I am pretty well set in most areas. I'm not a great prepper, but better than the average citizen. I have all kinds of survival gear, stored water and food, firearms with training and experience out the wazoo, etc.

The one area where I really need to concentrate is my physical condition. I am overweight and not in great physical shape. I get along just fine and have no limitations in daily life, but lets face it, running a marathon would be out of the question for me currently. Luckily I have zero medical conditions, but just being too fat is a big liability in any kind of survival situation. Buying a bigger sleeping bag in 2014 is not the solution...

AKSAR, WFA is good for 2 years -- wildfirstaid.shtml

I'm pretty good on supplies, guns, and stuff. I do want to get in shape to complete Goruck Heavy by the end of the year.

Conditioning seems to be the pre-eminent item on my list. With the gold and silver market down, I desperately want to increase my poke.

Ammo is good, I will want to improve my take on fishing and hunting so I can start filling all those empty jars in my garage. That's all about access and timing, so will have to network with the locals more.

Will have to help the youngest daughter find work up here so she can relocate in a year as we planned. Hopefully tptb will begrudge us the time.

Otherwise just biding my time here, waiting for the big rock to fall out of the sky, or the ground to open up, or the sun to spit a loogie at us, or the Chinese to finally get fed up with the Fed and trash the dollar.

Something's gotta happen soon. I would hate to think I wasted all this training and resources just to have life go on as usual. All this stuff I have now won't last forever, and I ain't getting any younger.

I know quite a few people who train in self-defense, armed or unarmed, but I don't know anyone who thinks that if they don't end up in a home invasion situation fighting three violent criminals, then their training was wasted. Likewise, I have health insurance, but I don't want opportunities to use it. There is value in being safe than sorry, even if no emergency ever comes your way.



I'm guessing the same could be said of a lot of survival-related skills, and this is a tough fact to face. Many people aren't EMT/SAR/etc., and we do our course, forgetting most things we've learned after a few months. To maintain the skill level just for the short-term emergencies that I prepare for, is a lot of time commitment. I just don't have the time. I'd imagine the situation must be even more drastic for long-term preppers, which I am not. So in truth, I must regard my prepping as a kind of hobby that could come in handy.

Simplify and organize (better).

Pete

Bingley, If you repeat a course several times on a yearly basis, the information gets wedged into your brain. Extreme example; I was employed by a hospital in Georgia for 17 years. On a yearly basis, I was required to sit through a training program covering fire response, patient safety, hazardous materials, etc. After 10 or so years, I found I could sleep through the films and ace the post-test.

Agreed. Is there any reason I need to train and practice trying to reliably make 1 MOA shots at 300 to 500 yards? Learning how to estimate and correct for ballistic drop and wind? I don't hunt. But this is a skill I am trying to learn/maintain, even though I will probably never, ever, use it. I wouldn't want to have to use it. It would take a complete breakdown of society and laws, and I'd have to be under seige in a bunkered down position. That's only gonna happen in a post-apocalyptic world, and it's even a remote chance under those circumstances. But still I practice it, and I don't feel my training is wasted one little bit. Plus, it's fun!

Plus, it's fun!

I agree totally, and I'll bet that is true for many of us. What more do you need?

My prep goals are pretty basic this year:


BASECAMP

Restock the pantry and deep freeze.

Store more drinking water.

Continue to eliminate debt.

Improve energy efficiency of the house. We're in the midst of an ice storm right now, and it's highlighting some weaknesses.

Continue teaching bacpacboy self-reliance skills.

Maintain and improve all family BOBs, day and vehicle kits. (i.e. All my kits have gone on a diet this year, except the new baby's BOB, but my vehicle BOB disappeared with I went on maternity leave, but my daily commute resumes in a few weeks.)


OUTDOOR TIME

Make personal outdoor time when I go back to work full-time in January. I plan to take my day hike kit and have lunch on one of the local trails at least a few times a week.

Take the bacpackids out for a serious hike at least monthly, along with regular shorter walks.

Take bacpacboy camping at least once a season.

Take bacpacbaby camping for the first time!

Take my son and nephew on a couple of survival weekends.

Make bacpacboy's dream come true by building and sleeping in an improvised shelter we make from natural materials.


PERSONAL

Improve my cardio and abdominal strength.

Recertify in 1st Aid and CPR.

Continue to improve brushcraft skills. (I'm currently working on my Intermediate BushClass certification through Bushcraft USA)

Find a new job with better compensation and benefits.

Continue to experiment with and improve my camp cooking. YUM!

Make fire by friction!

Recreate an office BIB (Bug-in Bag)

Keep working on identifying wild edibles in my area, including taking a walk with a pro!