Do you teach your kids about survival?

I'm just curious if thise who have kids here teach them about survival too?

I have two daughters, 10 and 11, and they spend half the week with me. We are often out in the woods, usualy just for a picnic and a hike, but i like to incorporate a few survival/bushcraft tips for them to learn.

They know how to build a basic debris shelter in the woods, which is peace of mind incase they ever got lost over there.

They can start and maintain a fire using a flint and steel, which they always have in thier backpacks when we go out.

This weekend i'm going to set up a little tester in the garden for them. I'll have a backpack with a few bits in it, couple of cans of food, mess tins, flint and steel, some sticks led around the garden, that kind of thing, and they are going to be responsible for setting a up a basic camp fire and feeding us all. No input from me, just thier imaginations and we'll see how they get on.

They love that sort of thing, and as long as it is kept fun, they are always up for it.

They need to learn how to make fire when the matches and flint runs out, so that can be an upcoming lesson. We'll do some more knife handling skills this weekend too. Some people i know have cringed when i've said they use bushcraft knife (only a Frosts Mora), but at least i know when they pick one up they can use it safely.

I swear some kids are not going to touch a knife until they are adults, and them you'll see them hacking thier fingers to shreds as they are not confident with a knife.

Best of all is it keeps them fit. It's amazing how many kids these days just sit in front of a computer and fester away.....then when they have to walk further than a few hundred yards they are knackered!

With the nicer weather coming up too, it's a great oppurtunity to get out in the fresh air.

CX.

Good on ya for doing that CX. Too often people that raise kids don't take the time to teach them the things that will keep them alive. How many people do you know that can't swim. You may have a doctorate in molecular biology, but will that help you when caught in a flood?

Spiritowl

When my kids were "kids", they are grown up now, and we all went camping, I taught them all about finding resources in the wild, making hunting tools, finding food and water, making shelter, and clothing.

I would have quiz sessions and we would all sit around the camp fire going over the lessons and what other ideas they came up with to help them to survive in any situation.

They now teach their kids these same lessons.


Cheers!!!!

Yup my son is being raised as a survivalist, does scouting, does campcraft with me, has his own EDC, is being taught the safe handling and use of knives, bows and air rifles. Indeed when the average British born sheeple is getting hysterical over guns and kinives in young peoples hands, screaming " Ban it " I choose to educate my son steadily and wisely about guns, knives etc.

I try to influence him within reason that cities are bad places, not for decent people, and encourage him and his friends to love the countryside.
I teach him to trust his family and friends, respect other but NEVER trust the state or its aperatus.

I sometimes get groups of survivalists and other preppy types to bring their kids for a liesurable camping weekend with educational fun etc.

I also like to see them do kids outdoor and bushcraft courses such as found at the annual Wilderness Gathering in Wiltshire each Sept.

We also go on the great fun but damn cheap PGL family adventure holidays ( like Butlins with rambo in charge) to give him chance to try new things.

[edit on 18-3-2009 by Northern Raider]

Well, my wife and I don't have any kids yet.. still young.

Growing up with a father that made a career of military service, I learned the same skills that you are now teaching your daughters.

I feel it is important, especially kids, to learn essential survival skills, if for nothing more than keeping them away from some of the temptations of the world, and teaching them independence from the material world we live in.

My wife and I were watching a movie set in the early 20's the other night and then spent a few hours talking about the quality of life.. pre major technology, the early stages of technology, and the current fanaticism with things that do everything for us. We both agreed at that point that we would raise our children with as little crutches of modern society as possible.

If for nothing more than that, it is well worth it.

As a matter of fact I do and plan to teach even more. I had my seven year old boy practicing with a BB gun this weekend. Lot's of camping, fishing, and some hunting planned for this year. I'm also signing my son up for cub scouts. Not only do they learn good outdoor skills, the kids also learn a lot about respect and how to be a good person in society. My oldest was never interested in any of these things and focused on sports instead. Not a lot of good that does him now at 20 and watching ESPN.

Don't forget to teach woodworking and mechanical skills. Both will come in handy if things continue to fall apart in our economies.

When they were younger yes..
I taught them woodsmanship skills plus a few things I learned in survival school in Bridgeport Calif, back when I was in the Marine Corps.
Both my sons and daughter learned well and we had a great time....
But alas they got older and discovered things like girls and video games...
Now when I say, "Anyone want to go fishing with dad"? I get "THAT LOOK" sorry I have a date, I need to finish this level, Cant my friends coming over later...

Oh well that too is part of parenthood...

I wished I learned that stuff.

All I was taught was to trust God, the Bible is right, he will fix things, guns are bad, the college environment is bad, and edjumakashun only leads to a love of money not a love of God, lock your doors, don't put yourself in a position where it is most likely that bad people will be, get a job, pay your bills, don't fornicate....My survival book was the Bible. And in turn I started passing this BS to my kids. I have since stopped quite a few years ago. I still would not know what to do if suddenly society as we know it stopped.

If you are a Bible believer and balanced that with taking responsibility for yourselves and passed this on to your kids Awesome!!!

Originally posted by Oolon
I wished I learned that stuff.

All I was taught was to trust God, the Bible is right, he will fix things, guns are bad, the college environment is bad, and edjumakashun only leads to a love of money not a love of God, lock your doors, don't put yourself in a position where it is most likely that bad people will be, get a job, pay your bills, don't fornicate....My survival book was the Bible. And in turn I started passing this BS to my kids. I have since stopped quite a few years ago. I still would not know what to do if suddenly society as we know it stopped.

If you are a Bible believer and balanced that with taking responsibility for yourselves and passed this on to your kids Awesome!!!

Bibles and other religous books ( Torah, Quoran etc) can and do provide a great deal of stuff for believers, they are great moral crutches for many.

Not for me personally I put my faith in people not books witten a thousand years ago, but religion can help individuals in bad times.

[edit on 18-3-2009 by Northern Raider]

Same here, a bible has it's different use for different individuals.

For some, it would mean a source of support through times of hardship, like trying to look after yourself in a Sit X.

For me, a bible would mean i have an extra source of fuel for my fire.

I know that will seem harsh to some, but lets face it, if you really are a believer in God, surely he'll be there for you whether or not you had his book with you?

Extra fuel, you can thank God for it later when you are alive!

CX.

I think that a love of the outdoors help augment ones love for the creator. its hard to sit on the edge of the grand canyon and feel nothing inside. Im an eagle Scout, but I dont go camping much because of my location and the lack of Non seedy areas to camp at.

Id say your doing good. As long as you dont go all Glenn Beck on them and scare them half to death with extreme SITX talk while doing it, they will benefit. I was taught at a young age that cooler heads prevail in all situations.

I teach my kids "survival skills" under the pretense of "Hurricane Preparedness". We do talk of other possibilities but I don't want them dwelling on thoughts of situations way over any our heads, so I prepare them with the mindset that being we live in a hurricane area, we will definitely at one point or another need to use our skills.

My son is just now walking so I can't really teach anything like survival to him.
My daughter though is 6, and I have started teaching her a small bit of just traveling in the woods. She wants to run and wants to run through the thickest briar set. I am trying to get her to walk and watch her step. And she has her own swiss army knife. I have been teaching her knife safety.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
We do talk of other possibilities but I don't want them dwelling on thoughts of situations way over any our heads,

Totaly agree with this.

Whilst my kids like all the activities that we do, i don't preach TEOTWAWKI to them, they are only young and don't want to freak them out.

Our weekends are precious and they relax after a week of "worries" at school. I'd rather they just learnt to make a fire, learnt to cook dinner outside, learnt to do a bit of map reading as a bit of fun, and not have to worry about some of the things we talk about here on ATS.

If the time comes when they need to do it for real, they can remain calm and not fill thier pants because they don't know what to do.

CX.