What I’ve Been Preparing For
A personal update on life, gear, and what it means to feel ready in uncertain times.
It’s been a while since I posted here. A lot has shifted.
Over the past couple months, my life has been full—personally, professionally, and mentally.
Work has ramped up significantly, and I’ve also taken a big step in my personal life: my partner and I have merged our families.
It’s a beautiful, complicated, joyful transition, and one that’s deepened my sense of responsibility and groundedness.
At the same time, I’ve been quietly building. Quietly preparing.
The Gear I’ve Picked Up
Here’s a snapshot of some of what I’ve added to my emergency readiness kit:
Baofeng AR-5RM radios (with extended antennas and programming support)
Agilite K-Zero plate carrier with Level 3ST ceramic plates
Agilite Pincer placard, admin pouch, and a small assault pack
Bushnell 10x42 monocular for recon and distance observation
Multiple flashlights and emergency blankets
A fully stocked trauma kit and multiple first aid kits
A box of heirloom seeds in case food self-sufficiency becomes necessary
Other items I’d put in the “if it hits the fan” category—tools for survival, communication, and defense
This isn’t about cosplay or overreaction.
It’s about stepping into a new level of clarity. Of responsibility.
Am I Being Paranoid?
That question crept in the other day—right after I got back from a gun show with a few new purchases.
I laid them out. Looked at them. And felt a strange wave of… am I doing too much?
But when I sat with it, I realized this wasn’t paranoia. It was awareness.
It was grief, maybe.
It was an acknowledgment of the world we’re living in—a world where ICE raids are ramping up in my own area.
A world where fascism isn’t coming. It’s already here.
And yet—despite all that—I don’t feel hopeless. I don’t feel afraid. I feel ready.
Not in the “I’ve got it all figured out” kind of way.
But in the “I’m no longer pretending things will go back to normal” kind of way.
Something Has Shifted
I wouldn’t say I’ve tuned out from the news, but I’m no longer consumed by it.
The constant stream of authoritarian overreach, cruelty toward marginalized communities, and manipulation of law and power… it no longer shocks me. But it does continue to disgust me—deeply.
Watching this administration escalate its war on human rights—from family separations to increased ICE raids to the construction of literal death camps like the one in Florida dubbed “Alligator Auschwitz”—confirms what I already know.
The dots in my brain have connected.
And rather than letting those dots burn a hole in my chest every day, I’ve shifted my focus to what comes next.
I’ve been learning more about:
Communication plans and off-grid signaling
Food security and how to grow in small spaces
Emergency planning for my family and others I care about
Community-building, because no one survives this alone
From Panic to Preparedness
There’s a transition that happens when you stop asking if things will break down, and start asking how you’ll show up when they do.
That’s where I am.
And if you’re feeling that shift too—if you’re moving from doomscrolling to doing—then you’re not alone.
Pathfinders don’t panic.
We prepare. We build. We connect.
I’ll be sharing more about my loadouts, strategies, and learnings as I go.
But for now, this is your invitation to check in with yourself:
What have you been ignoring?
What would it take to feel a little more ready?
What’s one thing you can learn, gather, or organize this week?
It doesn’t have to be dramatic. Just intentional.
We’re not out of time. We’re in it.
Let’s walk this path with clear eyes, steady hands, and full hearts.
—Robert