J - You’ll probably find most of what you’re looking for by using the search function. Most all topics concerning the great outdoors have been discussed by Hikermor, Montanero, AKSAR, dougwalkabout (careful, he’s Canadian so he types with an accent) and quite a few other stalwarts. Some here are or have been very active in search and rescue so they’ve seen a lot of mistakes that took a tragic turn. The closest I’ve ever been to SAR is having fostered a canine before she went into SAR training - (great dog, really needed a job).

You can use the search function for terms like knife, tarp, water, filter, first aid kit, signal mirror, whistle ... PLB. Or, you can keep asking questions about stuff that has already been discussed many times and some folk here will think, “asked and answered” and the responses will be like this one — lame.

Some topics which get into politics or religion will get shut down quickly by the Sheriff (chaosmagnet) or Blast. Doug Ritter has a strict policy on some topics and it’s not so much a line that can’t be crossed but a brick wall. Entire threads have been deleted.

BTW, welcome to the forum.