Barir's World

Five MacGyver Tricks
Thread: Dental floss has superb tensile strength. Use it to sew a blown shoulder strap on a backpack or lash a garbage sack to the skeleton of an improvised shelter to form the roof.

Fire Starter: Connect fine-grade steel wool to the positive and negative terminals of a 9-volt battery to create a glowing fire starter. (A pair of 6-volt, AA batteries held in a series will do.)

Signal Mirror: Springsteen to the rescue. You can signal an aircraft flying between you and the sun using a CD. Line up the aircraft in the hole and flash, ideally in a series of three.

Water Jug: Got a condom aging in your wallet? In a pinch, it can carry a gallon of water. (Unlubricated tastes best.) To make it easier to carry, sling the improvised water bag in a bandana.

Duct Tape: Prevents blisters; splints bones; folds into emergency sunglasses; yanks cactus spines; burns as a fire starter.

The Will to Live

In Deep Survival, author Laurence Gonzales examines cases of survival in the wild to determine why some people live, while others die.

Q. How much does survival depend on luck and how much on personal factors?

A. There's always an element of luck, but most of survival is psychological. The more connected you are to people you care about, or a church or activities you love, the greater the chances for survival. Time and again people get through incredible hardships with nothing but the will to live, while others die with a backpack or liferaft full of all the things necessary to save themselves.

Q. "The will to live" sounds like a vague, even old-fashioned, concept. How real is it?

A. In fact, it's a very uniform reaction that at some point a survivor has said to himself, "I'm not going to die. This isn't going to happen." They get a firm resolve to make it through.

Q. Are there key mental strategies for survival?

A. Yes. The first involves perceiving what's going on in your environment and believing the evidence that you're in trouble. Then, think calmly, make a plan to save yourself and take action. The biggest enemy is the question, "Why me?" The right question to ask is, "How am I going to make the most of my situation?"

Survival Facts

50,000: Estimated number of wilderness search and rescue (SAR) missions in the United States each year.

36 percent: Portion of SAR operations launched to help people who have become lost.

40 percent: Portion of SAR missions in national parks called out to tend to hikers.

10 hours: Duration of the average search.

1 hour: Survival time for a person immersed in 40-degree water.

15 minutes: Average survival time for victims buried by an avalanche; asphyxiation is the main cause of death.

$32,000: Average daily cost to operate a full-scale search and rescue operation.

53 percent: Portion of avalanche fatalities in the United States who were snowmobilers.

80 percent: Chance of surviving a lightning strike.

Men, 20 to 25 years old: Group most likely to be SAR targets, followed closely by men between 50 and 60 years of age.

MYTH: THE SOLAR STILL

Old-school advice for getting water in a desert involves a hole in the sand, a sheet of plastic, and the drip, drip, drip of condensation into a pot. “It’s crap,” Lundin says. “You sweat away more water building the still than you get back.”

WHAT WORKS: Make a transpiration bag by placing a clear plastic bag on any lush, leafy branch and tying it off. You’ll net a few ounces of water each day.

MYTH: BOW AND DRILL FIRE

Has anyone ever lit a fire using a bow, spindle, fireboard and elbow grease? Sure. Can you? Don’t bet on it.

WHAT WORKS: Carry a metal match for emergencies. Pare shavings from the block of magnesium, and spark them by scratching the flint surface with a knife. The 5400 F blaze ignites even damp tinder.