00:00The movies lied to you.
00:02They told you the apocalypse would be a high-octane thrill ride of car chases,
00:06leather jackets, and shooting zombies in slow motion.
00:10Here's the disappointing reality.
00:12The apocalypse is just a camping trip that never ends,
00:15and everything is trying to give you diarrhea.
00:18While your neighbor is in his backyard practicing his katana swings and looking cool,
00:23he is going to starve to death in three weeks because he doesn't know how to boil water.
00:28Survival isn't about looking like an action hero.
00:30It's about being a glorified janitor for your own biological needs.
00:34If you want to survive the end of the world,
00:37stop buying tactical gear and start learning these five incredibly boring skills.
00:421. Knot tying
00:43I know, it sounds like something you learn in Scouts right before you get beaten up for being a nerd.
00:49But in a world without Home Depot, a knot is the only thing holding your life together.
00:54Literally.
00:54Duct tape runs out.
00:57Glue dries up.
00:59But a rope?
01:00A rope is reusable engineering.
01:02If you can't tie a taut line hitch, your shelter will collapse the first time the wind blows.
01:07If you can't tie a bowline, you can't haul gear up a cliff or secure a load to your back.
01:13A square knot is not enough.
01:16If your knowledge of knots ends at tying your shoes,
01:18you are going to have a very bad, very wet time.
01:22The person who knows five good knots can build a fortress out of tarps and sticks.
01:27The person who doesn't is just sleeping under a pile of wet garbage.
01:322. Fire starting without a lighter
01:34Lighters are great, I love them.
01:37But they are finite mechanical devices filled with limited fuel.
01:41Eventually the click won't produce a flame.
01:44And if your plan B is rubbing two sticks together and hoping for the best, you are going to freeze.
01:51Fire isn't just warmth.
01:52It's cooked food and sterilized water and morale.
01:56You need to learn the physics of friction fire, a bow drill, a ferrule rod, flint and steel.
02:03You need to know how to coax a flame out of damp tinder when it's raining sideways and your hands are numb.
02:10Fire is the difference between a cold night and hypothermia.
02:13It's the oldest technology we have and if you lose it, you're not a survivor.
02:18You're a popsicle.
02:203. The art of patching things
02:23In the old world, when your jacket got a hole in it, you threw it away.
02:27In the new world, a hole in your jacket is a whole breach.
02:31It lets the cold in.
02:33It lets the water in.
02:34Basic sewing isn't a hobby.
02:36It's field surgery for your gear.
02:38You need to know how to patch a tent, stitch a rip in your backpack and darn a sock.
02:44Yes, darning socks.
02:45If you walk 10 miles a day in socks with holes, you get blisters.
02:49Blisters get infected.
02:51And with no antibiotics, an infected foot means you stop moving.
02:55And in the apocalypse, if you stop moving, you become part of the landscape.
03:01Learn to use a needle.
03:034. The field butchery
03:04This is the gross one, sorry.
03:07But meat does not naturally occur in styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic.
03:12It occurs inside animals that are covered in fur, guts and bad attitudes.
03:18If you manage to trap a rabbit or catch a fish,
03:22do you know how to turn it into food without rupturing the intestines and poisoning the meat?
03:27Do you know how to skin it without ruining the hide?
03:30If you look at a dead squirrel and your first instinct is to vomit,
03:34you are going to have a rough diet.
03:37You need to get comfortable with the anatomy of dinner.
03:39It's messy, it smells and it's the only way you get protein.
03:435. Water purification
03:46Clear water is a liar.
03:48Just because a stream looks crystal clear doesn't mean it isn't full of microscopic parasites throwing a party.
03:55If you drink straight from the river, you are rolling the dice with dysentery, giardia and cholera.
04:01You need to know how to build a filtration system with sand and charcoal.
04:05You need to know exactly how long to boil water to kill the bugs.
04:10Rolling boiled for 3 minutes, more if you're at high altitude.
04:14You need to understand that water is the most dangerous thing you put in your body.
04:18Skills weigh nothing.
04:20You can carry them in your head forever.
04:23They can't be stolen, they don't break and they don't run out of batteries.
04:28While everyone else is looting TVs they can't plug in,
04:31you're the one sitting by a warm fire eating a cooked meal under a shelter that doesn't leak.
04:37That is what winning looks like.
04:38Thanks for watching.
04:40Please consider subscribing to Barefoot Bushcraft for more.
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