Tips, Tricks, Traps & Thoughts….

 

1.      Whatever you have will get lost or break when you need it most. 2.      One is none, two is one, and three is a good start. 3.      Cheap junk gear is better than no gear at all. 4.      Quality gear trumps cheap junk gear. 5.      Training trumps gear. 6.      Community trumps training. 7.    No matter how much you prepare, you’ll never have enough.
	8.      Sporks beat separate spoons & forks every time. 9.      It is physically impossible to store too much chocolate! 10.  To learn the best method of starting a fire in the wilderness…….read the instructions on a Bic lighter. 11.  If there isn’t a specific, common, mission for a piece of gear….don’t pack it. 12.  You think your 72/96-hour pack is light?  Take a day hike for 6 hours…..without Ibuprofen! 13.  Communication problems are always….always….present in injury or death in the field. 14.  Simple works, complicated gets lost, broken or forgotten. 15.  Learn skills!  When you lose or break your gear….your skills will still save the day. 16.  Have a solid Plan A for everything! 17.  Have a Plan B…..Plan C…..Plan D…. 18. Small is good, light weight is great, quality is awesome…..what is your gear like?
19.  Do something to prepare each week is great, each day is AWESOME ! 20.  You can conquer the world (or save your family) with enough Gorilla Tape. 21.  Thrift stores rock!   So does Craigslist.com 22.  Don’t focus too much on a single issue or problem,  keep momentum going. 23.  Pace yourself, stay balanced or you might get burned out. 24.  If you hear the water will fail soon fill up your bath tub(s) and anything else that will hold water. 25.  Practice your skills once in a while.  Skills are usually “use or lose”!
		26.  Learn how to make the “tools” you made need. 27.  Make sure all your flashlights use the same size & kind of batteries. 28.  You always have 40 gals (+/-) of water available……it’s called your hot water tank. 29.  Don’t rely only on yourself, find others, get to know them. 30.  Don’t get overwhelmed.  Eat an elephant one bite at a time…..and chew each bite well. 31.  Hey, when all else fails…..read the instructions. 32.   When even the instructions fail…pray for guidance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What & How to buy….

 

 

 

 

So you want a new piece of gear.  You might want to assess if your food storage items are correct.  You think you want a new gadget but not sure what to get.

 

So how do you answer the question, “What exactly should I buy?”

 

That can be a tough question and one that gets asked a lot in this world of prepping.  How you answer those questions can make the difference between success and failure, or a good buy and a waste of money.  However, as is the case with my entire approach to “prepping”, it’s all about sound principles and the process to implement them.

 

To successfully acquire food/gear/equipment you must be able to must be able to clearly and succinctly identify what the mission is for that piece of gear, etc..  Once that is done then you can start looking at the actual food/gear/equipment.

 

Not sure what I mean?

 

Let’s take an example:  You feel it is time to purchase a knife.  You know you want a good quality knife but you aren’t sure which knife to buy.  Do you just start asking around, call your buddies, read reviews online or head to Walmart with the intent to purchase a “good knife”?   Yeah, go ahead and do that.  I can assure you of a couple of things:

1. You will probably not buy the knife that actually meets your needs.
2. You will probably not buy the best knife for a particular need.
3. You will probably pay too much money for too little quality.

 

So how do you avoid those potential mistakes?

 

You must think about what you want to do with the particular piece of gear you wish to acquire.  I mean you must clearly define it with details.  Here are some questions you would ask:

• What exactly do I want to do with this piece of gear, I mean EXACTLY?
• What time of day will I normally be using it?
• Will I be using it in normal weather conditions or extremes?
• How prone will it be to misuse or hard use?
• How long do I want it to last?
• How will I carry this piece of gear under normal situations? Abnormal situations?

 

Now as you wrap this process up you start to get a picture of the knife you are really looking for.  Then do your research for specs and “reviews”; then research the best “buy” you can make.  You apply this same process to each piece of gear you want to acquire.  The gear may change, but the process stays the same.

 

Deciding what to buy; specifically what brand, model, options, etc. to purchase doesn’t have to be difficult once you have mastered the science of defining the “mission”!  Until you can clearly identify a piece of gear’s mission you are subject to being blown to and fro like a rudderless ship on stormy waters.