Desert Survival
Desert survival skills can save your life as well as the lives of others that may with you. From the blazing hot sun during the day to the much cooler nights, these seven desert survival skills may mean the difference between life and death:
1. Water: Don’t Drink All Of It
One of the biggest favors you can do for yourself in a desert survival situation is to conserve your water if you have any. You don’t want to drink all your water at the first sign of thirst. Rationing your water is the best thing you could do for yourself. Do this by taking small sips of water throughout the day. If you come across some water in the desert, take extreme caution before drinking it. If it is contaminated, you’ll end up wasting the little water you do have through vomit and diarrhea. Keep in mind that most oases in the desert are highly contaminated.
2. Hungry? Stay That Way
The more food you eat, the thirstier you will be and the more water you’ll need. If you have any food, eat very small portions to get rid of the hunger pains and give yourself a little energy. Be very careful with how much you eat, water is much more important to your survival than food.
“ Desert,” © 2013 by flickr user: William Warby, Username: “wwarby″, used under a Creative Commons Attribution license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
3. Cover Your Head
Too much exposure to the sun is one of the biggest dangers you will face if you are stuck in the desert. A good defense against the sun is to get out of the sun. If you have a hat, use it. If you do not have a hat, use another piece of clothing or try to make a hat out of something around you. Any kind of shade will help you, which brings me to my next desert survival tip.
4. Find Shade
Finding any kind of shade is crucial to your survival and should be one of your top priorities. Getting out of the sun in any way will only increase your chances of staying alive. You can build some kind of shade shelter if you cannot find any available shade. If it’s day time, build some kind of temporary shade shelter to get yourself out of the direct sunlight, then continue building your shelter when the sun begins going down.
5. Travelling The Correct Way
To optimize your chances of survival in the desert, travel during the cooler hours of the day. The cooler hours tend to be early morning and early evening. Dehydration will only happen quicker if you are producing a lot of sweat, so you’ll want to move during cooler hours rather than during the day when the sun is beating down. Whether you decide to travel during the day or during cooler hours, you’ll want to move slowly as to keep yourself from sweating more than what is necessary.
6. Shut Your Mouth
Leaving your mouth closed and only breathing through your nose will conserve moisture in the body and keep you from dehydrating rapidly. You can also use an article of clothing to cover your mouth and nose, which will keep what little moisture you have left in your body and continue to slow down the dehydration process.
7. Find Warm Shelter For The Night
With the ever-changing temperatures of the desert, you’ll want to find a good place to get cosy for the evening. Night temperatures can drop close to freezing, so find some shelter and warmth. A little shelter can go a long way when you’re out in the desert. Finding somewhere warm is almost as important as finding shade during the day.
About The Author
Iveta Ivanova is an avid blogger. She enjoys writing about outdoors and survival topics. She also maintains a blog about traveling and travel insurance.
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The wster tip is a bit dated, it is now considered that it is the water in your body not a water bottle that keeps you alive. Drink your water as reduced consumption leads, of course, to dehydration. Dehydration cause you to become listless , vague and hinders thought processes. It is generally held that the first 3 days are the most important with the chance of survival and rescue most likely in that time.
Thanks for your comment. I agree that those first three days are the most important.