On Firearms and Preparedness

 (Just some things that came to mind today while I was perusing the internet. We as prepared individuals have a tendency to get way to worked up on the gear, as opposed to skills. Gear only helps us accomplish a mission.-Kyle)

One of the first things many people look at when they start to become prepared is firearms. Firearms are a “fun” part of preparedness, especially if you are a gun person already (we are!). On the preparedness forums we frequent, the firearms section is easily one of the busiest sub-forums. People will endlessly debate what rifle is “the best” for a disaster scenario. There is nothing wrong with that debate, or people having different opinions on the matter. The problem (and this is a common theme in the preparedness and firearm worlds) is when people get too wrapped up in gear selection, instead of letting the mission dictate the gear.

                 

           You must decide why you need a firearm, and what you need it to do for you, before you can think about which firearm is best for your situation.  Let the mission, or what you want to accomplish, drive your selection of equipment. If you do it the other way around, it’s quite likely you will end up trying to adjust your preparedness plans to fit a specific firearm. If you plan on increasing your level of everyday preparedness, you may be looking at a handgun for concealed carry. If you are worried about home invasion, you may be looking at a rifle or shotgun, depending on your preference (and a lot of other factors, but that’s a different post entirely). Finally, if you are concerned about a Black Level (Click for the Dragoon Disaster Scale) event, where the grid is down and there will most likely not be any police to come when you call, you might be looking at a fighting rifle.

                 

           Remember, you can’t eat bullets. On the other side of that, all the stored food in the world does you no good if you can’t defend yourself and your supplies. Preparedness, like most other things in life, is all about balance. Only two sorts of people think that all they need to survive is a weapon and plenty of ammo. One group is made up of those that are simply uninformed, and their idea of survival comes from zombie movies. The others are like this guy (Link thanks to the Organic Prepper), and think they don’t need supplies because, with their firearms, they will simply take yours. Do yourself a favor, and don’t be like those people. If your only plan is to take from others by force, it won’t end well, I promise you. 

Kyle

DSPS

18FEB2014

The Bug Out Bag Series Part 1- Theory

 Part I- Bug out Bag Theory

What Is a Bug Out Bag?

  

If you could grab one thing on your way out of the house, knowing you may not be able to come back for anything else, what would that be?

    Imagine that tonight you wake up to the fire alarm blaring, and the smell of smoke on the air. You have time to get you and your family out (because you practice this, right?), but what now? Hopefully you are lucky enough to have some sort of support network to fall back on until life gets back to normal, but leaving home with nothing but the clothes on your back (at least that, hopefully) will instantly put you in a “survival” situation. Think about a different scenario. What if its not a fire that forces you out of your home? It could be a chemical spill, a weather emergency, or civil unrest. Any of these things could force you out of your home… possibly forever. It would be a scary thing to face unprepared. Having a Bug Out Bag can help you in any of these situations. 

Military style 72 hour bag

Read on after the break, and we will talk a bit about what the Bug Out Bag is, and what it is not.

Gear Review: Entrek Backup Utility

Recently, we left our carbon steel comfort zone here at Dragoon Solutions. Kyle picked up an Entrek USA Backup Utility, to see how the knife would fare as a small, light, all around field knife. The initial review is definitely a positive one. Stay tuned after the jump break to see what this little "knife with muscle" is all about.

What is Your Mindset?

   Most of the time when I wake up in the morning, everything is normal. It isn't much different than yesterday... same home, same car, same job, everything. Some small things may change, needing to scold a kid, maybe clean up a dog mess, but for the most part, our lives are scripted to a certain degree. Humans like to have structure in their lives. All of this holds true every day for most people, but every day, bad things happen around the world. Ive thought a lot about the people directly effected by 9/11, or the tornado in Joplin, MO, Hurricane Sandy, and other terrible events. More than likely, not one of them woke up thinking about that day being "The Day," where they would be an unwilling part on the opening salvo of the modern War on Terror, or where they would be thrust into a very real survival situation. Now, this is what drives me. Its is where my passion lies. It is my mindset.

I will Prevail.

Allow me to be clear. I do not live in fear. I live with the knowledge that any day could be my day, and that I need to, and will be prepared.

Mike
11FEB13

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.

Customer Feedback #1

This is an email we received from a customer a while back. Nothing wrong with a little feedback. -Kyle

 Let me tell you about my experience with Dragoon Preparedness. Kyle
and Mike showed up at our house ready to explore and go over our
situation with us. They had already done pre-scouting of our land
layout for a large mile radius via Google Earth. This helped them
already have a plan for what we would need when they got there. Their
presentation was succinct and thorough. Kyle and Mike both have
military and medical training and are able to assess a situation and
give the best strategies to help keep you and yours safe during any
emergency situation.

They spent 4 hours at our house with a complete review of our security
situation, food stuffs, home defense tools, and emergency relocation
gear. They also looked at the ability for us to be able to sustain
ourselves in a bad situation at our home. It was an eye opener to say
the least. We had many things in place yet were able to see the
deficiencies that we had overlooked. My wife is more at ease with the
plan that we received from Dragoon Solutions to better prepare for any disaster
whether it's a 3 day power outage or a worst case scenario situation.
I believe that Kyle and Mike have better prepared me to protect my
family and this experience was well worth the time and effort. I was
extremely pleased.

Verick B.

Dragoon's Rules of Survival #2- Always Have a Knife

    Rule #2 Always Have a Knife

    Not only should you have a knife, but it should be right for the job. The knife is probably one of your most important tools not only for every day life, but in an emergency situation. At Dragoon S/P Solutions, we carry a few different knives, and pack others for more specialized uses.

Why Carry a Knife? 

   Its easier really to ask why you wouldn't carry a knife every day. Almost every day I find a reason to pull out a pocket knife, at home or in the field. I can understand if you have a job where a knife is unauthorized. If that is the case, have one in your vehicle kit or get home bag. A knife is one of those things that hard to improvise in an emergency. Not impossible, but also not something you want to have to do before you are able to accomplish the task you needed the knife for in the first place.
  

What Knife Should You Carry?

    I'm not going to go deep into which knife brand, style, or steel type here. That is a different topic entirely. Pick a quality knife (not a gas station or flea market special) that you feel you can truly trust. I carry a folding knife on me every single day. I see a folding knife as much less threatening to the uninformed public than a fixed blade. Remember the concept of preparedness in layers. My folder should do everything I need from a knife until I get to my get home bag or bug out bag.
    In your GHB we suggest a decent fixed blade. Your GHB is built to take care of you in an emergency until
you get to your actual supplies. This knife should also be solid and dependable. You should also consider a multi-tool, unless you usually carry one on your person daily. In an urban environment, a multi-tool may be far more useful than a fixed blade knife.
    In the Bug Out Bag, most people will have at least one fixed blade knife. Some carry several, but I believe that to be overkill. I have two knives in my Bug Out Bag. Because any bug out plan I have takes me through and into rural areas, I have an ESEE Laser Strike. I also have an ESEE Junglas. The Junglas would be over-doing it for anyone that wasn't planning on doing serious wood processing.

  Make sure you carry enough knife for the job, something that is comfortable and more than anything else, something you can rely on. You never know when you will need a good piece of steel at your side.

Kyle
29AUG2012

Dragoons Rules of Survival #1

Rule Number 1- Do Not Neglect the Primary Weapon.

Kyle- This is part one of an ongoing series of the Dragoons Rules of Survival. Every person should develop their own set of rules that dictates their life. These are ours, and most are just as applicable in every day life as they are in an emergency or survival situation. Take 'em or leave 'em, apply what you like to your world, and develop your own Rules.


    In the survival and preparedness community, just like all others, sexy sells. Firearms, high speed bags, gear, even bandages and light weight food options. A lot of people focus on the nicest AR-15 with the newest gear they saw in a gun magazine. They stack ammo and mags deep for their rifle and pistol, make sure they are clean, well lubed, and combat or range ready at all times. All that is excellent! The rifle is what most people in the military call their "primary weapon." For the common person trying to prepare, I believe it is a different situation entirely. YOU are your primary weapon. There are basically two parts preparing you to be a fully functional, well rounded, primary weapon in the fight to survive. I will break down the first part after the jump.

Why We Prepare.

It is very easy to sound paranoid when talking about survival and preparedness. These days, most people do not feel the need to be prepared, especially if there is no immediate threat. That is evident in the amount of unprepared people who must rely on the government/aid organizations  when their coastal city is hit by a hurricane.

I consider prepping insurance for when insurance falls short. Many people buy into health, life, full coverage auto, and home owners insurance. But they don't think past that. In a serious natural disaster or economic crisis, even the most expensive insurance won't be worth the 1's and 0's they are written on. Your paper copies may be good for starting up a fire though.

I also understand that most people do not believe things can go that wrong. Those people probably do not believe they will get cancer either, but have health insurance.  Even if nothing in our lifetime goes so terribly wrong that you must rely on your emergency equipment and preparations, many of those things can be passed on to your children. Certainly the mindset you develop, and the values you instill on your kids will.

Don’t think that emergency preparations are only good for wide scale disaster, the end of the world as we know it type events. Ill go over some more of the smaller scale disasters and my personal threat assessment later, but even something like a relatively minor ice storm or power outage can be made much more bearable with some minor preps. Or, should you find yourself without a job due to injury or illness, your preps can be a buffer, providing for you when you cannot completely provide for yourself. In the end, it is you taking care of yourself down the road, like a retirement fund that at any time can keep you fed, warm, and relatively safe.

-Kyle