How To Survive In Some Worse-case Scenarios

[nations 0]

So, I came across a book I have from a while ago and thought some of its contents might be of use to the members here! If the admins want, please remove everything below **Taken from book**, everything else is also posted here:

 

This part was **Taken from book**, although not exactly copied word for word. I paraphrased most of it. If it isn't paraphrased, it is quoted. The book is titled The WORST-CASE Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. Also, the book is over 150 pages, so I just posted the ones I thought would come in handy for most people. If someone wants me to update this, I can post the rest of the situations later on.

 

How to Escape from a Sinking Car

Open the window as soon as you hit the water, note that if your driving around a lake or on ice its advised to keep your windows slightly cracked at all times. The reason for this is because once the pressure is equal you can open your door.

 

If your power windows don't work or you can't roll them down all the way try to break the glass with your foot, shoulder or other heavy object.

Because most cars are front engine, it is heavier in front then anywhere else. This results in your car quickly sinking at a steep angle. Don't worry about anything in the car unless its another person. Cars will float as long as air is in the car. This can range from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.

 

If you can't break open a window or open a door you have one last option.

Wait until the car has filled almost completely with water, take a really deep breath and try opening the door. Because the car is full of water the pressure outside and inside should be equal. This will allow you to open your door and swim to the surface.

 

How to Jump from a moving car

You may need to jump from a car for some reason, maybe its brakes have failed and the tutorial below here doesn't work. Maybe you were kidnapped and are in a car. I don't know but here is how to get out of a car by jumping.

 

Because your moving at the same speed as the car, your body will naturally want to follow it. Make sure when you jump that it is at an angle.

Tuck your head, arms and legs into as tight of a ball as possible.

Aim for a soft landing area such as grass, wood chips, or brush. Anything that is softer then pavement - or a tree.

Basically make sure the object can "give" a little (or a lot!) that your going to try and land on. This will help reduce injury from the jump.

 

Roll when you hit the ground

I assume you should try and still be in as small of a ball shape as possible. This helps minimize injury.

 

How to survive being caught in an avalanche

Try to stay on top of the snow using freestyle swimming motions.

If your only part buried you can use your hand to dig out and kick your feet.

If you have a ski pole try poking around to see if you can feel open air. If so, dig that way.

If your completely buried here is what you should do

Make sure your not injuried to badly, most people suffer great injury when full buried by an avalanche. This would make self-rescue hard to impossible. But, if your injury is not too bad here is what you should do.

 

Dig a small hole around your face and then spit. Saliva follows gravity and heads downhill giving you a good idea which way is up. Dig up and do it quickly.

**This part was taken from Popular Mechanics (link to the article here)**

 

How To Stop A Car With No Brakes

Begin pumping the brake pedal and keep pumping it.You may be able to build up enough pressure in the braking system to slow down a bit, or even stop completely. If you have antilock brakes, you do not normally pump them--but if your brakes have failed, this may work.

Do not panic. Relax and steer the car smoothly.Cars will often safely corner at speeds much higher than you realize or are used to driving. The rear of the car may slip, so steer evenly, being careful not to overcorrect.

Shift the car into the lowest gear and let the engine and transmission slow you down.

By downshifting a car it causes engine braking, which essentially keeps the engine from going about a specific MPH. Usually its not faster then about 10-15 in 1st gear (if your in an Automatic, this is usually identified as "Low"). This will help make the vehicle easier to control.

 

Pull the emergency brake, but not too hard.Pulling too hard on the emergency brake will cause the rear wheels to lock and the car to spin around. Use even, constant pressure. In most cars, the emergency brake (the hand brake or parking brake) is cable operated and serves as a fail-safe brake that should work even when the rest of the braking system has failed. The car should slow down and, in combination with the lower gear, eventually stop.If you come up behind another car, use it to help you stop.Blow your horn and flash your lights to get the driver's attention. If it appears you're going to hit the car, try to hit it square, bumper to bumper, so you do not knock the other vehicle off the road. This is an extremely dangerous maneuver. It works best if the vehicle in front of you is larger than yours--a bus or truck, for example--and if both vehicles are traveling at about the same speed. You do not want to crash into a much slower-moving or stopped vehicle. However, you may have no choice.

[darknight08 0]

DAng...Good stuff. Ive never thought about all this. But reading this right now and actually being in the situation is totally different. usually people panic, but thanks for the info.