When most people think of camping, they picture pitching a tent for a weekend and heading back home after a few days. Short-term camping is a great way to get out into the wilderness and away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a few days, but what if you don’t have the option to return home? Maybe World War III started or any one of a thousand other SHTF situations ended the world while you were away, and there’s nothing left to go back to.
Survival shelters might be ideal for SHTF scenarios, but long-term camping can also help keep you alive if there aren’t other options. What things do you need to consider? What do you need to bring with you, and how long could you conceivably last in the wilderness before you need to return to what’s left of civilization to resupply?
1. Food
Living in a survival situation is already stressful, regardless of the world-ending event that landed you there. You may constantly be on the move, trying to stay safe and ahead of whatever threats are lurking in the dark.
Long-term camping often has the exact caloric requirements of hiking or backpacking, especially if you’re packing up and moving camp every few days. If you usually eat around 2,000 calories per day — the recommended daily intake — the exertion of hiking or camping could nearly double the number of calories you need to consume. That means hauling twice as many food supplies or burning even more calories hunting or foraging.
