7 Epic Survivalist Fails (and how to avoid them)
There’s an old saying that goes:
“A master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried”
This basically means that failing over and over again is required to master a skill. However I’ve always felt that survival skills are a bit different.
You see, if you fail at a survival skill it could literally mean the difference between life and death.
- What if you failed store fresh water?
- What if you can’t start that fire?
- What if you have no food?
This is why blog posts such as these are so important because you guys get to learn from others mistakes without consequences.
Prepping is a lot harder than people think,so not being prepared for disasters is not uncommon or anything to be ashamed of.
So in this post we will check out 7 Survivalist Fails and what you should do to avoid them.
1 - Procrastination
Yep, being lazy can literally kill you.
Well in some circumstances…
That hurricane is still going to hit and it’s not going to care if you decide to get your basement prepared after you’ve watched your favourite show on netflix.
Sadly, some of the deaths caused by a natural disaster could be down to the person failing to find the motivation to get prepared.
Even if you survive you could be a lot worse off than other survivors because you do not have the things you need.
Get as much information on the disaster as possible so that you know exactly what you need to do.
Break your prep into smaller chunks and create a checklist of things you will need to do. It will help you get the momentum to keep going instead of putting things off.
Please don’t procrastinate, get prepared for that snow storm or hurricane as soon as you can because you may not get another opportunity.
2 - Being out of stock
Some people do have a survival plan and do have supplies in their home or bug out but just not enough of them…
You just don’t know if your situation will last 24 hours or 24 days.
Stocking up is essential to any survivalist or prepper and failing to do so is something even the pro’s are guilty of.
It’s not just survival items, I still forget to buy more coffee before I’m out.
Our tip for this is to always restock any used items. You don’t always have to buy in bulk you could stock up bit by bit.
Be sure to focus on these 3 essentials
- Survival foods
- Water storage
- Medical supplies
3 - Underestimating the threat
Yeah go ahead, poke that sleeping lion and see what happens.
Ofcourse you wouldn’t do that right? That’s because you know darn well what that threat level would be.
Yet so many people will just change the channel in the middle of that urgent weather report because it’s cutting into their sports game.
As a survivalist we need to know what’s going on around us, whether across the street or on the other side of the world.
We recommend that you build your knowledge on the disasters gradually, so you know what they are and what they can do.
You’ll need to do research on disaster threat levels, maybe it’s richter scales or high flood risks that would apply to you.
4 - Having nowhere to go
So say there is a flash fire and your house was in the way, where would you and your family go?
There’s nothing worse than driving around aimlessly to get away from something with no clear destination in mind.
You should plan the best escape routes in case of emergency and how to reach them without satnav. (yes, learn to read a map)
You should also pinpoint any hospitals, petrol stations, super markets, hotels or even the best camping spots.
We would recommend multiple bug out spots in case the disaster is the type to follow you around.
5 - Lack of training
“Oh, I guess that wasn’t a can opener after all”
And now it’s broken…
Yeah, don’t let this be you, if you have a bunch of survival items or you know of a particular survival skill then you should train yourself on them.
Maybe you have firewood but no lighter, having practiced the correct technique to start a fire without one would be highly beneficial.
What if you have a water purification device in your cache?
You should read the instructions, test it out every once in awhile and have it at the ready in case the situation should arise.
Be sure to train yourself on how to use certain items (especially medical) or skills so that it becomes second nature to you.
6 - Zero self defence
This is definitely one survival skill everyone should pick up whether you’re a prepper or not.
There could be times of civil unrest, mass looting, or maybe you just walk down a dark alley.
You will need to know that if you are targeted you have the ability to defend yourself especially because you have a family.
Unfortunately in desperate times people will resort to extreme measures to survive. One day they could be your neighbour and the next a violent thief.
It’s just human nature.
However knowing how to use a firearm, how to disarm someone, or how to survive a group attack are all important even if you never have to face a SHFT situation.
Our recommendation here would be Krav Maga.
This is a very efficient and effective martial art that trains in everything from how to use weapons, how to take weapons and how to stop someone as fast as possible. There are no grading belts or official matches just straight forward combat. (not to say that any other style of fighting is bad)
7 - Insufficient Storage
Check this video out, this is a house fire caused by batteries. Turns out it was down to how they were stored.
These volt batteries were stored in a paper bag and eventually caused a house fire when becoming in contact with each other.
This is probably an extreme example of a survival fail but volt batteries would be an item mostly found in a bug out bag or cache.
If a disaster occurs you don’t want to be in a situation where you are running all over the house trying to find those bandages.
You also don’t want things stored in a difficult to reach place or somewhere unhygienic.
We expand on this in our post, how to organise your survival items.
Conclusion
I hope this post helped you see what sort of pitfalls there are when it comes to the survival and prepper life.
Yes, the post may have been a bit negative but if you think about it, you’ve already started to beat procrastination by looking this information up online.
Being prepared for a SHFT situation doesn’t have to be complicated and one of our goals at survivalfamily is to help educate you on this stuff to make it as painless as possible.
Any fails we miss?
Comment below to let us know what survival issues you face and what you’ve done to overcome them.
Till next time survivors.
