This video popped up on my YouTube feed while I was doing the washing up, because, of course, the YouTube algorithm knows me well. It was clearly a short section of a longer interview and I recognised Christian Whitehead right away. I was fascinated by his actions during a terrorist attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2018. and knew him from that footage. Plus, the UK military in general and special forces in particular has been an interest of mine since childhood.
Christian Whitehead was a member of the UK armed forces for over 20 years, with the bulk of it in the SAS. He’s chosen to use that pseudonym to share his story with the world, such is the secrecy surrounding the SAS and its members. In this interview he is unwilling to talk about anything that could impact that secrecy including the kit he carried on operations.
For this ‘Every day carry’ discussion, Whitehead gives some hypothetical items for a hypothetical mission, but the thing that interested me is what he’s keeping on him when he’s on the streets of the UK. He always ensures he has an automatic watch that can’t run out of battery, a small but powerful torch and an external battery pack, just in case that period of time is longer than the remaining battery on your phone. He also recommends having your phone fully charged at all times when you’re at home, just in case you need leave in a rush.
Now, the first thing I thought was ‘I do that!’
I have a small and old, but mighty, Surefire torch that is in my bag and goes with me wherever I need a bag, and I have a couple of external battery packs for just in case. I generally keep my phone topped up if I know I’m going out.
But then I realised, I use a smartwatch the majority of the time, I haven’t tested the torch particularly recently because it’s in a bag I rarely use and I’m coincidentally waiting on a new battery pack to arrive because my old faithful Anker one finally died on my last trip and provided zero extra power at all that day! So that’s not exactly being prepared.
Then it occurred to me - the me that prepared all of this stuff is not the me of today.
Previously I would have had a bag prepared to go immediately, even if I never used it for its intended purpose. More recently, I might be able to tell you where all those items it held are kept around the house, but they’re certainly not packed and ready to go. These days I worry more about making sure the kids have the right clothes for the weather and any potential weather and the go-bag I am more likely to pick up as I’m running out of the door is the one full of nappies and changes of clothes, not torches, battery packs and phone chargers.
My preparedness or readiness since I stopped doing anything to do with the military. I’m less strong, less fit and less healthy than I used to be, and I could have told you that yesterday. But today I noticed I’m less prepared for any eventuality, because I barely consider any eventuality, and that’s a sobering thought.
I know very few people in the civilian world in the UK have these thoughts or conversations and even I might say that perhaps it’s fine I no longer reach the standards of ex-SF Christian Whitehead and his ex-SF interviewer? But it’s definitely a little sad I have to be reminded that I have let my own standards slip from 10-15 years ago. Now I need to decide if I’m willing to put in the effort to raise them again.
