Navy Survival Hack, Turn Jeans Into Life Preserver

When I was in bootcamp in the Navy back in the 80's the drill instructors taught us a lot about Navy survival at sea. We learned how to compartmentalize a sinking ship by closing airtight doors to keep them from having sea water pour in and sink the ship.

In boot camp you learn how to be a fire fighter and put out a dreaded blaze that would assuredly cause extensive damage to the ship.

You also learn the art of "abandoning ship", the last thing a sailor wants to hear in the middle of a deep ocean. Navy survival training is for all sailors not just the vaunted SEALS, so it does get pretty intense with a lot if centered around surviving after you have been ordered to abandon ship.

You do learn the art of launching life boats and rafts and hope that if the time ever came to use them that there would be time enough to get the boats down to the water safely. Getting into a life boat is another thing that is taught and it looks a lot easier to do when there's no urgent need to do so.

The nightmare scenario is one in which you don't have time to get onboard a lifeboat and are forced to jump in the sea without a life jacket. That should never happen with proper training, but in the unlikely case that it does, the Navy teaches recruits how to survive with just their bell bottom jeans.

In bootcamp we were trained to jump into the deep end of the training pool and take off our blue jeans and use them as a life preserver. I was very skeptical to say the least, but after proper training and lots of screams from the drill instructors, I became a believer.

You will too after watching this video of a swimming instructor demonstrating the proper way to inflate your jeans and use them as a modified life jacket that could save your life.

In some states a backyard pool is a bit more of a necessity. If you live in a landlocked state that has warmer-than-average temperatures, for example, you're probably more likely to have a pool in the backyard... or if you're Florida. Have you ever noticed while flying into Orlando that it looks like literally everyone has a backyard pool?

Angi did the calculating and determined which states have the most pools. They ranked the states strictly on the # of residential pools there are within the state, therefore larger more-populated states have a distinct advantage. With all of this in mind I'm pretty surprised that Massachusetts makes the Top 10. We're not the largest... and we're lucky to have plenty of coastline and beaches, but we still made the list!!

So don those floaties and let's look at the 10 states that have the most backyard pools and see how we stack up! I'll also give you the # of residents per pool for each state to give a little perspective when taking populations into account.

And if beaches are more you're thing, did you know that Massachusetts a beach that was named one of the best NUDE beaches in the entire country? Check that out here.

FLORIDA
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 1,590,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 14

CALIFORNIA
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 1,343,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 29

TEXAS
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 801,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 36

ARIZONA
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 505,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 13

NEW YORK
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 503,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 38

NEW JERSEY
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 374,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 24

PENNSYLVANIA
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 334,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 38

OHIO
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 317,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 37

MICHIGAN
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 283,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 35

MASSACHUSETTS
TOTAL # OF POOLS: 228,000
Average Number of People per Pool: 30

Check out all of Angi's findings about residential pools in America RIGHT HERE!