What will you do when you land on a deserted island? Survival on a desert island in real life. Basics you need to know Food you can find on the uninhabited

We all read in childhood the novel by D. Defoe "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" and admired the man who managed to survive on desert island, overcoming hunger, having obtained fire and built a dwelling. After reading about the ordeals of Robinson and throwing the book on the shelf, we remain confident that this will not happen to us, that we will never find ourselves alone somewhere on a desert island.

However, it would not hurt us to remember that in the 21st century, ships periodically crash, planes crash, boats sink and people find themselves among deserted islands, in impenetrable thickets of the tropics, among bare rocks one on one with charms wildlife…. And then we will be forced to think, believe, work, remember, invent. Therefore, let's take care of ourselves in advance and ask ourselves the question today: what will I do when I find myself on a desert island, what am I capable of, what can I do, how will I survive?
1. First of all, do not panic, keep a sober mind and do not succumb to negative emotions. We are still alive and therefore there is still a reason for joy. Soon the relatives will sound the alarm and they will start looking for us. Therefore, all thoughts should be focused only on salvation. And the salvation of the drowning, as you know, is the work of the drowning themselves. Only in the event that you lose heart, then the case can end in death. It is willpower, strength of mind that will help you survive in unusual conditions. It is necessary to strive to fill your whole day with useful activities that can distract you from unnecessary thoughts. Talk quietly to yourself, thinking out loud and weighing the complexities of the current situation, mentally or aloud communicate with nature or relatives and friends. Often such a habit saved a person who found himself alone from insanity.
2. looking for a source of fresh water. We will try to find a spring or a key with clean water. Paths laid by wild animals, wetlands, large ravines usually lead to the spring. Only in the event that they are not found, then we can replace the water with the juice of some plants, trees, fruits, berries, or we will collect morning dew. Only in the event that it started to rain, then we do not sit under a bush, but we make a cup from a large leaf of a plant and collect precious liquid into it. In extreme cases, if there is at least some water nearby, we can always clean it or desalt it. Fresh water is better to boil a little before drinking. Salt water can be desalted with a homemade distiller. This requires any wide capacity. Pour salt water into it and put a small stone in the center of the container, on which we will install another container, smaller. We will cover the whole thing with plastic wrap and tie around the edges. In the center, just above the smaller container, let's put a small stone. The container must be in the sun. Attention! Only in this case salty water will evaporate and settle on the film, and then, in the form of already fresh water, drain into a jar. Be sure to think of something that can be used as a water storage device.
Remember that half a liter of water per day allows the body to be in a relatively normal state, and a liquid volume of 0.05-0.06 liters per day will allow you to live for more than ten days. And under no circumstances should you drink sea water, since the high concentration of salt in sea water, when consumed, will lead to the loss of fluid by all body tissues.
3. in second place after fresh water is fire. Therefore, we kindle a fire that will improve our mood, prevent us from freezing, dry our clothes and help in cooking. It is advisable to choose a place for a fire in such a way that it is sheltered from rain and wind by some kind of shelter, for example, a rock. If there is a lighter or matches available, then we take care of them like the apple of our eye. Only if there are none, then you can use glasses from glasses, watches, a broken phone or camera. The existing glass must be positioned in such a way relative to the sun that the sun's rays heat it up and, focusing the sunlight, set fire to tinder, which can be made from rotten, finely crushed dry bark, dry powdered wood, bird's nests, fleecy plant material, wood dust. By the way, in winter time year instead of glass, you can use a polished piece of ice. In order for the nascent light to turn into a fire, first throw only small firewood, gradually move to larger ones, gently wave around the fire, helping it to swell. And be sure to remember that it is necessary to maintain the smoldering of a kindled fire so as not to re-ignite it every time. In addition, take care to prepare firewood for the fire so that it can be quickly lit at any time and signal your location.
4. we build any shelter from rain, wind, snow and sun, for example, a hut, a canopy or a dugout. Shelter will give us warmth at night, shade during the day, and a place to hide our food supplies, firewood, and equipment. The type of shelter will depend on your physical data, there is enough material around. Shelter is better near a water source and in an open place. IN warm time a year, it is enough to make a canopy and dig it in with a groove so that water does not get under the canopy during rain. For the device of the simplest shelter, you can also use a fallen tree with a dense crown, eversion, thick tree trunks. You just need to additionally overlay them with bark or spruce branches to protect yourself from rain and wind. In winter, with deep snow cover, you can dig a trench at the foot of a large tree. From above, cover the trench with some existing cloth big size, line the inside with several layers of tree branches, and cover the entrance to the trench with snow. In the event that it is still not very cold, then you can spend the night hunting. It is only necessary to prepare a place, if there is a little snow, then clear it of snow and build a fire to thoroughly warm the ground. Then move the fire to the side, and put more branches, moss on the newly warmed ground, and cover it with the available fabric on top. You need to lie down on such a coating warmly dressed, and be sure to cover yourself with a tarpaulin or use another dense fabric on top.
5. now you can take care of the search for food. Food has less priority than water, that's how human physiology works. During starvation, the human body will begin to use its internal tissue reserves, which are enough for thirty to forty days, even in the absence of food at rest and about fifteen days in the presence of physical exertion. Remember that hunger is strongly felt only in the first week, and in the future, well-being will begin to improve. And although this increases fatigue, a person is able to maintain relative working capacity for thirty to forty days. Therefore, to survive in such conditions, you need to know how to feed yourself in the wild.
Many edible plants often grow on the islands and in the forests. Nuts, fruits and tubers have the highest nutritional value. And don't be surprised by the fact that an excellent source of food in such conditions are insects, which live everywhere and at the same time are an excellent source of protein. But if you still decide to go fishing, using beetles as bait, instead of eating them, then the hook can be made from a pin, barrettes from a badge, a piece of wire, a nail, a bone. The easiest way is to use a branch with a spike, which must be attached to something that will replace your fishing line. The fishing line can be made from a strong thread, pulling it out of the fabric of clothing or laces. And from a sharp stone and a long, strong stick, you can build a knife or a pike, which is very convenient to catch coastal fish, birds and small animals. The most important item in this situation is the knife, which is the most important and useful invention person. Only if you have it with you, keep it as the greatest value. Otherwise, try to make it from the available materials at hand. To make a knife, you will need a pointed layered stone, a piece of bone or other stone for sharpening, and again an oblong stone or piece of wood for the handle. Also, try to make a bow and arrow, because this type of weapon is very easy to learn how to use. Onions are best made from elastic wood of birch, ash, acacia. The distance for shooting at a moving target can reach twenty to forty meters. The length of the bow should be approximately equal to the distance from your feet to where the coccyx is located. Shoe laces can be used as the first bowstring, and after the first successful hunt, a bowstring can be made from animal ligaments and tendons. An important condition for the successful use of a bow is a properly stretched bowstring: usually, the bow is applied to a tree trunk and, resting on both ends, is bent in the opposite direction. After that, the bowstring is tightly tied.
Fruits of plants, nuts and berries will not provide you with good nutrition, but they will greatly support your strength. Try to eat plants that are well known to you or those that birds and animals eat. Thus, if all the plants are unfamiliar, then first eat a couple of berries, a small piece of the stem and wait about five hours. Only if after this time there are no signs of poisoning, then feel free to eat it. Thus, if berries, mushrooms and fruit seeds have an unpleasant odor, then it is better to refrain from eating them.
Much of what you get in the forest or on the island can be eaten raw, but food cooked over a fire is much healthier, safer, and much tastier raw. During heat treatment, all bacteria, toxins and harmful substances contained in animals and plants are destroyed. You can cook food on fire either by roasting it on a spit, or by roasting it well on hot stones.
In fact, it is best to eat in such conditions once a day and preferably hot, chewing food very carefully.
6. Be sure to indicate your location in this place. It is possible to make some kind of construction of stones or other large objects on a clean, visible place from afar, which will indicate that someone lives on the island and needs help. Bonfires are often used for this purpose.
7. It would probably not be superfluous to think about a possible meeting with the inhabitants of the wild nature living in this area. You don't need to be afraid. After all, usually wild animals, smelling a person, leave. They attack a person only in the most exceptional cases: if they are injured, scared or forced to protect their offspring. Only in the event that all the same animals behave aggressively, then they will have to defend themselves: make a fire, make a lot of noise. But in no case should you turn your back on wild animals and do not try to run away. Instead, try to back away slowly while continuing to carefully observe the behavior of the animal. Only if a tree grows nearby, then quickly climb onto it. If there is a river or lake, dive into the water and wait for the predator to leave in the water.
What you should be afraid of is the bite of a poisonous snake. It can be fatal for you. To prevent this from happening, when moving through the forest, look very carefully under your feet, push the thick and tall grass with a stick. Snakes are found in glades well lit by the sun, near old stumps, large stones heated by the sun. Only in the event that you find a snake, then immediately stop and slowly, without making sudden movements in small steps, step back as far as possible.
8. entertainment. When you are full, protected from the weather and wild animals, provided with firewood, food supplies and weapons, you will definitely want entertainment. Build a kite, build yourself a chessboard, write a book on the bark of trees. Be smart, use your creativity and life on a desert island will bring you in the form of bonuses not only self-confidence, development of strength and endurance, but also joy, peace and tranquility.

Food that can be found on a desert island. Survive on a desert island or where to start

Sometimes you just want to escape from a noisy and such an active city of millions somewhere on a desert island. But for this it is important to know and remember that there are many dangers on the island. Where to start on the island:

• find water;
• find shelter;
• protect yourself from wild animals;
• kindle a fire.

By the way, instead of water, the first days you can use coconut milk. True, it tastes a little sweet and fortified. But on the island - this is just what you need. But the pulp of coconut can be eaten. It is very fatty, high-calorie and healthy. Hunger satisfies easily. The main thing is not to lean too much, as the stomach may hurt. Coconuts choose yellow or green. These are young fruits in which there is a lot of water. For food, it is better to take brown fruits. Further, the remains of the nut, the shell can be used for a fire instead of firewood. Just look how many benefits from just one coconut!

The alluring beauty of a tropical island and the density of vegetation tells us that there is certainly something to profit from here! But in fact, this is a misconception. After all, to find out what is on a desert island, you need to make a lot of effort. How many people died of hunger in such "paradise" places, how many got poisoned, not knowing what can be eaten and what is not. Noticing a bright fruit, do not take off and do not take risks! After all, your life is at stake. Unfortunately, banana and coconut trees are not ubiquitous, so you can only survive on them if you are very lucky. Such palms rarely grow on their own and usually indicate that they were previously planted by humans (or even currently owned by humans). This article will be devoted to what you can still satisfy your hunger in such conditions.

Pandan is a plant that looks like a dense palm tree with a large number of trunks. The fruit resembles a pineapple, it is difficult to confuse it with something else. When ripe, they can be red, yellow, purple or even with a blue tint. You can safely eat this plant, make cakes from it, mash it, and even eat it raw.

The sago palm is a huge source of carbohydrates, with it you can get up to 150 kg of the so-called sago. A starch-containing product that, when added to water or fruit juice, will look like mashed potatoes. The method of preparing sago is not complicated, but it takes time and physical energy, but then you can live with such a product for a long time! And so, first you need to separate the bark from the palm tree and get to the core - it is from it that sago is extracted. By the way, the tree must be young! The core must be cut and left to dry in the sun, once they become crispy, they can be ground to a state of flour. The flour must be washed, allowing the water to settle. The precipitate is dried. Now this product can (as described above) be dissolved in water and eaten.

From products of animal origin, you can profit, for example, from tree larvae - it is not difficult to find them, but to dare to eat is already a much more difficult task. They can be fried, but they are also edible raw. The most important thing is to separate their upper part and squeeze out the contents of the intestine. Never use the larvae that are attached to the inside of the leaf.

In the sea you can catch sea cucumbers (they are inactive and it is not difficult to catch them).

Giant clams, oysters, sea urchins, tridacnids - all of which you can provide your body with enough calories to survive.

How to survive on a desert island. Things you will need to survive on a deserted island.

1. Knife. The knife is the most versatile tool ever invented. You can do almost anything with a knife. Also find stones to sharpen it.
2. Toothbrush or floss. Remember to take care of yourself and brush your teeth. Toothache is one of the worst. To make a toothbrush, you can flatten wood.
3. Cloth. Find warm clothes or make your own from animal skins or trees.
4. Water and food, respectively.

Now you know what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation. We hope this doesn't happen!

Having organized your life on the island in collecting water, making fire and getting food, you should think about lodging for the night. "Housing" is necessary in order to shelter from rain and direct sunlight. The risk of animal attacks on uninhabited land is minimal.
The main task is to hide as much as possible from the sun, rain and wind, so you can limit yourself to a canopy and a bed. The canopy is quite simple to weave from palm leaves. The bed should not come into contact with the ground, preventing insects and moisture from the ground from penetrating to the person.

So, we have indicated that for survival it is necessary to exclude panic, fear. Soberly identify tasks - this is the search for water, making a fire and getting food. Next, build a canopy that will protect from the sun and rain.
It was not for nothing that we endowed our survivalist with minimal insect protection, a small amount of water, food and matches for the first time. In fact, without this it is quite difficult to survive on the island. Minimal injury, which takes a long time to heal in tropical conditions, can lead to death. Any fruit eaten can be poisonous. The idea to spend some time on the island is very dangerous, and without a minimum set of medicines and protective equipment, the chances of successful survival are close to zero.

How to get food in tropical forest if you are in a survival environment? Despite the fact that the tropical climate is favorable for the biodiversity of flora and fauna, it is often difficult to get food in such a forest. Especially if you're pretty picky.

There is a wide variety of organisms in the forest, but not all forests are the same, and not everything in them is edible. Many of you think that the jungle is a grocery store, but it is not. The most necessary grow there only due to the fact that someone planted them there earlier.

For example, the well-known grows most often along the shores of the islands. And if you meet her in the depths of the forest, large islands or the mainland, then you should know that these palm trees were planted by people. It's the same with bananas: if you stumble upon a grove of wild bananas in the jungle, then it was previously someone's plantation or is still such today. In the depths of the thick rainforest very little food. And some uninhabited islands do not have a single coconut palm at all, and the resources on them are very scarce.

Take, for example, the inhabitants of New Guinea - these are Papuan tribes living by traditional methods to this day. They live in dense jungles and rely on the sago palm for their diet.

They extract sago from it, grind the wood and, in the soaked state, extract the starch-containing component. Sago is pure starch, which they store in a powdered state and eat it as an instant puree. The finished product looks like this:

Due to its high starch content, sago is a carbohydrate product, instead of our potatoes or tropical cassava. Due to the great distance from coastline Papuans do not have good ocean fishing opportunities. They have to be content with what they have. They catch frogs, small fish in the stream, small river shrimps. To do this, they build dams on the stream, blocking the way for water, and, therefore, for fish. Then they scoop water from the pool until all the inhabitants can be simply collected by hand or with a special net. The average catch is usually very small - you can hardly fill your belly with such food and you have to be content with what you have.

In addition to the sago palm, pandanus (pandanus) grows wild. Its leaves are suitable for roofing, and its fruits are for food. Pandan fruits cannot be confused with anything else. Grows everywhere.

Among other things, in dense tropical forests you can eat various larvae, but you should avoid those that do not inspire confidence in you. For example, all creatures with a bright, poisonous color clearly look suspicious. Carpenter larvae are the most famous delicacy of many natives. They have a lot of protein, and, unlike meat protein, it is absorbed much better. You can use them both in raw and in heat-treated form, as you like! Here they are, beauties, in the photo:

For larger game, you will need traps, loops and a bow. You will see about this in another article. And now let's move on, get out of the dense thickets of the mainland / large island rainforest and come to the coastline, to the coral beach. Actually, let's look at how to get food now on a small coral or volcanic-coral origin.

Well, I won’t write about coconuts, you can guess for yourself. Just do not climb on the palm tree, otherwise you will fall again suddenly. It is possible to get food on a coral atoll without going into the sea. For example, various birds like to nest on such islands and leave their eggs. Some are left directly on the branches of trees, and they can be collected by hand.

Also on such islands live the largest representatives of crustaceans: palm thief crab, or coconut crab. They feed on the pulp of fallen coconuts and are a large shell with the most delicate crab meat.

Just look at these delicious claws! This is really a welcome guest at the table!

Out of hopelessness, you can catch hermit crabs, they are easily caught, especially at night. But it’s not worth spending time on them without the need, because there is very little meat in them, due to their small size.

Going into the sea, walking along the coral reef of the lagoon, you can find other inhabitants of this ecosystem. For example, sea cucumbers, which look extremely unappetizing, but are quite edible even when raw. By the way, they make sushi.

Sea urchins are also edible, having broken off the needles, they are carefully opened like an egg, and the insides are eaten. Only small juveniles are suitable for food!

In addition to bird eggs, you can also catch the birds themselves using loops. And also there is a chance to see the chicks that have fallen out of the nest. Some species of birds reach quite decent sizes.

You can eat various bivalve mollusks, but some of them are poisonous, and some reach such sizes that you can’t eat it alone at a time! Here, for example, is a giant mollusk - a marine tridacna:

For hunting larger fish, we need a spear. Walking along the shallow lagoon, you can see many fish that can be stabbed with a spear. A spear for fishing should be made with at least 3 tips, but more is better, since with such a spear it will be easier to hit our target.

As you can see, only two points pierced the fish, and if the spear had been single, it might not have pierced at all.

Among other things, you can find wild almond seeds on the sandy coast. They are edible, grow everywhere and look like this:

Remember the 4th kind. If you, walking along the sandy shore, find such balls under your feet, then you can find almond seeds in them. They are edible, ate them personally.

Of course, if you have never traveled anywhere beyond your place of residence, then you are not destined to end up on a desert island. But, believe me, life is such an unpredictable thing that anything can happen, including being on a desert island. And what will you do there?

Most believe that a desert island is such a romance - the sea, palm trees, sand and enjoying life alone. In fact, you need to survive and fight for your life on the island a lot and fiercely.

There are a huge number of uninhabited islands in the world - more than 1500.

The sun, no matter how beautiful it seems to you, when heat is your main enemy. Burnt skin and dehydration - that's what awaits you at first.
There is not a minute to lose, and therefore the search for drinking water is the main task in the very first minutes. You need to look for water along the ravines, or even better, include a young tracker in yourself and find an animal path - it almost always leads to water. Yes, there are very small islands and there are no sources of water there. But water can be obtained. Firstly - you are lucky if there are coconut palms on the island - the juice in coconuts will quench your first thirst.
Of course, they went too far with alcohol, but the main idea is clear - you need to find a sharp thing - a shell or a bone. Ripe coconuts without skins have "dimples" in which you can also make holes and drink. But you can't rely on coconuts alone.

For example, if you still have a life jacket or something made of polyethylene, you can create a water collector. To do this, you need to spread a vest over the pit (which also needs to be found), press it with stones along the edges and put a pebble in the center to create a recess. Put any container down -
half a coconut, a large shell, etc. After a while it will fill up with water. It won't be much, but it's more than nothing.
By the way, if there is a rocky area around you, look for depressions in the rocks, there is almost always rainwater.
And never drink sea water!

The next step is to build a shelter. Since most often a desert island is the tropics, it is hot there, but a canopy is needed to hide from the heavy rains that happen in the tropics and the sun.
Do not make the shelter very close to the water - a storm can demolish your shelter, but do not climb into the thicket either - you must see the beach and the sea - in case some ship passes and they notice you. Also be careful about the caves in the rocks - this a good place, provided that there are no snakes and poisonous insects. In general - try to fold a hut - palm leaves are best suited for this. If you have a piece of some kind of film, then you are doubly lucky - be sure to tilt your canopy and put a container where rainwater will drain. And another tip - do not put a hut under a coconut palm - coconuts often fall and by the way, more people die from them than from shark attacks.

Food
Of course, after water and shelter, you will need food. One point - do not spend more calories looking for food than you get them by eating what you find. In other words - do not run around the island looking for food - you may not find it at all, and your energy has been spent. Use berries and fruits with caution. Watch birds and animals - they don't eat things that are poisonous. If there are a lot of all kinds of berries around, then take a closer look at where a lot of them are eaten, and where they hang untouched and do not eat the last ones. You can also break the berry and press it against your hand - if after a while you feel itching and burning - do not eat. Ideal food can be considered various oysters and shellfish. But here, be careful - do not step on a poisonous stingray or sea urchin. Do not swim far - there may be sharks and do not grab any living creatures with spikes with your hands. Look for oysters, mussels, crabs, snails. Do not disdain insects, especially larvae - they are rich in proteins. If you can’t eat right away, remember where you found them - come running in a couple of days if there is no other food. The same goes for worms, birds (and their eggs), rats and mice - catch whatever you can catch - your life depends on it.

Fire
Fire is needed - you need to heat the food, as well as boil the water found in order to avoid any contamination. It is difficult to get fire - this is not a movie for you, where, having twisted a stick a couple of times, you have a fire burning. In addition, the fire must always be maintained, and this is a whole bunch of firewood, which you may not have the strength to search for.

One of better ways prey of fire - bow. Rope, stick and dry moss - friction is the best helper. By the way - when you wander along the shore, collecting shellfish - take everything you find - it may come in handy. The sea throws out a lot of garbage and a piece of glass can serve as a lens, and an aluminum can is generally an indispensable assistant - here you have a knife, a lens, and a container. Take the ropes, cellophane and more.

Safety
If there are no large predatory animals on the island, you are in luck. But insects and snakes are almost everywhere. Insects, in addition to being annoying and poisonous, can also carry various kinds of sores, such as malaria, rats are also carriers of fevers. Clean all vegetation around the dwelling - the wind will scare away mosquitoes and rats will most likely not go to confrontation in open areas.
We have already mentioned about sea ​​urchins and stingrays, I would like to add - when walking through the forest, do not grab the trunks with your hands - poisonous insects and snakes can sit on them. Do you know, for example, that touching the caterpillar of the "Lazy Clown" butterfly is almost 100% death? Be careful!

Avoid jellyfish and in no case touch the brightly colored frogs - they are deadly!

Striving for salvation
Remember the number 3. This is a symbol of salvation. You need 3 inscriptions - Help (Help), 3 fires, 3 heaps of stones, 3 rags, 3 screams - anything, the main thing is that leaves), make figures from stones and leaves, in general, do everything to be noticed sooner or later.

Survival. Of course, this is an experiment, with the support of the film crew, but it's interesting ...

Can you pick the 4 most important items?

We sincerely wish you to get to a desert island - to your own, personal, with a villa, a helicopter, a boat, a lot of money and friends!

Add your tips, comments and remarks! Let's put together a useful post - what if someone comes in handy?

In fact, there are not so many cases of survival on a desert island compared to other regions of the Earth. This is because uninhabited islands are usually located far from inhabited cities and settlements. After all, you still need to swim to them somehow, so the very fact that a person gets to such an island, with his subsequent survival, is quite rare occurrence in our life. People visit such islands for some purpose, but usually everything is fine with them.

However, if there is a question, then let's answer it with you. We will analyze all the features of human survival on a desert island. So that if we ever find ourselves in such conditions, we could act calmly and think soberly.

Most of you romantics think tropical islands earthly paradise. In part, you are certainly right, but not everything is so simple. It's one thing when you come to Thailand for a vacation on a package tour, or on your own, and another thing when the situation of survival took you by surprise. The fact is that in the first case you are in control, you can do what you want in your resort, and in a critical situation you find yourself locked in a cage, in this tropical prison, surrounded by a sea with sharks and big waves.

Therefore, when you lose control of the situation, as time increases, your psychological state will change from euphoria to panic. All these colorful landscapes: palm trees, white sand, blue lagoon - will even make you feel something similar to disgust. In addition, the hot sun will hit your body like a laser burning through paper.

water extraction

Therefore, the very first and most important thing in terms of survival on a desert tropical island is the extraction of water. Water is the key to your salvation and survival. If you own an unlimited source of fresh water - consider the rest will follow somehow. In the article How to get water on a desert island, I already described how to get fresh water, but let's talk about them again:

look for fallen or low-hanging coconuts. Do not climb high palm trees, you may fall from them!
see if there are old wells on the beach, since the island was most likely inhabited (albeit temporarily) by people.
the island may have rock outcrops in some part of it, there may be rainwater in cracks and crevices, look for it. You can drink and / or dial it with the help of any tube, hose found among the garbage on the beach (which, I assure you, there are a lot).
try to build a solar distiller by digging a hole and covering it with a waterproof film (if you can find it). Never drink sea water!
put all the containers found on the beach to collect rainwater.

Shelter building

After the water is the next point of survival - a shelter. Due to the fact that it is already warm in the tropics, there is no need to fence anything serious and capital. It is enough just to build some kind of canopy, i.e. a roof over your head and a bed. The canopy will protect you from both rain and direct sunlight, creating shade, and making your survival more comfortable. Place the bed at some distance from the ground so that insects do not climb to you.
The canopy can be built in various ways. If you already have a piece of any film, then stretch it, while making it so that the rain moisture from it flows into a container. If you do not own any film, then you will have to make a roof from plant materials. For these purposes, coconut palm leaves are well suited. Do not settle in the jungle of the island, but make your camp on the beach. From the beach, you will have a good view of passing ships, and the breeze will drive mosquitoes away from you. Remember that mosquitoes in the tropics carry various diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. And also know that all the monsters and babikes of the island that scare you at night with their rustles are located in the jungle, do not settle there!

Foraging

The next item on our program is the extraction of food. Just like with water, I have already taken care of you, dear friend, and wrote an article: How to get food in the rainforest, so read it, but we will cover the main points here:

coconuts, both fallen (which is even better) and hanging.
snails and shellfish on coastal rocks and coastline.
coconut crabs (palm thief) hide in the jungle of the island, they are mined by traps.
shark-tailed ray and stingray (or others) are mined at shallow depths with a spear. Be careful with the spike!
fish if you find ways to catch it.
there may be mice and rats on the island, they can be caught and eaten. There are no cellars there, so the rats are not as dirty as in the city, you should not disdain their meat!
at a relatively shallow depth, you can get a sea tridacna from the bottom if you know how it looks. (marine tridacna is an endangered species!).
in the bark and wood of trees (especially rotten ones), you can look for larvae. Also use them for fishing, as bait.
depending on the soil of the island (either a coral or a volcanic island), in fertile soils, you can look for earthworms that are rich in protein.

feral domestic pigs and goats can live on the island, you can try to catch them. However, such luxury is unlikely to be present on your island!
birds nesting on the island. Look for both their eggs and try to catch them yourself. Can be obtained using traps.
there may be old plantings of taro, cassava, bananas, mangoes, papaya, cucumbers on the island. If you find traces of a long stay of a person on the island, then inspect the island for old plantings. Perhaps the island is still used by people who are temporarily absent. However, you should not hope to find a garden.
there are not many edible wild plants on the islands. In addition to coconut, pandanus and black berries grow there, similar (in appearance and taste) to bird cherry. Other edible wild plants are unlikely.
The main rule of obtaining food in conditions of survival on a desert island is to try to spend fewer calories searching for food than you consume. Save your strength, don't waste it on various unnecessary physical work, don't climb those damn palm trees!))

Making a fire

Having water, shelter and at least some food, we need fire. Fire can be used to boil questionable water to kill bacteria, as well as heat-treat caught food of animal origin. In addition, food can be smoked, while extending its safety. Like food, fire is hard to come by. Despite the hot climate of the tropics, the humidity of the air makes any tinder and any dry foliage slightly damp, which makes it much more difficult to start a fire. locals for cooking in the hearth, kerosene is often used as an igniter. High humidity is also found on the islands of non-tropical zones.
Therefore, you should not think that now, as in some kind of movie, you will rub two sticks and immediately get coals. I assure you, you will face big problems in making fire on the island. I believe that the surest way to get fire can be a bow. Extraction by friction using a bow. Other friction methods are much less effective than a bow. Take the time to make it (a bowstring can be made from any rope, shoelace, tree bark, etc.), but then you can use it constantly as a lighter, because one day your hearth will go out and you will have to make fire again. Having even the smallest coals, you can inflate them to a real fire. It is very problematic to keep coals in a constantly burning state, you need a lot of firewood, for which you will have to spend a lot of calories, firewood has the ability to burn out quickly, especially at night when you sleep. Therefore, it is important to gain access to make fire again and again, this will provide you with a bow.

Island safety

One of the most important factors for survival on a desert island is safety. However, there are not so many dangers on the island, but the very moment of isolation can increase the risks from these dangers. Let's try to list them.

Physical danger. The attack of large mammals is excluded, they are not on the islands, only the possibility of shark attacks in the open sea. Island rats are harmless, but can spread infection (such as dengue fever). The sting of the stingray is very painful. Opportunity to step on a stone fish. Injury from the sharp edges of corals, and coral stones/rocks, which can also lead to infection and high fever. Fall from a tree/palm. A blow to the head with a falling coconut can be fatal, be careful especially during a storm!
Bacterial risk. Possibility of picking up bacteria that will cause severe diarrhea and/or fever. The possibility of malaria and dengue fever from mosquitoes (up to death). Tetanus in wound (give anti-tetanus drink).
Bites. The centipede can sting painfully, it is active in rainy weather, it can crawl into the dwelling. Snakes, at night they can converge on fire, be careful. Mosquitoes, especially in thickets.
Non-healing wounds. Wounds in such a climate tend not to heal for a long time, fester and continue to be fresh, increasing in size, their cause is bacteria. An ordinary pimple can start to fester and, in the peak case, even lead to gangrene, followed by amputation! This is the harsh truth of the tropics.

Getting out of the island

We have provided ourselves with the most basic conditions for life, but any act of survival in the wild consists in an attempt to get away from this state as soon as possible, i.e. retreat to civilization. You can sail away by yourself by building a floating craft or with the help of other people. For these purposes, it is necessary to equip the island with signal components with which we could attract the attention of passing ships.

The most basic condition is to make you visible and stand out from the same landscape of the island. Prepare dry palm leaves and twigs for a quick signal fire, if necessary. The fire should be made in the form of a hut, while the fire is not as important as the smoke from the fire, which develops for many meters to the top. To do this, throw raw leaves on a blazing fire - it will not burn, but will give thick smoke. It is the smoke that will attract people. Practice building signal fires

Using my knowledge of the uninhabited islands of the world, I concluded that in our (real) situation, if suddenly you, or I, find ourselves in a survival situation on the island, then sail from it on our own in a makeshift floating craft, like Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away or Bear Gryls on a popular show - doesn't make sense. Therefore, we are more likely to be noticed by someone in a passing boat than we will be able to get to civilization on a makeshift floating craft. After all, it is not known how long we will have to drift in the open sea (ocean) before someone picks us up. However, if you have no hope at all, then you can try this method.

It's just that in modern times there are much more boats than in the days of Robinson Crusoe, so no, no, but someone will sail by. Yes, and all the islands are someone's property, fishermen catch fish in the lagoons, coconut palms are grown on the islands. Therefore, even uninhabited islands are visited by people from time to time. The plot of the film Outcast, where the hero spent 4 years on the island (in my opinion) - absolutely

On a desert island, it is almost impossible to be alone, contrary to the clichéd stories about the brave Robinsons, but still getting into such a situation, one should consider it an unprecedented success that a person managed to survive after the crash of a plane or ship. Knowing how to survive in the wild will help ease the panic and make it easier to settle into your temporary new home.

What it takes to survive

Going on any trip, it is better to play it safe once again and take essentials with you. Such a set is called a Nesseser (from the English necessary - it is necessary) and fits into any bulky pocket.

It includes:

Source of drinking water

Survival on a desert island primarily depends on water. To maintain a normal metabolism, the body needs to receive 1.5-2 liters of fluid per day.

In conditions of autonomous survival, the physical load on a person increases many times due to the fact that he is constantly in search of food, accommodation equipment, making weapons and all kinds of devices, so the required volume of water increases to 3-4 liters.

In addition, most of the islands are often located in the equatorial and subequatorial zones in places where coral reefs accumulate, and, therefore, there is a high temperature all year round, at which the body will actively sweat and give off fluid. Clean water is the most important factor for survival on a desert island.

In theory, a person can stay alive without it for about two weeks, but being alive and viable are two different things. Within a few days, dehydration will begin to draw the last strength out of the body and make a weakened person an easy prey for predators. Therefore, the search for a source of water should be dealt with in the first place.

Sandy coral islands often do not have their own sources of drinking water, but if the island has mountains, most likely it is of volcanic origin, and there is water there. You can either go around the coast in a circle in search of a stream flowing into the sea, or go deep into the island, but it is not recommended to do this without a weapon - wild animals can live in the depths, which are unlikely to come ashore.

The closer to the stream, the more saturated and dense the vegetation becomes, the soil is moistened, there are more animals (birds, insects) that come to the watering place.

If there are coconut palms on the island, the water issue can be considered resolved for some time: one nut contains up to 500 ml of milk. Palm leaves and empty coconuts can collect rainwater. To do this, you need to dig a small hole in the sand, put a bowl or other reservoir below to collect water, and cover the entire space around with plant leaves.

Under no circumstances should you drink sea water. To remove the huge amount of salt that it contains, the human kidneys need to spend more water than was drunk. This is how a vicious circle is formed: a person drinks, but the body becomes dehydrated, draws water from the cells, trying to remove salt. If the situation is critical, and the body is already dehydrated, sea water can extend life by a couple of days.

But it is worth taking such a step only if there is a guarantee that help will arrive in time for these few days. What to do if the weather is clear on the island and there are no streams? You can assemble the simplest distiller, which is guaranteed to give up to a liter of fresh water per day.

Even if there is drinking water on the island, it is still recommended to make several such devices just in case; if predators occupy the stream, it will be impossible to approach it and the person will be “evicted” to the shore for a long time.

Instruction:

The whole structure must be in the sun. The water poured into the pit will evaporate and condense on the polyethylene, flowing into the bowl due to the pebble, which presses down the stretched sheet. Fresh water will accumulate in the tank, and salt will remain in the pit. The water from the stream can be drunk in its original form, but it is better to boil the rainwater, desalinated or extracted from the river first.

If the water is cloudy and dirty, you can clean it using a multi-stage filter. To do this, you need to put a few sticks, building a small "wigwam" from them, and pull pieces of fabric across them to make something like several small tents.

Sand can be poured on the upper level, charcoal can be poured on the lower level. Pour water on top and wait until it clears and enters the tank under the structure.

asylum

Survival on a desert island in an open area is fraught with trouble for a person. A roof over your head will protect you from the weather, shelter you from the scorching sun, keep you warm or cool when needed. For the first time, you can build a simple simple shelter, but if help does not arrive in time within a few weeks, it will need to be improved.

Of greater importance is not even the shelter itself, but the place where it will be located. On any island, you need to survive only on the shore. There are several reasons for this.

	Shore	Main part of the island
Movement	Nothing is difficult, the area is clearly visible.	It takes a lot of time due to the dense forest litter, the area is not visible, you can easily get lost.
Safety	Predators almost do not go ashore, less likely to put a shelter on an anthill or snake nest.	If there are large cats or monkeys on the island, they live in the forest and become active at night, the forest floor is teeming with insects.
Convenience	Nearby there is an unlimited supply of sea water, in which you can wash things and use for household needs.	No water, waste fresh water for something other than drinking, it will not work.
Food	The sea is able to fully feed a person. With the help of a primitive spear, you can get fish (on the islands, it swims close to the coast). Also in the coastal zone there are crabs, mussels, other shellfish, coconut palms grow.	You can find berries, fruits, if you have a good weapon and the skill of using it, you can get meat.
Return to civilization	From the shore you can immediately see all the passing ships, you can quickly light a signal fire.	In the depths of the forest, a person will not see a single ship.

The simplest temporary shelter on the island is a hut. It is advisable to place it above the ground to protect yourself from insects and snakes. To do this, we put several sticks at a distance of 2-3 meters from the palm tree, they must be securely fixed in the sand. From them to the supporting tree you need to hold two more sticks and tie them.

It will turn out something like a triangle, the inside of which must also be laid with sticks to make a “mattress” and covered with palm leaves. From sticks and leaves, you will need to build a canopy, in addition, you can add a few more "piles" below for the stability of the structure.

If survival takes place in conditions of absolute unpreparedness, as a coating can be used palm leaves, but this does not mean that other materials cannot be used: plastic wrap, cloth or tarpaulin.

A variety of debris is constantly nailed to the shore in waves, if a plane or a ship crashed, having developed a little on the island, you can build a boat and float there to pick up useful things.

Such a built hut can only serve as a sleeping place and shelter for the first time.

From branches and improvised materials, you can build a whole hut where food and weapons will be stored. The main purpose of the shelter is protection from the weather. You can easily die from a cold on a desert island, the human body does not tolerate such a climate, so you need to insulate and floor your home with high quality.

Fire

Survival on a deserted island becomes much more difficult without a lighter, matches or other means of ignition. Fire is the second most important survival factor after water. Wild animals will never approach it, you can cook food and boil water on a fire, warm yourself and dry things near it. Dry branches or moss are perfect for lighting a fire.

Since it is humid in the tropics, it will be more difficult to find dry fuel than in a regular forest, but you can simply dry it in the sun. It is necessary to prepare tinder - a flammable material, the fire from which can then be transferred to a fire.

For this, ground dry grass, cotton wool or fluff is suitable (you can take it from the lining of the jacket). Then make a bow - it is not necessary that it be of high quality, its use will end when the fire is lit.

As a bowstring, you can use a lace from a boot or sweatshirt:

1. Take a bar of dry wood, gouge a small depression in it.
2. Wrap the string of the bow around a stick (just place the stick behind the string and turn the bow 180°).
3. Put a pre-prepared tinder into the recess on the bar, put a stick in it.
4. Move the bow quickly, making “sawing” movements so that the bowstring rotates the stick (press it from above with your hand for reliability).

The stick will rotate and heat the tinder by friction. First, a little smoke will go - this is not fire yet, the friction needs to be increased. When the first sparks appear, the tinder must be carefully inflated and placed in a pile of dry branches that were previously prepared for the fire. The islands do not have the usual good wood, such as oak or beech, which burn for a long time, with high quality and give a lot of heat.

You will have to make a fire with improvised means, grass and moss will quickly burn out, so the fire must be constantly maintained around the clock. In order not to return to this again, it is better to collect branches from the forest in advance and lay them on the shore: in this way, firstly, they will dry in the sun, and secondly, they will always be at hand. Fire can be obtained thanks to a magnifying glass.

The mechanism of this method is simple, the magnifying glass collects the sun's rays at one point, and their high concentration literally sets fire to the tinder. It is unlikely that a random Robinson will have a magnifying glass with him purely by chance, but lenses from glasses or binoculars can be used as it. Only converging lenses are suitable for making fire, scattering lenses are useless in this matter.

This means that glasses should be for the correction of farsightedness, and not myopia, with positive diopters. It sounds strange, but if there are no lenses, they can be replaced with a regular condom. You need to pour about 1-1.5 liters of water into it (of course, sea water, so as not to transfer drinking water) and tie it tightly.

The lens is placed at a distance of 15-20 cm from the tinder kindling, perpendicular to the sun's rays.

The distance and angle of inclination can be adjusted and changed, focusing on how the tinder behaves. When the kindling ignites, it will simply need to be transferred to the prepared fuel for the fire. The main advantage of this method is that it is not necessary to exert physical effort to produce fire, the minus is that not every person may even have lenses from glasses.

Each of these methods will help you get a fire guaranteed in clear weather. During the rains, which can last for weeks on the islands, all dry kindling becomes unusable and can no longer catch fire from a small spark.

So, when going on a trip by plane or liner, you should always have at least one good lighter in your pocket, which is enough for a month of use.

Food

On a desert island, food problems usually do not complicate survival. On the shore you can get fish, mussels and other edible shellfish. Before entering the water, it will not be superfluous to make “slippers” out of leaves and ropes. The reefs are inhabited by warty (stone fish), the back of which is covered with poisonous spines.

It disguises itself as a stone and lies at the bottom, and it is almost impossible to notice such a fish. Poison can be fatal to humans, so it's better to protect yourself once again. If there are coconut palms on the island, this is a guarantee that you won’t be able to die of hunger here. Coconut flesh is very nutritious, water can be collected in the shell, and the hairs on the surface of the nut burn perfectly.

On tropical islands bananas, mangoes, papaya can grow. Poisonous fruits such as ackee or carambola should be avoided. Hunting large animals alone is like signing your own death warrant. Many islands have herds of feral pigs, but they can be very dangerous.

These animals can only be hunted with firearms and a good supply of ammo to ensure that there are always ammo left for self-defense. Meat provides energy that cannot be obtained by eating fruits and shellfish, so sooner or later you will have to think about how you can include it in your diet.

The safest way to get meat is to set traps.

Animals on uninhabited islands are unaware of the danger posed by humans and are unlikely to avoid the loops. Rats live on the islands, and you should not disdain their meat here - in major cities these animals carry dangerous diseases, but on uninhabited islands they are no different from ordinary rodents.

Self-defense and security

There should be a constantly maintained campfire next to the shelter. Wild animals are naturally afraid of fire and will never come close, so you need to measure how long a particular fire burns, and, based on this, put enough new fuel into it every evening.

At night, forays into the depths of the island, or even just from the shelter, are highly undesirable, the search for food and household chores must be started before dark in order to finish them by darkness. But even during the day you can encounter a wild animal in the forest. In case of such a meeting with yourself, you need to have a weapon.

You can make a homemade knife from a sharpened piece of stone, a penknife will be useless against a large beast. In the forest, you can carry a burning torch with you. Clothing will help against insects; you need to try to keep it in its original form, do not spend it on making filters or canopies.

Finding ways to return to civilization

As soon as the first issues with the organization of survival are resolved, it is imperative to lay out the international distress signal “SOS” with branches on the coast. The larger the area of ​​the coast, the larger the letters should be, no need to spare time and effort, this is the main hope for salvation. Another way to be discovered is to light a signal fire.

It is not like the usual one in that it consists of several long sticks. It is better to put it on some rock, hill, but this option is convenient only if the island is not the only survivor.

People can distribute duties and allocate several people to watch the signal fire at the top, but one person will survive on the shore, and, accordingly, having seen the ship, he will not have time to run up and light the fire. There are no restrictions on size and height, the more the better, the main thing is to quickly kindle it.

You can keep an ordinary small fire next to it to transfer the fire.

A passing ship is unlikely to be able to see a fire and fire, but it will definitely see smoke. The fire should smoke very strongly, and this cannot be achieved simply with dry branches. At the top, you need to store wet leaves (if the sun is shining, cover them with a canopy so that they do not dry out), they smoke perfectly in a fire, but the strongest source of smoke is plastic.

If there are bags or any unnecessary plastic items, you should not save them, but safely throw them into the fire. A person suffers survival on a desert island only out of hope for a speedy rescue, but a ship or a helicopter cannot be a guarantee of this. The ship may simply not notice the signals and sail past, or not pay attention at all.

A volcanic uninhabited island with dense vegetation can provide the possibility of an indefinite existence. If you properly settle down, cultivate wild plants and animals, then it is quite possible to stay on the island for a long time. But not every person is able to make such a decision and refuse the benefits of civilization, society of people and favorite work.

Many are willing to take risks to take matters into their own hands for the sake of an illusory hope. If you know in which part of the ocean the uninhabited island is located, you can estimate the distance to mainland and try to swim to it on your own. For this, a raft of logs is being built. You should not rush into construction, this is the most extreme and last step that Robinson can take.

Several times you should test the raft in shallow water, check how much cargo it can withstand, make oars and make a test swim around the island, build a sail. Max Speed raft - 10 km / h, this is not the fastest way to return to land, especially in the ocean, where not all places have a current.

In 1947, the Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl on the Kon-Tiki sailing raft sailed about 7 thousand kilometers in 100 days, so it is possible to escape from the island by swimming. All real stories about the people who survived on a desert island boil down to the same fact - they all knew how to find water, make fire and make simple tools.

The story of a boy who spent several years on the island is known, and he himself claimed that if he did not remember Robinson Crusoe in detail, he would never have been able to hold out for so long. Each person, for the sake of their safety, must have minimal skills, and then it’s up to the wild nature, which can help a person.

Article formatting: Lozinsky Oleg

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