HowStuffWorks "Out of the Wild: Surviving in Alaska"

out of the wild: surviving in alaska

How can I survive a night in the Alaskan wilderness?

You're hoping by tomorrow the search and rescue teams will locate you. In the meantime, you set up shelter for night. But night never comes. Is your mind playing tricks on you?
Alaska Pictures

Snow Navigation
Survive the Freezing Cold

How to Avoid Hypothermia
Why are moose more dangerous than bears in Alaska?

How could the gentle, loafing moose be more threatening than a grizzly bear? Find out what you should do if that looming moose barrels at you like a bull.
Survive Animal Attacks

Mountain Predators
How Polar Bears Work

Global warming and polar bear decline?
What Alaskan plants and animals are the best food sources?

Does the thought of sucking down larvae trigger your gag reflex? Then you may not hack it in the wild. Insects are an excellent source of protein. Pry up a rock and you've got dinner.
Shelter & Fire

Snow Preparation
What is the universal edibility test?

How to Start a Fire Without a Match
Would a knife or a gun serve me better in the Alaskan wilderness?

In the wilderness, one of these weapons will help you send out a distress signal, keep warm, build a shelter and not drown. The other is relatively worthless.
Iditarod Pictures

A Cold Race
Is knife hunting the fairest way to hunt?

Wilderness Survival

Survive the Night
Moose in Alaska
Alaskan Food
Knife or Gun?

out of the wild: the alaska experiment

Let's say you're lost in the wilderness. Rather than guess which berries aren't poisonous, you down a rabbit. You're too famished for cooking. Should you eat it raw?

How to Find True North

There's north and then there's true north. Find out how stabbing a stick in the dirt to make a shadow can help you find the true north.

How Avalanches Work

Learn how avalanches form, how long you can stay alive while buried under an avalanche and what steps you can take to survive.

How Igloos Work

How can a house made of snow keep you sheltered from the icy cold? Igloos seem like a great paradox, but they're actually quite practical. Who invented them and why?

Quiz

Test your Survival knowledge

Would you know how to survive if you were lost or wounded in the wilderness? What if it was really cold? What if you were in the searing heat of the desert? Each survival scenario is different and requires unique skills. Let's see what you've got.