Obstacles can seem insurmountable when we’re tackling them alone, but together—they turn into exciting challenges.
-Spencer West
We’ve talked about who you should include in your prepping, and more often than not the answer is nobody; that OpSec is more important than talking to friends or family about your prep, which can lead to disaster if they talk to others.
The truth of the matter is however, that surviving on your own is far more difficult that surviving with a small group of people that can each take on a valuable skill to help things go smoother. While it is indeed important to have a variety of skills so you can survive on your own if necessary, having people to specialize so each task is done with a very high level of skill is even better.
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There is a formula to building a great prepper team, and if followed correctly your chances of survival should grow and best of all, keep you company, too.
The Basics
First, before you look into the specific skills required from team members, you need to vet them to see if they are a good match personality wise. It seems a little selfish to not include someone in your survival preparations because he or she is annoying, but remember that you’ll be with this person all day every day. If his or her personality doesn’t mesh well with yours, it won’t work and will just cause stress.
Second, you need to make sure the people you choose have the ability to practice OpSec. If they talk about your prep, it would be far more damaging than not having them around at all.
Finally, see how stable of a person each prospective team member is. They need to be able to handle stressful situations well and think clearly under fire. Obviously this is hard to test without telling them what’s going on, but you can observe them when they’re stressed and having issues. The last thing you want is someone that, while a great welder, breaks down into tears when things get tough.
Types of People
There are a few key types of people that make great members of a survival team. These key types of people generally hold unique skills that their lives or careers force upon them so unlike someone who takes this up as a hobby, these people live and breathe their skills every day.
Military Veterans
If you want something done right, ask a veteran to do it. The US military is arguably the best in the world and as such, veterans of the US Armed Forces tend to have an abundance of skills and ability to deal with intense situations.
The military teaches survival as a cornerstone of basic training. This, along with physical fitness, skills with firearms, and depending on their military resume, self-defense and wartime survival skills, makes a vet your best choice for a survival team member.
Medical Professionals
We’re not talking about medical billing staff and receptionists here, but EMTs, nurses, and doctors are pretty good people to become very good friends with.
The reasons behind this are pretty self explanatory and in a world that’s post EOTWAWKI, their value will become evident nearly immediately.
The type of medical professional you team up with isn’t as important as you’d think, however. Even chiropractors go through intensive pre-med in medical school in order to get their degrees. Just having the basic understanding of the human body and an ability to read a medical book can be invaluable to you in emergency times.
Mechanic
When things go bad, you’re probably not going to be able to take your survival truck to the corner mechanic to get it fixed. If the economy crashes businesses will cease to remain open, and you’ll be stuck with a broken truck and no way to get out of Dodge.
Worse yet, what about generators, farm equipment, and household appliances that you’ll still use after TEOTWAWKI? Having a mechanic on your team means things will be able to get fixed, metal can be welded, and overall the mechanics that are still up and working will remain that way.
Farmers
While everyone immediately thinks of the military and medical profession as perfect team members, the one often overlooked individual is the farmer. In a time where food is hard to get and you have to fend for yourself, having a farmer that knows how to make food come out of the ground can be far more important than learning how to use a gun correctly.
(Image credit Dina Rudick)
Farmers tend to know how to live off the land better than most, and are generally hunters and outdoorsmen by nature. Farmers deal with hard times pretty well and with practice can learn a variety of skills if they’re taught correctly. If you plan on eating well, make friends with a farmer.
Wrap-Up
It’s inevitable that with survival comes some level of increased stress, but with a team of people to help you along, you’ll minimize that stress and be able to survive better and for longer.
Sure, bugging out can be a 1-man operation, but in situations like Peak Oil, you need to think about surviving long-term and accept the fact that there might be no setting things back to normal once they go bad. So go out, collect your team and make plans that’ll keep you, your family, and your team safe and thriving after the SHTF.
