10 Tips and Tricks That Might Save Your Life

Sometimes, the smallest tips can make the biggest difference. Whether it’s a clever safety hack or a first-aid trick, knowing what to do in the right moment can help you stay prepared and even protect those around you.

Reddit users shared some of the most useful life-saving advice that isn’t common knowledge – but should be! We’ve rounded up 10 of the best, so you’ll have these smart and practical tips in your back pocket whenever you need them.

1. Save yourself from choking with this simple technique.

If you are eating alone, and you start choking, you can perform the Heimlich maneuver to save yourself. First, you must make a fist, and then you must push upward quickly on the space between your rib cage and navel. You can lean on a piece of furniture and quickly thrust your abdomen against the edge.

sleepytimeghee / Reddit

2. Need to break a car window? Aim wisely.

If you need to break open a car window using a tool, do not hit the middle, hit one of the corners. The middle of the window is reinforced to prevent it from being broken.

ThatGatorGuy / Reddit

3. A voicemail can help rescuers find you.

If you're stranded somewhere with little to no cell service, your phone is about to die, and your car battery is dead, you need to immediately change your voice mailbox to your location and status!

max_class / Reddit

4. The best way to get found is to stay put.

If you're lost in the woods, don't leave your location. People searching for you will start at your last known location/heading, and you'll just make their job harder by expanding the search area.

If you must leave, follow water. Early cities/towns were usually founded near a source of water, if you follow a stream you're more likely to run into civilization... Usually downstream, but really depends on where you are.

Beeftech67 / Reddit

5. Follow the two most important rules for stabbings.

If you get caught in a snow avalanche, and you're buried and don't know which way is up (for digging), just spit. Your spit will follow gravity, and you can dig in the opposite direction to get to the surface and be rescued.

antsam9 / Reddit

6. When it comes to hypothermia, trust your instincts.

If you have been on the fence for a while about being too cold to continue, in a backcountry situation, you are already too cold. Immediately make emergency efforts to get warm. Being hypothermic severely clouds your judgment.

Yareaaeray / Reddit

7. Don’t fight the current, swim with it.

If you’re caught in a rip tide, swim parallel to the shore until you get out of it. Don’t try to swim against the current.

One_Midnight_Gone / Reddit

8. A simple test could help you identify appendicitis.

Pain on your right side? Push down slightly on it and cough, if pain intensifies it's most likely your appendix, and you should get it checked out.

gbell11 / Reddit

9. This simple movement can prevent deadly electrical shocks.

If you find yourself close to an electrical hazard, like a downed power line, keep your feet together and carefully hop away from the danger. The electric differential between your legs can fry you if the charge is high enough. Ever wonder why sometimes there are whole herds of animals that die from a single lightning strike? This is why.

DrDepa / Reddit

10. Stay flexible in a crowd to avoid being trampled.

If you’re in a crowd and there’s a possibility of a human crush, go with the waves of people instead of against it and, when possible, go backwards to the left to get out of it. If you’re rigid, you’ll get pushed over and trampled, and you absolutely don’t want to get to the front.

pupsnpogonas / Reddit

Now that you're better equipped with life-saving tips, it's also useful to separate fact from fiction. In this article, you can take a look at common myths versus the survival tips that actually work to make sure you're relying on the right advice when it counts.