I can’t really think of that many survival myths so I’m pretty excited to dig into these answers!
Because all of us can use all of the advice we can use to survive in this crazy world.
And now we’re gonna hear from AskReddit users about survival myths that they think are WRONG.
The more you know, right?
Let’s take a look…
1. Drink up.
“Rationing water is generally a terrible choice – drink what you have until it’s gone. Use that time with good hydration levels to take stock of your situation and make good choices.
Decision making and physical ability drop off very quickly when you are dehydrated. The first decisions you make after realizing you are in a survival situation are critical and pay long dividends.
Most survival situations are resolved within 72 hours and many hikers are found d**d in the desert with full water bottles.”
2. Wasting battery.
“Changing the voicemail on your mobile phone to tell incoming callers about your plight. That bulls**t just wastes battery.
At the first sign of trouble, send a SMS with your best location details to everyone on your contact list, even if you have no signal and set it to max power save with WiFi, Mobile Data and Bluetooth off.
Your phone will continually try to get the SMS out if even if you get a little signal for a few seconds and will use a lot less power doing it.”
3. A myth.
“That bears can’t run down hills.
They can. They’ll get you, too.”
4. Get out.
“If you go into a lake when in a car dont wait until the car fills with water, just open the window and get out ASAP.
If you wait, you could be 200 feet down or flipped over on the bottom. The power will still work for a short time. It only takes a few seconds.”
5. Be prepared.
“”You won’t need that we won’t be gone long.”
Carry basic survival tools whenever you go out hiking, hunting, camping, etc.
Things like a magnesium with flint and steel fire starter, a life straw or water purification tablets don’t weigh much or take up much space and can be a lifesaver.
Many get lost on short trips or get injured leaving them stuck in the wilderness. It doesn’t take a massive forest or jungle to get lost.
In my personal hunting pack I always carry a survival knife, firestarter, and lifestraw. These three items may not guarantee survival, but they improve my odds.”
6. Tornado safety.
“Wait until you hear the freight train sound to go to the tornado shelter.
I was always told as a kid, if you can’t hear it you’re alright. At 20 years old I was caught out in the woods with a few friends thinking we had 10-15 minutes to get back to the truck after the tornado warning went out. 3 minutes after the warning we heard what sounded like a freight train and this loud hissing sound. Like a thousand rattlesnakes. Within 30 seconds we were watching trees get plucked up into the air.
We all made it out alright. Luckily there was a large ravine that was dry that time of year and we scrambled into it and flattened out gripping to each other and rocks for dear life.
It took 30 seconds from the time we realized it was in front of us till it was ontop of us.
Later in life I watched a F3 touch down. Because how tornados spin and the earth spins, and I was traveling at 75mph down a highway. I thought I was running along side it. About 1 mile from it. I couldn’t hear it, I could see trees and barns going up into the air with it.
I never realized it was coming towards me at about 30mph. By the time I heard it and felt a pressure change inside the cab of my truck I had no choice but to bail out and run into a culvert along side the interstate. This all happened within 60 seconds. If you’ve already heard the tornado. You need to be in your shelter. Not heading towards it.
A tornado watch is an advisory to be watching for tornados. It means it is highly plausible for a tornado to form and touch down. A warning means a radar indicated tornado has touched down and possibly even been spotted by human eye. If you cannot get in doors, get as low as you can.
I have made a habit, as soon as a tornado watch is released in my county, my go bag, the diaper bag, the kids stuff they WILL need all goes in a large duffel in the storm room. I’ll watch velocity radar like a hawk until the watch is cleared. If it is elevated to a warning we all pile in. Tornados can drop out of the sky right on top of you in under a minute, leaving you with little to no reaction time.”
7. Heard this one in Florida.
“Zigzag to escape an alligator.
Alligators can turn, but can/will only run in short bursts. Just run as fast as you can.”
8. Get checked out.
“Something people may think is true after watching people get rescued from the water on TV. “Get them breathing and send them on their merry way”
If you rescue someone from a near drowning, they still need to go to the hospital, even though they are safely on land now.
The lungs are coated with a slippery mucous like substance called a surfactant. It’s kind of a lubricant and it keeps them from collapsing and sticking to themselves. If they ingested a lot of water into the lungs, chances are they have washed away the surfactant.
Their lungs could collapse at any moment and their ability to uptake oxygen is reduced. Get the survivor on oxygen.”
9. Good to know.
“Myth: if you’re stuck in a car trunk all you do is scream for help and make noise
True: If you’re ever locked in a car trunk, look for an emergency release lever/button. These are requirements for cars built 2002 or later.”
10. Stay put.
“Do not wander off to look for help. STAY PUT! Stay by your car, or wherever you realise that you are lost. The more you move, the harder it gets for rescue to find you.
Make yourself visible, but do not try to find the way back yourself. You already don’t know where you are, you don’t know where you’re going!”
11. Not the norm.
“If you’re driving during a tornado warning, don’t get out of your car and climb up the side of an overpass to hide under a bridge.
This myth became famous after amateur video of a man and his daughter hiding under an overpass, but the one they chose had some unusual construction that offered them protection in a way most don’t.
Wind speed increases the higher you get from the ground, and the narrow passages can create a wind tunnel effect, taking the flying debris picked up by the tornado and sending it straight through you at 200 mph or more.”
12. Australia is scary.
“In Australia at least, you do not need to identify or try to catch the snake that bit you.
The antivenom is universal.”
What can you add to this conversation?
Talk to us in the comments and let us know.
Thanks a lot!
