Just for your entertainment, here are 26 random survival facts to keep in mind next time you don’t have anything to talk about when round the campfire.
Water
- 71% of the earths surface is covered in water
- 96.5% of all water on earth is in the sea in the form of salt water
- 3.5% of earths water is in “fresh” form in lakes and rivers, but mostly ice. 69% of earths fresh water is made up of ice
- An adult can last for 3 days without water before dying
- 60% of the human body is made from water, and the brain contains as much as 70%
- In the first 6 months of life a child will consume 7 times more water per pound of body weight than an adult
- 3 drops of bleach will sterilise and make safe 1 litre of water to drink
- A fully grown birch tree can give off up to 60 gallons of water in a single day
- Salt water freezes at lower temperatures than fresh water, with the average seawater freezing at -2°C
Deaths
- You are around 100 times more likely to be killed by a toaster than you are from a bear if you live in the US or Canada
- There is only 1 person naturally killed by wolves every 5 years globally
- The mosquito is the most deadly animal on earth in terms of how many deaths it causes each year, with around 1 million people dying from the diseases they spread
- The hippo is the most deadly animal in terms of physical capabilities, with it being able to beat any animal on earth in a 1 on 1 fight
- Between 1347 and 1351, Europe was hit by the bubonic plague which gave every single person on the continent a 50% of death
- The deadliest shark attack in history happened in 1945 when the USS Indianapolis was sunk and up to 150 crew were eaten by sharks
Temperature
- The coldest ever temperature recorded was taken at the Vostok research station in Antarctica on July 21, 1983. It measured -89.2°C
- The hottest temperature was recorded at furnace creek in California on July 10, 1913 measuring 56.7°C
- Water boils at different temperatures depending on its altitude. Water at sea level boils at 100°C, but water at a height of 30,000 feet would boil at 70°C. (this only happens in open environments, and water in a self contained environment like a plane will still boil at 100°C at all altitudes)
- The average human body temperature is 37°C, and if it raises by just 3°C you run the risk of death
- When fresh lava first comes out a volcanic vent it normally doesn’t reach temperatures higher than 1200°C, this isn’t even hot enough to melt iron
- the body loses heat almost 30 times faster in water than it does in air
Survival times
- José Salvador Alvarenga was lost at sea and survived alone on a raft for 438 days and travelled more than 6,700 miles, Since his ordeal ended in 2014 he remains the record holder for longest lone survival stranded at sea
- Aron Ralston lasted for 5 days with his arm crushed under a rock and only a 330ml bottle of water
- Slavomir Rawicz walked for over 4000 miles to escape the occupation during WW2
- Hugh glass crawled for almost 200 miles after almost being killed from a bear attack, his story is the basis for the film “The Revenant”
- Harrison Okene spent 60 hours more than 100 feet underwater after his ship sank upside down, trapping him in one of the cabins