Our Stand on Equipment

   We recently got on to the topic of tactical gear, and we wanted to put a few things out to explain our point of view, and why we see gear the way we do. As we have said before, both of us here at Dragoon Solutions are former US Army soldiers. That gives us both an affinity towards the latest and greatest "sexy" gear, MOLLE, multicam, and all other things tactical. However, we also understand that the mission drives the equipment. You won't see us on a mock bug out wearing plate carriers and kevlars, because even though we love tactical gear, we aren't planning on going to war. We also both have experience in the medical field, both military and civilian, and that translates into our equipment and preparedness plans. Our IFAKs and medical kits are probably going to be more complex than the average person.

    To the point we, the Dragoons, are preparing for any situation in which our every day way of life may be compromised. The definition of survival is "The state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances." The definition of preparedness is "A state of readiness." Dragoon Solutions always seeks to continue to live in a state of readiness, whether or not there is an accident, ordeal or difficult circumstance. In other words, we are preparing from your most basic natural disaster (Yellow Situation, see the Dragoon Disaster Scale) or a full Black Situation. With that said, we generally hold no opinion on what may cause the situation, just that it MAY happen. We assess our threats, and continue to prepare, and the gear and supplies we procure are based on our mission, experience and knowledge.

    No matter the situation you are preparing for, put your money and time into the training and gear that will help you prevail in that situation. No matter what, remember that all the gear in the world won't save you if you don't have the will and knowledge to prevail. Work on your mindset and skillsets first, gear always comes second.

16JAN2013
Mike/Kyle

  

Tactical Equipment and Preparedness

Equipment for a Soldier, or for the Self Reliant?

    If you spend any time on survivalist or preparedness forums on the internet or prepper themed YouTube channels, you may have seen a marked increased interest in tactical equipment. Tactical equipment, tactical shooting... the word "tactical" has been attached to just about everything out there. I can think of a few different reasons, such as video games, combat simulation sports, and maybe most importantly, America's longest period of modern warfare. There are a lot more people these days that have had an exposure to tactical equipment, and brought that interest home.

There is nothing inherently wrong with any of that. Tactical gear sells. Like anything else, sexy sells. In the preparedness world, it is no different. It is hard to sell your point with a video about canning equipment, or freeze dried food. It is much easier to sell the newest "sexy" tactical equipment, rifle, or flashlight.  Again, there is nothing really wrong with that, it just creates a lot of noise to cut through, especially for a new prepper.

The picture above contains a ballistic plate carrier, Kevlar helmet, and "war belt," along with a combat load out of magazines for the carbine and handgun. To many, it looks like equipment only a warfighter in a combat zone would need. To others, it looks like a part of their preparedness equipment. Where do you fall in that spectrum?

Let's try to cut through the hype, and get to an understanding of how tactical equipment fits in to the whole picture of preparedness.