How to Survive and Thrive in all Environments and Situations
I’ve lived in most regions in the U.S., with many of them representing extreme environments that require different strategies, tactics and preparation to survive and thrive.
From northern Minnesota to the Ozark Mountains, from the desert of Arizona to the crowded large cities that represent a different type of danger – mostly of the human kind – my family and I have had to adapt and learn the special circumstances that need to be taken into consideration in order to not be caught off guard and unprepared.
There have been friends that have died from hypothermia after falling into a river during the winter while trapping, and another that died by choosing the wrong mode of transportation at dusk, and got killed after hitting a deer.
It doesn’t matter if you live in Ireland, London, Canada, Chicago, Houston, Seattle, Australia, Oregon, Atlanta or NYC, it’s irrelevant if you live in the bush, backwoods, or a mountain in Colorado or Alaska, there are always threats that must be accounted for in those environments, and we must think through the main threats when considering how to limit their negative impact on our lives.
We need to consider temporary and long-term food supply issues. We should have basic lists that remind and provide advice as to how to react in various environments, and if possible, how to avoid them.
Also vital and important is the developing of survival skills and how to use different gear under scenarios that could occur.
One of the best ways to do that is to take one skill, piece of gear, tool, or firearms or other weapon we can use to defend ourselves, and get proficient at using them. This takes practice.
In order to not get overwhelmed, but retain interest – especially when including children in the training – practice by assuming you’re in different situations that could emerge.
For the outdoors, there’s nothing better than camping or hiking to learn the skills needed for outdoor or backwoods survival. Design an emergency event that everyone has to respond to. Include the equipment, tools or weapons that may have to be used to respond to the threat.
A family with children of different ages could pretent they’re stuck in the woods for a few days. That could allow for training on how to start a fire; maybe using something like an Everstryke lighter or match. You could teach how to use flashlights for different situations, and teach the value of conserving the batteries by using them only when needed. A J5 Hyper V tactical flashlight or Hybeam could also be used as part of the training.
If you drove in a sedan and are using a tent, ways to protect food against potential intrusions from bears, as well as keeping them from being a threat against yourselves, would be important skills to teach.
If you live or are in an urban setting, teaching about threats from mauraders looking to steal whatever they can of your food, supplies, and maybe even your lives, needs to be dealt with at the practical level.
Doomsday preppers will have to have a different type of skills, gear and supplies to deal with larger cities than they will in small cities and the wilderness or rural areas.
While we need to keep quiet about the resources we have set aside for our survival and protection no matter where we live, in the city it’ll be far more dangerous immediately after any catastrophic event. People in cities can rapidly become a mob, and that mob is only thinking of survival at all costs, no matter what the expense it is to others. That psychology needs to be taught, embraced and understood by our families.
After all, we’ve seen how people act when fighting over getting some deal during the Christmas shopping season. What do you think it’ll be like when it could be their own lives that are at risk?
Understanding the psychology of a mob that doesn’t know how to take care of itself because they’ve relied on the government or others to do so, is vitally important. They’re essentially helpless; or at least that’s the perception of themselves that they have, and they’re going to go first to the low-hanging fruit, meaning they’ll take what they want from those that are prepared to defend themselves, or have openly let others know about the resources they have in storage.
If at all possible, the best thing to do for those living in cities is to have an escape route prepared in case of an emergency, and a place outside the city they have stored things.
Unless you’re armed to the teeth and know how to and are willing to defend yourselves, you need to be ready to bug out as soon as you can. Even if you can defend yourselves, it should only be done if you have to. Using ammo instead of bugging out is a bad tactic.
What I mean there is some seem to always opt to stay and defend what’s theirs. We see this all the time when heavy flooding comes to areas and people refuse to flee, even if it puts their lives in danger from the flood, accompanying disease, or the scavenger humans that use the situation to steal from abandoned homes.
There are many Christians that believe we’re living in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ to the earth, and they interpret the Bible in terms of modern day events.
They point to Biblical prophecies and attempt to fit the events into what they perceive to be the hidden meaning of the text.
If you’re one of them, keep in mind that you have no idea when this event will occur, and to not be prepared for any disaster because you think you’re going to escape it, is irresponsible at best. No one knows the day or season, and to say you do would make the Bible untrue.
The best way to deal with that is if you truly believe it, act in a way that assumes the Lord Jesus won’t return in your lifetime. Even if what some call the Tribulation were to come, the need to deal with the circumstances that lead up to it would still be in play. For that reason survival skills and preparedness are extremely important.
We need to teach these skills to our families, not only for last days or end times reasons, but because they could easily face emergencies or social unrest far before that time happens. These types of skills are always needed.
God’s new creation, which started at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell, still demands for us to occupy until He comes. We aren’t to do the equivalent of sitting around on a hill waiting for that moment in time.
A life of faith in this world is a life of action. Again, we need to train our families how to survive and thrive in this dark period of history. Counting on being taken away during difficult times is nothing more than rolling the dice. After all, how many false prophecies have been made by the gurus over the last several decades, and even further back, concerning the imminent return of Jesus Christ?
Escapism is a limited way of viewing things that could cost our families and friends severe hardship, and possibly death, if we don’t do the job of teaching them how to deal with the difficult situations they may face in life.
Whether natural disasters, wild animals, weather, severe heat or cold, or evil human beings, we must be prepared to face the major scenarios that will eventually come.
The best way learn the needed skills is by doing and practicing. Having enough food and water stored, gadgets, skills, tools and firearms, and learning how to use them under various circumstances is important.
We need to learn to adapt to emerging situations as they unfold, as the best of plans can go awry. Having a couple of simply but effective backup plans are important.
Even if you live in the city, the best chance at survival under the breakdown of society is to leave the city. Even if you have extended family there, it’s best to go and not think you can defend yourselves as a group. The size of the mobs that can quickly form will catch you by surprise. There’s no reasoning with them, and they’ll take whatever they want from you if they know where you are or find you.
I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t stay together as a family, only that you won’t be able to effectively resist the irrationality of people that are desperate to the point of doing whatever it takes to survive.
Make sure to take into account where you’re planning to go to under times of duress, and understand that’s the environment you’ll have to survive and thrive in.
This shouldn’t be considered negative at all; only as warning and nudge to not keep your head in the sand concerning the condition of the world we live in and the direction it’s taking.
Those that are prepared will have a far better chance of surviving than those that believe everything will go on as it has for a long time. Don’t be that person.