• superkret@feddit.org
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    26 days ago

    If you’re lost in the woods with nothing, you don’t start to look for food.
    You can live without food for 3 weeks, and if you happen to eat something wrong, you can get violently ill or poisoned.

    Here’s what you do:
    First you try to call for help, or wait for help, if you know someone is looking for you.
    If not, you start to walk downhill (even if it’s just a barely noticeable slope).
    At some point you’ll find water (a creek, river, whatever), or at least a dry river bed.
    Then you follow that downstream until you’re literally out of the woods.

    That way you aren’t in danger of walking in circles, and rivers generally lead you to settlements.
    There’s hardly any spot on earth left where you won’t reach the nearest settlement within a week (i.e. before you die from hunger) that way.

    • moreeni@lemm.ee
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      26 days ago

      I’m not sure whether you will be able to consistently walk for the whole week if you don’t eat anything

      • superkret@feddit.org
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        26 days ago

        Generally, if this method doesn’t lead you to another human within a day, you’re already in really deep shit.

        So by that point it’s walk or die. The hunger will subside after a day and your reptile brain will release loads of dopamine and adrenaline to keep you going.

        You won’t find anything in the woods that’s quick to acquire without tools, nourishing, and easy to identify as safe to eat. Except maybe berries (if you know them).

        • herrcaptain@lemmy.ca
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          26 days ago

          I start to get weak and fussy if it’s 12:30 pm and I haven’t had lunch. Assuming I get lost in the woods after breakfast that means I have a good 3-4 hours to find a settlement before I drop dead of being a little bitch.

          • moreeni@lemm.ee
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            26 days ago

            Yup, same here. Exactly why I doubted one could walk for a whole week with no food

            • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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              26 days ago

              There’s probably some survival mode that kicks in. But you’re not going to be Rambo in the woods for three weeks, that’s for sure. Three weeks a very long time to be in the wild with nothing but any water you might find.

              Does anyone remember that guy that was pinned between a rock in Arizona (I think)? I think he lasted 72 hours or something. Far cry from three weeks.

              • moody@lemmings.world
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                26 days ago

                127 hours, or at least that’s what the movie led me to believe.

                He was also incredibly lucky to get rained on in the desert.

                • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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                  26 days ago

                  Yeah that’s what I was thinking of, thanks.
                  The part when he wets himself without realizing it hit me. I’ve almost been that rough before. It’s not a good place to be.

              • Teils13@lemmy.eco.br
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                26 days ago

                Without water, humans last only 3 days maximum. If you can drink any water (rain, river, lake, etc), then you can last 3 weeks without food.

          • Albbi@lemmy.ca
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            25 days ago

            I’ve done intermittent fasting and found that this is just your body producing hormones telling you its time to eat. These hormones are pretty good at keeping schedules for you. Once you start fasting, you do get jittery and cranky during this time but it goes away rather quickly. After a few days the hormone levels start changing and within a week or two you stop feeling hungry at that time. It’s really weird to teach your body that you don’t need to eat at your usual times. And learning that feeling hungry isn’t the worst thing in the world (if your living conditions are such that you’re not worried about your next meal) is actually very freeing.

    • FrogPrincess@lemmy.ml
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      26 days ago

      First you try to call for help

      Careful, it could be a bear posting this to mislead you.