TL;DR: If you post here, please emphasise the true text, e.g. put that up front!
I’ve noticed that I don’t remember text literally, so if a post says “the sky isn’t green” then I might tomorrow remember having read something about the sky and green but was this the correction or was this the myth? Was it even in the myths thread or did I read it elsewhere?
Better for me to read only true things, e.g.: “the sky is blue, don’t believe the myth about a different color”. Or mention the myth is in a spoiler tag or elsewhere in the text where it doesn’t act like the headline or main takeaway
Apparently most people have this, see e.g.: https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/6/1/38/114468/Repetition-Increases-Perceived-Truth-Even-for
“If it’s black, fight back. If it’s brown, lie down.”
That’s shortened to the point of being useless and leaves out all parts that actually matter.
First of all, there are black grizzlies and brown “Black bears” and the sizes of the species overlap. It may be hard to identify a bear that’s coming at you.Here’s what you should do: Carry bear spray whenever you’re in bear country!
When you encounter a bear close up, stand still, take out your pepper spray (or anything you can use as a weapon) and start talking to it calmly. Let it know you’re a human and neither aggressive nor afraid. Ask it how its day is going!
If it backs down, you walk backwards slowly till it’s out of sight, then find a different route.
If it stops, advances or charges, you stand still, facing it. Don’t run or climb a tree.
Most charges are mock charges where it’ll stop before you.If it doesn’t stop and gets within 20 feet, shoot your bear spray, which resolves 98% of bear attacks without injury:
https://irp.cdn-website.com/01d676b7/files/uploaded/Tom_Smith_Research_Report___Efficacy_of_Bear_Spray_(1).pdf In the other 2%, fight for your life. Aim for the nose. Good Luck!Lying down might sometimes be better if it’s a Grizzly, depending on its reason for attacking you, but there’s no way you can know that. Chances are, after its first slap you’re lying down anyway.
Source: worked as a ranger in British Columbia
Similar but also not at all relevant.
The saying goes “if it’s brown flush it down. If it’s yellow let it mellow”
Always run faster than the guy with the broken leg!
You will need a bay. Just saying. Legs don’t just break themselves.
Just saw this in some Netflix movie, but for wolves. Typical world ended dystopia and they were being chased by a pack of wolves or wild dogs or something. The evil leader has a limp so they’re building suspense as you’re hoping the bad guy will be taken out …… until he shoots one of his followers so he can hobble faster than the injured woman.
In the other 2%, fight for your life. Aim for the nose. Good Luck!
I mean, I guess, yeah, that’s what you should try. But I’d like to point out that whoever it was Romans or whatnot who used to pit bears against lions and they got bored of the matchup because the bears always won. And those won’t have even been grizzlys, but likely European brown bears.
But yah guess one could get lucky and it’s not like not-fighting will help either,
Just want to add, because as an outdoorsy guy in Pennsylvania, I’m a little dumbfounded by how many people seem to think we might have brown/grizzly bears in our neck of the woods.
There aren’t. If you’re reading this, odds are pretty good that you don’t live in brown bear country, because you’re probably in an English-speaking country, and just going by numbers you’re probably not in the parts of western Canada, Alaska, or the tiny part of the Continental US (mostly just Yellowstone) where they can be found.
Everywhere else in North America it’s black bears (or polar bears, but I really hope you don’t need help identifying those, and maybe a handful of grizzly-polar bear hybrids)
If you’re in Europe you have brown or polar bears.
If you’re in Asia, you have a few species with a bit of overlap- brown, polar, panda, sun, and 2 or 3 other species I don’t remember off the top of my head.
If you’re in the Andes, you got spectacled bears.
If you’re anywhere else in the world, read the sign by the cage because you’re in a zoo.
Also, I have never encountered a black bear that didn’t immediately fuck off the moment it noticed me. There are certainly bolder ones out there, and you should always take any reasonable precautions, but when I’m camping and hiking, bears are basically at the bottom of my list of concerns, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, etc. generally rank higher, I’ve had chipmunks try to get into my pack while I was sitting there watching it.
All my years of camping I’ve had exactly 1 incident with a bear back when I was in scouts, and it happened when we were all away from camp, it got into a box of cookware, and I suspect it probably immediately scared itself away when the pots and pans went clattering everywhere.
Why should I be in an English speaking country? There are lots of people here ;)
You’re posting in English, so odds are you’re in an English speaking country
There’s obviously non-native speakers here, but the majority of people using English language sites are usually gonna be from an English speaking country
Well, I’m not from an English speaking country and I’m not the only one. So info about brown bears can be relevant :)
My experience with black bears as well. They fuck off as soon as they see you.
Grizzlies seemed more annoyed, like “Why’s there a human in my woods? I just wanna chill.”
So depending on their mood, they’ll usually check you out, maybe try to get you to fuck off, and failing that, grudgingly walk away.I actually missed the number one protection against bear (and cougar) attacks in my post:
Have a hiking partner and talk to them. Or sing to yourself.
That reduces the chance of even encountering a bear by a lot cause they hear you coming and avoid you well in advance.
The drawback is you won’t get to see a bear.Our bear safety trainer actually said step 1 in a bear encounter is: Take out your camera.
It puts you in a more reasonable mindset, cause almost no encounters lead to attacks. And you can take some sweet pictures.What about a moose?
I had a friend from the UK who planned on biking across Canada (never happened). He asked what animals he should be scared of. It wasnt the bears. Its moose.
They look goofy as fuck, yes. But they can be aggressive for seemingly no reason and fuck you up real quick. Theyre big, heavy, strong, and have a fucking weapon strapped to their head.
Do. Not. Fuck. With. The. Moose.
Find cover. A big tree or big rock.
Use your small size and better maneuverability to keep the cover between you and the moose.
Move from cover to cover to create distance.
If there’s no cover, run like hell. Moose are faster than you, but they often stop after a short distance.This reminds me of a story from a friend of mine who lived in Canada…he sent me texts with his car completely fucked in the middle of a two lane highway with no other cars or trees around… I asked what the hell did he hit, his response is that a moose had crashed into him, got up and just left. The entire passager side of the car looked like it had been smashed in by a big truck.
That was the day I learned that a moose is something you do not fuck with.
A bull moose weighs up to 1600 pounds and is designed for repeated frontal collisions with another 1600 pound moose.
Title of your sex tape? There’s a joke in there somewhere…
Heard that, run (hopefully for cover)! Thank you, and I hope never to utilize that knowledge
A moose bit my sister once
Mynd you, m00se bites Kan be pretty nasti…
Ask it how its day is going.
I’m just picturing somebody talking to a bear as if it understands what they’re asking.
The Winter War [Colorized]
That’s not what I would call „talking calmly“. Not even asked how his day is going!
But I admit the „you should be sleeping“ got me.
If you need help look for a cop.
You’d never find one of you went looking over here, I’ve not seen a cop on foot or parked up in YEARS. Only ever see em driving somewhere. Strange.
When I spent some time in the USA though it was creepy, they’d drive their cars around real slow, just watching you, and they’re everywhere. It felt weirdly oppressive/threatening to have them always around the next corner, always over your shoulder…watching o.O
Only works if you’re a richwhiteman.
No you got it backwards, you look for a cop and then go the other way before they see you
Hence why I posted it as an answer to the inquiry “What survival myth is completely wrong and can get you killed?”
Sorry I was trying to make a “it’s not technically wrong” style joke because fundamentally you’d still be looking for a cop but since cops are not actually safe the second part is the wrong part
Attempt was to add to your joke but didn’t land. Been a long few weeks
Lol!
The brightest star in the sky is not the North Star (Polaris). If you follow the brightest star in the sky you will follow a planet and travel some curved path.
How to really find Polaris:
Cool, now how do I find those thingies?
Live somewhere dark enough and gain pattern recognition
Edit: This was kind of unhelpful, so I’ll also recommend Stellarium. The Big Dipper is comprised of very bright stars, and is visible in the northern hemisphere year-round, so it’s a good first constellation to learn. Once you get used to how it looks both on stellarium and in the night sky, you’ll be better equipped to extrapolate how other constellations should look in the night sky, given how they look on stellarium. Once you start building those neural pathways, it gets a lot easier.
I realize this is basically just “git gud” but for astronomy, but it really is a matter of experience, not skill
Look up
I always struggled with that, too, until my cousin taught me to use Cassiopeia. The other constellations use way too complex of shapes and require accuracy, and they’re not super-bright.
Cassiopeia looks like a W or M. Look for 5 dots that could possibly form an ugly W where the left side is wider and more shallow than the right. It’ll genuinely stand out like this.
There it is!
Now, mentally draw a straight line across the tips of the shallow side of the W. Then, draw a straight line through that starting from the bottom of the shallow side. You’ll get something like an arrow shape. Keep following that perpendicular line away from the W until you find something nearby the line that is noticeably bright. That’s Polaris!
After you find that, you can confirm you found the right star by looking for the dippers and shit.
Great question! Use https://stellarium-web.org/ and set it for your latitude or location, according to your preference, and then look toward the northern sky. You can set the app to highlight the constellations.
Is you’re lost but someone knows where you’re supposed to be it’s probably better to stay put.
Also moss can grow on any side of a tree.
Its wrong to stay put?
Drinking your own pee will end up dehydrating you faster, contrary to how confident Bear Grylls is in it being a decent strategy.
But if you’re lost in a desert you should rub pee on your skin to conserve water. (I’m not kidding that’s a real thing.)
I think Bear Grylls has a fetish and managed to fool people into thinking it was a survival skill.
I think even Bear admits that it should be an absolute last resort. Like a “well I’m like 99% sure I’m dying in the next ten minutes, why not?” sort of situation.
So I’m gonna die anyway, but with the taste of piss in my mouth? Fuck that.
soooo. your not going to finish yours?
you’re*
Learn basic grammar.
youll need to get in line on that complaint. my worst subject was foreign language and my next worst was english.
and the PEE drinker just recycles thier own waste and toxins back into body.
Drink alcohol to stay warm.
Is that an actual, existing survival myth?
I mean, it definitely makes you warmer. In that it shunts your blood to the outer layer of your body, warming your skin and making you feel less cold. Problem is, this actually makes you lose heat more rapidly, and increases your susceptibility to hypothermia. But since you can experience “drink alcohol, feel warmer” yourself, the myth will probably persist indefinitely.
It is calories too, so can be drunk for energy if you’re out of food.
Sadly, I think some people believe it.
But other people think you get sick from being outside in the cold
Yes. It’s where the old meme of St Bernards carrying little flasks of alcohol came from. The idea was if you were injured in the cold, alcohol would warm you up.
You may feel warmer. But it actually lowers your core temp, IIRC.
It actually was the case, in the olden days.
The classic image of St. Bernard rescue dogs carrying tiny barrels of brandy for the benefit of hypothermic travellers was a myth though.
I don’t know how much so practically, but it perseveres at least in tongue in cheek references to “putting on your whiskey jacket”
Can’t say I have ever heard that expression.
Alcohol is antibacterial, thus medicinal.
ask AI slop for advise
PCP makes you better at fighting cops
it makes you stronger too.
On it you can punch holes in reality(the wood fence) and make your way to the other side(the other side of the fence)
Well it’s not wrong, but it will get you killed
Makes it more fun, though!
Run outside into the street during an earthquake
I think it very much depends on the building
Best bet is get in a bathtub. Second best, under a doorframe.
Wait, where in that priority list is tables?
I’m not in an earthquake-prone area so I have no idea but I thought the default advice was to get under a table or outside the building if you can make it. Never heard the bathtub… is that a myth you’re mentioning or?
A table won’t hold up when parts of the roof collapse on it.
It’ll buckle and you’ll be crushed under it.
A bathtub is a big bowl made out of a single piece of enameled steel, iron, polymer or fiberglass.
Its shape won’t change if the roof collapses on top of it.
Rescuers might have to free you but you’re less likely to get squished.
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Boiling water renders it biologically safe. No giardiosis, etc…
If you are drinking water with significant heavy metals, concentrating by evaporating a few cups when boiling a gallon, isn’t your problem.
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That we know of
Trump is still alive and posting on his propaganda platform…give him a day
You’re not even concentrating it that much when you boil it. Keep the lid on the pot next time so you lose less to steam and evaporation.
Also, “concentrating it” makes it sound like you’re making it worse, but the total amount (mass/moles) stays the same.
Plus if you build a simple condensation setup, boil the whole thing and drink the condensed steam, you’re also getting rid of 99%* of those heavy, inorganic impurities
*out-of-my-ass number
Just drink the lakewater, don’t worry that everyone else died of food poisoning!
I’d like to read a survival guide based on actual locations rather than old boy scout tricks.
If you strand on a deserted island in the year 2026 you will find a heap of plastic bottles and other trash that can be made into a solar powered distillery or desalination device. It might still be full of micro plastics but whatever so is the the bottled water in the grocery store.
Actually if you ever get in a survival situation besides falling off a ship, your best option is probably to rob the nearest grocery store. It’s a great resource that can be found in the most desolate places.
If you have an entire grocery store to rob what kind of survival situation are you in? Zombies?
Day to day survival in a lage stage capitalism.
I’d choose the zombie apocalypse and catastrophic events any day. At least that doesn’t have the existential dread looming over your every move.
Boiling water that contains cyanotoxins*
Someone doesn’t understand how distilled water is made…
Distilling is different from just boiling, in the sort of context we’'re talking about you’re just getting water up to boiling in a container to kill pathogens, not collecting the steam that evaporates off of it to condense back into water to drink.
And in a lot of survival situations you’d be lucky to have something to boil water with, let alone construct a still.
To their credit, yes, theoretically boiling water will concentrate things like heavy metals. You’re just not going to be able to get it hot enough to evaporate stuff like lead or mercury, all of the water will boil off and your pot will melt long before that if you can even reach the sorts of temperatures needed (you probably wouldn’t be able to, at least not without constructing some additional infrastructure, and if you’re capable of that odds are you’re pretty much set for this kind of situation and not need to be reading anything in this thread for advice)
In practice, you’re just not going to be boiling water hot or long enough for that to really matter. You really only need to get it up to boiling for an instant then you can take it off the heat (and arguably it’s probably safe at some point before it reaches boiling, but unless you have a thermometer, stopwatch, and some tables to consult about pasteurization, it’s a lot easier to just watch for a boil.) Go put a few cups of water in a pot on the stove and get it up to boiling, how much did the water level change? Probably not all that much, you’re not doing much to concentrate whatever’s in there.
You have maybe a week you can go without water under absolutely ideal conditions, more realistically you probably have about 3-5 days, or even a few hours if it’s hot and you’re exerting yourself. Most toxins you’re going to find in water aren’t going to kill you in that sort of time frame, they’re more likely to be something that will add to your lifetime exposure and bioaccumulation and cause issues for you sometime down the road, maybe years or decades later.
And if the concentration of whatever you’re concerned about is high enough to cause more immediate issues, odds are that you’re kind of fucked either way, and the tiny bit of concentration that happens from boiling isn’t going to be a major factor. You’d probably get sick regardless, you’re just trading one issue for another- dying of dehydration in a couple days, or dying of poison in a couple days.
And some more volatile chemicals might evaporate off in the boiling process, let’s say that for some reason there’s a bunch of acetone in the water (picked that for no other reason than because I happen to be looking at a can of it on a shelf in my basement while I’m writing this) acetone boils at 132.8°f (56c) so by the time the water reaches boiling all or most of that acetone has already evaporated.
