KEYWORD SURVIVAL

Keyword "SURVIVAL" is the opening chapter of U.S. Army Field Manual 21-76, Survival.
Whenever faced with a survival situation, remember the keyword "SURVIVAL." You may some day have to make it work for you.

* S - Size Up the Situation
* U - Use All Your Senses, Undue Haste Makes Waste
* R - Remember Where You Are
* V - Vanquish Fear and Panic
* I - Improvise
* V - Value Living
* A - Act Like the Natives
* L - Live by Your Wits, But for Now, Learn Basic Skills

Click on the above links to learn the meaning of each letter of the word "survival."

S - SIZE UP THE SITUATION

If you are in a combat situation, find a place where you can conceal yourself from the enemy. Remember, security takes priority. Use your senses of hearing, smell and sight to get a feel for the battlefield. What is the enemy doing? Advancing? Holding in place? Retreating? You will have to consider what is developing on the battlefield when you make your survival plan.

Size Up Your Surroundings

Determine the pattern of the area. Get a feel for what is going on around you. Every environment, whether forest, jungle or desert, has a rhythm or pattern. This rhythm or pattern includes animal and bird noises and movements and insect sounds. It may also include enemy traffic and civilian movements.

Size Up Your Physical Condition

The pressure of the battle you were in or the trauma of being in a survival situation may have caused you to overlook wounds you received. Check your wounds and give yourself first aid. Take care to prevent further bodily harm. For instance, in any climate, drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration. If you are in a cold or wet climate, put on additional clothing to prevent hypothermia.

Size Up Your Equipment

Perhaps in the heat of battle or due to accident, you lost or damaged some of your equipment. Check to see what equipment you have and what condition it is in.

Now that you have sized up your situation, surroundings, physical condition and equipment, you are ready to make your survival plan. In doing so, keep in mind your basic physical needs — water, food and shelter.

U - USE ALL YOUR SENSES, UNDUE HASTE MAKES WASTE

You may make a wrong move when you react quickly without thinking or planning. That move may result in your capture or death. Don't move just for the sake of taking action.

Consider all aspects of your situation (size up your situation) before you make a decision and a move. If you act in haste, you may forget or lose some of your equipment. In your haste, you may also become disoriented so that you don't know which way to go.

Plan your moves. Be ready to move out quickly without endangering yourself, especially if the enemy is near you. Use all your senses to evaluate the situation. Note sounds and smells. Be sensitive to temperature changes. Be observant.

R - REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE

Spot your location on your map and relate it to the surrounding terrain. This is a basic principle that you must always follow. If there are other persons with you, make sure they also know their location. Always know who in your group, vehicle or aircraft has a map and compass. If that person is killed, you will have to get the map and compass from him. Pay close attention to where you are and to where you are going. Do not rely on others in the group to keep track of the route. Constantly orient yourself.

Always try to determine, as a minimum, how your location relates to —

* The location of enemy units and controlled areas.
* The location of friendly units and controlled areas.
* The location of local water sources (especially important in the desert).
* Areas that will provide good cover and concealment.

This information will allow you to make intelligent decisions when you are in a survival and/or evasion situation.

V - VANQUISH FEAR AND PANIC

The greatest enemies in a combat, survival and/or evasion situation are fear and panic. If uncontrolled, they can destroy your ability to make an intelligent decision.

They may cause you to react to your feelings and imagination rather than to your situation. They can drain your energy and thereby cause other negative emotions. Previous survival and evasion training and self-confidence will enable you to vanquish fear and panic.

I - IMPROVISE

In the United States, we have items available for all our needs. Many of these items are cheap to replace when damaged. Our easy come, easy go, easy-to-replace culture makes it unnecessary for us to improvise. This inexperience in improvisation can be an enemy in a survival situation. Learn to improvise. Take a tool designed for a specific purpose and see how many other uses you can make of it.

Learn to use natural objects around you for different needs. An example is using a rock for a hammer. No matter how complete a survival kit you have with you, it will run out or wear out after a while. Your imagination must take over when your kit wears out.

V - VALUE LIVING

All of us were born kicking and fighting to live but we have become used to the soft life. We have become creatures of comfort. We dislike inconveniences and discomforts.

What happens when we are faced with a survival situation with its stresses, inconveniences and discomforts? This is when the will to live — placing a high value on living — is vital.

The experience and knowledge you have gained through life and your training will have a bearing on your will to live. Stubbornness, a refusal to give in to problems and obstacles that face you, will give you the mental and physical strength to endure.

A - ACT LIKE THE NATIVES

The natives and animals of a region have adapted to their environment. To get a feel of the area, watch how the people go about their daily routine. When and what do they eat? When, where and how do they get their food? When and where do they go for water? What time do they usually go to bed and get up?

These actions are particularly important to you when you are trying to avoid capture.

Animal life in the area can also give you clues on how to survive. Animals also require food, water and shelter. By watching them, you can find sources of water and food.

WARNING:
Animals cannot serve as an absolute guide to what you can eat and drink. Many animals eat plants that are toxic to humans.

Keep in mind that the reaction of animals can reveal your presence to the enemy. If in a friendly area, one way you can gain rapport with the natives is to show interest in their tools and how they get food and water. By studying the people, you learn to respect them; you often make valuable friends; and, most importantly, you learn how to adapt to their environment and increase your chances of survival.

L - LIVE BY YOUR WITS, but for now LEARN BASIC SKILLS

Without training in basic skills for surviving and evading on the battlefield, your chances of living through a combat, survival and/or evasion situation are slight.

Learn these basic skills now — not when you are headed for or are in the battle, or en route for an excursion to a remote or harsh environment. How you decide to equip yourself before deployment will impact on whether or not you survive. You need to know about the environment to which you are going and you must practice basic skills geared to that environment. For instance, if you are going to a desert, you need to know how to get water in the desert.

Practice basic survival skills during all training programs and exercises. Survival training reduces fear of the unknown and gives you self-confidence. It teaches you to live by your wits.

FIELDCRAFT 101: TIE TWELVE KNOTS

These are some of the basic and essential knots all pioneers, woodsmen and adventurers should know.

1. SQUARE KNOT.
The square knot is used to tie the ends of two ropes of equal diameter. It is a joining knot.


How to tie the Square Knot:
A) Holding one working end in each hand, place the working end in the right hand over the one in the left hand.
B) Pull it under and back over the top of the rope in the left hand.
C) Place the working end in the left hand over the one in the right hand and repeat STEP 2.
D) Dress the knot down and secure it with an overhand knot on each side of the square knot.

2. OVERHAND KNOT

This general-purpose knot can be used as a “stopping knot”, or as a step in tying more complex knots.

3. CLOVE HITCH
The Clove Hitch is an anchor knot that can be used in the middle of the rope as well as at the end. It can be used as either an anchor or middle of the rope knot, depending on how it is tied.


How to tie a Clove Hitch at the End of the Rope:
(Note: Assume that the anchor is horizontal.)
A) Place the working end of the rope over the top of the anchor. Hold the standing part in the left hand. With the right hand, reach under the horizontal anchor, grasp the working end, and bring it inward.
B) Place the working end of the rope over the standing part (to form a loop). Hold the loop in the left hand. Place the working end over the anchor to the left of the loop.
C) With the right hand, reach down to the left hand side of the loop under the anchor. Grasp the working end of the rope. Bring the working end up and outward.
D) Dress down the knot.


How to tie a Clove Hitch in the Middle of the Rope:
A) Hold rope in both hands, palms down with hands together.
B) Form a loop away from and back toward the right.
C) With the right hand, form a loop inward and back to the left hand.
D) Place the left loop on top of the right loop. Place both loops over the anchor and pull both ends of the rope in opposite directions. The knot is tied.

4. TIMBER HITCH
The Timber Hitch is even better than the Clove hitch. It is easily made by passing the end of a rope around the spar or log, round the standing part of the rope and then twist it three or more times around, under and over itself.


How to tie a Timber Hitch:
A) Place the working end of a rope around a spar (c).
B) Then route the working end (a) several times around standing part (b), against the lay of the rope.

5. SHEET BEND
The Sheet Bend Knot is used for tying two ropes of different diameters. It is structurally related to the Bowline.


How to tie the Sheet Bend:
A) Pass the end of one rope through the bight of another.
B) Go around both parts of the other and under its own standing parts.
A double sheet bend may be employed when a Sheet Bend may not have enough friction to hold well.


The Double Sheet Bend, like the Sheet Bend, is used to fasten a small line to a larger one. In the illustration the light colored line would be the smaller and the
darker one would be the larger.

6. ROUND-TURN-AND-TWO-HALF HITCHES
This knot is used to tie the end of a rope to an anchor, and it must have constant tension. It is an anchor knot.


How to tie the Round-Turn-and-Two-Half-Hitches:
A) Route the rope around the anchor from right to left and wrap down (must have two wraps in the rear of the anchor, and one in the front). Run the loop around the object to provide 360-degree contact, distributing the load over the anchor.
B) Bring the working end of the rope left to right and over the standing part, forming a half hitch (first half hitch).
C) Repeat STEP 2 (last half hitch has a 4 inch pigtail).
D) Dress the knot down.

7. TAUT-LINE HITCH
Since it will only slide one way, the Taut-line hitch is often used to adjust tension on tent lines. The taut-line hitch will hold firmly under tension.


How to tie a Taut-Line Hitch:
Place rope end through or around whatever it is you are fastening (in the illustration it is an eye on a corner of a tent or tarp) make a round turn twice around the standing part below it, then bring rope up across the standing part and a make a half-hitch around it.

8. BOWLINE


The bowline is one of the most important and versatile of knots. It is be used to tie a single fixed loop in the end or the middle of a rope. It is an anchor knot, when used to tie the end of a rope around an anchor. There are several variants of the bowline.


How to tie the Bowline:
A) Facing the anchor, bring the working end of the rope around the anchor, from right to left.
B) Form an overhand loop on the right hand side of the standing part of the rope, toward the anchor.
C) Reach through the loop and pull up a bight.
D) Draw the working end of the rope from the left hand side through the bight, and bring it back onto itself. Now dress the knot down.
E) Form an overhand knot with the tail from the bight.

9. BOWLINE-ON-A-BIGHT (TWO-LOOP BOWLINE)


The Bowline-on-a-Bight is one of the many variants of the Bowline. It is used to form two fixed loops in the middle of a rope. It is a middle rope knot.


How to tie the Bowline-on-a-Bight:
A) Form a bight in the rope about twice as long as the finished loops will be.
B) Tie an overhand knot on a bight.
C) Hold the overhand knot in the left hand so that the bight is running down and outward.
D) Grasp the bight with the right hand; fold it back over the overhand knot so that the overhand knot goes through the bight.
E) From the end (apex) of the bight, follow the bight back to where it forms the cross in the overhand knot. Grasp the two ropes that run down and outward and pull up, forming two loops.
F) Pull the two ropes out of the overhand knot and dress the knot down.
G) A final dress is required: grasp the ends of the two fixed loops and pull, spreading them apart to ensure the loops do not slip.

10. GIRTH HITCH
The girth hitch is used to attach a runner to an anchor or piece of equipment. It is a special-purpose knot, often used in mountaineering for placing a snaplink (D-ring or carabiner) in mid line, or tying one rope 90 degrees off a heavier line.


How to tie the Girth Hitch:
A) Form a bight.
B) Bring the runner back through the bight.
C) Cinch the knot tightly.

11. CAT’S PAW

The principle of fastening by twisted rope is utilized in the “Cat’s Paw”. It can be used as an alternative to the Girth Hitch, or for hoisting with a hook.


How to tie the Cat's Paw:
A) Pass the bight of your rope over the end and standing part.
B) With a bight in each hand, take three twists from you.
C) Then bring the two bights side by side and fasten the snaplink or hook.

12. PRUSIK
The Prusik is used to put a moveable rope on a fixed rope such as a Prusik ascent or a tightening system. This knot can be tied as a middle or end of the rope Prusik. It is a specialty knot of climbers.


How to tie the Middle-of-the-Rope Prusik:
The middle-of-the-rope Prusik can be tied with a short rope to a long rope as follows:
A) Double the short rope, forming a bight, with the working ends even. Lay it over the long rope so that the closed end of the bight is 12 inches below the long rope and the remaining part of the rope (working ends) is the closest to the climber; spread the working end apart.
B) Reach down through the 12-inch bight. Pull up both of the working ends and lay them over the long rope. Repeat this process making sure that the working ends pass in the middle of the first two wraps. Now there are four wraps and a locking bar working across them on the long rope.
C) Dress the wraps and locking bar down to ensure they are tight and not twisted. Tying an overhand knot with both ropes will prevent the knot from slipping during periods of variable tension.
How to tie the End-of-the-Rope Prusik:
A) Using an arm’s length of rope, and place it over the long rope.
B) Form a complete round turn in the rope.
C) Cross over the standing part of the short rope with the working end of the short rope.
D) Lay the working end under the long rope.
E) Form a complete round turn in the rope, working back toward the middle of the knot.
F) There are four wraps and a locking bar running across them on the long rope. Dress the wraps and locking bar down. Ensure they are tight, parallel, and not twisted.
G) Finish the knot with a bowline to ensure that the Prusik knot will not slip out during periods of varying tension.

My references for this post are US Army Field Manual 3-97-61 MILITARY MOUNTAINEERING and The Boy Scout Handbook. -S.L.

SURVIVAL SKILLS

Ray Mears is more about living with the land and traditional ways of survival taken from indiginous people. Bear mixes in more 'adventure' and survival when in trouble.

THIS GUY IS CERTIFIABLY INSANE . . .

Don't get me wrong - I respect his skills. I just wouldn't be so eager to willingly put myself into some of these situations . . .

SNAKE EATERS

“Snake Eaters” is a military slang term for Army Special Force (a.k.a. “Green Berets”), and YES we DO eat snakes. This is part of our survival training, although I have slayed and eaten snake in the field to supplement the rations, and because basically, snake tastes good.

I have encountered snakes (and eaten them) throughout my career. I have eaten cobra in Thailand (and drank the blood mixed with Mekhong whiskey), Eastern Diamondback in Mississippi and copperhead North Carolina. For what it’s worth, I prefer rattlesnake; tastes like chicken.

Back in '99 I did a six-month stint in the Ivory Coast. The base we stayed in – Camp Akuedo – was adjacent to the city dump; the place was overridden with vermin. Vultures, kites and ravens patrolled the skies. I didn’t have a solid bowel movement the whole time I was there, and every day we either killed a cobra, some kind of evil viper, or one of these lobster-sized scorpions that infested our Company area.

Well, we had this Warrant Officer Eric Red (best damn Warrant I ever worked with and one of the bravest men alive). For this deployment he was the Company XO, and he lived in the Company Supply room. The word around camp was he kept a mamba and a mongoose in there with him. Because he visited the Embassy a couple of times a week, Chief Red operated a check cashing service out of the supply room; he’d have us go in and stand in front of this desk he’d made out of MRE cartons, it was just like the old-time pay call.

One day I asked him, “So what’s this about a mongoose and a mamba, Chief?”

“Oh, I kicked the mongoose out. The damn thing moved his family in, and they kept me up all night with their fighting and scurrying about.”

“Uh-huh. So, uh, what about the mamba?”

“I kept the mamba – it keeps the Africans out.”

“But . . . it’s a MAMBA, Chief!”

“Yeah, but it’s only a GREEN mamba,” he shrugged.

Whenever I went in there to cash a check I always looked over my shoulder for the mamba.

A reader who does the 3d World Bush Tour quite a bit asked me for info on what to do in the event of a snake bite. This opened a can of worms, to coin a phrase . . .

As far as first aid goes, I refer to Army Field Manuel 21-76 SURVIVAL (which I helped write).

The advice from the SAS Survival Handbook, Vol I – Outdoor Survival by John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman (HarperCollins Publishers, London 1996), stresses avoidance:

Snakes have excellent camouflage, only movement gives them away. In snake-infested areas you will pass many every day without ever noticing them.
The chances of being bitten are small and all but the worst cases recover. In Malaysia, more people are killed each year by falling coconuts and in India rat-bites produce many more cases for hospitalization!
A bite from a poisonous snake should always be taken seriously, but there are degrees of severity. When biting in self-defence, many snakes inject only a little venom, occasionally none at all. If the snake is out of condition or has recently bitten something else, its venom may not be fully potent and there may only be a little in its venom sacs. Clothing or shoes may have deflected the full force of the bite. In many poisonous snakes the dose of venom needed to kill a man far exceed the amount that can be injected in one bite.

Funny thing is, I’ve always worried about falling coconuts. Seriously. Never knew they were THAT deadly; I just always had a sort of feeling. Just goes to show . . .