Emergency Signaling Without Equipment

Three of anything repeated = distress signal worldwide. Three whistle blasts. Three fires in a triangle. Three shots. Three flashes of light. Pause, then repeat. Rescuers are trained to recognize this pattern.

Hold a shiny object (mirror, phone screen, foil, CD, watch face) toward the sun. Extend your other hand with two fingers spread (V shape). Align the reflection onto your V fingers, then tilt it toward the target. Even a small mirror is visible for 15+ kilometers on a clear day.

Build three fires in a triangle, 25 meters apart. This is the international distress signal. For smoke: add green leaves, plastic, or rubber to the fire. Black smoke is visible against snow and sky. White smoke is visible against dark terrain. Day: smoke. Night: flames.

Never leave a signal fire unattended. Control the fire before it controls you.

If you cannot move, create large symbols visible from aircraft. Standard signals: X = need medical assistance, V = need help, arrow = traveling in this direction. Make symbols at least 10 meters long. Use contrasting materials: dark rocks on snow, light sand on dark ground.

A whistle carries 3x further than a human voice and requires less energy. Three blasts = distress. One long blast = attention. Two blasts = all clear. Blow in groups of three with 1-minute pauses. A plastic whistle is louder than a metal one.