10 Survival Skills You Should Know & Why

 
Living in uncertain times requires everyone to consider what life would be like if civilization were to crash. How long would it take for anarchy to begin? How long would it last? Do you have what it takes to survive? To prepare for an unknown future, it’s important to learn 10 survival skills along with explanations about why you need them.

Find and Grow Food

No matter what is going on around you, your body is going to need food. If disaster strikes, you won’t be able to go to the fridge and cook dinner. What this means is you need to know how to find and grow food. It’s essential to know how to do this before disaster strikes. If it takes you a long time to figure this out, you won’t have the energy to work the land and can eventually starve. Being able to find food for you and your family and grow your own will allow you to be self-sustainable in the outdoors.

Find Water and Know How to Purify It 

Humans can’t survive without water to drink. And, not just any water source will do. To keep yourself healthy, you have to have a clean water source to drink from, or know how to purify water that is not purified yet. The only purified water you will find in the wilderness is water from a natural spring. It’d be a blessing to find a clean water source, but if you know where it is, there’s a good chance many other people do too. Instead, of searching for a source of purified water, it’s important to know how to purify any water source you find. 

Build Shelter from Scratch

When you think of a survival situation and how you will prepare for it, you must think about shelter. In an uncertain world, you never know how long you’ll have to live in the outdoors. For this reason, you’ll need to know how to build a shelter. There may be some pre-existing structures available, but you can’t count on it. You’ll probably have to move often, so you don’t want to count on anything permanent. Instead, you need to know how to build a shelter from scratch. It’s also a good idea to think about what natural building supplies are offered in the outdoors and how you could construct those items to make a shelter that will provide some warmth and protection from the elements.

Clothing Repair

It might seem silly at first, but knowing how to repair clothes is important in a survival situation. In some survivalist situations having the right clothes can be the difference between life and death. For instance, if it’s cold out and you don’t have the right clothing, you could experience significant health issues such as hypothermia.

Read and Use a Compass 

Do you know how to use a compass? If not, you should learn. You probably have a compass on your phone or other device, but in a survival situation you won’t have electricity to power it. So, you will need to know how to use a traditional compass and how to read it. With a compass, you’ll never be lost.

First Aid

In a survival situation, you’re probably on your own. Hospitals will be abandoned, which means you’ll have to treat yourself if you get sick. Unless someone in your group is a trained medical professional, you’ll need to be trained in first aid. Knowing how to treat yourself or others in your group is your best chance to survive if illness strikes or an injury occurs.

Fire Starting and Maintaining

Without the comforts of a furnace and warm blankets, you’ll need a fire. If you are able to find shelter such as an abandoned home, you’ll still need fire starting skills because electricity may not be available. Again without the ability to start a fire, you won’t be able to keep your body warm, cook food, or boil water for consumption and potability. When you’re learning how to start a fire, it’s important to practice in wet and dry environments, so you’re prepared for any situation.

Learn Basic Self-Defense Skills

If civilization ends, there will be no police to enforce law and order. For this reason, you need to know how to defend yourself. It’s also a good idea to purchase a firearm and learn how to use it. When practicing self-defense, you need to realize that learning is only half the battle. You also have to be mentally prepared to use the skills including shooting to kill if necessary. If civilization collapses many people will be desperate. Unfortunately, desperate people are unpredictable, which means anything could happen. Learning to do this is called survival mentality. It’s not a pleasant thing to think about, but it’s necessary for survival.

How to Hunt Without Weapons

You may know how to find food you can eat in the wilderness and eventually grow your own food, but what about better sources of protein like meat. If you want to add protein to your diet and you don’t have a bow, scope, or firearm, you’re going to need to know how to hunt without weapons. Snares, traps, and spears made out of sticks are great ways to catch animals for consumption.

Learn to Forage

Shortly after disasters, people begin to forage for supplies. It’s important to learn what forage means and how to apply this in a survival situation. Forage simply means look. In a survival situation, you’ll need to know what to look for, when to look for it, and what to do if you encounter another group of survivalists. Preparing for this situation is easier, if you have a map and compass. It’s also a good idea to use string or some other type of identification to mark areas you’ve already foraged for goods.

When searching for survivalist ideas, you’ll find list that include 1000s of skills for you to learn. But, most of the skills on these lists are actually more helpful than necessary. The skills listed above are where you should concentrate if you plan on surviving in the wilderness. Once you’ve mastered these skills you’ll be better equipped to tackle bigger tasks and more difficult skills. All in all, it is possible to survive in the wilderness, you just have to have the appropriate skills. 

 

 

 

About the Author

Brandon Cox is the founder of StayHunting, who is passionate about all things of hunting and fitness. Through his hunting website, he would like to share tips & tricks, finest tech that will excite all of the intricacies of hunting whether you be an amateur or a professional.

All content provided courtesy of Brandon Cox and stayhunting.com.