Outdoor Life Prepare for Anything Survival Manual (3 page)

Such a clear commandment. But like so many imperatives (“Eat your vegetables!”), it’s been diluted by repetition, and some people may associate those two words more with merit badges and Boy Scout jamborees than with personal protection.

But that couplet is the purpose of this book, and it’s a directive that we hope guides you through our unpredictable, chaotic, and sometimes turbulent world. Whether it’s enduring a Category 4 hurricane, protecting yourself and your family from a regime-toppling mob, or simply making it through an extended blackout with your sanity and possessions intact, this book is your ultimate what-if insurance policy.

We show you how to disaster-proof your home, stock a pantry (and why a bottle of vodka should be part of it), bar your front door, make a duct-tape belt, and stash your emergency cash. Learn how to grow a survival garden, should your grocery store be leveled, or build your own bicycle-powered generator, should your lights go out for good.

While those are critical survival techniques,
Prepare for Anything
is also a primer in workaday skills that every well-rounded human should know—whether or not the apocalypse is coming. These include how to throw a knife, start a fire, filter water, make your own jerky (and beer), dress a rabbit, tie down a tarp, and deliver a knockout punch.

Survival instructor Tim MacWelch is your guide and mentor through all these topics. For MacWelch, who operates a wilderness-skills school in Virginia and blogs on disaster preparedness for
Outdoor Life
, survival isn’t accidental. It’s the result of preparation and knowledge. His favorite skill is fire building, but he’s also an expert on emergency shelters, water and food gathering, and backcountry medical skills. We asked him to open his kit and teach us everything we need to know to survive a weekend—or a year.

Want to learn how to make an oil lamp? Read on. How about using a signal mirror? That’s here, too, along with the reasons to keep a tin of sardines in your pack. Learn how to shoot a shotgun, build a blowgun, and fletch your own arrows, plus hundreds more skills and perspectives. Plus, if the shit does hit the fan, it’s a great read while you wait for the end to arrive. And when it does, the pages burn pretty well.

Be prepared. Because it’s much, much better than the alternative.

Andrew McKean

Editor-in-Chief,
Outdoor Life

It’s a simple question, but to answer it correctly, you have to know what you’re up against. There’s a core set of basic requirements for staying alive: security, shelter, water, medical care, and food. But then there are the extras—things you might need depending on specific scenarios—and they are vast and plentiful. You may need a weapon to survive an attack, medical gear to make it through a traumatic injury, or a respirator to survive a chemical spill. But do you need all of those items? What about everything else? Deciding what you need is a major part of preparing yourself for emergency survival situations. During a passing emergency, issues like shelter, medical care, and water are paramount. But in an extended state of disaster, the pursuit of food, security, communications, and energy could become a struggle.

You want to be prepared for anything, but where to begin?

That’s where this book comes in. Within these pages, you’ll find the gear, guidance, and plans you need to make it through many different types of emergency scenarios. Along the way, you’ll pick up some new skills, gain some perspective on survival, become more self-reliant, and learn from those who have been there and done that. On the surface, this book is about emergency preparedness and disaster survival, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that this book is about self-sufficiency, taking charge of your fate, and maintaining a survivor’s attitude.

The skills presented herein will empower you—something sorely needed in today’s world. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you consider all the hardships that could befall us. Pondering the likelihood of EMPs, superstorms, terrorist attacks, and earthquakes can leave a person feeling vulnerable and powerless. But that’s not the case—you have the power. You are in control of your reaction to these situations and your preparations for these possibilities. Your preparedness reclaims your strength. This book isn’t a list of all the things that can go wrong in the world—it’s a list of all the things that you can do right.

You can survive, with some good disaster planning and a little luck. And there’s no better time to plan than right now.

Tim MacWelch

Situational awareness is the combined ability to pay attention to details, process the information you gain, use this information to identify threats, and create plans to handle or avoid these threats. The easiest way to explain this feat of mental multitasking is to imagine the mental state of police officers on duty. They are paying attention to everything around them, especially the things that look like trouble. While their training may not be available to the public, we can all take steps to develop a more alert mental state. And it’s well worth your time, as it can be a lifesaving ability.

Though situational awareness is more of a mind-set than a skill set, awareness should be practiced often and supported by further studies, the same way you would develop most other skills. You’ll never run out of opportunities to practice, either. The concrete jungle and an actual jungle both contain threats to your safety, making situational awareness a mental priority everywhere you go. Enhance your own natural powers of observation by performing these three simple actions.

ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS
Chatting on your cell phone or listening to music through headphones may seem harmless enough, but they are poison to situational awareness. These activities and other distractions are likely to rob you of the attention you should be paying to your surroundings.

LOOK AT PEOPLE
Don’t make excessive eye contact with strangers (who may perceive your stare as a threat), but check out those around you wherever you go. Try to sum individuals up in one concise phrase (biker dude, soccer mom, business guy, burger flipper, possible criminal), as any of these labels will help you to pay attention to the body language and actions of the people around you.

LOOK AT YOUR SURROUNDINGS
Whether you are in the city or in the wild, it makes sense to pay attention to the “lay of the land.” Understand where you are, where you are going, and which way to go if you need to backtrack. While you’re at it, assess all possible dangers. The dark alleyway of the city and a predator-rich forest in the wilderness can both be dangerous to an unaware person.

1
Pay attention to the sights and sounds you notice when you are fully alert and aware.

2
Determine any threats based on observations, experience, and the feeling that “something’s not right.”

3
Make a decision based on your training, experience, and imagined outcome to the situation.

4
Take control of the situation before it takes control of you.

5
Panic or mental paralysis could be the death of you.

Assigning corresponding colors to situational awareness levels helps to classify where you fall—and where you should fall—on the spectrum.

WHITE

You are oblivious. You wouldn’t notice if anything dangerous was unfolding around you, nor would you be prepared to react. This can be caused by mental states such as distraction, apathy, and a false sense of security. Physical issues like sleep deprivation, pain, stress, alcohol, and drugs (or any medication) can also take their toll on awareness. This white level of awareness is like being drowsy behind the wheel of your car.

YELLOW

You are aware of your surroundings, calm, and alert. This is how a soldier or someone in law enforcement moves through his or her life. At this level of awareness, you are observant of things close and distant, large and small. You are aware of people, weather, animals, and the layout or terrain of an area. You could react quickly if your situation were to change. This is similar to the level of alertness needed for normal defensive driving on a busy road.

ORANGE

You are aware that there may be a problem. You’re starting to process information that causes concern for your safety. At this level, you’re processing clues that something is wrong, and you’re formulating plans to deal with problems that may arise. This would be an ideal time to move to a safer location or change what you’re doing before things get ugly. Consider this alertness level similar to that needed for driving in very bad weather or on an icy road.

RED

You are in trouble. You are aware that you need to fight or flee. The time for debating and assessing is over. Don’t succumb to “analysis paralysis,” which involves thinking too much and failing to act (see code black). Pick a target or an escape route and move! This level is like your reaction to a car pulling out in front of you when you are traveling at high speed in bad weather. You have a split second to decide whether to hit the car or swerve for the ditch.

BLACK

You are in panic mode. This level is worse than the first level. You may be paralyzed with fear or indecision, or you may be exhibiting panicked behavior (whether or not you’re aware of it). This level is where your mind was when you froze behind the wheel on the freezing roadways, hit the other car, and flipped over. You may not even know what just happened or why you’re upside down. You’re lucky to be alive because you just blacked out!