Welcome to the ultimate list of survival skills. How many different survival skills do you know?
Yes, it’s rather a strange question and doesn’t make much sense to actually count them. But I will say there are hundreds of them in this guide…
You will find the navigation for this post of all the categories, click on the category if you wish to jump straight to that section.
So you want to learn a few Survival Skills?
Learning different Skills for Survival is essential for any man. The more Skills you know, the better prepared you’ll be when SHTF. And if you’re already a seasoned Survivalist or prepper, it’s always good to improve your Skillset. You never know what kind of disaster or emergency you’ll be in.
So we gathered the ultimate list of Survival Skills for you to dive into. We put them into categories below so you can skip to any category of Survival you’re most interested in.
This guide covers nearly every survival, self-reliance, and preparedness skill you could ever have. There are many different skills in different environments and scenarios. So here’s a breakdown of the categories you’ll see below.
Sometimes we have to focus everything on surviving the situation we’re in at the moment. It’s easy to forget to focus on the day to day activities that will benefit your long term survival.
Let’s start with the fundamentals of survival, the basics.
Basic Survival Skills
Most results in any area of expertise come from the fundamentals. The basics. So it seems only appropriate to start with the basic Skills everyone should know.
These are the most important survival skills everyone should know. They are the bread and butter of Survival.
Go to the complete guide to the most important survival skills to start with.
Bushcraft Survival
To survive in the wild amongst other beasts fighting every second for their survival, there are a number of skills that would serve you well in these environments.
These are the essential skills you need to survive in the wild.
Like with most things, all survival skills are not created equal. However, there are some that are universally important in general as they relate to everyday life.
Bushcraft is the art of surviving in the wild. Usually with very little gear. These skills involve using the natural resources around you that are provided by Mother Nature.
See the full guide on the 37 Bushcraft Survival Skills.
Disaster Preparedness Skills
Go here for the total guide on how to prepare and survive any natural disaster.
Winter Survival Skills
Surviving cold weather climates in so picnic. The cold weather can quickly turn the tides against you. Know what to do to prevent hypothermia and thrive in snowy cold weather environments. Learning Winter survival skills will make you warmer in the cold weather.
Urban Survival Skills
Surviving in modern-day environments is what Urban Survival is all about. Some preppers and survivalists would say that these are the skills that are the most practical to everyday life.
Off-Grid Survival Skills
These off-grid skills and hacks will make you be able to conquer any land off the grid. Living off the grid is no easy lifestyle. But that’s part of what makes it great.
Military Survival Skills
The branches of the military have some of the best and most experienced Survivalists out there.
Learn how to survive in the harshest environments and in some of the most dangerous situations a person could be in. Click here to go to the full guide on military survival.
Spy Survival Skills
Want to be able to survive like a spy?
Go to our total guide on how to become a Gray man. Developing your situational awareness is also one of the most impactful skills to develop if you’re going to reach spy survival level.
Survival For Kids
The earlier kids start, the better. Even if it’s just learning one or two ways to build a fire.
Sigma 3 Survival School has a good video for what survival skills are essential for kids to start learning.
Prepper Survival
For preppers, there are ten skills that we need for when SHTF.
Graywolf has an excellent post on these ten prepper skills.
Primitive Survival Skills
There’s one youtube channel that we recommend if you really want to take your primitive survival skill development seriously. You likely already know it because the channel is phenomenal.
None other than Primitive Technology. Click here to go to their channel.
Mountaineering Survival Skills
Mountaineers and climbers have some of the best insights and mindset for survival you could have.
Climb a mountain and you better know what to do to if SHTF and you end up in a life or death situation.
Get the nitty-gritty details below.
Personal and Self-Defense Survival Skills
Learning how to defend yourself and survive in overcrowded environments is crucial today.
One of our favorite survivalists, Survival Lilly has a good video on learning to defend yourself.
Watch it below.
Financial Survival Skills
How much cash do you keep saved in case of a collapse?
What if the dollar was suddenly… worthless?
This is one of the most overlooked categories of preparedness, but one of the most important to develop. Preparing for the next future financial collapse is crucial.
The recent financial collapse caused by the pandemic coronavirus was a disaster for most people. It reminds us how important prepping is.
Redneck Survival Skills
Live large and learn how to survive like a redneck.
For hunters, see the complete guide with a list of hunting survival skills.
Or here to fish like a redneck.
Doomsday Survival Skills
Some say it will never happen.
Some are on the other end with the Doomsday Preppers.
I say it’s possible and we should know the basics at least just to be somewhat prepared.
Zombie Apocalypse Survival Skils
You’d be surprised how much you could learn about zombie survival just by watching Zombieland, but we’ll cover a little more than that.
Family Survival Skills
Perfect the skills and knowledge needed to prepare your family for survival in disasters and emergencies.
Nuclear Survival Skills
However unlikely it may be, the fact is there are insane amounts of nuclear weapons that exist in this world. It’s a good idea to at least establish a base plan for what to do if such an event ever becomes even somewhat likely.
This video is a good start.
Backwoods Survival Skills
The frontiersman were incredible at surviving and conquering the wild as their home and living the backwoods lifestyle.
This video shows how to build a backwoods survival shelter in the Winter and survive the night.
Homeless Survival Skills
I have plenty of experience of being homeless. So I’ll be writing about how to survive homeless often in the future.
I recently wrote an entire guide on homeless survival that tells you everything you need to know about how to survive being homeless, specifically living in a car or vehicle.
Holiday Survival Skills
The holidays are great, but they can also be rather… stressful. Knowing how to survive the holidays with some flair and optimism leftover can be challenging sometimes. Especially if you have a family like mine…
Go to our holiday survival guide here.
Sea Survival Skills
Could you survive stranded at sea?
I’ll be honest, this is the main category I slack off in on learning and practicing. If I ever end up in a watery survival situation. It wouldn’t look good for me…
SOS Survival
Howcast made a good video on how to send an SOS signal. Watch it below.
Self-Reliance Skills
Our core mission here The Survival Journal is to help modern society become more self-reliant. Everything has gotten so easy in modern society, we’re spoiled.
This video shows you how to build an efficient self-reliance kit.
Bushwhack Survival Skills
Watch this video about Bushwhack Survival 101.
Homesteading Survival Skills
Many of us are also homesteaders. Naturally, we learn to homestead and how to live off the grid as we become more self-reliant.
This post by ImperfectlyHappy tells you the homesteading skills that will help you in everyday life, even if you’re not a homesteader.
Camping Survival Skills
If you’re able to spare a few minutes, this is an in-depth guide on camping survival. It’s a very in-depth video, well made.
Backpacking Survival Skills
This video by God’s Woodsman shows you the skills that will ensure you thrive while on your next backpacking trip.
Concealed Carry Survival Skills
Who better to learn how to survive in combat that the men who lived doing nothing but that. Navy Seals.
Also, check out the book in the survival library called “100 Deadly Skills”. The regular version and the survival edition are excellent books written by a navy seal.
Watch this video on how to use a firearm for survival.
Conclusion
If you were looking for a category or something specific that we didn’t have in this guide, please let us know.
We want this to become the best guide for you so everything is in one place and is easy to navigate when you need something.
Pick the categories that are the most relevant to you, then work on those first. Financial preparedness is definitely one of the most important for most people.
We hope this list of survival skills is helpful for you.
