11.
If you are in the car, to confirm someone is following you, take 4 right turns, and if they are following you around the block call for help or drive to a busy location/police station —hr-chicago
12.
If you somehow are in a situation where you feel like you could drown and have no energy to go on turn on your back and do the backstroke!! Saved my life while at the beach last week after getting sucked out by rip current. —Original_Benefit
13.
During the winter, it is WAY better to be slightly cold than it is to sweat. If you start to sweat, you can go hypothermic way faster. —Sirhc978
14.
When wild camping and hiking in Scotland, some Dutch Outdoor guy told us to always keep Tampons to start a fire. He was so right – in a wet environment where all the leaves and branches are moist and the wind blows like crazy, we sometimes needed 1,5 hours to start a fire and we needed the fire to at least have a warm meal in the night. They’re the best fire starter: they’re lightweight and tiny (easy to carry), you can pull them apart and there’s a lot of easily burning material that you can use as a fire starter. —girlwithnotraits
15.
Pack a whistle. There’s no chance your voice will hold out yelling at the top of your lungs, and whistles carry long distances. Especially handy if you’ve injured yourself, and need to rely on others finding you.
SOS in Morse code is … – – – …
So three short blasts, three longer ones, three short, pause….and repeat.
This is an especially handy and harmless device to give kids that are along for a hike (along with, “if you get separated, stop walking and blow the whistle lots, and we’ll come to you”). —Bubbafett33
16.
if you get stuck in your car in the snow, STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE!!! Hypothermia makes you delirious and you can wander the wrong direction and freeze to death. Your vehicle is also a LOT easier to locate than YOU are. —patrickverbatum
17.
Just because you’re drinking water doesn’t mean you’re safe. You need to take in salt as well. I’ve seen this kick people’s asses big time. They drink and drink and drink water but still overheat/throw up/pass out because they didn’t take in any salt or electrolytes —Kittyfish1098
18.
If you are drinking plenty of water but still showing signs of dehydration (headache, fatigue, muscle aches, blurred vision, stumbling around), you may be low on electrolytes. Salty foods can really help with this, but oral rehydration salts such as Pedialyte work even better and should probably be in more people’s backpacks.
Disclaimer: those symptoms aren’t limited to dehydration and can also occur due to heat exhaustion, hypothermia, or altitude sickness. —rocketparrotlet
19.
If you are stuck with canned food but no can opener flip the can upside down and rub it back and forth on asphalt or concrete. While a can opener cuts through the lid, the retaining ring holding the lid on is actually quite thin and can be abraded in 30 seconds or less. Don’t starve to death next to a flat of Alphagetti in your bunker. —LOUDCO-HD
20.
Barrel cactus in the Sonoran desert are not full of water as is commonly portrayed. Instead they are full of acidic solutions that induce vomiting and diarrhea if consumed. These can easily be fatal for a dehydrated person in the desert.
The Barrel cactus fruit by contrast, is one of the most agreeable edibles in the cactus world. They are easy to pick, thornless, and tasty. —Masonator55