Dinosaurs
Dinos have levels, but they don't seem to matter too much, if it looks like you should be able to take it on single handed then you probably can. Level 23 Dodo when you're level 2? No problem. Level 2 Triceratops when you're level 6? Fuck no. I've haven't tried attacking a Bronto yet because it just seems folly.

Camp
Set up camp near to water, trees and bushes. Sounds obvious but without these you're fighting a losing battle. You need to set up a sleeping bag as a single use spawn point should you die, to do that you need to build a floor platform first then place it on that. You can research a better bed that lasts more than one death (I think, haven't haven't died to test it yet). Remember to extinguish your camp fire when not using it or you'll use up your fuel while tutting about elsewhere. Research a storage box ASAP as you can store shit you don't need on you all the time to keep your weight down. You should also stock it with spare gear in case you snuff it.

Crafting
Different tools seem to get different drops. So for trees, the pick gets thatch while the axe gets wood. For animal carcasses, the pick gets meat and the axe gets hide, go with the axe as the hide is more valuable for crafting, and you'll still get a few meat off it. Can't seem to do anything with the shells dotted about everywhere.

Food
Foraging for berries is actually quite decent as far as food goes, with the added bonus of collecting fibre to make some trendy clothes. For meat, cook it at a camp fire as soon as possible, it goes off pretty quickly. Took me a while to pluck up enough courage to take the plunge, but the sea is jam packed with fish which offer up easy meat.

Strange Beams of Light
These seem to be Hunger Games style cache drops, you can get some decent gear to give you a leg up but some are level locked.