Gear vs Skills

Gear vs. Skills

A lot of people fall into this trap of buying Gear, they will buy hundreds or thousands of dollars of stuff (Pallets of Food and Toys) that they have little to no idea of how this stuff works and just let it sit there in the box. I used to do consulting a while back for preparedness minded people (Y2K, 2012). I would try to steer everyone away from panic buying, and to learn skills that would be needed (I had a list of survival schools that taught “living off the land” skills at the time) instead of buying stuff to make themselves feel better (false insurance). What good is a firearm if you have never loaded it, never shot it, and never maintained it? When an event happens it will be too late (I’ll have plenty of time to practice with my gun when the end comes-quote from one of my clients). How many of you can build a fire without modern tools? Build a primitive shelter? Catch small game for food? BTW, I love watching Fat Guys in the Woods and yes I do take notes. The other thing to consider is the disconnect people have when something happens, example: I asked a client what would happen if their Range Rover (90K vehicle with 30K in bling for a Bug Out Vehicle) broke down-answer: I’ll just call the dealership up (yes that WAS the reply), and if they had a flat tire: I’ll call AAA, notice that they expect to have someone else serve them during and after a disaster. By learning skills you can do things yourself and save money when you do buy Gear, you will know what YOU need (BOV, guns, tents, knives, and other gear) and not what someone else wants to sell you and you can travel lighter (why try to bring gallons of water with you during a bug-out  when a good water filter will do and/ or have a 90K Garage Queen SUV that you are too scared to get scratched as a Bug Out Vehicle that only the dealership has parts for).