Black Friday deals are great, but the last place you’ll find me this time of year is in a store full of morons rushing to pick up a $3 toaster.
With that being said, I’m still always on the lookout for good Christmas time deals. It’s a great time to stock up, and an even better time to give the gift of preparedness to those who may not be prepared. Instead of buying your friends and family a bunch of useless crap this year, why not give them the gift of preparedness?
Need some ideas on how to make your friends and family more prepared?
Survival Books
Everybody loves a good book, and it’s one of the best ways to introduce your friends and family to the prepping lifestyle. Knowledge is the key to survival. The skills that your family or friends will learn from reading one of these books will help them more than some crappy box store gift.
A couple of good survival books to get them started are:
- SAS Survival Handbook, Revised Edition: For Any Climate, in Any Situation
- How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times
- When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes
- Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before It’s Too Late
Survival Kits
While I rarely recommend buying one of those prepackaged survival kits, giving one to someone who has never been introduced to prepping is a great way to get them started. It’s a cool gift to receive, even for those who don’t think about survival, and in this case it’s better than having nothing at all.
I’m going to do something else that I would never normally do and recommend the Bear Grylls Gerber Survival Kit.
It’s not that I think this is a particularly great kit, but I do think it makes a pretty good gift for those that haven’t been introduced to survival or preparedness. I cringe at what I’m about to write, but the main reason for my thinking here is the name on the kit. Like it or not, it’s got a coolness factor for those that aren’t into survival, and the fact that it’s from one of those T.V. Survival guys makes it more appealing to the average Joe.
Emergency Vehicle Kits
It’s shocking, but most Americans aren’t even prepared for relatively normal occurrences like automobile breakdowns. Do you have friends and family that fall into that category? If an accident happened while your loved ones were traveling, would they be prepared to deal with the situation?
Another great and practical Christmas gift is an emergency vehicle kit. While it doesn’t guarantee their safety it sure does increase their chances of survival.
Here are a couple of good kits:
- AAA 73 Piece Premium Excursion Road Kit
- Jump-N-Carry Jump Starter with Light
- AAA 77 Piece Warrior Road Assistance Kit
Mulittools
Multitools are another one of those cool gifts that the Average Joe might not think of as a survival item. It’s a great “under the radar” survival tool that prepares your clueless friends, without running the risk of them being turned off. It’s another one of those introduction items that can eventually lead to them becoming more survival minded.
I recommend any of these Mulitools:
Great idea, still am in shock you recommended a Bear kit, but your right the appeal is there for the recipient. It is really up to us the aid in the prepping of those we care about now, before they are a liability and we have to make even harder decisions.
I’ve given magnesium block fire starters / ferro rods / tinder kits & space blankets as stocking stuffers to blokes I hunt with over the years. This year I might focus more on B.O.B gear for family.
Last year my niece was just finishing high school and since I knew she was headed off to college my gift to her was a first aid kit for her car. The year before she got a pump and tire goo for her car. This year, I’m thinking about a full bug-out bag. A cool one is a good idea.
Just want to throw this out there, the Bear grylls machette is tough and well worth the money. I have beaten the tar out of mine and it has held up better than my SOG or the standard Gerber for clearing brush, small trees, splitting small logs etc w/ no problems at all and holds the edge pretty well.
Get them LED flashlights that work on AA, D, or C batteries, since those sizes are in every drug store and gas station in America. Also, if your loved one owns a self defense handgun a box or three of self defense ammunition is excellent advice. For instance a lot of people I know with not much handgun experience have purchased taurus judges and or ruger 380s. Not much 380 ammo to be had still yet and 45 colt ammo for the judge is very expensive. you can always find 410 shells.
To followup Lawrence with regards to personal defense ammo, Hornady makes a load called Critical Defense which runs about $20 for a box of 25 for 380 caliber rounds. I have gotten absolutely amazing expansion and penetration out of a .380, even though it is still a lighter load and when the shtf I would rather have my 1911, in regular carry and defense situations I feel more than confident that a double tap out my 380 w/ the critical defense loads will stop any aggressor in his tracks.
Love the post. Agree that the TV endorsement drives behavior – far too many sheeple in this world. Too bad.
I just purchased When All Hell by clundin. I am new to the prep life style but eager to learn more thanks for all info very helpful. I want to be an asset not a burden when tshif thanks pam