Strange Survival Tips That Do Not Work

The wilderness is full of pranks. What you think is a safe camping can be a life threatening situation for your whole group. What seems to be a fun swimming activity in the sea can be a flesh fest in just one snap. What you think is a spectacular view from the mountain can be the last glimpse of the world you will ever have. Fate, as they say, has strange ways of changing lives.

With it are some strange ways to survive the wilderness. Some of these survival techniques are passed on from generation to generation. Some of these ways seem so reliable that you have no idea that they can just lead you to your death. Many strange ways to survive do give positive results, but some are just tips mended by playful imaginations. Here are some of these very unusual survival tips that you should never even try.

1. Play dead when a grizzly bear attacks

A man attacked by a bear in the zoo

This is probably the most popular and widely done method given to people wandering in the wild. Even a few professional park rangers have adopted this method, not knowing the danger that comes with its practice. This is very wrong!

Bears, especially the ferociously attacking ones, are not as dumb as what you might think. These beasts trace their preys by smell. Helplessly lying on the ground, playing dead, will not make them change their minds, especially when they pay no attention to such dumb games at all. If you are very unlucky, you might just end up the way you are playing yourself—dead.

The best thing to do during such attacks is to run as fast as you can or use fire to scare them away.

2. Suck out the venom when bitten by a snake

The traditional first aid of sucking venom by mouth

This is one of the most popular but strange ways to survive in the wilderness, and deadly too! Until just a few decades ago, this method of taking out venom from a victim using oral suctioning is medically accepted, and in fact, some medical practitioners still think this is not too risky at all. However, modern ways of treating snake bites have already struck out this method as sucking out venom and accidentally drinking a part of it can also cause serious internal damage. That is, if you can suck out the venom to begin with.

Most venoms travel through the blood stream immediately after being injected. By sucking, you are most likely just taking out blood and not really the venom that is already on its way to damage your muscles or nerves. The venom of rattle snakes, for instance, can reach your heart and brain in a matter of five minutes.