We've been bamboozled, folks!
Redditor u/AmaraMehdi asked the people of r/AskReddit, "What is a 'Survival Myth' that people believe because of movies, but will actually get you killed in real life?" Well, I hope you're prepared to learn that everything your TV screen taught you was a lie! Here are 24 survival myths from TV shows and movies that you should definitely never try:
Note: Examples have also been sourced from this similar thread.
1. Unlike in movies, "drowning is silent. There is rarely hectic splashing, and the victim likely won’t be screaming for help. And it’s incredibly quick. By the time someone processes that they should try to rescue them, it’s probably too late, and more dangerous for them to actually go into whatever caused the first drowning."
2. "Sucking out snake venom is more likely to give someone a bad infection than it is to remove the snake venom."
3. "Pulling the bullet out. They do it in all the movies. It’s a stupid intervention that has no indication and can just do more harm. Source: ER doctor."
4. "'If an animal eats it, you can eat it.' Terrible advice. I've seen deer eat poison ivy. Don't do that."
—Ty34er and Eric_the_Barbarian
5. "The idea that moss only grows on the north side of a tree. I wouldn't want anyone to think of that as a reliable method of navigation. Moss is not a compass. It comes from the idea that trees receive less sunlight on the northern side of their trunk, at least in the northern hemisphere, which leads to better moisture retention on that side. Really, though, moss can thrive anywhere as long as it has constant access to moisture."
6. "Drinking your own urine when dehydrated. Movies show it as a last resort survival trick, but it's actually making things worse. Urine has salt and waste products that your body has already filtered out once. Putting them back in just accelerates dehydration. Your kidneys have to work harder to process the waste again. The more dehydrated you get, the more concentrated the urine becomes, and the worse the cycle gets. If you're that desperate, use urine to cool your skin or dampen a cloth to reduce sweating, but don't drink it."
7. "Bulletproof vests. At the very least, with a small caliber gun, you're probably looking at multiple broken ribs and some solid internal bleeding [in more severe cases]. You can't just take the vest off and keep fighting. You need immediate medical attention."
"Years ago, when bulletproof vests were a new thing, I saw a local news report where the reporter demonstrated one. He was wearing the vest and talking to the camera, and a hand holding a revolver just appeared from off-screen. The pistol was MAYBE three feet away from the vest when it fired. Hit him right in the vest, the reporter went down screaming obscenities. Immediate cut back to the studio."
Several factors, including the type of vest, the distance from the weapon, the caliber of gun, and where the bullet hits can significantly affect how severe the pain or injury is. Bulletproof vests are made to spread the force of the bullet over a larger surface, and blunt force trauma can occur as a result of that energy being absorbed by the body.
8. "There are lots of things that movies show stopping bullets that would not stop bullets."
9. "That jumping into water will save you from a fall. If you’re falling from huge heights with speed into flat water, it’s like falling on concrete."
Similarly, "Jumping down onto a pile of garbage bags. I always think about the sharp objects I have thrown away."
"That literally happened to a friend of mine. He was drunk and jumped onto a pile of garbage bags on an NYC curb and then got up with a gaping gash (like, five inches long and very deep to where you could see all the fat) in his back. This was right beside Times Square, and an ambulance was literally parked 100m away. One of the paramedics searched the trash bag to see if he could find what my friend had been stabbed with, but they couldn’t tell. They gave him a tetanus shot and patched him up pretty shoddily at the hospital, and the wound ended up getting infected a few days later, and he had to be hospitalized for IV antibiotics. It also scarred so badly that he ended up getting some sort of plastic surgery revision to it several years later. Would NOT recommend."
10. "Having sex to stay warm in freezing conditions. It’s not a survival tip, it’s a plot device."
—strp
11. "Here's one: I'm an ex-military sailor. We were instructed unequivocally not to put on a lifejacket while within a vessel that is traveling over or within water. If the vessel sinks, you're inside with a lifejacket on, and the water inside activates self-inflation, you're pushed against the deck head/ceiling because of the pressure. You can't deflate it, and you can't take it off because of air and water pressure."
"So every time I see a movie with sailors wearing life jackets below decks, I cringe. I also cringe when I see in-flight attendants instruct every passenger to put on their life vest over their neck before exiting a sinking aircraft, if they have to ditch over water. Seawater in a plane, and you have that thing on? You'd better hope the aircraft's flotation is in working order, or you'll drown with your face pressed against the ceiling. Jump in the water with your life vest inflated? You will break your neck.
None of these things are explained, and should be."
12. "Walking anywhere if you're lost in the wilderness. As long as someone knows where you should be and when you should have been back, stay put so rescuers can find you."
"We used to tell our scouts, 'If you get lost, stop and hug a tree.'"
"An old hiker once told me that the first thing to do when you suspect you might be lost is stop and have a snack. It makes it easier to look at the situation in a calm fashion. If you keep going, even upping your pace, you're increasing the circle inside of which you might be."
13. "If you get hit on the head and knocked unconscious, you don’t just wake up a couple of minutes later and everything’s fine."
"I had a minor brain injury, didn't even pass out or lose cognition. It changed my life. I have seizures, a speech disorder, mobility issues, vertigo, etc. You're not going to wake right up and keep running. In fact, once the swelling kicked in, I couldn't walk for a month."
14. "That drinking alcohol warms you. In reality, it causes a rush of warm blood to the surface, making you feel warm but lowering your core temperature."
15. "Unless you are very lost, very far from civilization...eating dubious food. This is popularized by Man vs. Wild and similar. Over the course of a few days, which you should have some packed food for anyway, you don't need to eat. You won't be happy, but as long as you can get water, you're okay. It's not worth eating anything that might make you sick."
16. "Hiding under a bridge during a tornado. Reality is that the underpass will act as a funnel, increasing the wind speed. Better to find a low spot or drainage ditch and lie down on the ground, protecting your head from flying debris."
17. "A defibrillator does not jumpstart your heart. It resets it. If someone's heart has stopped, you need to do CPR."
18. "Getting shipwrecked on an island, then building a ‘boat’ and leaving the island to find civilization. There are way too many things that will kill you in the water, and you are so much harder for rescue personnel to see. Always stay on the island."
"This is a myth that's probably an effect of shipwreck stories being older than motorized aircraft or coordinated monitoring systems. Before the 20th century, unless you were important enough to be searched for, you either built the raft or accepted that you'd be living on the island for a long time."
19. "Running downhill while a bear is chasing you will not make the bear stumble and fall. Most likely you will fall and become easier prey."
20. "That you can easily survive being close enough to a big explosion that throws you through the air and onto the hard ground like a rag doll. You can totally just get up, dust yourself off, and run away with full health intact."
"My dad’s friend died in a massive explosion. He wasn't burned or anything; he was waiting at a red light on his motorcycle when the shockwave hit him. The coroner said he was dead before he hit the ground, and all his internal organs were turned to mush, but my dad said he looked very peaceful, and the only injuries he could see were the little scratches he got from falling off his motorcycle."
21. "That you should conserve water in the desert. People have died of dehydration while still having water on them because they tried to ration it."
22. "Jumping out of a moving car. My husband jumped from a car going barely 20 km/h (a little over 12 mph)...and broke both his legs..."
23. "Eating cacti for hydration. Like anything, you need to know exactly what it is you’re eating, and if you don’t, it can put you in even graver peril. Some cacti make great eating, though I’d cook them first. A lot of cacti will make you barf. Some cacti will make you barf and then hallucinate."
Fishhook barrel and prickly pear cacti are safe to eat, though not generally enjoyable raw. As mentioned, other varieties contain acids and alkaloids that our kidneys struggle to process, and can result in digestive issues and temporary paralysis.
24. And finally, "Automatically seeking shelter in a cave or large crevice. It depends on where you are in the world. Many caves have lots of bats and rodents, and these can harbor extremely dangerous diseases."
Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or anonymous form below:
Submissions have been edited for length, clarity, and factual accuracy.
Comments