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5. Inability to signal for help

The worst thing you can do with a survival situation is stay in it as long as possible, just hoping to endure until somebody finds you. Unfortunately, many survival incidents drag on way too long because the individual is not equipped or knowledgeable about how to use signaling methods to call for help. 

There are two low-tech types of signals — those you can see and those you can hear. Both employ methods of disrupting the natural environment to attract the attention of someone who is close enough to hear your audible signal, or is within range of a visible signal. A high-tech category of signal is electronic — using a radio or locator beacon to notify someone of your plight. 

Store-bought equipment for the low-tech methods are a signal whistle, a mirror, colorful cloth panels, and fire starters. Natural resources that can be used for the same purposes include logs, rocks, branches, strips of bark, snow, the soil, and just about anything else you can find. 

It’s obvious what to do with the store-bought gear, but don’t overlook the potential for using natural resources for making signaling devices. Passive visible signals can be created by disturbing the landscape — piling logs or rocks in a pattern that is unnatural, and will therefore attract the eye of a searcher. Trenching the letters SOS in the soil will accomplish the same result, aided by the shadow cast where the soil is piled up alongside the trench. That same method can be used by trenching in snow, or by positioning dark tree boughs on a white field of snow. Anything that disturbs the natural appearance of the ground will help. 

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6. Inability to purify water for drinking 

The human body can survive a long time without food, but water is another story. Without a constant supply of pure drinking water, dehydration sets in quickly. Along with that come loss of energy, the onset of poor judgment, and the eventual loss of the will to survive. The victim just wants to lie down and not do anything. Dehydration is generally thought of as a warm weather problem, but actually it is easy to suffer the same malady during cold weather. In fact, it’s the very fact that the weather is cold that creates the problem. Cold air is dry, so every breath you take helps dehydrate your body. Being active at high elevation is worse than the lowlands, because of the arid air and the fact that you are working harder and sweating more. But the sneaky thing is that during cold weather you don’t normally feel thirsty, so you actually have to consciously remind yourself to drink. 

During periods of hot weather, failure to drink enough water leads past dehydration to heat exhaustion and deadly heat stroke. 

Water intake is vital to survival, but making sure the water you drink is pure is also important. Waterborne organisms such as giardia or cryptosporidium can cause severe illness that increases dehydration and reduces your ability to carry on your survival efforts. Boiling water at a rolling boil for a minute or more will kill the organisms. But it is easier to use a quality water filter than to have to stop and build a fire every time you need to purify water. Chemical purification is effective, but requires a period of time to allow the chemicals to do their work before you can drink. And if the water being treated is cold or turbid, extra time is needed. 

If you have no way to purify water, you are stuck with the decision to take your chances with illness and drink the water, or refuse to drink and suffer sure dehydration. It’s best to avoid having to make that choice by always being prepared to purify the water you find.