I always found the backyard to be a perfectly good testbed for most of my survival supplies. I guess I can turn the sprinkler on and see how hard it is to erect a shelter, start a fire, cook a meal, and try to irritate my neighbors with my whistles, flares, and smoke bombs until one of them pops out and tells me to knock off the racket. That's a sure sign the signaling device(s) are working well, though I usually have to cook up a batch of banana nut bread for the bunch later to get out of dutch.

Survival camping is okay, but why take unnecessary risks to see if the equipment and I will function when we need to. I can simulate any condition I am likely to find myself in just fine at home, and still have someone around to bail me out when I pull a Tim Allen stunt and find myself hanging upside down from the eave again.