Building your Kids a SHTF “Key Ring”

 

If you are a parent and are like me, for every thought that passes through your mind about preparation, survival and security, there is always another thought that follows close behind that ask how it applies to your kids. In going over a basic SHTF plan, most families have to consider that their is a strong likelihood their kids will be in school when the hammer drops. Now for all you good folks that home school, of course you are one-step ahead on this, and God Bless you for it, but for the rest of us with kids in Public or Private school, we have to deal with the problem of having to scoop them up before doing anything else, whether that be Shelter in place or Bug-Out.

So all this got me to thinking, (which according to my wife, can be a BAD thing), wouldn’t it be SMART to put together a simple, practical little kit that could fit inside your kids school backpack that would contain things to help them survive and stay safe at least until you got there to pick them up or worst case if they got separated from you for a period of time? (Which is one of the reasons you need to have planned RALLY POINTS to meet up at if they have to BUG-OUT from the school).

Now, of course,it goes without saying that none of these items could violate any of your child’s school policies on weapons or other “prohibited items”. I mean you don’t want to appear like that “Crazy Prepper Dad”, but then again, you don’t want to be just another “Asleep-at-the-wheel Sheeple” who depends on EVERYBODY ELSE  (Including the Government and Public/Private School System) to take care of their child’s welfare either!

In putting together such a kit, initially I thought about a full blown mini GO-BAG that could fit in their backpacks, complete with a trauma kit; but after talking to my kids, I realized that no matter how cool kids may think “prepping” is, carrying around a small pack full of gear IN ADDITION to all of their heavy books and other school stuff is not acceptable and just plain not cool.

After brainstorming, I finally arrived at the “Key Ring” Ideal. Now this is not a new concept, by any means, as I am sure many of you, like me, carry practical things on your car key ring like a small pocket  LED light, ITW Survival Whistle, and my trusty Comtech “Stinger”. Now to make this school friendly and keep my kids out of the Principals Office, I would have to remove the Stinger, and replace it with something a tad less threatening, but still just as useful.

Here is what I came up with:

• Instead of the pocket light, replace it with a Small, yet powerful AAA flashlight. I went ahead and added a couple of the pocket LED lights like the one on my key ring to the outer zippers on their backpacks.
•  ITW Whistle (The ones County-Comm sells are LOUD!)
• Metal Match (Could not send a lighter for obvious reasons)
• Water Filter Straw (Don’t buy the cheap crappy ones..these are the best).
• Small, Emergency Micro Signal Mirror (Requires some training, but not hard once you get the hang of it).
• Small Kubotan  for Striking. Not as menacing looking at the Stinger but just as useful in a pinch.

And to make it so they cannot easily lose any of these items, as some of them are small, I hung all of the above on a twelve inch stainless steel mechanics key ring. I found that on my kids backpacks, in the inner pockets, there is a small clip that this key ring can be attached too. This is perfect, as it keeps it secure and out of the way until needed.

So in examining the type of things you need to include, just as with a Go-Bag, A First Aid/Trauma pack is mandatory. The only problem is you can’t hang one on a key ring!  Now this is gonna be a judgement call for each parent to make, and I think it depends a lot on the kids age, individual maturity level and how much time you spend training with them, but I have always had my kids carry a ITK (Individual Trauma Kit) in their school backpacks. We use the one that E3 Solutions offers, as it has everything you need and is perfect for discreet carry.

So there it is, a simple SHTF Key Ring to both give you piece of mind as a parent and give your kids a leg up if they ever need it.

Don’t forget: Hardware is Cool, but Software (Mindset and Training) are what is gonna keep them alive. So when you get one of these assembled, go outside with your kids and teach them how to use all the gear…it is great fun and who knows, it might be the one thing that helps keeps them alive some day.

Stay Alert, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous (And Train your Kids to do the Same!!)