Thanks Treeseeker

How do you know you are an "addict"

Well, it is when you start to see things that are not there.
OK, my eyes are not 6/6, but I swear that I saw a link to "Bug out bag" something an hour ago.

"Nope", a whispering voice says, "you are only addicted to BOBs, and it's you did somnething about it. It is maybe time to have a break.

Oh, well, it WAS "Bug out bag" that I saw, Iand I just clocked the link and I am waiting for the page.

Well, I am not sure that Mother Earth News do cover BOBs and survival kits, but that is what I saw.

Web-page appeared
.... and the title said " Bug eat bug " !!!!!

Oh,
now .. that is more like Mother Earth News ... LOL

So, I was seeing things

And I am definitely addicted !!!

Is it really prepping, or just a justified case of OCD ?
This is what goes in my mind when I read about people accumulating gear.

There are times when I buy 2 or 3 of something "just in case"
Sometimes I am releived I did 'cause that stuff disappears from the market ( half a dozen of my favorite clone multitool ).

Luckily, I am the kind of reluctant customer
"thinking about something " takes a big chunck of my life
so I didn't accumulate too many knives, bags of other stuff. But still think time to time about the issue of preparedness itself and how much time we should be spending on preparedness.

The best way to go - in my opinion - is to buy whatever you need in your LIFE. To use things for camping, work and other tasks , and so you justify the item even if no disaster happens.

Being prepared does not mean you are necessarily prepared for TEOTWAWKI literally. Life itself , as we live it , is choke full of mini - teotwawki's. A Case in point, my dad's illness did not only mess up many of my plans, it had forced me to think outside the box, improvise, use my tools and bags more frequwetly than I have done before.

I am really thankfull to everyone here for their inspiration and ideas. Although I haven't used the knowledge to start a fire under icy conditions, but the duct tape card, pocket knife, and even the walking pharmacy ( personal medicines in pencil pouch ) have helped me a great deal through multiple sleepless nights during the toughest times of dad's ilness. The multitool came very handy fixing dad's toilet chair whic almost broke in the worst of times.

My word to everyone is to keep prepping
Aliens may not drop on us from the sky, but you may find yourself facing a ton of problems , with nothing but the stuff you have on you.

I propose a new acronym LAWLI. life A We Live It.

Normal everyday life is where the most "emergencies" appear. We tend to think in terms of the BIG event. Little ones can do as much damage.

Thanks Chisel. Preparing for life's everyday hazards a philosophy I have used for years, but never had a word to define it. LAWLI.

Nomad

www.griddowncomms.com

Thanks Nomad for your encouraging words
It is indeed LAWLI. LOL

One evening the wife had to go to a doctor with older daughter and I had to wait in the car with the younger daughter who had an exam next day. We were in a parking lot with dim light. Hanging the headlight on the mirror and directing it to the book provided all the light we needed. But in addition I removed the lens and reflector from a flashlight to make a battery powered "candle". It was a fun time studying together.

Best part of the fun is that younger daughter now has her own "bag of tricks".

This was not the first video clip where I see this , so it is worth worrying about. The guy starts the stove or fire using a match, BLOWS OUT the match , looks right and left trying to find a safe spot to throw the match.

mmm ... how about throwing it IN TH FIRE !!!!
It will add a few calories(?) of heat, you know.

This maybe a great source of amusement and jokes but in a survival situation, a brains so tightly restrained by habits is not a useful tool. It is just like an axe/knife that has not been sharpened for years.

It is amazing how habbits get hold of our brains.
In one video, people were training for hypothermia coditions, boiled some water , and since it was too hot to drink, they put their metals canteens in a stream to cool them a bit !!!
Wasn't it better to utilize that excess temperature to help dry the wet clothes instead ???? Wrapping the canteen with wet clothes was going to cool the water AND make the clothes a bit dryer.

We have to look into our habbits and try to make them a bit more sensible and more "survival friendly".

Altoids has become an icon of (personal - or pocket - survival kit). But there is another type of container that really deserves its own rank in the container-of-the-year contest (if there was one) !! It is the TOOL BOX !

Alright it is called "TOOL" box, but there is no law it can't be used for anything else. There is even a video clip on You Tube where a guy use a tool box to store his office snacks or lunch.

I use a tool box for several purposes other than screwdriver-plier-hammer kits. Here are few 'unusual' contents I have used such boxes for :

- One box contains sewing stuff
- One contains medical items
- One is used to store extra prep items like (small) knife sharpeners, survival keyrings, tiny compasses and flashlights ..etc.
- One is used to store old watches & accessories

Plastic drawers are available with many different sizes and shapes. They are great but sometimes you need stuff to be portable and organizeable. There is where a tool box will excel

Losing things sucks, and even more so if you don't how it happened , and the thought it might happen again.

Sometime ago, I have discovered that the car MT (multitool ) is missing from center console. After grinding my teeth , I boought another and put it there. But a few days ago, I disovered 2 more items missing from the car glove compartment : a pocket knife and a wallet.

Puzzle is that both were in a small bag (almost size of EDC organizer !! So, who would take the time to open that bag, pick the wallet only , ZIP the bag closed again, and put it back into the glove compartmrnt !! ?

Along with the wallet was a nice 5-LED flashlight (2xAA batteries). It is still there ! The bag is nice with a number of carabiners around it and 2 scissors, which are still there.

BTW, the MT wasn't alone either. There is still a swiss army knife, a nice small LED flashlight (3xAAA) and they are still there. Actually I thought the MT itself was almost invisible compared the the orange flashlight because MT was in a black pouch in the dark center console which was black on the inside !! At night, you have to touch it to know it was there.

Anyways.
Losing stuff makes you feel depressed.
And not knowing how it happened makes you even more so.

The one night I left my truck unlocked in years someone got in and found the little bag under the drivers seat with a flashlight, batteries, compass, radio, change, etc.

After losing those items I started double and triple checking.

So far, I have found the doors unlocked 2 times.

Old age, I think
I am just happy I didn't put anything irreplaceable in that wallet. Only COPIES of driver's liscence and business card.

But who knows : If I have put in there the real driver liscence and real car registration card, this considerate thief might have left them behind. LOL