Knowing these specific wilderness skills can be a life saver. Read carefully and make notes. The life you save with this knowledge could be yours, your family's and maybe even a neighbor or two!

Mindset – Perhaps the most valuable asset that anyone can have in a survival situation is proper mindset. If a person possesses the proper mindset then a total lack of supplies, a chaotic situation, or even significant loss can be either overcome or more adequately dealt with when compared to another person that lacks the mindset that is conditioned to appropriately handle such situations.
Starting a fire – Fire can be a source of warmth, security, cooking, water purification and even an insect deterrent. With the obvious value that fire can provide in a myriad of situations, having the ability to start a fire should be a priority for all preppers. One method for starting a fire is not enough. It is also not enough to just know how to start the fire, you should also be proficient in maintaining your fire in a variety of conditions. Always consider that a fire could be your lifeline in a survival situation.

Locating and purifying water – Water is needed by everyone, every day. It is ideal if it is coming out of a faucet in your house and it is clean and safe for consumption. But that may not always be the case. The ability to locate a water source and in turn make the water safe to use for drinking, cooking and hygiene can literally be the difference between life and death. This skill can be even more vital if the region where you are living is either arid or consists of predominantly salt water. When identifying water sources, always ensure that you consider any potential contaminants or pollutants that may have leeched into the body of water or water table in the area.

Building a shelter – Even if an existing building is to be used as shelter, a natural disaster could come out of nowhere and damage this building in only a couple of minutes. If a more suitable replacement shelter cannot be located, repairs may need to be made to the damaged shelter. The same skills that could be employed to build a shelter in the wilderness could be used to perform repairs to at least a section of a building.

Making a primitive/improvised weapon – In an effort to defend yourself, go on the offensive or procure food for eating or barter, the ability to make a weapon using improvised sources or primitive technologies could eventually be the only true option available. Think about this scenario: The production of all ammunition has been stopped and the government has started going house-to-house to confiscate the ammunition that is already in existence. No one wants to be left without the ability to take care of what needs to be done, and being able to put together a weapon in this scenario is very valuable.

Hunting/gathering food – Whether you choose to hunt mammals, go fishing or harvest wild plants; these wilderness survival skills could prove to be immensely useful if the supply system breaks down or access to stores is interrupted.

Navigation – I have always felt like the ability to navigate in the woods translates to being able to navigate the streets even easier. This is especially true when considering the fact that a street map is far easier to read than a topographic map.

Basically, it comes down to having skills. The more you have the more likely you will survive a challenging situation, whether it be a serious global condition or merely being out in the wild for a few days.

In this article we spoke of the skills you need but really did not touch on where you can obtain these skills. Go to Personal Liberty to read further. The author gives survivalist ideas where to look for information and he’ll toss in a few ideas of his own.

Now, get your “mind set” and do it!