8 Deadly Survival Myths To Avoid At All Costs

It only takes one false survival myth to put your life in jeopardy. When you're out to explore the wilderness, you should rethink everything before proceeding with an action influenced by a false belief. If you’re considering living the survivalist lifestyle, you should know the truth about these myths.

Myths About Survivalism You Should Not Believe

1. It’s Just Like Camping

It’s nothing like camping. When you go camping, if you can’t take a shower for a couple of days, no problem. You can take one when you get home. In survivalism, this will be your home, and you’ll have to figure out how to keep your body (and clothing) clean all year long, whether in the cold, snow, or wind.

On a camping trip, you can live without anything for a couple of days or even weeks, and you can always jump back in the car and go to the nearest grocery store to pick up what you need. What if there were no grocery stores available? How will you feel when your daily habits are interrupted, not just for a few days, but for the foreseeable future?

2. You Can Buy Enough Food and Supplies for Forever

No, someday, what you have will run out. You’ll have to learn to grow and/or gather new food supplies and learn to use what you have, even if that means making pancakes without baking powder. Someday, you will have to wipe your butt with a washable rag instead of disposable toilet paper. Someday, there could be no gas to get to the store, and the store won’t have anything on the shelves anyway.

3. Your Neighbors Will Gather Around and Help Each Other

Think about your neighbors who haven’t got a clue, or can’t bear the thought of their comfy suburban lives changing when the reality of where society is going hits them, “upside the head”.  What if your neighbors can’t get their daily supply of cigarettes, beer, Prozac, soda pop, etc., etc., etc.?  Are they going to be the kind of people you can depend on?  For how long?

4. If I buy Enough Gadgets, I’ll be OK

If you truly believe that society is in for a big shakeup, you’ll realize that this is not a time to spend money unnecessarily, but to put every penny you can into what is practical. Gadgets are going to break down and then you will have to learn to live without them anyway. Why not learn now?

5. I Can Get to My Survival Location When TSHTF

This is the most flawed and perhaps the most popular plan, thinking that when all hell breaks loose, you will know far enough in advance to travel the hundreds of miles to your survival location.

When the door slams shut, the highways will be blocked, the urban and suburban streets will be blocked and patrolled and no one will be going anywhere!

Even if your survival location is only a few miles away, you probably won’t be able to get there. If you truly understand the need for being “survival-minded,” why not begin living the self-sufficient lifestyle NOW? Learn what it really means to live off-the-grid NOW, not when there is chaos all around you. You may find that it’s a much better lifestyle than the one you are living currently.

6. I Can Convince My “Significant Other” That This is the Right Move

No, you can’t, and you shouldn’t. All you can do is give them information and allow them to do with it what they do.

People either get this or they don’t. It’s not for everyone. This goes for all family members.

I’m not saying to go or not go without them. That’s an individual, circumstantial decision and action. If all members of your family are not on the same page, you’ll have to determine what to do.  Staying where you are may be your choice. Just do it as an informed decision.

7. I Don’t Need to Prepare a Place.  I’ll Just Grab My Bug-Out-Bag and Find a Cave Somewhere

Do you carry these must-have items in your bug-out-bag? https://t.co/LrwdeJKIBw pic.twitter.com/ddFbUwUK3y

— Survival Life (@SurvivalLF) August 1, 2016

How many others do you think have that same plan?  Especially those who live near caves who already know where they are and already expect to be occupying them? And can your bug-out-bag hold what you really need for an extended period of time?

8. My Kids Will be Bored 

Your kids will be learning so many new ways of living, so many daily activities, and chores. Connecting with nature in so many new ways, they won’t have time to be bored.  Allow them the freedom to discover things like what bugs are in the grass around your home, what plants grow, what wildlife is still abundant on this beautiful land. If your attitude is one of wonder and not worry, so will theirs be. Help them look at this as an adventure, not a burden.

Here are more survival myths that you should be aware of courtesy of list25:

As Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” It’s amazing to see just what humans are capable of living through, of accomplishing when we depend only on ourselves. When there is no safety net, sometimes you just learn to fly.

Do you have any off-the-grid living tips of your own? Are there any other survival myths you're sick of hearing? Share them with us in the comments below.

Up Next: Survival Hacks And Skills That Will Save You

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2016 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.