How to get prepared in three easy steps

[bdickens]

I wish I had thought of this first, but Grant Cunningham had this on his blog a while back:

Grant’s Patented Plan To Becoming More Self-Reliant In Three Easy Steps ™:
1. Buy a pocket knife.

2. Buy a small high-intensity flashlight.

3. Carry them with you every day.

https://www.grantcunningham.com/2019/06/how-to-get-prepared-in-three-easy-steps/

And then he discusses the concept further: https://www.grantcunningham.com/2019/07/following-up-on-the-three-easy-steps-readiness-as-a-habit/

When thinking about preparedness, we tend to focus on the sexy stuff. Socking away a year's supply of MREs, bug-out bags, and particularly guns and ammo aplenty to ward off hordes of Zombies or the entire cadre of the Hell's Angels and Banditos combined.

But when you really get down to it, a pocket knife and a flashlight will probably solve 90% of the difficulties you run into on a daily basis. (No, I don't have a citation for that statistic. ) I know seldom a day goes by when I don't use one or the other. Often both.


Grant Cunningham makes this gun related.

 

[TonyAngel]

I’ve been doing that for the last 20 years. I also have rolls of electrical tape everywhere.

 

[Ramone]

As a child ( 1960s my) Grandfather would give you a dollar if you could produce on demand a knife ( or something to cut with, a single edge razor blade was acceptable) and a piece of string longer than your arm.

I still carry both, along with a flashlight, in my pockets, all the time.

To swerve back to firearms related, I've always maintained a stockpile of ammo, without ever making a bulk purchase, simply by buying more than I'd shoot ( or by shooting less than I'd bought ), ideally at a 1:1 ratio. If I bought 100 rounds on the way to the range, I'd usually bring home 50. Occasionally, I have a 'free ammo' range day when my shelves got crowded, or during an ammo shortage.

 

[Frulk]

True story...

My father was always fond of saying the following:

“ A man only needs four things to get through life... a good woman...a good dog.... a good hat and a good knife”.

After he and mom were divorced he amended it to...”A man only needs 3 things to get through life...”

I have an office admin job and one day my boss asked me why I carry a knife with me at work.. I told him because he won’t allow me to carry a gun. I’m rarely without a gun but the knife goes everywhere.

 

[TonyAngel]

This may raise some eyebrows, but if i had to choose between my Glock 48 and my Benchmade 710, meaning that I could only have one and my survival depended on it, i’d take the knife.

 

[herrwalther]

I have an office admin job and one day my boss asked me why I carry a knife with me at work.. I told him because he won’t allow me to carry a gun. I’m rarely without a gun but the knife goes everywhere.

I have worked many jobs where carrying a knife was frowned up. But I still had one anyway. I won't cry over a cheap $4 knife I got at Wal-Mart if it gets taken by someone at work. Taking a $200 Benchmade is a different story.

 

[CopperFouling]

Good advice there.

I would venture to go a step further and specify that the knife could very well be a non-locking slipjoint. Although I own a nice Zero Tolerance 0562, I bluntly admit that I carry a Swiss Army Hiker about 85 percent of the time I carry a knife, which is whenever I have pockets. The other tools see just as much use as the blades do, if not more.

 

[AlexanderA]

I have plenty of knives, flashlights, and guns. I carry them only when needed, which is seldom.

The advice to carry them all routinely is hogwash. All you're going to do is wear holes in your pockets.

ETA: In today's world, financial literacy is a far more important survival tool than carrying a pocketknife or a flashlight. I've seen plenty of lives ruined by poor financial decisions. None by the lack of a pocketknife.

 

[bdickens]

My, don't we know what's best for everyone else?

I'll remember that when you ask to borrow one.

 

[TonyAngel]

I have plenty of knives, flashlights, and guns. I carry them only when needed, which is seldom.

The advice to carry them all routinely is hogwash. All you're going to do is wear holes in your pockets.

I have three knives. One for jeans, one for shorts and one for when I wear a suit. I have two flashlights. A 2X CR123 model that puts out a good bit of light and a single AA model that I carry most of the time. I have one carry gun. I don't collect tools. I get the tools I need and I've needed one or all of these enough times to make it prudent to have them with me.

 

[Buzznrose]

I have worked many jobs where carrying a knife was frowned up. But I still had one anyway. I won't cry over a cheap $4 knife I got at Wal-Mart if it gets taken by someone at work. Taking a $200 Benchmade is a different story.

I catch a lot of crap from friends who think I need to carry a $100 every day when the truth is, I generally carry a $30 or so American made knife. I have some expensive knives, but I hate using them for the rough or gritty stuff like scraping stickers, pulling staples , cutting cardboard, or whatnot that can scratch them.

 

[Legionnaire]

I never leave home without them.

 

[labnoti]

As a child ( 1960s my) Grandfather would give you a dollar if you could produce on demand a knife ( or something to cut with, a single edge razor blade was acceptable) and a piece of string longer than your arm.

I still carry both, along with a flashlight, in my pockets, all the time....

String is a good idea. Two of the hardest things to bushcraft are cordage and a pot. I don't carry string, but I almost always have a dog leash. The harness leather straps aren't pocketable, at least not in normal size pockets. But I also make them by braiding three leather bootlaces. Those fit in a pocket. On my 4x4, I switched to synthetic winch line about 10 years ago. That Spectra / Dyneema / UHMWPE stuff is strong. Since then, I've got some that is just 3mm diameter and is 2200 pound test. I use that in the yard. I think for the pocket, maybe 1.3mm 600 pound would be better. I don't like paracord because it stretches too much.

 

[CopperFouling]

I have plenty of knives, flashlights, and guns. I carry them only when needed, which is seldom.

Do you wear a seatbelt only when you need it?

Seriously, though, I use my SAK multiple times a day. We can debate the odds of needing a handgun endlessly, but a knife is truly useful.

The advice to carry them all routinely is hogwash. All you're going to do is wear holes in your pockets.

I have carried a knife for years and don't have holes in my pants because I keep the blade closed. Now, I will admit, the ZT has busted up the edges of my pockets on one pair of jeans. However, the SAK has yet to damage any clothing.

 

[AlexanderA]

I'm 75 years old. I haven't "needed" a pocket knife since I was a Boy Scout.

I actually have a fairly large collection of pocket knives. The truth is, that for each of their functions, a dedicated tool would be better (including a fixed-blade knife).

When I need a tool (a knife or whatever), I get the dedicated tool. I find that I simply have no use for pocket knives.

I carry a bag of tools in my truck. A pocket knife is not included.

 

[bdickens]

I haven't "needed" a gun since I was born....

 

[Legionnaire]

I like the string idea. I carry a couple of extra boot laces and some paracord in my day pack, but not in my pocket; I'll consider that. Also in my pack is several feet of duct tape wrapped lengthwise around an expired credit card.

 

[Sarge7402]

I have plenty of knives, flashlights, and guns. I carry them only when needed, which is seldom.

The advice to carry them all routinely is hogwash. All you're going to do is wear holes in your pockets.

Been working in a Prison now for 4 years plus. Everyone said I was paranoid for carrying pepper spray and cuffs. Nothing ever happens at a level 1 prison. Until last Thursday just before the dinner meal. Both needed to be used. You never know when you'll get the call.

 

[JohnKSa]

I have plenty of knives, flashlights, and guns. I carry them only when needed, which is seldom.
The advice to carry them all routinely is hogwash. All you're going to do is wear holes in your pockets.

I use a pocket knife several times a day for one task or another. I use a flashlight at least several times a week, sometimes several times a day.

I do wear holes in my pockets and when that happens, I replace the pants. For me, the cost/hassle of replacing my pants a little more often due to pocket wear is more than offset by the convenience of having tools readily available when I need them.

 

[bdickens]

The advice to carry them all routinely is hogwash. All you're going to do is wear holes in your pockets.

You're the first person (including the author) to mention pockets.

I've seen plenty of lives ruined by poor financial decisions. None by the lack of a pocketknife

Mr. Cunningham wasn't talking about lives being ruined or saved, but about two little things that make many people's lives easier on a frequent basis.

I have plenty of knives, flashlights, and guns. I carry them only when needed, which is seldom.

Not everyone is as prescient as you and knows in advance exactly what each new day will bring. Did you find your crystal ball on Amazon?

You're definitely in the minority; every single other person in this thread has indicated that he or she has use for a knife or flashlight routinely, if not every day. Indeed, you're the only one here suggesting they are superfluous.

 

[.455_Hunter]

A knife and flashlight are always clipped on my weakside front pants pocket. The flashlight gets used multiple times per day, the knife about every other day.

 

[Elkins45]

I generally have three pairs of pants "in play" at any given time: my dirty work pants, my around the house pants, and my going to town pants. Each have a full-sized knife clipped to the pocket. I generally swap my Leaherman Squirt and Magnate LED Solitaire around to whatever pair I'm wearing.

I really like the Magnate LED Solitaire as a pocket light. It uses a singe AAA and unscrews to activate, which means it's never come on in my pocket and drained the battery,

I use both the knife and the light almost every day.

 

[DoubleMag]

Anyone besides me carry a Bic lighter even if they don't smoke?

 

[AlexanderA]

You're definitely in the minority; every single other person in this thread has indicated that he or she has use for a knife or flashlight routinely, if not every day. Indeed, you're the only one here suggesting they are superfluous.

I suppose it depends on your lifestyle. I just don't see the need to weigh myself down on a daily basis with items like pocketknives, flashlights, and BIC lighters. I've done a lot of traveling in my day and one of the rules I've learned is to travel light. I was reacting to the OP, which implied that pocketknives and flashlights were necessary for self-reliance and preparation. That's just silly.

(As a kid, I used to carry a pocketknife routinely. I suppose that was a holdover from the Boy Scouts. Well, one day when I was in the 7th or 8th grade, the gym teacher lined up all the kids and told us to empty our pockets. Innocently, I placed my pocket knife on on the floor along with my other pocket contents. The teacher made a show of confiscating my knife. After class, he called me into his office and returned my knife, explaining that there had been a stabbing incident involving some gang members in the school. But he told me to henceforth leave the knife at home.)

 

[magyars4]

I carry my SAK, a disposable lighter and a chap stick every day. Sometimes I Carrey and additional knfe of one sort or the other depending if I'm on the farm or going into town.
I'd say 90-95% of the time I have a firearm within arms reach. Usually on my belt.