You bought it but do you know how to use it !

[Shaysdad99]

My little girl was born on Wednesday after 4 hours problems kicked in and she was soon fighting meningitis , all is on mend thanks to some fab doctors however whilst chatting with a nurse today who was fitting a new breathing detector under my daughters hospital mattress I piped up av bought one of them for when she gets home ,

Nurse replied great what do you do at 3am if alarm goes off ? I couldn't answer as i didn't know !

Moral of post you may have bought x for if y happens but do you really know what to do when you need it ? And if you don't learn now !

[Mortblanc]

Prepping includes field testing gear and learning the skills needed beyond the reading of the instruction booklet.

Nothing in my preps is packed away unopened, except food, and I try preparation methods and taste tests even on that.

The rest of the gear is opened, assembled, tested and thoroughly played with!

The fact that much of it is in every day use also helps sustain the confidence level.

[Grumpy Grandpa]

Congratulations are certainly in order - and I'm happy she's getting over the difficulty. Well done that man! (and your good lady!

Damn good point though...

[Scythe13]

SD99, this is something I've spoken about before. It's a very good point, and I often see guys out in the woods with gear they are unsure of how to use properly. No major deal...unless a life depends on it.

I know of a prepper that buys lots of gear, even though he does not know how to use it. The reason for this is because he does not plan to go solo. With including other people, they bring skills and some will bring the knowledge of how to use the equipment he has.

For example, with the breathing detector, he probably has one of them, and he may not know what to do when the alarm goes off. However, he does plan to take in certain people, e.g. a nurse, whom would know what to do. I think he has a welder, but cannot weld (he's super busy so doesn't have the time to play around and learn, he's got so much going on). He knows a neighbour that can weld, so if something happens, he has someone that can use the equipment.

It's a strange route to go down, but if you're planning to go community based, then it makes a lot of sense. If you plan on going solo...learn to use it and use it well.