TOTM Dec. 2015- Rule of Threes

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Motomom34, Dec 1, 2015.


  1. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Every prepper & survivalist knows the rule of 3’s

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

    The Survival rule of threes; It is very important that we all think in this order because someday it could save your life or the life of a loved one. The rule of three are steps that I mentally go over when accessing a situation. In that order, I ask myself air, shelter, water, food. Each of those areas encompasses different skills with each different scenario.

    Roof collapsing due to snow storm
    Earthquake levels your home
    You are forced to flee you home

    All these are things that will make your bug-in or bug-out locations unusable. Have you prepared for that? And have you taught your family those rules? One person would have a hard time doing everything. Managing people takes time and time may not be something you can spare during a situation.

    The process used to seal the room is considered a temporary protective measure to create a barrier between you and potentially contaminated air outside. It is a type of sheltering in place that requires preplanning.

    Do you have a plan to seal a room? Have you looked at your home and said this is the room we will shelter in? I know this is an area I am lacking. They say things happen in threes- and @Airtime stated another three yesterday- fight, flight or freeze.

    Another reason for the three minutes without air IMO is to encourage people to learn first aid. Learning the basics of first aid is easy and IMO many in today's society put it off because 911 is always available. I feel that prepping/survival is not just for post-SHTF fan but how to handle situations in everyday life.

    On average a person can only survive for 3 minutes without air. In any survival situation air is your first priority. Many people may think of survival situations as plane crashes or being lost in the woods. The reality is that many people do not realize that swimming pools cause a potentially deadly survival situation for their children.

    For TOTM December, we can discuss that above but I also have a few other “Threes” activities that I will be posting.
     
    pearlselby, Tully Mars, GOG and 5 others like this.
  2. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    I would add to the conventional 3's:
    3 tenths of a second of indecision can kill you (on coming car swerving into your lane)
    3 seconds for the wrong decision (choosing to fight the thug with the knife rather than running)
    3 minutes without air
    etc....

    Interesting common denominators in mitigating or significantly reducing the potential for occurrence of all those scenarios is training and practice. The equivalent is sometimes acquired through experience, sometimes not. If you have been driving a car 20 years and an oncoming vehicle swerves into your lane, you'll likely react correctly almost immediately. If your Toyota seems to accelerate and does not slow when you take a foot off the gas pedal, now what? Training for that scenario can allow one to make a correct decision very quickly.

    AT
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2015
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  3. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    Throw it into park is not the correct answer. In case anyone else thought it was.
    it was a chevy and I was 17 so sort of a recipe for disaster
     
  4. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Neither is turning off the ignition, that will lock the steering wheel when you most need it. My solution? Shift to neutral and let the damn engine self destruct if it wants to while you steer off to the side and stop, then put it in park. THEN and only then, shut off the engine if it is still living.

    Then use three seconds to get off the road on foot to a safe location.
     
  5. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    Shift to neutral AND incrementally engage the parking brake to bleed off speed if necessary.
     
  6. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Off topic, but this and I'll STFU.
    As long as the engine is running, there will be power brakes. When/if it dies, there will still be service brakes that are usable, even requiring much higher effort. The foot (or in some cases long ago, hand) operated parking brake is difficult to control,. even when well practiced (as every driver should do) the moreso in a bad situation such as a runaway engine control module. Also, note that power steering goes away when the engine dies, compounding the control problem. Using the parking brake is a last resort, but might save the bacon.

    Back to the threes, then --
     
  7. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    You were parking in a Chevy when you were 17.... A Chevy van perhaps? Yeah, we can sort of see the disaster potential...
     
    Tully Mars likes this.
  8. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    To continue the off topic but what to do in case of car emergency........... When I was 15 and a permit driver, while descending a hill the car stalled. It would not start. All I knew is that the car was going fast, I was losing control and I threw on the parking brake. My Mom yelled, "you shouldn't do that". I asked what should I have done and she couldn't tell me. (losing control, assessed the situation and acted- I guess that is three, though probably not correct)
     
  9. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    LOL I was in an 86 Silverado going down the freeway, punched it to pass some car, let off the gas but it just kept speeding up. Braked it down enough to get myself to the shoulder, and *meant* to throw it into neutral but I was spazzing out and sent it straight to park. Felt like I ran into a wall. Seems like we had to replace the tranny soon after.... that could have something to do with the neutral drops I was fond of back then tho... :whistle:
     
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  10. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    Interesting that the off-topic discussion actually rather makes a point I was trying to make earlier. One needs to have previously thought thru and/or trained and practiced for various problem scenarios to be best prepared to survive. Kind of the whole point of this website.

    And when the panic situation presents, stuff that was talked about on a website will be less likely to positively affect one's actions or decision than if the situation had actually been practiced, whether that be dealing with an unintended acceleration in a car, starting a fire in the rain, or properly stepping aside and defending one's self if a thug suddenly displays a knife and lunges at you from 10 feet away (far too little time to draw a weapon).

    AT
     
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  11. T. Riley

    T. Riley Monkey+++

    I drove my Volkswagen for two weeks when I was 18 using nothing but the parking break.
     
  12. AxesAreBetter

    AxesAreBetter Monkey+++

    I hate the "3 weeks Rule" concerning food. Yes, most people in average situations can live around 3 weeks without food.
    But:
    You will be a husk of your former self
    You will barely be able to do anything, much less affect survival
    You will be almost incapable of hunting, which means that if someone isn't pulling your bacon out of the fire, and keeping you cared for and fed, you will have nothing left to sustain yourself with.
    Without food, you don't think straight, and die.
     
  13. AxesAreBetter

    AxesAreBetter Monkey+++

    Watch naked and Afraid, or Dude You're Screwed some time. People with sense, and respect in the survival/bushcraft community just fade away if they don;t eat in those first couple of days. You can see real time results, based on who ate and who didn't.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  14. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    That's why I always liked Les Stroud. He's one guy who knows how to live off grid and hunt for food, and even he has a terrible time surviving alone in the wild. Granted, given enough time, he would probably do alright, but it's a hard life living in the outdoors.
     
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  15. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    have always had a question regarding the 3 weeks without food. What do they qualify as food? I was told that the hungry children in Africa eat dirt to help fill their bellies. There are minerals in dirt but I think they eat the dirt to stop the hunger pains. I agree with @AxesAreBetter that hunger does sap your energy and could not imagine living for 3 weeks without food. Is this an average (three weeks)? Because really thin people do not have a lot of extra to live off of.
     
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  16. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    As I understand it, the 3 weeks is not only an average, but it is based on absolutely no nutrients. According to my SEE (now SEER...they didn't teach us about resistance back in the Dark Ages) instructor, a very small amount of nutrient intake is needed to stretch that period closer to 3 months for a relatively healthy individual. I am talking about (for example) a handful of grubs, a couple of cattails, an ounce or so of inner tree bark or any similar amount per day. Of course, as mentioned above, one must be very conscious that their normal mental acuity just won't be there and their physical stamina will erode quickly.

    This does not apply to the 3 days without water, though small amounts can stretch it a very small amount...without sufficient water to not only hydrate the cells, but to flush toxins, you are history quickly.
     
  17. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    One can stretch their individual survival time as Pax said, by improvising on natures nutrients.... you just need to know what they are.... and you can extend even the most basic of existence, in the worst of times.
     
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  18. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    I was taught to start down shifting and to start applying the parking brake. Even with an auto tranny you can shift from drive to 2nd then low. Maybe shift into high lock if a 4x4 as well.
     
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  19. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    I did baby SERE back in HI... many moon's ago. A tough course for most anyone....... no matter how "good" you are......
     
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  20. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    My younger brother was a SERE instructor up at Fairchild back in the late 80's. Him and his buddies used to call it "beat'em up school". Learned a lot from "baby" Bro...
     
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