Expert Answers Here are the expert answers from specialists in wilderness survival. |
Here are the recommended
courses of action for each situations. These answers come
from the comprehensive course on woodland survival taught
by the Interpretive Service, Monroe County Parks
Department, New York. These responses are considered to
be the best rules of thumb for most situations: specific
situations, however, might require other courses of
action. 1. (a) Call "Help" loudly but in a low register:. Low tones carry farther, especially in dense woodland. There is a much better chance of being heard if you call loudly but in a low key. "Help" is a good word to use, because it alerts your companions to your plight. Yelling or screaming would not only be less effective, but might be passed off as a bird call by your friends. 2. (a) Make a lot of noise with your feet: Snakes do not like people and will usually do everything they can to get out of your way. Unless you surprise or corner a snake, there is a good chance that you will not even see one, let alone come into contact with it. Some snakes do feed at night, and walking softly may bring you right on top of a snake. 3. (c) Put a bit of plant on your lower lip for five minutes. If it seems all right, try a little: The best approach, of course, is to eat only those plants that you recognize as safe. But when you are in doubt and very hungry, you ma use the lip test. If the plant is poisonous, you will get a very unpleasant sensation on your lip. Red berries alone do not tell you much about the plant's edibility (unless, of course, you do recognize the plant by the berries), and birds just do not have the same digestive systems we do. 4. (c) Drink as much as you think you need when you need it: The danger here is dehydration, and once the process starts, your liter of water will not do much to reverse it. Saving or rationing will not help, especially if you are lying unconscious somewhere from sunstroke or dehydration. So use the water as you need it, and be aware of your need to find a water source as soon as possible. 5. (c) Dig in the stream bed at the outside of a bend: This is the part of the river or stream that flows the fastest, is less silted, deepest, and the last part to go dry. 6. (c) Midway up the slope: A sudden rain storm might turn the ravine into a raging torrent. This has happened to many campers and hikers before they had a chance to escape. The ridge line, on the other hand, increases your exposure to rain, wind, and lightning, should a storm break. The best location is on the slope. 7. (b) Put the batteries under your armpits to warm them, and then replace them in the flashlight: Flashlight batteries lose much of their power, and weak batteries run down faster in the cold. Warming the batteries, especially if they are already weak, will restore them for a while. You would normally avoid night travel, of course, unless you were in open country where you could use the stars for navigation. There are just too many obstacles (logs, branches, uneven ground, and so on) that might injure you--and a broken leg, injured eye, or twisted ankle would not help your plight right now. Once the sun sets, darkness falls quickly in wooded areas: it would usually be best to stay at your campsite. 8. (a) Yellow: A yellow flame indicates incomplete combustion and a strong possibility of carbon monoxide build-up. Each year many campers are killed by carbon monoxide poisoning as they sleep or doze in tents, cabins, or other enclosed spaces. 9. (a) Leave your boots and pack on: Errors in fording rivers are a major cause of fatal accidents. Sharp rocks or uneven footing demand that you keep your boots on. If your pack is fairly well balanced, wearing it will provide you the most stability in the swift current. 10. (b) Across the stream: Errors in facing the wrong way in fording a stream are the cause of many drownings. Facing upstream is the worst alternative; the current could push you back and your pack would provide the unbalance to pull you over. You have more stability facing across the stream, keeping your eyes at the exit point on the opposite bank. 11. (c) In stocking feet: Here your can pick your route to some degree, and you can feel where you are stepping. Normal hiking boots become slippery, and going barefooted gives your feet no protection at all. 12. (c) Freeze, but be ready to back away slowly: Sudden movement will probably startle the bear a lot more than your presence. If the bear is seeking some of your food, do not argue with him; let him forage and be on his way. Otherwise, back very slowly to some refuge. (trees, rock outcrop, etc.) |
