These Survival Myths Could Actually Get You Killed | DEBUNKED

disaster you're lost in the mountains gone astray in the jungle or stranded in the desert how do you survive surely you must have a mental checklist of survival strategies from all those movies and TV shows you've watched but which survival tips will save your life and which will more likely get you killed let's find out I'm Stu and welcome to debunk where we sort the truths from the myths and the facts from the misconceptions please like subscribe and let us know in the comments about any survival tips you've been told that are less than useful should you light a fire in a cave you're lost in the mountains and the Sun is going down protection from the elements is obviously going to be advantageous to survival and like many an Intrepid Explorer in films and on TV you happen upon a cave you establish it's free of any other residence fairs and whatnot but it's pretty chilly like all good survivors ists you're carrying a flint and steel so you gather the driest looking materials you can find around the mouth of the cave but is it safe to light a campfire in your temporary residence smoke inhalation can be deadly so the last thing you want in the confines of your Cavern is a dangerous buildup it might feel like the mouth of the cave would be the best place to light your fire so the smoke can escape through the entrance but according to an article published in the scientific journal Nature which used modeling and real life experiments to investigate Neanderthal cave fires this may actually be the worst position in terms of smoke dispersal the study found that a large amount of smoke ended up back in the cave building up to unsafe levels they also found that when the fire was placed at the back of the Cave the pattern of air flow meant that smoke actually dispersed more favorably rising up the back wall and via the ceiling leaving through the mouth of the cave even so the part of the cave containing the fire which is obviously the warmest part had smoke levels that were extremely unsafe for medium to long duration exposure interestingly the study also noted that Neanderthal fire hears were most likely to be situated in the middle of the Cave the authors concluded that they used this placement as a sort of compromise enabling some degree of smoke dispersal but also allowing room for communal gathering around the fire on top of the smoke problem if the ceiling of your cave is the heat from a fire may cause the rock above to expand potentially resulting in a deadly ceiling collapse in short you should probably avoid lighting a fire in a cave wherever possible though Neanderthal certainly did it it's likely that their significant experiential knowledge enabled them to do this much more safely than you or I could if there happen to be plants growing in the vicinity a safer option would be to use the vegetation to cover the floor and your body providing much needed insulation does alcohol warm you up on the subject of insulation some of you might be familiar with the term beer jacket or beer coat the idea that a dose of booze can protect you from the effects of the cold so should you whip out the hip flask and turn to the Tipple as night falls and temperatures plummet though those of you of drinking age may be adamant that you've actually experienced it oh God do I love those fly boys I'm afraid it's our duty to deliver a double shot lot of bad news not only is the idea that the hard stuff can protect you from the cold a myth but depending on your circumstances it could actually be very dangerous the reason you might feel warm after consuming a boozy beverage is that alcohol itself acts as a vesso dilator meaning it causes blood vessels to widen when the blood vessels near the surface of your skin dilate The increased blood flow is registered by the densely distributed sensory receptors as a sensation of warmth crucial usually though your body temperature isn't actually Rising instead the heat energy generated by your metabolism is being redistributed away from your core which houses your vital organs and towards the surface of your skin where it's lost to your surroundings this can lead to a lowering of your core temperature and ultimately if you're exposed to cold temperatures for long enough hypothermia which can be fatal in addition the sensation of being warm that's triggered by vesso dilation could cause sweating which would further accelerate your heat loss and inhibit shivering the purpose of which is to warm you up last but not least lapping up liquor impairs your brain function Delayed Reaction times altered perception and reduced coordination all increase the chances that you'll have some sort of accident the last thing we want in our Mountain environment so put the hip flast down and try to get some sleep does boiling water make it safe to drink having wisely bin off the boo you make it through the night but you wake with a raging thirst along with shelter hydration is right there at the top of the list of survival musts venturing out once more you find a rather dubious looking pool of water near your cave which along with an unusual color boasts a distinctly offputting Aroma still water is water right boil it and we're good to go well the boiling point of water 100° C or 212° F certainly is hot enough to kill most bacteria viruses and parasites almost instantly and A good rule of thumb is to aim for a vigorous rolling boil for a full minute at higher altitudes the decrease in atmospheric pressure results in a lowering of water's boiling point it actually decreases by roughly 1° C every 300 m above sea level the CDC advises that at altitudes over 2 km or 62,000 ft you should keep a rolling boil going for a little longer though this this extended boil won't raise the temperature of the water any higher that would defy physics the kill time of certain pathogens may be longer at lower boiling temperatures 3 minutes should do the trick unfortunately though not all boiled water is safe to drink should the land you're on have a history of agricultural or industrial use a nearby Farm or mine for example toxic chemical and or heavy metal contaminants May accumulate in pools of standing water boiling the water won't remove these contaminants algal toxins from cyanobacteria commonly known as blue green algae are also not neutralized by boiling ingesting these toxins may lead to gastroenteritis causing vomiting diarrhea fever and headaches and may even affect liver and nervous system functioning none of these things are going to help you survive in the wilderness helpfully several US Government websites host guidelines to help you tell the difference between simp simple aquatic weeds and harmful alal blooms we've put some links in the description below on balance if your pool of water can be passed over in favor of running water it's probably a safer bet to boil and drink that instead although cyanobacteria are present in running water harmful algo blooms are much less likely to occur in rivers and streams can you drink water from a cactus let's raise the stakes in our hydration Challenge and take our after to somewhere even more hostile to survival the desert a formidable Foe for even the most seasoned survival expert no Shelter From the blazing sun a dangerous lack of navigational cues and almost by definition little to no water it's understandable then that the sight of a fat Green Cactus might lift the spirits of a dehydrated waterless Wanderer cacti like all plants need water to survive surely this spiny desert dweller is a guaranteed thirst quencher unfortunately it's not that simple first of all cacti don't contain reservoirs of free flowing water instead they have dense spongy flesh that stubbornly withholds whatever moisture the plant contains and it gets worse should you manage to squeeze a few drops from the tissue it may do more harm than good the water inside many cacti species is highly acidic and contains toxic alkaloids it's for this reason that the name given to the Koval Barrel Cactus by the C people of the Mexican state of Sonora is the barrel that kills consumption of its flesh and or juices is reported to cause nausea diarrhea and even temporary paralysis all of which represents obvious barriers to survival in the desert it's likely that this widespread but dangerous survival strategy reached the public imagination via the 1948 Western the three Godfathers starring John Wayne only water we're going to get right over here barrel head it ain't the best water it'll take time in which the Juke and his traveling companion chop up a Barrel Cactus in search of water thanks for nothing JW at a pinch you may be able to find some water in rock crevices where changes in temperature overnight may cause condensation and pooling to occur pockets of more Lush looking vegetation and animal tracks might also point to the presence of water though desert dwelling animals are generally able to survive for longer periods without water and may travel long distances to find it really the best advice here is to never ever head out into the desert without adequate quantities of water and to make sure you travel with somebody who has plenty of experience and local knowledge we've done the mountains and we've done the desert let's cap things off with a hazard that's exclusive to environments with plenty of fresh natural water should you burn salt or rip leeches off the rainforest lush green and humid here moisture is so abundant that creatures that need to stay wet to survive can get by on the long grass creatures like leeches for example everybody's favorite wriggling glistening blood suckers can be found in and around freshw the world over and in the world's rainforests they are particularly prevalent and can be horrifically oversized the giant Amazon leech can grow to 45 cm almost 18 in in length perhaps thanks to an iconic photo from 1971 depicting a US Soldier in Vietnam using a cigarette to burn leeches from his forearm many of us have been left with the impression that this is the best way to remove them what's that it's to burn off the leeches while burning a leech obviously will kill it it may have some unintended and downright unsafe consequences like all animals including us the digestive tract of a leech contains a multitude of bacteria burning a leech that is attached to your skin could cause it to regurgitate some of the contents of its stomach into the wound it's made on your body and these microbial Invaders could go on to cause infection should you pour salt on them to get them off no the same problem applies so how should you remove a leech according to Anna Phillips a curator and leech expert at the smithonian a leech holds on to its host with suckers at each end breaking the seal is enough to pull them off gently slide a flat object a fingernail or credit card for example under the edge of the sucker and it should let go it's important not to pull or rip the leech off however as its suckers or teeth may be left behind in the wound again leading to infection alternatively as unappealing as it may sound you could just let the leech do its thing they stay attached for 30 to 60 minutes after which they simply drop off while we've shed light on some pretty dangerous survival myths here if you want to stay safe avoid dangerous destinations and situations but if you're determined to venture out into the Wilderness it's worth remembering some simple precautions travel with people who know the terrain there's no substitute for firsthand experience educate yourself on your destination every location has its own unique challenges don't go too big too soon start with smaller trips and build up to bigger ones let somebody know where you're going whether it's a trip to the woods or base camp at Everest make sure trusted people know where you're headed and when you expect to be back stay safe and thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video then please subscribe for our next release and check out our other videos here see you next time

Channel: Debunked

Views: 1,044,297

Keywords: wilderness, in the wild, survival myths, that are actually dangerous, survival tips, facts about survival, myth, myths, mythbusters, misconceptions, most survivable, can you survive, debunked, debunk, common misconceptions, learn survival, learn more, learn about, in a nutshell, explained, science, myths that are actually true, true or false, infographics, the infographics show, survival tips that could save your life, survival mode, busting myths in real life, debunked myths

Id: iGUH_BtcSLw

Length: 13min 2sec (782 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 12 2024