I just read a story of survival about a 64 year old man who was lost in a canyon in the Los Angeles area for six days. Essentially, he got lost and could not find his car during a hike. Ultimately, he was not found until day six, he was suffering from dehydration and the possibility of his kidneys failing.
What I found interesting about this story was his mental state and the fact that he recovered from down times in his mental state. Everything that I have ever read about survival puts your mental state at the top of the keys to survival. For example, having a camp fire even when it is not cold at night is important because it reassures the wayward hiker or hunter and keeps their spirits up. Essentially, survival is all about your mental state.
This story is a perfect example of what the body can take. This man obviously had no food, which in a long term survival situation is not necessarily that big of a deal. However, the lack of water is. This survivor stated that he was able to get some droplets of water into his mouth during a slight sprinkle. To slow his own dehydration he followed the shade all day long and stayed out of the sun. So, his body was able to withstand days of no water and food.
During this man's ordeal he underwent what appears to be a couple of ups and downs mentally. For example, he wrote out notes to his wife, daughter and brother on his hat in preparation for his own death. He also wrote out instructions, detailed instructions, for his own funeral. Most of us have created a will, but mine certainly does not go to the extent of detailing my funeral.
At one point the survivor became discouraged and gave up. He stated that he began reciting a Jewish verse to help him prepare for death. However, he woke up the next day with a better attitude and began taking steps to survive like flagging search and rescue helicopters with an emergency blanket and making signal fires with flares.
A couple things about this story stand out to me. First, your will to survive begins before you take the trip. For example, he obviously had some survival equipment with him such as the emergency blanket and the flares. Therefore, he went into the situation with the intent to survive, and he did not have an attitude of denial that he could ever get lost or stranded.
The survivor continued to think while going through this ordeal. He thought enough to stay out of the sun. Also, he changed the purpose of the survival blanket and started using it as a mirror to signal helicopters. This never worked. However, he decided to survive and he took control of his own survival. This was the key.
My profession has a certain amount of life threatening risks associated with it. That has to be accepted with the job. Some of the people that I work with take constant steps to prepare to survive. Others become complacent or live in denial that the day could come to them. Personally, I do things that my coworkers question. However, I do them just to maintain a "survival mindset."
If you are like me, you will venture into the outback by yourself at times. The more you go in, the farther you want to go. I want to go to an area referred to as "Three Corners" even though there are only two corners there. It is the spot where Idaho, Nevada and Oregon all meet. This area is in one of the most remote spots of the lower 48 states.
I have an atv, so I can drive my pickup most of the way and then finish the trip on my atv. The problem is that I do not have endless funds. So, I purchased my atv used and it is not exactly state of the art. I don't even know what a state of the art atv offers. So, there is a decent chance I could make it all the way to the border and get stranded for mechanical reasons.
I tried to avoid this by keeping up with maintenance on the atv, etc. However, you just never know. So, in my pack is everything I need to survive until I can get out or someone comes to get me. I have an emergency tent, candle, water, matches, etc. Pretty much standard supplies in any survival kit that you can purchase off of the Internet.
I also take my cell phone. There is absolutely no coverage in this area. However, my plan is that if I get stranded I will turn my phone on and enable the gps. The hope being that the emergency responders can find me that way. I leave instructions with my wife to make sure to tell the first responders that my phone will be turned on with gps enabled.
A better way to do this is to purchase a subscription to the "Spot" device. I have seen deals through Cabelas in which you can get the unit for free with a two year subscription. This can get you rescued quickly, and you do not have to try to walk out, possibly worsening the situation. I have a friend who floated the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in the Fall while hunting elk. He did this by himself. He knew the risks beforehand, so for this particular trip he rented a satellite telephone. He was able to check in with his wife daily, update his location and keep himself in a situation where rescue would happen much faster because his wife was waiting for him to check in and would call if he failed to do so.
Whatever your adventure may be, do not let denial be the cause of your demise. Don't let others make you believe you are paranoid because you prepare. Remember that your mental state is going to be the biggest survival asset that you have if the situation should arise. The best way to maintain this mindset is to prepare as though it might happen, accept that you are taking a risk and make up your mind to survive.
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