StatGear’s 5 Tactical Skills You Can Learn While in Quarantine

Everyone is spending their time in quarantine differently. Despite its obvious limitations, people are still making the most of their time. We’ve naturally gravitated to more time with loved ones, online learning, and virtual meetups. We admire the trend to learn new skills during this time, and want to encourage it further!

At StatGear we design products for rescue and survival, so we thought it’d be appropriate to share some tactical skills. These are skills that can be learned at home, but used anywhere. The importance of being prepared is especially apparent nowadays. These skills were picked to help you feel more confident in uncertain situations. We’ll cover a range of topics to seriously step up your tactical game!

1. First Aid and Rescue Techniques

Just by taking some time at home, you can learn how to save lives. There are a plethora of online resources for learning first aid skills. In fact, there may be so much information that learning first aid can seem intimidating. So we wanted to highlight a few skills that can have a huge impact. The first of these is CPR. CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The main goal of CPR is keep someone’s blood flow active until medical services arrive. At that point they can use some additional techniques if needed to fully revive the individual. The basics of CPR can be easily learned through any online video or blog. However, taking the time to practice and truly understand what is required is vital to good technique. This way you can be confident on both when and where to perform CPR.

The Heimlich maneuver is used to clear a blocked airway. This technique helps dislodge the item to help the individual's breathing return. The Heimlich maneuver is primarily one gesture pulled upward. If you have some friends or family in quarantine with you, practice with each other. Of course, don’t apply full pressure, but placement is key with the Heimlich. So, use this time to learn it right. The last rescue skill we’ll highlight is auto rescue. A lot of auto rescue skills should be left to trained professionals, however there are some ways to be better prepared if you find yourself in need of rescue. We would recommend looking up self-rescue techniques like breaking windows, relevant first aid, and underwater scenarios. In some of these situations you may be required to know how to use tools to break glass or save yourself. It’s for these exact scenarios that we designed the T3 Tactical Auto Rescue Tool. We designed the T3 to break car windows and swiftly cut seatbelts. We also designed the Auto First Aid Kit to give you medical supplies as needed. See what tools you need, and let us know if we can help. All of these rescue skills are relatively easy to learn, and can be learned from home. We think it’s worth the time to be ready to save a life!

2. Build Your Everyday Carry Set

Everyday Carry is the term used to describe the set of items an individual carries on them for daily use. However, the Everyday Carry community pushes this idea further by looking to optimize their tools for their lifestyle. We wrote an entire Introduction to Everyday Carry if you want to learn more. Building your Everyday Carry set requires thinking about what you need, and then taking the time to see what is available. There are a ton of options to add to your setup. Part of the fun is choosing the perfect items. Especially, if you can find one tool that covers multiple functions. If you want some inspiration before you dive in, read our article on Building an Everyday Carry Kit for Covid-19!

3. Finding and Preserving Food

Learning about finding and growing food can be both a tactical skill and a fun hobby. We can look to our earth for food and water. Whether we are out hiking or surviving an apocalypse, knowing how to forage is a wonderful gift. Foraging entails hunting for herbs, vegetables, fruits, and more out in nature. There are many books, blogs, and videos on foraging. The most important aspects are to find resources for where you specifically live or want to forage. Also hone in one what you want to forage for first. For example you could start with tea, fruit, or mushrooms. Each of these require their own bit of studying, but we can promise it is worth it. Finding an edible batch of berries or brewing some fresh mint makes the investment worth it.

If you want to stick to home base, gardening is a great choice. Seeds, soil, and plants are a cheap investment with a high reward. You can harvest seeds after growing your initial plants, which makes gardening sustainable and affordable. Depending on your space you may need to look into different techniques. If you are in a small space, we’d recommend looking into microgreens, hydroponics (aquaponics), and herb gardens. These are small scale gardens that can produce a lot of output. If you have some outdoor space to work with, the whole playbook is open to you. Look into what works well with your climate and soil, and plant accordingly. If need be you can always learn about composting. Composting helps to create nutrient rich soil yourself. These techniques are enjoyable ways to produce food, but at the same time they can serve a tactical purpose in times of need.

4. Understanding Self Defense

Self-defense is a fundamental skill in your tactical toolbelt. Learning about self-defense can help you feel more confident in risky situations. Research and practice will give you more ability to protect yourself and your loved ones. There are a variety of martial arts and techniques you can learn for self-defense. Some of these include jiu jitsu, muay thai, and boxing. We encourage you to look into the options, and determine what feels right for you. You won’t be able to fully train without an experienced teacher and gym. What is important is taking the time to research what’s out there. After seeing what looks right for you, you can begin to practice and study. Study the fundamentals and practices you can do at home. By doing this you will feel more prepared and confident to sign up for gym later on. You will also pick up some valuable lessons and techniques you can bring into your life no matter what. If you would like to read more about how to dive into Self-Defense you may like 3 Ways to Feel More Confident About Self-Defense.

5. Outdoor Survival Skills

Even indoors you can prepare for the outdoors. There are a few core skills you can learn from your home that you can easily apply next time you are outdoors. A great example of this is learning how to navigate without a compass (or phone). There are a variety of techniques to navigate effectively which also teach you some cool things about the outdoors. You can learn to identify the north star, read topological maps, or read moss for direction. These are great skills if you want to truly get into backpacking and hiking. They help you feel immersed in nature by allowing you to read its natural signs. No matter the pretense, navigation is a useful thing to learn up on. Another tactical, yet fun skill is learning to build natural shelters. There are a huge variety of techniques and materials you can use to build an outdoor shelter. You may get lost in all the cool shelter videos out there, so make sure to read up on the basics first. Look for information about where you are located, and what works best for your natural resources. It’s a really fascinating skill to read up on. It may even get you excited enough to plan an outdoor trip to try it out soon. Don’t forget to bring our Surviv-all Knife, if you need a knife for your outdoor next trip!

The last outdoor skill we’ll cover is building a fire without lighters. Not only can you enjoy a nice fire at home, you can learn a survival skill. Some techniques you can look into include a bow drill, fire plough, a two-man friction drill, and even flints. Fire is essentially survival skills when you are outdoors.

You now have 5 tactical areas you can research and practice while quarantined at home. We encourage you to dive into the topics and skills which called to you the most. We can promise each of these skills can help you tactically, but also benefit your daily life. Whether it's from new confidence, food, or knowledge, all of these skills have value beyond just surviving. Use this time at home to build your skills up and enjoy life.