

I agree too. Now, if only people did that while driving.

Hmmm...I can only choose 3 and they have to be what I think is the most important...well that's going to be difficult since sometimes situations call for different skills, but I'll throw 3 out there anyway.

1. Being able to make a fire with/without matches/magnesium stick and with good old traditional wood sticks.

2. Map reading and the natural sense of direction, or at least being able to pay attention to your surrounding and know where you are with/without a map if need be.

3. Common sense and the ability to use it under high stress situations. Common sense doesn't usually do you much good if you're panicking and stumbling through the woods.

I think being able to make a fire is fine. but making a fire without some sort of ignition source is not useful in general because people don't practice it enough to be useful in a crunch. I can count the number of times on one hand I've lit a fire without anything. I used a bowdrill made with my bootlace. three or four times in good conditions, and once in bad conditions for giggles. It took me 2-3 hours to make a decent bowdrill and board to where I could even try. I did it just "for fun" on an afternoon of car camping. If it were bad weather, and miserable conditions, I'd have been screwed. It serves only enough to convince you that you should really take two bic lighters and a wee pack of backup matches in different places.

I was gonna make my own reply, but I can't beat this one. I'm going +1 on trailrunner's reply here.

Thanks guys,

There is a lot of good information in here, the thing I'll need to work on is map skills, I'll need to grab a good local topo map and start practicing.

1. How not to get lost: navigation.

2. How to get found if you do get lost: Leaving a detailed plan of your trip with someone who will contact authorities to initiate a search if you're not back by the specified time, carrying a whistle, signal mirror, cell (or sat) phone, and possibly a personal locator beacon.

3. How not to die until you're found.

Well just because you're not going to end up using it a lot doesn't make it unuseful. For most backacpking trips, yah, of course. I think most everyone is going to choose a lighter or something quick rather than use one of the old primitive methods. But you may not always be guaranteed to have those and if the situation calls for it, it'd probably be better to know how to do than not to do it.

It does me no good to know how to use a bic lighter when I don't have it and have nothing but a potential for a fire all around me, and no idea how to make one.

I mean, in general now, knowing how to read a map is useless if you've got a GPS. By that logic, why should I bother having compass and map skills? Well, even with one you should know the other.

I'm not sure what your point is. What are you trying to say?

Knowing how to read a map is more than useful if the GPS fails to find a satellite or the batteries die. GPS is no replacement for a map and compass - you need the map and compass, period, whether you have a GPS or not.

I carry waterproof matches, storm matches, and a lighter, in different areas of my gear. Frequently I can't build a fire at all due to fire bans. I use a stove - magnesium blocks don't work for those. I am guaranteed to have multiple fire starting methods because I always pack them and if they have a learning curve, I learn to use the item before going out there. That's called "being prepared." You might like to take that into consideration.

I'm sure people still use magnesium blocks, but they really aren't necessary. Drier lint is lighter firestarter, and free as a byproduct of doing your laundry.

MattnID, I think phat's point was that most people will never invest the time it requires to become proficient enough in primitive firestarting methods, and therefore they shouldn't rely on them. Yes, they should learn them, but all that will do is to convince them how important it is to carry a Bic lighter and/or matches.

If someone is injured or can't think clearly due to head injury, dehydration, or hypothermia, it's unlikely they'll be able to make a fire with a bowdrill.

staying warm and dry
cooking over a fire
Route finding
Jim

1) camping skills - how to stay warm and dry and have food and water
2) navigation skills - how to get from A to B without getting lost
3) planning skills - survival is to a great degree avoiding survival situations - which is a great degree due to good trip planning. A well planned trip is also a more enjoyable trip!

However, if you want to write a best-seller, plan poorly and have an epic - that is what seems to sell nowadays!

Without any reference to what others have written yet:

1) How to dress for the environment. I'd say exposure to the elements is the #1 danger in hiking. Good clothes should be the core of a person's hiking equipment.

2) How to stay found. Learn to use a map & compass, GPS optional, and pay attention to where you are. Getting lost often happens when people put themselves in situations over their heads; maybe they think the trail is easy to identify and they go hike unprepared, maybe they've been hiking for years without mishap and decide to go someplace new without a map.

3) How to stay hydrated. Not a skill per se, but a lot of people don't drink enough while hiking, or don't plan right and run out with no means of replentishing. This can fit in with mapreading, to; you should be able to plan your route with sources of water in mind.

Other skills that have merit: first aid, staying fit, fueling your body right, having good hygiene, knowing not to leave garbage in the woods. It's also good to be a leader, and by that I mean that one should be responsible, resourceful, and knowledgeable. This counts if you're in a group or by yourself.

The point is, in a reply to Phat's post, knowing how to do even the most basic and primitive of things even with better and more efficient technology, doesn't mean people shouldn't know them. The GPS and map/compass point was merely just to support my argument.

I'm pretty sure you missed the point I was making entirely and took it somewhere else. My thinking was of the worst case secnario, such as falling in a river crossing and having to bail on your pack and losing everything because it was either in the pack and wet and useless. You can be prepared as you like with matches, lighters and a magnesium stick, but it doesn't guarantee they're always going to be with you for whatever reason. Knowing how to get along without them is called being prepared as well, something you failed to take into consideration.

As for fire bans, fire bans are irrelevant. If you're actually in situation where you need a fire to get back out, they're not going to fine you, especially if you're smart about it.

That's fine, I got that. But the post originally made it seem like it wasn't something really worth knowing, I thought contrary, so I posted. I realize Phat more than likely wasn't saying people shouldn't know how to do that stuff, but it was slightly up for interpretation and some might think that's what he was saying.

But yeah, if you're dehydrated, hyopthermic, etc., the ability to make a fire with a bowstring is going to be pretty darn difficult. But if you're in that situation, you might not have your fire starters with you anymore either so it doesn't hurt to know what you can. But I think we're in general agreement.

I'd say finding your way back would be #1.

That's different than map skills. A map is good if you have one, but not so good if you leave it somewhere and forget it.

The trick to this is reading and remembering the terrain you've covered, and looking for and remembering landmarks.

Fallen trees, rock formations, creeks, canyons and distant views of peaks and ridges and valleys, man made items (trash). Pay attention to these things as you hike in, and look for them when hiking out.

These skills are easy to practice and learn by starting with short hikes and bushwhacks (off trail hikes) and increasing your distance as you become better and more confident. You can hone your map skills at the same time.

What does this even mean? Your sentence structure gives this English major a headache. Knowing how to do basic stuff doesn't mean people shouldn't know them?



Packs falling into rivers is why you keep the 10 essentials with you at all times. Pockets, fanny pack, taping to your leg, whatever it takes - it'll guarantee you have them with you. It's my responsibility to keep myself safe; I do the best that I can. That's all you can ask of people. What you imagine I should know is irrelevant.

IMHO the primitive fire making skills ARE important, but not for foot travel. I have redundant systems and do not get separated from them.

However, it seems like about once a year a skier goes out of bounds and gets stranded in deep snow for a couple of days. Canoe/kayak/raft travel is likely to separate you from your redundant systems, but not foot travel.

Useful skills, but not for hiking.