FEATURES OF AUTONOMOUS SURVIVAL IN VARIOUS CLIMATOGEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS

As you know, the problem of autonomous survival is not particularly dependent on high or low temperatures or the lack of living conditions generally accepted in our civilized world. By no means! The problem lies in the fact that a person finds himself in an aggressive environment for himself, in which he cannot immediately adapt. For example, for representatives of the peoples of the Far North, their life does not seem dangerous, but for us it can end in failure, and vice versa: place this person in a city, and his level of security will decrease significantly.

Of course, one can say that this is not the most accurate example of autonomous existence, but it reflects its deeper essence. A person finds himself in an aggressive environment for himself. Separation from the usual place of existence, the lack of skills for safe life in new conditions and give rise to the problem of autonomous existence.

In this chapter, we will consider the most common situations of autonomous existence of a person, depending on the natural and climatic zones. Everyone is well aware that there are five of them, namely:

¦ Equatorial zone: persistent hot and dry weather.

¦ Tropical zone: stable hot weather with high atmospheric humidity.

¦ Temperate zone: unstable weather with constant temperature changes and unstable humidity.

¦ Continental (subarctic) zone: high temperatures in summer and extremely low temperatures in winter.

¦ Arctic zone: constant low temperature with a low degree of air humidity.

It is clear that this textbook and this chapter, all the more so, will not give an answer for all occasions, therefore, to a greater extent, we will talk about solving the problems of providing food, water, lodging for the night in the jungle, desert, wooded and swampy areas, the Arctic and the sea.

3.1. Features of autonomous existence in the jungle

The "primary" jungle is easy to recognize by the abundance of giant trees. The tops of these trees form a dense canopy at a height of more than 30 m above the ground. There is little light or undergrowth under this canopy. It is difficult to move through such jungle, but it is possible.

The "primary" jungle was in many areas cleared of vegetation in order to be able to engage in agriculture. This land, if cleared and left uncultivated, turns back into jungle, it turns into a solid carpet of dense shrubs and climbing plants. This is a "secondary" jungle, and it is much more difficult to cross it than the "primary".

During tropical rains, the "primary" or "secondary" jungle is an unpleasant place to live or move around.

If you are alone in the jungle, depending on the circumstances, first of all you need to relax and analyze the situation. You should:

¦ determine more precisely the general direction of movement to a safe place. If you don't have a compass, use the sun and a clock as an aid in determining direction;

¦ take a supply of water and food;

¦ move in one direction, but not in a straight line. Go around obstacles, avoid fighting them. In enemy territory, take advantage of natural shelters and shelters;

¦ regardless of the speed of movement every hour, make a 10-15 minute stop for a short rest and preparation of equipment. After about 5-6 hours, arrange a big halt; 1.5–2 hours will be enough to gain strength, prepare hot food or tea, put shoes and clothes in order;

¦ even if you have a compass, mark a noticeable landmark every 50–100 m;

¦ pay special attention to the parking lot. Choose it in a high, open area, away from swamps. Mosquitoes are not so pestering here, the land is drier and it is more likely that the place is blown by the breeze.

Nights are cold in the mountain jungle. Avoid windy areas. Avoid dry riverbeds. Sometimes, after rains that have gone so far away that you don’t even know about them, dry rivers can fill with water in a few hours.

The type of shelter you build depends on the time you have to build it and whether it will be permanent or temporary. Jungle hideouts can be:

¦ a simple shelter made from a large piece of tarpaulin or cellophane thrown over a rope or liana stretched between two trees;

¦ a shelter made of an A-shaped frame and covered with a thick layer of palm or other tree leaves, pieces of bark or bundles of herbs. Cover the sloped roof with leaves, like tiles, from top to bottom. This type of shelter is considered ideal as it can be made completely waterproof. To do this, use the broad leaves of a young banana tree. Build a fire pit on a flat rock or laid flat small stones. When the stones are well heated, put a leaf on them and let it blacken and become glossy. In this state, the sheet becomes more waterproof and durable and can be used for roofing. Once the shelter is ready, dig a small drainage hole at the bottom of the hill that will provide you with a dry floor.

You can't sleep on the ground. It is necessary to make a bed of bamboo or small branches, covering them with palm leaves. A hammock made from a piece of dense matter can replace a bed. You can make a hard cover from tree branches, ferns, or the bark of dead trees.

Jungle water can be obtained from several sources:

¦ water from a clean stream with a fast current, with stones. Before use, boil it or process it chemically;

¦ fairly clean water can be obtained from dirty streams or lakes by digging a hole in the ground at a distance of 1.5 m from the edge of the shore. Let the water seep out and the dirt settle;

¦ water from tropical streams, backwaters and swamps can also be drunk only after it has been processed;

¦ rainwater is the only source that may not be subjected to further processing (although if possible, it is desirable to process it);

¦ water can be obtained from grapes and other plants. Bamboo shoots and grapevines are good sources of water. Coconuts, especially when green, provide a milky juice that is both pleasant and nutritious when eaten in small portions.

Food is plentiful in the jungle, but some of it is poisonous. Any food eaten by monkeys is basically safe for humans.

Never eat fruits and vegetables raw unless they are completely peeled. Boil all vegetables before eating them.

Some representatives of poisonous fish are found in tropical waters, but in general many of their varieties are edible. The safest fish to eat are those that have been caught on the high seas or in deep water behind reefs. For survival, a person can use shellfish, snails, snakes, lobsters, sea urchins and small octopuses as food on the coast. If you are not sure about the edibility of the fish, eat only small pieces of it. In the absence of negative consequences, you can safely continue to eat it.

Tropical fish spoil quickly and should be eaten immediately after being caught. Never eat the entrails or eggs of any tropical fish.

When it comes to catching fish, well-known methods of catching will certainly be successful.

As you know, there are a lot of plants in the tropics. The main types of plants that can be eaten have been listed above. But special attention must be paid to their poisonous community. That's it white mangrove, or "dazzling", a tree. This plant is found in swamps, in estuaries or on the coast. If you touch it, then blisters form from the juice. You can go blind if the juice gets into your eyes.

cow bush usually found in thickets and bushy areas, but never in ordinary forest. Flower petals and pods cause irritation. Blindness can result from eye contact.

Celtis western very common in and near ponds. It is poisonous, causing a burning sensation if touched.

Datura smelly- a weed characteristic of abandoned and cultivated lands. All parts of this plant, especially the seeds, are poisonous.

Pangi- This plant is found mainly in the Malay jungle. Its seeds contain hydrocyanic acid. It is dangerous in its raw form, but if fried, it can be eaten.

laxative nut acts as a strong laxative.

Castor oil - this plant looks like a bush, often found in thickets and open places, has poisonous seeds and acts as a strong laxative.

Ipecac found in abundance in all tropical zones. It has an appetizing white or yellow fruit (it looks like a small orange), it is very common in Southeast Asia. The fruit has an extremely bitter pulp and seeds containing a highly toxic poison.

Particular attention in the jungle must be given to clothing. If the body is not completely covered, it becomes vulnerable to insect bites, cuts and scratches. In this case, you must have:

¦ sufficiently loose and durable clothing that protects against plant cuts and insect bites. It should cover all parts of the body;

¦ head mosquito nets and gloves that protect against thorns and insects;

¦ pockets for carrying items of paramount importance - maps, compass, matches;

¦ army uniform provides special shoes for the jungle. These are the best shoes for such conditions.

Summing up this section, it is necessary to highlight the basic rules for autonomous survival in the jungle:

1. Don't rush. Never try to beat the jungle with speed - that's impossible.

2. Avoid climbing high places, unless it is related to determining the direction of travel. When crossing flat terrain, take detours.

3. Watch your feet, change and wash your socks more often. Protect shoes from cracking and rotting by lubricating them with grease.

4. If you get a fever, don't try to move around. Wait until the temperature subsides. Drink more water.

6. Avoid infections. In conditions of tropical heat and humidity, wounds are very susceptible to infection. Try to protect the wound or sore by covering it with a clean bandage. Sterilize the dressing if possible.

7. Prevent exhaustion due to heat, cramps and heat stroke by restoring water and salt loss through sweating. Drink more healthy water, if you have salt, mix 2 salt tablets in a flask of water. If you feel the effects of the heat, rest in the shade and drink half a flask of this salted water every 15 minutes. Continue this treatment until you feel better. Avoid sunburn.

8. A constant danger in the jungle are countless thorns, fragments of branches sticking out in different directions, saw-shaped edges of pandanus palm leaves. Even minor abrasions and scratches caused by them are easily infected, suppurating, if they are not immediately smeared with iodine or alcohol. Cuts caused by razor-sharp edges of split bamboo trunks and stems of some herbs do not heal for a particularly long time.

9. When swimming in tropical rivers or fording them, you can be attacked by crocodiles. In South American waters, piranhas are no less dangerous - small, the size of a human palm, fish of black, yellowish or purple color with large scales, as if showered with sparkles. The smell of blood causes an aggressive reflex in piranhas, and, having attacked the victim, they do not calm down until only one skeleton remains from it.

3.2. Survival in the wooded and marshy area

There are many cases when people, having gone into the forest and not having enough experience and knowledge of local conditions, easily lost their way and, having lost their bearings, found themselves in distress.

How to behave as a person lost in the forest? Having lost your orientation, you must immediately stop moving and try to restore it with the help of a compass or using various natural features. If this is not possible, the best thing to do is to organize a temporary camp, build a shelter from scrap materials, build a fire, replenish food from the pantry of nature and wait for the arrival of help. Having made such a decision, it is necessary to find a suitable site for the future camp.

The right choice of temporary habitat will allow you to avoid many unnecessary inconveniences in the future. First of all, it must be dry. Although it is not easy to find such a site, especially in moss forests, where the ground is covered with a continuous carpet of sphagnum, which absorbs a huge amount of water - more than 20 times its own weight. However, the time spent on the search will pay off with a vengeance: you won’t have to dry your wet clothes and shoes every now and then, and tremble at night from dank dampness.

It is best to sit in an open area, near a stream or stream, so that you always have a supply of water on hand. In addition, a cool wind constantly blowing at night will be a better defense against midge attacks than repellents and smoke fires.

A canopy, a hut, a dugout, a tent can serve as a temporary shelter. The choice of type of shelter will depend on the skill, ability and, of course, the physical condition of the people, since there is no shortage of building material. However, the more severe the weather, the more reliable and warmer the dwelling should be. Make sure that the future home is spacious enough. There is no need to adhere to the principle of "in close quarters, but not offended." When calculating the area of ​​temporary housing per person, the norm is 2.0 x 0.75 m.

Before starting construction, clear the site well, and then, having estimated how much building material is needed, prepare it in advance: cut down poles, chop spruce branches, branches, collect moss, cut bark. In order for the pieces of bark to be large and strong enough, make deep vertical cuts on the larch trunk, up to the wood itself, at a distance of 0.5–0.6 m from each other. After that, cut the strips from above and below into large teeth of 10–12 centimeters across, and then carefully peel off the bark with an ax or a machete knife.

In the warm season, you can limit yourself to building a simple canopy. Two one and a half meter stakes as thick as a hand with forks at the end are driven into the ground at a distance of 2.0–2.5 m from each other. A thick pole is laid on the forks - a load-bearing beam. 5–7 poles are leaned against it at an angle of approximately 45–60 ° and, having secured them with a rope or vine, a tarpaulin, parachute or any other fabric is pulled over it. The edges of the awning are bent from the sides of the canopy and tied to a beam laid in the base of the canopy. Litter is made from spruce branches or dry moss. The canopy is dug in with a shallow groove to protect it from water in case of rain.

A gable hut is more convenient for housing. After driving in the racks and laying the load-bearing beam on them, poles are laid on it - at an angle of 45–60 ° on both sides, three or four poles are tied to each slope parallel to the ground - rafters. Then, starting from the bottom, spruce branches, branches with dense foliage or pieces of bark are laid on the rafters so that each subsequent layer, like a tile, covers the bottom one to about half. The front part, the entrance, can be hung with a piece of fabric, and the back part is covered with one or two poles and braided with spruce branches.

With a high snow cover at the foot of a large tree, you can dig a "snow trench". From above, the trench is covered with a tarpaulin or waterproof fabric, and the bottom is lined with several layers of spruce branches.

Once the construction is completed, you should take care of the fire, before breeding which you need to prepare some fuel. To kindle a fire, dry twigs are used, which are planed so that the chips remain on them in the form of a “collar”. Thin chips, split dry bark (preferably birch), dried moss are laid on top. Little by little fuel is added to the fire. As the flame increases, larger branches can be placed. They must be laid one at a time, loosely, to ensure good air access. If you forget about it, even a hot burning fire can “suffocate”.

However, before starting a fire, all measures should be taken to prevent a forest fire. This is especially important during dry, hot seasons. A place for a fire is chosen away from coniferous and especially dried trees. Thoroughly clean the space for a meter and a half around from dry grass, moss and shrubs. If the soil is peaty, then so that the fire does not penetrate through the grass cover and does not cause the peat to ignite, a “pillow” of sand or earth is poured.

In winter, with a high snow cover, the snow is carefully trampled down, and then a platform is built from several tree trunks.

For cooking and drying clothes, the “hut” fire is most convenient, giving a large, even flame, or “starry” of 5–8 dry trunks arranged star-shaped. They are set on fire in the center and shifted as they burn. For heating during an overnight stay or in cold weather, 3–4 thinner stems are fanned onto a thick trunk. Such a fire is called taiga. For heating for a long time, use the “node” fire. Two dry trunks are laid one on top of the other and fixed at the ends on both sides with stakes. Wedges are inserted between the trunks and kindling is laid in the clearance. As the wood burns, the ashes and ashes are cleaned from time to time.

Leaving the parking lot, smoldering coals must be carefully extinguished by filling them with water or throwing earth. To make fire in the absence of matches or a lighter, you can use one of the methods that have long been known to mankind before their invention.

If a lost person does not have the skills to catch an animal or fish, he will have to turn to plant foods. In the forest, there are many trees and shrubs that give edible fruits: mountain ash, actinidia, honeysuckle, wild rose, etc. Of the edible wild plants, you can use the stems and leaves of angelica, arrowhead tubers, cattail rhizome, as well as a variety of edible mushrooms. In food, you can use garden or grape snails. They are scalded with boiling water or fried. They taste like mushrooms. Snails without shells - slugs - also need to be boiled or fried first.

Suitable for food are the pupae of single bees in the stems of blackberries, raspberries or elderberries, pupae of the woodcutter beetle, which can be found in stumps, logs, oak logs. The larvae can be eaten after gutting, cutting off the back end and rinsing in water. At the bottom of rivers and lakes in winter there are bivalve shells of toothless and barley, quite suitable for food. Snails with a curled shell are found in stagnant water - coils and pond snails.

Ant pupae, or ant eggs as they are called, are a high-calorie food source. In the warm season, ant eggs, similar to white or yellowish rice grains, are found in abundance in anthills near the surface. To collect "prey" near the anthill in the area lit by the sun, they clear a 1x1 area and spread a piece of cloth on it, wrapping the edges and placing a few small branches under the bottom. Then the upper part of the anthill is torn off and scattered in a thin layer on the fabric. After 20–30 minutes, the ants drag all the pupae under the wrapped edges of the fabric, saving them from the sun.

Water supply in the taiga, wooded and swampy areas does not present any particular difficulties. Lakes, streams, swamps, springs are quite common. Only sometimes you have to use natural signs to access the water source - the paths laid by animals to the watering place. Bees serve as a sure indicator of a water source located within a radius of one kilometer.

Ant columns also indicate that there is water somewhere nearby.

If there is no nearby reservoir, you can get water using a plastic bag. It must be put on a thick tree branch and tied at the base with a rope. After a few hours, up to 200 ml of water will accumulate at the bottom of the bag.

In the forest, it is quite difficult to move among the rubble and windbreak, in dense forests overgrown with shrubs. The apparent similarity of the environment - trees, terrain folds, etc. - sometimes completely disorientates a person, he can move in a circle, unaware of his mistake.

However, even without a compass, you can navigate to the cardinal points using various signs. So, for example, trees on the north side have a coarser bark, densely overgrown with moss and lichen at the foot. The bark of birch and pine on the northern slope is darker than on the southern one, and tree trunks, stones, rock ledges are thicker covered with moss and lichens. Resin drops on the trunks of coniferous trees are more abundant on the north side than on the south.

It is useless to look for all these signs on the trees among the thicket. But they are clearly expressed on a separate tree in the middle of a clearing or at the edge.

In spring, during thaws, snow stays longer on the northern slopes of hills and mounds. Anthills from the north are usually protected by a tree trunk, bush, stone. Their side from the north is steeper.

In order to maintain the chosen direction, some well-marked landmark is usually marked every 100–150 m of the route. This is especially important if the path is blocked by a blockage or a dense thicket of shrubs, which force you to deviate from the direct direction. Trying to go ahead is always fraught with injury, which will aggravate the already difficult situation of the person in distress. But it is especially difficult to make transitions in the swamp zone. It is not easy to find a safe walking path among the shifting green space.

Of particular danger in the swamp are the so-called windows - areas of clear water on the gray-green surface of the swamps. Sometimes their sizes reach tens of meters. It is necessary to overcome the swamp with the utmost care and be sure to arm yourself with a long, strong pole. It is held horizontally at chest level. Having failed, in no case should you flounder. It is necessary to get out slowly, leaning on the pole, without making sudden movements, trying to give the body a horizontal position. For a short rest when crossing the swamp, you can use outcrops of hard rock.

Water obstacles, especially rivers with a fast current and a rocky bottom, are overcome without taking off their shoes, for greater stability. Before taking the next step, the bottom is probed with a pole. It is necessary to move obliquely, sideways to the current, so that the stream does not knock you down.

In winter, you can move along the beds of frozen rivers, while observing the necessary precautions. So, it must be remembered that the current usually destroys the ice from below, and it becomes especially thin under snowdrifts near steep banks, that in the channels of rivers with sandy shallows, streaks often form, which, when frozen, turn into a kind of dam. At the same time, water usually finds a way out along the coast under snowdrifts, near snags, rocks, where the current is faster.

In cold weather, the streaks soar, resembling the smoke of human habitation. But much more often, streaks are hidden under deep snow, and they are difficult to detect. Therefore, it is better to bypass all obstacles on the river ice; in places where rivers bend, one must stay away from the steep bank, where the current is faster and therefore the ice is thinner.

Often, after the river freezes, the water level drops so quickly that pockets form under the thin ice, which pose a great danger to pedestrians. On the ice, which seems not strong enough, and there is no other way, they crawl. In spring, the ice is thinnest in areas overgrown with sedge, near flooded bushes.

Disease prevention

In conditions of autonomous survival in the taiga and wooded-swampy areas, special attention must be paid to the prevention of possible diseases.

In the period from May to early September, the midge becomes the "owner" of the forests. It clogs in the nose, in the ears, penetrates under clothes, inflicting countless bites that can drive a person into a frenzy.

To protect against flying blood-sucking and ticks, special repellent preparations are used. They are used in pure form, in solutions, ointments, pastes, lotions.

3.3. Features of autonomous survival in arctic, subarctic zones and winter conditions

The climate in the arctic and subarctic zones is quite severe. In the summer in the arctic (polar) zone, the temperature is about -20 °C. The exceptions are glaciers and frozen seas. In winter, the temperature fluctuates up to -32 °C.

In the subarctic (prepolar) zone, summer does not last long, the temperature is approximately +10 ... +15 °C. Winter is colder in the Northern Hemisphere, maximum temperatures are -25 ... - 35 °C.

In many places of the Far North, less precipitation falls than in areas close to hot deserts.

The landscape is characterized by a very large variety, including mountain peaks and glaciers, as well as flat valleys.

As can be seen from the description of the Arctic and Subarctic zones, the problem of survival in such conditions is rather complicated. An unprepared person who finds himself in such conditions is most likely doomed to death. Therefore, staying in such areas requires very careful preliminary preparation. The presence of warm clothes, special equipment, portable places to sleep (sleeping bags, tents), etc. is a prerequisite for a safe existence.

When you get into such aggressive conditions, you must follow a number of basic rules:

¦ without fail, create a supply of dry warm clothes (It is necessary to take care of a warm hat and warm shoes). Tight clothing reduces the air gap and interferes with the free circulation of blood. (clothes must have an air gap);

¦ try to sweat less, sweating is dangerous because it reduces the insulating properties of clothes, replacing the air with moisture. Evaporating moisture cools the body (avoid overheating by removing certain items and unbuttoning clothes in front, at the neck and wrists);

¦ the head, arms and legs cool faster than other parts of the body, so they require special attention. Keep your hands as warm as possible at all times. They can be warmed by pressing against warm parts of the body under the armpits, between the legs or against the ribs. Feet, because they sweat a lot, are difficult to keep warm;

¦ before dusk, take care of shelter and making fire. Shelters must be created in the lowlands, using caves, gorges. There should be plenty of fuel and water nearby. A supply of food and water must be provided.

Quenching thirst in cold climes in winter is a very difficult problem.

When obtaining food, more attention should be paid to catching fish, since hunting for an animal without special equipment and skills is fraught with great difficulties. Being in the Far North in winter, remember that in coastal currents and rivers there are a lot of salmon, trout, white fish, and sea pike.

Fish can be caught with a harpoon, killed with a shot from a weapon, caught with nets or hands, stunned with a stone or club. As bait, you can use pieces of meat, insects or small fish. Some northern fish peck at small objects floating in the water. As a false bait, you can use pieces of matter, metal, bones.

In general, it is better to hunt early in the morning and late in the evening, when the animals go in search of food and water.

Speaking about the problem of maintaining health, it should be noted that the prevention of hypothermia and frostbite requires special attention. In the absence of the main pathogens of infectious diseases, constant exposure to low temperatures (even not very low) can cause a decrease in blood flow and gradual tissue death.

A serious danger is also represented by sunlight reflected from the snow. Lack of good eye protection can lead to retinal damage and both temporary and permanent loss of vision. Constant exposure to sunlight often leads to local burns of the skin of the face.

When in a shelter, it is necessary to control the degree of its gas contamination in order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

Also, the process of drinking water requires special attention, since in the Arctic conditions you can die from dehydration without feeling thirsty.

And the last danger on the list, but not least - is the use of alcoholic beverages in the open air for the purpose of warming. This process creates a false sense of warmth, which can also lead to hypothermia and frostbite.

3.4. Wilderness Survival Features

Deserts are places of extremes: intense heat during the day, cold at night, very few plants, trees, lakes and rivers. Deserts can be found all over the world, covering about one-fifth of the Earth's surface. Among the most famous are the Sahara, the Gobi, the Arabian Desert and the flat plains of the southwestern United States.

Water is the main factor for survival in the desert. Carry it with you as much as you can, even if you have to leave something else.

Movement in the desert requires compliance with certain rules:

¦ move only in the evening, at night or early in the morning;

¦ take the easiest route possible, avoiding loose sands, difficult terrain, paths along track tracks. In the sand dunes, walk on the hard sand in the valley - between the dunes or along the ridges of the dunes;

¦ dress appropriately to be protected from direct sunlight and excessive sweating;

¦ watch your feet. Boots are the best shoes for walking in the desert. Cross the dunes barefoot only in cool weather, otherwise the sand will burn your feet;

¦ follow the tracks of caravans in order to avoid loose sands or rocky areas;

¦ Check with the map if possible. Keep in mind that maps of desert areas are usually inaccurate;

¦ find shelter during sandstorms. Do not attempt to move in poor visibility.

Shelter from the sun, heat and possible sandstorms is essential to survive in the wilderness. Since there is basically no material for building a shelter, the following methods must be used:

1. Get yourself some protection from the sun.

2. If you have a tarp or other suitable material, dig a hole and cover the edges. In rocky deserts or deserts with bushes, thorns, or mounds overgrown with tall grass, throw a tarp or blanket over the rocks or bushes.

3. To create a shadow or shelter, use the features of the terrain - both natural and man-made - a tree, a rock, a pile of stones, a shadow of dunes or a cave.

The importance of water cannot be overestimated. It is essential, no matter how well matched your food supplies are. The main sources of drinking water can be plants, lakes, wells, sand. Save water.

¦ Always stay dressed. Clothing helps control perspiration by preventing sweat from evaporating so quickly that it loses its cooling properties. You will feel cooler without a shirt, but you will sweat more and may also get burned.

¦ Do not rush. With less water consumption, less sweating, you will last longer.

¦ Do not use water for washing until you have a reliable source of getting it.

¦ Do not swallow water in one gulp. Drink it in small sips. If you're running out of water, use it only to wet your lips.

¦ As a means of relieving heat, keep small stones in your mouth or chew grass. You can reduce water loss by breathing through your nose. Do not speak.

¦ Use salt only with water and only if there is enough water. Salt increases thirst.

Since wells are the main source of water in the desert, the best way to find them is to travel along the local road. There are other ways to find water in the desert. Signs of water presence:

¦ Raw sand. Wherever you find wet sand, dig a well.

¦ Dried up streams. There is water right below them. If the stream dries up, the water descends to the lowest point on the surface at the point where the channel turns. In search of water, dig along these turns.

¦ In areas of real deserts, birds fly over wells, watch the flight of birds, especially at sunset and dawn.

And a few more comments about the extraction and consumption of water:

¦ Due to the high temperature fluctuations in the desert, water can condense, especially in some areas. Chilled rocks or any metal surface will work as a dew condenser. Remove the dew with a piece of cloth and wring it out. The dew evaporates just after sunrise and must be collected before then.

¦ Do not take into account romantic stories about poisoned wells. These stories mainly assume that water contains salt, alkali, and tastes bad.

¦ Disinfect any water.

It's hard to find food in the desert. But it still ranks second in importance compared to water. And you can go without it for a few days without any health consequences.

Distribute food from the start. Do not eat anything for the first 24 hours and do not eat until you have water.

All plants in the desert are edible, but some of its species growing in the Sahara or the Gobi are tasteless and unnutritious. Try any plant you find, it's not deadly. Dates can be found in northern Africa, Southwest Asia, and parts of India and China.

In the desert it is more important to drink than to eat.

Protect yourself from direct sunlight, excessive sweating, and the many annoying insects that live in the desert.

¦ Cover your body and head well during the day. Wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt.

¦ Wear a material around your neck that protects it from the back from the sun.

¦ If some part of the clothing needs to be left to lighten the burden, keep the part of the clothing that is necessary to protect against the cold of the night in the desert.

¦ Wear loose clothing.

¦ Unbutton clothes only in dense shade. Reflected sunlight can cause sunburn.

¦ Avoid sand and insects getting into shoes and socks, even if frequent stops are needed to clean shoes.

¦ If you do not have shoes, make some windings from any matter that is at hand. To do this, cut two strips, each 7–10 cm wide and at least 1 m long. Wrap them around your legs in a spiral, starting from the foot, from the bottom up to the lower leg. This will keep you out of the sand.

¦ Make a pair of sandals from the wall of an old car tire if there are cars nearby. However, it is better to reinforce the soles of the boots with a durable cloth if worn soles are a problem.

¦ When resting in the shade, take off your shoes and socks. Do this carefully, as your feet may swell and it can be very difficult to put your socks back on.

¦ Don't try to walk barefoot. Sand can cause burns on the legs. In addition, walking barefoot on salt hard surfaces can cause alkaline burns.

¦ Make shoes with wooden soles to protect your feet while moving. Nail the strap to the pieces of wood and tie it to the leg. Protect your upper legs from the sun.

Dehydration is one of the biggest dangers in the desert. To avoid this process, you need to know the following:

¦ In the heat of the desert, thirst alone is not an accurate indicator of the amount of water you need. Dehydration can still continue slowly even when you are no longer thirsty. Drink more water whenever possible, especially with meals. drinking water only during meals does not rule out a tendency to become dehydrated between meals, however, the normal state will be restored after eating and drinking. However, due to the loss of energy along with the loss of water, you will often feel tired.

¦ Forces lost as a result of dehydration will be quickly restored if you drink water.

¦ Water loss does not entail any irreversible complications, even if you lose up to 10% of your weight.

¦ With 25% fluid loss, you can survive if the air temperature is +30 °C or lower. At temperatures above +32 °C, a loss of 15% of the liquid is dangerous.

Signs of fluid loss. First there is thirst and general malaise, followed by a desire to slow down any movement and loss of appetite. As you continue to lose water, you are overcome by drowsiness. Your temperature rises, and by the time you lose 5% of your weight, you begin to feel nauseous. When you lose 6-10% of your body weight, the symptoms will increase in the following order: dizziness, headache, difficulty breathing, trembling of the legs and arms, dry mouth, bluish coloration of the body, impaired speech, loss of ability to walk.

How to prevent water loss. Nothing can replace water. Alcohol, salt water, gasoline only increase dehydration. In an emergency, you can drink salt water (containing half the amount of salt present in sea water) and get a net increase in body fluids. Any fluid containing a higher percentage of unusable elements can only disrupt the body's cooling system. Chewing gum or stones in the mouth can be a pleasant form of respite from the pangs of thirst, but they cannot replace water and do not contribute to maintaining a normal body temperature.

3.5. Features of survival in conditions of forced autonomy at sea

Before considering rational measures to fight for the life of the shipwrecked and determining the time during which they must be rescued, it is necessary to know the causes of the death of such victims. Of the 200 thousand annual victims of maritime disasters, about half die near the coast, approximately 50 thousand people (about a quarter of all shipwreck victims) find themselves directly in the water and drown immediately or shortly after the disaster on the high seas. Many of them die, apparently as a result of hypothermia in the water (more on this later) and can only be saved if help arrives in time before the onset of cold shock.

As a result of shipwrecks, about 50,000 people die each year, already on life-saving equipment, and long before the conditions in which they find themselves become truly deadly. What are the reasons for their death?

The decisive role is played by the moral factor: loss of courage and reason, panic fear, a sense of hopelessness. 90% of the victims who find themselves on rescue equipment die within the first three days after the shipwreck, when there can be no question of death from thirst, and even more so from hunger. Moreover, in many cases people die despite the fact that they have sufficient supplies of water and food.

For example, the first ships approached the site of the sinking of the Titanic three hours after its collision with the iceberg, and there were already many dead and in a state of reactive psychosis in the lifeboats; it is noteworthy that among them there was not a single child under the age of 10 years. There are also examples to the contrary. Captain Blay, whom the rebellious crew landed on a boat with an 8-day supply of food and water, was on the high seas for 40 days and survived. During the Great Patriotic War, the defender of Sevastopol, sailor of the Black Sea Fleet Pavel Yeresko, found himself in a boat on the high seas, having only one can of canned food and drinking sea water, was picked up after 35 days and survived. From this it follows that, with the preservation of courage and the hope of salvation, it is quite possible to survive being on life-saving equipment on the high seas even without fresh water and food for a long time.

It is known that water is more important for a person than food: one can live without food for 30 days or more, while without water, death from dehydration occurs in no more than 10 days. Therefore, first of all, shipwrecked people need to drink. At the same time, you can quench your thirst with rainwater. However, as is often the case, it may not rain for a long time. Therefore, thought turns to sea water. Can you drink it? As mentioned earlier, it is possible, but with some reservations. Sea water is a 3.5% salt solution: one liter of it contains (in grams) table salt (NaCl) - 27.3, magnesia (MgCl 2) - 3.4, magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) - 2, 0, calcium sulfate (CaSC^) - 1.3, calcium chloride (САС12) - 0.6, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) - 0.1. Moreover, the amount of these substances, except for table salt, in sea water is the same as in various mineral waters, and, therefore, their use in such concentrations is not dangerous.

The danger is a high concentration (almost 3%) of sodium chloride, and therefore, when sea water is consumed in large quantities and its concentration in the body increases, the capabilities of the Malpighian glomeruli of the kidneys are exceeded and nephritis develops, leading to death. If you eat unsalted food, covering the daily diet of table salt with drinking sea water, then without danger to life you can drink 800–900 ml per day for at least 5 days or more. If salvation has not come within this period, then water can be obtained from fish, which contains 60-80% of it, because the body of the fish has fresh water. Salt in it, with rare exceptions, is much less than in the meat of mammals. Consequently, the shipwrecked need to get fish, three kilograms of which is enough to fully satisfy the need for water for one person with the liquid extracted from it.

By quenching their thirst in one of the above ways or a combination of them, shipwrecked will undoubtedly be able to prevent death from dehydration.

But if you have to stay at sea for a long time, then you need to satisfy your hunger. Fish should serve as food, which contains proteins in sufficient quantities, including essential amino acids, fats and vitamins A, D, B1, and B2. However, hydrocarbons and vitamins B 12 and C are almost completely absent in fish. Hydrocarbons, with a sufficient amount of water, are formed in the human body itself from proteins and fats. A long-term absence of vitamins B 12 in the human body, although it causes anemia and lethargy, is not life-threatening. Scurvy, a scourge of sailors in recent times, can be prevented by eating plankton, which contains a large amount of vitamin C.

It follows from this: in order to survive in the sea, the shipwrecked are forced to fish and plankton, so the rescue equipment of ships must be provided with elementary equipment (fishing tackle and plankton net).

So, the physiological characteristics of the conditions in which a person finds himself on a rescue craft on the high seas leaves no doubt about his ability to survive in these conditions and should serve as a basis for overcoming despair and hopelessness.

Overcoming the feeling of fear, hopelessness, despair and loneliness, maintaining courage, mental fortitude and hope for salvation, shipwrecked on the high seas have the opportunity to survive and reach the shore if they find themselves on rescue equipment. Therefore, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea provides for the supply of ships with life-saving appliances in an amount sufficient for the crew and all passengers.

Ships and ships are equipped with life-saving appliances for collective and individual use. The main such means of collective use are lifeboats and rafts, and the means of individual use are life belts, circles and balls.

In accordance with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea lifeboats marine vessels must meet the following requirements:

¦ be seaworthy and unsinkable in any conditions of an unlimited navigation area; protect people in the boat from exposure to cold, heat, rain, snow and water splashes;

¦ have on board a supply of water, food, fishing equipment, a first aid kit with medicines, chemical heating pads;

¦ have navigational instruments, sea charts and instruments, signaling equipment, radio transmitters;

¦ easy to set in motion by untrained people in all weather conditions;

¦ have a speed that allows you to quickly move away from a sinking or burning ship;

¦ have means of protection from fire when crossing a burning oil spilled on the water.

Fairly reliable life-saving means are life rafts of various capacities, which are rigid and inflatable. In recent years, more and more preference has been given to inflatable rafts, which are stored in non-working condition in plastic sealed containers or canvas covers fixed on the deck of the ship, and, if necessary, filled with a gas mixture (CO 2 with a small amount of N 2) from a cylinder attached to the outside of the bottom raft.

Requirements for life rafts, their equipment and emergency supplies are determined by the same International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. The raft must meet the following requirements:

¦ be able to be launched even under the worst weather conditions;

¦ allow one person to quickly straighten it if it inflates upside down;

¦ provide victims with good protection from cold, heat and waves;

¦ be relatively light;

¦ cost less than lifeboats;

¦ be durable when thrown from a height of 18 m.

Compared to lifeboats, rafts have some disadvantages:

¦ are not managed;

¦ do not allow you to quickly move away, for example, from a burning ship;

¦ victims are often forced to land in it from the water;

¦ less durable on impact.

A raft launched into the water should float. Its service life is guaranteed at -30 to +66 °C for at least 30 days. The gas cylinder allows you to automatically inflate the raft within 20-50 seconds.

Rescue equipment for personal use are divided into two groups. The first is the means put on in advance in case of the threat of the death of the ship or the possibility of a person falling into the water. These include life jackets, belts, vests and jackets. The second group consists of rescue equipment (circles, balls, rescue ends), which are intended to help people who suddenly find themselves in the water. The main requirement for life-saving equipment for individual use is as follows: giving a person additional buoyancy, they must support him on the water in such a position that he can breathe even in case of loss of consciousness. This requirement is met by bibs and vests covering the neck.

Personal means must also have devices that ensure the search for a person in the water. Therefore, they are usually yellow-orange in color, creating the greatest contrast with the background of sea water, and they are equipped with luminous buoys or special lights to ensure search at night. Of great importance for the effective use of personal life-saving equipment is their thoughtful placement on decks and rooms, so that people on the ship (ship) in distress can easily find them.

Thus, a shipwreck is not a fatal inevitability of the death of a person at sea. He has enough means and opportunities to survive. You just need to have the courage, will and desire to emerge victorious from the situation.

Actions of the shipwrecked

It should be noted that at present, under the flags of more than 130 countries of the world, about 60 thousand large-capacity vessels ply the waters of the oceans. About 4 D of transportation on the globe is carried out through the oceans. Every day there are 25 thousand ships in the seas and oceans, the crews of which number about 1 million people. According to the well-known London classification society - Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 350-400 ships perish every year, that is, one ship per day. About 200,000 people die every year as a result of shipwrecks.

The following classification of accidents and disasters in water transport has been adopted:

¦ shipwreck - the death of a ship or its complete structural destruction;

¦ accident - damage to the vessel or its being aground for at least 40 hours (for a passenger - 12 hours).

Catastrophes in the broadest sense of the word include all shipwrecks and accidents that entailed human casualties.

Most major accidents and catastrophes on ships occur not under the influence of the forces of nature (hurricanes, storms, fogs, ice), but through the fault of people. Their errors are divided into two groups:

¦ approved during the design and construction of the vessel;

¦ occurred during its operation.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, the causes of catastrophes and major accidents are errors of the second group.

Jacek Palkiewicz, a well-known specialist in the problems of survival in extreme situations, argues that ... one cannot challenge the sea, as some people think. The forces of nature in the sea are too powerful to be equaled. We must fight against our own weakness and fear.

Basic rule: until the loss of the ship is inevitable, do not rush to leave it. Experience shows that dive times are usually longer than people think.

However, when the captain gives the signal to “leave the ship”, the entire crew and passengers should immediately go to the place indicated in advance in an emergency (Table 3.1).

When leaving the ship, you must:

¦ remain calm and do not create a mess;

¦ help someone who is in difficulty;

¦ do not waste rockets and smoke bombs aimlessly if there are no real opportunities to be noticed;

¦ try to see someone and something;

¦ put on warm clothes;

¦ correctly put on a life jacket;

¦ drink plenty of water.

Disembarkation from the vessel:

¦ If possible, one should try to land on a raft (boat) without entering the water, since dry clothes protect better from the cold.

¦ If you are forced to jump directly into the water, make sure that the life jacket is securely fastened. If worn correctly, it allows you to jump from a height of 4.5 m above the water level. To jump, use the following technique.

1) connect the knees and keep the legs slightly bent;

2) with one hand close the nose and cover the mouth;

3) with the other hand, firmly grab the vest, putting your hand under the armpit, blocking it with your elbow so that the vest does not rise up and cover your head.

If there is no collective life-saving equipment, at night it is necessary to activate the light bulb built into the vest by pulling out two plugs from the battery; in the afternoon, when the noise of an airplane is heard, open a package of soluble dye (uranine); check whistle action.

After landing on the raft, the following actions must be taken:

¦ help others get on the raft;

¦ collect possible items on the water;

¦ close the safety valves (raft) with special plugs;

¦ check possible losses;

¦ open the package with standard raft equipment to check its contents;

¦ begin treatment of the wounded and calm the downhearted;

¦ dry the insides of the raft as best as possible;

¦ lower a floating anchor into the water, which will allow you to move away more slowly from the place of distress, give the rescue craft greater stability in rough seas and avoid splashes;

¦ keep signals ready to call for help.

Distribution of water and food

Food must be distributed starting from the second day of being on a raft (boat). Remember the principle that you can not eat if there is no drinking water. Avoid drinking water for the first 24 hours so that the body can get used to the new situation.

Drink 0.5 liters of water a day, moistening your lips and holding the liquid in your mouth before swallowing. Drink should be in small sips.

Table 3.1

Summary table of survival procedures

Questions for self-control

1. What are the basic rules of behavior in the jungle.

2. How should I choose a place to park in the jungle?

3. What are the main ways of obtaining water in the jungle.

4. What are the main sources of food for autonomous survival in a wooded and swampy area.

5. List the measures for the prevention of diseases in conditions of autonomous survival in a wooded and swampy area.

6. What are the basic rules of conduct in the Arctic zone.

7. What negative factors most strongly affect human health in the Arctic?

8. What are the basic rules for moving in the desert.

9. List the main ways of obtaining water in the desert.

10. How much sea water can be consumed?

11. List the main actions of the shipwrecked.

If you get lost or find yourself in another emergency, tell yourself STOP:
Serenity: stop, sit down, take 10 deep
breaths, calm down and think. Whatever happens is
already a given. You are not the first, you are not the last.
Sense: put a rational meaning into your every action.
Consider the situation, resources and opportunities; rate
environment and draw conclusions.
Caution: pay attention to every phenomenon and
circumstances that could potentially harm you.
Refrain from risky activities. Prevent harm
health and deterioration.
Order: prioritize and determine the optimal
sequence of their actions. Change the intended
order only when necessary, adapting to me-
emerging circumstances.
By importance:
1) Medical assistance
a) eliminate the threat to life
b) breathing, circulation
c) stop bleeding
d) dressing, splinting
2) Inspection and check of available equipment
3) Shelter and fire
4) Signaling and communication
5) Water and food
Solve specific tasks by breaking them down into stages and completing them
nya strictly in turn. Keep yourself busy.
Set achievable goals and set realistic deadlines.
Assess the situation as if "from the outside", control it.
Notify at least two reliable people in advance,
where are you going, for what purpose, when are you going to
know what kind of transport you use, who your companions are.

* Helicopter landing area: 20×20 m during the day, at night
30×30 m, security zone (poles, trees, boulders) -
60×60 m, slope no more than 6-8°.
*Stay together if there are several of you.
* Maintain normal body temperature. Deviation
from comfortable temperature and humidity leads to excessive
fatigue. Share warmth by huddling together.
* Avoid sweating and getting wet - wet clothes lose their
heat-saving properties
* Avoid wind as a heat loss factor.
* Many thin layers of clothing are better than few thick ones. By
If possible, insulate with newspapers, dry grass (leaves).
* Provide thermal insulation between body and cold
surface - sit on logs, heaps of leaves, and not on
bare earth (stones).
* Save energy, refrain from running and jumping.
* Give a sound signal by whistling, not by shouting.
* Stay away from tall, conductive objects during thunderstorms.
goods, water, open spaces. In the open area -
spread out. In the mountains in a thunderstorm, sit on a boulder, but do not
highest, elevated, or in some way separated-
nom from the other boulders below it.
* Be careful, protect yourself:
- do not reach for what you cannot see, beware of snakes, etc.
- check the body for ticks, etc. twice a day.
* Avoid getting dirty: squat without kneeling.
* At a halt, observe the sky and the horizon,
changing each other after 2-3 hours (if you are in a group).
* Put down signal fires in advance and be ready
set fire to them when the rescue aircraft appears.
* Avoid swamps and flooded places.
* Walking around a hill is easier and faster than going over a ridge.
* When wading, take off your trousers and leave your shoes. Take-
take a stick-staff and probe the bottom with it. Cross the rivers in
a wide place with a slow current, not on bends.

*Stay where you are! It is easier for rescuers to find you on the spot
accidents. If possible, use a vehicle
as a shelter, avoiding overheating / hypothermia.
* A whistle in the forest carries farther than a scream. Give a signal
it takes a long time, and wait, to have time to respond.
* Move on your own if searches are unlikely,
if it is not possible to send a distress signal, if there is
life threatening (fire, flood).
* Keep in mind that mindless throwing will only worsen your
position, think where you are going.
* Try to return to the place, the road from which to
known to you at home (if possible).
* Remember how you walked, how long you moved (to return
to a well-known place), from which side the Sun shone,
what landmarks met on the way;
- carefully look around, rising higher (to see
to put water areas, buildings, poles, smoke from pipes, etc.);
- listen to sounds (proximity of a village or road);
- on the path / near the water, choose the path to the settlement (more
well-trodden path; down stream or river).
* Think about where they might start looking for you,
mentally put yourself in the place of the rescuers, go out to
prominent place and expect salvation there.
* Do not drive in bad weather or midday heat
* Leave clearly visible signs/footprints on your way:
broken branches, footprints, heaps of stones. In notes
indicate not only the request for help, but also the composition of the group,
time, date and direction of travel. This will not only help
return, but also serve as a signal for rescuers.
* Leaving the parking lot, leave only those traces of
nia, which you see fit. Remove food waste.

Temporary shelter is designed to protect against:
precipitation, wind, cold/heat, insects etc.
A place to build a shelter includes:
* a flat area without bumps, on which it is convenient to sleep
* dry area for a tent / awning / etc. shelter
* shelter building material
* safety from debris, falling trees etc.
* safety from sudden flooding
* safety from harmful insects, snakes, plants
* proximity to a source of water, fuel for a fire
* in the mountains - a wide saddle (pass)
* the possibility of signaling, radio communication and
*helicopter landing site
Shelter placement should be avoided:
* by the riverbed, on the shallows, in the lowland, at the bottom of the hollow
* on top of a hill, on a terrace on a slope, in a hollow
*too close to a water source
* under a lonely tree, under dry branches
* near the nest of wasps, bees, hornets
* on a slope with scree, at the base of the slope
* in the place of probable rockfall, avalanches, screes, mudflows
* on or under a rock or snow ledge
* in dense undergrowth or shrubs
* near animal paths (e.g. to the water)

Canopy or tent (made of film, parachute, etc.)
If there is enough material - two-layer. It takes 20-30 minutes to build.

Barrier, hut - one-sided or two-sided
a frame of poles (growing shoots, undergrowth) is covered
a) film, cloth, cut garbage bag

b) branches, leaves, snow, etc. (30–40 minutes to build)

In swampy (wet) areas
sleeping place is placed on the platform.
The poles rest on trees, bumps, etc.

A - Den under the trunk of a fallen tree
B - Hollows in the snow on the lee side of the tree under it
broad branches
B - Canopy of tree branches with props and thrown over
additional branches. Deciduous trees delay
precipitation by 15-20%, pine by 20-25%, spruce by 60%, fir by 70-80%

shelter in a snow pit near a tree trunk (built for 30-35
minutes)
Heat shield in front of the fire →
not only reflects heat,
which would otherwise dissipate
wasted, but also directs the smoke
along the screen, not along the barrier.

Snow cave: in a dense snowdrift with a height of 2 m, digs
tunnel, then widens. To keep the necessary
wall thickness (from 20 cm), outside the snowdrift they stick into it
poles buried to the required distance, with contact
digging with a stick stops digging in this direction.
Construction scheme:

Entrance 50 cm wide, chest high; T-profile
entrance; deepening with a flat floor for a stove bench; increase
volume 60–80 cm up; snow blocks block the entrance.
Cover gaps between blocks with snow.
Inside such a cave at -20 outside it will be ~ -5, and with a candle
or dry fuel - ~ 0
(warm up 3-4 hours)
Another scheme:

Construction order
caves
Close the entrance with a block
snow, backpack. 30-50 minutes for 1-seater, 60-90 - 3-seater.
Snow trench: →
it is better to make the entrance L-shaped
in terms of keeping warm
It takes 40-60 minutes to build.

Around the shelter is a groove for draining and collecting rainwater.
For sleeping lying on the ground, it is advisable to dig two holes - under the thigh and
shoulder, so it will be more comfortable.
Logs are placed around the bed, a shaft of soil is poured
or stones to protect the sleepers from drafts.
In a shelter, especially a buried one, it is necessary to maintain ventilation
tion. The bluish color of the flame indicates the presence of carbon monoxide.
the coals of a fire, about the accumulation of carbon dioxide - yellowish.
If there is no sleeping bag, when building a shelter, you need to leave
wrap or poncho to wrap around for the night.
For insulation, a hut or canopy can be covered with a layer of snow (not
exceeding the strength of the building by its weight).
The part of the structure adjacent to the ground should face towards
wind, the entrance goes to the leeward side.
A double awning is more effective than a single awning.
An impromptu awning guy - wrap a stone in a cloth,
bump, etc., tie with a cord.
Wind in the forest for 100-200 meters from the edge is not felt.
In summer it is colder in the forest than in the field, in winter it is warmer.
The soil in the forest freezes to a lesser depth than in the field.
"Fiery bed" - a place to sleep on top of a burnt-out fire
The earth needs to be warmed up (burn a fire) at a temperature:
-10 - -15 degrees - 2-3 hours
-25 - -30 degrees - 4–5 hours
Warming up will ensure sleep in
within 6–8 hours. If a
the heated area is covered
spruce branches, it needs to be warmed up
30-40 minutes until he
stop floating. Awning over
helps with sleeping
keep warm.
Stones the size of an egg-fist with
at intervals of 2–4 cm. Before
applying spruce branches
check if there is any
coals to set it on fire.

The components of combustion are air (thrust), temperature, fuel.
Without any of the elements, the fire will go out.
Tinder is any flammable material. birch
bark, dry grass, straw, wood shavings, bird
meth, wax paper, fluffed cotton wool, pine needles,
crushed dry mushrooms, burnt cotton fabric, crushed
spun cotton rope, fine dust produced by wood
tsami, the contents of bird nests.
Kindling - torches that
used to kindle
fire from tinder. Thin
dry twigs, spruce
cones, resinous chips,
softwood.
Kindling sticks - cut so that they form
curling chips fell. So the tree will light up quickly
ray. Tinder and kindling must be dry. No need to take
them from the ground. You can pre-assemble kindling and dry
it in the bosom or under the cap. If the kindling surface
wet, plan it down to dry wood.
General recommendations
Make sure the fire is well ventilated. More sour
sort of goes to the fire - the brighter the fire.
Hard wood, like beech and oak, burns well, for a long time, gives
a lot of heat. The soft one burns quickly, shooting sparks.
(alder, spruce, pine, birch and willow firewood).
For firewood, it is best to take an upright, but already
dried tree - everything that lies is either damp or dust.
Firewood should be dried over a fire or nearby, laying them on
2 rungs so high that they don't catch fire.

Put green logs next to the fire so that they
converged in the direction from which the wind blows, so
Zom, they will not only dry, but also cover the fire.
To make the fire flare up faster, use dry wood.
When the fire flares up, greenery can be put into it.
nye and raw firewood.
To save strength, firewood can not
chop, and break with a blow on a stone,
tree trunk or log.
Thick logs should be placed over the fire so that they
burned out in the middle.
Do not place wet or porous stones near the fire, especially
especially those that were under water - having warmed up, they
can explode, forming a lot of fragments. Avoid
shales and soft rocks. To test knock the cam-
touch each other and do not use those that crack
chickpeas or will sound like they have a void inside.
When cutting a tree into logs, as well as when felling, alternate
swing strikes from the 1st and 2nd shoulder. One hit shatters
wood, and the second (oncoming) with a swing from the other shoulder
knocks her out. Make a cut on a lying log not from above, but
a little to the side, on the side facing away from the cutter.
Logs can be split without an ax by putting a knife to the butt
log and striking the butt of the blade with a stone or stick.
The resulting gap can be expanded with a wooden
go wedge inserted into the gap and driven further and
farther. Do not use this method if there is only one knife.
A small fire is easier to build and maintain than a large one.
Several small fires will give more heat than one
large.

Campfire site
Important Considerations for Choosing a Campfire Site - Distance
up to your shelter and wind direction.
Choose a place sheltered from the wind. Don't make fire under
trees and closer than 10 meters from them, unless it is
dictated by the need to signal. Cannot be bred

a fire in a peat bog, in thickets of dry reeds, among
dry land and undergrowth. Clear the ground in a circle with a diameter of 2
m from leaves, branches, moss and dry grass. Need to provide
ability to control fire.
In strong winds, dig a small trench, breed
fire in it (see "trench"). Instead of digging out a trans-
neck, you can overlay the hearth with stones that hold
heat and save fuel. The stones will serve as a stand for
pots and can be used for heating
sleeping place.
If the ground is wet, you need to fold the platform
from logs, sprinkle them with a layer of earth or
overlay with stones. The same is true in the snow.
Fire camouflage is possible:
- during haze, haze, fog;
- in the early morning and at sunset;
- the direction of smoke along the trunk and branches of the tree.
Making a fire
Fold a cone of torches and chips around a pile of tinder, intended
meant for kindling. If the weather is windy, lean
kindling to the log from the leeward side. Set fire to the tinder.
As soon as the kindling starts, add more
large sticks. Another way is possible: light a bunch of dry
thin twigs and slip it under the kindling cone.
Matches should be stored hermetically packed so that-
if they did not strum, rub and could not ignite.
To light a split match without breaking it with your finger
press the sulfur head against the ignition strip.
Lens: Survival kit magnifying glass
camera lens, binoculars or spyglass. Spho-
bite the sun's rays into one tiny bright point,
keep it in one place, covering from the wind. When tinder
starts to smolder, fan the fire. The ignition lens can be made
to cook from improvised means: one side should be
outward curved and the other flat. Can be made from

glass fragments having a corresponding bending of the surface
sti, from an incandescent bulb, a glass, from ice in winter, heat
use a tin can, use a flashlight reflector.
Strike flint with flint and flint (for example, with a knife blade)
it is necessary so that the sparks fly in the direction of the tinder.
Flint among other stones can be distinguished as follows:
yellow-brown or gray-black. The nail is not scratched
there is no stone, the stone itself leaves a scratch on the glass.
Matte, dense, with a "fat" sheen. The edges of the rubble
sharp, uneven fracture.
Battery - connect two wires to the terminals
water, bring their bare ends over the tinder. Before they
connect, a spark will fly between them. As a tinder
a piece of cloth soaked in gasoline works well.

Making fire by friction - from a flexible branch to make a bow and
pull the string. The drill will be a straight stick from
dry hard wood, pointed on one side, with
the other is rounded. Wrap the bowstring once around
drill. Use a stone with a notch or a piece of wood with
a recess cut in it to press from above
rod during rotation. To reduce friction
the fixed end can be lubricated with oil. Besides
it is necessary to prepare a flat piece of wood with a small
deepening. Wood should be dry and slightly rotten
shim. Make a small indentation next to the edge of the base
niya. From below, under the recess, cut a cavity for tinder.
Place the drill into the recess of the base, and slightly
press with a stone or piece of wood prepared for this
goals. Move the bow back and forth to give the rod
rotational movement.
When the rod starts to go deep into the soft wood
base, increase the rotation speed. When the rod

will penetrate into the cavity, increase the pressure on it and even more
speed up the movement of the bow. Maintain an upright position
rod, evenly working with a bow. One foot can
stand on a wooden base. Keep working with the bow
until the red-hot tip of the rod falls on
tinder. Lightly blow on it to start a fire.
Pulling steel wire taken by the ends of the arm
mi, through a wooden block that can be pressed
foot. The wire heats up, tinder ignites from it. →
Chemistry: compounds ignite when rubbed with a stick/etc.
Potassium permanganate and sugar in a ratio of 9 to 1
Potassium (or sodium) chlorate and sugar in a ratio of 3 to 1
Potassium permanganate with glycerin (2-3 drops in potassium permanganate).
Bonfire in bad weather
Dry fuel is obtained by sanding firewood and removing moss
from them, wet on the outside, but still dry on the inside. Dry
the core is also planed for kindling.
The fire is built on a platform of thick logs, however
they are not covered with earth and are not lined with stones, but
after they dry and begin to burn, their translations
vayut for better combustion. At the beginning of the "life" of his fire
preferably cover with an awning, canopy or body of
who makes fire.
Next to the fire, downwind, stack up
logs for drying. They can also serve as a screen, but
you will need a screen made of other materials when the logs are high
chnut and go to the fire.
TYPES OF FIRE

Bonfires for heating. Campfire lit in the open
the sky, warms only the surfaces facing it.

The reflective wall not only reflects heat, but also makes
allows smoke to rise up, with the help of such a wall it improves
the heating of the shelter built for spending the night is shaking. Dilute
campfire next to a large boulder, position yourself between
stone and fire so that the stone, reflecting heat, warms
shaft back. In addition to doing this on the other side
bonfire wall-reflector. If there is no stone nearby, post-
twist behind the second wall-reflector.
Bonfire "hut" - heats only near and gives little
coals, does not immediately go out in the rain. Gives bright
light, good for signaling.
"Asterisk", "starry" - an economical type of fire,
for which hardwood logs are needed.
They are laid out in the form of a star, and as they converge
wounds move them towards the center.
Good for long term
holding fire without constant
foot laying of branches.
Such a fire is indispensable at night:
enough from time to time
push the logs to the center.
Bonfire "well" (logs,
folded log house) - the most
common and simple type of fire. Gives low and wide
some flame.
Bonfire "hunting", or taiga -
the log lies along the canopy, 2–4 logs
thinner put star-shaped
ends on it, leeward
the side opposite the canopy,
burns for 6-8 hours without special care (requires only periodic
move forward and bring together the burning ends of the logs),
useful for small one-way barriers.
Bonfire "hearth". In the mountains, where it is difficult to dig a hole, one must
build a rectangular hearth out of stones, leaving with
windward side opening for air flow. Analog
can be arranged in the steppe from chopped pieces of turf.

The bonfire "trapper", nodya, or "boat", is bred if necessary
long-term heating, for overnight stays. For this you need
dry thick (approx. 30 cm in diameter) logs up to 3 m long.
Two of them are placed side by side on the ground, they make grooves in the logs,
turned inward, kindle kindling between them (better
only the coals of another fire), and pressed down with a third log from above.
The node flares up slowly, but it will burn all night. Heat
can be adjusted by sliding and pushing the lower logs. Nodue
can be made from two logs laid on top of each other.
So that they do not fall, a pair of stakes must be driven in from both ends.
The fire "Dakota" masks the fire to the greatest extent. Is being done
it is as follows: two holes are dug in the ground, one for
campfire, another for
air-
stuffy traction. First
the pit opens up
depth up to 30 cm,
diameter 25 cm
at the top and 35 cm at the bottom.
The second hole is
rum 15-20 cm open
hovering next to her,
at a distance of 30 cm
under a small
tilt to the side
first hole.
The pits below are interconnected by a course, into a large lay-
fuel is given, the second serves as a blower.
Trench fire: dig a trench with dimensions of 30 × 90 cm and
30 cm deep, taking into account the fact that the bottom of the trench should be
women with stones. Light a fire on the rocks. Even if the fire is out
no, the stones will stay hot enough to
it was to fry food or to bake meat or fish on a spit on coals.

A burrow fire - in a dense earthen slope
mounds dig a hole about 45 cm deep.
Insert a stick from above so that it passes
into the hole, move it slightly to make
chimney hole. The crumbling earth is removed
pour from a hole and make a fire there (it is ideal
Ideal for smoking meat and fish).
In strong winds, a hole in the fire pit
the measure should be on the leeward side
rony.
Burning oil, gasoline - 1) mix with sand,
burn in a vented jar or scoop up
hole, 2) impregnate the brick

Cooking on a campfire
Method with co-
little skis:
3–4 pegs (wood
dried, carved
on the spot, or from pa-
patches) are driven in
so that they
put the pot, me-
waiting for them to divorce
the fire.

Using the Signal Mirror
1 option
Direct the reflection ("solar-
ny bunny") on hand or
landscape element (high
stump, thick bough). Change-
schatsya so that the rescuer-
new ship turned out to be on the pro-
due line, connect-
shchi mirror and reflection. Ta-
In this way, the reflection of the
will extend to the rescue-
ship whose pilot
notice the signal.

Option 2
signaling mirror
(heliograph) allows you to
give light signals
up to 20 miles away
reflecting the sun
foot disk ("bunny") on the rescue vessel. It consists
from two metal plates fastened on a hinge,
the surface of one of which is polished. Plate
has a sight hole. signaling mirror
should be held in the hand so that in its sighting hole
on the upper sash one could see the ship, which is fed
signal (Fig. A). In order for the ship to notice the signal, you need
turn the mirror so that the beam passing through the sight
opening and reflected from the lower sash to the inner
the lower surface of the upper sash in the form of a light circle,
coincided with the sighting hole (Fig. B).

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Do not drink urine or sea water. But both in
the result of distillation will give drinking water. In addition, after
distillation of sea water, salt will also remain. Can't drink
milky juices of plants (except coconut).
If the water is running low, do not drink for two days, and then drink
as much as urine comes out, plus half a liter per day.
Having warmed up, you can not drink immediately (especially cold
water). Cool down, rinse your mouth, after waiting, drink.
Do not drink at the peak of thirst - after waiting 10-15 minutes, you can
satisfied with less water.
It is better to drink in small sips with breaks of 3-5 minutes.
You need to search and collect water without waiting until it runs out.
MINIMIZING MOISTURE LOSS
- drink water in small sips, holding it in your mouth;
- do not overstrain, relax more, do not smoke;
- keep cool, stay in the shade, if it is not there, make
some kind of cover so that a shadow appears;
- do not lie on warm ground and hot stones;
- eat as little as possible - in the process of digestion, use
the liquid is saturated, while the dehydration of the orga-
nism. Fat is especially hard to digest;
- do not drink alcoholic beverages - alcohol takes fluid from
vital organs and binds it with other substances;
Don't talk, breathe through your nose, not your mouth.
If for some time I had to do without water, then finding
her, you first need to sip in small sips, because the pain is

What amount of water, getting into a dehydrated body,
causes vomiting, leading to even greater loss of moisture.
SEARCHING AND COLLECTING WATER
Stony soil - springs and springs. in limestone soil
there are more springs and they are larger. Since limestones are easy
dissolve, groundwater forms depressions in them, in
these recesses may be springs. The keys should be
skid in those places where the dry canyon passes through the layer
porous sandstone. Among the rocks on the slopes of the mountains you need to
fall where the grass is greenest until it starts
seep water.
Loose soil - groundwater exits
at the lowest points of the valleys or
where the slopes merge into the valley.
In the valley - under a steep slope, in places densely covered with grass
howl. In forests growing in lowlands, along sea coasts
and in river valleys, groundwater is close to the surface.
By the pond with a suspicious
dig a hole with water
50 cm deep, wait,
when it fills up with water
then carefully draw out the water
to drink - and so several times until the water becomes clear.
Desert or steppe - signs of water: direction of flight
birds, location of vegetation, converging directions
animal trails. Cattails, willows, elderberry, rushes and saltwort
grow only in places where groundwater is suitable
close to the surface. Locals close springs
water from drying out in heaps of brushwood, stones, etc.
From some trees (e.g. alder, aspen, birch, maple,
cactus, grapevine) you can get water by cutting the bark
in the form of the letter V and inserting a stick or nail there.
Mountains - dig in the bed of dry rivers, as water is often
happens under a layer of gravel. In snowy places put snow in
container and put it in the sun, protecting it from the wind.

Animals are a sign of water. Herbivores don't usually leave
far from water, because they drink twice a day - at dawn and
late in the evening. Converging animal tracks often lead to
water downhill. Predators are not so good at pointing
they call for water - they get a lot of it by eating prey.
Birds that feed on cereals, such as finches and pigeons,
always keep close to water and drink in the morning and evening.
When they fly straight and low, they head towards the water.
Returning from the watering place, they fly from tree to tree,
stopping frequently to rest.
In the early morning, you can drive clean linen or cotton
paper cloth on the grass and then wring it out. When
it's raining, tie a cloth around a tree. Water flowing along
stem, is absorbed by the cloth and drips into the container.

To collect water in containers, use as much as possible
wider drainage area. Pit in the ground, deception
covered with clay and covered on top, it will hold well
water. If there is no waterproof material, for lining
pits fit large tree leaves or bark. To collect
water, you can use a cloth by tying clean things around
calves and ankles and walking through wet vegetation, water from
wring out or suck out tissues.
Condensation - tie a plastic bag around the grain
noah healthy branch with many leaves or cover poly-
ethylene wrap green bush. Evaporation from the surface
leaves will cause condensation to form on the film.

Solar distiller - dig a hole with a diameter of approx.
90 cm deep and 45 cm deep. Place a container in the center,
cover the hole with a sheet of plastic wrap and give it
cone shape. To make water droplets run down
The bottom surface of the film is roughened with a stone.
The sun heats the air and the earth, thus forming water
hot couples. Water condenses on the bottom surface
film and drains into a substituted container. This method is especially
especially effective in places where it is hot during the day and at night
cold. Using stones or sinkers, press the edges to the ground
films. Fix the container in such a way that it gets into
the trap, the living creatures could not turn it over. If it is possible,
use a siphon to lower the water level in the tank
and divert the water without disturbing the distiller. Solar
ny distiller can be used for desalination of sea-
water and separation of clean water from poisonous or infectious
female fluids. With it, you can get up to 550
ml of water per day.
Distillation of water - remove the tube from a closed vessel, into
which polluted or salty water should boil.
Place the other end of the tube under a solar distillate
rum. A piece of tin, tree bark, or a sheet bent down
the plants will cover the vessel and direct the steam into the tube.
Made from ice
twice as much water
than from snow, at twice
lower cost of heat
la. To obtain
water from the snow
drink a little of it
quantity in a pot
and gradually add
pour snow into it. If you fill the pot completely,
when snow melts, a cavity forms at the bottom, which contributes to
boiler burnout. The surface layer of snow gives less
water than the lower ones.

Sea ice is salty and not suitable for drinking
water. The only exception is old ice. He has
bluish tint and is distinguished by smoothed rounded
edges. The deeper the blue shade of the ice, the more it
suitable for drinking water. fresh sea ice
It is white and has sharp edges. Should not be consumed
old ice with a smooth surface that is long
exposed to salt water spray.
Water of animal origin. Animal eyes contain
water, it can be obtained by suction. Any fish
contains liquid suitable for drinking. big fish in
in particular, it has a cavity that stretches along the dorsal
ridge and filled with fresh water. To get it,
gut the fish and, holding it on its side, remove the ridge, trying
do not spill the liquid, then drink it. If the water is very
not enough, then try not to use other juices containing
fish in meat. They are rich in protein, and in their trans-
water is wasted.
Salt. The composition of the normal daily diet includes the usual
but 10 g of salt. The body loses salt through sweat and urine, and this
the loss must be compensated. Salt deficiency symptoms in
body are muscle cramps, dizziness,
nausea and fatigue. To restore salt balance,
dissolve a pinch of salt in 500 g of water and drink this
solution. Do not swallow saline tablets whole, as this may
cause indigestion and damage the kidneys.
A liter of sea water contains about 15 grams of salt, but in
you can’t drink it in its pure form, you need to dissolve it in a larger
amount of fresh water or evaporate the salt crystals.
If there are no direct sources of salt, it is possible to replenish it
disadvantage by consuming animal blood, which is
valuable source of minerals.
WATER FILTRATION
A reservoir is doubtful if there is no greenery around it or
there are animal bones. Lakes with stagnant water in the desert
become salty, the water from them must be distilled.

In a bag on a branch, from top to bottom: water, stones, sand, stones,
sand, coal.

Left: stick a reed into the bottom sand and suck up water,
which is filtered through bottom sediments. Right: ober-
pull a reed or tube with a cloth and, lowering it a little
deeper than the water surface, absorb moisture.
Filtering water with pants: Skip one leg
into another, tie them below and, having covered sand in trousers, hang
sit them on a tripod of poles. Water poured into trousers will
be filtered through the sand and drain into the bottom
capacity.
Water filtration is also possible by distillation - evaporation -
we eat with steam condensation, or by impregnating the fabric with steam with
subsequent squeezing of moisture into the vessel.

WATER DISINFECTION
1. Boiling for 10 minutes, heavily dirty water - 30.
2. Iodine solution (2%) - 8–10 drops per 1 liter of cloudy water,
4-5 drops per 1 liter of clear water, mix well, keep
reap half an hour; taste neutralizer - soluble vitamin C
3. Potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) - 1% solution 7–10 ml per 1
liter of water / 30 minutes, then filter again
4. Hydrogen peroxide - 3% solution 3 mg per 1 liter of water / 30 min
5. Chlorine bleach without additives (soda hypochlorite) - 30
minutes in warm water, an hour in cold
1% - 8-10 drops per 1 liter of clear water
4-6% - 2 drops per 1 liter of clear water
7-10% - 1 drop per 1 liter of clear water
Shaking leads to the loss of bleach properties.
6. Chlorine-containing disinfecting tablets -
pre-filter the water through a cloth
1 tablet per 1 liter of clear water, 30 minutes
cloudy water - double the dose, reduce the time by 2 times - the same
dichloroisocyanuric acid -> double the dose of tablets
Put the tablets in a jar, loosen the lid after 5 minutes
flasks, shake, twist, wait again.
7. Bleach - 0.5 teaspoon per 10 liters of water
stand 30 minutes, in the cold 1 hour
first dilute in a mug, then in a bucket
to beat off the smell - 0.5 tsp. hyposulfite per 10 liters of water, to defend
8. Sodium bisulfite with an admixture of 5% sulfite
2 tablets per liter of water, soak for 2 hours
9. Tablets of hydroperit (perhydrol) 1 tablet per 1 liter
withstand half an hour
10. Coagulants - softwood / mountain ash / bird cherry / elderberry /
juniper, broken branches, wood chips, leaves, alder bark, oak,
willows, birches, activated carbon - the container is filled and
poured with warm water, stand for 2-12 hours (or boil
hour), then drain the water separately from the sediment.
For methods 2-9: in the cold, double the holding time.
Do not drink the sediment after the application of chemistry.

Signs of clear weather persistence:
- pressure continuously increases for several days
tsyaetsya or remains consistently high;
- the air temperature maintains a stable daily course:
in summer it is hot during the day, cool at night; in winter - strong at night
frost, during the day the frost weakens, in the evening it intensifies again;
– the wind also maintains a steady daily course: at night
calm, during the day the wind increases, and in the evening it subsides, smoke
rises up;
- there is no cloudiness or torn cumulus clouds are moving
Xia in the direction of the surface wind, disappear in the evening;
- the night is clear, the sky is dotted with stars, the moon is bright, the golden dawn -
flock or pale pink;
- abundant dew falls at night (frost in winter); strong in the morning
a fog that disappears after sunrise;
- frogs croak loudly;
- swallows fly high, seagulls sit on the water, forest birds
tsy sing loudly;
- ants are highly active; on grass and bushes
abundant web; midges curl in a column; grasshoppers strongly
chirping;
- flowers of plants are widely opened;
- the coals in the fire are quickly covered with ash.
To change clear weather to cloudy:
- the pressure decreases and the faster, the more accurate the sign;
- the air temperature in winter rises, in summer -
the difference between day and night temperatures decreases;
- the wind increases, changes direction, diurnal fluctuations
nia weaken or disappear altogether; smoke spreads on the ground;
- cloudiness increases, cirrus claws appear
or cumulus towering clouds; the movement of the clouds
coincides with the direction of the surface wind;
- the sun sets behind the clouds, the dawn is red, at night the stars and the moon
not visible or around them there is a crown;
- there is no dew at night, fog does not dissipate with sunrise;
- the frogs are silent;

- swallows fly above the ground, seagulls gather on the shore and
bathe in the dust, the sounds of forest birds are not heard;
- ants hide in anthills, insects in the air and on
plants are not visible, the bees return to the hives, the worms
crawl to the surface of the earth;
- flowers of plants close, in the axils of the leaves are visible
droplets of water; plant odors intensify;
- the coals of the fire smolder brightly, the salt becomes damp.
Signs of persistent inclement weather:
- pressure is low, does not change during the day;
- air temperature is constant with a small daily amplitude
doy;
- the wind direction does not change, the speed remains significant
body;
- the sky is completely covered with stratified and stratified rain
clouds;
- at night the moon and stars, and during the day the sun is not visible;
- Precipitation (snow or rain) is moderate, continuously going to
for a long time, or strong, coming from a break-
mi;
- animals, birds and insects hide in shelters;
- inflorescences of plants are closed and lowered.
To change inclement weather to clear:
- the pressure rises;
- the air temperature drops;
- the direction of the wind changes, its speed decreases;
- gaps form in stratus clouds, peri-
thick clouds that disappear in the evening;
- Precipitation intensifies from time to time; appears when it rains
rainbow;
- birds sit on the ground, their sounds are heard in the forest;
- spiders descend in the evening along their web, appear
mosquitoes and midges; bees fly out to collect honey;
- fern leaves curl down, plant inflorescences
are revealed.

Insect control
Mechanical ways:
clothes, makhalki, smearing the skin with mud, silt, clay
Use of fresh plants:
wild rosemary, basil, elderberry, cloves, castor oil, mint, pa-
porotnik, parsley, tansy, wormwood, wild mountain ash, tomato,
yarrow, bird cherry
Smoke use:
smoke (juniper needles, pine and spruce cones, woody
mushroom [on a birch, black below]), wet moss, resin drips
Use of ants against ticks:
sprinkle clothes with water, put on an anthill, hold
press for half an hour, shake off the ants
Overnight:
from ants and spiders - a groove with ash around the rookery
from ticks - warm the spruce branches (branches) with a fire (sun) for 2-3 hours
Snake safety (Zmeelov)
Snakes don't like chemical smells. fertilizers, herbicides, etc.
Avoid the following places:
- separately standing small plots of low dry grass;
- steep soil slopes on the south side of hillocks and hills
(especially in the morning, after a cool night);
- a clearly defined border "forest-glade" from the side of the falling
rays of the sun;
– areas where there are cracks in the soil, stepped microlandslides
soil on hillocks;
- do not lift from the ground and do not turn over large pieces
tree bark, dilapidated stumps, fragments of slate.
A large, spacious, sunny meadow without trees and bushes -
this is almost a guarantee of the absence of poisonous creeping reptiles.
Snakes choose the terrain of the soil so that they have "covered
back": these are dry pits, the foot of "bald" bumps, last year's
molehill traces

source www.cianet.info

The concept of autonomous existence, its essence and features.
The influence of the autonomous existence of man in nature on his psychological and physical condition.
Rules of safe behavior in forced autonomous existence, survival criteria.

Introduction

Conclusion

• Introduction

The favorable outcome of an autonomous existence depends on many factors: physical and psychological state, food and water supplies, equipment efficiency, etc.
The Arctic and the tropics, mountains and deserts, taiga and the ocean - each of these natural areas is characterized by its own characteristics that determine the specifics of human life (rules of conduct, methods of obtaining water and food, building a shelter, the nature of diseases and measures to prevent them, ways of moving around the area ). The more severe the conditions of the external environment, the shorter the period of autonomous existence, the more stress the struggle with nature requires, the more strictly the rules of conduct must be followed, the more expensive the price paid for each mistake.
The vital activity of a person is greatly influenced by his will, determination, composure, ingenuity, physical fitness, endurance. But even these important qualities are sometimes not enough for salvation. People die from heat and thirst, not suspecting that a saving source of water is three steps away, freeze in the tundra, unable to build a shelter from snow, die of hunger in a forest where there is a lot of game, become victims of poisonous animals, not knowing how to help. first aid for a bite.

When a person is in any type of terrain, the chances of survival depend on the following factors:

desire to survive;

The ability to apply existing knowledge, strictly comply with the requirements of staying in a particular area;

Confidence in local knowledge;

Reasonableness and initiative;

Discipline and ability to act according to plan;

The ability to analyze and take into account their mistakes.

To survive means to solve three most important tasks:

1. Be able to hide from cold, heat and wind, protect the body from hypothermia or overheating, depending on the terrain and weather conditions.

2. Immediately set the daily rate of water consumption, and leave emergency supplies as a last resort. Measures must also be taken to find sources of water.

3. Formulate a diet and make sure there is enough water for food preparation and consumption.

• Human survival in autonomous existence

Autonomous existence is the continuous existence of one or groups of people without replenishment of supplies and without communication with the outside world.

The autonomous existence of a person in nature, no matter what reasons lead to it, always has a serious impact on his condition, primarily because in everyday life we ​​are accustomed to certain laws that are familiar to us.

However, in a situation of loneliness or group isolation, a person is forced to act in several directions: provide medical care, build shelters, make decisions, etc.

All this can cause self-doubt: lack of special skills; a person who has succumbed to panic is not able to determine the priority of the tasks facing him and correctly allocate time.

Extreme situations are not so rare, so it is necessary to work out the rules of behavior in them. The situation of autonomy arises unexpectedly. The most typical reasons for its appearance include: loss of orientation, lagging behind the group, vehicle accidents.
Survival, based only on the biological laws of self-preservation, is short-lived. It is characterized by rapidly developing mental disorders and hysterical behavioral reactions. The desire to survive must be conscious and purposeful, and must be dictated not by instinct, but by conscious necessity.
The natural environment and its physical and geographical conditions are also important for human life. Actively influencing the human body, it increases or shortens the period of autonomous existence, promotes or hinders the success of survival. Each of the natural zones determines the specifics of human life: the mode of behavior, methods of obtaining food, the construction of shelters, the nature of diseases and measures to prevent them, etc.

Rules for safe human behavior in forced autonomous existence in natural conditions

Orientation on the ground is the determination of one's position relative to the sides of the horizon and local objects. Depending on the nature of the terrain, the availability of technical means and visibility, the sides of the horizon can be determined by the position of the Sun, the North Star, by signs of local objects, etc.
In the northern hemisphere, the direction not north can be determined by standing with your back to the Sun at local noon. The shadow will indicate the direction to the north, the west will be on the left, the east on the right. Local noon is determined using a vertical pole 0.5 - 1.0 m long according to the smallest value of the shadow length from it on the Earth's surface. The moment when the shadow was the shortest in terms of marks on Earth corresponds to the passage of the Sun through this meridian.
Determining the cardinal points using a clock: the clock must be placed horizontally and rotated so that the hour hand points to the sun. Through the center of the dial, the bisector of the angle formed between this line and the hour hand is mentally drawn, showing the north-south direction, and the south is to the right of the Sun until 12 o'clock, and after 12 o'clock - to the left.
At night in the northern hemisphere, the direction of north can be determined using the North Star, located approximately above the North Pole. To do this, you need to find the constellation Ursa Major with a characteristic arrangement of stars in the form of a bucket with a handle. An imaginary line is drawn through the last two stars of the bucket, and the distance between these stars is plotted on it 5 times. At the end of the fifth segment there will be a bright star - Polaris. The direction to it will correspond to the direction to the north.

You can navigate by some natural signs. So, for example, on the north side, the trees have a coarser bark, covered with lichen and moss at the foot, the bark of birch and pine on the north side is darker than on the south, and tree trunks, stones or ledges of rocks are densely covered with moss and lichens. During thaws, snow stays longer on the northern slopes of the hills. Anthills are usually protected from the north by something, their northern side is steeper. Mushrooms usually grow on the north side of trees. On the surface of the trunk of coniferous trees, facing south, more resin drops stand out than on the north. These signs are especially clearly visible on trees standing separately. On the southern slopes, grass grows faster in spring, and many flowering shrubs have more flowers.

Organizing an overnight stay is hard work. First you need to find a suitable site. First of all, it must be dry. Secondly, it is best to settle down near the stream, in an open place, in order to always have a supply of water on hand.
The simplest shelter from wind and rain is made by linking individual elements of the base (frame) with thin spruce roots, willow branches, and tundra birch. Natural cavities in the steep bank of the river allow you to comfortably sit on them so that the place of sleep is between the fire and the vertical surface (cliff, rock), which serves as a heat reflector.

When preparing a place to sleep, two holes are dug - under the thigh and under the shoulder. You can spend the night on a bed of spruce branches in a deep hole dug or thawed to the ground with a large fire. Here, in the pit, one should keep the fire in the fire all night in order to avoid a serious cold.
In the winter taiga, where the thickness of the snow cover is significant, it is easier to arrange a shelter in a hole near a tree. In severe frost, you can build a simple snow hut in loose snow. To do this, the snow is raked into a heap, its surface is compacted, watered and allowed to freeze. Then the snow is removed from the pile, and a small hole is made in the remaining dome for the chimney. A fire built inside melts the walls and makes the whole structure strong. Such a hut retains heat. You can not climb under clothes with your head, because from breathing the material becomes damp and freezes. It is better to cover the face with clothes that are easy to dry later. From a burning fire, an accumulation of carbon monoxide is possible and you need to take care of a constant influx of fresh air to the combustion center.

A fire in the conditions of autonomous existence is not only warm, it is dry clothes and shoes, hot water and food, protection from midges and an excellent signal for a search helicopter. And most importantly, a fire is an accumulator of cheerfulness, energy and vigorous activity.
To get fire, you need to use a steel, a piece of flint. Any steel object can serve as a flint and flint, in extreme cases, the same iron pyrites. Fire is struck by sliding blows on flint so that sparks fall on tinder - dry moss, crushed dry leaves, newspaper, cotton wool, etc.

Fire can be made by friction. For this purpose, a bow, a drill and a support are made: a bow - from a dead trunk of a young birch or hazel 2-3 cm thick and a piece of rope as a bowstring; drill - from a pine stick 25 - 30 cm long, pencil-thick, pointed at one end; the support is cleaned of bark and a hole 1-1.5 cm deep is drilled with a knife. The drill, wrapped once with a bowstring, is inserted with a sharp end into the hole, around which tinder is laid. Then, pressing the drill with the palm of the left hand, the right hand quickly moves the bow perpendicular to the drill. In order not to damage the palm, a gasket is placed between it and the drill from a piece of cloth, tree bark, or a glove is put on. As soon as the tinder smolders, it must be blown up and put into kindling prepared in advance.

To achieve success, you should remember three rules: the tinder must be dry, you must act in strict sequence, and most importantly, show patience and perseverance.

Obtaining food and water. A person who finds himself in conditions of autonomous existence must take the most energetic measures to provide himself with food by collecting edible wild plants, fishing, hunting, i.e. use everything that nature gives.

Over 2,000 plants grow on the territory of our country, partially or completely suitable for food.

When collecting plant gifts, care must be taken. About 2% of plants can cause severe and even fatal poisoning. To prevent poisoning, it is necessary to distinguish between such poisonous plants as the crow's eye, wolf's bast, poisonous milestone (hemlock), bitter henbane, etc. Food poisoning is caused by poisonous substances contained in some mushrooms: pale grebe, fly agaric, false honey agaric, false chanterelle, etc. .
It is better to refrain from eating unfamiliar plants, berries, mushrooms. When forced to use them for food, it is recommended to eat no more than 1-2 g of food mass at a time, if possible, drinking plenty of water (vegetable poison contained in such a proportion will not cause serious harm to the body). Wait 1-2 hours. If there are no signs of poisoning (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, intestinal disorders), you can eat an additional 10-15 g. After a day, you can eat without restrictions.

An indirect sign of the edibility of a plant can be: fruits pecked by birds; many seeds, scraps of peel at the foot of fruit trees; bird droppings on branches, trunks; plants gnawed by animals; fruits found in nests and burrows. Unfamiliar fruits, bulbs, tubers, etc. it is desirable to boil. Cooking destroys many organic poisons.

In conditions of autonomous existence, fishing is perhaps the most affordable way to provide yourself with food. Fish has a higher energy value than vegetable fruits, and is less labor intensive than hunting.

Fishing tackle can be made from improvised materials: fishing line - from loose shoelaces, thread pulled out of clothes, untwisted rope, hooks - from pins, earrings, hairpins from badges, "invisible", and spinners - from metal and mother-of-pearl buttons, coins and etc.

It is permissible to eat fish meat raw, but it is better to cut it into narrow strips, dry them in the sun, so it will become tastier and last longer. In order to avoid fish poisoning, certain rules must be observed. You can not eat fish covered with thorns, spikes, sharp growths, skin ulcers, fish that are not covered with scales, devoid of lateral fins, having an unusual appearance and bright color, hemorrhages and tumors of internal organs. You can not eat stale fish - with gills covered with mucus, with sunken eyes, flabby skin, with an unpleasant odor, with dirty and easily detached scales, with meat easily lagging behind the bones and especially from the spine. It is better not to eat unfamiliar and dubious fish. You should also not eat fish caviar, milk, liver, because. they are often poisonous.

Hunting is the most preferred, in winter the only way to provide food. But unlike fishing, hunting requires sufficient skill, skills, and a lot of labor from a person.

Small animals and birds are relatively easy to catch. To do this, you can use traps, snares, loops and other devices.

The mined meat of the animal, the birds are fried on a primitive spit. Small animals and birds are roasted on a spit without skinning or plucking. After cooking, the charred skin is removed, and the carcass is cleaned of the inside. It is advisable to burn the meat of larger game after gutting and cleaning over high heat, and then roast it on coals.

Rivers, lakes, streams, swamps, accumulation of water in certain areas of the soil provide people with the necessary amount of liquid for drinking and cooking.

Water from springs and springs, mountain and forest rivers and streams can be drunk raw. But before you quench your thirst with water from stagnant or low-flowing reservoirs, it should be cleaned of impurities and disinfected. For cleaning, it is easy to make the simplest filters from several layers of fabric or from an empty tin can, punching 3-4 small holes in the bottom, and then filling it with sand. You can dig a shallow hole half a meter from the edge of the reservoir, and after a while it will be filled with clean, clear water.

The most reliable method of water disinfection is boiling. In the absence of utensils for boiling, a primitive box made of a piece of birch bark will do, provided that the flame only touches the part that is filled with water. You can boil water by lowering heated stones into a birch bark box with wooden tongs.

Prevention and treatment of diseases. In conditions of autonomous existence, when a wide variety of injuries, bruises, burns, poisoning, diseases, etc. are possible, knowledge of self-help techniques is especially necessary, because you have to rely on your own strength.

To protect against mosquitoes, midges need to lubricate open areas of the body with a thin layer of clay. Smoked bonfires are widely used to repel insects. To drive insects out of the hut before going to bed, burning coals are placed on a thick piece of bark, and covered with wet moss on top. The smoke oven is brought into the shelter, kept there until it is filled with smoke, and then it is well ventilated and the entrance is tightly closed. At night, the smoker is left at the entrance on the leeward side so that the smoke, repelling insects, does not penetrate into the shelter.

During the transitions, care must be taken not to step on the snake. In case of an unexpected encounter with a snake, it is necessary to stop, let it crawl away and not pursue it. If the snake is aggressive, immediately deliver a strong blow to the head, and then finish it off. When bitten by a poisonous snake, it is necessary to carefully suck out the poison (if there are no cracks in the mouth and lips) and spit it out. Wash the wound and apply a bandage.

In the treatment of diseases, certain plants should be widely used.

Ash bark has an anti-inflammatory effect. To do this, remove the bark from a not very young, but not very old branch and attach the juicy side to the wound. Fresh crushed nettle leaves help well. They promote blood clotting and stimulate tissue healing. For the same purposes, the wound can be sprinkled with greenish-brown pollen of a mature puffball mushroom, tightly clamping the cut with the velvety skin of the same fungus turned inside out.

Fireweed fluff, reeds, linen and hemp tow can be used as cotton wool.

The burning reddish juice of the lungwort can replace iodine. And white moss is used as a dressing with a disinfectant effect. Fresh juice of plantain and wormwood stops bleeding and disinfects wounds, has an analgesic and healing effect. This remedy is also indispensable for severe bruises, sprains, as well as for the bites of wasps and bumblebees. The leaves of plantain and wormwood are crushed and applied to the wound.

How to send a distress signal. The bonfire remains one of the most effective means of emergency signaling. In order to give a signal to the search helicopter in a timely manner, the fire is prepared in advance. Dry branches, trunks, moss, etc. are piled up in open places - a clearing, a hilltop, a clearing, otherwise the trees will trap smoke and the signal will go unnoticed. To make the column of smoke thicker and blacker, fresh grass, green leaves of trees, damp moss, etc. are thrown into the blazing fire. The fire is set on fire when a helicopter or plane has appeared in the visibility zone and the noise of running engines is clearly audible.
The attention of the crew of an aircraft search vessel can also be attracted by various signals that unmask the terrain: for example, trample geometric shapes in the snow, cut down (break out) bushes, and if there is a fabric of bright colors, stretch it out in the open.

The favorable outcome of an autonomous existence depends on many factors, but the main one is solid knowledge from various fields. It is desirable not only to know how to behave in a given situation, but also to be able to do it, because when the situation becomes threatening, it is too late to start learning.

Conclusion

How to behave a person who finds himself in extreme conditions of the natural environment? If there is no firm confidence in the ability to quickly get out of the situation, and the situation does not require immediate departure from the scene, it is better to stay in place, make a fire, build a shelter from improvised materials. This will help you to protect yourself well from the weather and keep your strength for a long time. In addition, in parking conditions it is much easier to get food. In some cases, this tactic will facilitate the actions of the search and rescue service, which received information about the incident in a particular area.
Having made the decision to “stay in place”, you need to draw up a plan for further action, which includes the following activities: determining your location; protection from the adverse effects of environmental factors; making a fire; issuing distress signals; obtaining food and water; self-care and disease prevention.
The ability of a person to successfully overcome the harsh conditions of the natural environment is one of his most ancient qualities. Even in time immemorial, he learned to protect himself from cold and heat, to build a dwelling for himself from snow and tree branches, to make fire by friction, looking for edible fruits and roots, to hunt birds and animals, etc. But centuries passed, and a person, having tasted the benefits of civilization, began to gradually move away from nature and lose the skills acquired by many generations of ancestors. As a member of society, he is accustomed to the idea that many of his needs are provided by the people around him, that someone constantly takes care of satisfying his needs, that in this or that unfavorable situation he can always count on someone's help. Indeed, in everyday life, a person does not have to rack his brains over how to hide from heat or cold, how and where to quench thirst and hunger. Lost in an unfamiliar city, he can easily get the information he needs. If you get sick, seek medical help.

However, even today there are cases when a person, as a result of the prevailing circumstances, finds himself in conditions of autonomous existence, the favorable outcome of which largely depends on his psychophysiological qualities, sound knowledge of the basics of survival and other factors.

With a short-term external threat, a person acts on a sensual level, obeying the instinct of self-preservation: bounces off a falling tree, clings to immovable objects when falling, tries to stay on the surface of the water when there is a threat of drowning. There is no need to talk about some kind of will to live in such cases.
Another thing is long-term survival. In the conditions of autonomous existence, sooner or later, a critical moment comes when exorbitant physical and mental stress, the seeming senselessness of further resistance suppress the will. A person is seized by passivity, indifference. He is no longer afraid of the possible tragic consequences of ill-conceived overnight stays, risky crossings. He does not believe in the possibility of salvation and therefore perishes without exhausting his reserves of strength to the end, without using food supplies.

Knowing the basics of survival is a must for every person. Survival should be understood as active expedient actions aimed at preserving life, health and performance in the conditions of autonomous existence.

These actions consist in overcoming psychological stress, showing ingenuity, resourcefulness, effective use of equipment and improvised means to protect against the adverse effects of environmental factors and meet the body's needs for food and water.

The capabilities of the human body, like all living things, are limited and are within very narrow limits. Where is the threshold beyond which changes in the functions of organs and systems become irreversible? What time limit can people who find themselves in certain extreme conditions have? How best to protect a person from the adverse effects of numerous and diverse environmental factors?

Experience shows that people are able to endure the most severe natural conditions for a long time. However, a person who is not accustomed to these conditions, who has fallen into them for the first time, turns out to be much less adapted to life in the wild than its permanent inhabitants. Therefore, the harsher the conditions of the external environment, the shorter the period of autonomous existence, the more strictly the rules of conduct must be followed, the higher the price that each mistake is paid for.

The natural environment and its physical and geographical conditions are of great importance for human viability. Actively influencing the human body, it increases or shortens the period of autonomous existence, promotes or hinders the success of survival. The Arctic and the tropics, mountains and deserts, taiga and the ocean - each of these natural zones is characterized by its own peculiarities of climate, topography, flora and fauna. They determine the specifics of human life: the mode of behavior, methods of obtaining water and food, the features of the construction of shelters, the nature of diseases and measures to prevent them, the ability to move around the area, etc.

The favorable outcome of autonomous existence largely depends on the psycho-physiological qualities of a person: will, determination, composure, ingenuity, physical fitness, endurance. The basis of success in the fight against the forces of nature is the ability of a person to survive. But this requires certain theoretical and practical knowledge.

The basis of man's survival is his conviction that he can and must preserve health and life in the most severe conditions, that he will be able to use everything that the environment gives to his advantage.

Forced autonomous survival of a person can occur in the following cases:

¦ loss of orientation;

¦ deprivation of the vehicle;

¦ loss of a person who knows the area;

¦ natural disaster. The reasons for these cases may be:

¦ natural disasters, adverse weather conditions;

¦ transport emergency (shipwreck, plane crash);

¦ inability to navigate the terrain;

¦ inattention;

¦ overconfidence.

In any case, a person must know the factors of survival in the wild.

1.2. Human Survival Factors in the Wild

Survival factors are the reasons of an objective and subjective nature that determine the outcome of an autonomous existence (Fig. 1.1).

Rice. 1.1. Survival Factors

Practice has shown that out of the total number of people who find themselves in an extreme situation, up to 75% experience a feeling of depression, up to 25% - a neurotic reaction. Self-control retain no more than 10%. Gradually, over time, people either adapt or worsen.

Which reactions of a person who has fallen into extreme conditions - negative or positive - will prevail depends on the following factors.

The physical condition of a person that is, the absence or presence of chronic diseases, allergic reactions, injuries, injuries, bleeding. The age and sex of the person are important, since the elderly and preschool children, as well as pregnant women, endure the most difficult autonomous survival.

The psychological state of a person. Favorable psychological factors include the ability to make decisions independently, independence and resistance to stress, a sense of humor and the ability to improvise. It is important to be able to cope with pain, loneliness, apathy and powerlessness, overcome hunger, cold and thirst, as well as cope with other survival stressors.

Learning to act in autonomous conditions is a fundamental factor in survival. Much depends on the degree of professional training. A great success for a group that has fallen into autonomous conditions are crew members, professional military, doctors, and rescuers. The chances of survival for such a group increase significantly. However, this situation can create certain problems. The most prepared members of the group immediately become formal leaders, but depending on the specifics of their profession, they are trained to act, having the necessary equipment in their hands, to work in a team of professionals just like themselves. In an emergency situation, there is usually no equipment and special equipment, a professional can be alone, the lives of dozens of people who are in disarray and not ready to act in extreme situations depend on their decisions. Under such conditions, a specialist should be not just a rescuer, a doctor, but also the best specialist in this field, have experience in acting in such situations, and have management skills in a crisis.

We list the main skills and abilities that a person who finds himself in a situation of autonomous survival in nature should possess:

1) the ability to calculate the required minimum amount of food and water;

2) possession of methods for the extraction and purification of drinking water in nature;

3) the ability to navigate the terrain with the help of a map, compass, GPS-navigators, other devices and without them;

4) first aid skills;

5) skills in hunting wild animals, fishing, tracking prey;

6) the ability to make a fire with the help of improvised means;

7) knowledge of the technology of building temporary shelters;

8) the ability to signal one's location with the help of intercom radio stations, tables, visual and gestural code signals.

Survival means is understood as a minimum of survival items that ensure a comfortable stay of a person in the wild under any weather conditions. This is a wearable emergency supply (NAP) with essentials.

Equipment

1) V matches with a sulfur head, previously dipped in wax, - 3 pcs.;

2) cherkash (a sulfur strip applied to the side of a matchbox), in half - 1 pc.;

3) sewing needle - 1 piece;

4) fishing hook - 2 pcs.;

5) fishing line and kapron thread - 5 m each;

6) potassium permanganate, activated carbon tablets - 3 cans;

7) painkiller tablets - 1 currency.

The case of NAZ is in a plastic bag with edges filled with melted wax, which is tied with an elastic band.

Application

¦ Matches and cherkash are means of making fire.

¦ Sewing needle with nylon thread - for repairing clothes, shelters, bags, backpacks, extracting splinters and removing ticks.

¦ Fish hook and fishing line - means of fishing.

¦ Activated carbon tablets and potassium permanganate for the prevention of food poisoning and water disinfection.

Wearable emergency supply in the maximum configuration

1) analgin, acetylsalicylic acid, nitroglycerin, validol, activated charcoal, corvalol, sodium sulfacyl, ammonia solution;

2) hypothermic package, tourniquet, sterile, non-sterile and elastic bandages, bactericidal adhesive plaster, hemostatic wipes, miramistin, adhesive plaster, cotton wool.

¦ Dehydrated dry food and vitamins.

¦ Water supply.

¦ Kettle.

¦ Toiletries.

¦ Petrol and gas lighters, waterproof matches.

¦ 2 flashlights with extra batteries and bulbs.

¦ Strong long rope.

¦ The ax is small.

¦ Tent or raincoat-tent.

¦ Raincoats, canvas suit, socks, hats, gloves, high boots (preferably rubber).

¦ Candles, dry fuel.

¦ Needles, threads.

¦ Fishing rods and fishing line.

Overwhelming Factors of Human Survival in the Wild

Hunger

It is especially important to know the typical symptoms of prolonged fasting. In the initial period, which usually lasts 2-4 days, there is a strong feeling of hunger. Appetite increases sharply. In some cases, burning, pressure and even pain in the epigastric region, nausea may be felt. Dizziness, headaches, stomach cramps are possible. The sense of smell is noticeably heightened. Drinking plenty of water increases salivation. Man constantly thinks about food. In the first four days, a person's body weight decreases by an average of one kilogram daily, in areas with a hot climate - sometimes up to one and a half kilograms. Then the daily weight loss decreases.

In the future, the feeling of hunger weakens. Appetite disappears, sometimes a person even experiences some cheerfulness. The tongue is often covered with a whitish coating; when inhaled, a faint smell of acetone may be felt in the mouth. Salivation does not increase even at the sight of food. There may be poor sleep, prolonged headaches, increased irritability. With prolonged fasting, a person falls into apathy, lethargy, drowsiness.

And yet, hunger as a cause of human death in the practice of emergency situations is extremely rare. This is not due to the fact that people who are in trouble do not starve. Hunger was, is and always will be the eternal companion of an emergency. Hunger is terrible because it enhances the effect of other factors that affect a person. It undermines the strength of a person from the inside, after which a host of other ailments, no less dangerous than hunger, fall on him, which complete the job.

A hungry person freezes several times faster than a full one. He gets sick more often and suffers from illnesses more severely. With prolonged fasting, reactions slow down, intellectual activity weakens. Performance drops sharply.

Therefore, in the absence of food supplies, if it is impossible to provide for oneself through hunting, fishing, collecting wild edible plants, one should adhere to passive survival tactics, that is, expect help in the immediate vicinity of the accident site. In order to save energy resources without extreme need, you should not leave the shelter, you need to lie more, sleep, any vigorous activity - work inside the camp, transition, etc. - should be minimized, only the most necessary work should be done. Duties, and the duties of the duty officer include the preparation of firewood, maintaining the fire, repairing the shelter, observing the area, extracting water, should be carried out alternately, dividing day and night into short 1–2 hour shifts. It is permissible to release from duty only the wounded, sick and young children. All other members of the emergency team must be involved in keeping watch without fail. With a large number of people, two attendants can be assigned at the same time. Such an order, first of all, is necessary to prevent outbreaks of apathy, despondency, pessimistic moods that may arise as a result of prolonged fasting.

Of course, if there is even the slightest possibility of providing oneself with food on the spot, every possible effort should be made to this.

Heat. Thirst

The concept of "heat" in relation to an emergency is the sum of several components: ambient temperature, solar radiation intensity, soil surface temperature, air humidity, presence or absence of wind, that is, it depends on the climatic conditions of the place where the accident occurred.

In addition, there are many special cases when a person, for one reason or another, may feel that he is hot. To do this, it is absolutely not necessary to climb into the inferno of the Central Asian deserts. It is possible to languish from the heat in the Arctic, for example, if the quantity or quality of clothes put on by a person does not correspond to the work he is currently doing. Situations are typical when a person, for fear of freezing, puts on all the clothes at his disposal, after which he begins to bravely brandish an ax, preparing firewood for a fire. Such unnecessary zeal at the moment leads to overheating of the body, increased sweating, and wetting of the layers of clothing adjacent to the body. As a result, a person, having finished work, quickly freezes. In such a case, heat is an ally of frost, as it deprives clothing of its heat-shielding properties. That is why experienced tourists, climbers, hunters prefer to undress when performing heavy physical work, and dress warmly during rest.

In these cases, it is very important to constantly monitor your well-being, change clothes in time, and periodically rest.

Of course, the fight against overheating in the conditions described does not present any particular difficulties. And if any violation of the internal thermal balance occurs, then the victim himself is primarily to blame. The Arctic or the highlands are not the places where it is permissible to die from overheating.

It is much more difficult for a person in an emergency situation that happened in a desert or semi-desert zone. And this is explained not by the fact that it is very hot here, but by the fact that the heat enters into an overwhelming alliance with thirst.

Insufficient, as well as excessive, intake of water in the body affects the general physical condition of a person.

Lack of water leads to a decrease in body weight, a significant decline in strength, thickening of the blood and, as a result, an overstrain of cardiac activity. At the same time, the concentration of salts in the blood rises, which serves as a formidable signal that dehydration has begun. Loss of up to 5% of fluid occurs without any consequences for humans. But dehydration of the body, exceeding 15%, can lead to serious consequences and death. A person deprived of food can lose almost the entire supply of fat, almost 50% of protein, and only then approach the dangerous line. However, when it comes to fluid, the loss of "only" 15% of the fluid is fatal! A person can starve for several weeks, without water he dies in a matter of days, and in a hot climate this happens faster.

The need of the human body for water in favorable climatic conditions does not exceed 2.5–3 liters per day. Moreover, this figure is liquid, not only used in the form of compotes, tea, coffee and other drinks, but also part of solid foods, not to mention soups and gravies. In addition, water is formed in the body itself as a result of chemical reactions occurring in it.

In total it looks like this:

¦ water itself - 0.8–1.0 l;

¦ liquid meals - 0.5–0.6 l;

¦ solid foods (bread, meat, cheese, sausage, etc.) - up to 0.7 l;

¦ water formed in the body itself - 0.3-0.4 liters.

In an emergency, it is especially important to distinguish true water hunger from the apparent one. Very often, the feeling of thirst arises not due to an objective lack of water, but due to improperly organized water consumption.

One of the manifestations of thirst is a decrease in the secretion of saliva in the oral cavity.

The sensation of initial dryness in the mouth is often perceived as a feeling of intense thirst, although dehydration as such is not observed. A person begins to consume a significant amount of water, although there is no real need for this. An excess of water with a simultaneous increase in physical activity leads to subsequent increased sweating. Simultaneously with the abundant excretion of excess fluid, the ability of body cells to retain water is impaired. There is a kind of vicious circle. The more a person drinks, the more he sweats, the more thirsty he feels.

An experiment is known when people who were not accustomed to normal thirst quenching drank 5–6 liters of water in 8 hours, while others in the same conditions managed 0.5 liters.

It is not recommended to drink a lot of water in one gulp. Such a one-time consumption of liquid does not quench thirst, but, on the contrary, leads to swelling and weakness. It must be remembered that the drunk water does not quench thirst immediately, but only after reaching the stomach, it is absorbed into the blood, that is, after 10–15 minutes. It is best to drink water in small portions at short intervals until full. Sometimes, in order not to waste water from a flask or emergency supply, it is enough to rinse your mouth with cool water or suck on sour candy, caramel. The taste of the lollipop will cause a reflex release of saliva, and the feeling of thirst will be greatly reduced. In the absence of a lollipop, it can be replaced with a fruit stone or even a small clean pebble.

With intense sweating, leading to leaching of salts from the body, it is advisable to drink lightly salted water. The dissolution of 0.5–1.0 g of saline water will have almost no effect on its taste. However, this amount of salt is usually enough to restore the salt balance inside the body. The most tragic effect of the heat is manifested in the summer in a desert area. Perhaps, in this zone, the heat leaves a person less chance of salvation than even the cold in the Arctic. In the fight against frost, a person has a considerable arsenal of means. He can build a snow shelter, generate heat by eating high-calorie food, protect himself from low temperatures with warm clothes, build a fire, keep warm by doing intense physical work. By applying any of these methods, a person can save his life for a day, two or three. Sometimes, using all of the above possibilities, he resists the elements for weeks. In the desert, only water prolongs life. There is no other way available to a person who finds himself in an emergency in the desert!

Cold

According to statistics, from 10 to 15% of people who died on tourist routes became victims of hypothermia.

Cold threatens a person to the greatest extent in the high-latitude zones of the country: in the ice zone, tundra, forest-tundra, - in winter - in the taiga, steppes and adjacent semi-deserts, in the highlands. But these zones are also heterogeneous in terms of temperature characteristics. Even in the same area, at the same time, the thermometer readings can vary by a dozen or more degrees. For example, often in river valleys, gorges and other depressions, the decrease in temperature as a result of the flow of cold air into the lowlands is much more noticeable than at elevated points of the relief. Humidity matters a lot. For example, in the Oymyakon region, which is the cold pole of the Northern Hemisphere, the temperature reaches -70 ° C (the minimum of -77.8 ° C was recorded in 1938), but due to the dryness of the air, it is quite easily tolerated. Conversely, the wet, typical for coastal areas frost, which envelops and literally sticks to the skin, causes more trouble. There, subjectively, the air temperature is always estimated lower than it actually is. But perhaps the greatest, and in some cases decisive for human survival in low temperatures, is the wind speed:

¦ at an actual air temperature of –3 °C and a wind speed of 10–11 m/s, their total cooling effect on a person is expressed as a value of –20 °C;

¦ at -10 °C is actually -30 °C;

¦ at -15 °C is actually -35 °C;

¦ at -25 °C is actually -50 °C;

¦ at -45 °C is actually -70 °C.

In areas devoid of natural shelters - dense forests, folds of relief, low air temperatures combined with strong winds can reduce the time of human survival to several hours.

Long-term survival at sub-zero temperatures depends, in addition to the listed climatic factors, on the condition of clothing and footwear at the time of the accident, the quality of the shelter built, the availability of fuel and food supplies, and the moral and physical condition of the person.

In an emergency, clothing is usually able to protect a person from cold injuries (frostbite, general hypothermia) only for a short time, sufficient for the construction of a snow shelter. The heat-shielding properties of clothing depend primarily on the type of fabric. Fine-pored fabric retains heat best. If we take the thermal conductivity of air as a unit, then the thermal conductivity of wool will be 6.1; silk - 19.2; and linen and cotton fabric - 29.9.

Clothing made from synthetic materials and fillers such as synthetic winterizer, nitron, etc. has found wide application. In them, air capsules are enclosed in the thinnest shell of artificial fibers. Perhaps, synthetic clothing loses a little in comparison with fur in terms of heat transfer, but it has a number of other undeniable advantages. It is very light, almost not blown by the wind, snow does not stick to it, it gets wet a little when immersed in water for a short time and, which is very important, dries quickly.

Perhaps one of the best options is the use of multilayer clothing from different fabrics. Special studies have shown that 4-5 layers of clothing retain heat best. For example, a good combination is a tight cotton suit, a few thin, loose-fitting woolen pants and sweaters (2-3 thin sweaters are much more warm than one thick one, since an air gap forms between them) and a suit or overalls made of synthetic fabric.

Shoes play a very important role in emergency winter conditions. Suffice it to say that 8 out of 10 of all frostbites occur in the lower extremities. Therefore, a person who has had an accident in the winter period of time should first of all pay attention to the condition of his legs.

By all available means, you need to keep socks and shoes dry. To do this, shoe covers are made from improvised material, legs are wrapped with a piece of loose fabric, etc. All the material remaining after this is used to warm clothes and protect the face from the wind.

It is important to always remember that clothing, no matter how warm it may be, can protect a person from the cold only for a very short time - hours, rarely days. And if you do not use this time properly to build a warm shelter or to search for the nearest settlement, no clothing will save a person from death.

Very often, in an emergency, people prefer to set up cloth tents, build shelters from the wreckage of a vehicle, logs. They cling to traditional materials as their salvation. Wood and metal seem to be much more reliable than, for example, snow. Meanwhile, this is a mistake, for which you often have to pay with your own life!

When building shelters from traditional materials, it is almost impossible to achieve hermetic sealing of seams and joints of building materials. Shelters are “blown through” by the wind through and through. Warm air escapes through numerous cracks. Therefore, in the absence of stoves, stoves and similar highly efficient heating devices, the temperature in the shelter almost always coincides with the outside. In addition, the construction of such shelters is very laborious, often associated with the risk of increased injury. It is not uncommon for such a makeshift shelter to collapse under wind pressure or due to careless movement and put the group in critical conditions. Meanwhile, an excellent building material is literally under a person’s feet. This is the most common snow. Due to its porous structure, snow has good thermal insulation properties. It is easy to process.

Snow shelters - igloos, caves, houses, lairs, erected in one and a half to two hours, reliably protect a person from the effects of low temperatures and wind, and provide thermal comfort if fuel is available. In a properly built snow shelter, the air temperature rises to -5 ... - 10 ° C only due to the heat emitted by a person at 30-40-degree frost outside the shelter. With the help of a candle, the temperature in the shelter can be raised from 0 to +4 ... +5 ° C or more. Many polar explorers, having installed a pair of stoves inside, heated the air up to +30 °C. Thus, the temperature difference inside the shelter and outside can reach 70 °C.

But the main advantage of snow shelters is the ease of construction. Most snow shelters can be built by anyone who has never held a snow shovel or a snow knife in their hands.

The term of resistance to low temperatures to a large extent depends on the mental state of a person. For example, the feeling of fear greatly reduces the life of a person at low temperatures. Panic fear of freezing accelerates freezing. Conversely, the psychological attitude “I am not afraid of the cold. I have real opportunities to protect myself from its impact” noticeably increases the period of survival, allows you to reasonably distribute forces and time, and introduce an element of planning into your actions.

However, it must be remembered that it is almost impossible to win in single combat with the elements without fencing it off with a wall of snow bricks. All recognized polar authorities, including Stefansson himself, unanimously assert that a person who has fallen into a snowstorm can be saved only by a shelter built on time and nothing but a shelter!

The most important commandment in combat with the cold - stop in time!

It is impossible to overcome frost with physical strength alone. In such cases, it is better to play it safe - turn back a little earlier, set up camp, build a shelter, rest, etc.

In any case, in the event of an emergency in the winter, self-rescue of a person or a group of people should begin with the organization of a winter bivouac. Before the construction of a reliable shelter or the cultivation of a fire fire, it is not advisable to engage in other work. Even if there is a tent in the group, the construction of snow shelters must be recognized as mandatory. A tent can protect a person only from wind and rain, but not from frost. Only a person who has an unlimited amount of fuel can afford to wait out the accident in a tent. During the construction of a snow shelter, in addition to the main goal - protecting a person from cold injuries - a number of side effects are achieved, for example, snow building skills are developed. A person builds the next igloo or cave in a shorter time with less expenditure of energy.

Very often, spending the night in a snow shelter is preferable to spending the night near a fire. The construction of a cave or a house requires less effort and time than the preparation of a large amount of firewood, breeding and many hours of maintaining a hot fire.

The confidence that the presence of deep snow or crust guarantees a safe overnight stay, makes it possible even in an emergency to organize a transition, to overcome significant distances. The depletion of forces expended on the transition is to some extent compensated by the accumulation of experience in moving on snow, building snow shelters. The duration of vigorous activity with a normal supply of food can be 8–12 hours per day, respectively, 10 hours will be for sleep and rest, 1–3 hours for setting up a bivouac.

However, it should be taken into account that "passive" survival (waiting for help) at low air temperatures, especially in high latitudes, is always preferable to "active" (self-exit to people). The final choice of survival tactics, of course, depends on the specific situation in which the person finds himself.

The only possibility that guarantees one hundred percent luck not to suffer in an emergency winter situation is to prevent it.

It is known that the vast majority of winter emergencies are provoked not by "intrigues of nature", but by the wrong actions of the victims themselves - a weak level of preparation for the campaign, frivolity, and neglect of elementary security measures.

1.3. Rules of conduct in conditions of autonomous existence

There are a few simple rules that should be observed when going on a winter trip. If you are not completely confident in your abilities, doubt the quality of the equipment or the weather for the next few days, it is better to postpone the trip to a later date.

You can’t go on a risky journey without learning how to make a fire in the most adverse conditions, without building several “training” snow shelters with your own hands, without spending the night in them. Well, and, of course, it is categorically unacceptable to go on an “assault on the polar heights” without checking yourself in two or three easier trips.

In tents, clothes, equipment that you have to take with you, a double supply “for cold” should be structurally laid. Assuming to meet ten-degree frosts on the route, it is necessary to prepare for twenty-degree frosts. Here it is better to err on the big side.

Tents, fuel, food and other vital items of equipment should be evenly distributed among the members of the entire group. It is extremely dangerous to carry two or three tents or the entire food supply in one backpack. The accidental loss of it can put the group in a critical position.

Warm linen, sleeping bags are personal property, they must be carried by everyone in their backpack, not transferring to each other.

Each member of the group should have a small emergency kit with them, which includes: enhanced burning matches (“hunting”, “windproof”, etc.), a piece of candle or other combustible material, a small piece of plastic wrap, some food, in polar regions - a lightweight hacksaw or a long knife. Moreover, if it is permissible to carry large items in a backpack, but in a place where they can be quickly removed if necessary, then matches and a candle should always be carried with you, for example, sewn into the inner pocket of a windbreaker.

During the trip, you must constantly remember and strictly follow the rules for passing difficult sections, organizing a bivouac. It is impossible to change your initial decisions without extreme necessity, it is categorically unacceptable to hope for a chance!

It is also unacceptable to divide the group into two or more independent subgroups. There are few examples when the division of the group justified itself. In the overwhelming majority of cases, this only exacerbated the gravity of the situation.

While traveling, keep an eye on changes in the weather by listening to weather reports or observing the surrounding nature. Find out from the local population signs of approaching bad weather.

It should not be assumed that people freeze only "somewhere out there" - in the far North or on mountain peaks. Nothing of the kind, a considerable number of victims are collected precisely by suburban forests and even parks. Proximity alone does not guarantee safety. The cold is equally merciless everywhere. Minus thirty - minus thirty everywhere! Therefore, one should not neglect extra clothes and turn away from the offered sandwiches or a thermos with hot tea.

You can not build new roads, cut corners, trying to shorten the path, you must remember: the straight road is not always the shortest. If people have laid a ski track, then there are reasons for that.

You can not travel through the forest at dusk. You need to be prepared for the fact that the weather will worsen, and the ski track will skid. Therefore, it is necessary to "tie" your route to "eternal" landmarks - rocks, single trees, blockages, accumulations of stones, etc.

You cannot walk alone. The fact that the city is one or two kilometers away does not save a person who has broken his leg or lost consciousness as a result of a heart attack. It is necessary to return immediately as soon as a person feels unwell or very tired.

In cold weather, especially with strong wind, it is necessary to constantly monitor your condition, avoiding general or local hypothermia. It is necessary to rub open areas of the skin that are directly exposed to low temperatures and wind, and warm the frozen limbs by all available means - rubbing, heating on the body, wide swings, etc.

1.4. Types of means and methods of sending distress signals

Signaling is not as easy as it might seem. Your alarm may go unnoticed. In addition, the inability to properly signal with certain types of personnel tools can cost you your life.

All means of distress signals are divided into service and improvised (type of means), as well as sound, visual and radio signals (the principle of signal transmission). Their main goal is to indicate your exact location for subsequent evacuation and emergency assistance in the form of dropping food, medicine, weapons and ammunition from the aircraft.

Staff funds

Radio distress signal (SOS). SOS distress signal (save our souls) … – … )) was adopted by the International Convention in Berlin on November 3, 1906, for its unhindered reception every hour for 6 minutes (from 15th to 18th and from 45th to 48th) on "distress frequencies" - 500 and 2182 kHz - all radio stations in the world fall silent; silence sets in on the air, so that everyone who is in trouble can freely go on the air and give a distress signal, indicating the square of their location, or give them the opportunity to find themselves. To send this radio signal, you must have an emergency radio transmitter and know the basic use of this device and Morse code.

Visual signaling aids

Pyrotechnic means of signaling. These include:

¦ signal rockets;

¦ signal checkers;

¦ signal mortars.

These signaling means require the implementation of certain rules for use and storage:

¦ remember that they can shoot, treat these tools like weapons;

¦ do not repair them in case of malfunction;

¦ if a misfire occurs, do not use again;

¦ hold any pyrotechnic in your outstretched hand, turning the nozzle away from you;

¦ stay away from other people and from flammable objects, store these funds in boxes that are protected from shock and precipitation, give a signal from the closest possible distance and only when there is confidence that it will be noticed;

¦ Take the utmost precautions.

signal mirror. This is a polished metal plate with a hole in the middle (5-7 mm) through which you can follow the object.

The "sunbeam" launched by your mirror is detected even from an airplane that flies at an altitude of 2 km at a distance of 2025 km from your location. The mirror is effective even at night, probably, it can be called “letting moonbeams”.

Improvised signaling means

Reflectors. To indicate your location in the absence of a signal mirror, you can use a cosmetic mirror, foil, or a knife blade. The more polished the plate, the farther the light signal is visible.

Spread pieces of crumpled (this will increase the number of reflective planes) foil on the hill. Or attach the foil to a tree or a pole in a clear view area, it will rotate and give signals.

Kite. A kite can also serve you well. Make a frame out of thin boards, pull thin (preferably colored) paper over it, tie pieces of foil and bright ribbons to the tail of the snake.

signal flags. Hang on tall trees near your camp signal "flags" - bright pieces of matter. In order for them to be visible from above, stretch these "flags" along the ground. Tie one side of the fabric to bushes growing near the reservoir, and the other to stakes driven into the bottom of the reservoir.

Signal fire. If you don't have "flags", foil, pyrotechnics, or a flashlight, you can start a fire that is just as good as any other means. A bonfire located in an open area or a high hill is visible from afar. At night, a brightly burning fire is visible from a distance of 20 km when viewed from the sky, 8 km - when viewed from the ground. Even better, if there are several fires, the distance between them in this case should not exceed 20–30 m. However, for the idea to work, it is necessary to maintain a constant small fire near the fires, so you can make your “alarm” blaze in a short time.

Terrestrial code signals

In open areas, you can lay out the signals of the code table. The most banal HELP and SOS. The size of one signal must be at least 3 m. Remember, the larger the signal, the higher the likelihood that it will be noticed. You can make a signal from improvised means: aircraft wreckage, life jackets, clothes, logs.

You can not lay out the signal, but “dig it up”. To do this, remove the sod and deepen the trench. Such signals work both day and night (at night you can make a fire in the recesses). "Scatter" signals around the periphery, the more of them, the better.

Gesture code system for communicating with pilots

¦ "Here landing! We need help!” hands up, palms in, feet together.

¦ "Landing is impossible! We don't need help!" - Left hand up, legs together.

¦ "Straight" - arms raised, bent at the elbows, palms back. Legs shoulder width apart. Swinging the forearms back.

¦ "Back" - hands are raised forward to shoulder level. Palms forward.

¦ “Stop! Stop the engine” - cross your arms, the speed of this action corresponds to the degree of need to stop.

¦ "Hang up!" - arms to the sides, palms down.

¦ "Lower" - swaying down with straight arms, palms down.

¦ "Higher" - swaying up with straight arms, palms up.

¦ "Landing" - cross your arms in front of you below.

Questions for self-control

1. What types of survival factors do you know?

2. What is the role of anthropological factors in ensuring the safety of human life?

3. What is the role of material and technical factors in ensuring the safety of human life?

4. What is the nature of the impact of natural environmental factors on a person with autonomous existence in the natural environment?

5. What is the impact of environmental factors on a person with autonomous existence in the natural environment?

6. What are “survival stressors”? What is their impact on the human condition?

7. What are the first-priority actions for those in distress in a vehicle accident?

8. What are the first-priority actions of those who got into extreme conditions in nature?

9. What do you need to know (determine) in order to correctly assess the situation in order to make a decision on further actions for those who are in an extreme situation?

10. List the rules for safe behavior when leaving the scene.

11. List the rules of safe behavior while waiting for help at the scene.

12. What activities are included in the action plan for organizing a temporary camp?

13. What is the role and tasks of the group leader in conditions of forced autonomous existence?

14. List the basic requirements for temporary shelters.

16. What factors influence the choice of shelter type?

17. What natural shelters can be used to organize an overnight stay in an emergency?

18. What can serve as the simplest shelter in the warm season?

19. How can you spend the night under a canopy at low temperatures?

20. What shelters and how can be built from snow?

Overcoming fear

Fear- this is an emotional reaction to danger, which may be accompanied by such physical sensations as trembling, rapid breathing, strong heartbeat. This is a natural reaction, and it is characteristic of every normal person. It is the fear for one's life that causes the desire to act in the name of one's own salvation. If a person knows how to act, fear sharpens the reaction, activates thinking. But if he has no idea what to do, feels pain or weakness from blood loss, then fear can lead to stress - excessive tension, inhibition of thoughts and actions. These sensations can be so intense that sudden intense fear can lead to death. There are various ways to overcome fear. If a person is familiar with the method of auto-training, then he will be able to relax, calm down, and analyze the situation impartially in a matter of minutes. If not, then thinking about something else will help the person relax and be distracted. Breathing exercises also have a good effect. You need to take a few deep breaths. When a person experiences fear or stress, his pulse speeds up, and he begins to breathe very quickly. Forcing yourself to breathe slowly means convincing the body that the stress is passing, whether it has passed or not.

Assistance to victims

· Burn. The burnt place should be cooled, wiped with an alcohol solution, apply a dry bandage. The affected area can be rubbed with a decoction of oak bark, raw potatoes, urine. Do not lubricate the burn with oil, do not open the resulting bubbles.

· Bleeding . Press the damaged vessel (artery - from above, except for the arteries of the head, neck) or apply a tourniquet / pressure bandage from improvised means (except for wires, ropes, cords). Treat the wound with iodine / hydrogen peroxide / brilliant green and close with a plaster / bandage. You can apply viburnum berries, wild rose, plantain, aloe to a bleeding wound. For purulent wounds, a decoction of burdock is applied. The tourniquet can not be kept longer than 1.5 hours in summer and 30 minutes. in winter.

· Fractures/dislocations. The injured limb must be immobilized (for which a splint or stick/ski/board is used). Pain can be reduced by applying ice. Finely chopped onion helps (with dislocations). You can not take painkillers, you can not try to set the limb yourself.

· Artificial respiration/cardiac massage necessary in case of clinical death (no pulse and breathing or spasmodic breathing, pupils do not react to light). The caregiver inhales air into the victim's mouth/nose about 24 times per minute. The nose / mouth of the victim should be clamped. Circulation can be restored by pressing on the chest. The patient should lie on a hard surface, unbutton the clothes. Death occurs within 5 minutes. after clinical death, but resuscitation should be continued for 20-30 minutes. Sometimes it works.

· Fainting . If breathing and cardiac activity are not disturbed, it is enough to unfasten the clothes, bring a swab with ammonia to the nose, and lay the person down so that the head is lower than the legs.

In case of any injuries, it is best to try to deliver the victim to a doctor.

Orientation on the ground

· By the sun. The sun is in the east at 7 am, in the south at 1 pm, and in the west at 7 pm.

· By the sun and the clock with arrows. To determine the direction in this way, it is necessary to hold the clock in a horizontal position and turn it so that the hour hand with its sharp end is directed towards the sun. A straight line dividing the angle between the hour hand and the direction of the number 1 points to the south.

· By moving the shadow. The shadow of a vertically placed stick will show the approximate east-west direction.

At night, the sides of the horizon can be determined by the North Star. To do this, you need to find the constellation Ursa Major with a characteristic arrangement of stars in the form of a bucket with a handle. An imaginary line is drawn through the two extreme stars of the bucket, and the distance between these stars is plotted on it 5 times. At the end of the fifth segment there will be a bright star - Polaris. The direction to it will correspond to the direction to the north.

The sides of the horizon can be determined by some signs of local objects.

· The bark of most trees is rougher on the north side;

· Stones, trees, wooden, tiled and slate roofs on the northern side are covered with moss earlier and more abundantly. On coniferous trees, resin is more abundant on the south side. It is useless to look for all these signs on trees in the thicket. But they are clearly expressed on a separate tree in the middle of a clearing or at the edge;

· Anthills are located on the south side of trees and stones;

· Snow melts faster on the southern slopes of hills and mountains.

Magnetic azimuth is used - a horizontal angle measured clockwise from 0 degrees to 360 from the north direction of the magnetic meridian to the direction to be determined.

For a rough estimate of distances on the ground, you can use the data from the following table:

Table #1

For each person, this table can be refined by him.

Shelter construction

The simplest shelter from wind and rain is made by linking individual elements of the base (frame) with thin spruce roots, willow branches, and tundra birch. Natural cavities in the steep bank of the river allow you to comfortably sit on them so that the place of sleep is between the fire and the vertical surface (cliff, rock), which serves as a heat reflector.

Organizing an overnight stay is hard work. First you need to find a suitable site. First of all, it must be dry. Secondly, it is best to settle down near the stream, in an open place, in order to always have a supply of water on hand.

When preparing a place to sleep, two holes are dug - under the thigh and under the shoulder. You can spend the night on a bed of spruce branches in a deep hole dug or thawed to the ground with a large fire. Here, in the pit, one should keep the fire in the fire all night in order to avoid a serious cold. In the winter taiga, where the thickness of the snow cover is significant, it is easier to arrange a shelter in a hole near a tree. In severe frost, you can build a simple snow hut in loose snow. To do this, the snow is raked into a heap, its surface is compacted, watered and allowed to freeze. Then the snow is removed from the pile, and a small hole is made in the remaining dome for the chimney. A fire built inside melts the walls and makes the whole structure strong. Such a hut retains heat. You can not climb under clothes with your head, because from breathing the material becomes damp and freezes. It is better to cover the face with clothes that are easy to dry later. From a burning fire, an accumulation of carbon monoxide is possible and you need to take care of a constant influx of fresh air to the combustion center.

A canopy, a hut, a dugout, a tent can serve as a temporary shelter. The choice of type of shelter will depend on the skill, ability, diligence and, of course, the physical condition of the people, since there is no shortage of building material. However, the more severe the weather, the more reliable and warmer the dwelling should be. Make sure that the future home is spacious enough. There is no need to adhere to the principle of "in close quarters, but not offended."

Before starting construction, it is necessary to clear the site well, and then, having estimated how much building material is needed, prepare it in advance: cut down poles, chop spruce branches, branches, collect moss, cut bark. To make the pieces of bark sufficiently large and strong, deep vertical cuts are made on the trunk of the larch, up to the very wood, at a distance of 0.5 - 0.6 m from each other. After that, the strips are cut from above and below with large teeth 10–12 cm in diameter, and then the bark is carefully peeled off with an ax or a machete knife.

Making fire

A fire in the conditions of autonomous existence is not only warm, it is dry clothes and shoes, hot water and food, protection from midges and an excellent signal for a search helicopter. And most importantly, a fire is an accumulator of cheerfulness, energy and vigorous activity. But before starting a fire, all measures should be taken to prevent a forest fire. This is especially important during dry, hot seasons. A place for a fire is chosen away from coniferous, and especially withered trees. Thoroughly clean the space for a meter and a half around from dry grass, moss and shrubs. If the soil is peaty, then, so that the fire does not penetrate the grass cover and cause the peat to ignite, a “cushion” of sand or earth is poured.

In winter, with a high snow cover, the snow is carefully trampled down, and then a platform is built from several tree trunks.

Obtaining food and water

A person who finds himself in conditions of autonomous existence must take the most energetic measures to provide himself with food by collecting edible wild plants, fishing, hunting, that is, using everything that nature gives. Over 2,000 plants grow on the territory of our country, partially or completely suitable for food. When collecting plant gifts, care must be taken. About 2% of plants can cause severe and even fatal poisoning. To prevent poisoning, it is necessary to distinguish between such poisonous plants as the crow's eye, wolf's bast, poisonous milestone (hemlock), bitter henbane, etc. Food poisoning is caused by poisonous substances contained in some mushrooms: pale grebe, fly agaric, false honey agaric, false chanterelle, etc. It is better to refrain from eating unfamiliar plants, berries, mushrooms. When forced to use them for food, it is recommended to eat at a time no more than 1 - 2 g of food mass, if possible, drinking plenty of water (vegetable poison contained in such a proportion will not cause serious harm to the body). Wait 1 - 2 hours. If there are no signs of poisoning (nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, intestinal disorders), you can eat an additional 10-15 g. After a day, you can eat without restrictions. An indirect sign of the edibility of a plant can be: fruits pecked by birds; many seeds, scraps of peel at the foot of fruit trees; bird droppings on branches, trunks; plants gnawed by animals; fruits found in nests and burrows. Unfamiliar fruits, bulbs, tubers, etc., it is advisable to boil. Cooking destroys many organic poisons.

Prevention and treatment of diseases

· Sunstroke.The victim should be moved to the shade, give cold water, if possible, put ice / cold compress on the head, wrap with a wet cloth, cool.

· Frostbite. Rub the frostbitten area with a cloth, immerse in warm water, rub with alcohol, drink hot. Of the medicinal plants for frostbite, you can use grated onions (for rubbing a frostbitten area), blackberry tincture. Snow, rough cloth can not be rubbed. Lowering body temperature to 25 degrees is life-threatening. The person becomes lethargic, indifferent to others, the face turns pale.

· Poisoning. Antidotes are raw egg white, camphor (for poisoning with plant substances, insect poisons), milk, vegetable oil, potassium permanganate.

· Bites from snakes/insects. Immobilize the limb, try to suck out the poison (10 - 15 minutes). When ingested, it is said to be harmless unless the poison enters the bloodstream. When bitten by a rattlesnake, only the removal of the damaged area helps, up to cutting off the limb. When biting other snakes use alcohol, garlic, onions. You can not cauterize, cut the wound, you can not apply a tourniquet (except for a cobra bite). When bitten by a scorpion, dandelion, bedbug blood, chewed garlic are applied to the wound. In case of insect bites, the damaged area is smeared with elderberry or plantain juice. A dangerous disease is spring-summer tick-borne encephalitis. Since the disease is transmitted by a tick, it is very important to detect and remove the attached parasite in time. To do this, regular physical examinations are carried out, especially after crossing the dense undergrowth, after a night halt. You can not tear off the tick with your hands. To make it fall off, it is enough to burn it with a cigarette, anoint it with iodine, alcohol, or sprinkle it with tobacco chips, salt. The proboscis remaining in the wound is removed with a needle calcined on fire, and the wound is smeared with alcohol or iodine. Having accidentally crushed a tick, in no case should you rub your eyes, touch the nasal mucosa before your hands are thoroughly washed. To protect against flying blood-sucking and ticks, special repellent preparations are used. They are used in pure form, in solutions, ointments, pastes, lotions. The duration of the action of the repellent is affected by ambient temperature and humidity. Repellent ointments and lotions have the longest action.