Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Warm, Dry, Hydrated, Fed, & Capable of Self-Defense

The Main Focus; at least, as I see it.  The Five Basic Concerns.  If you aren't warm & dry, hypothermia can set-in quickly.  A cold wind will kill you damn quickly...   Need potable water for drinking and cleaning.  Supposedly you can live 3 days w/o water...  Not like I want to try.  Not like I want to be infested with Giardia or other parasites/bacteria either from questionable water.  Eating.  It's a real morale builder, if the food is hot and nourishing.  You need to eat.  Finally, you'd best be able to defend yourself as you go about these pursuits.  No matter where you are or when you are about your business.

Plenty of ancillary critical areas that need your attention also, like First Aid/Medical, Food Cultivation, Trapping, Food Preparation & Preservation Skills & Tools, Alternative Energy & Power Generation...

The list goes on.  Years ago, I identified a couple dozen distinct activities that our family would require to be Self-Sufficient and Self-Reliant.  Radio Communications, Reference and Literary Libraries were forgotten in the prior paragraph...  It is easy to overlook the real daily-living stuff and get absorbed by what you read on other blogs and in whatever news you follow.


Staying Warm & Dry is really The Biggie.  Fire Prevention is a Major concern.  Fire is a very effective weapon you must expect any determined enemy to employ should chaos rule.  A grease or electrical fire, any accidental occurrence will still kill family members or make you homeless.  Keeping the perimeter around wood frame housing free of tinder and flammable landscaping is a big plus if you are concerned about fire...  Got a woodstove or other chimney that has never been cleaned?  Creosote from burning green wood can ignite.  Got lots of seasoned wood?  Probably not...  You might be sure you have a chimney brush and enough extensions to be sure you're not inadvertently the cause of your house-fire.

Trauma Kit is something most of us who aren't medically trained are likely to overlook. Where there is no doctor, there is unlikely to be EMT service either.  A broken limb can be a killer.  An accidental gunshot or severe knife injury, likewise.  Maybe you live near a doctor or a clinic?  If you're really rural, maybe they will remain staffed by volunteer and the doctor available?  Worth finding out about NOW, for sure!  Can you properly apply a tourniquet?  Maybe set a bone, relocate a shoulder, disinfect and stitch a wound?  When this stuff happens, it happens fast.  Know where your kit is and are you sure it is complete and ready to go?  Got the tools, supplies, and antibiotics to make a Best Effort and not lose the patient or their limb to gangrene should they survive their injury?

Lots more to Self-Reliance, aka Survivalism than firearms proficiency and ammunition stacks.

If you are banking on hunting game or foraging for your food needs; you may as well rely on Santa Claus, your expectations are similarly unreal.  The food you have on hand will be the only food you have available once the stores go down, are looted and burned, or the highways are unsafe to travel.  Lots of ways to produce food at home, gardening, greenhouse, sprouting, window-boxes.   If you live remote, for sure you want to be able to harvest any food animal that comes your way, or maybe trap or corral them for domestication.  Can't put your reliance upon events that may never occur, though.  Starvation and hunger lie down that road.  Gotta assure that you have supplies to meet your dietary needs.

Survivalism ain't about  gathering gear and supplies "in preparation"; it's about becoming self-reliant and self-sufficient and removing self & loved ones to a safe(r) venue if your surroundings are likely untenable or indefensible.  Much more than guns & ammo and fighting skills.   Maybe I"ve misunderstood the whole equation, but we've not focused on running & gunning skills, or spent thousands on "gun schooling".  We all know how to shoot and have the gear, but all our other efforts at self-reliance have proven way more critical and valuable.  There just isn't time, funds, or rationale for becoming "professionally proficient" (or touted as such) with one or more type of firearm when so many other skills pay daily dividends and get us that much more able to live free of electric grid and what others see as essential modern living services....

More on this theme very soon...


1 comment:

  1. You make a lot of great points, as always, Lester. I found out a couple of years ago about what kind of wood won't burn in my stove. Got the chimney brush, and use it. Don't have money for much prepping now, but we have chickens and goats, and do the best we can with what we have.

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