It’s the first rain after a long dry spell, and the roads are a slippery mix of water and built-up road oil. The road you’re on is a narrow two lanes. It has tight curves and sudden drops. Suddenly, you’re hit in the face with two bright lights from an oncoming car. You swerve to miss and you find yourself flying. There’s no more road.

Crap.

You wake up and find that you’re at the bottom of a ravine in complete darkness. Alive. Stunned, yes. But alive. Thanks be to God.

This actually happened to a man named David Lavau. In 2011, he lost control of his vehicle in a situation similar to this. His family thought he was a goner. But five days later, the local police traced Mr. Lavau’s cell phone to the general area of the crash and his family went in search of him. They found him six days into his ordeal. He had survived by eating black ants and drinking dirty creek water.

In 2011, I read his story and realizing that I did not have jack in my car to survive, I took some lessons from it and got my car outfitted. Here’s what I learned →