Survival Priorities: The 5 Things You Need To Stay Alive

Survival Priorities: The 5 Things You Need To Stay Alive

Let’s do a quick survival priorities thought experiment.

If we strip away all the BS…what does a human being really need to survive?

• Not taking into account what makes us comfortable
• Not discussing how to avoid injury or disease
• Not figuring out what it takes to thrive

At the end of the day, what must we have in regular doses to avoid a premature death?

Oxygen, water, food, shelter (warmth) plus self-defense...that’s it.

If you have these five items, you have a reasonable chance of surviving a long term apocalypse.

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It may not be enjoyable, life might not be “worth” living, you might have psychological issues, but your immediate physical needs will be met, and you are able to survive.

The reason this mini thought exercise is worth doing is because sometimes preparedness can get overwhelming…especially for those new to prepping.

When you research all the survival products and information available, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed and confused on where to begin.

Unfortunately…for many, this equates to throwing in the towel and giving up. Finding it easier to convincing themselves “SHTF will never happen”, instead of putting forth the effort to be ready “just in case IT does”.

So if you are considering your post apocalypse survival (SHTF)options…where should you start?

What should your apocalypse survival priorities be? Start with the basics…

Survival Priority 1 – Oxygen

The good news is there’s not a lot you need to do to prepare for this one.

Even in an apocalyptic survival scenario there will likely still be abundant oxygen and if not…we are all screwed anyway.

The two big exceptions being nuclear fallout and highly contagious airborne diseases, where the air is deadly to breathe. So for these scenarios buy a gas mask, stay indoors, and avoid unnecessary interactions with others.

First need, done.

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Survival Priority 2 – Water

Ok, this one is really important.

We need a lot of water every day and a constant procurement of more for the long haul. But let’s try to keep things simple…you have two basic choices for water acquisition.

• You can live near a large or continuous source of natural fresh water
• You can stockpile a ton of the stuff

Ideally, you want to plan to do some of both, but to get started pick one and make sure you do it right.

So decide which option is best for you (factoring in location, family size, etc.)and then take meaningful action to plan a procurement strategy.

Humans need about a gallon of water per person per day to avoid the onset of dehydration. You need to have a water plan assuming the taps go completely dry.

You also should consider adding a rainwater collection system if you plan to store water. That way you can continuously replenishing your water stock every time it rains. Just pray it rains often enough offset your usage over time.

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Without putting a solid water procurement plan together beforeSHTF, your putting your apocalypse survival in the hands of hope, fate and dumb luck…not smart.

Survival Priority 3 – Food

Sure…you can go quite awhile without food, but at some point you need to replace the calories you expend to avoid starvation. You can even go severely calorie negative for weeks (or even months), but at some point math wins (calories in vs calories out) and you will need find a balance.

Let’s attempt to keep this one simple as well…the way I see it, you have 2 basic choices.

• You can either stock a lot of foods that have long shelf lives
• You can grow/raise your own

To be honest, you should do both of these.

Stockpile food supplies won’t last forever without systematic replenishment and without a decent sized initial food stock you’ll have a difficult time between growth seasons and lean times.

Having a food plan is critical before SHTF…I cannot imagine someone surviving very long improvising after SHTF on food procurement, and handouts will not be likely.

Survival Priority 4 – Shelter

Even if it gets really cold, you can survive the elements if you have a decent shelter to keep wind and rain off of you.

You also want to have some basic fuel stockpiled (firewood), and ration it smartly, then you can stay warm even on the most frigid nights.

So any basic (non-leaky) shelter will do that job. A home, cabin, RV, tent, or even a cave can suffice. Ensuring you have a main shelter and a backup shelter is about all you can do for this need.

Worst case, you might be able to find abandoned shelters if you have to leave your primary one.

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If you reside somewhere where trees are abundant (and the population density is not extremely high), you can chop them down as needed. If not, then you might want to start building your firewood stockpile or bug out to a location where trees are abundant.

I CAN imagine someone improvising their shelter plans.  At least more so than food and water.

I’m not suggesting you should improvise your shelter plans; just that I can envision surviving with some pretty basic shelter setups for a very long time if push comes to shove.

Survival Priority 5 – Self-Defense

When humans are desperate, we will default to a dog eat dog mentality.

If you have no defense weapons, gear or skills, you will be at the mercy of those who have a killer instinct. So you need a self-defense plan.

You have many choices in this realm of survival and in my opinion you can never have too many self-defense skills. To keep things simple…I suggest starting with firearms and ammo. Get a survival gun and get a bunch of ammo for it.

Oh…and make time to learn how to use it.

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Your Apocalypse Survival Priorities

So that’s how you get started with your post apocalyptic survival priorities without getting overwhelmed.

1. Get a gas mask
2. Figure out your best water procurement option and implement
3. Decide on your food plan and implement
4. Ensure you have a decent shelter (preferably with firewood available)
5. Get a gun and stock ammo for it

Congratulations…you are probably more prepared than 99% of your fellow Americans.

By the way, I’m not against advanced survival skills such as survival radio communications, power generation techniques, caching supplies, survival bunkers, etc.

They are all worth learning in due time, but they are the “thrive” part of apocalypse survival, which you should only start working onafter you accomplish the “survive” part of survival.

So would you survive? Here’s some additional information to help you learn how to survive the apocalyspe.

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