The Pocket Outdoor Survival Guide: The Ultimate Guide for Short-Term Survival (6 page)

Ground-to-Air Signals

Here are the symbols search pilots recognize. Remember the “X” is the one used most often:

 

 

GUNSHOTS —
Gunshots can be a good signal, and they carry a long distance; however, they must be used at the right time to be effective. If you are in trouble during hunting season your shots may be mistaken as shots from hunters. Save your ammunition and wait until well after dark. Then fire three shots into the air. Listen for three shots in return. If you make contact, fire only one shot when you hear your searchers shoot. Save your ammo as it may take several shots to guide them in. If you get no response, save your ammo and don’t shoot again until you hear sounds from your searchers. If there is no one near enough to hear your gunshots or if they are confused with hunters, it will only be a waste of ammo and bring no help.

It is important to know how to use signals properly, and that you have the signals ready for use on short notice. Also, it is important to choose an open area to do your signaling. Many signals will not be seen from the air if you sit under a thick canopy of tall trees to await rescue. Select an open area, if possible, to wait for your rescuers and have your signals ready. Areas, such as old roads, fields, sites of old forest fires, sea- or lakeshore or any other type of opening will help you be seen early in the search. Remember to stay where you are, and don’t give in to the urge to travel. Signaling will bring help to you.

Shelter is often the first priority of survival. In this case, shelter from 120-degree heat is sought by digging into the ground under a disabled truck. The truck became an oven in this heat.

 

Shelter is defined as a “place affording protection from the elements.” Every survivor, faced with the problem of protecting himself from the elements, must consider using every conceivable place already existing in his immediate area or using every available material at hand to improvise a place that will afford much-needed protection. When deciding what type of shelter to build, you must first consider what the shelter is to protect you from, i.e., rain, cold, insects, heat. As an example, when in hot, arid areas, protection from the sun during the day may be the prime consideration. In frigid areas, extreme cold aggravated by high winds or, in some seasons, swarms of insects may be the dangers that dictate what type of protection the survivor must seek.

In addition to protection from natural elements and conditions, an adequate shelter also provides the survivor with psychological well-being, so necessary for sound rest. Adequate rest is extremely important if the survivor is to make sound decisions. The need for rest becomes more critical as time passes and rescue is prolonged. Rest contributes to mental and physical health, and adequate shelter contributes to sound rest. Because of these factors, adequate shelter must be placed high on the priority list if survival is to be successful.

Constructing shelter for your survival camp may or may not be a rush matter. If the weather is mild with no rain, you may postpone constructing a shelter. However, if the weather is bad or subject to get worse, then shelter construction may become very high on your list of priorities. One plus for shelter construction, assuming you are in good shape, is that it keeps you occupied. Constructing a good shelter where you can rest comfortably out of the elements takes time and some work, but this will help keep your mind off your troubles.

The location of your shelter site will depend on several things. The first priority is that it be in a location where search aircraft or ground parties can easily see you. I was once leading a ground search party looking for two lost hikers. It took us two days longer than it should have to find the hikers due to the hidden location they had selected to set up their survival camp.

If you are stranded with a vehicle, plane, boat, snowmobile or canoe, try to either use the craft as a camp or set up your shelter nearby due to their high visibility. The exception to this would be if the craft were hidden by thick brush or trees.

If you are walking or skiing, select an open area, if possible, in which to set up your survival camp. This may require that you cut some brush or small trees. Avoid constructing your shelter in a low swamp area or in a dry creek bed. Your predicament is bad enough without getting caught in a flash flood or rising ground water. Also, in warm weather, mosquitoes may be a problem.

Look up before selecting a shelter site. Don’t build your shelter under standing dead trees or dead limbs or branches heavy with snow. These could fall on you. Avoid thick overhead vegetation that could block the view for aircraft as well as conceal your distress signals. Avoid avalancheprone slopes. Try to construct your shelter so that you can sleep comfortably. Select a level or near level site. Remove stones and sticks. Your sleep is vital to conserve energy for survival.

Set up a ground-to-air signal as soon as you have a survival campsite selected. If the weather is not too bad, set your signals up before you construct your shelter. Waiting may cause you to miss a chance for early rescue.

If possible, find an opening and set up your shelter near a source of water such as a spring, creek, river or lake. Not only does this save energy in getting water, but it also is a good place to find animals and plants for food. Other people visit areas near water more frequently, thus increasing your chances of being discovered.

The type of shelter you select to use in your survival camp will be based on several factors:

• 1. What shelter material do you have with you — tube tent, vehicle, canoe, airplane, tarp, emergency blanket, sheet of plastic, etc?
  
• 2. What equipment do you have to aid in shelter construction — axe, saw, knife, rope, etc?
  
• 3. What natural materials are available for shelter construction — rocks, trees, poles, snow, cave, etc?
  
• 4. What is the weather like now? What kind of weather do you expect?
  
• 5. What is the season of the year?
  

How effective your shelter will be will depend upon what you have to construct it with and what the weather is like, plus your ability to improvise and any previous training you have had in shelter construction.

Tube Tent

 

If you are traveling in the backcountry by foot, ATV, vehicle, plane, snowmobile, canoe, boat, horseback or skis, you would be smart to take a tent with you. I learned while working in northern Canada and Alaska to have a tube tent with me at all times. I have spent many unplanned nights in the wilderness. The tube tent is easy and quick to set up. You simply run a rope or cords through the plastic tube and tie it between two trees. Since they blow like a sail in high wind, it is a good idea to weigh down the front and rear openings with rocks or heavy logs.

 

The tube tent you pack in your survival kit is one of the best quick shelters available.

 

A lean-to made from a Space blanket or tarp is an effective shelter and is simple to erect.

 

 

Natural Shelters

 

A rock overhang or cave makes one of the best natural shelters to be found. In fact, during the 1700s, the longhunters who were exploring the wilderness west of the Appalachian Mountains spent entire winters in survival-type camps they made under rock overhangs. By building up rock or log walls as windbreaks, these shelters can actually be comfortable. One downside, though, due to their locations: They are usually difficult to spot from the air or from any great distance on the ground, making rescue much more difficult. Locating ground-to-air signals nearby is a must when using these types of shelters.

Many times, freshly blown-down trees can be made into a survival shelter by cutting away the limbs near the ground. If large pieces of bark are around, use them to improve the roof.

 

A natural shelter, such as this rock overhang, may be found in the survival area. Due to it being somewhat hidden from the air, ground-to-air signals should be set up.