Summer complacency

Mags, mags, mags.
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Man, it is so bloody easy to get complacent when the electricity is on, the gas is flowing from the pumps, the internet is up, and WalMart is open for business. That sort of day-to-day normalcy makes it easy to forget that for the large part of recorded human history, this sort of relative comfort and ease is atypical.

You don’t think about going hungry when you have a fridge full of food and a McDonalds on every corner. Same for gasoline when every gas station in town is open 24-hours. Ditto for flowing, potable water, relative public calm, mostly unhindered communications, and all those other things we take for granted.

I’m so bloody busy these days it’s hard to remember that there are still gaps and holes in my preparations that I need to fill.

Tuesday is Independence Day which I usually use as an excuse to go to the range, but I suspect this year I’ll only put in a token appearance there and use the ‘day off’ to try and get caught up on prep-related things I’ve let slide as of late.

Anyone else having trouble staying on point with regards to preparedness these days? It must be the ‘easy living’ of summer or something.

10 thoughts on “Summer complacency

  1. When you least expect it, expect it. Been going to the range more often, even got the wife to go. Added a P series Ruger (this blog gave me the idea!), got rid of a Daewoo DP51.

    Moving supplies to FIFO. Downsizing random crap like two big boxes of baseball cards. Had an expert go through them to make sure there were no gems. No reason for keeping stuff like that except maybe fire starting or filling the time between zombie attacks.

    Lots of wildfires in our state right now, pretty soon there won’t be much left to burn. Things can turn on a dime.

    • Yeah, I read a couple and they were okay, although a good bit formulaic. I just picked up several hardcover versions of several or ,Rawles’ books and am trying to put together a hardcover “box set” of his fiction.
      I suppose for motivation I can always go watch (Fear) The Walking Dead.

      • On book 4 of the Home series and enjoying them. Did you read Rawles last one Land Of Promise? Waiting for the second. Hear anything about A Failure Of Civility by Garland and Lawson ?

  2. Has not been so much a new years resolution as a mounting frustration with my situation but I have been trying to “DO” more.
    I work a rotating 12hr shift job and there is a certain amount of mandatory OT built in, easy to go 2-3 weeks with just 2 single days off. It is very easy to get caught up in doing nothing but household chores on my days off and leaving zero time for any prep related activities.
    trying to PT more, harder, Trying to study enough to upgrade my ham license and start learning by doing more HF stuff, etc. Went for a PT hike in the mountains last week.
    I do NOT sit and watch TV, a show here and there but seldom more than 1 series at a time thanks to the way channels do their stuff year round now.
    Thanks for the blog. Been lurking about a year and have bought a couple mags from you. Thanks again for the effort.

  3. Took three of the BC mags I bought here to the range today, along with a pair of new M&P Shields. The 10/22 mags I got from you were flawless. Can’t say the same for the Shields.

    Several failures to feed properly. The Shields are very finicky and always need a good slap to seat properly. Magazine springs are so stiff I couldn’t get more than 6 in either the 7 or 8 round magazine, and only achieved that once. Otherwise it was only 5. But I’ve read that they loosen up with a few hundred rounds through them.

    Your blog has encouraged me to look for holes in my planning (and there are many, I am pretty much a novice) and to think about long term logistics in ways that I never would have on my own. Thanks for publishing it.

  4. I see the TPTB using the MSM to agitate both left and right. I get a bad feeling about the economy the more I look into it. That keeps me motivated. Also buying PM’s and more ballistic wampum!

  5. yeah we just had the 5 year anniversary of the derechio. that’s a 600 mile long wall of wind for those like me that never heard of it. took out our power for 10 days in 100 degree heat. ug. smug prepper got handed a big bag of humility on that one, vowed to not get caught short again. but 5 years of nothing, prepping went back to stuff versus skill and preparations. right now, 8k gen has dead battery and no pull start, backup hasn’t been run in 6 month, water jugs were drained to rotate and never refilled. my 1200 gallon rain tank is empty cause i got tired of cleaning it periodically, have plenty of fuel in stationary tank but all my cans are empty as are half my propane tanks, all because of complacency and its going to bite me in the behind soon. so i’m off the rest of the week and i will, no must, get back on track. gonna be a busy week. thanks for the reminder.

  6. Yea, summer doldrums. I’m coasting on the garden and I can’t motivate myself to do some minor tasks around. Gensets need cranking, couple thousand rounds need reloading (not in this humidity!) and my primary go-to truck AR just decided to go single shot. On the plus I fixed a Glock issue and have lots of veggies canned on the shelves.

    Need more PT and less keyboard time. I wish work had not taken out the walking treadmill. I’m so behind on TV I haven’t even started the new (Fear)TWD series on the DVR yet.

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