The average American could easily survive 14 days under ideal conditions so long as they have access to clean water. But when are conditions ever ideal?

That being said, even a minuscule amount to preparation exponentially increases the chances of survival, even without much training. A good sharp knife, a reliable firestarter, and a flashlight with a spare battery will go a long way even in untrained hands. And every additional piece of gear you add to that only makes life that much easier to sustain.

Without food, they will be miserable, but unlikely to die unless they have no shelter. Here in Northern New England, where I’ve been living since 2014, I wouldn’t give anyone good odds surviving without careful preparation in Winter. My first Winter here saw temps as low as -25°F with windchills to -50°F.

I lived on a mountainside in a cabin with no plumbing, no electricity, no communications other than my ham radio, an outdoor composting bucket toilet, only a woodstove for heat, and only a two-burner propane stove for cooking. The cabin was well-insulated, thankfully. I did have a single 45W solar panel with a Group 24 car battery. The solar panel was in a clearing about 100 yds away, and I had to carry the battery out there and back. It was enough to run a couple of 3W LED lamps at night, and charge my cell phone and laptop (no cell service tho), and run my Yaesu FT-100 for a few days to a week.

Most of my friends thought I was “so brave”, but it really wasn’t terribly difficult. The hardest part was making sure I had enough firewood and hauling fresh water from the artesian spring at the base of the mountain. Even refrigeration wasn’t a problem, because I set gallon jugs of water outside to freeze, then swapped them in and out of my cooler inside. Oh, and the snow shovelling…

I live on the edge of the downtown area of the biggest town in the local region, now.