The Mind4Survival Podcast

SHTF Gear: The Essential Gear to Survive SHTF (2023)

01.07.2022 - By Brian DuffPlay

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The reality is, we're probably going to discover we're not as prepared as we thought when SHTF (Shit Hits the Fan). That's why it's never a bad thing to have a Bug Out Bag (BOB) full of your SHTF survival gear ready. But what are the essential items you need for SHTF situations? We've got you covered with this essential SHTF gear list.

What is an SHTF Kit?

An SHTF kit is a collection of items most likely to be needed in an emergency.

The acronym "SHTF" stands for when the "Shit Hits the Fan," which typically happens after an SHTF event.

Examples of SHTF events are natural disasters, such as a tornado or earthquake, large-scale financial crises, such as a stock market crash, or bank failures.

SHTF events can also be human-made and include acts of terrorism such as 9/11 and negligence, as with the Chernobyl meltdown.

When it comes to assembling your kit, you can make it happen with very little money with a bit of planning.

What Do You Need to Survive SHTF?

In addition to survival skills, we all benefit from having equipment working as force multipliers for us.

Here's our list of must-have SHTF survival gear items that will help you survive whatever disasters or emergencies you may face.

1. Personal Defense Items

After mindset and situational awareness, the next fundamental of preparedness is survival.

And the first step in survival is to avoid any catastrophic damage that

ends your life. Outside of unavoidable mishaps, the most significant threat we face is from the living.

Humans pose the most significant living threat to us, with animals and insects pulling up a very distant rear.

Therefore, if we are to be in a position to need water, food, etc., we must first be able to defend ourselves from any life-threatening attack.

That's because if you don't survive what happens in the next few minutes, you won't have a need to protect yourself from the elements for an extended period.

The Toughest Guy

First, the seemingly tough guys don't always win when it comes to personal defense. That's because our mindset and situational awareness count for so much when it comes to the fundamentals of preparedness.

The fundamentals of preparedness are Mindset, Situational Awareness, Survival, Safety, and Self. (M4S)

The point is that a small person with wits, awareness and the proper SHTF gear can overcome not-as-aware bad guys.

SHTF Gear

Once you have your mindset and situational awareness taken care of, it's time to focus on your personal defense survival gear.

Knives

Survival knives, such as the Morakniv Companion, are essential gear when you're out in the wild since you can use them to slice or prepare food, hunt for food, open canned goods, fix things, cut ropes and other m

aterials for shelter, as well as defend you from attackers.

While some people laugh at small folding pocket knives, I found over a decade deployed overseas that they were great for day-to-day use. That's because they took most of the beating in cutting and slicing things, saving my fixed blade fighting knife for the bad guys.

Credit-card-sized knives are easy to carry and won't take up too much space in your bug-out bag. As small as it looks, it is heavy-duty and works as a knife should. What makes it an essential SHTF gear is that it can fit into your wallet without being noticed.

Neck knives are also a great piece of SHTF gear. They are concealable, helping you to achieve gray man status, and are easy to carry to you're always prepped.

Don't forget to maintain your knives and keep them sharp. Otherwise,

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