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Thread: Very Important Survival Scenario Question

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    Default Very Important Survival Scenario Question

    So I have searched for an answer to this question to no avail. What should one do if you lose your sight while alone in the wilderness?? This is severely important to me as I am alone in the wilderness very often but I'm blind in one eye, always have been. But what would be the appropriate steps to deal with said scenario? I can imagine it would be extremely disorienting almost immediately. Thanks in advance for any information you can give me.


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    Well, I would get out my cell phone and hit the big round button and hold it. Siri would ask me what she could do for me, and I'd tell her to call somebody to come get me.

    Alan

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    When in the wilderness alone, we all run the risk of injury that may incapacitate us. If that is a concern for you and you are in areas where cell phone coverage is spotty or non existant you may look into a sat phone or one of the sat based communications systems like SPOT.
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    Thanks man. I see the SPOT Gen 3 is probably going to work for the prepping department. But that doesn't answer my question, no offense. I'm not asking how to prep for such. I'm asking what to do in the moment and you can't rely on your trusty technology? Let's say your battery dies for whatever reason, or you drop it and can't find it because you can't see, or any reason what so ever that would cause you to not be able to rely on your technology, what do you do?

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    Stay put and HOLLER for help!
    Wilderness Survival:
    Surviving a temporary situation where you're lost in the wilderness

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    1. Use your whistle (you did pack one, right?) 2. Fire three shots (three of anything is a distress signal) 3. Sit down and wait for rescue since you let someone know where you would be and when you would return. You did leave that info with someone responsible, didn't you?

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    Thank you. That was the sound advice I was looking for on how to handle such an extreme situtation. I do have a whistle and someone does always know where I am and when to expect me back.

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    No offense taken. I wasn't giving you advice on how to prep for the possibility that concerns you but rather how to contact help to get you out of the situation if it arises.
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    Believe it or not the Spot and In-Reach communicators are in widespread use now. They are not uncommon or scarce among the backpacking community where people remain in the woods for days on end and might be thousands of miles away from their families.

    In-Reach allows texting via satellite com for immediate communication with family and friends as well as rescue. That way if plans change and you are not going where you said you would be due to road closure, fire restrictions or closure or diversions by forest service or Park service, those people that thought they knew where you were can be notified.

    These devices feature a one button SOS feature that pings you on GPS and sends rescue immediately. I mean immediately, not two or three days latter when they get around to it.

    If you are willing to include a whistle and other goodies why not an up to date self rescue device?
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    Senior Member Phaedrus's Avatar
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    My late father lost an eye in a construction accident in the 70's so I can understand how deadly serious this scenario is! There are some very easy things that suddenly become difficult or even impossible if you can't see. Could you activate a SPOT or PLB without being able to see it? I don't know! I can say using a cell phone without looking might be very difficult in the smartphone era. At least with an old phone that still had buttons the home buttons will have a dimple (like the number 5 does on a keypad or the letters F and J have on a keyboard).

    When you only have one eye to begin with you better be careful! There are a few things I'd suggest, and forgive me if they're obvious:

    1) Keep a whistle or other means of communicating on a lanyard around your neck! That could include a mini signal mirror although admittedly you wouldn't be very accurate at aiming it sans vision.

    2) Wear safety glasses! If you don't wear prescription glasses then have a pair of safety glasses on you. I get a lot of derision when I point it out to folks but I'd rather base my outlook on experience and caution instead of optimism or a feeling of invincibility. There are a few things that I simply won't do without eyepro. Obviously one is shooting! But chopping wood or banging on a rock (like you would with a flint & steel) is another. I also won't use any power tool without eyepro! Yeah, even a cordless drill although that's maybe overkill on my part.

    3) Carry some single use vials of eyewash. Those are seriously handy to have! We use them in a professional kitchen and they're super handy if you get dirt or bark in your eyes. Much better than sticking a finger in your eye to try to get the foreign object out.

    4) Wear those safety glasses when you're bushwacking! Especially in the dark. It's easy to catch a branch/twig in the eye when walking through thick woods, especially at night.

    5) Wear a headlamp at night! Having your light source above the line if vision will illuminate webs, twigs, etc better than a light below shoulder level.

    6) Wear a hat with a bill/brim. That's very useful for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being it kind of clears out a path for your face.

    I was about seven years old when my dad lost his right eye so I grew up knowing how quickly your life can change! Dad was right handed so he had to learn to shoot from his left shoulder and of course navigate life with greatly diminished depth perception. An ounce of prevention is worth two tons of cure when it comes to your eyes!

    Best wishes, good luck and be careful out there!

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    Senior Member WolfVanZandt's Avatar
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    If there's a possibility of this scenario, you might want to do some blind training in a "safe" environment - you might start when you have a companion with you. I am a retired rehabilitation specialist and I've had several opportunities to go a day blindfolded to "see what it's like" to have to navigate through a day without sight and, in ninjitsu training, we did blind evasive maneuvers. Use a walking stick or trekking pole when your in the wilderness and learn to use it as a blind cane. I think you'd be pleasantly surprised how quickly you can adapt to sightlessness.
    True enough, my final home is still out there, but this is most certainly my home range and I love it. I love every rock I fall off and tree I trip over. Even when I am close to dying from exhaustion, a beautiful sunset doesn't lose it's power to refresh and inspire me and that, in itself, is enough to save me sometimes.

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