I assume that the description of my blog is rather vague. You may be asking yourselves what hardships or bad situations are you talking about? Well I'm talking about all of "them", and by "them" I mean the ones you aren't prepared for! Yes, I know that sounds crazy, and I'm being horribly cryptic. But the purpose of this blog is just get you aware and give you the means(knowledge) to overcome them.
I want to talk about the very basics of surviving as my first real entry for this blog. Below will be the most basic rules of survival. Please keep in mind these rules vary from region to region(only barely and I will give examples in more detail shortly)
Three minutes without air and you die.
Three hours of exposure and you die.
Three days without water and you die.
Three weeks without food and you die.
I know after you read the first rule, you were like "no really??" It may go without saying but it is one of the most important and I will explain. Pretend with me; You are driving on a bridge. Its early in the morning before the light of dawn has broken the tree tops. You are driving in the right lane closest to the bridge railing. An 18-wheeler is in the left lane. You've been noticing him creeping slowly toward your lane, but before crossing it he corrects himself and straightens out in his lane. Thinking nothing of this, as there are so many bad drivers(which is a mistake, always assume the other drivers are going to cause an accident in which you will be part of) you shake it off. As the last half mile of the bridge has almost passed the 18-wheeler crosses over into your lane. The truck is so long that even as you slam on breaks to avoid the collision the trailer being carried behind the truck strikes your vehicle. This sends you over the railing into the dark cold water below. I understand this may be an exaggeration of what could happen in an accident but please bare with me. Your vehicle hits nose first into the water. As the front of the vehicle slows sinks you hear the water rushing into the areas around your motor. You desperately try to open the door but are unable to. It seems the collision has bent the center frame of your vehicle and pinning the driver door. You frantically jump into the passenger seat but find that door also will not open. This time, however it is the water pressure pressing against it, blocking your exit. You feel water rushing by your legs, the interior of the car is now quickly filling with water. Once the interior completely fills with water, you will have only three minutes to get out before you drown. Those three minutes are so very important now, could you use live through this? I only wanted to use this as an example, I won't be going into explaining the way to safely get out of each scenario just yet, merely reinforcing the previously stated rules. But generally speaking, once the interior is completely flooded the pressure will be equalized and that passenger door(and all doors not effected by collision) can be opened.
The second rule may also seem a little odd to some. Three hours of exposure from what you may be asking. This mainly applies to the extreme climates, those with either high or low temperatures. Three hours of exposure to arctic and desert environments can be fatal given the right settings. But it can effect even us in the milder climates too. Imagine a hot summer day, even in the Carolinas if you were to be in direct exposure of the sun for three hours you would run the risk of sun stroke and death. Also, lets say you were out fishing in the late fall. Its not winter yet, and so its not freezing. But at night the temperature drops to a crisp cool. Its now dark, and you are heading back to the dock, etc. You somehow get throw overboard or capsize. Maybe your canoe flipped over. You are now in 50-60 degree water soaking wet. You make it to shore but your clothes are soaked. Water is a better conductor of heat than air, and will cool your body off quickly. This could cause hypothermia, and without knowing what to do could be fatal. If you were far from home or a heat source could you survive?
Our third rule is easily explained. A large portion of our body is made up of water. As we go about our daily lives we lose water from sweat, urine, and many other bodily functions. The average urine output for adults is about 1.5 liters (6.3 cups) a day. You lose close to an additional liter (about 4 cups) of water a day through breathing, sweating and bowel movements. Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid intake, so if you consume 2 liters of water or other beverages a day (a little more than 8 cups) along with your normal diet, you will typically replace your lost fluids under normal settings. Also depending on our environment we do so at a faster pace than normal. If you were to walk a mile in the desert you would lose more water than walking a mile on a temperate plain or grassland. Water is vital, and in future entries I will even explain ways to procure it, and clean it in the event good water is not available.
Lastly three weeks without food and you die, this rule has a lot of variance. Its safe to assume a healthy person could manage three weeks or more given the right settings. But the possibly of someone that is sick or with numerous issues may be different. Food gives us energy, and even morale. We have grown to expect three(or more meals for some lol) a day, and when we do not get our meals in we tend to have emotional and mental issues. It ranges from person to person, but typically we all know someone that is a total grouch if they have missed a meal. A diet does have a big impact on this rule when going into a survival situation though, but that would take an entry of its own! Just remember, food is typically always the last thing to worry about in a survival situation. Most people are rescued within 72 hours of the event. Also please be aware, if you have food but you do not have water, DO NOT EAT. Digestion will sap the remaining water from you and make you dehydrated quicker.
These rules are always something to take into account. In the future I will try to use them again in ways to reinforce my blog entries.
Surviving is a mix of your knowledge, the gear you have and you will to survive. Stay frosty.
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