It Depends - Fortune Favors the Prepared

If you have ever heard me answer a question on one of the Survival Dispatch Insider videos, or seen my responses to a question on a blog of Facebook post then you will have probably heard me start the response with “It depends.”

The reason is that I want you to think of the answer, or I’ll give you some possible solutions or things you might want to consider. If I give you an answer like “Buy this radio” or “Buy a years worth of this food supply” it might not be the best option or solution for you.

I’ve used this response throughout much of my adult teaching career, from teaching first aid, EMT, paramedic and emergency management and all other kinds of courses. It wasn’t until writing this article that I remembered where or why I started doing this. When I was about 12 a cousin, like an older sister, gave me a book. That book started out with something about six characters, Who, What, Why, When, Where and How. It wasn’t until I search it (what would we do without Google or Bing or Duckduck search engines theses days!) that I realized, and remembered, it was a poem by Rudyard Kipling.

I keep six honest serving-men
  (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
  And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
  I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me,
  I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
  For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch, and tea,
  For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
  I know a person small
She keeps ten million serving-men,
  Who get no rest at all!
She sends em abroad on her own affairs,
  From the second she opens her eyes
One million Hows, Two million Wheres,
  And seven million Whys!

So Why Does It Depend?

A recent comment on one of my posts on a Facebook page brought reminded me of why I say it depends. It depends on:

Who are your preparing for?
- are you part of a MAG or one your own?
- just you, or is your family on board too?
What are your financial resources?
- how much can you afford, are you prepared to spend?
Why are you preparing?
- what threats and hazards are you at risk from?
- are you just preparing for “the big one,” the SHTF event?
Where you are on the “preparedness scale”?
- newbie – beginner – novice – intermediate – experienced – guru
How much time to do you have?
- to get prepared (hurricane season is already here)
- to spend (i.e., on a garden, learning ham radio, etc.)
Where do you live?
- what is the climate? what might you be able to grow?
- what other resources are around you? (i.e., comms for ham radio)

So you can see, if you are going to do this right YOU need to consider the factors. Just because someone says “you need to get this radio” it might not be the best for you right now. “You need to have a years worth of beans and rice stored,” but that takes time, money and somewhere to store it.

I’d rather give you some good information and let you figure out what works for you at this time in your journey.