Prepping is one of those fields where we all try to learn vicariously. People who are new to the prepping movement seek out information from those who have gone before. The “old hands” look for others to learn from as well, turning to those of us who have been preppers since before the name was coined.
The true old timers are looking at our ancestors, seeing how the American Indians, the Pioneers and even the cave men did things.
Finding a true expert gives us the chance to learn lessons that others may not know. It’s always interesting to hear of their experiences and ideas. Many know skills and have developed methods that don’t occur to others. That makes their advice invaluable.
Being December, it’s a good time to learn from the ultimate prepper, Santa Claus.
In a humorous note, if you think about it, Santa has outdone all of us, especially when it comes to longevity. Living in the harshest environment on Earth, Santa still manages to run his business, providing toys and cheer to children around the world. If there was ever someone to emulate, Santa would be it.
So, what makes him so good?
1. He Knows How to Survive Harsh Conditions
Most of us would pick someplace with nice weather or probably sandy beaches, if we were given a choice of survival locations.
But Santa looks at things differently. He has chosen what is probably the world’s harshest environment to survive in; the North Pole.
Yet he has clearly had no problem surviving there, as attested to by all the years he has lived.
One of Santa’s secrets to living in Arctic conditions is that he has built his entire complex underground. That means that instead of dealing with temperatures which go as low as 40 degrees below zero, the worst temperature he has to deal with is 32oF, the freezing temperature of water. That makes it much easier to heat his compound. Not only that, but the ground around him serves as insulation.
There is nothing on the surface of the ground at the North Pole which can help Santa and his elves survive, other than snow. Once they melt the snow, they have plenty of water.
So, I’m sure that snow harvesting is a daily chore. But since he can’t get any other resources off the surface, there is no reason for him to live there. Better to hide out from the cold, underground.
2. He Knows How to Get Away From it All
Could you imagine the trouble Santa would have, if he lived in a big city? Why, he’d have a constant stream of people at his door, looking for toys in the summertime, expecting him to repair the toys that they broke and hoping for some chocolate and candy canes when they were hungry. By the time Christmas came around, he wouldn’t have anything to give away.
Being in an isolated location is a true advantage for Santa, allowing him to plan and prepare for the next Christmas. His resources can be used wisely, rather than squandered on people who won’t appreciate them anyway.
At the same time, his remote location protects him from attack. After all, have you ever heard of someone raiding Santa’s workshop to steal his toys? Of course not. That proves that his remote location provides him with excellent security.
3. He’s Completely Off the Grid
I just checked on Google Earth, and there are no power plants at the North Pole. Nor could I find any power lines leading there.
There’s no farm of solar panels, so he’s not running solar either. But it’s clear that Santa has managed to live and work totally off grid.
If I were to guess (and I am), I’d say that Santa is using wind power for his home and workshop. Wind has excellent advantages for his situation, as there is a lot of wind at the North Pole.
Since his workshop is underground, it would be quite easy for him to have his wind turbines underground as well. Tunnels could route the wind from the surface through the turbines and back to the surface again.
Truly living off grid requires an accurate assessment of the climate in your area, looking for the availability of renewable resources for conversion to power. By using wind, Santa has gone with one of the ultimate renewable resources and has avoided the problems that six months of winter would have caused him if he went for solar power.
4. He Gets What He Needs from Nature
Santa and his crew are experts in getting what they need from nature. In fact, everything he makes comes from raw materials that they are able to get from nature. Obviously he has a good business relationship with Mother Nature herself, in order to have access to so many materials.
Could you imagine the struggles Santa would have if he had to order parts and raw materials from companies, to be delivered to the North Pole? Neither FedEx or UPS offer daily service to the North Pole, which explains why Santa is receiving children’s letters, and still delivering his toys by sleigh. But without those shipping companies to bring in the raw materials, he’s got to know how to get them from nature himself.
While I’m sure that Santa has elves who are experts in working with certain types of materials, we have to take into account that he trained those elves himself. So, while they may do the actual work of extracting raw materials from the Earth, he knows how to do it also. Santa is the ultimate engineer, with a wide range of skills, which allow him to successfully run his business, while surviving off of nature.
5. He is Totally Self-Sufficient
If there was ever anyone in the world who understood the concept of self-sufficiency, it’s Santa. He has built himself a homestead in the worst possible environment, yet made it successful. Mrs. Santa doesn’t even have to go to the grocery store, as they have everything they need.
Part of that is that Santa has learned how to utilize what he has available. He has lots of snow, so I’m sure he uses it for a myriad of purposes. He draws materials out of nature, rather than rushing to the store to get them. Why, I’d be willing to bet that they are growing enough food to feed his reindeer and all the elves that work for him.
6. He is Using Alternate Transportation
While a reindeer drawn sleigh may seem a bit unusual, especially when you take into consideration that it can fly, Santa’s sleigh does not use any fossil fuels that are harmful to the environment; he never has to worry about running out of gas or having a flat tire, and his sleigh and reindeer are totally immune to an EMP.
Even when everyone else is stranded, Santa will still be able to make his rounds.
Animal transportation may not be as fast as modern mechanical transportation, but it is clearly more reliable. Whereas a car won’t run without a constant supply of fuel, reindeer, or even horses, will find their own fuel, eating the grass wherever they go.
I imagine Christmas Eve is a smorgasbord for them, as they get to taste the various grasses that grow around the world.
7. He Has Faith on His Side
I guess some people would call this cheating, but Santa uses magic. Where his skills end, his magic begins. He is able to do things you and I can’t just because of that magic.
But all magic is based on faith. You’ve got to believe it works, or it doesn’t. It’s clear that Santa has lots of faith, because he has managed to maintain his magic through all these years. His faith helps him to survive, and the overabundance of it gets spilled out in giving to others.
Without faith, it’s impossible to survive. Faith carries all of us through, when other things can’t. Anyone who is ever caught in a survival situation must keep themselves going by faith, or they die.
8. He Has Excellent OPSEC
Has anyone ever seen Santa, except around Christmas time? This proves that he has excellent OPSEC. Even the exploratory missions sent to the North Pole haven’t seen him or his workshop. He has managed to keep himself hidden and keep his survival retreat hidden, even though millions have wondered where it is.
While we know some details of Santa’s plans, they are only the details that he wants us to know. The rest, is highly secret. No paparazzi has ever managed to catch him on vacation, during his off season. No business can point to his orders, saying that they know what toys he’s planning on distributing for next Christmas. He keeps his life and work secretive, only letting us see their results on Christmas morning.
9. He Has Built an Excellent Survival Team
No longer does he have to do everything himself, he has help. Their survival tasks and toy building are divided up between team members, making it possible for each to do their part, helping the whole to both survive and accomplish their goals.
It’s important to realize that Santa didn’t start out with trained team members, he had to train them himself. Elves aren’t natural toymakers; nor are they natural farmers. Their main skill seem to be dancing and singing in the woods. Yet Santa took these untrained team members, and turned them into the world’s most effective survival team.
10. He Has Excellent Family Relationships
Too bad he doesn’t give marriage seminars in the off season. I think they would be well attended.
Perhaps his generosity has something to do with his marital success. Since that is such an integral part of his character, I’m sure it spills over into his marriage as well. He is able to live in harmony with his wife, because he is always being loving towards her, rather than just being selfish.
11. He Has Excellent Discernment of People’s Character
One of Santa’s biggest tasks every year is to complete and double check the naughty and nice list. He can’t afford to make any mistakes, or some child won’t receive their Christmas gifts. Yet, he rarely gets a call to his complaint line, except for the rare spoiled brat who thinks that they have been treated unfairly.
Santa doesn’t have to worry about being robbed while making his deliveries, simply because of his excellent discernment of people’s character. He can tell people’s motives as they approach; and if their motives are bad, all he has to do is climb in the sleigh and fly away.
12. He Accepts Everyone Equally
Santa is an equal opportunity giver. He doesn’t discriminate against children because of their race, religion or ethnicity. All receive from him equally, as long as they believe.
He is also an equal opportunity employer. C’mon now, he hired the elves, when nobody else wanted them. Others complained about them being too short and having pointy ears, but Santa took them in. He gave them meaning for their lives and helped them all to become successful members of his toy business.
The only criteria that Santa puts on anyone is to be nice, rather than being naughty. That’s it. Naughty and nice aren’t things that are limited to any one race, religion or people group. We can find good in all people, if we look. Well, obviously Santa looks… and he finds.
13. He is a Giver
Most of all, Santa is a very generous man. He has never sent out a press release saying that he’s going to have to cut back on his giving or that he’s going to reschedule Christmas for some countries. Every year, he makes his rounds, giving toys to the good children, and the increase in population doesn’t even give him pause.
There is a principle of giving that tells us that it is necessary to give, in order to receive. Different people call it by different names and attribute it to different reasons, but the principle remains the same. Those who want to receive, must first learn how to give.
This is very different than that attitude of taking care of your family and ignoring everyone else’s plight. Being the one in the neighborhood who can provide food to the neighbors, even if it is just rice and beans, could make us the leaders in a time of crisis. It would give us a great labor pool to use in order to survive.
Perhaps we all need to learn something from Santa, and expand our preps a bit. Because survival is not always about being the only one to face and overcome disaster by yourself.
This article has been written by Bill White for Survivopedia.
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