Tactical Smarts

Gear matters.

But you already know that. That’s why you’re here.

You know, when it comes to safety and preparation, you need the best possible equipment, equipment that’s going to hold up and never let you down.

We scour the market for products with the best grips, longest life spans, and the most reliability to help you make the right purchase decision every time.

But, as much as gear matters, so does the ability to use it well. Survival is half physical, half mental, and 100% smarts. That’s why we bring you tips and tools for survival in the wilderness, or in the wake of disaster.

Want to be ready for anything? Get started with our guide below.

Step 1 – Fortify Your Home (Or Your Apartment)

Your home might be your castle, but, if you live in a modern build, you know it’s not exactly stone walls and a moat. The fact is, modern homes are highly vulnerable to infiltration, both by outside parties and substances in the air.

Yet, in many natural and manmade disasters, the safest place to be is in your home. At least, until the initial surge passes. That’s why your home needs to be both secure and functional in the event of disaster, even without its modern comforts intact.

To whip your home into its most protected and functional state, check out these guides.

See the rest of our posts on fortifying and creating base functionality in your home in our defense and security articles collection

Step 2 – Gather Your Supplies

After a disaster, or once the news announces one is on its way, it’s too late to shop for the necessities. Even when it’s just a snow storm, home improvement stores run out of salt and shovels in the most populous areas. That’s why it’s essential to keep tools and equipment on hand, in advance, to ensure they’re available whenever disaster strikes.

The following guides will help you determine the equipment you should have in your home in the case of an emergency, and learn how to put that equipment to the best possible uses.

See the rest of our posts on gathering supplies in our prepping and survival articles collection

Step 3 – Start Stockpiling

Even for a short period of time, there are some things you will require in plentiful supply. Most of these are common sense items, but some common-sense items keep better than others. By knowing which items to buy and which to skip, you can stockpile the right selection of goods, so instead of just days, you can make it through weeks, or even months, following a disaster in relative comfort.

To get started stockpiling the food and items you’ll need in plentiful supply, check out our guides below.

Stock Up On The Best Canned Food For Survival Situations

See the rest of our guides on stockpiling home goods and equipment for a disaster in our prepping and survival articles collection

Step 4 – Build Your Bug Out Bag

It’s essential to have your home prepared and fortified for an emergency event, but equally important to be ready to leave your home at any time. A good bug out bag is designed with rapid escape in mind, and holds all the necessities you will need to get through at least 72 hours without access to further supply. Fitting all you might need for three days into one backpack isn’t an easy task, but it can (and should) be done.

Find out what you need in your bug out bag, and how to put it all together in an organized way, with our bug out bag guide, and related posts.

How To Make Your First 72-Hour Bug Out Bag

See the rest of our survival guides on bugging out in the event of a disaster

Step 5 – Work On Your Fitness

It’s not fun, or all that interesting, but there’s a reason every branch of the U.S. military has fitness requirements. Surviving on the fly, without the modern comforts you’re used to, can be grueling. The better shape you’re in, the easier survival will be. Being fit makes the task of hauling gear easier, makes you more capable of walking how ever many miles you need to walk to safety, and of flee if necessity arises.

Our guides on fitness equipment and workouts will help you start getting built to survive.

Step 6 – Learn To Use Weapons (And Make One Of Them Long-Range)

You know how, on The Walking Dead, Rick and crew are constantly on the lookout for more weapons? That’s because it’s pretty hard to survive a zombie apocalypse without them.

In a less apocalyptic world, knowledge of weapons has a far more practical use. You may need them for protection, but they will definitely be required for hunting.

No weapon is useful, however, if you don’t know how to use it well. So, instead of just stockpiling weapons, you need to be practicing with them on the regular.

When you’re ready to get better at the use of weaponry for hunting or defense, our guides below will help you get started.

Step 7 – Learn To Hunt (And Fish)

Just because you know how to fire a gun or crossbow doesn’t mean you know how to hunt. Regular hunters already know this. A lot goes into hunting for food, including the cleaning and storage of meat so it doesn’t go bad before you can use it. When disaster strikes, the last thing your party needs is to be down with stomachaches.

Learning (or brushing up) on core hunting and fishing skills is one of the most beneficial ways you can prepare for any type of long-term disaster, because, no matter what else happens, you know you will at least be able to eat.

Bone up on your hunting and fishing skills with these comprehensive guides:

Step 8 – Learn First Aid And Basic Medical Care

In any disaster, natural or otherwise, hospitals and medical crews are going to be overwhelmed. They may not be able to get to you, and you may not be able to get to them. So, when injuries happen, you have to be able to tend to yourself. While it’s unlikely (and ill-advised) that you will ever perform surgery, you should be well-versed in the basics of first aid, enough to perform CPR, stem bleeding, or set a broken bone to get by until you can make it to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.

Knowing the basics of first aid, and how to care for injuries with both modern medial equipment, and with improvisation, is an essential skill, and these guides can help you get on the way.

First Aid Basics For Disaster And Emergency Situations

Step 9 – Learn Survival Skills

You’re stocked up and equipped, strong enough to power on for miles, know how to hunt and fish, and can sterilize and bandage a multitude of injury types. As far as disaster preparedness goes, you’re in pretty good shape. Until, that is, you run out of supplies, and have to start over from scratch.

While modern survival skills are important, longer-term, old-timey survival skills can prove even more essential. You can cook on a camp stove. Great. Now, can you cook without a stove at all? Preserve food? Keep it cold without refrigeration? Purify water with no purification tablets?

Once you’ve learned to do everything the modern way, take time to learn them the old-fashioned way. Our guides will help you take all your modern survival skills into the past for a well-rounded survival education.

See our other guides on old-time pioneer survival skills in our prepping and survival articles collection

Step 10 – Know Where (And How) To Find Water

It goes hand in hand with old-time survival skills, but as essential as water is to life and health, it deserves its own mention. In the event of any type of disaster, stores of water (like reservoirs and cisterns) will quickly deplete. Knowing where to find water, and how to tap and purify it, when modern means have run out is essential.

Learn about water sources, and water purification in our water guides.

Staying Hydrated: How to Find and Purify Water