The Skills Gap of Prepping
Kevin Felts 03.20.17
We all know that “special” someone who can recite various books or manuals. Whether it is a safety manual, company guideline, survival manual, whatever it may be, they know exactly how things are supposed to be done.
Then comes the real world application and they learn that not everything in life “goes by the book.”
Preppers who have plenty of book knowledge but little real world experience have a skills gap. Their hands-on experience does not match their book knowledge.
What brought this topic up?
I lost a White Leghorn chick that was two months old. Rarely does a single two month old chick just up and die. If a disease is spreading through the flock, chances are a lot more than one chick will die. I was wondering how the hardiness of the White Leghorn compares to other heritage breeds. So, I decided to post a question to various forums.
When the chicks were moved to the main flock they were put on laying crumbles. There have been times when I skipped chick grower and went from chick starter to laying crumbles with no ill effects to the chicks.
Right off the bat people were replying that two month old chicks were not supposed to be given laying crumbles; they were supposed to be given chick grower. This is a typical response from people who have only gone by the book.
In 2016, one of my hens and one of my guineas both hatched out chicks. The chicks were only given laying crumbles and they thrived just fine.
Then there was the seed stockpiling video. I received comments saying seeds can not be stored and they have a short lifespan. To prove those comments wrong I germinated and then planted decade old seeds.
Skills Gap
There are arm chair preppers who can tell you the exact ballistic difference between the 7.62 X 39 and the 223 Remington, yet have never fired either weapon.
In my youtube videos, I refer to those types of preppers as “Basement baby couch commandos.”
When dealing with “by the book couch commandos,” I usually take their advice with a truckload of salt. Forget a grain of salt, we are going to need a whole truckload. They may sound like they know what they are talking about, but lack real world experience.
A real world example of this is the skills gap between college graduates and what employers are looking for. Every year college graduates enter the workforce, only to discover how ill-prepared they were. With some on the job training, the skills gap closes.
The same applies to preppers. By the book preppers should get some real world experience and close the skills gap.
