10 Killer Hot Desert Survival Tricks You Must Know!
A desert environment is absolutely unforgiving. I’m going to tell you about ’10 killer hot desert survival tricks you must know’ that could aid you to avoid a desert fatality. BEFORE I tell you about these desert survival tricks, let me tell you about my experience with surviving in a desert environment.
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Green Berets Slowing Dying: I’m telling you, a desert environment is very unforgiving to the unprepared and ignorant survivor. In 1982, prior to deploying to the Mid-East, 5th Group Special Forces out of Fort Bragg (Green Berets) made it a habit to acclimate the troops prior to deployment by deploying them to desert environments like White Sands, New Mexico.
Our Company deployed to a small isolated military compound somewhere at White Sands. While located there, the A-Teams would train and finally be isolated by 10-man groups into their desert environment. I was told there was a about a 10-mile distance between survival groups and we had no idea where each group was located. Each team only had a PRC-77 radio for an emergency, and a small section of parachute nylon. That’s it. All we had was the clothing on our backs and our headgear – nothing else. As a matter of fact, I remember everybody was stripped-searched for contraband (water, food,…) prior to loading the trucks.
We all loaded-up in the 02 ½-ton trucks (deuce and a halves), and off we went. About 45-minutes later the trucks started dropping off the survival groups in their separate areas. Days prior to the start of this survival training, we were given outdoor classes on desert survival.
I’m telling you the truth, here it was dead in the middle of 110-degree summer and we all got our asses kicked! We were all initially in good shape and we were all fresh. We all just had a good breakfast meal that morning. That was out last meal for the next 05-days.
Nobody in the group were qualified survival instructors, there wasn’t a single drop of water, not a morsel of food, not even a match to start a fire. The entire 05-days out there I didn’t drink a single drop of water nor eat a single morsel of food.
A few soldiers in our group went out on a recon. An hour or so later, they came back with some milky white water. I don’t know where they found the containers to gather the milky white liquid. I believe they strained it through the nylon parachute material. They offered everybody to drink some of the milky white liquid drank. Me, I was thirsty but I wanted nothing to do with drinking that milky white liquid. As soon as they drank the milky white liquid, seconds later, they were all throwing-up.
From the second we were dropped off at our survival site we started to deteriorate. That hot sun was slowly baking us alive. There was nothing out there in our immediate area to support our survival. It was flat hot terrain with no vegetation, no water, no nothing. I do remember one soldier took the time and dug himself a hole to lay in. I remember a jackrabbit came near our survival site one day. We all came to life and we threw rocks at it, but it zig-zagged away from our survival site.
But one unbelievable experience happened. For the 05-days we were out there, all of us just layed-out on the hot open ground with absolutely no cover. One the soldier that dug him a hole was the only soldier with any shelter. One day while we were out there wasting away, a cow came out of nowhere. We all came to life.
I don’t know how we would have killed it, we all had no weapons, but us enlisted soldiers would have killed that critter as sure as the sun was baking us alive. The only reason we didn’t try to kill it was because we had the Company commander and another officer in our group. All us enlisted soldiers already knew killing that cow was off limits even though we were all in a real hurt. We all knew the officers knew that cow was private property and some rancher somewhere owned it.
As I said before, none of us drank a single drop of water nor ate any food while laying out there on the hot desert ground for those 05-days. One night I remember the Company commander started talking about food. He went on fantasizing and explained the dinner meal with all the fixins’ his wife was preparing for him. And other soldiers added in their own favorite delicious foods and drinks. The different ice creams had me come alive a bit. Those fantasy meals, drinks and desserts boosted our morale and gave us something to look forward to.
At about noon or that afternoon on the 05th day, a deuce and a half came to pick us up. It stopped only a couple hundred meters away. I gotta tell you, just walking to that truck was like a death march. We even had trouble climbing up into the truck. The driver was helping us up into the truck.
If we’d of stayed out there just a few more days, there’d be some dead Green Berets. We were all in a real hurt. The truck took us back to our small compound. I observed soldiers from other teams and they looked really whooped just like our team. One team though looked good. Their team did a recon and found a fresh water source. They told me they also captured some snakes and ate em’.
The spoons (messhall cooks), had a feast waiting for us. It looked like a feast and it was a feast. Problem was, nobody could eat. Our stomachs shrank. We all drank some liquids, ate a tiny bit and everybody hit the racks.
If the training continued for another 05-days, there’s no doubt in my mind, some soldiers would be dead for sure. Why did the Army Special Forces put us through this near-death training that would have eventually killed some of us in just a few more days? They wanted us to understand that these are the consequences for failing to plan and prepare for your mission in desert environments. After that, I told myself, “that will never happen again.” If you don’t know it A-Teams are given orders and then plan their own missions from infiltration to exfiltration.
Desert environments and any environments that are hot and have lack of water are absolutely unforgiving, absolutely merciless. We are all fragile creatures of comfort, so we have to PROPERLY PLAN all our outdoor adventures. Here are some desert survival tricks used by the Real Survivors who live in unforgiving desert environments.
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- Tagilmus Cool Clothing
- Lazy Desert Pace
- Water Conservation
- Rationing Water Tricks
- Forced Hydration Plan
- Symptoms Of Severe Dehydration
- Travois
- Healing Mold
- Healing Moldy Bacon Fat
- Overwatch Base
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Tagilmus Cool Clothing: The nomads clothing is called tagilmus. It’s a layered robe including a veil that prevents dehydration, provides sun protection, and provides sandstorm protection. The veil itself allows moisture from the mouth and nose to circulate around the face preventing premature aging and cracking. The layered robe also allows perspiration to circulate keeping the body cool. The tagilmus is usually made of a light color to reflect the bright sun. However, imported clothing is dark-colored (for veils).
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Lazy Desert Pace: In the harsh Sahara Desert, being lazy may save lives. Nomads NEVER over exert themselves. They lazily do any tasks that needs to be done. When nomads travel through the desert, there is absolutely no rush to get from A to B. So much so, distance is not measured in miles or kilometers but in days or fractions of days.
Now keep in mind while the nomads, especially the Tuaregs, are slender in build, they’re not obese. Being out of shape in a desert environment IS ASKING FOR IT and chances are you’re gonna get it real quick!
Note: While deployed to the Mid-East, Army Special Forces made it a habit to deploy to desert environments of the southwestern United States to get a taste of desert acclimization prior to re-deploying into the Mid-East. The southwestern US is a butt whoopin experience especially with SF style type desert survival training.
Anyway, while deployed in the Mid-East, the aggressive SFers on patrol alongside host country Jordanian Special Ops, noticed how lazily and lackadaisically they were. While on patrol, they stopped suddenly and took noisy rest breaks (violating Noise & Light Discipline) while drinking tea – establishing no security! Other times they stopped to pray. Were they this way because of their desert environment?
And while I’m at it, their own Jordanian Ranger School was a bit barbaric. A US Army RI (Ranger Instructor) yelling, some constructive criticism at Ranger students now and then is good and accepted. But their RI’s did more than yelling. While yelling at their Ranger students, they struck them repeatedly with green saplings. And I can tell you from being a kid, them things hurt bad! Anyway, the 1st time I saw this, I thought it was a onetime thing. But we saw them in training many times and each and every time, them foreign Ranger students were getting whooped on by their RI’s. And their Officers treated their enlisted soldiers like sh!+, especially the lower enlisted (Privates)! And their lower enlisted soldiers were dirt poor.
One day I left the mess hall, returning 10-minutes later to retrieve my pen that I left on the table. I witnessed their lower enlisted soldiers greedily eating left-over scraps of food off the plates and tables that we Americans and host country Special Ops left behind. I surprised them.
Looking them in their eyes, they suddenly went from being hungry to being ashamed. I didn’t say a word, English or French, but retrieved my pen and departed. A couple hours later, both Americans and Jordanian host country Spec Ops assembled in the messhall for classes and the messhall was shiny clean.
Days later, working with their headquarters element in a forward deployed compound (desert environment – location unknown), they deliberately isolated myself and several other SFers and kept a close eye on us. We were heavily armed but we were not threatened, nor could we do a dang thing about it. Why were we treated this way?
Cause the US are allies with Israel and they were enemies of Israel and all it stood for. I guess they thought we might be spying – I don’t know. As a matter of fact, to them Israel doesn’t exist. While in their CP (Command Post), I noticed on their maps that any word about Israel was blacked-out with a magic marker cause as one soldier told me “Israel does not exist.” Sorry I got off the track.
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Water Conservation: Experts state that in a survival situation, the survivor(s) should drink all remaining water instead of conserving it. Savvy desert survival expert nomads have the opposite approach. Nomads ration their water – sparingly drinking from their goat skin canteens and NEVER drink all the water till they get to the next water source (hole, oasis,…). And I AGREE WITH THE NOMADS. See Rationing Water Tricks below.
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Rationing Water Tricks: The latest word by experts is NOT to ration water but to drink it down while you have it. I agree with this theory if you know for sure you could escape your hostile environment in a very short period of time (hours). For example, exert all your energy and walk to safety in a few to several hours.
But what if you weren’t sure about your own location and the location to safety and the chances of procuring more water? Why gulp everything down right then and there? Here are some water rationing tricks you ought to consider:
a) Restrict Movement: Restrict movement to the coolest hours – usually at night. Go static during daylight hours. Wear light-colored clothing to include headgear to reflect the sun, protect the skin and retain any moisture (sweat) escaping the body.
b) Sip Water: Instead of drinking the water, slowly sip it. And before swallowing it, swish it around in your mouth.
c) No Eating: When eating, your digestive tract needs fluids to help digest the food. If you eat with no water, the food can suck-up remaining water and send you into dehydration which begins to incapacitate the body and deteriorate your mental faculties.
d) Wet Lips: When there’s only a small portion of water, wet the lips only when thirsty and to prevent cracking.
e) Lower Body Temperature: Since major blood networks are close to the skin, moisten the neck (carotid arteries), face (blood veins), and wrist (arteries) to lower blood temperature which will help lower body temperature and lower the chance of being a heat casualty.
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Forced Hydration Plan: Here’s a Forced Hydration Plan used by the military.
01) Implement a force hydration plan. Did you know when you’re thirsty, you’re already 33% below sufficient water requirements. Force hydrate by a time schedule – like every 30-minutes drink water whether you’re thirsty or not. To replace electrolytes, try Gatorade liquid or in the powder form (add water).
02) Implement a buddy system. Implement a buddy system so somebody is ALWAYS encouraging his buddy to drink plenty of water as well as look for heat injury indicators.
03) Implement a salt intake plan. This can be done during meals or added to your water.
04) Implement a mandatory rest schedule. More frequent breaks should be taken according to the situation.
05) Unblouse pants and shirts for better cooling. Clothing should NEVER be discarded, for serious sun burns can take place and incapacitate the survivor.
06) Leaders spot check and supervise. Leaders should ALWAYS spot check and supervise the above plans and improve on them. See Symptoms Of Severe Dehydration below.
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Symptoms Of Severe Dehydration: Here are Symptoms of Severe Dehydration Even The Books Don’t Tell You About. Here are a few symptoms of severe dehydration even the medical books don’t tell you about! Yes, this is another true story from yours truly (author)!
While attending Survival Evasion Resistance And Escape School (SERE) Instructor Course (Panama), the instructors told us how important it was to force hydrate. They stated over and over again that dehydration dulls the mind! Well, during the last part of SERE School, the remaining surviving students that evaded 02 Infantry platoons (80 soldiers) for days were now ready to be split up to individual hide sites to do our individual field-craft survival.
I was there with another SERE student in the jungle getting briefed by the cadre. EVERY TIME the SERE student (enlisted Navy) opened his mouth and replied or asked a question, the 02 SERE cadre (Green Berets) would laugh at him!! Why? I just stood there kind of groggy and tired but I understood everything the cadre stated and the replies and questions from the other SERE student. Again, they were laughing at us! Why? Multiple times the other SERE student asked a question and both cadre chuckled. Not very professional I thought. Why were they laughing at us?
This is why. The other SERE student sounded OK to me cause I was in the same severely dehydrated, malnourished,… condition he was in.
We were both severely dehydrated and we both had trouble putting a simple sentence together! It’s like we were drunk!
35 Divided By 07 Equals ____________?
Another problem with severe dehydration is loss of your short term memory! You’ll forget what you were supposed to do or forget what somebody told you seconds later! And you’ll also lose the ability to think clearly and solve problems. Remember, dehydration dulls the mind!
Like solving simple math problems like 35 divided by 07 will take some thinking!! How long will it take you to solve the simple math problem – 35 Divided By 07 Equals ____________?
About a 1/2 -second at the most!!! What if I told you while I was waiting for the SERE grader to grade all my field-craft, I did a simple math problem. NO JOKE, it took me 30 – 45-seconds to solve the math problem. I WAS MESSED UP!!!
A few days later, several Special Forces soldiers came to the SERE Graduation. About 52 – 54 SERE candidates started the course and 24 graduated including me. The soldiers at graduation talked to me and listening to me, they told me repeatedly “Laydon, your messed up.” Now get this, 30-days after completing the SERE Course, 30-days after – soldiers came up to me and told me “Laydon, you’re still messed-up!” I had 30-days to eat 03-meals a day and drink plenty of fluids and I was ‘still messed-up!’
My point is, lack of water really does dull the mind and it starts even when you’re thirsty. Lack of water dulls the mind. You make mistakes. Mistakes that could cost you your life. So you gotta HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE, one more time HYDRATE!!!
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Travois: Travois were used to transport gear, food, supplies,… A travois is a simple vehicle made of 02 long poles that are attached to a dog or horse via a harness and it’s dragged. At the other end of the 02 poles, a net is secured where the items to be transported are placed. The end tips of the travois provide minimal friction by carving the ends so they’re pointed. The travois is usually used on ice or snow but can be used on any ground surface. So if you have a good size dog, put that critter to work! Yes, humans too can drag along heavy gear supported by a travois.
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Healing Mold: African tribesman made an unknown concoction, let it mold and then applied the moldy concoction to the wound. And as you know penicillin was derived from mold. But here’s more proof on the healing power of mold. In ancient Egypt, a physician named Imhotep was so popular, after he died, he became the Egyptian god of healing. Anyway, while he was alive (1600 B.C), Imhotep recorded 800 recipes and 700 drugs related to medicine.
A treatment for sores was to place moldy bread at the wound site. Mud was also used. So now you know how ancient Egyptians treated open sores – with moldy bread. Not until recently did modern medical research reveal that mold and mud often contain filamentous bacteria and filamentous fungi, which are the basis for modern day antibiotic wonder drugs.
I know you’ve been on one of your outdoor ventures and had moldy bread in your possession. And what did you do with it? You threw it away. Now you know a reason to keep moldy bread. But if you don’t have moldy bread or mud to treat wounds, see Healing Ants in the July 2000 AASN cause ants are everywhere and while you’re at it, see Got Lice? in that same AASN.
Note: Penicillin, an antibiotic, is derived from the mold Penicillium notatum. Its antibiotic action was first discovered in 1928 by British bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming.
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Healing Moldy Bacon Fat: According to Jude C. Williams, M.H., master herbalist, to aid in the healing of an infected open wound, place a piece of moldy bacon fat over the wound overnight. The moldy bacon will draw-out the infection from the wound. Clean and re-dress as necessary.
Note: Another readily available ingredient to heal wounds are oak leaves. Look for signs of acorns and you got an oak tree of one species or another. Gather a handful of fresh oak leaves and bend and squeeze them so they’re bruised, releasing their healing ingredients. Apply the bruised leaves to the wound and wrap & secure with a warm bandage. Clean and change dressing as needed.
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Overwatch Base: Of all the ’10 killer hot desert survival tricks you must know’ seriously consider employing the ‘Overwatch Base’ on your next outdoor adventure. Desert environments are absolutely unforgiving.
On your next outdoor adventure, consider implementing an Overwatch Base. Say for example, you and several of your friends are venturing out to the Mojave Desert for a whole week. YES, you implemented all the planning I talked about at the beginning of the Wilderness Survival.
Anyway, you’re all set and ready to go. But to insure you and all friends stay safe no matter what happens, you’ve established an Overwatch Base.
An Overwatch Base are a few of your other very dependable friends that aren’t aren’t going with you. They are located at a nearby motel. They have communications with you 24/7 via Satellite Phones. They are always checking up on your status and your exact pinpoint locations using topographic maps. They are supplied with food, water and other supplies. On a daily basis, they’ll marry-up with you (01 person is always at the motel room in case the re-supply party and main party have problems) once a day to re-supply you.
They are monitoring the Satellite Phone 24-hours a day. And every day, they link-up with the main party for re-supplies, so the main party doesn’t have to carry all that extra weight throughout the week. Just a single gallon of water weighs over 08-pounds. All that water weight and other supplies adds up.
And if there is a major problem (lost party, medical emergency,…), the Overwatch Base is on it like right now. They’ll call local authorities and give them your exact pinpoint location.
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MOST IMPORTANT NOTE: Now that you read & viewed ’10 killer hot desert survival tricks you must know’ – You’re Ready Anytime Anywhere. However, before you go out on your next outdoor adventure, please re-read “How To Plan Your Outdoor Adventure!”
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