How many have actually tested their Preps?

The question is direct and to the point. Yes or No to each point. (campground camping doesnt count)

1. Bug in preps as in throwing the breaker and turning off the water main for a week.

2. Bug out with all your planned gear. As in relocate for 5-7 days at planned location.

3. Bug out with minimalist supplies. As in actually hunting fishing and trapping for a week with few supplies.


Part two. The basics:

1. Conducted a fire drill in the last two years.

2. Have current CPR and First Aid training certs.


Mine:
1. Yes, easy.
2. Yes, fumbled around a lot. Cut the item roster sharply, afterwards.
3. Yes, barely kept fed. Miserable. Stopped for burgers on the way home.

1. Yes
2. Yes

Bugging in, yes. Most of our house is off the grid. Heating and cooking is all done with wood. Only lighting and hot water is electric. Soon to be replaced by solar panelling.

Bugging out, we test most weekends as we go camping high in the Pyrenees.
First aid, is a bit of a let down at the moment, so I am glad you brought that up.

Excellent and simply put. Got me thinking!

Rainbows
Jane

I will be quietly sailing out to sea enjoying the sun and doing some fishing with my wife while the rest of you are preparing to fight off those armed mobs who found out you have supplies and are coming to take them from you.

Sure you might be able to survive on your own for a bit but you will eventually come in contact with people and you better pray that they are friendly but odds are the world will be a very very desperate place so I don't see happy ends for alot of survivalists unless you have the skills and fortitude to hike into the middle of Alaska.

reply to post by Shadowalker


Have a family who is not keen on the whole survival sitx . So haven't had the abuility to test anything. I will say this as prepared as I am a Few months ago I was ready to leave to just Go and say goodbye to this life with electronics and have a go at it. After I packed additional supplies considering my bob is good but I would have the leisure of bringing a few non Essentials with me.Anyways After getting all strapped and packed and set to go. I took a long look at everything and Realized Something very important. I am not ready emotionally for such a thing I was scared. I have spent time in the military, Know more then a little martial arts, and can shoot fairly well. I can field dress a buck, can skin and tan the skin. I have read up on a hundred things from being able to deliver a child to purifying water to well the list goes on. The point being most of the things I know haven't been tested by me. It was in those moments as I prepared to go that I realized I would never be ready. The 2 percent is my knowledge the rest has to be the actual experience. Since that day I have been going out for 1 and 2 day trips with nothing but my bob and knowledge using the booksmarts and applying them. These smaller tests with a minor safety nets at first has helped me allot. Though I know I am not fully ready, when tshtf I think I will be better prepared.
I guess what I am saying is allot of people think they are ready to bug out. And like me back then they may have allot of knowledge but until you test your resolve and apply the skills you are a 2 percenter. OP is correct in tests all should test themselves. You honestly do not want to wait til you have no choice..
Therian

reply to post by Therian


I believe you summed this up very well and admire your courage. For people to really test how ready they are they should hike very far out into the wilderness when they have an extreme toothache then take care of it themselves without the help of a dentist.

This would give them a taste of what life is really gonna be like. Then slam a rock down on their finger with the purpose of intentionally breaking it. What do you do to fix it? These are things people should do if they really want to be serious about preparing.

It's not about what type of gun you have with you or if you know how to make a thousand different knots or having the latest Bear Grylls how to book. It's about actual experience that you've put yourself through in a very real survival situation.

1. Bug in preps as in throwing the breaker and turning off the water main for a week.

Nope. What do you mean 'throwing the breaker'?

2. Bug out with all your planned gear. As in relocate for 5-7 days at planned location.

I did that for about a year! I was travelling around the world and had no money other than what I made by busking and my main transport was on foot or a tiny sail boat I had for a while. This is pretty much how I travelled from Argentina to the U.S., and I lived like that for a bit in Europe too before working in Australia. If you can, I recomend doing this for as long as possible, not only is the experience fantastic but you'll learn a lot too.

3. Bug out with minimalist supplies. As in actually hunting fishing and trapping for a week with few supplies.

Same deal with my last answer pretty much. Not only hunting but also learning about edible plants, and learning to skin the animals you kill to use their furs for cold weather. Also learning to adjust to going a day or two without food in case you have no luck, and always patience!


Part two. The basics:

1. Conducted a fire drill in the last two years.

A fire drill is when you run away from a pretend fire, yeah? Never done that. Run from bushfire before, but that was not pretend fire.

2. Have current CPR and First Aid training certs.

I know CPR and first aid but have got no certificates. As long as you know it you don't need certificates.

Originally posted by kro32
reply to post by Therian

 

I believe you summed this up very well and admire your courage. For people to really test how ready they are they should hike very far out into the wilderness when they have an extreme toothache then take care of it themselves without the help of a dentist.

This would give them a taste of what life is really gonna be like. Then slam a rock down on their finger with the purpose of intentionally breaking it. What do you do to fix it? These are things people should do if they really want to be serious about preparing.

It's not about what type of gun you have with you or if you know how to make a thousand different knots or having the latest Bear Grylls how to book. It's about actual experience that you've put yourself through in a very real survival situation.

That sounds a bit extreme to me. Why couldn't one just maintain proper dental hygiene and just generally be careful? I see no reason to let yourself go just because the rest of the world went to crap.

reply to post by Shadowalker


Never understood the idea behind a fire drill. Do we really need to practice running away from a fire? Wouldn't you just naturally say aww damn and run like hell?

I also don't understand why at the VERY least a week long hunting/camping trip wouldn't meet the requirement for 'testing' your standards for testing your preps. You're not home, you have no running water or electricity. Unless your one of those pansy campers sitting in a posh cabin with a rec room at the lodge.

Then I thought of another point, what if part of your prep plan involves anticipating lack of electricity and running water? Say you prepared for that and have a solar power backup plan along with a pump to still have running water at your BOL. Are we not allowed to use those to meet your standards listed?

Just curious.

Ok we need to quantify a bit, so folks understand the extent. I forget sometimes that the group here as a whole is not always up on things and are here to learn more than compare.

1. Bug in preps as in throwing the breaker and turning off the water main for a week.
( Throwing the breaker as in mains power cut. Incoming water turned off, all of your things including camping gear, pantry, etc are available for use)
2. Bug out with all your planned gear. As in relocate for 5-7 days at planned location.
( all of the things you plan on and have assembled to grab and go if needed. I have a solar battery charging system, but its the general gear you would take if the nuke plant next door melted, or a firestorm, etc and you probably can never go back)
3. Bug out with minimalist supplies. As in actually hunting fishing and trapping for a week with few supplies.
(Equate this to getting caught out or lost with a day pack or belt pack. Canteen or water bottle, cup to boil water, some cordage, lighter, Day hike gear, no food or supplies.)

Part two. The basics:

1. Conducted a fire drill in the last two years.
(grab everything such as personal papers and photos, round up kids and pets and egress. Forest fires and brush fires at night generally have the few volunteers banging on doors about the time the wind is raining embers)

2. Have current CPR and First Aid training certs.
(Knowing how and current certs are two different things. Certs give basic protection in most states under the law to keep people from being sued when they lend assistance in good faith.)

Originally posted by Therian
reply to post by Shadowalker

 

Have a family who is not keen on the whole survival sitx . So haven't had the abuility to test anything. I will say this as prepared as I am a Few months ago I was ready to leave to just Go and say goodbye to this life with electronics and have a go at it. After I packed additional supplies considering my bob is good but I would have the leisure of bringing a few non Essentials with me.Anyways After getting all strapped and packed and set to go. I took a long look at everything and Realized Something very important. I am not ready emotionally for such a thing I was scared. I have spent time in the military, Know more then a little martial arts, and can shoot fairly well. I can field dress a buck, can skin and tan the skin. I have read up on a hundred things from being able to deliver a child to purifying water to well the list goes on. The point being most of the things I know haven't been tested by me. It was in those moments as I prepared to go that I realized I would never be ready. The 2 percent is my knowledge the rest has to be the actual experience. Since that day I have been going out for 1 and 2 day trips with nothing but my bob and knowledge using the booksmarts and applying them. These smaller tests with a minor safety nets at first has helped me allot. Though I know I am not fully ready, when tshtf I think I will be better prepared.
I guess what I am saying is allot of people think they are ready to bug out. And like me back then they may have allot of knowledge but until you test your resolve and apply the skills you are a 2 percenter. OP is correct in tests all should test themselves. You honestly do not want to wait til you have no choice..
Therian

That was it for me, that caused the shift. Visiting with another guy my age who preps some and seeing everything still in original packaging. I realized then he didnt even know if his water filter was defective from the factory let alone the rest of the stored gear. New tent still in the sealed box. New pressure stove thats never had fuel in it. Would have been a small mt of packaging to get rid of, not to mention the size of the items that could be tight packed together.

Fear of being a 2 percenter should be a major motivation to get out and have some trial runs. Not just on sunny days but foul weather as well.

I also think we are seeing a prepare to fail group following along. They watch the colony and dual survival and such shows not realizing that they all end with finding help and escaping the survival situation. That could take some time if things went south. Before one would risk wanting to make contact.

A fire drill is for groups of people, like a family or business, where different people may need to flee to different exits.

The goal is to have a pre-arranged meet-up outside, so you will know who made it out ok, who might still be trapped, etc.

It takes on a new meaning if you have a multi-story building, and some people may need to deploy an escape ladder to avoid just dropping to the ground. Again, an issue compounded by having children/infirm/elderly in your care.

Suppose you have one younger child, and 4 adults. It is a senseless risk of life for all four adults to go running for the child, especially if the child has already fled on their own, and some of the adults are battling all the way through a flaming house to reach a child who already fled....

For instance, my families meet-up is within view of the children's windows; kids are more likely to go in that direction if they see other family members are already there. Younger children will not leave the house unless mom and dad are definitely leaving too.

yup, up here in the north woods of MN I do this twice a year with my brother in-law, and a couple friends. Once in the summer, and once in the winter. It's pretty fun experiencing both the extreme seasons.