Gunner Quinn
In a recent SurvBut ivalblog article, I shared with readers the things that I wish I could re-do in my preparedness journey. It only seemed logical that I also share some things that I got right in that journey as well.
Starting the journey
Number one has to be that I started the journey into preparedness. Many people write about preparedness being a lifestyle but I think it starts with a particular mindset. I can tell you the event that started me on my journey. It was one Spring in the early 80’s when I got home from middle school and the television and radios all started to blare tornado warnings. I had no idea what to do. I stopped and listed to what one of the television weather meteorologists was saying about where to take shelter. It dawned on me at that time that my parents had bought a faulty house that did not provide good protection against tornadoes. The feeling of knowing that I was not very well protected gnawed at me, and I hated the feeling of being vulnerable.
Also shaping my preparedness mindset was that I was learning more about the military threats from the Warsaw Pact. I read a lot of books and articles about the threat of the Soviet Union regarding their nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons inventories and capabilities. When my dad took me along to gun shows, I would look for military manuals to buy and read them from cover to cover. There was also the trips to local Army-Navy Surplus stores where I started my actual preparedness by putting away a few C-Rations and gear to survive the wilderness.
Back in the early 1980s, a nuclear confrontation between NATO and the Warsaw Pact seemed like a possibility. My family was part of the estimated 100 million viewers who watched The Day After, in 1983. (The most-watched made-for-television, movie in history.) After high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Army. It would be an understatement to say I had a blast. The training and experience shaped my beliefs and gave me some skills that would be valuable for the rest of my life. I would have stayed in the Army, only problem was, I preferred light infantry assignments, and the Army preferred me in mechanized infantry.
During my Army enlistment, I volunteered for extra assignments. Still being immersed in the Cold War, much of our training was focused in the field of Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) warfare. I volunteered to be on the company NBC recon team. Anytime we moved into a new area we went out to assess if it was contaminated either by chemical warfare agents or radioactivity. At the platoon level, I was tasked with setting up and maintaining our M8 chemical alarm system.
So much of my early life was shaped by what I read, watched, and learned. It was this early learning that channeled me into a life of prepping. Something that really shaped my view for the need for preparedness was Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. When we drove into Kuwait City, it was a lesson in how our modern cities and technology can be taken away quickly. Packing for deployment to Desert Shield was a real mental exercise. Uncle Sam’s list of things to pack took up the bulk of the little room I had in 2 duffle bags and 1 large ALICE pack. The shortwave radio about the size of a deck of playing cards and some spare parts for an M16A2 and an M60 seemed to be some of the best choices I made. The extra AA batteries turned out to be like legal tender, in barter. Foreseeing the need to be prepared for emergencies and disasters was definitely a very good decision.
Pay as you go
It would have been very easy to open my wallet and use a credit card versus cash to buy our preparedness equipment and supplies. We did use credit but it was when we could get deals like six months to a year same as cash (interest-free). Being patient and waiting for sales also helped. Having cash on hand was also a good practice as you never know when an opportunity to buy something at a great price will present itself.
Going against the flow
Sometimes it makes sense to go against the flow. In a sense that is prepping, since many people make the assumptions that all is well and if something happens they will just deal with it at the time. In the early 90’s I was buying ammunition magazines like mad. When the 1994 Federal “Assault Weapons” ban became law, unprepared people started to pay exorbitant amounts of money on magazines. Before the ban, I had been buying used 30-round AR magazine for $5 each. After the covid “pandemic” while people were dumping their N95 maskz and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), I was buying it for pennies on the dollar. PPE has a purpose for many different survival situations, not just pandemics. So buying it when stores and people are getting rid of it at steep discounts makes great sense.
Do not be snobbish
I have known people who would never even consider buying something used. They feel that it is gross and somehow beneath them to buy used. Growing up, I learned quick about new verses pre-owned. Notice I did not say used. Growing up, my dad was always buying and trading guns. Until he was in his 60’s, the man never bought a new gun. When I was a teenager, I asked him why he only bought used guns. He said that the value of the gun drops as soon as you buy it. (This is true with many things.) That seemed a little odd. He added, buy a gun and turn around and sell it the next day you will lose lots of money. Buy a used gun and sell it the next day and you might lose a few bucks or perhaps even make a few. Besides, the monetary benefits of buying used there is the fact that many of the items I look for my preps are not manufactured any longer or nor easy to find. Many farm tools and home kitchen appliances that had been powered by humans or gas engines are now only manufactured with electric motors. Do not be concerned about buying used or pre-owned prepping items. But do remember: buyer beware.
Sacrifices
Life is about making choices. Our modern society has been conditioned to want instant gratification. If people do not have cash they use a credit card. Think of the food in our society, fast food, instant pudding, 5 minute microwave meals. What many people do not grasp is the “instant” and “fast” world comes with added costs. I have no problem with helping people in need. But, I refuse to help people who spend their time and money on wants to the detriment of their ability to provide for their own needs. Cannot afford groceries? Perhaps selling one of your 72” flat screen smart televisions or one of the gaming systems is necessary. Perhaps not going on that trip to Disneyworld might put people in a better financial situation. I am not saying not to spend time or money on entertainment but when people do not have a basic survival cushion of drinking water, food, medicine and an emergency fund, there is a problem with understanding priorities.
Not Just hobbies
I saw a meme that said: “I don’t have hobbies, I have post-apocalyptic skill sets.” I cannot agree more. I am not an “expert” in my skill sets, but what I do have is at least a rudimentary level of knowledge, some basic tools and supplies and a little experience. Some, like re-loading ammunition, I am better at since I have done it longer. I remember watching my dad reload and asking a million questions. As I got older, I started to actually help. Leather crafting, wood carving, blacksmithing, gardening, raising animals for food and home food preservation are hobbies, but they are also definitely post-apocalyptic skill sets. As I am retired, I actually have time to pick up a few more hobbies. Bee keeping, mead and hard cider making and herbal medicine are things I will be trying my hand at in the future.
Action Planning and Situational Awareness
We hear a lot about maintaining good situational awareness but what we do not hear a lot about is the first logical step. For example, we monitor the weather and find that the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has my area forecasted for severe weather including a possible tornado outbreak. That is situational awareness. What we should do after realizing there is a potential threat is to implement our plan(s). Action planning is establishing action items to do when a threat is forecast or has occurred. The value of situational awareness is devalued if we have not done our action planning first. Deciding what to do when the tornado warning is issued waste time and creates an environment where we may not have the tools, supplies and/or skill sets due to lack of forethought and planning.
Speaking from experience, I can tell you looking for a good shelter space when the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and tornado sirens are blaring wastes time. I remember talking to some of my professional friends about the massive tornado that hit Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Missouri in 2011. One of the lessons learned was that it was very difficult to have ambulatory patients walk out of their hospital rooms to safety due to the amount of broken glass and sharp debris, since the patients did not have shoes. Now, many hospitals put a pair of slippers at the end of each patient’s bed. Do you keep some type of footwear by your bed at night? This is the type of knowledge and action planning that needs to be done long before the sirens sound.
Spousal Understanding
My wife is not a prepper but she does not bug me too much about my “hobby”. Seeing is believing and over the years my preps have come in handy. The first lesson was shortly after we got married and a storm knocked out our power. My wife’s major concern was not food spoiling in our refrigerator or the house becoming cold. Nope, my wife’s concern was missing her favorite television show. Heading downstairs, I went and grabbed my portable black and white television/radio, a battery jump pack, and some battery operated lanterns. I lit a fire in our fireplace and called her into the livingroom, to watch her television show at the scheduled time. That did not make her a prepper, but it certainly made her more tolerant and accepting of my preparedness “hobby”. Living in Northwest Pennsylvania, winters are long and cold. Where it is feasible to do so, I like to have a primary system, a backup system, and an emergency system.
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 2.)
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