For any adventurous soul hankering for an active holiday, the idea of a survival course in some exotic, unfamiliar or foreign location might seem to tick a lot of boxes.
You might already be imagining yourself doing the Robinson Crusoe routine, castaway on some Pacific island, and learning what it might take to survive. You’d seem to be striking the perfect combination of adventure and learning to apply new survival skills.
Or would you?
Surviving in or near your own backyard
Just think about it for a minute. If an emergency or disaster situation were to develop this moment, what are the chances you would be marooned on a desert island or, indeed, find yourself in any other kind of uncommon location, such as the deepest jungle or the most frozen wastes of the Arctic?
The reality, of course, is that, in all likelihood, you’re going to be at or near your own home when disaster strikes. Although your plans might include an eventual move away to somewhere safer and more remote, for the immediate 72 hours or so, survival means surviving at – or very close to – your home.
That is precisely why the stores and supplies or food, water, and other essentials you have been conscientiously laying down are likely to be at home or some other place of safety nearby.
In short, successful prepping is prepping realistically. Realistically, you are likely to be near home – or certainly on just as familiar ground – if some emergency or crisis develops. You are prepping for challenges and events that will develop within that environment.
Backyard survival
It should come as no great surprise, therefore, that you do not have to travel a million miles away to learn your survival skills. Indeed, they are going to be far better learned – with rather more realism and practicality – in your own backyard.
The website Mossy Oak identified several of those skills in a posting dated the 25th of August 2020:
Fire starting
- this is probably the starkest illustration of the gulf between fiction and reality for many would-be preppers;
- in our recent blog, we drew attention to the fact that while the average person might think they can survive for two weeks in the wilderness, the majority couldn’t light a fire;
- yet fire lighting skills can be learned and practised to your heart’s content in your very own backyard – it’s more than worth your while if you claim to be a prepper;
Drinking water
- in any survival situation, you’re going to need drinking water even sooner than you’ll need a fire – six to eight glasses of it a day for every individual, according to the NHS;
- even though you might not have a ready source of fresh water in your back garden, there are plenty of techniques to learn about collecting a potable supply of this essential resource;
- learn all there is to know – and practice building one in your own backyard – with this DIY guide on making a solar still;
Foraging
- you might want to widen your net a bit further than your own garden but, in doing so, you could become an expert forager for food;
- foraging has become more popular than ever in the UK in recent years and the Woodland Trust has developed a month-by-month guide to foraging in the UK’s woods and hedgerows – so you can find sustenance enough, close to home, at practically any time of the year;
Shelter
- you’ve probably seen the adventure and survival programmes in which a shelter is built from the materials to hand in the jungle or some other exotic location;
- your back garden provides just as challenging an environment in which to build a shelter from scratch;
- you’ll need to exercise your imagination and intuition in sourcing suitable materials and the lessons you learn will prove useful in any real emergency or crisis;
First aid
- first aid is often – quite literally – life-saving;
- it is also something you can learn and practice without travelling at all far from home – thanks to the online advice and training courses offered by the British Red Cross;
- the Red Cross even provides an app to ensure that the life-saving help you can offer is never further than your own fingertips.
Preppers are practical and realistic people. If you want to join them on those terms, you will be preparing for emergencies and crises that occur where you live – in your own backyard. There is even a book that lists 52 projects (so one project a week) you can do to prepare at home.
If you are going to be prepared for emergencies and crises in any practical and realistic way, therefore, you will be practising your prepping and survival skills and knowledge at home.
