How To Survive The Extreme Cold
When you are in extreme cold conditions or areas, the first and most important thing that you must keep in mind is to preserve as much heat as possible. The best way to do this is to wear warm clothing and wear layers of clothes to keep you warm. You must wear a woolen cap to keep your head and ears warm to maintain your inner body temperature, gloves to keep your hands warm and wear a pair of boots on your feet. If you are in an area where there is snow then wear clothes that will protect you from the snow. Snowshoes are the best in such areas as they are designed to distribute your weight and prevent you from sinking into the snow.
Carrying a flashlight when you are venturing out is very essential to finding your way around - carry a lighter or matches with you as well. Do not take long periods of rest and if you feel tired, just rest for a few moments and start moving again.
Do not drink any cold water or eat any snow because by doing so you will only bring down your body temperature. The cold weather will make you lazy and sleepy but do not fall asleep because there are chances that you may never wake up if hypothermia occurs. You may also get frost bitten, so make sure to sleep only when you find a shelter or you have built one.
If it is windy and the temperature falls as low as minus 50 degrees F, the only option you have is to build an igloo. While building an igloo you must keep in mind that it has to be big enough to fit in comfortably. An igloo is ideal if you want to rest for a while as it retains heat as long as it does not have any holes.
Try and build the structure with whatever material that is available to you, you could use branches of trees to make a lean-to or a wigwam. Always remember not to put the entrance facing the direction of the wind.
In the cold, a fire is the most essential thing to keep you warm and maintain your body temperature. Carry matches or a lighter with you, it will help in building a fire. The use of proper equipment to build a fire will make it easy. Do not build a fire near branches of trees that are heavily laden with snow. If you do not have matches then use a magnifying lens or sticks to start a fire.
A study of Nordic fishermen has shown that people who have clean skin get frostbitten easily when compared to people who do not have clear skin. Frostbite can get bad if washed so avoid washing or rubbing the affected area.
Sometimes it is beyond anyone's control to avoid being in weather that is extremely cold and in an area where you have never been before. You must always be prepared and have enough knowledge as to what you must do.
Yes us Canadians know all about the cold, but please take percautions with wind chill and when your driving. Keep a blanket,candle,energy bars and a cell phone in your vehicle when driving and never leave your vehicle in a blizard.
How To Survive In The Wilderness
For some it may be very adventurous while for the others it may be a way of releasing their tension and stress when they seek outdoor activities like trekking, hiking or mountaineering. These outdoor activities provide a lot of refreshment especially when there is a lot of monotony at home and work. The Australian Outback is a very well known outdoor spot that is visited by many adventure seekers.
All outdoor adventure spots like the Outback are not safe and there are chances of getting lost in the wilderness because the areas that they occupy are huge. Before deciding to go on an adventurous trip one must be both physically and mentally prepared and must be well aware of all the facts.
There are great chances of one getting lost while on an adventure trip, hence it is very important for an adventurer to have ample knowledge about the dangers that are attached and how to overcome these dangers to survive in the wilderness. One must be well equipped to face the dangers while trekking or hiking in the wilderness.
You must have prior knowledge about building a fire as this is very important to survival when lost in the dense forests. You will need the fire for light as well as to keep you warm in the night. Fire also keeps wild animals away and it can also be used as a signal to alert rescuers. There are different methods to build a fire - you can use matches or use two rocks and strike them against each other forcefully to create sparks. Use wood or dry leaves in the forest to start a fire.
Building a shelter is the next important thing you should know how to do. You will require a shelter to protect yourself from winds, rain and snow. Most of the adventure spots already have natural shelters that may only require some modifications. You may find small pits, cave openings or overhanging cliffs that you may use as shelters by modifying them a bit with material available in the forests. Use branches and leaves to build shelters. Building a shelter from nothing may be a very difficult task as well as time consuming. To be well-protected have only one entrance.
To keep your energy intact and to stay alive, food is very important when you are lost in the wilderness. Food may not be a problem as you may find a variety of fruits and berries that you can eat but make sure to choose the right ones or else they may be fatal. Fire, shelter and food are most important when lost in the wilderness - make sure to have ample knowledge about each of them before you venture into the wild.
How To Find Food That Is Safe In The Wilderness
People living in cities usually take the good things around them for granted and do not realize their worth unless they are lost in the wilderness where food is such an important factor. They may not even know the difference between poisonous berries and mistletoe. Once lost in the darkness of thick forests they lose all their power of reasoning and can become unnerved. The best thing to do in such a situation is to stay calm and find a way of survival by eating things that are safe and that will keep you alive.
It is very important to find a good source of clean drinking water before you find sources to satiate your hunger. One cannot survive too long without water when compared to surviving without food. Do not take any risks when it comes to your health and safety and don't give way to wild imagination. You must be very reasonable and depend entirely on facts. Do not take any chances of eating any plants or fruits unless you are sure of what they are. Wild plants and fruits can be very poisonous so do not make any hasty assumptions.
For any layperson, it is very difficult to identify the plants and fruits that are safe for consumption as this requires prior knowledge and experience. You may avoid consumption of food that is potentially dangerous when you find that the taste is bitter, there is discoloration and decay, bad odor and the growth pattern is three-leaved. Plants with these characteristics are inedible.
The safest thing to eat when lost in wilderness is seaweed - they may be very slimy in their appearance but they are absolutely safe. It is best to eat seaweed that you personally weed out from the water and avoid those that you find on shore as they may not be very safe due to contamination.
You may be very hungry and eager to look for food around you. Fishing is one of the safest ways to satisfy your hunger. Make your own spear by using a sharp stick to spear the fish. Do not forget to clean the fish properly before cooking it.
Hunting requires a lot of prior experience and this is one reason why people who are lost in the wilderness should not depend on hunting for food. It just takes too much effort and time if you are not a pro at it. This may not sound too good, but bugs and insects are rich sources of fats and proteins so do not go by what they look like but view them as food.
Do not panic and lose your sense of reasoning as this may only lead to errors that may prove dangerous and fatal. Have a positive outlook and stay calm and this will lead you to the road of safety.
Bugs That Could Be Dangerous
If you are planning an outdoor adventure you must always keep in mind that there will be insects around you. Be prepared for some insect bites and bee stings. Insects do not bite or sting because they have anything personal against you it's just a way to protect themselves.
Bright colored clothes and strong scents attract insects so avoid these. Use of an insect repellant on the other hand will protect you from insect and bug bites as the chemicals that are present in them make you 'invisible' to these insects.
Spiders can be very poisonous - black widows especially. These spiders can be spotted easily because of their distinct physical features - they have a spotted hourglass-shaped body with white, orange or red spots on the stomach. The bites of these spiders can be very painful causing a lot of shivering, sweating and weakness which may last for several days after you have been bitten.
The fiddle back spider is called so because it carries a light spot on its back that resembles a violin and it is also called the brown recluse because it likes dark places. Tissue degeneration occurs around the bitten site and is very painful. Tarantulas and funnel webs are the other spiders that you must be careful of - a tarantula bite is very painful and causes a lot of bleeding that could become infectious. Spider bites can prove to be fatal and a person may die due to certain toxins present in the spider's venom.
You should also be careful of scorpion bites - scorpions are mostly found during the night times and are black or brown in color. Scorpions found in the deserts are yellow or light green in color. On an average a small scorpion grow to a length of about 2.5 cm while the Central America giant scorpions measure about 20 cm. Vinegar roons and whip scorpions have tails that are straight.
Bees can be spotted easily because they are hairy and plump, while hornets and wasps have a sleek body without any hair. Most bees live in colonies and when they sting, they leave a stinger injected into your skin with the venom sack. Hornets and wasps have smooth stingers and they attack continuously.
Tick bites can spread Lyme disease, rocky mountain fever and encephalitis along with other dangerous diseases. For these diseases to be transmitted to any person the tick will require about six hours to be on you skin. So you need to inspect your skin regularly.
The best thing you can do is to try and stay away from insects and bugs because they sting or bite as a form of self-protection.
Avoiding Thirst When You Are Lost In The Desert
It is not easy to travel in a desert if you are not used to it - there are chances of you getting lost. When you are left without any water or any other liquid to quench your thirst the question of your survival will come up.
It is impossible for a person to find his way back if he is lost in the desert especially when you are not used to extreme situations like this. It is very important to keep oneself hydrated for a long period of time because it may take you a couple of days or even weeks to find your way back. There are a few tips that may help avoid dehydration and dying of thirst when you are lost in the desert.
Distances are very deceptive in the deserts, so it is very important not to be deceived by what you see. It is very important that whatever distance you may estimate be multiplied by 4. By doing so you are gauging the actual distance that you will be traveling making it easier to decide on the quantity of water that must be carried.
While you are traveling through a desert and the chances of running out of water are great, then the best thing to do is not to eat any food. If you are really hungry and desperate to eat then it is recommended that you carry food that is not very dry. Dry and salty food will only make you thirstier. Do not consume any drinks that have a high caffeine content and a big no-no to alcohol if you want to get out alive from the desert.
Do not carry heavy baggage but travel as light as possible. Carrying heavy baggage will only tire you as your optimum energy will be used up and leave you exhausted. Carrying around heavy baggage will only make you sweat, tire you and dehydrate you.
Once lost in the desert it is very important to save and protect as much as energy and the liquid content in your body. Sweating unnecessarily by doing activities that are stressful and unnecessary panic and running must all be avoided to retain the water supply till you find your way back to a safe and sound place.
Avoid breathing through your mouth, as your mouth may become dry. Use your nose to breathe. Breathing through the nose will help prevent the body from losing water.
Just take a sip at a time even at times when you may feel the need to drink more, the most important thing to remember here is to keep your body hydrated, so just drink the required amount of water your body will need.
By keeping the above in mind you may now have to ponder on the other dangers of the desert such as insect bites, hypothermia or snake bites that may be very poisonous.
Survival Camp Courses
It is a good idea to join a survival camp course even if you are not planning to trek through any deep woods. Survival camp courses are very important as their main objective is to teach their participants how to survive in the wild woods and overcome the challenges that they may come across. Summer camps differ in their objective - they teach their participants how to interact and love nature even though this is not the main aim of a survival camp.
There are different survival camps around the country that you may choose from - each camp varies in its content or program that it offers. Choose a program that concentrates on teaching you the foods that you should eat when you are lost in the forest. When you are hungry and it's dark, it's not very difficult to mistake one fruit for another, but such errors may prove fatal when you mistake poisonous toadstools for mushrooms. A good course should be able to teach you the easy identification of wild fruits and plants and the identification of fruits and plants that you may eat when lost in the forests.
If the course that you have enrolled for teaches you to tell the difference between plants that are safe for consumption and those that are inedible, then the course must also teach you to recognize the plants and herbs that you may use to cure any ailments that may occur when you are lost in the forest. A good course will also teach you how to prevent your wounds from getting infected.
A good survival camp course will also teach you the different methods that can be used to build a fire in the absence of matches. This is a very important aspect that must be learnt as fire is very essential to keep you warm and cook your food.
The course must also teach you ways and means by which you can build a shelter in the wilderness and such a shelter must withstand any kind of weather. This is very important because if lost in wilderness, you may have to live there in weather conditions that are very harsh like the rain and snow.
Once your hunger, thirst, shelter and warmth have been looked after, the next important thing to do is to try and create signals. You send signals that will alert the forest personnel that there is a lost person in the forest. The course must teach you the creation of signals in the absence of modern gadgets and tools that you may use otherwise.
Fishing is not an easy task - it requires a lot of practice and patience. If you are lost in the forest without a fishing line and bait it becomes all the more difficult to fish. A survival camp will also teach you the techniques of fishing in the wilderness for food with the help of natural resources that are available in the forests.
If you want to have a little more fun, then enroll yourself in advanced survival camp courses that will also teach techniques for hunting. Courses that teach hunting are a little expensive and time consuming. Choose a course that will suit your needs the best and have fun.
Essential Tips To Remember During Flash Floods
Environment changes can cause a lot of damage to people. Though the human body readily accustoms itself to the extreme changes that may occur in the environment, yet there are some extreme situations where it becomes very difficult to accept and react to any sudden changes around. Flash floods are one such natural calamity that people have to face and react to.
Flash floods are not a very easy situation to deal with as every year in the United States of America hundreds of people die due to flash floods. When compared to the number of deaths that are caused due to other natural calamities flash floods cause the highest number of deaths. Flash floods are much more dangerous and deadly than severe winds, winter storms, tornados, lightning and extreme heat.
There are ways to protect yourself and your belongings during flash floods. The best way to do is to move all your valuable belongings to a higher level. If you have run out of time and the water is rising quickly then move to higher levels as soon as possible without wasting time.
Then next most important thing to do is to put your children and your pets in a very safe place. Put off your gas and your main electrical circuit to avoid any short circuit. Do not stay in the house if you smell any gas leakage. Avoid using your telephone and any of your electrical appliances. Use your cellular phone, a public phone or your neighbor's phone to make a call.
Swimming is the most dangerous thing to do in flowing floodwaters. Most deaths during floods are caused due to drowning and these deaths may be avoided if precautionary measures are taken at the right time.
Avoid driving in flooded areas. A lot of deaths that occur during floods are also caused in vehicles and this is because the waters in certain areas may be deep and there may be hidden holes that may be covered with water and while driving one may just fall into them.
Electric shocks during floods are also another main cause for death - one must avoid any kind of contact with power lines or electrical wires. Sometimes even after an electrical circuit has been switched off it may still have some electrical charge that may cause death.
Follow the news updates on the radio so as to be well aware of what is happening around you and you will also get to know the travel routes that are safe to follow and other important aspects that are related to floods.
If your car or van gets stuck anywhere in the water, the first thing you must do is to evacuate all the passengers and move to a higher level where the level of water is lower. Even after the flood has subsided do not make hasty attempts to move back to disaster areas unless the authorities have asked you to do so. Do not drink tap water unless it has been declared safe. Floodwaters are contaminated and must not be used for drinking as they carry a lot of waterborne diseases with them.
Floods are great natural disasters and there must be a very well planned infrastructure to deal with them. To protect your loved ones and yourself from natural disasters one must be very alert and make arrangements beforehand.