Contender or Pretender

[PA PATRIOT]

I have a good friend who has been into prepping for several years now and ever time we visit he talks about his gear and how well he is able to set-up, use and maintain same.

So Saturday my kids who are scouts had to practice their camping skills of tent set-up, fire starting and food gathering (Berry and Mushroom ID and collection, fishing, etc.) for a coming scout camping trip when my friend showed up with his son who is in the same troop.

Any how things got started and during tent set-up his son was unable to set-up a simple two person dome tent. Also I notice his father who always talked a good game about prepping was hanging back not offering instruction in any way when I suggested he shown his son how the tent was set-up so he could learn the proper technique.

After 30 minutes the tent was still in a pile and my friend finally gave up. I ask if he need some help and if the two man dome tent was any different then the same brand six person dome tent that he uses for his preps. He told me "No" they were the same and that he figured how hard could it really be to set one up if he had to.

It took about 10 minutes to show them both how to set-up the tent and the then the boys were off to find berries and mushrooms when I asked if he really knew how to use his gear and if he ever practiced using any of it and his response was "No".

Long story short my friend had a few thousand dollars worth of gear and no clue how to use it, gather food or how to purify water. Now I'm sure his story is not unique and many people figure how hard can it be to use their gear.

But I wonder if you placed that same person suddenly in the field with nothing more then his prep's how many could actually set-up a functional camp within a day?

So if you had to move out tonight and live out in the field or survive out of your vehicle for a extended period of time with your current gear, could you do so?

[SteveS]

I loved the Boy Scouts and Even more so when my son was in the scouts. His troop went out on camping/outdoor activities every month and I ended up camping/backing 30+ days a year for the 5 years he was in the scouts. The week at summer camp was great by the way.

[Jack-O]

I imagine a mans ego will kill him much faster in an emergency that the actual emergency itself.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Phila you hit upon something, IMHO most folks who consider themselves "preppers" are nothing more than hoarders. In the Nat Geo series Doomsday Preppers this is evident as the majority of the people profiled drilled their plans/preps for the first time on camera no less.

It goes further than this though, how many people who own say an AR can fully disassemble a BCG and put it back together for routine maintenance much less have the ability to change a problematic part? How many people who own a "survival knife" know how to sharpen it properly? And so on . . .

[HES]

I loved the Boy Scouts and Even more so when my son was in the scouts. His troop went out on camping/outdoor activities every month and I ended up camping/backing 30+ days a year for the 5 years he was in the scouts. The week at summer camp was great by the way.

Yep. My son is now in the 7th grade. He has been in scouts since the 1st grade and between the pack or the troop we average about 11 camping trips a year, Friday night through Sunday noon. Sounds like a great was to get the posure to step up and assist as an adult leader while at the same time getting some experience.

As for me, no I am not the be all do all end all despite my experience. There is still more for me to learn and master. However I sure as snot am a lot more experienced than fools like in the OP.

[K.L. Davis]

No different than anything else...

Ford F150 Raptor and a Simpson Helmet = Offroad Race Driver
$2500.00 Carbine and Secret Camo Pat = Steely Eyed Killer
Fender Telecaster Deluxe and five foot pedals = Rock God

[Awesome1228]

I have a good friend who has been into prepping for several years now and ever time we visit he talks about his gear and how well he is able to set-up, use and maintain same.

So Saturday my kids who are scouts had to practice their camping skills of tent set-up, fire starting and food gathering (Berry and Mushroom ID and collection, fishing, etc.) for a coming scout camping trip when my friend showed up with his son who is in the same troop.

Any how things got started and during tent set-up his son was unable to set-up a simple two person dome tent. Also I notice his father who always talked a good game about prepping was hanging back not offering instruction in any way when I suggested he shown his son how the tent was set-up so he could learn the proper technique.

After 30 minutes the tent was still in a pile and my friend finally gave up. I ask if he need some help and if the two man dome tent was any different then the same brand six person dome tent that he uses for his preps. He told me "No" they were the same and that he figured how hard could it really be to set one up if he had to.

It took about 10 minutes to show them both how to set-up the tent and the then the boys were off to find berries and mushrooms when I asked if he really knew how to use his gear and if he ever practiced using any of it and his response was "No".

Long story short my friend had a few thousand dollars worth of gear and no clue how to use it, gather food or how to purify water. Now I'm sure his story is not unique and many people figure how hard can it be to use their gear.

But I wonder if you placed that same person suddenly in the field with nothing more then his prep's how many could actually set-up a functional camp within a day?

So if you had to move out tonight and live out in the field or survive out of your vehicle for a extended period of time with your current gear, could you do so?

This is an interesting topic, and I mentioned something in passing on another thread. Being in Utah, there is a big push by the LDS church for food storage. Many people that I have met don't really understand it. They have boxes full of things like rice, beans, wheat and dried milk but wouldn't know how to cook with it in a emergency. They have simply doing what they are instructed without actually buying into the concept. I store food that I use, and I use what I store. Same idea with other equipment and supplies. I don't buy things just to have them, and the stuff I buy doesn't sit in a corner of the basement, I actually use it. While there is lots of room to learn, I know how to use and do use everything that I have by way of supplies. I keep everything in good working order, with spare parts and back ups for most things. Whenever I get anything new, I play around with it. Learn how to set it up, or turn it on, or cut something with it or whatever.

[Caduceus]

Based strictly on your question, yes, I could survive. I'm an Eagle scout, did about 200 days of backpacking and another 2-300 camping (ie, car or jamboree type stuff) over that time. So, yeah, tents, water purifying, navigation is pretty easy. I'm not the greatest at cross-country travel, but I can get it done.

Now, when my supplies run out ... now we're in different territory. I kinda-sorta know the theory on some alternate food sources: small game snares, cattails, acorns, etc, but never really practiced those. And though I can dissect a human and sat through countless surgeries, I can't ''properly'' field dress an animal. While I'm sure I could eventually get a bow/arrow made and get game (or fish), it's going to be rough and a real race between me and starvation. Ideally, I'd be working on those things while I still have pre-packed provisions, so I'm not caught totally flat footed.

The other question is, which gear? My BOB only? My BOB and my truck (which has some stocks)? My entire ''camping equipment'' array? If it was a truly bare-bones, me and my BOB, then that point where I start to improv and battle the odds is going to be hitting me a LOT quicker than if I get to load up my pickup with 4 tupperwares of gear.

[militarymoron]

i'm not much of a bug-out 'prepper', as living in a highly populated area, i don't have anywhere to go. i'd just try to make it back home and stay there. bugging out with a 4-yr old kid and wife - that changes what i'd think of carrying in that sort of situation.
but, i do have camping gear etc, and try to use it before ever taking it out. we had our tent set up in the living room for 3 months because my son loved playing in it (no place outside to set it up). we've also done camp gear cooking in the garage just to test stuff out and make sure we can use it. GPS? used it around town before taking it out to the desert. it just makes sense to try out stuff in the comfort of your own home or daily environment before finding out you don't know how to use it when you really need it.

[nineteenkilo]

it just makes sense to try out stuff in the comfort of your own home or daily environment before finding out you don't know how to use it when you really need it.

This is it in a nutshell. I spend a lot of time helping out with the local BSA Troop. We have a well funded troop that does a major activity 11 months out of the year. We take December off for family time. Along with that, we have a lot of parents who would rather throw money at their kids than actually spend the time learning the skills themselves or passing along what they actually do know.

As a result, we have lots of kids with lots of gadgets who couldn't navigate a parking lot and would die of starvation if it wasn't wrapped in cellophane.