Bear Grylls has survived some of the planet’s most extreme temperatures and he doesn’t shy away from icy situations—just recently, he was immersing himself in the waters of a frozen lake in Wyoming while on location for Running Wild.  In order to survive in these temperatures, Bear knows how to recognize and deal with hypothermia [...]

Climbing up a rock face without rope is dangerous, difficult and there is no room for error. But if it’s a life or death situation and you can’t get around the rock face, Bear Grylls has some guidance. Plan your route It is vital to do this before you start climbing. Professional climbers spend a [...]

If you end up lost in the jungle, the good news is that you are surrounded by potential sources of food. Although we’ve all seen Bear eating things like rodents and birds in his TV shows like Running Wild and Man Vs. Wild, he says that hunting things like birds, rodents and monkeys should not [...]

Quicksand can be found anywhere that water and sand meet—by the sea, along river banks, near lakes and marshes. It’s composed of loose sand that’s fully saturated and therefore suspended in water. So when something heavier—like your body—displaces it, it can create a suction and the heavier thing (you) will begin to sink.  The good [...]

If you’re ever lost in the wilderness and you think that people are looking for you, the internationally recognized distress signal is three small fires, lit in a triangular formation, which can be spotted from above by rescue craft. On the other hand, if no one knows where you are or you can’t find a [...]

If you’re lost in the jungle your first priority after assessing rescue options and making a shelter should be to find drinkable water, as you can only survive for around three days without it.  “Your problem in the jungle will not so much be finding water, as getting it in a form that’s useful to [...]

Finding drinkable water is one of the most vital skills of any survivalist. You can survive for a couple of weeks without food, but only two or three days without water—and if you are in a very dry or very hot place, that window shrinks. While there are different methods for collecting water in different [...]

Bear Grylls is no stranger to surviving in sub-zero temperatures on varying terrain, from mountains and glaciers to the polar regions. To find food in snow and ice, he has a few tricks, as he writes in Born Survivor. Food can be scarce in cold regions so what you can find might depend on where [...]

If you’re lost in the mountains, jungle or other terrain, you might be surrounded by potential food sources from plants. But, of course, not everything is safe to consume. Identification is key. But if you don’t know the safe plants around you, Bear recommends doing a multi-step “food safety test.” It must be done methodically [...]

If you’re adventuring in the mountains, you’ll probably descend into a river valley at some stage. In the event that you’ve lost your way, rivers can offer a route to safety, as they often lead to towns, roads, bridges and eventually to a lake or the sea, and they offer an unlimited supply of water.  [...]