Testing myself.
You went out and bought the latest backpack and a white gas stove that will work on top of Mt. Everest. You bought the newest sleep system, all the best cold weather gear, freeze dried food, water filter, a great survival knife, and the latest .22 survival rifle that breaks down and fits into its own stock and lots of ammo to go with it. You’re ready for the zombie wars. You put the bag in a corner of your closet ready to go and two years later there it sits…
Then one night there’s a flood or (choose your disaster scenario here) and you’ve got to bug out. For whatever reason you have to go on foot, so you run to the closet, grab your BOB and throw it on your back and head out. You’ve got enough food, water, and gear for a week and you know you’re going to be ok, but a half-mile down the road the straps from that 55 lb bag start to dig into your shoulders and your hips are burning from the waist strap. Your breath is coming in ragged gasps and it feels like someone is raking broken glass across your lungs. You realize you’re sporting an extra ten or fifteen pounds yourself and the walk you used to be able to do with your pack with no problem is now kicking your ass and you realize you’re in big trouble.
Be Ready
You’ve got to get out there and test your gear and skills, folks. Having the bug-out-bag in the corner is great, but if you haven’t picked it up recently and taken it for a walk you might be surprised at just how heavy it is when you have to take it on a ten or more mile hike.
In order to be ready you have to practice practice practice!
Other Components of Successful Prepping
There are several components to being a prepper that need to be looked at above and beyond piling cans of food in the basement.
1. Physical fitness means exercise and proper diet and nutrition. You needn’t be a marathon runner or power lifter, but keeping physically fit can be achieved simply by walking a few miles every day mixed in with some calisthenics. We used to call them the Daily Seven when I was in the Corps. The exercises change from place to place, but you can get an idea by following the link and checking them out.
There are many different diets on the market today, but if you eat 2000 calories a day with lots of fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and some whole grains you should do ok. I won’t harp on diet here, but if you’re diet consists of pizza, chips, and beer you might want to do a Google search on proper diet and nutrition and do a little reading.
2. Keep your skills honed. Go camping and actually use your gear. Use your stove to boil water. Use a firesteel to light a fire. Set up your tent and sleeping bag to make sure you still know how and ensure that the equipment is in good working order. Use your survival saw to cut some wood and use your knife to split it. Shoot your pistol and assemble the survival .22 and use it to kill your dinner.
If you’re going out for a walk with your wife and kids throw on your backpack. When people ask what the heck you’re doing say, “I’m working out,” or “I’m getting prepared for a long hike this summer,” or whatever. Don’t let the fear of looking silly stop you.
Over the years I’ve met many people who didn’t have the first idea about how to survive outside a city or suburb, much less in the wilderness. This doesn’t make them bad people, but they should recognize what it is they don’t know and take steps to remedy it.
3. Psychological – Are you a survivor? Are you willing to undergo certain hardships in order to live through what may be a difficult situation? You might think this is a silly question, but I’ve talked with many people who have said, “I’d rather just die than live without electricity or suffer without all my material things.”
Hey Jarhead! Do you put your money where your mouth is?
Well, I try. I do a three mile hike with my GHB (Get Home Bag) at least three times a week. I lift weights and try to eat a semi-healthy diet. On the weekends I like to take my 3 old out in the woods, so he can see what it’s like to live with very little. He’s never seen me start a fire with a match and I doubt he’d know what one is as I always use a firesteel out there. Of course it helps that I live about twenty feet away from a 1000 or more acre forest, but that’s not an accident.
At least once a month I use my generator to run the house to make sure it’s working the way it’s supposed to.
I read and keep up on current events and try to keep a situational awareness of what’s happening the world.
Nobody’s Perfect
Let’s admit it. Very few people are perfect when it comes to doing all these things including me, but if you at least make an effort to do something – anything – it’s better than doing nothing at all.
A good way to do this is by doing things on a schedule. Take your calendar for the year and write down the things you need to do. For example, I usually do my generator test at the end of every month. I write it down so that when I look at the calendar I know that it’s time to run the test.
Make working out part of your daily routine. Skip lunch and go for a quick walk or find a place to do some pull ups and push ups. Yeah, it’s hard at first, but over time it gets easier and pretty soon you’ll be feeling good.
Do you test yourself and your gear? Are you ready?
Sound off below.
-Jarhead Survivor
34 comments
YES! This is something Ipreach constantly because what looks good on paper or sounds good in theory may not always perform the way you think it will under stress, in varying conditions or awkward circumstances. Some things by thier very nature require redundancy. ALL things require vigurous field testing and debugging before actual use. I also think it is vital to check your gear every quarter at a minimum and rotate ut any batteries that are used n gear and to change cloathing that may or may not be appropriate for the time of year and the changing weather.
Good point about keeping the clothes in your bag right for the time of year.
Timely message there boss, just started testing myself and man oh man the frustration of doing in the field that which is so easier in the yard, at the shop, in the house, field cleaning a weapon for example, ya got to do it on your lap in the field, no nice table top or other tool’s you may have relied on but now have to do without, and cooking, my skill’s would gag even a possum, but it is well for all to start knowing what they don’t know, thank you for the encouragement. “C”
Hey Charles – start with boiling some Ramen Noodles. It’s hard to mess those up!
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I agree with you, Jarhead.
However, for God sake, start slow if you’re out of shape. I decided that I needed to shape up after a lazy winter. Took up weights and promptly tore two tendons in my right shoulder…Ouch! 🙁
It’ll be a couple of months before I can even lift my rifle to shoulder let alone hump with my forty pound BOB. Some survivalist, eh.
Use it or lose it, that seems to be the human way. Be it physical conditioning, marksmanship, perishable supplies, even relationships. If you don’t spend the time to keep them up, they will go away. Then you’ve not only lost the time/resources initially invested in acquiring them, but you are no longer really prepared as you had originally planned to be.
Aye that , if your out of shape , start slow and build up , injuries set you back too far . Attitude i another important part , perhaps we should look at it more like IF the SHTF rather than WHEN . Depending on how obsessive your personality is , thinking of it as a WHEN rather than a IF could cause you to miss out on life ……….. time lost is never regained 😉
T.R. and Peter – great point. If you’re out of shape start out slow and gradual. As Pete points out an injury can seriously set you back when you’re trying to get back into exercising. Slow and easy – especially when you’re an old dog like myself.
Yeah , especially if your middle age , Im older and well understand that trying to get into shape too fast is a mistake , Im in fantastic shape now , but key is not to let ego cause you to hurt your body when starting out . So what if some of the girls can lift more than you can at the gym lol . They didnt start out being able to do that either 😉
I’ve read articles like this before and the same thought always hits me. Being fit enough to carry a 20 – 50 pound sack is great but, if you’re not that fit and something happens tonight that causes you to need to lug that pack just have a back up plan. I personally (depending on the situation) would carry the pack to a safe(er) location and go through it there, dump what you don’t need to make it lighter. If it’s summer, I don’t need all the extra gear to stay warm. If it’s TEOTWAWKI I won’t be needing my insurance agent’s contact list. You get the idea. Another thought is to have a cart or wagon or bike of some sort to carry the weight for me. I can drag it a lot easier than lugging it on my back. We won’t know what is happening until we are right in the middle of it so I can’t just assume that a calamity will wait until I’ve working out for 6 months.
Just my thoughts,
-Novice
Practice could be as simple as packing up your camp stove and cooking a picnic dinner at a local park or spending a couple days eating only your prepping food.
When it’s nice out and I’m having friends with kids over to my house I pitch one of my tents in my back yard for them to play in. It gives me some practice with the tent and if those kids ever end up living in a tent for a week it wont be completely unfamiliar terrain for them.
Think about simple day to day stuff that you can do.
Michael – that’s exactly my point. It doesn’t take a lot to set up a tent or boil some noodles over and open fire. It’s good practice for you, a chance to show the kids a few things, and it’s fun too. Win, win, win!
Charley Sheen, “Winning!”
Hi Novice,
Great idea about the bike! Not only does it carry the weight of your BOB but it gets you out of Dodge faster. No gas necessary and it’s quiet. Plus you could hook up a kiddy cart to the back and tow more survival supplies. Even if you’re slightly injured you could still make it. Sure beats humping!
is that picture from today?
low pressure system should be around Boston by now, tracking along east coast. (pulling cold air in along back side…)
We in the Pacific Northwest have finally gotten a few days in a row of good weather. I was starting to look like some sort of cave dweller from all the damp and dark we’ve been having.
Hey Irish – no, this was a few years ago. Winter hike to the top of a mountain here in Maine.
western PA got up to two feet of snow out of that storm, the other day. i figured you guys would really get clobbered.
I can’t agree more. Im a fourty something slightly over weight guy and every day I seem to find something else that aches. Use your head,your body and your preps daily to make sure they all work. Example 1-i have had reading equiptment for a year and finely got around to using them,guess what I’m missing a vital piece of equiptment.2-finely got out to do run and gun practice with the ak ,guess what its a lot harder than shooting from a bench and the next day you and that red dot you got a good deal on might not work as well as you would hope after a lot of flopping on the ground. 3-fire starting looks a whole lot easier than it is. I could go on but Just don’t be like I was. Just because you own it dosen mean it works or you will know how to use it
A couple of weekends ago I got to put up a tent in high winds for the first time in a couple years. I could not believe how badly I sucked at it. Glad I did remember to stake it out first of the tent would have turned into a kite and sailed into the lake I was camped next to. You really do get rusty if you don’t practice your skills.
It’s been a few years since I’ve set up a high altitude camp. I know it would be rough with a strong wind and cold temps.
One year I went out camping on one of the local mountains when it was cold – maybe 10 degrees F. – and I forgot my gloves!!! I went anyway and it was a good lesson on checking your gear before you head out.
Great post…practice, practice, practice…so many folks just “buy and store”…workin on a newbie member on practical issues…difficult at times…thanx again…
Amen, Jarhead. I try to get out and camp once per month. And while it doesn’t completely mimic a survival scenario, getting out and using gear, starting primitive fires, hiking 2 to 10 miles, etc, sure helps.
You got that right, Joe and meatman24. It really doesn’t take a lot to keep the skills up to speed once you get there. A camping trip once a month is perfect. Camping four times a month would be a lot more fun, but once a month is good to keep the skills up. I can’t wait until my boy is old enough for three day canoe trips and stuff like that!
Couldn’t Agree More;
Just so happens the only day I had to go and zero my ACOG to my new rifle, the winds were kicking upwards of 60 mph and the dust clouds were just as ornery. Needless to say, Mission Accomplished due to a great spotting scope and the realization that firefights never happen in optimal conditions. If anyone isn’t testing their personal/group equipment in sub-optimal conditions, then they will have a whole lot of disappointment to contend with when the action starts. Oh yeah, when 55gr M193 LC won’t do it, then 62gr M855 (SS-109) LC certainly does!
KC – you bring up a fantastic point that I missed in the post. It’s a good idea to grab your BOB and head out into the bush when it’s raining or snowing hard and see how you make out. I do that about once a year and my test is: 1) Can I stay warm and dry 2) Can I start a fire with my firesteel 3) Can I build a decent shelter without getting totally soaked using only the materials at hand and what I have in my bag.
Bad things don’t always happen on a sunny day, so it pays to be prepared for all types of weather.
Off topic , but I am considering getting a Mosin -Nagant , the price is sure right ! , does anybody have one ?
T.R.;
Mosin-Nagant’s like the more famous Avtomat Kalashnikova, Model of 1947 are not created equal. While the basics (Receiver Group, Trigger, Stock, Iron-Sights) are pretty much the same, and I invite criticism on this, barrels (specifically how the barrel is fastened to the receiver group) are not. Since the weapon was type classified by the Imperial Russian Army in 1891, over 45 nations (including the USA) has manufactured the rifle in several variants. Like the more famous Avtomat Kalashnikova, Model of 1947, you will generally pay more for quality. For example; I’ve personally used a Soviet Manufactured (in 1942) M91-30 PU and a Finnish Captured M91 w/a German Designed M43 Ajacks optic. This is the result, because of the longer barrel of the Finnish Captured M91 versus the slightly shorter barreled Soviet M91-30, the Finnish M91 had a noticeably softer recoil than the Soviet M91-30 and the Ajacks Optic was clearer than the Soviet PU Optic. As a general rule, if one was to use a Mosin-Nagant as a combat weapon against armed human targets, I would recommend the Finnish to any other Nation, since the Finns are known for their quality and the weapons are superbly suited to extreme cold-weather operations. However, you will pay (and sometimes dearly) for Finnish Mosin’s. However the price difference isn’t as bad as comparing a Hungarian Automat versus a Finnish Valmet or Israeli Galil. Oh by the way it is possible (like when I bought a Finnish M24-Guards Rifle) to get a Finnish Mosin without a SF 4473, because of the age of the receiver. The M24’s receiver was manufactured in August 1895, so the rifle is exempt from FFL reporting/log procedures. So not only is the rifle considered the most accurate of the non-optic equipped Mosin’s but I did it without resorting to a SF 4473, too cool for words. Hope this helps, T.R.
I defer to KC’s superior review, but I owned a Russian made MN once and it’s quite a rifle. 7.62 x 54 mm if I remember correctly and that thing kicked like an Alabama Mule.
It was cheap and it got the job done.
Jarhead;
On the 7.62mm X 54R as a service round;
90 to 98% the power and penetration of the time-tested Uncle-Sam approved .30-06 (7.62mm X 63mm) at a quarter of the price and literally 6 times the availability, in all respects a superior medium caliber battle rifle round to be sure. While here in North America it’s either .308 (7.62mm X 51mm NATO) or .30-30 (7.62mm X 51R) for medium caliber battle rifle rounds, the 7.62mm X 54R with the current availability of all sorts of Com-Bloc ammunition from very corrosive 1940’s vintage Albanian to the superb non-corrosive 1970’s Yugoslavian 7.62mm X 54R is available in quantity to all budgets and all flavors; SJHP to FMJBTAP and beyond. The best part of the equation is that the wizards at Tula as I write this are perfecting a new FMJBT round that will have over the muzzle velocity of the .30-06 and speeds approaching .338 Lapua Magnum, this will set the stage on fire if this prototype is perfected and subsequently distributed in the West. 126 years in development and still charging like a Russian Racehorse it was designed to be!
Thanks guys , Im going to get a Mosin now , found the whole shabang for about $109 , rifle , sling, cleaning kit , bayonet, and two pouches .
I have been preparing for the worst case scenario, but have run into a problem that I am hoping someone can advise me on…..I am 55 and must take two common bp medications every day…….how do I address this when my physician does not believe that anything horrific can/will happen in this Country? Any ideas anyone? I appreciate any input
my first thought is that you need to become your own expert, regarding “hypertension”, and especially about your two medications. what is their chemical makeup? what is the theory about the way they benefit the patient? what companies manufacture the generic version? (and where)
are there any lifestyle changes you can make now, that would help reduce your need for the medications? are you physically able to exercise? do other family members have the same problem, and if so, what medications are effective for them? do you take your own BP, and do you keep a record? do you monitor your sodium intake…?