Buzz
As we've discussed before on Mytour, there are an almost infinite number of ways you could meet your end. Whether it's a Nuclear winter, the rise of robots— or even a seemingly innocent camping trip gone awry— you could find yourself at the mercy of nature’s harshest forces, relying on your instincts and the dubious tips from this list to survive.
But as the sages of old have told us, sometimes questionable advice is still better than none—so here are ten unconventional survival tricks that might just save your life. And a word of caution, don’t try number three.
10. Spit Fishing
The specifics of surviving in the wilderness can vary drastically depending on where you find yourself stranded. Knowing how to treat hypothermia may be about as helpful as a dose of malaria for someone stuck in the tropics, but it could make all the difference between life and death when you’re trapped in the office freezer once again. One thing that remains constant, however, is that you can nearly always find a water source—and with the right skills, that water can provide you with food.
What if you're not familiar with fishing or lack the right equipment? No worries— all you need is a shirt and a bit of spit. Spit fishing is a fast method for catching minnows and small fish, which can either be cooked into a crunchy dish or used as bait for larger fish. Simply step into the water, lift the front of your shirt to form a makeshift net beneath the surface, and spit. The minnows are drawn to the spit, thinking it’s food, and once they gather in front of you, quickly pull your shirt up out of the water.
9. Tampon Fishing Bobber
Tampons can be just as invaluable in the wild as condoms—and that’s not a joke. A tampon consists of four basic components: a plastic tube, cotton wadding, string, and an airtight wrapper. To make a quick fishing bobber, simply open one end of the wrapper, remove the tampon, then reseal the wrapper with a bubble of air trapped inside.
If it doesn't float, just pack some of the cotton into the air bubble. Now you can attach your bobber to a fishing line and leave it to do its job while you focus on more important tasks, like warding off the bears circling your campsite. It’s all about being efficient with your time.
But that’s not all a tampon can do. The cotton inside makes great tinder to start a fire. Stuff the cotton into the plastic tube to create a filter straw for drinking water that's full of sediment. You can also tie a puff of cotton to the end of a wooden skewer with the string—turning it into a dart for your blowgun. And in a pinch, the absorbent cotton makes an excellent bandage for cuts and scrapes. It might be time to reconsider tampons as part of your survival kit.
8. Ice Fire
So, you're stranded in a frozen wasteland, and you need to find a way to stay warm. Maybe your camping trip turned disastrous, or maybe your plane went down and now you're being relentlessly pursued by a pack of wolves; perhaps you just live in Detroit. Regardless of the situation, what you need is fire. The good news? The very ice that's threatening your life can also help you survive.
An ice lens works by capturing the sun’s rays and focusing them onto a single point, much like a magnifying glass. If that point becomes hot enough and is aimed at something dry and flammable, it can ignite. It's a simple idea, but executed in a brilliant way. To create an ice lens, simply take a chunk of ice and twist it around the edge of a pipe. The circular edge of the pipe smooths out the ice, gradually shaping it into a perfect sphere, which functions much like a rustic version of a Fresnel lens.
7. Watch Compass
Getting lost without a compass can be a fatal error, and nature isn't kind to those who wander off track. You could spend an entire day figuring out which way is east or west by tracking the setting sun, but without food and water, time may not be on your side. That's why having a reliable compass reading is essential—and you can easily achieve that with a simple analog watch.
Hold your watch horizontally, with the hour hand pointing directly at the sun. The line between the 12 o'clock mark and the hour hand is your north/south axis, with north pointing away from the sun. For example, if the hour hand is at 4, the 2 o'clock mark will point south, and the 8 o'clock mark will point north.
Just keep in mind, this method only works in the Northern Hemisphere. Also, during Daylight Savings Time, you’ll need to use the 1 o'clock mark instead of the 12 o'clock mark to determine the center line. If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, point the 12 o'clock mark directly at the sun, and the north/south axis will still be drawn between the 12 and the hour hand, except that now north will be closer to the sun.
6. Radio Metal Detector
This is a fun and clever trick that can come in handy in all kinds of situations, though it’s still practical for survival—like when your dog hides your car keys. Believe it or not, with just a handheld radio and a pocket calculator, you can create a basic metal detector. Here's how it works:
Set the radio to AM and tune it to a frequency where no station is broadcasting. The higher the frequency, the better, but all you should hear is static. Then, turn the radio’s volume up, hold the calculator in the other hand (it should be on), and position the two devices so they face each other. When you find the right angle, the static from the radio will change to a soft buzzing sound. You may need to adjust the angle and distance, but once you get it right, sweeping this makeshift detector over the ground will cause the buzz to intensify near any metal buried close to the surface.
5. Water From Dirt
Water is always your most precious resource—most people succumb to dehydration after just three or four days without it. While there are a few rare instances where people have lasted over a week without water—like the crew of the downed plane Lady Be Good, who survived walking 100 miles (160 km) across the harsh Libyan desert for eight days with no water—it's never wise to tempt fate. If you're running low, you can always extract water directly from the ground itself.
This is where the solar still comes in, a simple device that collects evaporated water from dirt using a tarp or plastic sheet. To create one, dig a hole in direct sunlight and drape the tarp over the hole’s opening. Secure the edges with whatever you have available—logs, rocks, even boxes of tampons. Now, here's the key—place a small pebble right in the center of the tarp to make it dip into an inverted peak.
When the sun hits the tarp, the air inside the hole heats up, causing moisture in the dirt to evaporate. As the moisture rises, it condenses on the underside of the tarp and runs down to the lowest point—the center. Position a cup or bowl right below this spot to collect the pure, distilled water as it drips down—potentially saving your life.
4. Dakota Fire Hole
At this point, you should be feeling pretty confident about your survival skills in the wild. But now let’s raise the stakes a little. You're not just lost in the wilderness anymore; you're behind enemy lines, and you need to survive without revealing your position. Obviously, starting a fire might seem out of the question—but there’s a way around that. A Dakota fire hole might be the perfect solution.
This technique involves digging two side-by-side pits connected by a tunnel. One pit holds the fire, while the other allows air to flow in and supply oxygen to the fire through the tunnel. Practically, this method also works wonders in windy conditions, but you can still imagine you’re hiding from savage cannibals if that’s more your style.
3. Condoms
It’s an old saying: if you have enough condoms, you could survive in the wild for years. And even if we just made that up, it’s still true. Condoms can supply you with food, water, fire, and shelter—the four pillars of survival. Getting stranded with a shipment of condoms would be your luckiest break, second only to not getting stranded at all. For one, condoms make surprisingly good water storage. You’d be amazed at how large they can stretch—two or three full condoms can provide enough water for a person for an entire week.
Condoms also burn. A latex condom will ignite immediately, making it ideal tinder to start a fire. Moreover, because they’re watertight, condoms can also be used to safely store dry tinder. In a real pinch, you can even use them as rope to secure a tarp for shelter or—believe it or not—even transform them into a slingshot for hunting small game. Yes, you can hunt animals using condoms.
2. Bubble Wrap
If you're suffering from hypothermia, bubble wrap might just save your life. Who would have guessed? The air bubbles in the material form an insulating barrier that reflects body heat back, helping to keep you warm. In one study, it was shown that bubble wrap was about seventy percent as effective as three cotton blankets in keeping a person insulated—and since it’s made of plastic, it works even better in windy or rainy conditions.
So, if you're ever caught in a snowstorm with no shelter, grab some bubble wrap—just try not to pop the bubbles if you get bored waiting to be rescued.
1. Saran Wrap
This is something you should hopefully never have to try, and we hope you're never in a situation requiring you to treat a lung puncture, but hey, knowledge is power. A sucking chest wound occurs when a wound penetrates the chest wall and damages the lung. Because of the extra hole in the lung, air can escape with a distinct 'sucking' sound (which is why it’s called that).
It's no surprise that sucking chest wounds are often fatal unless immediate treatment is provided—and when you're stranded far from any hospital, this could be a real problem.
But here’s a life-saving tip: find a piece of plastic (saran wrap works perfectly) to seal the hole, ensuring the chest cavity doesn’t have higher air pressure than the lung itself. If that happens, the lung will collapse. When sealing the wound, leave a flap at the bottom to let air escape without being drawn into the wound. It might seem insignificant now, but someday, you might find yourself needing to save a life.
