Monday 18 June 2012

Strengthening Your Survival Skills

One of the most important - and most frequently overlooked - facets of planning outdoor expeditions is to ensure that you have sufficient learning survival skills to give you the maximum chance of maintaining your well being in potentially dangerous or even life threatening situations. Survival skills are essentially ways to ensure that all your basic needs - food, water, shelter, safety, and warmth. For example - are met even in a hostile, unfamiliar or difficult scenario. Many people regularly strategy hiking, trekking or mountaineering expeditions, but few take the trouble to educate themselves about even the most important of surviving skills.
The first thing you have to think about in any outdoor expedition is how to fulfill your basic needs when out within the wilderness. The most urgent need will, of course, be the procurement of food and water. In a survival situation, it is best to search for edible plants, as they contain an adequate amount of carbohydrates and can be obtained without an excessive amount of effort or skill. The essential skill involved here is differentiating between edible and inedible plants. Wild mushrooms should be avoided unless you can positively identify them as edible, because many of all of them are poisonous. If you are foraying into areas with heavy plant life, it would be smart to carry a handbook on edible plant foods. However, in arid areas, you will have to rely on either non perishable foods you have with a person, or on bird ova, animals and even bugs. Many experts recommend that you simply put aside you prejudices towards insects, because their fat rich bodies make excellent survival food! As far as hunting is concerned, it is not advisable to try and hunt if you have o prior experience of it; it can be dangerous to provoke wildlife you have no knowledge of.
The need for water is much more urgent than that with regard to food. In a forest, water can be acquired from various plants even though you cannot find a steam or rainwater pool. For instance, green bamboo, if cut properly, releases a lot of clean, drinkable water. Several other trees and plants contain water which should be researched prior to venturing into such places. In deserts, damp sand indicates nearby water, and so does plant life. Generally if you obtain water from the stream or river, you may need in order to purify it before drinking. One way is to boil it on the fire, and if that isn't possible, then you can make use of water purification tablets. Never, ever use blood, alcohol, urine or seawater to quench your thirst, no matter how thirsty you're - these substances actually cause your body to lose its remaining fluids even faster, and blood and urine might contain harmful substances.
Another crucial wilderness survival skill is to find shelter from extreme climate conditions or from wild animals. In a forest, you can climb a sizable, leafy tree to protect you from dangerous creatures or excessive heat. In extreme cold, you must know building a snow shelter. Igloos can keep a person very warm, but require some skill to make. Snow tents combined along with extra blankets are an easier option. Secondly, you must know how you can kindle a fire in a cold environment. Keep waterproof matches with you along with a stout knife or other weapon to cut firewood.
Finally, you must know how you can signal and transmit where you are if you lose your way. Learn to use SOS, or signal fires, and even shiny, reflective materials can be used on a sunny day to attract attention. Hence the bottom line is that you need to be educated in survival skills based on your plan of travel, and must prepare mentally and physically before aiming, to ensure survival under trying circumstances.

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