What have you done this week to prep?

[MohawkSlim]

We're having a ruck march/bug out bag clinic in Bedford on Sunday. Everyone is invited! This can be your "what I did to prep" for this week.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...ess/396257-ruck-march-bug-out-bag-clinic.html

More tinder is better for a lot of reasons. In the future, I will have as big of a tinder nest as I can manager. I will have double the amount of small kindling than I think I need before I try to ignite.

The best advice I ever heard for starting fires is "Start a little fire before starting your big fire." It is so much easier to catch the bigger stuff once your kindling is burning well. Almost every time I see people starting fires they have a few sticks and logs but hardly any kindling at all. They're shocked when "the outdoorsy guy" comes over and makes a teeny-tiny little fire... which turns into a big fire in just a few minutes.

Now you're that guy!

 

[teddy12b]

Oh, and I will be reluctant in the future to criticize people on the survival-oriented shows when they cannot readily make a fire. Yes, they should be fire-building experts before applying for a role on any of those shows (even "Survivor"), but it's just not as easy as it looks if your resources are limited and the conditions are not favorable.

I agree 100%. It's always a simple thing to get a fire going when I try now because I slept well the night before, I'm well fed, I'm not thirsty, etc. The nice thing about the pathfinder school was spending a whole weekend starting more fires than I can count and most of it is done with a ferro rod. As Dave C says, it's all about fine surface area and a good ferro rod. The ferro rods out there aren't all created equally. I stash the cheap ones all over, but the best ferro rod I have stays in my truck.

What I try to get across to my wife more than anything else is how fast the attitudes change after a relatively short period of time. We've also been talking about doing a major expansion of our garden for next year. The size of our garden is just too limited to produce any real amount of food.

 

[rhino]

The best advice I ever heard for starting fires is "Start a little fire before starting your big fire." It is so much easier to catch the bigger stuff once your kindling is burning well. Almost every time I see people starting fires they have a few sticks and logs but hardly any kindling at all. They're shocked when "the outdoorsy guy" comes over and makes a teeny-tiny little fire... which turns into a big fire in just a few minutes.

Now you're that guy!

I hope! Plus, unless you're under some kind of stress to be in a hurry, making kindling from bigger pieces is kind of restful and enjoyable. Batoning a smaller knife through smaller sticks tap-tap-tap is kind of fun.

I agree 100%. It's always a simple thing to get a fire going when I try now because I slept well the night before, I'm well fed, I'm not thirsty, etc. The nice thing about the pathfinder school was spending a whole weekend starting more fires than I can count and most of it is done with a ferro rod. As Dave C says, it's all about fine surface area and a good ferro rod. The ferro rods out there aren't all created equally. I stash the cheap ones all over, but the best ferro rod I have stays in my truck.

Yep! I'm learning . . .

 

[Zoub]

To help prioritize and focus your outdoor skills I highly suggest people experience hypothermia, giardia, dehydration, major flesh wounds and being lost but not in lethal doses and only one at a time. You can do two but at that point it's more of a test of your skills, not skills development.

If you are starting a fire with only natural materials collected, nothing man made, you will appreciate having a blast match. The better your skills, the more you can do with less and that's critical but if you have less by choice, see first paragraph.

If you can't light a fire with one match, keep at it until you can. It's not about the match, it's about your prep. Always prep like you only have one match, even in your fireplace on Saturday night. Read what you have and make it work.

 

[dusty88]

This week, I got my ducks in a row.

 

[bwframe]

This week, I got my ducks in a row. View attachment 42405

That is impressive!

 

[churchmouse]

Ran all the genny's under load today for an hour.
Rotated some fuel.

 

[MohawkSlim]

Jogged 5.3 miles Tuesday. I'll probably do another 5 or so in the morning. Been getting in two or three runs a week for the past seven weeks.

Guys, I can't stress enough how important it is for us to do cardio. I know it's hard for us to do it (and I still hate it) but it gets easier really fast. Just a few weeks is all it takes to make it a routine. I'm of the opinion that getting in better shape is the single best prep any of us can make.

 

[Thor]

Well, on the cardio front I spent yesterday assembling a new elliptical cross trainer. That was a workout in itself. Staying in shape has been a life long prep, but I spent too many years doing PT in combat boots to relish any more high impact training...well except on the heavy bag, I high impact that a lot.

 

[churchmouse]

I wish my body would let me do Cardio. Running is only when there is Fire....yes Fire will get me up and on my toes pretty fast.
Large angry dogs have the same effect.
Beyond that.......Nah.

 

[ATM]

 

[littletommy]

Me and the wife did 5.5 miles on a very rugged and steep trail in Tennessee last weekend. I used my Sawyer mini filter (not the first time) and got to try out some new rain gear I just added to my pack. I will also add that my Keen hiking boots in combination with Darn tough wool socks worked perfectly in the wet conditions we encountered! Also carried my Buck sling pack, its still performing well after 100 trail miles, so I'm ordering another one for my truck gear.

 

[churchmouse]

We have changed our program so it no longer includes back packs. I have 2 packs that I would almost give to someone if they want to get started. One is a multi pocket pack than can be loaded with enough gear to keep 1 person going for 4 days. I have tested this and it works with good planning.

The 2nd one is smaller military pack. We used it to add clothing/comfort items.
PM me and I will hook someone up.

 

[teddy12b]

Along the lines of getting into better shape. I've been going to a crossfit gym now for three full months and I can honestly say I'm in 100% better shape than I was. I haven't lost a pound, but my belt loops have changed by 2 holes. I can feel my body getting stronger, I feel and lot slimmer, I have a level of energy that's a lot more than I would have ever hoped to have gained. It's tough, but there's guys in there who are older, fatter, weaker than me and they show up all the time. There's guys in there who've been at it for years and they are absolute beasts. Crossfit gyms by reputation are geared towards cheering on the slowest guy or gal in the room. I'm indescribably glad that I started working out at the gym.

Since my last post I attended Wetsu's one day survival class. This was my third time going and every time I've learned something new. I look at it like a yearly tune up to find out what I suck at and need to work on. My shelter building was absolutely terrible. My fire starting was kinda blah, because I was trying to get away with using the most minimal tinder bundle I could find and be lazy. Other things I did better at. For me, I'll be traveling out of state for hunting in a couple weeks and the guy going with me has never been through any survival training, has some health issues, and if something happens would be relying on me. Like I mentioned earlier, this class is my yearly tune up to see where I'm at.

Put new tires on the truck. I could have gotten more time out of the tires I already had on my truck, but for all terrains rated at 60,000 miles of usable life it just seemed crazy to not have that checked off the list. Lots of peace of mind knowing that the truck stands a better chance of getting through some rough stuff than it did a week ago.

Otherwise I've been going through hunting gear, sharpening the knife, packing up gear and getting everything ready.

 

[Car Ramrod]

Split 4 ricks of wood for the BOL, and am looking to split another 8-12 tomorrow.

Plan to go through some of the gear in my truck today and get my cold weather gear bag back in there.

 

[mom45]

We are down to one guinea so we decided to stack some firewood in his pen. I figure he can still access his little house and the wood will help break the wind and keep him warmer. We started putting it in here just over a week ago. I'd say we have made pretty good progress. When we got this far, we switched to stacking by the tractor shed. The other barn already has at least a two year supply in it so this is extra "just in case" or for future use.







This is what we have left to split and stack. Got the split stuff done today and then stopped. Our backs told us it was time to quit after loading the big chunks onto the splitter for a while.

 

[Leadeye]

Ground looks sandy around there.

 

[mom45]

Ground looks sandy around there.

It is...like beach sand almost. This used to be the Grand Kankakee Marsh...a huge lake about 100 years ago. They drained it to create farm ground. There is a neat documentary called The Everglades of the North about it.

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

got two spare wicks for each of my three kerosene heaters and I also got a filter-funnel which can filter out water and other gunk from kerosene (or any kind of fuel).

 

[dusty88]

Impressive wood stack there, mom45