Survival Folklore: Five Outdated Survival Advice Your Character Might Believe

Are you a fiction writer seeking inspiration for survival scenarios in your stories? Dive into this episode where we debunk long-held beliefs about staying alive. From rubbing hypothermic skin to the misguided use of gunpowder on wounds, we’ll explore the history and myth behind these outdated tips.

Join us as we uncover five outdated survival advice:

1. Rubbing Hypothermic Skin - Discover why this common advice can be harmful.
2. Using Gunpowder on Wounds - Learn the dangers of this historical practice.
3. Map North vs. Compass North - Understand the importance of distinguishing between these two.
4. First Aid Kit Is Non-Negotiable - Explore why having a first aid kit is essential.
5. Following Birds to Water - Find out why relying on birds can lead you astray.

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 where we discuss various pitfalls and complications these outdated tips can create in your story.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

Keywords: fiction writing, survival advice, character development, writing tips, story ideas, fiction podcast, writing podcast, outdated survival tips, writing realism

Transcript

Are you a fiction writer seeking inspiration for survival scenarios in your stories? Dive into “5 Outdated Survival Advice,” where we debunk long-held beliefs about staying alive. From the rubbing of hypothermic skin to the misguided use of gunpowder on wounds, we’ll explore the history and myth behind these outdated tips. Discover the truth about map north vs. compass north, why a first aid kit is non-negotiable, and the silly of following birds to water. Each episode concludes with “What Could Possibly Go Wrong in Your Story?”—a segment bursting with plot twists and challenges for your characters. Tune in to make your survival scenes not only accurate but riveting.

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 I’m Alley, and this is episode #100, 5 Outdated Survival Advice. 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.

This is the fifth in a five-part series that will help you write realistic survival scenarios or at least let your characters give good advice. So, without further ado… 

1) If a person is hypothermic, rub their skin to warm them

This is one that has likely been around since caveman times. In fact, I’ll admit until I learned better, I likely would have tried this myself. It’s not a leap to think that since rubbing your hands together warms them, it could help to warm someone else. 

However, this is not the best idea. Rubbing can lead to damage to the skin, the formation of blisters, and these can lead to infection. More importantly, rubbing it causes blood that the body has diverted to the core to come back to the skin. The cold blood on the surface level will rush to the heart and core of the body. This will drop the body temperature even more than it already is. 

Things only get worse from there as this can also cause heart arrhythmias. Heart arrhythmias mean that the heart beats irregularly. This can be dangerous or potentially life-threatening. 

The cold rush can also cause a shock to the cardiovascular system. This shock adds stress to the heart. It can also lead to cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating. If not treated with a defibrillator quickly, this will be deadly. 

If your character is lucky enough not to have those issues, the stress this puts on the body can also cause breathing issues. They can have a hard time breathing. There can also be a decrease in oxygen being delivered to vital organs. Your character needs their organs to function if they hope to survive. 

So what should your characters do? Let’s cover historical ways first. They would take them to a warm area, inside or near a fire. Remove any wet clothing or clothing that had snow on it as the snow would melt and make them wet. Next, they were wrapped in warm blankets, shawls, furs, or even towels. The fire would be stoked, meaning they would make it bigger to make it hotter. 

Warm drinks could be given to help warm them, but never hot drinks, as this can burn them. Herbal teas, broths, coffee, or even warm whisky were given, depending on what was available. 

Body heat was sometimes used. We have all heard the tales of skin-to-skin contact to save people, and it is something that happened. Not all body heat was skin-to-skin. Huddling around the person or someone holding them was also used. 

Hot stones wrapped in linin were placed next to them, under their feet, held, or almost any way you can think of. There was also something called a warming pan. In the 16th century, these stones were updated to warming pans. These were metal boxes coals could be put into and moved around the bed before someone got into it to warm the bed. However, I know many elderly people who tell me they used to wait for it to cool enough it would be safe and place it in the bed with them. Others say they placed bricks under and above it to keep the bed and blankets from catching on fire, and would place a blanket over the bricks to warm the bed and everyone in it.

Warm water bladders were also used. This could be primitive, like a bison bladder or more modern with rubber water bladders. According to a quick web search, these were invented in 1903. 

Today, of course, they would get inside a warm place and seek medical attention. Likely calling 911 to get help. 

If help is not available for whatever reason, bring the character into a warm place, make a fire, or have a heater close by, but not blowing directly on them. Do as above by removing all wet clothing and wrapping them in warm dry blankets. Give them warm drinks, but not hot. Body heat can help. Warm water bottles can be wrapped in a dish towel and placed next to them. 

There are some no-nos for treating hypothermia. Your characters should not apply anything hot to the skin. This includes, but is not limited to, hot water, hot stones, hot water bottles, heating pads, heating lamps, or anything like these. Applying extreme heat can not only damage their skin but can also cause cardiac arrest. 

Your characters should also focus on warming the core of the body and not the extremities. Focusing on the arms or legs risks the same cardiac and lung dangers as above. 

If you would like to learn more about hypothermia, I have a full episode about it. 

2) Use gunpowder on wounds 

Gunpowder was invented in the 9th century in China. Sometime in the 16th century, it was applied to wound care. Yes, you read that correctly. The main purpose of this was to stop bleeding. 

There are both records praising and condemning the use. Some saying it worked, and some saying that it blew holes in people. Having handled gunpowder, though not often, I believe this would depend on how much was used. A small amount would burn and a slightly larger amount would basically explode. If that was placed into a hole in a character’s arm or leg, they might not have that limb anymore. It would take practice to get this right and you can only imagine what that could mean for a character. 

At the time, people also believed that gunpowder would sterilize a wound. Let’s be clear that is not true! The chemicals in gunpowder would introduce bacteria, cause chemical burns before it was even lit, and, when lit, could greatly expand the size of the wound while pushing bacteria further into the wound. That is not a recipe for healing! 

Still, that’s not the most surprising to me. The thing that makes me wonder what they were smoking is that many doctors claimed that the explosion provided pain relief. What!? No, sir, it does not. It might burn the nerve endings off and be mistaken as pain relief. It might even cause the kind of severe trauma to the area that causes a spike in adrenaline that might initially trick the brain into not feeling the pain, but it most definitely does not relieve pain! 

3) North on a map and a compass are the same direction 

I know it was hard for my kids to understand at first, but true north, map north, and magnetic north are all different things. Let me give you a few definitions before I jump into the explanation. 

* If you look at a map, there are longitude and latitude lines. Longitude lines are the ones that are north to south. 

* True North is where all these lines come together at what is called the north pole. It is a fixed point on the globe, meaning it never moves. 

* Map north is the direction of north on a map. This is the direction indicating north on a map, which may not perfectly align with true north due to the map’s projected distortion. What distortion you ask? Where they try to make the round shape of the world fit on a flat piece of paper. 

* Magnetic North is where a compass points and is determined by earth’s magnetic fields. 

Ok, so what does this have to do with anything? Well, magnetic north is always moving. Since the time it was first recorded (that I can find.) in 1831, the Earth’s magnetic north has moved 680 mile (1,100 kilometers). In fact, in recent years, it has moved up to 34 miles in a single year. Long story short, that makes magnetic north, and true north as of the time I am recording this in the beginning of 2025, about 1,200 miles (500 kilometers) away from each other. 

What does this mean for your characters? That depends. If they have a map that is alined with magnetic north, then they will be able to use a compass to follow the map. If (like the vast majority of maps) it is alined to true north, then if they follow a map, let’s say out of a forest they were lost in, there is a good chance that they will be a few miles from where they meant to come out at. 

For this reason, many people prefer a general direction of north, and then a map with geographical features. This balances things out and helps them know if they got off course. Knowing where mountains, rivers, and valleys are a huge help to staying on target. 

4) First aid kits are optional

This is something that I have seen with my own eyes, watched TV shows say it, and have read historical newspapers saying that people who lived within a certain mileage limit to a hospital don’t need. Basically, these are suggesting going to a doctor or hospital for every little thing. 

It’s not clear when people started this belief, but I assume it was sometime around or after (At least here in the USA) the 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor. (EMTALA) This is a law that emergency rooms can’t turn patients away even if they can’t pay. 

I remember asking why that was even a law. I mean, who would do that? My dad told this heartbreaking story of when he was a young child and a man carried his wife in from their farm. She was having a heart attack and they couldn’t pay upfront. The man begged and pleaded. The doctors carried his wife out and sat her outside the door three times. The first two he carried her back in, so the last time, they locked the doors. All the man could do was sit in the doorway and sob as his wife died in his arms. I can’t even write that without tearing up, and I wasn’t even there. Ok, back to things that don’t make me cry. 

Now, a few quick notes for this. Many native Americans used to carry what they called medicine bags. That was basically a first aid kit and pharmacy in one. In modern times, I know many people started carrying first aid kits, or expanding their first aid kits after needing it and not having it. Frankly, it’s human nature to learn the hard way sometimes. Let’s hope it was for something minor unless you are into writing the other. 

5) Follow the birds to find water 

I saw this as advice for the first time on one of those survival shows and felt like face planting for them. I do understand birds need water, and little song birds need water every few hours, but the issue is, unless your character is a bird mind reader, they have no idea what the bird is looking for. 

Your character can watch a group of birds fly miles off and look like they land. Maybe there is water, but it’s more likely they saw a yummy worm. They could have eggs or hatchlings to take care of. They might need to rest their wings. I’ve seen song birds fly in the forest to stay out of the reach of hawks that were flying above the tree line.

Now, there is one thing I know of that you can follow birds to. If your character is in a ship on the ocean, birds can sometimes be followed to shore. Why sometimes, because some birds live on rock bluffs in the ocean. Unless your character was looking for rocks, that won’t be much help. 

If you’re enjoying this content, I hope you will take a moment to share it with a friend. 

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

Likely to go wrong: Your character is following a map with their compass and misses what they were aiming for because they didn’t know there was a difference between map north and magnetic north. This leaves your character confused. 

Likely to go wrong: Your character didn’t think first aid kits were needed. When they get a wound that needs stitches, they decide to cauterize it with gunpowder. When they put it in the wound, they introduced bacteria into the wound, and soon it became infected. 

Possible to go wrong: Your character is suffering from hypothermia. Their friend is trying to warm them up by rubbing their cold skin to warm them. This causes a shock to their system, leading to cardiac arrest. If they do not get immediate emergency treatment, this will be deadly. 

Possible to go wrong: Your character heard that gunpowder can cauterize a wound. A hunting accident leaves them with an arrow wound to the leg. They decide to cauterize it with gunpowder and stuff the wound before lighting it. This causes a small explosion, and they lose their leg. This could easily be deadly. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character uses a bed warming pan when it is still hot and burns the sheets. 

Unlikely to go wrong: Your character uses hot water on someone with hypothermia. This not only burns them, but causes cardiac arrest. If they do not get help immediately, this will be deadly. 

Improbable but still technically in the realm of possibilities: Your character follows magnetic north while using a map as reference. They soon come to a cliff, and realize they are not doing something right, and are now very, very lost. 

Improbable but still technically in the realm of possibilities: Your character thinks following birds will lead them to water. They see the birds fly off into the horizon and follow. However, the birds were simply going back to their nests for the night. By the next day, your character is farther from the water, and lost. 

Thanks for listening! Until next time, happy wordsmithing.