This is the eighth in a series of eleven articles on
the top ten wilderness survival skills, things you should know before you go
into the wilderness. To read the
previous article go HERE
– Author’s Note
The Number
Eight, Top Ten Wilderness Survival Skill: Calling and Signaling for Help
The
number eight, top ten wilderness survival skill on my list is, knowing how and when to call and signal for help.
In
a wilderness survival situation, you should call or signal for help as soon as the
situation is stable and your immediate survival priorities have been met.
Remember,
the first hour after any wilderness emergency is critical, and what you do or
don’t do might determine your eventual survival, and for that reason it is
often called the “Golden Hour”.
The first hour is also the most stressful, you will be disoriented and
scared, and these feelings will only be made worse if you are injured and in
pain. Use the “Rule of Threes” to
help guide you. First, take care of any
injuries, this is crucial, particularly in the case of severe injuries which
can quickly lead to shock. Second, find
or build a shelter from the wind and weather, and start a fire. This is particularly important if you or
someone else is injured or the weather is cold, wet, or windy. And third, call or signal for help. The first hour after a wilderness emergency
is also the golden hour for calling and alerting rescuers and signaling for
help, all of which will improve your chances of eventual rescue. If you are uninjured and the weather is mild,
you could move this task up to become your second priority1. If you are in a group, and other able-bodied
people are with you, have one of them begin calling and signaling for help as
soon as possible after a wilderness emergency, while you and the others deal
with other immediate survival priorities.
The “Rule of Threes”, graphic by the Author.
But before
you go...
A trip itinerary, from the Washington Trails Association, HERE.
Don’t
forget, signaling for help actually begins BEFORE you leave for the wilderness. Always leave a trip-plan or itinerary and an
expected time of return with someone, a responsible someone, before you leave
your home base. For more on this read “The
Top Ten Wilderness Survival Skills...Number One ©”, HERE.
“Reach out
and touch someone”
1979 AT & T jingle
From the “Hiker’s Guide to Search & Rescue”, Washington Trails, March & April 2015, by Cassandra Overby, page 18, HERE.
Do
you remember that old AT & T jingle that went “reach out, reach out and
touch someone”? Well, it is good
survival advice. As soon as the
situation is stable after a wilderness emergency, and all your immediate
survival needs have been met, you should try to alert rescuers.
It is a good habit to always carry a way to
call for help if you need it, and when in doubt call for help! Carry either a cell phone, a SPOT device, or
a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), and know how to use them.
An excerpt from “Survive: Beyond the Forced Landing”, by the Air Safety Institute, AOPA, HERE.
Signaling
for Help
Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969, page 2-5. An excellent PDF copy of the Department Of The Air Force, Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969 edition, can be found HERE.
Calling
and signaling for help is a two-fold task, after you have called for help, either
without any success, or even if you have reached rescuers, you should always set
out signals to increase your visibility, to help the rescuers find you and to alert
rescuers to your predicament. You can
signal for help using active signals like a mirror, a whistle, smoke, or a
series of fires; or you can use passive signals such as shadow, contrast, or
pattern ground signals.
Excerpts from “Survival Hints for the Sportsman, 1959©”, HERE.
Signal
Mirror
One way of using an improvised or single sided signaling mirror, from the sample survival pamphlet, found in “AD 401819, Department of Army Approved Small Development Requirement for Individual Aid and Survival Kit for Special Warfare”.
The
most effective visual signal is the signal mirror, or heliograph, and according
to The Survival Book2 it “is second only to the radio as a
rescue device”. Sweep the horizon
with your signal mirror at regular and frequent intervals, the flash can be seen
by rescuers even if you, yourself, can’t see or hear them, and is visible on
clear days for 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km).
Flashes from a signal mirror can be seen for miles even on a hazy day
and even at night by using moonlight.
Aiming an improvised signal mirror, “V” fingers, index finger and thumb, left, “V” fingers, index and middle finger, center, “Thumbs up”, right. Photographs by the Author.
The
simplest way to aim an improvised signal mirror which is shiny only on one side,
is to hold out your hand at an arm’s length in front of you and form a “V” with
either your index and middle finger or with your thumb and your index finger. With the target centered in the “V” of your
fingers and the mirror held over one eye, rotate the
mirror until you see the reflected light on your fingers. The flash will now hit the target, wiggle the
mirror to make it flash.
Another
way to aim the mirror is to hold your thumb up vertically at an arm’s length with
the target resting on the tip of your thumb and the mirror held over one eye,
rotate the mirror up until the flash can be seen on the tip of your thumb. The signal is now on the target, wiggle it to
flash.
From Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969, pages 2-7 to 2-8.
To
aim an improvised mirror, or any mirror, which is shiny on both sides, rotate
the mirror so that the Sun is shining through the hole or “X” in the center of
the mirror3 and onto your face or a hand held close to your
face. You will be able to see the “X” or
the dot of Sun on the shiny backside of your mirror. Rotate the mirror so that the “X” s or dots
line up, while keeping the “X” s and dots lined up, find your target. When both the “X” s, or dots, and the target
are lined up, the Sun is being reflected at the target, wiggle the mirror to
make flashes.
How to use a retroreflector-type signaling mirror from Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969, page 2-8.
Whistles
Information on the International Whistle Code from the back of a Fox 40 Whistle package, picture by the author.
The
next most effective way of signaling for help, over a short distance, is a
whistle. A pea-less whistle (a whistle
without a rattling thing inside it) should be attached to your pack strap, to
your life preserver, or hung around your neck on a string. Avoid “dangles”, anything dangling is likely
to get snagged and lost, strap it down, tuck it into a pocket or hang it around
your neck UNDER your shirt.
The location of contents of my survival vest or survival PFD: 1) Shelter supplies, in the back pocket; 2) my compass and pea-less plastic whistle, both of which weigh 2 ounces (57 grams), clipped into the front upper pocket; 3) my survival kit and spare knife and compass, in the lower left front pocket; 4) my comfort supplies, in the lower right front pocket; 5) a BanadanaMan Emergency Bracelet, that contains 174 inches (442 cm) of string, which I wear on my wrist; and 6) my neck knife, which weighs 4 ounces (113 grams) and, obviously, goes around my neck. Photograph by the Author.
So
how do you use a whistle? Simple, if you
hear a noise in the woods, a good rule is to “answer a noise with a noise”. Pull out your whistle and blast three,
three-second long, whistle blasts at it, wait a minute and do it again, and
keep doing it until the noise stops. Remember,
you usually don’t have to worry about wild animals, since they don’t like to be
near people. If it was an animal that
made the noise, then it will run away, if it was a rescuer that made the noise,
then you are found.
A
question that I have frequently been asked by students in my survival classes is,
“Why is it important to always have a whistle”? I usually answer this question by asking, “how
long can you yell for help, before you become hoarse?” I follow this question up with another
question and ask, “How far away do think your shouts for help will be heard?”
An excerpt from “Scouts and Outposts”, The Climbers’ Club Journal, page 178.
The
answers to these questions are, unfortunately, not very long and not as far as
you would like. Shouts for help can only
be heard for about 100 meters or yards or less, depending upon the atmospheric
conditions and whether there are leaves on the trees or not, which in the grand
scheme of the wilderness isn’t very far.
A whistle on the other hand can be heard for much greater distances,
between 200 to 400 meters or yards, depending on what type of whistle it is4. This is why whistles are important survival
tools and you should never leave home without one.
Another
question I am often asked by students of my survival classes is, “What if I
don’t have a whistle?” If you don’t
have a whistle, and you should always have one when you go into the wilderness,
sing your favorite song, bang a stick on a log or a rock, or as a last resort, shout.
Signal
Fires and Smoke
An excerpt from “Survival Hints for the Sportsman, 1959©”, HERE.
You
should always build signal fires and shadow, contrast, or panel signals in open
areas, close to your shelter, if possible.
The survival manual Down but not Out, states that three fires,
100 feet (30 m) apart and arranged in a triangle or in a row are an
international signal for help. Three of
anything, three canoes, three piles of debris, three fires in a row, three
whistle ballast or gunshots, are also a signal for help5.
An excerpt from FM 3-05.70, page 315. Be careful with tree torches, you don’t want to create a forest fire, especially since you could get burnt alive by it!
Remember
bright flames at night and during the day, black smoke against a light
background or white smoke against a dark background, will attract
attention.
“Tree Torches” or “Torch Trees”, they can be effective, but be careful! From “Survival Hints for the Sportsman, 1959©”, HERE.
Shadow, Contrast
or Panel Signals
Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969, page 2-8.
Shadow
signals work by creating a shadow in the shape of a symbol, mounds, trenches,
piles of brush, stones and even blocks of snow can be used to cast
shadows. Contrast signals work by standing
out from the background, for example stomping out a snow trench and lining it
with evergreen boughs, lining up light colored rocks or driftwood on a dark
beach.
An SOS signal made of rocks in a remote part of Western Australia, spotted by a helicopter pilot in 2017. It turns out that the signal was made in 2013 and that the makers were rescued shortly after. Remember, always destroy your signals after the rescuers arrive! From the BBC News, HERE.
When
building shadow or contrast signals both the U.S. Coast Guard6 and
the U.S. Air Force recommend that each letter of a shadow or contrast signal be
18 feet high by 3 feet wide (5.5 m high by 1 m wide), a ratio of 6 to 1. The horizontal parts of the symbol should be
12 feet long and 3 feet wide (3.6 m long by 1 m wide), ratio of 2 to 3.
Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969, page 2-8.
Panel
or pattern signals work by turning over the corners or folding over part of a
cloth panel that has a dark or high visibility color on one side and a
reflective or contrasting color on the other side to create symbols. You can use a poly-tarp that is silver on one
side and dark on the other or a thermal survival blanket/tarp that is
reflective on one side to create these patterns.
Panel or pattern signals from Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969, page 2-8.
“Improvise,
Adapt and Overcome”
An excerpt from Survival Training Edition, AF Manual 64-3, 1969, page 2-8.
Don’t
be afraid to improvise, I once read about someone who spelled out SOS on a
large rock with blue duct tape. It worked:
he was rescued!
Are your
signals working?
The arrow points the way, photograph by the Author.
In
the first “Golden Hour” after your wilderness emergency you followed the
“Rule of Threes”, you took care of any injuries, found shelter from the
wind and weather, called, and signaled for help, and found a source of water,
but it has been more than 72 hours and the rescuers still haven’t found you, so
now what?
Well,
perhaps, your calls and signals for help haven’t been seen or heard, so ask
yourself, “are your signals working, can they be seen from the air”? Maybe the spot where you have set up your
campsite is difficult to see from the air, or maybe your signals are hard to
see. Before you decide to try to
bug-out, you should try to use some more active signals, like flashing a signal
mirror or even, possibly, lighting a “tree torch”.
No
matter what, if you plan on moving campsites to a more visible spot, to a
better source of water or you have decided on walking out and rescuing yourself,
leave a message at your old campsite detailing your plans and the date and time
that you left, and leave an arrow made of branches or stones on the ground,
pointing in your direction of travel.
Leave ground signals like breadcrumbs to show your path, they will help
rescuers follow you and will make it possible for you to return to your
starting point if your plans do not work out or you become more “misplaced”. For more on this read “There And Back
Again...What in the Blazes?!©”, HERE.
Breadcrumbs that you can leave along your path. An excerpt from The Book Of Woodcraft, by Ernest Thompson Seton, page 162-163.
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Moose Hunting and the
Origins of Robert Rogers’ Rule XXI and XXIII©”,
where we will talk about moose and how moose hunting and how the origins of Robert
Rogers’ and modern-day ranger’s rules are connected.
A bull moose, feeding at the mouth of the Galipo River and Pen Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, summer of 2014, courtesy of Steve Burgeson.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Notes
1 It
was difficult to decide which was more important on my list of Top Ten
Wilderness Survival Skills, finding and disinfecting water, or calling and
signaling for help, since both are of equal importance. In the end, I decided to put water in the
seventh spot only because it was the next priority after shelter and fire in
the “Rule of Threes”.
Since,
usually, you will have at least several hours after a wilderness emergency to
find and disinfect water and stay hydrated, and because it is so important to
activate rescuers as soon as possible after an emergency, calling and signaling
for help has a higher survival priority.
Calling and signaling for help, even though it has a higher survival
priority than finding water and staying hydrated, became number eight only to make
discussion easier.
2 The
Survival Book, 1959, by Paul H Nesbitt, Alonzo W. Pond and William H Allen,
page 27.
3
An improvised survival mirror can be made from many things, an old CD, a broken
piece of mirror or a piece of scrap metal.
If you are using a tin can lid, a piece of a car or an airplane, or
other piece of scrap metal, buff both sides with fine dirt or sand to make them
shiny and then with a nail (to make a dot) or a fix blade knife (to make an
“X”) punch an aiming hole in the center of your mirror. To reduce the chance of cutting yourself on
sharp edges, buff first and then punch the holes.
From
“How It’s Done: Survival Signals”, Field & Stream, June 1974, by Ernest
P., Jr. Doclar, among other sources
4
Scott Free, the author of “Whistle Test: Bigger, Better, New & Improved”,
stressed in his article that the greater the distance over which your whistle
could be heard, the greater the lung power required to blow it. If you are injured, exhausted, elderly or a
child the more powerful whistles might be impossible for you to use.
5
Pro Tip! If you are canoeing, and you
have three canoes, never leave all three lined up along the shore in a row, it
looks like a distress signal. Pull one
farther up and turn it perpendicular to the others. That way you don’t risk sending the wrong
message.
6 Outdoor
Survival Training for Alaska’s Youth, by Dolly Garza, page 30
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