I've had my share of life off the grid and it infuriates me when people play their independence card like they're holding an Ace.

The rules of survival are simple. Three weeks without food, three days without water, or three minutes without air and you are dead.

We spent three weeks stranded in a narrow canyon after a flood - no water, no power, no gas. The canyon was too narrow for helicopters, too steep, too rugged and too far for rescue teams to help 11 families. Trust me, our guns were useless. Where exactly are you going to find enough game to feed 50 people in a frigging flood zone? Even the bushes and trees were washed away. Funny thing, we had plenty of hay in the barns. The rain stopped, the water went down and we rode horses 14 miles to get supplies and pack it back in to our families. Trust me, old people, babies and toddlers can't ride a horse 14 miles up and down steep mountains. Trust me again, you don't eat your only way out.

Another eleven days on the top of a mountain alone, with no power, no propane and closed roads due to a snow storm. Inside temperature remained below freezing. Being alone ain't fun. I had no idea when it would end and weighed every decision against honest to G-d survival. If I had not put myself on rations, I would have died. If I had failed to insulate myself, I would have frozen to death in my sleep.

One of my daughters and her cousin spent 17 days trapped by an ice storm in an old farm house in Kentucky. They nearly froze to death. Huge icicles dangling and dropping off trees forced them to stay inside. Stabbed by an icicle is a real thing.

You can't eat guns. You can't burn refrigerators or washing machines in your fireplace. 90% of your household stuff is so toxic, it will kill you or your brain cells if you burn it. You can't go outside in summer coats and tennis shoes when it's 9-degrees. You can't ride ATVs when there is no gas. You can't live on snow. You can't feed canned ravioli to a newborn. You can't eat your neighbor's pets. You can't burn candles you don't have. You can't turn on flashlights without batteries.

You can eat your pet's food. If you have a can opener.