# Ask the guy in a perpetual state of readiness... for almost anything. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591 "2010-09-13T11:41:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/41 "2010-09-14T01:57:27Z")
What is your basic physical stance of perpetual preparedness? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/42 "2010-09-14T01:58:39Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Does your winter vehicle kit include a thick closed cell foam pad, -35 sleeping bag, shovel, and wench? I keep a wench on hand at all times for emergencies. You never know when you will suddenly get horny and need one. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/43 "2010-09-14T02:00:45Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > > [@Muffin](#): > > > > Does your winter vehicle kit include a thick closed cell foam pad, -35 sleeping bag, shovel, and wench? > > I keep a wench on hand at all times for emergencies. You never know when you will suddenly get horny and need one. Oh darn. Beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/44 "2010-09-14T02:02:06Z")
Ok toddebob, let’s see what you got. Test question 1 What’s in your pocket right now? Test question 2 It’s a dark an rainy night in the boondocks far from help or phone service. You get a flat tire. You remove the lug nuts from your old tire and store them in the hubcap. Accidently you step on the hubcap and send all five lug nuts flying into the dark. After extensive searching you find… One of them. The rest are lost forever. What do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/45 "2010-09-14T02:04:51Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > > [@Muffin](#): > > > > Does your winter vehicle kit include a thick closed cell foam pad, -35 sleeping bag, shovel, and wench? > > I keep a wench on hand at all times for emergencies. You never know when you will suddenly get horny and need one. That’s why there is a difference depending on the season. In the summer, a winch, so you can get back to the BBQ; in the winter, a wench, to help avoid hypothermia. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/46 "2010-09-14T02:07:38Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Test question 2 > It’s a dark an rainy night in the boondocks far from help or phone service. You get a flat tire. You remove the lug nuts from your old tire and store them in the hubcap. Accidently you step on the hubcap and send all five lug nuts flying into the dark. After extensive searching you find… One of them. The rest are lost forever. What do you do? That’s an easy one:Pull one off of each wheel and use four per wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/47 "2010-09-14T02:13:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Does your winter vehicle kit include a thick closed cell foam pad, -35 sleeping bag, shovel, and wench? I am _so_ hoping that wasn’t a typo. Instead of zombie-apocalypse-type scenarios, I’m going to ask about a few plausible ones. 1: You’re heading to a place of business you haven’t been to before and for which you only have an address, and realize that you can’t find the street. What do you do? 2: You’ve got an important deadline coming up soon at work, and you come down with a flu-like bug that leaves you bedridden for a week. What do you do? 3: You’re on an outing of some sort with a friend or family member who brought a baby. The kid needs to be changed, but the parent forgot to bring their diaper bag. What do you do? 4: Your employer is hit hard by the recession, and you suddenly find yourself out of a job. What do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/48 "2010-09-14T02:15:20Z")
Test question3: The boy in front of you riding the escalator gets his pant leg caught and it starts to pull him in. He screams as it constructs his leg. You have a second or two to act, at most. What do you do? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/49 "2010-09-14T02:23:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I am _so_ hoping that wasn’t a typo. It wasn’t a typo, > [@Scylla](#): > > Test question3: > > The boy in front of you riding the escalator gets his pant leg caught and it starts to pull him in. He screams as it constructs his leg. You have a second or two to act, at most. What do you do? Peg the emergency stop button with a quick throw of the remaining lug nut. Either that or fellate the kid. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/50 "2010-09-14T02:27:42Z")
Do you call out “Hut, hut, hut” in a baritone voice when you stride down the street, and if so, does it act as a mating call to draw women to you? ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/51 "2010-09-14T02:33:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Instead of zombie-apocalypse-type scenarios, I’m going to ask about a few plausible ones. > > 1: You’re heading to a place of business you haven’t been to before and for which you only have an address, and realize that you can’t find the street. What do you do? You recalibrate your GPS by hooking it up to your laptop and identifying which satellites are in range. Then you call Norad to make sure that they are all functioning properly. At the same time, get out one of your frequency scanners (you should have at least 2) and verify that your GPS signals are not being jammed. What you DO NOT do under ANY circumstances is ask for directions. > [@Chronos](#): > > 2: You’ve got an important deadline coming up soon at work, and you come down with a flu-like bug that leaves you bedridden for a week. What do you do? Infect everyone else at work so that no one notices you missed the deadline. Since you’ll recover first, you’ll have it done by the time your coworkers are fit to come back in. > [@Chronos](#): > > 3: You’re on an outing of some sort with a friend or family member who brought a baby. The kid needs to be changed, but the parent forgot to bring their diaper bag. What do you do? Stuff him into a plastic bag until he stops crying. > [@Chronos](#): > > 4: Your employer is hit hard by the recession, and you suddenly find yourself out of a job. What do you do? That’s just too unrealistic to warrant a response. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/52 "2010-09-14T02:35:09Z")
How often do you find yourself using your vehicle’s passenger ejection seat, and on a related note, do how often do you find yourself frustrated by unprepared people? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/53 "2010-09-14T02:39:38Z")
I wish I was prepared to be prepared. I had to switch purses for a one-day trip, I stuffed in just about everything I thought I would need for the day. Tissues. Hand sanitizer, credit cards, money, a comb, ibuprofen, keys. So I didn’t bring enough money (or my checkbook :smack:), I was missing the one credit card I needed :smack:, brought someone elses keys (though had the ones I needed), and couldn’t find the ibuprofen I desperately needed. I think I’ll just stay at home from now on and work on emergency preparedness for around the house. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/54 "2010-09-14T02:46:39Z")
> [@dzero](#): > > What you DO NOT do under ANY circumstances is ask for directions. That would depend on whether one is male or female, for women’s navigation is based on the pituitary stimulating hormones FSH and LH. Secretion in sufficient quantities causes the development and continuance of a secondary sexual characteristic commonly known to women as the navicular gynoecium. Here’s an article I put together that sets out how this biological difference results in the difference between how males and females navigate: [Navicular Gynoecium](http://my.tbaytel.net/culpeper/NavicularGynoecium.html) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/55 "2010-09-14T02:49:13Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > > [@Scylla](#): > > > > Test question 2 > > It’s a dark an rainy night in the boondocks far from help or phone service. You get a flat tire. You remove the lug nuts from your old tire and store them in the hubcap. Accidently you step on the hubcap and send all five lug nuts flying into the dark. After extensive searching you find… One of them. The rest are lost forever. What do you do? > > That’s an easy one:Pull one off of each wheel and use four per wheel. That, or go back to your save point. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/56 "2010-09-14T11:36:25Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Do you practice snaring critters for dinner? It’s been a long time since I’ve built a snare, and I wouldn’t want to snare a creature just for practice. I’m sure that if I went to build a snare right now, it’d be piss poor, but two or three practice runs and I think I’d be good enough. > [@Muffin](#): > > How often do you change the condom in your wallet? I don’t carry a condom in my wallet. I use a very small wallet, as all I need to carry in it is Drivers license, State ID card (yes, you can have both – and both count as “Identification”), Money, 2 Credit cards and a Technology Card for work (so they know I’m not stealing tech). > [@Muffin](#): > > Are you prepared to perform a tracheotomy with your Gerber Multitool and drinkbox straw? Theoretically, but I wouldn’t want to try. The first aid classes I’ve attended haven’t covered surgery – even basic surgery – and I wouldn’t feel comfortable stabbing into a live persons flesh barring absolutely catastrophic circumstance (as in, there’s absolutely no other possible way this person is going to live, I might as well try some random shit that’s got almost no chance of success and will probably just lead to them dying anyway). > [@Musicat](#): > > It seems to be that you are _extremely_ poorly prepared. What if your car goes off the end of a pier into a lake with the all-electric windows up? You will need a spring-loaded nailset to shatter a window to escape. Do you have one of those in your emergency funbag? > > Your lint & flint won’t be much use in that situation, you know. If my car goes into a lake, my multitool is all metal, and plenty strong enough to break a window with nothing more than the force I can apply with my hand. Alternatively, I can wait for the water level to rise high enough inside of the car, so that the pressure reaches equilibrium, and the car door is very easy to open. Yes, I’ve thought about it. > [@Muffin](#): > > Does you vehicle kit include tire chains, traction mats, shovel, and winch? In the winter, it includes chain-like tire attachments, kitty litter and a shovel, yes. No, it doesn’t have a winch. Yes, I have jumper cables and a Jump-box. > [@Muffin](#): > > Does your winter vehicle kit include a thick closed cell foam pad, -35 sleeping bag, shovel, and wench? It has two thermal blankets, which are far more efficient for their size than sleeping bags (they fold up to be just a few inches wide, an inch deep and inch long). IIRC they’re rated to 0F, but I wouldn’t want to use them that way unless I had to. And it’s unlikely I’d need to. > [@Muffin](#): > > What is your basic physical stance of perpetual preparedness? Complete. > [@Scylla](#): > > Ok toddebob, let’s see what you got. Alright > [@Scylla](#): > > Test question 1 > What’s in your pocket right now? Left front pocket: Wallet, iPhone. Right front pocket: Keys, Multitool, Knife. On the keys I have a takedown tool for a Glock as well. > [@Scylla](#): > > Test question 2 > It’s a dark an rainy night in the boondocks far from help or phone service. You get a flat tire. You remove the lug nuts from your old tire and store them in the hubcap. Accidently you step on the hubcap and send all five lug nuts flying into the dark. After extensive searching you find… One of them. The rest are lost forever. What do you do? There are spare lugnuts with my spare tire. Also, barring that, I’d do what was answered earlier – use from other tires. > [@Chronos](#): > > 1: You’re heading to a place of business you haven’t been to before and for which you only have an address, and realize that you can’t find the street. What do you do? I’ve google map’d the area before I leave. Barring that, I use my iPhone and the GPSDrive or Google Maps if GPSDrive wont give me directions. My iPad has Google Earth – with street view – so I’ll be able to navigate with relative ease. > [@Chronos](#): > > 2: You’ve got an important deadline coming up soon at work, and you come down with a flu-like bug that leaves you bedridden for a week. What do you do? My project is already complete, I don’t need to worry. If my project needs finish touches, I call in a favor – since I’m owed many – and someone else does the leg work and runs it by me to ensure that it’s up to my standards. > [@Chronos](#): > > 3: You’re on an outing of some sort with a friend or family member who brought a baby. The kid needs to be changed, but the parent forgot to bring their diaper bag. What do you do? Assuming the kid can’t run around pantless? I mean, kids in diapers don’t really care if their ass is bare. I grab a towel out of the car, and a knife, cut it to size and pin the ends together. > [@Chronos](#): > > 4: Your employer is hit hard by the recession, and you suddenly find yourself out of a job. What do you do? Live off of my savings, while applying to every job I can – I take the first one I get (even if it involves saying “Do you want fries with that?”) and continue applying until I find one that suits my needs. Some income is better than no income. > [@Scylla](#): > > Test question3: > > The boy in front of you riding the escalator gets his pant leg caught and it starts to pull him in. He screams as it constructs his leg. You have a second or two to act, at most. What do you do? I cut his pants off. > [@Muffin](#): > > Do you call out “Hut, hut, hut” in a baritone voice when you stride down the street, and if so, does it act as a mating call to draw women to you? My mating call is more of a “click” sound, like you’d use to summon a horse. It’s quite effective, actually. > [@Muffin](#): > > How often do you find yourself using your vehicle’s passenger ejection seat, and on a related note, do how often do you find yourself frustrated by unprepared people? Unfortunately, I rarely ride with people in my car, so I don’t get to use the eject function frequently, but I am bothered by peoples unpreparedness on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/57 "2010-09-14T22:11:41Z")
Huh My emergency kit contains first aid supplies, batteries, dust masks and gloves, 5K in cash - both large and small bills- and a large stash of prescription drugs – name brand and easily recognizable. The intent there was not for personal use but to have small items with a high barter value when the world goes to hell. And in the car I have a car emergency kit, blankets, an airbed and a small generator ( it’s basically a car battery in a special case, it has an AC outlet and can be used to power small appliances and blow up the airbed – it’s also practical in case the car every needs a jump start. I’ve been accused of being overprepared as well. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/58 "2010-09-14T22:55:47Z")
I don’t have any prescription drugs in my bags, for a couple of reasons. The biggest being that they’re more trouble than they’re worth, imo. ---
**Author:** ![Walmarticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Walmarticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walmarticus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/59 "2010-09-14T23:27:35Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Huh > > My emergency kit contains first aid supplies, batteries, dust masks and gloves, 5K in cash - both large and small bills- and a large stash of prescription drugs – name brand and easily recognizable. The intent there was not for personal use but to have small items with a high barter value when the world goes to hell. > > And in the car I have a car emergency kit, blankets, an airbed and a small generator ( it’s basically a car battery in a special case, it has an AC outlet and can be used to power small appliances and blow up the airbed – it’s also practical in case the car every needs a jump start. > > I’ve been accused of being overprepared as well. Holy Cow! What kind of situation would you need $5000 cash? Even if you need ransom, you’ll still have time to run to the bank. Todderbob, how much cash do you horde? ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591/60 "2010-09-15T00:49:09Z")
> [@Walmarticus](#): > > Holy Cow! What kind of situation would you need $5000 cash? Even if you need ransom, you’ll still have time to run to the bank. > > Todderbob, how much cash do you horde? None (that isn’t to say I don’t have **any** paper-money, but nothing noteworthy – not into 4 figures), there’s no reasonable situation I can think of that having paper money would benefit me significantly, given the restrains that reality poses. If I’m unable to use my credit/debit card for an extended period of time (the time in which that much cash would be useful), the cash itself is likely to be worthless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-in-a-perpetual-state-of-readiness-for-almost-anything/553591.md?page=4)