Things To Remember In Any Survival Situation

Success is survival. â??Leonard Cohen

In a survival situation, success is the only option, as the alternative is death. With that said, you should do everything in your power to ensure you are successful at surviving. This article will explain some of the most important basics to understand when dealing with any survival situation. There will be no specifics here as each would need an article in themselves. What we are going to discuss are the absolute basic and fundamental ideas that surround ensuring your chances of survival are as high as possible. So without further ado, letâ??s get into the meat of it.

Rules of Three For Human Survival

Before you consider how to survive, itâ??s best to first know what is needed for survival. This is where â??The Rule of Threesâ? comes into play. The average human can only live for 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without a regulated body temperature, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. The Rules of Three is a guideline of how to prioritize your basic survival skills. This means you first need adequate shelter, then sufficient potable water, and finally food with calories.

SPEAR

As for many other things, any survival situation can be broken down into a clever acronym, this one being SPEAR. It stands for Stop, Plan, Execute, Asses, and Re-evaluate. In essence, when a situation arises, you first stop to consider what is happening. You then make a plan based on your observation and execute said plan. You then asses the success of your plan, and re-evaluate again to see if anything can be done better or more efficiently. By running through these steps in your mind, you will help to keep yourself calm and collected, which is first and foremost the most important thing you can do. Nothing good comes from chaos and confusion, and these need to be eradicated before attempting to do anything else.

Expect the Worst

When it comes to survival, you should just assume youâ??re alone in the world because when it comes down to it, you are. You can certainly hope that help will arrive, but you should never, ever, under any circumstances, rely on that belief. The reason you expect the worst is not to accept death, but prepare to fight against it, with life and limb. Expecting the worst merely puts you in the right mind set, because when you expect better, and it doesnâ??t come, you are going to be let down and your moral will diminish. And next to the Rule of Threes, having a high spirit is the next most important thing. Without it, youâ??ll simply give up.

Have a Proper Plan

You should always be ready for any situation depending on the environment and setting youâ??re intending to be in. That will increase your number of options for developing a plan drastically. This means knowing what is needed for a survival situation depending on the climate, whether, potential dangers, and so on. After being prepared for a particular situation, the next most important thing is to know your strengths, weaknesses, what youâ??re capable of, and incapable of. If you know you canâ??t start a fire without modern tools, perhaps you should learn that before venturing into the woods. If you donâ??t know how to float without floatation devices, perhaps you should learn that before you go sailing. Understanding what you are incapable of is actually more important than anything else, as it alerts you as to what you need to learn. What you know isnâ??t the problem, itâ??s what you donâ??t know.

Stay Calm

If the scenario you found yourself in was so unexpected that you did not have a plan, itâ??s time to make one on the fly. But before anything can happen, you need to collect your senses and remain calm. No good plan comes about from fear and confusion, and as such, those need to be eliminated. Once youâ??ve calmed yourself down, you immediately need to assess any potential threats whether those be from animals, people, or the elements. Once those have been figured out, you then worry over finding shelter, water, and finally food. But remember, before anything else, stay calm.

Understand People Change When Under Significant Stress

This is perhaps the hardest for some to understand when they are in survival situations with other people. Generally, when people are scared, confused, or panicked, they are going to act drastically different than they would normally under any other circumstance. Instincts kick in hard and often timeâ??s people ride those instincts as they donâ??t know what else to do. Itâ??s not uncommon for the most timid and sensible people to become savages under the right situation. They will take whatâ??s needed, either through subterfuge or force, to ensure first and foremost their safety and survival. This is important to understand because you can easily be taken off guard if you are calm and sensible while everyone around you is panicked.

Stay Motivated and Industrious

Finally, when a survival situation lasts for an extended period of time, the stress and worry of your condition can weigh heavily on you. Itâ??s important to keep high spirits, stay motivated, and more importantly, stay industrious and active. If you have the energy, always work toward improving your situation. Whether that is to be found by rescue personnel, for comfort, for safety, food, water, the list is endless. You should never sit idly by, hoping and waiting to be saved, because often times, that simply may not happen for some time.

The author of this article is Damien S. Wilhelmi. If you enjoyed this piece you can follow me on Twitter @ CustParadigm. If you are looking for a great vacation, perhaps Colorado Rafting Trips are up your alley, be sure to visit InaRaft.com for trip availability.