Survival Takes Skill

“Be prepared, not scared.” – Peter Kummerfeldt, Surviving a Wilderness Emergency

Survival skills don’t matter until the moment you find yourself in an emergency situation. In that moment, they can mean the difference between life and death. If not prepared, it is not a decision you make, but one the universe makes for you.

When asked, humans are overly confident in their ability to perform. Hilariously, 6% of Americans think they could win a fight against a grizzly bear¹. When surveyed, over 50% of average Americans think they could survive for two weeks in the wilderness even though only 17% felt very confident they could start a fire². Referred to as the “Dunning-Kruger effect”, the theory found those who performed in the bottom 10% in various tasks rated their skills far above average³.

Don’t be the bottom percentage. Do you know the five basic survival skills? Fire, shelter, signaling, food & water, and first aid⁴. Even if you’re aware of them, do you have hand-on practice with each one? Could you build a functional fire in the wilderness? Do you know the steps to purifying drinking water? Build learning these skills into your goals or turn them into hobbies. Practice makes perfect, because reading about survival techniques is not the same as doing them. Skills take a combination of knowledge and practice.

Take the time to learn survival skills. We are not suggesting you become a “prep-er” but rather that you have a useful skill set to prepare you for life’s unknowns. No one plans to be in an emergency without heat or shelter, but you can learn how to survive when in a situation without them. Grab a friend and practice outside. The five basics listed above are exactly that – basics. There are many more useful skills to learn: know how to identify a serious wound, work on navigating without GPS, learn how to perform CPR. Pick a skill, learn it and practice. Then hope to never have to use it.

Action: Pick a survival skill, learn it, and practice.

Further Reading:

1. Rumble in the jungle: what animals would win in a fight?
2. Appreciation for the great outdoors rises as a result of more time outside during the pandemic
3. Unskilled and unaware of it: how difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.
4. 5 Basic Survival Skills