Training - National Preparedness Month

By Tim Gamble

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September is National Preparedness Month. The previous article talks about personal finances and preparedness (Article link). This article takes a look at the importance of training in preparedness.

You have to practice your plans. You have to practice your skills. Otherwise, when you need them you won't have them. What do I mean? Simply this: In an emergency situation, you will NOT have time to open up your survival notebook to review your plans. You will NOT have time to open up a first aid manual to find out what to do. You will NOT have time to watch a video on defensive shooting. When you face an emergency, you will either know what to do, or you won't. 

Training, which allows you to actually practice your plans and skills under controlled conditions, is the best way to deeply instill those plans and skills into your brain. It also allows you to find the shortcomings in your plans and skills before you need them, and gives you time to adjust and fix those problems. 

So, practice your bug out plans. Practice bugging out. Practice what to do in case of a fire, especially if you have young children. Practice first aid and CPR. Practice situational awareness. Everyone in your family should take a good self-defense course (you can find age appropriate courses), and practice those skills on a regular basis. 

Practice your hiking, camping and bushcraft skills by actually going hiking and camping. Practice your fishing and hunting skills by actually going fishing and hunting now. 

Practice your gardening skills now by actually growing a garden. Practice your canning skills by actually doing some canning (even if you have to buy the veggies at the farmer's market until you can grow your own). 

If there are firearms in the house, everyone should take a gun safety course (age appropriate ones are available). Teach your children to respect guns, not fear them. 

Practice make perfect, as the saying goes. So, practice, practice, practice. 

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