Gear Shopping!

*Not a sponsored post.  

Yes, the tents were hanging upside down from the ceiling!

 Taking my boys into Uncle Sams Gear (a military surplus store) for the first time went over as well as I had expected.  Their little Alfa male instincts kicked in immediately - and they wanted everything the store had to offer!

  Each isle offered a lesson.  They questioned everything.  From what is this used for - to what else can this be used for.  I was so pleased with all 3 of them.

  I'm very impressed with my youngest son's critical thinking skills.  With our little venture, I noted a shift in my prepping concern.  Oddly, the order goes backwards from my youngest to oldest with survival skill knowledge, and ease of use.  I appreciate each of my children are different...but I don't want my oldest to ONLY be a video game player and pencil pusher.  His level of caution with handling anything that's not a book or game is really scaring me.  As I mentioned before, at 10-he got his first BB gun.  At 12 a nice pocket knife.  Both in like new - still in the box condition.  He is genuinely afraid to handle any kind of 'weapon' because at public school he was taught to avoid them like a plague.  Now that we're homeschooling - I'm trying to UNbrainwash him in the sense that these items are tools.  I predict this may take some time for him.  Whereas my younger 2 sons - using 'survival products' comes naturally.

We discussed camping, and how useful primitive items can be.

Vaughn found his vest ~ he wanted one with the most pockets.

Malachi wanted a hat to keep his head safe, and food for his belly.

Attack face lol

Jungle man!

Of all the things Kingston wanted, it had to be the swing.  He justified this one by saying if he had to sleep outside, he would be off the ground where crawling predators could get him.

  Personally, I could have spent all day shopping in the camping supply department and really wanted to pick out a hammock for home reading, and living in the Ozark Mountains provides lots of beautiful hiking trails and they had a lot to offer for hiking gear. This trip was intended for an introductory life skill course.  So, what items do you think would be best fit for kids to have on hand that they could at a supply store?