I find this whole idea of survival marketing to be rather interesting. I grew up in a household that hunted, fished, gardened, and repaired items as much as possible. A portion of survival thinking is being self-sufficient, and I think my family did a pretty darn good job of doing that.
But several years ago, certain platforms made the concept of survival situations cool. For a while, I could hardly turn around without seeing someone wearing a fashionable paracord bracelet or hearing them talk about how they purchased a food kit for survival.
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I commend people for learning about outdoor skills and taking on the responsibility for their own wellbeing during an emergency situation. However, back then and even to this day, it seems these actions are taken out of popular trends rather than a genuine concern for the unknown.
By simply observing movies, television shows, video games, and company websites, you can see how survival scenarios have been prepackaged for us to digest as entertainment and a cool thing to do.
The Reality
The truth of the matter is that survival situations are anything but entertaining. So much so that if you are preparing for a disaster of any kind, it would be wise to prepare yourself both mentally and physically for the ordeal. Here are some things to think about as it pertains to the reality of survival situations.
Widespread Event
When an event happens that is far-reaching, everything will likely be shut down. And when I say everything, I mean everything.
Because water service may not be available, you will not be able to:
- Flush the toilet: Where is all that sewage going to go when you cannot flush it?
- Do laundry: Clean clothes are going to be hard to come by creating odor problems, as well as increasing health risks.
- Wash dishes: You better have a lot of disposable plates and utensils on hand.
- Take showers: Washing our hands and cleaning ourselves is the best way to stop the spread of germs and to keep ourselves healthy. Do you have a reliable backup water source for these needs?
- Brush your teeth: Bad oral hygiene can lead to some serious health risks.
- Drinking water: A simple glass of clean water will be worth its weight in gold should utilities get shut off. We can go for three days without it. Three days only!
Most people are not really set up to deal with sanitation needs for more than a few days, maybe weeks. Trash collection will stop. Have you ever forgotten to take your trash cans to the curb on time and missed a week? It becomes pretty smelly, doesn’t it?
Now, multiply that by everyone who lives in your town. This will not only smell awful, but it will attract unwanted guests like insects, mice, rats, and other critters. This will increase the chances of contracting certain illnesses and diseases.
Health care will likely be unavailable or extremely limited. A simple scratch can become infected, fevers that go unchecked, broken bones that cannot be set, etc. Once simple ailments will now go untreated and will quickly become more serious and even life-threatening.
How we deal with the dead will also become a problem. Due to the lack of proper sanitation, healthcare, availability of food and water, death from exposure, and violent environments, there will be a dramatic increase in the death rate. There simply will not be enough resources to bury everyone properly and respectfully.
I do not know what will happen to them. But when large numbers of people have died throughout history, we have seen mass graves, burnings, or leaving the bodies where they are. All of which are not pleasant sights.
Wasting Away
We can survive much longer without food than we can without water. This is because the body can metabolize certain substances that are already in the body, but it cannot replace fluids on its own.
In the survival community, we use the rule of 3s which gives us the guidelines that state we can survive three days without water and three weeks without food. These are merely guidelines as people can perish sooner or survive longer depending on circumstances.
There is no concrete number for how long someone can live without food or water because there are several variables that play a part. For example, the body composition of an individual, the environment they are in, and how much they are exerting themselves.
In survival situations, we will not have access to proper nutrition, calories, and fluids. While the human body can adapt to such changes and can be resilient, we will begin to waste away. In essence, the body will eat itself.
People’s Dark Side
In a world without law, constant fear will become the new normal. The days of going for a nice walk with loved ones or watching your children play in the park will be a thing of the past. Laws will no longer have any weight because there will be no one to enforce them.
People may play nice at the beginning of a survival situation, but as time goes on and resources become scarce, the dark side of human nature will come to the surface. A person will eat and drink things never before thought possible. They will do anything for the smallest bit of food, water, protection, medicine, and shelter in order to see one more day. Anything.Â
We will see the nastiest parts of human nature exhibited, even by those we know and love.
Conclusion
I am happy about the rise of survival entertainment in one regard. And that is that it has opened the eyes of the masses to the loss of certain skills, knowledge, and the need to be better prepared. I just hope people can look past the fad of fantasy prepping and realize what is on the other side. Because in a true survival situation, things ain’t pretty.
