Misguided Survival: Five Misconceptions to Challenge in Your Fiction

Welcome to another enlightening episode of Writing Rural With Alley! In this episode, we bust common survival myths that could endanger your fictional characters.

Join us as we delve into five critical survival misconceptions:

1. Cellphones Are Reliable to Call 911 Even When There Is No Signal - Uncover the truth about cellphone reliability in emergencies.
2. Screaming Will Attract Help - Learn why screaming might not bring the rescue you expect.
3. Drinking Urine Is Safe - Discover the dangers of this last-resort hydration method.
4. Fire Is Only for Warmth - Explore the multifaceted uses of fire in survival situations.
5. Drink Alcohol to Stay Warm - Understand why this common advice can lead to dire consequences.

We'll also explore our segment "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" where we discuss various pitfalls and complications these myths can create in your story. Perfect for fiction writers aiming to add realism and tension to their narratives!

Keywords: fiction writing, survival misconceptions, character development, writing tips, story ideas, fiction podcast, writing podcast, survival myths, writing realism

Transcript

How reliable is a cell phone when calling 911 in a dead zone? Why is drinking urine a horrible idea? Hypothermia is more likely when your character drinks what beverage? What sounds like a woman screaming in the forest? Learn about all of this and more in today’s episode. 

Welcome to Writing Rural with Alley, the fiction writer’s weekly inspiration station for rural life and lifestyles, from historical to post-apocalyptic, helping you bring your rural stories to life! I’m Alley, and this is episode #97, 5 Survival Misconceptions. Stick around to the end to find out all the ways things could possibly go wrong in your story. Now, let’s get into this.

There are all kinds of survival myths and misunderstandings, well-intended but very wrong advice, and sometimes outright lies. This is a five-part series that will help you write realistic survival scenarios or at least let your characters give good advice. Or argue if the advice is bad. That could be fun, too. So, without further ado…

1) Cell Phones Are Reliable to Call 911 Even When There is no Signal 

While it is a well-known fact that cell phones can call 911 (at least here in the US as of the time I am recording this in 2025) without having a service carrier, most people do not realize that there still has to be a tower close enough to get a signal. While some rural areas have a cell phone signal, many do not. 

So what happens if there is no signal? Simply put, you have entered a dead zone. Now, I know many people are under the false impression that the police will have a cell signal, so other phones will work. That’s not true. If they have a satellite phone, they will be able to get a signal. If they do not, they will have to go where there is a signal, or they will not have it. 

I know this because I have lived in dead zones many times. In fact, last year when I had to call an ambulance to get to my father faster than I could, they still had to drive out of the dead zone to get a signal to let anyone know what was going on. It is something we experienced before when our home burned down. 

Now, personally, I have been able to get a signal within five miles of the last signal, but this can be spotty, and how dense the foliage is can make a difference too. I know many people that will drive a few miles down the dirt road to park and make phone calls and texts so they have signal. Also, the tops of hills have the best potential for signal, and the winter time is the best for signal, as the tree leaves are not in the way. yes, that really happens. 

2) Screaming Will Always Attract Help

We have all heard the saying, no one can hear you scream. If your characters are far from any homes, roads, or buildings, this is very likely to be true. According to Google, if your character is in a grassy prairie, a scream can be heard for up to a mile, but in the forest, it can be heard for half a mile or less. 

If your characters are in a rural setting, it is unlikely anyone will be around to hear them scream. It is far more likely that predators will hear them. Bears, mountain lions, lions, wolves, and more will likely come to check out the sound. It is easy for a predator to mistake screams for help as screams of distress an animal would make when injured, and they could attack your character. 

Moreover, if they are trying to escape bad guys, they don’t want to draw the attention of the bad guys! That’s just characters acting like idiots. No one wants a dumb character. 

A fun side note: do you know what in the forest can sound like a woman screaming? If you guess a labrador retriever, you’re wrong. It’s a mountain lion! Yes, they can make a sound that sounds a lot like a woman screaming. This is misleading to bad guys, or even to good guys, if they rush in to help. 

3) Drinking Urine Is Safe 

I can only assume this one was born out of sheer desperation for a drink when someone was dying of dehydration. Otherwise, EW! 

This one is very straight forward. Urine contains toxins, and other waste your body is trying to get rid of. If it is ingested, it’s basically condensed toxins, and puts a strain on the kidneys. To top this off, every single person I have ever meant that was, let’s call it, not bright enough to not do this, said they immediately vomited, most without ever being able to swallow first. According to research, if a person can keep it down, (not many can) it can cause gastrointestinal issues and diarrhea. All of those things would make your character more dehydrated. 

Long story short, unless you want to torture your poor characters, maybe don’t do this one. 

4) Fire Is Only For Warmth

If you are a city person, I can kind of understand why you might think this. Most people talk about this as a way to stay warm. (Or make s’mores) In reality, fire can and should be, used for more. 

First, boiling water kills bacteria in the water. Your characters do not want to get sick with pathogens that cause them to vomit and poop themselves at the same time. This can quickly lead to dehydration. 

Second, it’s a great way to cook. If your character can catch meat, this will cook it. In real-life, if the person has never hunted before, it’s highly unlikely they will get meat, and that’s ok. They can boil dandelion greens to get the bitterness out of the leaves to eat. They can make pine needle tea, or clover tea. Hot drinks are a great way to warm up in the cold. You can get creative with this one. 

Lastly, fire will help your characters keep predators away at night. Most predators do not like fire. Is that always the case? No, but it is true enough of the time that even people who teach survival classes teach this as a way to stay safe at night. 

5) Drink Alcohol To Stay Warm 

I know many people (my stepfather, several uncles, and even one grandfather) who swore by this. That means there will be characters who believe this too. The thing is, they are just flat-out wrong. 

You see, when a person consumes alcohol, their blood vessels dilate, and it increases blood to the skin, and this tricks the brain into believing the body is warmer than it really is. To top that off, the blood flowing back from the skin surface will be cooled, and this cools the body’s core temperature faster than a person who did not consume alcohol. A lower temperature risks hypothermia. I have a full episode about hypothermia if you want to check that out. 

Another thing is that, alcohol is a diuretic. Diuretics in pill form are commonly referred to as water pills. This means it causes the body to lose fluids quickly. This can lead to dehydration, if the fluids are not quickly replaced with more, and I do not mean more alcohol. 

Lastly, alcohol causes impaired judgment and a lack of coordination. We all know it is true, and the more a person drinks, the worse the impairment can be. This is downright dangerous in a survival situation. Your character is in more danger in cold climates and in dangerous terrain. Or frankly, from falling onto the fire, off a cliff, or just falling over in general. There are far more things that could happen because of impairment than I have time to list in this episode. Let your imagination run wild with this one. 

One quick reminder before we get to all the ways things could go wrong in your story. 

If you are enjoying this content, I hope you will check out my Buy Me A Coffee page. I have lots of rural gems and stories that you will not find anywhere else—links in the description. 

Now, for everyone’s favorite part, what could possibly go wrong in your story? 

Likely to go wrong: Your character is lost and needs water. They remember seeing on a survival show that they could drink their pee. They try it and immediately vomit. 

Likely to go wrong: Your character heard screaming will bring help. They scream for help; screaming for so long that they lose their voice. 

Possible to go wrong: Your character tries to call 911 in a dead zone, only to find cell phones don’t work there, and they are on their own. 

Possible to go wrong: Your character is drinking alcohol, thinking it will keep them warm. However, it lowers their body temperature, and with their impaired judgment they do not realize it is so cold. They soon have hypothermia. If not treated quickly, this could be deadly. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character doesn’t realize that their survival fire can be used to heat up drinks and eat snow to stay hydrated. This lowers their body temperature, causing hypothermia. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character doesn’t know most predators are scared of fire and do not use it at night. In the night, a wolf pack comes into their camp. This could be deadly. 

Improbable but still technically in the realm of possibilities: Your character gets a tire blowout on an old dirt road and slides off into the ditch, getting stuck. They think screaming for help will draw attention. However, the only attention they attract is that of a mountain lion. They are left hiding in their car from a hungry mountain lion. 

Improbable but still technically in the realm of possibilities: Your character thinks drinking alcohol will keep them warm. They get drunk and fall into the fire, lighting themself on fire. This could be deadly. 

Thanks for listening! Until next time, happy wordsmithing.