Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Backyard Survival?

What is backyard survival? Backyard survival is a way to learn and to test out your gear. Basically it is learning how to use your gear and to learn new survival skills in your backyard. There is several reasons it is better to learn things in your backyard then in the wilderness or remote bug out location. If you use your backyard as a learning center you can be able to test things in all types of weather with out having to travel lots of miles. If something goes wrong and you need to call 911 it is a lot better response time then in a remote area. Plus if you are testing things in an extreme weather you have a quick safe shelter to get warm or cool and dry.
I do a lot of testing my gear out in my backyard and it really helps me learn the capabilities of my gear as well on just learning to use it. This is also a good way to teach young children about camping. They are less likely to get scared on their first camping trip. A great way to practice your skills like fire starting with different methods. Also starting a fire in different weather conditions. The other night I tested out two alcohol stoves in 26 mph winds. At night I tested out several flashlights and a head lamp. I have also tested out different survival blankets in 30F to see how they worked.
So the next time you are bored with nothing to do while it is raining outside… get on that rain gear that you never took out of the bag. Put it on and find some other gear you may want to test and head outside. But not if there is a lot of lightning… you still need to be safe. Try that wetfire tinder out or after the rain try making a fire with some of the wet wood from the wood pile. Most of all learn and have fun!