Surviving in an arid area depends on what you know and how prepared you are for the environmental conditions you will face. Determine what equipment you will need, the tactics you will use and the environment's impact on them and you. In a desert area there are seven environmental factors that you ...

In October, a group of eight Egyptians will embark on a journey of more than 1,000 miles across their country. They'll travel for nine straight days through cities and deserts, cross the Suez Canal, and head back across the Red Sea, then head to Egypt's southern border. And they'll do it all not in...

The desert has always served as a vast and mysterious stage for many lost and hidden civilizations in pop culture folklore, from the lost city of Tanis in Raiders of the Lost Ark, to the Cave of Wonders in Disney's Aladdin, to Ubar, the "Atlantis of the Sands" in Uncharted 3. In real life, archaeol...

The subject of people and water in the desert has generated considerable interest and confusion since the early days of World War II when the U.S. Army was preparing to fight in North Africa. At one time, the U.S. Army thought it could condition men to do with less water by progressively reducing t...

The first major developments in sandboarding came around the same time that snowboarding was taking off in the 1970s, but only began to capture the center stage as one of the most exciting outdoor adventure sports within the past ten years. Since its growth in popularity, sand parks have popped up ...

In an arid environment, consider the time, effort and material needed to make a shelter. If you have material such as a poncho, canvas or a parachute, use it along with such terrain features as rock outcroppings, mounds of sand or a depression between dunes or rocks to make your shelter. Using rock...

Mountain Deserts Scattered ranges or areas of barren hills or mountains separated by dry, flat basins characterize mountain deserts. High ground may rise gradually or abruptly from flat areas to several thousand meters above sea level. Most of the infrequent rainfall occurs on high ground and runs ...

Your chances of becoming a heat casualty as a survivor are great, due to injury, stress and lack of critical items of equipment. Following are the major types of heat casualties and their treatment when little water and no medical help are available. Heat Cramps The loss of salt due to excessive sw...