Desert Survival Techniques

Thought of creating this new thread to gather and share all those vital and valuable information / tips on Desert Survival Techniques :-BD
All are welcome to participate in this very helpful topic. I am sure, our seniors will have a huge lot to share with us 🙂
Also sincere prayers, nobody should ever land in a situation to make use of these techniques :YMPRAY:

To start with, I would like to share the below desert survival techniques, which were shared with me by few veterans:-

1) First of all preserve your drinking water stock – do not drink, rather sip it.

2) If you are in a bad situation and need external support, keep the hood (bonnet) of your car open which is an international standard – “asking for help”.

3) To get quick attraction, if the car can be moved, try to bring it top of a dune to make it easily visible from a far distance.

4) Your car is the best shelter in desert. Therefore do not leave your car until and unless you are very sure about the nearest safe point.

5) Being with the car has an advantage – A car can be spotted from a very long distance but its difficult to identify a human being.

6) Paste a large and bright color sticker on roof of your car (for eg:- red circle on a white background) to get it noticed easily from the sky.

7) Most SUVs are with detachable rear view mirror and there is a specific purpose. You can use this mirror to reflect sunlight to a very long distance either to any other car in the vicinity or a low altitude flying aircraft.

8) In distress situations, to draw quick attention you can go for few extreme options – take your spare tyre, deflate it completely. Insert a long cloth in the petrol tank and put this cloth on the deflated tyre. Burn it away from the car, preferably at the top of the nearest dune. Remember, deflating the tyre before burning is very important, to avoid the burst which can be harmful. Burning of rubber will create very thick black smoke which will spread by distance and height which can draw some attention. You are having only 5 attempts (5 tires), therefore try to do it when it is bright and clear.

9) Try to tame a camel, if you find one. Your attempt is to make it sit for you to climb on its back and then it will take you either to its camp/owner or to a nearby water source, where you may find alternate options.

10) During a sunny day, other than at midnoon, directions can be determined without the help of compass by checking on the shadow. But there is a simple technique to determine the directions even at midnoon – Insert a stick in the sand and mark the shadow, wait for a minute and recheck the movement of the shadow. East will be at the direction at which the shadow is moving.

11) If you got a punctured tyre at deep desert and without spare tyre / compressor / tyre repair kit, there is a way to drive your car to the nearest safe point – Open a part of the punctured tyre from the rim. Fill the tyre as tight as possible with bushes or grasses and fix it back to the rim. Small stones and sand are alternatives but heavier options.

Thumb rule for desert – Never venture alone into sands [-X
Never be overconfident and underestimate the hidden dangers of sand [-X
Treat it with respect, you will come out of it happily :-BD 🙂