Saturday, December 28, 2013

2013 Final Thoughts



Well, 2013 is rapidly closing in and a new year awaits. As this year ends I want to give some thoughts that I feel are important. The internet is a fabulous tool but it is a double edged sword. Too many people fail to understand how this impacts them especially when conducting research on prepping and survival. There has been an explosion of blogs, YouTube channels, Facebook pages, books, etc. on prepping and related topics. The majority of these provide no useful, informational, or insightful information. Not only do they really have nothing new to add but some of the information is incorrect and dangerous. Yet, for those new to this field they may not have the background to discriminate the good from the bad. This leads to problems especially if you believe the information on face value and fail to test it under realistic conditions which most people won’t. 


 Some of my observations include:

There is always a lot of debate on which firearm is the best to carry and everyone has an opinion. Yet, rarely do you read a discussion on what tactics to use. Tactics are a critical component when it comes to protection and is probably more important than which firearm to use. If you are not tactically sound all else will go to hell in a crisis.

  • Lately, there is a lot of hoopla about the very inexpensive Chinese made Baofeng radios. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of this radio based on price alone as they ignore radio performance and poor quality control issues.
  • There are many posts on what you should do to secure your home but rarely do they discuss in detail how to do this. Knowing “what” to secure is significantly different from knowing “how” to secure.
  • Knives are another topic that is highly debated especially when it comes to talking about what blade steel to use, fixed blade or folder, length of blade, choil, jimping, blade shape, handles, sheaths, modifications, etc. Again, everyone has an opinion especially regarding the knife but there is little on how to use the knife, advantages, disadvantages, etc.

Motivations

Another area of concern are those who update their blog on a daily basis. At Survival Skillcraft we only update our blog when we have something to say. We don’t blog just to blog. Yet, many bloggers are looking for a monetary profit be it big or small. They are trying to earn some extra money. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and we fully appreciate and support capitalism. The problem is that they need to remain current and relevant in order to keep their name in the spotlight. The problem is how one comes up with so much information. Let’s face it most of the information that is posted is not new or original. Or, it is a post from someone else so that the same information gets moved around from place to place. Don’t get me wrong as there are some great blogs and information out there the problem is shifting through all the fodder to find them.

The Bottom Line 

I could go on but the point is that you have to be able to discriminate the good from the bad from the ugly and dangerous. The only realistic way to do this is through realistic training where you test out what works for you. You will also find out what doesn’t work and what modifications you need to make in order for it to be useful for your specific needs.

The bottom line is that you want to know what works before a crisis. This is your responsibility and yours alone. Getting information off a popular website or from a popular blogger doesn’t mean the information is valid. Abraham Lincoln summed it up best when he said, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.”

Survival Skillcraft would like to with you and your family a great and prosperous 2014. 


TC
©2013

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