Can a survival watch save your life?

Can a survival watch save your life?

This article was generously contributed by Steve the Survivor from www.topsurvivalweapons.com

Most survival situation start off innocuously, they can happen when you least expect them, when you wander off from camp for whatever reason, picking berries, going to the latrine or just checking out the surrounding area.  There have been too many cases to count of people wandering off to pick berries or mushrooms, then they see a nice little patch a bit further, and then another patch a little further along and before they know it they’ve been turned around and are lost.  You could be out on the hunt and be so focused on the hunt that you aren’t paying attention to your location.  You could be on a hike or fishing for just a few hours so you think you don’t need much gear and then you get lost if you’re hiking or the motor on your boat dies.

There’s even been times where someone has wandered off from camp and get just a little bit lost but can’t retrace their steps.  They are then too embarrassed to call out because you don’t want to look foolish for getting lost so close to camp.  So you start looking for your camp but you don’t find it straight away and then a little panic sets in, and then you get a little more lost and more panic sets in.  Fear can lead a person to become very irrational.  Now you’re in a real survival situation.

A survival watch could be very handy for you and could save your life.  Survival watches are very high tech these days and can do much more than tell the time and be waterproof.

Before I go any further into the benefits of survival watches, I wanted to state very clearly that my belief is that you shouldn’t solely rely on technology in a survival situation because technology fails, pure and simple.  Knowing how to use a compass and map and other navigation methods such as using a stick and the sun to show you the north-south line are vital skills that are also a lot of fun to learn.  Learning the skills of non-technology based navigation skills are in everyone’s capabilities.

Survival watch features

It obviously needs to tell the time and date, be rugged, have a good battery life and be waterproof.  Beyond these basic features we can look into the gadgets which survival watches have that could help you in a survival situation.

GPS – If you know your location, locations you need to get to or the location of your vehicle via gps, you probably won’t get lost and be able to get to civilization and safety.

Altimeter – If you’re hiking in a mountainous area and don’t know your exact location with relation to your map, you could use an altimeter to help narrow down your location.

Sunrise/sunset times – It’s so easy to lose track of time and to overestimate when the sun will set.  If it’s getting dark you could rush to put up your tent or shelter and if you’re swinging an axe or machete and it’s getting dark and you’re tired you could very easily make a mistake.   If you know the exact sunset time from your watch, you’re less likely to make a mistake.

Barometer – Knowing if a storm is close by can save you a lot of heartache.  One of the greatest dangers in the wild is getting wet and then getting hypothermia.

Compass – Everyone should have a backup compass in their survival kit but if you’ve forgotten or lost your compass you can still navigate if you have bushcraft skills or a survival watch.  There are many different bushcraft methods which can help you to tell direction.  These include methods such as putting a stick in the ground and measuring shadows to get a north-south line, checking a tree for thicker branches (the thicker branches will point to the sun) or checking trees for moss growth and there are many more but nothing beats a compass, so having a compass on your wrist could be invaluable.

Thermometer – I like to know what the temperature is!

I love redundancy and so do most survivalists, that’s why a decent survival watch is important.  There’s no substitute for knowing the skills of bush navigation with nothing more than compass and map, or sun, stars and hints from nature but a survival watch is a great back up plan.

To find out about some recommended survival watches check out http://www.topsurvivalweapons.com/survival-watches-guide

This article was generously contributed by Steve the Survivor from www.topsurvivalweapons.com

Recommended Viewing

Survival Land Navigation makes a great companion to this blog post.  A survival watch makes a great backup plan, but without knowing the basics of navigation, you may still find yourself stuck, and not knowing how to get back.