Practice what you prep because things won’t always work out like you think!

Hello my friend and welcome back!  In today’ post, we are going to look at the need for practicing what you prep.  Even the best laid plans can go wrong if you don’t actually take the time to practice them, because old Mr. Murphy is always waiting for the chance to trip you up.  Grab you a cup of coffee and have a seat while we visit.

I guess the best place to start would to give you a couple of examples to help you understand what I am talking about.  As many of you know, I am a ham operator and from time to time we go out and practice setting up in the middle of an empty field and transmitting using solar, wind, or battery power.  The idea behind it is to practice under worst case situations.  You always learn a lot from doing it  as well as from others.

This one time, I was going to try out a new setup I had designed but hadn’t practiced yet.  Sure enough, even though I had gone over what I thought was every detail; old Mr. Murphy was there to poke me in the eye.  As it turned out, even though it sounded good on paper and looked good in drawings, it was a nonstarter.

You see, I thought I had covered every possible detail, but as it turned out I hadn’t.  I had over looked a few small details that turned out to be show stoppers in the end.  They say if you want to make God laugh then just tell him your plans.  Well, I’m sure he had a good laugh at me on that day.  So where did I go wrong?  Simply put, I was so focused on the bigger picture that I failed to take care of the details.

The same is true with Prepping and whether it’s building something, or even starting a fire; if you don’t practice it then when the time comes you may find that you missed something important.  Needless to say that day was a wak-up call to me and I have since starting to practice what I prep.

Let me give you another short example of this.  A buddy on mine swore to me that he could start a fire, in any conditions.  The reason he gave for this unique talent was that he had done it when he was a Boy Scout and still remembered how to do it.  I decided to ask him to demonstrate to me this wonderful feat!  To make it easier, I chose a bright sunny day for him to do it, and to his credit he did build a fire.  I am also happy to report that the burns are healing nicely and they are going to take the stitches out next week.  Of course the pants he was wearing can never be worn again.

Are you starting to get the idea?  Believing that you can do something, is not the same as actually being able to do it.  Have you tried putting up that emergency tent that you bought or setting that snare trap that you read about?  It is hugely important that we get out and actually do what we think we can do.  When did you actually put on your bug out bag and walked 10 miles with it?   What about skinning a rabbit or a raccoon?  Watching a video is a long way from actually being able to do it.

Here is my favorite one:  I read a book on tracking wild animals one day and I still know how to do it.  Tracking, like hunting and shooting is not something you can just read in a book and know how to do it.  It takes hours of practice and it is a perishable skill.  This means if you don’t do it often, then you lose the ability to do it.

After an SHTF incident has happened is a terrible time to realize that you can’t do something you thought you could. Also not a good time to realize you don’t have everything that you thought you needed.  Don’t risk your life or the ones you love by just thinking you can do something.  Turn off the TV and get out there and practice what you prep.  Well I guess that is it for today and I hope you have enjoyed today’s post.  As always, I love to hear your comments on this and every post.  (Except for Trolls…Trolls suck!) J

Until next time, stay safe, stay strong and stay prepared.  God Save America!

-The Sargent-