Survival Versus Flashlights

Survival Versus Flashlights

By Joseph Parish

This topic will likely generate a bit of controversy among my readers, but here it goes anyway. When inquiring about available survival gear, we find the most useless item has stimulated the most conversations. Could this reason be simply because everyone already has at least a year's supply of food, an adequate shelter, and plenty of water?

To start out with we ask ourselves why we need a year's supply of food stored up? The answer is really quite simple. In order to survive until the next harvest, you will need to stay fed and build up your energy reserve so that you are able to grow all your own food for the following year. You should research the amount of basic foods you will need to sustain you for one year, and stock up on those. Be sure to include a supply of vitamins in these storage packs as well to supplement your diet.

Shelter - We are talking not just a place to get in from the foul elements, but a quality shelter, which provides you adequate warmth in the depths of winter, and a place to stay cool in the heat of summer. This shelter will need to store your food, and equipment necessary for your survival, supplies for cleaning, sanitation supplies, medical and first aid equipment, along with a place to properly prepare your food and meals. These all fall under the heading of shelter.

Water - we usually require more than one gallon of water per day per individual, but in dire emergency, we must try to make do with a single gallon. It won't be easy, and you should try for more, but we work with what we have available. Think about what plans you can take to ensure that you have sufficient supplies of water for cleaning purposes, food preparations, as irrigation for growing additional food, water for your animals, and hopefully some left over for you to drink? It is not a very pleasant thought to think about how long you are going to be able to live without having enough water available. A thought for you to consider is, will you be able to grow another year's supply of food if you fail to have a good supply of water? If you do not have this basic need readily available, you can forget about all your other preps because you will simply be dead before harvest time

So, you are likely wondering where this flashlight will fit into this scenario, let me briefly explain. Try an experiment for the next three or four days. When you need to get up in the middle of the night do so without the convenience of a light, so you can get used to stumbling around in the dark. Soon you may find that your night vision is beginning to improve, and you will instantly recall where the couch and tables are so you don't trip over them in the dark. An important point to keep in mind, is that under survival conditions a light at night in your home is going to be a major security issue. The roving gangs of villains in the neighborhood are instantly going to see your lit-up home, and know that you have supplies inside. A blackout condition at night may not be such a bad idea after all. A flashlight will not be as advantageous to you in any form, not even to chase a predator from your chicken coop, or away from your goats in the dark of the night. This will likely require a much larger and more powerful spotlight to accomplish that task, compared to your little shake to glow light. Therefore, when placed in the proper perspective, we find that a flashlight is essentially useless for most emergency crisis situations.

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