KenK, I have to agree. RE: core temperature and "severe" weather. Caution is required there when using the word "severe", since at fairly high temperatures (50s F) and some wind, the risks can still be significant for reduced capacity due to onset of hypothermia, depending on clothing and other factors. You are correct about medical/mental problems as #1 (if you're bleeding, terminally spooked, etc.), but after that I'd say warmth and shelter. Going back over a hundred years (and I'm sure further) almost every writer on this topic talks about fire as a first priority. There are so many benefits to a fire in any survival (or just temporary inconvenience) scenario that, for me at least, firemaking has always been at the top of my kit and practice list (along with FAK). One last thought: I've often read on this forum that firemaking is a lower issue in an urban kit. Take note that experienced urban survivors (homeless and hobos) always find a barrel, trash and some fire when the weather goes bad - 'nuff said.

Yeah, I guess "severe" is very subjective.

Case in point - I just came back in from putting the flag up our flagpole (half mast to honor Pres. Ford). I ran out barefoot. Its 35F out there (relatively warm to me). In only the time needed to put up the flag my feet hurt so bad it was almost disabling - and I am pretty tolerant of pain.

I agree, KenK. Water indeed can become a priority in warmer weather when the weather is good and you are dehydrated. Brings to mind off topic a bit: Wiseman said in his book something to the extent that man was a tropical animal. Well, maybe overall I guess because Inuit (Eskimos) have larger livers to adapt to their arctic environment.

I prefer:-
PROTECTION
LOCATION
WATER
FOOD

Protect yourself from any immediate threat (fire, flood, cold, heat, blood loss, injury) Get a shelter up, get out of the wind/rain/sun/whatever. Get a fire going.
Locate. Ascertain where you are. can you get out yourself and/or put up signals, blow your whistle, flash your mirror/light, get a fire going.
Water. Hopefully youre carrying some. If not find some. Find damp ground, vegetation, dry stream bed, fissures in rock, puddles, get a solar still, transpiration bag going, catch rain/dew.
Food (you can last three weeks!) make some traps, eat your Mars bar outta your pocket, put fishing line out, make & bow & arrow (keeps you active & you could shoot a birde/small animal)

In the UK at least, Protection & Location are my biggest priorities, NO shortage of water & if i fell or injured myself in the hills Id concentrate on staying warm, dry & being seen.

Interesting that no one has mentioned a sidearm. What about alligators and the like? .357 4" barrel revolver might be a useful addition. Being eaten would be an embarrassment to say the least.

The other point worth mentioning is that we are all assuming a certain degree of ability when it comes to map reading. If your new to the subject then you could do a lot worse than popping over to the Cammenga website and downloading the mapreading pdf file. It's the current U.S. Forces manual. It presumes that the person reading it has no previous knowledge of the subject.
Worth a read even if you know something about the subject. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Though lots of folks enjoy their firearms, I just don't see them as survival essentials - unless in areas where humans are considered food (polar bears, some other bears, lions, hyennas, etc...). In the US about the only land animal that might prey on humans is another human or a mountain lion (but only by ambush and even then rarely). If it is used for hunting, then that isn't so much surviving as living off the land. Just my opinion though.

I'm starting to move navigation with map/compass/GPS from a survival tool bucket into more of an outdoor tool that prevents you from getting lost in the first place bucket. It is a fun and truely imortant skill, but if truely in a survival situation I do think the best thing is to stay put, stay warm & dry, stay hydrated, and get found, unless you truely know how to "walk out" and/or there is absolutely no chance that anyone will be looking for you.

Don't forget bears, feral dogs, snakes and wild pigs. Pigs, which are numerous here in N. Texas, are bad news and will hunt you.

What about humans hunting humans for small green slips of paper that can be exchanged for food? Here and now, let alone in a "survival" situation?

In my not so humble opinion, anyone that refuses the notion of using firearms--whether personally using them, or allowing others to do so--is deluding themselves to the veracity of the Golden Rule.

I like to call it the "Godless Rule": Do unto others before they do unto you.

GPS has always been in my staying found kit. There's one on the dashboard of my car and a smaller non-mappping unit in my backpack with the map. It isn't for emergency use only, it's for everyday use. You still need to stay current with map and compass just in case the GPS dies.

As for the firearm, that's a personal decision based on the individual and the situation they may find themselves. But I wouldn't bury a 9mm or .38Spl in a survival kit either. I'd wear it in a holster where I can get to it quickly when the need arises. Most of the time you don't need a gun for survival, but when you do it's no time to open up a pack. Cougar and other people can be serious threats.

I call that the Silver Rule..
Then there is the Golden Plated Rule.. Do unto others as you would have done unto you, until they do unto you, then do unto them like in kind... It looks like the Golden Rule but is much more shallow.. :-p