Survival - Part One

Introduction

Most instructional guides on survival start off with an acronym, which is great, because it should be the first thing you remember in the event of an emergency. The only problem with acronyms is that they can be too long or too complicated to remember. My personal rule of thumb is: If you've got to remember an acronym to a tune then it’s too long! So, not unlike other survival training guides, I will show you how to remember the essentials with an acronym that is (hopefully) easy to remember.

S – Scale

What is the scale of the shit you’re in?

• Are you in imminent danger?
• Are you being hunted?
• How much time do you think you have?

Your environment will always be your first clue; whether it’s what you can smell on the wind, what you can hear around you, what you can see. Use your senses and examine the environment. (E.g. can you smell smoke? Are birds frantically flying away from danger? And in what direction?)

How’s your physical condition? Can you walk? Do you need immediate medical attention? Physically check yourself over for any injuries; if you’re in shock then adrenaline can give you the boost you need to get to safety, and fast. This is our “fight or flight” impulses working; however it can also blind you to the fact that you may be seriously injured. 

If you’re bleeding profusely and do not take a moment to stem the blood loss then by the time you realise it may be more difficult to do anything about it as your body will be falling deeper into shock and your adrenaline will be depleting.

How’s your kit? In the event of an incident you may have lost or damaged some of your equipment; do a quick run through of everything you have and the condition it’s in. If you’re like me and constantly re-pack and take stock of your BOB and other equipment then this will take mere seconds.

Right, that’s done. Let’s assume that you had no physical injuries. How long did that take? The average time is sixty seconds. Now all we have to do is look for water, food, and shelter.

U - Undue Haste Makes Waste

We’ve all heard it and we can all remember it; it’s the most commonly recalled part of any survival acronym invented, which is why I’ve chosen to include it in this one.

Don’t act just for the sake of doing something, you’re not being clever, you’re just wasting valuable time and energy. You may forget some of your kit or move off in the wrong direction, putting yourself in more danger. Make a plan in your head before you take a single step. If you've done step one – Scale – then you probably already have an idea of what to do. Take a deep breath and think.

R – Recall your Region

Where’s Wally? Who gives a shit?

You don’t want to be a Wally (or Wally's corpse) so pull out your map (the one in your BOB or EDC of the local area that you should have) and your compass and figure out your location. Now that you know where you are you can orientate yourself to things such as:

• The immediate area of danger
• Any areas of possible aide
• Water sources
• Areas of shelter, cover, or concealment if required

V – The Vault

To coin a phrase from Seinfeld’s Jerry and George “Put it in the vault!”. What is IT exactly? Fear and Panic.

Those two bastards will be your greatest enemies in a survival situation, bigger than the situation itself. And unless you’re a robot you'll never truly be rid of fear and panic, so best to just harden the fuck up princess and deal with them later.

Imagine yourself pushing fear and panic, kicking and screaming, into an impenetrable vault. Be aware that you will have to deal with them later, as bottling up any emotions can be detrimental to one’s mental well-being, but for now they’re better off anywhere but where you are.

Fear and panic can do some, if not all of the following:

• Hinder your ability to make informed and rational decisions
• Cause you to react to your imagination and emotions rather than the facts
• Drain your energy

I – I am MacGyver!

Most people live in a bubble; all any action movie director needs to do is take a mundane everyday item and give it to the hero to use as a weapon, instantly we are all in awe about what James Bond can do with dish cloth and a tube of toothpaste.

Not being able to improvise in a survival situation can tip the balance out of your favour. Learning to improvise with the tools available to you, whether they be tools you've bought with you or those you can create from nature, can make a big difference to your situation.

V - Value Life

Your own, obviously! Long gone are the days where man lived in constant fear from predators and everyday was literally a struggle to survive. The 60’s saw TV dinners and more conveniences than you could poke a stick at, and as time went by it only got worse. Today, in our drive-thru “Would you like fries with that?” society, people have become fat and lazy. The world has been handing everything to us on a platter so hard and for so long that people actually demand more convenience than is possible.

Well now you’re in the shit! Don’t give up though. Dig deep and push onwards. Take your notebook and pencil from your BOB; now you’re going to write two lists, the first is a list of ten conveniences you miss (those that you actually use…not a Blackhawk helicopter!), the next list is of ten things you’re going to change when you get home. (E.g. buy a Blackhawk helicopter!) 

Now get up and move.

A – Adopt a Native

If you’re in an unfamiliar environment, and if that environment is non-hostile, then making friends with the native people can not only give you a unique perspective on the way they live, but you can learn how to survive from them, either directly and indirectly. However don’t expect them to openly teach you everything (that’s a very Western way to be), eat some humble pie and earn their friendship and trust. Then you may politely pose questions of importance.

If you’re in a hostile environment (or cannot gain aide from the native people) then the native animals are your next best bet. Birds are a very good indicator of both water sources and danger. Flocks of birds will often fly to water sources to drink at dawn, and will frantically fly away from any danger.

L - Learn to Live and Live to Learn.

Don’t wait until you’re in a survival situation to learn how to survive. By practising these skills on a regular basis you are training yourself for a moment in your life that may never arrive. However, if you often partake in bush-walking, camping, fishing, hunting, or any other outdoor endeavour that takes you away from civilisation then you’re increasing your chances of placing yourself in a situation where you may require these very skills.

Summary

Now that we've been through the fundamentals of survival you can practise this easy to remember acronym.

Tip:

·    Print this instructional guide
Place a credit card over each picture then trace around it
Once you've done that cut each picture out and write each heading (and any notes of your own) on the back of each corresponding picture
Laminate them and keep them on hand, in your EDC, or in your BOB for easy reference

• S – Scale
• U – Undue Haste Makes Waste
• R – Recall your Region
• V – The Vault
• I – I Am MacGyver
• V – Value Life
• A – Adopt a Native
• L – Learn to Live and Live to Learn