Improvise, adapt and overcome is an unofficial slogan of the United States Marine Corp or of the Marines themselves. However, the traits are important ones for Preppers and others to have, and then, of course, you must be able to produce or show results in other words.
If your home is damaged or destroyed because of a disaster, you need to improvise and be able to make a shelter out of whatever you find or had stockpiled.
You, of course, have to adapt to your new home and quickly, and adapt to the situation on the ground, as well, so who, what, when and where concerning the crisis needs to be answered so you can make rational and productive decisions going forward.
The point is, is that plans are not chiseled in stone or should not be. Your plans can be called a living, breathing entity, which must be flexible. There are those that once they stamp their plans done, they won’t budge from the script. Bugging-out-plans, in particular, must be flexible, however.
Running off to the woods during a crisis may sound sensible now, but once you are surrounded by woods with just a backpack and some seed packets, reality sets in. There are ways of doing it of course, but it takes considerable time, money and effort.
You would need a remote location with a shelter, a cache of supplies and most of all you need the capability to get there from where you are now. It all looks easy today when the traffic flows, the bridges are not collapsed, and streets are not washed away by floods or potholed by bombs in extreme cases. It all looks good now so let’s call it a plan, and then toss it on the shelf.
What happens if your main objective was to bug-out and now you cannot? Can you improvise, adapt and overcome and still produce results as you had planned at your bug-out location. You need a renewable food source, water source, and knowledge to survive anywhere during a crisis.
Your problems or survival scenarios will not end up being solved by a firearm in most cases. In fact, it can be argued that you may never have to use your firearm in a crisis, but you will need your body regardless, so it has to be in the best shape possible.
Guns are not a substitute for physical fitness. You have to adapt and overcome your current physical limitations by becoming more fit, so you can hike, carry a pack loaded with emergency supplies from an aid station and carry firewood, carry killed game from the woods and so on.
You can have a well-stocked arsenal, but if you can’t run/jog or even walk a quarter mile carrying your weapons and Ammo because you are out of shape, where does that leave you.
You have to produce results. Meals have to be provided, your shelter needs to be repaired, water needs to be filtered and purified. You need to make things happen on an hourly and daily basis. You cannot be static in a survival situation, there will be more tasks than there is daylight but you do need to make hay while the sun shines.
Your chances of dying away from your shelter are greater than dying at your shelter. In other words, if you decide to pack up the family and head for the woods you have decreased your chances of survival. Hypothermia, hyperthermia, injuries and other humans will test your resolve as you get further from home. There are some situations where you simply cannot adapt, or improvise quickly enough to survive, so you need a clear mind and confidence that only comes from gaining skills and knowledge. There is no substitute for the knowledge in your head and the skills of your hands.
You may think your bug-out-vehicle is top notch, ready to roll at a moment’s notice, but what if it isn’t ready when the time comes. Can you improvise, adapt and overcome the situation. Is there a backup plan, is there any original plan for that matter.
Today is the day to get started.