Survival gear is essential to outdoor enthusiasts and camping trips alike, from building your own basic kit to purchasing more extensive survival kits.

Before selecting your survival kit, it is important to assess both your environment and activity level. Outdoor-focused kits may include items like space blankets, knives and signaling devices.

Shelter

Shelter is an essential survival piece, protecting campers from wind, rain, snow and extreme temperatures while offering them a place for cooking, eating and sleeping.

Packing all the emergency survival camping supplies you require on an outdoor trek requires a backpack. From army surplus models to more rugged tactical backpacks, they provide an efficient means of carrying essential survival gear while staying organized. They’re great for carrying mattresses, sleeping bags, flashlights and first aid kits alike and make for ideal survival camping gear both military personnel and civilian adventurers can utilize for outdoor treks alike.

Water

Survival camping is an advanced form of outdoor adventure, involving staying in the wilderness for days or even weeks at a time. To stay safe and comfortable under adverse weather conditions, more ingenuity and supplies may be required to remain comfortable and safe in this endeavor.

Water is one of the most essential survival gear items you should bring on camping and hiking trips, making a large water vessel essential to packing on long treks. Insulated bottles for summer trips, hydration bladders for winter hikes and water treatment tablets should all be part of your planning to ensure safe drinking water!

Food

Camping can be an enjoyable outdoor pastime with friends and family, but even short trips can become life-threatening if lost, injured or faced with inclement weather conditions. Therefore, it’s essential that you pack emergency survival gear.

Survival food bars are ideal for emergency situations, providing 200 energy-boosting calories at each bar. Plus, their vacuum sealing makes them water resistant and durable enough for years of storage.

An essential tool in any survival situation, the Gerber Gear knife with its sharp blade and comfortable nylon sheath makes an excellent selection for cutting rope and wood to build shelter, skin animals and more.

Light

Survival gear must be durable enough to withstand bumps or falls in its environment, such as Bardwell’s kit of an multitool that doubles as flashlight, compass and ferrocerium fire-starting rod.

Weather radios can also keep you informed. To stay safe and informed, look for models powered by replaceable batteries, solar energy or hand crank. Make sure your model offers National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) alerts as well.

Survival knives are indispensable tools, useful for cutting rope, prepping food and butchering game. Choose one with comfortable handles that is durable enough for daily use; and be sure to pick up one that comes equipped with its own sheath to protect it when not in use.

Communication

No matter the level of experience, communication is key to an enjoyable camping trip – especially when heading into the wilderness where it can be easy to become lost or caught up in bad weather conditions.

An emergency whistle is one way of communicating with other members of your group, alongside prearranged hand signals. A military-grade compass such as this solar-powered version makes for a useful addition to any camping survival kit.

Backcountry communicators are convenient devices that connect with satellite signals and make it easier for rescuers to locate you if you become injured or lost in the backcountry. The ideal ones are lightweight and simple to use.

First Aid

An adequate first aid kit is an integral component of camping survival gear, and taking CPR training or wilderness first aid training courses could prove especially helpful if camping with non-trained first aiders.

The Surviveware Small is a quality first aid kit packed into an extremely rugged case, yet compact enough for hiking trips away from camp. Reviewer Ryan Huetter praised this kit’s focus on useful medical equipment such as hospital-grade trauma shears and fine point tweezers for extracting ticks or splinters from skin.