If something is unexpected, how can you prepare for it? It’s already hard enough preparing for what you do expect, so how can you hope to get yourself equipped for an unknown and sudden disaster? Try to imagine the maximum threat in terms of survival situations and think of what would be necessary to prepare for it. Normally the disasters that spring to peoples minds are the shipwreck and the plane crash or a forced landing in unfamiliar and difficult terrain or natural disasters like tsunami and earthquake that could make what was once home into dangerous territory.
Can you imagine what it would take to have all the equipment, gear, food stores and knowledge necessary to be fully prepared for any one of those disasters? To be truly prepared you would have to carry it around with you whenever you left home! Obviously there needs to be way to make such preparation more simple and practical. Well, that’s the reason this site exists!
If you want to be prepared for something you need to study up on it and learn all you can. For instance, if your going on a planned trip for specific activities there are specialized books on mountaineering, sailing, the desert, jungle, polar wastelands and so forth and you should absolutely read the applicable ones before your trip. But even more important is to have a whole range of skills and knowledge which can be adapted to all kinds of situations and to develop a way of thinking that allows you to use them to solve particular survival problems no matter where you are or what you are faced with. That is how you can prepare for the unexpected. Learn the survival skills taught here and practice them.
But that’s not all, there are some small items you can get for yourself that will tremendously increase your chances of survival when in a survival situation. You use them, coupled with your knowledge, to help gain some basic life necessities from any environment. They are small enough to fit in a container the size of a wallet that can be slipped in your pocket and can be carried with you anywhere you go. They are your survival kit. These small items can tip the balance between failure and success and in an emergency you will be glad you always carry it. The specifics of what goes in it are covered elsewhere in this site.
There are some items that are slightly bulkier, like what you put in your survival pouch (another item you will learn about here) or your knife. Such items, being larger, will probably be left at home, but they are still compact enough to be attached to your belt and should be brought with you whenever you travel.
Even without the basics that these two kits provide, you can still improvise using the knowledge and skills you will gain here. But having them will give you a big head start and increase your chances of success by many times.
July 15, 2009 at 7:03 am
I’ve always thought this subject should be taught more thoroughly in schools. Interesting that such a small survival kit could make a difference. We should probably keep one in several locations – the car, the office, home, and any other place we go to frequently. Like you said, disasters aren’t planned so one should really be prepared even if nothing is expected. It’s not as if one can say “Oh I’m going to be on the beach during a Tsunami tomorrow, I better get ready.”
July 22, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Anna, thank you, you are absolutely right. I noticed this lack and so founded this site. Yes, there are different types of kits for different areas and I will write about these, they are more simple than some people think!