Some people may think that survivalists can only use their knowledge for when they are out in the wilderness, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Survivalists can take all their knowledge and apply it to everyday life, and these tips can help anyone from simple situations to potentially life-threatening ones.
1. Car brakes not working
This is not likely going to happen, but it doesn’t hurt to know what to do if this were to ever occur. If your brakes don’t work, you should act like you are in the snow and do not accelerate. Pump the brakes and see if that works. If it doesn’t, try engaging the parking brake. Worst case scenario, if that doesn’t work, you may need to find something you can scrape against, such as a guard rail. It is not recommended that you try and find a ditch unless you know it doesn’t have a sharp drop.
2. Car stuck in the snow
This has likely happened to you before if you live in an area that has winter, and this has a simple fix: use cat litter to give your car some traction. If your tires are spinning in the winter, try pouring some cat litter around the wheels. When you do this, be sure to accelerate slowly and realize that you may need to pour a little extra litter in the direction you need to go instead of just around the tires.
3. Door locked when you don’t have a key
If you are lucky enough to have doorknobs that have a small opening in the knobs, you can simply use a bobby pin to insert it into the lock and turn the lock itself. This will likely take some practice, but opening a door with a bobby pin should only take about ten seconds to figure out.
4. Tire blowout while driving
This is yet another car problem that likely wouldn’t happen, but this situation can be just as dangerous as having your brakes not work. If a tire blows out, turn the car in the opposite direction the car is veering. If the car wants to turn left, keep the car turning right to keep it going straight. Be sure to keep both hands on the wheel since it may be hard to turn the wheel once the tire is blown out. It is also important that you pump the brake to start to slow the car down and come to a halt.
5. Dog ate chocolate
It’s fairly common knowledge that dogs cannot digest chocolate and that compounds in are poisonous to dogs in large amounts. If your dog gets a hold of a lot of chocolate and you can’t get a hold of your veterinarian for an emergency consultation, then you may want to consider giving your dog a hydrogen peroxide and water solution. Be careful to only give your dog one milliliter of 3% solution for every pound of bodyweight. Your dog will likely fight you putting this into their mouth, but it needs to be done. This will make your dog vomit up whatever they ate and though it may be a mess to clean up, it’s much better than saying goodbye.
6. Make sure car never gets stolen from parking garage
This is a reasonable concern that people may have when going into parking garage or lot. However, there is a relatively simple solution to making sure that even if someone does take your car that they can’t leave the garage: take the parking ticket with you. Garages will not allow anyone out unless they can pay the toll and it’s not likely that the perpetrator will want to shell out the cash or risk getting caught.
7. Extinguish grease fire
Cooking with grease is not unheard of, just as having grease fires from cooking aren’t uncommon. People may think to throw water onto a fire, but with a grease fire, that will not work. You will need to put a lid on the fire and get rid of the oxygen feeding the flame. If the pot you were using did not have a lid, then go ahead and pick any lid from a large pot, just to make sure the entire fire is covered.
8. Remove skunk spray from a car
For anyone who has smelled skunk, they can remember the sickly sweet and unpleasant odor of its spray. There are times where skunks may spray your car and it can seem almost impossible to get the smell off. However, there is a quick trick: make a hydrogen peroxide and water solution. Use this solution to wipe the area where the skunk may have sprayed, but be sure to wipe it off quickly to make sure the solution doesn’t damage the paint job on your car.
9. Stop an open wound from bleeding
There are some cuts than can be handled with small Band-Aids, but there are times where you may get a deep cut. If you are with someone and if you think the cut is deep enough, have them call 911 or start to drive you to an emergency room and get lots of gauze. Wrap the wound with gauze and apply pressure to make it stop bleeding. Be sure to elevate the area where the wound is to keep blood flow to a minimum.
10. Identify Lyme disease
Lyme disease is usually contracted from ticks who fed off of a deer who had the disease. The disease is identified by its unique and disturbing shape: a large rash surrounded by a red ring with a blister or blue spot in the center of the rash. Once you have identified the rash, be sure to visit the emergency room because this disease can be very harmful if not treated early.
Knowledge is Power
Even though some of these situations may likely not happen, it is important to know them anyway. It is always better to have the knowledge to survive a situation rather than to not know and eventually need it. Survivalists have a lot of knowledge that can be applied to daily life, it just takes a natural curiosity to discover what you can use to help you in your daily life, and possibly save your life.
