Distress Signaling
The universally recognized distress signal is three of anything; gunshots, yells, fires, etc. The three signals must be evenly spaced and not interrupted. If you start your distress signal, such as firing two shots, the gun jams and the third shoot is fired after clearing the gun, that won’t work. Just sounds like you’re a bad shot.
But what is the best way to make your three signals? On some searches I was on, people used a vehicle horns and guns. Screaming was also popular. I recommend carrying something that makes a loud noise while using as little energy as possible, like a whistle. You want to save energy for your survival in case no one hears you. For that reason, yelling isn’t recommended, it takes a lot of energy, dries out your mouth and you might lose your voice.
A shrill, loud whistle is best. There are many ways to make a whistle from a variety of materials such as acorns, cans and plastic straws. I suggest going to YouTube and searching survival whistles to get the idea. Of course, it’s always best to have a store-bought whistle. If you’ll be spending time around water, get a whistle that doesn’t have a ball because water in the ball chamber won’t work.
If you carry a gun, fire three shots, preferably into the ground, then wait to see if you get a response. If there’s no response, don’t shoot again right away- that’ll just use up your ammo. Wait several hours before shooting off more rounds or, if you hear someone nearby, try again. After dark is a good time to use gunshots to signal as no one should be hunting after dark and a gunshot would be noted as unusual by anyone in the area. Don’t use gunshots to signal an airplane or helicopter, they won’t hear you over the engine noise.
The same goes with a vehicle horn. Do three blasts then wait for a response. If no response, wait several hours before trying again. Remember that the wind carries the sound so if the wind is blowing hard, sound will only carry downwind.
Light is another good way to signal for help. During the day, use a mirror to flashlight at a passing aircraft. To aim a mirror, hold one arm straight out to the side with fingers making a “V” and the mirror in front of your face or near the shoulder of the other arm. Sight the aircraft in the V then flash the mirror at your fingers. When the flash fits in the V, it’s aimed at the aircraft. You can also use a CD, aluminum foil, shiny tin - anything that will reflect light.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter is outfitted with a FLIR thermal imaging camera that can detect heat sources. If the DPS helicopter is searching at night, a fire will get their attention. A word of caution - if the helicopter is approaching your area at night, don’t shine a flashlight at the helicopter. The pilot is probably wearing night vision goggles so if you shine a light at him, it will temporarily blind him. Instead, shine the light at the ground or at a hillside opposite of the helicopter. He’ll see the light and find you.
Once during my Search & Rescue days, I used a light shining on a hillside to locate a missing person. It was at night, and I could communicate with the person by yelling but couldn’t actually locate him because the sound was bouncing off of canyon walls and I couldn’t see his flashlight. I yelled at him to aim his flashlight at the top of a hillside and when that was illuminated, I estimated where the light source was and went straight to him.
I’m not a fan of distress signal fires. The wood in the desert is very dry and doesn’t put out much smoke. Even if you add whatever green wood you can find, the smoke will still be hard to spot from a plane.
Unless you’re dressed in florescent orange like a Halloween pumpkin, a lone person standing in the desert is hard to spot from a moving airplane. You can wave your arms and they’ll probably still miss you. But if you make yourself large, you’ll have a better chance. Use survey flagging, a jacket or shirt attached to a stick and wave it to make yourself easier to spot. Also, select a different colored background. Standing by a white colored rock or light-colored sand and gravel and wave a white T-shirt probably won’t be very productive. If the material around you is light colored, have dark colored outer clothes and if the background is light colored, put your white T-shirt over your jacket. If a plane is overhead, try lying down on the contrasting colored background to make a larger silhouette to be seen from above.
Distress signal attraction made from a branch and surveyor’s flagging.
A distress signal has to be something out of the ordinary to draw attention. Sound, sight or movement - anything to be noticed.
