Are you prepared or are you rolling the dice? Be honest.

  • HTML tutorial

Renegade

Rank IV

Enthusiast III

1,212
Texas
It’s not a complete guide but more of a few talking points fot the unprepared person who thought they were prepared. I’m armed and can deal with wildlife and people with hostile intents but that’s beyond the scope of my short video. Make sense?
It just seemed to me if you overkilled on some things (2 Bic Lighters, a Ferro Rod , water proof matches) but completely missed others.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Correus
S

SubeeBen

Guest
No matter how much training you have, no matter how much gear you have, no matter how "prepared" you are for everything - you are never completely 100% prepared. Sometimes having too much gear with you can even become a hindrance.

One of the primary pieces of kit a person needs is their own mindset. It doesn't hurt to learn how to become a "MacGyver" either. Learn how to think outside the box in an emergency situation. Don't completely rely on "stuff". Basic outdoor and survival knowledge like you learn in Boy Scouts is good.

There have been too many times entire vehicles, complete with gear, have been lost with no hope of accessing the gear inside. There have been many times when people have been well prepared and have found themselves stuck, with no hope of reaching it and end up cutting a body part off.

Don't get me wrong, everything in the vid is good, and you'd be insane to go on certain treks without at least the basics; yet too many people come to rely on gear and are clueless without it.

Fortunately most people will never be in such situations.

An example from the video - changing the tire. First off, if you don't know how to change a tire perhaps you shouldn't be doing this. Learning to change a tire when the weather is nice, it's daylight and so on is one thing; take it to the next level. Change your tire at night when it's freezing; do it during a torrential storm; and etc. Learn what to do if you can't change the tire - what are your options.

Most important of all - know your limits, mentally, physically and knowledge/skillset wise.
Very true & couldn’t agree more. Well put.
 

Sgt12XU

Rank V
Launch Member

Member III

2,306
Sunnyvale, CA
Member #

9241

It just seemed to me if you overkilled on some things (2 Bic Lighters, a Ferro Rod , water proof matches) but completely missed others.
That was in regard to the five Cs of survivability, what should be in an emergency pack. That in itself was probably too detailed and over the top given the true target audience.

I think I’ll redo the video to be very clear who my target audience is for that vid (the lesser trained, lessor experienced, lessor equipped, etc.). I should expand more on some topics and reduce the discussion of others. It was a limited first effort that wasn’t completely organized at a level I’m satisfied with or presented as well as I’m capable of.
 

Cody_Gorsuch

Rank V
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

1,798
Altoona, PA, USA
First Name
Cody
Last Name
Gorsuch
Member #

15322

I carry a 72hr bag in addition to my normal loadout. One thing I feel like almost everyone seems to miss is being physically fit and healthy. You can pack a bag full of awesome expensive gear but can you get off the mountain or wherever you are with that? If in some instance you have to ditch your vehicle to get out and your not capable of walking to your mailbox the chances of getting out of a bad situation isn’t good if all else fails. Train with your gear, use your “survival” bag on hikes.
 
Last edited:

CR-Venturer

Rank VI
Launch Member

Traveler III

3,372
Ardrossan, AB, Canada
First Name
Jas
Last Name
Spr
Member #

16340

Heyo! Military background, currently serving LE here too. Thank you for your service!

Good video overall. I'd say my preparedness is pretty good - I've pretty much got everything checked off that you mention. I agree with the point about being smart about decisions you make, especially when solo, and not biting off more than you can chew. Discretion is the better part of valour, I often say.

One thing I would recommend - move that high-lift jack off your bull bar. That thing is going to smash right through your windshield in a front end collision. Behind the rear tire mount or along the side of the roof rack is a far safer and better location.

Cheers!
 

Sgt12XU

Rank V
Launch Member

Member III

2,306
Sunnyvale, CA
Member #

9241

I would do it like this:

1) Basic things you should have on your person.
2) Basic things you should have in your vehicle.
3) Basic skills you should have.
We’ll see how far I get into the weeds with it. It should be a series broken into 8-10 min vids really. The skills portion alone could be it’s own series really. I could get too wrapped around the axle on that one, when many excellent people have already done similar content.

As always, thanks for the feedback. In summary, I need to decide on what exactly my scope is if I continue on the subject in videos. Once I decide that, then I can structure the content accordingly.

Also, I’m opposed to collaborating with the content. We have some very good people here with a lot of tribal knowledge. If anybody which a particular topic of interest would like to dabble in video content with me, feel free to PM as needed.
 

Sgt12XU

Rank V
Launch Member

Member III

2,306
Sunnyvale, CA
Member #

9241

Heyo! Military background, currently serving LE here too. Thank you for your service!

One thing I would recommend - move that high-lift jack off your bull bar. That thing is going to smash right through your windshield in a front end collision. Behind the rear tire mount or along the side of the roof rack is a far safer and better location.

Cheers!
Thanks for your service. Be safe out there. These are difficult times brother.

On the jack location, it was a compromise. I didn’t want it on the hood for the exact reason you mentioned. I’ve taken enough 11-80s and 11-80 fatals to know better. I put it low, so it would likely end up in the radiator if sheared off.

Having said that, I’m still deciding my rear bumper setup. Can’t make up my mind what I want so far. Once that gets resolved, most likely the jack will be vertically mounted on the rear.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CR-Venturer

CR-Venturer

Rank VI
Launch Member

Traveler III

3,372
Ardrossan, AB, Canada
First Name
Jas
Last Name
Spr
Member #

16340

Thanks for your service. Be safe out there. These are difficult times brother.

On the jack location, it was a compromise. I didn’t want it on the hood for the exact reason you mentioned. I’ve taken enough 11-80s and 11-80 fatals to know better. I put it low, so it would likely end up in the radiator if sheared off.

Having said that, I’m still deciding my rear bumper setup. Can’t make up my mind what I want so far. Once that gets resolved, most likely the jack will be vertically mounted on the rear.
That'll be far better. Your rig is totally sick, btw. I plan on doing a very similar setup with my rack - light bar and limb lifters.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sgt12XU

Anak

Rank V
Launch Member

Member III

2,741
Sandy Eggo
Good stuff. It is a good effort to make folks aware.

If I were to add anything it would revolve around water purification.

I think mental and physical aptitudes and fitness are the most vital things, but those are hard to objectify.

Making folks aware in the first place is the challenge. I think most of the world operates on "code white" and cannot conceive of anything different. Waking them up is generally painful.

And then there is the percentage at the opposite end of the spectrum who live their life on "code red" and think everyone else needs to be there too. You will never satisfy that crowd.

Best of luck trying to walk a line between the two.
 

CR-Venturer

Rank VI
Launch Member

Traveler III

3,372
Ardrossan, AB, Canada
First Name
Jas
Last Name
Spr
Member #

16340

Good stuff. It is a good effort to make folks aware.

If I were to add anything it would revolve around water purification.

I think mental and physical aptitudes and fitness are the most vital things, but those are hard to objectify.

Making folks aware in the first place is the challenge. I think most of the world operates on "code white" and cannot conceive of anything different. Waking them up is generally painful.

And then there is the percentage at the opposite end of the spectrum who live their life on "code red" and think everyone else needs to be there too. You will never satisfy that crowd.

Best of luck trying to walk a line between the two.
Being code red constantly is just as foolish and self destructive as being code white all the time. Code white behind locked doors at home, code yellow everywhere outside until it's time to progress to a higher level of alertness. Being hyper vigilant 24/7 is a recipe for severe burnout.
 

Boostpowered

Rank VI

Member III

4,879
Hunt county, TX, USA
First Name
Justin
Last Name
Davis
Member #

14684

Youll never really know if you are prepared unless the absolute worst happens. Usually when everything goes wrong you will find there was something you did not think of and at that point learning to be expediant is important. Like when your on a trail with a flat and your hi lift decides to fold in half due to age, then you have to figure out how to jack up your vehicle i learned a long time ago from my grandpa that you can wedge a log under your bumper and drive up on it till it lifts your rig you change the tire and back down off the log.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CR-Venturer

CR-Venturer

Rank VI
Launch Member

Traveler III

3,372
Ardrossan, AB, Canada
First Name
Jas
Last Name
Spr
Member #

16340

Good points here, and it brings up the single most important recovery/survival tool in any of our arsenals, namely our minds. The ability to remain calm and collected, make timely and sound decisions and think outside the box is absolutely critical, and all the gear in the world is essentially useless without those skills.
 

carlospalooza

Rank III
Member
Investor

Enthusiast I

874
NE Los Angeles
First Name
Carlos
Last Name
Bishop
Member #

10860

I know there’s lots of video info out there but I appreciate this one very much. My daughter and friend are taking a camping trip from San Diego Ca to Mather Campground near The Grand Canyon for spring break. Although they both have some outdoors and camping experience this and these types of videos will be required before leaving :-). Appreciate the time you spent and all the constructive criticism here.
 

Winterpeg

CDN Prairie Ambassador
Staff member
Launch Member

Influencer II

3,278
Winnipeg, MB
Member #

2861

We all do the best we can to be prepared ("we" as in people like us on Overlandbound and in this thread).

At the end of the day though.... if it was 100% safe we wouldn't be doing it.

"Nothing fun in life is safe"
 
  • Like
Reactions: Anak

CR-Venturer

Rank VI
Launch Member

Traveler III

3,372
Ardrossan, AB, Canada
First Name
Jas
Last Name
Spr
Member #

16340

The truth is, life is a terminal condition, so you have to make the most of the time you've got ;)

There are calculated risks and stupid risks. The trick about adventuring is avoiding the latter in favour of the former.