Survival Series | Physical survival skills

Here’s a list of essential physical survival skills that are valuable in wilderness, disaster, or emergency situations. These are categorized by purpose for easier reference:

🔥 Fire

  • Fire starting (with and without matches/lighter)
    – Flint and steel
    – Ferro rod
    – Bow drill
    – Fire plough
  • Fire maintenance
    – Building different types (teepee, log cabin, Dakota fire hole)
    – Keeping a fire going overnight

💧 Water

  • Finding water
    – Rivers, streams, dew, plant transpiration
    – Animal behavior clues
  • Purifying water
    – Boiling
    – Filtration (improvised and commercial)
    – Chemical purification (e.g., iodine, chlorine tabs)
    – Solar stills

🍖 Food

  • Foraging
    – Identifying edible plants, berries, roots, and insects
  • Hunting/Fishing/Trapping
    – Making snares, traps, fishing lines, or spears
    – Tracking animal signs
  • Preserving food
    – Smoking, drying, salting

🏕️ Shelter

  • Building a shelter
    – Using natural materials (leaves, branches, snow)
    – Tarp or poncho shelters
    – Insulating for heat retention
  • Selecting a shelter site
    – Away from hazards (falling branches, water flow)
    – Close to resources (water, firewood)

🧭 Navigation & Orientation

  • Map and compass use
  • Natural navigation
    – Sun, stars, moss, shadow stick method
  • Making a compass
    – Using a magnetized needle and water

🩹 First Aid & Health

  • Basic first aid
    – Bleeding control, splinting, treating burns
  • CPR and rescue breathing
  • Wound care in the wild
  • Dealing with hypothermia/heatstroke/dehydration

🏃‍♂️ Movement & Rescue

  • Signaling for help
    – Signal fires, mirror, whistle, ground symbols
  • Crossing terrain safely
    – Rivers, mountains, dense woods
  • Climbing or rappelling (basic)
  • Evading detection (in hostile environments)

🧠 Mental & Behavioral

  • Maintaining a survival mindset
    – Calmness, patience, focus, resilience
  • Improvisation
    – Adapting tools and techniques to what’s available
  • Decision-making under stress