Longest Period Without Water and Food?

[Gondor]

What is the longest known period that someone survived without water? The same question goes for food too. I've heard a lot of crazy numbers so I wanted to check.

[Michael]

There's a general guideline:

3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food

Now, obviously this depends on particulars. You're going to die more quickly without water in some place with a lot of heat or wind than you are in a mild place with still air. And you're going to starve a lot more quickly hiking in snow than you will sitting in a mild place. But the above is your generic guideline when not accounting for particularly harsh conditions.

[southerngal]

No one is going to make it much more than 3 days without water if anyone has. People have probably survived more than 3 weeks without food though.

[Grandpa]

The woman that survived 47 days this spring had limited water and only a sack of hard candy that she rationed herself to 1 piece a day. She had unheated shelter (the van) and extra clothes and a blanket though. The doctor figured she was within 2 or 3 days of being too far over the top to survive. She had to walk so far for water, that most days she just drank the run-off in the wheel track. This was end of March into April in high snowy country.

[Barney]

Wow, that is crazy! I heard about a man lost in the desert who drank bat blood and survived 9 days without a drop of water.

[Scotty]

I guess that would be better than nothing. I wonder how he caught the bat? I don't think I could survive very long without water. Food-yeah, I could do it but water would be very hard for me.

[wvbreamfisherman]

I seem to recall some downed fliers in WWII surviving 50-odd days on a raft in the pacific without water- I think the story was in a Boy's Life magazine I got in the 60's. I can't recall if they had some water when they started out, or if they were able to catch some rainwater. Still a pretty impressive feat.