Acronym Insanity

There is a lot to be said for an aide mémoire in a situation where you might find it hard to remember what you need to do and there is some strict protocol as to how to act, but in the world of survival, understanding and common sense trump survival acronyms every time. In my experience, they are numerous, incomplete contrived and remembering the meaning of the letters is lost over time.

I used to teach PLAN, as Lofty Wiseman prescribes, but being a good scientist, I tested the memory of a number of my students some years later. In almost all cases, they had forgotten the interpretation of the letters or some additional information, here's why:

P is for Protection: That's protection from further danger and protection from the elements using appropriate clothing, shelter and fire. That's two components, one of which is split into three, so really five things to remember from one letter, as well as the word itself, so six.

L is for Location: That's not finding your location, but advertising your location to rescue agencies and passers by using active and passive signals. This is an example of something that might be remembered, but the meaning misremembered.

A is for Acquisition: That's acquisition of water and food, in that order. Again, two components and the letter that is most contrived and that most people forget.

N is for Navigation: More specifically, this is orientation and navigation and is associated with making an informed and effective move from camp. This is a low priority and is not normally required for some weeks.

Can you imagine trying to remember that next month, let alone in a slightly panicked survival situation.

Another example, which Ray Mears favours, is STOP, which has a number of interpretations, though they all come to the same basic conclusion.

Situation/Stop/Sit
Threat/Think
Observe
Plan/Prepare

If you ask me, STOP is just common sense and essentially boils down to "take a minute to have a think about what you're going to do next".

One of the more complete examples is that of the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association:

Know and recognize
Inventory
Shelter
Signals
Water
Eat
Play

That's all pretty sound stuff, but KISSWEP is a bit of a pain to remember and has an unfortunate double letter in it. I think I'd be most likely to get annoying stuck at the first letter too.

Finally, one that really cracks me up is that of the US Military who contrived to use the acronym SURVIVAL with frankly comedic results:

Size up the situation
Undue haste makes waste
Remember where you are
Vanquish fear and panic
Improvise
Value living
Act like the natives
Learn basic skills/Live by your wits

Dave Canterbury of The Pathfinder School took a different approach, using the same letter over again, introducing the Five Cs of Survivability:

Cutting tool
Combustion
Container
Cover
Cordage

Very important stuff, but once more, not too easy to remember. Not satisfied with this level of Confusion (pun intended), this list was upgraded to ten:

Cutting tool
Combustion
Cordage
Container
Cargo
Compass
Cover
Candle (or light)
Combination tool
Cloth

Now, I don't know about you, but remembering ten words, all beginning with the same letter, in order, is frankly a nightmare. They are based on a sound principal of acquisition of equipment that is hard to come by in nature, but it's all a bit much for the old grey matter.

So who have we forgotten? Bear Grylls of course. Known for his mad cap crusades and frankly barmy survival techniques, one would expect him to use the most contrived and insane acronym of all, but no, he simply presents these four basic priorities:

Protection
Rescue
Water
Food

No acronym, no memory, just succinct rule based on the following few basic principals associated with that which is likely to cause you to die quickest or prolong your survival situation:

1. Extremes of cold or heat can kill you in hours, though more generally the first night
2. Unless you are in the middle of the ocean you're never more than two days from rescue*
3. Dehydration can be staved off for around three days if needs be
4. Malnutrition is a serious consideration, but not nearly as much as the above

* if someone knows you are missing and knows roughly where you are

Yes, there is more to it than that, but those four basic priorities won't take you far wrong. The rest is arguably instinct, common sense, skills and informed decisions, supported by further knowledge, of course.

No two survival situations are the same, however, by understanding the basic needs of the human body, a little about Search and Rescue (see SAR Starting Point series), nature and the limits of natural resources, we can prioritise and improvise without relying on memory and the strict adherence to an incomplete task list.

As I'm teaching in my Wild Food and Natural Resources Course that you don't need to rely on books, so I am teaching in my survival courses and articles that you don't need an aide mémoire to know what to do in a survival situation. Knowledge & understanding once more supports skills; the basic tenet of all of my work.

Forthcoming articles will develop your knowledge and confidence. Keep reading and do look out for updates via Facebook on the Survival's Cool Blog Page.

Night Owls

You may have noticed that my posts often come late at night. Why is this, you may ask yourself. The reason is simple, my day consists of tasks which have specific or limited time frames. Meals times, school runs, phone calls, house work and even socialising fall into prescribed parts of the day. Writing is not subject to a particular time and hence finds itself slotting into the first available period outside those which are bounded.

This is also the case with certain actions and operations in a survival context. Darkness imposes a massive impeding factor on most things you want to do outside. In the RNLI, we say that everything to do with Search and Rescue in the dark takes around eight times as long as it would in daylight. I don't know if you've tried even going for a pee in the dark in the woods with no torch, but you can image it's an absolute pain with all the roots and brambles just waiting to trip or ensnare you. Imagine now, trying to build a shelter, locate dry firewood or collect water in the depths of night with no light source. These are the sorts of thing you want to do in daylight, when they are far easier.

What we are toying with now are the kinds of decision which represent the macroscopic prioritisation needed when applying the high level rules of managing a survival situation. It is generally accepted, outside of the certain arctic and tropical areas, that shelter is the first priority after managing further danger and injury. This is a simple application of a 'what will kill me first' rule; the elements are going to have you, so protect yourself from them. On courses, we generally start the day at 10:00am and there is much daylight to begin building a shelter, fire, consider signals, locate water and maybe even some food. Take a moment to consider how this situation might be altered if we started at 6:00pm, in the rain, in January. Here, knowing how our bodies can survive wet over cold, we might prioritise firewood and simply keep ourselves warm through the night until morning, when daylight once again gives us the opportunity to work more effectively.

Again and again, I have seen clients fritter away the time they have before useful daylight has passed. In the woods, this is easily an hour before that of open ground, but even with this warning, I have seen countless cups of tea brewed whilst firewood piles lay wanting or shelter roofs remain unfinished. This is partly naivety and a bad estimation of the duration of critical tasks, part knowing that this is a course and nobody is going to die, but mainly a lack of prioritisation of operations for which night time has a limiting factor. On longer courses, certainly ones in the winter months, this soon changes after beauty sleep is interrupted by cold or rain. All of a sudden, the benefit of that immediate cuppa pales into insignificance compared to the fatigue and discomfort associated with a damp, fireless night.

Never underestimate the amount of time it takes to perform such tasks as building even temporary shelter, lighting a fire or collecting wood. I noted on a recent course that even with a fire steel, lighting fires after dark, when the air was cold and riddled with moisture, was significantly harder than an hour before the sunset. Use your time wisely, it is a resource like any other and deserves to be used efficiently. Once established with shelter and fire, times of darkness, cold and even rain can still be used effectively for such tasks as water treatment, cooking, bedding construction, tool or cordage making and if you have a Bushcraft bent, spoon carving.

If you find yourself in a genuine survival situation, and I hope you never do, consider the effects of darkness when formulating your initial plan. Use your available daylight effectively and think about what you can still do in partial or fire light. If nothing else, this will save any torch batteries you have, but ultimately may make all the difference to you getting out alive.