Simple Survival Skills

     As the mother of four boys without a lot of support, I had to do whatever was necessary to make sure my sons had guy type skills.  I realized long before they were of age for Cub Scouting that I was out numbered and out of my depth.  

     There was the poor little eldest who suffered my clumsy attempts to potty train without knowing much about boys at all.  It was a little easier when he helped me to encourage the next and they helped with the next until the job was done.  Seeing a person go like you are supposed to go was easier than explaining it!  

     But, it was in those early days that I knew I would have to get some boy skills if my guys were going to learn what I had been taught was boy stuff.  I learned about sports and got a Boy Scout manual and learned how to make fire.  By the time they were old enough to care about the Barbecue grill, they had watched the fire being made and I was happy to let them give it a go under supervision.  

     They thought I was a cool mom.  They didn't need to know I was a scared girl raised in a different think set.  Girls were supposed to stay quiet in the kitchen.  Well, my sons needed a fire maker and a champion, so I faked it all till they thought I was a natural and they wanted to be independent and adventurous too.

     Earlier in the blog I talked about the hierarchy of survival.  We need food, shelter, clothing.  These are the basic things we gather in preparation for disaster.  But, more basic than this is the knowledge of how to make fire, find food, gather and filter water, make shelter and just keep going.  

      So, now that we have all survived the seventies and eighties, I can state clearly:  Male or female, we all need simple survival skills.  There is no more time left in this life to waste on gender types.  Everyone needs to know how to make fire.  Everyone needs to know how to cook food.  Everyone needs to know some simple basic survival skills.  Everyone needs to know how to make shelter, mend clothing and make it through the night without a lot of support.

     The next few posts will be about basic fire making skills, trapping food, cleaning fresh caught food and cooking over the fire you have made.