You thought you were doing an easy day hike to clear your head,
but suddenly, you realize you're lost.
One tree looks just like another.
Your compass is broken, and your cell signal is weak.
Being lost in the woods can be dangerous.
Are there bears?
Do you have enough food with you?
How long will you be stranded?
And, how will you get out of here?
It's time to gather your thoughts and stay calm.
Here's how to survive being stranded in a forest,
Luckily, there are a number of ways to do this.
For example, if you see any of the following things,
water is likely to be nearby.
Animals,
animal tracks, green foliage,
mosquitoes and flies.
In the forest, you're most likely to find a creek, a stream or a pond.
If there are mountains, there may be water at the foot of the cliffs.
Another way to stay hydrated is to save rainwater.
If you have anything that will hold water,
leave it out to collect rain or dew.
If you don't have any containers,
use a tarp or a poncho if you have them.
Hang them by tying the corners to trees, .9-1 meters (3-4 feet) off the ground.
Put a small rock in the middle of the material to make
a kind of bowl to collect the water.
Don't let the water sit too long,
or it will get contaminated with bacteria.
If you haven't found a water source
and it hasn't rained,
try collecting morning dew.
You can find dew before sunrise.
Almost any absorbent material will do,
from a shirt
to a sock.
Find some grass
and move the clothing around on top of it
to soak up the dew.
Next, wring the water out into a container.
Never collect dew from poisonous plants or mushrooms.
To stay safe, only soak up water from the grass.
Now, once you have the water,
you've got to purify it.
If you don't, you're leaving yourself
vulnerable to bacteria that could make you sick or even kill you.
Make sure to boil the water for 10 minutes.
If you can't start a fire,
then use a clear, plastic bottle.
Fill it with water,
close the lid,
and put it in direct sunlight for 6 hours.
Find two trees that are about 3 meters (10 feet) apart.
You'll need a support beam,
so find a branch that's about 3 meters (10 feet) long
and 7.5-15 cm (3-6 inches) in diameter.
Look for a couple of trees that have Y-shaped splits in their trunk,
and put one end of the beam in each of the splits.
Voila! You have a shelter.
You can flip over logs
to find easy-to-catch and protein-laden insects.
You can safely eat worms, ants and grasshoppers,
but avoid spiders, ticks and flies.
Eat berries, but don't touch white berries,
as those are usually poisonous to humans.
If you know what you're doing,
pick and eat mushrooms
like chanterelles,
oyster mushrooms,
or morels.
If you don't know what safe mushrooms look like,
don't eat any,
as many varieties are poisonous.
Collect everything you're going to burn first,
then light the fire.
Dry leaves or tree bark are easy to burn,
so light them first.
Build a little teepee with the tinder and kindling
and if you have a working lighter or matches, use them to start the fire.
If not, make a fire plough to ignite the fire
by scraping a small groove into the middle of a flat piece of wood.
Create friction by quickly ploughing up and down the groove
with a small twig,
and light the leaves or tree bark.
Stay where you are,
as rescuers will find you much more easily than if you hike around.
If you have a mirror or some aluminum foil,
you can use it to reflect light to planes
or other people to help them find you.
With your fire, you can make smoke signals.
Green leaves and pine needles create a lot of smoke,
so use those.
Using a branch with leaves on it,
cover the fire for 3-4 seconds to trap the smoke.
Then, remove it.
Keep doing that so that it creates smoke clouds.
Once you're rescued, be sure to put the fire out.
When you do get rescued,
you may be hungry and tired,
but you'll be alive.
You will need to rest and maybe stay in a hospital for treatment.
Being stranded in the woods is no picnic,
but if you remember the info in this video,
you, too, can survive in the forest,
According to Science.