THE WILDKIND RESILIENCE TOOLKIT (Blog 1/3)

THE WILDKIND RESILIENCE TOOLKIT (Blog 1 of 3)

A Three-Part Holistic Survival Series this Fall Season for Navigating our World with Greater Resiliency

Blog 1: What We Carry With Us
Essential Gear + Practical Preparedness

Blog 2: What We Carry Within Us
Building Resilience of Mind, Body + Spirit

Blog 3: What We Carry Together
Cultivating Hyper-Local Community Resilience

What we carry with us prepares us.
What we cultivate within us strengthens us.
What we build together makes us resilient.

There is a philosophy woven deeply into wilderness survival: The more you know, the less you need. I love this because it reminds us that preparedness isn't simply about how much gear we can accumulate. Knowledge, practiced skills, adaptability, and a calm mind are all part of Holistic Survival ~ Capacities that allow us to move through life's challenges with greater confidence and resilience. And yet, there are also essential tools and resources worth carrying, items that are difficult, inefficient, or sometimes impossible to recreate when an emergency unfolds.

True preparedness lives in the relationship between the two: What we carry with us and what we carry within us.

I like the word toolkit  because it gives us room for both the inner and outer resources that help us meet uncertainty. A toolkit can include knowledge, wilderness skills, tending to community, spiritual practices and of course, gear. 

In this blog, I will focus on gear. Communication tools, A water filter (See my recommendation below). A legit first-aid kit with relevant items and medications. A reliable way to make fire and an emergency shelter. Bonus if you pack a stainless steel pot to piss in. (Just kidding, use the vessel to boil water or cook food). The right tools can change an outcome in a positive way.

This month I am asking the Wildkind Community to focus on building a resilience kit to keep in the car for travel. Essential gear items can also be brought into urban environments as well as kept in your pack while enjoying wild places. Download my full Resilience Bag Checklist from the Wildkind Outdoors Website by subscribing to the REWILD newsletter to build out your essential gear. Carry what matters. Practice using your gear, AND develop your natural state of ALIVENESS. This is the foundation of what I think of as Building Your Resilience Toolkit. 

What is your EDC? (Every Day Carry)

We are living through a time of extraordinary change and uncertainty. Technology is accelerating. Broken systems are crumbling and communities are navigating economic, political and social uncertainty. Many of the structures we have depended upon feel less predictable than they once did. The result is often a nervous system that is flooded with fear.

This is where preparedness becomes a practice rather than a reaction. Every time you learn something useful, you add a tool. Every time you strengthen your body, you add a tool. Every time you learn how to regulate your nervous system instead of emotionally reacting, you add a tool. Every time you identify a wild plant, learn a knot, practice backcountry first aid, make a fire from natural materials and deepen your connection to the natural world, you are building your tool kit. This practice directly shifts fear into empowered living.

BUILD A RESILIENCE KIT

It is wise to build a curated Resilience Kit. A rapidly changing environment should be expected when we are out and about. A long traffic delay, a major storm or natural event, a dead phone, a medical emergency, a power outage, getting turned around on an unfamiliar route. Having a curated kit in your car, on your hike or even in an urban setting can empower you through a stressful situation. 

You don't need to buy everything at once.

Start with the basics. Think about the climate where you live, the roads you travel, the people who are with you, even your pets! Ember the adventure dog has her own backpack with food and collapsible water container that lives in the car. If needed, she will wear her own resilience pack.

As summer travel and adventure winds down and the seasons begin to shift, take some time to take inventory on what you have and what you might need going into the colder seasons. Recharge your power bank. Add warm layers, outerwear and hiking boots to your vehicle. Make sure you have what you need in your car to “bug-in” if you need to. Or “bug-out” if you had to.

One tool I highly recommend for your Resilience Kit is the  GRAYL water filter system, which is designed to filter and purify water in a compact, portable bottle. It can be useful for travel, camping, emergencies and those unexpected moments when clean drinking water isn't readily available. The 24 oz.Titanium GeoPress can double down as a cooking pot. This Labor Day weekend, GRAYL is having a 25% sale on all items on their website, so it is a good time to invest in this essential gear item.

Here’s my invitation for you this month:

Take inventory of your Resilience Toolkit. What knowledge have you gathered? What skills do you carry? Who are your people? Where are you strong? What gear would help you feel more prepared for an unexpected emergency?

What is one tool I could add this month?

Learn one skill. Take a course with me or any wilderness skills practitioner in your area. Introduce yourself to a neighbor. Go one day without relying on technology for navigation. Learn where your water sources are. Practice using a ferro rod rather than a lighter to ignite your next fire. Strengthen your body. Gather your people around a table and start a conversation. Put together a simple car kit for when you're on the road. Add a reliable water filter as proper hydration is one of our top priorities of survival. 

You do not have to prepare for everything. Focus on one skill. One resilience practice. One useful Gear item. And remember, we were never meant to carry it alone. Now is the time to curate hyper-local community resilience. I will continue to write on these topics throughout the fall (look for Blog 2 & 3 in your inbox), as we prepare for winter.

Stay Wild & Kind,

Jess