PREPARING FOR OUTDOOR EMERGENCIES

SELF RELIANCE IN THE BACKCOUNTRY

A PRIMER TO...

THE PRINCIPLES OF SURVIVAL

Ya know, if things go bad. ; )

This is most of the slides from my class. Use this as a refresher. I hope this helps.

This course is obviously DESERT FOCUSED but the concepts are sound for any environment. Continued research and practice is needed to become adept in surviving outdoor emergencies. 

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Please keep in mind. This site is NOT SPONSORED in any way. It's just me sharing stuff. 

ALL I ASK is that you support it by commenting, hit reactions, subscribing or interacting.  All rights reserved. Contact me about ANY USE, becoming a patron or having me come teach your group the extremely important skills that are needed in conjunction with these concepts.

Thank you. Be safe.

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62% of what can go wrong on one slide! Awesome, huh?

Minimizing Risk often means attention to small things before they become big. Example; A hotspot on your foot is taken care of BEFORE it becomes a blister. This means stopping and taking the shoe off, maybe taping a "donut" of moleskin around it and taking the handle of your trekking pole and stretching the shoe out at that spot before continuing the hike.
The reverse of this would be to just let it go because you don't want to deal with it or slow everybody down or something. Then the hots[pot becomes a blister which then pops, gets infected, needs first aid and becomes a hassle to walk on and then makes it hard to sleep and you wind up slowing down everybody WAY more as you need help now just walking. Fun huh?

No amount of First Aid equipment will fix a boil on a gnat's ass if you don't know First Aid. It is important to take a class and study.

This is WAY too basic to be of much use. Get a good book on Map & Compass AND take a good class.

Often in the desert, any emergency becomes a race against the amount of water we have in us & with us. Water goes quickly here, especially when we are stressed. Think ahead. Take more. You may need water for cleaning wounds, cooling someone, washing in addition to drinking. Just sayin".

Making shelter can be strenuous. In the desert we need to conserve the water in our bodies. Try to find natural shelter that is safe and easily augmented for protection and comfort. If long term shelter must be made, do the lion's share of the work early and late to avoid the hottest part of the day.

USE EXTREME CAUTION when foraging. It is advisable to try things at home BEFORE eating them in the wild. Find out what they do to you when you have medical assistance close by. For example you can go buy prickly pear pads at many supermarkets. Smash um up in a bandana and ring um out and try the water or cook some up with some butter and garlic and try um. Oooo!! Butter & Garlic. That needs to go in the survival kit!

Note the folks crossing the stream. Ice axes strapped to their packs. Pretty much the perfect tool for forging a stream. Even the gorilla on the right knows to use the stick for stabilty in the water.

AND here's a BONUS SLIDE on just some of the things you can use a trash bag for in a pinch.
I never get to this one in class because there are always such great questions and I'm kinda long winded.

Now, go play outside and be safe damn it!

Packman