Attended last night and it was two hours well spent, although a lot of what was presented is already well known to frequenters of this forum.

Began with a discussion of likely local disaster events. This is Ventura County, so fire and earthquakes topped the list. Prior planning and preparation was heavily emphasized and the presenter discussed her own efforts in this regard. She lives in a mandatory evacuation zone for the recent Hill Fire and shared interesting experiences from the 94 Northridge quake.

Many, if not most, of us attendees had been in similar situations over the past year, so the discussion was not theoretical. Audience participation was encouraged and was beneficial.

Our instructor went through the contents of her GO bag. Not surprisingly, many of the contents were items for sale by REI, and this was mentioned, but not as a sales pitch. The need to build fire, or light a stove safely, was emphasized.

The need for first aid training and basic equipment was also encouraged.

Plentiful hand outs were available, including a listing of internet sources like READY.gov. The book, Deep Survival, by Laurence Gonzales, was touted as a good source.

A lot of the discussion bled over into what might be termed wilderness survival situations, but this is inevitable, being that undeveloped country is close at hand in Ventura County and that many of the attendees were familiar with the outdoors.

Refreshingly absent was any discussion of caliber of your bug out weapon and the number of rounds you would need to fend off the thieving, rioting hordes from the inner city. Some survival discussions turn distinctly anti-social, and I am glad that was totally absent last night. Not that such events can never happen, but their likelihood is way down the list of probabilities.

The discussion was locally oriented, so I imagine an REI presentation in other parts would be altered accordingly.

A main stream outdoor retailer, REI stocks a lot of stuff which is useful in any kind of disaster. When situation go topsy-turvy, outdoor gear is surprisingly workable.