Five military survival skills for preppers

------------------------------------------------- Revised 03/09/2021
(C) Copyright 2012-202` by HappyPreppers.com. All rights reserved. The site happily targets concerned
citizens who are self-reliant survivalists, preppers and homesteaders with original content on survival following
societal collapse. You may link to our site, but you may NOT reproduce any part of our content, or store our
content in any retrieval system to represent it as your own. Further, you may not transmit content in any other
form or by any means, including (but not limited to) electronic, photocopy, mechanical, or recording without
written consent. HappyPreppers.com makes no warranties.

HappyPreppers.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Alpha XR,
amazonsupply.com, or myhabit.com. Amazon is a great place to buy emergency supplies. In other words, we
recommend prepping gear sold on Amazon. It's a great place to shop.

Get prepared! Read more e mergency preparedness information on our home page.

This preparedness article on the five most important survival skills has been archived by waybackmachine.org.
It's been captured as many as s26 times between Oct 25, 2018 and March 9, 2021. This helps protect our
copyright.

Do NOT copy. (Linking is okay.)

sitemap
privacy policy

Happy Preppers site for survivalists + preppers

Prepper Deal Alerts Check
our daily deals for prepping
gear and food storage.

Happy endings...
Survive happy with the knowledge. Your survival skills will only
take you so far ~ one of the most important factors is your
attitude. Having hope and the right attitude will help you survive.
Always remain hopeful

Full of specific scenarios to help you get in the mindset of survival,
100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition, by Clint Emerson, is better than
a Swiss Army knife! Whether you’re lost at sea, forced to land a
plane, fight off a bear, or decide whether to run, hide, or fight, this
book is good to have on the prepper bookshelf.

This book is your essential prep manual, from securing shelter,
building fire, finding food, and navigating back to civilization no
matter the environment to thinking like a special forces solider so
that you can survive a hostage situation, an active shooter, a
suicide bomber, or a terrorist threat on the subway, and even apply
trauma medicine as a first responder.

Related articles...

More popular articles...

Prepare to live happily ever after with us at happypreppers.com - the emergency
preparedness Web site of prepping, survival, homesteading, and self-reliance.

Pocket-sized Fresnel Lens

Water straws suck, but here's why you'll want to buy one...

You can find any direction using the sun! AlfieAesthetics shows
you how and you need no special techniques or tools. You need
only the sun and a little bit of celestial knowledge.

5. Navigating your way out of trouble.
Didn’t pack a Smartphone or GPS device? Can’t find your compass?
Having a compass in your pocket or day bag is handy, but in case
you don’t have a compass or don’t know how to use a compass
then take comfort in these survival skills.

A wrist watch is a handy tool for survival
Here’s how to find North using a wristwatch:

Prepping Survival Skills
Five military survival skills for preppers

Five military survival skills a prepper should master...
There are five basic survival skills (and learning to use paracord is
not one of them). The five basic survival skills a prepper needs to
master just so happen to be the five basic military skills. They
include: finding water, shelter building, foraging for food, fire
building and navigating.

Below is a run down of the five military survival skills every
prepper should master...

Five Military Survival Skills for Preppers
The best way to ensure you learn survival skills is by practicing
skills in the field. Look to the military for the five basic survival
skills below and start practicing.

The five basic military survival skills include:

#1: Securing Potable Water.
Water is life. Every prepper worth his weight in salt knows you
can’t live more than three days without water, so it’s a top
priority in a survival situation to find some. Even on a day hike
you should carry with you a water bottle filled with life-saving
fluid. There are other things to pack to help ensure your survival:

Get a metal container. Your water bottle should be of metal
or you should have a metal cookset, so that you can boil
water if need be. Never eat snow as it will chill you. It’s
better to let snow melt near the fire in your metal cup. A cup
can also help you capture dew and rain.

Pack a firestarter even for a day trip. A firestarter is
everyday carry will help you boil your water to kill off
pathogens.

Consider bringing a waterstraw. If you have room, pack a
lifestraw water filter. Honestly, waterstaws suck, but they
are lifesaving and clever devices. With a water straw you can
suck fresh water from a lake, creek or stream -- even a
puddle or a mud hole that you dig. Unfortunately a water
straw can’t remove salt water so you can’t use it with sea
water, ocean water or brackish water.

Water treatment tablets. Another way to get potable water
in an emergency situation is water treatment tablets, like
Potable Aqua. These tiny pills will help turn water that’s
substandard and disinfect it so that you don’t need to worry
about the bacteria harming you. It’s peace of mind in an
emergency.

Stash electrolyte powders. Tuck into your day bag some
electrolyte powders for your journey. These little packet
powders will come in handy in case of heat stroke or a
diarrheal episode and it will make the water taste better, too.

But what if you’ve exhausted your water options or didn’t bring
any of the things we’ve outlined above? As a survival skill finding
water is your top priority.

Know where to find water:
Water keeps your blood circulating. It's a critical skill to be able
to obtain water in a survival situation. Below are some tips for
helping you find water in nature.

Five easy tricks to find water in Nature

Five Military Survival Skills for preppers

Water treatment tablets

Titanium Cook System

Titanium pot

Tact Bivvy

Survival Lilly, above, offers a variety of bushcrafting skills in her simple
videos. Watch and learn how to craft a simple lean-to shelter

#3: Foraging for Food.
Foraging for food is how you'll find food in the wilderness without
hunting tools. The most important rule of foraging for food is that
if you can't identify the plant then it's not safe for you to eat.
Never eat anything unless you're 100% certain what it is. Take a
class on local food foraging. Also, have a book handy.

You can help sustain your survival by foraging for food and these
are your best options because they are easy to recognize.

Blackberries
Cattails
Crickets (may carry parasitic nematodes such as tape worms).
Dandelions
Pine cone and pine needles (make a nourishing tea)
Prickly pear cactus
Seaweed
Wild garlic

Remember that the foods above are easy to recognize. Beware of
non-edible look-alikes, which could kill you. Stay away from
mushrooms as they offer little nutritional value and may be
poisonous.

Always have food in your day bag:
If you’re in the wild and anticipating a rescue, finding food isn’t
your top priority because you can live up to three weeks without
food, but if you’re in dire straights because no one knows you’re
missing or you’re in a remote location where rescue is dismal, you’
ll need to elevate food finding as a priority. In your day bag there
are a few key things you can pack to make getting lost a little
easier:

Hard candies. Sugar is energy and will lift your spirits and
fuel your path to safety. A Jolly Rancher, a butterscotch or a
Lifesaver could be, well a real lifesaver! Alternatively, bring
along en ergy chews. If you’re in bear country, put these
items far away from your campsite as they will attract an
unwanted night visitor.

Food bars. Food bars are easy to pack and satisfying.
Pemmican is an acquired taste of animal fat, nuts and
berries, but well worth considering. (Ration bars are heavy
bricks and not recommended for a day hike).

Beef Jerky. Beef jerky is a classic food to bring along as it’s
dehydrated and lightweight. The salt content will have you
thirsty, but on the other hand salt helps you retain water
making it an excellent choice to bring.

Regarding finding food in the wild, keep the following in mind:

Pine trees are an excellent source of food for survival.
Look for dandelions greens as a classic survival food.
Prickly Pear cactus is a good foraging find. If you’re in a
desert you’ll want to keep an eye for this tasty and
nutritional treat.
Keep an eye out for cattails. Cattails are easy to spot
along the edges of freshwater wetlands and foraging them is
fairly easy.
Yelp for more kelp! Kelp is a form of seaweed and you’ll be
surprised to know that it’s a great source of Vitamin K, which
is difficult to get into your diet.
Hickory nuts are another good option if you can find them.
Outdoorlife has more good ideas on foods to eat in the wild.

Crickets and grasshoppers. Insects are, for the most part,
a safe food to eat, but for safety stick to crickets and
grasshoppers, which are protein packed and easier to spot.
Don’t eat the hairy bugs or the brightly colored ones. Avoid
the spiders and anything venomous. Obviously skip the other
critters like flies, ticks and mosquitoes. Avoid the
cockroaches, too! Like we said, stick to the crickets and
grasshoppers.

If you’re unsure: don’t eat it!

Avoid mushrooms. They provide little nutritional value and
could kill you.
Beware of berries. Half of the red berries will kill you.
Avoid anything plant or insect that’s milky sap or has a
strong smell. It’s nature’s way of warning you not to eat it.

Craving meat?
Unless you brought along a survival fishing kit or know how to
knock a rodent with rock or sling shot, you’d better not waste
your precious energy hunting. Put your survival skills to good use
navigating your way home instead.

4. Fire building.
Building a fire is a skill that every prepper should master. It
begins with collecting firewood, logs, twigs and tinder. With a fire
you can do the following:

Stay warm.
Light the night.
Cook food.
Make water potable.
Add comfort and renew hope.
Signal for help.

Learn how to build a fire:

Above, National Geographic shows you how to find water in the desert.

#2: Shelter building.
There are five basic survival skills, and learning to use paracord
is not one of them. Okay we lied about the paracord thing.
Knowing how to use paracord is still extremely important because
it can help you with shelter building. The thing is that you don't
need paracord. You can use dental floss, fishing wire or other
cordage!

One of the most important skills you can have in addition to
finding water is shelter building. To that end, here are some
important things to remember to bring along.

Have some cordage. Hopefully you have some cordage in
your Every day carry. (small cluster of survival items carried
in a pocket, belt, holster, wallet or purse Paracord is
available abundantly in raw form or transformed into
bracelets and keychains. Paracord is a popular survival item,
but you’ll need to have a knife. Few consider that even
dental floss is good cordage material and a great candidate
for your go bag because it’s so lightweight, it’s strong and it
cuts easily thanks to the container.

Bring a bivvy. Even on a day trip it’s a good idea to bring a
bivvy should you get lost in the woods. What's a bivvy? A
bivvy is a lightweight sack, like a sleeping bag, that’s made
of Mylar. It’s goal is to help you retain body heat and help
you avoid hypothermia. It can also help you feel secure
against the elements as the night critters make their way
out to bite you.

Here are some considerations should you find yourself with no
man-made materials to build your shelter.

Select the campsite. The shelter you build should be close
enough to your water source as a campsite, but your goal is
to find something high and dry. You should also steer clear
of widow makers. Widowmakers are trees that could fall on
you at night, killing you and thus theoretically making you a
widow. If you have a perfect spot, you may decide to fell a
tree to ensure it doesn't inadvertently make you a widow.

Insulate yourself from the ground. Leaves can provide a
bedding and insulate you from the cold earth that gets colder
by night.

Know how to build simple lean to. Below, SurvivalLily shows
you how to make a simple lean-to shelter.

Pemmican Bars (12)

Millennium food bars

Food bars by millennium include survival tips

100 Deadly Skills: Survival
Edition

Buy american made survival and prepping gear

Best used prepping books on to buy on Amazon

Once you gain experience in firebuilding, you can move beyond
and maximize your fire. For example, if you brought a bivvy or a
Mylar blanket you can use the reflective material to reflect heat
back to warm your entire body. OffGridWeb.com below shows how
to use the heat reflecti on using Mylar.

How to use MRE heaters and why you'll want extras

Handwriting analysis and what it reveals about Christine Ford

Ever wondered how long you'd survive after getting lost? Above, Youtuber
RoastedEngineers shows you how to find water in nature with five easy tricks!

For Coronavirus information, please see the Centers For Disease Control Website

Lifestraw Water Filter Bottle