The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 12, Issue 24
Hey folks, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. I spent most of last week in Portland, Oregon. The focus of the trip was on the Portland Knife Center of Excellence (PKCOE).
I was part of small group of media folks who were invited to this event. All told, I think there were about eight of us. We visited five knife companies over two days – Benchmade, STEELPORT, Gerber, CRKT, and Leatherman. They are the founding members of the PKCOE. I was unaware of this, but the Portland area is home to more knife companies than any other city in the United States. It’s true, they did the math. The goal of the PKCOE is to turn Portland into a recognized destination for knife enthusiasts, as well as to work together on promotional projects.
It was a great trip, but I was very glad to get back home.
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A somewhat common thing in the prepping world is the notion of buying your way to being prepared. By that, I mean some folks figure if they just buy the right gear or the right kits, they’re good to go.
Strictly from an anecdotal perspective, I feel this is particularly prevalent when it comes to the medical category. I’ve known people who invested heavily in very robust medical gear, everything from suture kits and antibiotics to hospital grade equipment, yet haven’t taken anything beyond a Boy Scout level first aid class.
Don’t be that person. You should be proficient with every bit of gear and equipment you store. Stuff will only get you so far. Counting on someone else being around who knows how to put the stuff to use is a fool’s gambit.
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Work this week has largely been focused on catching up from being out of town last week. Lots of emails and lots of loose ends for various projects to tie up. I’m also working my way through all of my notes from the Portland trip and reaching out to brands about doing reviews and write-ups.
My wife and I are trying to plan another camping trip for this summer, but thus far neither of us has had the time to actually start visiting campground websites to see what’s available. Hopefully sometime in the next couple of days we can make that happen.
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We’re just a couple of weeks away from the release of Countdown to Preparedness (2nd edition)! Here’s what Craig Caudill has to say about it.
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Not too long ago, I sat down with Reuben Bolieu for a far-ranging interview about myself and my work. We touched on a ton of different subjects. You can read it all here.
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For my fellow knife nerds on the mailing list, here’s my review of the ZT 0512 automatic knife that went live a few days ago at the Offgrid website.
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For our hike this past weekend, we went to Stute Springs Nature Trail, which is part of the Kettle Moraine system outside Eagle, Wisconsin. We did the extended version of the trail, which includes a segment called Big Hill, which is the highest point in the Kettle Moraine. Once you catch your breath from the climb, you can see quite a ways.
Survival Tip – 0 to 60
This was brought up in a discussion on Facebook and I thought it would make for a great post here. As some of you know, conflict resolution is one of the soft skills that I hammer on a lot. It should be present in every prepper’s toolbox.
We’ve all had the experience of watching a loved one absolutely lose their mind over something we feel is pretty trivial. They can’t find the TV remote, Netflix is slow to load, or maybe a shoelace snaps. They are ranting and/or sobbing, and you’re thinking they’re being pretty damn dramatic over something so minor, right?
Here’s the thing. People don’t generally go from 0 to 60. If it looks like they did, it’s because you didn’t realize how long they’ve been sitting at 59.
People don’t lose their minds over trivial stuff. They lose their minds over big stuff they’ve been obsessing about, and the little thing is just the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. If you tell them to just calm down, that they’re being ridiculous about this little thing, all you’re doing is adding more straw to that broken back.
They already know that misplacing the remote is a minor inconvenience at best. They would love to calm down and address that problem rationally. But right now, they are raging about something entirely different and they aren’t thinking clearly.
Give them some space, give them some grace, and see how you can help.
Backwoods Survival Guide Magazine
For those new to my little corner of the Internet, I am the Editor in Chief for Backwoods Survival Guide magazine. Here is the cover for the current issue available in stores right now.
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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Concerns?
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