Hello, just wondering which skills everyone thinks should be practiced regularly.

I usually practice knot skills and fire making skills (usually for the weekend barbecue), practiced with the signal mirror when I first got one. Did jiu-jitsu regularly for about 10 years, now I am doing boxing regularly.....do them mostly for fitness though.

That is about it for me.....doesn't sound like much...any suggestions?

Hi.

Anything is better than nothing, I think...

I do "bushcraft" when I can, fishing, bow shooting, and no much more...

I get out and go hiking as much as I can, including winter.
Keeps me proficient with my clothing choices.
While hiking I think about shelter & fire building materials and of course I practice navigation.

I don't get a chance to practice camping much. Would like to but it's not in the recipe right now.

Shooting skills are fungible and must be practiced regularly.

I hike, and often when I hike I also collect edible plants. It's usually enough to make a salad at home, but when I grew up we'd collect massive quantities, enough to preserve and help see us through the winter. I practice map reading and orientation skills, and always volunteer to build a fire for picnics & campouts, using the same tools I would usually carry.

Beyond that, I'll sporadically be involved in martial arts or I'll go shooting. I read books and articles, and recently have looked into taking CERT classes. Like most people, I really could be doing more.

- Firemaking. Without a lighter or matches, fire making with a Swedish firesteel et al takes some practice in adverse conditions and I am always amazed when people show their kits that their fire steel looks like it has never been used.

- Route finding. Can never have too much compass and map practice.

- Someone already mentioned edible plants. Living in the temperate PNW there is an abundance of edible plants year round. This is an area that is currently of interest to me and something I intend to invest more time in.

As for fitness; Monthly membership at the local community center which has the usual weight room and related cardio equipment. I also take full advantage of using the pool and do 50 metre laps every day. To me, swimming is a survival skill and most people know how to swim but to swim any fair distance, it takes a lot more practice then you would realize.

Other fitness; Mountain Bike riding, hiking almost every weekend (laid up with a borked right ankle right now that I cannot put a lot of weight on yet)

Get out into the outdoors; survival situations will present themselves in due course. If you wish to take it up a notch, get involved in SAR. You will be out frolicking in the hills at times and in conditions when sane folks are staying home....

I practice knot tying and fire starting a lot. I practiced with a signal mirror when I first got one. I also practice shooting skills with stationary targets, trap, skeet, sporting clays, etc.

As for fitness, I jog-walk hills around my neighborhood. It keeps me in decent shape if I have to hike and generally keeps me healthy. I also practice "Grease the Groove", instead of regular weight training. For busy people like me, Grease the Groove is a Godsend. Google it.

I'd like to improve my skills in shelter making, water purification, fishing, trapping, snaring, hunting, plant identification (for food).

as Chaosmagnet commented... shooting skills, especially handgun skills take some time to develop and maintain...I've been a competative IPSC shooter for 30years...skeet/5 stand when we shot the Sportsman's Team Challenge, and for the last 15 or so years, 3 gun (rifle/shotgun/pistol) so I shoot 2 pistol and 1 or 2 3gun or practical rifle matches a month...

I try to walk at least an hour a day and visit the YMCA 4 times a week...did some rotator cuff damage with the last motorcycle accident..

I'm usually pretty good at pragmatic solutions to practical problems, and enjoy most of the challenges offered by forum members...

living in Florida, my major survival concern is the tropical storm season, and a maximum bug out duration of a couple of weeks, and that hopefully will be "car camping"

As a Boy Scout Scoutmaster, I help the boys learn and teach each other almost every survival skill, sometimes weekly. We camp at least once a month and use at least some of the time for survival skills practice. For all interested in outdoor and survival skills, I highly recommend volunteering with the Boy Scouts. It can be very rewarding, and it is always educational. It is always good for the kids.

Finding or constructing Shelter
water procurement and purification
Signaling
First Aid
Navigation
Fire
Planning
Risk Assessments
Communication skills (a valuable survival skill)
Leadership (a critical survival skill)

And many others which are very helpful.

First Aid skills are something you hopefully don't use very often, so the more you practice them the less stressful it will be if you ever need it. After a while you start to develop an auto-pilot of sorts, that makes dealing emergencies much smoother.

What is a fair distance? I used to a lot of 50m laps, and FWIW, I think learning to float is more important

Fitness and practice with gear ( gps, stove, knots, etc.) I'm a big believer in test, test, test.

Do you mean wading?

Floating well (without wading) depends mostly on body fat percentage, right? My body is relatively dense. I sink like a rock if I don't wade. Floating does not work for me.

For me that would be:
- social skills
- physical fitness
- situational awareness
- first aid
- fire making
- communication (HAM, judging potential connections, testing range of hand held transceiver, CW skills)
- fishing
- archery
- navigation (GPS and old fashioned techniques)
- maintenance for equipment

To stay fit a first aid I volunteered as first responder at the office. As a bonus I get free training and refreshers during paid work time. I also can be sure that the first aid equipment is in good condition.
I recently volunteered as evacuation helper at the office. Once again free training, more knowledge and contact to specialists who give related information generously.

I agree completely. If you get with a good group, as I have been lucky enough to do, you'll learn a ton and make life much better for a bunch of kids in the process. It's the most rewarding thing I have ever done and it's boosted my survival skills tremendously!

An Olympic sized pool is 50 metres each way so it would take 16 complete laps to swim a mile. One of the senior swimming instructors here who also coaches Triathletes once told me that on average, people who swim lengths on a regular basis and depending on swimming style, can do 8-10 laps non-stop in a pool of this size which is just over 1/2 mile.

That said, there are many more variables out on open water that could be well beyond your control to swim this distance or shorter such as wind, current, water and ambient temperatures, clothes you are wearing etc.

If someone finds themselves in a situation, hopefully they have a PFD on as it would make a big difference even if they decided to stay put and wait for help or decide to swim to shore.

In my local waters, a wet suit is vital. A PFD merely renders easier retrieval of your remains.