Wilderness Survival
By Tiff Davis
Purpose:
To inform my audience how to survive in an emergency situation.
Thesis:
When bad things happen, it is better to be prepared. So I would like to give my
audience some basic survival tips to help them survive in case of emergency.
Intro
I.
Hook – When you have an umbrella, it won’t
rain. When you aren’t prepared for the worst, it will probably happen.
II.
Name – Tiff Davis
III.
Topic – Basic wilderness survival in the
PNW
IV.
Outline
1. First
I will go over taking inventory
2. Next
I will talk about how to signal your location
3. Then
I will cover how to obtain safe drinking water
4. Third
I will discuss how to make shelter
5. Next
I will briefly talk about how to obtain food
6. Last
I will discuss How to make a fire
Body
I.
Inventory
1. Everything
and everything on you
2. Vehicle
if applicable
II.
How to Signal Location
1. T
– According to a retired Navy Corpsman a capitol T is a universal sign for
distress
2. SOS
– 3 short, 3 long, 3 short – flashlight, rocks, reflective material, bright
colors, whatever you have – make visible to airplanes
3. Reflective/bright
material such as emergency blankets, mirrors, flashlights or fire can be used
to signal your location
4. Smoke
– light green branches, pine needles, grass etc on fire – fire will be covered
shortly
III.
Water – The most important need we must
fulfill as we can only survive 3 days without
1. Always
take from running water if possible!! Much safer than stagnant pools
2. Water
tablets – filter then follow directions on bottle
3. Filter
then boil
4. Salt
water distillation –3 pictures to show a few different ways of doing it
5. If
none of these are an option – go for fresh running water filtered as much as
possible
IV.
Shelter – The second leading cause of death
in wilderness emergency situations (dehydration being the first) is exposure
1. Lean
to – describe using visual aid
2. Debris
Hut
3. If
all else fails at least find shelter from the rain under a tree etc, keep warm
with grasses/warm rocks – car interior
4. Most
importantly – Keep dry, and out of wind
V.
Basic Food – Make sure the amount of energy spent
getting the food, is worth the amount of energy you’ll get from the actual food
1. Plants
and Berries
A. Fern
buds
B. There
are tons of edible berries in the area
C. How
to tell if something is poisonous – skin – hour, tongue - hour, nibble – 2-3
hours, bite 2-3 hours, multiple bites2-3 hours, eat.
2. Bugs
beetles, grasshoppers, etc…– Beetles lbs per lbs have more protein than beef
3. Fish
and shell fish– one thing we are not short on in the PNW is water, and
therefore clams, fish, etc. - How to find clams etc, and how to funnel fish
into a trap visual aids
VI.
Fire – How to heat yourself, your food,
and make your water safe!
1. Different
building techniques
2. Lighter
or matches – fuel from vehicle?
3. Bow
and drill
4. Wood
on wood
5. Tip
– Blow softly on kindling, but keep out of wind – keep it going so you don’t have
to start it again
Conclusion
I.
In conclusion
II.
I ask you all to take some time to learn
a little more about your surroundings
III.
I ask you to always be prepared
IV.
I ask you all to learn
V.
I ask you all to make that learning fun
1. Camp
with friends or family – try things out
2. Read
books that interest you on the subject
3. Prepare,
play, practice
References:
Jones,
Bobby. Personal Interview. 9th March, 2015.
McCullough,
Jay. “The Ultimate Guide to U.S. Army Survival Skills Tactics and Techniques.”
Skyshore publishing, New York; 2007. Print.
Miller,
Jason. Personal Interview. 10th March, 2015.
