The five basic survival skills are Fire, Shelter, Signaling, Food/Water, and First Aid. Mastery of these creates a safety net: Fire provides warmth and morale; Shelter protects from hypothermia; Signaling aids rescue; Water prevents dehydration; and First Aid manages injury until help arrives.

The Rule of 3 helps you prioritize tasks by urgency. You can survive roughly 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter (in harsh conditions), 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Always prioritize immediate threats like cold or bleeding before worrying about food.

Start with navigation and temperature control (clothing/shelter). Most wilderness emergencies happen because someone got lost or suffered hypothermia. Learning to read a map and dress in layers prevents the two most common causes of death in the backcountry.

Yes. Survival is about staying alive during an unexpected emergency to get rescued. Bushcraft is the art of using natural resources (wood, plants, stone) to live comfortably in the wild long-term. Survival is reactive; bushcraft is proactive.