Some of the survival advice people share on the internet can be so wrong that they can kill you rather than save your life. There seems to be a lot of this advice, and you’ve probably heard at least a few of them. Below you will find some of these false recommendations.
“If there’s a hurricane, you should leave your house and take shelter under the nearest freeway crossing”
In 1991, a local news camera crew shot down El Dorado Lake, Kansas, according to a Reddit user named TheMightyGoatMan. He escaped a tornado by taking shelter under a nearby underpass. The footage went viral (as anything could go viral in the ’90s) and convinced many people that underpasses were the safest place.
Actually, the Lake El Dorado pass has some unusual structural features that provide some protection. But the news crew was extremely lucky with the angle of the hurricane. When you’re under a pass, flying debris is more likely to hit you, and you may experience higher wind speeds from the narrow passage.
“Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice”
If lightning found a favorite way to land, it’s highly likely to strike it multiple times. That’s why lightning rods work anyway. So this advice, far from being true, is completely wrong.
“Pour hot water on skin in case of frostbite”
Do not rub a person’s frozen skin or pour hot water on it to warm it. Indeed, such methods can cause even more serious damage to the skin.
In an ideal scenario, you would rewarm the frozen area in a bath with mild antiseptic under medical supervision. If this is not the case, it is recommended to use a bath with water between 37°C and 39°C, otherwise dry blankets or body heat.
“If you’re dehydrated, you can drink the juice of the cactus”
Any liquid inside a cactus will be highly acidic and will likely leave you more dehydrated, causing nausea and diarrhea. There are several types of cacti that won’t cause diarrhea or worse, like the prickly pear cactus. Even these can cause diarrhoea, nausea and increased stool volume if not prepared properly.
“Save your water, drink sparingly”
User Deminla responds to this often-voiced advice on Reddit: “If you have water, drink it.”
Many people have been found dead with drinking water nearby. It may seem short-sighted, but in a real survival situation, long-term survival is something to think about after you’ve had your short-term problems solved
” Point your thumb at a nuclear explosion”
The idea that in the event of a nuclear attack, you have to compare your thumb to a mushroom cloud to see if you are at a safe distance, was apparently popularized by the Vault Boy in the Fallout games. Nuclear experts say that ‘
However, physicists at the University of Leicester researched this for an article published in an undergraduate journal and concluded that the rule might work for smaller explosions. This research would be done if a 15 kiloton nuclear bomb were to explode and an arm would showed that you can avoid most adverse radiation effects by running laterally to the wind direction for at least 1.65km if your thumb is covering the blast. The fact that the body of the mushroom cloud is smaller than your thumb may mean you can be relatively safe, but it’s still always a better idea to run away.
“Run in a zigzag pattern to avoid a crocodile”
If you ever need to escape from a crocodile, it’s a good idea not to follow this advice circulating on the internet. Crocodiles don’t run long distances, so you’re probably wasting your energy. They can also climb some fences and trees.
It should be noted that it is true that crocodiles can run and they run quite fast. As explained by the University of Florida
, “alligators can move very quickly when walking on land and can run at speeds of 12 to 15 km/h over short distances. The speed at which alligators move makes them potentially dangerous in water and on land.” This speed means they can run a little faster than the average human.
However, crocodiles do not attack in this way and do not come ashore and run as fast for a long period of time. Rather than chasing someone running in zigzags, they prefer to catch their prey stealthily and quickly. In short, if you run straight and in any direction, unless towards the water, you’re probably safe.
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