Let’s Talk Strategy: Why I Quit Buying Preps (For Now)
billj 02.14.17
I recently did something that might seem to be the opposite of what most preppers consider “prepping.” I’ve paused all purchases of anything prepping-related for the entirety of 2017.
Survivalists and preppers too often equate prepping with buying stuff, and I had definitely fallen all the way into that trap. I realized that my entire prepping mindset had slowly but surely become centered around acquiring more stuff, despite the fact that I routinely give lip service to the primacy of skills and mental preparedness over gear.
Indeed, in my personal and professional life, I rely on my skills and brains quite a bit. I pride myself on my ability to improvise, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve quit flexing those mental muscles and instead have just resorted to buying my way out of problems.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complacent about the precariousness of the world situation. 2017 is shaping up to be a crazy year, and I think it’s entirely possible that we’ll be involved in a major war before the year’s out, one that could possibly go nuclear.
I’m also not your typical prepper, in the sense that I have a lot of disposable income and therefore have had the luxury of buying quite a bit. At this point, I have a ton of preps: a full complement of SHTF firearms and ammo, about four months’ worth of MREs and freeze-dried food for myself and my family, and countless other preps big and small. I also live on some acreage with access to fish and game.
Of course, you can never have enough ammo, and 4 months of food is a good start, but I’d like to have way more. Nonetheless, I realized near the end of last year that what I need most isn’t yet more stuff. Rather, what I need is to take time to organize my preps and train with the tools I have.
So, that’s what 2017 is about. It’s about discipline, training, and organizing. Getting in better shape, training with my chosen weapons platforms, and organizing the preps that I already have so that I can round up what I need on short notice.
Most of all, it’s about retraining the way I think about preparedness, from “what do I need to buy next?” to “so if I ran into this situation, how could I use what I already have on-hand to address it?” Because in the SHTF, that’s what I’ll have to do. I’ll have to improvise with what I have instead of just going shopping and rely on my training and physical fitness.
