Preppers often come up with a lot of excuses as to why they can’t acquire new survival skills. Reasons like “too little time,” “not enough money,” and being “too far away from a practice area” can deter preppers and keep them stuck in a space of inactivity.
Luckily there are many survival skills you can learn from the comfort of your own home. And with the help of the internet and library books, it’s never been easier (or cheaper) to learn some new survival skills in your spare time.
It’s easy to get ready for a crisis once you’ve begun mastering these…
5 Survival Skills You Can Practice At Home
Knot Tying
Knot tying is essential for a bug-out situation (or often for camping). You can use these skills to build a shelter, fashion a raft, tie a fishing line, lower down supplies to someone in a ditch, and so much more.
There’s countless survival books and Boy Scout guides that talk about this survival technique. Not to mention there’s a ton of YouTube videos and documents you can download onto your laptop or tablet.
I recommend either printing off the valuable info you find, or downloading it onto a tablet/e-reader you can use later. That way you have the info with you when you need it most.
Wood Carving
Wood carving is an excellent and therapeutic way to pass the time and take your mind off things while you create something new. You can use this skill to help you make a variety of tools including spoons, forks, knives, spears, spikes, arrows, and more.
You can also use your wood carving abilities to fashion a walking stick to help you lean on as you travel.
The possibilities of wood carving are pretty limitless, so this is an incredibly advantageous skill. Watch videos online or befriend someone who does this for a hobby and you’ll be mastering this craft in no time.
Identifying Plants
Identifying plants isn’t just a useful skill for determining if one is poisonous or not. This survival skill also helps prevent starvation, and even can provide natural alternatives to medicine.
The truth is there’s far more edible plants out there than most preppers realize. You can use this to your advantage when SHTF – when others are scraping up the last of their stockpile, you can be stocking up on delicious plants and herbs to keep your family full.
Many plants also have medicinal properties that can aid you in a crisis. For instance, plantain plants are very useful for disinfecting wounds, and the catnip plant can quickly relieve headaches and migraines.
There are countless library books and internet sources about identifying plants. I suggest you study up so you know which ones to look for in a crisis!
Pro Tip: Look up plants that are specific to your region. This can help you prepare faster and more efficiently!
Making Nets
Remember how knot tying is such an important survival skill? Well, you can use it to your advantage while fashioning fishing nets.
These nets can work wonders for catching fish and other edible sea creatures. If you’re lucky enough to be by a body of water when SHTF, this skill will seriously come in handy!
If not, no worries. You can still use this net to hold survival gear, or you can even fashion a hammock to relax in after a hard day’s work.
Setting Traps
Trapping is an enormously useful skill in an emergency situation. These traps allow you to capture small animals you can eat to prevent starvation. Plus oftentimes you can set numerous traps at once, and then come back to find your next meal(s) waiting for you.
Now although it’s useful to practice this skill in the great outdoors, you can still do plenty of the prep work inside your home. Grab the materials you’ll need, and then practice setting up/activating the traps. This way when you get outside you’ll be ready to set them up immediately.
