10 Skills To Help You Survive The Apocalypse

You, er, might want to read this now. Just in case.

gas mask
Pixabay

The world always seems to be ending. 

Whether it's the Mayan calendar, the Rapture or Weapons of Mass Destruction, there's always someone out there who is convinced that we're all about to meet our maker and they never seem to tire of telling us all about it.

We call them Crazy People.

But, hey, it's gotta happen sometime, and it certainly helps to be prepared when it does. You're going to look pretty silly if zombies start shimmying up your drainpipes and you haven't got a plan of action.

So, what can you do? Never mind trying to save the world from whatever is ending it, leave that to Tom Cruise and the like. Your main focus needs to be keeping yourself alive and healthy. No mean feat when you suddenly no longer have access to electricity, running water or microwave meals.

You'll need to learn how to survive in the wilderness, hunt and trap, purify water, treat wounds and generally keep yourself alive. Think of it as a jolly camping trip, but with more threat of imminent and painful death.

Either that or you could hand yourself over to the zombies early on and work your way up their ranks, it all depends what side of history you want to be on.

10. Location, Location, Location

gas mask
Warner Bros.

Right, so the first thing we have to figure out is what kind of apocalypse this is and how to survive the first blow.

Once this is established, the key to survival is location, as different end-of-the-worlds have very different requirements.

We're going to work off the assumption that this apocalypse is a bit of a surprise and you don't have a well-stocked concrete bunker in your back garden, meaning you're going to have to improvise.

If you're being threatened by some kind of impact such as an meteor or bomb, then your immediate concern is surviving the blast. Depending on how much warning you get, you have to decide between evacuating (which also runs the risk of getting jammed up with the panicked general public) and taking cover (running the risk of, you know, dying in the blast).

If you decide to duck and cover then head for a deep basement, the sewers or even some caves. Even if you don't have access to any of these, the general rule should be that the fewer windows there are, the better.

On the other hand, if the threat that you're facing is a predator like, say, zombies, it's better to get the hell out of the cities, stay out in the open and on no account go into the sewers/caves where you can be easily cornered. Get out of the epicentre as quickly as possible so that you'll have more time to prepare before it reaches you.

 
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Writer. Raconteur. Gardeners' World Enthusiast.