Survival is more than a game.
While you’ve probably received lots of tips and information on how to survive a catastrophe, there is a darker side to this situation.
There are probably more than 13 prepping mistakes you can make that will get you killed.
It is a very graphic statement to make, but it is the reality of survival.
Being prepared to survive means learning how to avoid these mistakes that could harm you or your family.
13 Urban Survival Mistakes
Going out alone
The news has been filled with stories of hikers who have gone hiking in the wilderness on their own.
Then, when they do not return on time, the search party finds their bodies.
Going out alone, no matter the reason, is one way you can get killed or die.
An accident happens, or you run afoul of the wrong people.
When you are by yourself, you have no help in these situations.
Make sure you have a buddy along, just in case.
It is a classic prepping mistake to do things alone.
Getting lost
It happens, and it happens to the most experienced survivalists at times.
A landmark is missing or can’t be found, or the path is not marked properly, and soon you end up miles from your destination.
Or the map got wet, you lost your GPS device, and so on.
Learning basic land navigation skills will help prevent you from getting lost.
Make sure to understand that steel or iron items can alter your compass needle.
Make sure your compass is well away from these objects so you get an accurate reading.
Eating the wrong plants
You can survive in the woods if you pick and eat the right plants.
But for every good, healthy plant, there is another one that is not edible and can poison you.
Learn the difference between plants so you don’t make this survival mistake.
Also, watch out for those magic mushrooms.
Many species of mushrooms are neither magical nor edible, so be careful when you are hungry.
Identifying the right plants will help you when your urban grocery stores are out of food.
A weak home security system
While you may not like making your home a fortress in times of catastrophe, people change.
They have no problem entering other people’s homes and stealing their supply of food or other supplies.
You need to beef up that home security not only to keep your stockpiles safe but also because your family needs to be protected from those criminal elements that reign during these times.
Look at your home from the perspective of a thief to see which areas need reinforcing.
Not knowing your city
When panic comes to a city, everyone leaves at the same time and they all take the same roads out of town.
This causes a traffic jam that rush hour would be jealous of.
Learn how to get around your city by taking alternative routes.
These routes should not be well traveled, but they should help you exit the city quickly.
Staying behind and being locked in traffic only sets you up for disaster, including being killed.
Create more than one route in case other people have the same idea as you. Mark the routes on a map and learn them.
Brag about your supplies
It is easy to do as you want your friends to know that you are well prepared for any disaster.
But this is a big mistake.
While you can trust your friends to not attack you, they may let the information slip to those who aren’t afraid to do just that.
When people get hungry and scared, they act like animals and throw ethics and morality out the window.
They will come looking for your supplies, and if you or your family get in the way, you or they can be killed.
Secrets are meant to be kept.
Improperly storing food
Many stockpiled foods have fat in them.
This is an important piece of information because fat and air do not mix.
If you do not store your food items correctly and keep the air out, the air will mix with the fat, causing your food supply to go bad.
When that happens, you do not have any food left to eat.
Watch how you store your food items and double-check the stockpile from time to time to make sure nothing has holes in it.
Oxygen absorbers help, but they are not the total answer to this problem.
Storing all your food in one place
While you may not have a lot of options available to you because your property is small, you should still look for a variety of hiding places.
Even with good home security, the likelihood of your home being broken into and looted remains high.
You do not want those loners looking and taking all your food with them.
Find unusual hiding places, such as fake garbage cans, tool sheds, attics, and so on, to keep various types of food on hand.
Unable to start a fire
Hypothermia can and will happen if you do not keep warm.
The problem is that the day or night may be wet or cold, or the material you need to light just won’t start.
Getting a good fire going is essential to ward off hypothermia.
Make sure you have different sources to use to light a fire, including those that work when it is windy or wet out.
Also, try to keep your burning material as dry as possible.
When minutes count, you do not want to waste them by having trouble starting a fire.
Don’t cut corners
You may want to get the job done quickly, but if you cut corners, you could leave yourself and your family vulnerable to the elements or desperate people.
Survival preparation is no place for the lazy or those who do not want to put the work in.
Make sure to build a solid shelter and stock enough food, wood, water, and other essential survival items.
When it comes to survival, good enough is not good enough.
You will want to make sure you have all areas of survival covered properly.
Your and your family’s lives depend on it.
Honorable mentions
Not stockpiling or purifying water
a human can only go about 3 days without water.
This is one of the worst prepping mistakes.
Not having enough water for everyone is a mistake that can kill you.
Even if you have to cycle the water supply, having more than enough water is essential to avoiding an urban survival mistake.
Plus, you should learn how to purify water.
When your water supply does run out, the water sources you have available may not be purer sources you have available may not be pure.
Purifying that water is essential to keeping you and your family alive.
Make a checklist
To help you avoid any urban survival mistakes that can kill you or your family, create a survival checklist.
Write down all the essential items you will need in case a catastrophe hits your area.
Once you get the list created, mark down how much of each item you will need to meet a catastrophe that lasts 3 days, 7 days, or 30 days.
After that, start stockpiling those supplies, but do it in small increments so no one gets wise to what you are doing.
Once you have all the supplies you need, check everything off the checklist.
When you use any of those supplies, mark down how much you used and then replace that item with the same amount as you used.
Keeping track of your supplies is one way to avoid making several urban survival mistakes.
Plan ahead
When you are looking at the number of supplies you will need for you and your family to survive, plan ahead.
See what you can use for storage areas, and work on those places so they are ready for the supplies when you bring them in.
Make sure to have enough airtight containers to keep the air away from food.
Set up a canning section so that your food items can be stored safely without fear of breaking.
Work on a good storage plan and make sure you have several areas you can use.
Divide the stockpiles among those areas so that you are never short of supplies.
A little planning will go a long way toward keeping you and your family safe during a catastrophe.
Some final words
Mistakes happen; that is a fact of life.
However, nothing says you can’t take steps to minimize those errors.
It is possible to avoid those mistakes that will kill you if you plan well, learn what you need to learn, and then teach that knowledge to your family.
Not everything can be avoided during a disaster.
But you can raise your survival chances by identifying and addressing fatal prepping mistakes before they happen.
Originally posted 2023-01-18 08:55:21.
