Five broad categories capture most situations where a person may have to “survive” until rescued or until the weather conditions improve and the individual can rescue themselves.

The categories are: Becoming lost, being caught out after dark, becoming stranded, becoming ill or injured and unable to proceed and bad weather that makes continuing on dangerous. This article will look at “weather.”

The big storms get the attention, but even non-dramatic bad weather can kill you!

by Peter Kummerfeldt

Why is it so many people come to grief each year in weather-related accidents?  Why is it, with all of the weather information available, that people still find themselves trapped by storms, isolated by blizzards, caught out away from home or base camp by weather conditions that endanger their lives?

Part of the problem is arrogance. Our belief is that “we can handle it” whatever “it” happens to be.  Many have an unwavering belief in their ability to overcome the difficulties that wind, rain, plummeting temperatures, scalding heat and other extremes that weather may bring – some of these people die!

When you look back over the past thirty years in the United States, each year approximately 71 people are killed by lightning; 219 people die from heat-related illnesses and  27 succumb to the cold.  Tornadoes kill 65 people. Annually, floods drown 127 people and 1,800 more are thought to die in cold water incidents across the country. A further 52 die in winter storms. Hurricanes result in 16 more deaths.

The numbers shown are the fatalities – many more people suffered from the impact of the weather.

In the grand scheme of things, these are not large numbers compared to the numbers of non-weather related death. But would you want to be one of the ones that died? Of course not!

So what can be done to insure that you don’t become one of the unfortunate statistics?  Let’s take a closer look at these weather problems, and see what can be done to reduce the impact of weather on the activities that take us into the outdoors.

LIGHTNING is probably the least understood threat of all of the weather-related hazards.  Of the three hundred or so people each year who are hit by lightning, one third die and a high percentage of the remainder will suffer long term, often lifelong, medical difficulties.  While some who are killed and injured are inside, the vast majority are either working or recreating outside.

Safety Rules

• Keep an eye on the sky.  Pay attention to developing storms – increasing wind speeds, and anvil-shaped clouds with lightning, are all signs of an approaching storm.
• Be proactive – don’t wait until you are getting wet to suspend your outdoor activities.   Move into a substantial building or an enclosed vehicle.  A large dry cave also offers protection but move away from the entrance – shallow caves and rocky overhangs offer little or no protection.  Move away from isolated, exposed high ground and move toward lower, less exposed areas.  There are no “safe” areas – just “safer” areas!
• The sound of thunder is a warning that a storm is brewing.  Thunder can be heard up to ten miles away. If you can hear thunder you are close enough to be hit!  Take shelter now.
• Don’t be, or be connected to, the tallest object in the area.   If caught outside, move into low trees of even height and stand away from the tree trunks.  If above treeline, crouch down in the lowest area you can find.   Stay away from isolated trees. It is better to crouch down in the open than shelter under a tree that stands alone in a field.
• Water is a great conductor of electricity – get out of water at the first sign of a storm developing.  If  in a boat, go directly to the shore and move into shelter.  Continuing to swim, boat, wade or any other activity related to water is dangerous.
• Move away from all metal which might conduct electricity (fences, railway lines, buildings, road barricades, telephone lines) and remove all metal (jewelry, metal framed glasses, coins etc.) from your body which can cause serious burns if you are hit
• If part of a group, spread out.  Staying together increases the chance of more than one person being injured.
• If you smell ozone, if your hair stands on end or if you experience any other unusual phenomena, a lightning strike could be imminent – protect yourself.

HOT TEMPERATURES cause more deaths each year than any other category of weather-related fatalities. Of these deaths, most occur in urban areas and in cities during heat waves.  The young and the old are most at risk.  Those who die from heat-related illness in the outdoors are people who became stranded as a result of vehicle accidents, become lost or end up in other circumstances that trap them in hot, arid regions without sufficient water.  Excessive heat also increases the risk of dying from all other causes.

Safety Rules:

• As ambient temperature rises, your body’s need for water will increase.  The evaporation of water from the skin is the body’s primary way of eliminating excess heat.  Without water to sweat, body temperature will continue to rise until cell function ceases and you die.
• When the environment is hotter than 98.6° F you will gain heat from the environment and your body temperature will rise.  Finding shade and adequate supplies of water are critical to your survival.
• Be especially careful in hot, humid environments where the high humidity interferes with your body ability to sweat efficiently.  Water that is dripping from your skin does not remove heat.
• Salt is important to your well being but it is not necessary to take salt tablets.  The salt you eat with your meals is sufficient.  During periods of severe heat, eating saltier foods (pretzels, potato chips etc.) will help to replace the salts lost in sweating.  Drinking large quantities of water and not consuming enough salt can result in hyponatremia,  a medical condition that can be fatal.

COLD TEMPERATURES: Man is a tropical animal and has to rely on clothing, shelter and food to maintain a body

Be prepared for cold, and you can enjoy winter weather!

temperature of 98.6° F!  Exposure to temperatures below normal body temperature, without adequate protection, will eventually result in hypothermia which can become life threatening if not reversed quickly.   A lowering of your body temperatures quickly starts a chain of events that begins with shivering, reduced hand and finger dexterity and ends with cardiac arrest.

Safety Rules:

• Wear, or have with you, clothing that that will keep you warm and dry when weather conditions place your safety at risk.
• Wear, or have with you, clothing that prevents wind from penetrating your clothing
• Put on additional clothing before you become chilled.
• Your head must receive special attention. Carry a stocking cap and a windproof hood to put on when temperatures drop and wind speed increases.
• Temperatures do not have to be extreme for you to quickly loose hand and finger dexterity.  Gloves and mittens should be a part of your emergency clothing.
• Select footwear that will keep your feet warm and dry.

Wind: Unlike finding yourself in an extreme cold or hot environment where the danger is more obvious, wind is generally thought of as an annoying phenomenon without significant life-threatening ramifications until tornadoes and hurricanes enter the picture.
But, as long as wind is moving across the surface of exposed skin – heat is being removed.  In hot conditions this can be beneficial: In cold conditions, this heat loss and the subsequent body temperature drop can become life threatening.  An outer layer of clothing that is not only waterproof, but also windproof, is a vital part of your clothing ensemble.  Studies have shown that with a windproof outer layer you can get by with much less insulation.

The combined effect of wind and temperature, wind-chill, creates a condition where the temperature itself wasn’t that low, but to know how cold it felt, you have to figure in the effect of the wind. The “wind-chill” charts used by weather forecasters have recently been revised and now more accurately portray the danger faced by people when recreating in windy cold conditions.

Safety Rules:

• Carry a windproof, waterproof outer layer and put it on before you get cold.
• In windy situations, turn your back to the wind and then look for any obstruction or barrier that you can shelter behind.  Once out of the wind, you only need to protect yourself from the ambient temperature, not the wind-chill. The difference can be life-saving!

Peter Kummerfeldt has walked the talk in the wilderness survival field for decades.

Born in Kenya, East Africa, Peter came to America in 1965 and joined the U.S. Air Force. He is a graduate of the Air Force Survival Instructor Training School and has served as an instructor at the Basic Survival School, Spokane, Washington; the Arctic Survival School, Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Jungle Survival School, Republic of the Philippines. For twelve years, Peter was the Survival Training Director at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the Air Force in 1995 after 30 years of service.

In 1992, concerned with the number of accidents that were occurring in the outdoors annually and the number of tourists traveling overseas who were involved in unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening incidents Peter created OutdoorSafe.com

He is the author of Surviving a Wilderness Emergency and has addressed over 20,000 people as the featured speaker at numerous seminars, conferences and national conventions.

Check out Peter’s blog at: OutdoorSafe.blogspot.com

For more Peter Kummerfeldt and OutdoorSafe survival stories and tips, click on:

• Are you afraid of the dark?
• STOP: You are lost!
• Preparing to survive
• The importance of water to survival.
• Avoid becoming an altitude casualty.
• Wilderness emergency management
• Making water safe to drink.
• Don’t become a lightning casualty.
• Questionable water: to Drink or Not?
• Self Rescue: when staying put is not an Option
• Survival Kit List for beginners
• Preventing dehydration during emergencies
• Winter Survival Equipment Test: Blizzard vests and emergency blankets

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

By Leon Pantenburg
One of the seeds for the survival common sense concept came from the Deschutes County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue. Deschutes County, Oregon, has one of the most active SARs in the country. I heard this story after asking how well visitors are prepared for the backcountry!

Don't underestimate Mother Nature! The weather can change dramatically, for the worse, in a very short time.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers were dog tired after three days of searching for missing backpacker Danny Curran, who had disappeared in The Cascade Mountains in November 2001.  (Mr. Curran’s remains were found on July 31, 2002). They regrouped in a trailhead parking lot to plan the next move. Snow started to spatter as a group of hikers headed out for the mountains. The searchers stared in disbelief.

“The hikers were lightly dressed and wearing shorts and flip-flops,” said Sgt. Marvin Combs, of Deschutes County SAR. “We figured they would probably be our next mission.”

Every year, unprepared wilderness visitors make mistakes that put them into danger and the news, Combs said, but there are countless other close calls where people are lucky. The misfortunes seem to follow some fairly predictable patterns.

“What scares us most are the near misses you don’t hear about,” Combs said. “People are embarrassed to tell about a close call they had.”

Psychological responses to emergencies follow a pattern, according to John Leach of the University of Lancaster, England, and the author of “Survival Psychology.”

Leach’s studies show that only 10 to 15 percent of any group involved in any emergency will react appropriately. Another 10 to 15 percent will behave totally inappropriately and the remaining 70 to 80 percent will need to be told what to do. The most common reactions at the onset of an emergency are disbelief and denial.

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People don’t prepare for emergencies, Leach writes, for three reasons: Planning is inconvenient, preparations may be costly and an ingrained folk myth says to prepare for a disaster is to encourage it.

These unrealistic mind-sets are the basis for many wilderness tragedies, claims survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt, and he sees denial as the underlying cause.

“We deny we will ever be in an emergency. Then, we deny that the emergency is happening, and then, we deny that it ever happened,” Kummerfeldt said. “The usual progression is that a person thinks: ‘This isn’t happening to me,’ then, ‘It’s not that bad,’ then, ‘If it is that bad, there’s nothing I can do about it.’”

A disaster can happen to anyone, at any time. Be ready before it strikes!

To deal with reality, he adds, you must first treat the situation as being real and admit it is happening to you.

So, mentally and emotionally, what is the best course of action to develop a survival mindset?  The first thing to do, according to Kummerfeldt, is realize you’re in trouble.

“Ask yourself: ‘Am I OK?’” Kummerfeldt said. “If I am, what do I have to do to stay that way? If I’m not, what do I have to do?”

Mental conditioning is hard to define, says Deschutes County SAR veteran Al Hornish. Many people are afraid of the dark, he said, and impending darkness adds to the stress of being lost.

“People will just keep going because they don’t want to be out in the wilderness after night falls,” Hornish said. “This can cause them to make more mistakes.”

In one instance, he added, a lost hiker kept walking through the night.

“We asked why he didn’t just stop and wait until it got light,” Hornish said. “The man said: ‘I heard wild animals in the woods all night long.’”

Individual reactions to disasters tend to follow a pattern. Once you understand what is happening to you mentally, then you can take positive actions. This is  “survival state of mind”.

Here’s the typical disaster reaction progression, according to “Survival Psychology”:

Denial: The first reaction will probably be: “This can’t be happening to me!” But an emergency, disaster, accident or crash can happen to anyone, and it can result in a situation where your life is at risk.

Panic: Once you get past denial, there is a strong chance you may panic. This is when judgment and reasoning deteriorate to the point where it can result in self-destructive behavior. It can happen to anyone.

Hypoactivity, defined as a depressed reaction; or hyperactivity, an intense but undirected liveliness: The depressed person will not look after himself or herself, and will probably need to be told what to do. The hyperactive response can be more dangerous because the affected person may give a misleading impression of purposefulness and leadership.

Stereotypical behavior: This is a form of denial in which victims fall back on learned behavior patterns, no matter how inappropriate they are. The Boss may decide to continue in that role, even though he/she has no idea of what to do. Sadly, the underling may also revert to that subordinate role, even though he/she may be better prepared mentally.

Anger: A universal reaction, anger is irrational. Rescue workers frequently come under verbal and physical attack while performing their duties.

Psychological breakdown: This could be the most desperate problem facing a victim, and this stage is characterized by irritability, lack of interest, apprehension, psycho-motor retardation and confusion. Once this point is reached, the ultimate consequence may be death.

So, the key to a “survival state-of-mind” is to be prepared and confident that you can handle any emergency.
STOP: Stop Think. Observe. Plan.  Use common sense to stay warm, hydrated, nourished and sheltered.  Administer first aid when it’s a priority, and don’t follow the leader who may be hyperactive and claiming to be “in charge”.

Only you can be in charge of your and your family’s survival.  And, when you are prepared, you will be.

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.

Be Prepared!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Here’s the scenario: You walked further down that interesting-looking trail than originally planned and the sun is starting to set behind the mountains. An unsettled feeling in your stomach starts to get worse, and becomes a knot. The knot twists tighter as you realize you don’t have a clue where you are.  The thought sets it: I may be lost…

When everything looks the same: STOP. You may be lost!

by Leon Pantenburg

For many of us, the first reaction might be to take off, rapidly, in the direction we came from. Maybe jogging would be a good idea. Then, despite your best intentions, you start to panic…

But think: STOP! Say it out loud if you have to, then think what the acronym stands for: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan.

This well-used old acronym, probably mentioned in every survival manual, should be embedded in your psyche. STOP is a survival mind-set exercise. Here’s how to use it. Follow these steps.

Stop: Unless it’s dangerous, quit moving and sit down. Breathe. Take a drink of water. Eat a snack. Stay put – you can’t think until you can focus your thoughts. Time yourself – take at least 30 minutes to let the adrenaline wear off.

Think: Assess your choices and the tools available. Do you have your 10 essentials and the necessary survival gear along? Can you use them? Knowing you’re prepared for an unexpected night out can give you confidence and make you feel less afraid. This confidence could keep you from doing something stupid.

Observe: Take the surroundings into account, because this will affect what comes next. Is it getting dark? Is the temperature dropping or is the weather getting bad? These environmental factors must be considerations.

Plan: Based on your previous actions in this exercise, make an overall plan. Then make some immediate decisions and get going. Don’t expect anyone to help you, and don’t procrastinate.

For more information on making a survival kit, click here!

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com

Leon Pantenburg is a wilderness enthusiast, and doesn’t claim to be a survival expert or expertise as a survivalist.

Leon Pantenburg

As a newspaperman and journalist for three decades, covering search and rescue, sheriff’s departments, floods, forest fires and other natural disasters and outdoor emergencies, Leon learned many people died unnecessarily or escaped miraculously from outdoor emergency situations when simple, common sense might have changed the outcome.

Leon now teaches common sense techniques to the average person in order to avert potential disasters. His emphasis is on tried and tested, simple techniques of wilderness survival. Every technique, piece of equipment or skill recommended on this website has been thoroughly tested and researched.

After graduating from Iowa State University, Leon completed a six-month, 2,552-mile solo Mississippi River canoe trip from the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minn., to the Gulf of Mexico.

His wilderness backpacking experience includes extended solos through Yellowstone’s backcountry; hiking the John

A much younger Leon at a silver mine in the Beartooths.

Muir Trail in California, and numerous shorter trips along the Pacific Crest Trail. Other mountain backpacking trips include hikes through the Uintas in Utah; the Beartooths in Montana;  the Sawtooths in Idaho; the Pryors, the Wind River Range, Tetons and Bighorns in Wyoming; Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the Catskills in New York and  Death Valley National Monument in southern California.

Some of Leon’s canoe trips include sojourns through the Okefenokee Swamp and National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, the Big Black River swamp in Mississippi and the Boundary Waters canoe area in northern Minnesota and numerous small river trips in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. Leon is also an avid fisherman and an elk, deer, upland game and waterfowl hunter.

Leon and hiking partner John Nerness pitched their tarp in this Death Valley "forest" during Christmas of 1977.

Since 1991, Leon has been an assistant scoutmaster with Boy Scout Troop 18 in Bend, and is a scoutmaster wilderness skills trainer for the Boy Scouts’ Fremont  District.

Leon earned a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and competed in his last tournament (sparring and form) at age 49. He is an enthusiastic Bluegrass mandolin picker and fiddler and two-time finalist in the International Dutch Oven Society’s World Championships.

Contact Leon at: survivalsenselp@gmail.com

Survival Tips from SurvivalCommonSense.com have been featured on BendBroadband’s  “Good Morning Central Oregon!”  television show. To view a segment about choosing the best winter clothing, check out the video below:

 

http://www.survivalcommonsense.com