Sure, you might never find yourself
stuck in the Siberian tundra with freezing temperatures. But that doesn’t mean
it’s not worth covering the basics when it comes to surviving in the wild.
Whether finding yourself alone and stranded in nature seems like a real
possibility for you or not, you can still benefit from following some of the survival tips by
Bear Grylls.
Of course, Mr. Grylls hasn’t always
had the best advice over the years. Luckily for you, we’re here to separate the
wheat from the chaff. So keep on reading and we’ll walk you through the best
and worst survival tips and tricks from Bear Grylls.
The
Best Survival Tips from Bear Grylls
The best survival tips from Bear
Grylls are the ones that are practical and relatively safe. Many of his tips
are easy to perform and yield great results. Let’s look at some below.
1.
Start a Fire With a Phone Battery
If you stab a lithium phone battery
with a knife, the battery will explode and you’ll get a bunch of
sparks. If you don’t want to destroy your phone battery, you can also use
some wire wool and a 9-volt battery. Just touch the wool to both ends of the
battery and you’ll get sparks.
2.
Use A Backpack Liner To Help Cross Rivers
According to Bear Grylls,
if you come across a powerful river, you should anticipate where it’s
going to carry you out too. Then you want to give yourself an extra twenty
percent of space for good measure.
You can then use a backpack liner as
a floatation device to help you get to the other side.
You want to trap as much air in the
liner as you can and seal it. You should keep your feet up and point them down
the river. This way, you can kick away from any sharp rocks.
You want to use the current, don’t
fight it.
3.
Tell Someone Where You’re Going
It might seem obvious, but you
should always tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to be back.
Even if you’re planning on dropping out of society for a bit, you should still
tell someone you trust about your plans.
If nobody knows where you’re going
or when you’re supposed to be there, then your chances of getting help if
you end up in trouble are going to be a lot slimmer.
Try to contact someone
regularly and update them about your location so that it will be easier to find
you in case you end up lost or stuck somewhere.
4. Make
Sure All of Your Gear Works
You should make sure that all of
your gear is clean, organized, and functional. There’s no point in bringing a
tent that’s ripped or a flare gun that’s empty. RKB Armory has
some great information on smart ways to clean your optics so you’re always
prepared.
The Worst
Bear Grylls Survival Tips
What works for Bear Grylls doesn’t
necessarily work for everyone. Some of his tips are unhelpful or downright
dangerous.
1.
It’s Okay to Eat Raw Meat
There’s a reason why the Food and Drug Administration
says that you should cook your meat to a safe minimum internal
temperature. Sure, Bear Grylls might eat raw meat on TV. But you don’t get
to see what’s going on in his stomach or what’s going on with him a few days
after.
You might assume that bacteria and
E. coli are really just a problem at factory farms. However, those dangerous
microbes can be present in wild animals too.
If you eat raw meat, you can get
seriously sick. You might experience vomiting, diarrhea, or worse.
2.
Throw Food at a Bear
If you encounter a bear, you should
stay still and wait for it to leave. According to Bear Grylls, you should throw
food at it. He did this because he wanted to distract the animal.
He claimed that the bear would go
after the food, leaving him time to escape.
However, when you throw food at a
bear, you’re just signaling to him that you’re a source of food. And that’s
probably not what you want it to think.
Many bears are afraid of people and
will go away on their own. If you come across an aggressive bear, you should
stomp your feet, shout, and make yourself appear as big as possible.
Ideally, you’ll have some bear spray
on you. But whatever you do, don’t throw food it.
3.
Drink Your Own Pee
Bear Grylls is perhaps most famous
for drinking his own urine. If you’re a healthy person, then your urine is
mostly sterile. However, it also contains chemical compounds that can be
dangerous.
If you drink your pee, then pee
later, then drink that, you’re going to be consuming more and more harmful
compounds. Your kidneys will soon fail and you’ll eventually die from the
poisoning.
4.
Pull Off Leeches
If you’re swimming around in the
jungle, there’s a chance that you might end up with a leech or two on your
body. Mr. Grylls likes to suggest that you grab the leech by its head and twist
it off of your body.
However, that’s a really bad idea.
If you pull off a leech, douse it in salt, burn it, or spray it with bug spray,
the leech may regurgitate into your open wound. When that happens, you
could become seriously ill.
What you should actually do is use
your fingernail to gently move the leech until it detaches from you. If that
doesn’t work, then it’s best to just let the leech stay on
you until it fills up.
Usie
These Survival Tips From Bear Grylls
Hopefully, you now understand the
best and worst survival tips from Bear Grylls. As we can see, Bear Grylls has
some really helpful tips. But he also has some really dangerous ones.
With some common sense, you should
be able to separate the good advice from the bad.
Make sure to check out the rest of
our site for more helpful articles!
