Posted on 06/27/2012 7:14:39 PM PDT by Kartographer
If you look back on prepper articles I have posted the ones with the most replies are generally those about some Preparedness List someone has created.
Personally I almost always get more out of our discussion of the list than I get out of the article or the list itself.
The prepper pings bring out some great thoughts and insights,which are most enlightening in their own right and often cover areas that the article's author didn't cover or poorly covers.
So the truth is I post these often for the resulting discussion more than to bring the article to your attention.
I post so that I can learn from you and you can learn from each other and for what you've taught me I thank you!
Now on with the debate!
Preppers’ PING!!!
The First Rule of Prep Club: Don’t talk about Prep Club.
Number 5 is especially important and not only in survival situations. In work, play, family...prettty much everything. I can do more with a hammer, screwdriver, visegrips, needlenose, 2x4, and a chisel than most people can do with an entire pickup full of tools.
“Capabilities trump gear.”
Not really or always. A person without the proper gear can be doomed or fail while someone with gear might figure out how to use it. If a cliff needs climbed good luck without the gear. All the knowledge in the world does no good without the gear. A great shooter is nothing without a rifle. An awesome hiker can’t go far without good boots. Water seems important, too. A fantastic paramedic is useless in some situations without the proper gear.
Gear hawgs are always laughed at by those that think they are tough guys and superheros capable of anything with a toothpick and a blade of grass. Reality isn’t so kind to those people.
Proper gear is important, if it weren’t it wouldn’t have been invented.
Here’s my number one rule...don’t ever plan to carry stuff that’s heavy(except water).
You won’t do it. you will start dropping things after a half mile. We are not the goddam army infantry of ww1. Nobody marches 50 miles with a pile of heavy steel and leather implements on their backs wearing hobnob patent leather boots and covered in dark wool clothing head to toe. Maybe your great great grand dad did it in his 20s but you will never do it and never could.
so give it up already, ya nitwit.
Drop me nekked in most of America (North or South or Meso), and I have the skillsets to manage.
Yes. I will dearly miss my custom Japanese knives and Thumper(the 2 lb hand sledge), not to mention the chainsaws, and most of the other stuff.
But I can manage. From southwestern deserts to mountain forests to the wide open plains.
/johnny
Oh, come on, give the gyver a break, he was just out of paper clips!
Good rule.
Having played in the field, I'm fairly clear on what I keep and what goes away.
Following that logic to the end, I'm mostly not wearing anything but leather boots, carrying extra pairs of socks and washing them every chance I get. ;)
/johnny
Know when to hold ‘em/Know when to fold ‘em ;-)
“But I can manage. So, chip flint, use veg binding to make a Thomas Hawk out of it, and go get the gear you need.”
So, you admit the goal would be gear. Gotcha.
There are many things we humans need and invented over the years to prevent death. And you certainly won’t have much fun in a war time situation without gear. If logistics didn’t win wars the Army would just send soldiers into battle naked and save the money and hassle.
logistics also lose wars
I can derive my own rules based on the chemistry, physics, etc... Cooks do that every single day.
I can make my own chlorine here. I don't need bleach.
Skillsets are good though. Lots of actual practice can make you live longer. Sweat hard, bleed less.
/johnny
What is prep?
(My name is Jose Jimminez)
You do have to have the basic skillsets to get to the gear, sometimes.
That would seem to be fundamental. Know how to make it, know how to replace it, know how to cope with logistics disruptions.
And then the 2nd level problems go away.
/johnny
“logistics also lose wars”
Lack of logistics, as I said, unless you can name a war when having logistics was a bad thing.
Only people that watched black and white TV, and whose parents let them watch Sullivan would know what you are talking about. ;)
And I think you injected an 'is' in there.
/johnny
“You do have to have the basic skillsets to get to the gear, sometimes.”
No doubt skills are important. Imgine 100 dozen eggs and a company of idiots with frying pans! Somebody will still be going hungry!
That said, skills of all kinds are extremely important, but one skill had better be the understanding of logistics and its critical importance.
GAHHH! I got a visual!
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