Survival SKILLS – more than just food and water

Preparing for TEOTWAWKI does not necessarily mean that one needs to be prepared for survival in the stone age. Sure, there are disaster scenarios whereby we could truly be sent back to surviving and being self-sufficient in a stone-age-like environment, however these particular scenarios have a lower probability of occurring than others.

I believe that today’s ‘preppers’ range in variety from the casual (fairly high risk tolerance) to the extreme (very low risk tolerance). Surely, the extreme preppers will be far better prepared than the casual prepper if an extreme disaster strikes the world, however even the casual prepper will be far better off than the majority of the population who have not even contemplated such a life insurance policy.

The higher probability disasters will be less devastating when it comes to survival itself (at least for the general majority). If you are unfortunate enough to be caught in the bulls-eye of such a disaster, you will have the hope that others will be able to help, since the disaster will be somewhat localized. A wider ranging catastrophic disaster is statistically less probable, but far more people will be caught in it when it occurs, and far more will consequently suffer.

Everyone’s situation is unique. There are budget and time constraints that affects ones ability to develop and implement a plan of action. I do believe that a very good course of action to develop a survival preparedness plan is to first identify your existing skills. Think about how your skills could be put to work in a post-disaster scenario. Focus your survival preparedness plans to support your skill set. Having said that, really, the very first consideration is to simply store extra food – but I’m assuming you’ve already done that.

Survival, post-disaster, does not need to be entirely back woods and stone age. Who says that we cannot plan for some creature comforts, and even a thriving post-disaster community?

Apart from the very basic necessities to survive (shelter, fire, water, food), assuming one has enough supplies to make it through a number of months from basic storage, the real long term survival will come from ones skills and ability to contribute to a self sustaining community, and barter their services for consumables that are needed. This really is not much different from what we do today, except at a more basic level, and one where perhaps the paper currency will be worthless. Think of the situation as one where the worse and wider spread the disaster, the more value will be associated with practical and basic skills. For example, those who know how to successfully grow food, those who know how to leverage the tools around them to build and repair things, and the basic down-to-earth know-how skills will all be in demand.

Here is an example from a MSB reader who would leverage his current skills in a post TEOTWAWKI world.

I, being a person that enjoys his creature comforts would find living in such a manner (stone age) quite undesirable.

I much prefer my plan to buy up a parcel of land in (location xyz) complete with natural gas well(s). This is more complicated than it sounds but I have spent a good many years of my life as a petroleum landman, whose job it is to examine land title ownership on producing and non-producing properties.

With 100% ownership of a natural gas well you could divert said gas straight into your generator(s). Throw in a compressor and you could also fuel you vehicles, etc. In the event of severe climate change or lots of volcanic ash the food supply could come from hydroponics.

Depending on the output of the well you could possibly support a small community indefinitely. Much preferable than the back to basics approach, albeit a lot more expensive.

This is a good example of thinking ahead to possibly leveraging the skills and know-how that you already have, in order to place yourself in a better position than those that are simply trying to survive by getting enough food and water each day. Again, this isn’t much different than what we do today… many of us currently work jobs or have a career that is aligned with our skill set. I’m just saying to think of it in context of post-disaster, and think about how it could be put to use.

Not many people will truly posses all of the skills necessary to live self-sufficient. It will take a community of people with a range of skills and abilities. I have a feeling that some preppers may go down the wrong road (so to speak) by believing that if they purchase or acquire enough survival preparedness supplies, that they will be set. I do believe that it is wise to have at least a minimal set of broad ranging supplies (starting with food and an assured water supply), but really the most valuable long term survival asset will be what you can do, what you know how to do, your skills that would contribute to a post-disaster life while rebuilding a community. Think about that. Are there things that you could acquire now, that would help accentuate what you know how to do?

If you discover or believe that your current skill set would not be of much value in this scenario, then please do consider investing some of your time learning some basic practical hands-on skills. It really is a life insurance policy of sorts. Hopefully the insurance will never have to be called upon, but if it does, you will stand a better chance to survive and to help yourself and others rebuild.



If you enjoyed this post, or topics of preparedness, consider subscribing to our survival blog RSS feed or Email notification of new posts on the Modern Survival Blog