Training & skills building

[The Stig]

As we all know, having gear is nice (says the certified GearWhore) but the knowledge to use it is far more valuable.

What have you done lately to increase your skills and receive additional training?

[The Stig]

My last training class was an Emergency Field Medicine (http://www.tdiohio.com/medicine.htm) class at TDI in Ohio.

It was a two day class where we learned to evaluate a wound, pack it, use a compression bandage, discuss proper tourniquet usage, start and IV, do sutures, use/improvise a splint, airway management, CPR and how to run an AED. The big finish to the class was they took a training dummy out into the woods, plopped him down and we had to perform the stabilization from start to hauling him out on a stretcher.

Great information and lots of good nuggets from an Airforce Flight Surgeon with Middle East combat experience and another trauma specialist doctor with Viet Nam combat experience and worked on the group that came up with the most current T3C guidelines.

If you haven't gotten emergency trauma care training it's highly recommended.

[The Stig]

I've scheduled a training class for July out at TDI for carbine level 1. I've taken all sorts of informal training from various instructors but never take a carbine specific class. This will be three days of nothing my carbines. I'm stoked.

I'm also scheduled to take a Magpul Dynamics class in December 2011. It's a combination carbine and shotgun class. I've also never taken a formal shotgun class so I'm really looking forward to that as I don't believe the shotgun is as easy of a weapons system as some make it to be.

I'll be interested to see the Dynamics teaching. While informative and entertaining they are a bit "Hollywood" and I want to see how "real world" it is.

[x-cop]

What did i do lately??

Went to drill. :)

I am also reading about 4 books. Combat leaders guide and Lundin'd 98.6 among them.

[bacpacker]

Not sure if this fits this thread or not, my apologies if it doesn't. This past week I planted the fruit trees I ordered, apples, pears, cherries, and papaws. Last week started this years garden. We put in potato's, onions, beets, radishes, and turnips. The radishes are already coming up. I have a half dozen books and a few magazines going trying to learn more about food production and alternative energy productio/storage.
Back in the fall I started my first attempt at growing my own wheat. It has started growing again this spring and looks to be on track.
Coming up in the next few weeks plans call for starting our chicken flock and building a new chicken coop. We also will be doing some hiking/camping and I plan on practicing my firestarting building, field expeidient shelters, field cooking, and route finding.

[The Stig]

Not sure if this fits this thread or not, my apologies if it doesn't. This past week I planted the fruit trees I ordered, apples, pears, cherries, and papaws. Last week started this years garden. We put in potato's, onions, beets, radishes, and turnips. The radishes are already coming up. I have a half dozen books and a few magazines going trying to learn more about food production and alternative energy productio/storage.
Back in the fall I started my first attempt at growing my own wheat. It has started growing again this spring and looks to be on track.
Coming up in the next few weeks plans call for starting our chicken flock and building a new chicken coop. We also will be doing some hiking/camping and I plan on practicing my firestarting building, field expeidient shelters, field cooking, and route finding.

This definitely fits in this thread. Any sort of general training or skills enhancement can fall under this sort of discussion.

[x-cop]

I joined the National Guard

:P

[TEOTWAWKI13]

Not sure if this fits this thread or not, my apologies if it doesn't. This past week I planted the fruit trees I ordered, apples, pears, cherries, and papaws. Last week started this years garden. We put in potato's, onions, beets, radishes, and turnips. The radishes are already coming up. I have a half dozen books and a few magazines going trying to learn more about food production and alternative energy productio/storage.
Back in the fall I started my first attempt at growing my own wheat. It has started growing again this spring and looks to be on track.
Coming up in the next few weeks plans call for starting our chicken flock and building a new chicken coop. We also will be doing some hiking/camping and I plan on practicing my firestarting building, field expeidient shelters, field cooking, and route finding.

I'm doing a container garden. I haven't planted just yet afraid of a late cold snap. But I'm going to plant in the next week. Other than that, I've been reading a good deal.

[bacpacker]

Tet what are you planning on growing? Stuff like lettuce, spinach, most any greens, carrots, onions, broccoli, califlour are all cool weather crops. If I remeber right, you live south of me. I'm in east tn, and put out a few things week before last, potatos and onions. It's a little early here, but I found I usually beat the potato bugs by doing it early. The plant bloom and have started making taters before the bugs get started.
Next week I will plant lettuce, cauliflour, cabbage, more beets, and maybe peas.
There are tons of stuff you can do in containers. Just select the appropriate size for the crop your growing and don't forget to fertilize lightly every couple months, whether you use manure, compost tea, of commercial fertilize.
I don't know much, but I'll be happy to share what little I do. Good luck with it.

[TEOTWAWKI13]

Tet what are you planning on growing? Stuff like lettuce, spinach, most any greens, carrots, onions, broccoli, califlour are all cool weather crops. If I remeber right, you live south of me. I'm in east tn, and put out a few things week before last, potatos and onions. It's a little early here, but I found I usually beat the potato bugs by doing it early. The plant bloom and have started making taters before the bugs get started.
Next week I will plant lettuce, cauliflour, cabbage, more beets, and maybe peas.
There are tons of stuff you can do in containers. Just select the appropriate size for the crop your growing and don't forget to fertilize lightly every couple months, whether you use manure, compost tea, of commercial fertilize.
I don't know much, but I'll be happy to share what little I do. Good luck with it.

Yeah, I'm a bit south of you...NW Ga. I'm gonna try potatoes, carrots, lettuce, green beans, brocolli, and maybe a couple more. Probably do a tomato bucket too. And I might throw some berries up along the fenceline too. Even if we move out, the next resident may enjoy them. I just pruned the pear tree a bit, as I don't think it's ever been touched and was in bad shape, so I should have a few pears too. My 6 yr old loves those.

I'm using the bigger containers, so there should be enough room for adequate growth. I'm figuring a total of 6-8 containers. I'd like to plant some corn, but IDK how that would play out.

My main goal is to add some food to the table, but to also get into canning, so some trial and error will occur I'm sure. My grandparents were the epitomy of self reliant, and it pisses me off that I didn't carry on my pop's legacy until now. Kinda feel like I let him down, so I'm making up for lost time. :)

[bacpacker]

Better late than never I always say. I don't know how well corn would grow in a container. It's a super heavy nitrogen feeder and needs to have a decent amount of indiviual plants to assure pollination. If you have the space try to plant a space of something like 5x5 or 8x8. Corn will pollinate better if planted in blocks instead of long single or double rows.
For potato's in a container try this out. Say you have a 12" deep x 12" diameter pot, put in 3-4 inches of dirt and lay 4-6 potato eyes (peices of the potato cut off to capture the little spaces where they sprout) and cover the peices with 1-2" of dirt. As the potato's start coming up, let them grow 3-4 inches then put another 2-3 inches of dirt in. Keep filling the pot up until the pot is full as the plant grows. Just be sure to leave 1-3" of plant above the dirt.
From past expereince, the potato's will grow off the vine and follow the vine as it grows. You can get a decent amount of taters from a few plants by doing this. Put several pots out like this and you can get several lb's of taters. Use a compost cow manure mix(you can get this bagged at Lowes or Home Depot for a few bucks a bag) for the dirt. Let the plants grow till they die off, give them a few weeks after that for the tater skins to harden up, then carefully start digging.
BTW you can plant them yesterday in your area.
Good luck

[izzyscout21]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a198/JermCool/necropost.jpg

Zombiepost rises.............

thought it might be good to take another look.

Izzy