Preppers: A Backup Plan Is Not Always About Having Two of Something
Some of you may adhere to the philosophy that if you have two of something then in reality you will always have one of that something. If you only have one, and that one is lost or damaged then you have none. In some cases, it is simply a matter of gathering enough to ensure you always have enough, but it is not always practical to do it this way.
You can imagine how easy it would be to become caught up in buying extras to make sure you always have one. This can get expensive and being able to store or carry it all can be a problem as well.
How many times have you said to yourself “I need this, because what happens if, I lose one or it breaks”? Raise your hand if you have even rationalized buying something this way. It can get expensive, and what has it really done to improve your chances of survival. You can of course come up with hundreds of ways it may improve your chances, and you can play that game forever, but at some point, you have to stop and do an honest assessment of your situation.
Of course, you need gear but you must know the difference between what you really need versus what you really want.
You cannot realistically bug-out carrying two of everything, so you have to know what to do if your gear fails. Do you carry two firearms everyday in case one malfunctions, do you carry two knives in your pocket for fear of losing one. At some point, it becomes less about having a backup and more about you. It can in some cases, become an obsession.
Plans for example, you want a backup plan, because what if plan “A” goes south then you turn to plan “B”. There are no guarantees however, and you simply cannot plan for everything. You have to come to the realization that you may find yourself in a situation without a plan, or with the wrong plan. You are suddenly without any backup other than your knowledge and skills, and this is not the time to realize you do not have any.
If you obsess over having the right gear and the right amount of gear, you may be overlooking the importance of knowledge and skills. The only way to obtain certain skills sets though, is through experience and hands on training.
One of the ways to learn something new is by actually or pretending to teach it to someone else, so instead of watching videos on the Internet you can make a few of your own even if you never show them to anyone.
Get into an instructor mode and work your way through certain tasks as if you are teaching someone else the task. You will recognize your shortcomings and mistakes immediately and can correct them through more practice and research. You know what end results you expect, but getting there is the problem so break it down and practice as if explaining it to someone else.
People that convince themselves that they have every angle covered, and have every piece of gear needed to survive may have a dependency problem. You convince yourself you can survive, because your Everyday Carry (EDC) is 10 pounds of gear, you feel confident, because you have what you need with you. What happens though, if you find yourself without your EDC, do you now think you cannot survive?
Maybe you are relying too heavily on gear and gadgets, and not enough on skill sets. You have to be able to think your way through problems, because you may find yourself in a situation without a plan “B”.
Some people have stated that if the power grid goes down the country will be thrown back 200 years or some such. What is more likely though, is that the country will be thrown back to the stone ages.
People 200 years ago did not have a reliance on electricity, motor vehicles, hospitals, medical advances and medicines only to have it snatched away. They did not have a dependency on anything. They were used to surviving and thriving without electricity. Many people in this country today have no idea what life is like, or would be like, without electricity, and furthermore may not have any idea how to survive without it.
People 200 years ago had knowledge passed down from generation to generation and if they did not know something, someone else in the settlement did. If a settler/farmer failed to learn, they failed to survive.
Of course, you need planning and the more knowledge and skills you have means you can plan more realistically. For example, if you had no knowledge or experience when it comes to finding water in a desert environment then your planning would require you to carry enough water to meet any situation. This means you would have to carry enough water for an indefinite period, because what happens if you get lost. More skill means better planning, and less carrying. Your skills and knowledge is your backup plan when all else fails.
If you have wilderness survival skills, you can start a fire and make shelter even if your gear is lost, because your canoe overturned on the river. If you know how to survival fish you can eat, if you know how to forage for wild edibles you can eat. You cannot possibly carry everything you may need in every situation but you can carry the knowledge around in your head. It weighs nothing and you can never cram too much inside.
People today are relying on things that someone else provides for them, some to the point that they think that they cannot get through the day without certain items. If you learned only to type words on a computer keyboard, or cell phone could you write a letter in cursive?
Today, skills such as sewing, weaving, gardening, candle making and many other skills are no longer taught, or passed down from generations past. The reason why is, because there is no need, but what happens when there is a need, where will that leave you, possibly naked and in the dark and unable to write a goodbye letter.