Knowledge is Power

If the lights went out today would you have enough gear and supplies on hand to survive? It's an interesting question, one that certainly merits some thought.

When we think about survival situations often times we envision (or at least I do) the apocalyptic, society ending event like a large rock falling from space, a pandemic, or God forbid....zombies. The reality of it is should you be thrust into a survival situation it more than likely will come in the form of a natural disaster, getting lost while in the woods, or other event where you, and possibly your loved ones, are on your own for a time without the support system(s) we have all come to rely on.

How does a person prepare for something like that? There is the obvious going; out and buying flashlights, batteries, freeze-dried food, etc. and then storing them in your home and/or car. This is an important part of the overall survival equation. However the most important thing that you can do to prepare for a survival event is to educate yourself. Think about what you will need to do to sustain not just yourself, but your family in different situations you may find yourself in, then sit down and do some research. There is no reason to re-invent the wheel on this, discover what worked in the past and how do you reproduce those results if needed.

If you look to other parts of the world that are not blessed with the infrastructure that we enjoy you can get an idea of what I’m talking about. Dirty water is a real issue in a lot of places. People are subjected to disease and sickness because the water they consume has bugs, parasites, and other various nastiness in it. The threat to the person drinking the dirty water could be greatly reduced if they treated it, either with chemicals or by boiling. Why don’t they boil their water? Probably because no one ever explained to them why they should and then gave them a good technique and time frame for doing it (by the way the answer is bring the water to a hard boil, my preference is for a minute. Keep in mind this will kill any microorganisms but will not deal with any chemical toxins).

Yes education is the key to success. Don’t sit back and pretend that this sort of a thing will never happen to you. That is a life ending mistake should you ever find yourself thrust into a survival event. Don’t let this stuff freak you out! It was not that long ago that mankind did not have running water, or grocery stores, or 911 and they got along just fine. Educate, plan, prepare, and execute. Be smart, be alert, be responsible in your actions and be safe!