It dawned on me during the Hurricane Harvey disaster, while having a beer on my friend’s farm in Portland Oregon, that if something really bad, I mean devastating, happened to the U.S., call it natural disaster, an act of terror, or worse yet N. Korea launches a nuke onto American soil, most Millenials along with Gen Z are totally fucked. And you can laugh off the North Korean threat but it could happen, it would be terrible but, if you think America’s missile defense is 100% foolproof you’re wrong.
If this did happen, and cell reception was dead country-wide, along with power, there’s no way to Google yourself to shelter, food and water. And most Gen Z and Millenials (outside of Oregon the DIY state) don’t have the basic survival skills to deal, period. Basic survival skills like:
- Finding or building a shelter
- Starting a fire from scratch
- Navigation (how to find north without an iPhone)
- Located or treating water to ensure it’s drinkable
- How to siphon gas or repair an engine.
- Identifying plants that are safe to eat
- Hunting and field dressing an animal for food
- And on, and on…You get the idea, I hope.
Enter Gen X (and the Boomers) to the rescue. If there’s one advantage to being a Gen X’er it’s that most of us know how to change a tire, fix and maintain an engine, start a fire, find water and navigate ourselves out of a bad situation. I knew most of these skills before I was a Navy SEAL, and you’d be wise to start teaching your kids and yourself some basics if you don’t have the simple stuff nailed down. Because, if all hell breaks loose you’ll increase your chances of survival. It’s one of the reasons I love what we’re doing with Crate Club, and the knowledge survival base app we’ve built. If we can help make America a little more prepared than we’re all better off when it (whatever form it takes) goes down.
Originally published on SOFREP