5 Survival Tips from “10 Cloverfield Lane”

I’m a sucker for a good monster movie. Not only are they entertaining and suspenseful, but they also speak to the prepper mindset. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching “Godzilla” or “Pacific Rim,” the stories all basically start the same.

Life is mostly good and going on as it always does until a monster appears seemingly out of thin air and starts wrecking the place to the point of complete societal collapse. It’s at this point that those that are well prepared for a variety of situations step up and help lead humanity to a victory.

Ok, so maybe it’s hard to prep for a monster attack, but it’s not impossible. “10 Cloverfield Lane” is an ancillary movie to the 2008 found footage monster movie “Cloverfield.” It takes place alongside the events of the ’08 movie and is far more focused on suspense and interpersonal conflict than the actual running from monsters that its precursor was all about.

The majority of “10 Cloverfield Lane” takes place in a survival bunker that a prepper had built in case of a variety of disasters. For the survivalist, there were some definite lessons to be learned from “10 Cloverfield Lane,” both good and bad. If you haven’t seen the movie and plan on doing so, you should probably stop here and finish this after you see the movie as there are spoilers ahead for sure. Here are the five survival tips I learned from “10 Cloverfield Lane.”

1. Bunkers are pretty convenient

This pretty much goes without saying, but a well-built bunker that’s fully stocked and made to be comfortable is a pretty great thing. From storing the basics like food and water to giving you somewhere to hide from just about any type of disaster, bunkers are simply useful.

Sadly we don’t all have a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere to build said bunker, and even fewer of us have enough disposable income to build a proper bunker, but the usefulness of one can’t be ignored. If it weren’t for the bunker in this movie, none of the protagonists/antagonists would have survived the first 15 minutes of the movie.

2. Survival should be comfortable

Survival doesn’t mean you have to be uncomfortable. Sure, your overall comfort is definitely going to be different in a survival situation, but a little extra effort would go a long way in making a bunker more comfortable.

Whether it’s music like the jukebox in “10 Cloverfield Lane” provided, the comfort of his grandparents’ table, or some games and puzzles, make sure to have some comfort items with you to make surviving a little better.

3. Knowing is half the battle

It doesn’t matter if you have the best survival plan ever created; if you’re not aware of what’s going on, not only around you, but in the world as a whole, it won’t do you much good. The reason Howard (John Goodman) was able to get to his bunker was because he paid attention to what was going on in the world.

Sure, you probably don’t have equipment to listen in on “satellite chatter,” but watching the news and paying attention to the little things that happen can help you get the big picture. Knowing about a disaster even an hour before it’s in full effect can mean the difference between life and death.

4. Help when you can, but carefully

It’s hard to see someone in need and not want to jump into action to help them right away, but in a survival situation you have to weigh this automatic desire to help with the understanding that whomever you help might be looking for a little bit more.

Even if they’re not actively looking to hurt or rob you, the act of helping them could put you into a situation where you end up in need of help, too. Whether that’s climbing down a cliff to help someone, diving into the water, or saving someone from a car crash, be careful who and how you help.

5. Medical skills are a must

Chances are that when the SHTF there won’t be too many MedExpress locations open to give you stitches or set broken bones. That means that something as trivial as slicing your hand while making dinner can become a real life-threatening ordeal.

Having a few medical books (real, physical ones) as well as a general understanding of the basics of medicine can really help you out when things get tough.

Bonus tip: Be careful who you trust

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that tips 1–5 above paint a very different picture of Howard than ends up being true. The fact of the matter is that even if someone offers you help, you might not want to take it.

Sure, Howard took Michelle and Emmett into his fully-stocked bunker to wait out the Cloverfield attack, but at what cost? In the end Emmett didn’t fare much better than if he’d been fending for himself, and Michelle had to fight for her life, literally!

Basically, the big tip this movie has to offer is this: Accept and give help whenever you can, but do so carefully and with an exit strategy if at all possible.