Forget the words prepper and survivalists for a second. Let's discuss some basics with being self reliant. In the grand scheme of things when you talk to someone about the hobby of being prepared they will probably throw you into the category of a prepper or a survivalist. But for the everyday person being self reliant should be important. How self reliant do you think your average random person is? I can tell you, most are not by any standard.
Not everyone is going to consider themselves a prepper or a survivalist for instance, but most will probably make a claim they are somewhat self reliant. Those people for example may go through the check list with something along the lines of, "I managed to get pants on today, I didnt smoke crack, and I have my cell phone and wallet, I am part of the self reliant community." While this is partially true they are not truly self sufficient or self reliant. Being part of the "functioning society" is not being part of the "self sufficient few".
Modern people have become lazy, uninterested, naively trustworthy, and woefully unprepared for the challenges of modern man. With our political and social climate there are many potential dangers we may face on a daily basis. You cannot leave your safety or your fate to anyone but yourself. Having the tools and know how to come out of any situation as a victor and survivor is the way of the warrior. Our safety, our livelihood, and our well being is no ones responsibility but our own.
But we can remedy this. With these three entry levels of prepping you can emerge victorious in what life may throw at you when you least expect it.
To get people motivated and curious we need to discuss where to start. There are three levels of basic preparedness I like to discuss. I will give a brief explanation for each system. EDC, GHB, and BOB.
Every Day Carry or EDC is the first. Its what you carry every day without fail. We call this the pocket/purse dump challenge with new folks to the game. You dump your pockets out and ask yourself, "Is this all I would need to get out of something hairy?" If it isn't then its time to change it up.
An example of a simple EDC system could be:
Wallet
Keys
Folding pocket knife
Cell Phone
Flashlight
And that could be it. That may work just fine for you. And for a lot of people there may even be a few items they would never imagine to carry every single day. Your EDC is your very first thing you would resort to use in a time of need and the most important so you should be confident in it. If not, there are many sources for information and examples on the internet and within the prepping community that can help you round your EDC out. Simple searches for hashtags such as #EDC or #pocketdump on instagram will yield thousands of examples if you need to get some inspiration.
Get Home Bag or GHB is a bag that is in your vehicle that may help you get home in a pinch. This can be a smaller sling bag or backpack and be changed out twice a year for seasonal accommodations. This would be best utilized in situation where you may not be able to operate your vehicle and had to get to a safe place on foot.
An example of a simple GHB system could be:
Extra set of clothes, socks and underwear especially
Battery backup for devices
Phone charger
Medication
Lighter
Flashlight
First Aid
Water
Long shelf life snacks
This basic set up for a GHB is enough and more than enough in most cases to get you back home or to a safe place. When I built mine I think of what items I may need for myself and someone else on a 5-10 mile walk into the unknown. As with the EDC there is a huge community to reach out to online for examples of what they use for their personal GHB and it will vary from season to season as well from user to user, depending on where they live. Resources like YouTube will also help learning about advanced trunk set ups to help get you and yours back home and to safety.
The last level and the most known iconic or well known piece of the prepper puzzle is the Bug Out Bag or the BOB. There are a million variations for how this works for some people but I will give the very basic idea. A BOB is going to be a 3 day survival bag built to suit your needs in any given situation. It has to contain enough food and water to get you where you would need to go if you had to leave home for some reason. Usually these tend to be 30L+ bags or so with many compartments for ease of use and quick access to items. With that being said, it is the heaviest and the most complicated by far. For lots of people it may contain a weapon system(s) such as a sidearm and rifle, and major medical equipment depending on what your skill level is or what your scenario may be. The primary thing to remember with this system is that this is your go to grab and go bag when and if the shit hits the fan. SHTF is something a lot of preppers and survivalists talk about, and its different for everyone. This is why the topic of BOBs is such a big topic of conversation. This is the bag for the worst of the very worst of situations.
An example of a very simple BOB system could be:
Water
Food
Ammo
Clothing
Shelter
First Aid
Everything else is optional. This will be a topic of much debate and concern later in write ups. With these three systems there is one simple way I should explain how they work. Your EDC should be able to get you to your GHB, and your GHB should be able to get you to your BOB. And your BOB is what will get you out of the nitty gritty.
I hope this has been an informed write up to those interested in self reliance. As heathens we owe it to ourselves, our kindred and our families to all be self sufficient and aware of what the real world is like and to have the tools to deal with it. And there is no better time than now to be prepared. Still don't know where to begin? Dump the items out of your pockets and see if you are where you want to be. If you are not happy with saying, "this is enough for me", then now its time to do the homework to fix that.
Hail the Old Gods!
Hail the Folk!
Hail the Ancestors!
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