Watch these DVDs with your children before camping or hiking so everyone will know what to do if they become lost or stranded.

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Product Description

On the trail, in the woods, or on a mountainside, you should always expect one thing: the unexpected. It can happen anytime to anyone, from the most casual hiker to the most experienced outdoors person.

ARE YOU PREPARED TO SURVIVE?

You will be after viewing this remarkable DVD series, which will give you the essential knowledge and skills that could save your life.

Hosted by Gretchen Cordy, a former Air Force survival instructor and nationally recognized from her appearance on "Survivor," this 2-DVD set offers practical information from experts who have faced wilderness survival situations.

Step by step, you’ll learn everything from signaling and fire-building to prioritizing tasks to thinking clearly in stressful situations. You’ll find these DVDs to be among the most valuable pieces of outdoor equipment you own.

Produced in widescreen on location in Arizona, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, the program is organized into three sections:

1. Basic Concepts 62 minutes
Introduction
The Will to Survive
Survival Stresses
Improvisation
Preparing for the Outdoors
Survival Priorities

2. In-Depth Topics 58 minutes
Shelter
Fire
Water
Signaling

3. Bonus Materials 54 minutes
Basic First-Aid
Creating a Survival Kit
Knots and Lashings
Choosing a Knife
Stories from a Park Ranger
Scenics
Production Photos

The information is presented in a conversational and friendly manner by outdoor experts Gretchen Cordy, Doug Ritter, Rich Johnson and Buck Tilton.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68857 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 174 minutes

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Customer Reviews

Very informative and beautifully photographed DVD
"Prepared to Survive" is a great introduction to surviving in the wild for the uninitiated and/or an informative refresher for those who may be out of practice with fundamental survival skills.

The "Basic Concepts" portion of the 1st DVD is a bit long winded and uninteresting at times, hence my 4 star rating, but is packed with lots of useful and important knowledge. The "In-Depth Topics" portion of the 1st DVD and the supplemental material on the 2nd DVD provide the audience with a comprehensive understanding of the methods and practical demonstration of the tools necessary for successful implementation of both.

If you would like to be informed about what to do if you find yourself lost or in a survival situation on an outdoor adventure, this DVD will give you the knowledge you need to be better prepared for survival.

Basic familiarization
As a general rule I believe there is usually "something" that can be taken from most books and videos on this subject. It may only be a better demonstration or a twist on an old technique. This video is a VERY BASIC "introduction" to the concepts of survival. The video does not really teach anything new or useful such as making a fire with bow and drill. Instead, it shows several different types of fire starters (metal match, regular matches, lighter, gel fire starter, etc) and contrasts their size and ease of use. The production quality of the video is very good. I found this video most useful to spark an intrest in survival in my 8 year old son and uninterested wife.
I would recommend this video to cub scouts and possibly junior scouts as an introduction. I think anyone that is already familiar with outdoors and survival would NOT find this video useful.

Here's my take
Over the years I've read a lot of materials and watched a lot of videos on outdoor medicine and survial techniques. If you spend a lot of time outside like me you never pass on an opportunity to learn something new. This video is probably the best organized and illustrated video on the topic of survival. Most of the products they demonstrate I already own and have used. All of the demonstrations they present I have already done. However I'm voting this as best due to the quality of production and guests like Doug Ritter and the host Gretchen who just seems to have an easy way and confident nature about her.

If your new to this topic this video is a must, if your consider yourself adept at the very least this video is an excellent review.