How prepared are you, really??

E

Eyegor

Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
848
Warning: This post deals with preparedness, not survival.

I consider myself a fairly well prepared person. I study and train and practice. I try to think it ahead and plan. I also try to have the necessary gear with me. but today I fell flat on my face!

In early winter I bought a beater minivan to drive until I could get something better. I changed belts, filters, fluids. I made sure the tread was at least decent. Yep, the spare too. (Even though it is a donut.) I packed tools, oil, water, blankets, etc. etc. And yet I screwed it up. On my way to work this morning I have a flat. Only then did I discover the cable winch thing that holds the spare under the van doesn't work. After about an hour I was able to cut/break the brackets enough to get the spare out. Finally, I can change my tire. Nope. Popping the hubcap off I discover that a previous owner has placed a locking lug nut on each wheel. Of course I don't have the key tool. I didn't put the lugs on. After searching the van twice, the previous owner apparently wasn't nice enough to leave it either.

Long story short: Blizzard, trauma, breakdown, I was pretty good to go. Common flat tire? Screwed! So, how prepared was I really? And how prepared are you? Rhetorical question.
 
If you had a Busse knife it would sweet talk the spare out, the nuts off, the tire on, and a nearby farmers daughter to run away with you. THey rock.
 
The funny part in being prepared is that you are never 100% prepared. Do the best you can and the the rest take in stride and smile the all time. If you could think of everything out there that can happen and be ready for it. You would be a rich man. Dont sweat it dont worry about it. You just learned something new that i bet wont ever happen to you again. I say dont worry, live and learn.


sasha
 
sasha said:
The funny part in being prepared is that you are never 100% prepared. Do the best you can and the the rest take in stride and smile the all time. If you could think of everything out there that can happen and be ready for it. You would be a rich man. Dont sweat it dont worry about it. You just learned something new that i bet wont ever happen to you again. I say dont worry, live and learn.


sasha
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well said sasha...:thumbup:

i try to be prepared as possible, but i know that i'll never really 100% prepared for everything.... you must watch out for mr.murphy....
 
Amen Sasha.
Assumptions get everyone. If I were you, I'd look for a few more anti-theft gotchas. Now that you know the previous owner was a non-sheeple, you probably need to go over your whole vehicle with a fine tooth comb. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Might want to borrow a drug dog for a little unofficial sniffing. You never know...
 
You truly can't be prepared for everything....That's when Will Kicks in. I once drove 140 miles along jungle roads in the back country of belize in the dark, with a flat tire that I broke all the rusted lugnuts off of except for the one locking one that there was no key for....did I feel prepared when I left that morning? yep...did I feel prepared when I returned that night? yep Could I have calculated that the lugnuts on the beatup rental were rusted in place (probably if I checked) but I feel that no amount of gear will make up for the tenacity of the individual..(although as anyone who's read my posts will say I definitely pack for the worst...And there is few more things more motivating than a wife who is unwilling to sleep in the middle of a central american jungle...
 
I live in a rust prone area. Once when I had new tires put on they had great difficulty getting the rusted lugs off. After that I put never seize on any new vehicle I got .I've heard it's not good to do that [ ?] but I never had a problem and never got stuck ,unable to remove a flat !! .... There's always Murphy's law so you can't prepare for everything !
 
there is a reason why you dont want to use antiseize compond. Its acts as a lubricant and you end up tightning the lug nuts too much and break the studs or get them soo tight you cant take them off unless you use a power tool. If you do dicide to use it make sure you dont over tighteen the nuts.
A good friend of mine that traveled all over the world. Gave me an advice. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere soon other wise you are only misplaced on this earth. Hungry and starving are two diffrent things so dont worry if you are hungry. No matter how bad you think things are a class of brandi would make you feel better. If nothing helps stand back look where you are. Think of how a good story that would make and have a good laugh.
My friend Richard has alot of stories to tell. He worked on ships as a chief enginer to get around and make some money. Traveled all over south america Africa Alaska Antartica and a few other parts. Yes he has pics to prove that he been there done that. Now mind you he done it in the 60s and 70s before it got to be so crazy. His survival kit, a good small knife extra cloths a camera to prove he been there and and american dollors. Im sure he had a few more things on him but thats what he mentioned the most. Oh and most people were much nicer then we think they are. Dont forget to smile when you talk to a stranger. I can listen to his stories for hours while he shows the slides he took diffrent places.

Sasha
 
It could have been worst Eyegor, it could have been an emergency situation! I think your lucky, you found a problem and are able to fix it for when you "Really" need it!
Thanks for sharing and reminding us to keep thinking!:)
 
sasha said:
there is a reason why you dont want to use antiseize compond. Its acts as a lubricant and you end up tightning the lug nuts too much and break the studs or get them soo tight you cant take them off unless you use a power tool. If you do dicide to use it make sure you dont over tighteen the nuts.
A good friend of mine that traveled all over the world. Gave me an advice. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere soon other wise you are only misplaced on this earth. Hungry and starving are two diffrent things so dont worry if you are hungry. No matter how bad you think things are a class of brandi would make you feel better. If nothing helps stand back look where you are. Think of how a good story that would make and have a good laugh.
My friend Richard has alot of stories to tell. He worked on ships as a chief enginer to get around and make some money. Traveled all over south america Africa Alaska Antartica and a few other parts. Yes he has pics to prove that he been there done that. Now mind you he done it in the 60s and 70s before it got to be so crazy. His survival kit, a good small knife extra cloths a camera to prove he been there and and american dollors. Im sure he had a few more things on him but thats what he mentioned the most. Oh and most people were much nicer then we think they are. Dont forget to smile when you talk to a stranger. I can listen to his stories for hours while he shows the slides he took diffrent places.

Sasha
Click to expand...


I like it when you write stuff Sasha...always good "uncommon" sense! Gene
 
I thought I was prepared. I’d collected lots of long-term storage food in the basement. Guns, ammo, knives, more knives, axes, tools, tarps, rope, water containers, fuel, barter items, batteries, light sources, generator, tents, sleeping bags, compasses, flares, light sticks, extra dog food, land lines, cell phones, radios, air pumps, etc, ect, ect. Then my daughter died unexpectedly on May 1 and I was in capacitated for two weeks...completely and utterly incapacitated. All that shit I had collected didn't make a shit bit of difference fellas. Fact is, the only thing I needed was a set of jumper cables in Mrs. Q’s trunk for when my cousin drained her car battery at the wake. Nothing helped, ‘cept maybe what Moine said,: "Fall down 7 times, get up 8."

And that wasn’t equipment.

Moral of the story? I dunno. I’m still glad I got all that stuff, but maybe the moral of the story is "the hardest blow comes from where least expected" and…maybe…"cherish what you have....it may be gone in a heartbeat."

Q out
 
If I can get to my house I'm pretty prepared. In my car some prepared.

At my house I can be relatively self sufficient since we have gas and water wells, a garden, livestock that you can eat or get eggs or milk from and 85 acres of woodland for potential foraging. Like these oyster mushrooms.

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Dairy goats in pasture
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Shiitake Mushroom logs

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Cheesemaking
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My wife harvesting some venison

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CitizenQ, The voice of experience. What you went and are going through is one of the toughest deals anyone can survive. You are so right all that material stuff isn't worth too much if something happens to a loved one.


what Moine said,: "Fall down 7 times, get up 8."

yeah!
 
I keep prepared for the emergencies by gassing up the truck before it is below half a tank. I keep several jerry cans of gas full for running the generator, as we have numerous outages. Firewood is always cut ahead for one full year. There is enough dry and canned food to last a few weeks not including the meat in the freezer. I live on 160 acres of boreal forest with plenty of deer and rabbits, partridges and moose. Then there are the lakes in the area with fishing opportunities.

During winter storms, I can use the snowmobile, and if not then there are the cross country skis which can go just about anywhere with the exception of slushy lakes.
 
My prayers and heart felt sympathy to you CitizenQ.

Cherish it all, and do what you can; sounds like good advice sir...
 
Thank you Gene. what ever happens smile. Its hard to be mad upset or angry if you smile. Thing look much better if you smile.

Sasha
 
CitizenQ,

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. There can be nothing worse than losing your child.

Doc
 
I was going to try and wright something clever... CitizenQ you are in my prayers.
 
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