# Lost in woods - Is breaking into an unoccupied Cabin legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033 "2013-05-10T22:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/21 "2013-05-11T14:40:05Z")
Just a related story. I know someone who had to break into a government building to seek shelter. The government people were apparently quite pissed. It was during a bad hurricane. Given it was a Coast Guard Station one would think they would have been bit more sympathetic. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/22 "2013-05-11T15:05:57Z")
There was a cabin not to far from where I live. The note inside said basically take what you need, leave what you can. I don’t bother locking my house up here in the sticks. No point in it. I regularly get hikers and skiers coming down through my property from the pass. Some are lost and need help. Some know what they are doing. My Wife just had an experience this winter where a fellow was ill prepared. He had no snow shoes. She directed him to the route he needed to get to his car. She would have brought him back to the house if he was in real trouble. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/23 "2013-05-11T15:13:02Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t know what the laws are, but in general\*\* the laws allow a person to do anything to save their own life.\*\* The law can be an ass though. No wait, sorry meant the lawmakers can be assholes. But not cannibalism. The law expects you to starve yourself, rather than eat your companion who has already starved. People have gone straight from rescue to prison for that, in every country, where cannibalism has virtually no defense.. For what its worth, it is the rigid application of the law, not the law itself, that was referred to as an ass. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/24 "2013-05-11T17:13:48Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > But not cannibalism. The law expects you to starve yourself, rather than eat your companion who has already starved. People have gone straight from rescue to prison for that, in every country, where cannibalism has virtually no defense.. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/25 "2013-05-11T18:00:58Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > But not cannibalism. The law expects you to starve yourself, rather than eat your companion who has already starved. People have gone straight from rescue to prison for that, in every country, where cannibalism has virtually no defense.. > > For what its worth, it is the rigid application of the law, not the law itself, that was referred to as an ass. Are you saying that a person who is starving and _unable_ to obtain any other source of food, would be prosecuted for consuming a already deceased person? I’ve never seen any such law. Do you have any examples of anyone being arrested/prosecuted for that? ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/26 "2013-05-11T19:43:00Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > The case I want to see is the one I posited in Traffic School - in instructor challenged anybody to come up with a situation under which DUI could be justified. > I shut him up with: > > Kid is going to be dead in 15 minutes absent serious medical attention > Nearest medical facility is 10 minutes, and there is no ambulance en route. > You are the only person present who knows how to drive. > You’re 2 drinks over the line. > “Sorry kid, should have chopped your foot open an hour ago while I was still sober - sucks to be you”? Your instructor never heard of a tourniquet? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/27 "2013-05-11T20:02:52Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#): > > Cite? > [@](#): > > A man who, in order to escape death from hunger, kills another for the purpose of eating his flesh, is guilty of murder; although at the time of the act he is in such circumstances that he believes and has reasonable ground for believing that it affords the only chance of preserving his life. > > … > Held, that upon these facts, there was no proof of any such necessity as could justify the prisoners in killing the boy, and that they were guilty of murder. THE QUEEN v. DUDLEY AND STEPHENS > **[vLex | Legal AI | Live Case Law | Statutes & Regulations](https://vlex.com)** > > More precise AI built for lawyers. vLex combines the largest legal database of statutes and caselaw with advanced engineering. Note that this case, like most, is fact specific. Had they drawn lots, or had they not been seamen, the case may have turned out differently. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/28 "2013-05-11T20:21:36Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > THE QUEEN v. DUDLEY AND STEPHENS > > [vLex | Legal AI | Live Case Law | Statutes & Regulations](http://www.justis.com/titles/iclr_bqb14040.html) > > Note that this case, like most, is fact specific. Had they drawn lots, or had they not been seamen, the case may have turned out differently. That’s about murder though, the outcome was that necessity is not a defence to a murder charge. Necessity might still be a defence for a charge of cannibalism when the corpse was found dead. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/29 "2013-05-11T20:34:33Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > That’s about murder though, the outcome was that necessity is not a defence to a murder charge. Necessity might still be a defence for a charge of cannibalism when the corpse was found dead. Well, there isn’t really a law against cannibalism in the US. There is in England, and I agree that without the murder charge Dudley would have been a very different case. > **[cannibalism](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/cannibalism)** ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/30 "2013-05-11T20:41:06Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Well, there isn’t really a law against cannibalism in the US. There is in England, and I agree that without the murder charge Dudley would have been a very different case. > > [cannibalism | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/cannibalism) [hijack] In the Netherlands we cannibalise each other alive, just to avoid this whole issue. [Cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFte51aAds). [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/31 "2013-05-11T22:55:27Z")
> [@Steverd](#): > > Les Stroud has done this more than once in his Survivorman series. > He made the same exact arguments. Umm.. WHICH same exact arguments?!? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/32 "2013-05-12T02:20:47Z")
Nobody wants to take the dead kid scenario? The scenario is “Will be dead”, not “dead for lack of first aid”. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/33 "2013-05-12T02:33:13Z")
On the criminal side, the doctrines of necessity and competing harms would protect you. Short version: You committed a minor crime to prevent a larger harm which would be your death. Several rules apply, but it fits your scenario. You would be exempt from trespass under the civil doctrine of private necessity. The rules are basically the same, but you would owe the home owner reasonable value for the stuff you took. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/34 "2013-05-12T02:58:31Z")
**jtgain** has it in one. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/35 "2013-05-13T04:32:33Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > _looks forward to piles of dead libertarians outside locked blizzard-struck cabins_ [Moderator note] Keep the snide political commentary out of GQ, please. [/Moderator note] ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/36 "2013-05-13T05:47:41Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > Also, how the heck are you going to identify the owner of a cabin in the remote wilderness? stop by the police station when you get back to town, confess your action and offer to pay for the damages?!?! That seems a reasonable option, actually, but I suspect the most likely method is to leave a note with your contact details. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/37 "2013-05-13T10:47:51Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Would you have a film crew with you? If it’s for edutainment you’re good to go! 😃 Well, Les Stroud doesn’t have a film crew. He does all of the camera work himself so maybe if **iamthewalrus(:3=** filmed himself he would be good to go. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/38 "2013-05-13T12:47:27Z")
> [@Steverd](#): > > Les Stroud has done this more than once in his Survivorman series. > He made the same exact arguments. If Les Stroud actually broke into cabins on Survivorman, he would be prosecutable. It’s been stated in several interviews and a behind-the-scenes episode that he’s generally in contact with his crew. Yes, he’s by himself and does all the filming, but he also has a satellite phone and talks to them frequently. They’ve even cut a few expeditions short due to things like incoming storms and the like. So if he was in a situation where he actually thought he would die, the correct thing for him to do would be to call for an extraction, not break into private property. There’s no necessity defense in his case. Having said that, I never remember him breaking into private property. If he did, I’m certain it was arranged with the property owner ahead of time. ---
**Author:** ![Qwakkeddup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Qwakkeddup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwakkeddup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/39 "2013-05-13T13:02:57Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Having said that, I never remember him breaking into private property. If he did, I’m certain it was arranged with the property owner ahead of time. He does use a cabin specifically built as an emergency shelter for anyone in need. I believe it is in Alaska as he has a sled and dogs to deal with as well. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033/40 "2013-05-13T13:22:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I don’t know what the laws are, but in general the laws allow a person to do anything to save their own life. The law can be an ass though. No wait, sorry meant the lawmakers can be assholes. > [@jtur88](#): > > … > For what its worth, it is the rigid application of the law, not the law itself, that was referred to as an ass. [Nitpick] The law is “a ass” [/nitpick] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-in-woods-is-breaking-into-an-unoccupied-cabin-legal/658033.md?page=3)