Survival of a jungle
FIRST DECISIONS
If you are stuck in the jungle due to a plane crash, stay at the site of the plane to see if rescue arrives and only start moving once you are certain no one is coming to the rescue.
If you are on foot and you know you are not far from a village or trail try to figure out where you came from and get back to a point you recognize. This could be a stream or a high point or a jungle trail.
Go through in your mind the last hour or so of walking and picture it in your head. What did you see? What landmarks did you pass? Which direction was the sun in? Any memory will help.
Look around you carefully and see if there is any evidence of where you came from, for example broken branches. This may help you decide which direction to start moving in.
WALK IN ONE GENERAL DIRECTION
Focus on something ahead of you to aim for and something behind you to walk away in order to stay in a straight line and stop yourself walking in circles. Jungle travel can be very disorientating and the fear factor creeps up if you are not confident in your movements. Always feel you are in control of where you are going and justify it loudly to yourself.
The jungle canopy can make things quite dark and difficult to get your bearings so also look for some high ground where you might see a depression where there could be a river.
FOLLOW ANIMAL TRAILS
Look for animal trails left by animals in the jungle, and follow them if they are heading in the same direction as you. They might lead to water sources or open areas where you might more easily be seen by rescue parties. Carry a stick to push away any plants in your way and as an aid for balance.
Clambering over fallen tree trunks is a very common way to have an accident. Try to avoid using your hands, many plants will sting or prick you.
ESTABLISH YOUR PRIORITIES TO STAY ALIVE
These priorities are:
- Find drinking water
- Build a shelter before nightfall
- Create a weapon or tool for making things
- Find a source of food
Drinking water
Suitable drinking water is not easy to find in the jungle. Always try to find running water, and boil before drinking. Avoid stagnant and smelly water, especially when covered in vegetation and lacking movement. The water will be of poor quality and may be filled with life-threatening bacteria. Rainfall provides the best drinking water. It can be captured in large leaves and bamboo stalks.
Build a shelter before nightfall
While there are some elements of survival that we can live without longer than others, the Rule of Threes is especially important to remember in any survival situation. You can live for about three weeks without food and three days without water, but shelter is the one thing that’s often a deal breaker. Getting out of harsh conditions quickly will dramatically improve your situation and may even save your life.
There are ways of creating shelter that range from quick methods of simply finding a natural barrier from the elements, to building a shelter that will last as long as it may take to get rescued. Knowing which to use and when is huge, but so is knowing how to find or make versions of either. Last week I went into the wilds of Montana with a Special Forces buddy of mine for three days to build, test and suffer through the night in shelters designed for warmth.
Create a weapon or tool for making things
Find a good tree : and cut it down. Or if you are environmentally friendly just find one on the ground that will work in order to make a handle out of it. For this I found a small tree that was broken in half already so just cut the rest down.
Cut Piece You Need From Tree : Now figure how long you will want your handle and chop a piece that long…doesn’t need to be exact it’s primitive remember.
Scrap the Bark and Carve Handle : Once you have the piece you need for the handle start to scrap the bark off( i used a hatchet).
After all bark is removed begin to taper the branch to form a handle.
Make Hole : the next step is to make a hole that your rock will wedge itself into. the key to this is that every time you hit something the rock wedges more and more and sticks.
Insert Rock and Lash : once your hole is large enough stick your rock in it and give it a few whacks to set it in tight. now on to the lashing in all actuality the lashing doesn’t do much for this application but it does provide you with several feet of para-cord which can be used to make shelter and several other things as most of us know.
Find a source of food
Berries : They’re either delicious or distressing, and there’s not a lot of in-between. Thankfully, many are a part of our everyday life since production has been industrialized. Much of North America has a favorable climate for wild berries, so finding them during the late spring and early summer is common.
Mushrooms : Mushrooms are possibly the most polarizing of the foraging categories. They have a reputation for being extremely dangerous. But given how abundantly the safe varieties can grow, it’s definitely worth the effort to study them. If you know what you’re doing, you can make an entire meal from a single patch of fungi. Choose a couple of common species and focus on them.
Toxic look-alikes to research include jack-o-lanterns (similar in color and texture to chanterelles), destroying angels (casual observers may think they’ve found field mushrooms), and false morels. Since mushrooms continue changing throughout their life cycle, they can be challenging to identify confidently. Understand the difference between a young, newly emerged mushroom and one that’s been around long enough to change shape and color.
Plants : The huge variety in taste, texture, and availability makes tackling the plant category quite the undertaking. You can find everything from the wild equivalents of our common grocery store lettuces to the unappealing but nutritious pine bark. The good thing about the vastness of plant life is that there’s plenty of opportunity for you to learn what’s good and what could leave a bitter taste in both your mouth and the overall experience. Zero in on what’s prolific in your area and during the season you’re exploring.
Toxic look-alikes to research include young foxglove (which can look like young, pre-bloom purple deadnettle) and ponderosa pine (which can have toxic needles and bark, unlike white pine).
Nuts : Stumble on a nut tree, find two hard surfaces for cracking, and enjoy some high-calorie snacks straight from Nature herself. This category is the easiest to master since the variety is so much smaller. In fact, it’s so short that there’s only one kind of nut to beware. But what you may find interesting is that there are options out there you may not have thought of eating… like acorns!
The only toxic look-alike to understand is the horse chestnut, which can be confused for the sweet chestnut you’re used to singing about and eating ar winter holidays.