Paradigm Shift and random ruminations

[UnforseenWeather]

• I don't always, but often I will listen to Glenn Beck in the morning.

He's alluded to being a prepared citizen, with food and supplies (to include guns), in the past. He is on a roll the last few weeks, discussing the need for everyone to prepare themselves for what could be coming. He's also saying that things he's trending out make him feel woefully underprepared. And if a guy as rich as Glenn Beck is feeling underprepared, I am way underprepared! I will paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld and say "You don't enter a bad situation with the preparations you want, you enter the bad situation with the preparations you have..."

This is one of the reasons I have felt the necessity to train as much as I can, because just having a gun or great gear isn't enough. Training (and mindset development, and the revelations derived from training) is the single most important preparation I've undertaken. And it's uncovered deficiencies in my training. As I've taken classes I've realized that I not only need to maintain my carbine and handgun skills, but I need to get into hand-to-hand training in case the fight comes to me and it goes hands-on.

Obviously, do not hitch your philosophical wagon to any one horse, but guys like Glenn I consider allies to our cause.

• And for your training, as it says below my avatar, challenge everything. If a drill or TTP doesn't stand up, blow it out. Be absolutely ruthless with anything that involves keeping you and your loved ones alive. If a piece of gear doesn't perform, don't coddle it. Get rid of it. If you find a TTP that is more suited for the 3-gun world, BLOW IT OUT. Find something that will work for you in the real world.

• Some secondary considerations that will probably be obvious to denizens of this forum, but just in case...: taking an honest assessment of your AO and simply noting available things like potable water from a freshwater lake and possible food sources. Having a method of transportation that doesn't involve fossil fuels.

• Have a go-bag (or bags) ready for you and your family. I've been amazed lately by the number of people who have go-bags, and I'd love to see a UW Gear-designed go-bag, hint-hint.

[Hawkeye]

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[Dedicatedpro]

Would love to see a UW Gear go-bag! I take this for granted because I have a son who is active with the Boy Scouts and when I am fortunate enough to attend campouts, I use the opportunity as an FTX to test my go-bag as is along with the contents (food, shelter, supplies, etc.) in an austere setting. In a recent posting of some pictures of a weekend campout / hike from a friend on mine, he demonstrated the types of equipment that he and his fellow hikers / campers carried in their packs and how they deployed them during the trip. It was very informative in that relating to this post, while most of us train with our firearms and some of us train in our empty hand game, I'm curious as to how many of us train in cold camps, building and setting fires for warmth and cooking; setting snares that work, preparing food, water considerations (drinking and cleaning) ... and how often. I do it at least 4 times a year for at least 2 days at a time and sometimes I find it to be fairly uncomfortable in my 40 plus years of age. I can only imagine someone having this type of equipment for years and years, and then for whatever reason, they actually HAVE TO use it in a bug-out / camping type of scenario ... talk about disaster!

[Diz]

This is something already in the works. Hawkeye and I have had numerous discussions about what we feel would be the perfect "possibles" bag for us.

I'll just throw it out there, what do you all think you'd carry in your go-bag, and what kind of bag would you like to see?

Personally I'm thinking of a minimalist rifle support bag. All the usual gee-gaw guys list is what I'd be running in my pack. My pistol and pistol support gear is already on in the form of my CCW gear. My idea of a go-bag would be 4 mags, cleaning/tool kit, small blow out kit, with provisions for a small dumper. In other words, just something to support fighting with a rifle.

But I am open to suggestions.

[snare]

I think UW (Unforeseen Weather) is talking about something like a GHB (get home bag) when he says go bag. Is that correct?

I'd also love to talk about the type of go bag that Diz is mentioning too.

For a discreet fighting bag, I have a shoulder bag, a Mini Sneaky to be precise (have not had a good experience with it so far, to be honest).

In mine I keep:
-4 AK mags
-my weapon light and it's QD mount (I don't like keeping it on the rifle all the time, but maybe I should)
-a fixed blade knife (since we can't carry them concealed in NC, I do not have a fixed blade on me all the time)
-a multi-tool
-two Glock reloads (but am considering taking these out)
-a blow out kit in a tear off pouch mounted on the side molle.

[Dedicatedpro]

I've started another thread here uwgear.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=28 to continue the discussion on go-bags and such so as not to hi-jack or limit the original intent of this thread.

[Diz]

OK, back to the original post. I think the idea of running area recons in your AO is critical. You just don't get a good appreciation of microterrain driving by in a car. I find that walking, running, and biking all give you different perspectives of the land.

Water sources are critical. Knowing where they are and having many 5-gal water cans is a must, if you don't have your own source.

I think that you need a year's supply of food on hand for come what may. We are sometimes so gun-centric that we neglect this point. It's really not that hard or expensive.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Agree Diz, knowing your surroundings is important. One thing I would add is recon at different times of the day/night as things may be different. I walk at night, day, weekends, weekdays, etc. Look at things carefully and remember what you see. I have been known to camp out in my backyard at times and I was surprised to find out how many "people" were out at ALL times of the night. This ranged from teenagers goofing off/hanging out to adults walking their dog at 4am on a Sat. morning. I learned how sound discipline is so important as I could hear people coming from 100yds away due the fact everything is so quiet at o-dark-thirty. These people were just walking and talking in a normal voice. The neighbors outside dog didn't even bark at these walkers...what good is that for an alarm!