Could You Survive, Survival Priorities©

 

 

An excerpt from “Could you survive?”, in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, page 24, September 8, 1981, HERE.

“Which of the following should be given first priority when planning for possible survival situations”, is the question posed to us by the author of the September 8^th, 1981, installment of “Could you survive”?  What is the first thing that you would pick to take with you, would it be “A. food, B. water, C. fire starting materials, or D. emergency shelter materials”?

 

According to the author, who was an Air Force Survival School instructor at Fairchild AFB, the answer is “C. fire starting materials”.

 

“By the way, did you get the right answer”?  It doesn’t really matter if you did, or if you didn’t, lets take a closer look at this question and see what we can learn.

 

“The Rule of Threes, graphic by the Author.

“The Rule of Threes”, is a survival maxim that is lists and prioritizes survival actions, it was originally developed, so the story goes, by the U.S. Military, to act as a framework to help you take survival steps in the right order.  It lists your most important survival need, after air, as fire and shelter.

 

“The Rule of Threes” points out that you will need to establish fire and a shelter within three hours of being dropped into a survival situation.  This is not an absolute deadline, it was created to help you prioritize your activities - depending on the climate you might have more than three hours, then again, you might also have significantly less!

 

I usually teach that you should build a shelter first, or at least find a windbreak before attempting to light a fire, because a shelter or a windbreak will make it easier to start and sustain your fire.  Plus, it easier, and smarter, especially if your fire-starting supplies are limited, to only build your fire once and place it in front of your shelter.  So going by that logic, you might have thought that the correct answer was “D. emergency shelter materials”

 

However, what action to take first in a survival situation wasn’t the question the author of this 1981 newspaper column asked, he asked “Which of the following should be given first priority when planning for possible survival situations: A. Food, B. Water, C. Fire starting materials, or D. Emerge cy shelter materials”?  In other words, what is the first thing you plan on putting into your pack, pocket, or survival kit before heading out into the wilderness?!

 

And now for the rest of the story, an excerpt from “Could you survive?”, in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, page 24, September 8, 1981.

The author of the column very correctly felt that the ability to make and sustain a fire is critically important to survival in the wilderness.  You might not die if you can’t get a fire going, but your chances for continued survival and your comfort will be vastly diminished without a fire.  Fire was and still is a technology that is hugely important to survival in the wilderness.  Without a fire, you can’t disinfect your water¹, you can’t harden wooden tools, like spears and fishing harpoons, you can’t cook food, heat your shelter, or make smoke and fire signals to call for help, among other things.  Being able start a fire is also a huge psychological help, which will help you combat fear and panic that is often brought on by stressful survival situations.

 

An excerpt from “Could you survive?”, in the Spokane Daily Chronicle, page 24, September 8, 1981.

So, before you leave for the wilderness, you should always plan and bring with you at least one way of starting and building a fire.  Personally, I always have a lighter and a small roll of toilet paper² in a waterproof bag in a pocket my vest or life preserver and I always a survival kit, that has three different ways of starting a fire in it as well as windproof candle³, some cotton balls, a packet of Landsmann Fire Starter, one piece of a Coghlan's Waterproof Fire Stick, and some tubes of triple antibiotic ointment which being mostly petroleum jelly can be used in a pinch to help sustain a just started fire.

 

The contents of the comfort pouch that I keep in a pocket of my vest or life preserver.  Clockwise from the top, a micro first aid kit, two spare Ziploc® quart bags, a pump spray bottle of insect repellant, a headlamp, a small roll of toilet paper, a BIC lighter with three feet (1 meter) of duct tape wrapped around it, and a 50 SPF broad spectrum sunscreen stick, all kept in two plastic Ziploc® quart freezer bags, all of which weigh 8 ounces (227 grams).  Photograph by the Author.

The contents of the Author’s survival kit, 1) Fire starting supplies, (from bottom left to right), a mini plastic Ziploc® bag containing two CakeMate® Relight trick birthday candles and four UCO Stormproof matches and a striker; a metal match; a BIC Mini lighter, one packet of Landsmann Fire Starter; one piece of a Coghlan's Waterproof Fire Stick; and some cotton balls.  2) Multiple use aluminum foil, two, 1 foot (30 cm) square pieces.  3) First aid, one antibiotic ointment packet and three Band-Aid Butterfly Closures.  4) Water storage and Disinfection, one Reynolds® Slow Cooker Liner, 13 x 21 inches (330 mm x 533 mm), holding up to 6.5 quarts (6 liters).  5) Food gathering and repair, one mini fishing kit, which contains 5 hooks and 5 split shot sinkers, two large safety pins, a needle and two feet (60 cm) of thread, and that has just over 26 feet (8 meters) of monofilament fishing line wound around the outside of it.  6) Signaling and direction-finding, (from bottom left to right), a Fresnel lens, a compass, a signal mirror, and a signal card.  7) Food gathering and repair, 17 feet (5 meters) of 12-pound test fishing line.  8) Signaling, one Maglite Solitaire LED Flashlight.  Photograph by the Author.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Making a BanadanaMan Emergency Bracelet ©”, where we will talk about string, why it is important to always have some in the wilderness and how to make a BandanaMan Emergency Bracelet!

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ Boiling water is the best way to disinfect water.  Disinfected water is not purified water as it might still have harmful dissolved chemicals in it, however the heat of boiling will have killed most if not all the protozoa, bacteria, and viruses in it.  The CDC considers boiling water to be the best way to disinfect it.  For more on water disinfection and boiling read “Water Disinfection: When is boiled, boiled enough…? ©”, HERE, “True or False, You Should Drink Water From The Spring Where Horses Drink?©”, HERE, and “Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble...The 5 Stages of Boiling©”, HERE.

 

² Toilet paper isn’t just for going to the bathroom, it can also be used as tinder to get your fire started.

 

³ Betty Croker or Casemate® Relight trick birthday candles are great to help you get a fire going since the wicks contain magnesium powder and will relight by themselves, if they are blown out by the wind, usually within about 90 seconds.  To put them out you must submerge them in water until the wick is cool, plan on at least 5 minutes, and to be safe an hour.  Birthday candles will burn for about 45 seconds, or about the time it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song twice, or about nine times longer than a wooden kitchen match.

 

 

Sources

 

“Could you survive?”, Spokane Daily Chronicle, September 8, 1981, page 24, https://books.google.com/books?id=OkoaAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA13&dq=%22spokane+daily+chronicle%22+%22could+you+survive%22&article_id=4732,1925865&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWvMbi0fTwAhXJGVkFHb5zAq44ChDoATABegQIBhAC#v=onepage&q=%22spokane%20daily%20chronicle%22%20%22could%20you%20survive%22&f=false, accessed May 14, 2022