Always keep track of your environment. I myself, am extremely good in the woods. I can move without making a noise, and even hide in places you would see anything else. I'm not, having never been to one, good in a city area. Know what you can do and can't do. Does your area, mask your sound or amplify it. If it amplifies it, can you use the sounds to distract zombies. Can you hide? Some people even live in deserts(I don't think in America, but it's still a good environment.) People live in mountains, and I have yet to find the zombies that can make it up those. Point is, know where you are, and every way it helps or hurts you. If any of you can come up with more environments, I will be glad to research them, and write up how it can be used.
To survive and evade in arid or desert areas, you must understand and prepare for the environment you will face. You must determine your equipment needs, the tactics you will use, and how the environment will affect you and your tactics. Your survival will depend upon your knowledge of the terrain, basic climatic elements, your ability to cope with these elements, and your will to survive.
Desert terrain makes movement difficult and demanding. Land navigation will be extremely difficult as there may be very few landmarks. Cover and concealment may be very limited; therefore, the threat of exposure to the enemy remains constant.
As stated on www.wilderness-survival.net There are four types of desert.
They are the Mountain Deserts, Rocky Plateau Deserts, Sandy and Dune Deserts, and down here in Florida, in a very small part Salt Marshes.
I'll summarize what the site says so you don't have to go there and read
Mountain Deserts
Scattered ranges or areas of barren hills or mountains separated by dry, flat basins characterize mountain deserts. Most of the infrequent rainfall occurs way up high, and then runs down causing a lot of erosion. It is not unheard of for there to be flash floods when this occurs, and sometimes it can do as much damage and erosion as to make a new valley.Water will evaporate constantly. If the rainfall exceeds the evaporation rate then shallow lakes may even develop.
Advantage to us is that not many zombies will be found wandering the desert, and if they are wandering there, most likely the local animals will take care of them. With their bad balance they will have a hard time chasing you upwards. Once you escape the sight of the zombies it will be fairly easy to avoid them, or sneak up to kill them.
Rocky Plateau Deserts
Rocky plateau deserts have relatively slight relief interspersed with extensive flat areas with quantities of solid or broken rock at or near the surface. There may be steep-walled, eroded valleys, known as wadis in the Middle East and arroyos or canyons in the United States and Mexico. Although their flat bottoms may be superficially attractive as assembly areas, the narrower valleys can be extremely dangerous to men and material due to flash flooding after rains. The Golan Heights is an example of a rocky plateau desert.
Here I don't think you're going to find much advantage unless you can rig a canyon flooding over all twelve of the zombies you will find in these areas.
It is hard to sneak up, hard to escape, the local animals would probably tear the zombies in this area apart. The only thing I can think of for around these areas are you can climb up walls, and if you're lucky maybe even run into some abandoned navajo settlements if you're in the west. Seeing as how people normally aren't fond of living in the desert, you probably won't run into too much out here. If you have what it takes to live in this type of area, you'll be almost as safe as the eskimoes.
Sandy and Dune Deserts
Sandy or dune deserts are extensive flat areas covered with sand or gravel. "Flat" is a relative term, as some areas may contain sand dunes that are over 300 meters high and 16 to 24 kilometers long. These areas are sometimes hard to make it through. Sometimes sandstorms could be pelting you with a strong wind. You may have to climb huge dunes of loose sand. Shoes will sink right into this sand most times. Long sleeve clothing is recommended with no opening for sand to get into. There will also be flat areas sometimes. Huge flat areas, but the sand will still be thick, and your shoes will bury themselves.The New Mexico area is particularly bad about this.
To help us, if we have a hard time walking through this sand, and climbing the dunes, think about zombies trying it. You wil probably run into slightly more zombies here than in the previous types, but you should have no problem escaping them if you are in good health, seeing as they would try to run, and trip in the ankle-deep sand. This should allow you to easily kill them or simply get away.There may be scattered foliage, but probably not much, so don't count on shade. If caught in a strong windstorm, all I can say is that I hope you brought a compass. There will be very few landmarks, and it's highly unlikely that you will have a map that will do you any good without a GPS. If you can triangulae your position by using stars then you ought to be fine.
Salt Marshes
Salt marshes are flat, desolate areas, sometimes studded with clumps of grass but devoid of other vegetation. They occur in arid areas where rainwater has collected, evaporated, and left large deposits of alkali salts and water with a high salt concentration. The water is so salty it is undrinkable. A crust that may be 2.5 to 30 centimeters thick forms over the saltwater.
In arid areas there are salt marshes hundreds of kilometers square. These areas usually support many insects, most of which bite. Avoid salt marshes. This type of terrain is highly corrosive to boots, clothing, and skin.
All I can say about Salt Marshes is that you shouldn't go there. You won't run into any dangerous zombies near here, but survival in these conditions is next to impossible, unless you have some guaranteed way of getting supplies, I say don't go here.
There are many things in the desert that may have a huge effect on your survival plans out there. Here is a list of some,
# Low rainfall.
# Intense sunlight and heat.
# Wide temperature range.
# High mineral content near ground surface.
# Sandstorms.
# Mirages.
There is very little rain fall in the desert I'm not exactly sure, but I know that some areas recieve less than 10cm of rain per year. You're not gonna squeeze much water out of this terrain.
I'm not sure how to explain the sunlight and heat other than to say don't expose your skin to the ultraviolet rays, or you will get a very bad sunburn after a little while. These burns can slow you down no matter what your pain threshold is. A sunburn is pretty much an excess of heat stored in your skin so that it can't diffuse normally, so pretty much your burned areas, are like a flameless fire, I would suggest an alloe plant or lever 200 soap, even tobacco helps a little. The ground will be hotter than the air around you. I don't know how hot it gets up north during the summer, but down here, a parking lot will get so hot that you can see the heat rising off the ground, and the pavement will blister bare feet. Multiply that by about five, and you have a problem. Wear thick shoes.
There is also a wide difference in the day and night temperatures. During the day, it will be sweltering, but during the night it will freeze. This is why you try not to sweat at night, because a bead of sweat could leech out much needed body heat, you must take special care to keep extremely warm at night because with the changing temperatures you can easily become sick.
The high mineral content of arid climates may cause problems for you such as rendering water undrinkable. You can't rinse your uniform to cool off if you find water on the ground as this may result in a skin rash frm the minerals rubbing on you from then on.
The main threat of the sandstorm in North America is losing your way, always have a compass, and keep a log of which direction your are travelling. If you run into a sandstorm, then record the direction you were facing, and when coming out of shelter, make sure you are facing the right direction before travelling on. Try to cover your eyes during the times of sandstorms seeing as how the sand could scratch your lenses, or even blind you if the wind is strong enough.
Mirages are caused by the diffraction of light. If you're going to stray off course because you see a coast about thirty feet away, when really the coast is fifty kilometers in the other way you need to find a way to avoid mirages, or at least determine if the image is real. Listen for animal noises if you happen to see a coast or an oasis, can you hear birds, I promise they'll be there if it's real. Try changing your angle, and then look. Walk about a mile down from where you first see it, and then look over, and see if it's still there. Or if it just changed angles. If it's the latter then you probably aren't seeing a mirage.
In a desert survival and evasion situation, it is unlikely that you will have a medic or medical supplies with you to treat heat injuries. Therefore, take extra care to avoid heat injuries. Rest during the day. Work during the cool evenings and nights. Use a buddy system to watch for heat injury, and observe the following guidelines:
* Make sure you tell someone where you are going and when you will return.
* Watch for signs of heat injury. If someone complains of tiredness or wanders away from the group, he may be a heat casualty.
* Drink water at least once an hour.
* Get in the shade when resting; do not lie directly on the ground.
* Do not take off your shirt and work during the day.
* Check the color of your urine. A light color means you are drinking enough water, a dark color means you need to drink more.
All these precaution starting at where it says In a desert survival and evasion situation to here is courtesy of the website mentioned above.
There are many hazards to your health in the desert, including bugs, and snakes. Once again I rely on the aforementioned site to word things where I can't.
There are several hazards unique to desert survival. These include insects, snakes, thorned plants and cacti, contaminated water, sunburn, eye irritation, and climatic stress.
Insects of almost every type abound in the desert. Man, as a source of water and food, attracts lice, mites, wasps, and flies. They are extremely unpleasant and may carry diseases. Old buildings, ruins, and caves are favorite habitats of spiders, scorpions, centipedes, lice, and mites. These areas provide protection from the elements and also attract other wild-life. Therefore, take extra care when staying in these areas. Wear gloves at all times in the desert. Do not place your hands anywhere without first looking to see what is there. Visually inspect an area before sitting or lying down. When you get up, shake out and inspect your boots and clothing. All desert areas have snakes. They inhabit ruins, native villages, garbage dumps, caves, and natural rock outcropping that offer shade. Never go barefoot or walk through these areas without carefully inspecting them for snakes. Pay attention to where you place your feet and hands. Most snakebites result from stepping on or handling snakes. Avoid them. Once you see a snake, give it a wide berth.
This is just one example of an environment. I don't recommend that anyone go to the desert if they have any choice about it, it isn't fun to try to learn to live in the desert, and then get lost realising that you can't. If anyone would like me to do research on any other environments then just post here, and I'll do it, or you can do your own research, and add to my findings, we need to know the pros and cons of each of our environments or the ones we are likely to come across, as stated before, I don't recommend the desert, I just thought a harsh environment would make a good example.
