Is the Survival Hierarchy a Common Understanding?

[Rick Marchand]

IMO, you need to be prepared for all of the needs, and prioritize on the spot.

As for shelter, no one is talking about building a house.
If my car breaks down and it's -20 out and I put on the ECW coat I have in my trunk, a wool hat and some mittens, or if it's in the desert and I roll down the sleeves of my white shirt, put on a big straw hat and some sunglasses -- either way, I have addressed shelter first. I think people automatically address shelter first -- usually by adjusting clothing, but also in selecting that sheltered place out of the direct wind for your fire, etc -- but it's so automatic they don't think about it as a step.

Well put......... people often see the word "shelter" and think of a structure of somekind.... shelter can be as simple as the clothes on your back. When the severity of the elements surpasses the performance of your clothing... then you need to start thinking of taking cover somewhere.

Rick

 

[KEmSAT-Survival]

I mean, do we all reference the same basic hierarchy when considering survival?

This is it, as I understand it, of course, the broad strokes, but it helps to break it down to this, for instance, when I am building a kit or pruning stuff from a kit.

Personal Protection
-- Clothing
-- Shelter
-- Fire
Sustenance
-- Water
-- Food
Health
Signalling
Travel & Navigation

And to that, as a way of understanding things that are truly multi-purpose, for my own reference, I add
Global
-- Tools
-- Resources (Items that you run out of, use up, have to replace ie; batteries, cord, etc

What do you folks do?

What do you think?

This one is simpler and easier to remember...


The Rule of Three's:

3 minutes without air.
Assess for/treat injuries, assess the situation, assess equipment.

3 hours without shelter
insulation and protection of self against exposure. 1st line of defense is clothing. Dress for what temps will be at night. Fire can be considered part of shelter. Conduction, Convection, Radiation, Respiration, Persperation.

3 days without water
Dehydration will kill you before starvation. Something to carry/boil water in, something to sterilize water with.

3 weeks without food
Learn traps and snares, fishing techniques, wild edibles including insects/small game, this will supplement any emergency rations.

3 months without hope
good survival skills will give you more hope than gear. Gear can break. Knowledge is forever. Most people are found inside of 7 days.

Everything after this is equipment or knowledge. With enough knowledge you can cut your pack weight substantially (i.e. learn to make cordage and you won't have to carry so much para cord. Learn to make fire by friction and you have one more way to make fire--which can subtract from items you might be carrying, or give you a 4th item depending on what you like).

Knife, compass(es), para cord/nylon rope, flashlight, small medi-kit, signal mirror/whistle, etc...

Just my 2 cents...HTH.