Survival Tips for Treasure Hunters

[Phil]

There are many survival experts that offer great advice if you never leave the trail. However, when it comes to treasure hunting, it is necessary to get off the beaten trail and trek into the unknown. Once you step off the trail, the situation changes, and following advice of the experts could very well be the last mistake you make.

After years of hiking the backcountry elk hunting and treasure hunting, here are a few survival tips for the newbie and expert alike..................


WATER WATER WATER

One of my biggest gripes with survival "experts" is they repeatedly claim a person can go three days without water. That is a LIE.

For the average healthy person who ventures into the desert during the heat of the summer, symptoms for the first stage of dehydration are being thirsty, dry mouth, urination and sweating less than usual, fatigue, and dizziness. This happens within 2-24 hours of not having water.

By the second day, the symptoms become more severe, including extreme fatigue, rapid heart rate, muscle spasms, and confusion.

By the third day, you are DEAD.

Why is this so important? I have often wondered how many people ran out of water, or got lost, and devised a plan based on the advice of the "experts" believing they could fully function for three days without water. Sadly, we will never know because they found out the hard way they only had 24 HOURS to locate water.

When venturing into the backcountry in the summer, if you get into trouble, never forget.............You only have 24 hours. Thus, if you get lost or injured and you know help is a two day walk in one direction, but water is a 5 hour walk in the opposite direction........... Always choose the water.



DEAD PEOPLE WAIT TO BE RESCUED

Years ago, I read a story about a man went for a drive in the latter part of November and got stuck in the middle of a snowstorm. He kept a diary that detailed the daily events, and wrote about eating his shoes, and even the leather seats to stay alive. His last entry was sometime in March that said "The experts that say you should wait where you are to be rescued are full of s....". Are the experts wrong when they tell you to stay put if you get lost? In his situation, yes because NOBODY KNEW WHERE TO LOOK FOR HIM!

In other words, he decided to go for a drive one day and never told anybody where he was going. As such, although the family knew he was missing, they had absolutely no idea where he went. He could have decided to start a life somewhere else. He could have been kidnapped or worse. He could have drove off the road into a river..........Nobody knew where he went, so nobody knew where to search for him.

Why is this so important? You won't find treasure buried under trails, so you will have to go into very remote areas where there is no cell service. If you get lost and nobody knows where you are.........Nobody is coming to save you. Get your head together, create a plan, and get moving.



NATURE IS NOT YOUR MOTHER

The single most important piece of advice I could give is.........The vast majority of people should never leave the safety of the cities. If you have ever talked about making "Mother nature my b...." or "Living in harmony with nature" or "Respecting nature", I am talking about you.

Nature is not your mother. Nature is a predator that feeds on the weak, stupid, and arrogant. Nature does not care who you are, it does not want or need your respect. Make no mistake........Nature is always waiting for you to make a mistake, and it will swipe the life out of you in seconds without hesitation.





There are many other survival tips for treasure hunters, but this is a start. Please jump in and share tips of your own!

 

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[releventchair]

Two compasses minimum.
Checked for proper working condition before you head out. Hint , don't store them on top of the microwave...
Learn how to use the compass. You don't need to know everything there is that can be done with a compass. You need to be able to use one to go somewhere , then return to where you want to end up. That takes proven practice. Learn it. A G.P.S. is a wonderful thing. Until it fails you ,or you it.

Food you won't eat. Till in serious trouble. Not a bag of candy bars of a type you will eat before you need them.
Study high caloric ,fat,protein , compact foods that YOU and your health and body can handle.
Yes a tin of fruit in water is heavy. A small one is lighter and contains...Water.
Make sense of your reserve you won't touch until very desperate.

I've seen raw oatmeal alone for back up. The guy had access to water in his region though.
Cold climes are different than hot ones in what you need to power a body. Reserve food should reflect that.

IF you are working your course where non toxic water exists and you have means of purification , do have containers...
I have a survival straw unused. And hope it stays that way.

Multiple means of making fire. Make sure a couple are waterproof. And tinder or a substitute you have practiced with. No, don't start a wildfire. Or abandon a fire.

Cordage is light enough to bring along. Paracord is versatile in that inner strands can be removed for finesse. 1/4 inch nylon braid is better than no cordage. But bring some.

IF lost. Panic solves nothing. Neither will exhaustion. Or fighting the weather. Heat of mid day, cold of night,heavy cold rain,snow,blizzard.

Sometimes where resources are available (a nights fuel in the cold , a dry spot in heavy rain , high ground in floodwaters, firm ground where steep drops are in the area and or unknown terrain in the dark ect...IT's better to hunker down ,at least temporarily.
Don't burn up your energy/calories building an elaborate shelter. A poncho sucks for keeping a body dry but can make a roof.
In very cold weather pine (and be sure there are many before killing a 600 year old single in a mile of ground, otherwise a forest ranger will show up from a road a hundred yards away and write you a ticket.) can be hinged (you have a stout fixed blade,short machete,kukri , belt axe saw, or something on your pack right?) and the limbs on ground side removed and laid up on the trunk. Note how water tracks. Start shingles on a roof at lower edge at home for a reason.
No tools? Improvise. Lay a stout pole into a crotch. Add sticks/poles to sides and cover with debris. Add debris inside.

Decent weather? Dry mineral soil available and no fuel for a fire to spread to where you'd like a fire? Gather fuel and busy yourself with a fire.
If staying the night , gather lots of fuel. If your body can afford to.

If you want to get lost with a blanket , make it a 100% wool one. Or at least half of a blanket.
I don't carry one , but have not been out back of beyond in a while. A wool shirtjack went though.
Wool can take a spark. Otherwise , don't sleep by your fire.
If it's too cold , move your fire . Then sleep where it was. Use your head though. It may be too hot. Now what if it is? Good. You're now busy thinking ,not panicky. Hot coals on ground=heat per amount of time. And type of ground.
The debris /forest duff is insulation.
A downed log for a windbreak with a pile of debris , might help instead of a fire. IF you stay dry.

A map of where you are , and understanding of compass and using it ,including around obstacles and you only need time and health.
IF your resources are near half depleted , it's the same distance to return.IF things stay the same and you do not deviate.
Does that mean a third of your resources are the max distance you can go and return? Nope. But use your head anyways.
If you are not able to provide what you need , limit your movement /isolation accordingly.

Leaving a written plan before you head out is an assurance.
I leave them near the coffee pot with instructions for finding the site I will be on.
If no one was able to see a note at home , my vehicle could host one. Better someone knows.

Yes nature can be a harsh mistress. But fighting her does not help matters.
Avoid getting into a position where you (I,we,anyone) is potential premature fertilizer.

Break both legs? Think distress signal. Did we use our head by leaving a plan , and someone knows where we should be and when we should have returned? A signal may help in such a case, not as much as avoiding breaking both legs would have .
Now we settle in for the night while we loiter about inspecting our assets we lugged along while trying to keep it to a minimum.
Spam anyone? L.o.l. Yuck peaches. Hmm , not too bad.
Looks like peanut butter and brown sugar for tomorrow. We're not allergic and diabetic are we?

 

[releventchair]

A friend and I were headed out. Out by boat into an area the weather had to be watched.
A misjudgment or rapid change would delay our return.

Water obviously was at hand.
But food and shelter (too big a boat to flip over for shelter) and fire making had to go along. Fishing gear was along , but nothing inspires a scarcity of fish as much as expecting them to exist when depending on them.

We had compared gear and such to not duplicate more than was potentially needed but neither of us had mentioned survival gear.
My friend was the confident sort , and neither of us were strangers to being in remote areas.
I dropped a pack wrapped in a trash bag that weighed about eight pounds in his boat.
He asked , "what's that?'
I told him it was survival gear.
He replied , "I brought mine too".

Over a half a century, maybe more the stuff I lug has evolved , been changed ect..
Whats in my head matters. But having things that can be put to use for the basics is worth having.
Water , a means of carrying more water , compasses, a couple knives (one stout with a heavy spine), cordage, day or two of food, goat smellin stinky synthetic tarp, poncho, tin cup or cornboiler or tin can, heavy wool shirt or shirtjack. A guy can get by three seasons for a while. Maybe four but let's not get ourselves in a bind.
I pack teabags in the stash if heading out far ,(and again it's been awhile) but would miss coffee. A lot.
More so after I'd smoked the last of the tea on day three...

 

[Phil]

EXCELLENT SUGGESTIONS!

Keep em coming!

 

[Toecutter]

I always pack a MRE when Im headed in deep...

 

[MidMoTreasure]

Excellent advice. I like to keep a Life Straw, Mylar blanket, and a fire starter in my backpack too because they are so light and don't take up much space. I also let my significant other know the area I am headed to. Obviously, the "wilds" of Missouri are not as challenging or remote as other areas of our beautiful country. If I were trekking out in true wild America, I would re-think and gear up totally different.

Bonus tip: My hiking pack has D-loops on the straps that I can connect my detector to just like a Pro-Swing.

 

[gunsil]

Compass?? The sun and moon rise in the east and set in the west. In the morning when you face the sun north is on your left and south on your right. In the afternoon when you face the sun north is on your right and south on your left, ditto the moon. That is basic survival. Most people can't use a compass for plotting a course in the deep woods since they have no line of vision, it takes training and practice. I used to teach orienteering in the BSA.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

A compass is great, but what if you lose it or forget to bring one? I use the sun when I get lost, especially in the winter. The sun always sets in the west, which can be helpful if you're lost late in the day. I've saved my butt a few times by using the setting sun as a compass.

I can also tell what time it is within 15 minutes by looking at the angle of the sun in the winter. Time is very important if you're lost in the cold weather. You need to get your bearings before sundown or you're really up the creek. Spend enough time in the woods and you'll be able to use the sun to help you out of trouble. You just have to be observant and make a note of what the sun is telling you.

 

[Phil]

NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT

The next tip comes from three elk hunters in the 1970's that were road hunting and a herd of elk ran across the road in front of them. All three jumped out of the truck and pursued the elk through the snow for a mile or so.

A few hours later, a rancher was making one last trip into the wilderness area on his horse to round up any stray cattle left behind when he rode up on two men standing in the middle of the trail. After talking to them for a few seconds, he realized they were incoherent and in the third stage of hypothermia. He built a fire, warmed up some coffee, and was able to get them stable enough to learn their friend was ahead of them on the trail. He stacked up some wood for them to keep the fire going, got on his horse, and rode up the trail where he found the third man laying in the snow. He was already dead. Upon returning to the other two men, they were again standing in the middle of the trail, confused, and had wandered away from the fire which had since gone out. Eventually, he was able to get them back to their truck............Still in the middle of the road, engine running, both doors wide open. All three men were avid outdoorsmen with years of experience hunting the backcountry, and they made one tragic.....and fatal mistake........They left their packs in the truck.

I have said many times, you can blindfold me, take me to the middle of nowhere, drop me off, and I will live.......IF I have my daypack. Take my daypack away and the odds of survival drop significantly for even for the most experienced of us

Why is this so important? When you are at base camp in the backcountry and decide to go for a "short walk", always assume you will break both of your legs and will need to crawl back to camp in extreme pain. A five minute walk = one hour of crawling. Therefore, never wander too far from base camp without your daypack.

 

[ARC]

I always carry some vegetable seeds...

in case I get lost I can grow my own food.

:P

 

[ARC]

I always keep a full survival kit in my trunk... that way all I have to do is make it back to the car.

:P

 

[releventchair]

Compass?? The sun and moon rise in the east and set in the west. In the morning when you face the sun north is on your left and south on your right. In the afternoon when you face the sun north is on your right and south on your left, ditto the moon. That is basic survival. Most people can't use a compass for plotting a course in the deep woods since they have no line of vision, it takes training and practice. I used to teach orienteering in the BSA.

Compass got me off two lakes when a blizzard hit. (Same event ,lakes were linked and I lived on the farthest lake from where I was when in rolled in. Of course.)
Odds are if I could have keep a straight line in the whiteout I'd have hit shore. But where?

Have had a compass stop the going in circles in heavy fog before too.
And , one morning predawn in the dark after ending up on the same ridge I was trying to leave. I don't have a good answer why I circled twice. Other than no focus to any landmark or terrain once off the ridge.

 

[Phil]

HYPOTHERMIA..............THE NAKED KILLER

Every year somewhere in the country, the body of somebody is found in the spring............stark naked. In the vast majority of cases, those individuals died from hypothermia because when the body gets cold it allocates all blood to the organs and extremities, and away from the brain. As a person gets more hypothermic, they become confused, disoriented, and actually begin feeling extremely hot, then they take their clothes off to cool down.

Why is this important to know? Just like dehydration, once you lose your ability to think clearly, you might be physically alive, but you are as good as dead.

Therefore, when in the backcountry if you find yourself in cold weather, do a self-assessment every 10-15 minutes by picking out a tree roughly 50 yards away. Then pick another tree to the left or right of it roughly 100 yards apart. Focus on one of the trees for a moment, then quickly look at the other tree. If you are ok, your eyes will immediately focus on the second tree. If however, it takes your eyes a few seconds to focus in on the second tree, it means your body is allocating blood away from your brain.

If that happens.........STOP whatever you are doing and start the clock. You have ONE HOUR. The choices you make in that hour will determine if you live or die. Do nothing, and your ability to make wise decisions rapidly deteriorates. If however, you stop and build a fire and get warm, the clock resets and you bought yourself more time to get to safety.

 

[ARC]

Some great advice guys... very good information thread.

Hope more posts arrive.

PS.. sorry about the jokes... cant help myself... its in my nature.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Great advice everyone, thank you for sharing!

 

[cyzak]

I got rid of my sat phone and went with the Garmin In Reach I go way out in the mountains. It is cable of texting the people you want to keep in touch and has an emergency locator sos button on it. The sat phone had none of this and the service was very expensive.I have found the Garmin very reliable have been using it for awhile now.I am not a big fan of electronics but this unit seems to be rugged and it uses the iridium network lots of satellites to communicate with.

 

[ARC]

I got rid of my sat phone and went with the Garmin In Reach I go way out in the mountains. It is cable of texting the people you want to keep in touch and has an emergency locator sos button on it. The sat phone had none of this and the service was very expensive.I have found the Garmin very reliable have been using it for awhile now.I am not a big fan of electronics but this unit seems to be rugged and it uses the iridium network lots of satellites to communicate with.

I like the "mini"... and they make a dive case for it... which is really cool... I want a case for everything.

 

[bigmike]

Great Thread!!!
I do alot of scouting for hunting and always have a gps unit and compass with me. My camelbak is always filled with water even if it is just to go check cameras that day. Contains multiple knives, para cord, leatherman, extra batteries, firestarting materials (military compressed firestarter and pitch from a tree that is in waterproof bottle, small watertight lighter, waterproof matches and flint), marker ribbon, small first aid kit, small supply of food (almonds, smoked oysters, sunflower seeds, a couple energy bars), emergency blanket, 2 small flashlights, and a pistol in case i run into a hungry bear or cougar. Im sure im forgetting a few things but thats the jist of my items. You never know if you will be hurt and not make it back to vehicle and i always want my pack with me so at least i have basics.

After reading posts from others i now have more items to put on the list! Thanks for starting this thread

 

[bigmike]

Also, just as someone mentioned before about learning the compass before you have to rely upon it...that goes for a gps unit as well, dont expect to just purchase one and think your good to go...they take time to learn the necessary functions to use to navigate to and from. I did alot of practice with mine on short little hikes where i was very familiar of the area so that i could be effective when i use it in an emergency situation!

 

[BillA]

from the jungle:
never camp under a large tree
never camp alongside a stream