How to Start Building Your Survival Network

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Even the best, most adequately prepared survivalists may end up struggling in a true survival situation. That's because everyone has unique strengths and weaknesses, resources are going to be scarce, and it's hard to predict everything that might happen once the emergency unfolds. If you want to be better prepared, you'll need to build a survival network, full of people you trust with different skills and a willingness to practice mutual support.

So how do you do it?

The Dynamics of Survival Networks

It’s hard to overstate the value of having a survival network or community in place for an emergency situation. Even if you consider yourself extremely knowledgeable, skilled, and prepared, there are going to be weak points and blind spots in your strategy. There may be certain skills that you don't have. You may have overlooked a specific threat. There's a chance your system plans are corrupted or damaged in a way that makes you unable to survive the way you thought.
In these scenarios, you'll be relying on the kindness and support of other people to survive – and it's much better to have those people before an emergency happens than be forced to try to find them in the midst of a catastrophe.

If you're not extremely knowledgeable, skilled, and prepared, having a survival network is even more important. Even knowing just a few other like-minded people can greatly increase your chances of surviving and thriving after an emergency.

Building a survival community is also about giving. It's an act of altruism and generosity to share your knowledge and resources with other people. Regardless of your personal principles, religion, or ethical beliefs, nearly all of us find merit in helping others.

Note that your survival network or survival community doesn't have to take any specific shape or form. You can build a veritable commune with 100 people who all live and work together constantly. You can also make a handful of connections with people who live in your city with loose plans about how you would coordinate in the event of an emergency. Both of these extreme spectrum ends are viable ways to build a survival network, though obviously, they offer different strengths and weaknesses.

How to Start Building Your Survival Network: 3 Easy Ways to Begin

No matter what your end goal for your survival network is, there are three easy ways to begin building it.

1. Take a survival skills course. One of the most straightforward ways to start building a survival network is to take a survival skills course. In this course, you'll have an opportunity to gain some new knowledge and new skills while simultaneously working with people who share your mentality and desire to be prepared. It's the perfect place to meet some new people and start your community.

2. Attend a prepper or survival meetup. Similarly, it’s valuable to attend a meet-up based on prepping or anything related to survival. You'll get more value out of these meetups if you attend regularly, getting to know the regulars in turn.

3. Get to know your neighbors. It’s unfortunately common for modern folks to not know their neighbors. But in an extreme situation, your relationships with your neighbors can play a massive role in dictating your chances of survival. These are the people geographically closest to you, so they're both the easiest and most important people to become familiar with. Take some time every week to reach out to your neighbors and say hello, even if your relationship never moves beyond pleasantries.

How to Build and Maintain Relationships Within Your Community

If you're interested in building and maintaining relationships within your community:

· Touch base regularly. Meeting someone once at a meet-up 10 years ago doesn't mean that person is going to mutually exchange resources with you in an emergency. It's important to touch base regularly, so you can stay top of mind and keep the relationship active.

· Provide gifts and favors. Both professional and personal relationships are about reciprocity; you’ll be much more successful if you give before you take. Accordingly, you should consider providing gifts and favors to the people you've connected with.

· Build mutual trust. Collaborate and share to build mutual trust. You and your other community members are going to trust each other much more if you've worked together on projects in the past.

· Host meetups, parties, and other gatherings. You can also build camaraderie by hosting regular meetups, parties, and other social gatherings. These don't have to be formal or fancy, but they should be somewhat consistent.

· Encourage complementary skill development. Talk to your other community members about developing complementary skills. What can you learn that no one else can? What can they learn to benefit the community?

The Next Step

The next step is totally up to you. If you want a bigger network with more people in the community, you'll need to keep practicing outreach and finding new people. If you want to connect in a more practical way, this could be your chance to start a physical survival community of your own. And if you're just interested in getting to know your existing network members better, consider starting a monthly meeting to reinforce those relationships.
In any case, any time and effort you invest in your survival network is likely to pay off in a catastrophic scenario.