Glenn Reynolds sparked some thoughts with his good but poorly named
We're All Soldiers of Fortune Now piece about survivalism. I understand the reference, it's just that while 'Soldier of Fortune' was 80's slang for survivalists, this year it means mercenary again.

I am less interested in the politics of the new survivalists than some of the other factors surrounding this new trend. I applaud any level of return to valuing self-reliance, and if it is the environmentalist movement that is pushing it so much the better.

I think there are some problems with the pre-packaged kits, but I having some equipment is better than nothing. Mostly they are bags full of junk (Band-aids are not survival gear, they are comfort items.) because the price point for having a useful kit is more than the average person is willing to plop down a box or bag of stuff that they never plan on opening.

I am glad that survivalism is getting out of the gun-toting-food-hoarder stage. I am a little bit sorry that it is moving into the home-shopping-network era. Prepackaged backpacks with 2 chemlights, a rain poncho, and four 8 oz. juice boxes of water is probably not going to make the difference between life and death.

I hate "bug-out-bags." Mostly they are a fantasy kits containing multiple rifles, handguns, and knives and weighing in at more than their owners have every carried farther than their property line. Despite the dubious practicality, what is the scenario where this sort of kit is what is needed to get the job done?

After foot marching off into the woods and winning multiple gunfights with post-apocalyptic bandits, once society gets chugging again you can traipse back down out of your mountain bolt-hole and resume your work as a chartered accountant? Why does society want you back?

How about this as an alternative plan. I am not going anywhere (assuming I am home. There is a whole school of thought about 'bug-in' bags.) I want the equipment that is needed to help the people around me, even if they are strangers. Survival might be accomplished by an individual, but living requires a group.