Everyone Should Learn to Prepare Before It’s Too Late
I wish preparedness was something that came naturally to everyone. Unfortunately, many people are unprepared to survive an emergency situation. In this article, I’m going to talk about the basics. I outline four survival skills preppers need to survive an emergency.
1. How to Handle Home Emergencies
We can’t predict every potential home emergency, but we can prepare to handle them. A lot of people underestimate the importance of being prepared. They forget the basics. One of the most important survival skills preppers need is how to apply first aid. To do this, you should always have a first aid kit stored in your home. While you probably won’t need it most of the time, it’s better to be prepared than sorry.
If you’re reading this article, I hope you come to appreciate the importance of a home emergency first aid kit. While a home emergency kit will include different supplies based on an individual’s unique needs, it should always include sunscreen, an emergency blanket, paper towels, and antiseptic wound cleaning spray. In addition to simply having a first aid kit, you should know your basic first aid skills. Learn how to clean wounds, apply gauze, perform CPR. While our own skills won’t help us replace medical professionals, they can help to keep someone alive while awaiting professional care.
2. How to Build a Shelter
You may be surprised to learn that building a shelter in the woods is not a difficult task. It is, however, important to focus on two things while doing it. Firstly, you should know in advance the best types of areas you should build a shelter in. Secondly, you should know what type of shelter to build. Lastly, you need to know what to bring into your shelter.
Shelters should be built in locations that offer good views of the surrounding area. Can you track a storm? Will you be able to identify people approaching your location? Ideally, your shelter should be located at a high elevation to protect you and your family from the possibility of flooding. Also, the ground on which you build your shelter should be cleared of rocks. It should be flat and level, too.
When building your shelter, it’s critical that you use sturdy materials. Here is some information you can use when building your shelter. Once your shelter is built, it’s important that you have supplies that will help you survive out in the wilderness. Hunting gear, cookware, and water filtration tools are all necessary to help you sustain yourself out in the wilderness. Yes, building a shelter is one of the survival skills preppers need. More importantly, surviving out in the wilderness after having built your shelter is a skill in itself.
3. How to Build a Fire
Another one of the skills preppers need to survive is how to build a fire. This skill is especially necessary if you run out of alternative means by which to start a fire. To make a fire with limited supplies, you will need two pieces of wood to fuel the flame. Additionally, you will need some matches and dry twigs.
Once you have your supplies, you need to clear a circular area in which you want to create your fire. Place the dry twigs inside the circle. Light the match under the twigs, which should begin to burn rapidly. Slowly add one of the pieces of wood, making sure not to suppress the existing flame. Watch as the large piece of wood catches fire. Once the majority of the wood starts to burn, stoke the fire. You can add the second piece of wood as well. Your fire will serve both as your source of heat and a way to cook your food.
These are some basic tips to know when making a fire outdoors. Making a fire outdoors can be fun and entertaining, but it also can be one of the critical survival skills preppers need to become more self-sufficient and independent.
4. Feeding Yourself in the Wilderness
Planting and foraging for food in the wilderness can be exciting and challenging at the same time. One of the best ways to get started learning what is and is not safe to eat is to ask your local forest management office for instruction. Supplement their instruction with educational books that can help you identify wild food that is safe to eat.
Hunting is another way in which you can sustain yourself out in the wilderness. Our ancestors had no choice but to hunt. While we now are lucky enough to have mass produced food, we should never forget the skills that were necessary to get us to the 21st century. Learn how to hunt before you truly need to hunt. It’s one of the most important survival skills preppers need to survive.
These Four Survival Skills Preppers Need Aren’t Exhaustive
While the above survival skills will help you, they aren’t the only skills you will need. I strongly recommend you continue to educate yourself on handling emergency situations at home and how to sustain yourself out in the wilderness. As Bunker Bob says, preparation is everything. It’s important that you begin preparing today.
Hanna is a writer at SurvivalTechie.com, a website dedicated to providing updated top notch survival knowledge to prepare you for the wilderness.
Do you know of other survival skills preppers need? Leave a comment below.
