Hi All,
On one of the Prepper Forums over here a member asked about Assault Vests.
Many of the members answered with a negative on the subject. Since most of them are planning to Bug In they did not see the point of having an Assault Vest.
My answer was slightly more circumspect and I wanted to share here the foundations that drove me to advise the poster to get an Assault Vest.
I am a firm believer in "Murphy's Law". I guess it comes from being a soldier for so long.
With that belief in the forefront, Our family has a layered approach to Prepping.
Let me try to explain.
I firmly believe that there is no way that we can accurately predict what is going to happen. So our Prepping focuses on flexibility. Yes we plan to Bug In, yet we are cognisant that we may have to Bug Out. So all of our prepping accounts for this.
I will give you a few examples of layered preps.
1. Personal load carry kit. Each of us has a Level IIa Vest that is Stab Resistant. Then we each have an Assault Vest that carries the Absolute must have survival items (72hr). Then we have a medium sized backpack with the should have items (a few weeks). Then we have the large rucksack that carries the individual items to round off living in a Bug Out Situation. The majority of what I am talking about is Clothing, Shelter and kit. The food and water are also present. Now if we Bug In the stuff is still relevant. Yet if we have to get out of dodge... it is a life saver. Being layered.... they can be used as required and ramped up as required.
2. Food - now the layered approach is to have our preps in multiple usable forms. You start with a Lifeboat Ration (Datex) at the low end and work up from there. In the Vest is a Lifeboat Ration and a few Ramien. In the Medium Pack is our homemade MRE's. In the Large Rucksack is a bit more. Then we have the bulk items that are packaged so we can load them into a trailer if needed. (Lots of Rice, Beans and Dehydrated Veg.)
3. Transport - We have our vehicles and trailers. Yet I am buying an old vintage small tractor soon. Why? Well if there is an EMP event then a 1950's Tractor will Crank Start and pull the trailers in tandem. Remember Flexibility.
3. Water - Each person has a "Life Straw" and purification Tablets in their Vest. In the Medium Bag is a Ceramic Water Filter (Yes the Chinese thing. They are not bad) In the trailer is a Berkey Filter setup.
I hope this all makes sense.
I welcome questions though.
