Skills You Should Learn Before Sh!t Gets Real...


Skills to know before SHTF

Would you know how to change a flat tire in less than five minutes if your life depended on it? Or start a fire in the middle of winter to boil water? The following is a list of skills that you should know before you get stuck in a SHTF situation. They are actually good skills to know in general. Aside from possibly saving your life, some of this knowledge can save you a lot of time, effort and money in the long run.

Learn How To Kick Ass and Defend Yourself! 
What good is it if you have stockpiled supplies...but don’t have the guts or the capacity to defend them with your life? Knowing how to defend yourself and your property is critical. In the post-apocalypse or any survival situation, it is important to be able to take appropriate action. Are you going to fight or flight? Sometimes the only option is to fight. Take some martial arts classes, get to know your weapons and try to stay in shape. Remember, your bug-out-bag is useless if you are not fit enough to run across the street with it because of the additional weight. I should probably take my own advice and start hitting the gym. Reinforce your home properly and make sure your attack game is as good as your defensive skills!

Source:giphy
Know How to Operate A Gun 
Learn how to operate a weapon, period. A melee weapon is fine but sometimes the best way to avoid conflict is to be able to eliminate it from a distance. Knowing how to shoot a gun or any long distance weapon will give you an advantage. Hopefully you will never be put in a situation where you have to use it but if you had to, best know how. Why own a crossbow if you don’t know how to load the arrows properly? Or why own a handgun, if you don’t even know how to shoot it?! You can end up hurting/killing yourself or an innocent bystander. Take a training course and go target shooting once in a while to brush up on your safety skills. You don’t want to get caught in a situation where your weapon is useless or a hazard because you failed to get familiar with it.

Learn “The Art of Bartering” 
Bartering is going to be an essential skill to have in a post-collapse world. Unless you are good looking and naturally charming like myself, learning to trade and strike beneficial deals when you are limited on supplies may mean the difference between life and death. You can almost always negotiate with anyone to get better deals. Remember the basics: don’t ever trade something that you do need for something that you don’t need. Duh, right? Assess your current situation and determine which items would be most useful to you. Try practicing the art of bartering with your neighbors or friends. It is also a nice skill to master at flea markets.

Legacy Food Storage

Learn Basic Repair Skills 
If people had the knowledge and the time to fix their own gadgets or make house repairs they would. Truth is that most people really don’t know how things function and wouldn’t know how to piece things back together if they were to break. Would you know how to fix a leaky roof? What about knowing how to reinforce your home defense systems in case of a breach? What if the situation calls for you to bug-in versus bugging-out? This means that you should know how to improve your home security and make necessary repairs. You don’t have to be a contractor or a Do It Yourself fanatic but at least know how to make some basic repairs to your home and gadgets. In the long run, you will save a lot of money not having to pay others to fix your shit!

Know How to Fix Your Vehicle
I had never really thought about this one as being important until recently when my brother bought a new car and gave me his older vehicle. He told me it was having some engine problems and was overheating. Turns out that some of the issues weren’t even major. It was just a matter of replacing a few hoses here and there. I’m not a mechanic so I didn’t think I was qualified to diagnose and fix my own car. However, a little How To knowledge can help you avoid having to pay a lot of money. Remember, to keep all the proper tools you need in your vehicle at all times. Challenge yourself to change a tire as fast as you can just in case you are in a crazy situation. Zombie apocalypse anyone? It would be a huge bummer to be stuck in a situation that could have been easily avoided if only you knew how to make simple vehicle repairs.

Source:giphy
Learn How to Drive (A Manual Transmission)
I remember the first time I attempted to drive a manual transmission vehicle, the engine made a loud noise that I had never heard before. It actually scared me. I vowed never to drive a manual transmission ever again. I was afraid I would hurt another poor engine. But thankfully, I recently found the courage to learn how to drive one properly. The point is, if you don’t know how to drive, learn. And if you don’t know how to drive a stick shift, learn how to do so soon. You never know when you might need to drive out of a shitty situation. It’s possible that in a SHTF situation, the only vehicle available to you will be a manual transmission. Make sure to practice enough so that you feel comfortable shifting gears and feel confident that you can bug out without any problems.

Learn Basic Wilderness Survival Skills
Every prepper should know this but for the sake of survivalism, I included them anyways. It’s important to know how to start a fire, filter water, build a shelter, hunt/forage for food, etc. These skills are useful even when you are simply camping out or having a fun time in the backyard. Even if you think that you know how to do these things well, continue to practice and improve your skills. Simply having a bug-out-bag or survival kit isn’t enough. Remember, shit happens when you least expect it!

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