Survival Basic Mindset is one of those videos that was hard to create, because what one must do is depend a bit upon chance. We took the opportunity when we happened upon an item we found in the woods to talk about survival mindset. We cannot tell you what the item is, you must watch the video for that.
I have been fortunate enough to be in a position where I teach many different skills to lots of people. Those skills range from teaching my kids the basic of algebra, to martial arts and the obvious topic at hand here at Dan’s Depot of,… survival.
For any skills that requires a physical component, one of the most often overlooked aspects of training is mindset.
In this particular video what we wanted to get across to the viewer is that you must be OPPORTUNISTIC when it comes to survival. If you are thrust into a position where you need to put into action your survival skills, you MUST be able to put into use any and all resources that can be found around you. I am not saying you must be a MacGyver, I am saying however that you must be able to creatively use everything. That is why having a kit is so important. There are so many things in a survival kit to make this survival mindset easier to complete.
For example, paracord literally has dozens of uses. Be inventive with it and use it in as many ways possible. We have been working on some videos for it as well, so you should be expecting those soon too.
One of the easiest things to do regarding using resources and to look at and see if resembles, even remotely, anything else. For example the edge of a compass, looks like the edge of a knife. Could you use it as a knife, can it be sharpened? This is what I mean by being opportunistic. Aboriginal cultures lived the skills that call survival. It was not survival as much as everyday living for them. Something as simple as a deer antler was made into many, many different useful items.
I will leave you with this challenge. Wherever you find yourself at this very moment, take a look at what you can see within arms reach. Write those things down and then write down another use for each one of them. It will be a good start to developing a proper survival mindset.
Until next time, I hope to see you on, or off, the trail.