What are the essential skills?

Resilience, keeping a cool head, etc... are all great leadership traits and they can be learned. A strong contributor to both is confidence that you do actually know what to do in a given situation. That comes back to skills. A first aid course or map reading or a little mechanical skill may not be the crucible that will turn you into Captain Unflappable, but a wise man once told me that in order to lead you must first know where to go. All the resilience in the world won't help if you don't know what you're doing, but knowing what you're doing may help you find that resilience a little quicker.

"Be technically and tactically proficient"
 
A manly beard and an appreciation of manly beers.
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Oh, and the government has spent a lot of money
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and time training me to be good at other things too.
 
Not necessarily a personal essential skill, but can very easily become important, particularly when a vehicle is involved.

I get on my soapbox about getting your significant other, life partner, best friend, or whoever spends the most time in the passenger front seat some time behind the wheel of your vehicle. All of the best made plans, gear and personal knowledge/attributes mean exactly NOTHING if you were to be incapacitated and unable to drive.

I'm fortunate that Machelle enjoys driving and is a very capable driver (I try not to let her drive in front of my friends, she makes me look bad).

I'm sure different parts of the country have different issues, IMO in the desert southwest, it's DG (decomposed granite). If you've not experienced it, it's like walking on ice with BB's under your feet, but on a steep slope. It's SO easy to take a fall on this stuff, on what would normally be a walk in the park. Next thing you know you can't drive/help yourself.
 
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GeoYota said:
How to PROPERLY sharpen a knife...and then carry it with the knowledge on how/when to use it.

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Fixed it for you [emoji6]

How to hunt and trap game so I don't starve to death goes high on my list along with how to obtain water and create fire.



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I love how this turned into a discussion around adventuring "soft skills." Listening, staying calm, resilience, inclusive. Good stuff. Thank you.
 
Something I would like to be better at that I feel is required in our form of outdoor activities is simple mechanical knowledge to fix a broken vehicle. I'm ok but not where I should be.


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^^^^The nuts and bolts stuff is the easy part these days, mechanic type guys are a dime a dozen on a trail run. Electrical/electronic trouble shooting is what's needed on a trail run these days, IMO.

Prime example...my buddies stock engine/electronics on a Jeep Wrangler 4.0L stalled out of nowhere on a Baja trip. It would crank but not start. We decided that it was the fuel pump. The pump is an electric in tank pump. I carried a spare external mount pump in my parts box. We ended up towing him into town and to our camp area before tackling the fix. The next day we dropped the fuel tank, spiced my spare pump into the fuel system and put it all back together again. We new for sure that the pump I provided was working...so did the people across the bay, it was LOUD. Started the Jeep and it ran...FIXED! Not so fast, it stalled again after coming up to temp, just like before, it would crank but not start.

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If you have to work on a Jeep, it might as well be at Bahia de Los Angeles, Baja.

After a couple more hours of trouble shooting we decided it was the coil. Ran back into town, all we could find was a Chevy coil, we took it, went back to camp, spliced it into the Jeep harness, and BAM, the Jeep ran, and was truly fixed. Sadly, we had hacked the fuel system up enough that we couldn't undo that fix. We had to listen to that damn external pump for the rest of the trip. Did I mention that it was LOUD?
 
smlobx said:
In addition to some of the great skills mentioned above I'm going to add patience.

The ability to calmly assess a situation and develop a plan of action can not be over estimated.
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This. Ask any old Brit who did the Camel Trophy - first thing you do when you hit a big stuck, breakdown or impasse is brew up some tea and assess the situation from afar. Calmly consider every angle before you waste a drop of energy on half baked solutions.

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
 
I honesty. Honesty with yourself. Know what you know and you will know what you know not. Chazz beat me to situational awareness. Like Dave, I am a lifelong learner. I have certainly learned by my own, and others, mistakes. Knowing how to read a map and use a compass, basic wilderness first aid, how to make a fire and shelter, basic auto repair.
 
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