8 Overlooked Prepper Skills

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There’s a lot of talk about gear in the prepper community but what about skills? Skills are where we really thrive when it comes to surviving emergencies and disasters.

Here are 8 ways we can be better prepared for emergencies and disasters by getting more familiar with these overlooked skills.

1. Communication

People truly underestimate the power of good communication. And I’m not referring to radios or phones; I’m referring to verbal and non-verbal communication. How well can you communicate your thoughts in a calm, rational way to people? Did you know that the way we talk to kids is different than the way we talk to adults? Do you know how to talk to people with all kinds of different personalities?

In addition to verbal communication, do you know any non-verbal communication such as sign language?

We communicate with all sorts of people on a daily basis and this is a great time to practice perfecting our communication skills. Controlling our emotions, listening, knowing when to act or react, etc.

2. Sewing/leather working

Both men and women need to know how to sew. Patching equipment, sewing clothes by hand and creating new clothes from nothing. It’s not complicated to learn, just like with anything else, it takes practice and time.

3. Stress management

Do you know how to manage stress? Emergencies and disasters are extremely stressful. If you have a family, it’s even more important to be able to manage stress so that you can help them manage their stress. But whether you have a family or not, you think more clearly when you’re not stressed.

One way to manage your stress is using the Tactical Breathing technique. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and breathe out for 4 seconds. You repeat this as many times as needed to control your stress level and calm down. From personal experience, controlled breathing really works to control stress. After some time of practicing controlled breathing outside of non-stressful times, just like with any other training, it will keep in during times of stress. Your brain will say, ‘breathe’, you’ll do your controlled breathing and you will be able to think more clearly and effectively.

Try it.

4. Gardening

I feel like this subject is talked about enough that people should understand the importance, but I still feel like people really don’t quite understand why gardening is important. Now, there are a lot of pros and cons to gardening, such as it takes a lot of resources, such as water and plants need light, whether natural or artificial. But overall, gardening is a great way to help supplement your stocked food supply. You can absolutely garden many things indoors, as well. Get a book, take a class, do what you can to learn how to garden today.

5. Time management

Do you know how to manage your time effectively? If there’s an emergency or disaster going on and you have a screaming child and a broken window to repair, which do you prioritize? Every situation will be different but it’s important to understand how to effectively manage your time and priorities now before an emergency or disaster.

6. Financial management

Do you know how to manage your money properly? Are you in heavy debt? Saving money and managing your finances is a skill that not everyone has. How much money do you have to spend on preps, food, living expenses? This is absolutely a prepper skill that should be mastered.

7. Organization

How organized are you? If I were to ask you where your flashlights are, could you tell me in less than 5 seconds? Personally, I hate organizing, but I love to be organized. The better organized you are, the easier it’ll be to find stuff when you really need it, such as during an emergency or disaster.

8. Fitness

This is one of those skills that I feel is talked about a lot, and yet, people still neglect it. Fitness can be anything from meditation, to going out for a 30 minute walk a few times a week, to something more extreme such as running marathons and being a gym rat. It’s important to take care of ourselves as we are our greatest assets in surviving an emergency or disaster.