Both professional and amateur survivalists love to travel around to different parts of the world, live off the land, camp, and become one with nature. They typically are happiest outdoors and away from most other people and city sights and sounds. But Living outdoors is not always easy. In fact sometimes it can be extremely challenging and even dangerous. There are certain skills you will need to possess in order to become a true survivalist. Here are 4 skills every survivalist has.
Hunting
Because many of the places you will travel to as a survivalist do not have grocery stores nearby, you will have to rely on hunting in order to eat enough protein to survive. Make sure you know the area you will be going to and know what types of game live nearby and have a plan for how to hunt them, or else you may end up going hungry.
Fishing
Like hunting, fishing is an important skill to have as a survivalist if you intend on surviving in the wilderness long term. If you will be in an area with lakes, rivers, or ocean you should work hard to improve your fishing skills beforehand. If you are confident in your abilities and know that you can catch fish easily, you will be able to survive just about anywhere with water.
Shelter Building
Aside from food, shelter is the most important thing that will ensure your abilities to survive in the wild for a long period of time. Any contractor knows the importance of a deep foundation which will protect you from wind, rain, and wildlife is a game changer and will make surviving outdoors much easier.
Additionally, setting up your shelter in the right spot will make a huge difference. If all of the ground in the area is rocky, hilly, or covered with trees and brush, work on making ground improvements until you have a more flat and stable area to build your shelter on.
Knowledge Of Edible Plants
Even if you are an expert hunter or fisherman, there will still be times when it is hard to catch food and you will have to rely on the plants in the area to sustain you. It can be very dangerous, however, to inject certain plants. If you plan on testing your survival skills in a region you don’t know very well, you should do plenty of research beforehand and get to know everything you can about the plants, vegetables, berries, and fungi that grow in the area. Learn to recognize what is poisonous so you know what to stay away from, and what has the highest caloric content so you know what to put more energy into finding.
Being a survivalist is a very exciting and fulfilling hobby or career which will make you more aware of the world around you and also of your own abilities. Just make sure to brush up on your skills before heading out into the wild or else you could be putting yourself in some very real danger.