Survival Dictionary

Lacerations have jagged edges, almost like a tear rather than a clean cut. If you cut yourself with a broken glass or pierce yourself with a sharp branch, lacerations are likely to occur.

With strenuous exercise, breathing becomes faster as more oxygen is required in the muscles. The body prefers to generate most of its energy using aerobic (with oxygen) methods. Sometimes more energy is required than the body can deliver through oxygen. In such cases, the muscles generate energy anaerobically from glucose which is broken down into pyruvate. With limited oxygen the body converts pyruvate into lactate allowing glucose breakdown. During this time lactate can accumulate to high levels, increasing the acidity of the muscle cells. This is a defense mechanism to prevent permanent damage during extreme exertion by slowing the key systems needed to maintain muscle contraction.

Cargo jettisoned from ship but marked by buoys for recovery.

A shallow body of water located along a coast.

Also called twisted rope is the most common form of rope. Common twisted rope generally consists of three strands and is normally right-laid, or given a final right-handed twist. The ISO 2 standard uses the uppercase letters S and Z to indicate the two possible directions of twist, as suggested by the direction of slant of the central portions of these two letters.

A large body of water surrounded by land.

Goddess of wealth and prosperity in Hindu mythology.

The smooth flow of a fluid in a constant direction without any mixing taking place.

A bow that is made of several layers of different materials glued together.

Surrounded by land on all sides.

A person unfamiliar with being on the sea.

The slippage of rock, trees, mud, earth and other debris down a slope due to gravity.

A cord passed round the neck, shoulder or wrist for holding a knife, whistle or similar object.

The ‘worm’ phase of an insect’s life cycle.

Securing two or more poles, branches, masts, etc together in a rigid manner using ropes.

A fore-and-aft triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle to the mast.

Heat energy required to change a substance from one state to another. It is the energy stored and released as heat when water evaporates to vapour or ice melts to liquid.

Slow, unintentional movement away from the desired direction of travel in an attempt to compensate. Lost hikers have been known to walk around in large circles due to lateral drift.

A system of aids to navigation in which characteristics of buoys and beacons indicate the sides of the channel or route relative to a conventional direction of buoyage.

The angular distance north or south from the Equator to a particular location shown on maps as circles parallel to the Equator. They run from 0° at the Equator to 90° at the Poles.

At the exact time of Local Apparent Noon or LAN using the shadow stick method, if a second stick is placed at the base of the stick forming the shadow and pointed directly at the Sun, the angle formed by this stick and the vertical stick provides the angle of latitude for that particular location.

Wild, unfounded rumor.

The area along which the lava released through volcanic eruptions flow and can extend for hundreds of miles.

The loss or extraction of certain materials into a liquid

The entire area where many materials (including contaminants) dissolve in rain, snowmelt, or irrigation water and are filtered through the soil.

Invented in 1859 it is the oldest type of rechargeable battery and have a large power-to-weight ratio. These features, along with their low cost, makes it attractive for use in motor vehicles to provide the high current required.

The distance a person can walk in an hour. Most commonly defined as three miles, though the length can vary. At sea, a league is three nautical miles.

A three-sided shelter, made usually out of logs, branches and leaves, with an over-hanging roof and one open side.

When navigating and taking a bearing to the destination, it is possible to lose sight of the destination. In such cases it is a better idea to take bearings of other waypoints along the route to travel to mini destinations en route to the final one. This is leapfrogging.

Clean up the campsite before you leave in a state that you found it, or better. It is a set of ethics promoting conservation and consists of seven principles - (1) plan ahead and prepare, (2) travel and camp on durable surfaces, (3) dispose of waste properly, (4) leave what you find, (5) minimise campfire impacts, (6) respect wildlife, (7) be considerate of other visitors.

A courtesy throughout the world. If a gate is found open, it should be left open, and if it is closed, it should be left closed. If a closed gate has to be crossed, it should be closed again afterwards.

Lifting foil used by a sailboat, much like a centreboard but located on the leeward side so that the leeboard is not lifted from the water when the boat heels or leans under the force of the wind.

A vertical edge of a square sail.

A segmented hermaphrodite worm, with a majority living in freshwater environments while others are found in terrestrial or marine environments. Most leeches are predatory feeding on other invertebrates, but are notorious for their reputaion as blood suckers. Commonly believed ... incorrectly ... to secrete an anasthetic while sucking blood. They do however secrete an anticoagulant enzyme.

Side of an object sheltered from the wind.

Rafts almost always flip side over side. If the left tube rises over the right tube, the raft is said to have flipped left over right and vice versa.

A key to the symbols or pictures in a map.

Simple battery with little use. A galvanized zinc nail (or magnesium wire) and a piece of copper inserted into a lemon and connected by wires can produce enough power to light up a LED bulb.

A compass that has a lens at the rear end to be able to read the dial more accurately.

Tiredness, weariness, fatigue or lack of energy, sometimes accompanied by depression, decreased motivation or apathy. It can be a normal response to lack of sleep, overexertion, stress, lack of exercise or boredom. When part of a normal response, lethargy often resolves with rest, adequate sleep, decreased stress and good nutrition.

Thumb length.

Morse Code abbreviation meaning “Poor operator”

A piece of equipment that enables the wearer to float in water. These can be either self inflatable, manually inflatable or manufactured with buoyant material to keep it afloat.

Small, rigid or inflatable boat for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster on a ship, or a water landing by aircraft. As per the guidelines set by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea certain emergency equipment has to be a part of every life raft.

Inflatable buoy designed to be thrown to a person in the water, to provide buoyancy and prevent drowning. Some modern lifebuoys are fitted with one or more seawater-activated lights, to aid rescue at night. Usually ring or horseshoe-shaped, it has a connecting line allowing the casualty to be pulled to safety.

A proprietary water filtration device to filter objects larger than 15 nanometres. This blocks almost all bacteria and viruses thus preventing many waterborne diseases.

A proprietary water filter to clean water to drink. It removes almost all waterborne bacteria and viruses. The engineering is such that water can be drunk through the LifeStraw straight from the contaminated source.

A unit of astronomical distance equal to the distance light travels in one year, nearly 6 million million miles.

A portable and lightweight instrument used to ignite a combustible material. For survivalists and adventurers a lighter is essential to start fires. Lighters usually comprise a case in which there is a flammable liquid and an ignition device. The ignition device could be a flint or piezoelectric crystal.

A navigational aid for ships and aircraft, they are towers, buildings or other type of structure emitting light from a system of lamps and lenses. They also mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbours, etc. Their use is declining due to the use of electronic navigational systems.

Natural short duration, high voltage electricity discharge within a single cloud, between two clouds or between a cloud and the ground, accompanied by a bright flash. The heat generated is approximately 54,000°F, six times hotter than the surface of the Sun.

NATO phonetic alphabet radio-speak for “Loud and clear”.

Radio speak for “Lost Like A Mother Fucker”.

An aquatic snail with a conical shell with no obvious coiling.

Many communications technologies require unobstructed path between transmitter and receiver. When talking on two-way radios, it is preferred that the transmitter and receiver are in line-of-sight for better communications. Obstacles such as buildings, hills, even the curvature of the Earth obstruct line-of-sight preventing successful communications.

Short fibres that separate from the textile, garment or fabric during regular wear and tear, during processing or during washing. A concentrated collection is seen in washing machines. Makes for excellent tinder.

A vessel’s angle of lean or tilt to one side. Typically referred to when caused by flooding or improperly loaded or shifted cargo.

A kind of rechargeable battery type in which lithium ions move from the negative to the positive electrode during discharge and back when being charged. They are common in portable electronic devices like cell phones.

In the northeast Indian state of Meghalaya, tribal people have created living root bridges by training the roots of the Ficus elastica species of banyan tree across watercourses. There are examples with a span of over 170 feet. They are naturally self-renewing and self-strengthening as the component roots grow thicker and some are thought to be more than 500 years old.

Widespread group of reptiles comprising over 6,000 species, and found across all continents except Antarctica. They have external ears and feet, many of them can detach their tails to escape predators. Most are harmless to humans, except the Komodo Dragon. Many species are edible.

Lima Mike November. Slang to indicate Lick My Nuts.

Meaning extremely drunk.

It is the exact time when noon occurs at a particular location. This is the time when the Sun is at its highest point in the sky.

Venture involving great risk and unlikely to succeed, but offering great rewards once successful.

A bow in which the string only touches at the ends of the limbs.

The imaginary navigation lines joining the North and South Poles. A particular longitude is the angular distance east or west from the Prime Meridian to a particular location.

It was a United Kingdom Act of Parliament passed in July 1714 that established the Board of Longitude and offered monetary rewards for anyone who could find a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship’s longitude.

If one knows the GMT at the time of Local Apparent Noon or LAN at a particular location, one can calculate the time difference for it to be noon at Greenwich. The minutes of difference, divided by four provides the longitude for that location.

Workers who load and unload freight from cargo ships to docks.

When a length of cordage takes a turn and crosses over itself.

An irresponsible and reckless individual whose behaviour, intended or not, endangers the group he or she belongs to.

Law of the Sea.

Used in radio communication to indicate strength of radio messages.

Leather Personnel Carriers. Slang for boots.

Liquefied petroleum gas is a flammable gas used as fuel for gas stoves and is made by mixing butane and propane.

Linking Relief and Rehabilitation with Development.

The forward edge of a sail.

Lumber is wood processed into beams and planks. It can be either raw of surfaced. It is used for structural purposes and for making furniture.

Workers in the logging industry who cut and transported trees for further processing.

Lumens are a measure of the amount of light from a light source visible to the human eye. The higher the lumens the brighter the source will appear. Lumens are different from Watts which is a measure of power consumption.

Emitting or reflecting a steady, suffused or glowing light.

When the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its shadow. This can occur only on a full moon night and when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned either exactly or very closely, with Earth in the middle.

Tempting a person or an animal) to do something by offering some form of reward. In fishing a lure is a type of bait that attracts fish to bite ad get snagged in the hook.

Fear of darkness. Also called Myctophobia.