The Ace of Spades: Survival Basics ©

Sea to Sky Photography sells Discover Wilderness Survival playing cards with 52 survival strategies and techniques printed on them.  In this deck, the ace of spades is titled “Survival Basics”; it could also have been titled, “Survival Psychology”, “It CAN Happen To You” or even “The Seven Deadly Enemies of Survival”, since these are the lessons that are being taught on this card.

Sea to Sky Photography sells Discover Wilderness Survival playing cards with 52 survival strategies and techniques printed on them.  In this deck, the ace of spades is titled “Survival Basics”; it could also have been titled, “Survival Psychology”, “It CAN Happen To You” or even “The Seven Deadly Enemies of Survival”, since these are the lessons that are being taught on this card.

Knowing that, “It CAN Happen To You”, you can prepare yourself physically, make sure that you have the proper equipment and mentally prepare yourself by having the necessary training to use your equipment and deal with any emergencies, before you go into the wilderness.  You should keep in shape and see a doctor on a regular basis to make sure that you are “expedition ready” and are physically capable of meeting the challenges you will find in the backwoods.  You should make sure that you have the proper equipment to survive and enjoy the environment that you will be exploring.  This includes a first aid kit that is appropriate for the potential medical emergencies that you might encounter in the backcountry and the Ten Essentials, which should always be carried on your person.  Lastly, you should ensure that you are mentally prepared for the tasks and situations that you will find during your trip into the wild, because this will build your confidence and help you fight your fears and panic.  Take classes and read books to learn the techniques and skills that you will need and then practice them BEFORE you leave home.  Learning new skills, when you have to get them right the first time, because your life depends upon it, is a recipe for disaster.

“The Seven Deadly Enemies of Survival” are a hierarchy of obstacles to your survival, ranked in the order of importance, which may present themselves singly or in groups.  You will have to overcome these enemies, if you find yourself in a wilderness survival situation.  Most people assume in a survival situation, that their biggest challenge will be a physical or environmental one, but this is wrong, you and the internal, psychological obstacles of your own fears and anxieties, your boredom and loneliness are the greatest obstacles that you will have to overcome to survive.  If you fail to control them, you will panic or you will become depressed, in either case, you will not survive the emergency.  In addition, the physical or environmental obstacles that you will encounter can reduce your ability to think rationally, allowing your subconscious fears and anxieties, your boredom and loneliness to take control of your mind.  Again, if this happens, panic and depression will set in and you will not survive.

1.   Fear and anxiety, whether you become lost or disoriented or encounter a different emergency in the wilderness your immediate problem will be fear.  It is not a sign of weakness to feel fear during an emergency, in these situations fear is normal.  What is important is how you react to fear: do you panic or do you act rationally.

2.   Pain from an injury is nature’s way of letting you know that something is wrong.  Both pain and illness can make it difficult to think clearly and make you more susceptible to fear and panic.  Pain from a minor injury can be ignored if you keep your mind occupied with plans for survival.  However, it is important to remember that injuries, particularly severe ones must be dealt with immediately, as they can be life threatening or lead to life threatening illnesses or infections later. 

3.   Cold or heat are both greater threats to your survival than it might seem at the onset of the emergency.  Cold particularly will numb both your body and your mind and lowers your ability to think and your will to survive. Cold and heat also increases your chance of suffering ill effects from thirst.

4.   Thirst will dull your thinking, even when your dehydration is not extreme, and being thirsty increases your sensitivity to fear, pain, cold or heat.  As with hunger and pain, thirst can be ignored short term if you have a strong will to survive and you keep your mind busy.

5.   Hunger will reduce your ability to think clearly, and being hungry will increase your susceptibility to the weakening effects of fear, pain and cold.  Hunger is not critical in the short term, but it will does a factor in the long term.  Just as with pain and thirst, in the short term, hunger can be overlooked if you keep busy.

6.   Fatigue is almost impossible to avoid in survival situations, since your ability to sleep or rest will be limited and your limited food supply will not keep your body fully fueled.  Even a mild amount of fatigue can reduce your strength, coordination, judgement and your ability to think rationally.  Fatigue is likely to increase your chance of injury and the effects of fear, boredom and hopelessness.  By making a plan and prioritizing the necessary survival tasks, you can find ways to work smarter and reduce your energy expenditures, or by sleeping and resting when that is the most important task to accomplish, you can reduce fatigue.

7.   Boredom, loneliness, hopelessness or depression, are less immediate problems and can creep into your mind slowly, as the emergency continues, possibly when an expected event doesn’t happen, or when you are alone.  These are difficult obstacles to overcome and will dull your thinking and make you want to give up.  Just as with fatigue, creating and sticking to a plan for survival, identifying and prioritizing necessary tasks and keeping busy with those tasks, will keep you from growing bored or depressed. 

It is important to remember that fear, anxiety, boredom and depression can be controlled by using the S.T.O.P. acronym (Sit down, Think, Organize, Plan, prioritize and act).  The steps outlined in this acronym will help you control your subconscious fears by bringing your conscious mind to the forefront as you sit, think, organize your supplies and resources and create a plan for survival.  Afterwards, keeping busy with this plan will keep your conscious mind in control and will prevent boredom and depression, as well as keeping your subconscious fears and anxieties at bay.

The physical or external enemies of survival can be conquered by using the “Rule of Threes”.  This rule is useful as a planning tool, which helps you prioritize which of the deadly enemies of survival are the most critical to your survival at any moment.  The “Rule of Threes” states that you cannot survive for more than 3 Minutes without air or with severe bleeding.  You cannot survive for more than 3 Hours without shelter from a harsh environment, whether it is hot or cold, or you are in cold or icy water.  You cannot survive for more than 3 Days without water, but you can survive for 3 Weeks without food.  These rules assume that the rules above them have already been met, for example, if you have a large quantity of water, yet are bleeding severely, according to the three-minute rule, the most important task at that moment, is to stop the bleeding. 

If you accept that it can happen to you and you prepare before you enter the wilderness, you will reduce your chance of having an emergency.  In the event of an emergency in the backwoods, by planning and prioritizing survival tasks, you can take positive steps forward towards your survival, build your confidence, stay busy, keep your mind occupied, and fight fear, panic, boredom and depression.  Therefore, if you do end up in an emergency stay calm, make rational decisions, hope for the best but prepare for the worst and adopt the Marine Corp slogan of “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome”, these suggestions, the acronym S.T.O.P. and the “Rule of Threes” will help you to deal with any physical or mental hardships that you might encounter.

Sources:

Department of the Air Force, Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, [US Government Printing Office, Washington DC August 15, 1969] p 1.1 - 1.15 https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qaea-Z580phmhBGIWOpEb9sVNVKFl2eMbPyfv7ki4p2Zoy6cs7h1CmdXQI0ydjG07PWu6RRNYLtLVCYuecTw2NN4WTAEhAOzNk4TNnzUHc7kP7tsTOrDJ3VK9NEK-NneCrLSICyuWFBMNPcX5ktcJp_VvkWOiUDKjo0k-2FChV7srDVmZ9PH_OOSrcXbuyb5IIy2fCYgUQoVWwECShqfJU9zjSSbvFyxx_xE8Rtx_HUmvwls2pzM2AWkIUgXEGChXtpZx3Mo, (accessed April 16, 2018)

Province of British Columbia, Wilderness Survival, [Information Division, Ministry of Forests, Victoria, B. C., March 1978] p 8 - 11

Dwight R. Schuh, Modern Survival, Outdoor Gear and Savvy to Bring You Back Alive, [David McKay and Company, New York, NY, 1979] p. 46-51