Strategy is a nice way to sum up “Have a plan, and a backup plan, and another backup plan, and make sure they work.”. This article basically tells you how and why to test those plans.
One of those ways to test things is also my favorite: wargame it. If you think youve got the perfect mix of gear in case you get stuck ten miles from home….go on that ten mile walk. That sorta thing.
Up until I retired, I was always wondering how well I would do if things went south and I had to walk home from work because work was a long, long way from home. Finally, after I retired and with all the time in the world, I thought what the hell, I’m going to test my go home bag. So when the weather got a little better in May 2016, I had my wife drop me off at work.
After a coffee with some of my friends, I started my trek home. It took a while, and there were a couple of moments where things got a little stupid, but in the end I made it fine. While I had thought I wasn’t pushing it at around 15 to 20K a day over 5 days, when I got home I was really tired and very sore all over, On the plus side I found that the gear I used held up well. I did change a few things in my kit after this stroll but all in all I was happy with how things turned out.
Having finished the trek I learned 3 things, being stubborn is a great motivator, doing bush craft as a hobby made things a lot easier and buying the best I could afford and upgrading to better stuff later was a wise choice.
I’m a pretty avid and frequent cyclist, but I ALWAYS get surprised when I decide to do a longer or more challenging ride when haven’t been on a bike for a bit or I’ve only been doing short trips around town. You’d think I’d know by now that you have to build up to those sorts of rides, but it gets me every time.
We humans are creatures of habit and it seems that if you’re on a bike a few times a week and you know you can do 60 mile rides you tend to think you can always ride 60 miles no problem, regardless of how much distance cycling you’ve been doing lately.
I moved to mountains a couple years ago and the power grid is iffy at best with any hint of inclement weather…the other night I unexpectedly lost power for hours…so I busted out my storm lights, flashlights etc…everything worked like a charm except for my mobile phone battery backup…it didn’t have a charge despite working in this past and being recently charged…so that was promptly replaced the next day…when I purchased the house I had the gas fireplace retro fitted from a power operated start to a manual flip switch…that worked great for both light and warmth without power…things work better with forethought and maintenance…you can’t fix what you don’t know is broke…
And to your point, going 1 mile out and 1 mile back 5 times without stopping at base is those 10 miles, while still having a bailout point if your gear wasn’t ready.
After all, it’s a warGAME, and taking your ball and going home to study is cool.
THAT is a good idea. thanks.
Another variation would be to walk about a half mile away, and then run a circle with the start point as the center. Not walking the same path/street multiple times is better for opsec, more interesting, and might be a better test due to changing environment. Also gives you a better look at the neighborhood/area.