I recently finished a book on the Arctic. One story tells of two Inuit tapped on a broken shelf of ice; their dogs,sleds and possessions on the shore, drifting out to sea. Facing a near certain death the hunters WENT TO SLEEP. They couldn't resolve their plight, so they got some rest for whatever happened. Upon waking up, they found their iceshelf being pushed back into the shoreline.They had enough strength from resting to make the walk to find their lost dogs and gear. We have talked about mental atitude, physical conditioning and equippment. What of the body itself? Everyone knows the phenomenon of jet lag, climate or altitude changes etc. What can we do to nurse our metabolisms as we adjust to a new clime under a stress situation? Feedback from Beachdoc,Trustbox ?

The military has a saying "the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat". So you need to keep in best condition possible during times of easy so that when you are in a survival situation you can take it easy when you can and do what you must when you must. Every living non-domestic animal and plant does this, deer, bass, pine, or maple. But, if you are 'caught with your pants down' or sticken by a injury, headache or whatever, the best thing you can do is sleep. Take in plenty of fluids too. You should have some asprin in your pack. Or learn medicinal plants. Also, everyone knows that fire hightens moral. I find that if you have to vomit, dont try to hold it in, unless you have no access to food for awhile.
That generally helps me. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Basics first. You start with whatever you have with you when thrust into a survival situation. If what you start with is a fit, strong mentally prepared individual your chances of survival are better than that of someone who has multiple medical problems.

Given the best case scenario, assuming that you have no medical problems and are fit and healthy, being put into a survival situation puts several stresses on the body. Mental stress as in psychological and emotional stress as well as the physical stresses of hunger, thirst, heat, cold , bleeding, injury.

Each of these stresses will have to be dealt with on an individual basis and if not dealt with properly, may lead to serious consequences e.g. bleeding to death. Some stressors take time to show its effect e.g hunger to weight loss to malnutrition to death , others are much more apparent quickly e.g thirst to death in 3-5 days w/o water.

OK. Now assuming you have all the food and water and shelter and heat or whatever you need to keep you alive, rest will do wonders in helping you to acclimatize and adapt to the environment around you. Cortisol (the stress hormone ) levels are lowest at rest and the immune system also has a chance to recuperate. The mind is also able to function better after rest.

So, finally a summary : tend to your immediate needs e.g fire , water, shelter etc , rest when you can, so your body can adapt better to the situation as it arises.

Adding to all this about the knowledge of medicinal herbs and plants is helpful as well , as is any medication with you which may help you in the survival situation.

My S$0.01

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Oh yeah-survival of the fittest. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />