Prepping and Unrealistic Expectations

I recently received an email from a podcast listener and friend on Facebook Robert about how everything we plan for is not always black and white, sometimes we have unrealistic expectations when it comes to prepping. Having a bug out route or storing enough food to last a month is a good start, but that is only the beginning.

You need to think about what caused us to be in that situation in the first place, and what other obstacles we might face because of that. A single event could just be the first domino to fall causing a chain reaction of other events to follow, and we need to be prepared to handle those situations as they arise.

After reading the email I asked Robert if I could use it on the website as a guest post because it brings up some very good points about how we need to look at the big picture, and how it’s not just about going from point A to point B, it’s about everything you might face getting to point B.

The following is a guest post from Robert Schenck

Today I was listening to a PODCAST at work (not Dale’s) and had one of those “Oh Honey “ moments. The podcast was about an email asking information about stocking a BUG HOME bag. The Email stated that this guy lived in Pennsylvania and commuted weekly to Washington DC. I am not sure of the exact distance he said the trip was each direction but it was around 110 miles.

Now I do trips like this all the time, and I keep a get home bag with me. The problem I had was the guy believed that he could make it home in 3 days WALKING! The Podcast host said at least 3 days depending on the conditions present in the area and the reason he was walking. In my opinion both the writer and the host are completely delusional.

If you are going to need your get home bag and walking most likely we are talking an EMP type event. That means no other types of transportation are available. If it were a social collapse you would have enough warning and not make the trip. So EMP, nothing runs, no hitch hiking, anarchy starts in less than 24 hours when the bad people and ill prepared are realizing there are no police, power and phones are out and help from the government is days or weeks away if at all.

110 miles is a long stretch, which is interstate driving. Everyone on the interstate is walking too. Once the panic sets in or the people stranded on the interstate start to get hungry you are going to become a target being that you are carrying a backpack and look like you know what you are doing, So now you are off the highway and on the frontage roads or god forbid the side streets. 110 miles plus say a very generous frontage road all the way home we can add 5% so that’s now 115 miles in 3 days walking. Oh don’t forget you have your get home bag that probably weighs 20-35 pounds.

Most people walk at a rate of 3 miles per hour. 115 miles at 3 miles per hour is  36 hours nonstop, no breaks to rest, eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, take care of your blisters, talk to those who come up to you on your lovely walk or weather. 36 hours is just short of 1 and a half days nonstop and provided you don’t get tired and slow down.

But wait!

You still have a bag on your back, And being a Prepper you have everything you need to survive in that bag, Water at 8.34 pounds per gallon.  Everything that I’ve heard is you need a gallon of water per day, that’s 3 gallons of water…

• That’s 25 pounds of water!
• A change of clothes let’s say 3 pounds
• A knife 1 pound
• A first aid kit 1 pound
• A tarp and blanket for shelter 4 pounds
• And dehydrated food for 3 days let’s say 3 pounds.

We are already over our 35 pound mark not including our camp stove, fire starter, extra knife, water filter and all our extra gadgets that we saw on that cool survival website. And Gun (optional).

A little history on myself (Robert)

I was military for 16 years. I served in 2 separate wars in two different decades. The first war I was in the 82^nd Airborne. The second war I was in Special Operations attached to the 2^nd Infantry. I used to be in really good shape too. Military standard for a road march (walking with a pack on your back) was 12 miles in 3 hours. I can honestly say when you start walking you will be a lot faster than you are at the end. At the end of the 12 miles I was pretty damn tired.

So Military trained to walk distance with a pack, tired after 12 miles, Straight distance no road blocks, fires, obstacles, or bad guys trying to take my stuff I probably could walk for 10 hours at a slower pace before I need an extended rest. That’s only 30 miles on the first day.

The big picture

First off, thank you Robert for the article, this is a perfect illustration of why it’s important to look at the bigger picture. Think of prepping like your car, there are many different parts of a car that make it run, and if one of those parts is broken the car is not going to run like you expected it to… if it runs at all.

It’s fun to buy the supplies we need for prepping, and we get a sense of satisfaction when we complete our food storage goals, we fill our bug out bag or we have all the supplies we need, but preparing mentally and physically are just as important as having all the “stuff.”

If our car is going to break down before we even get on the highway, we might as well not spend the money on these supplies. And if you don’t know why getting on the highway is a bad idea in the first place, you might be in for a rude awakening.

Now I’m not saying stop prepping, I am saying if we are serious about surviving any sort of SHTF event we need to be realistic, and sometimes being realistic means doing the stuff that doesn’t involve buying the new shiny toy. Eating right, exercising and understanding how to react in any disaster scenario could turn out to be far more important than having an Altoids tin in your bug out bag.

Thanks,

Dale

SurvivalistPrepper.net