Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where the difference between life and death is a matter of seconds. Unless you are an emergency responder or an adrenaline junkie, those moments will likely be few and far between. The survival situations you are more likely to encounter will not turn critical for hours or even days. The most important thing in those situations is not to panic. You need to be making the correct decisions, which means you need to have a clear head. If you aren't facing an immediate threat like an angry bear or a bleeding artery, take the time to calm yourself down and then spend at least a few minutes analyzing your situation.
One thing that can help is having a routine to focus your mind on. For example, there are designs for paracord storage where you can unravel them in seconds. While that can be efficient, many experienced bushcrafters choose a weave that takes 10-15 minutes to undo, just for the repetitive action to focus on and bring a sense of calm. Personally, for my bulk storage I choose the efficient fast rope method to keep the cord untangled and compact, whereas I wear/carry ones that take a while to undo, not only to calm myself but also to make sure I conserve my cord. Another popular ritual is to make a cup of hot tea. Granted, if it's caffeinated, it might not help calm you down (depending on your regular intake), but it could help to focus. There is almost certainly some blend of regular or herbal tea that will have the desired effects on you, although you should figure out which kind long before you need it. Of course one of the main benefits of making a cup of tea in a survival situation is that you need to obtain water, start a fire, and have a container that can hold water and be heated to do so, and those are all very useful to have.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
No comments:
Post a Comment