Last week I went to help a friend of some do some work a remote section of his ranch. This section is a 40-acre parcel that is located 25 miles from the nearest town or home and out side our particular companies cell coverage. We went out for the day to work on a windmill and do some repairs on an old pole barn. As we drove into the gate around the pole barn the truck started puking steam and water, a quick check showed a probable blown head gasket. We didn’t worry because my buddy’s wife would come to see if we were ok shortly after dark when we didn’t show up. But we know if that had happened I wouldn’t be writing this. Unknown to us my friends wife (and only one who knew where we were going) was called away because her mom had gone into the hospital.
We did the work we had planned on and then we found some more to do. We had brought a lunch and a thermos of coffee, and since my buddy has over the years preached at me about being prepared and about keeping a kit in my truck. I left my kit in my truck knowing after so many years of preaching my best friend in the world would be well prepared for any problems. Again if that were the case I would probably not be writing this. After it got dark and Sandi hadn’t shown up we decided we might need to think about making a camp for the night. When I asked my friend where his kit was he looked at me kind of strange and said in the truck. After a few minutes he did ad that it was in his other truck cause it was his normal driver. After a little digging we came up with 3 old Mre’s that were over 10 years old, a couple of blankets and a couple of emergency Mylar space blankets and a large tarp. To make a longer story a little shorter we used the Mylar blankets and the tarp to close in a portion of the pole barn and were able to spend three fairly comfortable days and nights despite the temperature being in the high teens and low 20’s.It took Sandi three days to realized she hadn’t heard from us and sent help. Parts of the Mre’s were still edible (kind of) and we didn’t go hungry. There is one tender looking steer that doesn’t know how close he came to being supper. Lessons learned take your kit even if you think it is not needed and even if you think your buddy has his. Hay is great insulation on a clod night if used under and over you. The paper matches in old Mre’s still work (thankfully) The most valuable lesson was Stay away from really old MREs chocolate it may not kill you but it will make you wish you could rip out your taste buds and the final lesson you can rag on your buddy for days on end when he thinks he is the cause of the problem.
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Depend on yourself, help those who are not able, and teach those that are.