12 Skills Every Survival Team Needs
The lone wolf. That’s the image often associated with someone actively preparing for an uncertain future.
Maybe it’s because such a small percentage of the population is serious about doing it, or perhaps it’s due to the fact that we place such a large emphasis on independence and self-reliance. Whatever the reason, the lone wolf is what some people envision when they think about preppers.
But we’d better hope that’s not really true. When the electrical grid goes down and we’re thrown into a period of martial law or total lawlessness, we’re going to need each other to survive. We need to find like-minded individuals now, before a major crisis hits.
The question then becomes, who do you want in your survival group? The exact number of people is not crucial. What really matters is that the individuals possess a variety of skills.
If everyone in your group knows how to build the perfect shelter but none can start a fire, you’ll all die in a great looking hut. Among the skills you want at least one of your group members to possess are:
- Leadership/Management. The more people who are part of your group, the more important this role becomes. It is essential for every group to have a recognized leader who each individual trusts and respects.
- Security. Being able to watch out for intruders and willing to take them down with a weapon or hand-to-hand combat is extremely important to the safety of a survival group, especially when there is civil unrest.
- Gardener/Food Production. Someone with a green thumb will know how and which crops to plant, grow and harvest. Fruits and vegetables are key here.
- Food Preparer. You don’t need a world-class chef, but you do need someone who can take the food that has been grown in the garden and prepare it to the satisfaction of the group.
- Hunter. Hopefully you will have plenty of emergency food with a long shelf life stored. But if meat is needed, someone will need to know how to take down a deer or other animal.
- Income/Bartering. People who can earn an income even if the electrical grid is down – whether in the form of money or goods – should also be skilled at trading what you have in abundance for what you need.
- Medical Skills. The best-case scenario here is having a doctor in your group, or at least a registered nurse. If not, somebody needs to learn as much about diagnosing and treating illnesses and injuries as soon as possible.
- Construction Capabilities. The amount that this skill will be needed depends on whether you hunker down in a home or have to bug out to the wilderness. Either way, having plumbing and/or carpentry skills will help.
- Mechanic. If one of your vehicles needs repairing, the local garage probably won’t be an option. It’s crucial to keep your vehicles in running condition because you never know when you might need to gather supplies.
- Child and Older Adult Care. The caregiver has a crucial role, especially if there are multiple children and aging adults in your group. Keeping those who can’t always fend for themselves fed, nurtured and quiet is important.
- Grunt Work. In a survival situation, there is going to be plenty of work that nobody wants to do, including sanitation, cleaning and household chores. People with limited skills in other areas will be assigned to do this.
- Attitude Adjuster. Every group needs someone skilled at lifting other people’s spirits, especially when things look bleak. There’s no place for negativity when you’re trying to survive.
No two survival groups will look the same. Some will be larger, some smaller. Some will have a number of strong personalities, others only a couple. Some will feature several individuals with multiple talents, others will include a number of one-trick ponies. Regardless, the key is to make sure that at least one person possesses every skill you will need to survive.
A couple things to consider. When putting together a group, just what kind of situation and what duration are you looking at. Are you thinking of a short term situation. Such as a natural disaster. Or are you looking at something like an EMP or solar storm.
In the short term you will need security and medical knowledge. In a long term situation you may want to consider some things like farming and homesteading skills.
Don’t forget that after a few weeks or months fuel for cars or farm machinery may become scarce. If the electric grid is destroyed, most of the facilities needed to produce, process, and distribute petroleum will be shut down. So, unless you have a vast amount of fuel and lubricants securely stored, you may soon run out. What is your fall back?
The little group I am part of is made up of mostly people with at least a working knowledge of working with animal power. Horses, mules and oxen. While I don’t own any livestock, several of us do. And I am the blacksmith of the group. As well as the person who has actually had to farm with horses.
The other skill you will need in a long term situation is the ability to teach the skills to others.
Books are fine, but, nothing beats hands on experience. Don’t just read about things. Get out and try your hand at different things before your, or your loved ones lives depend on it.
You make some great points, Vincent, especially when you distinguish between short-term and long-term situations, as well as your statement about the importance of teaching skills to others. Thanks.
Look, these 12 skills are needed in order to survive any disaster or best to have in your every day life. You may not be an expert in everything; however, it is best that you learn and know something about everything than to know nothing about anything.
You know as well as I, knowledge is power. If you have the knowledge to save a life, be it medical or starting a fire, you will be in great demand if not by others then for yourself for it may be your life that you will be saving.
I believe in learning a little something about everything, even if it is only the basics. However, be sure to be an expert in several of these survival skills. It will mean that you will not have to depend on everyone for you to survive.
As you have already read the comments below, it isn’t always easy to count on people strangers as well as those you felt that you knew for a very long time. It has been my experience that you will have to cut ties from those that fail to support you and your survival because they can’t manage to put the group first before themselves, or they fail to uphold their own survival. They only thing I can say about this is TRAINING! If you train and people learn what is expected from them then you will have a greater chance of survival no matter what emergency or disaster that may occur.
I would like to be part of a group of like-minded people, but am concerned about the makeup of the group. I don’t want to have members who “seem” on board and in the end prove to be in for themselves only. I also don’t want to be in a group of extremists. It is not easy to find people who are preparation minded without being “preppers”. Or those who are not radical. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the mindset of eat or be eaten/kill or be killed. I don’t want to be with an unbalanced group that won’t work well together when it all hits the fan. I want to focus on survive and thrive. How does one go about being part of a group of like-minded people without letting a whole lot of people you don’t want to know about it find out you are prepared? I don’t want to publish this info because I don’t want to be their first target in an emergency (not to mention the government’s first target).
That’s a good point, not wanting to advertise you are prepared, because the people who will be out to take might surprise us. One person I was talking with not long ago had very similar thoughts on “the system” as I do. When the conversation turned towards preparedness he said all he needed were guns and ammo because he’d just take from others what he needed. Of course I had to point out his hypocrisy; that he would be no different than the criminal or the coercive government that he so despises.
For Years I have been a lone voice in the woods calling for a greater Unity amongst the People who are preparing and basically wanting to be ready to Reclaim and Restore this Republic.
My pleas have fallen on deaf ears, with a multitude of comments like “who can you trust?’ or, That makes for a bigger target”.
But the understanding that is entirely missed is that a Unified group, and by extention, other Unified Groups make for a greater show of determined will and a functioning structure for an aftermath situation.
Leadership will be on everyones shoulders, as well as working together just for simple survival.
Is ANYONE listening?
I hear you and agree with you.
“Field and Stream” published a recent issue showing the most complete personal survival kit I have ever seen, and a great survival kit for the back of your truck. Frank, I don’t remember which issue, as it was in a lobby of a waiting room. Find it, and get permission to reprint it for all your Patriots. It was, by far, the most complete collection out there.
Here is what I found from Field and Stream web site, http://www.fieldandstream.com under the search engine survival kits:
1.) Back Country Beast Survival Kit 25 Apr 2016
2.) Super Survival Kit: 20 Lifesaving items to keep in your truck 28 Apr 2016
3.) Super Survival Kit: 18 Deer-Camp Essentials 27 Apr 2016
4.) Super Survival Kit: 15 Lifesaving Essentials in one tiny box 26 Apr 2016
5.) Super Survival Kit: 16 Essential Items for water Emergencies 25 Apr 2016
6.) Super Survival Kit: 18 Essential Items for Back Country Hunters 25 Apr 2016
All of these titles were written by T. Edwards. I have to assume that they were in the April or May issue of Field and Stream. You can click on the individual titles and see what is in each kit. Interesting read.
Knowledge of local eatable plants.
Great addition, Anthony. Although the word is “edible” I agree with you, 100%. Percale is a common weed that tastes great right off the ground, but can also be cooked. Any “root plant”, such as wild carrot is everywhere. There is always some kind of berry growing.
There are a number of root plants which you must avoid – such as the wild potato that killed a well-known survivalist no many years ago. Have a guide which shows and describes to you what you can and do find locally before you eat it thinking that because you don’t die immediately it must be ok.