Top 5 Essential Survival Habits That Can Change Your Life! #survivalhabits

Hey friends, welcome back. My name is Jason and here are the top five survival habits. She hears me up here in the woods and she follows me every time. Let's say you didn't have bush kitty here to keep you warm while you're camping out. Let's say you did need some sort of external heat source to keep you warm. Fire, watch the tail cap, fire is going to be a really, really important habit to practice all the time. You need to be able to start fires in all conditions regardless. Now that may mean for you that you need to carry additional supplies, such as tender, road flares, whatever it is, as long as you're well equipped, you should be able to start a fire. But I believe personally, it's, it's my personal opinion that you should be able to start a fire in really terrible conditions with very minimal gear. One of the things that I like to tote around with me is just a small little fire kit that I can keep in my hat. And inside of my hat here, I keep some of this, the basics essentials is what I would, I would consider the essentials and I keep it on a lanyard. So what I've got here is a small little flashlight, a small little ceramic blade, a ferro rod, and a emergency signaling whistle. So with these things right here, I can take care of a lot of my problems that I might encounter in a little bit more remote or wild place, the flashlight here, super handy, not only for just seeing your way around in the dark, collecting resources, if you need to, in low light situations or even in urban situations, having a flashlight, man, that's a, that's a big deal or even not even survival purposes, but just having a flashlight just for convenience sometimes is really, really handy. A small little ferro rod like this and a small little striker, which is also a ceramic cutting blade. Really, really nice to have as a backup to the backup to the backup. I'm always going to have a lighter in my pocket and I'm going to have additional ways to start fires, such as tender and stuff like that in my pack. But having something like this as an emergency backup, if I've got nothing else on me, I forgot all my stuff, I lost all my stuff, whatever it is, I've got this emergency backup fire starter right here, that's going to be really handy. But this is pretty much useless without some sort of tender. And let's say that I don't have any tender and I can't find any tender in my immediate area. Maybe I'm a little bit injured and it's difficult for me to get around and find these resources. That's why I think it's also important to carry some sort of tender like this wazoo card in my wallet. It doesn't have to be this. It could be really anything. Vaseline and cotton balls. I love, really like Vaseline and cotton balls, works great, super inexpensive to make, but it's kind of messy. You got to keep it in a Ziploc bag or some other way to keep the, the Vaseline from getting all over you. So I like this card a lot. You scrape off a little bit of shavings. Well, I'll just show you. So I'll scrape the fire card into a nice little pile here. And the great, this is completely waterproof. It's made from the same kind of stuff that you, uh, guitar picks are made from. And if it stays attached to my card, even better, but not necessary. Then I'll take my tiny little ferro rod right there and my striker just like that. And that gives me an awesome fire starter. These things are incredible. Look at that. That will get your kindling that you've collected going pretty easily, even in really wet conditions. That is a super hot, intense flame that will help dry out any kindling that you can find, and you should be able to get a fire going with that. If you can't get a fire going with that right there, that means that you failed to prepare your fire lay, uh, properly. So, so, but you need to practice even with a tool such as that, even with that thing that burns crazy hot and it's a mini little inferno and this fire starting kit that I've can always carry on me. You still need to get out and practice. You've got to test yourself in your area or any areas that you're visiting. And see if you can source the right kind of kindling. See if you can find the right kind of tender because you can't just a hundred percent rely on the road flare that you've got backpack. I have seen road flares fail. Yeah. They're awesome when they work, but when they don't work, do you know how to get it done without it? I would consider fire a form of shelter because it creates this, this climate around you, it creates this bubble of warmth, and if you can't start yourself a fire in cold climates, that could spell disaster fire, probably number one on my list. Did you do this? It's like a J. Did you do it? Confess. Chewed on jawbone here too. Probably deer jawbone. You see the teeth marks on there. Number two, survival habit is going to be setting up your shelter. Practice setting up the shelter that you carry with you on a regular basis. And then beyond that, like I said before, with fire, don't always plan on having that shelter with you. You need to be able to construct a solid shelter out of the environment. This cat is nonstop. You need to be able to construct a solid shelter out of the environment. Can you make something that's fairly water resistant in the wild with the resources around you? Here in this area, it sucks. It's, you're looking at a debris bed, some pine boughs laid on there, some sort of roofing, some sort of thatching. And the waterproofness factor is limited at best. And it's going to take you hours and hours and hours. That's why I've always preached that you should carry some sort of shelter with you at all times. My preferred source of minimal shelter is going to be a poncho. And I've practiced setting that up in different terrains, different, different environments, because it's always going to be different. You're not, if you get used to setting it up in this one special flat, perfect place, and then you get to a place where suddenly now the ground is completely unlevel, you can't find a flat spot. Again, perhaps you're injured and you can't move to an ideal location and you just got to work with what you got. You could just wear it, which is awesome. That's why I like them, but it's really nice to be able to set up some sort of shelter, get under it and be able to work a little bit, have your hands free and have a little bit of space to move around. And like I was saying, practicing in different terrains, different environments, I think is really important because let's say the ground right here is super rocky. And I'm used to using my tent stakes. I've got tent stakes. I packed them perhaps, and they won't go in the ground. What do I do now? So can you quickly and efficiently set up your shelter? Because oftentimes you just don't have a lot of time to set this thing up and get yourself out of the elements, because if you get soaking wet in cold conditions in a wild place, that can spell disaster. That can mean hypothermia and that can mean death. Practice setting up your shelter on a regular basis in lots of different environments so you can get really, really good at it. Number three on my list, guys, is going to be navigation. It's definitely a perishable skill. And if you are not making it a habit of going out and practicing navigation, using a map and compass, navigating without a map and compass, do you know how to effectively use your GPS? Don't just wait until an emergency happens to whip that thing out and learn how to use it and learn how to use the SOS features and stuff. Make sure that you know how to navigate using your tools and without your tools. So like, for example, without any tools whatsoever, there's the sun. It's still pretty early in the morning. It's about 10 a.m. So I'm guessing that that is probably east-ish. I'm guessing it's southeast, right? Because as the sun comes up towards the middle of the day, it's going to be pretty much due south, at least where I live in the world. So that's going to be southeast. Now, if I want to check that with my compass, I can hold this puppy up. That direction right there is south. That direction right there is east. So that's pretty much exactly southeast. Based on my guess, I was pretty much exactly right, right? But that comes with practice. That comes with being out in the woods, making it a habit, and practicing my navigation skills so I can get better. I am not the best at navigation. I'm the first one to admit that that is something that I am weak on and I need to improve. So I do get out and practice it. I like to navigate without tools as much as I possibly can, because I think that's the most useful. I think that's the most foolproof. If I can figure out what the cardinal directions are based on just my intuition, the sun, and the features around me, man, that is the way to go. Having a backup such as a compass, that's great. Having a backup to that is in the GPS and knowing how to use them all, that is a big one. On a side note, I had my phone out last week, a weekend before last, and I was using the compass on the phone. It was 90 degrees off. It wasn't even close. I was trying to go east and it took me south. So do not completely 100% rely on technology. Use it, use GPS. It's very convenient. It's very handy. It's fast. It's efficient. But do not a hundred percent rely on it because it can and will fail you eventually. Woodsy mobility is going to be number four on my list. Being able to move through a rough environment such as this with hills and holes and logs and rocks and slippery surfaces, uneven terrain, being able to move effectively, safely, efficiently is going to be number four on that list. And without making it a habit, getting out and actually doing it, it's not going to happen. And it doesn't just happen. You can't go from being couch potato one day to being Sasquatch roaming through the forest the next. It just doesn't work that way. You've got to make it a habit. You've got to get out and explore the space, go for hikes, not just on trails, but off trails. Practice these things. Get your body used to moving on these uneven, slippery surfaces. You don't make this a habit. What's going to happen is you're going to get yourself hurt. You're going to step in some sort of hole. Your body's not going to be fit. You're not going to be ready for it. And you're going to injure yourself. And being injured is what's going to put you in a survival situation in the first place. Last, but definitely not least is going to be water. You need to make it a habit of getting out and practicing finding and purifying your water sources. This, well, in my area, for example, I know where I live. I don't need to carry any water. I don't have to have a canteen full of water necessarily. While it might be convenient, it's not necessary because there's water everywhere. You can't walk more than about a quarter of a mile in any direction, really, without hitting some sort of water. So for example, right here behind me is a spring. This is where the water comes out of the earth right there. And I know with just a little bit of work right here, because there's not much of it right now, it's been a little bit drier, I know what I would need to do is I would dig this out a little bit, kind of like that. I would dig this out and I would let it fill. The rockier, the sandier, the bottom, the better. This is a little bit muddy, but it would be all right. I would let that fill up with water. I would dig it out a little bit more than that. Let it fill up with water. And then I could take it and I could put it through my grail water filter, which I'll show you, I guess. Probably should have done that before I got my hands on muddy. Should have, should have dug into my bag before I dug in the mud, but I would go into my pack. I'd pull out my water filter and I would use this. Uh, I would scoop it up. I dig that hole deep enough where I could scoop the water out of there. And then I would press this down and I would have 16 ounces of filtered water read to go. Now I know because I've made it a habit of practicing these skills that I could drink this water right here without even running it through here. And I wouldn't get sick, never have. And I don't anticipate ever getting sick from drinking water straight from the earth like this. I know what's upstream of here, which is nothing other than birds and deer and stuff. And this is where the water comes out of the ground. It can't really be tainted unless you're, you know, downhill from some sort of landfill or something like that. So know your route, your surroundings, obviously make good choices, but, but that only comes with experience. That only comes with exploring areas and you have to get out and try these things out. Try different water filtration methods. Some people love these, some people hate them. It just depends. So try out lots of different things and figure out what works good for you. And then learning alternative ways to purify water is really great. Obviously boiling the water is going to get rid of any waterborne pathogens. That's fantastic, but it doesn't do a whole lot for getting rid of chemicals in your water that might be contaminating it. So, so if you live in more of an urban area, you might have to anticipate these types of things and try out different filters, have that water tested afterwards to ensure that it actually works because I've never done this. Like, so for example, I don't know for a fact that this grail water filter gets out all the nasty stuff that I think that it does, I assume that it does. And I trust that it does. And I've never gotten sick from drinking water after drinking, after purifying water out of this and drinking it. But do I really know what's in my water? So I think it's a good idea to probably test it and see what's actually in your water after purifying it with your filtration method. So I think that's cool, but you got to get out. You've got to figure out ways. If you might, you might live in a more arid environment and you might have to really go far, long distances to be able to find water sources, and then you might have to go to extra lengths to purify that water. You might have to carry additional water. Are you fit enough to carry that water on your back? That's a big one. When I used to live in the deserts of Southern California, you had to carry all of your water and about eight pounds a gallon. That gets pretty terrible, pretty fast. So all things to be considered, but get out, test yourself and figure out where your water is and what it takes to make it safe to drink. Where have you been? What have you been doing? I'm going to wipe my muddy hands on the cap. Use her like a rag. She won't, she won't mind. She'll clean up later, right? You'll clean yourself up, won't you cat? Won't you bush cat? Yeah. Please leave in the comment section, your top five survival habits that are going to make you harder to kill. Thanks so much for watching. Hit that thumbs up. Please subscribe if you haven't done so already, and I cannot wait to see you on the next one.