Priorities.

[Wayland]

OK I've tried searching but couldn't find what I was after.

I recall reading a post about typical survival times without water, food, heat or shelter.

I seem to remember it was a good guide to priorities in a pear shaped situation.

Anyone know the thread I mean?

 

[rancid badger]

I was taught:
"Generally, you will last 3mins without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food"
I suspect that my instructors were quoting from Lofty Wisemans survival hand book!
obviously the above assumes a total lack of any of the three. So Air,Water and then Food.
Of course we need to factor in fire, shelter, first aid and safety/security.

Probably not much help I'm afraid and I've never seen the thread you mentioned. Might have the makings of a good old "discussion" however!

Regards
R.B.

 

[Wayland]

That's a straight forward one to remember though isn't it.

 

[Traper]

Is this the one you are looking for?

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9951

 

[SimonM]

I was taught:
"Generally, you will last 3mins without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food"

The rule of threes I was taught had one addition:-

• 3 minutes without air
• 3 hours without shelter
• 3 days without water
• 3 weeks without food

So to proritise:-

Keep breathing, find shelter, then water, then finally food.

HTH

Simon

 

[Ogri the trog]

I've seen this in several places, expanded to all soorts of lengths,

Starting with;
Three seconds without thought,

then those you already have, ending with;
Three months without human companionship.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Hoodoo]

I was taught that the "3" was an average...

 

[In Wood]

Ogri, I would love to test the 3 months without human contact theory.
so long as i can take my mutt with me and you can guarantee I will not see a single sole for 3 months. sounds like a good deal to me.

We went out today (wife, daughter & dog) to Beacon Fell and it just reaffirmed my dispare at human nature. I filled 3 carrier bags of rubish following people, out with thier families etc, I saw people leting the dog crap any where and not pick it up, kids snapping branches off trees, tin cans and fag ends thrown down all over. And they have come out to enjoy this lovely spot so why do they abuse it so?:twak:

3 months without people, yes please.

 

[canadianwildman]

the rule of 3s

 

[mariobab]

The rule of 3s

3 minutes without oxygen

3 hours in a severe environment without protection

3 days without water

3 weeks without food

 

[Mike Ameling]

And there are always ... exceptions ... to those rules.

One guy has spent hours immersed in ice without getting hypothermia. And many people who dive in the sea go 6 or 7 or more minutes without breathing. You often hear/read stories of people who got lost in arid places that went more than three days without water, and "hunger strikes" last far longer than most people think they will before they start them.

But that "rule of 3's" is a pretty general concept.

I just try not to push the theory. So, get out of the water, and warm yourself up. Then worry about water. Food should be pretty low priorty in a true survival situation. But food is often the first thing people think about and put energy into - because the "feel hungry". Fighting that conditioned response becomes important.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[sam_acw]

It is more a guideline for which order to prioritise things in than a prescription of how long you'll last as far as I can tell

 

[Matt Weir]

Now then - 3 weeks, weeks?!?!?! without food! To be honest I'd struggle at 3 days without food, well, actually 3 hours and I get edgey and as for 3 days without water - not me, again it's along the lines of 3 hours.

I think that the 3 weeks without food and 3 days without water would leave a typical westerner (me anyway) in such a bad way as to leave permanent damage but perhaps I'm just soft?

 

[Wayland]

Three weeks is based on the body's ability to draw on reserves of body fat etc.

Actually for most of us soft westerners it's probably slightly longer before any permanent damage is done.

Stuart wrote an interesting article about it in one of the mags.

 

[spamel]

Steve Callaghan did 76 days in a life raft with minimal supplies. He caught fish and ate it raw, drying some of it out for when he didn't catch anything. He went nearly two weeks till he caught his first fish though! Water was his priority, that and keeping his raft afloat! He used inflatable solar stills and ate the large fish eyes and organs that contained fresh water. He lost a massive amount of his body weight and struggled to stand up when he did reach dry land as his muscles had atrophied due to lack of use. Reading his story gives me incredible peace of mind when i think of a similar thing happening to me, not that it ever could! The human body is a very resilient machine and can cope with a right battering. Steve Callaghan is one of my heroes, I'd love to meet him one day and talk to him about his adventure.

 

[Alex.W]

I'm in the middle of doing a 24 hour famine for charity right now (ok, so its not three weeks) and to be honest, its not as hard as I thought it was going to be as long as you keep drinking (and I'm a teenager who is always hungry). So if you were in a really desperate situation i can see three weeks being possible (just!)

 

[mazeman]

There's a slightly different set of 3 for a First Nation American Vision Quest - and that's to go without food, shelter or company. I did four days a while backand it wasn't as tough as I'd expected (but I did have a bivvi bag , which probably counts as shelter, but then... )

 

[Jared]

Heard this a while back somewhere...

Apparently if don't eat the digestive system shuts down thereby prolonging your life expectancy. If eating but not enough the digestive system continues working but would die sooner than having not eating anything.

 

[Matt Weir]

I'm in the middle of doing a 24 hour famine for charity right now (ok, so its not three weeks) and to be honest, its not as hard as I thought it was going to be as long as you keep drinking (and I'm a teenager who is always hungry). So if you were in a really desperate situation i can see three weeks being possible (just!)

OK I'm going to try a 24 hour famine so I propose from Friday 11th 12.01 pm until Saturday 12th 12:01pm. If I can raise any cash for charity in the process then all good so if anyone wants to suggest an online charity then go ahead.

 

[gilly0802]

OK I'm going to try a 24 hour famine so I propose from Friday 11th 12.01 pm until Saturday 12th 12:01pm. If I can raise any cash for charity in the process then all good so if anyone wants to suggest an online charity then go ahead.

help for heros?