Ancient Survival Techniques that Were Part of Everyday Life
It’s easy to forget that many of the survival skills and concepts we develop were part of the daily fabric of life for our ancestors throughout most of human history. Consequently, we’re not really learning anything new. Rather, we’re simply getting re-connected with our roots. The good news is that we have more options at our disposal than ever to make our preparedness efforts as effective and productive as possible. However, it’s important that we keep things simple and get some fundamentals down before we become distracted by a lot of the bells-and-whistles that are out there in preparedness land.
Making our Own Clothes
Imagine a worst-case scenario where you lose your backpack or survival kit and have no clothes other than the ones on your back. Consider what you would do if they get destroyed. How would you make replacements? Can you tan a hide? Can you make leather to convert into shoes? Can you make something from fresh wool or feathers as a way to stay warm?
This is one skill that our ancestors had simply because there weren’t any other options, and it’s one that has been all but forgotten. However, it was something that our ancestors needed to do every day, and it was part of normal, everyday life. We hardly ever think about being in such a position these days, but it’s always a possibility. Consequently, it may be worthwhile to get a basic sense of how to make your own clothes, just in case.
Navigation
We all know that ancient civilizations had a strong grasp of navigation by using the sun, moon, stars or landmarks. They could tell time, orient themselves, and even create transportation or migration routes. This was happening at a time long before maps, globes or navigational instruments were invented. While things did take a giant leap forward once we started creating tools to navigate and tell time, it still required a skill set that was considered to be second-nature to many people.
However, our modern way of life has virtually-eliminated the need for us to know how to use many of those tools, let alone rudimentary skills to find our way around. Learning basic navigational skills, even celestial navigation, is not that difficult, but it takes some time and practice. It’s also a skill worth developing and perfecting, because there are a limitless number of circumstances that can arise that would require you to use them.
Tracking and Hunting
We were hunters before we were farmers, and one of the first things that are ancestors learned was how to forage for food and hunt. They knew their environment. They knew what animals and plants were edible. They knew how to watch their behavior, monitor their movements and hunt them with great efficiency. This was another skill that was second-nature and passed on at a very early age. It was also a skill that took time to perfect.
It is a skill that we definitely lack, particularly when we’ve adapted to hunting with guns, but what would you do if you didn’t have a gun? Could you throw a spear, fire a dart through a blow gun or use an improvised bow and arrow? Do you know how to set a good trap? These skills have been part of our survival until the relatively-recent past, and we need to get re-acquainted with them in order to have a fighting chance at survival during a situation that sends us back into the dark ages.
Medicine
While it is true that modern medicine has been able to keep more people alive, many game-changing drugs came from natural sources. For example, penicillin comes from a fungus where aspirin comes from a plant. There are thousands of medicinal plants, animals and compounds that are found in nature that can cure sickness and diseases. Our ancient ancestors had an acute awareness of many herbal and natural remedies that could be used for first aid, to fight infections or to kill viruses.
I’m not saying that we should reject modern medicine, not by any means. However, it’s important that we know about tried-and-true remedies from nature in order to take advantage of them whenever possible. The more you know about natural remedies will put you in a distinct advantage during a SHTF scenario, and this is something that was also second-nature to many of our ancestors.
We’ve become so isolated from our natural environment that it’s easy to forget how to use it to our advantage. Take time to develop these and other skills, and never stop learning as well as passing them on to others. You never know when we’ll face a time when we need to put them to use, and the more prepared we are will increase our chances of getting through it alive.