Coping in Remote Areas

If you plan to visit a remote area, you must prepare for the possibility that your party may be stranded and must await rescue. If you are, you can take three steps to help you survive.

• Prepare a shelter.
• Build a fire, if necessary.
• Signal for help.

Preparing a Shelter

• Before dark, begin looking for a dry, well-drained site protected from the wind.
• Look for a natural shelter, such as a rock overhang or thicket of evergreens.
• Ideally, the site should be near fresh water and firewood, in case a fire is necessary.
• If no natural site is available, build a lean-to.
  • Lean branches against a horizontal support to form a frame for a roof.
  • Orient the opening of the lean-to away from the wind.
  • Cover the frame with evergreen branches or a tarp to block out the weather.
  • Add side walls, if necessary.

If You Are Lost in a Thick Fog

Don't waste valuable time and energy traveling around aimlessly. Instead, stay calm and go into survival mode, especially after dark. Build a shelter and fire.

Building a Fire

• If there is snow on the ground, build the fire on a platform of green logs or rocks. If the terrain is dry, clear a patch of bare dirt to avoid starting a grass or forest fire.
• Collect more fuel than you think you can use.
• Pile fine twigs, grass, or bark shavings loosely as a base. If you can't find dry kindling, shave dry wood from the inside of tree bark.
• Place slightly larger sticks on the starter material until you have a pile about 10 inches high.
• Light the kindling in the middle of the base. If there is a breeze, light one end of the kindling so that the flame will be blown toward the rest of the fuel. As the flames spread to the larger twigs, slowly add more wood to the blaze.
• Make sure everyone in your group practices responsible fire safety.
  • Build campfires away from tents and away from heavy fuels such as logs or brush. Consider wind direction in choosing a location for the fire.
  • Never leave a fire unattended.

Putting Out a Fire

• Near the end of the fire, stop adding fuel. Add small, singed bits of wood to the fire to use them up.
• Allow the fire to burn fully to white ash. Then extinguish it with water.
• Carry out a "cold-out" test by using your hands to feel through the cold, wet ash to make certain the fire is out.
• Disperse the ash remains over the area. If necessary to avoid polluting sources of water such as a river, take the ash with you in your trash pack to dispose of when you return home.
  
  

Signaling for Help

• If you can’t continue and have to wait for rescue, prepare help signals as soon as possible.
• The international emergency sign for distress is three of any signal:
  • Three fires, evenly spaced
  • Three blasts on a whistle
  • Three flashes with a mirror
• If you’re near an open space, walk an “X” in the grass, sand, or snow. Make each segment of the “X” at least 18 feet long and three feet wide so that it can be seen easily from the air. Placing branches, logs, or rocks along the “X” will make it more visible.

Purifying Water for Drinking

• Even in cool weather, you need two to four quarts of water a day. Under most conditions, humans can last only about three days without water.
• Pure drinking water is rare, even in the most remote regions. Clear mountain streams often are contaminated by giardia lamblia, a parasite that causes serious intestinal sickness in humans.
• The best way to purify water is by boiling it for five minutes. Chemical purifiers such as iodide or chlorine and filter systems can be used, but some may not be satisfactory. Never make survival problems worse by drinking unsafe water.

Finding Food

• Humans can go for two weeks or more without food. Although the need for food is not that urgent, you’ll be more comfortable and clear-headed if you eat.
• As a general rule, anything that birds and mammals eat will be safe and will have some nutritional value.
• Before you head into a remote area, it’s a good idea to read up on what’s edible in that particular region.