Even if it’s a “survival challenge” reality TV show, the “skills” you learn might actually be the very things that lead to disaster if you ever find yourself in a similar real-life situation!
Misleading Survival Tactics
1. Building a Fire in a Cave Is Completely Harmless… NOT!
Building a fire to keep warm while sheltering in small caves or rock crevices is a common scene in adventure and exploration films. However, it would be a “deadly” mistake to believe and imitate this action in a similar real-life situation!
Specifically, when you build a fire, the heat generated will cause the rocks on the cave ceiling, which are cold and
2. You Can Easily Survive in the Wild with Knowledge from Reality TV Shows
Even “survival challenge” reality TV shows contain many staged details. Moreover, the main character is never truly alone; there’s always an entire crew ready to provide support in adverse situations. Therefore, even if you master all the survival knowledge taught from these types of programs, you should never believe that you can survive well for an extended period in the wild!
3. All Water Sources Are Safe When Boiled
Also in adventure and exploration films, we often see that all found water will be absolutely safe if boiled!
In reality, high temperatures can only kill microorganisms. As for many harmful chemicals or toxic elements (e.g., heavy metals), no matter how long you boil the water, it will not affect the toxicity they pose to the body.
Therefore, if in such a situation, it’s best to filter the water you find through a clean cloth, then boil it, and finally wait for any sediment to settle at the bottom before drinking.
4. If Lost, Just Go Downstream, and Sooner or Later You’ll Reach Civilization
“Sooner or later” is the crucial point in this situation. The logic in movies isn’t entirely wrong, as population centers often cluster near rivers for convenient water access. The problem is how long you’ll have to walk to get there; if you’re unlucky, it could take weeks.
Therefore, the first rule when lost is to stay put; try to keep warm, ensure your safety, and wait for the rescue team to arrive!
5. The First Thing to Do When Lost in the Desert Is Find Water
It’s undeniable that water is the most precious thing for us in the desert. However, that doesn’t mean it’s the first thing you should immediately search for when lost in a sandy desert, as we often see in movies.
In this situation, the first thing we need to do is avoid the scorching desert heat by seeking shelter under rocks or trees, and only search for water or civilization when night falls!
6. If Injured, Just Bandage It Tightly to Stop Bleeding
This scene is very familiar, isn’t it? The protagonist gets shot in the arm, a comrade tears off some fabric and bandages it tightly, and then they survive.
But the real-life situation is not so rosy. If you bandage tightly enough to stop blood flow, it also means you’ve cut off the blood circulation to that body part entirely. This puts the entire area at risk of necrosis, potentially requiring amputation later. Some people even go into shock due to too much blood pressure accumulating in other areas.
The tight bandaging method should only be used in cases of extremely rapid bleeding. Furthermore, it needs to be loosened periodically to allow blood circulation and nourish the injured part.
7. In the Desert, You Must Conserve Water Absolutely
This is also true, but if you feel thirsty, you should also find some shade and replenish your water. If you stubbornly expose yourself to the sun and push yourself to the limit of thirst, you could suffer heat stroke, sunstroke, and lose consciousness.
8. You Can Eat Raw Fish to Survive
Some movies have depicted people being forced to eat raw fish when stranded on a deserted island. This isn’t entirely wrong, but it’s only in situations where you truly have no other choice, as the risks are very high.
It’s true that humans eat raw seafood (like Japanese sushi), but the seafood you typically eat has been thoroughly inspected. In the wild, it’s completely different. You won’t know what bacteria or parasites the fish you just caught might contain, or if it will cause food poisoning.
Moreover, in survival situations, remember that you have no medicine and no access to a hospital. Getting sick is therefore a top priority to avoid. To minimize risks, everything should be cooked over fire, except for fruits.
9. Taking Off Clothes and Hugging to Stay Warmer
Movies continue to be a source of impractical or incomplete knowledge for viewers. We often see that when the female protagonist is cold, the male protagonist will voluntarily remove both their clothes to share body heat, and after a “passionate” night, the female protagonist miraculously recovers. While this theory is fundamentally correct, it lacks some very important accompanying factors.
First, both individuals must use multiple layers of covering around them, and most importantly, one of them must not be fully hypothermic or frostbitten. If already hypothermic, the best thing they need to do is get near a fire and drink warm liquids, instead of hugging, which would ultimately lead to both losing more heat.
This misconception is so common that science has a term for it: “paradoxical undressing.” The phrase became well-known after scientists examined 33 cases of hypothermia deaths between November and January 1979 in Sweden. A common thread was that the victims all decided to remove their clothes at the last minute, which did not help but only pushed them to death faster.
10. Drinking Water from Cacti Helps Reduce Dehydration
In some cases, liquid from cacti can even cause temporary paralysis. In survival movies set in the desert, we often see the protagonist drinking water from surrounding plants, mainly cacti. From this, we might conclude that when dehydrated, it’s best to find a cactus. However, scientists warn that because they contain various acids and alkaloids that the human digestive system struggles to process, liquid from cacti can cause immediate nausea and diarrhea.
Both of these conditions lead to rapid dehydration, threatening your life. In some cases, liquid from cacti can even cause temporary paralysis. If you’re stranded in the desert, be very cautious with all plant-based water sources!
11. Pulling Out a Stabbing Weapon
Hollywood directors often show protagonists pulling knives or swords out of their bodies immediately after being stabbed. While this action heightens the drama for the film, it gives audiences a dangerously incorrect impression of such situations.
Medical experts advise that if you are unfortunately stabbed, keep the object in place and go to the hospital so doctors can intervene promptly. If you attempt to remove it yourself, you risk excessive blood loss from the wound, as the sharp object acts as a plug preventing blood from flowing out.
12. Air Ducts Are Easy Ways to Infiltrate Buildings
Surely, most of us have seen Paul Blart: Mall Cop, featuring our hero Kevin James in the titular role (in both 2009 and 2015 films). However, there are scenes showing him, despite being somewhat overweight, able to crawl through the ventilation ducts of the mall.
However, real-life ventilation ducts are nothing like what we usually see in movies. In large buildings, the air conditioning and ventilation systems might be as large as depicted in films, but they contain many obstacles like fans. Furthermore, their structure is not strong enough for adult men to move through them smoothly; therefore, if you try to move inside, you could fall at any moment.
Moreover, there is a lot of dust and debris inside ventilation systems, which can seriously affect your respiratory system. So, you might not even have a chance to get out if you’re curious enough to crawl inside.
13. You Can Outrun a Giant Explosion
The “running away from an explosion” scene is always one of the most impressive highlights of any action movie. Heroes like James Bond and Jason Bourne are often depicted as being able to outrun deadly explosions with ease.
In real life, explosions often involve explosives like TNT or C-4. Such materials cause explosions when they combine with oxygen. Let’s take C-4 as an example. When ignited by a detonator, it burns and releases large amounts of gas with immense force. These gas streams engulf the surrounding space in an instant and explode. In a powerful enough explosion, it can blow away people, trees, cars, and everything else in its path.
So, can you outrun an explosion in real life? The answer is NO! But it can also depend on your distance from the explosion and your running speed. In the case of a C-4 explosion, gases are released at a characteristic speed of 26,400 feet/second (about 8 km/s), engulfing everything in their path. Therefore, if you are at the same distance from explosions as the protagonists in action movies, you would certainly not be able to escape.
14. It Only Takes a Few Seconds to Knock Someone Out with a Chloroform-Soaked Rag
A chloroform-soaked rag is a common weapon used in Hollywood movies, and its function is to render the target unconscious or subdue someone in a non-lethal way. A cloth soaked in chloroform is placed over someone’s mouth, and that person passes out in a few seconds. In reality, everything happens in reverse. Scientists estimate that it is almost impossible to incapacitate someone in this manner.
In reality, chloroform can indeed be used to knock people out, but it would take at least five minutes of direct inhalation of the substance from the cloth.
