Stay Ahead of Crisis
September is National Preparedness Month. Unfortunately, a lot of “prepper” sites and social media channels often only talk about doom and gloom scenarios that could cause complete societal collapse and then wonder why a lot of people don’t pay much attention to preparedness.
Some content creators base their entire social media channels on daily world events, often proclaiming that it’s “almost time to bug out”, or that “this event is the new catalyst to the end of our society”, year after year after year. Those channels get a ton of views and followers, but that is not how we operate.
We will never trade rational preparedness for a sky-is-falling mentality just to make money. We do not want to constantly fearmonger to get your business or followers on social media. That said, will still talk about major events and changes that affect our freedom and safety so that you are all aware of what is happening.
There are plenty of major threats that pose enormous risks to our way of life, including major cyber attacks, High Altitude EMPs or a large Solar flare, and even WWIII breaking out. But it’s everyday disasters that we should also be prepared for. While the major SHTF events may not happen in our lifetime, the potential for all of the emergencies in between are very real and happen every single day in America.
Don’t get us wrong, a lot of the major SHTF scenarios are entirely possible, especially in this day and age, but the simple truth is that people die all the time from Natural disasters such as fires and flooding, and it’s not uncommon for people just going out hiking to get lost and run out of water, or freeze to death during the Winter.
(Free Download of our latest Recommended Gear List HERE)
Preparedness is about being self-sufficient and knowing that you have your basic human needs covered in case of an emergency. Some of you might be shocked at how many people don’t even have a basic emergency plan for natural disasters, a simple kit in case their vehicle breaks down in a remote area, or even a rehearsed escape plan in case of a house fire. The amount of people who travel during the Wintertime with no gloves, hat or cold-weather clothing is astounding.
We have become far too complacent in today’s society, and that needs to change. It starts with each one of us. It’s up to us to be sure our families know how to take care of themselves in the event of a disaster or an emergency. So many people believe that the government will save them in the event of a large-scale emergency, but natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina have shown us, that is not the case.
Most of you who are reading this email are likely prepared already but keep in mind that most of the skills you’ve learned are perishable skills. You should be constantly practicing your skills and using your gear as often as possible; not just in ideal conditions in your backyard, but in adverse conditions like rain and snow, hot weather, and cold weather.
Stress testing not just yourself, but your gear, is critical for survival. It’s the reason why a lot of tactical training companies have you do physical exercise while you’re at the shooting range. They are trying to elevate your stress levels so that you can learn to perform under duress. Only when you’re tested under stress will you truly know how well you’ll perform in a crisis, and even artificial stress inoculation won’t give you that complete picture, but it’s far better than not training in realistic conditions at all.
This should also be the way you train when it comes to survival. Once you learn the basics of techniques and can do them in normal conditions, you can move on to attempting them in worse conditions. Crawl, walk, run. Start off in the rain or snow in your own backyard before you attempt to climb Mount Washington to test your skills. Take incremental steps until you are confident that you are progressing well enough to take on bigger challenges.
Test your physical capabilities by hiking with your gear on your back a couple of times per week. Practice, rehearse, and then practice more. Be sure your children understand how to start a fire, build a shelter, procure safe drinking water, and take care of basic first aid in the field. Be sure they know where to meet you in the event of an emergency.
Survival Summit is always here for your training or gear needs, and part of the reason we created online training was to help people learn at their own pace at a reasonable price. Having said that, there is no replacement for live, in-person training with a legitimate instructor. We do not provide live training, but there are many amazing instructors that do.
(Free Download of our latest Recommended Gear List HERE)
Here is a list of some of the top instructors out there (This is not a comprehensive list, so if we don’t name someone you know, it’s not on purpose)
A Few Examples:
- EJ Snyder (Wilderness Skills, and much more)
- Joshua Enyart (Gray Bearded Green Beret) (Wilderness, Bushcraft, Primitive, Medical, Navigation, etc.)
- Colorado Mountain Man
- Survival Pathfinder School (Wilderness, etc.) *Dave Canterbury
- Sheepdog Response (tactical)
- Corporals Corner (Shawn Kelly) (Wilderness, Bushcraft, etc.)
- Boulder Outdoor Survival School
So during September’s National Preparedness Month, take stock of what skills you currently have, what skills you’d like to learn, what gear you have and/or need, and get out there and spend some time in the wild honing your skills, teaching your children, and just have fun with it. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that you and your family can take care of themselves and that no matter what happens, you’ll be better prepared than most of America.
(Free Download of our latest Recommended Gear List HERE)
