What’s Your PACE Plan?
Preparing for the bush—and whatever life puts in your path
You have packed the car, checked your gear and planned a weekend in the bush. Then you arrive to find the access road closed.
Or the weather changes. A water container leaks. Your phone goes flat. The campsite you were counting on is unavailable.
What happens next?
That question sits at the heart of PACE planning. It is a simple way to think ahead, prepare alternatives and give yourself options when circumstances change.
At Everyday Bushcraft, we teach practical skills that help us meet challenges with care, clarity and confidence. PACE fits naturally into that approach.
We cannot control everything that happens.
We can prepare how we respond.
What is PACE?
PACE stands for Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency.
It is used in military communications planning to establish workable alternatives when the preferred method fails. We can apply that thinking to trips, bushcraft preparation and everyday life. (rdl.train.army.mil)
Think of it as four questions:
Primary - What is my preferred plan?
Alternate - What will I use if that option becomes unavailable?
Contingency - What will I do if the first two options cannot work?
Emergency - What action will protect people if the situation becomes serious?
The distinction between the middle two can feel a little blurry. Your alternate is usually a straightforward substitute. Your contingency often involves a bigger adjustment: shortening the trip, changing the destination or abandoning the activity.
Your emergency plan focuses on safety and getting appropriate help.
You do not have to work through every level in order. If someone is in immediate danger, act on the emergency.
Start with the purpose of the trip
Before choosing equipment, ask what you are trying to achieve.
For a family camping trip, the purpose might be:
Spend time together, enjoy the bush and bring everyone home safely.
That gives you room to adapt. A different campsite, a shorter walk or a day trip can still meet much of that purpose.
If success depends on reaching one particular campsite at any cost, it becomes harder to make a sensible decision when conditions change.
A PACE plan for that trip might look like this:
Primary
Camp at our booked site and complete the planned walk.
Alternate
Use a suitable, confirmed alternative campsite if the first is unavailable and access remains safe.
Contingency
Shorten the outing or return home if safe camping options are unavailable.
Emergency
If someone is seriously injured or conditions become dangerous, take immediate protective action and seek emergency assistance.
Turning around can be the decision that makes the trip a success.
Give your plan a trigger
“Have a backup” is useful advice, but it leaves an important question unanswered:
When will you use it?
Decide beforehand what will prompt a change.
For example:
If the route is closed, we use the agreed alternative.
If we reach our turnaround time, we head back.
If our water reserve reaches the agreed minimum, we stop extending the trip.
If conditions exceed our equipment or experience, we cancel or leave while it is safe.
Choose triggers to suit the people, place and conditions. Share them with the group.
It is easier to make a calm decision at the kitchen table than when everyone is tired, wet and disappointed.
PACE and the five skills
Our five skills—Self-Aid, Knots, Shelter, Fire and Water—give us practical ways to care for ourselves and others. PACE helps us examine how dependable those capabilities really are.
1. Self-Aid: prepare the people
Self-aid begins before anyone gets hurt.
Consider the group’s abilities, relevant health needs, first-aid training, equipment and access to assistance. Who knows the plan? Who can help if the person leading becomes unwell?
Preparation also includes emotional regulation. When something changes, a deliberate pause can help us think clearly enough to act.
Practise the STOP habit: stop, think, observe and plan.
An alternate might be another capable person taking the lead. A contingency might be ending the activity early. An emergency plan should make clear how the group will seek help.
Looking after yourself includes recognising when you need support.
2. Knots: build options through practice
Knowing a knot is useful. Knowing when and how to use it makes that knowledge dependable.
For a shelter, your primary method might use familiar knots and prepared lines. Your alternate could be a different practised attachment suited to the materials available. Your contingency might be a simpler shelter configuration or another safe sleeping arrangement.
The objective is secure shelter. Let that guide the choice.
Practise with cold hands, in poor light and with the cordage you actually carry. Discovering a limitation during training gives you something useful to improve.
That is how we stack wins: one attempt, one adjustment, one better result.
3. Shelter: preserve your ability to stay protected
A tent might be your primary shelter. A tarp could provide an alternate if it is suitable for the conditions and you know how to pitch it.
Your contingency may be leaving early for an accessible, safe location. Your emergency preparations may include emergency shelter equipment and a way to summon help.
Check the dependencies. If both your tent and tarp rely on the same missing pegs, the backup has a weakness.
Ask:
What could make both options fail—and what can I do about that before leaving?
4. Fire: plan for the need it serves
Fire teaches patience, preparation and focus. It also teaches us to respect conditions.
Carrying several ignition methods can provide options, but they may all be unusable during fire restrictions or unsuitable conditions.
Think about what you need to achieve: cooking, warmth or treating water. Prepare suitable alternatives for those needs, and check current local restrictions before using any flame or stove.
Clothing, shelter, appropriate food and carried drinking water all reduce dependence on a fire.
The skill includes knowing when to leave the fire unlit.
5. Water: protect the supply
Begin with enough drinking water for the planned activity, conditions and a suitable reserve.
Then consider what happens if a container leaks, a source is dry or treatment equipment fails. Separate containers can reduce the impact of one failure. Any treatment backup must suit the likely hazards and be something you know how to use.
A filter and a boiling kit do not solve the problem of a creek with no water.
Sometimes the most useful contingency is a clear decision to turn back before supplies become critical.
Make your backups independent
One of the best PACE questions is:
Could the same problem disable all my options?
A mapping app, a digital itinerary and saved contact details may all depend on one phone. Two phones may both depend on the same mobile coverage. Several pieces of equipment may all be packed in the bag that gets left behind.
Look for shared weaknesses.
Depending on the trip, useful alternatives might include a paper map you can interpret,
separated supplies, an appropriate independent communication device, or a trip plan left with a reliable person.
That person needs to know your route, expected return and what action to take if you are overdue.
A backup becomes useful when it is available, understood and ready.
PACE belongs in everyday life too
The same questions work far beyond the campsite.
Getting somewhere important
Your primary plan is to drive. Your alternate is public transport. Your contingency is to arrange a lift or negotiate a different time. Your emergency arrangements cover what to do if a breakdown leaves you somewhere unsafe.
Completing an assignment
Your primary plan is to work on your laptop. Your alternate is another accessible device. Your contingency includes a recoverable copy of your work and a way to contact your teacher before the deadline if a major problem occurs.
You do not need to invent an “emergency” for every ordinary task. Use the parts of the framework that help.
Keeping a healthy routine
Your primary plan is a morning walk. Your alternate is an afternoon walk. Your contingency is a shorter, manageable activity when the day changes.
The purpose is to keep building the habit. Adjusting the plan can help you sustain it.
Managing a demanding week
Your primary plan may be a realistic schedule. Your alternate is to move a less urgent commitment. Your contingency is to reduce the load and ask for help.
PACE gives you permission to prepare those choices before you feel overwhelmed.
Practise the plan, then improve it
A plan deserves a rehearsal.
Pitch the tarp. Test the equipment. Find the backup file. Walk through the communication arrangements. Ask another person to explain the plan back to you.
Afterwards, conduct a simple After Action
Review:
What was supposed to happen?
What actually happened?
Why were there differences?
What worked?
What needs improving?
What will we sustain or change?
Each review helps turn experience into better preparation.
There is no need to manufacture four impressive answers. Two workable options are more valuable than four you cannot carry out—a principle recognised in military PACE guidance too. (rdl.train.army.mil)
Prepare options. Practise decisions.
At Everyday Bushcraft, we say:
“There’s always one more thing you can do.”
Sometimes that means trying another method. Sometimes it means putting up shelter, asking for assistance or heading home.
PACE helps us discover those options before we need them.
Before your next trip—or your next demanding week—take a few minutes to ask:
What is my plan? What could interrupt it? What will I do then?
Write down the answers. Share them. Practise what matters.
Train for Life. Not the Moment.
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