Our lives are full of processes that are automated that in a severe survival incident, might disappear, forcing us to make do or learn new skills.

Those skills used to be common, but now are incredibly rare; here are a few it might be wise to brush up on.

Clothing. If times are tough, people won’t be able to go out and buy new clothes and shoes any time they need them. They’ll have to fix shoes, patch torn pants, and mend shirts. This is an important skill that has become very rare in modern society.

Communication. If the infrastructure breaks down, common means of communication like cell phones and the Internet will be unreliable, if not gone completely. In that case, people who know how to use all kinds of radios, especially HAM radios, will be in high demand.

Construction. Especially without power tools. It’s worth knowing how to properly fix roofs, board up windows or build outhouses using only basic hand tools.

Cooking. People are going to get sick and tired of eating canned soup and freeze-dried food. If you can cook a tasty meal and dessert without power, people in the neighborhood will thank you with favors or with supplies they don’t need.

Dental. Most people live their entire lives without realizing how much misery they would experience if not for the dentist. A perfect example of this is in the movie Cast Away where the main character has to knock out one of his own teeth.

First Aid. People tend to take doctors for granted, but it will quickly become apparent how important they are and why people should learn first aid skills. Without doctors, people will need help sewing up wounds, setting bones, performing CPR, and determining which herbs and medications help with which ailments.

Gathering. The main thing here is knowing which naturally-occurring plants in your area have nutritional and/or medicinal value and which ones are useless or poisonous. But you’ll also need a MacGyver-like ability to find and use trash and items that might otherwise be ignored.

Hunting and Fishing. When food supplies get low and gardens fall short, people are going to have to hunt and fish. If you can provide meat for your friends and family, they’ll have time to take care of other necessities.

Mechanic. Even if we have a depression worse than the one in the 1930’s, most people are still going to have jobs (remember, unemployment only got up to 25% in the 1930’s), which means they’ll need a way to get to work. The problem for many people is that they won’t be able to afford to get their cars fixed. If you learn how to work on cars, or any machine for that matter (lawnmowers, generators, etc.), you’ll have a particularly valuable skill.

These are just a few of the skills that would come in handy if our world reverted back to the early 1900’s.

Taking the time to learn some of them would give a survivalist a leg up on surviving, but also being able to secure work.

To learn other skill sets you should consider learning, check out the Urban Survival Site.