Are you too smart to survive

I was thinking about survival issues, and pondering the endless list of " what if's" when an old adage from my youth occured to me.
My uncle Levi used to say " study long, study wrong".
What I always thought he meant by that was to over think a project rather than just getting to it and getting it done.
At this stage of my life, i have rethought what he meant and have arrived at the conclusion that he was refering to how we most often let our intelect supercede our instincts or heart.
I think where it applies here is when we let our dedication become an obssesion.
Like most here, i have accumulated a fairly extesnsive evac kit, and in the process have tried to evaluate and prepare for whatever vageries the universe can throw at me.
In the process I have spent many hours/ days/ years preparing to live in any eventuality, rather than living.
In my former life I understood and operated on the premise that " no battle plan survives the first shot".
I took to heart the moto " adapt, improvise, and over come ".
Most often rather than not, I survived my many adventures and misadventures more by improvisation rather than careful planning.
Now i don't mean to suggest that we should not prepare, nor do i suggest a " fly by the seat of your pants" approach to survival. Trusting in providence to see you through.
What i am suggesting is that we can spend too much time and attention on these matters, to the exclusion of others that may have equal or more value.
There is a line between dedication and obssesion, and i think it varies from one person to the next.
I would also opine that if we spend too much time trying to think ourselves through a survival situation, we may drown out the voices of instinct or heart that we also need to be listening to.
As a forinstance, all my instincts and experience tells me that world events on both a climate and geo-political level are building to a head. Like a boil festering on the buttocks of the world, we just become more and more toxic and are currently the most valid threat to our own survival.
Instead of acting on my instincts of impending doom, I sit here posting on a survival forum, and try to convince other people in my daily life that they should be worried and be prepared.
When i leave home, i automaticly calculate how far I am going and how long it would take me to get back, " just in case".
When I go into a public place, I reflexively note all the ways in or out, and scan the room for possible threats.
I have actualy thought about all the people in my life and evaluated them as to whether they would be an asset or a liability in a sit-x.
I know this is long and rambling, and perhaps presents a number of points worth thinking about and talking about.
For the length I appoligise, but i have to ask again,
" Are you too smart to survive ?"
Any thoughts ?

[edit on 17-2-2008 by 1ShotDeal]

I believe there needs to be flexibilty in a survival plan. Sure I could think of a million ways the country might bite it but what happens if its that million and one idea I didn't think about it. Everything can be over thought and sometimes its not neccessary to put that much energy into something. Obsessing over survival is going to reduce your quality of life now to before a sitx to just that, survivng instead of living. Being prepared is a good thing, just don't take it to the point where you are survivng (and not living) before the sitx.

Wow! So much to digest there but lately I've had similar thoughts regarding my own life. Sometimes I actually envy those who seem oblivious to the direction that we seem to be heading. They have lives and they live in the moment and believe whole heartedly that they're doing exactly as they should. Conversely, they view me as odd, to say the least. Sometimes I start wondering if maybe they're right and I'm going to just live out my days as a deranged old Chicken Little. Then I turn on the news or watch a documentary. Maybe read up on a few statistics or even just take a good hard look at the things we're entertained by. It never takes long to lay my doubts to rest concerning my fears for the future. It's not so much that I begin to believe that I'm wrong. I know without a doubt that I'm not wrong. At most I may be a little ahead of my time but my message is valid. Increasingly, I feel out of place in "normal" company and I have to wonder if it's me or them. Yet still current events continue to validate me.

Throughout my life I've gone through different stages of understanding about preparation. There was a few years I spent off grid and once there was a couple of months I hid out in the woods (don't ask ), and even my time truck driving "over the road". Each new experience like that has contributed to my understanding of the world around me and has been useful in gaining insight about where we seem to be heading.

Off grid taught me to live without refrigeration and climate control and it caused me to realize that man is not really nocturnal. We are equipped to get our work done in the daytime and to sleep at night. Electric lighting is the artificial environment and recent studies show that those who keep a schedule based on that live longer, healthier lives.

Hiding out showed me how brutal nature can be and all things considered nothing disastrous really happened. I found out what hunger and fear of not finding food really meant. I thought that I'd never make it when I slipped and dropped my .22 rifle into a deep part of the river. The real value of that episode in my life is that it showed me how much I really didn't know and gave me determination to never let it happen just like that again. The loss of the rifle showed me that one should never depend on equipment alone. Since then I've always been mindful of how I'd accomplish the basics with nothing to work with.

Now I'm always considering alternative methods to everything I do and every tool I use. I've become obsessed with finding value in everything. Ever ponder the usefulness of the lid off a can of pork and beans? That too has value and over the years I'm convinced that those are the lessons learned that will contribute the most to my survival. Resourcefulness is our greatest survival tool. That and a willingness to endure hardship without complaining. If we don't have that, all the equipment in the world won't save us.

I'll always be grateful for the experience gained from my truck driving days. I'd never really realized just how regional we all live. It gave me perspective of the nation as a whole and how we all fit together, and sometimes don't. It's one thing to see it all in movies and read about it in books but it has to be experienced to understand. I didn't like to see it as a truck driver always in a rush and on a set route and a slave to a log book. I wanted to see it as a tourist and take time to smell the roses. Am I taking it too far when I sacrifice that to be ready for whatever's coming? Maybe it won't happen in my lifetime. At my age those odds increase daily, but when things go really south, provided I'm here to see it, I have to know.....What next??

Skills, not material things. It's the realization that I'm coming to.

It doesn't matter how fancy and durable that custom off-road vehicle you've spent $50,000 to soup up for bugging out is, once you run out of gas or oil and have to leave it behind.

Your top-of-the-line $5,000 rifle isn't much good once you're out of ammo, or if you haven't shot it in the past 3 years.

Your knife isn't worth crap if you don't know how to sharpen it.

On the other hand, if you learn to start a fire with only what you can find in nature, if you can scavenge for edible plants, if you can make weapons out of rock and wood, you are set for life no matter what obstacles befall you.

Physical fitness is something most people overlook when it comes to survival. In actual fact, it should be one of your most important considerations. If you get winded from walking up a flight of stairs, good luck walking all day in the hot summer sun with a pack on your back.

[edit on 2/17/2008 by Yarcofin]

The only thing I keep handy in case of an Earth-changing event, is my survival manual. Anything else I will procure as I need it, instead of begin weighed down by all the things I might need. Extra baggage can get you killed.

great post idea.

In some sense with some People I would have to say yes. Others are running on a more instinctive level. The basics of instincts for those individuals is training. they study and try then study then try until it becomes second nature.

Others just study and never leave there couch they are the ones who will be knocking at our doors when the stuff Goes bad. they may have the knowledge but they do not know how to do it. Knowledge can be power but in the case of the brainiacks who don't practice knowledge is a waste.

Extra baggage can get you killed

Extra is the key word there. trying procure it on the way will get you killed. because every body else has the same idea in mind.

[edit on 17-2-2008 by angryamerican]

Dear OP,

I find the topic of survival very interesting along with its advocates. From my observations on survival forums on ATS there seems to be different levels of “readiness” incase of Sit-X but it seems by what you have said you “take the cake”.

What makes you so fearful as to want to do some of the things you have stated such as timing the distances from places to your home, scanning for potential threats in public places and analyzing the survival ability of your friends and family?

I’m assuming that being a survivalist you want to live long and in case of certain situations you want to be ready, but from what you have said it seems like you are greatly reducing your life span through certain stressors and other concerns and as a previous poster said in most peoples eyes reducing your quality of life in the process…..?

As I have said in previous survival forums I am not against being prepared as it is a natural part of life in my region of the world (Queensland, Australia) where natural disasters are a common occurrence. Actually as we speak there is a tropical cyclone (hurricane) brewing off the coast.

reply to post by MuLongQun

G'Day mate
Actualy I'm a little surprised to get this question from an Aussie.
I had the privilage to serve alongside some of your countrymen, and found them to be some of the toughest SOB's in the world.
Granted, my expereince with your culture is limited to a couple of visits, and knowing warriors from your country, but I have trouble imagining any of them not fighting to survive, and to win.
As for answering your question about my hyper-vigilence I would suppose if i were completely candid, it's just one of the scars that don't show from 30+ years in a Ranger outfit, and touring every squabble our esteemed goverment desided to get us into.
The reflexes that seem so abnormal to me in civilian life, were life saving habits for most of my life..
Now that you have me thinking about some of the Aussie troops i met along the way, I have to include a brief story.
I happened into a bar in Saigon, many years ago, and as often happened, there was a fight in progress.
As I made my way around the perimeter of the room toward the bar, i noticed all the guys fighting were Aussies.
I got a luke warm beer, and was leaning back aginst the bar to watch the fight, when one soldier stumbled back in my direction, and seemed to be catching his breath before diving back in.
My curiosity got the better of me so I asked him what they were fighting for. I have never forgot his answer as it seemed to ipitomize all the Aussies i had met.
In answer to my question, he turned to me and grinned, and said " practice mate, practice "

Ahhhh. You were in the forces as a Ranger for more then 30 years.

Well why didn't you say so?

That makes perfect sense and you don't need to explain any further.

Your training in a specified area such as a ranger for over 30 years would of course not wear off overnight nor would I expect it too for the remainder of your life.

Yes some Aussie's do like the occasional blue (fight) heh heh.

My deepest apologies and my greatest respects for your services throughout your career regardless of whoever decisions it was to put you "over there" in the first place.

If you have any other stories of Aussie soldiers during your adventures I would like to hear them as the " practice mate, practice " quote gave me quite a laugh.


[edit on 18-2-2008 by MuLongQun]

reply to post by MuLongQun

Not to belabor a point or derail my own thread, but I have a warm spot in my heart for your countrymen.
I may not agree with everything your PM gets up to, just as i don't expect you to always agree with our president.
I try to be mindful of the distinction. For the most part the Aussie troops i served with and the families i met when i visited impressed me with two very distinct qualities. First being thier fortitude. Even the families i met had an air about them that you just knew they would endure, no matter what.
The second and possibly just as important was thier good humor.
I have rarely met a more hospitable people
( Out of discretion i wont mention how attractive the Shiela's are LOL )
Suffice to say, I love my country, but if I had to choose another it would be Austrailia hands down. ( although we may have to discuss my guns )
I will indeed post more stories about the Aussie troops i met along the way. I will post them from time to time as they occure to me and seem to fit where I'm posting.
As for any respect or gratitude expressed for my time in service.
I am humbled by your words, but i have a request.
Pass it on to the next vet you meet or talk to. You have heros aplenty in your own country.