10 Skills That Every Prepper Should Know

Building a Shelter

Knowing how to build a shelter is important to every prepper, building a shelter is not just about setting up something above your head. In building a shelter you should know where is the best place to set it up and what to watch for when you do. There are some things that you need to be aware of in building a shelter such as your location to a water source. The style of your shelter will depend on your surroundings; it can be a tent or a small hut.

Here are some outdoor shelter ideas: http://crisissurvivortips.com/outdoor-shelter-ideas/

Water Procurement & Purification

Knowing where and how to locate water is a handy ability during prolonged emergency when water supply is likely to be low. But finding water is not enough, you have to filter it and purify it to make it safe for drinking. Learn how to purify water to make it safe for drinking. Keep in mind that we can only survive for 3 days without water.

Ways of purifying water:

• Boil water
• Water Filters
• Iodine Tablets
• Bleach

Interesting video: How To Get Clean Water From A Tree

Food Procurement & Preparation

Having skills like hunting, fishing, and trapping will be useful when SHTF. These skills are important when out there in the wild. You must be knowledgeable about skinning an animal and field dressing.

For people who like vegetables, skills in foraging, gardening, and plant identification are a must. Some plants in the wild are poisonous which is why one should have the knowledge in identifying them.

Medical Care

An emergency situation or a crisis is a time when anybody can get hurt.  Even if the injuries are minor, first aid and antibiotics will still be necessary to treat infections. Having a skill in first aid is very important in a survival situation. Learn all you can about first aid. A First Aid kit is very useful for you and your family and preparing it is one of the best things you can do when thinking about their health and safety.

Here are some things that you will need in your first aid kit:

• Bandages
• Gauze pads
• Antiseptic cream
• Aspirin/Paracetamol
• Tweezers
• Cold compress

Sewing

Sewing is not only used in a variety of crafts, it can also be a useful skill to preppers. There are situations where you can apply that kind of skill like when your tent is torn, your clothes are ripped or when you are wounded. So don’t forget to keep a good sewing kit. You can use shards of bone as makeshift needles but having carbon steel needles is still best.

Starting up a fire

Knowing how to start a fire is a skill that all preppers should know. Fire is very important to us we use it to warm our body, cook our food, boil water, we can also use it to dry our wet clothes, fire provides us light too. It pays to know how to start a fire the primitive way even if you have all kinds of fire starters in your BOB or emergency bag. It is still a good idea to have that knowledge to back up your tools in case some accident happens and you lose your fire starting tools.

Weather Prediction

In a doomsday scenario knowing how to forecast the weather is a very important skill to have; it can save your life. Weather changes rapidly that is why this skill is very important for you to be able to know if it is going to rain, snow or freeze. Knowing how to forecast the weather in an old fashioned way can protect your crops and animals.

There are some methods that people use to predict the weather long before. People used animals, their senses, smoke, and a cup of coffee to tell the temperature or forecast a coming storm.

Self-Defense

Self-defense is an important skill for preppers. You can protect yourself, your family, and your property. In a war of survival there are people who will try to invade your property to steal your supplies. You must have the knowledge of self-defense including Martial Arts, gun safety and marksmanship, even archery. You can also use pepper spray, stun gun or a taser.

You don’t have to know everything about martial arts, just the basics about defense skills. Common sense is also an important thing when it comes to self-defense.

Raising Livestock

You don’t have to hunt for food anymore if you have livestock. It will provide you food without spending a lot of your energy having to hunt it. In raising livestock you should consider some things like: Do you have a place to keep a livestock? Do you have enough space? What type of livestock will do well in your area?

Chickens, rabbits, sheep, and pigs are the types of livestock that are easy to raise and they produce good meat.

Gardening

Growing your own food is important. When tragedy strikes it is very hard to find food, there will be no grocery store available for you. When you have a garden in your backyard you could easily pick some veggies and cook it for your family. Do not wait for tragedy to strike before starting a garden. This kind of skill is not that easy to ramp up for a collapse.

There are also some things to consider in starting a garden so learn the basics about gardening. In this way you will make sure that your garden will grow bountifully.