The 5 most important survival skills everyone should know

If you’re ever unlucky enough to find yourself in a survival situation then your chances would mostly depend on what you had with you at the time and where in the world you happen to be. It takes years to learn how to identify most plants you’ll encounter and how to make a variety of tools and shelters, but it takes far less time to learn the 5 most important survival skills everyone should know.

It doesn’t matter which type of climate you happen to be in, these skills are universal and can be applied to any situation, making them even more valuable, so here are five of the most important skills everyone should learn.

Fire lighting

Fire not only keeps us warm but has a whole range of other useful abilities. It can make water safe to drink, cook food, dry clothing, light areas at night, and provide a much-needed morale boost, not to mention acting as a signal for your location. You’d think lighting a fire would be quite easy, just grab a few dry sticks and put a flame underneath, but what happens when your matches are wet or the flint has popped out your lighter?

(The feather stick, an excellent way to start a fire after its been raining)

Knowing how to start a fire after it’s been raining and everything is wet can make the difference between drying out and carrying on or catching a cold and sitting in a shelter all wet and miserable. There are many types of fire you can build but basics are always the fastest and easiest, so here are a few things to remember when making a fire.

Start with your tinder which should be as dry and fine as possible, like dried grass, very thin dry sticks, or some kind of moss like old man’s beard lichen or the dry outer shells from tall stem plants, whatever material you choose it should be bone dry, and it’s a good idea to carry some tinder with you in your pocket so its nice and dry for your next fire.

Have a selection of sticks set up so you can place your lit tinder in the middle giving it contact to the smallest sticks first, allowing the flames to build up the bigger ones. Your tinder won’t burn for very long so it’s important to make sure your fire can catch as fast as possible after it’s added.

It can be tempting to throw on a ton of wood straight away but don’t smoother your fire or you’ll lose it all together. Before ash and hot coal have the chance to form your fire can go out quite easily, and smothering it is one of the ways to do it.

The materials you use to make your fire should be the driest you can find, making sure to avoid logs covered in moss or fungus or anything that has soaked up water. If all else fails with your tinder or the only wood you have available is wet, then craft yourself a feather stick. You may have to make several to get the wood going but it’s the most effective way to start a fire after it has been raining.

Shelter building

There are a ton of different shelters you can build, but whichever one you choose should protect you from the wind and rain. Its shape and size aren’t important if it can do its job well, with one of the best shelters out there being nothing more than a slope covering a raised bed in front of a fire.

If you look at various images of the survival shelters people have built the majority of them share one similar feature, they all sleep on the floor. It doesn’t matter how waterproof your roof is, if you’re lying on the ground then you risk two things happening. The first is that the ground will sap heat away from your body much faster than the air will, and even if you have a sleeping bag the amount of heat lost would still be higher than normal. If you don’t have time or the equipment to make a raised bed then at least put a thick layer of something down to insulate yourself from the ground. Any kind of leaves, ferns, or any material that could provide a layer will be worth the time it takes to gather, which will also protect you from the second reason.

The weather can change very quickly and rain can happen any time of the year. if you are lying on the ground and it rains, the sides of your shelter may be waterproof but the rain can build up and create a small stream running through the middle of it, and getting wet in the wrong situation can see your chances of survival go from bad to worse.

Food and water

Water should always be boiled before consumption to make sure any harmful bacteria have been killed, but in a survival situation, not everyone will have something to boil water in. If you are forced to drink from a natural water source then try to work out just how clean it is. Still water in lakes and ponds should always be avoided, and even the cleanest-looking stream could be no more than 100 meters away from a field full of sheep. If you have the option to filter water through a cloth and boil it then this should sort out 99% of your water problems, but in the event that you don’t or can’t find a proper water source then here are a few ways to find it.

Take a stick and start digging in the dampest-looking section of earth you can find. If you can make it over 12 inches deep then water should start to form within a few minutes, but if nothing happens after at least 10 minutes then try another spot.

Plants with large leaves often collect rainwater at the point they meet the main stem. You’ll only get a small slurp from each leaf but it may be enough to get you by.

Dig a square hole in the floor at least 12 inches deep and put a piece of plastic over the top, a supermarket bag works well if torn open on one side so it’s flat. Weigh the edges down with stones and place something to collect the water underneath in the center. Placing a small rock in the middle of the plastic to create a dip over the collector will ensure the water falls in the right place. Through the night condensation will form on the underside of the plastic and drip into the container.

Navigation

It’s not always someone’s fault when they become lost, but it’s always their responsibility to make sure they get out alive. Finding your way out of a situation is all about moving in the right direction, but knowing which way that is can be difficult. Even if you don’t know your exact location it’s likely you’ll have a basic idea of where you are, which means you should know which compass direction to head in.

To find north without a compass you can either use an analog watch, or in the event you have nothing you can use the sun. To find north with a watch, hold it horizontally and point the hour hand at the sun. Halfway between that point and the twelve o’clock mark on your watch points to the south, making north directly opposite.

To find north with nothing at all you need to know is where the sun comes up and goes down. When the sun rises it’s in the east at a slight southerly angle, if you face the sun as soon as it appears you are facing east, so north is off your left shoulder. During the middle of the day when the sun is at its highest point, it will be due south, making north directly behind you.

The terrain is often a better navigational aid than the sun since it’s so difficult to keep to a specific direction as it moves around the sky. Taking note of the locations of mountains, lakes or some other kind of landmark makes it easier to follow a specific direction, making sure you check their location every so often to make sure you’re still on course.

Rescue

Getting out of your situation is obviously the priority, but how you do that will depend on where you are and what you have with you. The sign for rescue is normally three bursts of whatever it is you’re using. A mirror will be three flashes to signal S.O.S, whereas the Morse code signal is 3 quick beeps, 3 slow then 3 quick again, or …—… if you prefer. Lighting a smokey fire is a good sign you are there but letting off three bursts of smoke using a blanket or handful of leafy sticks will alert people that you are in trouble.

If you can’t signal anyone for whatever reason then the number one thing to look out for no matter where you are in the world is flowing water. If you come across a stream then follow it until it reaches a river or lake, since people have always lived close to water your chances of finding someone to help you increase hugely when you find a flowing source.