Stay alive in the outdoors and in emergencies — survival taught as decision-science from established safety guidance, so every scenario has one defensible best action rather than macho folklore. The rule of threes and how it sets your priorities (roughly three minutes without air, three hours without shelter in harsh exposure, three days without water, three weeks without food — the order most people get backwards); protection from exposure and how to recognize hypothermia and heat illness; finding and purifying water (boiling, filtering, chemical treatment) and the myths that kill; building a fire and signaling for rescue (the rule of three signals, a mirror, a whistle); what to do the moment you realize you’re lost (the S.T.O.P. method — Stop, Think, Observe, Plan — and when staying put beats wandering); environmental hazards (lightning position, flash floods, animal encounters and the bear myths, safe water crossings); basic navigation without a GPS; and home and disaster preparedness (a go-bag, a 72-hour kit, and how to respond to a gas leak or carbon monoxide). Every explanation names the principle, the deadly myth, and a rule you can act on. Educational preparedness only — grounded in guidance like ready.gov, the Red Cross, and the park services; never medical advice, and never encouragement to take unnecessary risks.