How would you like to learn Military survival skills from the most elite military units alive? In this post, we go through some skills that they have mastered to maximize their chances to survive in the most dangerous scenarios a person could be in.
The military must be able to survive in any environment. Most of us are so comfortable inside our four walls and never think about how you would survive in an arctic environment or deep in the jungle.
This post is about the skills that military elite specialists master. Specialists like Navy Seals and even spies. They are masters at adapting to their environment and acting accordingly with specific gear, tools, and skills that are best for that specific environment.
Military Survival Skills
- Survive and Thrive in Any Environment
- Increase Survivability
- Make Your EDC Kit Crisis-Proof
- Environmental Navigation
- Prep Your Vehicle Go-Bag
- Train To Survive
- Respond To Medical Emergencies
- SOS Signaling
1) Survive and Thrive in Any Environment
Knowing what supplies to have, how to get food, and ultimate stay alive in any environment is important. And the military has perfected how to do it.
There are many different terrains and environments, so we made complete guides on how to survive in them.
2) Increase Survivability
Just like you would optimize your sleep, your diet, and your work out sessions; why not optimize what you carry with you every day?
Of course, I’m referring to our EDC items. I don’t know about you, but I want items that give me the highest survivability in a crisis possible. So what are the best items to have on you in case SHTF?
Before mentioning any items, first and foremost comes our mindset. Without that, the best items ever made by man won’t do much. With that being said, here’s a few items that will give you more bang for your buck if you find yourself in a crisis.
3) Make Your EDC Kit Crisis-Proof
Do you already have a personal EDC kit? Not necessarily a “kit”. But a small number of items you carry with you every day?
If you don’t, nows the time. And no better group of people to learn which items to carry that will give you the most bang for your buck than the military.
The military travel long distances on foot, in harsh terrain, they have to be very careful what to carry and what not to carry on them.
EDC Essentials For High Survivability:
- Razorblade tucked in your sock
- Multiple layers of clothing – more you can hide
- Speaking of hiding: a concealed carry pistol
- Messenger back with carabiner straps ( see alternative uses for carabiners)
4) Environmental Navigation
Being able to navigate is crucial for getting out of the wilderness alive. There are countless horror stories of backpackers and campers losing their trail, getting lost, and never returning because they didn’t know how to use what the Earth gives them to find their way out.
There are three types of navigating in an open outdoor environment.
- Solar
- Celestial
- Magnetic
5) Prep Your Vehicle Go-Bag
Do you have a go-bag for your vehicle? Every prepper I know always keeps a go-bag in their vehicle.
“Never leave home without your go-bag”, they say. It makes sense and is smart to do. Emergency situations and crises are unpredictable. We know they are going to happen, we just don’t know when. When that time comes, you want to be prepared if you’re at home or away from home with your vehicle. Your go-bag in your vehicle will keep you prepared.
Here are a few life-saving items your go-bag should be stocked with:
- Duct tape — Use it for a sticky situation, like make a compass to navigate out of the wild. Read more about the uses for duct tape.
- Carabiners — Use them to strap something down or hang something. See our post on alternative uses for carabiners.
- Paracord — Use it for hauling yourself or someone else out of a jam. Read more about how to tie paracord knots.
- SOS signaling device — Having a flare gun or an air horn is ideal for signaling in an emergency situation.
- Food and Water — For a go-bag, having a 3-day supply of food and water is ideal.
- Multi-tool — Get the most bang for your bug with a multi-tool.
- Hammock and poncho liner — If you have to spend the night in your vehicle, you’ll be happy you have these for comfort. See more uses for poncho liner.
- Handgun with ammo — In a life or death situation, a firearm is a must for self-defense.
- Fixed blade survival knife — Always good to have for when you need to cut something or someone. Read more uses for survival knives.
6) Train To Survive
The military is always training to stay physically fit. Why? Because it’s crucial for survival.
How does the military train? Fortunately, it doesn’t require a gym. So there’s really no excuse. You only need one piece of equipment and that’s a bag. A heavy bag.
Here are 4 exercises they do that you can start doing today.
Heavy Bag Pulls
Pull the rope dragging the bag towards you.
Heavy Bag Sprints
Put the rope loop around your torso and sprint a few times.
Heavy Bag Ground Pound Fists and Knees
No explanation needed.
Heavy Bag Squat
Heavy bag on your shoulders and start squatting.
Here’s a good bag that would be perfect for these exercises. You just want to attach the bag to some rope using a carabiner so you can wrap the rope around your torso for the pulling exercises.
7) Respond To Medical Emergencies
Military soldiers encounter more extreme survival scenarios than any other group of people. They must know exactly what to do in the face of intense fear and anarchy. Especially treating medical emergencies.
During and after an urban emergency situation, it can be very difficult to stay focused on what to do when there is anarchy all around you. Our goal is to prevent the “panic mode” and stay reasonably calm enough so you can react as soon as you can.
Access the Environment
It’s even more important to access the environment surrounding the victim and yourself first than rushing and immediately helping the victim.
Access the Victim
After making sure the environment is safe, check to see if the victim is conscious or not. If they are unconscious, there is a protocol that you could use.
First responders use something called ABCDE method:
- A — Airway
- B — Breathing
- C — Circulation
- D — Disability
- E — Exposure
8) SOS Signaling
Knowing how to implement a SOS signal, also called a distress signal, is even more important than having something fo signaling.
When signaling for help, one of the most important factors that determine what kind of signal you leave is the time of day and what equipment you have with you.
In a survival situation, there may come a time where you will need help from others. How are you going to send for help when you need it the most? Learn how to send a survival signal here.
The Goal
It’s important to understand what the primary goal and purpose is for the signal. Hoping that “someone comes along and sees it” isn’t a good survival strategy.
The goal is for aircraft, watercraft, the authorities, or anyone for that matter is for them to see it. You increase your odds of this by sending the right signal depending on where and when you are.
During the Day
If you have any spare clothing, use urine on the clothing which is very effective for rescue dogs. They pick that up a mile away.
If traveling somewhere foreign, always bring sharpies. Sharpies make for great signal that stands out assuming it’s day time and you have contrasting colored sharpies.
By Night
At night time, your options are severely limited, but the few you may have available are more prone to working. For on ground signaling in short distances, flashing a flashlight is a good way to get attention from anyone nearby.
A vehicle horn is effective for obvious reasons. Or better yet, hit the panic button. That sets off the alarm and flashes your lights.
If you’re trying to signal an aircraft on foot at night time, a flashlight could be your best chance. Point the flash beam towards the aircraft, then wave the beam down toward the ground creating a saw-like movement. That has the best chances of getting an aircraft pilots attention.
Should You Join The Military To Learn Survival Skills?
I got a question regarding this subject, they asked if you learn survival skills in the Army.
You learn many different kinds of survival skills in the army. From learning combat skills for defense to learning how to survive in the mountains for extended periods of time to withstanding arctic temperature environments in combat zones.
So if you want to join the Military to learn survival skills, you won’t be disappointed. But keep in mind, will you need those skills in everyday life when you get back? Not all survival skills are created equal of course, it all depends on why you want to learn these skills in the first place.
All branches of the military teach different sets of survival skills. Why? Because they use those skills on a regular basis. Combat skills will absolutely be useful in everyday life if you’re faced with a hostile conflict on a Saturday night. There is no better place to learn all kinds of survival skills than the military.
However, if you want to really learn how to survive in the wilderness, it would be better to join a course specifically for that.
Conclusion
These eight should get you started in becoming more advanced in training for survival. The military teaches you many different fields of survival. They come out with a nice broad range of knowledge from bushcraft survival to Escape and Evasion techniques.
If you want to learn more about military survival skills from Navy Seals, Special Forces, and other elite military units, check out the military book section in the Survival Library.
If you liked this post, check out the survival skills guide.
