It occurs to me that I’ve always found it a little…skewed? …that when it comes to things like a ‘Get Home Bag’ or other I’m-away-from-my-main-gear kits, the first emphasis is almost always on weapons. I’ve known people who have gotten stuck in Manhattan and had to walk off the island during 9/11, or been in an earthquake that brought things to a halt, or any one of a dozen similar scenarios. In almost all of them , the thing that made the most difference was comfortable shoes to walk in and water to drink. Nowhere in there did anyone say that the real gamechanger was having a pistol or carbine tucked away in their gear. (In fact, in virtually all the scenarios people have told me that they were in, being visibly armed would have been a big problem what with all the cops and other folks running around.)

I suppose, fairly, that the circumstances of your stranding have a lot to do with whether you’re need for a firearm is higher or lower. If you’re walking three miles home through the city because you’re alternator died it’s not as high a need as if you have to walk three miles through the city because the power grid just went down and night is falling fast.

Thats not to say that those things aren’t important, but rather that their usage in a crisis is almost nil. Yeah you should have them, but you’ll wind up using 90% of your other gear before it comes time to use that 10% that goes bang. Usually.

But when I think about the situations where I’m away from base, even in this current (mostly) non-EOTWAWKI period, my concerns drift towards the potential for violent encounters. There are far too many deranged homeless people, drug-influenced crazies, politically motivated thugs (‘peaceful protesters’) and just general whackadoodles out there for me to feel comfortable going anywhere these days without some sort of means to protect myself. And in a real crisis, the kind where civilization is hanging by a thread, being on foot with a backpack of useful gear just means that you’re an epic loot drop for anyone who thinks you’re ‘easy pickings’.

I’m starting to think that the real-world has finally caught up to the level of risk and threat the we always kind of imagined it was. Twenty years ago I was far less likely to be subject of a home invasion, mugging, armed robbery, or violent crime than now. Heck, there was a period of years where I never even bothered locking my door. But, for better or worse, it seems like the times have changed to the point that not having a weapon of some sort in any type of ‘survival kit’ or ‘bail out bag’ is just poor planning.

I’ve always kept a G19, holster, and a couple mags in my Bag O’ Tricks ™ just in case….and one of the reasons I got the Ruger PC takedown carbines (or the PC Charger) was specifically for toting around in my bag. It’s just interesting that the things that seemed a little ‘out there’ or ‘overkill’ a few years ago seem like reasonable prudent measures no

Unless you’re a maritime engineer and have a trained crew and materials to work with, the best thing you can do when the ship hits the iceberg is put on some warm clothes and head for the lifeboats.

I’m one person in a voting bloc of approx 168,000,000. It’s ridiculous for me to think that of the handful of issues I vote on each election that every one of them will go my way. Quite simply, there arent enough people who think exactly like me for my will to be enforced.

So, when I watch the news and see things that are going on around the world and in this country, it isnt too hard to make the leap that I cannot fix the situation, but what I can do is prepare myself and my world for the consequences. And thats pretty much what a survivalist is.

I can’t control the economic policy of this nation, I can’t control the Ukes and the Ivans, I can’t control the weather, and I can’t control the job market. All I can do is control my response to them. My response to these uncontrollable (by me) things has, and continues to be, to prepare for them as best I can.

Imagine two engineers standing on the deck of the Titanic as it is sinking, and they’re arguing about the best course of saving the ship. As they argue, the ship continues to sink further and further into the water. Instead of watching the two engineers argue, perhaps the best course of action is to head to the lifeboats.

Maybe the engineers can fix things, maybe not. But there’s no point in standing around wasting precious time watching them argue and, perhaps, uselessly trying to fix things when the lifeboats are filling up.

Maybe the world will straighten itself out. It usually does at some point (often after a really bad time). But instead of waiting around for things to get better, perhaps its a good idea to get ready for what happens if they dont get better.

NOTE: Black Friday Friday Of Color sales are starting early. Find a good one? A discount code? Flash deal? Put it in comments.

Went to the movies last night. Bought a ticket and noticed a price discrepancy from the listed price and what I was charged. I asked the high-school-age drone behind the counter what was up. His reply…”Senior discount.”

Doubleyew. Tee. Eff.?????

Look, I admit my hair has got more salt than pepper than it did a few years ago, but I am nowhere..nowhere….near ‘senior discount’ age. Part of me was offended and part of me wondered what else I could get away with.

But…I can’t deny that age comes on apace. Thirty-year freeze drieds are actually coming up on their ‘Best By’ dates, guns that were cheap and plentiful when I bough them are now collectors items, naps have a lot more appeal than they used to, and I spend a goodly amount of time waiting for the Advil to kick in. Apparently, somewhere, I got old.

I’m not stupid enough to think I’ll live forever. And, of course, I know that eventually it comes for us all. But, man, it sucks to be reminded of it.

But, reminded I was…and last month I updated my will. Because, as it turns out, part of getting old means acquiring a lot of stuff. Houses, land, gold, money, guns, vehicles, etc, etc. And I will set it all on fire before I let it fall into the hands of the state. In fact, sometimes I feel I should have some sort of fail-deadly switch to implode the place, wipe the accounts, purge the drives, and that sort of thing.

But, I did the next best thing and paid way too much to an attorney to write up some ‘final wishes’. It was all pretty straightforward. There’s only a small handful of people I want to leave stuff to and if for some reason they are unaccepting or unable to receive it, then it goes to the charity of my choice.

As I’ve mentioned before, if I go to my death without ever having had to use any of the ammo, freeze drieds, body armour, kerosene, chest seals, or parachute flares….well, I’ll consider that a victory.

But, realistically, and statistically, I’ve got about another 25 years left on the clock. Sure, I could have an aneurysm tomorrow, or get hit by a bus next week, but so far it’s been a somewhat quiet (in terms of life threatening events) existence these last few years.

But…senior discount. That still rubs me the wrong way.

In Heinlein’s “Starship Troopers” one of the characters muses how civilians think things are ‘at peace’ because no one they know is involved in the fighting. As a military man, the character knows that there’s never really ‘peace’..there’s always a fight going on somewhere…it’s just that you don’t know about it, so you think everything is peaceful.

Right now, in my world, there is food in the freezer, the lights come on, the water flows, there’s money in the bank, clothes on my back, and gas in the tank. All must be right in the world, yes? Of course not. There are people in hurricane-ravaged areas eating MRE’s and crapping in portapotties, there are people overseas working to keep gas prices high, there’s morons in Washington blindly groping around for ‘mandates’, and there is always some idiot somewhere who is off his meds and on his way to a WalMart. So, yeah, it’s quiet in my immediate vicinity but does that mean it’s quiet everywhere else? Heck no.

So…gotta fight that complacency. Be conscious of the fact (and it is a fact, m’friends) that it can all change Just. Like. That. <snaps fingers> Yeah, its a nice day today and the sun is out….so what? You know life isn’t always gonna be like that. Go out and do something that you’ll thank yourself for later.

That’s a trick question because, realistically and literally, there is always one more thing that a person can do to increase their resilience. You’re never really “done”…you’re simply at a more prepared stage than you were previously. Admittedly, there is a point where you’re just gilding the lilly but I don’t think I’m quite there yet.

But, after having been doing this for a couple decades what could possibly be left to accomplish? Well, the absolute biggest is the crowning jewel of any survivalist’s career – the BOL. That sweet little innocent-looking cabin in the middle of nowhere that is more heavily fortified, stocked, and hardened than Cheyenne Mountain. That one is going to take some serious planning and a metric buttload of cash.

Other than that rather expensive to-do list item, I’m fairly well set on most things. I mean, if there’s anything I think I really truly need at this point I can just buy it. I still need to get a nice radio setup for keeping tabs on the world, and it would be nice to have a larger stash of precious metals, but other than that I think I’m pretty set on things. I could always upgrade and increase the amounts of some things…food, ammo, cash, etc., but they’re at levels right now that I’m comfortable with and I’d rather funnel my resources into getting that nice chunk of Middle O’ Nowhere.

No one is every ‘fully prepared’, in my opinion. However, I’m satisfied enough with what I have now that, while I recognize there’s always room to add more depth to the stockpiles, I have no problem focusing resources into other projects.

It hasn’t always been this way, though. I remember when every $25 can of freeze drieds, and every $150 SKS, was a struggle to justify to my limited budget. But, I’ve hit the point in my life where I can drop a few hundred bucks here and there every so often for things that I want. Didn’t always be like that, though…..there were some pretty tight times back there.

Overall, though…I have absolutely no regrets about spending what I’ve spent over the years. I have literally thousands of dollars of freeze drieds and if I never wind up needing them I will still consider it money well spent. Like insurance, it gives me peace of mind and reduces risk. That has a value.

I also have no regrets because I see where the social zeitgeist is going and I’m pleased to say that I can sit back and watch everyone else scramble for freeze drieds, gas cans, ammo, and other gear. Those decades of picking up gear here and there have paid off in that I don’t have to deal with the scarcity and pricing issues that the Johnny-come-latelies have to face.

If you’ve been a survivalist for more than a few years, I trust that you are in a similar position. And if you’re new to the scene..well…don’t be discouraged.

One of the nice things about blogging for twenty years is that I can go back and check details that would otherwise be lost in time.

The Augason storage food I mentioned yesterday? The price on the potato shreds is the same as it was last year. Interestingly, though, the butter powder is $2.50 cheaper than it was last year.

Storage food is insurance. Certainly it’s a nice hedge against the day the zombies arrive, Xenu comes back, the Chinese invade, the race war starts,  and the comet hits. But it’s also a comfort against job loss, economic troubles, and supply issues. In general, like all insurance, one of it’s great benefits is the peace of mind it offers.

We seldom see hunger in this country to the point that exists in other countries. (We’re the only country with obese poor people, so you know food isn’t exactly a problem for us.) But while as a nation we virtually never experience hunger, we can (and do) as individuals…we suffer individual setbacks like job losses, crippling injuries, etc. And while there may be miles of aisles of food at the Walmart, there may be none to be had by you. So….yes, a form of insurance.

Preaching to the choir, I know, but let’s be real….too many people emphasize the sexy gun stuff and under-emphasize the unsexy things like food. But your gonna eat a lot more often than you’re going to shoot things in most crises. So…yeah, lay back some .223 but spend at least as much in time, effort, and money on food as well.

This came in email today;

I was wondering how you came to decide on your quota/budget/allocations you do for things like gold, silver, ammo, IRA’s, cash, storage food etc.  You just figure a percentage of income to each category or?  Was wondering if you did some research to arrive at your system or perhaps you have tweaked it over the years?

If you go hiking in Texas and then go hiking in Colorado, the environment must be exactly the same, right? I mean..you hike in Texas, you hike in Colorado…hiking is the same everywhere, right?

Darwin: No.

Seems pretty stupid on its face, but here it is:

“These hikers said they did not understand why it was so cold and rainy in Colorado, because it has been ‘so hot in Texas’ where they hike all the time,” rescuers said.

Mother Nature has no no sense of humour about these things. Look, it’s 90 degrees out this weekend and even though sitting in my truck is like being in an oven I still carry a heavy coat, rain poncho, sleeping bag, and other cold/wet weather gear in my truckbox….year-round.

But, interestingly, there is a bit of a cautionary tale and lesson here: just because something went one way when you experienced it does not necessarily mean that a similar experience will beget similar results. Hiking in Colorado doesn’t mean you will have the same experience as hiking in Texas…so plan accordingly. The lesson there is that just because you survived [name of experience] last time doesn’t mean that you will this time.

Made it through the inflationary period of the late 1970’s? And its gas shortages? That doesn’t mean that you’ll weather the current one. The things you did to mitigate negative outcomes that time may not work as well this time. As the guys at the brokerages say – “Past performance is no guarantee of future results“. Don’t get complacent and think that just because you made it through the last blackout, shortage, pandemic, hurricane, etc. that you will therefore make it though the next one by doing the same thing.

The military has that saying about how we’re always planning to fight the last war. The implication being that we assume the next one will be like the last one and therefore whatver we learned from the last one will stand us in good stead on the next one. Sometimes that’s true. But survivalism isn’t about trusting to ‘Usually’ and ‘sometimes’.