First-day survival: save, supplies and shelter

Recover your equipment

Search the crash area and open your Emergency Pack for the GPS and basic tools, including the Tactical Axe. Crate contents vary: a checklist is useful, but the same loot is not guaranteed at every start.

On default PC controls, press I to open the inventory. Move the pointer towards its edges to see equipment outside the initial view. Hold I to bring out the quick backpack. Check your bindings if these keys differ.

Make a place to save

1. Collect a tarp and at least one stick.
2. Equip the tarp and place it on the ground.
3. Aim at a corner and prop it up with a stick.
4. When the shelter offers sleep and save interactions, select save deliberately.

Sleeping rests your character and advances time; it is a different choice from saving. If there is no save prompt, check that a corner is supported. You can dismantle and carry the shelter for later stops. Make another save before entering a cave.

Cover food, water and rest

Gather identifiable food, medicine and drinking supplies. Do not eat unidentified plants simply because they are available. For a basic fire, break and place two sticks on the ground, light them with the lighter and use the interaction to add suitable food for cooking.

Keep track of hunger, thirst and rest. Avoid unnecessary early fights while building up supplies. A portable save point and a scouting trip give you time to choose a longer-term base.

Choose your next task

The Modern Axe is a surface pickup with no cave-tool prerequisite. For buried hatches and the Shotgun grave, work towards the Rebreather and Rope Gun, then the Shovel.

About the island and this guide

Sons Of The Forest is an island survival game developed by Endnight Games and published by Newnight. It supports single-player and online co-op on Windows PC. See the official Steam page for the game itself.

This independent field guide has 20 guides covering cave tools, keycards, GPS markers, companions, base planning, Strength and story progression. Use the guide index to choose your next task. Routes use Early Access and 1.0-era references, with scope stated on each page; a content review is not a recent-build playtest.