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A DESERT ISLAND

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Although many people travel by plane and boat without incident, accidents can happen. If your boat or plane fails at sea, you and your fellow passengers may have been fortunate enough to be near a deserted island. Although you may not have managed to bring any survival gear with you, the island itself might provide enough for you to survive on. Learning the key techniques for survival on a surviving on a deserted island can help you stay safe and healthy while you await rescue.

Getting To The Island

Swim to shore. Once you've collected others who need help and have gathered up any useful things you can, it's time to swim towards land. After you arrive at the island, you can get started assessing your situation and setting yourself up for survival.

You can tread water by moving your arms out to the sides and pulling them back in, meeting in front of your chest. At the same time, bring one leg up towards your body and kick the other down. Switch which leg you bring up and kick down to help keep you floating.

Watch out for any strong currents that you can see. Try to avoid swimming into these, as they can sweep you back out to sea.

Be careful when approaching the island. Look for any large rocks or rough coast lines before swimming to shore.

You can float in water by laying on your back and keeping your lungs full. Use your hands and arms to steer the direction of your float.

Survival floats involve facing down, with your face in the water. Relax your body and hold your breath as you easily float on the water. When you need a breath, just raise your head up and get some air.

Taking Immediate Actions

1. Find drinkable water. The very first thing you will want to do is find a drinkable source of water. Water is critical when maintaining health and surviving. Dehydration can kill a person very quickly, sometimes in as little as three days. For this reason, it's important that you quickly locate water that is safe to drink. Keep some of these ideas in mind while locating drinking water on the island:

Streams or rivers will usually have fresh water in them. Keep in mind that although there is no salt in this water, it may still contain parasites or diseases.

It's always a good idea to boil water you plan on drinking.

Do not drink salt water. Salt water will only cause further dehydration and health issues.

If there is no water available, you may need to build a water still.

You can drink rain or dew that has collected in leaves.

If you find plants, there is a good chance that water is nearby. Try looking ahead for a pool of water or digging down into the ground to find the source of water.

Some thicker vines can be cut open to reveal water. Most water carrying vines will look thick and wooden. Cut a vine open and examine the water. If it looks milky or discolored, don't drink it.

Many foods contain water. If you find something like a coconut or fruit, you can enjoy the meal and get some hydration.

2. Build a fire. After you've found water and built a shelter, it's time to keep warm. Building a fire can be done without any tools. All you will need is some natural material and a fire-starting technique. There are many techniques that you can use to actually start the fire. As an example, take a look at these steps to get an idea of how you can start a fire without tools:

Find small pieces of wood, tinder, dry leaves or twigs and arrange them in a small tepee.

Having good tinder is important. Try using dry grass, pine resin, birch tree bark or any other dry material that will easily take a flame.

Locate a length of soft wood. Ideally this will have a small groove in it already. However, you could also make a grove by cutting the wood with a sharp stone.

Find a hardwood stick and gather your tinder together.

Put the tinder in the groove. Rub the hardwood stick up and down the groove quickly to create friction.

Eventually the tinder will ignite. Place this tinder in your small kindling tepee to start the fire.

Add larger pieces of wood to build the fire higher.

3. Take care of first aid. Although you might not have any supplies handy, you can still do some very basic first aid if needed. It's important that you take care of any injuries as best you can to avoid them worsening or threatening your chances of survival. Take a look at some of these basic first aid techniques you can use while surviving on your deserted island.

For cuts, hold the wound together by pinching the sides of it together. You can use a bit of cloth as a bandage. Lie down and elevate the wound above heart level.

Treat shock by laying down, keeping quiet and staying warm.

Handle hypothermia by first getting out of the wind, rain, or snow. Remove any wet clothes, and change into dry clothes if you have them. Get warm by drinking heated water and staying near a fire.

4. Focus on survival. Although you may have taken care of the basics of survival, you'll need to make sure you are focused, collected and in the right mindset. If you're not in the right frame of mind, survival can become a lot more difficult and dangerous. Try to focus your thoughts and attitudes towards useful survival mindsets to help make your time on the island easier.

Be realistic about your situation. If there are serious problems, accept and address them.

Try to stay positive. Even if you're faced with a tough situation, staying positive can help keep you motivated and alert to new solutions.

Remind yourself that your life is at risk. You can't afford to be careless or unaware when surviving.

Panic can cause you to act in nonsensical and dangerous ways. Always try to avoid giving into fear or a sense of panic.

Surviving Until Rescued

1. Find food. Once you've taken care of the immediate survival needs, you can focus on other important aspects. Locating, obtaining, and preparing food is one of these critical survival needs. Although you can survive for a while without food, eating will help keep your energy levels up and increase your chances of survival overall. When looking for food, keep these tips in mind:

There will likely be fish that you can eat in the shallow water around the island.

Making a simple spear out of a sharp stick can allow you to go spear-fishing.

There may be edible fruit around the island. Try looking for bananas or coconuts to eat.

You can usually eat seaweed if you find it growing nearby. Make sure you find it growing in the island shallows or tidal pools. Seaweed that has drifted to the island may be dangerous to eat.

You should cook any food that you find to reduce the chances of eating a parasite or contracting a disease.

If you aren't sure if something is poisonous, start by rubbing the food on your hand. If you don't get a rash or reaction, try rubbing it on your lips. If you don't notice anything, try holding it in your mouth for a few minutes before removing it. If you don't feel ill, you can try to eat it.

Check out this guide to learn more about testing potentially poisonous plants.

2. Consider building a raft. If the island is too harsh to survive on, you may need to create a raft and attempt to leave. You may also consider leaving the island if you think your rescuers believe you have died. However, sailing on a raft can be extremely dangerous and should be used only as a last resort. Try using these steps to build a simple raft, allowing you to self-rescue if need be.

Find some larger logs to act as the base of the raft.

Find many smaller logs to act as the braces and platform of the raft.

If possible, try cutting small notches into the base logs for your support branches to fit inside of.

Tie the smaller branches on top of the larger logs with vines.

Make sure you loop the vines over and under each log before tying them off.

Once the raft is complete, test in shallow waters before venturing further out.

Bring extra logs and vines to make repairs if needed.

1. ↑ Britt Edelen. Boy Scout. Expert Interview. 7 February 2020.

2. ↑ Britt Edelen. Boy Scout. Expert Interview. 7 February 2020.

1. ↑ Britt Edelen. Boy Scout. Expert Interview. 7 February 2020.

2. ↑ Britt Edelen. Boy Scout. Expert Interview. 7 February 2020.

This article was co-authored by Britt Edelen. Britt Edelen was an active member of his local Boy Scouts troop near Athens, Georgia from ages 8 to 16. As a Scout, he went on dozens of camping trips, learned and practiced many wilderness survival skills, and spent countless hours appreciating the great outdoors. In addition, Britt worked as a counselor for several summers at an adventure camp in his hometown, which allowed him to share his passion for and knowledge of the outdoors with others. This article has been viewed 296,891 times.

In order to survive on a deserted island, you would need to find food, water, and shelter as soon as possible. Search for streams or rivers, which contain fresh water you can drink. If you can't find any, drink dew or rainwater that has collected on leaves. Many foods also contain water, such as coconuts or apples, so look for these as well. Locate a sharp stick, which you can use to spear fish in the sea. If this isn't possible, eat seaweed growing near the shore. Getting protection from the elements will help you survive longer. Use whatever materials you can find to build a makeshift shelter. For example, if you have a log and plenty of branches, lean them up against a tree to create a wall for your shelter. For tips on how to send a rescue signal, keep reading!

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 296,891 times.

Tiffany Gracewalker

"I'm writing a book about people getting stranded on an island, and this article really helped with my research! Thank you! " ..." more

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How to Survive on a Deserted Island With Nothing

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Although many people travel by plane and boat without incident, accidents can happen. If your boat or plane fails at sea, you and your fellow passengers may have been fortunate enough to be near a deserted island. Although you may not have...