How to Survive a Shipwreck - EPIC HOW TO

imagine you start out voyaging across the seven seas only for a massive wave to send your ship to its watery grave you must be doomed right huh not so fast we're about to show you how to survive being lost at sea you know why because this is epic how to having how to [Music] now anytime you travel on the sea you should make sure you know the emergency procedures obviously you'll need a lifejacket but finding a lifeboat or inflatable raft will make all the difference when you're lost in the middle of the ocean without a boat you could drown while you fall asleep or get hypothermia even in seemingly warm waters so find something seaworthy if your ship is going down if the ship goes down too quickly for you to find the lifeboat then you find any floating objects and pull them together and don't get your cell phone you're gonna need it no really so you've got your boat which is great but you're still far from safe unless you have a radio or satellite phone you're basically at the mercy of fate fates a [ __ ] fickle you're gonna be hoping to get spotted by a plane or passing ships so you have to keep yourself alive until that happens there are three biggest obstacles to survival are exposure dehydration and if you last long enough starvation all frightening the Sun will be beating down on you constantly soon you'll be dehydrated with the worst sunburn of your life so you have to do anything you can do to stay in the shade this cover should also keep you out of the rain because hypothermia can be just as deadly while it may seem like a good idea to jump in the ocean to cool off getting in and out of the boat uses up energy it's best to lay low as much as possible if you're in colder climates then it becomes more about keeping out of the wind and the cold but the same basic rules apply many sailors have found themselves in the cruel irony of dying of thirst while being surrounded by water no matter what happens hey no matter what happens don't drink the water this will kick your kidneys into overdrive as they try to get rid of all the excess salt making you dehydrate quicker than drinking nothing and don't drink your own urine cuz gross got involved water as the ship goes down is obviously helpful but you're probably not thinking about that so I totally understand you have to come up with some alternatives many life rafts now come equipped with solar stills to help you create fresh water but just in case yours doesn't have that we'll teach you the basics on making your own here's how it works you must craft a dome or pyramid shape that has a collected reservoir along the sides but leaves room for the salt water in the middle as the sun rays heat up the salt water the water evaporates in pure clean fresh water will condense on the inside of the still young this will then run down the sides into the reservoir where it can be collected and drank by you it does take a little craftiness but it can potentially work for weeks so it's definitely a priority practice in your free time the next thing to worry about is food many people lost in the ocean have reported a whole ecosystem developing around their boat it's common for fish to circle a boat in these situations so all you have to do is catch them easier said than done creating a net is the simplest way and requires the least of your attention if you have the materials you can leave together a simple pattern that you can trail behind your raft to catch all manner of fish you could also try fishing with a hook you can carve a simple hook out of just about anything hard including plastic bone-in wood where'd you get the bone he was your friend however this will really work best if you have something you can use as bait so you may need to hold off on this until after you catch your first fish a more active approach would be spear fishing which gives you the advantage of deciding exactly what fish you want to go after there's plenty of variety in the types of spear heads you can crab with a three-pronged approach being a good idea for beginners the trick here is to compensate for water refraction that's the quality of water that makes it appears in objects under the water or at a different location than they really are try sticking your spear in the water to see which way it bends this should give you a cool about as to where the fish actually are so you aren't constantly striking too high or too low now you've got all the raw fish you could eat yeah and trust me after a week or two at sea you're not gonna mind that it's raw in fact you're probably gonna find that you crave certain organs based on whatever vitamin you're deficient in like eyes one survivor said that after two weeks at sea fish eyes were like candy to him delicious but not there's actually one more thing we should mention in trying to survive at sea and that's the will to survive according to military and Coast Guard experts speaking to The Huffington Post survival is like 90% mental you have to want it more than anything think of the people waiting for you back home and try to remain optimistic but not too optimistic or you might run into the Stockdale paradox it's named after an admiral who was a POWs Vietnam he said the soldiers that were the most optimistic were the first to die because they couldn't handle the disappointment of not being released when they thought they would be so you have to keep fighting and keep believing rescue will come but accept the fact that it might take a while and don't worry about your physical shape that is actually better than muscle in these situations as it helps keep you warmer lets you go longer without eating and fat is more buoyant than muscle great you've got food water and shelter now all you need to do is get rescued if you have the option try to stay near the wreckage of the bed so you went down it all the debris will make you more likely to be spotted and picked up but if it's just you and your raft out on the ocean oh well then you're pretty much at the mercy of the ocean currents which may not be a bad thing as it could push you towards land but also not keep an eye out for ocean birds as well besides a potential source of food they can also give you clues as to where you are if they come from the same direction every morning and head the same way every night it could be an indication of land but the most likely scenario for being rescued is being spotted by a passing plane or a passing boat you can use a mirror to signal the rescuers but if you don't have a mirror the reflective surface of most cell phones will do the trick came back around full circle don't lose your cell phone playa basically you want to reflect the sun's rays towards the plane or ship moving the beam back and forth so it looks like the light source is flashing which is recognized the world over as a distress beacon if it's a plane the pilot should wiggle the wings to indicate that you've been spotted if it's a boat well they should probably just pick you up right that's it great you're alive you braved the elements and mastered the ocean and made it back to tell one hell of a tale and you didn't even have a volleyball to keep you company you're awesome well we've done our best to keep you alive for another episode so leave us ideas for future topics in the comments below till then I'm Joe Bereta and this has been epic how to let us know what topic you guys think we should break down next in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe you

Channel: AWE me

Views: 2,234,378

Keywords: Lost at Sea, How to survive being lost at sea, how to survive a shipwreck, castaway, shipwreck survival, Shipwreck (Disaster Type), how to, How-to (Website Category), Epic (TV Genre), Epic How To, Epic How-To, Aweme, Awe me, Awemechannel, Defy Media, survivor, Ship Wreck

Id: XT2y1XD_S_k

Length: 7min 2sec (422 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 16 2015