● Outside the maze · Preparedness
Survival
for the Rest of Us
Bushcraft experts can start a fire with no tools.
Medical pros can handle anything.
But what about the rest of us?
- 01What should you know?
- 02What should you carry?
- 03Why should you care?
Practical preparedness for everyday life. No bunker required.
● Read · Start here
Three essays to read first.
Being ready is part knowledge and part mindset. The first essay is the practical guide: what to know and what to carry. The second is its companion, about the way you see the world. The third is the thinking skill that keeps you from being misled when it matters.
The practical guide
Survival for the Rest of Us
Skills, gear and first aid for daily life, travel, medical emergencies, disasters and the outdoors. The post that may save your life.
The companion
How To Adjust Your Mental Model and Live Your Best Life
Written as the follow-up. The first essay covers what to know and carry; this one covers the mental models you see the world through, and how to change them.
The core skill
Critical Thinking (Don’t Fall Prey to Propaganda)
Understanding how things work is the first defense against being manipulated.
● Read · The mindset behind it
Surviving the modern world.
Gear is the easy part. Most of what threatens ordinary people today isn’t a storm or a power cut. It’s confusion: a world changing faster than anyone can explain, comfortable lies, and conversations that go nowhere. These essays are about seeing clearly, dealing with other people, and staying steady.
We Are Living Inside the Transition
Why the world feels like it’s coming apart: old systems are dissolving faster than new ones can form.
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
By most measures the world’s better than ever, and it still feels like it’s falling apart. Why both are true.
The Lies We Like
Why comfortable falsehoods beat hard truths, and what that preference costs you.
Everything Is a Story
You react to the story you tell about an event more than to the event. The story can be edited.
Why We Can’t Talk to Each Other — and How We Might Start Again
Conversations fail on hidden assumptions long before the argument starts. How to begin again.
How to Lose Every Argument — and Be Happier for It
Most arguments aren’t worth winning. Knowing which to drop protects your peace.
Why “Bad” People May Be Your Best Chance at Growth
Difficult people and setbacks are a certainty, so learn to use them.
Ten Paths, One Wisdom: What the World’s Philosophies Teach Us
Ten philosophical traditions, and the handful of lessons about living well that they share.
● Watch
See it done.
Short episodes from my Survival for the Rest of Us YouTube channel. They start with the basics, what to carry and why, and work up to first aid and stopping severe bleeding.
Episode 001
Channel Intro and National Preparedness Month
We’re all in this together.
Episode 002
Gear Guidelines (10 Cs, 10 Essentials, and more)
The key gear frameworks for preparedness.
Episode 003
Build a Realistic Emergency / Bug Out Bag
Start with the basics and expand.
Episode 004
Understanding Survival Basics
Priorities, fire, and shelter location.
Episode 005
What Should Be in Your First Aid Kit?
From minor injuries to trauma care.
Episode 006
Learn How (and Why) to Stop the Bleed
Why severe bleeding is deadly, and how to save a life.