Prepared For Anything Part 1 Of 3

An Asg Exclusive: How Mykel Hawke Became a Survival Expert.

- Brian Morris

American Survival Guide: Our readers fall under a wide spectrum of demographics. Many are outdoor enthusiasts and minimalists who want to learn primitive bushcraft and survival skills. Others are modern-day pioneers who want to live off the grid, and many more are preppers. They see the possibility of catastrophic events that could undermine America’s infrastructure, cause the government to collapse or even bring all-out warfare on our soil—thereby heightening the need to protect themselves, their families and their property. Perhaps the largest group is interested in emergency preparedness and being ready for unforeseen natural and manmade disasters, as a result of which it could be days or weeks before first responders can reach them.

Where do you most see yourself within that spectrum?

Mykel Hawke: I have a family, kids and grandkids. I enjoy spending time with them. Likewise, I have spent a great deal of my adult life in war zones and deployed to remote, underdeveloped places.

I have no desire to go live an isolated existence, waiting for the world to end or living in fear of some major disaster. Both can happen and are realistic possibilities. However, my choice is to stay in the world and be part of it, because I spent a lot of time out of it already.

That said, I am a military man; a Green Beret and officer, in fact. And that means I live by a code [stipulating that] if things go bad, I will stand up and step in to do my part to make things better. So, I am somewhere among the preppers, who are ready for anything, the off-gridders, who are ready to be self-reliant as long as it takes, and the minimalists in that I have always taught, in my books, my courses and even in my shows, that we can survive naked, because it’s how our ancestors started.