Finding yourself in the wilderness, lost and alone, is nothing to take lightly. When the chips are down and every minute counts, you need your wits about you and the right bit of technique to make it through. Fortunately, you remember all the random bits you've read online to see it through alive. But WAIT! It's probably wrong. Seriously. Don't do it.
Reddit user, u/ConvenientSpoon, wanted to know what's the most messed up myth when they asked:
What is a survival myth that is completely wrong and could get you killed?
Knew That Anna Paquin Was Full Of It
"Follow flying birds to find water" They can simply be flying to spend a night anywhere, so we can't rely on them
Snakes...Why'd It Have To Be Snakes...
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If you ever find yourself in snake country, make as much noise as possible. Most people want to avoid snakes so stay quiet, but they are more scared of you than you are of them. Talk loudly, stomp, but obviously keep an eye and ear out for any fellas who don't want you to be there.
Source: Australian
Alright, Listen People, It's POISON. Seriously.
Sucking a snakebite, it will often make it worse
Alright, Listen People, It's A BULLET. Seriously.
Removing a bullet is more dangerous than leaving it in. Trying to remove it can tear vital organs, it can be pushed in even deeper, or removing it can cause the person to bleed out.
Get That Shelter Up
The first mistake is to look for food and water first before having a shelter up to keep yourself dry and warm!
Edit: When I say shelter first it includes having a fire too which I forgot to mention. When you are wet and exposed to the elements your core body temperature can drop and you can get hypothermia if it gets too cold and you would burn more calories than necessary. A big reason to building a shelter too is to also keep yourself off the ground because the ground is an infinite heat sink which means you lose your body heat way faster than you would think and will be more exposed to the cold/elements.
Guys yes it's good to be near a water source, but remember that it's always colder around rivers,streams, lakes, and oceans. Make sure you are able to easily gather shelter/fire material within the area. Plus finding a prime location to set up shelter.
"Snow Dad Is Better Than No Dad"
Don't eat snow to stay hydrated if you're in a winter survival situation, losing the heat to the snow while eating it is more dangerous than dehydration.
Heat it up or let it melt in a container first to lose less heat.
If you have fire and a pot, put ice in it, not snow. It is cleaner and more dense than snow, i.e. you get more water out of it.
Edit: Not sure about the cleanliness of ice vs. fresh snow. But we are still talking about boiling that water. And my main argument, that you get more volume of water from ice than from snow still stands.
Don't Brace Yourselves!
Closest I can think of is brace yourself if you are about to get in a accident.
Try to go limp, you're more likely to walk away with minor injuries if you go limp. That's how drunk drivers survive crashes.
GET DOWN!
Jumping in an elevator if it falls. You want to drop to the floor if an elevator falls, because if you jump, hitting the ground could either break (or shatter) your legs or kill you on impact.
YOU Are The Alpha
Do not lie dead in an animal attack. They'll eat you anyways. Instead, assert your dominance by spreading your arms and making yourself look big and scary, as if you were trying to intimidate a high-school bully.
Correct me if this is wrong, I don't want blood on my hands.
You're Not Rambo
Don't pour alcohol on open wounds.
It damages the f-ck out of the cells and hurts like a motherfucker. It can cause permanent damage. Water is way better for cleaning any wound.
Seek Protection In The Group
In Germany there is a saying that goes „Eichen sollst du meiden, Buchen sollst du suchen"
Which roughly translates that in case of a thunderstorm you shouldn't stand under oaks, but u should seek shelter under a beech.
Just don't go anywhere near a tree in a thunderstorm...
That one kind of makes sense. Dont stand under a lone tree during a storm but if there is a wooded area nearby that's much safer than an open area. Beech trees grow in the shade so usually around other trees.
Take Your Time
Don't always drink the first water you see
I was on a school residential trip near a lake and we kanooded across the lake and when we stopped for a break our instructor told us that the lake has lots of metals in and wasn't advised to drink from it without a filter
Leave It In
Never pull out anything stuck in your body (sticks from a fall, arrow, a knife) like they do in the movies. The foreign object is forming a seal inside the wound, keeping whats supposed to be inside, inside.
Wrap around the object with gauze/cloth to stabilize the object so it doesn't scramble your insides when it moves around. If you need to travel, you could clip the ends of the object if its like a sharp branch so it doesn't bump against anything.
Water Always Wins
Water - rivers, oceans, large streams, floods, pools, hot tubs...even buckets with water in them for young children.
Don't ever think you can overpower some of these and just "swim across". Water gives no f-cks and is very very heavy...it moves fast and will kill you.
Learn to swim and teach your kids to respect water.
Poor Pa Kent...
Hiding under an overpass during a tornado.
It's been pretty widespread news that it's more deadly to do this, but come to the south during a tornado warning & watch how many people still do it & jam the interstate putting more people in danger. If you're on the road with no real shelter in sight, you should park & lie flat in a low ditch. Only stay in your car if it's a must & don't hide under an overpass.
Winds can throw things in at you or just plain suck you out & kill/hurt you worse than doing what's suggested.
Ugh, Florida...
the myth that if you move from left to right in a zig zag with help you when running from an aligator.
that is COMPLETELY wrong and the croc would run down the middle
If You Didn't Know, Now You Know
Using your phone battery to start a fire.
Chances are if you don't know how to make a fire and are in such an extreme situation that you have to resort to murdering your phone battery, you'll die sooner or later; it won't help if you don't have a phone.
May I also point out you could die from those lithium fumes? 😂
Crack The Ribs To Save Lives
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Rescue breaths are wildly overrated in most movies and TV shows. You'll see someone in cardiac arrest, and the rescuer will stop giving compressions and focus on breathing into a persons's mouth and BLAMO! Awake, alert, alive!
Nope. Don't do that.
Your body does store a fairly decent amount of oxygen in its blood at all times. If someone in front of you OD's and their mouth is covered with saliva/vomit or someone collapses in front of you of a suspected cardiac arrest your plan of action is 2 fold:
- Are they breathing do they have a pulse? This is easy to f-ck up especially in a moment of panic. My rule (as an EMS provider) is that if you don't feel it in 10 seconds, it's not there. Start compressions! If they are not in cardiac arrest they will let your ass know - and the law covers you under good-Samaritan clauses in most of these cases.
- If you are the only person attending to this body - do not stop and give rescue breaths if help is on the way and will be there soon. It takes about 4-7 decent compressions to get blood recirculating in the body after stopping to give mouth-to-mouth. That's a lot of blood, carrying a lot of vital oxygen reserves, that aren't making it to the brain. Obviously if you're a long way out from help, and you feel safe to do so, give rescue breaths. But it should NEVER be priority #1.
BTW if you hear ribs crack, make a face, make vomit noises if you have to, tell the person their bones are f-cking grossing you out, but don't stop compressions.
Because what are compressions? That's right. They are number f-cking one.
A Different Kind Of Survival
You do not need to wait 24hrs to report a missing person. If you think someone is missing report it as such. The faster a missing person report is filed the greater the chance the person will be found
Especially if it's a child. Missing children are at high risk during the first 24 hours especially if abducted.
In 76% of child abduction murders, the victim was dead within 3 hours. 88.5% were dead in the first 24 hours.
Edit: Source