SurvivalBlog.com

Note from JWR:

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:20:41 -0500

The SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction ends tomorrow night at midnight, eastern time. The high bid is now at $325. This auction is for four items: A FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus heavy duty food vacuum packaging system (a retail value of $297) kindly donated by Ready Made Resources an autographed copy of : "Rawles on Retreats and Relocation", an autographed copy of "SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog", and a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Country Living", by the late Carla Emery. The four items have a combined retail value of around $395. Please e-mail us your bids, in $10 increments.

Range Test and Product Review: Rock River Arms LAR-8 .308 Mid-Length A4 Carbine, by Michael Z. Williamson

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:17:01 -0500

After many delays for many reasons, I finally have my hands on a LAR-8, which is Rock River Arms' entry into the AR-10 clone market. This model is the LAR-8 16" carbine, flattop, MSRP $1,100.

The rifle arrived in a sturdy bright blue case, compartmented to fit a disassembled rifle of each length, with one magazine, manual, everything wrapped in plastic. This is a heavy rifle compared to an AR15, at 8.1 lbs (for a carbine, remember), but is quite reasonable for a .308.

From the rear: The buttstock is a standard 6 position, and aftermarket stocks will fit, likewise for the Hogue grip. The internals are proprietary, but it appears that standard AR fire control parts will fit. The trigger felt really odd, almost hair trigger, until we weighed it right about 6 pounds. It is just exceptionally crisp with a very sweet let-off. The fire control switch is right-handed only, which is a little odd, since the magazine release is ambidextrous (button on each side), and the bottom-mounted bolt release is, also. It appears that standard handguards will fit, too.
The controls are easy to reach. I do like the bolt release. Insert a magazine, brush downward with thumb, and it clacks into battery. Operation was flawless for the full day. This is on the rifle as delivered, with no oil, teardown, anything. It chambered and fired every time, and there were no hitches.

Here's one of the prime selling points: The rifle is advertised to, and does, accept metric and inch FAL magazines. I had a little more trouble with inch mags, but I suspect they were older. I bought ten at a gun show for $50. That's enough magazines for 210 rounds of ammunition (nine 20 round, one 30 round). That's about the price for just one of the competitor's magazine. Feed and function was fine with both, assuming the magazine was good. At that price, though, one can buy a case and keep the tight ones for spare parts.

The weapon is tight, well-made, with excellent fit and finish. It is well-balanced and comfortable. It felt very robust and durable, though as a loaner, I didn't do an all-out abuse test. If you are familiar with the AR-15, the only relevant differences for handling are the weight and the location of the bolt release, which is lower than one is trained for, but easily managed. Since most of us slap the paddle as the hand goes down anyway, there's no problem adapting to carrying the motion to the base of the magazine well. Other minor differences are the much heavier recoil spring, and the previously-mentioned excellent if unusual trigger.

The rifle came without iron sights on this model (other models have M16A2 style sights). This was a minor problem. I have excellent scopes, but no riser to bring them high enough above the receiver, and no mountable front sight. I managed by attaching one of my EoTechs. The EoTech is a combat sight, not intended for long range precision, but seemed to work well enough. I was within 8" of center with the first shot (before zeroing). That's good enough for combat shooting at 100 yards.

Weather: 64° F, 62% relative humidity, Barometric pressure 29.87 and falling, elevation 630 ft above sea level.
Using South African surplus R1M1, 204W, Lot A11/80, I was able to keep 4" groups of 20 rounds. This is 4 MOA, with 30 year old ammo, a short barrel, a combat sight with a red dot shooting at a red target. I find this acceptable.

With US [military] surplus Lot 1-80, three shot groups ranged from 2.125" to 2.375", very consistently.

Using US military match grade XM118 LR PD (2002, Lake City), our groups ranged from 1.125" to 1.6", median 1.375". This is well within the 1.5 MOA accuracy promised, using an inadequate sight. I am impressed and satisfied. A good handloader could probably break 1 MOA, and this is with the 16" carbine, not the 26" heavy barreled "varmint" rifle.

I would suggest Rock River make the fire selector switch ambidextrous, since all other controls are. That's the only improvement I can think of.

It cleaned easily, with a little more room to get inside than an AR-15. The bolt cam pin appears to go in sideways compared to an AR-15 (rotated 90 degrees). The firing pin is longer. Everything fit well, had a good metal surface and a very dark parkerized finish.

For those of you wanting .308 power and range with the AR's handling, welcome home. For those wanting a reasonably priced precision rifle for target shooting, hunting, or SHTF, you'll be hard-pressed to do better than a Rock River LAR-8. The availability of AR-platform accessories and mods are significant points in favor of both, as are the dirt-cheap military surplus FAL magazines. One can buy the rifle and included case, customize stocks, grips, handguards and mechanicals, load 200 and more rounds in magazines, and still be money ahead of a competing AR-10 clone. Add in the exceptional accuracy and strength, and it tops my list.- Michael Z. Williamson

Two Letters Re: Triage in Emergency Mass Critical Care (EMCC) Events

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:15:28 -0500

Dear Jim,
This letter is in response to NC Bluedog's very informative article that appeared today. Here in rural Wisconsin, we have the same problems as he noted--shortage of high-technology life-saving devices. This is due to the overall situation that our medical care industry is dollar-driven. He have a small hospital, and two more within a 15 minute dash via ambulance. Each hospital has at least a four-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a ventilator per bed, and at least two extra ventilators that can be used outside of their ICUs. Beyond that, there are none available. Extra units would have to be imported from major hospitals within the state. To get these units would take time, along with the funding to lease them--providing the disaster is confined to my area. The hospitals in my area are not sufficiently wealthy to do this in a mass emergency event.

So, in a TEOTWAWKI situation, what can you or I do? There is a solution. Each EMT and Paramedic have in their Rescue bags, a set of airways and a bag-valve mask. Some even have a device called a "Pulse Oximeter." This unit measures the amount of oxygen in the blood. When an airway, bag mask, and Pulse Oximeter are used in conjunction with each other, you have a primitive ventilator. There are more devices that are available to the EMT/Paramedic, but all require more advanced training in their use. I won't go that way here. However, to use these devices requires training, and I suggest that you enroll in the proper program to use them correctly. The only down-side to ventilating a patient in this manner is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. If you must do this for any length of time, I suggest you have several individuals willing to take over and give the proper ventilations to the patient. This method is used in our hospitals as a back-up should there be a ventilator failure.

How much does this cost? The basic set of six airways will run approximately less than $5, and bag-valve-mask starts at approximately $10 and goes up, and the killer is the Pulse Oximeter. I've seen them advertised starting at $300 and continue on up through the roof. If you are a family, and have the need for such a unit, (an asthmatic child, etc.) talk to your insurance company and see what can be done. If you are a member of a group, talk it over and have each member donate toward the cost. Then get proper training. These units together are not hard to use or understand. Think about this when you have your next group meeting. All of these devices can be purchased Over The Counter (OTC) from the better Medical/EMT supply companies.

I hope this small solution will answer a lingering question that any of you have concerning the availability of ventilators in an emergency. Start thinking about, and plan for, the addition of airway management tools to your medical preps. Doing so now will give you an edge up when the day comes. - DS in Wisconsin

Jim:
The other dirty secret that isn't described is that at some point, you will run into staffing issues. I'm an Intensive Care nurse at a big teaching hospital, and I find the challenge of a complex patient: managing ventilators and "dancing on the vasopressors" is second nature and even quite fun.
NC Bluedog makes a good point that the hospitals are chronically short of staff an money, but let's play with the idea further. We'll grant that we've been able to find intrepid and dutiful nurses and physicians who will work for free and will work more than a hundred hours a week. And the Ventilator Fairy drops all of the vents (and warmers, IV pumps, heart monitors, Swan-Ganz monitors, etc, etc, etc...) that we need. Even with the Hollywood Scenario, at some point there will not be staff. Certainly in an outbreak, but I wonder about it often during especially bad flu and pneumonia seasons. There will be no staff because they're all out sick themselves (the stress and long hours having weakened their immune system in the face of super bugs, or just the "run-of-the-mill the native drug-resistant ones we have in the hospitals now), or because they've got a sick family member to care for. Or they have their own kids to look after- recall earlier this year when Singapore (or was it Hong Kong?) closed the schools for two weeks to prevent the spread of an especially bad infection. Someone's going to have to stay home with all those quarantined kids. I can't put them in day care while I head to the hospital after all.
And at some point the devotion to duty will start to fail. Even with the threat of lost licenses (State Boards of Nursing frown on folks who walk away from their patients or who don't show up when needed), folks will feel the need to be home with their kith and kin.
And that's when we reach Kunstler's "World Made by Hand" - Regards, Michael G.

Odds 'n Sods:

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:11:26 -0500

R.E. found a link to this map of the population density of the US, Mexico, and Canada. Do you see why I prefer the Western US for retreats? Too bad that Canada has a frigid climate (inland) and such draconian gun laws. Otherwise, much of western Canada would be ideal. See my free Recommended Retreat Areas web page for more detail on my recommendations, and my nonfiction book "Rawles on Retreats and Relocation" for even greater detail, with some very useful accompanying maps.)

o o o

Eric sent us this: Hard-hit consumers turn to Amish--People save by buying 'scratch and dent' and reclaimed grocery items

o o o

Brent mentioned this article about Australian farmers sowing a record-breaking number of hectares in wheat: Sowing, Not Sewing. And speaking of wheat, Bob G. sent us this alarming article:
UN alert: One-fourth of world's wheat at risk from new fungus

o o o

Kevin suggested this piece from Slate: Gauging the risk of an inadvertent nuclear war.

Jim's Quote of the Day:

Wed, 14 May 2008 19:07:34 -0500

"Oppression can only survive through silence." - Carmen de Monteflores

Notes from JWR:

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:58:28 -0500

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $325. This auction is for four items: A FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus heavy duty food vacuum packaging system (a retail value of $297) kindly donated by Ready Made Resources an autographed copy of : "Rawles on Retreats and Relocation", an autographed copy of "SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog", and a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Country Living", by the late Carla Emery. The four items have a combined retail value of around $395. The auction ends in two days--on May15th. Please e-mail us your bids, in $10 increments.

Today we present another article for Round 16 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win two valuable four day "gray" transferable Front Sight course certificates. (Worth up to $4,000!) Second prize is a copy of my "Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing. Round 16 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entries. Remember that articles that relate practical "how to" skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Technology After TEOTWAWKI, by JLG in Texas

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:55:59 -0500

"A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers." (Proverbs 24:5-6)
Most survivalist planning focuses on physical needs—food, shelter, clothing, first aid, self defense. While the physical essentials rightly belong at the top of the list, there's almost always some empty space left in the locker/bunker/trailer/back-of-the-truck for...something. What to put in there?

Human beings are social animals, and we need each other; God has woven this into our genetic code. A "Lone Ranger" survivalist might have an edge in the short-term, but a group of survivors has a distinct long-term advantage—if they can overcome the challenges. Other than basic supply-scale issues, the primary challenges facing larger groups center around communication issues—making sure everyone is fully informed and knows The Plan. Communication helps build trust, and trust-based relationships are exactly what you need as a survivor—whether you're dealing with your family, or with the family down the road, in the next county, or across the globe.

One of the reasons I enjoy being a technology consultant is the fact that technology brings people together. Postal mail, telephone, fax, mobile phones, email, text messaging, videoconferencing, two-way radios...you name it, it's basically about human communication. As I formulate and revise my overall survival plan, I find myself evaluating various technology gadgets in this light: Would this gizmo (whatever it is) provide communication benefits to me if I were in survival mode, and, if so, is it feasible and reasonable to utilize it in that capacity? Note that what is "feasible" and "reasonable" are almost completely subjective, depending on the skill set of the particular individual or group—those who have a "techno-wiz" or two in their midst can obviously support more complex technology than others. By evaluating your group's capacity for utilizing technology, and carefully selecting from some proven technologies, you can improve your survival capabilities in numerous ways by improving your ability to communicate within your group of survivors, be it large or small, and increase your access to outside resources. Here are some ideas:
Get your ears on. The mobile phone infrastructure may or may not be operational, and even if it is, your survival retreat might not have decent reception—so don't count on it. If your group consists of more than one person, odds are that you will need to split up at some point, and radio communications give you a huge advantage in almost every situation—especially if you run up against an aggressor. Anything is better than nothing, so at least grab a set of inexpensive "bubble pack" FRS/GMRS radios. Better still, see if you can develop a relationship with a like-minded radio guy in your area, and draw upon his expertise. Find yourself an expert and get educated.[JWR Adds: See the ARRL for a directory that will include a ham radio club in your area.]

Get eyes in the back of your head...or house. A good survival retreat includes a security system, and this is a great place to leverage technology. D-Link, TrendNet and others make decent network cameras, both wired and wireless, for around $100 each. You can string network wires through the trees, direct-bury, or go wireless. Virtually any inexpensive wireless access point (e.g., Linksys/Netgear/D-Link cable/DSL routers, Apple AirPorts, etc.) can be used to provide a basic communications network for wireless cameras. Using multiple cameras with software like Security Spy for Macs or NCH Software for Windows, one person with a laptop computer can cover a lot of ground just sitting in a chair. You can even configure the software's motion detection features to alert you (by making a noise, flashing the screen, etc.) when anything moves, so the man on duty doesn't have to keep his eyes glued to the screen. Much of this equipment runs on 12 VDC, so it's perfect for photovoltaic-powered systems.

Own the night. Get some night vision equipment. Others have written extensively and with much more knowledge on the subject than I possess, but if you can see in the dark, you have a huge advantage over the guy who can't. Find yourself an expert and get educated. 'Nuff said. [JWR Adds: One night vision gear vendor that I recommend is JRH Enterprises.}

Get connected. What happens to the internet after TEOTWAWKI? A safe assumption is that the Internet will be unreliable at best, and possibly unusable. This may be true to varying degrees on a global or regional scale, but understand that the internet itself is simply a conglomeration of smaller networks. If you've built a security network like the one mentioned above, you can use point-to-point wireless links to connect your survival retreat with your closest like-minded neighbor (you do know your neighbors, right?), so you can communicate more quickly and easily. Remember, there is strength in numbers—especially when you can maintain good communications. What's more, if you build a "mesh" of interconnected networks, if just one location has internet access, those communication and information resources immediately become available to the entire mesh. Remember all those survivalblog.com articles you always meant to print out but never did? If the server is still online, now you can get to them!

The least expensive wireless point-to-point equipment is generally going to be a pair of weatherproofed 802.11b/g radios hooked to a directional antennas. The disadvantage to this configuration is that 802.11b/g is a "line-of-sight" technology that uses microwave frequencies—so, anything that would heat up in a microwave oven will attenuate the signal. Thus, if your two locations are separated by foliage or terrain, you'll have to get those antennas up over the treetops. Not only is that a hassle, but it's also a very easy way for non-friendlies to locate your retreat. In that case, you'd be better off utilizing more specialized equipment from a manufacturer like Motorola or Trango. It's pricier, but it's non-line-of-sight (NLOS) and will shoot through trees.

Light 'em up! A good solar power system is a great addition to a survival retreat in any case, but it becomes a necessity if you want to leverage electrically-powered technology. A basic solar power plant is comprised of one or more photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which generate electric current whenever they're exposed to light, one or more deep-cycle batteries to store the excess power for later use, and electronics to regulate the voltage and manage the battery charging. Power is usually delivered at 12 VDC, which can be converted to 120 VAC using an inverter—though it's more efficient to simply use equipment that will run on 12 VDC. Don't skimp on photovoltaic gear, and I recommend sizing your solar panels to at least double your usage projections. For one thing, you'll always want more juice than you think you'll need. For another thing, many vendors quote solar panel performance based on best-case conditions, and even if they regionalize their numbers for the amount of daylight in your area, they typically use an average length-of-day instead of the shortest length-of-day, and they either ignore or underestimate the effects of cloudy days, dust coating, bird feces, etc. on PV panel performance. Solar power is quiet, too, so you won't be giving away your position with a noisy generator. [JWR Adds: One alternative energy system vendor that I recommend is Ready Made Resources Also, don't overlook the references available at SolarDoc, at Backwoods Home magazine, and at Home Power magazine.]

Protect your equipment against electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The general effects of EMP are fairly well documented, but the specific effects of EMP on various types of electronic equipment, and the most effective ways of protecting that equipment, are not so well-documented. EMP is surrounded by misinformation, urban legend, and simple unknowns. Most "experts" on EMP seem to agree that the most straightforward way to protect equipment is probably to store it inside a "Faraday box," which could be made by lining the inside of a metal filing cabinet with several layers of newspaper, or wrapping a cardboard box with a couple layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Stored in these containers, your electronic equipment is reasonably protected against EMP. Note that I said "reasonably." When we're talking about EMP, we're talking about nuclear attack, and survivability—for electronics and people alike—is obviously highly dependent on where you are in relation to ground zero, so all you can do is make reasonable preparations and pray to God for grace.

Only you can determine whether or not the benefits of these technologies are worth the money and effort in your particular survival plan. If you decide to utilize any particular technology, I highly recommend building and testing the system now, before it's needed. And, of course, you should always have a "Plan B" for those times when—not if, but when—the technology fails. EMP, rainwater in the wrong place, a broken wire, and a dead battery all have the same end result—dead equipment—and you need to plan for it. Note, too, that the ideas presented here were kept to a basic level of information due to the limited scope of this article—each topic would easily merit a fairly lengthy book, if not a complete volume, in order to be explored to a satisfactory degree—so I strongly encourage you to seek further knowledge in those systems that are of interest to you.

Again: Find yourself an expert and get educated. If you're an expert in one or more survival fields, find someone who wants to be educated and teach them. Being a survivalist doesn't mean you have to be antisocial. Remember that part of your survival plan should involve building relationships with like-minded people who have, among them, a diverse enough skill set to be able to handle the widest possible range of survival tasks. One of the primary uses of communications technology, aside from its immediate tactical use, is to build and maintain these kinds of relationships even (or especially) in a survival scenario."Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no-one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Here is a non-exhaustive list of Internet resources, to help get you started:

Night vision:
Sideroad.com
N)Vision
Optics Planet

Point-to-point and outdoor wireless:
Radio Labs
Trango Broadband
Motorola PTP
MoonBlink Wi-Fi
Teletronics

Photovoltaic power:
Solar Power Directory
Solar-Electric

EMP protection:
AusSurvivalist EMP Protection Pages
Faraday Cages
1997 Military EMP Hardening Handbook
Parrhesia.com EMP Hardening Handbook

Letter Re: The Legality and Ethics of Blocking Roads and Bridges After TEOTWAWKI

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:53:39 -0500

Sir:
I live in an area of the south that is fairly rural. People her still plant gardens, can, hunt, raise livestock and I believe could if need be survive longer than most in a crisis time. Don't get me wrong I am stocking and preparing for a long term survival and defense possibility.

My question is this: The 40 acres I live on is situated on a ridge in this area surrounded by deep flowing rivers,streams and creeks. These water ways separate the area I live and a metropolitan area 80 miles in one direction and another 60 miles. In a full collapses such as in your novel "Patriots" would it be feasible to block or make impassable these bridges as to route the flow of scavengers and marauders away from my area. Also it would funnel any that would find their way in to my area in from one defensible direction.

I'm talking about doing this only in the event of a full collapse as in TEOTWAWKI. The only real protection the people in this area will have will be themselves and their neighbors. Our group will be large enough to defend our stronghold at the size it is now. I just think that a more controlled area with fewer entry points would be easier to defend. Now we are not going to box ourselves into a hole, but limiting vehicle access just would be prudent. If we pulled back closer there are four smaller bridges that are less than a mile away that would close our "back door" from unexpected visitors. Most of our neighbors are self reliant and I believe in that situation would agree that limiting access would be to all of those in the "enclave's" best interest. I'm not talking of destroying them--only blocking them with junk cars and such. We have a lot of heavy equipment between us and it would not be a problem. Typically the bridges are in low spots so they are also easily defendable from higher ground. I know this sounds extreme but we are planning long term defense and survival. - Southern Survivor

JWR Replies: Legally and ethically, as an individual you can only block roads on your own property. But if a small community makes a collective decision to block a road or bridge, then that is another matter. I would assume that every state in the Union has laws forbidding blocking any public road. Further, as both police (in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, under color of law) and various protestors have found, Federal law prohibits blocking interstate freeways.

As I've mentioned in SurvivalBlog several times, it is best to pick a property that is situated away from channelized areas (also known as "lines of drift.") A ridgetop location is generally quite good, but this of course raises the age-old issue of clear fields of fire versus concealment. The best possible solution would be to have a cleared area for at least 50 yards, yet still have a solid screen of trees close to any nearby thoroughfares. This necessitates having at least 20 acres--which is out of the price range of many preppers. In the end, it comes down to compromise, and tailoring your defensive preparations to your locale and to your personal "worst case" expectations.

In my years of consulting work, I've met many folks that have confided that in the event of an absolute worst case--the dreaded "Mutant Zombie Biker" scenario--they plan to block public roads or even destroy bridges. Two of my consulting clients own large Caterpillar-type tractors. I've urged them to not use those Cats to move earth and rock to block roads, but rather to possibly use them as mobile road blocks. Parking a Cat crosswise at the end of a two-lane bridge (with its blade lowered) will stop most vehicles. OBTW, when doing this, don't depend on just a keyed switch to disable the vehicle. Just a few types of key variations were made and/or they can easily to bypassed ("hot wired".) So a mobile roadblock must be disabled by temporarily removing or disabling a crucial ignition, fuel, or hydraulic system part. (See how utility companies do so, for some examples.)

By using a mobile road block that is under armed observation 24/7, you will minimize the risk of alienating your neighbors. Who is to say how long a crisis might last? If you were to block a road with earth or rock piles, or even with wrecked cars, you would probably infuriate any neighbors that decide to return to a normal life of work and commuting, as well as any that resume hauling produce or livestock to market.

Also, as I've pointed out many time in the past: Physical obstacles are just delays--not absolute safeguards. People will find a way through them, over them, or around them--on foot if need be. Also, given enough time, almost any obstacle can be reduced or removed. This necessitates covering any obstacle with armed sentries. For a community in a post-collapse situation, this is best accomplished by 1.) a mobile roadblock, 2.) prominent warning signs, and 3.) covered by one or more well-camouflaged sentries equipped with scoped battle rifles and radios, from a 200+ yard distance. Just one rifleman in a ghillie suit, set back in a tree line can have a tremendous psychological impact in defending a roadblock. ("Where did that shot come from?") In my estimation, the traditional "armed party of men" standing behind barricades manning a roadblock is a thoroughly antiquated carry-over from the Ancien Régime. In the modern context, it is just an invitation to take casualties, as well as a waste of manpower.)

Odds 'n Sods:

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:51:07 -0500

22 dead in Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia after new round of storms. This underscores the need for anyone living in tornado or hurricane country to construct an effective storm shelter.

o o o

Rob at MURS Radios mentioned that he will soon have a limited number of Kenwood TK-2100 MURS radios in stock. These are similar to the ones that he used to sell and at the same price. These come with a used radio (programmed for MURS frequencies), antenna, drop-in charger, and a new battery. The price is $69 each, plus shipping. Rob is taking pre-orders on a first come, first served basis. I highly recommend the MURS band, since it is far less crowded than the FRS/GMRS band, and the Kenwood radios also have superior range. This may be his last batch, so don't hesitate.

o o o

"I told you so" Department: House passes bill to make coin-making cheaper. Steel or zinc "nickels" now seem inevitable. Did you stock up on real nickel nickels, as a I suggested, back in November of 2007? It is still not too late to acquire some rolls of five cent pieces at face value.

o o o

SF in Hawaii sent us the link to a well-produced Flash animation web page that articulates the core of libertarian thinking.

Jim's Quote of the Day:

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:48:41 -0500

"There comes a time in every man's life when he is called upon to do something very special; something for which he and only he has the capabilities, has the skills and has the necessary training. What a pity if the moment finds the man unprepared." - Winston Churchill

Notes from JWR:

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:58:02 -0500

I'm scheduled to be interviewed on Steve Quayle's "Q Flles" Internet/shortwave radio show today at 4 p.m., Pacific time (7 p.m. Eastern time.)

The high bid in the current SurvivalBlog Benefit Auction is now at $325. This auction is for four items: A FoodSaver GameSaver Turbo Plus heavy duty food vacuum packaging system (a retail value of $297) kindly donated by Ready Made Resources an autographed copy of : "Rawles on Retreats and Relocation", an autographed copy of "SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog", and a copy of "The Encyclopedia of Country Living", by the late Carla Emery. The four items have a combined retail value of around $395. The auction ends in three days--on May15th. Please e-mail us your bids, in $10 increments.

Letter Re: Nomex Flight Suits for Ground Troops in Iraq

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:54:58 -0500

Dear Mr Rawles,
Just wanted to thank you for SurvivalBlog, and I especially like the useful tidbits from the troops overseas. I was a Navy Corpsman / combat advisor with a Marine [Corps] Police Transition Team (PTT) in Hadithah six months after the alleged massacre, interesting times for sure.We got in-country in August 2006, and the Nomex suits were just catching on [with Marines]. We managed to snag a set for each of our 10- man team. The only real reg[ulation]s were that at Al Asad or any large Garrison type Base they wanted you wearing camouflage [utilities], otherwise they fine with the Nomex, the big deal [with IED flash burns] was the synthetic Under Armor type shirts that are great for staying dry and cool(er) but [in a flash fire] will melt to your skin. the Uniforms weren't really the problem. I prefer the uniform especially on patrol, it goes back to training, with my uniform I know where all the pockets are, and most importantly I can wear a belt and not feel like I'm wearing a dress.

I hit one IED in Hadithah, which means I was a lucky b****rd., I was in the back [of the vehicle]. Two other [Marine]s got med-flighted out. We had been totally engulfed in the blast and flames but no one got burned. Thanks again, - Matt B.

Letter Re: Triage in Emergency Mass Critical Care (EMCC) Event

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:53:17 -0500

Dear JWR:
I feel that there is a strong premonition in the article you flagged on Wednesday (Who Should Doctors Let Die in a Pandemic?) This hit the Main Stream Media (MSM) early this week and quickly fell off the news cycle. The topic is simply too uncomfortable. The original articles were published in the medical journal Chest (The Journal of the American College of Chest Physicians and are very dry and difficult reading even for a physician. This is unfortunate because it is a salient topic which needs to be vigorously publicly debated (instead of who got voted off – insert various “reality TV” show). It has specific implications for those of us reading your SurvivalBlog. Several recent postings in SurvivalBlog (specifically two discussions initiated by questions raised by DS in Wisconsin ) show this to be a paramount topic.

I would like to address some of these issues by means of an analogy to the area I live and work. We have a typical, financially struggling, small (100 bed) non-profit hospital serving a population area of approximately 50,000. Down the road is the “Medical Mecca” (actually more than one) with total bed capacity in the thousands. Our small hospital has an 8-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) which is always full, with the typical patient in one of the various states of terminal disease processes. When a critical care patient leaves the Operating Room (OR), there is the usual story of “Musical Beds”, where a patient has to be transferred to “make room” in the ICU. This usually involves transferring the least critical patient to the “Step Down Unit” (SDU). ICU patient transfers to the “ Mecca ” typically takes 24-48 hours because their beds are also constantly full. Our hospital owns four ICU ventilators, and if the number of patients requiring ventilation exceeds this, additional units have to be delivered from the “medical supply house”, which also provides rental units to the “Medical Mecca”. Due to financial constraints, there is no “surge capacity” in the system. In the typical bureaucratic system, the “mirage” of available space is accomplished by simply “redefining” a given patient from “Intensive Care” to something less, either wholly inside our hospital or by including the “Mecca” in the system (as in a “larger” system). [JWR Adds: I briefly discussed the chronic shortage of ventilators in my static article on Asian Avian Influenza. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of the shortfalls in medical delivery infrastructure!]

The issues addressed by the articles in Chest concerned Emergency Mass Critical Care (EMCC) events, prototypically pandemic influenza. In such a situation, even the “mirage” of available space breaks down because you cannot “enlarge” the system by including more “geographical” area since each additional area is encompassed by the same problem. The currently circulating “bird flu” H5N1 is a particularly nasty bug, more closely resembling the various “hemorrhagic fevers” than typical influenza when infecting humans. The syndrome includes pulmonary edema (fluid collecting in the lungs, i.e. drowning in own secretions), disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) (internal bleeding) and multi-system organ failure (kidney and/or heart failure, etc.). Treatment typically includes intensive hemodynamic and ventilatory support until the body can clear the infection and heal. Even in our relatively rural area, it would not be unreasonable to expect to have tens, if not hundreds, of patients needing this level support in order to survive. The “Mecca ” will see proportionately more demand.

The recommendations of the authors of the Chest articles are well reasoned and intelligent, but totally impractical in our financially strapped and egalitarian healthcare system. These recommendations include providing for the ability to surge to three times the ICU capacity and provide for 10 days of service without resupply. Due to shortages of trained nurses, our ICU depends on locum tenens (contract agency) nurses to staff the ICU and medical care is provided by a single pulmonologist (physician specializing in lung diseases). It is totally impractical from a staffing issue to provide 3x surge capacity. As far as inventory, 10 days is an eternity. Where will the money come from to stockpile these items and medications (our hospital only has about 30 days of operating cash on hand)? Will the staff forego a paycheck in order for this to occur? Additionally, the “medical supply house” typically only has a couple of unissued ventilators at any given time, before having to “tap into” their larger supply chain (i.e. maybe a dozen or so “extra” in the entire State). Where do you expect these to be issued in such a crisis (try not to be cynical, but I suspect it will be near the State capitol)?

The most difficult (albeit the most logical) recommendations concerns the rationing of the scarce healthcare resources. They suggest that the effort should go to those most likely to survive, instead of those likely to die (i.e. those most likely to benefit from the therapy). This is described as making a medical decision for the entire population, instead of an individual patient. The goal is to maximize survival in the population (at the expense of individual survival). The difficult question is: Who should get the resources and whom should be “redefined” into the “expectant” (i.e. expected to die) category? Should the ventilator go to the college student with severe pulmonary edema or the nursing home patient with the stroke? Should the neonatal/pediatric ICU bed space go to the 20 week premature infant or the previously healthy two year old? If only these decisions would be this straightforward. Who is going to tell the family that grandmother doesn’t meet criteria? Who is going to care for the other patients while the situation is explained (repeatedly) to these families (typically hours with each family)? Do you think that that family will quietly accept the decision or will there be riots? Do you ever wonder why during a food riot, the first thing destroyed is the bakery? Do you think healthcare providers will show up for work at an armed camp with constant rioting or stay home and care for their own family? Would you go to work in a similar situation?

As in most things health related, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. With communicable diseases, isolation and personal hygiene are the most important. These are issues which do not need to be described to the SurvivalBlog family (look at the archives), but should be seriously discussed within your own family/group. In regards to the questions raised concerning emergency medical transport and personal/retreat medical stockpiling, it is an important consideration. In such a crisis situation, transportation is likely to be futile, if not fatal. While nobody should expect to have a personal ventilator in their medical kit, a supply of IV fluids and electrolyte preparation should be standard for those who know how to administer it. Antipyretics (fever reducers) and antispasmodics/antiemetics (diarrhea and nausea medication) should also be standard fare as well as easily digestible foods. A broad-spectrum antibiotic would also be warranted for bacterial superinfection, although everyone should already know that antibiotics do not treat viral infections. The data on antivirals (amantadine, rimantadine and oseltamivir/Tamiflu) is inconclusive at best and contradictory at worst concerning H5N1 [Asian Avian Influenza], but if they are available it may be prudent to have some on hand.

It is unfortunate that the public discussion of this topic has died such an untimely death. Perhaps a little more debate would spare a few hospitals from the ultimate riots, but I am not enthusiastic, human nature being what it is. In this era of “Hope and Change”, especially with regards to healthcare, it will undoubtedly be continued deterioration. We will continue to spend the majority of healthcare dollars in the last six months of life, instead of helping the survival of those most likely to survive. In summary, logical evaluation of such a crisis leads to an illogical result (riots and destruction of the healthcare system). We will likely be left with taking care of ourselves and our family. - NC Bluedog

Two Letters Re: Physical Preparation--How to Survive When Your Gear Doesn't, by T. Davies

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:50:48 -0500

Mr. Rawles:
T. Davies' letter begins with the proper assumption, that most people reading it will be suffering from hardening arteries and softening backsides, and NOW is the time to reverse the trend. Swimming, walking (especially), and running are all good exercises and abilities to possess and cultivate.

Beyond that, his comments range from dangerous (foot conditioning) to the plainly fallacious and silly (Tae Kwon Doe Masters kick harder than any others!). Where to begin?

Firstly, as to foot conditioning: yes, most of us could use some foot toughening, but the author ignores the fact that the African Bushman, as well as any other barefoot Aboriginal type he'd care to mention, is a tiny grasile creature, with very little extra weight (muscle or fat) on his bones. Therefore his body density to total body mass is much greater than his Northern European counterpart. Humans have become much larger, particularly in the past fifty years in this country. Why? ask your local anthropologist...diet, genetics, it's really just a guess, but the Aboriginal is small because a small man requires less food to sustain himself. Thus, diminutive size is a survival advantage on a daily basis. Also, the Aborigine, when on walkabout, isn't carrying a pack, rifle, ammo, and water, along with assorted medical supplies and munitions. He has, at most, a bow and a few arrows, and maybe some sort of water carrier. That's it. Walking around barefoot while burdened is asking for permanent foot injury, unless you are a Sherpa by birth. Limping and gimping about is the quickest surest route to becoming every MZBs first and favorite target. Modern boots are a bargain. Buy the best you can afford that fit you well, then buy two more pair and rotate them! Survival is dependent on one's ability to MOVE (Motionless Operators Ventilate Easily). The first thing one does when in a fight with a stronger adversary is to degrade his ability to move. (Read: chase you.)

Which brings us to the Martial Arts section:
Karate is highly focused on repetition, not kata, and makes greatest use of powerful linear attacks.
Tae Kwon Do masters kick no harder than any other masters. (I have been kicked by, and kicked, masters in almost every Martial Art taught in North America, and I have come out on the winning end of most of the exchanges. The hardest kicks weren't by Tae Kwon Do masters, and I don't practice Tae Kwon Do.) Backup mass is one of for Major components in generating power in all motion: Backup mass, timing, balance, and speed. There are many others, and these apply to ALL motion, fighting or otherwise. Notice, the term used is Backup, not body mass. without alignment with the direction of one's attack, the size of the body doesn't matter. Imagine me swinging a wooden arrow at you, arm fully extended. Now, imagine the same effort being exerted, but this time I am thrusting the arrow ...get the point?

Tai Chi is the root form (or the closest living relative) of all Chinese, and therefore by default Japanese, Okinawan and Korean martial Arts. The deadly fighters mentioned are master fighters, schooled in many styles and systems not just Tai Chi masters,

Kung Fu is a generic term applied to Chinese Martial Arts (as opposed to karate for Japanese/ Okinawan). I have never seen a generic "Kung Fu" school in this country. Most honor their distinct heritage proudly (wing chun, qi gong, jeet kun do, kempo, kenpo etc. Ed Parker's American Kenpo karate is considered kung fu by many, due to its origins in China) It is no harder to learn than any other form of fighting art.

Ninjitsu is an art I have no personal experience in, so my only comment would be that time spent practicing with arcane weaponry would be better spent practicing firearms proficiency. One may be able to disguise a sword as a walking cane (I do it all the time) but a Glock tucks right into the trousers as easily. Efficiency first, esoteric later...
Aikido is based on two principles, both using an opponent's energy (their attack) against him. First is evacuating the line of attack; second is turning big circles into smaller circles (a declining radius/apex arc, in engineering terms). Judo is not a sport form of Aikido. Aikido is a "sporting" version of Aikijuitsu, the Martial Art practiced in the Japanese Imperial Court. Judo is a "sporting" version of jujitsu.

Jujitsu is a grappling art, not just focused on grappling. Brazilian jujitsu is a "ring" oriented style. The greatest weakness with any style of "-jitsu" is that it is singular combat, and bad guys come in bunches, and it is becoming more ring-oriented (i.e., more "rules", ala boxing). I had a kid try an arm bar on me the other day. He caught me by surprise, got the legs around my arm and neck, but before he could straighten it , I locked my hands together, put a foot on his throat, and began to lift. I may be old, but I'm still plenty mean, quick, and crafty, and if you want to cheap-shot me in my own school, I'm more than happy to play rough! Needless to say, as my weight and his and my pulling all became directed on his neck via my foot, his efforts ceased precipitously, and he tapped out immediately and vigorously!

Please do not misunderstand my comments, but [Mr. Davies'] misinformation must be corrected before it becomes "common knowledge". After all, you and SurvivalBlog have become the "source of record" for the survivalist movement with the mainstream media. FWIW, - Bonehead

Jim:
Regarding Mr. T. Davies' statement: "When you run, you should never touch the heels of your feet to the ground."

Is completely incorrect as is most of the rest of his remarks on running. To be honest the above statement is correct only if the runner is sprinting. Long distance running (800 meters or more) can be run on the heals of your feet! At least I do, and my knees have not been the problem.

For some really good advise on running please see Running World and Running Ahead. The latter has some really good runners that post often and are very helpful to both new and old runners alike.

I started running after walking the One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon a few years ago. I run to control my Type 2 diabetes sans medication. And so far so good

For new runners, do a web search on "Couch to 5K race" training program and follow it. It is a great way to start your running.

Some general rules to follow.

Build miles slowly. Don't add more than 10% to your weekly miles per week. In other words if you currently are running a mile a day for six days a week then next week should be no more than 0.6 miles more.

You should have one long easy run per week, and that run should be no longer than 30% of your weekly total miles

An easy run should be at a pace where you can carry on a normal conversation with your running partner

Cross train. It is important to have good core strength. If you don't you joints will attempt to move in directions the joint was not meant to go.

And stretch before and after your runs. This is a must. The before run stretch is always after a nice 3 or 4 minute warm up session. Never do this "cold"!!

Don't be afraid of walking some of your miles! Here is a fact: A lot of runners that keep missing qualifying for the Boston Marathon attempting to run all of the distance in qualifying races. When they start doing recoveries (walking) some of the distance, they find they make the qualifying time.

These rules will generally help and I want to repeat that: They will help in avoiding injuries. But very lucky is the person that completely avoids running injuries.

The number one rule for running (and even walking) is getting the proper shoe and having it properly fitted to your gait! This, more than anything, helps avoid injuries! Do a web search on running clubs in your area and contact them. Ask them where they go to get fitted for the proper shoes. The people in these shops are trained to watch you run and most of the top shops have machines that analyze your gait in the shop and see the mechanics of how you run, then fitting you to the proper shoe. To skip this process in your running is like buying a nice new .45 ACP then stocking up on .357 ammo. There are going to be problems! And be prepared to pay from $75 to about $110 for good shoes. I have not spent more than $95 to include tax on any of my shoes. The price range can go to $250 and above, but you still are going to be replacing them at between 300 and 500 miles no matter what you spend, so don't unless you just have to have the absolute top of the line. Oh and one other thing, NB 767 bought at Penney's for $55 is not the same NB 767 bought at the Runners Shop for $85. You will be replacing them in 150 to 250 miles. That is not saving money!! Tracking shoe miles is where Running Ahead comes in. There is a top of the line free on line log there and the tools are great! You can lay out training runs complete with miles. water stops etc. You can toggle between street mapping and Sat images and even graph the course elevations.

And don't forget to enter some local races. You'll meet some great people and learn more about running and your body than you ever thought possible! Where I live we have Pace for the Race Training each year. It is a group that meets to train for 15 to 16 Saturdays before the Indianapolis Mini. For several weeks before we run that morning we have guests come in and teach us the things we need to know to avoid bad knees, shin splints and ITBS (ITBS hurts like h**l!)

Hope this helps. There is nothing like completing your first 5K or half-marathon! - Gregg S.

Odds 'n Sods:

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:47:42 -0500

FerFAL--SurvivalBlog's correspondent in Argentina--reports in his personal blog on the effects from the volcanic eruption in adjoining Chile.

o o o

We found this linked at Steve Quayle's site: As usual, journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard pulls no punches: Global free market for food and energy faces biggest threat in decades

o o o

Bob at Ready Made Resources mentioned that they have just five cases each of the following Mountain House freeze dried foods briefly back in stock, available for immediate delivery:
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce $110 per case
Chicken and Rice $110 per case
Beef Stew $165 per case
Beef Stroganoff $125 per case
Lasagna $165 per case
Full cases only (six #10 cans, one gallon size). Sorry, no mixing and matching. Because these are in such short supply, this is a "by phone order only" special. Call: 1-800-627-3809

o o o

From Dr. Gary North: Mapping the implosion of the real estate bubble

Jim's Quote of the Day:

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:42:47 -0500

“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” - Thomas Sowell

Note from JWR:

Sun, 11 May 2008 21:09:25 -0500

Physical Preparation--How to Survive When Your Gear Doesn't, by T. Davies

Sun, 11 May 2008 21:07:51 -0500

There is a lot of information online and in print about what gear to have on hand if the worst happens, tons and tons about how to store food, fuel, etc. There is even a plethora of information on how to get food and build shelter in the extremes. All of this leaves out some crucial elements. In this article you are going to see how to prepare your body and mind for working without equipment in adverse or even brutal conditions. the steps involved are extremely labour intensive. What you do with it is up to you.

If you are out hunting and home base catches fire, will you be able to get to a location suitable for shelter in a reasonable amount of time? If everything goes wrong and your supply caches are gone, the fuel stores have burned and the damned jeep is toast, is your body in the kind of shape it needs to be in to survive? If you are confronted by an attacker and your ammo is long gone, can you win in hand to hand?

Even the basics, like walking for a full day, are beyond most people in North America. This isn't a natural condition, and is not true in most of the world. In the highlands of Papua New Guinea a native will still walk a full day with a spear sticking through his leg if conditions require it. In the plains of Africa it is not uncommon for a tribesman to run a hundred kilometers in a day. This level of survival is available to anyone if they simply take the steps and do the work to build it.

A good place to start is with walking. People think that walking requires good shoes or boots. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some form of light foot covering such as a moccasin is useful but not necessary and most of the walking footwear out there will actually get in your way over long distances. Your feet are built with natural springs in the form of the muscle in the arch of the foot, most footwear destroys that muscle by giving constant support for the arch. Your feet are also supposed to bend at the toes, most footwear restricts movement through the toes. Then there is ankle support. In rough terrain your ankles are supposed to constantly modify their angle in order to maximize your footing, string ankle support actually prevents your ankles from being able to do their job. Finally we come to padding. Padding in shoes is supposed to cushion you from shocks. It actually does the exact opposite, providing no protection for impacts above 5 psi while preventing the bodies natural feedback mechanisms from reporting the true strength of your impact. Put another way, wearing those expensive hiking shoes can really mess up your legs over any kind of real distance. As stated above, simple moccasins are great as they offer a degree of protection to you feet, but they do lack durability. Other options include Nike Free's (the cross trainers are not as good from the foot health perspective but are much better than a normal shoe and will last a very long time). Alternatively, Parade boots have no padding at all and as such are better than hiking boots and last almost forever, while being very cheap from most surplus stores. Of course, barefoot is ideal and your feet will toughen up over time. Any of the walking options mentioned above will take a lot of getting used to. If you are unused to walking with this kind of footwear, you should start to practice now. The first few days will cause you pain in areas that are unfamiliar. After a few days the pain will mitigate and you will be able to walk faster than you were able to before, but you still won't have much in the way of arch muscle so anytime you push it you are going to experience muscle fatigue. Push yourself, but keep in mind that if you push too hard you will injure the muscle and be in worse shape than before you started. It can take quite a long time for a muscle that hasn't really been used since early childhood to develop, so be patient with it.

Running would be the next spot. Again, footwear has all of the same problem associated with it as it does in walking, plus there are some thing you will probably need to unlearn before you can be an effective runner. When you run, you should never touch the heels of your feet to the ground. The pattern is toes to ball or mid-foot, use the toes to launch again (this requires very developed foot arch muscles). Running on your heels means that the impact if transferring to your knees, causing minute damage with each step. The accumulation of that damage will increase your odds of a serious knee injury, usually within the first your of running. In a true survival situation your legs are your best friends, treat them with kindness and respect and they will outlast any vehicle, cover terrain that even a horse can't touch and keep you going when everything else has failed. Breathing is another aspect of running. If you have ever done track, odds are good you were taught how to breathe. Unfortunately you were taught wrong. When you run you should breathe exclusively through your nose. There will be a strong temptation to breathe out through your mouth (after all, that is what we were all taught). The problem with that is twofold. One, it rapidly expels all the Carbon Dioxide in your blood. This seems like a good idea, but in reality we require a small CO2 reserve to allow us to properly absorb oxygen. Without that reserve, you are simply making your body operate with less oxygen than it should have. Two, mucus. This sound fairly unpleasant, but mucus exists in our body for very good reason. In this case it helps to lubricate the nasal passages, but needs strong out breaths to flow properly. If you try running on a cold day, you will notice that for the first few minutes every in breathe through the nasal passages hurts, but once the mucus is being pumped properly the pain goes away. There is one other benefit of nasal breathing: many asthmatics who have tried it have found that they become asymptomatic and remain so. There is no real research on this, so these are purely anecdotal accounts, however the sheer volume of them is fairly persuasive.
So now you can walk somewhere and run if you need to put on a burst of speed. This is where the advanced stuff comes in. Parkour is a discipline that was created in France in the late eighties by a man named David Belle. Parkour is essentially the art of running away really fast in places that your pursuer probably can't follow. The best info on parkour will come from local communities, but barring that, the Parkour.net web site is a great resource. [JWR Adds: This video clip and this one of the notorious "Ninja For Hire" show the more extreme aspects of the art. Disclaimer: Kids, Do not try this at home! Their interpretation of the "art" seems foolhardy, especially engaging in practice jumping without at least wearing a rock climbing helmet!] What follows is more of a brief summary of the training and methodologies involved.

A huge part of Parkour is the idea of gradual progression. When you begin training you should practice landing as much as you can. Go to a flight of stairs and go up one step. Turn and face the bottom of the stairs and then jump off. When you jump, lift your legs as high as you can in front of you, and then bring them down so that they are almost straight (just a slight bend in the knees) and point your toes. Your feet should be a little more than shoulder width apart. Land on your toes, spreading the impact across all of them. As the impact starts to hit, bend your feet until you hit the balls of your feet, resisting with your foot muscles. Then start to sink down using your thigh muscles, while resisting as much as you can. You should end with your hands on the ground, between your feet. Listen to your landing, it should be almost silent. Once you can do that perfectly a hundred times, move up to the next step and start the process again. There is no point where you are finished training how to land, practitioners of parkour who have been doing it from the start still train how to land every day. That is fairly typical of parkour training, intensive repetition combined with conditioning and incremental improvement. The key skills are: landing, rolling, vaulting, climbing, jumping, and running. Parkour can save your life in literally hundreds of situations, from extracting yourself from a burning building (the creator was a fire fighter in France) to escaping pursuit, but it isn't a casual discipline and requires a very high degree of commitment.

Swimming is another skill that every survivalist should have. For swimming, it is probably enough to be able to cover a lot of distance although the stronger a swimmer you are, the better.
Finally there is unarmed combat. While parkour can keep you out of most situations involving hand to hand combat, there may come a time where it is needed (either because you are unable to formulate an escape route, or if you are diligent with parkour more likely because you are protecting a loved one who is unable to escape). Obviously there are many, many styles of martial art, and many factors as to which one is going to suit you best.

Karate is the classic martial art, because it was really the first one that western audiences had a large exposure to, but that doesn't mean it is the right one for you. Karate is highly focused on Katas [(choreographed sequences of footwork, kicks, strikes, and blocks)] and improvement can be slow, while many believe that Katas are actually detrimental to your ability to win a fight (Bruce Lee was among those who believed this.) Having said that, many people find the rigid discipline of Karate valuable, and it does leave you far better equipped in a fight than an untrained opponent.

Tae Kwon Do is more focused on mastering very hard, very effective punches and kicks. A Tae Kwon Do master actually kicks harder than someone of the same skill in any other discipline. Improvement tends to be fairly rapid, with the average time to black belt being around 3 years at 100 lessons a year and diligent practice. One down side of this is that physical condition is imperative, on the other hand diligent practice at Tae Kwon Do tends to leave you in great shape. Body mass is also a major advantage, as it is the main source of power.

Tai Chi is not usually thought of as a martial art, but more as an exercise for elderly Chinese people. However, Tai Chi teaches you a huge amount about redirection of force and using spirals to create energy. Some of the most effective fighters in the world are Tai Chi masters.

Kung Fu is actually not one style of martial art, but it is usually taught as a single style in the west and so is being considered that way here. Kung Fu is probably the most stylized of all the martial arts listed here, and takes the most time to master. There is a high focus on Kata again, and a high demand for physical conditioning. Basically, Kung Fu is really, really hard to master. Once you do, it is very difficult to beat. The amount of time you can dedicate to it and your passion for the beauty of the movement should be the determining factor in taking up this martial art.

Ninjitsu is a Japanese martial art that is very different from the rest on this list. Ninjitsu was a peasant martial art, designed to take on opponents who were better armed, armored and equipped in a situation where if you were caught training with weapons you would be killed summarily. As such, ninjitsu is eminently practical. Kata's simply don't exist in ninjitsu and most moves are designed around deception and redirection. Joint locks, low kicks and nasty nerve strikes are the main weapons, as well as a thorough training in stealth.

Aikido is an art that focuses on redirecting your opponents force and moving them off balance. Aikido is very effective for smaller people, as it doesn't rely on your body mass or ability to generate force at all. It uses many of the same locks and throws as ninjitsu, but is more focused on them. Judo is basically a sport version of aikido and probably shouldn't be your first choice for unarmed combat.

Jujitsu has been receiving a lot of focus lately as it is the most common martial art in modern mixed martial arts competitions. It is focused primarily on grappling. A really good jujitsu fighter can beat most other styles if they can get the fight to the ground, but there is inherent risk associated with the process of getting someone to the ground. That is why most Jujitsu fighters cross train at least one striking martial art as well.

There are many, many other styles out there (Capoeira, Savate, Kick boxing, Muay thai, Escrima, Krav-maga, Jeet kun-do, etc.) each of which has its own specialties. The one to take is a very individual choice but all require dedication and focus. Parkour and Tai Chi seem to be a common combination, although Parkour tends to magnify your abilities in any martial art due to the simple physical awareness and athleticism it imparts.

Of course, strength training is important for any and all physical routines (for Parkour a strict body weight routine is strongly encouraged) and the more cardio you do the better your endurance will be.

In the end, the only tool you can't lose is your own body so it makes sense to keep that tool in as good a condition - T. Davies

JWR Adds: I do not recommend the "foot toughening" approach and/or wearing minimalist foot gear that lack thick soles and arch support--such as moccasins or ninja tabi--for preparedness. Note that this foot gear would be mutually exclusive with Parkour, which requires foot protection. It is also out of the question for anyone living in an area with long-spined cacti (such as Cholla), or for anyone that might ever have to do any karst climbing or reef walking. Foot toughening also requires a commitment of time and a level of training dedication that few adults can afford. You will note, for example that barefoot competitive runners are few and far between. ]