survival tech

What got me interested in survival technology is the realisation that, although I can use many tools and techniques for simple but important tasks (various knots, using cement, making bread, to name three) I had very little idea how to make them from scratch (making rope, making lime, culturing yeast, continuing from the previous example). It turns out that most of the skills required are really very simple, its just that no-one needs to know them anymore. If placed in a survival situation, its one thing to stay alive and quite another to be able to use technology that doesn’t come from a store to make your life better.

Lets face it. A guinea pig can survive. These cute little, tasty looking, fat-cheeked, boggle-eyed rodents can even thrive – but only in certain environments. Humans, with their fancy brains and complex language skills, can survive almost anywhere! Is it intelligence? Kind of. Knowing the square root of seven won’t help you much in the real world. Maybe  survival is in part a function of being able to think ahead, coupled with the ability to use and disseminate knowledge and to make tools. These are the abilities that really set us apart. And to expand to other environments, or to rapidly adapt to a changing one, tools and technology are imperative.

This blog is a reference for technologies, methodologies and skills that have served humanity over thousands of years to allow survival for days through decades. It will build, I hope, into a useful reference of survival technologies. It’s a tribute to the thousands of generations that came before us and how much they worked out in the last 400000 years (give or take a few). Its about some clever and even elegant solutions that have allowed mankind to contol the environment around him.

This blog is not about preparing for the apocalypse (although the contents might prove useful) nor is it a rant on any number of topics – including environmental change or conspiracy. It’s a collation of skills and instructions that might allow an individual or group to survive 10 minutes or 10 years with skills predating our modern reliance on electricity, computer technology and global distribution.

SWIFFTT – the ‘seven pillars’ of survival.

There are four much quoted conditions for survival: fire, water, food and shelter. Any environment where these basic conditions can be met, people are found – surviving, living or thriving. If one of these four is inadequate, survival (short-term) or civilization (long-term) is placed under stress, with the ultimate consequence being failure.

All situations, however, are also dependent on the time-frame required. Storms last hours, droughts last years. Both can be prepared for and overcome.

A huge boost to chances of a positive outcome is of course, the tools or know-how to create and apply solutions to the task at hand – technology and knowhow. The first is in your hand, the second in your head. Technology requires skills. Knowhow requires education or training or, as a bare minimum, a good imagination.

Many of the skills to apply survival technologies and all of the drive to succeed in a survival context must come from you. The  decision to understand and learn survival technology before its required is a personal one. The ability to apply skills will be measured by your preparedness and your attitude to success. The self-belief that any situation can be overcome and the gritty determination to keep going when everything appears to be going wrong cannot be overlooked as a survival skill.

Therefore, I’d argue that each survival situation is a sublte combination of 7 factors rather than four.

S –shelter | W- water | I – self-sufficiency | F – fire | F – food | T – time | T – technology

Expanding on those points;

S – Shelter is anything that protects you from the elements. A tent, a raincoat, shoes, a house, a pile of leaves. Options for shelter depends on available resources and the time frame required and the weather conditions.

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W – This is potable water, or the means to procure drinkable water by collection, filtration, decontamination, etc. It is the knowhow to find water and store it.

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I – You. Your abilities, ego, instinct, experience, personality, fitness, knowledge and whatever voice there is in your brain that will demand that you don’t give up.

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F – Fire. Here is the tool that allows us to alter our environment. Starting, maintaining and manipulating fire is, in most environments, essential. Unless you’re washed up on a tropical island somewhere, and really enjoy raw coconut, fire makes life livable. Fire is also the most readily available power source for longer term applied technologies.

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F – The ability to find, trap, grow, cultivate, hunt or gather and store food. The knowhow to prepare it. The knowledge of what can and cannot be eaten.

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T – Time. Factoring time into your situation makes a big difference, potentially significantly reprioritising everything else. The good news is, that if you have time, you probably have control, too. Or at least the opportunity to make peace with yourself if its all gone horribly wrong… Survival can be an instant or a lifetime. An instinctive duck at the right moment might save your life just as effectively as the decision build your house above the 20 year storm-surge line.

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T – Technology. Tools and knowledge, their construction and application. This is what makes survival easier. Its what really sets humans apart. Technology is anything that can be used or applied to better your situation. In any timeframe. A shelter, a weapon, a map or a stick. All can be readily applied to increase your chances.

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I hope that you enjoy it and and hope that it becomes a useful resource. Now all that’s required is time and effort!