Could You Survive the Hunger Games?

I’ve watched Catching Fire approximately 37 times since I purchased it two weeks ago, and that’s really not much of an exaggeration (if TLC ever decides to start a series called HELP: I’m Obsessed With Katniss Everdeen, I’ll nominate myself). This is not surprising, since my entire Netflix “Recently Watched” column reads like a list of post-apocalyptic sob stories, including the cheese-tastic remake of the classic Red Dawn (I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for those Hemsworth boys).

This got me wondering: we all love a good comeback story, a “good-versus-evil” triumph, a little bit lot of fantastic rebel-fighter, zombie hunter, utilitarian denim/khaki fashion. But why do we love it?

Is there a part of us that craves the danger only a life or death situation brings? Is it the adrenaline rush? Maybe we like to put ourselves in the protagonist’s shoes simply to gauge what we think we would do, given the same set of circumstances, to ask, “What would I do if there were zombies chasing me down this alley? If I’m stranded in the middle of a desert after an alien invasion wiped most of Earth’s population, how would I find water and where would I hide?”

So while watching Catching Fire for the 37th time, I was pushed to ask the hardest question of all: in a situation rife with not only threat from rival tributes but from the elements as well… could I actually survive the Hunger Games?

If I’m being completely honest, I’m not entirely certain I’d make it past the first day. If you aren’t sure just how long you’d last before the cannon sounded, take a look at these facts and ask yourself whether you really know how to deal or whether you’d be on Mother Nature’s shortlist for a quick trip upstairs:

How many of these did you already know? (This wasn’t a Facebook quiz, so tallying points will get you nowhere.) What other survival tips would you give out (or keep to yourself… this is the Hunger Games, after all)?

Featured image via Lionsgate

*Looking for additional “fun” survival facts? Learn more about what happens to the human body in survival scenarios by checking out Surviving the Extremes by Kenneth Kamler M.D.