In an emergency, you can live for days without any food, but not without water.  But you’ll have a much better chance of  keeping your wits about you if there is something to snack on.  Your body starts to crave fuel only a few hours after your last meal.

Find a system for carrying lots of water and use it. If you store your hydration system in a freezer you can forget about mold!

Without food, you will soon become weak, and  lack the energy to produce warmth.  And don’t forget that gnawing, empty feeling in your stomach that will distract you from remembering common sense survival techniques!

This can happen to the hiker, who is walking his dog along a nature trail when he trips and breaks a leg.  Many have driven home on an afternoon commute to find themselves in an earthquake or tornado.

Will you have the energy to survive an emergency or unanticipated disaster?

Food :

Eat well before you go out on any outdoor activity, no matter how brief your plan is to be gone….walking, hiking, skiing, recreational vehicles, biking, climbing, hunting, fishing, or any outdoor activity.

Take compact, high-calorie snacks, such as trail mix or jerky,  along for quick

Take healthy, high nutrition snacks along whenever you go into the wilderness.

energy and endurance needs. An apple or orange will travel well, and provide energy, nutrition and moisture. You can buy commercial energy bars,

or make your own.

For longer car rides and excursions, always take extra food.  In fact, just keep an emergency food pack, with water, in the car at all times.  Throw in a box of trail mix, meat jerky and energy bars and keep it there.

Water :

A good rule of thumb to drink about a gallon of water every day to be fully hydrated, more in extreme conditions.  Many of us don’t drink this much, but we should!

And, when we are planning to be outside the home for short trips, take at least a quart of water to be safe.  Take more when you are planning outdoor excursions.  Again, just keep a bag of water bottles in the trunk.

To view the complete SurvivalCommonSense nutrition category, click:  food and water

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia.