Survival Skills RSS

Being able to defend yourself is critical in a crisis, and sometimes you’ve not got the ability to be as noisy as you like. Firing a gun can sound a beacon, alerting any other bad guys within earshot exactly where you are. Of course, having a firearm is always your best form of defense, but when the situation calls for it, having a few “quiet” weapons can give you an edge, especially if you’re wanting to keep the element of surprise. Because once a gun goes off, the bad guys will know exactly where you are. You need a way...

I'm a fan of a good night's sleep. It's probably one of the most important things in my book when you're setting up a shelter, apart from cover overhead and a fire to keep you warm. When I was a scraggly little youth I used to enjoy roughing it. Often with nothing but a sleeping bag on my groundsheet, and a jacket rolled up as a pillow. I've also done a number of bare-bones camping trips, spending night after night in makeshift lean-tos with bedding foraged from the bush around my camp. These days though, I tend to look for...

I've never been a big spender. Thinking about it, I've got my parents to thank for this. They encouraged us kids to be thrifty, often using scrap around the yard for projects, or finding a "cheaper" way to accomplish a task. There were many weekends spent renovating our home, and times I wish we'd outsourced, but it did teach me some valuable skills. As a survivalist, I am keenly aware of my spending habits. If I can scrimp or save a little on my day-to-day expenses, this leaves more money for my stockpile of food, gear and ammo. But as...

After watching a friend syphon off a little petrol to get a fire started, I knew it wouldn't end well. The whoosh as the fire sparked into life was more than enough to send us all running, and burn the leg hair off of my unfortunate friend. Needless to say, I've been a little more careful when it comes to using accelerants in fire making, but I still do. Some may call it cheating, but I believe there's no such thing when it comes to survival. If you need a fire, or are in a bad situation, you need to...

As the nights start getting colder we're soon to be in one of my favorite times of year. Winter. For all my fellow survivalists out there, it doesn't mean it's time to stop camping. Not at all. Winter is one of the most beautiful seasons to spend in the outdoors. The mornings are crisp, the days are cooler, and you won't get bitten to death by bugs when you're trying to sleep at night. But it also presents a danger. You need to ensure you're protected from the cold if you want to stay alive, and in today's post I...