HomePosts Tagged "Skills"

 

A lot of preppers do not possess the proper skills for surviving in case of any natural disaster even though it is essential to do so. The main reason for the lack of adequate skills is that many people lack the proper survival skills training to cope with any emergency situation. In the subsequent paragraphs, we are going to mention 8 important survival skills that anyone must have in his or her kit.

Locating and purifying water

It is said that an individual cannot survive for more than three days without drinking water. However, in case he or she needs to survive in a severe environment, it might not be possible for him or her to survive even that long.

Water is essential for the human body to function properly and this is why one of the most important survival skills will be to locate and also purify water. In case you’re able to light a fire then you might consider boiling the water. Otherwise, you might also store sufficient water prior to leaving for an exploration. Although it might not solve your problem entirely, it is the best thing that you can do during a survival situation. We all know that nature is our best friend and we should make it a point to learn which plants will provide us with drinking water; however, it might prove to be disastrous for you in case you fail to understand it properly.

Making a fire

It is definitely tough to figure out which particular survival skills are the most important in a disaster situation; however, one cannot ignore the importance of making a fire in this respect. A fire will help you in many ways such as purifying the water, keeping yourself warm and comfortable, sterilizing surgical equipment, making tools, cooking food, signaling for help and also safeguarding yourself from wild creatures. Above all, you will feel much more confident by having a fire.

Building a shelter

While you are outdoors, things can change all of a sudden at any time of the day. For example, there can be a great fluctuation in the temperature. Although you might be experiencing a dry climate in the morning, you should not be surprised if it rains heavily at night. While you are trapped in an emergency situation, you might use your vehicle as your shelter in case you happen to be with the car. Otherwise, think of some natural resources that you can use as your shelter. It will not be a bad idea to safeguard yourself from the inclement weather by taking a refuge inside a cave.

Predicting weather

Casio Men’s PAG240-1CR Pathfinder Triple Sensor Multi-Function Sport Watch – Compass, Barometer and Altimeter.

In most situations, we are hardly concerned about the climatic condition in our daily lives unless of course there are some natural calamities like tornadoes and floods. Being able to forecast the weather is an essential survival skill that you should have during any disaster situation. In case you happen to be in the wilderness, you can be affected very badly by any change in the weather conditions. You might find it extremely hard to light a fire if there is a heavy precipitation as well as a strong gale. You will never be caught unaware if you are able to develop this particular survival skill. But how is it possible? Below we have mentioned some fundamental forecasting skills the majority of which will depend on natural phenomena like:

  • Air pressure – Although it is impossible to measure the air pressure physically, you should be able to ascertain the direction of the air flow. Usually, the clouds will be moving from a high-pressure area to a low-pressure area.
  • Clouds – You’ll be able to forecast strong wind as well as rain by observing the clouds. Under normal circumstances, heavy precipitation can be expected in the presence of dark and low hanging clouds.
  • Wild creatures – Animals are able to understand any change in the weather by their natural instincts. For example, you can predict rain in case the insects start to disappear.
  • Hunting skills – Often you can suffer from lack of adequate food during an emergency situation. In that case, it is essential to have the ability to hunt wild animals who can provide you with a steady supply of food. In case you are a beginner, you should focus on catching some smaller animals like rabbits, fish and so on instead of going for larger creatures like the tiger, deer, etc. Hunting fish will not be much difficult for you but you should be careful while catching them. There might be other creatures like alligators in the water that you must avoid at all costs. Moreover, catching fish is not a joke and you need to be properly trained to do so. You might also try to set a trap near the river which should help you to catch some fish within a few hours.

Identifying edible vegetation

In case you are trapped in the forest, don’t go out eating everything you run across that looks good since they might even be poisonous for you. You might be starving, but you must have the ability to identify the plants which are edible. Consuming these plants will help you to avoid cooking as well as saving your precious time. There will be no need to hunt for animals, make a fire and cook. Moreover, these plants will provide you with the energy which you need for survival. Some edible plants that you can find in the wilderness include asparagus, burdock, and cattail.

Making use of survival tools

It is essential to choose the appropriate survival tools since these will help you to perform many jobs such as making your shelter or even repairing the one which you already have. Apart from this, they will also aid you to collect wood for making a fire which you will need to stay warm and also cook food. Some of these survival tools include a flashlight, emergency candles, tactical folding knife, hiking backpack, scissors, hammer, nails, pliers, etc.

Attitude 

Your attitude is going to play an important role if you get caught in any type of emergency situation. You must have the confidence that you will survive. Losing hope can prove to be fatal in the long run. Having the proper attitude along with a few survival skills will help you to overcome any tough situation.

  A lot of preppers do not possess the proper skills for surviving in case of any natural disaster even though it is essential to do so. The main reason for

“On a warm spring night, after eating dinner with friends and deciding to do a little late-night dancing, a young lady walks across the top floor of a well-lit parking garage.  She’s tired, worn out from the night of dancing and to help combat her fatigue, one hand is carrying a latte from the local late-night coffee joint down the road while her other hand fumbles in her purse.

Since it’s the top floor of the garage, there are few really good places to mount a security camera, so the ones that do exist are not able to capture much outside of the fact that behind her, a black-clad man with his hood up approaches her from behind as she unlocks her car door, and attacks.  Within seconds, he slams the back of her head, knocking her unconscious with his blow, if not with the ricochet of her head against the roof of the car.  Picking up her keys off the ground, throwing her inside the car bodily, he’s driving off through the garage, and is out of camera range very quickly to do…well, just about anything he wants.”

While this is a fictional situation, it’s the kind of thing that I’m starting to think about now that my daughter is going to be attending college in the big city.  She has basic skills in martial arts, an interest based on an activity that I required of her when she was a young teen, but doesn’t have a firearm and doesn’t carry any weapons in her purse.  What can she do to prevent this kind of attack?

3 Ways to Discourage Street Attacks

#1 – Situational Awareness & Mindfulness

Millennials often get a bad rap for being too tied into their phone, but it’s not only them. People of every age do it and they need to beware of the risks of making their way through life oblivious to those around them.  In a world where any kind of media is immediately available through so many channels, it’s easy to put your headphones in and enjoy a little entertainment on those lonely walks down the streets.  I love podcasts myself, and I know how easy it is to get lost in what the hosts are discussing and become engrossed to the point of making secondary the thoughts about where you are, where you’re going, what you planned on doing, and how you’re getting there.

Situational Awareness is simply the act of being constantly aware of what is happening around you.  It is essential in any kind of potentially dangerous situation to be mindful of what is happening around you, keeping a clear head, focusing on the present situation and your present environment.  Use as many of your senses as you can – listen to the ambient sounds, notice the smells of your environment, put your eyes and your head on a swivel, looking behind you every thirty seconds or so, and more often if entering a new environment.

I used the word “mindful” in the last paragraph, because Mindfulness is becoming a part of the zeitgeist of modern life as well.  This age-old concept is very simply a set of techniques designed to help you focus on the present moment, and what is happening around you – very similar to situational awareness.  Looking up some simple mindfulness exercises like “leaves on a stream” or even practicing basic meditation is a good way to help build your tolerance for long periods of being in the moment.

In the above situation, the young lady who was attacked likely had no idea that there was someone else on the roof of the parking garage, much less that he was following her, even as closely as he would have had to in order to attack so quickly.  Having no situational awareness, and likely being lost in a world of her own thoughts or in cell phone music or audio programs was her first big mistake.  Had she been looking around, aware of her situation, and perhaps even made eye contact with the attacker on her way towards her car, she may have done enough to encourage him to choose a different target.

#2 – Providing Disinformation

If you were an attacker who wanted to prey on someone, would you choose a man or a woman to attack?  Young or middle aged?

Almost everyone would choose a young female. The reasons are simple – she’s less likely to have any interest in martial arts or combat sports, she’s probably smaller and less muscular than her male counterparts, she likely carries more cash or valuable jewelry, and is stereotyped as being more naïve by the media and society at large.  Whether any specific female fits those categories is unimportant, its true that the simple act of being a female makes you a bigger target.

Being a young female isn’t something you can control.  Or is it?

No transgender stuff here.  But it’s possible, highly likely even, that the attacker in the above situation has done at least a small amount of research on this car he found on the top floor of a parking garage late at night, and it’s surprising what you can figure out about someone based on their car.

Does she have custom vanity license plates?  If so, those are generally a strong indicator that this is a female, unless the plates say something decidedly masculine like “GUNDUDE8” or “PREP MAN”.  If he peeks inside and sees custom leopard print seat covers, a steering wheel cover, or fuzzy dice on the rearview mirror, then assumptions can easily be made.   Other information can be gleanes as well.  If he sees a Victoria’s Secrets bag in your passenger seat, then what’s he going to assume?  The contents of your backseat can tell a lot about a person.  Makeup bags, the presence of an infant car seat or a booster, bumper stickers – all of these things say something about you, and help attackers decide if you’re a good target. While they don’t all “scream” female, they do all scream “unfocused” or having their concentration distracted by errands, a child, whatever. We are all guilty of this, especially in places we have frequented where “nothing has ever happened.” Reality is it only has to happen once to be life altering.

The worst offenders of the car customization market are the stick figures that populate the back windows of far too many cars.  Sure, they’re kind of cute, but they give way too much information about who you are, who is in your family, their ages and their interests.  If you have a single woman with two children on there, chances are that you’re coming out to your car either alone, or with two little ankle biters who are occupying all of your attention.

The best tip I’ve heard for single young women who are at risk for being attacked near their car is to give would-be attackers plenty of disinformation designed to encourage them to choose a different target.  A big, well-worn pair of men’s athletic shoes in the back seat, or a duffel bag covered in visible weight-lifting patches and karate logos will go a long way towards indicating to any smart criminals that the person who owns this vehicle is not to be trifled with.

Bumper stickers are also a good way to dissuade people.  Pro-gun bumper stickers, particularly if they endorse concealed carry, are a good place to start, as are indicators that you’re interested in things like MMA, wrestling, martial arts, or bodybuilding, whether you are or not. I have heard the counter-argument, that people “looking for guns to steal” look for cars with an NRA sticker (USMC emblem, etc.) The normal pattern of such a person is to follow you home to see what house to target for a robbery, when they observe you have left the premises. Yes, most people like this have gun safes – do you put your bedside go-to weapon in your gun safe every time you leave your house?

Spiked dog collars are also a simple thing to throw in the backseat.  While that might not be something that will dissuade an attacker in the aforementioned situation, it will work wonders for dissuading attackers spying on your car in a park, forest preserve or who might be looking at your home as a potential target.

Use your normal routine and patterns to decide what kinds of things you want to decorate with, or stash in your car. Understanding the places where you’re likely to be attacked will provide the best understanding of what will work best for you.

#3 – Just do it

People who prey on others are often quite a bit smarter than you might think.  Most have done their homework, and having looked inside your car to find evidence that you may be a very strong male or have a very large dog, might be smart enough to avoid you as a potential attackee.  Despite this, an often cited fact about criminals shows that most crimes that are committed in the US are crimes not borne from passion or careful thinking, but simply crimes of opportunity.

The attacker in the situation above may have been in line behind her in the coffee shop and noticed a $100 bill in her wallet, and taken the chance to follow her.  He may have just been a normal guy walking to his own car when he had a desperate feeling that he could get something from her.  Sometimes, the criminals will ignore any evidence of misinformation you provide, or maybe they’ve cased your car before and seen through your deception.

Sometimes, you just have to fight.  Or at least look like you’re ready for a fight.

Many will advise keeping some kind of weapon in the purse, and it’s hard to deny that this would be a good idea, but I would advocate that, if not well trained in the use of a knife, pepper spray, a pistol, or whatever weapon might make sense for a young lady to carry, that weapon will be useless.  It might also function as a distraction – it’s mere existence forcing the attacked person to spend valuable reaction time digging around for the weapon instead of running, adopting a defensive posture, striking back, finding some other form of help, or doing almost anything else that may be more productive in helping the situation.

Instead, the simple act of looking ready for a fight is good enough.  Stand up straighter when you walk, turn your head when you look, not just your eyes.  Proactively say hi to people on the street to indicate that you notice them, as this can unnerve criminals who are doing their best to avoid notice.

Remember that if the need arises to defend yourself, it is nearly impossible to do so without a free hand.  If you carry a purse, consider keeping your hand inside it as you walk, not fishing for anything, but as if you’re holding onto something.  The fear of the unknown weapon in your hand may do enough to scare someone off.

Anyone, female or not, would also do well to consider what kinds of objects that you keep on your person and how they may be used as a weapon.  Pocket knives are an obvious choice, but making a fist around your car keys creates a deadly combination of striking and slashing weapons that can do serious damage.  Aerosol deodorant or hair spray is not a great choice, but it can certainly burn the eyes of an attacker if you get lucky.  Using the small, rounded edge of a hairbrush as a striking tool can be helpful to those who don’t have a lot of experience using their fists to punch, and it will likely cause more damage if you don’t already have any martial arts training.

Before exiting the stairwell or elevator, this young women should have had her keys ready in her dominant hand, with the key poking out through her middle and index finger, her hand in a fist.  Even with an improper strike, this will cause damage to any attacker.  That’s a nice easy weapon to carry that will do the damage, doesn’t require specific training, and will help you stay safe out there in the big bad city. And for those of us with “electronic key bobs”, consider investing in some sharp jewelry/bottle-opener thingy’s to add to the key ring. Also, never forget your extended thumb forward when making a fist as this can be devastating to an eye, a throat, even a kidney. Then again, there is this.

"On a warm spring night, after eating dinner with friends and deciding to do a little late-night dancing, a young lady walks across the top floor of a well-lit parking

This is not just another article on survival. This is about the things our great-grandfathers built or did around the house, in order to survive. Looks like they succeeded.

People really should avert their gaze from the modern survival thinking for just a bit and also look at how folks 150 years ago did it. These guys were the last generation to practice basic things-for a living-that we call survival skills now.

We all want to become self-sufficient. The way to get there is not always an easy one.

Don’t you want to know all edible and medicinal plants in North America?

How about recipes for long-forgotten superfoods that will outlast you.

Are you ready to turn back the clocks to the 1800s for up to three years?

Because this is what will happen after the next SHTF event.

Preparing for worst using these lost skills is a very good start. Because depending on Uncle Sam isn’t much of a plan. Even if all you want is keeping your family well no matter what happens.

To banish any and all fears of starvation for good, our ancestors mastered the lost skills of wild plants. Their pharmacy was in the great outdoors. They were turning ordinary plants into powerful remedies. And preparing superfoods that cost almost nothing to make and require no refrigeration. Pretty awesome right? We’re talking centuries ago. Before globalization made as all forget who we are, and how we survive to live the day.

We all know how to turn a computer on or how to send a message on a smartphone, but how many of us are good at identifying the plants you need to survive any crisis? How many of us are good at preparing natural painkillers more effective than drugs? These plants could prove to be our lifelines, and still, we prefer to treasure our digital life more.

Are we really prepared for what’s to come?

Some of us are. Because we take facts into consideration, not promises and lies. So what is there to do? You inform yourself and get ready.

It’s simple, in order to survive, you need to be healthy. Right? Right.  

In order to be healthy, you need to eat as such.

Wouldn’t it be amazing getting to know almost all edible and medicinal plants around you? OR learning about a powerful painkiller, a driveway antibiotic weed, a back-pain relieve plant?

For example, there is an amazing wild lettuce recipe that was not invented by us. Or yesterday. But hundreds of years ago. When things were simpler.

Lucky these skills and recipes work regardless of your taste in history. But isn’t this a great opportunity to profit from it?

Here, at Final Prepper, we offer you a simple understanding of how human beings can survive in case of a catastrophe, such as natural disasters, economic decline, and war.

According to countless studies, Americans are currently changing for the worst; the various conveniences presented by modern technology have rendered mankind too complacent. People no longer brace themselves for the worst eventualities.

As a result, human beings have gradually lost survival skills that can help them survive various shortages in life. Here are just a few examples :

  • How to collect and store water for your family without spending any money.
  • Mastering the art of poultices making using the ingredients that our ancestors once used.
  • Tips on how to catch an assortment of animals and guidance on how to set foolproof animal traps.
  • The course of action human beings can take in the event that they ran out of bullets.
  • How to make nutritious food using ingredients that were first suggested by the Native American scouts.
  • How to build underground houses like the American natives.

In recent years, there has been a growing demand for survival guides. To meet this demand, we found one of the most comprehensive guides that helps people learn various survival techniques by copying what their ancestors did many years ago. You will re-discover and acquire ancient survival skills, and several beneficial tips and tricks that may be used by Americans today to survive both natural and man-made disasters more easily. Some of the things you will learn from this book include:

  1. Food – recipes of nutritious food that were first used by the Native American scouts. Such recipes teach people how to make nutritious food using common and readily available ingredients.
  2. Traps – Setting up traps can provide a steady supply of food in times of food shortage or crisis. Learn how to set up various traps and how to catch an assortment of animals—especially in winter.
  3. Housing – a detailed guide on how to construct underground houses. The houses illustrated in this guide are big enough to accommodate up to 4 families—a concept similar to the one used by the Native Americans.
  4. Water – insight into how you can collect and store water affordably. Water can be scarce during a disaster or a war. We included a guide on how to collect and store water without spending a dime.
  5. Poultices – guidance on how to make poultices using ancient ingredients that were being used by our ancestors for the same purpose.
  6. Bullets – how human being s can preserve bullets during a crisis and what you can do in the event that you no longer have bullets.

These are just some of the topics covered to help you learn the survival skills one needs to thrive. We believe it is about time that Americans went back to their roots and learn what made their ancestors survive various challenges and hardships in their environments.

We shouldn’t take for granted the given “luxury” of being born in such advanced times. We already know how powerless and clueless our modern society becomes în the aftermath of a simple blackout.

For these moments, we need to get ready. Are you?

 

This is not just another article on survival. This is about the things our great-grandfathers built or did around the house, in order to survive. Looks like they succeeded. People really

You could ask this question of a half-dozen people and get as many ideas or views.

One of the more common views is; someone who is ‘paranoid’ and who collects/stockpiles and stores equipment (including guns and ammo), food and supplies in preparation for some kind of looming doomsday event.

Personally I am concerned that some people harbor this largely inaccurate view of ‘Preppers‘.

Allow me to provide my definition of a ‘Prepper’, but first let’s look at the current Wikipedia definition:

Prepper

“A Prepper is an individual or group that prepares or makes preparations in advance of, or prior to, any change in normal circumstances…”

So, as we see from this definition, there are no allegations of ‘paranoia’ or condemnation for anti-social behavior.

Nonetheless, from my chair, this definition lacks critical details relating to the motives or reasons for ‘prepping’ as well as the resulting mechanisms and tactics.

From my perspective Preppers are:

Anyone who has observed recent history and the re-occurring disasters (both natural and made-caused) that have resulted in massive casualties and/or loss of life, and in consideration of lessons learned or stemming from such events coupled with the odds of the re-occurrence of any such events, takes appropriate and measured steps to deal-with and/or survive any such events which may occur in their environment.

A Prepper could be: A man/woman/family who reads a newspaper story about a fire in a two-story home, where the occupants died because there were trapped on the second-floor, so they went-out and bought a window-deployed ladder and trained-on how to deploy and use said ladder.

Of course this is a highly simplified example. Most Preppers are intelligent enough to realize that there many more statistically credible events, including but not limited to fires, that require some form of preparations through the acquisition and subsequent training using various types of equipment.

Another Prepper might be a person who: Observed the events of the recent Hurricane Harvey, by either witnessing or reading about how thousands of people went without clean water, food, shelter and electricity for many weeks, even though Government organizations tried to provide assistance. And in response to the clear and obvious lessons learned from the people who suffered, in combination with the odds and frequency of a re-occurrence of another hurricane or storm, this person goes out and buys some food, water, flashlights, tent/sleeping bags and other such supplies and stores them for emergency use.

These foregoing simplified examples are by no means ineffective or worthless precautions, nor do they reflect any unhealthy form of paranoia or cult activity. No more so than people making certain of having a spare-tire and jack in the trunk of a car. The fact that millions of people insist on having a spare-tire and jack is certainly no indication of a ‘cult movement’.

There are various levels of being prepared and that has a lot to with a person’s financial ability to provide some measure of preparedness for a multitude of statistically meaningful risk scenarios. Just as with a person’s ability to buy various amounts of life insurance protection (another ‘cult’ activity). And the reason for the reference to the word ‘cult’ is a poke at a psychologist who recently alluded to the Prepper movement a ‘cult movement’.

One example of a more complex prepping scenario might be a family who lives in a two or three story home that is situated; within the 100-year flood-plain of a nearby river, where said location is also on a major active earthquake fault-line; and, is in the tornado belt of the U.S. with additional exposure to the effects of coastal hurricanes…. and yes, there are more than a million homes in this exact situation!

In this example, this family would be quite reasonable and prudent in taking the following measures, including but not limited to:

  1. Buying and installing some form of underground tornado shelter
  2. Buying and equipping their home with fire and smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and collapsible deploy-able ladders from the upper floor windows of the house.
  3. Buying and training in the use of an advanced first-aid kit.
  4. Having at least a two weeks supply of water and food for everyone in the home.
  5. Buying some form of a small boat (inflatable or rigid) with some lifejackets and emergency signaling devices.
  6. Buying an emergency two-way radio with a NOAA weather channel.

And in respect to all of the aforementioned equipment; training in the proper use of all of it.

Any physiologist that infers that people who are preparing for statically relevant risks is uninformed and narrow minded. And such a person will likely be one of the first people that require the services of emergency services in the event of any disaster.

In fact, I would bet that if we randomly tested a dozen such people (psychologists) on something as simple as how to change a flat tire, or how to check the power-steering fluid on their own cars, most would fail to be able to do so. And I am sure that we could find some other psychologist somewhere who would have a ’study’ and a scientific name for people like that (who can’t do much for themselves), which might likely be couched as a form of mental disability as well. So when I read about one or two psychologists calling Preppers ‘cultists‘, I have to laugh, thinking of them standing helpless in the rain trying to figure-out how to put a spare tire on their own car, which is something that any Prepper can do.

So far, we have covered the basics, but what is a Prepper in the greatest sense of the definition?

Again, the answer varies; from my perspective it’s this:

A Prepper is in a constant state of studying his environment and learning, using that information on both a daily basis and in the event of an actual emergency. Preppers are not worried about potential events that occur every million years and the like.

They are in fact not worried about much! That’s because they have done the calculus and understand the frequency of potential events. And in weighted-proportion to the odds of such risks, have taken prudent measures through the acquisition of equipment and training so they are in a better position to maximize their odds of surviving many credible potential disasters, as well as possibly being in a position to help others around them.

People who are not so prepared merely place added risks on the people around them once they become desperate. This phenomenon was observed in the aftermath of Katrina where desperate people took advantage of anyone around them! Even inside the (‘safety’) of FEMA camps that were established for the survivors of Katrina, gangs took over inside the camps and engaged in all forms of criminal activities, including assault, extortion and rape.

Using a martial arts analogy, in the sense that a ‘white-belt’ might be someone that is just getting starting and has little knowledge, training and equipment, some people might be black-belt Preppers, having accumulated a wealth of knowledge, experience and equipment.

The one thing that I think is greatly misunderstood by many people, Preppers included, is that Prepping picks up where bushcraft skills leave off. In fact, I believe that bush-crafting skills are the ground-level prerequisites for Prepping.

Preppers need to first master their bushcrafts before they move on to more complex technological skills! Preppers should first master being a ‘minimalist’ (survivalist) and be able to live off the grid with almost nothing. I am talking about all the key bushcraft skills that are taught at survival schools. You have to be able to make fire without a lighter, matches or a fire-steel. You have to be able to make tools from nature, find water, maker a shelter, hunt, fish, trap and forage among other bushcrafting skills.

There are many ways to accomplish this in baby steps… The Scouting programs (Cub Scouts, Boy/Girl Scouts, etc.) are great starting points and are not limited to just kids! Adults can join-in as assistants to Scout Masters and learn the skills by helping out. There are also many wilderness survival schools where you can spend a weekend or even a week or two in the field, and get all the basics down in one effort.

Going to the next level, is in my opinion, where prepping begins. I believe that a Prepper must have it all; seeking bush-crafting skills and the training to fully maximize the use of many technologies as required for long-term survival, including the integration and use of modern supplies, materials and equipment into a basic survival platform.

Post Disaster survival may require long-periods of time, possibly up to years. So you must transcend mere survival and engage in living with some comforts. This is where old-school skills will shine and where the ability to design and build rudimentary equipment will greatly enhance long term survival. If you possess the skills and mental abilities, you can design and build post-disaster equipment from nature; Windmills and hydro-mechanical-power and much more can be at the center of off-grid homesteads and small population centers.

Some readers may be thinking this sounds too easy? Have you tried building a drive-gear from wood without any modern tools? Can you do the geometry and math to figure the gear sizes and ratios? These are questions that some Preppers have put to the test.

As we see, there are almost as many definitions of what a ‘Prepper’ is as there experts on the subject.

From my chair, too many people believe that a Prepper is just someone who has collected a lot of guns and ammo, and has stored a lot of gear and supplies. That however is not a view I hold, even though there are some people who do exactly that thinking they are in fact Preppers.

In my opinion, a ‘Prepper’, in the broadest sense of the definition, has mastered all of the basic bushcrafts just as a pre-requisite to mastering many other advanced skill sets such as survival engineering (building systems that will allow long-term survival with some comforts), just as one example. Survival Engineering requires a deep understanding of basic chemistry and physics, as well as being able to use or re-purpose almost any piece of modern equipment that may be needed in an emergency.  Does ‘MacGyver’ come to mind?

Here’s one off-the-wall  example of the value of multiple ‘Prepper’ skills:

If we were standing in Seattle, WA and the SHTF, how would we get out of town and into the remote mountain areas quickly? Being surrounded by a million people and sudden grid-lock will make all surface streets impassable; people will be out of control… and the risk factor is high and rising.

If I was alone or with a few friends, I could easily make it on-foot to one of many small local airparks (small neighborhood airstrips) where there are many small airplanes. I am not in any way suggesting that I would ever break any laws, but just like other pilots, I do have the skills to effectively (safely) ’borrow’ almost any airplane or helicopter and I could easily fly to a mountain valley in Canada. This would give me and whoever was with me a real shot at getting established in the woods and set-up well before any of the Zombies (armed survivors from the cites) arrived on our position, many days or weeks later.

As we see in this ‘one of many’ possible examples, having specialized skill-sets beyond bushcrafts provides many more tactical options and greatly increases the odds of surviving. And that is what it’s all about!

So a real Prepper is not just someone who is ‘prepped’ by buying a lot of ‘stuff’. A ‘Prepper’ is anyone who has aggregated a host of skills that extend beyond bushcrafts, martial arts, firearms, medical and basic survival skills, as well as the relevant equipment and supplies….. A ‘Black-belt’ Prepper… so to speak.

In the end, none of us really knows what skills and equipment may make the difference between life and death for ourselves or the people around us during or after any disaster.

Certainly risk assessment is all about the mathematics and odds. You have to do the math, establish the odds of any particular risks, and combined with your own abilities and resources, coupled with maintaining your desired lifestyle, try to reasonably address those risks which are statistically relevant in a reasonable and proportional manner.

It’s like having that spare tire and a jack in the trunk… once you do, you don’t worry about having a flat.

 

You could ask this question of a half-dozen people and get as many ideas or views. One of the more common views is; someone who is ‘paranoid’ and who collects/stockpiles and