There are many ways to become stranded in an arid place and find yourself without water. Some people have found themselves in this situation from an unexpected vehicle breakdown on a quiet desert road. Irrespective of how you came to be in the position, it is important to know how to survive in a desert without water.
The way to survive in a desert without water is to keep your head covered, keep your clothes on, avoid eating, dampen your clothes with urine, manage the heat, look for water, move slowly, and try to attract attention. Know the symptoms of dehydration to look for the warning signs.
Many communities live in arid desert or semi-desert locations, where the population distribution is scattered over vast expanses of dry land. Living or passing through this territory has risks involved and requires knowledge on how to survive when you find yourself stranded in this country. Doing the right thing could mean the difference between a rescue or a recovery.
Tips for Surviving In The Desert With No Water
The best way to survive in the desert without water is to not get stuck out in the desert without water! That statement may sound contradictory, but if you know you will be passing through some arid country, it is best to be prepared and take enough water with you to last a few days.
Should you find yourself in the dangerous predicament of not having water out in the desert, then following these tips can help you minimize your water loss and help improve your chances of survival.
Cover Your Head In The Desert
Your brain is one of the most temperature-sensitive organs in your body, which means your body will take extreme measures to keep your brain cool. Direct or indirect sunshine on your head will heat up your brain and trigger the body’s natural cooling mechanism of sweating to try and reduce your temperature.
Keeping your head cool will help to reduce the sweating response and minimize moisture loss. Wear a hat, or tear off the bottom of your shirt to fashion a bandana, but keep your head covered.
Keep Your Shirt On In The Desert
Taking your clothes off to cool down may sound like a good idea, but it is actually counter-productive in the dry desert air. The dry desert air will suck the moisture from your body faster if you take your clothes off.
Keeping your shirt and other clothes on protects your body by reducing the moisture lost via evaporation. The sun in desert regions is generally very harsh, and you risk getting sunburned by taking your shirt off.
Ban sunburn can result in blisters, which require your body to send moisture to the affected areas as a protection mechanism. This will use up more of the precious moisture in your system, not to mention the agony you will be in and the risk of infection.
Avoid Eating In The Desert
Tempting as it may be to munch on that energy bar in your pocket, you should rather abstain from eating if you are stranded out in the desert with no water.
After eating, the digestive processes use water from your body to help break down and process the food, which is why we often feel thirsty after a meal. You cannot afford the additional water consumption from your body if you are in a waterless predicament.
You can survive for a surprising duration without food, up to 3-weeks, if necessary, but you are unlikely to last beyond 3-days without water. Foregoing a snack for the sake of internal water conservation would be the better choice.
Use Urine To Dampen Clothes
Use your urine to dampen your shirt and your hat or bandana to help keep you cool as the urine evaporates from your clothing.
Do not drink your urine since the urine contains waste products that your body has already used water to excrete, and it is going to need to use more moisture to expel the waste products you take in with the urine.
Manage The Heat In The Desert
The heat in a desert can be overwhelming and cause you to succumb to heat-stroke before dehydration. Try to limit movement during the heat of the day; find a shady spot to keep out of the sun. This could be the shadow of a dune or a rock or climbing into a gully to get shade from the vertical walls.
If you need to travel during the day, travel in the early morning or late afternoon, or even better, travel at night when you will need the movement to keep you warm from the cold nighttime temperatures.
Look For Water In The Desert
While traveling or walking, notice your surroundings and look for clues that will give you signs that water could be about.
The lay of the land, such as river beds, gullies, or plants growing in an area, could indicate a water source nearby. Likewise, take note of animal trails that would lead to or from water. If you notice insects such as flies, mosquitoes, or bees, it could indicate that water is nearby.
Do not try to extract water from desert plants such as a cactus unless you know your plants well. Many of the desert cacti will hold liquid, but the juices from the cactus will cause you to become violently ill and start vomiting. This will cause further fluid loss, which you can ill-afford.
Move Slowly In The Desert
If you walk or move around to seek shelter, forage, or search for water, move slowly so that you do not work up a sweat.
Exerting yourself to the point where you are panting with your mouth open will increase the moisture loss from your body. Move slowly with your mouth closed and breathe through your nose.
Covering your nose and mouth with a scarf or a piece of material will also help to limit the moisture loss through your breath.
Try To Attract Attention
Look for signs of civilization such as roads, smoke, cattle trails, or vehicle tracks that may help you find help.
Make yourself as visible as possible by making fires, wearing bright-colored clothes, or use shiny objects to reflect the sun. Leave markers to show the direction you have traveled. All these simple tactics can help your rescuers find you quicker and get you that water you need.
Know The Symptoms Of Dehydration
Knowing the dehydration symptoms will help you monitor how well your body is coping and how well you are minimizing your moisture loss.
- Feeling of thirst. This may sound like an obvious symptom, but the feeling of extreme thirst is your body telling you it needs water.
- Fatigue. Exhaustion and lethargy are one of the first signs of dehydration. The feeling of wanting to give up.
- Headaches. A pounding headache is a sure sign of mild to severe dehydration.
- Muscle cramps. Salt imbalances in your muscle fibers due to moisture loss can cause painful cramps.
- Very dark yellow pee. Dark yellow pee that has a strong odor means your dehydration is progressing.
- Dry mouth. A dry mouth and lips, as well as dry eyes, means your body is shutting moisture secretion off to those parts of the body.
- Light-headed or dizzy. Feelings of lightheadedness or dizziness are signs that the dehydration is severe.
- Infrequent urination. Urinating less than 4-times a day is a sign of dehydration, and if you have stopped peeing altogether, you are in a bad way.
- Delirium. Delirium and hallucinations are severe symptoms of advanced dehydration. At this point, your body is in dire need of some water.
Conclusion
It is a very serious situation to find yourself in a desert with no water, but if you know help is not too far away, your knowledge of how to manage your situation can mean the difference between making it or not.
If you live in a desert or travel frequently through such places, preparation for this possible eventuality is the best way to ensure you don’t find yourself in this predicament. If you are prepared for this situation, you may find that you are the one to rescue another traveler who was less cautious and be the one to save a life rather than needing saving!
