# How long would you survive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513 "2014-07-31T18:14:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/41 "2014-08-01T09:04:04Z")
With no major predators and a supply of matches and fresh water, I’m optimistically figuring I’ll survive long enough to starve to death. I’m starting out pretty big so I’m probably good for about sixty days. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/42 "2014-08-01T11:11:10Z")
I voted for a couple of weeks. I have virtually no survival training, but I have read a reasonable amount of realistic fiction on the subject. I like to think I’d be able to get a fire going and purify seawater by boiling and condensing it, even if there wasn’t a fresh water supply. Shelter would be a matter of finding a suitable cave, I would think. Food is going to be my problem, I doubt I could catch sufficient sea life to sustain me and I would find it tough to recognise what plants were edible and what weren’t. So I’d probably die of starvation or poisoning within a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/43 "2014-08-01T12:39:37Z")
I could survive indefinitely. My real worry would be not having my medication and-worst case-having another stroke. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/44 "2014-08-01T12:54:18Z")
Well, crap, I picked a "few months, but I didn’t read your additional posts before doing so. Now that I know there is fresh water available and fish, hell, no reason ti not survive. My friends all joke that I’m the guy who would walk away from a plane crash unscathed. Not because I’m lucky, I just have a good knack of not getting panicked at all, no matter what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Bootsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@Bootsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootsy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/45 "2014-08-01T13:33:28Z")
Can you die of tiredness? Might be hard to sleep without a bedtime story! Sure i could find some humans/neanderthals to sponge off ---
**Author:** ![Bootsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@Bootsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootsy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/46 "2014-08-01T13:35:28Z")
If there are animals there you can mash up some pancreas glands and inject it into your blood with your homemade syringe! Diabetics sorted, next health problem for me to solve? ---
**Author:** ![Bootsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@Bootsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootsy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/47 "2014-08-01T13:36:51Z")
Anybody see the program of the guy who went to tincup lake in Canada to try to survive, he struggled but mostly due to isolation affecting his mental state ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/48 "2014-08-01T13:36:54Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I suspect there are things that people aren’t taking into account sufficiently here. According to info upthread, it basically rains every day and is never much above freezing. Further, the island are in the “Furious Fifties” ie it is windy all the time. With windchill factor, and being wet, your heat loss is going to be severe. > > Fires are going to be very hard work and risk dying of exposure is going to be absolutely extreme. > > The OP says you are dressed in “sodden casuals”. This could mean anything. If this means full fleece or wool clothing and a waterproof layer, I would give myself some fighting chance of lasting the first night. If it means lightweight clothing and no waterproof layer, I think I would be pretty screwed and I think most people here are kidding themselves if they think they would be much different. Yeah, depending on circumstances (weather, time of year, how sodden are the clothes, is all the wood in sight soaked…) every single person in this thread is going to be dead in 36 hours tops. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/49 "2014-08-01T13:54:22Z")
I said I’d make it a few months. I’m sure that I would be able to scrape by for a while finding food and fresh water, but I have a couple of big problems. First is that I tend to be hyper sensitive to germs and stuff, so whatever bacteria and viruses are swirling around in the water are going to make my life miserable. I would try to boil the hell out of it first, but with no pot to boil water in I’ve got to makeshift a way to do that which sounds tricky at best. Second is that I am so pale and burn very easily. If there isn’t sunblock in the survival stuff I found I would be so fucked. ---
**Author:** ![Bootsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@Bootsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootsy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/50 "2014-08-01T14:28:06Z")
Natural sun block is mud, problem solved! Also new research suggests sun block doesn’t do anything to your skin cancer risk, just as a by the by ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/51 "2014-08-01T14:45:43Z")
Now? Dead in a few days. In my 20/30s? A long,long time. If the goats are still there,I’d be happy and healthy… Catch a few kids,train them to carry packs,pull travois,hey I’m golden ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/52 "2014-08-01T15:27:52Z")
40 matches? [Luxury!](http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/castaways/page-2) Pity the castaway depots are gone. But I should do OK indefinitely. Or not [all gone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castaway_depot#Depot_locations), apparently. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/53 "2014-08-01T15:29:43Z")
> [@Lorene89095](#): > > Now? Dead in a few days. In my 20/30s? A long,long time. If the goats are still there,I’d be happy and healthy… Catch a few kids,train them to carry packs,pull travois,hey I’m golden The goats are all gone. There are pigs and rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/54 "2014-08-01T16:52:58Z")
I voted indefinitely, but that is highly dependent on readily available fresh water and non-skittish game or other food sources. All I know about the great outdoors is how to get back inside. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/55 "2014-08-01T17:52:55Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I suspect there are things that people aren’t taking into account sufficiently here. According to info upthread, it basically rains every day and is never much above freezing. The temperature ranges from 3 to 15 C, so it’s usually not freezing. If you can keep reasonably dry and have a fire going you’d be okay. Auckland Island is fairly big, and you could find many places sheltered from wind. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/56 "2014-08-01T18:21:38Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I suspect there are things that people aren’t taking into account sufficiently here. According to info upthread, it basically rains every day and is never much above freezing. Further, the island are in the “Furious Fifties” ie it is windy all the time. With windchill factor, and being wet, your heat loss is going to be severe. > > Fires are going to be very hard work and risk dying of exposure is going to be absolutely extreme. > > The OP says you are dressed in “sodden casuals”. This could mean anything. If this means full fleece or wool clothing and a waterproof layer, I would give myself some fighting chance of lasting the first night. If it means lightweight clothing and no waterproof layer, I think I would be pretty screwed and I think most people here are kidding themselves if they think they would be much different. I thought I posted in this thread yesterday, but it disappeared. This was my point, exactly, Even if you’re clad from head to toe in the finest technical gear on Day One, it is going to be abraded, torn, and destroyed within months. And then you will die of hypothermia. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/57 "2014-08-01T18:26:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The temperature ranges from 3 to 15 C, so it’s usually not freezing. If you can keep reasonably dry and have a fire going you’d be okay. > > Auckland Island is fairly big, and you could find many places sheltered from wind. 50°F (10°C) and wet is enough to induce hypothermia, it doesn’t have to be freezing. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/58 "2014-08-01T18:48:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > The goats are all gone. There are pigs and rabbits. Bacon and lucky rabbits feet? If you don’t survive you must have committed suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/59 "2014-08-01T19:02:35Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > I thought I posted in this thread yesterday, but it disappeared. > > This was my point, exactly, Even if you’re clad from head to toe in the finest technical gear on Day One, it is going to be abraded, torn, and destroyed within months. And then you will die of hypothermia. A fellow with time on his hands might make the effort to brain-tan the hides off the rabbits and pigs he harvests. From these, new clothing can be made. Ideally, that fellow would begin the process before his boughten clothes wore out. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513/60 "2014-08-01T19:37:06Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > A fellow with time on his hands might make the effort to brain-tan the hides off the rabbits and pigs he harvests. From these, new clothing can be made. Ideally, that fellow would begin the process before his boughten clothes wore out. I’ve skinned lots of rabbits in my life, and the person that could skin a rabbit with a Ka-bar and have enough pieces that were large enough to be useful for anything garment-related would have my utmost respect. You might get by with hog hides, but they’re going to be leaky and not insulated. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-you-survive/694513.md?page=4)