While spinning your car 180-degrees may seem like a skill reserved only for movie stuntmen, there may come a time in your life where you need it most.
Bigfoot drops into a dead sprint and is heading straight for your jeep, a zombie horde is running around the corner of an alleyway, or a member from a pack of raptors appears on the dirt path ahead of you, you never know when you'll have to suddenly spin your car around.
Let's get to it...
Performing the Turn From Reverse
1. Put the car in reverse.
2. Select a spot straight ahead. Keep your eyes on it, and begin backing up.
3. Jam on the gas.
4. Sharply cut the wheel ninety degrees around (a quarter turn) as you simultaneously drop the transmission into drive.
Make sure you have enough speed to use the momentum of the car to swing it all the way around, but also remember that going too fast (greater than forty-five miles per hour) can be dangerous and may flip the car over (and strip your gears).
Keep in mind that turning the wheel left will swing the rear of the car left, whereas turning the wheel right will swing the car right.
5. When the car has completed the turn, step on the gas and head off.
Escape the pack of men or beasts headed your way!
Performing the Turn From Drive
1. While in drive, or a forward gear, accelerate to a moderate rate of speed (again, anything faster than forty-five miles per hour risks flipping the car).
2. Slip the car into neutral to prevent the front wheels from spinning.
3. Take your foot off the gas and turn the wheel ninety degrees (a quarter turn) while pulling hard on the emergency brake.
4. As the rear swings around, return the wheel to its original position and put the car back into drive.
5. Step on the gas to start moving in the direction from which you came.
You did it!
What You Should be Aware of When Performing the Turn While Moving Forward
The 180-degree turn while moving forward is more difficult for the following reasons:
- It is easier to swing the front of the car around because it is heavier and it will move faster with momentum.
- It is harder to maintain control of the rear of the car--it is lighter and will slip more easily than the front. Therefore, spinning out of control or flipping the car are potential dangers.
- Road conditions can play a significant role in the success--and safety--of this maneuver. Any surface without sufficient traction (dirt, mud, ice, gravel) will make quick turns harder and collisions more likely.
Be careful when you perform this, and use your noggin'.
Survey the conditions around you and make sure that even if you follow all the instructions here correctly, the environment around you won't negatively affect the success of your turn.
How Would I Practice This Movement?
You may remember an older family member or relative taking you to a big Walmart parking lot or something similar when you were first learning to drive.
Probably in the dead of night or early in the morning too.
If you'd like a chance to practice this so you'll be ready when that faithful moment arrives, this is the perfect way to do so.
Pour Conclure
It's not every day that you'll feel pressured to spin your car 180-degrees.
In fact, maybe there's no pressure at all, and you just want to do it for fun.
Well, this is how it's done.
Go forth, young Survival Cat Readers, and spin that car of yours (with all safety precautions taken, of course!!)
The information presented to you here today is from Joshua Piven's book, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook - an excellent on-the-go addition to any hiking pack or bug-out-bag.
However, something like the SAS Survival Handbook will be more practical for everyday use while outdoors.
Cheers,
-Alexander @ Survival Cat