Hello all!
As a new member to the forums, I want to say that I have found this to be a very informative site and a helpful group of people. I’ve learned a lot in a very short period of time.

My main comment is the use of abbreviations here. I have been able to figure out most from the post content, but not all. Is there somewhere that I can find a list of the more common ones?

Thanks in advance for you help.

TARH *

List of abbreviations

List of abbreviations 2

* They're all right here

Welcome aboard fellow Scouter! Yeah, the acronyms can be puzzling at first.

Here is the current list:

List of acronyms used on the ETS- forum:

AIRSAVE - (USAF) (see also, PALS & MOLLE)
ABCDE= Airway/ Breathing/ Circulation/ Disability/ Exposure
ABD-pad= ABDominal pad
ALICE - All-Purpose Lightweight Carrying Equipment
ALS= Advanced Life Support
ATLS- Advanced Trauma Life Support
AM - Amplitude Modulation
AIRSAVE - (USAF) (see also, PALS & MOLLE)
AMK: Adventure Medical Kits
ASAP= As Soon As Possible
ASP: Aviation Survival Pak
ABG= Arterial Blood Gas
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
AOT - As Opposed To
AED: Automatic External Defibrillator

BLS= Basic Life Support
BOB=Bug Out or Bail Out Bag
BOT= Bag of tricks
BOV= Bug Out Vehicle
BTW - By the Way
BK or BK's = Bloody Kid(s)! i.e. Anyone under 60.
BOHICA- Bend Over, Here It Comes Again

CB - Citizens Band
CHP - California highway patrol
CPR - Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation
CRKT - Columbia River Knife and Tool
CW - Continuous Wave (synonymous with radio Morse Code)
C.D. or C.D's. - Coffin Dodger(s). i.e. Anyone over 60.

"DW" means "Dear Wife"
"DH" means "Dear Husband" (or sometimes Damn Husband!)
"DD" is "Dear Daughter"
DIY - Do it Yourself

EDC- Every Day Carry
EAS - Emergency Alert System
EMP - Electro-Magnetic Pulse
Epirb- Electronic positioning indicating radio beacon
EBR - Energy bar wrapper (??)
EDC - Everyday carry
ETS - Equipped to survive
E&E- Escape and Evasion
EMS- Emergency Medical Support
EMT- Emergency Medical Technician

FCOL- For Crying Out Loud
FWIW - For What it’s worth.
FM - Frequency Modulation
FRS - Family Radio Service
FSK: Fire Starting Kit
FAK: First Aid Kit
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency
FUBAR - Fouled Up Beyond All Repair (polite form)

GMDSS- Global Maritime Distress and Safety System
GMRS - General Mobile Radio Service
GPS - Global Positioning Satellite
GCS- Glasgow Coma Scale / Glasgow Coma Score

Ham - Amateur radio operator (not really an acronym)
HF - High Frequency
HTH - Hope this helps

IIRC - If I recall Correctly
IMHO - In my humble opinion (also; In my honest Opinion)
IME - In My Estimation
IOW - In Other Words
IANAL - I am not a lawyer
INCH = I'm Never Coming Home

KISS- Keep it Simple, Stupid (Keep It Super Simple)
KSS- Kitchen Sink Survivalists

LBTOJ - Little brown truck of joy ( UPS)
LED - Light Emitting Diode
LTS - Long Term Survival
LE - Law Enforcement
LEO - Law Enforcement Officer

MOLLE - Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment (USMC) (also PALS)
MRE - Meals Ready to Eat (Military Rations)
MURS - Multi-Use Radio Service
MMT- Mobile Medical Team
MVA- Motor Vehicle Accident
MSRP- Manufactures Suggested Retail Price

NOAA - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
NBC- Nuclear/ Biological/ Chemical

OTOH - On the Other Hand
ORS- Oral Rehydratation Salts

PSK- Personal Survival Kit
PALS - Pocket Attachment Ladder System (US Army) (also MOLLE)
POV - Privately Owned Vehicle
PSP - Pocket Survival Pak
PHTLS- Pre Hospital Trauma Life Support
PLB- Personal Locator Beacon
PM- Private Message
PPPPP: Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
PICNIC: Problem In Chair Not In Computer, also called PEBKAC- Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair.

RSK - Ritter survival knife
RSKM2 – Ritter Survival Knife w/ M2 High Speed Steel
RTG’S - Radioisotope thermal electric generators

SAMPLE- Symptoms, Allergies, Medication, Patient history, Last meal, Event
SOS- Save Our Souls
SAK: Swiss Army Knife
SAR- Search And Rescue
SEP- Survival Equipment Pack (in a life-raft)
SIP- Shelter In Place
SWAT- Special Weapons And Tactics
SF- Special Forces
SAME - Specific Area Message Encoding (NOAA EAS feature)
SCUBA - Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
SAR - Search and rescue
SAS - Special air service
SRLB - Self Righting Life Boat
STS- Short Term Survival
STOP- Stop Think Observe Plan
SIFMS -Sugar I forgot my stuff (polite version)
SNAFU - Situation Normal All Fouled Up (polite form)

TANSTAAFL- There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
TEOTWAWKI- The End Of The World As We Know It

UPSK- Urban Personal Survival Kit

WRT - With Respect To….
WTF- What The F**k
WTSFTF- When The S**t Hits The Fan
WYSIWYG- What you see is what you get

YASKT- Yet Another Survival Kit Thread
YMMV- Your Mileage may vary

Welcome, Newguy!!!

Thanks all for your help.

I'm always reminded of when I was in the Air Force, the story went around of a Second Lieutenant who sent out the memo asking people to improve communications. He wanted cut down on the use of TLA's (three letter acronyms).

In just a short period, I've noticed the obvious presence of a lot of Scouters. Makes for a very homey feeling to be around so many other like-minded people. I'm really looking forward to spending time here.

ScouterMan, Unit Commissioner (10 year unit leader), Old Colony Council, Massachusetts

I thought MRE's were meals refused by Ethopians.

MRE's got many unofficial meanings including Meals Rejected by the Enemy, Meals Rejected by the Ethiopians, Meals Refusing to Exit, etc.. There's a list of them on wikipedia.

"PICNIC: Problem In Chair Not In Computer, also called PEBKAC- Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair."

LOL - and falling off my chair! Thanks for that one, Jim.

Glad to see you here! I wish that this site would have existed when I was a Boy Scout. Actually, having any computers would have been helpful.

You'll find a lot of nice people here and quite a lot of useful information. All helps us "be prepared" on a daily basis.

Brian - Still proud to be an Eagle Scout, 25 years later.