So, a lot of preppers and survivalists think about the basics of getting prepared. Some prefer only to stock up on guns and ammo, others prefer to store food and med supplies. Some groups seem very focused on one particular aspect of prepping. In the long run, this will fail you, or more importantly, force you to become someone you don’t want to be.
I say this because if you have guns and ammo, and are starving, and watching your family starve, you will get to the point where you are willing to do anything to help your family survive, including forcing another family not to survive. This is not something most of us in the prepping community are willing to do, at least not planning on doing, and would take quite a toll on the human soul.
I am not super prepped in any specific section, be it medical, food storage, weapons or any specific section. I am partially prepped in a lot of areas. Hopefully, is something happens tomorrow, I have a head start into what is coming. I want to be ready, and fully prepped, but we have what we have right now, and that would have to be enough. Truth be told, some major event could happen as you are reading this and we could just be screwed.
I have a group of friends that would get together after a major event. How do you make yourself relevant, though? What makes you worth keeping? The number 1 reason I hear is I was military, so I am good on defense and security. How many security and defense people does a group really need? You need to have additional skills, be it medical, communications, agriculture, electrical engineering or whatever else. You don’t need a degree from MIT, but you better be able to show your ability in the stated skill (your friends may know you, but stranger may become suspect.)
One skill I have put a lot of effort in is communications, Ham Radio. I have learned quite a bit, and more so, can communicate locally, regionally and across the country. Portable radio set-up, solar charging and fully functional. Another skill I have been working on is building a digital library. I know, a digital library? What good would that be in the end times? Usually, not much, however, running a Raspberry Pi with touch screen in my radio box, again, solar powered, seems that it would be useful. Ever hear of the Outer-net? Look it up, very interesting stuff right there.
Another rather distinct thing I have done, and only because I had it available, has to do with hearing aids. I am not deaf, however, suffered some hearing loss overseas. I tried going through the VA for my hearing, and had to go buy my own hearing aids. They are decent quality, and run on batteries. Well, after a few years, the VA got in touch with me, and we rescheduled. I was able to get hearing aids through the VA. These are rechargeable, and very nice. So now I have an emergency back-up pair of hearing aids. What I did with these is probably overkill, but they are protected. I got an altoids tin, glued cardboard on the inside, then electrical tape the interior, and have the hearing aids, batteries and wax guards in it. I sealed it with metal tape, and labeled it. Would it survive something like an EMP? I don’t really know. Will it survive being bumped around in a bugout bag and the like? Most definitely. This, and everything is in one convenient and small package. Another interesting fact? These hearing aids run on 1.5V batteries. That means, long term, that you could wire an extended battery pack and use AA’s for a power source. Planning ahead a little bit.
Another thing I would suggest be part of your practice is to get an idea of local resources. I don’t mean within a few miles, but get a plan for what may be out there should the time come where you may need it. There is a solar farm 164 miles from my location. This is not something to think about on day one, but maybe a month or so into an emergency, you may need to start planning on this. Most preppers have bicycles, and the conversion kits are cheap these days, whether it be 2 stroke or electric. Granted, electric doesn’t include the battery, but the rest if ~$134, where as 2 stroke is ~$90. Build a battery out of 18650’s and you could be set for a relatively decent price.
Learn some useful skills. Doesn’t have to be something fancy like sniping from 300 miles away (obvious exaggeration) to be useful. car mechanics, able to disassemble parts and fix things, would be just as useful. Just come up with something useful. Most people have skills, whether they recognize it or not, but the younger generations seem to be at a net loss when it comes to something useful that does not apply to computers and tech.
Work towards something, learning something. Next post I will be writing about learning a language not from your area, and the security reasons for that skill.
Cogito Aprendo Prepping and Views 