Looks like a great idea. I keep changing the way I do ridge lines from not having the line attached to the trap to folding the tarp over a ridge line to using Prusic knots for attachment. I noticed Dave has started using Pile Hitches for the tent pegs which I mentioned in the blog some time ago. I still prefer this attachment method incorporating a Taut-line hitch on the tarp grommet.
Im going to play with this idea some more, but use a Siberian hitch on one end and the loop on the other as demonstrated for the “truckers” tensioning end. I have trouble with shoulder and hand injuries keeping enough tension on a ridge line that is 30 feet long with the weight of a canvas tarp.
The more I research this topic the more I believe it was a False Flag.
Occam’s razor (or Ockham’s razor) is a principle from philosophy. Suppose an event has two possible explanations. The explanation that requires the fewest assumptions is usually correct. Another way of saying it is that the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation.
“Reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that’s being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world.” ~ Terrence McKenna
I’ll admit it I watch a great deal of BUG OUT BAG videos. most are crap ! You can tell straight away when none of the packaging has been opened or if their sitting behind a desk, most of these people have never spent a night out in the bush using any of the gear they are in reality selling. You do however get the odd glimpse of an idea that is worth exploring.
I stumbled upon the above video dis-morning and found it interesting. Ive watched several of the videos on this channel and found the opposing view points of peppers that had never spent anytime in the field to those of people that spend all their time in the field.
Mylar blankets : The real cheap and nasty ones Ive found tear easily and are only good for stuffing clothing with. I wouldn’t bother. You can get thicker tear resistant ones from Tacmed Australia. I use these for first aid kits for treating hypothermia. The next thickness up are good for day packs when hiking in case caught outside. You can make shelters from these. Ive stayed in one with a long fire overnight. I survived but wasn’t comfortable but that wasn’t the interned use.
Tourniquets : Good to know improvised ways but thinner materials can only be used for very short periods of time. The thicker the material the less damage to the limb. I always carry one when using sharp tools. Rather than run around trying to improvise one with a major artery ripped open with an axe or chainsaw. I have seen chainsaw injuries that even a tourniquet wouldn’t help. I always have one at the gun club or chainsawing or when handling blades.
Leatherman Tool : hardly use one in the bush. They always use them on the alone program and I would have one in a three day bag but Id prefer a SAK in the bush. I only use the blade, saw and can opener. Do you require another blade for three days , probably not.
Silcock key : I don’t know what they are like in the UK and the US but here Ive traveled through three states and only use one of the sizes of the key. Some taps were turned off so tight that I had to use a spanner along with the key to open a tap. There’s no way I can fit the tip of the pliers of a multi-tool into the recessed spigot. So for urban use I would definitely include one. I live in a van full time and along my friends in vans am the only one that has bothered to purchase a key and use it all the time. Very few taps around that are easy to access.
Face Masks : 90% of the time i would prefer to use a shemagh over a face mask. Most of the face masks that people use like the surgical versions are useless. They might stop you breathing out as far onto other people. If you do get one make sure its a N95. Even in TB wards they have to throw their masks every 45 minutes I think from memory. The condensation builds up making them useless. I still see dumbarses walk around in the middle of a park wearing masks 200 meters from another person. I had a mask packed in one bag it was damaged after three months. If in a city good for around fires where chemicals are involved.
Back to items that have multiple uses.
Water Bottles: In Australia have up to four in my state very little ground water. I carry two , a grayl and a soft bag.atleast 5 litres per day in hot weather.
Large Fixed blade : in a three day kit probably stick to a multi tool. you already have shlter not need to cut wood or carve just open dehydrated meals for three days.
Poncho : Stop buying cheap plastic dumbarse ponchos like you see at the football. They last three hours maybe a day in light rain. not three days, Get a good quality one.
Extra Clothing : Always have thermals. I’m in an arid area and it gets FUKN cold of a night.
Compass /Whistle : are you bugging out or hiking a compas for nav if you have to travel long distance or have maps. A whistle not for a BOB good for a hiking bag.
Water Filters: As soon as I see a narrow neck bottle I know they have spent no time in the bush. They are hard to clean and cant boil in them.Filters try sucking through a straw on your knees. If above farm lands boiling works if below a farm most filters wont work for the pathogens from cattle.
Butane stoves : Ive used an MSR for over a year now and its been thrown around in my van over three states. It still works. I dont like using titanium cookware with it. Would I use one in a BOB. No ! once you run out of fuel thats it. For three days when you cant start a fire maybe. In summer or in a non permissive environment but then you dont cook at all. Id prefer a solo stove to use either metho or twigs for a BOB. Less parts to break and if the metho leaks you can still use the stove with minimal fuel.
Lighters : The electric lighters get stuck to paracord. 300 fires a BIC can do that. I prefer a butane lighter they are wind proo and a large ferro rod.
First Aid Kits : Get a decent one and the training or a waste of time. I bet most people have ever opened their kits. The kits I see online are mostly useless and have no meds.
Torches : most of the ones on youtube are also selling the ones they advertise. Only a hand full of batteries. On a bushcraft course youll go through a lot of batteries with night navigation. Rechargeable ones are good if you have time to set up a small panel. I use a headlamp for my BOB and a hand held for my edc. I mostly use my phone.
Thermal Monocular : The batteries in mine last 2 hours. Good fun but you need a lot of rechargeable batteries and carry it all. I can see the foot fall on carpet with mine.
Range finder : FUK Me.
Large Binoculars : too much weight. A small monocular for scanning routes, only in a non permissive environment. I would carry one of these depending on what you thought the area you live in was like. Scouting a derelict house to scavenge from ? I have a recce pro. Do you need something this expensive NO but i use mine for target shooting so I dont have to walk up to the target.
Medial kit size : For yourself for three days it doesnt have to be large. I have done several medical courses and have more planned. I do like carrying large kits. I have been in the SES (State Emergency Service)and responded to car crashes and other emergencies. I also carry them staggered in multiple kits to suit intent.
Manuals : Get trained manuals are good to do homework but as one mate once said to me. If an emergency happens I get out my first aid book. Dumbarse ! Have the training already or its a waste of time as you watch your kid bleed out. Same goes for picking mushrooms or wild plants. Ive done many courses and still learning. The books are handy but I wouldn’t rely on them.
Glow in the dark ; why are you being easy to see in a bug out situation.
Battery type : no way to find batteries in an emergency get rechargeables.
Headlamps : I have 5 Ive been testing and still go back to my old reliable s. (handsfree). Prepping is a collecting thing and also a sales thing. Sort through the BS.
I enjoyed the new channel good ideas. Im sick of the BS on most prepper channels. Unless they are actually in the bush testing gear and showing what goes wrong most of them are selling shit that they have never used.
Ill scan through prepper and bushcraft channels if bored or looking for ideas but have on the whole stopped watching them and stick to two or three that have decent content.
Medical assessments in theory are a good idea, however most medical practitioners are not qualified to perform mental health checks. Currently under the law GP’s are already required by law to report unfit personnel to the police. How much pressure will they be placed under to disqualify people. Doctors proved under COVID that they were worth a damm.
Will the police be held under the same laws of operating firearms ? Or for that matter politicians.
Ask yourselves why our government are targeting law abiding citizens and to disarm legal owners of firearms.
Will GP’s be receiving any training to disqualify people. The last few GP’s I have seen have been totally incompetent in their every day practices. My current one cant even remember whats wrong with me, has biased views towards pain medication. My thoracic specialists couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me for over 6 months and it fell upon a kidney and heart specialist that worked it out in 3 hours. I currently have enough data to start 20 law suits against my current hospital, all of which will fall upon deaf ears and the lawyers will drag out the proceedings until I pass away. Laws are only there for the rich.
if the government is going to bring in mental health checks then have them performed by qualified psychiatrists and not GP’s that cant even write scripts for many mental health medications..
I first met David Freeman Smith through my blog after he replied to one of my posts. We first started conversing through email before swapping phone numbers.From then on we were talking most days,running ideas off one another for the blog. Dribbling shit as mates do. Both having been through illness we knew what to say and what not to in order to escape our shackles. Living outside the box. Each day above ground as they say.
Dave had been fighting bowel cancer for a long time before it traveled to his lungs. He called me in late January to inform me that it had traveled further to his brain with two large tumors forming. His prognosis wasn’t good.
Dave lived another 18 months longer than expected. In order to spend time with his family. I received word today from his wife that he had passed away on the 5th of March. We had never met in person, however Dave was a good friend to me and shall be missed dearly and contributed more to this blog than many will ever understand.
I didn’t have the heart to change the above eulogy. I had sent this to Dave the week he told me the news of the 45mm and 25mm tumors. We were both sick c&nts and both with an unusual sense of humour. I wanted him to know what he friendship had meant to me and that I would miss our conversations.. I wanted him to know I had faith in him fighting it and that two months were bull shit.
Most of the posts over the last year were directed to David. The traveling sections, the pearls of wisdom, sections on living in the moment. I had been sending Dave pictures of sunsets, probably after the second week our conversations started. Saying to spend more time doing the little things and not worry about the big ones. Enjoy life! Time was too precious and I knew he didn’t have time left ,but not how little.
There’s no better way of learning to live in the present or in the moment than watching sunsets. They are like a slow moving fire works display. Every moment changing, the colors intensifying. You never want to take your eyes away in case the whole kaleidoscope changes. Every moment different.
Ive never liked talking about myself and it took a long time before I told my friends about what exactly I had been through. I only started writing more about those experiences for Dave. It had been easier to write about them than to talk out loud about the pain. I wanted him to know he wasn’t alone and that fighting could be a purpose and a way of reminding you ,that you are still alive.
The influence of his friendship has made the blog what it is today. I would never have spoken about many of the subjects before his presence in my life.
