I think you should bite the bullet, and take the required course. In addition, there are a multitude of schools offering training in primitive skills, hunting, trapping and fishing, wilderness survival, wilderness first aid, and a myriad of other skills.
Not where I live, I have searched high and low for them.
Please be aware that this is a survival forum, not a survivalist forum,
What is the difference between survival and survivalist?
I would assume a person who survives is a survivalist, but I am fairly new to this whole thing so perhaps there is nomenclature I am unfamiliar with? Something that might help others is having a terms of service clearly posted. I have look for this site's terms of service and can't find them even after reading every entry in the FAQ. Kind of hard to know what is OK and what isn't.
and is intended for mariners, aviators, outdoor adventurers, and those interested in emergency/disaster preparedness. We strive to be rational, polite, family friendly, and law-abiding.
I am a former Marine grunt with combat experience and formal survival training. I like to think I am qualified to post here. I am interested in emergency/disaster preparedness. I like to think myself rational and polite. I am married with 4 kids and 2 dogs so think myself family friendly. I have never been arrested for anything so think myself law abiding and patriotic.
In all honesty, we really don't have much to offer anyone who has a problem with the law, other than to suggest that they learn to comply, move to where the laws are more to their liking, or seek to change the laws they don't like.
I am not asking anyone to 'have a problem with the law', I am authoring a post about how the laws we have to live with affect us as preparedness/survival advocates and our practice of what we learn. I am getting that this is the wrong place for such discussions although I admit I don't get how such a thing can be amongst those who would wish to survive/prepare for a disaster. Did Katrina not teach that government and laws won't help in such a case? Did Katrina not teach that government will move right in with no help, but expend resources insisting law abiding folks surrender their firearms and all other credible means of self defense while rapists, looters and other marauders remain armed and at large?
This forum is not intended for those who, because of dissatisfaction with civil society or government, live a survival/retreat/off-grid lifestyle full time, or want to
Doesn't apply to me. I live in a suburb and work for a fortune 50 company.
I'm just offering my personal opinion as to why you may have felt a certain chill resulting from your survival vs. the law post. The title itself is off-putting to most regulars here.
Then this clearly isn't the place for me. If this is a forum for people who think getting 10 years in prison simply because one had a swiss army knife in their pocket for a crime others get probation or a year in prison for then so be it. Y'all can continue discussing your knives (all of which will be sentence multipliers) and your "survival" ideas such as how to start fires (even though those may be illegal and your knife gets you a sentence multiplier) till the cows come home.
Unless faced with significant extenuating circumstances, such as a survival emergency, I'd bet this is one of the most law-abiding on-line communities you could find.
Well, I did read that the forum is moderated to appeal to school teachers with kindergarten classes. If that is the limit of what can be discussed then this isn't the place for me.
Keep in mind, also, that this forum is private property, and it's owners can do as they please here.
Of course.
We are all their guests, and can be shown the door at any time for any reason, no explanations required. As for the Ritter gear, you still have some first rate kit for your money, anyway.
I am not just a guest, I am a paying customer. $200 worth plus I was considering another 160-170 for the RSK3 plus on the knife forums I was speaking positively about the RSKs. On another forum I spend $30 and with my order got a personal note from the owner inviting me to his forum (with higher traffic than this one). No problems there. Here I post something innocent and feel like I have run up against a cult.
Ritter gear is good, but it isn't all that. The RSK1 I got has a ton of blade wobble. Not the lock mechanism, but the body itself. It is so loose the blade can just be wrist flicked open and closed. Nice, but this means when locked there is side to side play (lots of it) in the blade. This isn't a defect, it is a design choice as anyone with the blade knows.
A $20 Dozier Kabar folder doesn't have this loose play in the blade. Nothing in the promotional material mentions this loose play in the blade.
The survival kit is better than most, but is still cheap. The firestarter is guaranteed to rub your thumb raw. The compass is cheap crap like virtually all tiny compasses. Never can tell where north is because the little thing may just be rubbing against something instead of pointing north. The whistle is good, but the wire and thread? Not enough to be practical. I could go on, but won't.
Ritter branded stuff is OK, but it isn't the best one can find. Above average? Yes. While I have my misgivings about the forum and it's moderation I am not going to unfairly slam a decent product.
The forums? Pretty much suck. Hate on me all you like. You folks call yourself preparedness minded, but you can't even entertain a civil, politely worded post about how local/state laws affect us.
Can't even imagine how this group will survive should the do-do ever hit the fan. I guess this is why some other forums refer to you guys as 'armchair' survivalists. At first I thought it unfair, but now kind of understand.
Good luck folks. I am pretty much certain to be banned as soon a Chris wakes up simply for making a post asking about the law and survivalism/preparedness. So be it, just means this isn't a hang out for me (or anyone else not counting on Uncle Sam being in their disaster kit)
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