Adapt to Injury and Unforseen Circumstances
Teach yourself how to perform critical activities with your non-dominant side
While I was talking to a close friend as we hiked along a trail in Valley Forge, PA on the AT (Appalachian Trail), we talked took the easy trail; a first for us, two hardcore hikers. We discussed how I was winded and not able to rope, climb, or do other things that were daily norms in my life. I realized that this was a reminder to me, a warning of sorts that true preparedness meant being proactive. It means looking ahead to solve potential problems before they occur.
What if I was hiking the AT, no help, no partner, just me? What if I had to continue, even if just to reach help on my own? What if there was no rescue coming? I realized in that vein that I needed to train myself to be ambidextrous while performing critical functions.
Having to relearn an old lesson was annoying to me, why? Because some years ago while on a job in Georgia I severely cut my hand while on a job. Suddenly, I was 1000 miles from home with a limited amount of time and only that opportunity to perform an installation of equipment that was critical to stopping a major theft. I needed my hand. So I retrained my brain to use the left hand for most of the project's heavy lifting and the right for only fine work. It was very frustrating and annoying, but I finally mastered it.
I found a new level of satisfaction in the idea that as a professional I had applied my survivalist approach once again to everyday survival very successfully. Back to the story; so now after a recent vehicular accident (read PracticeSurvival's Reason), the side which I had trained to do the heavy lifting side was out of commission, functioning at diminished capacity. I screwed myself. I failed to maintain parity, one of my primary pitches to my students. I should have been practicing utilizing both sides equally. So suddenly I was back at the start again. It affected everything that I do. Even the most simple of things like bathroom activities; my mind was trained to wipe with the left and eat and shake with the right (you know the old adage).
The problem presented a very painful (no pun intended) example of a much bigger risk to your survival in a more serious situation. What if for instance, while working a job in a bad neighborhood, I had been hurt by an attacker in the right arm or hand? How would I defend myself? How would I dial 911 on my dumb touch screen smart phone with my non-dominant hand? Well, that was the wakeup call for me. I had to retrain myself to do everything with the other hand. What if you were in an SHTF or WROL situation and you needed to defend yourself with your legally licensed firearm? Have you ever shot with the other hand? What if one eye was injured? Could you sight your weapon with your other eye? Have you ever tried chopping wood with an ax with your non-dominant hand? I bet you have not.
The moral of the story: now is the time to practice while you are not under pressure. Strengthen your survival quotient by then taking it one step further, what if you don't get better? It has been a while now and I still have not returned to full function again. My life has changed, maybe permanently. I may never be able to build my replacement Jeep back to where the old one was. My other Jeep may end up being sold, because I just can't do the heavy labor.
This issue has underscored the idea that in a blink of an eye our capabilities and physical abilities can change. Failing to plan for changes in our abilities due to age or injury is a major risk to our survival. Slow changes are easier to deal with like when you age and you lose some of your physical abilities slowly with time. You adjust incrementally.
Unfortunately, because the changes are slow we often accept the diminished capacity instead of work to negate them. The difference between gradual and sudden change is like when your hair grows longer. If a person sees you every day they really don't notice if you leave it longer and they just adjust to it. But when you see someone for the first time in a month they are shocked at the change. I believe that it is a good analogy for what happens in the case of an injury or an accident.
The underlying issue of an abrupt change of physical or mental ability or acuity is the challenge. It is not a game ender, but it certainly is a game changer. Serious injuries are terrible and I am not minimizing them in any way, but to maintain focus on the primary point the most traumatic part of injuries to a military person is not the injury itself, but the effect that it has upon their ability to function without changing the way they live and perform. There is story of a Special Operator in Afghanistan who was in a helicopter crash. His leg was severely injured. He made them amputate and give him a prosthetic leg. He opted for that because if he had to undergo therapy for the repair to his leg it would have taken years and he would have been classified as disabled. But the way he chose put him back in the field in under a month. That is an extreme example, but you can see how his life changed little in his mind, because he removed the loss of function from the equation. You may not have that kind of resolve, but what if you were hacked by a machete and there was no hospital to do that new surgery to reconnect all of the tendons and nerves? Your arm might just dangle on your side, then what? Think now how to allow options for your survival. Sometimes the problem could be solved by simply by selecting a one handed tool or adapting a normal tool to work with only one hand. This is the time.
I had to retrain myself to do less at a time. Sometimes I have to eat the pain and push through, other times there is just no way, so I have folding hand carts and longer wrenches and power tools. They have helped me work again, granted not at the same level, but if I was stranded I would survive. You too can survive difficult challenges whether physical or mental by preplanning and preparing.
As a survivalist and one who believes that medicine masks, but does not cure injuries, I find that accepting the mechanical issues, working on the muscular ones and adapting your activities, you will help you return to a better more functional position that will help you survive. You can't carry power tools in your BOB or INCH bag, but you can select what you bring more wisely. My left arm hurts so much sometimes that I lose grip. So I have replaced my tongs for cooking with ones that have a loop around my fingers. I selected handles that are wider and easier to hold. I never owned a 24 inch camp ax, but because I can only swing the bigger one for a short time, I now have one. I never had any use for a pack saw, but now I have two and I picked one handed saws. I am currently redesigning the hand chainsaw for the same reason. I have used the hand chainsaw for years, now I have to adapt to my new reality and find new ways to use it or make it more efficient. I am experimenting with a way to do it at least almost without a second hand. The last time I used it I was in pain for a week. No pain no gain, right? Well maybe pain is the mother of invention. Time will tell.
So the next time you are swinging an ax or a hammer, be safe, clear the area and practice with your other hand until you get it right. At the range practice sending a few rounds down range to the target with your non-dominant hand or eye, one day you may still be alive because you did. Have a friend tie one hand to your belt or put an eye patch on one eye and spend the day in camp or just around the house or shop doing what you normally do.
Experience the challenge, live it, learn from it, PracticeSurvival every day. Hopefully you will never need the skill, but if you are out and fall or hurt yourself and need it you will be happy you practiced.
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