Posted by: AROTC
Survival I didn't notice learning - 05/12/08 04:37 PM
Okay, so we spend a fair amount of time practicing and learning survival skills. How to build debris shelters and how to start fire with a bow drill. But the recent thread on making clothes got me thinking. I've learned a lot of survival skills without even noticing thats what they were.
So much of what you learn in the kitchen translates directly to survival. I think a good survival course could be spent almost entirely in the kitchen and then moved outside. Knife handling, fire safety, cooking and keeping clean are all survival skills I learned first in the kitchen. They only difference is you don't have a counter or refrigeration in the woods. But if you can sharpen a kitchen knife you can sharpen a hunting knife. If you can disassemble a chicken, you can disassemble a rabbit. Fish are exactly the same. If you understand bread, you can make it anywhere. If you don't wash your hands, don't cook things well, you'll get sick and it doesn't matter where you are.
Sewing is another survival skill I didn't notice learning. I think I learned sewing first in elementary school art class. Then I made denim stuff sacks out of old jeans and finally I learned how to do leather work. But if I tear up my jacket or pants in the woods or even my boots I can fix them. As long as I have needle and thread I can repair or make all kinds of things I might need.
I learned use a map and compass the same way. I learned how to do it just being in the woods or riding in a car, and then ROTC and later geology refined my skills. But if I get lost I can probably get myself found.
Don't get me wrong, I think practicing survival skills is important. If you've never cooked over a fire with out utensils you're going to mess it up. And pitching a tent is a far cry from building a lean to, but there are tons and tons of things we learn how to do with out ever thinking about them as survival skills.
So much of what you learn in the kitchen translates directly to survival. I think a good survival course could be spent almost entirely in the kitchen and then moved outside. Knife handling, fire safety, cooking and keeping clean are all survival skills I learned first in the kitchen. They only difference is you don't have a counter or refrigeration in the woods. But if you can sharpen a kitchen knife you can sharpen a hunting knife. If you can disassemble a chicken, you can disassemble a rabbit. Fish are exactly the same. If you understand bread, you can make it anywhere. If you don't wash your hands, don't cook things well, you'll get sick and it doesn't matter where you are.
Sewing is another survival skill I didn't notice learning. I think I learned sewing first in elementary school art class. Then I made denim stuff sacks out of old jeans and finally I learned how to do leather work. But if I tear up my jacket or pants in the woods or even my boots I can fix them. As long as I have needle and thread I can repair or make all kinds of things I might need.
I learned use a map and compass the same way. I learned how to do it just being in the woods or riding in a car, and then ROTC and later geology refined my skills. But if I get lost I can probably get myself found.
Don't get me wrong, I think practicing survival skills is important. If you've never cooked over a fire with out utensils you're going to mess it up. And pitching a tent is a far cry from building a lean to, but there are tons and tons of things we learn how to do with out ever thinking about them as survival skills.