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Letter Re: Survival is About Skills--Practice Makes Perfect
Mr Rawles,
You're regularly posting first hand stories about the need to test
gear. Imagine my surprise when my arrogance that that didn't apply
to me proved false! You really do need to test equipment and skills!
Unused tools (both physical and mental) are useless tools!
I store gas for my lawnmowers in two five gallon plastic containers. I figured
that I'd pour what was left in them into my car when I put the mowers away
for the winter. I know you always recommend being able to relocate more than
one tank of gas away, so I figured I'd keep them rotated and full, emptying
them into the car instead of bothering with fuel stabilizer. Lo and behold,
you can't just pour gas from these containers into a gas tank! Even with the
nifty built in nozzle gadget that makes it perfect for lawnmowers - it doesn't
fit in my car! I need to buy a long-stemmed funnel like the kind my dad's been
using for decades. Your readers should check their equipment and their gas
tanks for compatibility.
I also assumed I was good at building a fire from nothing because I was in
the Scouts "back in the day". Once again; unused skills deteriorate
and disappear. I've been building fires in my home and in my backyard with
big handfuls of crumpled newspaper. I thought I was skilled because I was
gluttonously using an overabundance of available resources. Tonight I tried
building a fire from a small handful of crumpled (and dry!) leaves. It turns
out that often leaves will just smolder. I managed to build up my fire using
two or three cotton ball sized pieces of newspaper instead of the six or
seven whole sheets I used to use. But in doing so I also discovered the small
pocketknife
I regularly carry is only useful in shaving off tinder - it's useless in
splitting logs for kindling. My bugout bag has several larger knives, but
now I will consider adding a hatchet (recommendations?).
I will also be making about a million fire
wicks out of leftover supplies from an entertaining bout of candle making
in my old apartment.
Finally, a note about teamwork and information. My wife is definitely coming
on board for the whole "Preparedness" mindset. She's started taking
a martial arts class (a real one; not cardio kick boxing or other useless courses),
we talk about what to do in case of emergencies, we've bought a small treasure
of gold and silver, etc. However, the other night we learned something very
valuable. We heard what she thought were gunshots (I think it might have been
people using up old fireworks - but I digress) and she went to bring the dog
inside. She brought with her an unwieldy lopper that I had left by the door.
As I saw her coming back in, I asked her why she didn't bring the pepper spray.
She replied that she didn't know where it was. Now, on your advice I bought
several cans to (pardon the pun) pepper around the house, including basement
and bugout bag. And I've told and I had shown her where they are. But she forgot. That's
another lesson: you might as well not even own any piece of equipment that
you forget about when it counts.
You can't possibly be too organized, you can't possibly rehearse too often,
and there's no such thing as being too prepared.
We all are sending well-wishes and prayers for the Memsahib. - C.
