The Survival Rule of 3 - Become A Smart Prepper

The Survival Rule of 3 – Become A Smart Prepper

Rule Of Threes
Buy at Amazon

We recently posted an article about the philosophy of “What’s Important Now”.

Today’s article will discuss a system of priorities called the The Survival Rule of 3.

Basically the Rule of Three is a convenient way to memorize the order of importance of basic necessities.

If you really want to get in the weeds you can add seconds.  If you are in a blind panic, you can run off and get killed instantly.  This means you can only live 3 seconds without thinking.

Obviously this is an approximation, and is only designed to help you remember your priorities, but as a planning tool its valuable as many people add what is important to them, or what makes them feel safe without regard to the realities.

In the video I say that too many people buy a AR-15 before a water filter. That’s not to say a defensive tool is not important, but for thousands of years, billions of humans have lived their entire lives without AR-15s, but nobody has lived more than a few days without water.

When you are looking at what is important right now, or what is important for you to plan for or acquire keep this in mind, and balance your resources with your threats to what you actually NEED for survival.actually NEED for survival.

You can only live 3

  • seconds without thinking
  • minutes without air
  • hours without shelter
  • days without water
  • weeks without food
  • months without hope

 

W.I.N. Whats Important Now

W.I.N. Whats Important Now
Buy at Amazon

Today’s post is about mindset, because I believe mental flexibility and preparedness is more important than equipment or even skill acquisition. If your mind is right you can work on everything else, and it’s the one thing that cannot be taken from you.

I use an idea that originated with Notre Dame Football coach Lou Holtz. The idea is a simple acronym W.I.N. It stands for what’s important now. Coach Holtz mad his players ask themselves this 35 times a day, no matter if they were in the classroom, the sidelines, the weight room, or in the game, He wanted his players to be able to learn to focus on what mattered most at any given time.

My first experience with this was when I was serving in the Marines, and my mentor Sgt. B asked me this one day, and then choked the fire out of me when I answered wrong… Believe me, it stuck. Later while looking through the archives of a law enforcement training organization’s website, I became reacquainted with this idea through an article by Brian Willis.

I now try to pass this idea on to my wife whenever she is stressing over an issue that is major to her, but minor in the scope of things. (For the record, I don’t use Sgt. B’s method)…

When She calls me that the rabbits have babies or hail has dented the car, or the washer is making a funny noise, I just ask her to take a deep breath and tell me if anyone is dying, hurt, or about to be hurt or killed. If not then the issue is not of immediate importance. That’s not to say I ignore the problem or its not serious – just that we have some space to think of an appropriate solution.

What this philosophy does is allow you some thinking room to solve the immediate problem rather than get bogged down in the details and minutiae. By concentrating all your effort on what we need to do RIGHT NOW we can focus on specifics and shelve our fears about things we cannot change or that are not pressing concerns.

I find the concept of W.I.N. is a powerful tool in my preparedness arsenal, and coupled with the Rule of Threes (covered tomorrow) gives us an essential tool for both planning and response.

Wouxun Programming and Unlocking Programs

Wouxun Programming and Unlocking Programs
Buy at Amazon

You can find these Wouxun Programming programs pretty easily on the internet.  However, you may have to log on to a forum or a download site to get the unblocking program.

As a service, I figured I would put them all in one spot. My radio is the KG-UV3D model, but I am told the UV1 and UV2 models are the same.  They just have different firmware – so the programs should all work on earlier models…

If you unlock the frequency ranges in your radio, you can then transmit on frequencies you probably aren’t licensed for. This is illegal and can get you in trouble. Also, while you can unlock the public safety channels, if the agency your trying to communicate with is using digital radios or a trunked system, your not going to be able to communicate.

Know What You Are Doing…

The software is for windows, it may work on a mac with a windows emulator, but I haven’t tried it. Also the programming software has to find the right port, so you may hook it up and get an “failed” message, if that happens try again. It is not uncommon for me to have to try to download the radio setting two or three times to get everything connected. (You also need to buy a programming cable…)

[pamd target=”_blank”]

 

 

Ready Made Resources Homestead Visit

Site Review: Ready Made Resources Homestead
Buy at Amazon

As you might have guessed, I like to combine things and get more than one use out of anything. So when I was out in the Smoky Mountains for a recent training class I decided to stop by at Ready Made Resources and see their store. I have no commercial connection with them, but I have ordered from them in the past, and really like their products. When I drove down I did not anticipate what I would find. I figured they would have a nice little storefront and have a couple clerks I could talk to. Let me tell you, I was very surprised at what I found.These guys are outside of Soddy Daisy, which is a little town in-between Knoxville and Chattanooga, and it is RURAL. As I drove through some very pretty country the directions took me straight to their door, but I was a little concerned that I was not at the right place as their was no sign, just a nice fenced driveway and some very nice looking horses.

When I arrived, I was met by the owner who graciously let me have the run of the place as I looked around the store. He apologized for the lack of space, as the building was jam packed with cases of mountain house food, books, and tons of preparedness supplies. He told me that most everything he had was being shipped out, and that his priority was getting the gear shipped out to the consumer as soon as it was ordered.

Being a book lover, I really spent some time looking at his selection of books, we share a lot of the same books, but he had many that are on my wish list, and a few I had never heard about. I bought a bean recipe book that is the genesis of the tofu project I have planned for this weekend. Until my visit, I never realized you could use bean flour in bread (more on that to come)…

When they weren’t packing and shipping orders the staff was very friendly and even though I had to be in the way, they took the time to converse with me and make me feel welcome.

But besides all of that, what impressed me the most was the fact that this was not a store filled with the typical businessman. They USE the equipment they sell. From the rain barrel attached to the gutters, to the solar on the roof. Ready Made Resources is an actual working homestead. That is really important to me, because before I spend my money I want to make sure that I am getting good equipment because I may one day stake my life on its quality. They can do more than just tell you what shelf something’s on, they can help you find what will work best for you.

I recommend you looking at their website, not only for their professionalism, but because anyone that organically raises Chickens, Geese, Ducks, Goats, and Horses, as well as using solar and wind power on a working homestead is someone you definitely want to support.