What are all the skills you'd need to live deep in the woods???

So I was watching some videos on making candles and making soap out of animal fat. Then it began to dawn on me that there's a lot of homesteading skills one would need to learn most likely to live fully offgird.

what do you think are the essencial skills you'd need to know if you were to live far removed from civilization?

Like if you literally were placed deep in the woods, I'm talking 100's of miles away from any small towns, then what would you absolutely have to know to survive??? And what essencial things would you need to have on you?













you might be able to do this with just an axe:

a reply to: bigpatato


The best way to learn is to go and try. And the best way to figure out how you will cope With this kind of living is to bring nothing With you at all. That way you will soon figure out in what order you have to do Things. And you will figure out in what order you have to build you skills.


Building a shelter in the Woods beforehand might not be the right Place for you to stay when the SHTF. That is a very important thought you have to keep in mind. Because if you prepare something beforehand and you cant use it. You will be forced to start from the beginning With nothing but Your skills.

a reply to: bigpatato


The most important "skill" for living in the "woods" as you mentioned would be the willingness to eat about disgusting thing you came across.


A modern American is ill-prepared to suffer the heat/cold/hunger/loneliness of such a venture. At the extreme worst of such times, you would be asking yourself why you were doing so. What would be the point? After all, you can't find a power outlet or batteries anyplace out there.

What it takes is a particular state of mind to survive under extreme conditions. Most of us have absolutely no idea of what that means. Knowing how to make a tin can stove is not knowing the lore of survival living in the outback. To do so would be dreaming.

Its a joke, drop yourself on a mountain with nothing, your are fooked....am i wrong?

Potatoes and fire is the most unlikely thing you will come across.

I would think you would need hunting skills in order to eat,need a good idea of edible plants,poison ones,ability to make a shelter of sorts,way to start fires,first aid skills,natural herbal remedys in case of any infection's or sickness,an idea of predator animal's and how to survive against them,I'm starting to scare myself I'm a city slicker,I camped out when I was a kid but slept in a camper

Food. fire. shelter from the elements. When I use to camp it was with very little, when you run out of bullets and have nothing to hunt with just simple snare traps can be effective I have read and watched many videos. I bought one of those knife and flint sets, it's not the easiest thing to do, I tried with sticks lol it was very frustrating. Fishing can be simple if you have string and a hook, worms are abundant but would rather not eat them there will always be communities, having skills will only benefit you.


edit, and I bought a few of these water purifying straws but they will only last so long. there was a good video I watched where the guy just put grasses and such in a straw to filter but how effective that is I'm not sure. first aid is hard in the wilderness as well.

Water and toilet paper.

a reply to: bigpatato

a reply to: MOMof3

haha! now that made me smile, don't use the poison ivy!

All the skills..? That's a hard question. Even if you know the basics of trapping and shelter building, how to purify water etc most of us wouldn't last a fortnight.
The most i have done living off the land, well attempting to live of the land was 10 days. By the 7th day i was so bored with my own company and hungry (only so many mussels and limpits a man can eat knowing one bad one could end you) that I headed off further down the beach to where i had seen the light from a fire the night before.

Thank god they had Burgers and a Curry on or i might have starved to death. The Beers were most welcome also.

I made the descision to last another couple of days knowing if it all went tits up my new found friends would feed me before calling a ambulance. By day ten i was physically exhasted and just made it to the Bus stop to catch my transport home. Never again.

a reply to: bigpatato

Excellent vids, that first star and flag is from me. When I was a kid I remember hearing about farmers finding stashes of Pemican on their farms left by native americans, still fresh after all that time.

People think they need all this hi tech to survive, what they need is knowledge and information.

And a bunch of stuff, lying around.

Solar stills from water bottles

Experience

a Manual

Gear

A fishing rod and net would help although not necessary

the rest most of us already know.

Essential skills to surviving in woods:

1) ability to find drinkable water (boiling is best bet)

2) building a fire

3) construction of basic shelter (remember some sort of flooring - the ground will cause you to freeze prior to the air, unless it is raining)

4) a sharp knife and instruments with which to hunt (bow, gun, traps etc)

Everything else is luxuries, these things will allow you to survive.

This guy has some great videos on how to build stuff from nothing.

Certainly knowing how to use the world around you is a big one. making clay and building shelter is a bid deal.

a reply to: bigpatato

Bring as much with you as you can. Once you have the basics of shelter, water, and food you can build and expand. Hunting is of course a good skill, ive been at it for 29 years now. That being said, I believe fishing is the better method for securing meat. You expend less energy. Neither hunting nor fishing is anywhere near as hard as some make it out to be. Growing up, some of my friends had hundreds and some, thousands of dollars in just deer equipment alone. I always went out with my regular clothes and an sks. I was usually back in an hour and a half. Then again, I was taught the signs in my upbringing. Now, you want to move past surviving and start thriving? Raise chickens and grow potatoes. Those will be stable food sources. Depends on your neck of the woods, all this is coming from my perspective in Tennessee. Another thing, add solar to your cabin. That tech has come a long way, just use rv and 12 volt appliances and you will be fine. As far as making money for the stuff you can't make yourself, just go ahead and make that soap. Sell online. Another idea would be weave a bunch of baskets and sell those at flea market. A simple life on a homestead is doable, it just takes a bit of work. Procure some land and get started is the best advice I can possibly give you. Pm any questions you may have. Peace.

What are all of the skills you need?

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

For starters.

Oh.... - R.A. Heinlein.

One of the most important things is where to find salt. Salt is a must for survival. Most arm chair survivalists will list water, food, shelter, etc. but will leave out salt. Sodium is needed for most functions. We never give it any thought because our normal diets are so full of it that we live in excess but when eating naturally there is very little to be found. Learn to make food such as blood pudding, and things of this sort. Blood is high in sodium but most people can't find it palatable. It can also be found in hickory roots. If you happen to live near the ocean then you can boil water down to get salt, otherwise you have to get creative.

a reply to: bigpatato

Being alone in the bush is not a good idea. The Australian Aborigines have lived off the land naked for xyz thounsands of years.

If the tribe ex communicated a young man (usually) for braking some key rules, they would kick the young man out of the tribe. 99 times out of 100 it was a death sentence for them. Remember, they are experts at living off the land naked carrying just two handfuls of survival equipment.

They died because they eventually spent more energy seeking food than they ate and any illness or injury hastened that outcome.

I think there is a better chance of survival by moving to a small remote town of < 50 people, get to know the neighbors, talk about natural disaster survival and make plans and build local infrastructure to support a community of that size in such a situation. Interdependence is the key it binds people together. With such a small community the interdependence is visible to all and therefore builds confidence between all.

originally posted by: K_OS
One of the most important things is where to find salt. Salt is a must for survival. Most arm chair survivalists will list water, food, shelter, etc. but will leave out salt. Sodium is needed for most functions. We never give it any thought because our normal diets are so full of it that we live in excess but when eating naturally there is very little to be found. Learn to make food such as blood pudding, and things of this sort. Blood is high in sodium but most people can't find it palatable. It can also be found in hickory roots. If you happen to live near the ocean then you can boil water down to get salt, otherwise you have to get creative.

That's interesting. So how did the indians who lived in the interior areas get enough salt???

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