10 Things to Do This Weekend to Increase Your Prepper Education

If you aren't busy this weekend, there are several one or two day educational opportunities you can take advantage of to increase your prepper education...

1. Take a concealed carry class.  Many states require such a class to receive your concealed carry license and even if you know all about gun ownership, these classes are a good opportunity to learn about new and/or local gun laws.  These classes generally take one day for classroom instruction and one day for range qualification.
2. Take a CERT class.  Many communities have free Community Emergency Response Training classes that run for one or two days.  Participants are given an overview of how they can prepare to help themselves and their families during a disaster as well and information about how the community/county is preparing for a disaster.  
3. Get your HAM radio license.  The ARRL has information on their website about where you can find study sessions to prepare for the test as well as testing opportunities in your local community.  Some courses only take a day or two to run through the information prior to testing.
4. You don't even need to leave your house to take ICS/NIMS classes online.  Within a weekend you could probably complete the entire list of these online preparedness classes (note that these are great prerequisite classes to take if you intent to volunteer for disaster preparedness organizations in your community like Search and Rescue).
5. Go camping.  Even if you just "camp out" in your back yard, learning how to camp outside during the winter is a good skill to learn.  By starting out close to home, you increase the safety of learning such skills even if the weather is cold/wet/snowy/etc.
6. Take a CPR/AED/ Basic First Aid class.  The Red Cross, hospitals, and fire departments often offer these classes over a weekend which cover the high points of basic first aid training.
7. Attend a weekend conference/convention on a useful, preparedness-related topic.  Whether it is a solar energy home show, a preparedness conference, or a gun show, these are all great learning opportunities.
8. Ramp up your shooting skills by participating in a local gun club event this weekend.  Many gun clubs host specialized shooting classes (close-quarters combat 101, for example) or specialized shooting competition (USPSA, for example) each weekend at their facilities.
9. Participate in a running/walking event.  You can find everything from one mile fun walks for beginners to 5ks, 10ks, half marathons, and marathons held in many communities each weekend (list here).
10. Plan a skill-building task for the entire family.  Whether you are building a fence, doing simple home repairs, building a dog house, or building a computer together, the entire process of planning and working together to accomplish a task as well as building an actual, useful thing is a big step towards learning how to work well together during a disaster.