Concepts for the Novice Prepper — “Rule of Threes”

TooCuteToFail
Homeland Security
Published in
5 min readApr 23, 2017

Preparing your family for emergencies? Remember the “Rule of Threes”

Decades ago as a new Air Force pilot I recall my survival instructor saying that the answer to every survival question was the number three.

· How long can I survive without breathing = 3 minutes

· How long can I survive in freezing water = 3 minutes as well

· Without water = 3 days

· Without shelter = 3 hours (although it would seem that survival instructor was assuming an extremely cold climate and inadequate clothing)

· Without food = 3 weeks (provided you have everything else until you’re too weak to take care of other needs)

· There’s also a 3 second rule ….. I’ll explain that at the end ‘cuz it likely doesn’t apply to you.

My survival instructor’s point wasn’t that there’s anything magical about the number three, and he wasn’t trying to be all that scientific or precise. Rather, he was emphasizing the notion of priorities. That is, when you find yourself isolated behind enemy lines or in an extreme climate, you need to first deal with whatever is going to kill you first. Fail to do that, and there’s no point in worrying about the next thing. To be sure you’ll die just as dead from the next thing, so take care of that too. It’s just not your urgent priority.

How does this nugget of military logic apply your family’s disaster planning? Well, I use it when thinking through the items I’m putting in my disaster kit. The stuff you’ll need for your family to survive until help or evacuation arrives depends on the environment mostly, but rank order your priorities based on the rule of threes. So flashlights and spare batteries are great to have, but if you don’t have the priority essentials available, then all that light isn’t going to do you much good.

Let’s take it line-by-line:

· As to the three-minute rule — there’s not much you can do in building your disaster kit to prepare for falling in a lake (frozen or otherwise). It matters for fliers though which is why fighter pilots fly with poopy suits, helicopter guys fly with O2 bottles, and cargo/tanker/special ops guys fly with other crewmembers to look after their needs.

· For those of you who live in, say, North Dakota, the three hour rule will be a priority. For you, few sets of wool socks, Sorels, mittens, hats and down clothing would be more than prudent to have available outside your house if you had to evacuate for a fire.

· For folks everywhere, the three day rule about water is key. After all, after a major disaster it could take that long for help to arrive. And as you will be struggling to deal with a host of challenges, you’ll be exerting yourself. So plan to store a gallon a day per person. And if you live in a wet area with streams and lakes, count on the likelihood that they will be contaminated such that you need filtration. Here are some suggestions. Most importantly, get your kids to drink as dehydration kills.

· Regarding food — the 3-week rule — probably not your highest priority. Worrying about food if you don’t have any water VIOLATES my survival instructors mantra about priorities. It would be like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Nevertheless, if you have kids you know that keeping them fed helps with your psyche a great deal. Survival situations are stressful enough, so having a stash that will keep your children happy (or at least less whiney) may pay huge dividends. Along these lines, consider the tangential benefits of a victory garden. It could be a good way to get your children interested in what it will take to survive for a period of time. If you have the real estate to spare, TooCuteToFail has some amusing tips on getting it healthy.

So, the punchline of this post is to stock your disaster supplies based on the priorities you need to keep you alive. For most everyone, though, YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT WATER. After all, FEMA recommends survival kits have sufficient supplies to enable you to survive for 72 hours because it may take that long for relief workers to get to the scene after a major disaster (earthquake, hurricane, flood, etc).

And an adequate, clean water supply takes some conscious planning. Make certain that H2O is covered for you, your kids, and you pets before anything else and it’s likely you’ll survive. And don’t just prep your home. Keep a filtration device in the trunk of your car as it’s likely to be wherever you are. Look here for some other great suggestions on this priority.

Oh yeah …. What’s the 3 second rule? Well, it applies to pilots almost exclusively. Your time of useful consciousness if you pull too many g’s in an airplane without taking efforts to counteract is about 3 seconds. And if you’re trying to fly an airplane while unconscious, 3 seconds could well be all it takes to kill you. Here’s some fun video of pilot trainees experiencing g-induced loss of consciousness (GLOC). Likewise, if you have a rapid decompression at high altitude you may only be consciousness for about 3 seconds without supplemental oxygen. Again, that may be all it takes to kill you.

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TooCuteToFail
Homeland Security

Strategies for veteran job seekers on how to successfully enter the Homeland Security enterprise.