May
16
Survival School
Filed Under Survival Skills
Becoming stranded or lost while hiking in Utah, while not very frequent, is a real danger that even the most prepared individuals can succumb to. While I typically find local news stories more amusing than helpful, KTNV in Nevada ran a piece last week giving a few pointers on surviving in the desert if you happen to get lost or stranded. It only made me smile a few times, and had some pretty good suggestions. To highlight:
“Water is one of the critical survival priorities. If you do not pack enough to drink that is your first order of business. You cannot live without water. You can go 40 or 50 days without food,”
“Boiling will kill some things but you can also try using some iodine or chlorine tablets or using a mechanical filter.”
I have just begun evaluating which filter I want to buy. I have some Polar Pure iodine that I got before it became restricted last summer, but a filter would be a much better solution. Any suggestions?
A heavy duty garbage bag will work as a vapor barrier and keep you warm on a cold night.
…knowing how to create a temporary shelter is also an important survival skill.
You can do it with a little rope and an old poncho.
“And a friction knot will help the shelter stay in place,” explained Nester while building the shelter.
The idea is to put the poncho between two trees and grab whatever you can find to anchor it.
This points out one my glaring deficiencies… knots! While watching the video of the story this is what stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I’m sure I could rig something, but it wouldn’t be very strong and a lot more complicated/wasteful than necessary. I need to find a good knot resource!
Your third priority should be trying to build a fire.
The ideal items would be matches, a spark rod, cotton balls and Vaseline.
“Because the cotton ball has Vaseline on it, that will burn for about 5 minutes,”
I have tried this and it works. I would suggest getting one of those butane torches instead of a standard Bic lighter. I also keep mine in the original packaging until needed. Even in my bags I just cut all the excess packaging off but still keep the sealed part in tact. It helps keep the lighter from leaking PLUS gives you a little bit of fuel (in the cardboard packing) you can use.
Nester recommends using at least five different ways to signal that you are stuck.
One of the easiest is simply taking a pile of rocks and building an “X” so those in the air know exactly where you are.
A small mirror can also come in handy.
“A flash can carry 30 to 50 miles. It can even work in semi – cloudy conditions,”
It really is amazing what a mirror can do. I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ve done my share of annoying people with a watch face when I was younger 
While I wouldn’t want to bet my life on surviving based on what I see on my local news, this was a fairly decent story considering. I still have to figure out the five ways to signal you’re stuck though… when I have more time I guess.
Anything else you’d add to a “bare essentials” list of items to take in ANY circumstance?