preparedness

8 Basic Survival Skills to Teach Your Children

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As parents, we want to protect our children from harm. It’s in our DNA. So we diligently prepare for possible emergencies, and we educate ourselves on how to survive them.

Teaching your children to rely on you is a good thing, but we can’t possibly be with them at all times. Would your kids know what to do if they were on their own in a survival situation? If not, it’s time to teach your children some basic survival skills.

Your kids learn best by doing, so this spring and summer, make your camping and hiking excursions into opportunities to learn survival techniques. Even a walk in the woods can become a teachable moment as you share observations and information that could save their lives in a survival scenario.

Begin by pointing out various landmarks and geographic features that will help even young children orient themselves if they get lost. Asking “Did you notice that stream over there?” or pointing out “Look, the mountain still has snow on it” or “Here are some deer tracks” will help them to be more aware of their surroundings.

Now let’s look at the eight basic survival skills you can focus on.

1. Building Shelter

Teach your kids about the importance of retaining body heat for survival. Most people wait too long to consider shelter for the night when they’re lost in the wilderness. As a result, they are tired, cold and hungry when darkness settles in and therefore lack the stamina needed to build a shelter.

Depending on the weather, it might be enough to make a bed out of a thick layer of leaves to keep your body from making direct contact with the ground. If it is rainy or cold, however, something more substantive is necessary. Show them how to find temporary shelter in hollowed trees or in caves and go over ways they can construct simple structures out of tarps, tree branches and leaves.

Here are a couple videos to help:

2. Finding Water

Generally speaking, a human can survive three weeks without food but only a few days without water. Therefore, it is important to instruct your kids in how to find and purify water in a survival situation.

As you hike or explore the wilderness together, show them how water runs downhill and direct them to spots with streams or pools of water. Also, look for animal tracks that lead to water.

Here’s a helpful video on finding water in the wilderness.

And here’s some information on purifying drinking water in the wild.

3. Starting a Fire

Knowing how to start a fire can be essential to survival in the wilderness for three reasons. A fire provides warmth, it offers a way to cook food and purify water, and it helps rescuers find your location.

Teach your kids how to find a good spot away from the wind to start a fire and then how to find kindling (small pieces of wood), tinder (dry leaves and pine straw) and wood that will burn throughout the night. Explain that logs that are dead and dry (but not rotten) and about the size of their lower arm will fuel a fire well. Demonstrate how to lay one end of a log on top of another so that air can flow through the stack, helping the fire to burn.

Here is a video you can watch that explains the process.

4. Foraging for Food

Children who are in a stressful situation will get hungry quickly, so teaching your children how to forage for food is very important.

Many plants are either poisonous or unpalatable, so it’s wise to begin with the basics found in a quality foraging guide. Choose one that has clear photos and descriptions of edible plants as well as of any deadly plants that resemble edible plants. For example, elderberries are tasty and useful for health purposes, but they can be confused with water hemlock and pokeberries.

For more info, check out foraging.com or one of these helpful books:

In addition, here’s a video that explains the foraging process:

5. Using a Compass and Map

Your kids are growing up in a world that is accustomed to GPS and Google Maps. These technologies and others like them are making forgotten arts of compass and map reading. However, if your children are lost in the woods or on a mountain, these “old school” skills could save their lives.

Here are a couple videos that can help get you started:

In addition to equipping your children with compasses, teach them to be observant of the terrain as they move about outdoors. Suggest they note the angle of the sun, landmarks, vegetation, topography, the pattern of stars in the night, winds and weather changes. It also is helpful for them to keep track of how long it takes to walk from Point A to Point B.

Demonstrate to them how to stay on a straight course by lining up two trees or two other landmarks ahead as they walk. If you begin to see the two trees separately, then stop to realign your position with them. After reaching the second tree, repeat this exercise by lining up two new landmarks that lie directly in front of you. To verify your direction, you also can look backward at the two previous points.

6. Self-defense

Confidence in dangerous conditions can come from knowing how to protect yourself against a physical threat. Therefore, a key component of survival preparation for kids is self-defense training. This education can come in many forms, including firearm and other weapon training, martial arts instruction and wild animal awareness and tactics.

Here are a few helpful videos on how to defend yourself from people, bears, and mountain lions:

7. First Aid

It’s never too early to show your kids how to clean and bandage a wound or how to make a simple splint. A good family project might be to make first aid kits with your children. Basic items to include are bandages, gauze, cotton balls, cotton swabs, scissors, alcohol pads, rubber gloves, safety pins, hand sanitizer and other small personal items.

If you would prefer to purchase a first aid kit for outdoor adventures, here’s a great option.

Obviously, first aid is a pretty broad topic. If you’re not sure where to begin, check out this article on 9 important first aid skills.

8. Situational Awareness

One of the hardest things to describe, but one of the most important to learn in order to survive an outdoor emergency, is situational awareness. You can help your children develop an instinct or a mindset that will help them keep calm and level-headed in a crisis.

Discuss with them the fact that panic can cause them to make stupid decisions while remaining calm can help them get rescued. Use outdoor family excursions as a fun way to test their awareness of their surroundings and to test their skills.

You can even role play some scary situations. For example, if they are lost and hear the howling of wild animals nearby, remind them that they can arm themselves with weapons such as a long stick lighted with fire. Or if darkness is nearing, encourage them to concentrate on finding or building a shelter. Discuss when staying put is the best option for rescue and when it is advisable to move to a safer location.

Your kids are just as smart and strong as the children of generations gone by that knew and practiced these survival skills. Those kids just learned the skills as part of their lifestyles. When you model for your children a survival mindset – one that says “I can handle this” – they will learn that they too are amazingly self-sufficient.

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preparedness

4 No Cook Meals For Surviving The Pandemic And Food Supply Shortages

When it comes to your food supply, you just can’t risk not having enough. These no cook meals will be a great addition to your food supply planning. Check out the recipes below!

No Cook Meals to Help You Through the Pandemic

As of the writing of this article, there are 20 meat processing plants that have been shut down due to COVID-19 infections. We have been worrying about these types of effects on our food supply for months now, and this is the first real sign of how infections can affect the food supply.

When you walk into a supermarket, you might not see all the choices you had in the past. An empty meat case is a humbling thing for your eyes to fall upon. It’s the shocking realization that the seemingly infinite supply of chickens, pigs, and cows that are butchered for us has begun to run dry!

To deal with this issue, we are going to present four no cook meals that will help you create dinners at home that will feed your family without worrying so much about what’s available, or unavailable, in the meat case.

1. Smashed White Bean, Avocado and Salted Pork Sandwiches

Smashed White Bean, Avocado and Salted Pork Sandwiches | No Cook Meals for Surviving the Pandemic and Food Supply Shortages

As preppers we get beans. There are a bunch of ways to use beans and this a great example of how you can pack a sandwich with great nutrition and protein.

Serving: Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

Can of White Beans
Olive Oil
1 Avocado
8 Slices of Whole Grain Bread
8 Slices of Salted Pork (Prosciutto, Ham, Virginia Ham)

Instructions:

Begin by draining your beans in a colander then smashing them up in a bowl add a few glugs of olive oil, salt, pepper. This little mix is delicious. If you add some minced rosemary, you can even turn this into a delicious dip.
Pit your avocado and cut it in half and then quarters lengthwise. Leave the skin on.
Lay the bread out on a clean work surface for assembling the sandwiches.
Spread your mashed bean mix onto one side of the bread.
Peel your avocados and slice 1 quarter for each sandwich. Spread slices over the bean spread.
Add a few slices of your pork to over the top of the avocado.
You can finish this sandwich with some lettuces, fresh sprouts, or just eat it as is.

2. Delicious Crab Salad

Canned crab is a protein option that will likely be around through much of this meat crisis. It does have to be kept in refrigeration, but it’s delicious and this chipotle mayo salad is great in the spring and summer.

Ingredients:

1 Can of Crab Meat
1 Bunch of Asparagus
Chipotle Mayo
1 Bunch of Green Onions
1 Bunch of Cilantro

Instructions:

Drain your crab in a colander and set it in the sink.
Slice your asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Throw them into a bowl.
Thinly slice your onions and your cilantro and throw that into the bowl, as well.
Gently toss in the crab meat.
Squirt on enough Chipotle mayo to coat everything and toss gently not to break up the crab meat.
Chill in the fridge and serve.

3. Simple Greek Salad

Simple Greek Salad | No Cook Meals for Surviving the Pandemic and Food Supply Shortages

The combination of simple summer ingredients makes for an incredible quick salad that you could add other proteins, too, if you wanted. These could be canned meats.

Ingredients:

2 Large Tomatoes
1 Cucumber
1 Red Onion
¼ Cup of Feta Cheese
A Few Sprigs of Fresh Mint
½ Cup of Kalamata Olives
Balsamic Dressing

Instructions:

I like to cut the tomatoes in large chunks and have them kind of be the main course in this salad. Peel and slice your cucumber in half. Remove the seeds and either dice or slice in half-moons.
Peel and slice your red onion in half. Julienne your, or thinly slice, your half onion.
Add all these ingredients to a bowl. Finely slice your mint.
Add your olives, crumbled feta, and mint to the bowl and add enough dressing to coat everything.
Stir it up and allow this to chill for at least an hour for the flavors to really blend.

4. Mediterranean Tuna Lettuce Wraps

Mediterranean Tuna Lettuce Wraps | No Cook Meals for Surviving the Pandemic and Food Supply Shortages

Using some similar ingredients and adding a protein like tuna, you can create some delicious lettuce wraps. The key to a good lettuce wrap is to have most of the items around the same size. So, consider that when you are preparing this dish.

Ingredients:

Iceberg or Butter Lettuce
Canned Artichokes
Canned roasted Red peppers
Fresh Cucumber
Feta Cheese
Minced Olives ¼ Cup
2 Cans of Tuna
Green Onions
Basil

Instructions:

Start by peeling all the full leaves from your lettuce. Set them on a plate either cover them with a wet paper towel or put them back into the fridge.
Dice the peppers, artichokes, and cucumbers into cubes. Go no larger than ½ an inch.
Thinly slice your green onions and basil and add them to a bowl with your diced vegetables. Add your loves to this bowl and mix them thoroughly.
Crumble your feta cheese over the mixture.
Drain your tuna thoroughly and then add that to the bowl, as well.
Gently toss this mixture. Try not to break up the tuna and the cheese too much but incorporate it thoroughly.
If you want, you can add some olive oil to the mix or a few glugs of balsamic vinegar. It’s also delicious just how it is.
Scoop a few tablespoons into a lettuce leaf, wrap it up and eat up!

These no cook meals should help lessen the stress you feel when thinking of what to feed your family. If you don’t have the specific ingredients, use your creativity, and use what you have. You might discover a new recipe while you’re at it!

What’s your favorite no cook meal recipe? Please share it with us in the comments section!

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This Article Was First Found at survivallife.com Read The Original Article Here

preparedness

Billionaire Whistle Blower: Wuhan Coronavirus Death Toll Is Over 50,000

Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui recently revealed leaks from Wuhan crematoriums. He claims based on the number of bodies their furnaces are burning, the death toll could be as high as 50,000.

A Chinese billionaire and whistleblower who lives in U.S. exile says Wuhan crematoriums have burned 50,000 coronavirus victims. | Credit: Chinatopix via AP

The official coronavirus death toll in China is a little over 800. But an exiled Chinese businessman says crematoriums are leaking the real figure.
A billionaire whistleblower alleges Wuhan has crematoriums working 24/7. He claims they’ve cremated some 50,000 coronavirus victims.
Guo Wengui is a Chinese billionaire living in exile in the United States.

The official coronavirus death toll is some 800 people in China. The current official death toll worldwide, outside of China, is 774. But a Chinese billionaire with a history of blowing the whistle on his former government says the real figure is much higher.

Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui recently revealed leaks from Wuhan crematoriums. He claims based on the number of bodies their furnaces are burning, the death toll could be as high as 50,000. Wengui made the bombshell allegations in an interview with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

Whistleblower: 1.5 Million Coronavirus Cases In China, 50,000 Coronavirus Deaths In Wuhan

He also claims to have inside information that there are 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases in China. Wengui is emphatic that these are not merely quarantined or “under observation” but confirmed cases of coronavirus infection:

China has struggled to contain the coronavirus. But it has also struggled to contain public outcry against censorship and tight control of information. Dr. Li Wenliang, who sounded the alarm about the disease, succumbed to an infection and died this week. The Chinese government arrested him for blowing the whistle.

Then officials tried to suppress news of his death. Afterwards, millions of Chinese citizens saw the hashtag #IWantFreedomOfSpeech on Mandarin language social media. But the Chinese government censored that too.

Are Wengui’s Crematorium Claims Credible?

Watch VICE’s 2017 profile on Guo Wengui. At the time, he published bombshell documents alleging corruption in the Chinese government. He got the attention of the media and reportedly the U.S. State Department.

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