What You Need to Know in the Desert

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gollum
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What You Need to Know in the Desert

Post by gollum »

Well, Summer's coming again, and we will soon see desert temps hit 120 degrees and above from time to time. I usually post this information on Treasure Hunting Forums because there are more wanna-be treasure hunters that know absolutely nothing about wilderness navigation and survival than there are hikers that know nothing about wilderness navigation and survival. Since this is a well looked at forum, it might serve somebody some good.

In my many years of military service in both the US Navy and the US Army, I have had to operate in just about every major desert in the world (with the exception of the Gobi in China). Yes, even Western Australia and Peru. A major part of my duties were to keep my troops able to EFFECTIVELY fight and work in any extreme environment. Kind of hard to fight with heat cramps or frostbite! It's been done, but I don't recommend it. The units I was assigned to did not have a large support base. What you jumped in with was pretty much what you had. Several of us regularly carried rucks in excess of 150 pounds.

Let me say that all the information in this post is also available on my website. I have included enough Military Field manuals for free download that cover how to do just about anything you would need to do in any environment in the world (including Land Navigation, Desert Operations, Mountain Operations, Cold Weather Operations, Survival, SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape), Hygiene, Stress, and many more. Enjoy!

http://1oro1.com/reference/fieldmanuals.html

http://1oro1.com/index.html

As Summer is the season that is upon us, I will concentrate on desert survival. The two manuals I highly recommend downloading and reading first are FM 90-3 (Desert Operations) and FM 3-25.26 (Map Reading and Land Navigation).

WATER

A lot of people don't believe it when I tell them just how much water the average person loses per hour when temps get past 100. With just regular working, the average person loses 1-2 QUARTS of water per hour. Working hard, rugged terrain, or forced marching will bring it up to 1.5-2.5 quarts per hour. You can lessen this by not exerting yourself during the hottest part of the day. The military uses a formula to determine how much water troops need to carry in the field:

1 Gallon of water weighs 8.34 pounds

4 quarts in a gallon

2 quarts loss per hour

8 hour day

8 x 2 / 4 = 4 gals needed x 8.34 = 33.4 pounds of water to start with (in addition to whatever else you are carrying).

Keep in mind that even though it is a lot of weight, if you are taking in what you are supposed to, the weight goes down fairly rapidly. You have to closely watch what is going out as well. If your pee is darker than lemonade or you can't remember precisely when you last peed, YOU NEED TO DRINK!

UNDERSTAND THIS: How thirsty you are is absolutely a bad indicator as to what your body needs. By the time you begin to feel thirsty you are at least 1.5 quarts low. Dehydration is bad for you in many ways. It can cause constipation, hemorrhoids, kidney stones, and urinary tract infections. YOU NEED TO DRINK!

Watch your salt intake. If you don't have enough salt in your system, you can get Heat Cramps. Not fun. Just ask your wife how her cramps feel every month! LOL

From the FM 90-3:

"Approximately 75 percent of the human body is fluid. All chemical activities in
the body occur in a water solution, which assists in the removal of toxic body
wastes and plays a vital part in the maintenance of an even body temperature. A
loss of 2 quarts of body fluid (2.5 percent of body weight) decreases efficiency
by 25 percent and a loss of fluid equal to 15 percent of body weight is usually
fatal."

The reason the previous statement is VERY important is because if your body is low on water in high heat, your brain will tend to get a little fuzzy. A fuzzy brain could easily cause a person to miss an important trail intersection and put you deep in the mountains where you are completely lost. Think that doesn't happen pretty often?

YOU NEED TO DRINK!

Everybody that spends any time at all in the desert needs to know all the symptoms of heat illness. Not mostly for themselves, because they will not likely notice it when it is them. You need to keep an eye on your companions. You can easily spot the symptoms if you know what to look for!

A description of the symptoms and treatment for heat illnesses follows:

• Heat cramps.
– Symptoms: Muscle cramps of arms, legs, and/or stomach. Heavy
sweating (wet skin) and extreme thirst.
— First aid: Move soldier/marine to a shady area and loosen clothing.
Slowly give large amounts of cool water. Watch the soldier/marine
and continue to give him water, if he accepts it. Get medical help if
cramps continue.
• Heat exhaustion.
- Symptoms: Heavy sweating with pale, moist, cool skin; headache,
weakness, dizziness, and/or loss of appetite; heat cramps, nausea
(with or without vomiting), rapid breathing, confusion, and tingling
of the hands and/or feet.
– First aid: Move the soldier/marine to a cool, shady area and
loosen/remove clothing. Pour water on the soldier/marine and fan
him to increase the cooling effect. Have the soldier/ marine slowly
drink at least one full canteen of water. Elevate the soldier’s/marine’s
legs. Get medical help if symptoms continue; watch the
soldier/marine until the symptoms are gone or medical aid arrives.
• Heatstroke.
– Symptoms: Sweating stops (red, flushed, hot dry skin).
– First aid: Evacuate to a medical facility immediately. Move the
soldier/marine to a cool, shady area and loosen or remove clothing if
the situation permits. Start cooling him immediately. Immerse him
in water and fan him. Massage his extremities and skin and elevate
his legs. If conscious, have the soldier/marine slowly drink one full
canteen of water.

I hope everybody understands the need for proper water intake in high temps. YOU NEED TO DRINK!

What kind of footwear should you wear?

Walking mostly in soft sand? Hard pack? Rocky? How much climbing? Technical? Boulder hopping? Snakes?

You don't want to wear heavy lugged Redwings hiking through three foot deep blow sand (unless you have awesome leg stamina). You also might not want to wear low walking shoes in sharp rocky terrain. Why? No ankle support. If you're climbing through boulder strewn canyons, you WILL crack your ankle on a sharp rock. Not if, but when. HAHAHA Are you going to need protection from snakes? If you don't want to struggle with snake chaps, your boots better be tall!

I know that everybody has their favorite hiking boots. So do I. I'll bet that if you only have one pair you always wear, that you have found them at some time or another to be inappropriate for where you were. I had some Nike ACG (All Conditions Gear) 3/4 hiking boots with Tevas in my ruck. About three quarters of the way up 6000 foot Mt Trumbul (AZ), I had BAD tread separation from both boots. Shoe goo was worthless. I had to wear TEVAS climbing a 35-40 degree grade through pumice gravel to the top and then back down My feet were torn up! I should have worn my Belleville Desert Combat Boots that have a sewn sole. They were a little heavier than the Nikes, so I thought I'd give them a go. Like the bad guy in Indiana Jones picking the cup ............. I chose poorly! LOL

Also, try swimming in Redwings! I probably have about a dozen pair of shoes and boots that work in different terrains. I use my desert combat boots for about 70% of where I go. Comfy, somewhat light, and supportive.

LAND NAVIGATION

LEARN HOW TO READ A TOPO MAP! Don't rely on your GPS. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that when the ambient temperature reaches 125 degrees, crystals won't form in your LCD Screen. So, you have no map, you are in the middle of East Lizard Lick, Nowhere, and the GPS you relied on to get you deep into the mountains is now worthless. Whatchagonnado? Learn to read a darn TOPO! Carry one with you. Even if you never have to use it, it is awesome to have as a backup.

Depending on the terrain, some books will tell you to pick a natural landmark in the distance, and walk towards it. That way, you won't walk in circles. It has been my experience that you should pick a landmark within a mile or two (not too distant) and walk towards it. That way, every time you arrive, you have a little victory, and it lightens you inside. NEVER just start putting one foot in front of another and start walking (unless you're on a known trail).

Getting tired of typing, and I'm sure others will add to this.

So enjoy - Mike
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Re: What You Need to Know in the Desert

Post by azatrox »

Excellent beginning to this thread Mike! I can't echo your points about having enough H2O enough! People just don't realize how much water they lose here in the desert in the summer...As a field herper, I spend ALOT of time in the middle of nowhere looking for critters to see and photograph...If one doesn't know better, it's VERY easy to underestimate the amount of H2O one needs, and being in the middle of the desert is NOT the ideal place to realize you don't have enough...

About the boots...prior to this year, I always got relatively cheap boots. I do ALOT of hard hiking on surfaces like decompsing granite, so by season's end, my boots were barely holding on and it was time for a new pair. After a few years of spending about 100.00 a year, I finally decided to invest in a REALLY GOOD pair of desert boots and wound up with a nice pair of Danners...I wear them on most of my extended hikes, while wearing regular tennis shoes on short/local hikes where the terrain is a bit more forgiving.

Allow me to add on to what you were saying...

1) Make sure that you are physically fit enough to engage in whatever desert activity you plan to engage in. Desert rescues are a fairly common occurrence here in Phoenix (particularly on places like Camelback mountain and South mountain), primarily because a) the person didn't bring enough H2O or b) they're not in good enough shape to go hiking up a mountain. We see this alot with people that come here from out of state...They just don't realize the physical exertion necessary in order to get that great view from atop Camelback. So they wind up a quarter of the way or halfway up and they are SPENT! Before you begin your hike, honestly assess what your skill level/fitness level is and plan accordingly. Sadly, earlier this week we had a 63 year old hiker here die from a heart attack while hiking Camelback...and another hiker had to be rescued from South mountain. These places may not seem tough because they're so close to civilization, but they are mountains in every sense of the word, and more than a few people have lost their lives or had to be rescued because they didn't plan accordingly.

2) Wear a hat with a bill/brim! This keeps the sun off your head and while this may not seem like a big thing to someone that doesn't live in the desert, those that do can attest to how important this is...Having the sun beat down on you on a summer's day in the middle of the desert can really wipe you out energy-wise. Do yourself (and your companions) a favor and wear headgear!!!

-Kris
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Re: What You Need to Know in the Desert

Post by cubfan64 »

Mike and Kris - I don't want to sidetrack all the good advice that is and is going to show up here, but you both brought up something I just started thinking about this last week - BOOTS!!

I had a pair of Scarpa hiking boots that really were comfortable for me, but the soles only lasted for two years of use and they got really tore up from hiking in the Superstitions. I currently have a pair of Montrail's, but for some reason am getting pain in my left ankle - I'm sure it's a combination of the boot, the way I walk, etc... but I need to get new hiking boots - both for my area in NH and more importantly the Superstitions.

You guys brought up 2 brands I didn't have much exposer to - Belleville and Danner. I went on their sites and they both look really promising, but I want to hear from folks I KNOW who are out there hiking and exploring in dry, cactus, rocky, hot environment and find out the pluses and minuses before I start trying some different boots on.

Can you guys (as well as anyone else) who has experience with really good, durable and comfortable hiking boots give me some of your opinions?

Thanks!
Paul
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Re: What You Need to Know in the Desert

Post by gollum »

Belleville and Danner are both great boots. Also look at:

Vasque:

http://www.vasque.com/

Redwing:

http://www.redwingshoes.com/

Merrell:

http://www.merrell.com/US/en

LOWA:

http://www.lowaboots.com/home/?CFID=425 ... N=66730780

Salomon:

http://www.salomon.com/us/

ASOLO:

http://www.asolo.com/eng/

There are more, but those should keep you looking for a while.

One thing I forgot to mention that I should have in the whole boot thing are:

SOCKS

Get the absolute best most expensive socks you can afford and carry a few pair with you. You will thank me when you are NOT getting blisters.

Also, pick up some moleskin. Available in the footcare section of any Drugstore. Invaluable on the trail.

Best-Mike
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Re: What You Need to Know in the Desert

Post by Sandman »

My experience includes 5 years working as a USFS firefighter and 20 years as a critical care RN. I agree that the #1 most important thing in the wildlands is h20 intake. You have to drink for your brain to think! Thanks for sharing this vital information.Being kind to your feet is also an excellent thought.
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Re: What You Need to Know in the Desert

Post by reptilist »

The one time I got into serious jeopardy in the hills was because I had enough water to get there and back. But then one of my feet gave out and the trip back took a whole lot longer than I had water for. I had to crawl from shade to shade uphill for half a mile and by then I was almost a goner for lack of water. The morning started out overcast and pleasant (August monsoon weather). But then the clouds burned off and the heat was flat brutal! I remember thinking that this was probably the most appropriate way for me to die... But I didn't.
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Re: What You Need to Know in the Desert

Post by jessica56200 »

thanks, these advices are very-very useful!
but the boots with socks are highly recommended? :oops:
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