[crazydave]

okay try again after the post debacle.

the second fastest way of rehydating body fluids is rectally. a simple improvised set up can take the place of an IV or even be used instead of inorder to reduce the need for drastic measures like cutdown when a vein cannot be found, the fluids are too cold for IV use or too many clothes are on the body. During the falklands war it became standard practice as a quick and easy way for inexperienced men to help their colleagues. morphine was administered first probably to reduce shyness.

it can also utilise what would be classed as unpalletable water either due to taint, age or salt contamination.

the simplest field expediant method is to use a camelbak or other drinking bladder, remember to remove the bite valve though unless you pelvic floor needs a workout :)

I cant say whether its taught anywhere else.

[stairman]

So dont ever tell Crazydave your thirsty !

[Roadracer]

Originally Posted by stairman

So dont ever tell Crazydave your thirsty !

LOL!!!!
+1 to that!

[walkabout]

I wonder if thats where the saying "Bottoms Up" when tossing a beer came from?

[Roadracer]

Originally Posted by walkabout

I wonder if thats where the saying "Bottoms Up" when tossing a beer came from?

HaHaHaHaHa!!!!!!!

[crazydave]

another one which the entimologists have discovered is that scorpions glow under UV light.

I am curious though as to whether a UV led I have would also purify water?

[crazydave]

another wierd one is talking to yourself works!

apparently it is possible to debate with yourself or sort out issues by voicing them outload as if you were debating them that forces the brain to rationalise and make sense of your arguament. meanwhile another part of the brain takes in your arguament and makes sense of it.

that way you have two bits of brain working out a solution.

and all these years they said me and roadracer were mad :)

[Celticwarrior]

While I have seen the use of enemas for hydration using contaminated (dirty or water with undrinkable things like paint chips or raft coating materials) I wouldn't use it for salt water. The saline will likely leach more water from the bowel tissues and cause more medical problems than it would cure. Otherwise, I know that rectally administered liquids will allow the body to absorb water that you may not otherwise be able to use, and in addition it may help with evacuating, as a common problem in survival situations is constipation, as the intestines leach every drop of moisture out of fecal matter and leave a hard, unpassable lump in the colon. Not the discussion most people want to have, but it is good information that can save your bacon in a dire situation.

[Mac]

Originally Posted by crazydave

and all these years they said me and roadracer were mad :)

just fyi - this doesnt change things... you are all still mad

[Celticwarrior]

I have tried to come up with a "most obscure" tidbit, but nothing is really coming to my mind above any others. However, if I could pass along one simple idea, it would be: Flexibility in all things.

Now, most people will have different takes on what that means, and they would ALL be right. The idea is that you should, in any survival situation, strive to throw out conventions, rigid thinking, old habits, personal preferances, and traditional values. Survival follows the old adage to bend like a reed rather than shatter like the oak in a windstorm.

For example, in my everyday life, I am a terribly picky eater. I have stated before that I am well over 95% carnivore. Green things and veggies are basically garnishes or made into things like sauces to dress up the taste of meats. (Soups, chilis, pasta/pizza sauces, etc). People who know me ask "how would you survive out in the wild if you are such a picky eater?" and my answer is that (based on training exercises and personal experiences) when you are out in the wilds, and survival is the issue, you throw out your personal preferances. If you have to eat watercress and big juicy grubs, then that is what you have to do. It isn't what I am going to put in my lunch bag for work everyday, but it will keep you alive to bitch (or brag) about your experience another day.

In yet another scenario, I consider myself a moral person (perhaps unusually so, given my everyday experiences with people who call themselves moral or law-abiding, yet are the worst kinds of hypocrites), but I wouldn't hesitate to break into a strangers' cabin or vacation house to warm up if I had been lost for days in bad weather and my life was on the line. Same hold true for vandalizing Forestry service gear, weather stations, a power line or transformer, or a phone company switch box or pillar along a service road. If it is a choice between my life or some property, guess what wins?

Flexibility isn't just an attitude, it is also something that should go into nearly every piece of gear you carry. Make every effort to see a variety of uses for each thing in your kit, your pack, or your pockets. Think SAK or multi-tool, but for everything you own. Foil is a baking cover for your mess kit pot, or a pot of its own, or a cup, or a signal mirror, or a way to melt snow in sunshine, or a seal for a sucking chest wound, or..... well, you see the point. Never just assume the use something was made for is it's only function, especially in a survival situation. You should prepare your gear to be multifunction in advance, like resewing buttons on your hiking clothes with fishing line, or relacing your hiking boots with Paracord, or wrapping your gear with cord or duct tape "just in case".

As a final thought regarding this, flexibility is something you have to exhibit throughout the survival experience. Don't "expect" anything. Take whatever is thrown at you, and deal with it. Never despair because what you THOUGHT would happen didn't, or what you believed was true wasn't. Be willing to say "that's ok, I will just pick up the pieces and go on." no matter what the setback. Outside of immediate and extreme events (falling off a cliff, skiing just ahead of an avalanche, clamboring up a slope to avoid a flash flood, etc.) most things you are going to deal with in an emergency are going to allow you at least a moment or two to debate your decisions about what course of action to take. Take that time!!! Don't make hasty decisions, or go with the "easiest" way to go. It might be the difference between life and death. If there are obstacles, overcome them or go around them, but don't sit there and bemoan the fact that things didn't work the way that you expected. Never give up. Be flexible about everything that happens, allow yourself permission to do what needs to get done. If you have to do something that is outside of your comfort zone, there is plenty of time to consider and examine those decisions when you are home and with family and friends. Never let something that is merely uncomfortable put you in the grave. People have been found dead in the desert near water sources that were perfectly "clean" from a bacteria/microbe standpoint, but were "dirty" or gritty and therefore uncomfortable to drink. Could have saved their lives, but their distaste killed them. Be flexible and you will weather the "storm" of survival.