Earn the Wilderness Living Honor
Three short sessions and two weekend campouts. You leave with the honor, your own survival kit, and skills you will actually remember under stress.
How the honor fits together
All of our classes are for ages 14 and up. That is our standing rule for maturity and focus, and it matches the American Red Cross minimum age for Wilderness and Remote First Aid.
Prerequisite: First Aid honor
Wilderness Living requires the Pathfinder First Aid honor. Plan it first, or alongside, with your club.
Session 1: Stay found
Lost-person plan, direction without a compass, compass course, your 15-item kit, health in the field, first knots.
Session 2: Water, shelter, signals
Purifying water, signaling for help, shelter for four terrains, more knots.
Session 3: Wilderness first aid
The eight conditions the honor names: prevention, signs and field care.
Campout 1
Collecting water, tree and stream estimates, tracks, compass course, shelter building.
Campout 2
Wild edibles (instructor-verified), stalking and concealment, cook your weekend menu, honor sign-off.
What you will do, and when
Summarized in our words. The official list is on the Adventist Youth Ministries site: Wilderness Living requirements
| Requirement | Where we do it |
|---|---|
1Two weekend campouts where you practice everything below. | Campouts 1 & 2 |
2What to do if you are lost (five actions) and three ways to find direction without a compass. | Session 1 |
3Three ways to make drinking water safe. | Session 2 |
4Three ways to collect water in the wild; demonstrate two. | Campout 1 |
5Two ways to estimate the height of a tree and the width of a stream. | Campout 1 |
6Identify four wild animal or bird tracks. | Campouts 1 & 2 |
7Follow a compass course over 100 yards with three headings and under 5% error. | Session 1 + Campout 1 |
8Identify, prepare and eat ten wild plants (instructor-verified only). | Campout 2 |
9Build a 15-item personal survival kit and know how to use every item. | Session 1 |
10Why sleep, diet, hygiene and exercise matter in the wilderness. | Session 1 |
11Hold the First Aid honor, and know prevention, signs and care for 8 wilderness conditions. | Before + Session 3 |
12Demonstrate two ways to signal for help. | Session 2 |
13Stalking and concealment. | Campout 2 |
14Shelter on snow, rocky ground, swamps and marshes, and forest or tundra. | Session 2 + Campouts |
15Plan a balanced weekend menu for two and cook it over a fire or camp stove. | Campout 2 |
16Wilderness etiquette and conservation: leave it better than you found it. | Every session |
17Tie nine knots and know when to use each. | Sessions 1 to 3 |
Requirements are signed off by the instructor as each one is completed. Your club director awards the honor.
Your 15-item personal survival kit
The honor asks for 15 items and that you know how to use each one. This is the kit we build in Session 1. It fits in a quart bag or a small pouch, and it goes on every hike after this.
My survival kit
Tap to check off. Saved on this device.
- Whistle (three blasts = help)
- Signal mirror
- Ferro rod fire starter
- Waterproof matches or a lighter
- Tinder (cotton balls with petroleum jelly, or fire cubes)
- Water purification tablets
- Collapsible water bag or bottle
- Emergency bivvy or space blanket
- Baseplate compass
- Small knife
- 25 ft of paracord
- Duct tape (wrapped on a pencil or card)
- Small flashlight or headlamp
- Mini first aid kit (bandages, blister care)
- High-energy food bar
My knots (requirement 17)
Check each knot off once you can tie it without looking. Saved on this device.
- Square knot
- Two half hitches
- Clove hitch
- Taut-line hitch
- Bowline
- Bowline on a bight
- Figure eight
- Double fisherman's
- Prusik
The eight wilderness conditions
On top of the First Aid honor, you learn prevention, signs and first aid for:
- Hypothermia
- Venomous snakebite
- Heatstroke
- Heat exhaustion
- Poison ivy and poison oak
- Infection in an open wound
- Altitude sickness
- Dehydration
How we keep it safe
- Wild edibles: we only taste plants the instructor has positively identified. Allergies are screened on the waiver, and anyone can opt out.
- Fire: only at permitted sites and when conditions allow; water and a shovel ready; dead out before we leave.
- Water: all collected water is purified before anyone drinks it.
- Buddy system: nobody leaves camp alone; headcounts at every move.
- Weather: we change or cancel for storms, extreme heat or cold.
- Adults: campouts follow your club's youth-protection and adult-supervision policy.
What to bring to class
- Required: the signed waiver (parent or guardian signs for under-18s)
- Notebook and pencil
- Your kit items, or come build it with us
- Clothes for the weather and sturdy closed-toe shoes
- Water bottle and a snack
- Campouts: a packing list is sent with each campout confirmation
Bring the honor to your club
Tell us your club, how many Pathfinders (ages 14+) and your preferred weekends. We will reply with dates and options.
Felix Nieto II
Master Guide Wilderness Survival Certified Instructor and American Red Cross Wilderness and Remote First Aid instructor. Felix directed Pathfinder clubs for 13 years, earned a 1st Place Eagle Award, and trains Pathfinder leaders and instructors. He teaches the way he would want his own kids taught: calm, hands-on, and safety first.
- Master Guide Wilderness Survival Certified Instructor (Mt. Aetna Camp, 2014)
- American Red Cross Wilderness & Remote First Aid instructor
- Pathfinder club director, 2006 to 2019
- Pathfinder Leadership Instructor Trainer