5 Special Forces Tips to Stay Alive in Dangerous Situations
When it comes to surviving in a hostile environment, there is no one better qualified to offer advice than a former Special Forces operator.
Here are five pieces of advice that can help you stay alive in a dangerous situation:
Stay calm and think clearly.
In a crisis situation, it’s important to stay calm and think clearly. Panic will only make things worse and there’s not a single thing panic can help. Take a few deep breaths and assess the situation. This will give you a better chance of making the right decision. If you don’t know how to make that decision, start from the beginning or the first thing. The most important thing to remember is never make decisions based emotions.
Be prepared.
If you know you might find yourself in a dangerous situation, it pays to be prepared. The mind of course but also make sure you have the relevant supplies you need, and know how to use them. Familiarize yourself with the area you’ll be in as well as the people and crowds, and have a plan for what you’ll do if things go wrong. However, it’s impossible to be prepared for every situation in every scenario, so whenever possible, research where you’re going or will be to get the relevant intel to prepare better.
Stay aware of your surroundings.
One of the most important things you can do is stay aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to what’s going on around you, and be on the lookout for any potential threats. This includes both physical threats (such as animals or hostile people) and environmental threats (such as cliffs or bodies of water). Make mental notes in your head to use to make decisions later on if needed. We all have base situational awareness but with practice and training, it can be a valuable tool for any situation.
Trust your instincts.
If something doesn’t feel right, trust your instincts and get out of there. It’s better to err on the side of caution than to walk into a dangerous situation blindly. These gut feelings are often coming from something real, it’s not imaginary – when you see or hear something so subtle that you don’t realize it, but your brain does and so it translates it into instincts. That’s why you sometimes get a strange feeling of danger or suspicion but can’t exactly place your finger on it. It’s like a vague but effective alarm system, you just have to know how to respond to it.
Know when to ask for help.
There’s no shame in admitting that you need help. If you’re lost or injured, don’t try to tough it out on your own if help is near or possible – call for help. The sooner you get assistance, the better your chances of survival will be. Some say asking for help is a weakness, but not asking it when you need it is a weakness. Because that means you rather appear strong than weak because of ego, even when you know you’ll be even more weak if you don’t get help. So not only is not asking for help when you need a sign of weakness, it puts you in actually position by this inaction.
It’s part of my Special Forces training. You’re taught to come up with a solutions, not look for excuses. -Nirmal Purja
![“Survival in any form for any environment is an act of prevention and or recovery, best enacted by preparation.” -Det V Cader The problem with survival prepping is the assumption that you’ll be home when the SHTF, if not then it was all for nothing. This is the solution: Standard “prepping” is the practice of stockpiling pertinent supplies and the training of survival techniques to be used for a possible lifestyle altering, large-scale catastrophe or SHTF event. The typical process is simple; slowly but consistently acquire food, water, weapons and other relevant equipment and store them in a singular central location such as a home or private “bomb” shelter. Just as important but far less utilized is the ongoing learning and practice of survival, defense and use of the prepped equipment. Having everything in one location has one fatal flaw, however. It assumes that you will be at that very location at all times or it will always be easily accessible and nearby to your present location. There’s no way of knowing when or where an “event” will take place. Meaning getting to your home base where all your survival prepping is stored may be impossible due to the nature of an “event”; mass gridlock traffic, land / infrastructure destruction, social panic and violence, restrictive martial law, vicinity containment, active combat / hot zones and public transportation collapse. The average person commutes to work or school 5 days a week far enough that they need to take motorized transportation, public or private. Then there’s leisure, recreation and errands time at other homes and facilities as well as being away on vacation. So all that survival prepping, across town or half way around the world can be lost or seized by another. For more than a decade I’ve been doing the “vagabond survival prepping method” of which evolved from stashing small city-specific go-bags around the world as part of my former operative profession. It wasn’t about survival back then but about professional utility and function. Equipment that wasn’t ideal to equip on my person at all times because of unnecessary baggage or non-permissive locales. As time went by and the more I returned to some of these “prepped cities”, the go-bags that were already stashed became better equipped and for more dynamic use such as urban / wilderness survival. To this day, I manage these hidden go-bags whenever I happen to be in their respective countries. That’s my way of survival prepping while vagabonding. These are located in a growing number of the cities I frequently visit in secure but relatively easily accessible spots such as; under a boulder access in New York’s Central Park, inside a tree stump in the Amazon Jungle and a derelict manhole in Bangkok – all of which have been my active stash spots for years. Unlike typical at-home-preppers, I don’t have the luxury of a long term address so I can’t hand pick the exact items I want off the internet to ship to. But this works out for me just fine as I build / upgrade my kits with readily available materials from the city I’m in. So if an “event” does take place (which will often affect major cities first and most), I’ll have my prep kit close by no matter where I am in the world. Instead of having to rely on a singular base a continent away. Due to the limited opportunity but unlimited variety of goods available while constantly traveling, each go-bag is completely different. Some by design and others by necessity. All are sealed to protect from the elements and hidden but easily “accessible”. Various Kit Items List: Backpack, Duffle Bag or Dry Bag MRE’s, Canned Foods and Vitamins Bottled Water and Energy Shot Water Treatment Tablets Prescription Contact Lenses Kevlar Vest or Shield Climbing Rope and Gear Euros and US Dollars Gold and Platinum Bullion Urban / SERE Kit Wilderness Kit First Aid / Trauma Kit SD Card w/ Data Smartphone Gas Mask Knife, Machete and other Weapons CB and Two-Way Radio Full Change of Clothes Multi Tool and Pry Bar Flashlight and Chemlights Sleeping Bag or Parka Solar Charger Some may consider renting a locker in a facility like train stations or self storage units. It’s not easy to maintain them for years at a time when you’re not even in the country for years at a time. Also, when considering an “event”, it’s logical to expect the loss of power grid and the mayhem in busy public areas. It’s best to stash them where no one will look in an area that won’t be too hectic but not where it will be too difficult to reach with limited transportation options. The vagabond survival prepping method isn’t limited to location independents and nomads, however. Consider your travel requirements of daily life and stash a go-bag in strategic spots accordingly; in your car, near your job, somewhere between your home and work, a friend’s place and near a hangout you frequent. Survival prepping doesn’t end with the acquisition of supplies and equipment, it only begins there and continues on with honing skills to survive and thrive. [OPTICS : Triple Aught Design Pack]](https://trdcrft.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Vagabond-Survival-Prepping-FAST-Pack-Litespeed-1-490x550.jpeg)
