Just wondered if any of you get accused of being paranoid, a fanatic, Chicken Little, etc. for being prepared. I always have a minimum of water and shelter with me everywhere I go. Normally I have means of self-defense, food, and other EDC items discussed ad nauseum here on the forum. This is all carried a laptop bag, back pack, or just in pockets if necessary. Usually the people criticizing are the ones left outside during a fire alarm drill without a coat, in flip-flops (with 6 inches of snow), and freezing to death. Some come to work dressed like that and have nothing additional in their cars--cars that are almost out of gas, and Utah has plenty of sudden snow storms that can leave you stranded on the freeway. Their reasoning for being so unprepared is, "I just want live life without being afraid of what might happen." I don't carry the stuff I carry because I'm afraid--quite the opposite. Having the stuff I have keeps me from worrying about a lot of the crap that can happen to you in today's world.

It's funny though-some of the people that are the most critical come to me whenever they need something. In addition, many of my friends don't carry anything now knowing that I'll have it if they need it. What's a "survival fanatic" like myself to do?

Y'know, I expected to be a bit by some folks, but so far no one's called me out. In fact, most folks that I discuss such things with nod or otherwise affirm their acquiescence to the concern.

A majority in agreement isn't going to change reality, but it sure gives cause to think more.

I don't worry about it. If I can be of assistance, GREAT!!!!

I feel that my preps, knowledge, and EDC increases my Employee Value Quotient!!!! (did I just invent a new phrase???)

This not the time to be the "Unprepared, Less Knowledgable, and/or Uncooperative Employee!"

The sky's falling in!
The sky's falling in!

But.......

I have a plan.





On a more serious note:

All the time. The flip flops in the snow brigade hate my guts. Surprise, surprise.

Most just laugh about a Boy Scout "being prepared". However, these same jokers have said that, in case of an emergency, they are going to hang out with me.

I just smile.

I'm impressed!!!!!

My DW and DM took a two day roadtrip today, AND my DW took her BoB (equipped for 2 people) with them!!!!!!!

Success tastes sweet,,,,,she really does "feel the Force"!!!!!!

My close friends just think I'm a little OCD.

They know I like to camp and collect camp gear.

They don't know about everything I collect. Casual acquaintances certainly don't.

There is much to be said for discretion.

This. If your EDC/medical training/enthusiasm are going to save the day for people other than yourself, it's hardly something to cry about. In fact, if I was living on a desert island with no sheep civilians to worry about, I'd probably carry less...

I have heard the same on numerous occasions. What they don't realize is that I probably won't be there. At this time, I have no plans to "bail out" those who didn't prepare. It's not like I don't care, much to the contrary, but the words (numerous) to the wise should have been sufficient. I refuse to subsidize complacency or apathy or ignorance or whatever it is that makes people believe that bad things can't happen.
I have taken the necessary steps to protect my extended family, parents and inlaws, but in reality the preps were somewhat redundant as the "elders" have the same ideology as their children, thankfully.
A small tightly knit inner circle of friends is included in certain prep phases. They are the one who have taken life seriously and understand the concept. It is also a very tight lipped circle.
Best wishes to those who didn't heed the warning.

Life is tough, it's tougher when you're stupid

Of course I get occasionally teased for being "Prepared". I get called a Boy Scout on a weekly basis. I could care less. I laugh with them about it.

I carry my EDC backpack with me everywhere I go. Its just a big bag to carry my keys, I tell them.

Sometimes my friends chuckle at my EDC, especially my female friends who's purses aren't as big as my bag of tricks. But they also ask if have XYZ in there.

On several occasions my wonderful (really!) wife has referred to me as "the minute man" because I'm always ready with some emergency gear. She and the kids just got used to it over the years and it's just a part of life now even with the kids grown and gone. When I was still working criminal justice jobs and was usually armed the whole family would chant in the car as we pulled into the gas station "If there is a robbery or any incident hit the floor."

The people I work with and our friends don't seem to have a clue - but they never seem very surprised when I've got extra gloves, hat, scarf even a coat when someone needs one. It just seems like when a quick fix tool is needed or some other minor "emergency" happens I'm the one with a response for it.

In the same token when we rolled up on an accident a few years ago the wife called 911 on the cell, I went with our first aid kit for initial care and son got the flares out and put them on the roadside all with out prompting then came to assist me. While I can't seem to get the family to totally buy in with proper preparation, they are a lot better off than most as they do have some good information and experience to draw on as well as tending to carry some sensible extras when out and about.

I don't think anyone I know really has any idea that I've got the gear I've got and that I'm as prepared as I am. That's fine with me their ignorance is my bliss!

Appros of my previous:

My girlfriends sisters boyfriend (confused yet?) was struggling to change the bulb of one of his car's headlights. In the dark. Wasn't going very well.

So I decided to put him out of his misery and lend a paw. Started off using my Inova X-5, decided that it need a both hands so I switched to my head torch. Plus a couple of other bits out of my E.D.C.


Anyway, he's watching this performance with some bemusment and getting a lecture about the merits of carrying a reflective vest and a headtorch etc in his car.

Eventually he looks at me and asks: "Leigh, what exactly do you do for a living?"

My wife and I have a running joke about being prepared. Where I am from in New England, if snow is forecast, everyone runs out and buys milk and bread. Down here in the South, the paper had a picture of two guys getting "ready for the big storm" carrying a case of beer, 2 bags of chips and a carton of smokes.

Everyone prepares differently. Some people's deliberate non-preparation is their preparation - "It can't happen to me".

I am not preparing to save the world, only my little corner of it. And if having some small tools readily available most of the time will help me do so, so be it.

not really; it's one of the advantages of living in the rural south. Most around here(my hometown) EDC some amount of useful gadgets. I was sort-of known as the go-to guy in highschool, even though i couldn't carry a knife(and contrary to popular belief, there WERE a few times when one would have been legitimately useful), and there an OMG WTF? moment once when a friend complained after lunch of a food bit stuck in his teeth and i pulled a Flosscard out of my wallet.

Nope, survival training is part of the job, the guys I work with have to some extent BTDT. The EDC tools people see are a Spartan SAK and a Squirt E4. No one really knows or asks what is in my backpack.

There's nothing more reprehensible than disdain for the weak. Back when I was an active firefighter and we did various trauma incidents, we never once suggested to the person who had a pole through their abdomen that they should have driven a different route. When we did search and rescue in the woods for lost hunters, we didn't need to tell them (if they were alive) that they should have packed better.

It's better to just be an example, and leave it at that. Some will follow your lead, some won't and that's OK.

And as far as "sheep" go - I get sick of that term for others, as it's both disparaging to sheep and not really accurate.

Human society isn't as simple as sheep, sheep dogs and some kind of Shepherd overseeing it all (if you're into that sort of thing).

In fact, it's far more subtle and complex, much more like a gigantic baseball club. In the same way the pitcher isn't going to be equipped to cut the grass and the stadium announcer certainly won't be batting cleanup, we all have our part to play on earth and if you spend lots of time pointing out how bad the other guy is at what you're good at, you'll never really be a part of the team. On the other hand, if you make what you're good at help the team, you're doing us all some good.

So, yeah, I know a lot of my friends are ill-equipped for things I'm well equipped for. But you know what? A few years ago, my friend's then 9 year old girl took the dogs for a walk and vanished for hours. They didn't call 911, they called ME (I called 911 for them). But what an honor to be thought of as a person to be relied upon to quickly deal with a situation like that.

So that's how I deal with the folks who occasionally tweak me - like a coworker of mine - for being "over prepared". I smile and say, "Hey, look, we're in New York City. If something's gonna happen, it's gonna happen here again. So who would you rather have sitting in the same office, me or someone else?" That always gets a smile - and eventually, I do get the side questions about what kind of multi-tool they should carry and all that.

So, don't worry about the Chicken Little accusations. Just be clear, they are not dumb or inferior - they are just people who see the world differently than you.

I occasionally hear the "MacGyver, Boy Scout, Inspector Gadget" reference but it does not bother me at all. People get to know that you are prepared and the less equipped people often come to me for help. It has gotten to the point at work that if I am taking my packsack in the bush, my work partner does not even bring his.

It is a sign of our changing times. I gave a presentation on Basic Wilderness Survival Skills to the local rural Anglers and Hunters group last week. The is an older crowd with most of the members being 45 years and older. When I talked about EDC, I asked "who carries a knife every day", almost all did, and about half carried carried a means to make a fire. This was normal to them as they have carried these tools ever since they were children.

When I ask the same questions to a younger group (teenagers to mid 20's) almost no one carried a knife and it seemed odd to them that anyone would. Society is changing, we cannot carry the "tools of survival" everywhere with us anymore as we are expected to rely on others for our safety and security.

People today are interested and can be educated in preparedness, an example of this happened last weekend. My teenage daughter was invited out with a group of classmates to celebrate a boy's 14th birthday. My daughter asked me what a teenage boy would like for a present? After laughing over the obvious reply, I found amongst my rubble a new boxed medium-size Swiss Army Knife (Weekender model I think). My daughter was not sure this was a good gift, but it was last minute so she wrapped it. As it turned out the SAK was a big hit, her friend really liked it and maybe we have made someone a little more prepared.

(I should conclude this story buy saying that I know the boy who received the SAK is a responsible good kid and his parents would have no problem with him havining a knife.)

Mike

Definitely an honor. Thanks for the great perspective.

ROFL! What did you tell him? I wouldn't have been able to resist messing with his mind.

"I work for the British government. Special licence, you know. I assume you intend to treat the young lady well?"

;-)

Martin,

Well said!! I'll also add that there is no such thing as a well rounded individual. We all have strengths/talents and non-talents (potential weaknesses). If you want to be well rounded you had better become part of a good and diverse team.

I catch occasional well meaning "grief" (all in good fun) from friends who know that I can be counted on to have all manner of odd things in my pockets, the desk, the car etc. They know they can count on me for these things and I know I can count on them to help me when I need it. Besides, being called McGyver or the Renaissance man is kind of flattering.

- Eric

that's all well and good, but the whole point of EDC is that there might not be someone around with the tool you need when you need it.
I have no disdain for the "weak," but weakness is not the same as being willfully helpless, and the ones referred to as "sheep" fall into the latter category. The "sheep" thing just means they follow the crowd(flock) and whoever's America's Top Model(the shepherd) this week. If you have a better term for those who follow the crowd for the sake of being part of the crowd, and emulate the famous just because they're famous, by all means share.
And regardless of what an honor it was, your friends should have called 911 themselves. Not that they shouldn't have called you, but if the girl had been in real trouble, LE would be better equipped to deal with it.

For the weak, no, for the lazy and the stupid, they are begging for it. Being ill equipped is most often a result of one of the latter two, seldom of the former. Even the poor and the crippled can do something to help their situation, even within their limits. What I have no tolerance for is the person who had every opportunity to prepare themself, to evaluate the risk ahead of time and make the necessary adjustment to mitigate what would be the most likely challenges, and did not avail themselves of the opportunity. They deserve neither respect nor sympathy. If we are all team members, then we are all expected to pull our own weight, and as a pitcher I may not be the one cutting the grass, but by God the guy that should be doing it better get it right, or he'll darned sure hear about it!!! I am not here to soothsay the failings of those who are in over their head. I would be ashamed of being in that condition myself, and I have no tolerance of it from others. It's no accident that people go about their lives unprepared for the sort of things we all know to be common events. It is a mistake, pure and simple, and my problem is their foolishness not only costs them, but those around them as well, and I am not in the business of bailing people out of their self-imposed misery. I abhor the notion that I somehow owe a duty to my fellow man to bail them out of their problems when they could've done so themselves. I may choose to help, but I consider neither an obligation nor a charity, for the undeserving individual will most likely not accept responsibility for themselves if so treated, nor will they learn from their mistakes as nature intended.

If I really cared about my friends, I would point out to them (should they be interested in listening) how they can improve their odds and what pitfalls they may avoid thereby. I did it for my own family, even when they didn't like hearing it all the time, but the gratitude later on when they managed to get through a tough situation on their own was well worth the attitude beforehand.

I am once again reminded of the fable about the ant and the grasshopper. I would prefer to be thought of as the ant, and the grasshopper can go suck lemons when the snow comes.

Ahhh, Benny. The only ant that produces offspring is the queen. The rest of them are sterile female slaves.

On the other hand the grasshoppers all mate in the fall and lay eggs for over the winter, thus ensuring the continuation of their species.
Not only that, but the grasshoppers do it as free individuals, instead of as lowly antlike servants without any free will at all.


Edit:
I don't get accused of being chicken little but I am noted as being the one person likely to have a full set of tools in the truck along with good spare tires, booster cables, a shovel and a tow chain just in case.

Lucky you. Mine all say that they are going to hide behind me!

Hmmm, sounds like a job for exersizing and a change in diet.

-Blast

Ok, let's get something clear here. I for one do not regard the weak with disdain, contempt or anything else of that ilk. The weak and uninformed I try to help. If they will let me.

The wilful ignorant are another matter entirely. That's the items to whom Inspector gadget, Mcgiver etc are terms of deliberate comtempt and abuse. As apposed to what is generally termed termed cheerful abuse.

Oh and your quite right: calling them sheep is an insult to sheep.

Nothing. I just hinted delicatly that it might be tell him then..... time.

I've had a few people amazed at what I seem to be able to pull out of my bag of tricks. My pastor was doing some work around the church and needed a file but couldnt find one and was shocked when I handed him my gerber with the file opened, another time someone asked if there was a screwdriver around cause they wanted to pry something apart and I got that wtf look when I handed him an actual pry bar. Yes I carry a lighter and no I dont smoke, yes I carry a knife and no I dont plan to kill anyone with it, why do I have a multi-bit screwdriver and other tools cause sometimes things need fixing and it's easier and cheaper than calling a repair guy. The sad part is while they look at me funny I'm the one that gets to laugh when they look like a monkey and grunting while tearing at packages with thier keys and trying to use thier teeth to open bags while I can just reach into my pocket pull my knife and open the item without any effort.

I've had a few people chuckle at me for my EDC stuff....that is until it hits the oscillating cooling unit.....and like Martin's experience.....they usually look in our direction.....it does turn out to be a great opportunity to do some impromtu 'teaching'.

were in Chicago land area were all is perfect and the sun never cloudy ,i have family that laughs at my preparedness. so far me and my wife are the focus of the jokes talked at the dinner table that i don't go there anymore. solution move , old friends that were leaches now Gone. holidays forget them my family no longer into the circle of jokes. now its quiet no jokes no leaches not bad. still thinking of moving out of IL altogether but that another tale.

Ya know I always thought that I did this for myself and my family. I have had people make fun of me like we were in grade school. I work in an honorable profession, pay my bills and serve my fellow man. When they start making fun of me for being prepared, I arrogantly look at them and say that the reason I have done so well for myself is because I am prepared. I not only prepare for any minor daily emergency, major catastrophy but for daily life as well. It is a mind set. I am not fanatical about it but when things go wrong, I feel that by practicing preparedness for the big things the everyday stuff is not as scary. Ya I have been acused of being a chicken little or a boy scout. I am ok with it... Really.

Not true! There ARE the occasional males produced that have a blissfully short life of fornicating - with the queen no less. Boo-ya, bragging rights. Then they die. Got to love the hymenoptera.

Not quite accused. My dad likes to joke that I want a disaster to happen so I can use my supplies. My girlfriend thinks I'm a bit over the top, but as she grew up in rural Wisconsin, she's not too surprised that I carry things. In fact, she thinks my car needs more tools. it's the house she thinks is a bit overdone, but she bears it well and rarely comments.

On a side note, I went to a bonfire up here yesterday ("here" being rural Alaska). No one blinked twice that I had a LM and a sheath knife on my belt, even though only one other person was carrying a leatherman. Both were used more than I thought. The amazing thing? Nearly all of them are transplants from the Lower 48. People can learn.