Get Over the Squeamishness of Destruction
ONEOFTHETHINGSTHATMANYPEOPLESTRUGGLEWITH, even under the most
dire circumstances, is destroying something they cherish to make a survival
tool. But there’s really no other choice: if it’s ultimately going to save your life
or limbs, do it. Whether this be cutting your credit card into pieces, filing your
house key to a point, cutting up your car seats, or burning the spare tire in your
car to attract attention, recognize that these are actions born of necessity.
At the same time, however, you must have the foresight to visualize
whether the object you’re destroying may be more useful to you later in its
original form. You don’t want to sacrifice your snowmobile’s windshield,
only to get the machine going later and suffer frostbite or hypothermia on
the way home because you’ve got no protection from the wind.
During the winter of 2008, a Utah couple got lost with their vehicle
and was trapped in the snow in a remote area. Following their 12day
ordeal, they explained at a news conference that they had seen one of my
shows, in which I explained how to cut the stuffing out of car seats to make
“snowshoes.” They did exactly that and walked through the deep snow to
safety without losing their toes or feet to frostbite. They had had a decision
to make: keep their car seats intact or survive. They chose life.
Tools You Can Make
ONE OF THE MOST OFTEN IGNORED BUT SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS of making your
own survival tools is not the purpose they are meant to serve, but how
the act of creating them prepares you psychologically for your ordeal.
The creative process will keep your mind focused, distract you from the
misery of your circumstances, and generally improve your mental state.
Sure, you may make a snare or a trap and not be successful with it at first,
but making the effort is much better than doing nothing at all, because
doing something, anything, gives you hope that your efforts may bear
fruit. This all ties into the allimportant will to live: if you have a reason
to survive, you likely will make it through alive.
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