speech class

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. 9^th 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. 10^th March, 2015.