TOTM Dec. 2015- Rule of Threes

The day the music died...

 

bout the time Don McLean wrote American Pie

 

I think that that means without fire. I nearly froze to death at a reenactment because it was in the 80's when we got there, it rained all over us, and after we got in the tents and asleep, it dropped into the 30's. Fire died, the kit we had was not intended for that level of cold. It was rough.
Crap happens.

 

IMO it is a tool to get people to think in an orderly fashion. If someone knows they need water, shelter, fire but spends most of the day searching for water, that leaves them unprepared for the night or if a storm blows in. It is step thinking- not sure if that is a term. Another reason is if a group of novice outdoors people, establish a shelter with a fire, while off looking for water they maybe will see the smoke or smell the smoke of the fire and find their way back to camp.

 

Yeah, now I remember. That was the day the music died.

 

Went through SEER at A.P. Hill many years ago and got interduced to water boarding and interigation by the hated ememy.

 

So the child and I were talking about the rule of threes. Then we decided to go lean. We have always played the what if game so here is the what if we played:

You are in a situation the survival rules of three apply. You have your BOB but will need to drop it. What three items would you take? What three items would help you with the rules of three?What are the three most important items in your bag- the ones that you feel are a must have?

 

Knife, Fire, Water. Bowie, stainless container, fire making device.

 

What is that?

Small tarp is #1. It would give me warmth, shelter and I can collect water in it. Second was a knife but I am torn between straight blade vs. Swiss Army. Which one is 100% the most useful? I think my third item would be papacord. Many uses.

 

Kukri...

 

Are they always as heavy as a club? Haha.

 

A thing to consider about the Rule of Threes is that they are very general. Real life can be very different for individuals, and in varying circumstances.

For example. an elder person may be much more sensitive to loss of body heat because their base metabolism is typically lower. Instead of three hours to find shelter, they might have thirty minutes.

Likewise, dehydration hits some people much harder than others. Pregnant women and diabetics (esp. those with diabetes insipidus) need more water than the average person and can tolerate dehydration much less. For them, as little as one day may be the survival limit.

One thing that is seldom mentioned about severe dehydration is that those who survive it frequently don't. It's a bit of a buzzkill for the storytellers to mention that after 12 days in the desert, surviving only on sheer determination and the water squeezed from rocks while crawling 76 miles to civilization under the blazing sun (uphilll), the heroic survivor died of kidney failure within a year. But that 's frequently what happens.

Climate also has a lot to do with how accurate the three Cs are. In the Arctic winter, nobody survives a month without food. People can die or starvation within 24 hours because their ability to produce body heat becomes insufficient, and their core temperatures drop too low. They literally freeze to death from hunger. And if they start out with inadequate clothing (as with perhaps an airplane crash) a person's exposure limit might be three minutes instead of three hours.

Then, too, survival isn't always about how long you can hold out before rescue arrives. Sometimes rescue is not going to arrive. Period. Then survival times are really about how long a person can
continue their survival efforts. How long they can find enough food to keep on finding food, etc.

Every person should know what their personal Rule of Threes is. Or replace it with a personal Rule of Cs that defines what their personal limit is before they are in critical danger.

For me, critical danger is more like 40 seconds without air, 12 hours without water, thirty minutes without shelter/cold remediation (fire), and four days without food in a warm climate. And--something not always considered--twelve hours without electricity.

In fact, I'm so fragile that if I managed to survive three days in any extreme survival situation, the shock would probably kill me.

 

At the risk of invoking Moto's rathe for thread drift, I've always wanted a kukri, but have never found one that wasn't cheaply made.

 

I would second that.

 

excellent @UncleMorgan You are absolutely correct. Rules of threes is a basic guideline and should not be interpreted as the gospel truth. Each of us is different and our personal needs and limitations do need to be our first consideration. Also being a Mom, one has to take into consideration the needs and levels of each person in the group. Kids have boundless energy yet can be more impulsive, risk taking then adults.