# How Long a Period of Going Without Water is Unsafe?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-a-period-of-going-without-water-is-unsafe/766452>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 20, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-a-period-of-going-without-water-is-unsafe/766452 "2016-09-20T17:38:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-a-period-of-going-without-water-is-unsafe/766452/1 "2016-09-20T17:38:51Z")

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On a mailing list someone is saying his wife will be going on a vision quest without food or water for four days. Four days without water seems dangerous to me. Anyone know?

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-a-period-of-going-without-water-is-unsafe/766452/2 "2016-09-20T17:45:29Z")

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[this site claims 3 days in the wilderness without water](http://www.livescience.com/32320-how-long-can-a-person-survive-without-water.html) Not sure how long in a more hospitable environment. 4 days without water under any conditions seems like it presents a fair chance of [severe complications.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dehydration)

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-a-period-of-going-without-water-is-unsafe/766452/3 "2016-09-20T18:00:09Z")

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> [@PastTense](#):
>
> On a mailing list someone is saying his wife will be going on a vision quest without food or water for four days. Four days without water seems dangerous to me. Anyone know?

I think she’ll have a vision, and he could probably start dating.

Unless you mean she isn’t taking food/water but can utilize what she finds/collects/kills?

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-a-period-of-going-without-water-is-unsafe/766452/4 "2016-09-20T18:10:06Z")

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Rule of threes:

Three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, three weeks without food = you are dead.

Obviously there are a lot of outliers and such. But going three days without water is an extremely bad idea no matter how awesome you are.