This post may contain affiliate links.
Modern life makes it easy to forget how many everyday systems we rely on. Need directions? There’s an app for that. Need dinner? A few taps can bring food to your door. Have a ripped shirt? It may seem easier to replace it than repair it.
Those conveniences are useful, but knowing how to do things for yourself still has value. If the power goes out, the internet stops working, stores are closed, or you simply need to make do with what you have, basic skills can become incredibly useful.
The good part is that you don’t have to head into the wilderness to start learning. Plenty of survival skills can be studied, practiced, and even tested at home. Here are 14 worth adding to your skill set.
1. Learn a Second Language
Knowing another language can be useful in everyday situations, but it could also help during an emergency.
You don’t have to become fluent right away. Start with basic words and phrases for directions, food, water, medical needs, and asking for help. Spanish, Mandarin, French, or another widely spoken language could help you communicate with someone who doesn’t speak your native language.
Even knowing a handful of useful phrases can make communication easier when you’re dealing with people from different backgrounds.
2. Learn How to Find Safe Drinking Water
Clean water is something most of us rarely have to think about. Turn on the tap and there it is. During a prolonged outage or emergency, that convenience may disappear.
You can start learning about water sources from home by reading books and online resources about water collection and wilderness survival.
Learn how different water sources can become contaminated and how to recognize safer options. You can also study ways to collect rainwater and store an emergency supply at home.
3. Learn How to Purify Water
Finding water is only half the problem. Water that looks clean isn’t necessarily safe to drink.
Learn the basics of boiling, filtration, and chemical disinfection. Each method has its own rules, so it’s worth learning the proper process before you ever need it.
Having a quality water filter at home and knowing how to use it gives you something practical to work with during a water emergency.
4. Learn a Few Useful Knots
You don’t need to become a sailor to benefit from knowing how to tie a few good knots.
Start with useful knots such as the bowline, square knot, clove hitch, and taut-line hitch. They can help with securing loads, tying down equipment, hanging items, setting up temporary shelters, and making basic repairs.
Grab some rope or paracord and practice while watching a tutorial. After a little repetition, your hands will start remembering the movements.
5. Practice Navigation Without GPS
GPS is incredibly convenient, but your phone isn’t much help if the battery dies or you lose your signal.
Learn how to read a paper map and use a compass. You can also study basic methods for finding direction using the sun and other natural signs.
A simple exercise is to take a familiar route and see whether you can identify where you are on a paper map without checking your phone. Once you’re comfortable with that, try planning routes using only the map.
6. Learn How to Sew and Repair Clothes
Sewing is one of those old-fashioned skills that still comes in handy.
Start with the basics: sewing on a button, closing a small tear, repairing a hem, and adding a patch to worn fabric. You don’t need an expensive sewing machine, either. A needle, thread, scissors, and a few fabric scraps are enough to practice.
Being able to repair your clothes means you don’t have to replace something just because of a small tear or loose button.
7. Learn From Survival Shows and Movies
Not everything you see on television should be treated as a survival lesson, but movies and TV shows can get you thinking about how people respond to difficult situations.
Shows and movies such as I Am Legend and The Book of Eli can be entertaining while giving you ideas for things to research further. You can also watch survival movies and make a list of the skills shown on screen.
Just check reliable sources before trying anything potentially dangerous. Entertainment isn’t the same thing as proper survival training.
8. Learn Basic First Aid
Basic first aid is one of the most practical skills you can learn at home.
Learn how to clean and cover minor wounds, recognize signs of heat exhaustion, treat simple burns, and respond to common injuries. CPR and emergency first-aid courses can also give you hands-on practice that videos alone can’t provide.
Keep a first-aid kit at home and learn what each item is for. It’s much easier to stay calm during an emergency if you’ve already practiced what to do.
9. Learn to Identify Edible Plants
Foraging can provide another source of food, but this is one area where guessing can have serious consequences.
Start by learning about plants that grow in your region. Use reputable field guides and compare several identifying characteristics before deciding that a plant is edible.
Pay close attention to poisonous lookalikes. Never eat a wild plant based on a vague resemblance to something you recognize.
You can start with this guide to 20 survival foods you can forage in your own neighborhood.
10. Study Herbal and Traditional Remedies
People have used plants for food, household purposes, and traditional remedies for centuries. Learning about that history can be interesting, but natural doesn’t automatically mean safe.
Start by researching common herbs and their traditional uses. Learn which plants can interact with medications or cause harmful reactions before using anything medicinally.
A good book from a reputable herbalist or a course taught by a qualified instructor can be a much better starting point than trying a random remedy you saw online.
11. Practice Washing Clothes by Hand
If your washing machine stops working, knowing how to wash clothes by hand can save you a lot of frustration.
You can practice with a small load in a sink, bathtub, or bucket. Learn how much detergent you actually need, how to scrub heavily soiled areas, and how to rinse clothes thoroughly.
Air-drying clothes is another useful skill. You may even find that hand-washing certain delicate pieces helps them last longer.
12. Make Simple Cleaning Products
You don’t need a cabinet full of specialized cleaners for every cleaning job.
Learning how to make basic household cleaning solutions from common ingredients can be useful if you run out of commercial products. This can also save money and cut down on the number of bottles stored around your home.
Start with safe recipes such as these 9 all-natural cleaning products you can make at home.
Be careful with homemade cleaners, though. Never mix bleach with ammonia, vinegar, or other incompatible cleaning chemicals, since some combinations can release dangerous fumes.
13. Learn Food Preservation
Knowing how to preserve food gives you more options when you have more food than you can eat right away.
Learn about methods such as dehydration, canning, fermentation, and smoking. Each technique has its own food-safety rules, so follow tested instructions rather than improvising.
You can start with something simple at home, such as dehydrating fruit, before moving on to more advanced preservation methods.
14. Learn to Read the Weather
Weather apps are convenient, but you can also learn to recognize some natural signs of changing weather.
Study different cloud formations and what they can indicate. Pay attention to wind direction, temperature changes, humidity, and sudden changes in the sky.
These signs won’t replace a proper weather forecast, but they can help you notice that conditions are changing when you don’t have access to your phone or an internet connection.
Learning survival skills doesn’t require a backpack, a campsite, or a trip into the wilderness. You can start with a needle and thread, a paper map, a bucket of laundry, or a first-aid book right at home.
The more everyday skills you practice, the less dependent you are on having the perfect tools or conditions available. Even learning one new skill at a time can make you more prepared for whatever comes your way.
