This is a concept used by many in the military, hunters, campers and by others; when having just one important item may lead to serious trouble or great inconvenience. We all know things we rely upon suddenly break, become lost or where we need to loan to another person. The only question is, how many backups should one have! When you only have one, it can break, become lost etc. and then you can be in very serious trouble. Thus the need for two or more of all critical items.
Examples are a pair of eye glass lost or damaged during a vacation down south, a flashlight that fails thirty minutes into a hydro failure, a compass that falls out of your shirt pocket into the lake
Medicine; While the government recommends having three days of emergency supplies with you at home etc. we believe that for items such as medicine, it should be at least 10 days. Who wants to run out of medicine on day four!
Flashlights and of course the very best batteries; I like to have three with me in my kit.
Eye-wear; Minimum of two pairs
Knives; Small pocket knife or multi tool and two larger knives for cutting of firewood, branches for shelters etc.
Matches; when hiking etc., this is where you want three waterproof match containers. One in your pants pocket, one in your pack and maybe one in a shirt pocket. Pant or shirt pockets rip and if you only have two, you now only have one in your pack. If you fall in the water or down a hill, your pack will sink to the bottom or may have contents spill out.
Compass or GPS; For any serious camping or survival situation, I would recommend a minimum of three means of navigation. Minimum of one compass and two GPS units or the reverse of that depending on your preference. Remember, a GPS units need power as where a compass does not.
Socks; Socks are extremely important to one’s survival. If your feet are cold or wet, you may develop serious blisters, suffer from frostbite or simply be miserable. So for a day hike you want at least one spare pair to the ones you are wearing.
Charging cables and backup battery for smart devices; You want to be able to communicate or receive emergency updates from media. I would prefer to have three charging cables. You also want the means to charge smart devices and any GPS! So have at least two solar chargers and one or two backup battery sources (UPS) to store power collected when the sun is out. Note; all UPS units should be fully charged before leaving and if in an emergency pack, car or home; charged up two or three times a year, so you know they are always ready for use.
Food; Out for a day’s hike, then you want minimum an extra days’ worth of food and water. You may become lost, injured or delayed due to a storm. If in very isolated areas or where the weather can change fast, then three days’ worth of food and water is the “bare bones” minimum. Datrex food bars are light, do not need water or cooking and are a decent tasting emergency ration.
Just a note on post. It’s not intended for the home or bug out location. A two or three redundancy would apply to axes, generators, weapon parts, chain saws...........
Look forward to your thoughts on must have spares for a pack.
Cheers
Thanks Clarence; you make an interesting point. I'll try to explain my outlook:
Long-term Home Preparation
As I'm new to this area, I find myself falling into the one is never enough mentality. The question for me is to identify the fine line between what is enough and what turns me into a horder ❓ I have a chainsaw and an axe, but not two axes. I have two generators, one fixed and one portable by vehicle. Redundant systems like fire starters and sources of light are good. The same goes for food/water sources.
Non-home Preparation (Go Bag)
This is something that will make your life a lot easier if you have a requirement to make your way outside of your home. I look at this from two perspectives:
With a Vehicle
Obviously what you can safely take with you changes a lot if you have the benefit of motorized transport. The amount you can carry is restricted by the number of passengers, vehicle type/size and the type of emergency being confronted.
Without a Vehicle
This is dependent on the size of your party. Obviously adults will be able to carry a greater load than children. This is however dependant on injury, age, level of fitness and the ability to use the item carried.
If I'm alone
For me, this is where the "One is Not Enough" rule falls short. Multiple items add to weight. Redundancy isn't required with adequate training and experience. The items you carry are kept secure so they will not be lost. Using the example of a knife, if it breaks you have either purchased the wrong blade, or are using it in a manner which it shouldn't be used.
A flint is worth its weight. Used with your knife it produces a useful spark. If it's lost, you have to make a bow with readily available material. Obviously waterproof matches are beneficial, but it's just a matter of time until they run out. They what? You need to develop the skills required to survive.
Face the Facts
Unless you have the resources and the skill-sets required to use them, survival may not be possible. Your preparations may, or may not be enough. There are no guarantees. Rather than building redundancy after redundancy concentrate on learning to use the tools you have. Don't buy two axes, learn to replace the axe handle on the one broken. If you purchase another item, purchase a saw instead of a second axe. Look after your equipment and it will look after you.
None you improvise, one (or more) is luxury.
Wayne, yes, weight is a killer. I went for a hike with my first bug out bag and quickly started removing stuff. Long-time backpacker but that was in my youth. Now! I can’t carry as much.
Agree, a good blade should not under proper use break. You’re certainly right about needing to know what to do when supplies run out. Supplies, be they in a home, vehicle, ATV, skidoo or on your back are all only going to last X time. After that it is how well you know your stuff, health and other conditions. And yes, hoarding is not surviving. Great to have lots of supplies, but you must be able to count on your skills first, then kit.
My bags are built out to help get me to a location and provide minimal tools for next step. Knife, flint and a few other items will be all that would last any real amount of time. Until that time, I want tarps, a blanket, candles, .... As my health isn’t the best, I view bugging in as best option for me and family. I am screwed without meds. Even bugging in is an exercise in helping my family, because I know I won’t likely last past a year or so. So the more items I have, the better I feel I can help myself and them (judgement call like everything)
I have three different bags in vehicle. One for use while at a meeting and needing to shelter in place for 24 hours…can also if good weather help me get to other place of safety, one for urban travel and hiking home from 60 klicks away and one for cross country type or longer trek use and getting back home. If all I have are my packs, my meds are limited and therefor I am on borrowed time. Vehicle has lots of other supplies, if I am stuck due to roads being blocked, take a side road and hunker down there.....
For my lifestyle, I typical find myself in an office tower or stuck on overpass and need to get home 60 Klicks away or shelter in place. If nothing to bad / just five IED.s detonated by wing nut jihadi and all traffic stops dead for 24-48 hours, I can stay put and be fine or on my way home on foot, ask a person to let me rest up in their garage if I am struggling . After two hours walk, I reach some fields, rivers and depending on chaos, I can easily hunker down for an afternoon or night.
Whole heartedly agree with your statement about you taking good care of your equipment and it will take care of you, when in my teens, friends used to ask me why I was always cleaning my gun after every outing. Said the same as you just said.
I think it’s safe to say, for a very large percentage of people on this site, there will be lots of avaible material to salvage and use for their survival needs. Once water, food and medicine is addressed, shelter and heat are next (long term survival) because shelter and heat may be first if bugging out in a snow storm or heavy rain.
What event one may need to survive and for how long is such a large subject matter it is truly hard to decide what your best options are. As a security professional who looks at departmental or corporate plans, I see so many weaknesses it is not funny. Oh we can do this... well no you can’t because you have forgotten this and that....what they think will last during an emergency will start or completely fail within less than 12 hours. So evaluating or understanding your true personal abilities or situation and improving on them is Key to any form of survival.
Long term means being able to improvise once modern “things” become less and less available. In a bug in type situation, having as many things as possible will help people survive, but they must know in advance or learn real quick how to make do without the pre purchased items. We are buying time with a well-stocked bug in setup. In a truly apocalyptic type situation, we would within a year or so be almost back to Stone Age. Once people start dying, one can scavenge their old axes, shovels, candles, building material, cloths... but gas... will be gone very quickly. Lots of steel, plastics etc. around to turn into tools and shelter. Having seeds will be crucial to survival.
Have a great weekend
