6 Basic Survival Skills To Learn For Life

What if all those essential goodies disappear? Oh, wait! This is perhaps a reminder of the good old days when people hoarded toilet paper. Times like these call for emergency measures and knowledge of basic survival skills. 

You can battle modern-day problems without swinging into full Bear Grylls mode. From knowing how to use a compass to learning how to build a fire, certain skills can get you through a pandemic, a power outage, or even a zombie apocalypse.

Upskill yourself by learning these essential survival skills:

• Hunting and foraging
• Making a fire
• Purifying water
• Reading a compass
• Cooking
• Tying Knots  

Let’s take a deeper look into each. 

Hunting and Foraging

We aren’t cavemen but learning how to hunt will come in handy for Self-defense 

• Gathering food outdoors
• Exploring new terrains

Everyone should have basic knowledge of gathering food, just like our ancestors. Had they not been aware of such an important survival skill, the human race would have ceased to exist.
If you wish to upskill your hunting skills, start by developing:

• Mental awareness
• Good sense of navigation to track and trace animals, their movements, and behaviors 
• Bushcraft skills or feeling comfortable in the wilderness
• Physical fitness and agility 
• Setting traps
• Fishing skills

After these fundamental hunting skills, you ought to develop foraging skills too. Foraging is to search for provisions (or simply food) in nature.

Making a Fire 

One of the ​​basics of survival skills to learn, fire is your friend. It is a major part of our daily activities, and knowing how to light a fire will be a beneficial skill during an emergency. Whatever the situation may be, knowing how to make a fire and tending to it will help you:

• Cook food
• Stay warm
• Ward off animals 
• Signal for help

In fact, one must learn how to make a fire from scratch. There is no need to get skillful or science-y (common sense generally does the trick). If you get caught in a tricky situation with no ignition source, build a fire by collecting dry leaves, twigs, and branches and avoid green vegetation for the same. 

Basic Survival Skills – Purifying Water 

One of the most important survival skills, Greta Thunberg isn’t wrong when she sounds overly concerned about the deteriorating climate conditions. All selfish human endeavors which focus on improving the “quality of life” are rather snatching away their natural semblance. Since man won’t stop anytime soon, we need to do a quality check individually.
Following Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, food, and water ought to be prioritized. Since water is quintessential for existence, the primary survival skill is to purify water. You can do this in one or more of the following ways:

• Boiling the water
• Using chlorine drops 
• Filtering with sedimentation and decantation 

Reading a Compass

One of the survival skills to learn, having a sense of direction is extremely important if you get lost in the wild without a GPS. In such a scenario, the survival skill of how to read a compass is essential. Remember the universal truths- the sun rises in the east & sets in the west, and so does the moon (almost). But sometimes, it gets dark, and the moon… well, the moon can be moody. So it would be best if you had a fire for light & a compass for directions (PS: you want to be aware of where the snakes might sneak into your tent from).

Basic Survival Skills – Cooking 

This is one of the essential survival skills, Massive food chains worldwide promote mass consumerism. But what if this consumerism disappears overnight? It will hit the food industry and its “loyal” customers the hardest. We need to be prepared in advance for such an unforeseen situation, and the only way out is to learn how to cook. Knowing the basic cooking techniques and preparing dishes with the bare minimum of ingredients is a skill in itself.
Aside from knowing the basics of cooking in a kitchen, camp cooking is also a fun and primitive method. It is wild, it is fun and thoroughly refreshing. This is definitely one of the survival skills to learn at home.

Tying Knots 

Tying knots, as basic as it sounds, is an important survival skill. It is useful when building up a shelter, securing a trap, or setting up make-shift arrangements and tools. General knotting is somewhat similar to macrame knots and is a transferable skill. Sit with a rope or a thread to practice basic knotting. 

Do you think Robinson Crusoe would have survived alone on an island in the middle of nowhere without knowing basic survival skills? Yes! (If Defoe decided so). But you certainly cannot do without these basic survival skills in times of crisis.
But we have your back. Buckle up, learn, and upskill for life.

Closing On Basic Survival Skills

In conclusion, basic survival skills are essential for anyone who spends time in the great outdoors. Survival in life can be daunting but by learning these skills, you can increase your chances of surviving in emergency situations and make your outdoor adventures safer and more enjoyable. Remember to always be prepared, stay calm, and use your resources wisely. Happy exploring!