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Very common now a days to hear the time "research" in survival circles.
Some bear it like a badge of honor- "I'm doing my research on AR15s", "I'm doing my research on which model of shoes to wear."
It's usually given with the justification of "I want to do in ONCE and do it RIGHT."
And the idea of that gives rise to the justification of months, sometimes (no bull) YEARS spent "researching" something before TAKING ACTION.
Recently had this come up in a series of private messages I was sent asking about what "gear" I used during a class I attended recently. The follow wanted to know specifics of "gear" of the attendees- and mine in particular he references in the pics. His rationale was that since the class students were mentioned as being "really squared away", he needed to know what kind of gear everyone was using.
Everyone in the class was complimented for being "really squared away", and this fellow seemed to take it to mean "they had good GEAR." Yet the context of the compliment was in regards to the fact that their was no duds in the class- everyone was good to go with their PT, had their weapons handling down well, was safe, worked together well, etc. NOT that all of us had Guichi Gear.
Yet too often people focus on the GEAR instead of the skills. It's nothing to see someone that chokes on their first attempt at working in the field at night, or shooting at night to rush out and buy NV, thinking that simply the GEAR will make up for their training deficiency. That gear will certainly HELP, but if your basics suck, they will still suck, you'll just look cooler.
Anywhoo, back to the "research". So this fellow admitted spending a lot of time "researching" gear.
Now the "do it once and do it right" thing- I got to thinking about that phrase and I realized in the 28 years I've been preparing, I have literally NONE of the gear I started with. Save my first Kalashnikov that saw 30,000 rounds through it and looks like the muj fought the Soviets with it for 10 years, that now sits in my safe for memory sake with a note "Break glass in case of Red Dawn :)"
Boots, web gear (now tactical nylon), mag pouches, clothing, wet weather gear, hats, weapons, magazines, optics, have ALL changed from 1987. Heck they weren't the same I used in the 90's and very very little of it was stuff I used even as recent as 05'ish.
So this concept that you will only ever have to buy something ONE TIME is very juvenile. Sounds great and I guess if the gear never leaves your CLOSET it may actually hold true.... But if your actually TRAINING, actually LEARNING and working with your gear, it's going to wear out, break down or your going to CHANGE things with it.
Gear setups are constantly changing. Most people if they are paying attention learn something about themselves and their gear every time they go to the field. THAT'S A GOOD THING. You want to learn NOW versus finding out later that your Rothco tacticool vest was a total POS and fell apart the first time you used it.
If you learn these things NOW, you have time to change, time to get something else, time to upgrade. If you don't learn these things till TSHTF, then you will have no or very very limited options for resupply.
Now to the "I gotta have the best" mindsets-
Yes, you definitely want to buy quality, no one is saying not to. However there is a fine balance between doing NOTHING for years cause you "only want to buy the best but can't afford it" and getting something workable in and then LATER upgrading to the better one.
"Oh but I don't need two of X"
OMG, what a terrible thing right?! God forbid you have a BACKUP, or you pass the piece of gear along to another family member, sell it, or "pay it forward" to another survivalist.
"Research" is great, but get used to MAKING DECISIONS and making them in a REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. This helps builds your decision making muscles.
You don't want to be the guy sitting around watching the TV and logging in to survival forums posting "is TS really HTF right now? What do you all think?" as things fall apart. You want to be the guy that makes decisions QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY and gets moving, versus sitting on his hands.
Some bear it like a badge of honor- "I'm doing my research on AR15s", "I'm doing my research on which model of shoes to wear."
It's usually given with the justification of "I want to do in ONCE and do it RIGHT."
And the idea of that gives rise to the justification of months, sometimes (no bull) YEARS spent "researching" something before TAKING ACTION.
Recently had this come up in a series of private messages I was sent asking about what "gear" I used during a class I attended recently. The follow wanted to know specifics of "gear" of the attendees- and mine in particular he references in the pics. His rationale was that since the class students were mentioned as being "really squared away", he needed to know what kind of gear everyone was using.
Everyone in the class was complimented for being "really squared away", and this fellow seemed to take it to mean "they had good GEAR." Yet the context of the compliment was in regards to the fact that their was no duds in the class- everyone was good to go with their PT, had their weapons handling down well, was safe, worked together well, etc. NOT that all of us had Guichi Gear.
Yet too often people focus on the GEAR instead of the skills. It's nothing to see someone that chokes on their first attempt at working in the field at night, or shooting at night to rush out and buy NV, thinking that simply the GEAR will make up for their training deficiency. That gear will certainly HELP, but if your basics suck, they will still suck, you'll just look cooler.
Anywhoo, back to the "research". So this fellow admitted spending a lot of time "researching" gear.
Now the "do it once and do it right" thing- I got to thinking about that phrase and I realized in the 28 years I've been preparing, I have literally NONE of the gear I started with. Save my first Kalashnikov that saw 30,000 rounds through it and looks like the muj fought the Soviets with it for 10 years, that now sits in my safe for memory sake with a note "Break glass in case of Red Dawn :)"
Boots, web gear (now tactical nylon), mag pouches, clothing, wet weather gear, hats, weapons, magazines, optics, have ALL changed from 1987. Heck they weren't the same I used in the 90's and very very little of it was stuff I used even as recent as 05'ish.
So this concept that you will only ever have to buy something ONE TIME is very juvenile. Sounds great and I guess if the gear never leaves your CLOSET it may actually hold true.... But if your actually TRAINING, actually LEARNING and working with your gear, it's going to wear out, break down or your going to CHANGE things with it.
Gear setups are constantly changing. Most people if they are paying attention learn something about themselves and their gear every time they go to the field. THAT'S A GOOD THING. You want to learn NOW versus finding out later that your Rothco tacticool vest was a total POS and fell apart the first time you used it.
If you learn these things NOW, you have time to change, time to get something else, time to upgrade. If you don't learn these things till TSHTF, then you will have no or very very limited options for resupply.
Now to the "I gotta have the best" mindsets-
Yes, you definitely want to buy quality, no one is saying not to. However there is a fine balance between doing NOTHING for years cause you "only want to buy the best but can't afford it" and getting something workable in and then LATER upgrading to the better one.
"Oh but I don't need two of X"
OMG, what a terrible thing right?! God forbid you have a BACKUP, or you pass the piece of gear along to another family member, sell it, or "pay it forward" to another survivalist.
"Research" is great, but get used to MAKING DECISIONS and making them in a REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. This helps builds your decision making muscles.
You don't want to be the guy sitting around watching the TV and logging in to survival forums posting "is TS really HTF right now? What do you all think?" as things fall apart. You want to be the guy that makes decisions QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY and gets moving, versus sitting on his hands.
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