|
The Life and Mind of DamnBlackHeart
This is to help me stay actively writing. So expect to see rants, tips on writing, thoughts on subjects, me complaining of boredom, reviews, anime, movies, video games, conventions, tv shows and whatever life throws at me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
How to Survive on a Deserted Island: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
After reading a few books and movies dealing with survival it made me wonder what I would do in those situations. I think I would do a pretty decent job but there would be a few things that I wouldn’t know what to do. I figure I should create a list of useful information to know, if one day I (or whoever is reading this) unexpectedly gets stranded in a wilderness environment (like a deserted island). After all, the more you know the better your chances of survival would be.
1. Stay calm and plan. You’re going to need water and shelter, or you might need to build one. Most people start by looking for food, but it is a fact that almost all “lost” people are found in a matter of hours or a couple days. You can live for 2 weeks without food but only 3-4 days without water.
a. You need fresh water, not seawater (salt dehydrates you and makes it worse). Once you’ve found a source of water (a waterfall, river, rain water, etc) then you’ll have to purify/desalinate it. You can do that by boiling it for 2-3 minutes to be sure that all bacteria in it is gone. If you can’t find any water then you’ll have to make a Condensation trap to help capture fresh water. A modern way is to have a clear plastic bag over the leafy branch of a non-poisonous tree and tightly close the bag’s open end around the branch. Any holes in the bag must be sealed to prevent the loss of water vapor.
The bag must be clear because it allows photosynthesis to continue, but traps the evaporating water causing the vapor pressure of water to rise to a point where it begins to condense on the surface of the plastic bag. Gravity then causes the water to run to the lowest part of the bag. The leaves will continue to produce water as the roots draw it from the ground and photosynthesis occurs. Just remember that the vapor pressure of water in the sealed bag can rise so high that the leaves can no longer transpire, consequently when using this method, the water should be drained off every two hours and stored. It’s important to know that because if it’s not done then the leaves will stop producing water.
b. For the shelter it must be somewhere warm and shady to sleep. It’s a place for storing resources, to hide from animals and protect you from the elements. Caves aren’t recommended because you don’t know what creatures could already be using it. Plus, it’s important to be in view of the ocean for any ships or anything else that might pass by you/the island. Here are two ways to build a shelter, the ‘Lean-to’ shelter and the ‘Tepee’ shelter.
Creating a “Lean-To” shelter:
Step 1: Find a large branch and lean one end onto a tree.
Step 2: Place smaller branches at 45 degree angles along the length of the large branch.
Step 3: Cover the entire structure with leaves and foliage.
If you are not rescued within a couple of weeks and your stay on the island is going to be much longer, then you can use the “Lean-To Shelter” as temporary housing while you construct a more permanent “Tepee Shelter”.
Creating a “Tepee” shelter:
Step 1: Gather 10 to 20 long branches. The thicker the branches, the more secure your tepee will be.
Step 2: Stick 3 of these branches into the ground to create a tripod.
Step 3: Position the remaining branches around the tripod in a circle. Be sure to leave an area free for your entrance.
Step 4: Find the largest leaves and brush that you can find to use as a cover.
2. Start a fire. It’s important because fire has a number of uses. It is needed to distill water, to cook, and provide light for you and your rescuers. There are a couple of methods that can use to start a fire and here are some:
Building The Structure:
Step 1: Gather dry tinder, twigs, and branches of various sizes.
Step 2: Using the smaller twigs, create a tepee shape with tinder placed in the center.
Lighting The Fire:
If you have glasses, binoculars, or a camera, use the lens to concentrate the rays on the tinder to ignite it. Then blow when it starts smoking. Otherwise, your best alternative is to use the “Fire-Plow” method.
The Fire-Plow Method
Step 1: Find a soft wood and cut a groove in its base.
Step 2: Place some tinder at one end that you will ignite.
Step 3: Using a hard stick, plow the end up and down this groove to create friction.
Step 4: The tinder will begins to smolder, blow on it to help fuel the fire catching process.
Step 5: When the fire catches, place other small twigs on top to help it grow.
3. Look for food. There are lots of edible roots and berries, but be careful because some are poisonous. Only eat them if you are sure they are completely safe. The best, and most reliable source of food is bugs. They are everywhere and an excellent source of protein. If you’re like me you’ll only resort to that if you have no choice and I do mean no choice at all.
a. You’re more likely to catch fishes. They can be best found in the shallow areas surrounding the beach (and it’s safer to be at because you don’t want to risk being in the deep water and being attacked by a shark). The surrounding water should be shallow enough to walk through and look for fish.
In order to catch the fish, the easiest technique is to use spear fishing. Create a long spear from one of the branches you find on the island. Make the tip as sharp and long as possible, but be sure that the stick is long enough to throw and that it has some weight.
If you can stand on rocks, this will be better, since it will be less likely to alarm the fish and you’ll be able to find them meandering as they snack on seaweed or whatever else they find interesting in the ocean. However, if you must walk in the water, then move slowly as to not startle them.
Hold the spear at your side above the water. When the fish stops and settles in one spot, quickly extend your arm and throw the spear, aiming for the fish’s head. With enough practice, you will be hitting your target with greater precision.
4. Signalling for help. There are several ways to do it, some are for when there’s an airplane/helicopter and others are for a boat/ship. You can arrange rocks or large objects on a clear path, usually on sand, to signal for help. They should form the message SOS. Other distress signals which are three fires all lite up in the shape of a triangle. Why? Because it’s an international sign of distress. You just have to make sure it’s burning in clear view from the ocean and the sky. If you have a whistle, you must blow on it three times, or if you have a flashlight…flash it three times, in succession followed by a one minute pause and repeat it until a response is received. Doing it three times is important because it’s also a common signal that rescuers know if someone needs help.
5. Things to keep in mind:
a. When to comes to poisonous plants and berries remember that: Leaves of three, let them be. These plants could be poison ivy. Hairy vine? No friend of mine! Berries that are white, is danger in sight! Red leaflets in spring are a dangerous thing.
b. Protect your skin from being burnt by the sun. If there are coconut trees, the oil from the coconut can help protect your skin like a suntan lotion would, so use it to protect your body.
c. Work during the day because the nights will be pitch black and it’s difficult to see even with a fire going.
d. If someone is injured and bleeding it’s important to take care of it quickly. Put direct pressure on a wound while help comes. If there is no help then you must do it yourself. Clean the wound using fresh/purified water or with an alcohol-free wipe. Then apply a sterile bandage (or anything that’s clean) and use a finger or hand pressure directly to the wound. This is good aid for minor injuries in people. If it’s not serious then it should stop bleeding in under 10 minutes.
However if a person is bleeding seriously and you see blood spurting from a wound, or blood flow that is rapid and fails to clot despite measures being taken to stem the bleeding. Then cleaning the wound takes a backseat and your main goal is to stop the bleeding or lessen it as much as possible by putting pressure on it. Also if the wound has a foreign object and it is large (large piece of glass, knife, or whatever else) do not remove it. It is most likely stopping a lot of the bleeding itself. Just put pressure and bandage around the object and take care to not push it in further.
Note: The two most powerful tools that a person has for survival is their brain and their will power to live. As long as you have knowledge and the ability to think then you can come up with many possibilities, solutions and so on for any challenges you face. All in all, do not take this list of useful information seriously (like relay on it for everything in life). I don’t know if everything is completely correct (but I did do my research to make sure though) and all I did was read a lot of information on the subject of how to survive on a deserted island. What got me started was that I was remembering Lord of the Flies and it got me thinking about what would do if I was in their place. That and I was thinking also on how much information I know and if what I know is right.
 DamnBlackHeart · Thu Oct 20, 2011 @ 03:16pm · 0 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
