Not every piece of gear or specific skill is going to applicable for your personal survival. If you live in the North East you probably don’t need to know more than the absolute basics of desert survival just in case your vacation to the Grand Canyon takes a turn for the worst. Likewise, if you are living in the Ozarks you don’t need to concern yourself with urban survival techniques. Your survival plan needs to reflect your individual needs based on your individual situation. These are the three most important survival skills, and some things to keep in mind about each of them so that you can plan and practice for what you will actually be facing in your survival.
Shelter
Shelter should always be your first consideration, but what shelter will greatly depend on your situation. In the cold, the number one factor will be keeping your body insulated from the ground while sleeping. In the desert, shade will be the most important aspect of your shelter. Security should be your first though for urban survival shelter, and stealth a close second.
Water
Water will always come second in survival, but getting it is different in each setting. In a temperate environment finding a body of water and purifying the water should be your plan. Desert survival will require pushing conservation to the limits, we also covered making a survival still from vegetation in a previous article which would work in both desert and urban settings.
Foraging
After shelter and water are taken care of you will need to eat. This won’t be a walk in park in any setting, but bugs, edible plants, fish, and small game will be potentially on the menu in a temperate wilderness. In a desert food won’t be much easier to get than water, the plants and animals you do find are potentially dangerous if you are not familiar with them, getting to a sustainable source of food like a town should be your strategy in most cases. If you are living in a city or suburb then you should be storing food now, urban environments can be virtual deserts. Don’t plan on scavenging what you need, this will be dangerous.
For those that are into survival, preparing can be a hobby, but make sure that while you are having fun you are also being practical. Don’t waste time and resources developing skills or storing gear that is not applicable to your survival. It’s your life we’re talking about after all.
If you enjoyed this, you might also like….