Be honest. When we say ‘survival skills’, what do you think of? Most likely it’s of the doomsday prepper or Bear Grylls variety – how to survive off cans of Spam in the event of a nuclear war, for example, or the ability to safely drink your own urine. No judgment here. Survival skills have a bad rap. They don’t feel particularly relevant to most of our normal, not-in-the-woods, everyday lives.
But this is a common misconception, explain Amy Edelman and Chris Begley, the authors of new book The Emergency Playbook. Chris is perhaps the person you’d more readily associate with survival instincts – he’s an archaeologist, National Geographic explorer and an instructor who teaches wilderness survival skills. Amy, meanwhile, is a publicist and author. Together, these very different individuals are on a mission: to educate everyone in the importance of being prepared for anything.
That, they say, is what survival skills actually are: preparing for different outcomes, remaining adaptable and building resilience. As such, survival skills can help us in areas well beyond being in a forest after a bear has stolen our camping equipment.
‘Knowing how to get along when everything isn’t going perfectly (and it never is) benefits all of us, all the time,’ Chris tells Good Housekeeping. ‘My survival courses are really about a decision-making paradigm – how to decide what to do and what’s most important to do first given the particular situation in which you find yourself. Knowing how to make those decisions can help us every day.’
‘Now, more than ever, being prepared is just one way to make getting through life easier,’ agrees Amy. ‘Consider, when you’re young you need to prepare for school, for first jobs, for a date. And then it’s preparation for work, to marry and perhaps to have children. After all, what’s a diaper bag but a mini go-bag? Life is just all about being prepared and we think those who are ready for anything are able to face life much more confidently and empowered than those who are not.’
Survival skills can encompass a wide range of different things, including physical fitness as well as in-depth know-how. But for all midlife women, Chris and Amy agree that there are five skills that are worth building first. Ahead, they share how to develop each one – and explain why these skills are so important.
Carrying a go-bag
Amy is a huge proponent of always having an emergency go-bag – ‘what you grab when you must leave immediately’. This, she and Chris explain in the book, should contain ‘what you need to ensure you can meet the needs of shelter, water and food’.
But here’s the thing. Preparing the perfect go-bag with cash, a first-aid kit and all the other essentials will mean nothing if you can’t then carry that bag when you need to make a getaway. This is why it’s essential to build your base-level fitness and your ability to carry weight while you walk.
‘You never know when a situation should arise where you need to leave your home in a hurry,’ says Amy. ‘And if you do need to, you want to be prepared, which means being able to carry a prepacked go-bag for at least a mile or two. The general rule of thumb is that the bag shouldn’t exceed 10% to 20% of your body weight. The exact limit will depend on your fitness level, travel distance and terrain. We absolutely suggest you give it a try so you can add or subtract items before you need to.’
Try running with a weighted vest, building your endurance with longer and harder workouts or simply going for a hike with a backpack loaded with water and snacks. This will not only help you feel prepared for any eventuality, but also builds muscle strength, which plays an important role in longevity.
First-aid basics
‘Something requiring more skill than strength is some knowledge of first-aid,’ Amy advises. ‘We’re not suggesting you should be able to perform surgery, but knowing how to implement CPR, identify if someone is having a stroke or heart attack and staunch a wound are all useful skills.’
There are loads of services offering first-aid training, including the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance. If you’re in full-time employment, you might find that your workplace will cover this training. You might never have to use the skills you build in these courses, but it’s not something you’ll ever regret learning.
Handling the heat
Learning tricks to navigate hot weather is indeed a survival skill, as well as being handy to avoid irritation during upcoming heatwaves. ‘The UK is known for not having enough air-conditioning to meet the demand for increasingly warmer weather,’ Amy notes. ‘Having a plan in place – whether that involves creating a smaller space in your home that’s out of direct sunlight and stays cool, or knowing a public place nearby that’s air-conditioned where you can go to escape the heat – is good for both your wellbeing and others in your household.’
Creating a plan
Do you have an emergency plan? If not, working one up this weekend is a simple first step you can take to feeling more prepared. ‘Having a plan (or multiple plans) for a possible emergency situation doesn’t require fitness training, but it does fall under the heading of a survival skill,’ says Amy. ‘Many midlife women still have kids at home and making sure everyone in your household knows what steps they should take in an emergency will save time, reduce stress and could save lives.’
Have a think about what situations could arise and start working up an action plan for each. Have conversations with your household about what to do in case of different emergencies. If there were a house fire, does everyone know what to do? How about a power outage? Having information is empowering.
Mental strength
Resilience is absolutely a survival skill, and it’s absolutely something you can build. ‘Being resilient and able to handle stress is as important as having a plan and the right gear,’ Amy notes. ‘Practising meditation, learning something new (right now I’m learning Spanish), even doing word games daily will help build resilience should there be an emergency situation you need to deal with. And the bonus part is that learning new things is fun and keeps your mind sharp.’
A significant part of mental strength is adapting to change, which is a skill we can build through techniques such as mindfulness – as well as learning a new skill. Chris says: ‘We have the power to shape our mental state, to a degree. We need to anticipate changes to come. We should expect that everything changes and that we’re going to need to adapt to new realities quicker than ever. As the climate changes and formerly stable geopolitical conditions transform, we need to expect change, even if we can’t always embrace it.
‘One thing we can do is to learn new things – new skills that we can use, or history that can give us examples of other people going through something similar. All of that will give us the best shot at being ready mentally for the challenges ahead.’
The Emergency Playbook by Amy Edelman and Chris Begley is out 23 June and available for pre-order.
