Desert Survival
The experts (source: Human Synergistics) rank the items:
- Cosmetic Mirror: the most powerful tool for communicating your presence. In the sunlight, a simple mirror and generate 5 to 7 million candlepower of light. The reflected sunbeam can be seen beyond the horizon. With the mirror you’d have an excellent chance of being picked up within 24 hours.
- Topcoat: You need to slow down dehydration. 40% of body moisture that is lost through dehydration is lost through respiration and perspiration. Moisture lost through respiration can be cut by remaining calm. Moisture lost by perspiration can be cut by preventing the hot, dry air from circulating next to the skin. Top coats are the best available means for doing this.
- Quart of Water: You could survive for 3 days with just the first 2 items. The quart of water will not significantly extend survival time, but would help hold off effects of dehydration. Once dehydration begins, however, it would be impossible to reverse it with the amount of water available here.
- Flashlight: It’s the only quick, reliable night signaling device. With it & the mirror you have 24-hour signaling capability. During the day, the reflector & lens could be used as another signaling device or for starting a fire. The battery container could be used for digging, or could be a water container in the distillation process (with the plastic raincoat, later).
- Parachute: the parachute is a shelter as well as a signaling device. Double or triple folding the parachute would give shade dark enough to reduce temperature underneath it by as much as 20%.
- Jackknife: This would be useful for rigging a shelter and cutting through cacti and innumerable other uses.
- Plastic Raincoat: By digging a hole and placing the raincoat over it, the temperature differential will extract some moisture from urine-soaked sand to produce condensation on the underside of the plastic. By placing a small stone in the center of the plastic, a cone shape can be formed to cause moisture to drip into the flashlight contained buried in the center of the hole. Up to a quart a day could be obtained in this way. Though helpful, this would not make any significant difference.
- Pistol: The pistol could be used as a sound signaling device, and the bullets could be used as quick fire starters. The international distress signal is 3 shots in rapid succession. The butt of the pistol could be used as a hammer. It receives its low ranking because the advantages of the pistol are counterbalanced by its very dangerous disadvantages. Impatience, irritability, and irrationally all occur as dehydration increases; the lethal tool constitutes a real danger to the group.
- Sunglasses: In the intense sunlight, photothalmia & solar retinitis (like snow blindness) could be serious problems by the 2nd day. The dark shade of the parachute would reduce the problem, as would darkening the area around the eyes with soot from the wreckage. Use a handkerchief or compress material as a veil with eye slits cut into it to eliminate the vision problem.
- Compress Kit with Gauze: The desert’s low humidity makes it one of the least infections places in the world. There is little danger from bleeding unless a vein is severed, since blood thickens with dehydration.
- Compass: Aside from the possibility of using its reflective surfaces as a signaling device, the compass is of little use. It could be dangerous in that it might give someone the notion of walking out.
- Air Map: it might be helpful for starting a fire or for toilet paper. Could be used for head cover of eye shade.
- Book: Any energy extended in hunting would be costly in terms of potential water loss. If caught, the intake of protein would cause an increase in the amount of water used to process the protein in the body. As a general rule of thumb, if you have water, eat; otherwise do not consume anything.
- Vodka: Consuming vodka could be lethal in this situation. The body loses 2 to 3 ounces of water per ounce of alcohol. The vodka could be helpful to start a fire or as a temporary coolant for the skin. The bottle might be useful, but overall the vodka represents more danger than help.
- Salt Tablets: Even the man who developed salt tablets no maintains that they are of questionable value except in geographic areas where there are salt deficiencies. With dehydration and loss of water, blood salinity increases.