Talk is cheap, prepping is not. How many of you sense something is majorly wrong with our nation, with the world? Are you preparing for tough times or sticking your head in the sand? I am collecting fighting knives at a much slower pace. Now every time I buy a knife I ask myself if the money wouldn’t be better spent buying MREs, or other survival preparations. Look at poor Japan. An empire built on electricity provided by nuclear power is fighting heroically to control that monster. Those poor people had little or no emergency stores put aside and any they might have had were wiped out in the tsunami.
Without being a doomsday soothsayer, we know we face the potential for that same disaster to occur here because of the nuclear plants built along the fault-line running the length of California. Storms ravage our nation from the Gulf of Mexico to New England, bringing ice storms, power outages, blizzards, flooding, wild fires, tornados and hurricanes. We face economic uncertainty the likes of which have not existed since the Great Depression. We are locked into wars against Muslims in three nations. Nation after nation is crumbling into chaos as established rulers are toppled by mobs and their economies collapse.
Like many of the people I converse with on forums, I have a BOB (Bug Out Bag) prepared. It can be simple or all inclusive depending on your finances, circumstances, and ability to carry it. But it would be prudent to prepare some type of backpack containing a few MREs, water purifier, flash light, fire starting kit, etc. There are forums completely devoted to survival preparations. Do some looking around. One of the forums I go to is http://www.survivalblog.com for good sound information.
Of course any BOB worth its salt will include a folder or two and a larger fighting or camp knife. Some of my BOB knives are a Grayman Kordorfan 8, a Fox XL Panga or the nice Fox Kukri, a Becker BKT-10 bowie/camp knife, etc. You get the idea, something brawny and reliable. Another good addition is a leatherman of some description and maybe a small set of wire cutters. Machete and tomahawks all have their uses, it depends the local terrain, on your mission, and your familiarity with various bladed weapons/tools. Keep a small sharpening tool in your BOB too.
Needless to say, firearms ought to be a thoughtful part of your preparations, whether intended for food procurement or self defense. Keep them legal, simple, and make sure you have enough ammo to feed them. Be completely familiar with their safe operation and cleaning. Do your homework first and avoid wasting money on things you don't need. Look around your home and see what you already have that can be incorporated into your BOB. Have fun, but don't put off doing it forever.The knife is a beautiful "Wendigo" by John Gonzalez of Dervish Knives.
Without being a doomsday soothsayer, we know we face the potential for that same disaster to occur here because of the nuclear plants built along the fault-line running the length of California. Storms ravage our nation from the Gulf of Mexico to New England, bringing ice storms, power outages, blizzards, flooding, wild fires, tornados and hurricanes. We face economic uncertainty the likes of which have not existed since the Great Depression. We are locked into wars against Muslims in three nations. Nation after nation is crumbling into chaos as established rulers are toppled by mobs and their economies collapse.
Like many of the people I converse with on forums, I have a BOB (Bug Out Bag) prepared. It can be simple or all inclusive depending on your finances, circumstances, and ability to carry it. But it would be prudent to prepare some type of backpack containing a few MREs, water purifier, flash light, fire starting kit, etc. There are forums completely devoted to survival preparations. Do some looking around. One of the forums I go to is http://www.survivalblog.com for good sound information.
Of course any BOB worth its salt will include a folder or two and a larger fighting or camp knife. Some of my BOB knives are a Grayman Kordorfan 8, a Fox XL Panga or the nice Fox Kukri, a Becker BKT-10 bowie/camp knife, etc. You get the idea, something brawny and reliable. Another good addition is a leatherman of some description and maybe a small set of wire cutters. Machete and tomahawks all have their uses, it depends the local terrain, on your mission, and your familiarity with various bladed weapons/tools. Keep a small sharpening tool in your BOB too.
Needless to say, firearms ought to be a thoughtful part of your preparations, whether intended for food procurement or self defense. Keep them legal, simple, and make sure you have enough ammo to feed them. Be completely familiar with their safe operation and cleaning. Do your homework first and avoid wasting money on things you don't need. Look around your home and see what you already have that can be incorporated into your BOB. Have fun, but don't put off doing it forever.The knife is a beautiful "Wendigo" by John Gonzalez of Dervish Knives.
Posts
7 comments:
Amen, Dave, and there's a lot to learn and think about in terms of survival. Bugging out has a time and place for sure, but everyone needs to think about when it is appropriate. Everyone's circumstances are different, but in general, consider that your chances of survivial long-term are probably more likely to be far, far better surviving in place, not in bugging out. You can keep and store and defend far more resources at home than what you can carry by bugging out, and you may be in a more defensible position, particularly if you have long-term relationships with neighbors who can band together for mutual support. Out on your own or with just your family members, you may be more vulnerable. Also, keep in mind it may be foolish to have an exit plan that completely depends on your vehicle, that is, on the ready availability of gasoline. If your bug-out retreat is 200 miles away, you better have the resources to get there. If that retreat is in the "middle of nowhere" you better have the place set up to be pretty self-sustaining, because if you still depend on having gasoline to take care of yourself in the middle of nowhere, you may be SOL.
If too many scenarios you can envision require "bugging out," then the take home lesson is probably that you should bug out now before you need to bug out, and get yoruself somewhere you won't have to bug out from.
Way easier said than done, I know. My own situation is far from optimal but it isn't completely horrible either, so I am working principally on having a "bug in" home, especially one my kids can return to if they need to. I hope I will have enough time to change my scenary before it becomes Zombieland in this country, but I feel that time is pretty short.
good and thoughtful response. If you cannot decide whether to bug-in or bug-out, think back on the people trying to leave Houston under a hurricane evacuation order, many ended up riding out the storm on the freeway stuck in their cars, and a few died. Its not enought to say you're going to leave, you have to have a plan and a destination.
Btw, Dave, thanks for the heads up about survivalblog. I started checking it out and it looks like it is a good source. You mentioned threats from nuclear power and fyi if you want really good information about what's going on at Fukushima and the risks in our own country, check out http://fairewinds.com/. There you can find numerous videos by Arnie Gunderson, a guy that has old-school engineering integrity.
I took your advise and bought a copy of the resilient gardener.
Dave, I think you will find it money well spent. I am glad that after all the advice and shared information that you have provided to your readers, I was able to provide one small item in return.
By the way, check out the chapter on ducks. They are more hardy, easier to keep, and have way more personality, than chickens. I plan to have about 3 or 4 of the little quackers producing eggs for me here in Westchester County come next spring. The local zoning rules don't restrict it beyond the general rules on treating domestic animals humanely. The reaction of the neighbors should be HI-larious. One of the good things about NYS is that it is a right to farm state. Localities can regulate, but cannot legislate growing veggies and such out of existence.
Jeff, The legislature in Albany is filled with vegetables.
Ha! Touché, Dave!
Post a Comment