Protection is the first principle of survival because the lack of it, in one form or another, can cause your death within seconds.
Consider what might come under the heading 'Protection', protection from what?
Here is a list (although you may well be able to add to this list and consider survival techniques to combat them:-
The elements - cold, heat, wind
Animals, birds, fish - predatory, poisonous (Don't forget that other humans are not always on your side)
Plants - thorns, poisonous
Water - drowning, physical injury (ice & flash floods)
Earth - falling, avalanche
A quick note about fire
The first principle of survival is protection and although the subject of fire, fires and fire making will be discussed at much greater length as this blog develops I was prompted to add this little note at the beginning.
In many survival situations, the ability to start a fire can make the difference between living and dying.
Fire can fulfill many needs. It can provide warmth and comfort. It not only cooks and preserves food, it also provides warmth in the form of heated food that saves calories our body normally uses to produce body heat. You can use fire to purify water, sterilize bandages, signal for rescue, and provide protection from animals. It can be a psychological boost by providing peace of mind and companionship. You can also use fire to produce tools and weapons.
Fire can cause problems, as well. Anybody hunting you can detect the smoke and light it produces unless you know how to disguise it (covered in a later post). It can cause forest fires or destroy essential equipment. Fire can also cause burns carbon monoxide poisoning when used in shelters.
Protection - COLD WEATHER SURVIVAL
ReplyDeleteYou can die quickly if you cannot retain body heat.
You develop hypothermia when your body loses heat faster than you can produce it. You need calories to generate body heat
It is more difficult for you to satisfy your basic water, food, and shelter needs in a cold environment than in a warm environment. Even if you have the basic requirements, you must also have adequate protective clothing and the will to survive. The will to survive is as important as the basic needs. There have been incidents when trained and well-equipped individuals have not survived cold weather situations because they lacked the will to live. Conversely, this will has sustained individuals less well-trained and equipped
You must not only have enough clothing to protect you from the cold, you must also know how to maximize the warmth you get from it. For example, always keep your head covered. You can lose 40 to 45 percent of body heat from an unprotected head, neck, wrist, and ankles. These areas of the body are good radiators of heat and have very little insulating fat. The brain is very susceptible to cold and can stand the least amount of cooling. Because there is much blood circulation in the head, most of which is on the surface, you can lose heat quickly if you do not cover your head.
There are four basic principles to follow to keep warm. An easy way to remember these basic principles is to use the word COLD--
C - Keep clothing clean.
O - Avoid overheating.
L - Wear clothes loose and in layers.
D - Keep clothing dry.
C - Keep clothing clean. This principle is always important for sanitation. In winter, it is also important for warmth. Clothes matted with dirt and grease lose much of their insulation value. Heat can escape more easily from the body through the clothings filled up air pockets.
O - Avoid overheating. When you get too hot, you sweat and your clothing absorbs the moisture. This affects your warmth in two ways: dampness decreases the insulation quality of clothing, and as sweat evaporates, your body cools. Adjust your clothing so that you do not sweat. Do this by partially opening your jacket, by removing an inner layer of clothing, by removing mittens, or by throwing back your hood or changing to lighter headgear. The head and hands act as efficient heat dissipaters when overheated.
L - Wear your clothing loose and in layers. Wearing tight clothing and footgear restricts blood circulation and invites cold injury. It also decreases the volume of air trapped between the layers, reducing its insulating value. Several layers of lightweight clothing are better than one thick layer of clothing, because the layers have air space between them. The air space provides extra insulation. Also, layers of clothing allow you to take off or add layers to prevent excessive sweating or to increase warmth.
D - Keep clothing dry. In cold temperatures, your inner layers of clothing can become wet from sweat and your outer layer if not water repellent can become wet from snow or frost melted by body heat. Before entering a shelter brush off snow and frost. Place damp socks near your body so that your body heat can dry them. Hang damp clothing inside a shelter near the top using improvised racks. Dry leather items slowly. Put your boots between your sleeping bag shell and liner. Your body heat will help to dry them.
If you don’t have a sleeping bag, you can make one out of parachute cloth or similar material and natural dry material, such as leaves, pine needles, or moss. Place the dry material between two layers of the material.
Remember, a cold weather environment can be very harsh. Give a lot of thought to selecting the right equipment for survival in the cold. If unsure of an item you have never used, test it in an "overnight backyard" environment first.