Survival in the Desert
There are over fifty major deserts throughout the world. These deserts are known for their inadequate rainfall, high temperatures, strong winds, and intense evaporation. Lack of moisture in the soil and low humidity results in sunlight penetrating the ground. Even in the shade, you can reach temperatures as high as 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Unless you are in the gambling city of Las Vegas, Nevada, being unprepared in these living conditions are fatal. Paranormalknowledge.com is ready to show you some life-saving techniques you can use if you were ever put in the situation to survive against mother nature in one of the world’s deserts that receive less than ten inches of rainfall each year.
Clothing
It is a good idea to wear loose-clothing in this situation and most other situations you will read about on this website. Lightly-colored, loose-clothing all over your body including your head and neck will protect you against the sun, wind, and sand. The air that is trapped between the clothing and your body acts as insulation against the heat. If protect yourself against the heat, you will indeed lessen the risk of sunburn and loss of water through sweat.
Your feet is also another part of the body that you must take care of. The desert sand will either be intensely hot or cold, which can cause blisters and cracking of the heels. This is why Arabs wear socks that are knitted from coarse black hair. If you have any shoes or socks, be sure to wear them and ensure that sand is kept out, as it can be very abrasive to the feet. Sand can be kept out by binding a piece of cloth, bandage, or other materials in your possession over the top of your footwear around your ankles.
Shelter
Shelter is a very important part of survival. It is important that you build yourself a shelter to isolate yourself from your surroundings, especially from extreme weather conditions and predators nearby. Like with any survival situation, the type of shelter that you build greatly depends on the circumstances at hand. In the desert, if you are near rocky outcrops or caves, building shelter here is sufficient, but you are unwelcome to many snakes, insects, and other animals who call that place home. Constructing your shelter in a gully is not recommended also due to the risk of flash floods. It is important in these types of situations to look for indentations in the ground which can provide a basis for your shelter.
There are four types of shelters that can be used for survival in the desert. The first type of shelter can be built by stretching your canvas or other materials you possess from the top of a rocky outcrop to the ground. Weighing down each end with anything that you can find would add to the strength of your shelter and protect it from crumbling. It is important to shape the shelter in a way to minimize the amount of rainfall coming into the shelter.
The next type of shelter consists of using the side of a dune or by building a mound of sand. You have to anchor your materials with anything to be used as weights on top of the sand bank and extend them to be anchored at the lower end. Lightly-colored material will reflect the sun’s rays and also be sure to allow a gap of sixteen inches between them.
Another type of shelter that can be built is one that is open on all four sides, similar to the concept of a canopy. The most time-consuming kind of shelter to build is an underground shelter. To build this, you would have to find depressions in the ground, recommended between rocks. Another alternative is to dig a trench that is up to twenty-five inches deep. When you find the location, you would place the material over the area. If you had to dig, piling sand around the material would fasten it and protect your shelter from collapsing.
It is important that you are somewhat comfortable and able to fit yourself and any important materials you possess with you in the shelter that you make.
Water
Water is very important for the body. It is needed to do pretty much anything. If you lack a supply of water, it is very important to eat sparingly since the food that you eat will increase the rate at which your body absorbs water. If you have a good supply, it is also important to conserve as much as you can for later use. In temperate climates, a minimum of 1.5 liters of water is lost by an adult every 24 hours by sweating, breathing, and through urine. In hot climates like the desert, an extra 2-5 liters may be lost as well as 10 liters with strenuous physical activity.
Fatty foods require more water to breakdown, so eating those that are rich in carbohydrates and/or starch and sugar are preferable. It is also recommended to stay within your shelter during the hottest parts of the day to conserve the amount of water in your body.
Finding water can be a difficult task. One of the ways to find water is by building a water still which I will talk about in a later article. You should look for valleys, gulleys, and water courses in your hunt for water. Movements from animals like birds and insects can direct you in the right path as well. If you can spot out any forms of greenery, head in that direction because all trees and plants need water to grow to even maintain their beauty and color. Look up in the sky, do you see any clouds, rain, or lightning? If yes, head for it. Water also may be collected in depressions or holes in the rocks if you are near the foot of cliffs and/or rock out-cliffs. Look for caves and any signs of moisture or trickling water which can indicate signs of larger supplies. Man-made structures is another to look out for as well as water sources that may have been covered by drifted sand.
Water purification is important when you have found your source. If you do not have any purification tablets at hand, it is recommended that you boil the water. I will discuss in later articles on how to properly boil water and how to start a fire when you have no supplies at hand.
Food
You have to look all around you to find edible foods after you have found a source for water. Like with most things in life, some plants and insects are poisonous. You either have to know your plants or look for certain factors that can help you in separating the edible from the poisonous ones. For plants, look around and see what other animals are eating. A lot animals know how to spot out the poisonous from the edible ones. This, however, does not rule out the fact that some animals may be immune to certain poisonous plants and animals.
With insects, avoid any colorful ones that have a strong odor. These animals tend to walk very calmly even upon human contact. This is because they have a sense of security with the certain toxin that they carry. In fact, the most poisonous animal on the planet on record so far is a small colorful frog.
Predators
I’m sure I don’t even have to tell you about the types of animals that crawl through deserts at night. It is full of poisonous scorpions, snakes, lizards, etc. You have to protect yourself in anyway you can from these animals at night. A fire is one way many survival experts suggest using to help ward off these predators.
Body Conditions
There are many things that can go wrong when you are trying to survive in the desert. The heat can cause many bad conditions for the body. The best way to avoid this is to get out of the heat as much as possible and use your water sparingly.
Learning how to survive in the desert is a building process. The information I have just given you can be built upon by reading many survival works and enrolling in survival courses taught by survival experts.
(Source: Stilwell, Alexander. The Encyclopedia of Survival Techniques. 2000.)
