How-To & Skills

The survival rule of threes

You last about three minutes without air, three hours without shelter in bad weather, three days without water, and three weeks without food. These guides follow that order: keep the body warm and dry first, then water, then everything else.

Water TreatmentBoil times, bleach ratios, filters — make any water safe. Emergency ShelterStay warm and dry at home or under a tarp. Sanitation & HygieneBucket toilets, handwashing, keeping disease down. Heating & Cooking SafelyCarbon monoxide rules and fuel discipline.

Working through the skills

Each guide is written to work with basic tools and no special equipment.
Practice once while things are calm — boiling a pot of questionable creek water on a Tuesday teaches more than reading about it during an emergency.
Print the water treatment page and tape it inside a cabinet door; it is the one you will want mid-task with wet hands.
Grounded in public-domain FEMA/ready.gov and military field manual material, rewritten plainly for this kit.