Hello, my friend and welcome back! I do a lot of talking about learning to do things as a part of preparing. However, I sometimes fail to stress just what it is that one must learn to insure their survival in a Disaster, where they are on their own, with no help coming. In today’s post, I’m going to try to cover the ones that I feel are easily the most important. Grab a cup of coffee my friend and have a seat while we visit.
I’m going to start with the ones which I think you should learn first and work our way down.
- Water Filtration – Learning how to take dirty water and make it potable is one of the first things you need to learn. You can only survive for 3 days without water, under even the best of circumstances. Even if you have a ton of water filters in your preps, they will eventually run out and you need to know how to survive without them.
- How to build a shelter – The knowledge of how to build an emergency shelter is extremely important. You may have food and water, but if you can’t get in out of the weather, then you may not even last three days. The dangers of dying from heat exhaustion, or freezing to death are a real threat to your life. Learn how to build an emergency shelter now, not later.
- How to shoot a gun or rifle – If things go bad and everyone is fighting to survive, those who have nothing will try to take what you have. Know how to aim, shoot and reload a firearm of your choice. In an SHTF world, you will only have what you can keep and without a weapon, you will have a hard time keeping anything.
- Hunting – There is a lot more to hunting than just going into the forest with a gun and shooting whatever you can find. Know how to read and recognize different animal foot prints. Know how to spot an animal trail and be able to follow it. Know how to trap animals with deadfall traps or snares. If you want to eat and you are away from your preps, you are going to have to be able to hunt.
- Medical training – Knowing how to handle everything from a scratch to a life-threatening injury is a critical skill every Prepper needs to know. I hear a lot of people say that they are not worried because a member of their group is an EMT or such. What if something happens to that EMT? Every single member of your group must know how to do at least basic medical treatment. What if you get shot or get hurt bad and that member is not around? Do you know how to save yourself? I will say it again, EVERY PERSON IN YOUR GROUP, INCLUDING YOU, MUST HAVE SOME TYPE OF MEDICAL TRAINING!
- Map Reading – While you may plan to never leave your bug out shelter, you still need to know how to read a map. Let’s say hunting is scarce, and you must go further out. When you do, you get turned around. If you can’t read a map, or use a compass, you will be screwed in the worst way. Or if you hear that there is an enemy in your area, but all you have is Latitude and Longitude, how will you know where they are? It is a critical skill and one you must learn now.
- Food Canning – This is something that many Preppers say they will figure out how to do when they need it, because they have a book on the subject and all of the supplies. SO how do you know that you have everything you need if you haven’t done it yet? The author may assume that you have something you don’t. Ask yourself this: Do I really want to wait until my life depends on my ability to preserve meat and vegetables to try to figure it out? The time to learn how to do this is now, not when your life depends on it because if you don’t get it right, you could wind up going hungry because you only thought you had figured it out.
- Sewing – I know some of you guys think that it’s a sissy thing to learn, but like we learned quick in the Military, knowing how to make simple alterations and replace buttons is a critical skill to have. If SHTF results in a prolonged period, where the stores are closed, you could find yourself without anything but rags to wear if you don’t know how to mend and sew. There are a million and one things you can use this skill for and you should never underestimate its importance.
Take the time now to learn to use all of those tools and equipment you have in your preps. Take the time now to break out the user manuals and actually try to use them. What is they are missing parts? Once SHTF hits, it will be too late to ask the manufacturer to send you replacement parts. Do it now, not later! I know it’s easy to procrastinate and put it off to later and later never comes until you are in a bind.
Don’t put it off any longer, get off of your butt and learn because, in a post SHTF world, Knowledge will be king! Well that is it for today and I hope you have enjoyed today’s post, so until next time my friend, stay safe, stay strong, and stay prepared. God Bless America!
-Sarge-
Don’t forget that included in sewing is the ability to make repairs in heavy canvas or leather. That is sewing on steroids.
The only area that I’m deficient in is medical training and I’m not sure how to get trained living well out in the boonies.
I’ve been canning and hunting for 45 years or so, and I’ve really learned a lot in the last 10 years. Canning venison, bacon and other ‘non normal’ things has been an education.
Ray
If you’re serious about getting medical training, https://www.doomandbloom.net/ has several really good online courses. You can also get the materials from them to practice doing stitches. You can also check with your local Red Cross. They usually have training classes available. If you need more information, just let me know and thanks for sharing. 🙂
Good article, Sarge.
One thing I will confess is the lack of knowledge about the canning of vegetables, although I am competent in the preservation of meat. While I have my own well, the only flat ground I have is where my house sits. Everything else is pretty steep ground and “unfence-able.” Consequently, it is impossible to keep wild game out of my property. Jackrabbits will eat the bark off a dead tree in the summer, not to mention the few plants that I have under cultivation. This has been an ongoing challenge to figure out.