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The Rule of Threes Can Save Your Life

Rondo August
4 min readMar 14, 2020

The rule of three’s can help in any situation.

Photo by: Tanya Augsburger

Every few news cycles we seem to hear a story about someone who has been lost in the wilderness or become stranded somewhere due to weather or mechanical failure.

Occasionally there is a happy ending to these stories where the person or persons are found, maybe suffering from a little exposure or dehydration, but after a couple days in the hospital they get to go home no worse for the experience.

Far too often we read of tragedy where they are found dead, maybe not even found until months or years later, if ever.

Why the Rule of Threes?

Ask the average person what the first thing they would do if they were stranded in the wilderness, and you will probably get some variant of the answer, “I would look for something to eat.”

Ron Hood of Hoods Woods fame came up with The Rule of Threes to help people prioritize what is most important in any survival situation.

What Does the Rule of Threes say?

The rule of threes says “You can live three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food.”

This statement is all about approximation, but it holds true in application.

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Rondo August
Rondo August

Written by Rondo August

I have written in the prepper/survival niche for several years… I also enjoy writing satire and sci fi / fantasy…Be sure to click “Series” for more…

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