These survival escape hacks could save your life. Knowing what to do in hard situations is key to getting out of them.
I can’t verify the legitimacy of these since I haven’t yet been attacked by a crocodile or found myself handcuffed. But I thought I’d share them anyway!
9 Escape Hacks You Need To Remember
Sinking Car
Do not try and open the door of the car – this causes it to fill with water much faster. As soon as you car touches water, immediately get your window rolled down before it starts to sink. Help children unbuckle, push them out the window first and then follow. from Brightside
This keychain has a car escape tool inside to break a window if needed.
Handcuffs
I hesitated to add this because you do need something to make this happen: a paperclip. And chances are there won’t be one lying around when you need it. But I thought it was important anyway because you may have something similar like a bobby pin perhaps. Watch this quick demonstration to see how to use it.
Zip Ties & Duct Tape
Slightly twist your wrists, then raise your arms up above your head and bring them down with force to break the zip ties or duct tape.
Smoke
Of course the answer is to get out of the building as quick as possible, but if the room has already began to fill with smoke quickly remove your bra and cover your face for a temporary smoke mask.
Crocodile attack
There are great tips here on how keep this from happening, but if you were attacked by a crocodile there is only one thing to do: eye gauge. Poke or hit their eye however you can. From WikiHow
Quicksand
This might sound silly at first but you can often find quicksand at the bottom of lakes and other bodies of water. It is super important to know what to do. The short answer is to slowly wiggle your legs to let water flow in, then lean back and slowly pull yourself out.
Watch this awesome video to understand how it works and watch what to do.
Rip Tide
It seems counterintuitive in the moment, but do not try and fight against the current pushing you out. Tread water while it pulls you out and once it begins to weaken, swim parallel to get away from it before swimming back to shore. from The National Weather Service. Here’s a diagram:
Trapped In A Tall Building
This great tip shows you exactly how to create a working repelling harness and rope to escape.
Car Trunk
If you are in a newer vehicle then there is an emergency pull-tab trunk release you can pull to quickly escape. Unfortunately though, older cars don’t have this. In that case, there are two other methods. One is to go through the back seat and the other is to break out a headlight to signal for help. Follow the detailed instructions here from Your Mechanic.
The key to most of these is to remain calm and get to work thoughtfully. I hope these escape hacks are helpful to you!
Here are a few cool tools you might like:
Titanium Ring With Hidden Lock Picker
Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.
phil says
so many errors and “almost used the right word”. For example, in a rip tide you say swim parallel but you don’t say parallel to WHAT? Should say swim parallel to shore. In the escape from a trunk you say break out the headlights! The headlights are on the front of the car, NOT in the trunk. How about break out the taillights? Makes a big difference. Provides a lot more credibility to your story. I won’t bother with the others.