Are These Survival Tips Fact Or Fiction?

So you've been on plenty of camping trips with your family and you stop and watching Cast Away every time you're flipping through the channels, and now you think you're ready to survive for yourself out in the wild. Well, think again.

While we'd all like to think that we're on the same level as Bear Grylls when it comes to taking on the wilderness, the fact of the matter is that most people know very little about actual survival. If you were lucky enough for your parents to force you into boy or girl scouts, then at the very least you learned some basic survival skills at a young age that have hopefully stuck with you into adulthood. But there's far more to survival than tying knots and starting fires.

Unfortunately, there are a ton of survival "tips" out there that are extremely misleading. While helping rhymes like "Leave of three, let them be" will indeed help a hiker better identify poison ivy, there are plenty of other catchphrases that are either only half-true, or downright false. Who knows how these sayings even get started, since they could literally mean life or death for those that actually find themselves alone in the wilderness.

So let's see if you can separate the survival facts from the fictions!

Question 1

You can eat anything you see a squirrel eating.

From bustling cities to the middle of an immense wilderness, it seems like squirrels are literally everywhere. And while you could eat one of these little guys if you got really desperate, you may find it particularly hard to actually capture one if you’re not an experienced hunter or trapper. While you may also think that squirrels are strictly vegetarians, they do occasionally eat insects, eggs, and other small animals, making them actually omnivores. But can you safely eat everything they do?

Question 2

Drinking booze will keep your body warm.

You’re totally stranded out in the wilderness, and while you may have forgotten a Swiss Army knife and a compass, you certainly didn’t forget to pack your flask of whiskey. Everyone knows that drinking booze can make you flush in the face. But in a survival situation, will this literally keep your body warmed up? Because if not, then it definitely wouldn't help to be totally lost AND drunk. Unless the end is definitely near, then you should probably just have a drink for posterity's sake.

Question 3

If you’re impaled by an object, leave it in to prevent excess bleeding.

It seems like in almost every other action movie we’ve ever seen, the hero is getting impaled by some object and must muster up the courage to yank it out before dosing it with a heavy splash of whiskey. But in real life, we’ve heard that you should actually leave the object in until you’re able to get to a hospital. So which route should you really take? Provided of course that the object isn’t currently blocking your windpipe or keeping you tethered to your surroundings.

Question 4

If you're out of water, drinking an animal’s blood is a perfectly safe substitute.

So you’ve managed to kill a deer, but that doesn’t do much for your water situation, which is beginning to get desperate. So is it safe to drink the deer's still warm blood? You’ve probably seen this done in movies about older, more primitive civilizations. And while you know that the blood definitely will contain H20, does that mean it still won't do you any harm? While the idea of drinking blood may literally make you gag now, you may have a serious change of mind after 2 days without a sip of anything.

Question 5

Your phone is just as handy as a real compass.

Seriously, how did we ever get around in this world in the days before smartphones? How did anybody drive anywhere without their car's GPS losing signal or, god forbid, trying to look down at a map while steering? Your smartphone can come in handy in plenty of situations, but is camping for a long weekend in the wilderness really one of them? After all, not too many people actually carry compasses these days, aside from a few hikers and hunters.

Question 6

You should elevate a wound to prevent swelling and blood loss.

If you’re lost and injured you may find yourself severely freaking out over your situation. But losing your cool will only make you worse off in the long run, and it's better to tend to your injury and try to regroup as opposed to running around in circles and yelling for help. But is elevating a wound going to really prevent bleeding/ swelling in the long run? Or does that only matter if it’s infected? Knowing how to properly dress a wound could ultimately mean life or death.

Question 7

If you have two sticks, you can always start a fire.

For many of us, the most we know about survival came from binge-watching Lost or sitting through Cast Away as a kid. And while it’s important to know various ways to start a fire, if you’re ever actually out in the wild, you'll find that some methods are clearly better than others. So while everyone knows that a lighter, flint, and matches are your best bet, is the technique of rubbing two sticks together as foolproof as Tom Hanks once made it look?

Question 8

Never drink seawater, even if you’re dehydrated.

We’ve all heard that the salt in seawater can make you even more dehydrated. But is that always the case? If you have the time and resources, you should definitely boil the water and collect the condensation to drink. But what if it’s been a day and a half and your starting to get seriously light headed? Could a few swigs give you a quick boost of energy? Or will they really make your situation ten times worse than before?

Question 9

Your first line of defense with any bear attack is to play dead.

While wild bears are easily one of the scariest sights you can stumble upon, you should know that bear attacks are actually extremely rare in the wild. And when they do occur, it’s often a mother bear trying to protect her cubs. But that doesn’t mean you should be any less prepared. We’ve all heard that playing dead is a safe bet, but is that always your go-to option? Or does it also depend upon what type of bear it is?

Question 10

All ticks carry Lyme disease.

With the recent boom in the tick population, we’ve all heard that wearing repellent and checking yourself for ticks is more important now than ever. But do all ticks actually carry Lyme disease? Even if they do, you may not know that a tick actually has to be attached to their host for about 24-48 hours before they can actually transmit the host, giving you a decent amount of time to inspect yourself and have them safely removed before you’re at risk.

Question 11

In the wild, drinking rainwater is just as safe, if not safer, than drinking water from a river or stream.

While getting soaked from a rain storm is one of the last things you want to happen while stranded in the wild, it does give you a free refill of your water bottle, which is probably more important than staying dry. But how clean is rain water? It’s easy to assume that because it comes from the sky that it’s not as bad as the lakes and streams that could easily be contaminated by man. But is that really the case?

Question 12

Eating snow to stay hydrated is the same as drinking water.

As kids, there was nothing more refreshing than shoveling our mouths full of snow after a few hours of playing outside in our stuffy snowsuits. But if you ever find yourself stranded in the icy wilderness, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up getting extremely cold sooner rather than later. But with all of the snow surrounding you, do you still have to worry about staying hydrated? Or can you just shovel a handful into your mouth whenever you’re thirsty just as if you were swigging a bottle of water?

Question 13

You can always follow birds to water.

If you’re stranded in the wilderness, birds probably aren’t good for much. They’re nearly impossible to catch or trap, and even if you did end up killing one, plucking and dressing it might not even be worth the small amount of meat many of them would provide. But then there’s always the old line that you can follow a bird to fresh water. They do need to drink, after all, especially considering the amount of calories they burn off flying. But is this always fail safe?

Question 14

The floor of your shelter is more important than the roof.

Exposure is easily one of the leading causes of death for people stranded in the wilderness. While dehydration is a big factor, people forget what it’s like to be totally surrounded by the elements over the course of a few nights. Depending on the seasons and location, the temperature could drop an enormous amount between night and day, meaning a makeshift shelter is of the utmost importance. So knowing the quickest and most effective way to make a shelter can really be a lifesaver.

Question 15

Raw fish is perfectly safe to consume.

We have no doubt been conditioned into believing a few myths about consuming food from our day-to-day lives — like raw chicken is a big no-no, while rare to medium red meat is the way it should be eaten to get the best flavor. But these rules do not always apply out in the wilderness. Fish is largely considered one of the healthier proteins that people can eat, but does that mean you should totally skip trying to cook it in a survival situation?

Question 16

Moss always grows on the north side of the tree.

You’ve heard this idiom so many times, that it has to be right -- right? Knowing which direction your traveling can literally save your life, so bringing a compass and using the stars as your guide are your best bet. The North Star is relatively easy to find. But if it’s a cloudy night, can you always rely on moss to be on the same side of the tree no matter where you are? Or is this more of an idiom than a fact?

Question 17

Drinking your urine is perfectly safe.

We’ve all seen Bear Grylls do it, so drinking your own urine is natural one of the first things you might think of while running out of water. While the idea may make you cringe at first, you do have to consider that urine is indeed mostly made up of water. But is this always the safest thing to do? We’ve learned that this will only help the human body for so long, but do you know if there are other factors worth considering first?

Question 18

If you’re in the middle of a lightning storm, don’t seek shelter under a tree.

If you’re already lost in the wilderness, there’s nothing like a severe thunderstorm to scare the crap out of you even more. But panicking won’t stop the rain or help you get rescued any faster. We’ve all heard that standing under a tree is a bad idea since lighting will often hit the highest object in the sky. But standing out in the open can make you feel vulnerable and not all that safe either. But is it still the safer option?

Question 19

The average human can survive 3 days without water.

Whether it be wine or water or beer, you spend a good chunk of your everyday life usually sipping something. So the idea of going three days without a sip of anything (let alone your morning coffee) sounds like absolute hell. While we know that water is way more important than food — with the average human being able to go three weeks without a meal — can the average person really last an entire 3 days without a single sip of water?

Question 20

You can rub frostbitten skin to make the damage less severe.

If your hands are cold, you rub them together. Everyone knows that this friction will heat them up, at least for a few seconds. Not to mention that keeping your body moving will naturally produce heat. But does the same apply when you’re talking about parts of your body that are clearly frostbitten? Having frostbitten skin means that ice crystals have literally attached themselves to your blood and tissue, and will, unfortunately, mean that the area will have to be removed if you ever make it to a hospital.

Question 21

You can suck on a rock to stay hydrated.

This one sounds so ridiculous that you’ll probably be second-guessing yourself about its validity. We may be beating the importance of water over your head, but since dehydration is easily one of the biggest threats to anyone that’s trapped in the wilderness, you’ll need to do anything to ease the symptoms and side effects — the first one being that your mouth is becoming increasingly dry, followed by a headache. So could a rock really be the first line of defense?

Question 22

You can suck the poison out of a snake bite to stop the venom from affecting you.

If you’re a fan of old westerns, you’ve seen this move performed more than a few times for sure. Someone gets hit by a rattler and their traveling partner works fast cutting a slit near the bite and sucking out the venom. But is this aggressive move really doing anything, or are you just making the victim more susceptible to infection? While snake bites can indeed be deadly, they’re not always the one-way ticket to death that many movies make them out to be.

Question 23

Never feed anyone that's experiencing hypothermia.

You’ve done everything in your power to keep your traveling buddy warm, but no matter how much you hold them close you begin to realize that they're experiencing hypothermia. You find that their hands are icy and they can’t stop shivering. They may also begin to slur their words and get sleepy. They ask for food, but you’re worried that digesting it will use up too much of their energy. But is that really the case? Or does it depend on the severity of the hypothermia?

Question 24

Iodine tablets can be used to purify water.

Even river or lake water that looks clean could be teeming with bacteria, and its recommended that you take as many precautions as possible before you start drinking it if lost in the wilderness. These steps can include filtering the water and boiling it for at least a minute, though the longer it boils the better. But are iodine tablets another possible solution for purification? Could dropping a simple dissolvable pill into water really make it that much safer to drink?

Question 25

Aside from mosquitos, snakes are the deadliest animal in the wild.

If you were to take a second to think about it, you would likely come to the conclusion that mosquitos are by far the deadliest animal to humans, killing an estimated 725,000 people per year. And while we may not have as big of a problem with mosquitos in developed countries, they’re a huge nuisance to the rest of the world. But let’s also not forget that there are plenty of other animals we have to worry about in the wild. But are snakes really number two?

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