The Rule of Fours

Those rules/times mean zippo to me. Immediate needs are my concern. Pay attention to your body and environment, have a good skill-set and know how to use it, throw in some common sense , and have a good attitude.

My life,my rules.;)
 
These aren't meant as hard-and-fast universal truths. They are simply useful heuristics to help folks think about priorities in possible survival situations when blood sugar is low and weather may be moving in. If you've thought through a few issues and scenarios beforehand, you are likely to adapt and overcome better.
 
DOC-CANADA said:
How the hell can people get their knickers in a bunch about the Rule of Threes/Twos/Fours/Twelves..................?

The whole idea is to establish some kind of priorities for a person in a survival situation. It's not carved in stone. Different conditions - altered priorities. Old CW4 was sharing with us something he learned to this end, and I thank him for it. I learned it as the Rule of Three's from a Ron Hood video. No matter 3's, 4's, whatever. The intent is the same.

I don't know if any of you have noticed or not, there have been a lot of regulars who very seldom come here any more. In fact, a couple of people have invited me to come with them to a different forum. This kind of bickering is one of the big reasons why.

This forum is intended as a meeting place for people with similar interests to share and learn, not to belittle and argue.

If you disagree with something, fine. Give your reasons, but don't launch personal attacks. Let's all grow the hell up.

Doc
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Amen, Doc. I do like to lurk here to learn about different techniques, or peoples' views of, survival skills. I'd like it even more if the collective mood lightened up! :)

So, on the plus side, by only taking one breath every 6 minutes I am now saving considerable energy and my wife has never been more pleased.

Edgy
:D
 
Alright boys. Simmer down. This isn't a pissing contest. We're all buddies and generally agree on these things. Let's let this one cool off and move on before something unpleasant is said. M'kay?
 
I ain't pissing.

Just having som issues with the ...quantity of topic derailments.

Chief- (oldCWO4)-

I'm not sure about the 40 days without food part. There's a lot of environmental factors in that.

I think that my clothing/cover stock is going to determine for me whether I'm going for shealter first, or water first.
 
Bushman5 said:
this rule of 3 hours without shelter then your dead is complete and utter BS. so is the 3 - 4 minutes without air (tell that the freedivers in the pacific who dive for 6 - 9 minutes with a single breath of air)

I would really like to know who comes up with this crap. I swear they base the calculations on weak urban cubicle dwellers who never venture outside.

mental masturbation sums it up perfectly.

I should be dead right now, for i left my home (shelter) for 5 hours today. Every day i go without shelter for 6 - 10 hours, sometimes overnight!

no this rant is NOT directed at the OP of this thread. its just a statement in general
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Dude, I have no idea what chip you have on your shoulder, but you really need to reflect on your attitude :thumbdn:

Show me some evidence you do more than day walks & know how to collect fatwood and I might pay a little more attention to your opinons on wilderness & survival skills.




Mick
 
Quite a drift. I'm sorry if any of my comments caused a rift, that wasn't my intent. I'm in no way deriding the goal of the rule of 3s/4s(etc.), which is to prioritize your needs. I was just pointing out that in some situations, your needs are different, and you should act accordingly. Your body gives you signs, you should listen to them, is all I was getting at.


Gautier
 
The number is pointless.
The Rule of 3's/4's/5's/10's/47's establishes a list of priorities. The number only gives you an idea, a guidline. It's the same thing as the "SURVIVAL" acronym that a lot of people use.
It gives you an easy way of remembering the information in a time where panic sets in relatively easily.

You guys are making a mountain out of a mole hill.
 
SouthernCross said:
Dude, I have no idea what chip you have on your shoulder, but you really need to reflect on your attitude :thumbdn:

Show me some evidence you do more than day walks & know how to collect fatwood and I might pay a little more attention to your opinons on wilderness & survival skills.




Mick
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what evidence are you looking for? pictures? i didn't get a camera until two years ago. I guess the other 28+ years do not count as a result,. Perhaps you would like me to spend hours and hours contacting all the people i have hiked with over the years,or all the students I have mentored at summer camps, and they can give you some evidence. Or perhaps you would like to talk to the 3 addicts who i took (as part of their rehab program) canoeing camping for a week and taught them outdoors skills and coping skills. Or perhaps you would like me to to flood BF with thread after thread of play by play from all my woods time, going back 28+ years?
I have my own style of hiking, camping, practicing survival skills, and i sure as hell do not march to the beat of the mainstream wilderness community.



by the way.......show me some evidence as to your skills.......what makes you so **** hot in the woods? why should the rest of us listen to YOU??


have a great day in your neck of the penal colony.
 
Iboschi said:
Alright boys. Simmer down. This isn't a pissing contest. We're all buddies and generally agree on these things. Let's let this one cool off and move on before something unpleasant is said. M'kay?
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I couldn't have said it better. But there's only one member out of line here. Let's move on past him and get back to what really is an interesting idea.
 
What Esav said.

All you guys that believe the priorities can change depending on location>>

Why?

I don't ask in order to start an argument or flame war, I ask because I'm genuinely wondering why you think that they'd change depending on location.

Keep in mind when you think this over, that your clothing is always your first level of shelter; and that "[x amount] of minutes without air" means that you assess for injuries to yourself and others, etc...
As well, that is a proven fact that you WILL die of dehydration before you starve to death.

So, keeping this in mind--do your priorities truly change depending on location?
 
I don't see priorities changing. Priorities are orders of importance. But the details of how we meet those priorities can vary.

The whole idea of prioritizing is to look out for the most critical needs first, If they are under control, continue on down the list. Under some circumstances or in some environments, what's critical elsewhere may not matter as much.
 
KEmSAT-Survival said:
What Esav said.

All you guys that believe the priorities can change depending on location>>

Why?

I don't ask in order to start an argument or flame war, I ask because I'm genuinely wondering why you think that they'd change depending on location.

Keep in mind when you think this over, that your clothing is always your first level of shelter; and that "[x amount] of minutes without air" means that you assess for injuries to yourself and others, etc...
As well, that is a proven fact that you WILL die of dehydration before you starve to death.

So, keeping this in mind--do your priorities truly change depending on location?
Click to expand...


Yes, my priorities would change according to the location but more likely they would change according to the situation.

For instance, south GA summer. Main priority will be water. Central KY, winter...main priority is gonna be shelter ( other than my clothes) and fire. I look at the time rule as a way of assessing the situation. If you're not injured, but stranded in a cave with running water, then you look at the time rule and say to yourself...Ok, I've got shelter, water and air, now I need to think about food.

JMO
David
 
Echo4v said:
Yes, my priorities would change according to the location but more likely they would change according to the situation.

For instance, south GA summer. Main priority will be water. Central KY, winter...main priority is gonna be shelter ( other than my clothes) and fire. I look at the time rule as a way of assessing the situation. If you're not injured, but stranded in a cave with running water, then you look at the time rule and say to yourself...Ok, I've got shelter, water and air, now I need to think about food.

JMO
David
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In the instance of the cave:

But your priorities didn't really change, did they? The first ones were simply met faster than if you'd have had to build shelter and find water. Instead, shelter and water were all in one. This just allowed you to move to the next priority on the list that was not checked off. True?


In the instance of the Southern Georgia summer:

What good will a gallon of water do you, if you can't conserve it by sheltering yourself from the sun? This is not to say you have to build an elaborate shelter, but there are natural forms of shelter: the shade beneath some trees, a fallen tree that gives a cool place to hide out.
For me, I'd still want to find some place to hide out and stay as cool as possible. Then search for water in early morning/evening, when it cools off; versus finding water and then getting blistered from UV exposure--or worse, suffering a heat related incident.
 
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KEmSAT-Survival said:
In the instance of the cave:

But your priorities didn't really change, did they? The first ones were simply met faster than if you'd have had to build shelter and find water. Instead, shelter and water were all in one. This just allowed you to move to the next priority on the list that was not checked off. True?


In the instance of the Southern Georgia summer:

What good will a gallon of water do you, if you can't conserve it by sheltering yourself from the sun? This is not to say you have to build an elaborate shelter, but there are natural forms of shelter: the shade beneath some trees, a fallen tree that gives a cool place to hide out.
For me, I'd still want to find some place to hide out and stay as cool as possible. Then search for water in early morning/evening, when it cools off; versus finding water and then getting blistered from UV exposure--or worse, suffering a heat related incident.
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Ok, I see your point. So really my priorities didn't change, what changed was the priority I needed to address. As far as the south GA thing goes, I guess my biological father gave me one thing of value (he's Iranian and left the U.S. during the Iran Contra crap) a dark complexion that has never allowed me to sunburn so I don't consider that much. Personally though, since I sweat a lot regardless, I'd rather spend every second of daylight I have looking for water than to wait till dusk ( in this environment). In the SW I'd probably hole up till dusk like you said.

David
 
These are quick-and-dirty priorities we can write on a small piece of paper and take out and recite like a mantra when problems arise. But we have to match them to circumstances, like environment, personal physical condition, gear and training.

Think of the stories about some clueless tourist wandering off the path in a deceptively trackless or hostile area.

Their primary problem is figuring out to stop running around, think about where they are and how they can get back to square one, realize they may be out there for awhile, and ... what were those rules of 3 or 4 or ... HELP ! Don't panic. Don't panic. dontpanicdontpanicdontpanic.
 
Environment can make a huge difference.

I remember back in 80s, one of our desert survival classes had a list of things you had to prioritze. This was classic "what's in your car after the wreck in the middle of the desert"

The top three items, in order, from the list-

Mirror
London Fog Trenchcoat
Shovel.

The gallon of water was number 4.

Any guesses why?
 
Esav Benyamin said:
These are quick-and-dirty priorities we can write on a small piece of paper and take out and recite like a mantra when problems arise. But we have to match them to circumstances, like environment, personal physical condition, gear and training.

Think of the stories about some clueless tourist wandering off the path in a deceptively trackless or hostile area.

Their primary problem is figuring out to stop running around, think about where they are and how they can get back to square one, realize they may be out there for awhile, and ... what were those rules of 3 or 4 or ... HELP ! Don't panic. Don't panic. dontpanicdontpanicdontpanic.
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Green side out, brown side out, run in circles, scream and shout.

What? What the heck are you talking about? Well, those of you who were old time Marines will remember that one. It indicates a situation where no one knows what is going on.

That situation is easily overcome though, by just doing as Esav said, and assessing the situation:

Where am I, and what do I need to do to get out of here?

What are my needs? Obviously you need air, water, shelter, and food (well, duh), though the sequence of need may vary from local to local. If, for instance, you can’t breathe, you might want to address that one first, before moving on to the next step: continue until all needs are met.

Okay, Dawson, that’s so bloody obvious that mentioning it borders on stupidity. Why are you bringing it up? Well, stopping to make these assessments caused you to do one thing: think. You’re no longer in full blown panic mode: you’re now in survival mode, and you have a chance of getting out of a bad situation.

Whether you want to worry about a rule of threes or a rule of fours becomes incidental, because you’re addressing your needs. Once you’re no longer running in circles screaming and shouting, you just might live.

Rule of threes, rule of fours, whatever — stop and assess.
 
The sad thing about the truly clueless is that they don't panic. They don't know they're in trouble till the situation is really not good.
 
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