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.

National Preparedness Month Day 27--Continuing Education

When it comes to being prepared, it isn't a "one and done" sort of thing.  In order to be ready for anything--and to be knowledgeable about the most current threats and how to deal with them--you need to continually educate yourself on a range of preparedness topics.  To do this, you should:

• Read or watch the news from a variety of sources on a daily basis.
• Take classes as they come available in your community which can help you become more prepared (shooting class at the range, "Stop the Bleed" class at your local hospital, CERT classes and activities, etc).
• Volunteer in your community to keep your skills sharp.
• Experiment at home.  Set up a HAM radio station, install a couple solar panels, camp out in the back yard, etc.
• Read incessantly on the topic (there are millions of pages online on preparedness and survival topics).
• Grow a garden and provide more and more of your family's food.
• Teach others survival and preparedness skills in your community (as a Red Cross volunteer, at your kid's scouting meetings, etc).

10 Summer Challenges

If you are looking for something to do this summer that is both challenging as well as educational, consider these activities:

1. Sign up for a challenging running event.
2. Get your HAM radio operator's license.
3. Become a certified EMT.
4. Travel internationally (you will need a passport and a ticket).
5. Participate in a USPSA or IPSC shooting event.
6. Participate in an outdoor education course like Outward Bound or one of these schools.
7. Volunteer for your local Search and Rescue organization (example here).
8. Get a free online education in a field you are interested in.
9. Learn a foreign language.
10. Join a program that will improve your health (examples here and here).

Learn Survival Skills...For Free

A lot of people who have grown up in urban areas and never really thought/learned about survival skills often wonder where to start this learning process.  Here's some ways to learn/improve your survival skills for free:

• YouTube.  YouTube has videos on every possible topic under the sun.  How to start a fire without matches?  Check.  What to put in your backpack?  Check.  Tactical shooting drills?  Check Check.
• Free community training.  As noted in yesterday's post, when you volunteer through various community groups (Search and Rescue, CERT, Red Cross, etc) you will get the benefit of free training that can come in handy during a survival situation.
• Stores.  Many retail stores offer free classes that can teach you valuable survival skills.  From home improvement stores that offer basic construction classes on the weekends to REI which offers free outdoor skills classes to crafting stores that will teach you how to sew or knit for free, these are excellent opportunities to learn or improve your survival skills.
• Churches.  Church classes (many of which are offered to anyone who is interested, not just church members) can really teach you a lot of useful skills.  Examples here and here.
• Meet Up.  Many city Meet Up groups (and other groups that organize online) can teach you everything from hiking skills to health and exercise skills to cooking skills, etc.  Simply find a group of like-minded people who are willing to share their knowledge and you are golden!
• Library.  Before the internet and YouTube, people checked out books to teach them things they wanted to learn.  It still works the same today and many libraries now offer free classes on a multitude of topics as well.
• Parks.  Our local parks (city, county, state, and federal) offer a bunch of cool classes every weekend.  From edible wild plant tours to cast iron cooking demonstrations to guided hikes to orienteering challenges, this is a great way to learn new skills for free.
• Online classes and webinars.  Everyday my email box is flooded with info on upcoming classes and webinars that are free and hosted online.  From FEMA courses to CDC classes and more.
• Ask an expert.  There are experts on a myriad topics all around us (there are also a lot of people who are full of crap so know the difference).  By simply asking questions of these experts (a grandmother who is an expert at canning, the old timer at the shooting range, a friend who is a trauma doc, etc) you can garner a lot of knowledge and know-how (be sure to pay it forward with your own knowledge and skills).

Self study should be your first task when you decide it's time to learn some survival skills.  Of course paying for expert education is also important, but by starting with the basics you will be well on your way to being prepared for any eventuality.

Get the Training You Need...Here's How

As a survivalist, or basically anyone who wants to learn a new skill, there are bunch of ways to go about your task of learning. First, you will want to pick something that you want to learn. Obviously it should be able to add value to your current or future situation. In the survivalist arena, some good things to learn may be: HAM radio, emergency medical responder, martial arts, how to fight, outdoor survival, how to hunt, how to fish, animal tracking, how to shoot/improve your shooting skills, how to can food, etc.
This is how you can go about learning said skill(s):

• Take a class. This is the best way to learn something because you will have the opportunity for hands-on practice as well as have someone to ask questions of.
• Read. Go to the library and check out every possible book on your topic.
• Check out YouTube. Here are some examples of educational videos available online that I posted over on the CNI site: Example #1 Example #2
• Find a club or group to participate in. I've belonged to shooting clubs, HAM radio clubs, backpacking groups, etc. The real benefit is being able to tap people more knowledgeable than yourself and learn from them as well as being "in the loop" when new products/items come out.
• Find a mentor. No matter what you want to learn--shooting to business management--there is always someone who has been there before. If you find one of these people that has learned how to be successful at whatever it is you want to learn, plus they have the heart of a teacher, you will have a mentor who can help you get to where you want to be in regards to your skill development.
• Google. There are probably a million and one websites devoted to what you want to learn. Find them and learn from them.
• Practice. No matter what you want to learn, if you don't practice at it you will never be able to optimize your skill. So practice. Religiously.
• Attend conventions, meet-ups, and other gatherings devoted to your area of interest. This is a great way to learn new things and network with like-minded people.
• Put your skills to work. Once you have a good grasp of your new skill, consider using them in day to day life. I know quite a few HAM radio enthusiasts who also volunteer with ARES and RACES. I know quite a few outdoor enthusiasts who also volunteer with Search and Rescue. I know quite a few doctors, nurses, and paramedics who volunteer with humanitarian aid efforts in disaster areas. Again, this is another way to refine your skills, share what you know, help others, and learn new things.
• Teach others. Once you have a good grasp on your new skill, consider how you can share it with others. Maybe you can teach a class, start a blog, start a website, or participate in forums. This will allow you to help newcomers as well as learn new things yourself.
• Compete. HAM radio contesting. Participating in the Dakar Rally. Running a marathon. Scaling a mountain. Participating in shooting tournaments. Entering your canned vegetables at the county fair. Most skills you learn will also have an element of challenge to them if you want to up the ante and compete with others in your chosen field.

Learning something new is not a one time thing. Most skills that you will find useful will require some or all of the above tactics in order to become proficient. The good part is that once you learn a skill, you very rarely forget it, and you never know when said skill will come in handy (ie: a SHTF scenario or just helping your son's Boy Scout troop earn a new badge).

My Views on Higher Learning

RG wrote in and asked about my views on higher learning after having read the post on JJ Luna's book 'Skip College and Go Into Business for Yourself'.
My views on higher learning, meaning the education your receive pre and post high school that will enable you to become a self sufficient human being, can be summed up in a handful of bullet points:

• You should only go to college if you can pay cash for it (ie: your parents pay for your education sans loans, you pay for college as you go, or you get scholarships. Don't take out loans for college!).
• You should only attend college if you are going into a field that absolutely requires it (writing doesn't, web design doesn't, being a doctor, lawyer, or rocket scientist does).
• You need a skill (or multiple skills) that you can sell to others. This is especially true in difficult economic times. People won't pay for you to be a paper pusher (note the huge layoffs of middle and upper management), they won't pay for you to do a job that isn't economically feasible (such as car assembly in Detroit when cheaper cars can be had from overseas), they won't pay for you to do something they can do themselves (note the number of restaurant closings...people can cook at home and save money).
• People do pay for things they absolutely need: plumbing fixed, surgery, legal defense, car repair, etc.
• Quit waiting for permission and GO DO SOMETHING! No matter what positions I am hiring for, if the job candidate doesn't have credible experience I don't want to talk to them. I don't even care if they have a degree. I care about #1 can they do the job (based on prior accomplishments and not BS chatter) and #2 can they help make me money (this is where skill as well as the ability to think creatively/logically/strategically comes in). It's that simple. I don't care about degrees and internships, what I care about is can they do what I need done and do it well. I would rather hire the geeky kid down the street that eats, breathes, and sleeps web design (for example) than a person who has a new college degree and no actual experience.
• Whatever skill/skills you choose to have, you should learn something more about said skill every day, become an industry insider, practice your skill every day, learn how to market/sell said skill(s), give some of your skill/service away for free to good causes, become known as an expert in your field, do such a good job that word of mouth brings you more than enough work, and leverage your skill/service a number of ways in order to have multiple sources of income from it.
• I think everyone should own their own business. When you own your own business and you are your own boss, many things become quickly apparent. Everything from budgeting to pricing to customer service to continued education to deal making to PR to all of the other things that impact your bottom line become of the utmost importance. There is no padding the expense account, brown-nosing the boss, reading FaceBook all day instead of working, etc. that many people do at work and think it constitutes an income-producing job.
• There is also a place for strategic thinkers which may come with higher learning but often comes with experience/logical thinking. Simply, they see a need in the market and meet that need. Hard times? They open a second hand store because they know people would rather pay second hand prices than full retail when times are tough. There was also the story about a guy who was selling used cars until he noted that people would pay more for individual parts off a car than what the car would bring as a whole so he opened an auto junk yard and made much more than he ever did as a car salesman.
• You also want to work on sub-skills that will allow you to improve your money-making opportunities such as having a good attitude and personality so people will want to hire/work with you, develop your understanding of accounting and finance which is important in any business, brush up on particular areas of your chosen skill (this may include a pertinent college class or two), find a mentor in your field, network in your field, etc.

The bottom line is to pick something you want to do in order to earn a living at it then GO OUT AND DO IT! And strive to do it better than any one else.

Bored? Need Some Skills? Want to be Prepared? Get Certified

It's back to school time and while most of us are past the age of mandatory education, learning should be continual and for the rest of your life. If you have some spare time this fall, why not get certified/licensed in a skill (or two...or ten) that will help you be more prepared? Here's some ideas:

• Become a certified HAM radio operator
• Become certified in CPR
• Become an EMT or Paramedic
• Become a certified lifeguard
• Become certified in safe boating practices
• Become certified in Search and Rescue
• Become a CERT member
• Earn a motorcycle safety course certificate
• Earn FEMA course certificates
• Become certified in firearms use
• Earn NOLS certificates
• Earn tactical training certificates
• Earn a black belt in a martial art (karate, judo, taekwondo, etc)

The idea is to always be learning something, preferably something that will help you in a survival situation.

Entertainment vs. Experience

I'm a big fan of Barnes & Noble (and most other bookstores for that matter). My usual route through the store includes a swing by the sports section (depending on my latest endeavour I may glance through books on backpacking the Appalachian Trail, bicycle commuting, wilderness survival, et al), then make a pass through the language section (somehow I feel I will pick up all six forms and sixteen tenses of each of hundreds of Spanish verbs by osmosis, just by being near the dictionaries), next a shuffle by the Moleskine section to determine if I really need ANOTHER notebook, then a quick check to see what's new in the business section, and finally I finish up by reading a bunch of magazines (NG Adventure, and a number of tactical handgun magazines being among my favorites). Overall, a nice afternoon of entertainment.
What all of the books and magazines in the world can't give you, as you peruse their pages, is experience. I may get some good ideas from books and magazines, pick up a couple of tactical tips (like in the latest annual edition of Weapons and Tactics magazine where one article refers to a handful of innocuous items which can be used as weapons yet carried right through airport security such as a solid metal Washington Monument figurine which could do some serious damage if used correctly), and find some interesting ways to improve/expand my business but just reading these things does not provide what is most important: experience.
In order to change your afternoon's entertainment into useful experience, you need to take the next step by taking what you have learned from books and magazines and actually putting it to work. Instead of just reading a book on learning a foreign language, find a group that meets to practice speaking the language. Instead of reading about tactics for clearing a house, practice doing so (preferably when the spouse and kids aren't home so they won't think you have lost your mind). Instead of reading about other's grand travel adventures, dust off your passport and go somewhere.
Reading for entertainment is a great way to wile away an afternoon, but consider taking the next step and actually using the things you learn from the multitude of books and magazines available to improve your life, your health, your safety, and your skills.

Skills You Need to Learn from an Expert

You can learn many preparedness skills on your own. Watch a video, read a book, experiment a little, and pretty soon you can become quite proficient at a wide range of skills. On the other hand, there are some skills that really require advanced tutelage from an expert. Basically anything that can threaten life and limb would fall into this category. Here's a number of topics that a) require advanced learning under the care of an expert, and b) I won't write about in depth in this blog because I don't want people reading about a dangerous topic in a blog and then go out and experiment thus risking life and/or limb.

1. Advanced medical procedures. Having advanced medical skills is a wonderful accompaniment to your preparedness repertoire. There are, however, many reasons that medical school takes a decade or more. Everyone should have basic first aid skills but when it comes to the point of needing to perform surgery, sticking an ET tube down someone's gullet, or using a bone gun to get a line, you need to stop and get thee to a classroom, not use an online "let's perform cyber surgery" website as a guide. If you do want to increase your medical skills, you can start as an EMT and volunteer with the local fire department or ambulance crew. You will get some education and critical field experience that is above and beyond basic first aid. If you are still enthralled by the topic, you can go to nursing school, paramedic school, or even medical school!
2. Anything at all related to explosions, detonation, blasting, and the like. There are plenty of websites that can teach you how to build a bomb, but that doesn't mean you should (and it is illegal). Some years ago I went to visit my sister and her kids. Her ten year old son was in his bedroom emptying the powder out of a handful of M80 firecrackers because he wanted to make a "bomb" like he saw on the internet. My sister bragged about how "smart" her little boy while I was wondering how big the blast zone would be if the materials went off. Yikes. While knowing how to blow things up is a very useful skill, it is best (and more legal) if you learn this via your job (such as from the military, in a university science lab, or at a rock quarry).
3. Most "dangerous sports". These include SCUBA diving, mountain/rock climbing, sky diving, flying, etc. Many of these sports require a license of some sort to prove that you have the skills to not do yourself in due to lack of education and experience. There are plenty of people who participate in these sports and many are actually pretty simple to learn, however these is no substitute for experienced guidance from someone who is well versed in the sport of your choice. Many colleges and private businesses offer certification courses in these sports. Again, the military will teach you for free if you qualify then sign over a chunk of your life. Either way, learning these sports the right way, from an expert, will go a long way towards both your enjoyment of the sport and living long enough to participate in them for a number of years.
4. Less dangerous things. Anyone can go out and buy a chain saw. Almost anyone can go out and buy a gun. While there are no hard and fast requirements for owning and using these and other items such as table saws, cars, backhoes, et al., having someone teach you how to safely use these items is quite valuable. If you don't know what you are doing with these items you can end up missing some fingers or with a tree on the roof of your house (and those are the good results...death and dismemberment would be the worst). Choose a knowledgeable friend--the one that has the heart of a teacher, not the one that likes to destroy things on a regular basis--to give you a few lessons and you will be well on your way to successfully using your new toys...uh, tools.

The bottom line is that anything that can harm you necessitates education in how to effectively do/use said item. Throughout the ages, many of these skills were passed from father to son, however in the last couple of generations, there has been, unfortunately, a steady increase in broken families causing these skills get lost. If you are so inclined, go, learn, and expand your skills in the safest way possible.

Class Update

I called around today to get the details about preparedness-type classes that are offered in my local area and found out the following (note that this information may or may not be the same in your area):

• Our local fire department offers free CPR certification classes about twice a month. Since my card is long expired I signed up for their next class.
• I contacted my local HAM operator's group (found at www.arrl.org) and found out that they offer a free eight week (two hours each Tuesday evening for seven weeks then the licensing test on the eighth week) class that will help you pass the test to get your HAM radio operator's license. The only cost is for the book. I signed up for this too since it is a quiet summer and I have some free time. Also, since sat phones aren't working very well, the emphasis in preparedness circles has switched back to HAM radio so I should at least be licensed to use one!
• I called a rifle club that I belong to and found out that they offer a three day hunter's education course for the grand total of $15. Since I haven't hunted since I was a kid, I figured this would be a good opportunity to brush up on my skills and get certified at the same time (even though at my age I am not required to have this certification). I was talking to another member of the club about this and although he has been a hunter for years, he decided to take the course too because now in order to hunt in some other states you need to produce proof at completing a hunter's ed course.

Anyway, I was just surprised at first, how very inexpensive it is to get some extra preparedness education and second, how many classes are offered in my area alone. This should be a very educational summer...