Survival training

Survival training involves teaching individuals life-sustaining skills in any environment or under any circumstances. Survival training techniques are designed to help one achieve basic necessities, specifically food, shelter, and water.

Survival training may involve urban survival, which a member of the military might need if stranded behind enemy lines, or wilderness or bushcraft skills, which involve using minimal or improvised tools to survive possibly dangerous conditions, terrain, and wildlife.

Some organizations, such as youth scouting groups like the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts, teach basic survival skills. Some individuals, often known as survivalists, prepare for a wide range of disasters, including natural disasters such as hurricanes and blizzards as well as perceived dangers, such as the fall of civilization. Many believe in being ready at all times to survive anything that threatens them or their families. Interest in survival skills has prompted the development of many reality television programs.

Background

Survival skills have been necessary for humans for tens of thousands of years. As civilizations developed, the focus of such skills changed. Survival might involve military training to protect one's village or city, or the ability to travel long distances following prey with minimal gear.

Some civilizations were known for their survival skills. Sparta, a legendary warrior society in ancient Greece, defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE). Every adult male of Sparta was required to serve in the military, and training began at age seven when young boys left home to live communally in the agoge. These children were taught to compete with and fight one another and were beaten by adult trainers. They were underfed, and were encouraged to learn to steal food to survive.

Twentieth-century survival training was an important element of military preparation. This was particularly important during World Wars I and II. Troops were often dispatched into enemy territory. They frequently were fighting in foreign lands with unfamiliar terrain and weather conditions. Flight crews, spies, and paratroopers were at risk of capture behind enemy lines.

During the early 1940s, the Germans were winning World War II conflicts in North Africa, and American troops were preparing to be deployed to the region. The US Army needed a training ground to mimic the harsh desert climate and terrain, and set up the Desert Training Center (DTC) in California in 1942. General George Patton insisted that the training conditions be as difficult as anything the troops might face in combat. Troops learned warfare maneuvers as well as survival skills. A primary focus of survival training was acclimation to the dry, hot climate. Soldiers learned to find ways to cool down in a landscape without any shade. Water was rationed in the misguided belief that the body could be trained to survive on less water than it needed. Some soldiers died during these desert training exercises, prompting more attention to safe and effective survival training methods.

Overview

The US Army Survival Manual outlines important survival concepts through an acronym of the word "survival" itself: S, size up the situation, which includes one's equipment, physical condition, and surroundings; U, use all senses; R, remember the location; V, vanquish fear and panic; I, improvise; V, value living; A, act like the natives; L, live by your wits, but for now, learn basic skills. Many in the military learn these skills by attending Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) schools across the United States. These schools teach how to survive in harsh conditions as well as how to endure capture.

Prioritizing one's needs is crucial to survival. For example, if an individual is injured, first aid takes precedence over all other needs, including food, shelter, and water. Finding a way to signal for help for an injured or ill person is also important.

First aid training is an important element of survival training. If an individual does not have first aid supplies, it may be necessary to improvise. For example, sticks may be used to splint a broken bone, while some common plants can relieve the pain of a burn or scratch.

Potable water is necessary for health and life. Even a 5 percent loss of body fluids can cause impairment, such as nausea and weakness, while a 10 percent deficit can cause dizziness and an inability to walk. A loss of more than 15 percent of body fluids may lead to death. Survival training involves learning to minimize loss of body fluids as well as how to find potable water. Rainwater, for example, may pool in leaves and rocks. A survival expert will know which plants may be good sources of water and how to boil water to kill parasites and bacteria.

Plant foods will sustain life, because they provide energy in the form of carbohydrates. Meat, however, provides more nourishment, and in cold-weather situations, animal foods produce more heat in the body. Foraging for edible plant foods is usually the more quiet option, which is important for someone who is trying to avoid detection. Only someone who is trained to know which plants are safe to eat should do so. Small animal food sources, such as insects, fish, and reptiles, can provide nourishment if large game is scarce or difficult to trap.

Some situations offer ready-made shelters, such as sheds, caves, and trees with low, dense clusters of branches. Downed branches or logs may be leaned against a tree or boulder, then covered with leaves, pine boughs, large strips of bark, or palm fronds to create a water-resistant shelter. Leaves and other vegetation can be used to cushion and insulate the ground and to cover one's body to hold in heat.

Without matches, lighting a fire is more time consuming. Tools such as flint or convex lenses can be used to start a fire, but in a survival situation, an individual may have to use one of several friction methods of ignition.

To survive, an individual also must avoid danger. This includes being aware of venomous insects and snakes as well as large mammals such as bears.

Tools can be versatile elements of survival training. A knife, for instance, can be used to prepare and start a fire, create weapons and snares, prepare food, and defend oneself from attack. With training, an individual can chop logs with a knife and use it to signal rescue parties. Even items of clothing can be adapted for other purposes.

Survival training has evolved from a series of basic life skills to situational specialization. It ranges from backpacking skills to life-or-death experience training.

Desert Survival

While basic survival skills are universal, certain situation require specialized skills. A notable example is desert survival, as the temperature extremes and general lack of resources encountered in desert environments create additional (and potentially life-threatening) challenges. While military personnel may be deployed to desert areas and are therefore typically trained in desert survival, other individuals such as hikers may also face the need to survive in the desert.

Due to the dry nature of desert environments, hydration becomes an even more critical concern than in other situations. In the United States, heat is the most commonly fatal weather condition because of the extreme exertion it projects on the human body. According to the US Department of Defense, at an air temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit an individual loses at least six quarts of water per day through perspiration, respiration, and urination, even sitting in shady conditions. Exercise of any kind can quickly increase this water loss to levels that reduce the body's ability to process oxygen, thereby slowing reaction times and general cognition. Such physical stresses then complicate all other activities needed for survival.

Desert survival training therefore prioritizes staying out of direct sunlight and learning how to find water. Keeping as cool as possible, which typically means remaining stationary in the shade during most of the day, is vital. Experts note that the volatility of desert weather conditions mean one should never rely on small water sources such as creeks or springs marked on a map, as they may have dried up. Options include finding trees or other plants that signal the presence of water, which may collect in rock depressions or be accessible by digging. Learning to identify plants that contain potable water or can serve as food is also important, especially as, contrary to common conception, most cacti contain little water and often include toxins. Otherwise, experts suggest that searching for food is often not worth the energy and sweat expended.

Other survival skills that are crucial for desert survival include navigation and building or finding shelter. Knowing how to avoid the dangers of flash floods is also important. Essential gear, including items such as an emergency signal mirror, should always be packed on any trip that may involve desert conditions.

Water Survival

Surviving in open water is another situation that requires unique skills. In fact, because of the lack of available resources at sea or on other large bodies of water, specific survival methods can be quite different from those used on land, although the basic needs remain the same. While navies and other military branches are again a prime source of water-specific survival training, many other organizations offer civilian options, especially related to marine-oriented professions.

As in deserts, finding drinkable water is paramount. Drinking saltwater causes sickness, dehydration, and eventually death. Any method available for capturing rainwater should be used, whether channeling it into containers or absorbing it with clothing or other fabric. Knowing how to use a fishing line, or how to improvise one, is also important. If on a lifeboat or other small craft, one should be ready to properly right it if it capsizes. As with any survival situation, being prepared and having appropriate gear before survival actions become necessary is crucial.

A subcategory of water survival is cold water survival, for when one is immersed in the water rather than attempting to survive on a lifeboat or other craft. Falling into cold water can immediately cause panic and shock, which compromise the ability to take proper action, followed quickly by hypothermia. The priority should be to get out of the water as quickly as possible. If that is not possible, but there is potential of rescue, most experts recommend adopting a huddled posture to minimize heat loss (assuming one is wearing a personal flotation device, or PFD, that allows this while keeping the head above water). Swimming and even treading water greatly exacerbates heat loss, which can quickly become fatal. However, if there is no possibility of rescue, attempting to swim to safety becomes a last resort. As with all forms of survival, preparation is essential—proper PFDs should always be worn while boating, and particularly in cold water situations.

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