That has got to be one of the most sweeping and misleading statements of all time.
DEHYDRATION IS ONE OF THE MAJOR CAUSES OF HYPOTHERMIA!

Your body needs water in order to process it's on board fuel load. That's the food in your stomach & the fat on your body. No water, no fuel. In below freezing conditions you dehydrate as fast as in a high temperature enviroment.

One other point: The Rule of Three's is a guide, not a hard and fast set of priority's that change according to the situation. It's like the Breathing, Bleeding, Burns and Broken Bones taught in basic first aid.
Don't get fixated. It WILL kill you.

The rule of threes in an ok start to help explain the need for water and shelter before food but otherwise it can be misleading because like many have said; each case is different.

If you look at the list on the second post you see that there are some silly things listed.

Priorities are generally set by YOUR situation, not someone else's.

Summer in the desert, water may be your first priority, but you sure could use some shade so you don't accelerate hyperthermia. Night temps in some places can drop from 105F to 50-55F, so you can still die of hypothermia, esp if you're dehydrated. In these conditions, you'll need both water and shelter.

If you've been drinking steadily (the water in your body is more valuable than the water in your bottle) because you planned to be out for only 3-4 hrs on a lovely 75F day, and suddenly realize that you're not where you should be, the situation has changed, and you have to allow for that. Now your water bottle is empty, you're starting to feel thirsty, the sun is getting low, and you're looking at spending a night in a canyon where the temps may drop into the 30s or 40s. Your priority needs to change from water to shelter. You can stand being a bit thirsty while you find or prepare shelter. When you've taken care of that, THEN you can look for water. But since you've been drinking as you walked, your water levels won't be that bad.

The point of determining survival priorities is not to make decisions in a panic, or from kneejerk reactions to the situation you've found yourself in. When conditions change, you have to change with them. Trying to force the old plan to work can get you into far more trouble than if you stop NOW, and just think.

Sue

Rule of 3s.

Air is number one.
Shelter/fire is two.
Water is three.
Food is four.

Teacher I don't know where you live, But I live in So. Calif. WAY South. Down here a shelter may never be needed, but water will always be the Number one requirement. Down Here we worry about Hyperthermia more that any thig else.

I think the rule of 3's is nice because it gives you a structure & something to think thru ahead of time & even more importantly something to think thru in the situation - so you won't panic. Anything that helps you relax & keep your head is a great tool to have. I don't know of anyone that thinks they are set in stone. Just a good guide.

Interesting story - 4 years ago I was using the rule of 3's in teaching our cubscouts (8 yr olds) what to do in a survival situation.

My first question was --> What should you do if you realize you a lost in the woods?

First kid blurted out "walk really fast!"

Second kid immediately followed up with "start looking for food"

Just because it gets dark does not mean you are spendng the night in the wilderness. That is why it is a good idea to carry a headlamp and extra clothes. If it gets dark; you use the headlamp (if you know where you are going) it gets cold and you add layers.

The premise of the “Rule of 3s” is simply to think about things in the order of potential importance. In extreme environments, it usually works out perfectly. In non-extreme environments, you simply get to the shelter step and think “the clothes I’m wearing right now are shelter enough,” and proceed to the next step.

It’s a checklist of things to think about, not a recipe of what to do in what order. Which situation do you think is better?

• You think about shelter, realize it’s not important right now, and proceed to water.
• You think about water, work on obtaining it, and ignore shelter when it’s really needed.

Good points. Here (on the cold plains )its the cold we worry about -- though in the Summer it frequenlty hits 90.

TRO

There are many good points made here. Certainly, one's immediate circumstances will dictate one's course of action. The rules of three are more appropriately applied after applying the S.T.O.P. Immediate Action Survival Plan.