Dress Rehearsal
Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby…
… but a dress rehearsal is as good as it gets until the real thing arrives.
So every once in a while, we go through the motions as though it were the real thing. We put on our gear, get the appropriate things out of storage and into action locations.
Most of our First Aid supplies are stored at the proper temperature for long term storage, so we need to put them someplace more at hand during an actual emergency. Some kits go into cars, depending on the nature of the emergency.
Same with food and water. We store food in a couple of different locations, because one sort of disaster might take out one location, but leave another. For instance, our house is more prone to damage during an earthquake than our garage. Our vehicles are least vulnerable in most disasters, and most mobile… but they are a very poor place to store anything long term. So we have bags in the pantry to throw a couple weeks of food into, and cases of water in the garage that can go quickly into the vehicles.
Every time… every single time… we find something that can be fine-tuned or that should be changed altogether.
This time, I found I had too much gear in and on my cargo pants. Over time, I keep adding things. So I moved some bulky/heavy things to the primary bag I carry. I still have the added stuff, but increased my mobility.
And I changed out one type of utility pack on my belt for another type. More compact, yet contains the same items.
We also found that, despite our constant updating of stores, we decided we needed a couple of items increased in quantity. And one thing that takes too much water to make up, so we will get less of that in future.
Small changes… relatively unimportant. But a nice bonus.
The important part was that we physically did what we planned to do. We got a little faster doing it. Shaved off time that could mean all the difference in a real emergency. We became more secure that we knew what we were supposed to do, and could do it.
It is easier, much easier, to maintain your calm when you feel competent.
Don’t just think you will be able to get everything together on a moment’s notice. Practice doing it. Chances are, you will find it much more difficult than you think.
We still practice. And we’ve been doing this for a long time.
