The right tool for the job...

There is an old saying that goes, "when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail".  This holds very true for a lot of situations, especially firearms.  I bring this up because while going through some safety briefings at a recent training outing a couple of friends and I were talking about what we carry, and own, and why.  I was surprised by what I consider a over reliance on the AR15, and the 9mm Glock.  Now, don't get me wrong, both of these are excellent weapon systems, and I own several of each, and they are my go to weapons, but only in certain circumstances.

The reality is a survival situation may not be the urban gunfight portrayed in movies.  It more then likely will be long hours of hiking or if you're lucky use of some other sort of manual transportation like a bicycle. In those cases a AR could work, but may not be the best thing.  Well, this is my "right tool" for that job.  Its my hiking camping and survival rifle, the Ruger 10/22 Takedown.

Now I'm not going to go into a review of the rifle, there are a ton of them on the web already, and I can't add much to that discussion. Its the philosophy of use and practical application of firearm that I want to focus on.  While without question a weak round by comparison, the 22lr has an advantage in that its light, so you can carry plenty, if you're accurate it can be deadly to both man and hunting, and its cheap enough that you can practice until your fingers cramp up, and thus can actually be good with it. Compare the weight of a 22lr to a 223 Remington round. Now multiply it by 200, or better yet 500!  Add that to all the gear you already need to hump for a 5 day hike, and thats where things get challenging.

As for the rifle itself, the 10/22 takedown splits in half, as the name implies.  It fairly light, it fits perfect in most back packs for hiking, but the pass through slots in the Kelty backpacks are a perfect place to carry it.

To increase my range and accuracy in hunting, I have outfitted mine with a mini-red dot scope.  I can carry enough gear to rough it for a long time, and the 10/22 would be perfect for rabbits and other small game.

There are other rifles that fit this bill, the first one that comes to mind is the Henrey US Survival rifle, and its also an great choice. The reason I prefer the Ruger is while it is a great pack/survival weapon, but its also a lot of fun to shoot, and its a great rifle for my son to use.  Its versatile enough to fill a few rolls, but when i think of a survival rifle, the 10/22 Takedown is the right tool for the job.

My RPCS hat.

Ok, so what the heck is a R.P.C.S. hat? Why do i have one? what does it do? Why is it even worth reading about?  Well, RPCS stands for "realistic prolonged crisis simulation".  This is completely a Ray made up term, so i define it the way i want to.  There is no pride in authorship, so feel free to redefine it as you see fit, if you like the concept.  A lot of preparedness and emergencies seem segmented.  Its food over here, its weapons, its shelter, or communications, or whatever.  Its ready for a hurricane, or wild fires, or power outages.  But in reality its all interconnected and interdependent, and its my RPCS hat that helps me focus on these relationships.

Now at a basic level, it really isn't to important.  A 3 day "bug out bag" will work for a hurricane, blackout, or any short term disaster.  At that point, they are all universal.  And its easy enough to test them.  Just throw the breaker in the basement, or go camping for a weekend and only use your BOB to survive.  But when you begin to plan for longer duration crisis, testing is not as easy.  Thats where the RPCS hat comes in.

Realistic prolonged crisis simulation is thinking about the likely situations, and then looking for the connections and interdependencies that exist.  For example, when storing water, its easy to think about drinking, but water is large ingredient in the cooking process.  Try to cook rice, beans, pasta, meat, chicken almost anything without some water and you will find it almost impossible.  Combine that with food prep and clean up, and your potable water consumption expands greatly. To make a true analysis of your water needs, it takes a conscious effort, and pen and paper, to accurately track usage. The first time i did this it was a real eye opener.  


I know people who say "hey, i'm prepared for an emergency, i have a generator".  Ok, so its been in the corner of the garage and hasn't been started in years... What do you think happened to the fuel inside?  and speaking of fuel, how much do you have? A gallon can that you also use for the snow blower and lawn mower?  So you can keep your fridge and TV going for 6 hours...  and then what? You know the gas stations won't have power either, right?

Prepping for a real extended crisis takes a higher level of analyzation, and to me running a RPCS in your head as you go through a week, and recording your observations, is a critical part of improving the effectiveness of prepping.

A mindset of "fun"

Practice is difficult.  No one wants to spend countless hours alone in front of a piano, or violin, or in a batting cage, or shooting free throws.  It boring, lonely, and tedious work.  But the results show when you hit the field or the stage.  Its practice that separates Keiko Matsui and Michael Jordan, from countless violinist and street ball players.  Sure "the greats" have natural talent and ability, but we all have some, just like every knife has an edge.  It is the through practice that those who excel hone their talent to a fine point.

Ok, so what does any of that have to do with my prepping?  Well, practice for a crisis can be just as boring as free throws, but if you're doing it right its a lot harder.  Keeping that human "edge" to be ready to deal with adversity isn't easy.  Looking at the past two winters we have seen time and time again people across the country trapped on the expressway miles from home by ice and snow.  Having a get home bag in your car is good, but a little practice on hoofing it to safety WITH the gear in that bag is much better.

The easiest way to practice is to make it fun.  This brings us to a big question, what is "fun".  Well, climbers, hikers, runner, campers, outdoorsmen, have developed a kind of scale that classifies fun in the following ways...

Type I Fun – true fun, enjoyable while it’s happening, and fun to remember.  Good food, good sex, margaritas, a day at the beach.  Basically, Disneyworld.

Type II Fun – fun only in retrospect, hateful while it’s happening. Things like mountain climbing, triathlons, winter camping, marathons and 10k runs.  Great war stories to relive over a beer with your buddies

Type III Fun – not fun at all, not even in retrospect. As in, “What the hell was I thinking? If I ever even consider doing that again, somebody slap some sense into me".  But, i was outside, and thats better then being stuck in the house any day.



So, growing up a city kid, I had to work to change my mindset and redefine what is fun and what i enjoy.  The rush of excitement when my eyes first open and i see the roof of my tent.  Watching the sunrise while cooking breakfast over a open fire as the sun comes up and its 15 degrees. That satisfied feeling while my meal heats up on my Jetboil after a 10 mile pack hike.  The smell of smoke from the campfire in the evening.  

Sure, sitting in a sports bar with a cold beer watching the final four with my buddies can be fun, but its not going to help me save my family in a crisis.  I have only so much recreation time, changing my mindset of fun to things that will contribute to my survival make the work enjoyable.