10 Basic Survival Skills That You Ought To Know

These 10 basic survival skills that you ought to know will give you the leverage in times of disasters and emergencies.

Learning all these things will allow you to preserve your life even if the situation gets too deleterious.

You are not a prepper just because you have the gears and gadgets for survival. Even buying that E-book for off-grid living and subscribing to a variety of prepper magazine do not automatically make you a prepper. Instead, the only real identification that a prepper can show is survival skills. You can’t profess that you are part of the elite 1% if you tend to panic in dire situations.

There are a lot of aspects to learn for you to survive in any emergency scenarios. Building temporary shelters, getting SOS calls, and enacting self-defense are some of the things that you should equip yourself right now when things are still calm. But if we are going to back to the basics, these following skill sets should be able to draw the thin line between life and death.

1. Building Fire

Among the survival skills that you should learn, making fire should come first in your priority. Although it might not be the first thing that you will ever do once disaster strikes, you will still eventually do it. And when you need warmth, food, and clean water, fire is an essential component. You can also utilize fire in sterilizing medical tools, kitchen utensils, and other sensitive materials.

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Different situations require a specific technique in building a fire. One good scenario that you should practice is making fire on wet wood. This would save you from scenarios in which your surroundings are watery and moist.

2. Sending Signal

There are instances in where the injury that you can sustain from an outdoor accident is severe. If you are stuck in this predicament, you are good as helpless. The only thing that you can hope is for rescue to arrive. But how can the rescuers find you in the middle of nowhere?

If your body is rendered paralyzed or useless, the best course of action is to send survival signals. The first method that you can do is making a signal fire. Make sure that the fire will be built in an open area for maximum visibility. If you make the fire on trees or cliffs, the smoke will be dispersed. Heighten the base of the fire so that the ground moisture won’t catch it.

The second approach is using a mirror. The flash that a mirror can create can be seen from great distances. If you have a good light source to reflect on (such as the moonlight or the sun), you can generate striking and noticeable flashlights. Fortunately, you can always improvise a mirror. Car mirrors and cell phone screens can work here!

3. Learning How to Tie a Bowline

It is necessary that you know a plethora of knots if you want to survive the outdoors. Although they appear to be simple, knots can actually be used in different applications. You can apply it in making shelters, setting up bandages, and tying bandages to your wounds or injuries. You should learn a multiple of knotting technique. But among them, you should prioritize the bowline.

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The bowline is always considered as a type of rescue knot. This knot has a foolproof security. It can support loaded weight without unfurling. Furthermore, slipping the knot out is pretty simple, too. You can use it in different applications, from backpacking down to survival scenarios.

4. Navigation (By Day)

Even if you don’t have your GPS tool, you can still find your way in the wild. Just look up to the sky and see where it leads you. Obviously, looking at the direction of the sky can help you out. Typically, the sun rises in the east and sets down in the west.

You can use this general fact to draw your north-south line. If you have an analog clock, place it horizontally and have the hour hand be pointed to the sun. Create an imaginary line between the 12 o’clock and hour hand. That would serve your north-south line. For daylight saving, the line should be drawn between the hour hand and 1 o’clock.

5. Navigation (By Night)

But what if you are trying to navigate your way in the middle of the darkness? Well, you still just have to look up in the sky. Seek for North Star, which is located at the end portion of the handle of the Little Dipper.

If you can spot the Big dipper, create an imaginary line between the stars. Specifically, the line should be drawn from the end of the dipper. Next, extend the line you created from the Big Dipper toward the Little Dipper. The star that you can find here is the Polaris or the North Star. The direction you are facing the Polaris is the true north.

6. Gigging

Food is one of the biggest problems when you are stuck in a survival situation. That’s why it is important that you learn the art of gigging. Gigging is the process of making a spear to catch any edible critters you see. You can hunt fish, rabbits, and snakes with the use of this tool.

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To make the spear, look for a sapling and cut it off (the diameter should be approximately one inch). Next, use the knife to split the bigger end of the sapling into four portions. Ideally, the length of the split should be around ten inches. Once done, shove a stick between the crevice so that the split can be spread even further. The points should be sharpened as well. The final product would be a four-pronged utility spear.

7. Driving a Variety of Vehicles

Many preppers and survivalists have their bug out vehicle when things go bad and awful. But during worst-case scenarios, you have to remember that even your trusted vehicle can break. That’s the reason why depending on a sole vehicle will cause you big time troubles.

The best thing that you can do here is to be familiar with different vehicles. Only a few people know how to drive all-terrain vehicles, semi-trucks, and bulldozers. Make sure that you can learn how to operate them. Of course, it is also essential to learn how to drive a manual vehicle. It is a life skill that you can save your life from danger.

If possible, learn to drive water and air-based vehicles, too.

8. Bartering

There will come a point in where survival can turn into a competition. After all, severe cases of disasters will have preppers compete for the remaining resources out there. It is a tense situation, as it can endanger your properties and life, as well.

Bartering or haggling is one of the unwritten conducts in the survival community. To prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation, preppers are taught to barter their existing goods with other items that they need. Anyone can do this. However, this is not the catch that you should be aware of.

When bartering, make sure that you will never show or lay down your essentials. If you find these items necessary, they will, too. Always have a bug out bag that will separate your survival amenities from the items that you are willing to trade.

9. Psychological Preparation

Survival is not just about doing the dirty work. It is also about preserving the sanity of your mind. It is given that a lot will panic if they are suddenly rendered in a predicament that they are not prepared. Tragedies and disasters can leave most of us broken and divested, but not me. Not you! There are a lot of psychological trainings that you can take to increase your mental fortitude. Furthermore, your attitude also plays a big part in making wise decisions and coming up with reasonable action plans. Remember: it is all on the head.

10. Informing Others

This is a hack that every prepper should know. If you are going somewhere far or dangerous, it is better not to keep it to yourself. Instead, you should tell it to someone you trust. Tell them your itinerary or schedule. If you can, divulge to them the expected date of your return. In this way, they can be quickly notified once you are not able to follow your regimen. They can call the police or other proper agencies to conduct a search and rescue mission. Prevention is still better than cure.

Final Thoughts

Surviving on dire scenarios is quite an ordeal. It would not be something that you anyone can do, especially if they didn’t equip themselves with the right skills and mindset. But for us who are gearing to be ready at all times, learning how to survive is a priority. And by getting these guidelines checked and accounted, you can be sure that you will be getting out of any situations alive and safe!

What are your thoughts about this? Share it with us in the comment section below. Take care! Be safe and be ready!