New to Prepping? Hiking, The Best Thing You Can Do!

New to Prepping? Here’s why Hiking is The Best Thing You Can Do

A lot of newbie preppers start out with buying things. Emergency food, water, survival knives, bug out bags… who hasn’t felt safer after buying some preps.

In reality, this is the worst thing you can do as a newbie prepper. You buy things at random under the spell of compelling advertising, you don’t know what you need and it’s almost sure you’ll end up regretting your purchases as times goes by and you learn more.

There are better things you can do while you’re absorbing information, things that will truly increase your chances of survival. Taking self-defense classes, working out, learning basic survival medicine and, of course, hiking.

Self-defense and survival medicine classes, obviously, cost you money and might be an intimidating step for someone new to survival. But hiking isn’t. Plus, you can do it without anyone suspecting you’re preparing yourself for the end of the world.

In fact, the benefits of hiking are so many and so important that I just had to write you an article with them. Here they are…

You Practice Bugging Out

Well, it’s not the same as bugging out through the woods while chaos breaks loose behind you, but it’s as close as it gets. Remember you’ll also have a backpack on your back which may not be as heavy as your bug out bag but you can make it so the next time you go hiking.

You Get Into Shape

I mentioned working out earlier. However, joining a gym costs money and pumping weights is not enough for survival. You also need endurance and a long hike is just what you need to improve it. Best of all, this type workout is 100% free.

You Improve your Health

There are numerous benefits to hiking: improved blood sugar levels and blood pressure, lower the risk of heart disease, stroke and high cholesterol levels. Everything from your heart, lungs, muscles and blood vessels will benefit from this.

You Improve Your Mental Health

I for one felt amazing the last time I went hiking even though it was almost midnight when I got home and I was really tired. I slept really well that night, woke up full of energy and worked like crazy the next few days. No matter how you look at it, hiking is a stress killer.

You Don’t Get Bored

If you like to jog (like I do), you know it can get a little boring even if you don’t do it alone. MP3 players helps a little bit but you still get tired of the same tracks and changing them is something I often forget or don’t have time for.
Hiking, on the other hand, is less exhausting and, since you won’t be alone, you’ll have plenty of time to chat and enjoy the views.

You Get to Break Into Your Hiking Boots

If you bought your bug out boots but never wore them outside, this is a good chance to do it and break into them.

You Get to Practice Survival Skills

As long as you’re hiking with likeminded people, there’s nothing stopping you from using your compass and every other tool you may have taken with you. If you can, you can even make fire or camp for the night.

Final Words

I guess the only final words for an article like this should be: just do it! And remember why you’re doing it.

Dan F. Sullivan