# 4 Essential Skills



## k9wernet (Oct 15, 2007)

I'll have 4 days this summer to hang out with some 13-16 year olds and teach them back country survival/bushcraft skills.

If you had to boil what you know down to four essential survival skills (one to learn/practice each day), what would you focus on?

This will be my fourth year doing this program, just interested in spicing things up.

Links/explanations would be appreciated.

KW


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## ridgewalker (Jun 24, 2008)

I used to do retreat/survival skills training with kids. It was great fun.

We taught:

building a shelter
building a small cook fire (and extinguishing it) without paper and no more than 2 matches
orienteering using a compass and map
determining animal and size of animal by tracks and other natural signs
tree and plant identification (ok I added one to your four as we had a 5 day week)


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## dead short (Sep 15, 2009)

If there aren't too many, I'd say ditch the matches and give each of them a $4 firesteel to work with. 


Posted from my iPhone.


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

Probably the hardest but one of the most important things to teach is for them to be comfortable in the outdoors.ie-knowing that in michiganif you had to maybe spend a night out in the woods,theres really nothing to be afraid of. As I said,hard stuff to teach tho.
Kids are suprizingly resiliant! Good for you for doing this!


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## AllForTheGreen (Apr 26, 2011)

*1) Navigation.* The first essential skill of survival is maintaining access to the ease of modern human life, IE civilization, *IE not getting lost. *Get the compasses out, get the maps out, get some blank paper and clipboards. Teach them how to read different tops of map, top to bottom. Next, find a patch of safe wilderness with some unique features or at least notably discernible features. Practice the art of measuring a standard pace of about 2 feet to use as a measurement medium. Set a starting point, create teams, have them create a map with multiple landmark points including exact distance and compass angle from prior position to reach that landmark. The total distance of the exercise can vary on involvement. These're teenagers? Go for an hour or two, at least 5-10 landmarks/measurements/angles sets with the objective being that their created maps accurately return you to your starting point. Success of this lesson is confirmed when teams swap maps and go reverse course on each other's recordings and find themselves back at the starting point.

*2) Shelter.* First and foremost, site location, site preparation, tent assembly, tent setup, camp prep and setup with a focus on safe fire control methodology, and safe food storage practices. Depending upon how your schedule goes, the next day or the afternoon might cover building various forms of natural shelter such as lean-to's, teepees, and other sorts of arrangements with the key being geographical relevance, and I'm assuming you're teaching for Michigan's climate, so you'll cover our particular requirements and options.

*3) First Aid.* Bring in your local EMT/Red Cross First Aid//CPR Certifier. This is important for everyone everywhere and it's something the kids can even put on their resumes (There are jobs that _require_ certification, for one).

*4) Naturalist crash course.* Get affordable survival technique books that have excellent basic flora/fauna guides to teach what's edible, poisonous, useful, edible to other animals which themselves may be edible and how they can be tracked, trapped, prepared, and cooked. There're books that'll even include recipes for things like that. Such books can also include shelter guidelines and first aid references. If you can find a $10-$15 book that covers everything accurately, get one for each kid so you have a teaching aide and the kids have a life-saving reference tool in the future. Include compasses for the navigation course.

If you can cover these topics thoroughly and accurately with the right approach to promote accelerated/longterm osmosis of the knowledge, then you _will_ save a life some day.


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## SNAREMAN (Dec 10, 2006)

1:Building shelter
2:Making/starting fire
3:Methods of water pur.
4:Food gathering/building of and how to use snares


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## twohats (Oct 1, 2004)

SNAREMAN said:


> 1:Building shelter
> 2:Making/starting fire
> 3:Methods of water pur.
> 4:Food gathering/building of and how to use snares


 
I also agree with the above and in that order.


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## Willi_H2O (Mar 6, 2009)

I was taught in the following manner :

1.) Pack like you would go for a 4 hour hike.
Mention they may stay out overnight.
No 20, 30, 40 lb backpacks allowed, simple daypack of a few pounds max.

Insist on a flashlight, headlamp, etc. - they need to learn to operate in darkness
My favorite workhorse - http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/headlamps/signal-and-elite/elite

2.) Focus on shelter, attempting to stay dry, out of wind, rain, elements.

3.) Fire is soothing, comforting, and necessary for survival.
Run thru it all from waterproof matches, sparkers, etc. - avoid gimmicks.
LifeBoat matches http://www.landfallnavigation.com/lifeboat.html
Cover stuff like CharCloth for holding a firesteel ember.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Char-Cloth/

I'm carry one product now consistently because it works wet, cold, and one handed
http://www.bepreparedtosurvive.com/FirestarterProducts.htm#Metal%20Spark-Lite

Lighter fail in cold temps, no fumes means no ignition - my advice leave them home

4.) Food - people can live a few days without food.
Reality is most people pack way, way too much on short trips and
it can easily last a few days with a little rationing.

Hunting gathering is an advanced skill 
- ( illegal to poach/kill out of season ) 
Buy live rabbits if necessary, teach humane kill, butcher, cook methods.
Most kids have never "prepped" an animal, they don't know where meat comes from.
It will also sort out who has a sharp knife and who don't - or needs to learn how to sharpen one.
Ceramic blades are awesome - http://www.ceramicknife.org/catalog1.html

People learn by doing, focus on practical do-it-for-yourself stuff.

After that , they will fine tune their survival kits on their own.
They will have learned what works and what is hype, television nonsense.

Let them make mistakes - help, coach, repeat task until success
Confidence can be built upon little items and it can grow from there.

5.) Compass heading - must be able to walk straight and stay true to be effective
A game that helped reinforce this skill is on this page
www.iupui.edu/~geni/lsort/schoolyardcompass.doc

The bigger the circle, i.e. the longer the walk, the tougher the game becomes.

UTM and advanced stuff is awesome, but if they can't master following a heading, they'll fail in the woods.

Have Fun


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## brushbuster (Nov 9, 2009)

Willi_H2O said:


> I was taught in the following manner :
> 
> 1.) Pack like you would go for a 4 hour hike.
> Mention they may stay out overnight.
> ...


Being disciplined in panic situations is the greatest skill anyone could ever learn.


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## Mickey Finn (Jan 21, 2005)

ridgewalker said:


> I used to do retreat/survival skills training with kids. It was great fun.
> 
> We taught:
> 
> ...


All important skills. I'd throw in basic first aid, and something about finding your way without map or compass. Maybe you could roll this in with your land navigation evolution. A little direction on how to be "found" if your lost. Wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Good luck!


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## Roosevelt (Sep 21, 2007)

fire http://youtu.be/JuuLG8s_x04
shelter http://youtu.be/SjTX0_okwNw 
water http://youtu.be/vgV4C_6hLIY
food http://youtu.be/bNt0JCWyK7Q

and since you have 4 days you can really go to town, one day for each essential skill. Sounds like a fun time.


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## Ausable Junkie (Oct 2, 2002)

The technical stuff has been covered pretty well, but there's one thing just as important as survival skills: 

Staying positive and focused on your plans/efforts to survive. Having all the skills won't do you a bit of good if you allow yourself to lose hope and give in to despair. If this happens in a true survival situation, you're done.
If a plan doesn't pan out, come up with another one. I that one fails, think of another etc..

Maintaining a healthy mental state and the will to keep going on, is the foundation of survival.


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

Great stuff, way to get the kids involved.


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## DaGuy (Jan 13, 2011)

SNAREMAN said:


> 1:Building shelter
> 2:Making/starting fire
> 3:Methods of water pur.
> 4:Food gathering/building of and how to use snares


This list is what I would recommend also. First though, would be to come prepared if possible; what basic tools would make your "survival" easier. (knife, firesteel, compass, water transport, ect...)


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## livingafield (Jul 4, 2011)

k9wernet said:


> I'll have 4 days this summer to hang out with some 13-16 year olds and teach them back country survival/bushcraft skills.
> 
> If you had to boil what you know down to four essential survival skills (one to learn/practice each day), what would you focus on?
> 
> ...


When I teach survival, I do so as if the person is stranded with virtually no gear besides what they carry on a daily basis. The only think I make sure each person has is a quality fix blade knife.

Survival basics are the same the world over. They have been spelled out in the ARMY Survival guide. Hell, even Maslow described them in his hierarchy of needs. I have found that there are skills you absolutely must possess to survive. There are those skills that you should have, and those that would be nice to have. Navigation is one of those should have, as well as first aid. Nice to hace would be matches, tents, sleeping bags, packaged food. For the purposes of this post I will stick with the absolute must have skills.

First and foremost is securing shelter. The student needs to learn how to locate suitable shelter, as well as how to construct shelter in the event a natural means of shelter cannot be located. The no brainer for spring through autumn is the simple lean to, or a debris shelter.

The very next thing is fire. I stress the importance of properly preparing tinder and fuel for the fire. An important foundation many people forget about. I teach numerous methods of fire making, everything from matches/lighters/ferro rods, to using the sun if the person wears glasses or happens to have a magnifying glass. I am getting up there in age, and carry readers. I have even used these to create an ember. I then show the handrill and finish with the bow and drill method.

The next logical step is securing water sources. Running streams or lakes are wonderful things, but they do not always present themselves. All to often the only water source available is a putrid mosquito infested swamp. I think it is important that they learn to create a natural filter by digging a well about 4 or 5 feet from the water source, and allowing the filthy stagnant water to slowly filter into the hole and settle to relatively clear water. This is then used to boil. To be honest, when I have been unable to secure fire, and we all know this happens to the best of us, I have used this method as a last resort to semi-purify the water, and drank directly from the well. Luckily I have never gotten sick, but I would never recommend this as anything but a last resort. depending upon the situation, there are numerous other methods I cover, but the well is the most useful. In order to keep the well free of debris, it is important to keep the well covered when not drawing water.

The next step is to be able to feed onesself in the event the stay becomes a long one. I always teach how to find basic edible plants that have no toxic look-a-likes. I then teach all manner of traps, from Ojibwa bird poles, and grouse/pheasant box traps, to squirrel poles, and stationary snares, to spring pole and treddle snares. If there is time, I would also teach fish and crayfish traps and deadfalls. I also never forget to demonstrate the effectiveness of rolling over a log and picking up the worms and grubs. I teach that in a survival situation, calories are life, regardless of the source.

I am sorry to be so verbose, but one could go on for hours on a topic of survival. You are doing a wonderful thing. I find nothing more enjoyable than working with young people, and introducing them to self sufficiency in the natural world. It is a huge confidence builder. I enjoy watching the shy ones come out of their shells.


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## livingafield (Jul 4, 2011)

If you have a few extra minutes, I have found basic navigation without a compass is always a hit with students. I teach using an ordinary analog watch as a compass, and building a makeshift sundial. The watch method works quite well, and can help them even when not in the forest. Begin by removing the watch from your wrist, and pointing the hour hand directly at the sun. In the northern hemisphere, the point on the watch face half way between the hour hand and the 12 is due south. If during daylight savings time, use the 1 in place of the 12. I use this all the time, even when riding my motorcycle on backroads. The makeshift sundial takes minutes to build, and about half an hour to identify an east west line. You can visit my website for information on both of these methods. As well as celestial navigation.

The site is still under construction. The survival pages are not fully fleshed out as of yet, but the edible and medicinal plants pages are pretty good.


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## itchn2fish (Dec 15, 2005)

SNAREMAN hit it dead nuts


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## Hunter333 (Jan 19, 2000)

Keep it as simple as possible. Make it as fun as possible. As others have said: fire, shelter, water, and food. Map skills are important but if one cannot survive long enough to seek a way out, they are out of luck. So many variables, pick the ones that you feel are essential and teach from there. Thank you for what you are doing!!!


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