"Failing to Prepare...Is Preparing to Fail." Leasons learned?
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 3:10 pm
"Failing to Prepare...Is Preparing to Fail." Leasons learned?
Hi, new here thanks for the invite.
instead of flexing any "I'm prepared for all" sexual organs, what have you learned from mistakes in preparing for various situations from camping, hunting to natural disaters etc. I'll start.
I grew up in Flagstaff, AZ during the 70's and 80's. We were pretty poor as my real dad drank himself to death and my ma' was a single parent who also started drinking heavily. Boy I tell ya' we lived in some death trap trailers at times. I would also always be staying at an Aunties house or staying with an Uncle, never really knowing why actually. But my point is my parents were shit for being prepared for....anything. There were times I'd go to sleep hungry as there was only booze in the fridge or food my dad would bring over when he was drunk that he dumpster dived for (His version of child support). Yep. It sucked. It's not like I wanted to be born in this situation.
However, my saving grace was my Navajo Grandparents. Grandpa was man of very few words and Grandma didn't speak English. Just Navajo. Anyway, as a child I would spend most Summers on the Navajo reservation in Arizona around the Greasewood area. It was my Grandpa's home. A sheep camp as back one of the only economies was livestock. So horses, sheep and goats were plentyful.
The house was a traditional Hogan made from logs and mud. The old fashioned way. But it was clean inside, lots of stuff now considered prepping neccessities, with a few small areas for personal items like comic books, battery powered boom box, drawing stuff, etc. It was never messy, even with 6 or seven people living in there everything had it's place. That was one of the first lessons I learned from Grandpa as he told me, and again he never really spoke too me too much, "Your room is like your mind. If it's full of clutter, then your mind will be full of clutter and you won't be able to think right. So pick up your area." He told me this one other time when I was about 19 years old right before I quite drinking booze.
Other things I learned, that were really just regular daily routines as there was NO Utilities. No running water, no electricity and no gas. Perishable goods would get stored in a 4 foot hole in the ground in the "shed." Natuarally, that stuff was used first. Dogs kept the coyotes away, or at least warned us if they was gettin' too close. I can't stress the importance of dry goods like beans, rice, powdered eggs and milk. These were stored high on shelves in the shed or inside the hogan if there was little left. This helped me get through college too. Trivbal scholarships at that time weren't exactly very generous. So when I was living in NM going to UNM in an apt. with roomies, I made sure the first thing I bought with any leftover money was beans, flour and rice. ALWAYS. It it made all the difference in the world for a struggling college student. In fact, it got me a few dates as my beans and Navajo frybread were always a hit with some of the local college girls. I guess that can be a neccessity too. So in sum, without adding too many stories, here's a list of what I learned to always have, because we never had it growing up, but I learned they really mattered on the Rez:
*batteries
*Candles
*Dry goods like beans, rice, flour, if possible the USDA Choice powdered eggs (which I really like actually) and peanut butter
*toilet paper....for reals. On the rez it's not like you can drive down to the local Come and Go mart and pick up a roll.
*5 gallon buckets for water for drinking, washing up, and cleaning/disenffecting. Their cheap too.
*Kerosine lanterns and heater....just be sure to have ventalation when using the heater.
*Basic medical kit. Geez, you guys know this already.
*Good well runing Lever action and hand gun. For coyetes and Skin-walkers. For reals.
Ooo! Gotta go. Hope to hear from others.
Hi, new here thanks for the invite.
instead of flexing any "I'm prepared for all" sexual organs, what have you learned from mistakes in preparing for various situations from camping, hunting to natural disaters etc. I'll start.
I grew up in Flagstaff, AZ during the 70's and 80's. We were pretty poor as my real dad drank himself to death and my ma' was a single parent who also started drinking heavily. Boy I tell ya' we lived in some death trap trailers at times. I would also always be staying at an Aunties house or staying with an Uncle, never really knowing why actually. But my point is my parents were shit for being prepared for....anything. There were times I'd go to sleep hungry as there was only booze in the fridge or food my dad would bring over when he was drunk that he dumpster dived for (His version of child support). Yep. It sucked. It's not like I wanted to be born in this situation.
However, my saving grace was my Navajo Grandparents. Grandpa was man of very few words and Grandma didn't speak English. Just Navajo. Anyway, as a child I would spend most Summers on the Navajo reservation in Arizona around the Greasewood area. It was my Grandpa's home. A sheep camp as back one of the only economies was livestock. So horses, sheep and goats were plentyful.
The house was a traditional Hogan made from logs and mud. The old fashioned way. But it was clean inside, lots of stuff now considered prepping neccessities, with a few small areas for personal items like comic books, battery powered boom box, drawing stuff, etc. It was never messy, even with 6 or seven people living in there everything had it's place. That was one of the first lessons I learned from Grandpa as he told me, and again he never really spoke too me too much, "Your room is like your mind. If it's full of clutter, then your mind will be full of clutter and you won't be able to think right. So pick up your area." He told me this one other time when I was about 19 years old right before I quite drinking booze.
Other things I learned, that were really just regular daily routines as there was NO Utilities. No running water, no electricity and no gas. Perishable goods would get stored in a 4 foot hole in the ground in the "shed." Natuarally, that stuff was used first. Dogs kept the coyotes away, or at least warned us if they was gettin' too close. I can't stress the importance of dry goods like beans, rice, powdered eggs and milk. These were stored high on shelves in the shed or inside the hogan if there was little left. This helped me get through college too. Trivbal scholarships at that time weren't exactly very generous. So when I was living in NM going to UNM in an apt. with roomies, I made sure the first thing I bought with any leftover money was beans, flour and rice. ALWAYS. It it made all the difference in the world for a struggling college student. In fact, it got me a few dates as my beans and Navajo frybread were always a hit with some of the local college girls. I guess that can be a neccessity too. So in sum, without adding too many stories, here's a list of what I learned to always have, because we never had it growing up, but I learned they really mattered on the Rez:
*batteries
*Candles
*Dry goods like beans, rice, flour, if possible the USDA Choice powdered eggs (which I really like actually) and peanut butter
*toilet paper....for reals. On the rez it's not like you can drive down to the local Come and Go mart and pick up a roll.
*5 gallon buckets for water for drinking, washing up, and cleaning/disenffecting. Their cheap too.
*Kerosine lanterns and heater....just be sure to have ventalation when using the heater.
*Basic medical kit. Geez, you guys know this already.
*Good well runing Lever action and hand gun. For coyetes and Skin-walkers. For reals.
Ooo! Gotta go. Hope to hear from others.
