In 1987, I had this idea that a great way to teach wilderness survival would be to head out into the woods and do exactly that.

Survive.

Now I need the skills because I'd be filming myself alone.

And you, the viewer, would be made aware of that.

And I thought, what a great way to make these skills more relatable to you.

Problem was, the technology was not available for me to film myself beyond the old grainy camcorders as we used to call them.

Well, fast forward to the year 2000, 13 years and indeed the technology became available.

the take home information.

And the skills that you would learn from this series would make you more confident in nature.

You'd stay warm, dry and safe, and therefore you'd be able to reconnect to the natural world.

What you're about to watch is raw and real, and not to be confused with reality television.

These are my journeys into the world of survival and around the planet.

These are the skills that can keep you alive and open the doors to nature.

The only reality that matters.

Well, what goes down must come up.

It was just too much and too bitter for my stomach to handle.

And I hate being sick in the bush.

(suspenseful tribal music) The Canadian boreal forest, put simply, will always be my home.

Now, I wasn't raised there, but once I got the love of canoeing in my bones, well, that's where I spent all my time.

15 years solid of being an outdoor guide, I guided winter camping, dog sledding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, all of that in the winter, obviously, but then also canoeing, hiking, sea kayaking.

So it only made sense that sooner or later for survivor man, I would want to base a story on being a stranded canoeist.

So honestly, whenever I do survival in the boreal forest, I kind of feel like I'm cheating because I'm so very much at home there.

But that's a good thing, because familiarity makes a big difference in how comfortable you are in a survival situation.

If you can start off an ordeal, such as survival already with a baseline of knowing the flora and fauna, perhaps the ecosystem, or maybe even some survival techniques that work in that area, you're way ahead of the game and you will likely get yourself back out to safety or survive the ordeal long enough to be rescued.

But what people fail to understand a lot of times when they offer suggestions such as you'll be fine, there's lots of blueberries there.

Sure, so long as I'm there when the blueberries are ripe and that's between 2 to 4 weeks every year, the rest of the time I'm out of luck.

So you got to be there in the right time.

Never mind being in the right location geographically as to where there might be blueberries or raspberries or cattail.

Or you could be stuck on the other side of the lake, looking across at a rich bounty with no way to get to it.

And you're reduced to having no eating twigs and moss.

The Canadian North is one of the most vast areas of wilderness on the planet.

The forest here, reaching from Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains, is the largest track of unbroken forest in the world.

Every year, nearly 2000 people are lost out here and have to face dangers ranging from the biting cold, exposure, starvation, and even predators.

This week, I'm stranded here miles from the closest human being.

I have seven days to not only survive, but find my own way out, all without shelter, or water, and with only one match.

If I can get this to hold.

It's like a little hairpin trigger.

Holy crap.

What an incredible sight.

I'm actually, I'm trembling.

Oh, that's cold.

I don't know if this is even worth it.

I don't know if this is even worth it.

I'm, my body, my core temperature, has dropped pretty, I'm, my body, my core temperature, has dropped pretty, pretty good because of being in the water like that with just without any food energy in me.

Now I'm just getting, just, I'm losing my energy.

I don't have the wherewithal to bother trying to cook this thing up tonight or in any way.

Maybe tomorrow, besides sun's going down Maybe tomorrow, besides sun's going down and I gotta get another big pile of firewood ready to make it through the night.

(banjo music) In the northern bush, you've gotta scant six or seven weeks of picking wild edibles.

While the thought of blueberries and raspberries seems ideal, food to actually survive on is another story.

Hmm.

Ah, breakfast.

At least these are pretty safe for me to eat.

I'm hoping they'll just be bland and give me the nutrients and energy I need right now.

Kind of feels like a roasted marshmallow.

Oof, let's hope it tastes like one.

Ugh.

Oh god, that's horrible.

Oh, okay.

Let's try boiling it.

Ew.

(spitting it out) I'm gonna try and soften up these tubers a bit.

Maybe kill some of the flavor bite.

Ooh.

Stuck to my glove.

By pulling these hot rocks in and basically trying to boil the water in my hat.

Fortunately the hat is a heavy, heavy cotton, I think so it's holding the water okay.

You just keep doing this, you keep replacing hot rocks until you bring the water to a boil.

until you bring the water to a boil.

In this case, I'll even cover it over as it was pretty bitter ,and acrid tasting, just roasted.

But maybe this'll soften down the flavor a bit.

I suppose if I was just at home fasting for a week, I'd be okay.

But not so when I have to film everything, build shelters, start fires without matches, and climb through thick bush all day.

How appetizing is that?

I really need food so I can function.

Oh wow.

Oh, it's still bitter, but not as bad I guess.

Oh.

I gotta get this into me though.

I'm starving.

I'm really, really hungry.

And if I don't get some food into me soon, I just gonna get weaker and weaker and all my energy levels it's just dropping down.

So I'm gonna have to bear with this.

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

Oh boy.

Well, what goes down must come up.

It was just too much and too bitter for my stomach to handle.

And I hate being sick in the bush.

(wind whooshing) I hate the thought of killing anything.

But as a matter of survival, all creatures are fair game.

Finally, some meat.

Escargot, anybody?

It's not squirrel meat, but I wish it was.

But, at least it's gonna be better than pond lily tubers.

I can tell you that much.

Let's crack one of these guys open, see what we got here.

These guys, they're all over the place.

Now that I know they're here, I'm gonna, just check out all the rocks all the way around this shoreline to see how many of these I can find.

I did find a second one right off the bat.

Here we go.

How's that look anyway?

Ah, just kidding.

I'm gonna roast it on the fire now.

On a rock.

All I need is some garlic butter.

Mm.

Meat.

I'll let the snails cook for a while in the fire.

Put some more punky logs on.

And as you can see, we're back to this again.

Just an all day drizzle it seems like.

At least it's not snow.

That's a cold wind that keeps coming in here every once in a while.

It just feels like winter coming in, you know?

Well, it probably doesn't look all that bad on camera, but trust me, it's a downpour.

In fact, just a few moments ago it was also thick snow as well.

And like an idiot, I've got rain pants and I haven't been wearing 'em.

They've been rolled up in my pocket the whole time.

I'm gonna go hide in my little shelter.

Enough of this.

(banjo music) Okay, well, I'm in my little shelter.

I'm actually dry in here.

The shelter's keeping me pretty dry.

The fire's out though.

I figured it's a lot easier to put a couple of big punky logs on that big outside fire and let it sit out the rain.

Than to try and feed this one for the next couple hours.

For one thing, it would just use up all my small firewood that I need in the middle of the night.

So now I just wait.

Here's one cold wet fire.

Nothing burning there.

(guitar music) Not only is it raining and doesn't look like any chance of breaking, look at this, my deadfall is still standing, but the food's gone.

It was so stupid.

I didn't stick the little bit of jerky right onto that twig, onto that branch and it would've to pull at it.

Instead, I was being lazy and ah, man, and I'm paying for it now.

This is not the breakfast I was hoping for.

(electronic music) It's been about 48 hours I think, of nonstop rain.

It's been about 48 hours I think, of nonstop rain.

I haven't filmed, I haven't done anything.

I just huddled in my shelter and I slept, at least it didn't seem to be that cold, I guess with the cloud cover.

So I did sleep a lot.

After two days of solid rain, it was a matter of get up, dry out a bit, shake it off, and start planning my escape.

I know there's a highway off to the east, and it could be five kilometers, could be 50 kilometers.

I don't remember how far.

With any luck, maybe it'd only take me a day.

I don't know.

I just gonna get hiking.

Ah.

With it raining for two days nonstop, I thought, well I didn't wanna go ahead and eat that snail without you, and not share the meal with you.

So I still have it actually my two little snails.

Hmm.

I still need some garlic butter with them.

Okay, so that's it.

Two snails, three cashews today, and a little bit of jerky.

Oh and I'm just raring to go.

(fast drum music) You know, sometimes the decision to stay or go is made for you.

Like what if you're a hundred miles from, from anywhere and you know there's no way of hiking out?

Other times it's just a very critical decision that you simply must make right in the beginning.

Am I gonna stay?

Am I gonna go?

Well, you know, can I stay?

Is there a place, is there a way of getting food around here?

Holy mackerel.

This just keeps getting, it's like the forest is closing in on me here.

You know, can I get food?

Can I make shelter?

Is anybody even gonna come looking for me?

Heck, does anybody even know I'm gone?

And am I able to move around?

Am I capable of traveling?

These are all important questions you've gotta ask before you make the decision to move.

On the other hand, you might make it out to safety before anybody even knows you're gone.

I hate that feeling like you've lost your sense of direction.

Huh.

Okay, here's a... Look at this.

Well, the moss only grows on the north side of the trees.

You know, you can see all the moss here.

And this, this is definitely the north side.

I can tell by the sun right now.

This is definitely the north side of the tree.

And then it's clear over here.

So that works out.

Pretty true.

But you know what, A lot of times it's not true at all.

I've seen thousands of trees where the moss is just circled all the way around and you know, you can't use it as a gauge.

Look.

Here's another tree just over here.

Same thing again.

That's the north side of the tree.

So in this case, you know that that's a bit of a bearing for me and I'm gonna use it because I want to go due east.

(trees rustling) I've come to yet another lake.

Pretty much hit it right at the tip end of it here.

Cause it's a long lake.

It would've been a long lake to walk around, so, good news is some treats for me here.

It's not the great right season, but still helpful.

See what it's like.

These guys like in June, all down in here, is actually quite fresh, and in my mind, it's actually even quite tasty.

And they're full of starches and nutrients.

I have a feeling, yeah, it's pretty old in the season, but it's already gone woody on me.

Not much chance of eating that.

I can always use the top end, it's good for tinder, it's good for stuffing for my clothing, to keep me warm if I needed it, or it's good fire starter.

This stuff goes up like, just like gasoline.

You put a little spark to it.

My mantra, in a situation like this, keep moving ahead.

But I've got a deal cautiously and carefully with every obstacle that I encounter.

Icy creek crossings, lakes to get around, thick, tangled bush.

There's no room for bravado or carelessness when you're alone in the bush.

(energetic rock music) Oh.

I see something over there that's good to take hold of right now.

Grab what I can while I can.

Birch bark.

You know, from an environmental perspective, I don't like denuding the forest of anything.

And even in taking this birch bark, you know, I'm just taking, I mean, I'm in a survival situation.

So I mean, you do whatever you have to do to survive.

But I'm just taking, you know, the dead hanging bark or looking for a tree that's already on the ground and pulling the bark off that rather than stripping the tree all the way around.

That can kill a birch tree.

(heavy footsteps) Well, that creek wasn't so tough to jump over.

This lake is another story.

It's a long thin lake and it's right in my path.

Probably go that way.

I estimate at least two kilometers extra, just to get around this lake.

Man, it's windy and cold now it's clear, but it's certainly getting colder, in spite of how beautiful it looks.

(branches rustling) I've been walking and walking and I thought, you know, well either I'm gonna hit that highway or at least another lake and I'll stay by a lake.

I feel better for some reason, waiting beside a lake for the night to pass.

That's not happening.

And there's only maybe like an hour and a half, maybe an hour, of sunlight left.

So I'm gonna use that time to build a big fire here, if my fire bow will work again.

And just pull an all nighter beside a fire.

It's cold and I'm cold from getting in and outta that water.

Ow.

Woo hoo.

Oh yeah, I'm just gonna spend the next hour left of sunlight gathering firewood and some boughs to sleep on.

And that's it.

Then I'm getting up and outta here as soon as I can.

But I'm too tired and too chilled to keep walking.

The whole psychological part of being completely alone really comes into play here.

Purpose of the fire is to keep away the boogeyman and all things that go bump in the night.

Cause it's gonna be spooky out here 'cuz I'm right in the thick of it.

Just in the middle of the forest.

I'm gonna warm up these rocks and at different times, just in intervals, when they're not too hot, just warm, and take them and just tuck 'em right inside up against the cold areas.

The small of my back and like little mini hot water bottles that'll help, that'll keep me warm.

Like on my back end here tonight.

While the front's warm by the fire, the back will be warm by these rocks.

It keeps snowing off and on.

Just little tiny light flakes.

Hopefully it won't come on any, any thicker.

I just hope this passes through quick.

I gotta go get my other coat on.

(ominous music) I have one more day to find a road or some kind of help after that, the crew will put a helicopter in the air and look for me.

Oh man, you know, layering's been great.

Being like dressed in layers when you're out in a place like this because you're cold at night, but during the day you're trying to, you know, get outta here, get rescued or escape and you overheat really quickly.

So I just keep stripping down, layer upon layer until, you know, I'm comfortable and I'm not sweating.

Sweating is the worst thing.

If I start to sweat, oh, it just makes the nights miserable because then you just get those chills, you know?

And that's not fun.

Something, it's like another creek.

No.

Oh hey, this is a nice sign for the weary wanderer.

Oh yeah.

(heavy breathing) Okay, well now I got a decision to make.

Do you follow them or do you keep going east because you think there's a highway over there?

You could go up the railway tracks and be right around the corner from, you know, an establishment.

On the other hand, you could be 250, 300 kilometers from the next junction.

And maybe the place that's close is that way, and you go that way.

In this case, my decision I think is to, is just to keep going east.

I'm gonna take the chance.

I know what you're thinking.

He should follow the tracks.

The thing is, I know without a shadow of doubt that the road is due east and not much farther.

I'm going with a sure thing.

Well here I am, yet another night.

I really thought I was gonna make it out by the end of tonight, except, you know, the sun's going down and here I am at another lake.

I gotta traverse around.

Sucks.

I'm gonna curl up somewhere beside a tree.

I guess.

That'll be fun.

As I try to sleep, I'm still panicking about having made a wrong decision about my route.

(upbeat music) I know where I paddled into, and I was fairly confident on where I had to go to get out, due east.

What could go wrong?

But my guess was maybe one really long day of walking, not three.

(upbeat music continues) Hey, this is a good sign, a hydro line.

It's not always that good of an idea to follow them though, these things can go miles and miles in either direction.

The thing about hydro lines is they can go right up and over lakes and swamps and just keep going.

And you can't, I'm just gonna keep heading east.

I gotta stick to my guns.

Carry on.

Because it doesn't necessarily mean salvation when you find a hydro line.

Whew, means I'm getting close though.

(leaves crunching) Now I'm desperate.

I just want to get out.

I start making the mistake of letting myself get wet.

I know the producers will be looking for me.

Every time I come up to water, I just don't care anymore.

And before you know it, my pants are starting to get soaked.

A dangerous situation if I'm stuck outside one more night.

It's burned over areas.

Ah, it can be a lot of tricky climbing and scrambling.

But I happen to love this burned over.

Why?

Because, I can hear the highway.

Hear it?

Ah.

I can see it.

(upbeat music) (Les whistling) My feet are freezin'.

Ah, that's a little car, they're gonna stop.

Hey.

Alright.

Yeah.

Hey, thanks a lot.

Directly inspired by his own survival expeditions, journeys and challenges.

World renowned survival instructor Les Stroud brings you survive, essential skills and tactics to get you out of anywhere alive.

Available for 19.99.

In addition, the book will to live Dispatches from the Edge of Survival is available, featuring Les Stroud's own top ten survival stories of all time.

21.99.

To order, please go to lesstroud.ca, and click on shop