These Survival Myths Could Actually Get You Killed | DEBUNKED 

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me at 3am wrapped up in bed: interesting.

If you are in a place with bears: 1) Have "bear bells" on your backpack so you don't surprise a bear. 2) If it is legal carry pepper spray. 3) Learn to tell the difference between grizzly bear scat and others. You can recognize grizzly bear scat because it smells peppery and has bells in it.

if you don't have water in the desert, you should have brought water

“Cactus juice. It’ll quench ya! It’s the QUENCHIEST!!

The best advice he didn't give is, prepare for what could happen. Most people who need rescue aren't lost in the woods, they're stranded. They're usually medically stranded. A GPS locator beacon and a basic survival kit (with tarp and food) will go a long way to saving your life. One other myth, staying put isn't always a good idea. You're better off finding an open area, a meadow, a river bank etc. where aircraft can see you.

That final tip is an absolute must. Always let someone know where you are going and for how long. My grandpa died because no one knew where he went an so no one came to his rescue.

So, alcohol indeed does not warm your *core* body temperature, and the vasodilation effect will cause your core body temperature to drop. So yes, drinking alcohol in freezing temperatures will cause you to get hypothermia much faster. However, if you are just rescued from the cold, or are about to find shelter, alcohol can stop and reverse damage caused by frostbite. Old rescue saint bernard dogs used to carry a cute little barrel of brandy around there neck, intended for frostbite victims to drink. This will cause more blood to reach cold extremities and prevent frostbite. The brandy could actually save your life, especially back in those days where frostbite and gangreen could easily kill you, at least much more than now because of antibiotics.

2:44 As someone who does a lot of outdoors activities, I can confirm that fire will crack rock quite easily, especially in areas prone to freezing or heavy rain. In fact, I've used fire often to help split rocks when trying to build up a fire pit.

Don't know how many times I've heard people say or advise that if you get lost, don't move, but wait to be rescued. When I was 12, I decided to follow a creek to my grandparents house after playing at their neighbors. I didn't tell anyone. I couldn't tell you how long I walked. I kept telling myself that it was just a little farther. Then I came to a cornfield. I could see the road on the other side of it. I knew there wasn't a cornfield on my grandparents road. So I walked out to the road and was able to see my grandparents house way down the mountain. I could also see how to get back. I could have gotten lost. I could have gotten hurt. And no one would have had a clue as to where I was.

I’ve always been told to prefer moving water vs still water in the wild

Another trick you can try, for the cave shelter, is to find a nearby dry spot you can build a fire. Build it there. Gather large rocks and put them IN the fire to warm. Then using sticks, transport the rocks back to the cave. They will hold heat for quite a while and help heat the cave (which should stay warm for a bit) without the cracking or smoke dangers. Just watch out as some rocks COULD explode. Id let them heat then go out to get them instead of hovering over the fire

The instant you are lost in the deep woods, at sea, atop a high mountain, or just trying to locate your car in a large parking lot, drink as much piss as possible. - Bear Grylls (possibly)

You forgot about the cactus that Grow “prickly pairs” not only the fruit it holds are edible but the cactus it’s self too.

One additional tip: For all that's holy, do not use Bear Grylls as an authority on what to do. His stunts are for entertainment, not education, and several of them are seriously bad.

I'm surprised you didn't mention filtering the water before boiling it. That's what I was taught to do to get rid of stuff like small particles of mud and algae. It makes the water not only safer to drink but also tastier.

Water and food are not as important as shelter. There is enough time to find water on the second and food on the third day, but one night without shelter can mess you up.

Slugs are not leeches. (more slugs were shown than leeches) This is exactly the problem with survival books. They rarely generate the level of understanding required. Fire in a cave? Depends. What size, shape, and material is the cave? Obviously fire has a variety of uses, and a cave is just a void. No cave is 100% safe, nor is there a flat answer to the question that is always true. Keep your wits about you, and don't panic so you can assess each situation intelligently. Bottom line, Even if you do the wrong thing; your odds are always better trying SOMETHING rather than doing nothing in a survival situation. Make a choice and commit. You are far more likely to poison yourself burning random materials than suffocate yourself from smoke inhalation, so literally ALL variables should be considered. Weigh the risks and your options, and make the judgement call. If you are going to die of thirst, it might be worth risking contaminated water. Otherwise, keep looking. Find something you don't know if it's edible? There are techniques to determine if a food source is safe, but following the by the book methods will lead to starving to death long before you can determine the edibility of the unknown thing. Sometimes you may just have to take a calculated risk, but that doesn't mean to just throw caution to the wind and gamble. When you don't know and have to make a call: Use some common sense and take your best guess.

“Drink cactus juice! It’ll quench ya! Nothing’s quenchier; it’s the quenchiest!” *continues hallucinating*

"Don't go too big too soon." Yup we have fitness gurus and social media influencers attempting long hikes in sandals with little to no water just to take a few pictures and they end up stuck somewhere requiring valuable sources to be used.

Drinking alcohol to warm up is a classic blunder. You need to light it first, duh.

I discovered this channel a few weeks back and proceeded to spend the rest of the day watching every single one of your videos. Love the content, keep it up

Morale of the story: Be in basement and play videogames.

basically every protip from bear grylls will get you killed

My favorite survival myth is, that collecting fire-wood takes no time.

Great video, however I think the best but of advice was right at the end, let someone know exactly where you're going and when you're due back. A certain film which involved a guy cutting his own arm off made this message loud and clear!

Thank you for including altitude affecting boiling point of water. I am a "survivalist" and teach this to those who come up to the mountain I have my homestead on who stumble across the homestead in dire needs due to being lost. To compound the problem, my homestead is in the high desert mountains of Northern Nevada. In shady areas, there are shadowed locations with "stale" ice during the winter - dirty glacial deposits of about 1 meter square in some places, but definitely not safe to just melt and drink. "My" mountain is 2,400 meters high (8,000 ft) and the boiling point of water is pretty low compared to sea level. The homestead is 1,900 meters (6,200 ft) up the mountain... we use well water (certified "fresh/safe to drink w/o filtration, but we still run it through a carbon filter. It's still heavy in minerals, but no pathogens have ever been detected in well-service testing). We get lots of so-called "explorers/hikers" each summer who enter our 7 hectares (~16 acres) property even with the No Trespassing - Private Property signage. BUT, when people are on the verge of death due to exposure and lack of supplies, they see those signs as signs of (hopeful) safety. Might I remind the reader the homestead is in Nevada... we have firearms and do not take trespassing lightly should one arrive with ill-intent. If one is in need, we happily feed, clothe, assist, lend a place for them to have shelter during any storms that may be occuring, and give first aid, of course... but if they try to take advantage, they are sent away in direct correlation to their lack of gratitude. Some stay on to help with upkeep of the farm and silver mine on property for a week or so in their gratitude for our aid. I didn't intend on this becoming an essay... but people lost in the wild need to know there ARE people who live in the wilderness and please, by all means treat these homesteaders with respect. Respect goes a long way. Disrespect of our hospitality doesn't bode well for those seeking their way back to civilization. The best those people will get is a point in the right direction... thieves, thugs and hostile "losties" or "flatlanders" as we call them are dealt with less regard and assistance. Since we have a private silver mine, we also have earthmoving equipment up here. Please do not tempt fate when dealing with survivalist-preppers who offer aid in your time of need. We're generous, but ruthless just the same. What you get is based on your courtesy. (EDIT: fixed metric conversions of altitude)

I used to watch survival shows on Discovery when I was younger. Bear Grills was the worst. In a sense of a show it was alright, but he was constantly risking injuries and for survival it is a big no no. Even a small wound can be a source of infection, so you need to be careful. And that dude would always try things that you can't recommend for an average person trying to survive.

Bear Grylls left the chat.

If you're lost in an area where there is ice or snow, don't let it melt in your mouth. It will take a lot of heat from your body and hypothermia may result. The barrel cactus is not a good source of water but some other plants are. There's a variety of bamboo that has a lot of water in the stalk. It's safe. I've tasted it and it's good.

5:00 If you boil the water long enough, And you evaporate, and then recondense it, to keep out other impurities like metals and grit.

So essentially, if you want to avoid a dangerous situation, don’t be in a dangerous situation?

Additionally for water, remember safe water doesn't mean clean, and clean doesn't mean safe. Boiling it might make it safe but not clean, and a clean watersource isn't always safe.

I'm surprised survival tips for all the quicksand that I've been led to believe by tv & movies is out there wasn't covered off on in this clip. Hopefully my amazing luck will continue & I will keep on encountering it at my current rate of exactly never.

2:00 Yeah, I remember being taught, years ago, in a survival class, that smoke tends to follow the air currents at the Top of the room, and not so much the ones at the bottom. Good advice...lol

Smart video😀 like to add, In Norway we say. "Its not to late to turn arround" this is when we go to a Mountain or in the forrest. "Its no shame in turning arround is also"a accurate description. Note that a lot of People get lost at sea Ar in the forrest/Mountains here. So be safe!

Not only will boiling water not remove certain toxins, it will actually make those toxins more concentrated.

This was really fun to watch! Great work Debunked 👍

I like the passion this guy puts in his prononunciation

I don't have a beer jacket, it's a Bacardigan

Most awesome vid!!!! Also, couldn't help but think of Sokka when you talked about drinking water out of a cactus!!!!

Another one is to never drink pee to fight dehydration. Your body wants to get rid of it for a reason, putting it back in only harms you and causes you to dehydrate even faster

Great and interesting video! Amazing work from the team !

Not to do: bear grills stuff: eating random plants and bugs / jumping from heighs to breal an ankle

"Can you drink water from a cactus?" We're looking at YOU, SOKKA!

Cactus juice is the quenchiest. The desert looks like an ocean afterwards and your companions look like they are on fire. 😉

0:33 = Survival tips that might get you killed (not listed here): 1. You can light a fire with just two sticks = Technically, yes, but most people who haven't been trained on the proper technique or have some string to aid you, will mean you can't get a fire going. 2. Any dry wood works for burning = Wood that is dry can burn well, but if it is rotted or infected with termites or such, it is not going to burn well. Also depending on the sap content in the wood, will heavily determine how long it will burn. 3. You can fish or live off the land by eating berries = Even skilled fishermen, with a fishing rod, struggle to catch a fish, and often catch a small fish depending on where they are. Berries might be nice, but they don't sustain you and you have to avoid eating the white berries as they are poisonous. 4. If you are wet, just stay by the fire = Its actually safer to remove the wet clothing and sit naked by the fire, than it is to sit next to the fire wearing wet clothing. You'll warm up faster and the clothes will dry faster if they aren't on your body. Plus you can hang the clothing closer to the fire to get them to dry faster. 5. After boiling water from a stream, it will taste like tap water = Boiling kills the bacteria and viruses, in things like beaver poop, but it does nothing for the taste. Have to filter it through a charcoal filter or such, to remove a lot of the nasty taste. 6. You should drink some pine needle tea to keep your vitamins up = Pine needles contain a lot of acid and other things, that makes it dangerous to drink needle tea. Yes in a pinch it can be useful, for keeping up vitamins, like vit C, but it should be drunk in moderation. 7. You don't need to bring an eating utensil = Yes some skilled survivalists can carve out a spoon or fork from wood, with just a knife. Most people can't, so unless you intend to eat your hot food with your hands, you need to pack some utensils and preferably a bowl. 8. You can use any old rock to warm up your wet shoes = You need to take rocks that are found outside of the water, as some rocks will soak up some water and then explode violently when heated up.

On the subject of caves, if nothing is inside, it's still not safe to go in. 1) There can be shafts inside where you could fall down. Even if you have a light source, shadows can be deceptive and you can walk right over a hole that makes you plummet and get stuck there. 2) Caves are notorious for collecting gasses, either in the ceiling with lighter than air gas or at the floor with heavier than air gasses. Those gasses are likely not breathable and many of them give you ZERO warning. Bring an open flame with you into the cave and use it to determine the oxygen content of the ceiling/floor. If the torch goes it, it's not because the torch is bad. It's because the space around the flame lacks oxygen and if you breathe there you will pass out without a chance to react. 3) Caves aren't nearly as great as one might think. They are usually quite damp, and you would do better to build a shelter outside with good ventilation than sit in a humid cave constantly being wettened by the air inside. It's actually quite rare to find a cave that is better than being outside. 4) If it's raining, you might think being in a cave is best to avoid water getting to you.... But caves are great at collecting water. Flash flooding is the worst case and caves exist because that's where water usually goes, eroding the cave.

As a nurse, I have used leeches on patients for various reasons, mainly to improve circulation to a compromised area because the sucking action pulls blood into the tissues. When its time to remove the leech, we would just put a few drops of rubbing alcohol onto the leech and it would just curl up and withdraw. Im not aware of any infection issues, but of course these patients were usually pretty sick and were on antibiotics already. Additionally the leeches we used were lab bred and certified for medical use. But in any case, a little rubbing alcohol does the job.

Always have a calendar with you, that way you can survive off the dates and Sundays.

if thundrestorm happens Dont stay under a tree!

Another interesting video. I am learning and taking motivation from you

In a survival situation, boiling any water you can find is ALWAYS the less risky than going without water. While heavy metal toxicity isn't good for you. Death by dehydration is much much worse for you. If you are really concerned, it is possible to make a still and distill the water. This will remove any heavy metals and most cyanobacteria as well as salt in the case of sea water.

I love how expressive and sassy the cartoon is.

bEAR gRILLS is worst one.

Always keep a short length of fiber optic cable with you. If you are lost or stranded, just bury it. A backhoe will show up to dig it up for you. You can safely put it back in your pack to re-use while they drive you back to civilization.

***Dont sleep on a hill*** The blood will pool in whatever body part is downhill, you'll pass out, go into shock and die. I've been camping my whole life and didnt know that one till last year.

This was actually surprisingly good, other than the confusion between flint & steel and a ferrorod & striker -- the latter pair is what was shown in the animation and what survivalists are likely to carry.

As far as whether boiling water would make it safe, I would say "it depends on what's in it". Boiling certainly kills microorganisms, but it does not remove toxins left behind by the bacteria (or from other sources). If it's that bad distillation is the only way to make it safe.

I found the content informative and the animations enjoyable. Thank you.

All these videos ever teach me is that if I'm stranded in the wild I'm going to die.

Re: Cactus drinking, I will note that some species of cactus, namely the prickly pear and the fishhook barrel have less-concentrated levels of the detrimental chemicals and so may be an option if absolutely necessary, though are still noted as unpleasant to eat raw. However, if you are watching RU-vid survivalist videos, I would NOT depend on your cactus-species recognition to be able to determine if a cactus is going to help or potentially kill you. Honestly, only really an option if you have a guide very familiar with local plants, and in that case, you probably have better options.

Excellent video. Subscribed.

Ayyy, i'm in a RU-vid video! Also, WHAT THE HELL? YOU'RE USING ME?

Great channel and content. Glad i found it. 🇦🇺 😊

These videos are terrific.

Regarding the Neanderthals: They did NOT LIVE in caves. They may have temporarily occupied them and some were pretty large. But primitive humans, including Neandertals, were nomds that spent more time in the open than in caves.

I filtered red colored water coming out of an old decommissioned copper mine…I’m still alive. The whole water fear blows my mind. Drink the water and get treated once out of the survival situation.

What about filtering the water first before boiling it? I've heard and read that a plastic bottle filled with sand, pebbles, charcoal and some cotton can filter out most harmful things from water. Just make sure to cut open the bottom of the bottle first.

I love the animation man!!

I suppose that a fire put at the entrance of a cave acts like a radiator under a window : some sort of air curtain that blocks air current from entering or leaving

Cactus juice: "IT'S THE QUENCHIEST!" - Sokka.

I’m freezing to death and potentially large predators in the area. Time to worry about the long term effects of smoke inhalation.

What if you collect the steam ( allow it to condensed on a surface) and drink the water from that? Would that remove some harmful materials in the water?

Research is all very well and good, but when are you planning on filming your next camping trip? Greetings from a routine desert wanderer from the Sonora Desert in Arizona. 🍻 Appreciate your work.

as someone that grew up in the desert, the best advice i can give for surviving the desert is just to avoid it. seriously, it sucks. in the day it can get hot enough to kill you in just a few hours, then at night it can get cold enough to give you hypothermia and kill you, especially when it snows (yes it can snow in the desert). basically every plant and animal has some way to kill you like thorns, stingers, sharp teeth, claws, poison, venom... water is rare, and when you find it you will find more of the dangerous wildlife near it. scorpions, spiders, centipedes, and rattlesnakes are just some of the things that are happy to cuddle up next to you while you sleep, then bite or sting you if you rollover onto them or when you wake up and start moving in the morning. i've spent 35 years trying to self rescue from the desert, and i'm finally close to getting out of this hellhole alive.

If you're anywhere in Europe there's a simple trick you can apply when you're lost: find a river and follow it downstream. You're guaranteed to find a settlement by day's end. This won't work in less populates places, but over here it's quite effective.

What other fateful survival tips can you think of?

11:30-11:50 is an entire mood, and this man has my sympathy.

8:57 Nah, I got that idea from Avatar: The Last Airbender. "Drink cactus juice! It'll quench ya!"

Don't eat snow in a survival situation. Yeah I will just die of dehydration instead...

Note on desert cacti-- please do not cut down, cut up, or otherwise damage cacti. I say this because sometimes it's fun to "play" survivalist on a camping trip or something, and the human population on earth is high enough that even a "few" of us doing that can cause serious ecological destruction.

Sokka taught me never to drink Kaktus juice

The boiling water thing is why I advocate for straining, or filtering the water first before boiling it. Also, it's a good idea to have water purification tablets on hand for emergencies. Better still, if it can be managed, a good water still is a great idea too. Nothing like boiling, capturing and condensing to ensure purification.

I don’t think anybody should be using the behaviours of an extinct species as a positive example.

Very good advice. I admit that I have often believed things from movies which seem to make sense. So spotty knowledge, and human intelligence might not be enough for survival. I don't travel much, but if I do, I hope I remember to have respect for my surroundings at all times.

The cactus you SHOULD look for is the Jumping Choya, its small pieces break off easily (it actually multiplies by breaking apart and sticking to anything that passes by), thus even a small knife or stick will let you get chunks off, but the chunks will be covered with spines, BURN the spines off and you have effeictivly a rubbery cucumber that can be chewed for water.

I have walked many mountains and never happened upon a cave. However there are many abandoned, sometimes half destroyed, structures, which can be used for shelter but you need some cover and somethibg to tie it on. In general, finding shelter for the night just like that, without carrying a tent with you, is 99% unlikely, in my opinion.

Fire in a Cave Fabio Schäfer: "Hold my only 2 Objects"

My brother and I discovered the hard way about cave fires when we were but young teens. That was the most choking experience of our lives.

Interesting video once again ! Also do you do rock climbing ? Because you have a bandage on your finger. Keep the videos up ! 😁

Pro tip: build a fire outside your cave. Look for some big rocks lay them in the fire (some rocks might explode, google for more information on how to spot them in advance, otherwise you could lose an eye) and drag them into your cave. The heat of the rock will warm up the cave without using any oxygen or spreading smoke.

The best advice is to NOT use rocks near water to build a fire bed. Rocks that spend time in water often contain water, and when fire heats that water into steam, the rocks can explode. Avoid hot rock shrapnel, choose rocks far away from water.

Should have coupled “can you drink cactus water” with taking off clothing in the desert. When working on hot temps, the sun on your skin causes burns, inflammation and accelerated water loss. A large woven hat, light long sleeve, and natural fiber clothing is what may save you. Working construction, let me tell you. Continuous burns from the sun will leave you drenched and on fire well after stepping into the AC. The clothes do tend to suffocate you in stagnate or humid environments. Everything requires planning.

Now if I learn what to ACTUALLY do when stepping into quicksand, rather than all the things you SHOULDN'T do, my inner child can finally sleep soundly.

I remember reading a story about the mushers that took the medicine to Nome during the diptheria epidemic. The lead dog stepped on ice that collapsed and got his front paws wet. The musher gave him a command to turn him so he put his paws in a big pile of soft fine "dry" snow. The dog knew to work his paws in the snow to make it absorb the cold water. I don't know if it's a true part of any musher's story, but I did learn that soft "dry" snow will absorb water.

My number 1 tip is learning what time it is without a watch. Time of year and time if day is based on the suns position and shadows on the ground. From that you can tell if you're heading is north. From that you can tell a lot. One thing I always do is keep my eyes on the ground. You want to look 10 yards a head to see where you're going and land marks. Then every step you make you know it's not a snake. You never want to change direction too often. You want to keep land marks at changes or make them. Learn to retrace your steps. Learned this because loosing a small car for 4 hours in a large mall parking lot annoyed me so bad. I literally made a person promise to never be lost or loose something. So far or 5 plus hour hikes in my woods I've never been lost. I tested it many ways. If you can remember to take plenty of water, some food, and snacks. You got some basic gear. You shouldn't ever be lost in the first place if you practice my first rule.

great tips!

I always figured it was best to start with flowing water then boil or filter it.

Don't put river rocks in a fire/fire ring. Find rocks far from a water source for that. Water get trapped inside a rock (even if it looks dry) and pressure builds up from the heat and cause it to explode, possibly sending shards into those who are nearby.