Survival requires five basic things to be fulfilled: oxygen, water, food, shelter, and self-defense. When you can fulfill these five needs, you have everything you require in order to survive.

Although there are only five things that are required in order for you to survive, there are actually ten steps that need to be taken in order for you to survive. You must take these ten steps in order to ensure that you are ready to face the challenges that lie ahead of you.

Understand that all ten of these things must be fulfilled in every single emergency, no matter how large or how small that emergency may seem. In some scenarios, you may be able to secure certain aspects of your survival through urban means, while in others, you may need to be solely responsible for procuring the supplies and building your own means of survival. You should be prepared to do whatever it takes, in any situation, to ensure your safety and the safety of anyone with you.

Step 1:

The first step when it comes to survival is to get yourself in the mindset of surviving. When you first find yourself in a situation where you are solely responsible for your survival, it can come as a shock, and it can leave you feeling terrified, and even feeling like a victim of your circumstances. This is when the fight, flight or freeze comes into play, but by training ahead of time you can get certain things into muscle memory to help you past this stage.

If you stay in this mentality, however, you are going to struggle to take charge and take the necessary action because you will be overridden by fear. As soon as you find yourself in a situation where you need to be responsible for your survival, you need to focus on staying as positive as you possibly can so that you can secure your means of survival. Positivity is going to boost your resiliency, your creativity, and your overall mental toughness so that it is easier for you to endure anything that comes your way.

Step 2:

The second step is to render first aid if there is any injury that would hamper you further, which could be something as small as a sliver or something as large as a gunshot wound.

As you are leaving an urban environment, bring along as many first aid items as you possibly can. Ideally, you should have a fully equipped medical kit ready to go in case you ever find yourself in a survival setting, that way you can grab it and take it with you as a part of your supplies.

Step 3:

The third step is to consider how you are going to defend yourself should anything go wrong. Knives and axes are incredibly helpful when it comes to self-defense. Of course, a gun and ammo is a great tool for self-defense and hunting but consider quieter means to accomplish the same task if you need to operate in stealth mode. The sound of a gunshot, even a suppressed shot, can carry a long way in a quiet setting. Be sure to use safety and transport of any sort of weaponry safely to avoid accidental injury or death.

Step 4:

The fourth step is to make sure you have a way to communicate with every single person in your group. This could mean cell phones, walkie-talkies and you should always include a whistle because if you can breathe you can blow a whistle. While whistles won’t be much good in an urban environment, they can be quite useful in a quieter environment to signal for help without wearing out your voice. This way, should you find yourself in danger or injured in the bush, you can signal to each other and receive prompt help. Of course, if you are being pursued, they will also let your pursuers know where you are so use discretion.

Step 5:

The fifth step is to secure shelter. This could be an existing unoccupied building or it could mean constructing one from a tarp, natural buildings materials or a combination of the latter. Building a shelter should provide a dry space that is protected from the elements, but it need not be elaborate as that would be a waste of energy. if you are dealing with hypothermia, then getting shelter out of the elements moves into the arena of first aid and be part of the 2nd step. If you are traveling with a group that doesn’t necessarily mean shelter for the entire group, just what is needed for first aid, and then proceed with the steps in order. If temperatures are cold then obviously some source of heat is desirable when possible. Just remember that building a fire can give away your location by light and smell if you are being pursued, especially at night.