Survival Tactics Worth Learning

Let’s face it – some survival tactics are simply too out of this world to even consider learning.

Many people predictably freak out when survivalists recommend that you get enough ammunition to kill a horde of looters. A lot of people browsing the internet will leave the page when there is talk of acquiring a wardrobe of fatigues. However, the tactics espoused by extremists are not the only tactics that survival advocates teach and a lot of the skills they give instructions on are really useful even if aliens don’t land, the sky doesn’t fall and economies manage to get back on their feet.

A good number articles, podcasts and blogs on survival tactics deal with pointers on how to survey your area and identify potential sources of danger. Two of these sources would be convenience stores, supermarkets and gasoline stations since they are sure to be the target of looters and people desperate for food and fuel.

Part of your area survey would be picking people who can be part of your team – persons who will participate wholeheartedly in planning for survival and who can be counted on when you are actually trying to survive against all odds.

The other tactic that most would certainly deal with is getting out of the city; this is one of the primary urban survival tactics and it is the first step towards making it through the devastation. Most of the instructions provided are quite detailed and methodical; once you get over thinking they are pure fantasy you will realize that do make sense and would be easy to follow.

While it is “peace time” you are advised to identify a primary and then two other routes out of the city. (The assumption here is that when things go bad you will have some place out of town as a refuge.) The routes you identify should not overlap or if they do, the interface should be minimal. Then, you are told to memorize these routes and know them by heart.

The process for getting out of the city is among the most frequently discussed in survivalist literature. All members of the family or the team should know the agreed upon procedure for meeting at the departure area. Each person should have a ready survival bag; a buddy system should be in place. Gasoline, supplies and equipment should be ready.

Several skills are considered standard tactics for survival. One of these would be how to obtain water, how to store it and how to purify it. Another would be how to build a fire with matches and different kinds of kindling material; how to keep fire burning and keep it safe. Still others would broach the subject of getting ready to cook over coals or an open fire.

One of the novel and insightful tactics for survival mentioned in blogs is the idea of learning a skill or a set of skills that not everyone has. This would mean learning the following: CPR, setting broken bones, dressing wounds and other first aid skills. This way, you are able to contribute to the community and in return, you become welcome in all groups – not a bad strategy for surviving.

Other podcasts and blogs deal with self defense and weaponry as part of urban survival tactics. Most of them will talk about learning to use different kinds of guns and will advise you to stockpile ammunition. This is probably the part where the extremists and the conservatives part ways and it is up to you what attitude you will adopt in relation to the advice on guns and fire power.

If you take the tactics that survivalists discuss one by one you would know that while you may not find all of them valuable, a good number of them make sense. In addition, learning things like CPR never did anyone any harm and as a whole, many of the tactics are applicable not only for the holocaust but for very sane and reasonable precautions.