Surviving on a deserted Island

 SURVIVING ON A DESERTED ISLAND

 

 

Islands offer a special challenge to the survivor, especially small islands and those lacking resources. The feeling of loneliness is emphasized on an island and the sense of isolation acute. The problems are mental as well as physical. To help overcome them explore the island thoroughly and establish a daily routine.

  
Climb the highest point to make a sketch of the island and get a mental picture of the terrain. Explore every creek, cranny, bay and beach of the coastline. Then take you reconnaissances inland until the island is familiar.

 
The island may have been inhabited in the past. Remains of building offer a basis for shelter. Fence post and wire will be useful to repair your boat or build a raft. Vegetables may still be found growing and rats seem to follow man everywhere, sometimes they are the only permanent wildlife to be found.

 Shelter... Shelter will make life seem better and even a scrape in the ground will give some protection. If you find caves ensure that they are not tidal before you decide to use one. Remember that even caves that seem safe may be flooded or cut of by spring tides, which are higher than normal.

   On a barren rocky outcrop shelter may simply mean finding a place out of the wind. Water may depend on you collecting rainfall and distillation. Food will be whatever clings to the rocks, birds and bird eggs if you are lucky, and what you can haul from the sea.

Resources... On any small island resources will be limited. Take care not to over exploit any one of them. Water is often a problem, lack of it is the reason many islands are uninhabited. Lush vegetation will draw attention to spring and streams. Digging above the high water mark may produce water. Catch and store rainwater.

  
To desalinate sea water by distillation you need a lot of fuel, which may be scarce. Driftwood may be available and some seaweeds will burn when dried, but you need wood to get the fire going. Seal blubber also makes good fuel. Have a fire only when you really need one. Search beaches after every tide, not just food wood, but for plastic bottles or containers, netting, and other trash. Everything has a use for the survivor.

  
Once familiar with your island, venture out at night, more creatures can be seen and foraging may be more rewarding.

Coconuts... The coconut palm is found right through the tropics and subtropics and can provide many valuable resources. The fronds can be used for shelter, the husks for ropes and as tender for fire, growing points taste just like cabbages, the milk for hydration, the meat for calories, and the shell for cups and containers.

 

Removing The Coconut Husks... To remove the fibrous husk around the coconut force it over a sharpened stake, hit it on a sharp rock or split it with a hand axe. Extract the milk by piercing one of the dark 'eyes' of the nut itself before smashing the nut open to get the meat.

  

Coconut milk is a safe, refreshing, and very nutritional drink. A large nut may hold about 1 liter of water. Drinking the very young green or old dark brown nuts will give you diarrhea, so take that into consideration before drinking to many of those, Use them as an emergency back up, when you have no water at all to drink.  If you happen to get the coconut that still has what I like to call the "cotton candy" part of the coconut, where the center is a spongy edible delight, enjoy it, you don't find them often and it is the very best part of the coconut, full of rich nutrients and vitamins.

Extract coconut oil by exposing chopped white meat to heat, sun, or fire, Then collect the oil as it runs off, or by boiling and skimming the oil as it rises to the surface. Rub it on to  protect from sunburn, and chafing from saltwater, to repel insects, as a salve for sores and blisters or mixed with wood ash as a substitute for soap.

Climbing Palms... If coconuts don't fall on your head and you cant knock them down, or if you need to reach some high bananas, don't try to climb the tree trunk like a rope. Instead, tie a strong bandage of cloth into a strap and slip it around your ankles. Adjust it to hold your feet close to the trunk and then you can press the soles of your feet inward and grip with them while shimmying up the tree.

                  ATTRACTING RESCUE

• LAY OUT SIGNALS TO ATTRACT SEARCHERS BY ARRANGING ROCKS, SEAWEED AND ANYTHING THAT GIVES CONTRAST AND MOVEMENT WITH ITS SURROUNDINGS.

• SAND IS EXCELLENT FOR POLISHING METAL TO MAKE MIRRORS TO SIGNAL WITH.

• IF YOU CAN SEE A SHIP YOU CAN TRY AD MAKE CONTCT ON A VHF RADIO (IF YOU HAVE ONE)

• A BIG  'X' IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE MOST URGENT SYMBOL OR LETTER FOR AN INTERNATIONAL RESCUE SIGNAL

• 3 LINES IS ALSO KNOWN AS AN INTERNATIONAL RESCUE SIGNAL

• WRITE   SOS  AS BIG AS YOU CAN WITH DEADBRE, SEAWEED OR ANYTHING THAT IS A DIFFERENT COLOR THAN WHAT THE BACKGROUND IS.

• FIND SOMETHING BRIGHTLY COLORED THAT DOESNT GO WITH THE SURROUNDINGS, PUT IT ON A LONG BRANCH OR STICK, STICK IT IN THE GROUND AND MAKE IT LIKE A FLAG SO THAT RESCUE PERSONAIL KNOW THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE ON THE ISLAND

• MAKE A HUGE FIRE, USE TRASH AROUND THE ISLAND THAT HAS WASHED UP FROM SEA, LIKE FLIPFLOPS, STIROPHOME, RUBBER, ANYTHING THAT WILL PUT OF ALOT OF DARK OR BLACK SMOKE.

• NEVER GIVE UP, KEEP TRYING, KEEP YOUR EYES AND EARS OPEN TO EVERYTHING AROUND YOU.

• MAKE 3 CONTROLLABLE FIRES THAT YOU CAN HAVE READY TO LIGHT AT THE FIRST SIGN OF POSSIBLE RESCUE

And always remember... These methods can be used no matter where you may find yourself when trying to achieve self rescue or become found.

Thanks for reading, please check out my other post that are related to this one, I have the links below.
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Eric from Ruff Survival

Hi guys!! We wanted to update our post today (5/20/15) and let everyone know that we have a couple of new things to share, First off, I know its been a while sense we have added a new post, Don't worry, We haven't forgotten about our blog, We have just been incredibly busy with our new baby which is fixing to turn 1!! Yay!! We will be posting fresh info for all of you survivalist out there at least a couple times a week.

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 http://ruffsurvival.blogspot.com/2013/03/seashores-and-survivor.html
http://ruffsurvival.blogspot.com/2013/03/getting-water-from-plants.html

Seashores and the survivor

SEASHORES 

 

Lets talk about the Seashore... Most seashores offer abundant sources of food and excellent prospects for survival. Even where they appear bleak and barren, there is food to be had. Coastal waters are the home of many life forms-- Seaweeds, fish, birds, molluscs and the plankton that support the marine animals. Inland lakes and water ways of all kinds will also team with life, with the exception of the Dead Sea and other areas of extreme salination, and those heavily polluted by man.

     Coasts can range from sheer cliffs to long and gently sloping beaches. From the sea a towering cliff offers no opportunity to escape the water. Even a stretch of beach at its foot is likely to be cut off by high tide in tidal waters, though it could offer a few hours of respite before swimming off to find another landing place. All kinds of shore, however, offer resources to exploit and there are few better places to be stranded.

Sandy Beaches...  Sandy Shores tend to be gentle and sloping. The tide goes out a long way, revealing large areas which are the habitat of burrowing species, let below the exposed sand. They include many worms and molluscs and they also attract feeding birds. Look for signs of buried mullucs. It is usually easier to spot the marks left by the syphons of buried bivalve under the shallow water at the sea's edge.

   Where the sand is not inundated by the tide and is blown into dunes, it may be possible to find fresh water and it is here that plants will grow.

  Sand is easily blown by the wind and gets into everything. Dunes also tend to be full of aggravating insects, so don't choose them for making camp or building shelter, if you can move beyond.

Muddy shores and estuaries....  Where a slow moving river joins the sea it deposits sediment, rich in nutrients, forming large mud flats. These can support many species of worms and mulluscs and provide a rich feeding ground for birds and animals.

Rocky Shores....  Rocky shores, if their cliffs are not too sheer, trap pools of water when the tide recedes. These pools may team with life. Rocks form a strata to which the many univalve shells can cling, and anchor for weed and sea urchins and crevices where octopus and other cephalopods can live.

   Soft rocks, such as chalk, marl and limestone, erode quickly and their surfaces are smooth, but hard rocks fracture in chunks and provide good nesting sites for birds.

 

Pebble Beaches...   Stretches of pebble beach, often found between sandy and rocky sections of the shore, sustain least life. The continual movement of pebbles makes a difficult habitat for most plants and animals.

 

Tides....   Tides vary considerably according to both location and time of year for they are caused by the counter-gravities of the sun and moon. In enclosed seas, such as the Mediterranean, they range over only a few meters. The Bay of Fundy, Between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, has a difference of 52 feet between low and high tide.

   A line of debreis along the beach; a change in appearance and texture from the long dry sand to that which is daily inundated; weed, shells, and color changes on vertical rock faces, all these will help to indicate the level to which the water is likely to rise.

    Always check access to and from a beach or rocky shore. Keep an eye on the rising water level so that you do not run the risk of being cut off. Tides not only scour the beach but throw up valuable flotsam and jetsam, often providing fuel for fires and may leave large fish stranded in rock pools along with their inhabitants.

 

          That's all for today....

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