IMPEDED
Desert: a region historically deficient in rainfall and therefore limited in plant and animal life, often characterized by sand which makes travel difficult and sometimes impossible. When attempting to move by vehicle, keep moving across soft sand and do not stop until you reach firm ground. Avoid dry river beds where sand is very soft and quicksand which is a possibility, despite dry desert conditions. Do not spin your wheels, and be prepared to shift down if you begin to stall. If the engine boils, let it boil and keep going until you reach solid ground. Never stop on soft sand. When you are stuck, you should dig out and put rocks, boards, vegetation, or anything you can find under the tires. Float your jack on a flat rock or board to spread the weight over a larger surface area. Lift the vehicle, and slide other solid materials under the wheels. Use this to gain initial traction, then keep going. If you see a sand-storm coming, move off at right angles toward it. Should you be unable to avoid it, get behind a hill with the vehicle radiator facing away from the storm. Sit out the storm. Do not leave your vehicle.
When moving on foot, the desert presents special problems. Heat from the sun makes it hazardous to move during daylight hours unless there is enough high brush to provide shade protection. Movement at night is dangerous due to nocturnal hunting habits of poisonous snakes found in most deserts. Carry a walking stick and tie a white string or strip of cloth on one end. Hold this end 4 to 6 inches above the ground when walking. Snakes will strike the string or cloth first and you can avoid being bitten. Wrap your legs and feet with a heavy cloth or leather when thorns present a problem. You will have to find sources of water or ways to obtain water to make it through the desert. See the Thirst section for solutions.
Fog: condensed watery vapor suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth’s surface severely restricting your vision and movement. Do not panic. Find a safe location, and wait for the fog to lift. Should you be forced to attempt to continue movement on the road, follow the solutions under Darkness on Roads. When on the ground, follow applicable solutions under Loss of Sight.
Ice: frozen water or packed frozen snow making movement on roads or land seemingly impossible. Apply vehicle solutions under the Snow section. Add sand to slick-soots on the roads. This will facilitate traction.
Overland movement on ice presents many difficulties. Landmarks of ice are unreliable, and you may not really know where you are. You do not leave a trail on ice, so you cannot backtract yourself to return to the starting point. Think twice before you abandon a crash site where potential rescuers have the best chance of finding you. lt may be impossible to tell if you are moving in circles. This is what you are likely to do because most people favor one leg. If you find yourself on sea ice, it may be moving, or it could break up. Should you get off onto an iceberg, it could capsize. Your compass will not be very reliable in the arctic. Follow the coastline or major river if you must travel to survive. Move toward a known settlement. The texture of ice varies with the season. During the wam season, a thin layer of ice can conceal tundra lakes, quicksand, swamps, rivers, and actual shorelines of a lake or sea. You must be alert for thin ice at all times. Also, be constantly ready to signal the search aircraft. Do not get yoursell in a position where you have to jump over small rivers of water between ice. lf you must, do not overestimate what you can jump. ldeally, you will have, or can improvise, ice cleats for the bottom ol your shoes or boots. Anything sharp or rough will help. A little traction will save you a lot of energy. See Blizzard, Lack of Shelter, and Inadequate Clothing sections under Cold. Also, see Signaling under Fundamental Survival Skills.
Jungle: a dense tropical thicket of high grass, reeds, vines, brush, and trees choked with undergrowth so as toseverely handicap any effort to move through same. The greatest dangers are desperation, heat exhaustion, thirst, animals, snakes, pests, and restless natives. See solutions under the sections entitled by each of these dangers. Attempt cross-country travel only as a last resort. Follow game trails, native paths, or ridgelines. A dry riverbed makes a good path, but beware of flash floods during the rainy season. Detour swamps, ravines, gullies, dense foliage, sawgrass, rivers, and steep slopes because they usually lead to problems. Do not travel at night it you can avoid it, Use a map and compass to guide your way. Navigation by stars is usually almost impossible. You might guide by known terrain features. Follow water drainage patterns if nothing else. Raft down a river as a last resort. See Water section for basic solutions. Beware of a waterfall. Listen for the sound of falling water. Cook food and boil water or use iodine for purification. Keep hands away from your mouth unless they are washed and clean. Diarrhea is a common problem when in the jungle. Conserve strength and take care ol your feet. See Feet section under Hot. Do not sleep on the ground. Weave a hammock from vines if you do not have one with you. Do not use Blisterwood for your cooking fire, its smoke will blister. Stay away from plants with nettles. Some nettles cause extreme pain with the poison gets under the skin. To treat, make a paste of woodash and water, and then bandage. Move slowly and think about what you are doing. Vehicle travel is not con- sidered feasible in the jungle unless roads are available.
Mountain: rugged natural elevation blocking the way to your objective. Vehicle travel is seldom, if ever, possible except by road. Typical survival situations involve overland movement. See solutions under the Climbing and Mountain sections of the chapter entitled Trapped.
Mud: soft and sticky wet earth, or mire and muck, which slows or stops progress of man and machine. Any vehicle’s movemenl through mud can be assisted by adding weight in the area above the drive wheels. Use vegetation, rocks, or other materials under the wheels to help gain traction. Step on the gas very slowly and do not rev the wheels. Build and then maintain forward speed. If the wheels start to spin again, reverse quickly and back up until you regain good traction. Rocking forward and back may help get you out of a hole. Tire chains aid traction. A large bamboo mat, the width and length of a vehicle, will float it over the worst of mud. With two mats, you can keep moving forward by leap frogging the mats with a rolling and unrolling procedure.
Persons attempting to move through mud should reduce their load by dragging packs or essential items on an improvised mud sled. This can be made lrom scrap lumber, metal, or the bark of a large tree. Where mud is really deep, walk on wooden planks 5 feet by 12 inches. Use two planks and leap-frog them to keep moving. Going barefoot can speed your progress in shallow mud, but step slowly and carefully to avoid injury
Snow: minute ice crystals causing heavy snowstorms creating a soft ground covering which can prevent you from reaching safety. The usual problem is the lack of traction on snow-packed roads. Keep your foot very light on the gas pedal, and drive in higher gear. Be very gentle with the steering wheel. Slowly build, and then maintain your forward speed. If you cannot get up a hill, back down to level ground and build momentum to carry you over the top. Use tire chains if you have them. Shift to low gear for downhill. Use solutions under the Blizzard and Skid sections as appropriate.
When outside, first determine the merits of making a shelter and staying where you are. Options would be to wait out the storm, signal for help, or attempt overland movement. Without skis or snowshoes, you will make very little progress in deep snow. lmprovised short skis may be made from tree bark, wood, or scrap metal tied around or to each shoe or boot. Make them about 3 feet long and 6 or 8 inches wide. A sled can be made from a larger section of tree bark. You sit astride the bark and brake or steer by digging in your heels. Carefully select your route belore you start. lmprovised snowshoes can be made of inter- woven branches from forked spruce or willow limbs. Or, use anything you can find to distribute your weight over a larger area.
Water: liquid surrounding you in the form of a lake, sea, swamp, flood, or other bodies partly or totally consisting of H,O. Do not panic. Tread water. Find and use any buoyant object. Study the situation. Signal for help’ Use a survival dinghy if you have one. If on or near land, construct a means of floatation. A raft could be made from light woods, bamboo, oil drums, reeds, or brush. Do not use large trees. Make the raft rectangular with one pointed end. Lash it together with vines, wire, rope, heavy cord, or anything available. Pack reeds or brush into a groundsheet, and tie to make a float. Make a pole or paddle, or improvise a square sail. In the event that no other material but brush is available, weave a circular framework from green sapl- ings. Stick the longest saplings into the ground to shape a desired circle. Bend toward each other, and lash them together. Weave in other saplings until the brush boat is strong. Attach a groundsheet to the surface. If the water is rough, you can attempt to make a dugout from a log of light wood. Keep chipping holes in the wood, build lires therein, and repeat until you get a canoe shape. The latter two solutions will require several hours of hard labor. Practice navigation and paddling of the craft in shallow waters.
Do not forget to make an anchor. A sea-type anchor could be made using a rope tied around a bucket, lashed tubes of bamboo, tied ball of brush, or other items. If you have supplies, balance the load over the entire raft, dinghy, or canoe. When possible, keep near the land and only sail during daylight hours. When using a dinghy or other craft, have signal gear ready to use on an immediate basis. Catalog and ration water, food, and sup- plies. Set out a maritime solar still if you have one. A person who is alone should put to shore or use an anchor when sleeping. Two or more persons should keep watch on two-hour shifts. If there are two or more crafts, link them together with 25-foot lines connected from stern to bow. See Shipwreck and Airolane Crash sections for additional details.
When water presents an unexpected movement barrier on the land, it is usually due to the flooding of the roads. Study the situation carefully before attempting to drive through any water. The current and depth of the water may be deceptive. The water may have washed away the roadbed.
You cannot see holes or limits of the road. lf a bridge has been washed out, you could be driving into a river. Do not take any chances. When the risk is acceptable, and the water is not above the distributor and carburetor, driving through may be feasible. Make certain the engine is cool before proceeding. Take the fan belt off if it is going to throw water on the engine. Stay off the clutch, and beware of burning it out. Use fence posts, telephone poles, hedges, and road markers to help you stay on the road. If the motor swamps or stalls, use a cloth to dry the distributor and leads. Wait several minutes for the engine heat to evaporate any additional water. Try it again.
