Heeeyho Readers! Let's talk about survivalism!
I'm following a survivalism channel on the web and last video revolved around people's unpreparedness. Have you ever analyzed queues of refugees to see what they carry? It's worrisome and devastating.
Research with refugees from various countries and under different circumstances (some fled without warning) shows that people tend to carry sentimental objects (photos, teddy bears, bibles, worthless jewelry, etc); or electronics without chargers; not enough water and food for the first days; worthless local paper money; house and car keys that they are leaving behind; inappropriate clothes and et cetera.
Leaving everything behind isn't easy — quite obvious to point that out —, so our best hope is to be prepared. For that reason, I propose a challenge.
Five minutes to escape challenge
The situation: We need to flee our homes for whatever reason (natural disaster, war, government, etc) and we have five minutes to grab items for the journey. We don't know exactly where we are going; the idea is to run away. There's nobody to help us on the way. We can't use any motor vehicle to load stuff.
The idea is not to post about those super awesome ideal equipment. Look around your surroundings and take five minutes to find items that you already have near you. Explain your decisions. Good luck.
My five minutes
Shit got serious and time is ticking. I first run to my bedroom and open the wardrobe. First item on my hand is a 50L hiking backpack. I open it wide and start shoving a winter sleeping bag inside without much organization. Inside the wardrobe there's a plastic container with all my camping gear (sleeping mat, tent, dry bags, medical kit and stove) that also go into the backpack.
On the top part of the same wardrobe I pick a rain jacket and another down jacket and stuff into the backpack. On the first drawer I pick a handful of socks and underwear. From the second drawer comes a pair of two-in-one trousers, a bunch of second layer shirts, and two second skin pants.
Moving to the left part of the wardrobe. I pick two fleece blouses (and I hope they aren't in the washer) and whatever t-shirts are there.
Two minutes are gone
I'm right now laying in bed, so I have to put on my shoes (untied because there's no time). I pull a notebook from the bedside table (you'll understand why later). Cell phone is in my pocket.
Three minutes are gone
The kitchen is near. I open the counter drawer and grab both the Swiss Army knife and Sawyer water filter. Also, from the counter comes my camping pan (I store it as a kit with fork, spoon, a cloth, fire kit, etc). It all goes inside the backpack.
Lastly, I open our food storage and stuff every piece of junk food and canned food on the way. Before leaving I put two water bottles on each side of the backpack and grab my wallet from the table.
Time is gone
Might be missing a lot of useful stuff, nor my organization at home helps, but that's what came across my mind as the chronometer ran. It's far from perfect, although better than fleeing bare-handed. Here's my thoughts.
- Backpack: I see most refugees using regular suitcases. Suitcases are difficult to haul, they break and fail all the time, not ergonomic.
- Winter sleeping bag and winter clothes: I don't know what's going to happen after I leave. Although it's summer, I better be prepared for chilly nights.
- Camping gear: Preparedness to sleep anywhere.
- Cooking gear: A well-fed body moves faster.
- Water filter: When chaos settles, water becomes one of the most important resources.
- Notebook: I'm not taking my computer and unsure if there will be energy to charge my cellphone anytime soon, so I have a small notebook with all the important phone numbers written on it. It also has other important info that I may need.
I'd like to divide food and clothes, as they are the hardest items. The main reason: some clothes might not be in the wardrobe (other than jackets, etc) and there's no time to find them.
We don't generally have junk food (canned stuff, snacks, etc) at home, so that might be a problem in terms of preparedness.
Money
That's controversial. Most people nowadays don't carry paper money; it's mostly debit/credit cards. Depending on the situation we might not have access to our bank accounts. Paper money is also worthless depending on the country.
I'd rather cross borders carrying Bitcoin, but that's a whole new survivalism post.
Are you prepared?
Set a chronometer for five minutes and try your best! Share your post in the comments so I can read, comment and upvote.
Peace.
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Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
No idea so I would just pack what @mrprofessor would pack as he is the survivalist guru in my book :D How about the laptop? Can I take my laptop? My entire life is in there without much exaggeration :D
@tipu curate
Guru aaaahhhahaha you are a legend
A laptop? You know, that's one tough item to decide... mine is pretty heavy and old and inexpensive, so I don't bother. I believe it depends on the circumstance (which we can never predict, I guess?).
Your question also brings a concern: how much are we dependent on electronics to store information, passwords, bitcoin?, for maps, geolocation, etc
Mine is relatively light and compact, I would take it :D I mean I have everything in there, all photos, documents and everything from at least the last decade, probably even longer as I always try to copy everything from the old laptop to the new one...
See, you gotta have a plan B to store all that information.
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Hello brother, I really liked your post. I asked myself that question. What would happen if I had to suddenly leave my home? It is a biblical thing "take your cloak and do not return" Your tips are good, especially because it helps to choose what we could wear in such a moment.
Patagonia is an excellent place. If you are ever in the Strait of Magellan, let me know brother. Blessings ✌️
Awesome! Are you from there?
I live in Punta Arenas brother, but I am from Venezuela.
That's cool! I've been there. Stayed in a guy named Eduardo, who used to work at a gas station (in Jan. 2017); I wonder if he's still there.
Who knows? Many things have changed hahah 😂
I gotta go there and check, then we can hang around since I didn't have much time to explore Punta Arenas =/
I'll be around for another year, let me know if you stop by, brother ✌️
This is exactly the sort of posting I like to see here. Nice work.
Thank you! I'm getting my motivation back in little steps (been kinda struggling lately). I'm having some crazy ideas, like grabbing all this stuff and going out to survive let's a week in the remote areas of our coast.
Yeah, I hear you, I wouldn't mind escaping for a while myself.
You know, the sad thing about this post, the topic, is that in reality most people are woefully unprepared. Then, they read something like this, get excited about being prepared, and then...don't prepare a thing. Then...they wonder why, when things go wrong, they aren't prepared for it.
The really great thing is, people like you and I are prepared, though right?
Got the mindset, half-way there. Skills and ideas where and how to get the things you need but you currently don't have for some reason. A starter pack is useful but sometimes you get caught without one, anyway.
Besides, I have to think of three people, not just me.
Still, I got my backpack with sleeping bags in it, a couple and the kid is still small enough to fit into one of ours. A fishing line, a suspense cord of some kind, a multi-tool pocket knife, lighters and matchboxes for starting fire...The clothes on our backs, a couple of extra super compact soft synthetic blankets. Raincoats. A dry bag. And, talking about sentimental, I think I still have a thread from the robe of Dalai Lama (a gift from a friend who saw him, I never did) attached to one of the backpack's extra loops.
Basically, if you have a knife, the forest shall provide with lots of other stuff. I still prefer tho have some cords in a pocket. The rest of a ow can be made on the go. Light protective gloves.
The thing I now realize I'm lacking at the moment is really sturdy shoes. I got some too old, still whole, but not keeping water out.
Bang! I'm out of home and on my way and in the evening I realize I forgot my toothbrush. Or IDs. Or any paper money just in case I could still use them to get stuff on the way. And I grew hungry before I caught any fish or any lettuce.
So...I guess it's worth it to practice this s**t every once in a while and learn from your mistakes before it gets real.
You're far more prepared than most, and you've got some good items for sure.
It's certainly worth preparing for things that may happen suddenly; the sad thing is that most don't prepare or have a plan for the most basic of things like injuries and health-events or fires, let alone other things that we know can occur. I think it's irresponsible.
Well, we've been taught that others are responsible for our hardships and solutions should come from above...
That's true enough, I understand what you're alluding to. Well said.
Most people aren't prepared for the most common crisis (going bankrupt); let alone war, tsunami, hurricane, fire, etc.
It would be a complete chaos if we ever face a real, deep economic depression -- unfortunately I see this situation as a possibility. I don't think I'd be safe even having land to live from. For example: I was reading this morning about the farmers situation in the Netherlands... the government is literally buying their land to 'preserve the environment'. The government could literally take my land from me if our economy goes kaboosh.
Exactly, it's all going pretty badly but people seem incapable of seeing it, mostly. There is a world of hurt coming and some will be more prepared than others.
The land thing in the Netherlands happens here too, only it's the government selling up to the Chinese. It's bonkers, along with all the other bonkers shit that goes on. There's a fall coming, and many will go down with it.
Wait... what the real f?!?
I talked to a friend who lives in Australia today and asked about firearms laws. He said Australia is pretty much unarmed. Is that true? So basically there's no chance against the government?
Australia is not unarmed, I have more than 20 firearms (handguns, rifles and shotguns) personally and there are millions out there. I've done many posts on my shooting and guns. So, your friend is wrong.
Survivalism really depends on the terrain as well. I maybe play too much game on that front haha and learned that many of us doesn't really have much clue what to prepare when shit hits the fan. Great write up!
I guess we can never create a situation unless something really happens, right? That's what I'm thinking. I try to analyze what has happened already, like in Ukraine and the middle-east multiple times with the refugees, but still, those people found some sort of help along the way.
So I evolve to unlikely (I hope) situations, like the government coming after me for whatever reason. No way I'm going to surrender.
Or a super possible situation where I go bankrupt and homeless, but then I have a lot more time to prepare etc.
OMG, I found this post fascinating. You are so right about the sentimental shit that people would hold onto or grab in survival cases. I never thought about paper money, but it makes total sense.
I'm happy I stumbled across your post:)))
I guess ppl don't even have the time to think properly, so they grab items that give them peace of mind (which is alright although not useful).
Isn't it so interesting? Imagine that if we have to flee our countries it's because the economy is already messed up, so zero value for that paper money. Then we could bring high-valued jewelry or gold/silver coins, but robbery is a huge risk. That's why cryptos are so important.
Now curious to see what you'd bring.
That's a serious post man!
I wish more people knew about this important informations...
Thanks for sharing this post.Your blog "is a gold" like we say in greece...full of knowledge and motivation, i really believe this,keep going! 👏
Thank you! I'm getting a lot into preparadness lately, so more posts incoming xD
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STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
I think you had an advantage because you have been surviving Europe!
The only thing that came to my mind was the sleeping bag, and then I would have gone into a never-ending thought process. Game over!
Wtf, why did I miss your comment? Problem about surviving in Europe is that there's not much 'empty space' to hide (depending on the situation). I guess i'm becoming way obsessive about suddenly becoming an outlaw.