In cold weather a good rule is to light your fire first before doing anything else. It is always more sensible to keep yourself warm rather than trying to thaw yourself out later.

Your clothing is the most important survival tool you have. Dress properly and any emergency you may have to endure becomes more manageable.

Fire may be the simplest and sometimes the only recourse in protecting yourself from the discomfort of cold, counteracting the effects of hypothermia, or in making up for inadequate clothing, bedding, or shelter.

The more you know, the less you have to carry. The less you know, the more you have to carry.

The knife is the balance point for survival in the bush. Without it, you have to stay on the move. With it, you create the opportunity to rest.

Next to knowing how to dress well, fire is one of the most important bush skills there are, because it is one of the few means available to make up most great deficiencies.

Some Native people suggest that one should test how cold the hands are by touching the thumb to the little finger of the same hand. As soon as you cannot carry out this exercise you are reaching a dangerous state of incapacity and you should immediately take steps to warm up.