4 Powerful Traits of Survivors

Survival gear, technology, and fancy gadgets mean nothing if you lose the will to survive. When it comes to surviving horrific situations, one thing often separates those who live from those who die, and it has nothing to do with gear.

Ernest Shackleton and crew mates from the Nimrod Expedition

There are some common personality traits that we find when studying survivors. The following is a list of the 4 most common traits of people who have survived under extraordinary circumstances.

1. Survivors Stay Calm in the Face of Danger.

A survivalist has the ability to stay calm in the face of whatever life may throw at him. It’s not that the survivor is without fear, instead he has the courage to face his fears. To be able to stay calm in the face of danger requires preparation & training. The more training and knowledge you have, the easier it is to stay calm during any survival situation.

2. Survivalists are Experts at Improvisation

Survivors can find a use for everything around them. They know how to pick gear with multiple purposes, and they know how to improvise when they find themselves without the needed tools or gear. Survivors  have the ability to make fire without matches, find water where there are no faucets, and find food where there are no stores.

3. Survivors are D.I.Y Experts

They are the ultimate tinkerers. In day to day life, the survivalist will find a way to fix something that’s broken, before running off to Walmart to buy a new one. These skills are crucial during an emergency situation.

4. Survivors are Great Leaders

They know how to make the tough decisions that will keep the people around them alive. During an emergency situation, while most are panicking and making stupid mistakes, a survivalist will stop, assess the situation, and then take action. They are the ultimate leaders!

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17 Comments

  1. Good article.Several other traits to add, that I think are important: a will to survive, willing to go the “extra mile” effort wise to solve problems, even when you don’t have the energy to do it, and finally, to assess the situation from a “worst case scenerio” and plan and respond accordingly.

  2. Granted you survive the intial disaster or what ever it is that poses the threat. I was in Japan for the earthquake, been deployed , been through some big wild fires, just never know where you’ll be standing when it goes down ??????????

    • No matter how prepared you might think you are, you can’t forsee every disaster that may possibly befall you. Doing the best you can with what you have is all anyone can hope for. Eventually, something is going to get us because we never get out of life alive.:-)

  3. I have been saying this for years, when the shtf, the men and women that will be worth there weight in water will be the ones that can make due with any surroundings. Ive been a jack of all trades and I am forever learning different skills.

  4. Trying to find a place to live where I can make the choice to live a simplistic life style without intervention of some city slicker telling me I must pay for Highway dept. impact fees in the thousands of $ and I must live in a recyled budwieser can not the traditional Hogan I want to build to suit my needs not theirs.

  5. Survivors are doing it, not talking about doing it. Everyone likes to read and plan about ‘when’ the shit hits the fan. It is now. If you aren’t prepared now, you aren’t prepared.

    • Agreed! Also, the “not talking about doing it” is a key factor of survival.
      I must admit, as an afterthought that posting on these sites is subjecting each of use to scrutiny.
      Posting requires an email, who is controlling the list and “Will not be published” is still being gathered in someones database.
      Better to keep your ears and eyes and mind open, and your mouth shut and fingers from typing revealing posts!!
      Enough said, damage done, time for damage control… signing off!

      • Mike – Eagle Eye is real. They already know. The point has come where we all need to just say what needs to be said. Keeping people cowering is how they keep control. Survivors don’t cower. Positive energy can’t gain critical mass if it’s kept hidden in the closet. Survivors take every opportunity to plant seeds of awareness.

        • Oh yes. Call it Eagle Eye or Big Brother (Orwellian, not CBS), I am all too much aware of the information gathering being done to every person with an email account, bank account, cell phone, hard phone, or any utility bill or credit card in their name.
          If you ever had a security clearance the fed probably knows the first time you took a solid dump as a baby! They just have to fill in some holes here and there.
          The optics available from the satellites are phenomenal… they tell you they can read the fine print of a newspaper… if that is what they tell you, you have to know it’s much better.
          I might have been born at night, just not last night!
          I’m not cowering, just trying to minimize the target on my back so it is not as big as the person next to me… kind of like “I don’t have to run faster than the Grizzly Bear, just faster than you!” I am not in the best shape, but I am getting there and definitely in better shape than a lot of the couch potato armchair self-proclaimed “experts” (no offense David Sarti, you already put yourself in the limelight)

  6. I totally agree with this article, I think that the traits of a good leader as well as a person with a tinkering gene both lead to being calm under stress. Confident people with practiced skills can normally step back and deal with situations outside their comfort zone. Thanks for posting this article.

    • Surviving from being restricted about everything that humans inspire and need, is the real survivor matter.
      When you don’t have a voice, you are already dead.Keeping that voice inside you and believing that even without speaking, there are a lots of people listening and speaking to you, will help to survive.

  7. This sounds like a bunch of sh*t. BTW, survivors need weapons? They aren’t gonna be of much help when you get your socks wet. You confuse “off the grid” with “in the deep end”.

    • You’re not the only one. In the past few years I’ve gotten more and more into it, only to find out its what I’ve been taught most of my life. Not everyone is/was a Boy Scout. I was, and I thank god for it. The Most useful piece of advice i feel i can give you is, is learn all you can. Find an old BSA handbook or PDF if you’re able. They did it better back in the day than the watered down version we teach kids now.

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