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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Mistakes commonly made by Survivalists

By Joseph Parish

We are all survivalists and were beginners at one time or other and each of us could perhaps share an interesting anecdote or two concerning our experiences. Unfortunately, the new survivalists often learn the tricks of the trade the hard way and many times even the more experienced of us survivalists may overlook important aspects associated with bugging out or retreat creation. Although the saying of live and learn may apply to most situations I for one do not desire to chance a philosophy such as that to the well being and survival of my family in an emergency situation. Perhaps this short article may serve as a reminder to both the newbie’s as well as for the experienced pros in what not to do.

All survivalists should become familiar with their survival gear. Don’t wait until an actual emergency condition to find out that something is amiss with your equipment. This is exactly the mistake that is often made by the new survivalists. All their equipment is new and still packed in its original boxes and actually have never been opened. They wait until they are at their retreat or in the middle of the woods and embarrassingly discover that something is wrong. By then my friend it is simply too late. Always try any new gear out prior to storing it and above all if a piece of equipment requires batteries never store the batteries in the equipment. Make certain that you do in fact have extra batteries but never place them in the equipment when it is stored.

Many times I have witnessed new survivalists suffering through the routine of trying to install a piece of valuable equipment in the field only to tie up a considerable amount of time that could have been used better for something else. Don’t be one of those people who fumble for several hours trying to decipher how to use one of their newest gadgets. Always check out the operation of any new lanterns and stoves that you may accumulate to make certain that they are in fact operational.

Survival is all about being prepared. New survivalists will often forget the importance of including enough clothing in their bug out bags. You may not have any means of washing clothes initially when you have to bug out. In addition the various types of weather conditions may dictate different sets of clothing so make sure you are prepared. Make sure you take appropriate rain gear in the event of showers, swim trunks in case you desire to take a dip in the local river and a light jacket or sweater for the cooler evening air.

If you are a new survivalist and just starting to develop your own survival bug out exercises the first rule of thumb is don’t go far initially. Give yourself time to work out all the bugs of your equipment listings and operations. Keep close to home at first and slowly advance to further exercise points. You may discover that some of your gear is not operating as it should or perhaps you didn’t take enough food and you unfortunately ran out. Any number of occurrences may happen that could affect your bug out exercise negatively. Initially take several shorter trips closer to your home.

Hopefully you have a start on becoming a more effective survivalist and one important point to remember is to take advantage of the knowledge of the more experienced survivalists. They have been there and done that. Good luck.

Copyright @ 2009 Joseph Parish

http://www.survival-training.info

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