{"id":3216,"date":"2016-03-23T22:51:57","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T22:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fightfast.com\/blog\/?p=3216"},"modified":"2021-04-05T14:16:56","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T14:16:56","slug":"lets-talk-survival-kits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/23\/lets-talk-survival-kits\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Talk Survival Kits"},"content":{"rendered":"Anyone interested in survival or prepping has most likely been overwhelmed with lists of \u201cmust have\u201d items for their survival kit. And it seems every weekend survivalist and serious expert has deep set opinions about what you should or should not have. This article is not going to tell you what to put in your kit, instead it's going to discuss some problems I have noticed in the survival\/prepper world that, in my opinion, is being ignored.\n

The problems:<\/h4>\n1. How you should differentiate your survival kit, bug out bag\/go-bag, and your more extensive rucksack, and why this is important.\n\n2. How to prevent \u201ckit-creep\u201d or the tendency of each of these kits to unintentionally grow in size and loose practicality over time.\n\nTo avoid any heated debates about specific items we are going to talk general strategy not specific items.\n

Why multiple kits and why you should listen to us.<\/h4>\n
\"The<\/div>\nThe way we conceptualize our layered kits is based on numerous discussions with serious outdoorsman, survivalist, special forces soldiers who at times must travel very light, and others who have years of real life survival experience.\n\nThey all agree on some levels of escalation in the complexity of their kits based on the situation. Here is what we have found to be the most clear and concise breakdown of each level of kit and its purpose, along with a few tips for keeping them trim and efficient.\n\n \n

#1 Your Never Leave Home Without It, EDC, or Pocket Survival Kit<\/h4>\n
\"Every<\/div>\nCall it by whatever name you want, there are certain absolutely critical<\/em> items that you ought to carry on your person (maybe even 2 of each in different pockets) every day.\n\nNo matter who you talk to this list always includes a knife and a way to start a fire. But this article isn\u2019t about specific so let\u2019s avoid the heated debate on the \u201cmust haves\u201d for these two items.\n\nThe idea behind the EDC kit is two-fold.\n\nFirst, these items must be easy to carry every day no matter what.<\/strong> For many of us it\u2019s totally impractical to carry a bug out bag everywhere we go. These EDC items should get you through a pinch, knowing that you are not getting ready for the apocalypse every time you run into the grocery store to grab a dozen eggs.\n\nThis everyday survival kit must be very small. Some may opt for a pocketknife and a bic lighter and call it good. Others may create a small \u201cmint-box\u201d sized container packed with some bare essentials, still others carry a \u201cswiss-army\u201d style knife. There are no rules, it\u2019s whatever you<\/em> decide is the bare minimum that you are comfortable with. <\/strong>\n\nSecond reason for an EDC kit.<\/strong> In a real life survival situation there are dozens of different scenarios in which you may be separated from your bug out bag or rucksack, either by nature or violence.<\/strong> Having a last ditch kit in a cargo pocket is a must.\n\nIf you find yourself relying on this small kit in a real life survival situation the sh*t has truly hit the fan and all other prepping and planning has gone out the window.<\/em>\n\nEvery time you describe the contents of this kit to a fellow prepper he or she will invariably point out 10 different items it\u2019s missing. If that person wants to walk around decked out in \u201ctacti-cool\u201d<\/em> clothing and lug around a 50 liter backpack containing everything but the kitchen sink every day for the rest of their life more power to them!\n\nI like to be able to go out to dinner with friends in shorts and a tee-shirt every once in a while. By creating a compact EDC kit I can still do that and have a level of preparation that I am comfortable with.\n\nSo the EDC kit must be small enough to carry no matter what kind of clothing you wear every day and needs to be very compact. Yes, it will be missing items that are useful. But it\u2019ll have the basics that you have decided on based on your region and comfort level.\n\n \n

#2 A Bug out Bag<\/h4>\nI think this is where even more confusion begins. Hard core preppers have a hard time knowing when enough is enough<\/em><\/strong>, myself included<\/em>.\n\nIn my experience, the more a person uses their bug out bag<\/em> the more they trim down the un-necessary equipment. Many preppers would be chucking items left and right after a few miles of lugging their excessive crap<\/em> around in the woods.\n\nNo offense<\/em>, but if you can\u2019t carry your kit comfortably for 10 miles or longer you need to re-assess your packing list.\n\nThe best advice is to take your bug out bag on a short camping or hunting trip. Do this a few times and give some serious thought to items you still haven't used<\/strong>.\n\nRemember, a bug out bag is not<\/strong> supposed to have everything.<\/em> It\u2019s supposed to be light and highly portable. It\u2019s probably going to live in the back of your car for a long time so it can\u2019t take up the entire trunk!\n\nThe first time I went deer hunting I must admit I brought way too much sh*t.<\/strong> Luckily, I went with a few very savvy and well-seasoned hunters. They left camp with a super small bag. By traveling light they were able to make some serious tracks in the woods<\/em> to get away from all the other hunters and increase their odds. They knew from years and years of experience<\/em> what they did and did not need for a day in the woods. I was lucky to have their experience as a resource. I recommend you find someone with some serious outdoors survival chops in your area to learn from, and avoid the arm-chair gurus<\/em> who tend to love stuffing their kits with over-priced<\/em> gadgets.<\/strong>\n
\"Survival<\/a><\/div>\nOne expert with serious real life experience<\/em> is Dale Comstock<\/a>. When he contacted us to put together his survival program he was troubled by some of the survival BS<\/em> out there on the internet. He\u2019s had a lifetime of experience living out of a rucksack in combat zones around the world.<\/strong> That kind of experience is something most of us will never have.<\/em> It\u2019s nice when true experts are willing to clue us average guys in on what you need and what you don\u2019t need to survive a real disaster. Dale's expertise in more in the area of crisis survival<\/em> where other humans are problem number 1<\/strong>, and nature is problem number 2<\/strong>. It's a unique perspective that many bush-craft survivalists simply don't have. Both perspectives are important and valuable. Even more important is understanding where one's expertise ends and another begins<\/em> (but that's a topic for another day). If your curious about Dale's program click here<\/a>.\n\nLet's get back on track.\n\nThe most difficult question for a any prepper or survivalist is not what you should include, it\u2019s what you shouldn\u2019t include.<\/strong> After a few test runs<\/em> with your kit in the woods I can almost guarantee you that your packing list will get smaller not larger.<\/strong>\n\n \n

#3 A Rucksack \/ Blow out Bag \/ Everything is Going to \u201cHell in a Handbasket\u201d and you\u2019ve has some time to prepare bag.<\/h4>\nAlright, this is where you can go a little nuts<\/em>. Let\u2019s face it gear is fun and this bag is where you\u2019ll put all your favorite cool, but still highly useful, gadgets for when things are going to be rough for an extended period of time.\n\nYes it\u2019s going to be larger, but your escape plan has taken this into consideration. Its size will be determined by the size of your family, your budget, your region, your mode of transportation and your designated hide site location.\n<\/strong>\nThe biggest problem I see, is too many people not knowing when to draw the line with the other two kits<\/em>. Their everyday carry kit slowly creeps its way into becoming a bug out bag, and their bug out bag slowly grows into a rucksack. This is a dangerous tendency that can leave you vulnerable.<\/strong>\n\nDon\u2019t forget that there should<\/strong> be overlap between all these kits<\/em>. This built in redundancy is a good thing as long as it\u2019s not excessive.\n\nRemember, if the SHTF you\u2019ll be tossing your rucksack into your car and getting out of dodge. Also, in your car will be the bug out bag that\u2019s been patiently waiting there for months, and in your pocket or somewhere else on your body will be your EDC kit.\n\nYou don\u2019t leave any of the lesser kits at home because you have the larger one. If you are traveling alone you probably won\u2019t be carrying both your bug out bag and your ruck sack, so the overlap between bug out bag and rucksack must be complete.\n\nFor those of us with a family, the various kits will be distributed among members based on size and strength.\n\nI hope you\u2019ve found this useful. This is a topic that has had plenty of attention over the years and I\u2019ve avoided it for that very reason. However, I can\u2019t stand seeing what I call \u201ckit-creep\u201d happening among survivalists. Define your kits purpose and trim out the fluff. Focus on quality not quantity.\n\nLet us know what you think.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone interested in survival or prepping has most likely been overwhelmed with lists of \u201cmust have\u201d items for their survival kit. And it seems every weekend survivalist and serious expert has deep set opinions about what you should or should not have. This article is not going to tell you what to put in your Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3216"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12856,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216\/revisions\/12856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}