There are certain skills any survival team must possess to have a chance at surviving.

By splitting responsibilities along skill sets, more tasks can be accomplished and that increases the overall changes of survival.

What skills would be needed in the team?

• Medical – Survival offers many opportunities to become injured, more than to become ill. The team needs someone with the necessary medical training to care for those members of the team.

• Survival skills – While everyone in the team should know basic survival skills, there should be one team member who is a true expert. This will be the person who will direct the efforts of the team in purely survival related tasks, as well as training the other team members.

• Hunter – At least one and preferably two team members should be experienced hunters. I’m not talking about the type of hunter that puts feed corn out there as bait and waits for the deer to arrive, but those that know how to go out and find the animals.

• Gardener – A vegetable garden will probably be a major part of your survival strategy. At least one team member needs to have a truly green thumb and be able to instruct others in how to work in the garden.

• Animal husbandry – If you are going to raise any domesticated animals for food or labor as part of your survival strategy, you need at least one person who knows how to care for those animals.

• Communications – You’ll need to know how to communicate with each other, as well as reach out to the rest of the world to find out what’s going on. Someone with more communications experience than using a cell phone can be very useful. A ham radio operator would be even better.

• Engineer/Repair man – Things break and you’ll need to repair them. You’ll also need to be able to make things that you don’t have. A good jack of all trades, who can repair just about anything will be worth their weight in gold.

• Child care/Teaching – At least some of your team members will have children, who will need to be taken care of and educated.

• Defensive coordinator – Someone needs some military experience, preferably in the infantry or special forces, so that they can be your military commander and coordinate your defensive efforts.

• Wise counselor – While this may not seem to be a survival skill, it is probably the most important skill on this list. As long as people are working or living together, there will be conflict. It is this counselor’s job to keep everyone on an even keel and help them to work through emotional difficulties and conflicts.

Obviously, many team members will possess over-lapping skills as well as complimentary skills that make survival life easier.

You need, however, to also consider the intangibles – leadership qualities, emotional stability, mental acuity, calmness under pressure, potential for resentment and conflict – etc. when building a team. Those intangibles are as important as any skills someone might bring to the table.

For more information on building a survival team, please visit Crisis Survivor Tips.