A week ago, I bought a Jeep. Yes, one of the little vehicles with the soft top on it. This one makes the fourth Jeep I have owned, but the last one was about 25 years ago. I did quite a bit of research on the new Jeeps before buying and so far, have been satisfied with the purchase. I have seen people do amazing things with Jeeps, the little four wheel drives seem to be able to go virtually anywhere. I was a passenger in one out in Wyoming when the driver decided to climb up a cliff (at least it seemed so to me). I glanced out the passenger window at a goat, who said “you can’t do that.” But, we did it, ending up on top of a bluff. The driver was the one who did it. He’d been running Jeeps off road for most of his life and was obviously very good at it. His advice was to look first and then go slow and practice a lot – don’t get in a hurry.

Since I have Jeep number 4, I should be a great Jeep driver, right? Wrong, of course. I have to either practice a whole lot or get some instruction or tips from somebody, otherwise I risk denting a lot of sheet metal. Owning something doesn’t make me an expert with it. I have a nice Bowie knife and could probably do well against the average idiot but would be in real trouble against someone who has extensively studied knife fighting. That situation is correctible, as with most other things. I’ll get some training from Suarez International on knife skills and be in a better position to use one if needed.

Please don’t be one of the many, many people who think that if you own a gun, then you are somehow instilled with all the knowledge needed to use that gun. Realistically look at your skills and then decide what needs improvement and how to best do that. Some things can’t be improved, that’s life. I’m old, my knees hurt, I am not going to run five miles every day. So, I am not planning on outrunning the bad guys. That means it’s additionally important that I have other skills because I have to offset the lack of that one.