There are far too many scenarios as to what qualifies as a SHTF moment. I could spend the next 10 years writing about the skills or items you need and still not cover everything. In a nutshell, there are 5 skills that are viewed as the most essential basic survival skills. I will attempt to highlight them over the next several Sundays, in an order, I view as the most essential. If I leave anything out, or you think you have a better idea, tool, or product please let me know. Further, I am not saying everyone needs any or all of these skills or abilities. Maybe you will never find yourself at this moment, I prefer to be prepared, and hope isn’t a plan. Every scenario will have there own needs and you can’t plan for everything, you may also need to be mobile, and have the ability to carry what you need should you need to leave your house, car, or area. You can’t carry everything. Â Â Â
1. Fire. The ability to make fire is often seen as the king of survival. The ability to purify water, provide warmth, cook food, signal for help, provide light, and even keep predators away. It is one of the most essential skills you can learn.
The easiest way to make fire is to carry a lighter, IMO a disposable lighter, they are lightweight, reliable, and cheap. You can put one in your bag, your car, coat, or pants pocket and leave it there for years and it will light just about in any weather condition. I know a few smokers and they seem to prefer Zippo’s, I don’t know why, they need to be refilled all the time, they are heavier, and for the price of a Zippo, you can get 10 Bic lighters. I don’t smoke so maybe I’m missing something, but I still probably have 15 maybe 20 disposable lighters. I keep them everywhere. I carry one in my pants pocket, I keep one in my glovebox, and I put at least one in every Bug out Bag (BoB). I prefer Bic’s, I have used some others in the past and they just don’t seem as well made. If I have to rely on a piece of equipment for my or a loved one’s survival I want the best I can get. Bic’s work, IMO. I place them in my bags inside a ziplock bag, it keeps them dry in bad weather, rain, or snow, dropping the BoB in water. On top of the lighter, I also carry flint and steel, if for some reason all my lighters do not work I still have the ability to create fire. I like redundancy, and fire being as important as it is I want more than one way to create it.
You will also need some tinder or kindling. I keep a 3 to 6 ft length of twine. Something I can unwind  Again it weighs next to nothing and it guarantees I have something dry that will catch fire quickly, and easily. Char cloth is another thing you should have on hand if you carry the flint and steel. Char cloth is most often made from an old t-shirt or denim. It is a material that lights easily even from just a spark. You can buy it or make your own. There are a few videos on YouTube on how to make it. So I will not try to explain here how to produce it. It isn’t complicated but watching a video is easier than me trying to explain it. I will say do not try to make char cloth inside your house, take it outside. You can also use lint from your dryer too, another trick is cotton balls and Vaseline or any petroleum jelly, but you need a flame for the jelly. I put a few inside a prescription bottle after smearing them in the Vaseline and then the bottle inside a zip-lock bag. I like to keep a few items in each zip-lock bag so say lighter, and cotton balls together, and flint, steel, and char cloth together, and keep different bags inside different compartments in the BoB. You don’t want everything in one zip-lock bag in case it is lost. Remember this is a worst-case scenario and anything that can go wrong will. Plan accordingly
Making a fire is the most important skill you can have IMO, for many reasons, and the time to practice that ability to create fire is not when you find yourself in a bad situation, so practice before you need to. Learn this skill before you need it, it may save your life. Â
