I’m a Boy Scout. We’ll, not anymore, but I was a long time ago. Although there were definitely moments when I didn’t want to be a scout I never really had a choice because my father was always, always involved with scouting programs in one way or another.

I mention this not to tell you about my adventures from summer camp or how many merit badges I earned (a lot), but to emphasize how my dad’s involvement in scouting carried over into the home. The end result of his dedication to the principles of the BSA was a family of four kids who, although weren’t always excited about stocking a survival kit, learning how to tie a sheep shank of making a flotation device out of a pair of jeans, all acquired the foundation for a set of skills that carried into adulthood–even after there was no threat of being grounded.

There are a lot of resources out there that identify five basic survival skills, and I can say from my own personal experience that being taught these technique while I was young made a lasting impression on me.

Starting a Fire-Perhaps the best, most important survival skill a person can have. Stay warm, keep animals away, cook food and boil water.

Food and Water Management-Teach the importance of rationing food and water, and perhaps identifying some natural, edible plants in your area. It’s also a good idea to reinforce the importance of filtering water, boiling it or both when collecting from an open source.

Building a Basic Shelter-No engineering degree required, but it’s important to be able to construct a basic shelter like a lean-to or hut made of debris in order to protect yourself from severe weather.

Basic First Aid-Basic skills paired with calm nerves can go a long way when it comes to treating an injury. First aid is not only an important survival skill, but can be potentially useful in every day life.

Signaling for Help-If your young ones are better at producing smoke than flames it’s not a total loss (but keep working on it). Smoke is a great way to signal for help, and it’s also a good idea to keep a whistle and a small mirror in your survival kit to help identify your location to rescue teams.

My Bonus Skill:

Tying Useful Knots-Of course this is only useful in a survival situation if you have a rope with you, but knowing a basic selection of knots and hitches can be useful in a variety of situations, both practical and precarious.

Thanks to the lessons of my youth and the influence of my father I’m not only comfortable in the outdoors, but I know that if it were required I would be able to perform any of these tasks in a survival situation. Besides, it’s still important to teach your family skills that will pertain to the natural environment, even if we do live in a digital world.