About Rough & Ready Outfitters

Rough and Ready Outfitters came into being many years ago in my imagination. Many events, places, and people gave me an understanding of a possible, even probable, time in my future which would be very scary and a very dangerous time in which to live. A reminder of this time was brought home to me when I entered the USAF in 1966 during the Vietnam conflict.

In the military I was stationed at NORAD sites in the western US. One of my duties was to read and familiarize myself with Weekly, Monthly, and Special Intelligence Briefing Reports. Even though I had a Top Secret clearance, most of the reports were classified Secret or less. One aspect of these reports was plans for COG (Continuity of Government) and WWIII M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction) attack plans by the old Soviet Union. I saw that the reports covered various US operations meant to guarantee, as best as possible, the survival of our government. These plans were very detailed for each of several different war scenarios: a limited nuclear attack, a counter-force attack, and a M.A.D. attack. What surprised me in all the scenarios, however, was the lack of preparation for the civilian population. That struck me hard.

I looked for programs for the people and found some remnants of the old Civil Defense Corps program. Most, if not all, of the preparations were out of date, given the Soviet Union's ability to hit our soft targets (cities) often enough to make any shelter system ineffective because of high radiation levels. It was evident that events on the ground were changing faster than the Civil Defense program could plan for and implement. Soon all Civil Defense efforts stopped and food stores were given away in the cities.

After discharge from active duty four years later, I was nagged by the realization that the people of America had no real knowledge of what to prepare for, or how to prepare if they wanted to. That realization brought me to this point, trying to provide information for people to use in their own preparedness. Note: we tried to provide products for preparedness but found it nearly impossible to buy at a cost that would allow us to resell, so we've moved away from that option and focused entirely on information.

So if you are someone looking for a site that teaches and encourages you to learn the ways, whys, and whens of preparedness, coupled with the belief that knowledge and practice are the way to solve these problems, then this site is for you.

We believe America is the greatest nation to have ever come along, with so many opportunities ahead of us. Shining light on the ways to protect our families is our desire. Scripture says, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." If every citizen could see the potential, natural, and man-made disasters that could impact them where they live, they could take concrete steps to protect their loved ones and build a place of relative safety in the middle of each event.

It is with this optimism that we encourage you to look around, download any of the articles you want, and reach out with your questions. We look forward to serving you, and encourage you with the phrase: "When the going gets ROUGH, the READY get going."

Thank you so much for choosing Rough and Ready Outfitters for your preparedness needs.