So today I had a training
session with my wife, getting ready for the unavoidable economic collapse which
will start in USA and drag the rest of the world to a new dark age. For this
training session we… you know what? I cant even joke about it. There’s so many
people that would have believed I was being serious with the first line, its
not even funny.
Today was a nice day and my
wife and I went for a walk in a beautiful forest we have nearby. We go about
three times a week walking for an hour and a half, sometimes two. I did take a 12 pound backpack with me as I
would usually do. Maybe for running a few errands I sometimes go for a lighter
satchel or messenger bag instead but I always have with me the basics I
constantly nag everyone about. Other than that, really, there’s not much
training or practice you can do for when your country’s economy down the drain.
Trust me, I’ve been through one, and if my word isn’t good enough fly to
Argentina, or maybe even Greece or Spain, and ask the millions of citizens in
either country if being experienced backpackers helped them in any way when
their salaries had devaluated throwing
them below the poverty line.
The Path less traveled. |
CAT Boots and backpack. |
Backpacking guys. Hiking and
camping, building shelters in the forest or knowing how to start a fire with a
chocolate bar will do you no good when banks close, you suddenly become poor
and basically everything you knew so far goes to hell. Don’t get me wrong. Learning
wilderness survival skills is a good idea, but do understand what scenario it
applies to, and which ones it hasn’t got a thing in common.
The idea that when the
economy collapses or the currency devaluates your first reaction should be to “bug out” across the woods with a
backpack full of camping gear, oh, and a gun with another eight pounds of ammo,
is ludicrous.
I can tell you that there
was very little (make that none) camping and backing for me after 2001 in
Argentina. As crime became more of a problem in was harder to find places where
it would even be safe to do so. In fact, we get to do a lot of outdoors activities
now because we are in a much safer, stable place.
Rather than training for the
end of the world as some may want you to believe, hiking is something we do
because we simply enjoy it and it have other real-world benefits:
1)Working out. Walking in a forest, more so when you go off the beaten path
and get into some muddy and uneven terrain with a few fallen trees and streams
in your way to navigate through turns out to be good exercise. You stretch a
bit, work in your cardio and it sure beats staring at a wall in a stationary
bike. Staying healthy and fit is the
best thing you can do for yourself, end of the world around the corner or not.
2)We find that along with the exercise, it’s a good way of relaxing and
clearing our head, get some fresh air and enjoy nature.
3)We get to spend some quality time as a couple which is always good.
4)Sure, if you ever have to walk back home or hurry away from danger its
better if you are used to walking a few miles.
FerFAL
PS- Oh, and this is my dog Spike winking.
5 comments:
1) I don't know if anyone is interested but some alternatives to CAT boots (and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with CAT boots.)
2) The US military evidently chased its tail over the issue of a "mountain boot" for Afghanistan.
Subversive SOCOM --which can ignore Army procurement and buy whatever they want -- apparently drives the guys at Natick crazy by having more fashion whims than Madonna. And everyone who sees Special Forces or Seals wearing a piece of gears becomes embittered that the Pentagon doesn't think enough of the grunt to give him the same.
3) Fashion fad item one: Asolo Fugitive GTX
http://www.itstactical.com/gearcom/footwear/asolo-fugitive-gtx-boots-combat-tested-in-afghanistan/
4) Next up: what I considered overly complicated offerings:
http://blogs.militarytimes.com/gearscout/2010/07/02/boots-on-the-ground-gearscout-reviews-4-boots-downrange/?repeat=w3tc
5) A perfectly good COTS item that seemed to satisfy most people: Danner Combat boot
http://hardcoreoutdoor.com/2009/06/06/danner-combat-hiker.aspx
6) Buts the Procurement Gods evidently were not happy unless one of their longtime procurement pals were building the boot. SO:
http://kitup.military.com/2011/02/belleville-wins-mountain-combat-boot-competition.html
7) I myself think that so long as you don't have to wear flipflops made from cutup automobile tires, you are ahead of the game. But the fixation the infantry has on footwear is understandable -- see how far you get with a foot blister.
Living in a roughly similar place, with safe local recreation, yet knowing most of my neighbours are armed and I know them and they know me, I appreciate the point you make here. How pleasing it is to be part of a real community.
Know your neighbours; make friends with them; share. If the S ever HTF here and the facade of civilization slips I know--for sure--who I can turn to and they know they can turn to me. It's a good feeling even today, without any S hitting any fan.
You still have to watch out for leprechauns in those woods.
y.g.
Take care of your teeth when you still have medical coverage from your employer, that's one way to prepare.
Here some of the companies which organized trips in the nature have closed because people have no money to spend for trekkings to mountains or they just don't have the time: They now started to work in Saturdays even in Sundays and from younger ages.
So yes, you are 100% correct.
BTW this "survival thing in the nature" as a mentality was and is almost entirely unknown in Greece.
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