WHAT ARE THE 3 RULES OF SURVIVAL FREE

My Level One tool for fire production is the humble, but mighty, Bic Lighter. Get fire right and the chance for survival increases tenfold.Īnd let’s face it, aside from a survival/bushcraft knife, fire building is the sexiest part of wilderness survival. Survival Key Three Tool & Skill Checklistįire provides warmth, builds morale, purifies water, kills parasites in food, refines tools, signals for rescue…well, you get the idea. Let’s drill down on the Key Three approach and how it works with the Survival Rule of Threes.

These are the tools that fall under the idea that “my pack may be full, but my brain always has room.” Level Three tools, which are based completely on advanced skills and can be constructed without any materials carried into the field. These tools require a moderate skill set for success and are a hybrid of Level One and… Level Two tools can be commercial items, pre-fabricated, or easily constructed in the field. Level Ones require little or no skills for success. They are easy to use and pretty much guarantee success in harsh conditions. Level One tools are pre-fabricated, usually commercially produced. The Key Three strategy for survival hinges on three levels of tools and skills. In addition to using pre-fabricated tools, the bushcrafter has the skills to provide fire, shelter, water, and food with whatever items are at hand. The well-equipped survivalist or bushcrafter doesn’t just have a collection of well-maintained tools, he or she also hones the skillset necessary to use those tools effectively. But knowing his ability to turn a phrase, it’s likely that he was also talking about “sharpening” physical and mental skills, too. He’d rather spend twice as much time honing his axe than he would be using it. Abraham Lincoln famously, and appropriately, said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Lincoln divided the chore into thirds, committing two-thirds to prepare the tool and only one-third to the actual chore. Some of them are classified as weapons in another scenario.Īn ill-equipped or poorly maintained tool can be more dangerous than no tool at all. Think about the tools in a bug-out bag or bushcraft kits. More than likely a lack of skill will spell disaster in a survival situation. Having a specific tool, but lacking the skill to use it, is at best ineffective. Redundancy in the Key Three comes from over-lapping tools and skills. Surviving a worst-case scenario is possible only when we have both the tools and the skills necessary to use those tools. Along with PROTECTION, HYDRATION, and NUTRITION the Key Three approach includes three levels of redundancy. The number 3 is a recurring theme in my approach to wilderness survival. I’m not particularly good at it, but it helps me remember things. If you haven’t noticed, I like to use math. It’s over-arches the Key Three of survival. Fire provides warmth and morale in the shelter area, is a best practice for purifying water, and is effective in preparing a wide variety of food. Fire is integral to successfully implementing the Key Three. (Sometimes, we jokingly call them “The Three Shuns”: PROTECTION, HYDRATION, and NUTRITION.)īut why is FIRE left out in the cold, so to speak? If the mission of survival is three-pronged: protect, hydrate, and eat, then fire is the prime directive. It’s apparent how the Core Four addresses the Survival Rule of Threes.Īt the Valiant Outfitters Family Survival School, we condense the Core Four down to the Key Three: shelter, water, and food. Many survivalists list four “needs” or priorities for survival, called The Core Four: shelter, water, fire, and food. The Survival Rule of Threes, The Core Four, and The Key Three The “BREATHE” in the Rule of Threes implies wellness PROTECT includes safety for yourself and those close to you and DRINK and EAT are self-explanatory.

We can draft a simple action plan from the Survival Rule of Threes:īREATHE then PROTECT then DRINK then EAT. No, first GET OUT OF THE WATER! Or why would someone worry about building a deadfall snare before warming themselves as they stand dripping wet next to those semi-frozen waters that they narrowly escaped death from? This makes survival priorities simple because it doesn’t make much sense to plan for a survival shelter while you frantically gasp for air and your muscles spasm because you just broke through a frozen lake into frigid water. It addresses 4 chronological issues for survival: the average person can survive 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. The Survival Rule of Threes helps make the “just don’t die” part easy.

WHAT ARE THE 3 RULES OF SURVIVAL FREE

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What are the 3 rules of survival