Shade

Shade is your most important resource after water. FM 21-76 puts it bluntly: find shade, get out of the sun, and do not lie directly on the ground.

• Use what already exists: the shaded side of a large rock, a canyon wall, a mesquite tree. Move with the shade as the day goes on.
• Get off the ground: sit on your pack, branches, or the car's floor mat. If you dig, the sand a few centimeters below the surface is cooler.
• Double layer: two cloths separated by an air gap give much cooler shade than a single one (construction in chapter 5).
• An emergency blanket (the silver one) with the shiny side toward the sun reflects heat and also works as a signal.
• Do not get into a closed car sitting in the sun: the inside gets extremely hot. Use the car's shade or rig a tarp from the roof to the ground.