I have been watching a lot of videos and reading a lot of articles about everything from camping to guerrilla warfare while preparing my emergency kit. I freely admit my experience is limited, but I find myself questioning a lot of advice based on both my budget and common sense.
In the gun community, gear and gadgets are all the rage. Infrared laser systems, plate carriers, and web gear galore topped off with "Gucci guns" costing obscene sums are promoted everywhere. I find myself asking how useful is this equipment, what are the odds I will need it, and whether there are better ways to spend my scarce resources. What is really useful under a broad range of circumstances, and what is highly specialized but generally over-hyped? For example, single-point slings seem like a great idea, and all the tacti-cool posts seem to depict people using them, but spend five minutes walking in the woods with a carbine dangling in front of you and I guarantee you'll hate it. I could see it being useful for weapon retention, but it's not really a sling. Someone standing guard who needs a weapon at the ready while both hands remain free might need one, and perhaps soldiers in mechanized transport could benefit from this system, but it would be absolutely miserable for marching, to say nothing of the bad muzzle discipline of letting the gun swing at your feet, your companions' feet, etc.
Camping and hiking stores have so many gizmos and gimmicks available, but what do you or I really need? A lot depends on your local environment, but a lot just looks like wasted weight or something that will break when it is needed most. Good gear is often worth the weight because it does something very important, and does it very well. A lot of old ideas have stuck around because they stand the test of time. I usually like to have a well-made tool that does one job effectively. I want a hatchet for chopping and a shovel for digging, not something that claims to do both. I've also been burned many times by cheap knockoffs failing when I needed something to just work, so quality tools are worth the cost. Buy once, cry once!
Weight is also a consideration if you need to carry anything, whether backpacking or bugging out in an emergency. A tin mess kit and canteen cup make great camping cookware with little weight and little to go wrong. Cheap plastic stuff from the big box store is usually far less reliable, and it's no fun to have to haul broken gear back just to throw it away. Pack it in and pack it out, remember!
The best survival tool isn't an object. Know how to do stuff. We're scheduled for another round of first aid training and fire extinguisher training through the library district soon. A few of the other libraries are also planning to host presentations on landscaping with wildfire mitigation in mind. Consider a CPR course. If you have a bug-out bag, test it, even if you're just camping in the back yard this summer, so you know what actually works.
Bigger budgets can't compensate for a lack of practice and training. Spend for the most immediate benefit and the widest range of most probable emergencies. Specialize later. Then pack the gear you need to do it better. First make sure you have the basics: the C's of Survival, a good first aid kit, spare socks, layers for changing weather, extra water, hygiene supplies, and so forth are far more important than whiz-bang nonsense. Take some steps now to prepare for likely emergencies. Winter isn't over in the northern hemisphere, and it'll be there before you know it down south. Are your ready for power outages, deep freeze, floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and other very mundane but disruptive seasonal natural disasters?
Here are a few relevant videos on these topics which I found interesting.
Paul Harrell on "Building a Fire in Adverse Conditions," demonstrating techniques and testing various ideas in the field, parts 1 and 2:
I can also attest from personal experience that matches seem to be less reliable now than they once were, especially the strike-anywhere type. It also takes real practical practice to build a fire even though any yahoo flicking a cigarette butt out the car window during a monsoon can still somehow manage to torch a national forest. It's not fair!
Lindybeige interviewed a British volunteer back from Ukraine regarding what works and what doesn't from a combat perspective. I wouldn't recommend going to a combat zone, but Ukraine shows how combat zones can come to you whether you want it or not. Do you retreat, or fight back? That's not for me to say. Either way, though, the gear that works in the trenches might work for you, and what fails there will likely fail you too.
Do you have any stories to tell about having to make do without proper preparation, times when tools failed, or when you managed to avoid disaster by being prepared? What skills can you share with the community? Conversation is welcome in the comments!
All good advice.
Most overlooked kit: sewing kit. The best pants or coat can get ripped or lose a button. Being able to fix clothing can make the difference between luxuriating in comfort and shivering miserably in a misty hell.
Thanks!
I know I recommended wrapping a needle in a length of thread as part of an Altoids tin survival kit post a while back. It takes up almost no space and solves a big repair problem.
You can't say it any better than that. I'm definitely a minimalist when it comes to the amount of gear I take with me out in the woods. Not that the gear available these days isn't nice, but my grandparents spent months at a time in the wilderness with a fraction of all the things available and they seemed to make out just fine. It's what they knew that mattered, just like you intimated above.
Plus, I would get tangled up in fancy tactical gear, it would be like hand delivering a wrapped dinner present to the local wildlife.
Also, what the heck did they do to matches? They just seem, well, different and much less awesome.
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I know I still have lots to learn. And yes, sometimes "they don't make 'em like they used to" isn't just boomer nostalgia through rose-tinted glasses.
And now I want to see if I can sell a bear burrito bag with MOLLE webbing to idiots so they can help feed the wildlife :D
Agreed on the single point sling. Only useful if you're standing guard, and a regular 2-point sling can be used just as well for that purpose, which is to have it in ready position without needing hands on it. Slung over the shoulder crossways with the muzzle pointing down behind the back while walking. If you train at it you can have it ready to shoot from there in a quick second.
I learned the hard way to use a sling from hunting on public lands and scouting the day of the hunt. A lot of walking on those days and carrying a rifle or shotgun gets old quick if you don't have a sling. I also learned why my father preferred to hunt with a carbine. Much better for walking through thick brush and rough terrain. I'm sure that's also why the military prefers them.
I've found that slinging a rifle in the traditional way, barrel up on the dominant shoulder, enables it to be rotated up to the shoulder in a fraction of a second. Just my preference, I guess.
I am averse to slinging a rifle with the barrel pointing down, perhaps from hunting in snow where plugging the barrel with snow can have explosive consequences.
This is exceptionally true and something that i am trying to do more of rather than stockpiling stuff. The stuff is going to run out... you need to know how to get more. There are some pretty amazing matches out there that will actually like underwater but of course they only do that to prove a point about how waterproof they are. They are also quite expensive. I recall as a scout needing to be able to start a fire only using sticks and brush but I just felt like Tom Hank's character in "Castaway" when I was doing it. Eventually they gave you the badge if you were just able to make smoke to some degree.
As far as guns are concerned I feel as though there is no more versatile a weapon, and easy to use, than a pump-action 12-gauge with staggered rounds.
In a wilderness survival situation, I would consider a .410 single-barrel break action. Light, much lighter ammo, plenty for small game. That said, .22LR is by far the most bang for your buck. Holing up here in bear/cougar/moose country though, 12-gauge buck and ball might be the way to go. Many things to consider depending on your anticipated needs.
That's why I love my old aluminum army canteen mug. It's cheap, it works, throw over fire and it's fine. It burns the lips, but that's all. Still, people pay hundreds for a titanium mug...
Unfortunately guys are not well seen by our government, which raises concerns: if our country goes to shit, how the hell will I defend myself?
Option 1: break the law. Not advice, just acknowledging the possibility. I have little respect for legislation. What is the greater threat to you at the moment, though, lawlessness or law enforcement? Probably the latter.
Option 2: practice with what is legal and become proficient. Modern compound bows and crossbows are far more efficient and effective than their medieval or native equivalents. Axes can be tools or weapons, although when optimized for one purpose, they are less effective for the other. Never underestimate a basic machete. But I don't know what laws in your area apply to any of these.
The best plan for serious societal collapse is to have a community which exists in spite of government, not because of it. Political organizations may collapse, but churches and fraternal societies will be much more resilient. Know your neighbors and know who will be a real leader instead of a self-proclaimed ruler.
Legendary libertarian repply! Our new government is working to close the few shooting ranges we have and have already limited our legal ways to buy firearms -- do I have to say they are friends with Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Cuban, etc governments?
Anyways. All that to say that breaking the law will be the only option.
"One gotta be honest to be an outlaw"
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