10 Survival Myths Debunked For Your Adventurers

All those survival guides you’d read and all those documentaries you’d seen, must have told you everything you needed to know for survival situations, right? And you believe them, do you? Not anymore. Here we are going to debunk 10 survival myths that might just be the difference between life and death. Check them out.

1. You Don’t Need Food Immediately

A lot of people seem to believe that you can’t go past a day without food, which isn’t actually true; in fact there are cases of people intentionally going without food, with just water to see them through. Your body will keep going without food and will depend on your body fat for its nutrients and yes you do lose a lot of weight, but be careful those of you who may see it as a chance for a diet, there are repercussions for that.

2. Snake Bites

Everyone knows that when you get bitten by a venomous snake, the best thing you can do is suck it out. This is completely wrong; it’s one of the worst survival myths. Sucking it out leads to you spreading some nasty bacteria around, also make sure you don’t try to cut the location where the snake bit you.

3. Playing Dead

Everyone knows how it goes, the second a bear appears attacks, you play dead, but this is actually not the case, it all depends on the type of bear. If it’s a mother grizzly bear defending her cubs, you can actually play dead but not if its’ a predator, why? Because black bears attack from behind, apart from this they are usually after an easy meal. Which means that you pretending to be dead is actually a good thing, albeit for the bear.

4. Drinking From a Cactus

Okay, so you’re out in the desert, half dead from thirst, your thinking of drinking your urine, but then you see something green, a cactus? Whatever, and you remember those shows saying cactus have water. You’re saved. Except, you’re not because it’s one of those survival myths that may actually get you killed. Back away from that plant. If you drink from the cactus, there is a very high chance that you will be drinking noxious fluids that are high in alkalis, meaning that you will be taxing your already over tasked kidneys, which will further lead to dehydration, quite sad really!

5. Survival Shows

Survival shows are reality shows, reality shows are scripted which means that they are not true, there are things they could say on a reality show that may seem true but in reality could actually end up putting you in more danger. These shows push the survival myths so far that they seem real and get you in loads of life threatening trouble.

6. In it with sharks

As scary as sharks are, they rarely ever attack humans, but when they do, we all know things are about to go down. A belief that a lot of people have is that, once you punch a shark’s nose it will let you go, this isn’t entirely true, it’s one of those survival myths. Although it may make the shark pause it isn’t the most effective, the most effective thing you can do, is to give that shark a punch in its eyes or gills. That’s right, no matter how weak you are, this is your best bet or you could just use something sharp, but where’s the fun in that?

7. What to Eat, What to Eat?

So now we know that we don’t have to be in a panic about starving to death after a day with no food, but now the question is, what can you eat. The wilderness is usually brimming with plants, but just because it looks harmless, doesn’t mean you can eat it, in fact there is a universal test, called the universal edibility test, learn to pass the test and you just may be able to find some fruits to eat.

8. Alcohol Warms You Up

Alcohol makes you ‘feel’ warm. Alcohol is a vasodilator, meaning that it causes your blood vessels to dilate, particularly the capillaries under the surface of your skin , when you have a drink, the volume of blood brought to the skin’s surface increases, making you feel warmer, when in all honestly it makes you colder, and to be honest you won’t even feel it. Don’t ever fall for this or any other survival myths of these sorts.

9. A Knife in You? Leave It There

When it comes to being stabbed, the first thing we may decide to do is pull it out the dagger but, truth be told this is not a wise decision. It is actually advised to leave the knife in there and just try and dress the wound, to prevent the knife from moving around, and try your best to get to a hospital as fast as possible, for although it may sound crazy, the knife could be stopping air from entering the chest cavity. Also make sure that the victim doesn’t move about too much.

10. When There Is an Earthquake, Stand Under the Doorway

In the case of an earthquake, do not stand under your doorway. It’s advisable that you live in an older home that has sturdy door waves. But in modern homes, you will be safer under a table as the doorways for modern homes are not as strong as those of older homes. If you are inside, drop cover and hold on to the floor, make sure you don’t move about, i.e. from inside the house to outside the house, just stay put in one place.