You’re hiking (although it could happen anywhere). Now your priority is getting the attention of another human being to help you! You’re trapped inside until someone notices because the doors won’t open. Your vehicle skidded off the road into brush and trees. Priorities can change quickly!Īnother example might be safety. There could be a circumstance where your life is put in danger whereby priority #1 becomes evasion, or defensive (or offensive) tactics. I could also throw a wrench into the works and say that security may be priority #1. Contaminated water will cause rapid dehydration (resulting from being sick). Not only is water a top priority, but SAFE drinking water is the more accurate way of saying it. When it’s not replenished, your health will deteriorate rapidly! Your body is constantly evaporating and exhaling moisture. You’re only looking at days of survival without any water whatsoever! However that’s the exception to the rule. Sometimes we hear of a survival situation where a person survived a few days longer than that. The survival ‘rule of thumb’ is three days without any liquids, and you might die. The variety of beverages that we drink each day.

Normally throughout any given day we consume water (liquids) in various ways. Water (hydration) may be your #1 priority when you haven’t had any in awhile! Shelter (protection from the sun, shelter from the heat) would be a priority in the circumstance of extreme heat. Similarly under the shelter priority, an environment of excessive heat could become life threatening. They all attribute to the survival category of ‘shelter’. Clothes, outerwear, protection from the elements, literal shelter. You can survive days without water, but severe hypothermia could take your life in hours. If you’re prepared for that, then priorities shift. Shelter may become your number one priority when you’re in an environment where hypothermia may become an issue. Maintaining a safe body core temperature is critical for survival. Saying that shelter is priority 1 – is also wrong (sometimes). To say that water is priority 1 – is wrong (sometimes). It could be either Water OR Shelter – depending on the environment. Hours without shelter (body core temperature)Īside from air (ability to breathe), I’ve heard this question debated: “What’s a higher priority when it comes to survival – Water, or Shelter?”

State of survival vs last shelter