Experts' Expert: Hawke's Laws of Survival in the Wilderness

Pictured above as found in Mykel Hawke's book (below).

Wrote Kevin Kelly in Cool Tools: "Let's get this straight: you will not have your wilderness survival guidebook during a survival emergency. That's not how emergencies work. A great survival guidebook will a) assume you won't have it with you, and b) prepare you to survive bookless by providing real details beforehand. Out of the many dozens of survival guidebooks in print today, this is the only one that accomplishes this, and this is the only one that I would recommend. It can get you thinking about real solutions to real problems. Survival is all about priorities, and I think this book lines them up in the right order. It will still be up to you to rehearse them beforehand: you won't have this book with you."

More from the book:

Last Resort: You Can Drink Urine!

The rules for urine drinking are straightforward:

• Drink it as soon after you urinate as possible — the first time you urinate is usually fine to drink

• You can drink the second pass in dire circumstances

• After the second pass you won't be urinating again anyway if there is no more fluid going in — there simply won't be any fluid left to be passed

Myth: You will not die or get sick if you drink urine. It is not poisonous. It is actually sterile the moment it leaves your body, and only contact with the air allows for bacteria to grow. This is why you should not urinate and store it for later.

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How To Choose a Survival Stick

• Choose a stick slightly taller than you — if the stick is too short, it may jam into your neck if you fall

• It can serve as a measuring device — how deep is a river? Could you jump over that chasm?

• If the stick is strong enough it might even serve as a small bridge

• It can be used as a rafting pole, crutch, spear, reaching tool, digging tool, etc.

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More excerpts from the book:

"Affect: If you can hear a person yelling and screaming, they're OK for the moment. The noise means they're conscious, breathing, awake, and talking. It's a good sign their mind and body are stable enough that all systems are still functioning."

"Try to concentrate your power-based communications in the first 24 hours, as this is when most search parties will be initiated. Broadcast your signal continously during this window if you're able to. But consider delaying your all-out 24-hour broadcast period for a day or two if you have reason to believe it will take folks that long to begin looking for you."

"The Rule of Threes: There are 3 dots and 3 dashes in the 3-letter Morse code for SOS. That's no accident: The universal distress signal is anything in threes."

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Got fish?

The book costs $10.20.