This will be an admitadly unusual and possibly controversial thread, depending on an individuals belief system.
It is my hope that in the course of discussion, some commonalities may be observed.
First, I should define what i mean by " esoteric".
When I use the term, I am refering to any personal actions or reactions that occure outside of what could be determined as " normal"
Perhaps the least arguable of these would be " Instinct"
Every species has hard wired instinct that enables them to survive or at least maximises thier chances of survival.
In humans we are all familiar with the instinct for " fight or flight".
This instinct is believed to incorperate threat assesment weighed aginst advantages of confrontation as opposed to avoidance.
Some of the other reactions you may expereince are not so easily defined or accepted as valid.
Amoung these is that uncomfortable feeling you may get about a given situation that triggers some degree of trepidation or fear with no disernable source.
This may trigger the fight or flight reflex, but lack a clear threat to asses and therefore no clear situation to confront. Just an uneasy feeling that there is danger and you should not remain where you are, or continue with what you are doing.
Scientists have long accepted that a portion of our brains still contains a more primitive perception of our enviorment. It is these areas of our brain that contain some of our most valuable survival tools.
I would suggest that in a survival situation our" inner voices" may be our best survival companions.
While this is a broad topic, i would like to qualify it in as much as i'm not speaking of what is normaly thought of as " paranormal" such as precognition, clairvoyance, telepathy, telekenisis, Ect.
While these are also interesting topics, i don't want to waste bandwidth arguing thier validity.
What i would like is to begin a discussion of how your " gut" will play a part in any survival strategies.
I think the sheer size of the topic will allow for alot of discussion. After all, who has not had that feeling of knowing you are not alone when another enters a space you are occupying. You don't have to look or hear another person, but you can " feel " them there.
I can relate experiences from my past to give examples of these things, but I'm much more interested in your expereinces or observations and thier applicability. After all, I already know my stories. LOL

I've always trusted my instincts, gut reactions, sixth sense, or whatever you choose to call it. If something didn't feel right, I got out of there. I believe it's your brain working at some subconscious level that most people aren't aware of for the most part. I hear "I got an uneasy feeling" from people a lot.

I remember once in a big park system my car broke down with me and my girlfriend. It was past midnight, and 15 miles to the ranger station and a phone (early 80's cell phones were not very common).

So, we started walking and about five or six miles down the road this car stopped and asked if we'd like a ride. The guy was heading in the wrong direction for one thing, and he gave me real bad vibes for another. I told him "No Thanks", but we appreciated the offer. He looked a little irritated, but finally went about his way. When we finally made it to the ranger station, they informed us that they were looking for an armed fugitve very much like the guy we described. Even the car description matched.

Talk about getting cold chills up and down your spine. We were really tempted to take him up on his offer, but my instincts said no. I've never second guessed them after that.

Sometimes I think that things register on a subconscience level that would otherwise go unnoticed. As your experiences increase so does your inner voice. I can't count the times where I have avoided a bad situation without even thinking about it, that others have walked right into. I don't think I am anything special just more experienced outside than most.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

Thanks ya'll, thats what i'm talking about.
Now imagine how useful that " sixth sense" would be if your trying to hide or avoid an ambush.
I was talking with a buddy today who is a firefighter, and we touched on this topic. he noted how firefighters are taught to pay attention to these instincts, and given training on what to do when they occure. That conversation got me to thinking of how it also applies to cops and other folks who find themselves in Life and death situations.
I know for myself, I can count alot of times that reacting because of that " sixth sense" has literaly saved my life and the lives of others on my team.
I can vouch for one advantage that is in common with most high stress situations, is that if you let your body do what it wants to do to survive, you will notice a appreciably enhanced set of senses, where your hearing is more acute, your reflexes are sharper, your peripheral vision is enhanced, and even you time sense is altered.
yeah I know this is all explained by adreneal output, but what caused that out put to increase ?, it sure wasn't your logic circuts.

What would one do to hone or sharpen these skills or is it an either "you got it or not" type of skill?

I can only give my opinion, but i think everyone has the capability, the difference is that some have learned to recognize them and others remain oblivious.
Without advanced martial arts training, or alot of time with your ass in the grass in a two way fireing range, i think the next best thing would be just make a point of learning to listen to your own inner voices.
One enjoyable and also helpful exsersize would be to take a hiking trip into a bit of wilderness, seperate yourself from your hiking party, and find a comfortable place to have a sit down.
Get comfortable, relax, try to be still enough to become part of the wilderness around you. Then just start paying attention to all your senses.
In a remarkably short time, you will hear tiny rustling noises of small critters you didn't notice before. Allow your peripheral vision to work, by not turning your head when you percieve movement out of the corner of your eye, just focus on what your percieving peripheraly. Even an opthamologist will tell you your peripheral vision is more acute that your focused field vision. It's just a matter of which your paying attention to.
The longer you sit, or the more often you do it, the more you will percieve and the louder your inner voices will speak to you.
If anyone has any other advise, please don't hesitate.

The inner voice to me is nothing more then using your senses and not even know your doing it.

Things Like A twig snapping but not loud enough to really register may let you know something is coming.

A smell or catching some thing out of the corner of your eye. Some times it takes the form of just thinking. Putting two and two together. The one thing humans are good at is surviving. All our senses work together to that end, and they call that the sixth sense. Well thats my opinion any way.

Thanks for all the tips on how to sharpen my "sixth sense." I do go camping but it is usually with my kids and it seems that there is very little time to sit in silence. I will do citizen smith's exercise as soon as some of this snow is gone and it warms up some.
Thanks for the responses.

It seems that of all the skills that empathy would be the one to develop, but perhaps not. It is really the gut instinct that is best. Knowing when to back off and then following through on the feeling....is that skill.

The problem with humans is even when they know there is a trap in front of them they will reason it out and ignore the feeling. Ask yourself why is there always one giant legendary fish in the lake no one seems to catch? Well there are probably a half dozen giants that have the instinct to know when things are too good to be true.

I think Lloyd45 hit the nail on the head when He said

We were really tempted to take him up on his offer, but my instincts said no. I've never second guessed them after that.

When we second guess our instict and try to reason or use logic to make another choice we end up in trouble.

I am gratified by the responces on this thread. I feel that our psychological actions and reactions are an often overlooked aspect of survival.
As a species humans are endlessy adaptive which can prove to be either an advantage or a hindrence.
In the modern world we have adapted to the sights, sounds and smells to such an extent that they have become " back ground sensory input", and as such are most often ignored.
For instance, while driving in traffic, you may casualy note other vehicles around you and thier proximity to you but how much detail do you actualy register ?
If your walking down town and a nearby car backfires, your reflex should be to duck and cover, instead you just register a loud bang, and at best might have a passing thought about how loud the city is.
In a survival situation these two obvious things could equate to a life or death situation and whether you will survive it.
If you currently live in a city, and your plan to bug out is to head for the hills, your going to find that in the wilderness, you are functionaly autistic, while also being deaf, dumb and blind.
The prey you hope to live off of are adapted to thier enviorment, they are used to being hunted, and for all intents and purposes, for survival, they are alot smarter than you are.
At the same time, the animals yoiu might intend to use as a food source, are already the food source of a more skilled predator, who may also consider you dinner.
Thats not to say the situation is hopeless. As I said in the beginning, humans are extremly adaptive, and given time they can adjust. With time and experience, our forgotten instincts may come to the for and help us to survive. The problem is that " time" issue.
If your in day 2 of sit x ,hunting for dinner, and you stumble across a Grizzly also hunting dinner, thats not the time to wish you had learned to be more sensitive.
You may have " street smarts" and know how to navigate the city and avoid dangerous situations, but if you misread a grizzly as to whether he/she's making a bluff or a charge, your gonne look back at street gangs and dark allies with nostalgia.
Practice now while there is still time.