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Tuesday September 22 2009

Letter Re: Grub and Gear--Lessons Learned from an Alaskan Trapper

James,
Going through some old gear last month, I found my food supply lists and notes from 1976-79. I thought the old list might be of interest and the lessons I learned during the first three years in the remote Alaska bush may be helpful to a few of your readers. I do not recommend Alaska for a TEOTWAWKI retreat but the lessons I learned the hard way may be helpful to any one in a cold climate.

I grew up in California listing to stories from my grandfather about Alaska and the Yukon. When I graduated from high school my grandfather gave me his remote trapping cabin in Alaska. At 18 I had a lot to learn and discovered many things the hard way. I was lucky to survive the first year.

When I got to Alaska I met my Grandfather’s old trapping partner. He told me that the cabin was fully stocked with everything including food. Enough food and supplies for at least one winter. When I started asking him questions on how to trap he told me “sonny I have not got the time to teach you and since you don’t have to build the cabin you will have time to figure it out. He added half under his breath” providing you do not fall through the ice or freeze to death. He also said something to the effect that if he had not owed my grandfather a favor he would never give his ½ of the cabin to a long haired hippy kid from California. I had to promise the old Sourdough that I would have all of his traps flown back to town at the end of the trapping season or buy the traps from him.

My first winter was a disaster.

Before this the longest I had been in the wilderness was a 23 day Outward Bound survival class that I attended the year before and I had never spent a winter in a cold environment.

To get to the trapping cabin it was at least a two week walk from the end of closest dirt road or a 1:20 hour flight in a bush plane. The cheapest way to fly to the cabin was in a Piper PA-18 Super Cub on tundra tires. The pilot told me he could carry 1 passenger and 200 lbs of supplies or a total of 400 pounds of supplies and no passenger.

When the pilot dropped me off he told me “If I am in the area I will check on you” He did not have any charters that way so he did not check on me that winter.

I got out of the plane with a full back pack of gear, a duffel bag of supplies and a 30-06 rifle. I had to walk a few miles to the cabin. I left the duffel bag in a tree to retrieve later. With a full back pack and my rifle I walked as fast as I could to the cabin. I was excited to see “My cabin” at last. What a shock I had when I saw the cabin! The old Trapper had lived many winters in the cabin and told me it was built strong. What I found was a small log shack with a dirt floor and sod roof. In the cabin a wood stove, a hand built bed frame and table. A old bed mattress suspended by wire from the rafters. There were traps, snow shoes, ax, bow saw, one man cross cut saw, files, a lantern and the other basics that are needed to survive the Alaska winter as a trapper. The trapper had not been to the cabin for four years. At least 60% of the food supply that I was counting on had been eaten by rodents or had spoiled.

First lesson learned! If you count on food to be there when you need it, You better have had your food stored in a very secure way or you may go hungry. Theft is also something to be considered in today’s society and in TEOTWAWKI losing your food cache would be disastrous

Most people think it must have been boring spending 4 ½ months alone in a cabin. The reality is I was too busy just trying to cut enough wood to stay warm and skin the marten, fox or wolf that I trapped or shot. I was cold, hungry and exhausted most of the time. I never had the time to get board. Being a green horn at trapping I only averaged 1 animal a week and it was usually shot instead of trapped.

The first winter at the cabin.

As soon as I walked into the cabin I I knew I was in trouble. I did not have the 4-to-5 month supply of food I needed. I had a topo map of the trapping area only but did not have the maps to get me back to the road or town, Second lesson! Make your Egress plans ahead of time and have at least 2 good contingency plans.

Thankfully in the cabin there were two steel drums with snap ring lids that were full of dry goods and on the shelves were some cans of dried goods that were also still good. The following list is what was still edible in the cabin as best as I can remember

  • 50 lbs Bisquick
  • 50 lbs Beans
  • 25 lbs Rice
  • 10 Lbs Lentils
  • 20 lbs Oatmeal
  • 10 lbs Coffee
  • 2 lbs black pepper
  • 10 lbs Crisco
  • 4 lbs Honey
  • 25 lbs salt

The supplies along with a young moose I shot did keep me alive but it was no fun. I had youth and enthusiasm on my side and knew the situation was temporary. I decided to just make it a challenge and kind of live some of my grandfather's stories first hand for myself. I had in my pack 1 roll of toilet paper but there was none at the cabin

Third Lesson! Birch bark, snow or small pine cones work but make a very poor substitute for toilet paper. I also learned later that winter that at -40 your butt will freeze to a wood toilet seat in the outhouse. Make a toilet seat for the outhouse out of hard blue Styrofoam for winter will make using the outhouse less of a pain in the butt.

As fall quickly turned to winter the lake next to the cabin froze and the temp continued to drop. The high quality mountaineering boots I had used in the high Sierra mountains of California and Nevada were not anywhere near warm enough and did not have removable liners so the boots were hard to dry.

Forth lesson Pac boots with 2 sets of liners or bunny boots are must have items for cold environments.

Many times during the winter I could have shot Grouse or Ptarmigan If I had a 22 pistol. That would have added much wanted variety to the menu. The other problem I learned is if you get a wolf or wolverine in one of your traps a 30-06 blows too big a hole in the hide and destroys most of the value of the fur.

Fifth Lesson! a .22 rifle or pistol is a must have item.

After 2 months my clothes were in bad shape. Most Light weight high tech clothing used for backpacking or mountaineering is not designed for day to day hard use and does not hold up to rigors outdoor work for the long haul. High quality wool clothing does a lot better over the long haul and is not susceptible to melting next to a fire like nylon is. Yes wool is heavy and takes longer to dry but in my opinion for working in the woods wool is the way to go.

Sixth lesson ! clothing made for loggers, Surveyors and commercial fisherman may be heavy but it last a lot better than sporting gear. Filson is the best.

My diet was boring and I was always hungry after two months. I started getting sick and my teeth seemed to be getting loose. It finally dawned on me that I had no intake of Vitamin C. I may have had Scurvy. Remembering something I learned from my grandfather I started eating rose hips that were dried and still hanging on a few bushes near the cabin. Thankfully we did not have deep snows that year so I could find a few rose hips. I was lucky! Seventh Lesson! make sure you have a source of Vitamin C.

Every time I took my rifle inside the warm cabin it would condensate and the rifle would get wet.

Eighth Lesson If you bring a rifle into a warm cabin from a below freezing environment it will condensate, this promotes corrosion in addition the moisture in the bolt may be frozen the next time you are outside in the cold. If you do bring a weapon in from the cold strip it down, dry it and clean it. I left my rifle outside next to the door for most of the winter and only brought it in to clean. This would not work in a TEOTWAWKI so other tactics will have to be developed.

One morning there was a small earth quake that got me to thinking of my family and the outside world. Started felling very alone. Starting thinking what if the Russians had dropped “the bomb” I would not know it.

Lesson #9! Being able to at least hear what is going on in the outside world helps your mental attitude a lot. A radio to listen to the news was smoothing I longed for.

Snow shoes are easy to use and most anyone will figure them out quickly. When you are working on snow shoes you will fall now and then. Lesson # 10 tape the muzzle of your rifle to keep snow out of the barrel when you take the invariable header into the snow. I use electrical tape or put a condom over the muzzle of all my rifles in the field to keep everything out of the barrel. It will not affect accuracy unless you are shooting over 300 yards.

The winter was full of hardship and big education. I did enjoy it but given a choice I would not want to repeat that Winter. In the spring I sold my furs in Anchorage. The fur buyer could tell I had never trapped before as the way I had prepared the pelts was poor at best. I got .20 cents on the dollar for my pelts and I think that was generous on the part of the fur buyer. 4-½ months of hard work and after paying the bush pilot along with the money I still owed the trapper I would have less than $100. The trapper met me at the fur buyer after paying him for his traps he was now very friendly and asked me many questions. He encouraged me to go back for at least one more winter. He told me to go get a bath and haircut and meet him at the White Spot cafe down the street in downtown Anchorage and he would buy me a good meal. While eating he handed me a the following list

  • 90 lbs bisquick
  • 50 lbs Beans
  • 50 lbs Rice
  • 25 lbs Salt
  • 25 lbs Lentils
  • 20 lbs oatmeal
  • 10 lbs Sugar
  • 10 lbs lard
  • 10 lbs powdered milk
  • 10 lbs split peas
  • 10 lbs Tang [freeze-dried orange juice powder]
  • 10 lbs coffee
  • 10 lbs noodles
  • 1 case tomato paste
  • 5 lbs strawberry Jam
  • 4 lbs honey
  • 2 lbs pepper
  • 5 gal White gasoline
  • 4 large boxes wood matches
  • 24 large Plumber's Candles
  • 8 rolls toilet paper
  • 6 lantern mantels
  • 7 Lbs Trapping wire
  • Gun oil
  • Trapping lures and scents

This was the list of supplies that the trapper had the pilot bring to the cabin each spring when the plane came to pick him up. This filled what would have otherwise been an empty plane. In early April the lake next to the cabin was still frozen so the plane would land on skis and taxi next to the cabin. The pilot and trapper would put the supplies into the cabin then the pilot flew the trapper back to town.

The Trapper then informed me that he had purchased the supplies for me and was having them flown to the cabin along with 2 more steel drums to safely store the supplies in.

The "Rifle and a Backpack" Myth

I often get a chuckle from people that think they can fill a back pack and head into the woods and survive long term with what is in a back pack. Until recently I spent most of my life guiding in Alaska and in Africa. I spent an average 110 days a year living out of a back pack under a tarp or in a pup tent, and another 180 days each year living in a remote cabins without electricity or running water.

In an uninhabited game rich environment with a rifle and only a back pack of gear I could survive for a period of time. How long could I survive? I do not know as there are too many variables.

What I do know is in the case of TEOTWAWKI where many people would be fleeing the cities and overcrowding the wild places looking for food I could not survive trying to live off the land with only a back pack full of gear. There will simply not be the recourses available. If a skilled person had no ethics they could take to stealing, looting, probably murder/cannibalism they might make it long term starting with only a back pack full of gear. For me and my family I believe in preparing now and stocking up while food and supplies are available and reasonably priced.

In the early 1980s I bought a lot of my supplies from a sporting goods/gun store in Anchorage. The store maintained an excellent inventory for hunters, trappers or survivalists. The store manager could talk the talk on both survival and hunting. One fall he hired me to take him on a 14-day bow hunting trip into the Alaska bush and film the adventure. He also hired a young guy that had just moved to Alaska from Georgia to help carry camera gear. I was concerned regarding the greenhorn from Georgia and even more concerned when I saw his marginal gear. The Georgia greenhorn however did fine and was a huge help on the trip. The trip however was a complete failure. The store manager had every neat gadget I had ever seen and many that I had never heard of. His pack was too full to carry any of the food or camera gear. He was out of shape and his pack was also too heavy for him to comfortably carry. After the float plane dropped us off on a high mountain lake we planned to walk for a week to my cabin hunting Dall Sheep on the way. Then at the Cabin we planned to hunt Moose and Grizzly. During the first 2 days the store manager left a lot of gadgets and some much needed gear on the trail to lighten his pack. I was stunned as I thought this guy knew his stuff but he was totally bewildered on how to apply his knowledge or gear in the field. One of the things I still clearly remember is he actually dumped all of his extra socks and his rain gear at the first nights camp. Leaving that gear behind cost him dearly. The Greenhorn from Georgia was a farm kid and was able to adapt to the Alaska bush even with his marginal gear and lack of knowledge of the Alaska bush. The store manager never made a single stalk on any animal as it became a challenge to just get the store manager to the cabin. By the time we got him to the cabin his feet were so badly blistered he could hardly walk and could not even carry his own pack or bow. This rambling story actually has a point. I had heard the store manager tell many people before our trip that with his properly equipped backpack he could easily survive in the bush indefinitely. My grandfather use to say: "Ignorance is bliss but it will not put food on the table."

My Second Winter

I still had a lot to learn but this winter was a lot better. First thing when I arrived at the cabin was to see that the supplies were all there and in fine shape. I also had topo maps and now knew 3 different routes to get back to civilization. It was at least a 2 week walk but I at least knew the routes to get there.

In a TEOTWAWKI situation if you are at your retreat in the winter you will probably also get into a routine. That could be both good and bad. Think security and mix the times up so ambush is harder for the goons to set up.

Winter set in, an in my second winter in the cabin, it did not take long to get into my routine. Every day starts the same. At approximately 6:00 A.M. The alarm clock goes off. What I mean the stove has only a few coals left and the cabin is freezing so I have to get up and stoke the fire. Then step outside into the extreme cold. Cut a log into rounds and this is done in the dark. Then go down to the lake still in the dark (batteries for the flashlight are too precious to waste and so is gas for the lantern) carefully chip the ice around each of five fishing lines with a hatchet. Pull up the hook hoping for a burbut (fresh water ling cod) reset the bait, haul water back to the cabin. If I had not caught a fish for breakfast then on the meat pole next to the cabin I used the saw and cut off a frozen chunk of caribou. Still dark and I am cold, step into the cabin warm up my frozen hands, dry my gloves and cook breakfast on the wood stove. Then put the dutch oven with beans, lentils or rice on the wood stove to rehydrate while I am gone for the day. Pack my lunch: two pancakes with a slab of cooked caribou meat in the middle, also put one tablespoon of tang into my insulated water bottle then fill it with hot water from the pot on the stove. Warm tang makes a nice mid morning warm up on the trail and is a source of Vitamin C.

As it is just starting to get light strap on the snow shoes and head out pulling the sled. If it has not snowed I can walk on top of the packed trail with the snow shoes on the sled.

The day is spent dragging the sled checking and resetting traps while constantly looking for a wolf, fox or wolverine to shoot. During each day I must also find a dry standing dead spruce tree to cut down and limb with the ax then using the sled haul it back to the cabin. Must always be on my main trail with everything tied onto the sled before it is completely dark. Days are short: the mid-winter sun is only up for 4 ½ hrs. I used my flashlight is only for emergencies.

Following a packed trail is easy in the dark just remember to get behind the sled on any downhill or the sled will hit you in the back of your legs and could break a snowshoe or your leg. Usually get back to the cabin long after dark.

Lesson # 11 Cross country skis are no substitute for snow shoes.

The snow shoes at the cabin were old and on the last legs of useful life. Instead of bringing a new set of snow shoes I had purchased a new set of back country cross country skis to the cabin. I thought I would use the snow shoes as a backup. Learned that skis are not as good to work on as snow shoes for doing chores or trapping. Skis have a place and can save time but are not a replacement for snow shoes. In snow country snow shoes are essential and skis are a nice luxury.

Each night when I finally arrive at the cabin I am tired and hungry. First thing is to start the fire then fix dinner. After dinner if I was lucky that day I can light the lantern and skin whatever I had trapped or shot after it has thawed. 9:15 PM is the highlight of the day! I get to listen to the AM radio for 45 minutes.

Lesson #8 and had brought a radio this time. Always hoping Caribou Clatters has a message for me from my family. Allow myself 45 minutes to read by lantern or candle light. 11:00 PM re-stoke the fire and collapse on the bed. The radio, dinner and sleep are the reward of a day’s hard work. Around 2:30 AM the fire has burned to just a few coals and I get cold, get up put more wood on and go back to sleep. The next thing I know it is 6:00 AM the fire has burned to just a few coals and it is freezing in the cabin and the day starts all over again.

Lesson #12 In a cold winter climate Use no oil in the bolt or trigger assembly of your rifle as it may freeze. I tried to shoot at a wolf (a wolf hide was then worth $450) when I pulled the trigger on my rifle it only went click. The firing pin would not strike the primer with enough force to set off the primer. After the second try and another click the wolf ran off and out of range. That was only an expensive lesson. In a TEOTWAWKI it could have been some one shooting at me and I would have had a useless rifle.

On my daily trips to check the fishing lines and get water I knew the ice was 28” thick and still getting thicker each week. A December day the temp was -27 F and I was crossing the outlet end of a small lake to check out some tracks. Not worrying as I thought the ice was 28” thick everywhere I fell through the ice and found myself waist deep in water. This was two miles from my cabin It was all I could do to make it to the cabin.

Lesson #13 any out let or inlet of a frozen lake may have thin ice also a warm spring or other things can cause thin ice. The fire was out in my stove and no coals were left. I had a very hard time getting a fire started and as a last resort used white gas and almost burned down the cabin.

Lesson #14 have the kindling and all the fixings of a fire ready any time you leave your cabin. You never know when someone may be at the end of their strength and need to get a fire going.

One evening in early January I returned to the cabin to find a note and care package on the table from the bush pilot. The pilot had brought me a bag of oranges, a fruit cake and a newspaper. He also left three letters from my family. It was if I had won the lottery

As the snow got deeper during the winter I started finding that many animals liked to use my packed trail. I learned never underestimate the danger of a moose particularly in the winter if they are on a packed trail they may charge you instead of going into deep snow. I had a cow moose chase me up a tree then stomp my on sled and break one of my snow shoes.

Lesson #15 Moose are dangerous, especially late winter

In early February I came across Grizzly tracks in the snow. I was shocked as I thought that bears would be in the den all winter. I followed the tracks and found the bear had made a moose kill.

Lesson # 16 Grizzly bears and black bears do not truly hibernate and may be out of the den during any month of the year. Over the years I learned if a bear is away from his den in the winter it will be hungry and grumpy.

As a kid I loved watching western movies. It seemed to me cowboys wore their handgun in a low slung fast draw holster and I thought that was cool. The western style fast draw holsters I tried in the bush were useless. I now see that some law enforcement and military teams are using a thigh mounted holster. I am not disputing the tactical points of that method but if you are working in the woods you will occasionally fall into snow or mud. That is when you want your hand gun in a full flap holster or in a normal holster worn under the last layer of clothing. Getting your hand gun into your hand fast is of no use if it will not fire when you need it.

Lesson #18 Select holsters that will allow you to comfortably carry your hand gun with you at all times and will protect the weapon from the elements. I have tried over 40 different holsters and method of carrying my handgun. I strongly suggest you experiment now on how to carry your own handgun. Find something that works for you. I presently use three different holsters:

  • A holster that I use to carry concealed when I am in a city environment.
  • A holster when I am working in the bush.
  • A holster when I am flying float planes.

In March, the bush pilot landed on the frozen lake with 400 lbs of supplies. He helped me put the food into the steel drums for the next trapping season then flew me back to town.

I had spent 160 days alone in the bush trapping. I sold my furs to the fur buyer in Anchorage. After paying the bush pilot for the supplies and flights to the cabin and back I had cleared $2,700.

I learned a lot that winter and over the years refined the old trappers list to keep me well fed and a lot happier.

A More Complete Supply List

After my experiences the first two winters, I composed the following list. This is for one man for five to six months. It was refined for my personal taste and needs in the Alaska bush. The old trapper that I got my first list from made do with a lot less than what I took. This list is tried and true and not a just theory that someone made up. I had around 200 traps and ran the line on snowshoes, foot and skis. Cut my firewood by hand (no chain saw) and hauled my water from the lake in buckets. It was hard work 12-15 hours a day 7 days a week and I burned a lot of calories. Using the following list I ate well and always had plenty of supplies left in the spring:

  • 50 lbs Flour
  • 50 lbs Bisquick
  • 25 lbs Pancake mix
  • 35 lbs Sugar
  • 50 lbs Pinto Beans
  • 25 lbs Rice
  • 40 lbs Salt pork
  • 25 lbs Salt
  • 10 lbs Dried prunes
  • 10 lbs Raisons
  • 10 lbs Dried apricots
  • 10 lbs Dried apples
  • 10 lbs Dried peaches
  • 25 lbs Oatmeal
  • 10 lbs Honey
  • 2 cases Tomato paste
  • 25 lbs powdered milk
  • 15 lbs [canned] Butter
  • 25 lbs Corn meal
  • 25 lbs [canned] Cheese
  • 20 lbs Spaghetti Noodles
  • 10 lbs Crisco
  • 15 lbs Hot cocoa mix
  • 10 lbs Dried eggs
  • 5 lbs Strawberry Jam
  • 3 lbs Apricot Jam
  • 2 boxes Pilot bread
  • 1 gal Maple Syrup
  • 180 Multi vitamins
  • 180 Vitamin C
  • 1 lb [powdered dry] Yeast
  • 180 Tea bags
  • 1 lbs Pepper
  • 1 lbs
  • Baking soda
  • 8 lbs
  • Dried onions
  • 1 lb Baking powder
  • 1 lb. Corn starch
  • 24 oz Garlic powder
  • 12 oz Vanilla
  • 2 rolls aluminum foil
  • 1/2 gal Dish soap
  • 5 bars non-scented soap
  • 36 Canning lids (to can meat if we had a winter thaw or for leftover in the spring)
  • 8 oz Hydrogen peroxide
  • 2 oz Iodine
  • 12 rolls Toilet paper
  • 2 Small sponges
  • 2 Scrub pads
  • 1 roll Duct Tape
  • 4 boxes of wooden Matches
  • 24 Plumber's candles
  • 500 rounds .22 long rifle hollow point ammo
  • 100 .308 ammo 125 grain hollow point varmint ammo
  • 20 rounds .308 ammo 180 grain (for Moose or Caribou )
  • Trapping license and regulations
  • Hunting license, moose tags and caribou tags
  • New snowshoe bindings
  • 1 truck inner tube
  • 3 New hacksaw blades
  • 2 New Ax handles
  • 8 Bow saw blades
  • 36 oz Lanolin
  • 6 Disposable lighters
  • 12 gal White gas [aka Coleman Fuel]
  • 12 Lantern mantels
  • 6 oz. Gun oil
  • Trapping Lures, urine and musk
  • 10 lbs Trap wax
  • 2 rolls Survey ["flagging"] tape
  • 1 pair Heavy Neoprene trapping gloves
  • 7 lbs Trapping wire( 50% 12 ga and 50% 14 ga)
  • 50 ft Trap Chain #2 and #3
  • 24 Links
  • 24 Swivels
  • AM Radio with 8 extra 9 volt batteries
  • 8’ New stove pipe for cabin stove
  • 4 Leather awl needles and 50’ waxed thread
  • Extra shoulder straps for pack frame
  • Extra hip belt for pack
  • New lid for fry pan 14”
  • 100’ - 3/8 nylon rope
  • 12x18” glass to replace cracked window
  • Personal items
  • 1 Wool Jacket
  • 2 Wool pants
  • 2 Work pants
  • 1 Pair insulated Carhartt coveralls
  • 4 Pair work gloves
  • 2 Pair heavy winter over mittens.
  • Winter trappers hat
  • 1 pair
  • Pack boots with 2 sets liners
  • 1 pair Bunny Boots
  • 1 Wool sweater
  • 4 pair long sleeved wool shirts
  • 3 pair Wool long john pants
  • 3 pair Wool long john shirts
  • 8 pair Wool socks
  • 8 pair Cotton socks
  • 6 pair Underpants
  • 1 Bible
  • 2 flying ground school books
  • 6 Short sleeve Cotton shirts
  • Tooth brush
  • Tooth powder
  • 2 rolls dental floss
  • Carried or in an external frame pack:
  • 1 .308 rifle
  • 1 22 pistol (Colt Woodsman)
  • Rain coat
  • Rain pants
  • Insolite sleeping pad
  • Sleeping bag
  • 10x12’ and 4x8’ light nylon tarps
  • Flashlight
  • Flashlight batteries
  • Binoculars, 10x40
  • Green River skinning knife, caping knife, boning knife.
  • Small stone, small file and small diamond steel
  • Compass
  • Topo maps 1:250,000 scale
  • 2 Candles
  • Matches in waterproof container
  • Lighter
  • Small cook pot with lid
  • Water bottle
  • 100’ Parachute cord
  • Small First aid kit with Large suture needles and suture, in sealed pack
  • Mini channel locks (Snap-on) used for sutures and other things
  • Pack repair kit
  • ¾-length Hand ax. (Estwing)
  • Small shovel
  • Bow saw with extra blade
  • 1 pair wool socks
  • Wire snares
  • Fish hooks and line
  • 25’ .042” stainless wire
  • 1 lb Dried soup mix

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Wednesday August 26 2009

Basic Survival Skills for Children, by M.L.

Children play a part in many of our lives. Protecting them becomes an important issue in daily life as well as in an end of the world as you know it moment. However, what happens when adults can’t be there to protect them? What happens when they may need to protect us?
           
Our government and even many schools across the country, as well as parents and other adults, often do not see the potential in children. I am not talking about the educated potential one might find in the youth of a suburban school, but the potential to rise to the occasion when it is necessary to help themselves or their families.
           
The key to survival is knowledge. What you do with that knowledge and how you apply it at the right moment determines if you survive or not. Why can’t our children have the same knowledge?
           
We have many threats facing our world. Swine Flu or even other pandemics have been brought to the fore front this year. The WHO. is telling the world to expect an explosion of H1N1 cases. What happens if you and your spouse get Swine Flu? Who will take care of your children? Your sick neighbors? Your aging grandparents whom live three states away? Give your children the knowledge to take care of themselves and their families.
           
The following are some ideas on how to engage your children in survival learning (please gauge these ideas on the maturity levels of your own children):

  • Cooking ~ Sit down and plan out a list of easy foods to cook with the least amount of required steps. Make sure you include some easy recipes for items in your food storage pantry. Most children can begin to learn to cook around age 8, provided you explain the dangers in the kitchen and teach them how to properly use the range, oven, sharp knives, etc. Many libraries and booksellers, as well as the internet, offer cooking books or recipes geared towards children. Cook through the recipes with your child, but try to be as hands off as possible, while teaching them proper techniques.
  • Chores ~ Again, start out slowly, but instill an understanding in your children they can and are able to do most any chores in the home. By age 5, most children can at least do the simplest of chores like folding laundry, dusting, and putting away silverware. Give your children a responsibility and work along side them at first. Add laundry and yard work for older children. Again, teaching the safety protocols for certain items. When it comes to cleaning with chemicals, use alternatives made from natural ingredients. Label bottles and provide instructions. However, even children should not use certain chemicals and you should exercise caution.
  • Pets ~ Children always want pets. Make them responsible for those pets. Teach them how to bathe and groom Fido. Show them how to properly and safely remove ticks. Have your child learn the commands to control your dog as well. Let your child clean out the gerbil cage or feed the fish. All these things teach children how to be more responsible.
  • Protection ~ Enroll your child into a Mixed Martial Arts program or a boxing class with the understanding this is not for beating up little brother but to protect his/her self from others whom might want to harm him/her. For older children, teach gun safety. Show them your weapons, take them to the firing range, and let them understand what it feels like to shoot your P22 or your 12 gauge. Let them practice at shooting targets as well as clays. Take them hunting if you can. And if you have a bow set-up teach them how to shoot arrows as well. By properly teaching gun safety, archery, and self defense your child would be well prepared to defend themselves or to hunt for food.
  • Bartering ~ As odd as it may sound, take your child to garage sales or flea markets. Any age can do this. Make them use their good manners when approaching the seller to barter or haggle over prices. Teach them about good deals and help them to find things that may be useful at a later time.
  • First Aid ~ Children as young as five years old can put a band aid on a wound. Get a first aid manual and teach your children the proper way to care for cuts, scrapes, and other wounds. Let them know what alcohol and peroxide are used for as well as other medical topicals. Show them the difference between when to use a large butterfly bandage or gauze and tape. Teach them the proper way to take someone’s temperature. Explain when professionals should be called in to help or if you are in a situation where there are no professionals available what should be done. If you have a child that gets woozy at the sight of blood help them to get over their fear as best as possible or make sure that particular child has a different responsibility.

While many of the aforementioned tasks may sound obvious for all parents or care-givers, it always helps to remember your children can accomplish many tasks as long as they are given the chance to try. There are a variety of adult survival activities that you can tailor towards your children. Teach your child about your own family op-sec and basic safety when it comes to dealing with strangers. Above all, always remember to stress safety when teaching your children.

Give them a chance to hone their skills by taking them camping. Allow them to start the campfire (with parental guidance), cook the camp dinner, pitch the tent, etc. Get “lost” in the woods and have them bring you back to camp using a compass and map. Then later, have them look for a cache using your GPS. Teach them about the animal tracks your family sees and what animal crossing look like. In the evening, teach them the major constellations and how they can use those for direction as well.

I personally recommend the book The Boy's Book of Outdoor Survival by Chris McNab. Although it is titled "for boys" and has pictures of boys in the book, I think it is highly appropriate for girls as well. Every child should know how to take care of themselves in survival situations.

If you can help your children and give them the knowledge to help themselves and others, even at a young age, you will enable them to be more responsible for themselves for the rest of their lives. As a parent, you are responsible for teaching your children.

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Wednesday August 12 2009

Preparedness Beginnings, by "Two Dogs"

I am a retired Marine Corps officer and Naval Aviator (jets and helicopters), commercial airplane and helicopter pilot, and most recently, an aircraft operations manager for a Federal agency.

I graduated from numerous military schools, including the U.S. Army Airborne (“jump”) School, U.S. Navy Divers School, Army helicopter, and Navy advanced jet schools. In addition, I have attended military “survival” courses whose primary focus was generally short-term survival off the land, escape from capture, and recovery from remote areas.  Like most Marine officers, I attended The Basic School, an 8-month school (only five during the Vietnam era – my case), which is still designed to produce a second lieutenant who is trained and motivated to lead a 35-40 man platoon of Marines in combat.  This course covers everything from field sanitation to squad and platoon tactics, artillery and other ordnance delivery, communications, reconnaissance, intelligence, firearms training, and much more.   Later, I attended the Marine Amphibious Warfare School and the Command and Staff College, both follow-on schools and centered upon the academic study of tactics and strategy as they applied to the missions of the Marine Corps.  I flew helicopters offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and across the U.S. I found out first hand how thoroughly corrupted is the federal bureaucracy and the government, in general.  Not a pleasant experience. I’d rather have been flying. I have bachelor's and master's degrees.

As a result, my wife of forty years and I seem to have been moving endlessly from place-to-place.  Nevertheless, I have tried in each place to do what I could to maintain a level of self-sufficiency for my family that varied greatly with locations and personal finances. My intention here is to try to share some of the less-than-perfect ways that I have tried to accomplish that end. 

Only in the last few years, primarily as a result of the political and fiscal situation in the U.S., have I begun reading some of the huge amounts of literature about how one can prepare for serious long-term off-the-grid survival.  I have found that the preparation required to be ready for that contingency seems to be endless.  I do not want to talk about all of those preparations.  Others have done so very well, and besides, I’m not there, yet.  What I would like to do is to talk to those, perhaps like me, who are not true survivalists in the commonly referred-to sense, but who are genuinely concerned about the future of this country, and might desire, like me, to begin to prepare. Perhaps my elementary and simplistic efforts might be of help to someone else who is beginning to think about the subject of preparedness.  There are many scenarios that might require this, but the two that I am thinking most about are economic collapse and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. I’m building small Faraday boxes, but not doing much else for EMP.

My thinking on begins with my own estimation of the basic problems:  shelter, water, food, fuel, and security.  I view these as the most critical needs, whether living in a tent or other outdoor shelter or here in our rural home in West Virginia. Here I have and often take for granted what I have -- shelter, well water, a small stream, a pond, a rain barrel; canned, dried, frozen, and freeze-dried foods; fuel for the generator and portable stoves, kerosene heater and lanterns; factory-made and reloaded ammunition for any one of several firearms.  Edible plant books. Gardening books. Encyclopedia of Country Living-type books. Reloading books. Hunting books. Tracking books. A few novels devoted to the “what ifs” of the future, including Jim Rawles' excellent "Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse", for example.  Books to fill an entire bookcase.  The Boy Scout Field Book sits right there next to the military survival manuals, as do Tom Brown's Field Guides, the The Foxfire Book series, a canning book, field medical books, and quite a few others.

Those are the basic things about which I think. I have been thinking about them for quite a while, in fact, longer than I even realized.  Perhaps I’ve been thinking about them ever since I was a young lad.   For example, my very first “survival book” was the Boy Scout Field Book, the original of which I still have (circa late-1950s edition). It is still a great reference if one is looking for an all-in-one manual for starting fires, making simple shelters, recognizing game tracks, tying knots, and much more.  I note that it is still available on Amazon.com. (It’s probably been scrubbed to favor the politically correct, but don’t know [JWR Adds: Yes, I can confirm that unfortunately it has been made politically correct--with the traditional woodcraft skills showing any injury to innocent and defenseless trees duly expunged. So I advise searching for pre-1970 editions!] ) One does not necessarily need the SAS Survival Handbook or the U.S. Army survival manual. I have them and have read them. They do cover security problems, but then don’t cover other topics.  Alas, there appear to be no “perfect” manuals, and the Boy Scout Field Book is no exception.  But it’s not a bad beginning. And so I was beginning the journey even before I knew that I was. 

I think that my first education in “survival” came at about fourteen. That’s when I first shot a .30-06, an old [Model 19]03 Springfield. It pretty much rattled my cage.  Mostly, my older brother and I used to track and shoot small animals in the deep woods of Missouri as youngsters.  We were “issued” ten rounds of .22 LR ammo by our father, a retired USAF pilot, to be used in a bolt action, single shot, .22 rifle with open sights.  One would be surprised what that meager handful of loose ammunition could do for one’s choice of shots, one’s ability to be patient in waiting for the shot, and for one’s great satisfaction at having brought home six or eight squirrels for the cooking pot, having used just those ten rounds – and sometimes, but not often, less.  My point is that the knowledge of firearms is, in my view, basic to the notion of preparedness and in surviving in the wild. And it need not be exotic or overly complicated in nature.  One can surely attend modern schools that will teach one to double-tap a cardboard target or silhouette at seven yards with a semi-auto pistol, as well as basic and advanced tactical rifle courses, but very basic survival skill with a rifle can be had without much cost if one is committed to learning the skill and if one disciplines oneself. Start with only one round, and work up from there.  As Col. Jeff Cooper used to say, “Only hits count.”  In a purely off-the-grid survival scenario, I can envision that .22 LR rounds would be very precious, indeed.

Consequently, and even though I own handguns and rifles that will shoot .45 ACP, .44 Magnum/.44 Special, .357 Magnum/.38 Special, .380 ACP, .223, .25-06, .270, 7mm-08, .308, .7.62x39, .30-30, .30-06, and .45-70/.457 WWG Magnum (a wildcat), I shoot a .22 rifle and pistol more than all of the others, combined, and normally at least twice a week. And I’m hoarding them, as well as shooting them.  I have the capability to reload all the calibers (except .22 LR/Magnum, of course) above, as well as shotgun ammo in 12 and 20 gauge. I wasn’t really thinking of “survival” when deciding to do this about twenty years ago, but was interested only in having the capability to shoot more, and to do it more cheaply. Yet it appears that much of that ammo could be used for barter. I had never even considered this until reading some of the recent “survival novels.”

My apologies.  I’ve wandered into the weeds here, as I could do forever on my favorite subject.  Suffice it to say that whatever firearm one chooses – and make no mistake, one is necessary in my opinion -- there are all kinds of reasons to choose one over the other, depending on the situation and the person. One must endeavor to shoot it well. Owning a firearm is of almost no consequence, at all, unless it is properly employed.  Personally, I prefer a M1911 .45 ACP pistol and a 7.62 M1A SOCOM, while my wife is comfortable with the milder .38 [S&W] revolver and 20 gauge. pump shotgun.  I won’t even begin to get into the debate over .223 vs .308 and 9mm vs. .45 ACP.  Suffice it to say that in Vietnam I had the opportunity to see the effects of all of these, and I chose for my own security the .308 and .45 ACP.

Having got my favorite subject out of the way, I’ll talk about one that is likely even more important.  Water.  It is amazing how complicated this can be, and how many choices one has to solve this problem.  I have not yet solved it.  I have put up a rain barrel, and plan to get a couple more.  It’s amazing how rapidly a 55 gallon barrel will fill in even a moderate thunderstorm.  I got mine from Aaron’s Rain Barrels. http://www.ne-design.net/. I’ve camo-painted the first one to make it recede into the bushes that surround it.  

We have a very shallow stream down the hill that I need to dam so that it keeps only about a foot-or-two deep pool for gathering some water. It flows into a large pond, of which we own half (The owner of neighboring property owns the other half.).  But that’s over a hundred-yard trek downhill with empty buckets, and the same distance uphill with full ones.  Now, while that is okay for a backup, in my thinking, because I’m going on 63 years, I prefer to have something closer.  So my next “big” purchase will be a Simple Pump that allows one to drop a pump and pipe though one’s existing well casing down to below water level and extract water by means of a hand pump or DC motor attached to a battery which, in turn, will connect to a solar panel.  This is much, much cheaper than a Solar Jack.  At $1,200 for the hand pump capability (I’ll add on the DC and solar later), it’s a bargain, for me. See: http://www.survivalunlimited.com/deepwellpump.htm.  
I’m not recommending it for anyone, yet, as I haven’t got one. It has plenty of good reviews, and I’m willing to try it.  My apologies, but I am just talking about how I, for one, intend to solve my “water problem.” 

I’ve also started collecting clear plastic soda bottles for use in Solar Disinfection (SODIS), see; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection.  I’ve set up a rack for putting out the bottles in a sunny place.  Again, that’s a backup, but I’ll use it.

I have bought three different water filtering devices, the best of which is the Swiss-made, all-stainless Katadyn Pocket Microfilter.  It works wonders in that shallow stream and pond down the hill.. [JWR Adds: The same Katadyn filter model is available from several SurvivalBlog advertisers. They deserve your patronage first, folks!]

With the exception of the Simple Pump, these solutions are relatively cheap and effective, if not producers of great volume.  So far, they are what I’ve come up with.

I won’t go much into the food problem. It isn’t quite as complicated as the water problem.  I’ve either got to have it [stored], grow it, or kill it.  I’ve started storing all kinds of Mountain House freeze dried #10 cans (with expiration date dates in 2034), two-serving meals from Mountain House (expiration dates circa 2016), and numerous grocery store-type canned foods (expiration a couple years), in addition to dried beans, rice, Bisquick (sealed in plastic bags with desiccant inside), salt, sugar (Domino, which are sold in one-pound plastic tubs), olives, peanuts, wheat, etc.  Basically hit-or-miss, so far.  I need to get this “food problem” organized and do it right.  But it’s a start.  I think we’ve got only about a 60-day supply now, for two.

I’ve got two Coleman two-burner stoves.  One is a butane stove, and the other a dual fuel (white gas or unleaded gas), as well as several small backpacking stoves, the best of which is a MSR Whisperlite International, which uses virtually all fuel (unleaded, white gas, kerosene, diesel, and maybe even corn oil).   I was heavily into backpacking when we were stationed in Hawaii in the late 1970s, and still have all the gear.  After having one knee replacement and hedging doing another, I’ll not be backpacking if I can help it.  Nevertheless, I have two bug-out bags with essentials in them, ready to hit the trail if need be.  I’ve saved up and bought two good Wiggy's bags and a couple of his poncho liners.

Concerning backpacking stuff, I can recommend a book that I read back then called The Complete Walker, by Colin Fletcher. I haven’t read it in at least a decade, but its import is such that I remember much of it.  He emphasizes simplicity in gear.  That is to say, don’t pack a tent if you can get by with a tent fly – which you cannot in cold weather. I’ve still got my old three-season tent, but am saving up for a four-season. And he emphasizes: don’t worry about pounds – worry about ounces.  That is to say, if one is packing tea bags, remove the labels from the bags.  Ounces.  Remove all packaging material unless it is absolutely necessary (usually never). Don’t carry a “mess kit,” nor a knife, fork and spoon set.  A spoon will do (I’ve done it) along with a pocket knife. Now I have so many knives of so many types that I can’t remember them.  Personally, I’d go for a multi-tool.  But it’s heavy.  I never used to carry a weapon while backpacking.  Of course, it was (and is) illegal in Hawaii, but I think one would be remiss in not doing so today.  There was so much good advice in that book that helped me in the USMC, if nothing more than when packing my helicopter before a mission, or a car, trailer, or truck to move across the country.  “Think ounces, not pounds.”  I always think about Mr. Fletcher’s advice when I pack.

Anyway, I think I’ve got the camping stove angle covered in spades.  That is, until the fuel runs out.  Same goes for kerosene heater and lanterns (5).  My plan is to pull out our pellet stove and replace it with a free-standing wood stove.  Pellets are nice, but they must be bought, and the price is getting exorbitant, according to my pocket book.  They likely will be non-existent in a crunch. 

I connected a 12,000 Watt/50amp gasoline generator when we moved into this house nine years ago, as I have with every house in which we’ve lived for the last two decades.  I’ve got it wired through a transfer box to the circuit-breaker panel, a job that I did myself. It works, and it’s safe.  The main reasons for having this were to run the 220V[olt AC] well water pump and to run the refrigerator and our free-standing freezer during power outages.  But I’ve got it wired, anyway, to nearly every circuit in the house, except the other 220V appliances – water heater and heat pump.  It is somewhat selectable. That is to say that I can choose which circuits I want to power by engaging or disengaging the switches on the transfer box.  The problem is that it uses gasoline. So in a long-term outage it would soon become useless.  I’ve had the propane gas company come out to estimate what it would cost to get a dedicated 100 gal propane tank for the generator.  It would be about $500, but then, in addition to the 50+ gallons of gasoline, butane tanks, and white gas that I keep stored in a separate outbuilding, it would make a great explosion when hit with a tracer round.

Which brings me to the subject of security.  We live in a split-level home on about ten acres of forest.  The property is surrounded by other similar-sized properties of seemingly like-minded individuals.  I gleamed this because everyone out here shoots.  The sweet sound of gunfire can be heard at times in a full circle.  West Virginia, at least, has still got its priorities straight in this regard.  But I digress. This is a frame house with half of it below ground in front, but framed in back, which faces the forest.  The forest, itself, is a maze of downed pine trees blown over by the wind, interspersed with small saplings, vines and low brush.  Not a likely avenue of approach for anyone but the most determined.  For those who are determined, the downed trees would make excellent cover and concealment.  So I have a security problem to solve there, as well as at the front. 

I’ve started buying rolls of barbed wire and baling wire.  Unfortunately, I do not have access to dynamite, which we used to be able to buy in a hardware store in the 1960s.  We used it back then to blow stumps while clearing the land for our house.  I am thinking of buying a bunch of used railroad ties to build cover in the back; I’ve thought also of bricks and sandbags.  Problem is we’re reaching the point in all of this where the house would begin to look like a fortress, of sorts, to all but the most ignorant observers.  So there’s a line here concerning security versus “normalcy” that I must cross sooner or later.  Inasmuch as my wife is a few years older than I and is on constant medications, I’m afraid that finding a retreat (if we could even afford one) would be out of the question, as access to doctors, hospital and pharmacy are a necessity. Nevertheless I’ve got the bags packed and gear ready to throw into the pickup (Toyota 4x4 – like to have one of those older model American trucks, but I think they are getting rare, at least around here.  And what there are will likely go to the Cash for Clunkers Program….grumble, grumble. What will they think of next?).

So it looks to me as if we are here for the duration of the crisis, or sooner, if they try to take the guns from my cold, dead hands.  Speaking of, I still have to build a cache or two for guns and ammo and a few other necessities. 

And since I’ve more-or-less made that decision (here for the duration), I’ve thought of organizing the apparently gun-loving neighbors.  I’ve begun to buy walkie-talkies, if not field phones and commo wire.  I’ve got solar panels and several batteries (need to get a mega deep cell or two, however) to run the small battery chargers and the CB radio. My shortwave is up and running.

I will have to wait to talk to the neighbors, whom I rarely see, much less know.  I can just imagine the words that would come out of their mouths if I were to mention to them the notion of forming a security “company” and establishing a perimeter.  “That old retired Marine down the road is nuts!”

So that’s what I’ve got to say.  I do hope it at least stimulates some thought for those who are starting out trying to prepare, as I am.  All of this shows me that one “problem” in this “survival” business leads to several more, and they in turn lead to even more problems.  Lots to do. So I’m glad I’m retired.  I’ve got time to think about it.  If I were rich, I could do a lot more and likely in a far away place, but as it is, we do with what we have.   I have to use the lessons taught to every Marine:  Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.  

Long Live America.  Keep the Faith. - “Two Dogs”, Col. USMCR (ret.) in West Virginia

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Wednesday July 29 2009

Letter Re: An Outward Bound Prepper's Perspective

Hi Jim,
I’ve been out playing in the Wasatch mountains of Utah and found your e-mail when I got back. You mentioned several people had asked about my note on the significance of carrying large paper clips in your backpack. Ah, where have all the Boy Scouts gone?

If you think of all the things you can do or make out of a 5-inch long piece of bailing wire you will get your mind going in the right direction. Some of the uses for a heavy duty paper clip in a wilderness survival situation are; make a fishing hook, make a fish or small animal spear using a stick, make a crude small animal trap or snare, make a needle for sewing, mini soldering iron, pick locks, make a compass, use to start a fire, cauterize wounds, hang meat/fish over a fire, fix various objects, fasten items, etc.

If you go on the web and Google something like, wilderness survival paper clips, you will find page after page of sites listing the various uses, sites listing paper clips in their survival kits, or sites willing to sell you survival kits with paper clips. There is a lot of information out there to weed through. For those interested, I’ve included a few hyperlinks to sites that go into detail on some of the more practical uses such as making a compass or starting a fire instead of writing the directions out here.

Paper clips are something most everyone has around and they are lightweight, small, and have a ton of uses. I can’t count the times I’ve used them over the years for a wide variety of reasons. They’re pretty close on the list to a small spool of duct tape.

One of the other things I was going to mention pertains to using trash bags for waterproofing items such as backpacks or anything else you don’t want to get wet. Trash compactor bags work much much better. They are made of a heavier gauge plastic and are square at the bottom. They fit perfectly in most backpacks or day packs because they are rectangular. They work really well for storing or protecting most anything that has dimension. Also, great for an emergency rain poncho because people are not flat like normal trash bags but have a tendency to have some width to them. Trash compactor bags are not to be confused with Contractor trash bags.

Hopefully this answers some of the questions or at least directs people to where they can find more detailed information. The links are listed below. Take care, - Sharon

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Thursday July 9 2009

Survey Results: Your Favorite Books on Preparedness, Self-Sufficiency, and Practical Skills

In descending order of frequency, the 78 readers that responded to my latest survey recommended the following non-fiction books on preparedness, self-sufficiency, and practical skills:

The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery (Far and away the most often-mentioned book. This book is an absolute "must" for every well-prepared family!)

The Foxfire Book series (in 11 volumes, but IMHO, the first five are the best)

Holy Bible

Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson

"Rawles on Retreats and Relocation"

Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens

The "Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course

Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli

Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon

Tappan on Survival by Mel Tappan

Boston's Gun Bible by Boston T. Party

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth

Survival Guns by Mel Tappan

Boy Scouts Handbook: The First Edition, 1911 (Most readers recommend getting pre-1970 editions.)

All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency by Matthew Stein 

Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition by Abigail R. Gehring

Preparedness Now!: An Emergency Survival Guide (Expanded and Revised Edition) by Aton Edwards

Putting Food By by Janet Greene

First Aid (American Red Cross Handbook) Responding To Emergencies

Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens

Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearney (Available for free download.)

Cookin' with Home Storage by Vicki Tate

SAS Survival Handbookby John "Lofty" Wiseman

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike Bubel

Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen

Stocking Up: The Third Edition of America's Classic Preserving Guide by Carol Hupping

The American Boy's Handybook of Camp Lore and Woodcraft

Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton

98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive by Cody Lundin

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth

Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss

Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management by Maurice G. Kains

Essential Bushcraft by Ray Mears

The Survivor book series by Kurt Saxon. Many are out of print in hard copy, but they are all available on DVD. Here, I must issue a caveat lector ("reader beware"): Mr. Saxon has some very controversial views that I do not agree with. Among other things he is a eugenicist.

How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier

The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman

Tom Brown Jr.'s series of books, especially:

Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival

Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking

Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants (Field Guide)  

Total Resistance by H. von Dach

Ditch Medicine: Advanced Field Procedures For Emergencies by Hugh Coffee

Living Well on Practically Nothing by Ed Romney

The Secure Home by Joel Skousen

Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen

When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikesby Cody Lundin

The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO's Contribution to Warfareby John Poole.

Camping & Wilderness Survival: The Ultimate Outdoors Book by Paul Tawrell

Engineer Field Data (US Army FM 5-34) --Available online free of charge, with registration, but I recommend getting a hard copy. preferably with the heavy-duty plastic binding.

Great Livin' in Grubby Times by Don Paul

Just in Case by Kathy Harrison

Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearney (Available for free download.)

How to Survive Anything, Anywhere: A Handbook of Survival Skills for Every Scenario and Environment by Chris McNab

Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance by John & Martha Storey

Adventure Medical Kits A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicineby Eric A. Weiss, M.D.

Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener  

Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook (superceded the very out-of-date ST 31-91B)

Wilderness Medicine, 5th Edition by Paul S. Auerbach

Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Longby Elliot Coleman

Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition by Abigail R. Gehring

Government By Emergency by Dr. Gary North

The Weed Cookbook: Naturally Nutritious - Yours Free for the Taking! by Adrienne Crowhurst

The Modern Survival Retreat by Ragnar Benson

Last of the Mountain Men by Harold Peterson

Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills: Naked into the Wilderness by John McPherson

LDS Preparedness Manual, edited by Christopher M. Parrett

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James H. Kunstler

Principles of Personal Defense - Revised Edition by Jeff Cooper.

Survival Poaching by Ragnar Benson

The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses by Eliot Coleman

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Monday June 1 2009

Letter Re: Many Weeds are Actually Edible Wild Plants

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I read your blog every day and enjoy all of the helpful information that you and your readers post on a daily basis. I just wanted to pass along this information on edible weeds that can be found in ones backyard or about anywhere where plants can be grown. To most people weeds are just that, weeds that need to be destroyed to keep the yard or their property looking nice. But some weeds can also be eaten if a person knows how to identify them and cook them properly. In the event of a worst case scenario these 'weeds' can help sustain a person or a family for a brief period of time or be a nice addition to stored food, providing needed fresh veggies and nutrients.

The following is a list of some of the most commonly found 'weeds' in a yard or field that can be edible:

Burdock (Arctium lappa) Cultivated as a vegetable in Japan where it is known as gobo. The stalks are scraped and cooked like celery. The roots can be eaten raw in salads or added to stir fries.

Cattail (Typha latifolia)
The pollen can be used to enrich flour. The unripe flower spikes can be cooked as a vegetable and the young shoots and inner stems are eaten raw or cooked.

Century plant (Agave americana)
The flower stems and leaf bases can be roasted and eaten. Certain species can be made into alcoholic drinks such as tequila.

Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Can be added raw to salads or cooked as a vegetable.

Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
The roots of this plant are used as a coffee additive. The sky blue flowers are also edible and make a terrific addition to salads.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
The flowers can be made into wine or jelly. The roots are sometimes used as a coffee substitute. The young leaves make a nice addition to salads.

Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides)
A tropical American weed commonly used in Mexican cooking to flavor corn, beans, mushrooms, seafood, fish, soups, and sauces.

Garlic mustard (Alliaria officinalis)
The young leaves add a mild garlic flavor to salads, sandwiches, and soups.

JWR Adds: Exercise caution when gathering weeds on any land--whether public or private--that is outside of your personal control. Don't overlook the risk that you could collect weeds that have been recently spayed with herbicides! Also, just as when mushroom picking, be absolutely sure that you are gathering the intended item. A mistake could prove fatal.

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Saturday May 23 2009

Letter Re: Dealing with Uninvited Guests

Mr. Rawles
I have been a faithful reader for about a year now and would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your contributors for the wealth of information found on this site. I would also like to thank Anon T. for his article on quarantine procedures, though I'm wondering if it should be expanded to include "debugging". I'm referring to head lice, body lice, crabs, bedbugs, mites, and fleas. Nobody wants to believe that it will happen to them. It doesn't even have to be a WTSHTF scenario. In today's economic environment many people are loosing their homes and moving in with family or friends. With more and more people and their belongings under one roof, personal and residential cleanliness may begin to suffer. In a SHTF scenario, add to this stressful situation, not being able to properly bathe, wash hair, clothing, and bedding as often as they should, and the possibility of "unwanted house guests" rises.

About 8 years ago, my then two-year-old brought head lice home from day care. Before I realized it, I was also beset by lice. My mom said "getting lice isn't a sin, keeping them is." But getting rid of these little bugs was just short of impossible. As soon as you think they're gone a nit that you missed hatches, and it starts all over.
Hopefully this won't be a problem for most of your readers, but they should be prepared and informed.
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Treatment products like "Rid" won't be easily rotated before they expire, so it may be cost-prohibitive to stock it. are there any natural or more cost affective alternatives? I'm wondering how we will deal with this in the future when products like "Rid" might not be available. and maybe someone out there could explain identification and treatment for those readers who have never been through this. - J.C.M.

JWR Replies: I agree that it is wise to stock up on anti-parasiticals (pediculicides and scabicides ) The active ingredients in Rid and Lindane ("Kwell") can be effective for several years. Most of the Rid variants are a 0.5% solution of Permethrin. The Lindane solutions (typically 1%) are sold under trade names such as BBH, Bio-Well, G-well, Kildane, Kwell, Kwildane, Scabene, and Thionex. Some traditional treatments for lice that were used in the 19th Century and early 20th Century might still be viable, but most of them are harsh an potentially toxic, so they should be considered only in absolute worst case disasters, when modern anti-parasiticals are unavailable. The 1996 article titled Control of Human Lice Infestations: Past and Present (in PDF) from American Entomologist provides some interesting history on lice control, including some lousy methods from the 19th Century. It might sound severe, but when modern anti-parisiticals can't be found, head shaving is a good starting point. (But it will give you the Sinead O'Connor "I'll never be accused of being infested" look.)

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Wednesday March 18 2009

Life's Lessons and the Foundations of Preparedness, by A.B.

We may soon depend on all of what we have learned over the years. Putting all of the threads of knowledge together into a tapestry of self-sufficiency, and survival capabilities, is part of the lifelong quest for our family’s security. We learn from many sources and experiences such as: family, church, friends, teachers, teammates, co-workers, reading books and SurvivalBlog, and hopefully from our mistakes.

Preparedness Skills from our Grandmas and Grandpas

The foundation for preparedness begins with my childhood in Michigan. We lived in Lansing where my great-grandmother was next door and my grandmother lived next door to her. My father was born in great-grandma’s house after the family moved to the city during the early 1900s. My sisters and I spent weekends and summers alternately at my mom’s family dairy farm, which was just outside of the city, and at my dad’s family cabin “up north”. These were the richest times of my life. We knew all of our grandparents and some of our great-grandparents very well. My great-great-grandfather still lived in the old log cabin when I was born in 1956. We have been fortunate to have had five generations alive consistently from then until now. The wealth of love and knowledge you gain from your extended family is irreplaceable.

The “old timers” told stories of hardship during the great depression and the dust bowl era (we live an area that was the largest prairie east of the Mississippi.) Memories of crop failures with tales of early and late frosts were passed down. There were also hunting and fishing stories passed down as we learned to hunt and fish with older family members. There were bigger than life lumberjack stories and stories from Prohibition and the World Wars. I learned to safely handle and accurately shoot a .22 rifle with peep sights when I was six or seven years old. I walked the roads with my grandpa squirrel hunting. We ice fished on local lakes and went to Tip-Up Town USA every year. All of this adds to ones persona and the early experience helps awaken the necessary “survivalist” traits.

On a working dairy farm you rapidly learn about life (and death). Animal husbandry and caring for the land lead to sustainability. Animals do become food and harvesting the crops sometimes seems little reward for the hard work. The milking must be done every day and chores do not wait. As a kid I learned to drive tractors and pick-ups to and from the fields. We mowed, bailed and then stacked the hay in the mow. Alfalfa, oats and corn were the field crops. Pigs, chickens, and sheep were raised along with the dairy cows and we cleaned the barns and spread manure.

Knowledge is passed down from generation to generation such as when to plant, where to plant, when to harvest, and how to raise the animals. There were many topics of conversations at the Sunday breakfast table. Many things are debated and discussed after chores and before Church. Most times the conversations continued outside the Church after the sermon. It was the only time you saw the other farmers. When you are a little guy you tended to be quiet, pay attention and learn.

Grandpa was a farmer and Grandma was a one room school teacher. Grandma also taught vacation bible school during the summer break. Us kids learned how to tend good gardens and helped preserve the food we raised. We took care of the barn animals while the uncles milked. We hauled water to the bull pen and helped milk as we got older. Survival skill sets from the farm come from being part of a close knit community with a solid work ethic. There are strong religious underpinnings with good people engaged in caring for one another as well as the animals and the land.

Preparedness from "Roughing It”

The log cabin “up north” had a well-house for getting water and an outhouse for getting rid of water. There was a wood fired cook stove for heat and kerosene lamps to play cards under. There was a red checkered oilcloth on the table with cane chairs around it. The place was originally homesteaded by my great-great-grandfather in the late 1800s (a few electric lights were added at some point.) We used to go up on Friday night after Dad or Grandpa got out of work. The next morning started with an awakening trip to the outhouse and then fetching a bucket of water from the well house and kindling for the wood stove. On a cold morning you stepped lively until the fire was going.

Once the stove was hot, Grandma would cook buttermilk pancakes on a griddle that my great-grandmother had used in the lumber camp. Eggs and bacon sizzled in a cast iron skillet. Clothes were washed on a washboard in a wash tub and then hung out to dry. You took a bath in the river. During the summer we would fish morning and evening and water ski on the nice days. The family summer vacation was spent camping in a tent along the river or at a state park. The old cabin was also used for small game hunting in the early fall and deer camp in the late fall / winter. We would take walks in the woods and look for morels and other edible things like may apples, hickory nuts or raspberries and huckleberries. Animal tracks were learned and followed with hopes of a glimpse. Life was considered sacred unless needed for food and being a part of nature became obvious. A leave no trace and waste nothing ethic was being born.

Opportunities for further wilderness and pioneering skill development were provided by Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. My mom and dad were actively involved in Scouting when I was growing up. Teamwork and sharing responsibilities for the group were learned. Outdoor cooking and keeping things sanitary were heavily emphasized. Food poisoning is no joke – we had one patrol that damn near killed us with their meal. We learned to wash our hands and boil the crap out of everything. Hiking and backpacking skills were beginning to be developed in the Scouts. We day hiked a 20 miler once a year on the Johnny Appleseed Trail - the Scouts version of the death march. You had to carry a full pack if you wanted the patch. We also hiked the Pokagon Trail in northern Indiana and learned to camp in the winter.

While living in Pennsylvania (later in life) I started winter backpacking with a few of my buddies. We went in the winter both for the solitude it offered, and to learn the special skill sets required for survival in the cold. There are beautiful views from Seven Springs and other spots along the Laurel Highlands Trail during the winter. This experience then led to the development of technical mountaineering skills. The books Basic Rockcraft, Advanced Rockcraft and Knots for Climbers were memorized along with study of the book Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. Skills were practiced and ingrained.

My first solo backpacking / climbing trip came in the summer of 1980 in the Organ Mountains of southern New Mexico. I later solo climbed most of the 4,000 and 5,000 footers in New England (many in winter). I met a like minded climber on one of those hikes and we made a summit bid on Mt. Rainier in June of 1998. I also began the solo circumnavigation on the Wonderland Trail that year. I set the first tracks both that year and when I completed the circuit in June of 2001. Map and compass skills were required. Primitive camping while carrying everything you need to survive for two weeks is a tough proposition. It was tough in my 30s and 40s. It’s even harder now that I am in my 50s. G.O.O.D. to the deep woods is doable but it would be a hard life.

Responsibility and Teamwork

We learned to be responsible and self-sufficient during our childhood. We learned to play without other kids around and had chores to do for our allowance. I learned to gather the wood and light a fire as soon as I was old enough. You pumped the water and filled the reservoir if you wanted warm water for washing up. You learned to use guns and knives as tools while you learned hunting techniques and cleaned the game for the table. Being a responsible hunter meant taking ethical shots and using what you kill. Catching and cleaning fish, then cooking or smoking them were all part of being a good fisherman. To go along with these survival skills you also need the ability to share knowledge and work as a team.

Most of the skills you learn will help you to fend for yourself one way or another. The only problem is summed up with the statement “no man is an island”. You will need others sooner or later. My sisters and I developed basic teamwork skills while setting up camp. The girls helped mom and I helped dad. We had a “system”. This was carried further in Scouting. Some Patrols set up tents while another set up the kitchen. These valuable lessons were used later in life as I went through boot camp and during service in the military. I served on small boats as part of a search and rescue team in the USCG.
Teamwork helps to overcome the steep learning curve and high risk of being a self-sufficient survivalist. You can do things as a team exponentially quicker and safer than you can by yourself. Your bunkmate becomes your partner in boot camp and later becomes your shipmate. You learn “one hand for yourself and one hand for the boat”. As a team you can survive what would kill you alone. In a bad storm someone has to steer while someone bails out the boat. One person couldn’t do it. Avalanche in the back country is another perfect example - by yourself you are probably dead. Doing things alone is great - but it may cost you your life. Skill and knowledge can’t cover your a** like a buddy. It’s nice to have someone else on the rope with you; they are your only hope.

Teaching everyone at least something you know and learning from everyone something you don’t know can only make the group stronger. If someone gets sick or is tired someone else can step up. CPR is a good example here. In the back country one person can’t help himself. One person helping may bring back the life but it better happen quickly. Two people allow you to send someone for help while rendering aid until you are too tired to continue. Three people allow almost indefinite support. Two can alternate CPR while waiting for the one who left for help to return with the defibrillator. If help is real far away, then it’s done. There is a point of no return. Remote locations usually cross that point which is a distinct disadvantage (unless the SHTF).

Without teamwork you will usually die if something bad happens. Everyone has to be a good shot. Everyone needs to be able to render first aid. The group is only as strong as the weakest link and precious resources are spent covering someone’s a** that’s not up to speed. Teach and learn and cross train. Remember what you did as a kid and don’t sell the kid’s of today short. Teach them the skills they need and allow them to grow into the responsibility. Being part of a team or extended family that functions like a team is fun. The action of being responsible for one another is at the root of any team.

The Prepared Family

The family is the primary source of knowledge. Some survival skills to learn right along with reading, writing and arithmetic are: swimming, knot tying, fire building under all conditions, where to get water and how to make it safe to drink, safe gun handling and accurate shooting, hunting in fields and the woods, fishing in rivers and on lakes, first aid, camping, boating, gardening, making things “homemade”. You can’t start learning or teaching these things too soon.

10 years ago we moved back home to Michigan after living all over the USA. I had come home for my Grandpa’s funeral and was returning to New England. Something was wrong and I couldn’t put my finger on it. That’s when the light came on and as I drove it became apparent that I was going the wrong way – both figuratively and literally. We were chasing the so called “American Dream”. Losing my grandfather and returning to the north woods had shown me where home really is. It is with family and God and where your roots are. I had drifted away from the true values I had learned early in life.
I resigned my position, cashed out the 401(k), and bought the homestead from grandma. We planted 24 fruit trees and installed irrigation systems for the gardens. We pruned the grape vines back and tended to the asparagus beds. My wife renewed the old flower beds and I have replaced the split rail fence. We re-roofed everything. The folks put down another well up the field and had another septic system installed for their travel trailer. We had a 100 amp power drop installed and we also buried a power cable from the field to the trailer for a 12 volt system (small scale solar and wind).
I once again could use guns after living in the tyranny of Massachusetts. (I refused to get an Firearms ID card so my guns never left the house in 16 years.) I taught a niece and nephew to shoot with the same .22 that grandpa used to teach me with almost 50 years ago. My nephew, now an 8th grader, got his first deer this past year. No one believed him when he came home and told them. He did it on his own.

Things have now come full circle in our life. My grandma lives with us in her old house through the summer. My sisters are both Grandmas themselves now and they are taking care of our mom and dad. The kids have great-grandparents and a great-great grandmother. My understanding wife of thirty years and I live here on the homestead as stewards of the family heritage. The whole family gets together up here once or twice a year. We know how to provide for and take care of each other. If the SHTF my sisters and the rest of the family will head up here to the homestead and once again adopt the ways of our Great-Great Grandpa and Grandma. Everything we have learned through our lives will serve us well. Skill sets from the north woods and from the farm are derived from living simple, living manual and living with nature as part of nature.

We used to fall to sleep on a feather tick mattress while listening to rain tapping over our heads in the loft of the old log cabin. Bedtime stories were told as we drifted to sleep and the whippoorwills sang into the night. We didn’t think that the day would come that just about all of what we learned from our family and from our life would come into play. Thank God for our tight family and all of the distilled knowledge passed down to us. I now live in a home built over the site of the original log cabin and now we have 7 generations since my great-great grandparents first cleared this piece of land. It looks like we will be talking of another “Great Depression” soon and the complete cycle renews. Do we learn from our mistakes?

Preparedness Skills and Materials

We’re preparing for the future and I hope to teach what I can to as many people as I can before it’s over. We can survive well if we draw on one another’s strengths and knowledge. It starts with the family and moves out to the extended family then to the neighbors and on to town folk and into the blogosphere. Many people have grown up in similar circumstances and have similar experiences. We must practice our learned skills and trades all of the time to stay fresh and perpetuate our way of life. We must keep acquiring new skills and more materials for survival. Preparedness is a constant quest.

Survival trades that I've learned:

ASE Certified Master Auto Technician
Journeyman Machinist and Apprentice Welder.
Experience with all aspects of house construction from framing to finish work, including house wiring and plumbing for water, gas and DWV systems.
Professional ditch digger and home brewer of beer.

Survival tools, equipment, and material acquired over the years:

Comprehensive set of Snap-On hand tools, diagnostic equipment and garage.
Several redundant computers and complete wi-fi coverage with satellite internet.
All of the carpentry, plumbing and electrical tools needed to build a house.
All of the tools required to garden both manually and with gas engines.
Fence building tools and supplies.
5,500 watt gas generator.
Wood stove and saws, axes, mauls, wedges.
Stores of food, bits of gold and silver, books and manuals, and lots of lead.

Survival firearms battery:

Auto-Ordinance Model 1911A1 .45 ACP (I qualified Marksman in USCG)
Stag Arms AR-15 with 20” Bull barrel, 5.56 (I qualified Expert in USCG)
Marlin .22 WMR (squirrel / varmint gun)
Mossberg .22 LR (shot this since 1962)
Ruger M77 Mk II .270 Win. (my deer rifle)
Winchester Model 94 .32 Win. Special (got my first deer with Grandpa’s gun)
Mossberg 12 ga. 3 -1/2” Ulti-Mag in Camo (turkey / duck / goose gun)
Winchester Model 1897 12 ga. 2-3/4” (I've shot this gun since 1969)
Reloading equipment and supplies (loads for Barnes Bullets)

Survival Quest 2009 (the final pieces I'll need for grid down and "zombies"):

Ruger M77 Mk II .300 Win Mag with optics
A manual water pump (the old pump is gone)
Wind turbine and photovoltaic panels for water pumping and power generation.
Battery bank and inverter
More kerosene lamps
Night Vision for the AR-15
Radios

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Tuesday February 17 2009

Letter Re: Gaining Situational Awareness and Old-Time Knowledge

Jim,
Situational Awareness has a number of definitions, from the rather complex to the "simple". They include:

  • The process of recognizing a threat at an early stage and taking measures to avoid it. (Being observant of one's surroundings and dangerous situations is more an attitude or mindset than it is a hard skill.)
  • The ability to maintain a constant, clear mental picture of relevant information and the tactical situation including friendly and threat situations as well as terrain.
  • Knowing what is going on so you can figure out what to do.
  • What you need to know not to be surprised.

This comes to mind because of my recent reading of your novel, "Patriots". (An excellent book. A must have for any "prepper".) The book is primarily about a group of people who joined together to survive in the "days after". The daily requirements of surviving in times of roving bands of criminals and martial law enforcers were covered rather forcefully. Many of the challenges they faced required an armed response, and situational awareness was often discussed. For the kinds of situations in which the "Patriot" folks found themselves, the extremely helpful explanations of such matters as OPSEC and LP/OPs are very helpful to anyone facing what is soon coming for many of us. As the book describes, situational awareness is absolutely vital to survival and success in our near future.

But, while situational awareness is most commonly thought of as a conflict skill, there are also other kinds of situational awareness. On Yahoo Groups, there is a discussion group about surviving in the days after. One of the most prolific writers has several times recently warned the readers to "Get out of the cities now !". He's even suggested moving to very unpopulated areas and using wood pallets to erect shacks. IMHO, this is a suggestion that will cause many people great harm. Folks, with little or no preparations, suddenly moving to the land to escape the "Golden Horde", will likely fail or die. Just reading the stories of the many pioneers who moved west, will quickly sober you up from any "can do/don't know" thinking.

I have lived nearly all my life on a farm. I have developed a deep knowledge of the land. It has come at the great expense of many missteps, failures, successes, hard work and time. I call it having situational awareness of the environment. I know what certain kinds of clouds mean when forecasting tomorrow's weather. I know that the vine-like plants with three shiny leaves aren't so good to eat or touch. I know a dead snake can still bite. People just coming to the land for the first time will have little of that knowledge.

For untold years and many generations, the knowledge of how to live on the land and be self-sufficient was passed down thru families. In farm country, school was often found at the back fence. If you or your Grandfather didn't know something, the farmer next door often did. I remember many times in my youth when I'd be out working the land and the guy next door would be out on his. Often as not, we'd stop and stand by the line fence and talk. ...And I learned lots. But, now, much of this passing on of knowledge is lost. Farmers more commonly sit 12 feet in the air, driving an air conditioned combine, following the turns suggested by the GPS receiver on the dash. Your parents most likely worked in a factory or a shop, than on a farm. What was common family knowledge just a couple generations ago, such as maple syrup making, canning, gardening, butchering, animal husbandry, etc., etc., is gone. The "chain" is broken. Without this great deal of passed on knowledge and experience, nearly any farm endeavor can, and often will, lead to unexpected disaster.

This is where Situational Awareness comes in. "The need to know, so as not to be surprised." The list is endless, but for starters:

  • Knowing the good bugs from the bad in the garden
  • Knowing fresh horse manure will kill a garden, fresh chicken m. will help
  • Knowing only 3 or 4 ounces of yew leaves--a common landscape plant in much of the US--can kill a horse
  • Knowing how to split wood so that the axe won't glance off and chop your leg
  • Knowing that burning certain kinds of wood in your wood stove means you need to clean the chimney twice a winter so you don't burn down your house [with a chimney fire]
  • Knowing the nice, fresh, clean, free flowing, mountain stream may be full of giardia.
  • Knowing that, when plowing with a horse, you should never tie the reins together and put them around behind your back so your hands are free to handle the plow. (This was the way it was done in the novel "Dies the Fire" [by S.M. Stirling). If your horse happens to shy and takes off running, you will be dragged along the ground and be seriously hurt. The proper way to plow is with the reins over one shoulder and under the other. Then, if your horse runs, you just duck your head and the reins slide off.
  • Knowing that crows in the garden are bad because they eat the new planted seeds, but crows around your chicken coop are good because they keep away the hawks that will eat your chickens.
  • Knowing that if your tractor suddenly starts making a new sound, this is not good. Stop immediately and figure out what's going on, before something breaks.
  • Learning to look around you when walking, instead of only staring at the ground for your next step, (as most people do).

And on it goes. I have lived decades on the land. There's not a day goes by that I don't learn something. But even with all my handed down knowledge and hard-fought experiences, I'm not even sure I could make a go of suddenly heading out to the "country" to build a cabin and barn, till the soil, cut fire wood, store food for man and beast, and more. It's just awful hard without lots of prep's. And I can tell you, without an extensive knowledge of what the "environment" around you is telling you, it's darn near impossible. ...(Taking a walk in the woods can hurt just as much as a walk on certain inner city streets.)

So what are you to do ? Well, having a "G.O.O.D." bag and great escape vehicle is a start. Having supplies, tools and seed already in place really helps. But once you get to your retreat site, have a plan, have some knowledge of how to do, what to do. Practice now. If you think you're going to learn while living in a wood pallet shack, you won't. You'll most likely die. If there's no more Elders to ask, get to know the other "elders"--books. Go to local farms and ask to spend time just helping, so you can learn something. Go to a school to learn skills; like tracking, orienteering and fire building without matches; (one of the best, imo, is Midwest Native Skills Institute). Never take charcoal or lighter fluid on a picnic, learn to gather what burns. Go camping in winter, instead of just when it is "pretty" outside. Find a "big animal" vet. and ask to attend and help when birthing a calf. Most especially, turn off your tv. Use your time to learn to sew, or knit, or make soap. Pick up (fresh) dead animals on the road and practice skinning them and then tan the hide. [JWR Adds: Needless to say, consult your state Fish and Game laws before doings so!] Find local crafts people and acquire a skill, such as weaving, or candle making, or tin smithing, because having a survival trade in a cashless society may keep you alive. Learn to listen. Throw away those darn ear plug music things. Learn situational awareness. What is the wind telling you about the day ? What does the sudden and not normal crowing of a rooster warn you of ? What does the setting of the moon in a certain place on the horizon tell you about the season ?

Learn what it takes to live on the land, before you have to suddenly move there. Learn what nature, the land, and new tasks are telling you, before you find yourself in a difficult situation, ...(un)aware.

- Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio

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Thursday January 29 2009

Letter Re: Handy Uses for Thermite

James:
I followed a link from your site and ended up at the DBC Pyrotechnics site, looking at a lot of 10 Thermite "all weather fire starters".

It seems like a very handy tool to have - cold weather fire starters like that. I wonder if any other readers of your novel might find them useful. A lot of 100 of those might be just a very useful thing to add into someone's retreat supplies.

Now if I can just find a place that offers pre-mixed bulk thermite, I might build some nice #2 can-size thermite devices, in case I ever have a need to do some "off grid welding", or whatever. A smaller [one quart] can [at the bottom of] a larger can filled with sand (along the sides) tends to direct more of the molten metal down through the bottom. Just the thing if you need to put a nice, fairly round hole through some steel plate for a special construction project. - Bob B.


JWR Replies: I describe how to "mix your own" thermite as well as how to make thermite igniters in my novel "Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse". Thermite itself is quite easy to make, with black iron oxide and aluminum powder. But the igniters are a bit harder to improvise. So it might be easiest just to buy the small readily-available DBC Pyrotechnics fire starters with integral igniters, and use them to start larger containers of home-made thermite powder for those big cutting and welding projects.

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Monday January 12 2009

Field Gear on a Shoestring Budget: Ten Project Examples, by George S.

The following are some hopefully useful field expedients, substitutes and spares, all of which can be had for a buck to about ten bucks each:

#1: Drywall Saw: if you don’t have one of those all-purpose $49.95 survival knives or field shovels from Gerber or Glock with the accessory root saw, or you’ve found that the finger-length saw blade on a Swiss Army folder leaves a lot to be desired when cutting a 2x6 [board] down to size? A bow saw or flexible survival kit saw are a couple of possible candidates that may be up to the task, but so too is an inexpensive drywall "stab" saw. The blade on the one I got for a buck in the closeout tool bin at my local Big Box store hardware department has a blade just a smidgen under 7 inches long and saw teeth that cut on the push stroke on one edge and reversed teeth that work on the draw stroke on the other. It also has a sharp enough tip on the blade point to poke through drywall or thin wood paneling, hence the term "stab" saw.

The handle on mine, made/distributed under the GreatNeck brand, P/N 4932, is hard plastic and black rubber, comfortable enough to use for repeat cutting. Though that handle included a molded-in flap pierced for a lanyard or hang cord, the handle itself is stout enough to be drilled at the butt end for a hole for a wrist lanyard or dummy cord. So I modified mine to eliminate any chance of the cord tearing through the molded flap. I also did a little reshaping of the handle on my saw with a file to get it to better fit my hand, so there is enough material molded around the blade at the handle end for personal modification to suit.

In addition to the obvious uses for field carpentry, mine’s proved useful on the rib cage and pelvic bones when field dressing whitetail deer. There are certainly other times in the woods when a nice quiet saw is to be preferred to noisier if sometimes quicker tools like machetes or hatchets, as well as being lighter in weight. A drywall saw is easily carried in a homemade or improvised leather or nylon web belt sheath, or a short length of metal tubing can be squashed flat and the saw blade inserted, both for protection for the blade from other residents in a toolbox and to keep the saw from chewing holes in a pack or rucksack pocket. Mine also fits in a scabbard meant for an M7 bayonet for an M16 rifle, which I picked up for a couple of bucks in the junk box at my favorite army-navy surplus store. That has the total cost for my saw under five bucks, so I went back and bought two more, one for a pal and one as a spare for myself. Using a saw to cut those little figure-four release triggers for small game snares or dead fall traps beats doing that task with most knife blades, by the way, though setting snares in the cold is not real high on my list of fun things to do. But if you’re going to try it, I suggest you first practice setting the things when it’s warmer out...and using a saw instead of a knife to build your hare-trigger releases. (Yes, that spelling was intentional!)

#2: Snow Camo Overwhites: I live in snow country where sets of military over-white trousers and parka can be useful during the white time of the year, and yes, I have a good set. But my back-up plan consists of a large white vinyl trash bag that can either be used for its intended purpose or can instead have neck and arm holes poked into it in a pinch, then to be worn to help keep drizzle and sleet off. It’s considerably more glossy and shiny than I care for, which can be cured either with a few vertical stripes of flat white automotive spray paint, or an XXXXXL white t-shirt can be added over it- unless, of course, you are a XXXXXL T-shirt size as is, and you have to use a white pillowcase or kiddy bed bed sheet substitute instead. Really large used T-shirts go for 50 cents each at my local Goodwill thrift store, and since I’m not planning on wearing these against my skin, I’m not the least bit squeamish about getting one that’s been used. And while I was there I found a pair of much-dripped-on white painter’s pants for a buck, too, oversized and baggy, just right for wear over warmer trousers underneath. A few shots with the ol’ 99-cent can of flat white spray paint, and I was right in business. Admittedly, they were still loose enough on me that I needed a pair of elastic carpenters’ suspenders to help hold them up, and those suspenders were available only in blue or red, not white. Out came the flat white spray can again, which took care of that, backed up by a wrap or two of white athletic bandage tape over the too-shiny buckles, which both locked them in place and ensured there wouldn’t be any giveaway shine even if the paint flaked a bit. It didn’t hurt to have that pair of short lengths of tape handy should they be needed for other uses, either. That white spray paint also works real well on surplus store desert helmet covers to whitenize them for winter wear, then useable either as field jacket or parka hoods, or as, of all things, wintertime helmet covers.

#3: Inexpensive Lockblade Folding Knifes: I like nice pretty folding knives, both factory and custom, and some are so pretty and beautifully crafted that it seems like sacrilege to drop one in a pocket, let alone open it up and actually use it; the one I got as a present a couple of years back is like that. So in my pocket rattling against my keys instead is the cheapie $1 lockblade folder I picked up in the sporting goods/camping supplies department at my local Wal-Mart. Packaged as "Ozark Trail #3074," the knife’s 31⁄4" blade is jinked (partially "sawtoothed) along the rear third of its belly edge, is marked "stainless," and is retained by a screw, making sharpening and other maintenance simple. The knives’ handles/scales are a hard black plastic that’s sufficiently impact resistant that of the dozen or so examples I have none have yet suffered breakage or cracking, though one that came in contact with a hot Jeep exhaust manifold melted and blurred a bit. Now that one’s a "parts queen" donor for any of the others that might have a blade chip or snap a point. That hasn’t happened yet, the only replacement so far needed on my stable of cheap Chinese folding pointy-sharpie things having been that of a replacement blade pivot screw that came loose on one and got away in my pocket. The scales are a little squarish for my taste, easily fixed by rounding off the edges and corners with a file or sandpaper, and yep, there’s a well-placed hole for a dummy cord lanyard or key ring. One so equipped resides on a spare bootlace that goes around my neck when I’m kayaking in the summertime, and twin brothers of the cheapie Wal-Mart folder live in the glove box of each of my vehicles, my tool boxes, in one pocket or another of most of my rucks and daypacks, on my key chain and there’s one in the drawer of my computer desk where it does double duty as letter opener and box tape slicer. There are some users who don't care for the idea that the knife can be disassembled and have concerns that parts can become unattached and lost. I haven't had that happen yet, but I figure screw tightness checks are routine maintenance, and I will use a threadlocker if I think it's necessary.

#4: Singlepoint Balance Sling: I had always wanted to be a high-speed, low drag, tactical operations operating operator, but had never been able to come up with one of the $35-$50 3-way HK or Vickers slings that all the gun shop commandos and SWAT Team guys who’ve never fired a shot in a real world gunfight keep insisting to me that all the real professionals use. Adding a center-of-balance attach point for a centerpoint sling is a simpler alternative, and can be accomplished with nothing any more complicated or expensive than a screw-in eyebolt at the point where the wrist of a shotgun’s butt fits into the gun’s receiver, an expedient that goes at least as far back in historic use as Doc Holliday’s sawn-off double-barreled scatterguns. For the sling itself I used a five-foot length of black 1-inch wide tubular webbing as used for rock climbing harnesses, also very useful for belts and regular weapons slings. The advantage of using the tube web in this application is that the tube web is hollow inside, and inside went a 48-inch-long elastic bungee cord. The hook of one end of the bungee’s elastic shock cord was then crimped to the front snaploop of a very used AK-47 sling that had pulled out the oil-rotted threads holding it on, though all sorts of alternate snaps and swivels [or a 550-cord loop] could be used instead. The ones found on $2 surplus Swiss gas mask bags are especially excellent, with or without the bag strap attached. The hook then attaches either to an AK or other rifle’s front sling swivel, or at the new midpoint location if the hardware for that application is installed. A friend who saw and tried my centerpoint sling on my AK wanted one for his new M4 configuration AR-15, and since he already had a sling attach point installed as the stock locking plate of his CAR-15, all I had to do was add the sling’s body loop and the strap with the swivel snap. In his case, that snap was made from a pear-shaped key ring mini-caribiner, after threading a short piece of clear plastic gas line tubing over it to keep it from scratching the rifle finish and keep potential rattling silenced.

At the other end there’s a loop just large enough to go over the user’s shoulder across the chest front, again with the elastic cord keeping it snug. With the sling snap attached at the midpoint I can hold my rifle in both hands and extend it out to arm’s length in front of me, and the elastic and slightly muzzle-heavy weight with a loaded mag in places returns it to a muzzle-down port arms position. This allows a fast transition from carbine to handgun, handheld radio/cell phone, or my ice cream cone, depending on my priorities at the time. I really prefer to have web or leather slings on weapons that may be fired enough to get more than a little warm, since nylon slings can melt through if they come in contact with a hot barrel. I’ve also had my doubts about the general utility of balance point slings, but this is my opportunity to try one out for a while, and there do seem to be two situations in which mine has proven useful for me. One is while standing around with the weapon at ready for long periods of time, as when at a guard post or waiting to hit the firing line on a hot range, probably why they’ve been so popular with some troops in Iraq. The other is when aboard a motorcycle, snowmobile or ATV and the right hand is occupied with operating the vehicle, which would be a really nice time to have a shorty bullpup weapon instead. But when what you’ve got is what you’re going to have to use, I’ll admit the springy sling may be worth being fitted.

#5: Gear/Armor Carrier Vest: Now that I had my new SWATzie sling I now needed a black tactical vest and armor plate/pad carrier to go with it, and $2 seemed to be a good price to give for the basic start for one. That was for two of the polycloth black shopping bags from my local Wal-Mart store at a buck each, offered as an alternative to the usual flimsy plastic variety. Aside from the low cost, their big attractions were their 12" x 12" square size, and the pair of 11⁄4" wide straps that serve as the bags front and rear handles. Cutting away the stitching that held the end of one strap at the mouth of one bag left an attached double strap that was long enough to go over my shoulder and connect the first bag worn in front to the second one across my back. The other strap was similarly modified, but on the other side of the handle, giving a strap on either side to connect to the other bag, one on the front left side of the front bag, and the other on the right rear of the same bag. The straps on the other bag were modified the same way, but alternated in mirror-image reverse, so that the outside left strap of the front bag’s strap connected to the outside left of the rear bag, and the inside straps likewise went to the attach points of their respective counterparts. In my case, just the straps of one bag worn draped over my neck probably would have been enough to position the front bag high enough in front that the bag’s open top came to about the height of a field jacket’s front collar button. That configuration is very similar to the old Military Armament Corporation (MAC) Ingram M10 submachinegun carry bags [made of then military-standard olive drab canvas] that unfolded for wear beneath the user’s neck, the inside of the MAC bags being lined with a Kevlar pad. I wanted protection and other features in back, though, so initially went with the twin bag approach. The bag in back rode high enough that it too left just enough room for a jacket or shirt collar to fit beneath it, and it covered my upper back and shoulders nicely. Both bags rode high enough that an equipment belt can be worn underneath, and the belt can be put on either first or after the vest is in place; others of different body sizes may find they’ll need more of the adjustment provided by lengthening both shoulder straps. Alternately, a set of padded shoulder straps salvaged from a day pack or ALICE ruck shoulder straps could be used instead.

Inside the rear face of my front bag went a used and expired Kevlar soft vest obtained in a trade from a retired cop neighbor of mine. Inside the front face of that same pouch went a military SAPI plate, hopefully capable of withstanding rifle fire--or maybe not as effectively as desired: the military has been replacing them with a newer E-SAPI version--an enhanced SAPI plate. I also added a "kangaroo pouch" extension extending from the bottom of the front bag, [made from a third black cloth shopping bag folded in half top-to-bottom, giving a 6-inch extension and raising the basic cost of the rig by another whole dollar. The Kevlar padding from another soft vest went in the bag in back. I can add yet another "kangaroo" drop pouch location on the bottom of the rear bag, should another 8" by 12" SAPI or E-SAPI plate come my way and I feel like spending yet another dollar, and depending on whether I want the extra SAPI protection low over my kidneys and spine, or higher at my shoulder level. Until then the ballistic pad from a vest fired into for testing rides at a height in between, sealed in a large vinyl pouch to prevent the pad from becoming soaked if I get caught wearing the vest outside in the rain, or go for an unplanned swim. No, you shouldn’t use expired or damaged vest inserts or material. Yes, you ought to spend the bucks for the very best body armor you can afford, and if you’ve developed tastes based on personal experience, go with it. But if all you have on hand is less desirable material, it may be better than nothing, so long you’re under no illusions about its lessened effectiveness.

At the bottom edge of both the front and rear bags’ exterior I added a left and right-side horizontal black nylon strap [sections left over from building the sling described in section #4 above] and quick-release buckle to connect the front and rear bags at my waist. The buckles came in a package of three from the craft section of my local fabric shop, and one had been used on a holster project, leaving the two I needed. I notice, however, that these not only appear identical to the ones used on grocery shopping cart kiddy seat belts and will fasten with the cart buckles just fine, but also are even identified as having been made by the same manufacturer. [Ask nicely at your grocery when they change their shopping carts’ seatbelts for newer ones less frayed or for ones with a newer advertising message and you may get a grocery bag full of the old ones for free.] In any event, the bottom straps do a fine job of keeping the bottoms of the vest bags from flopping around, and mine can be adjusted for anything from t-shirt weather to opened up enough to fit over a parka or field jacket with winter liner. Velcro attachments would probably work just as well.

Upgrades and enhancements: I also added velcro at the edge seams of the bags to help the bags maintain their flat and square profile when other items like my cheapie overwhites and poncho are added inside between the ballistic panels. Likewise I added matching facing velcro straps to the former cloth handles, now over-the-shoulder straps, which helps them stay together to be slid through the adjustment buckles for them, which are former metal sling adjustment keepers.

The Velcro came from the craft department at Wal-Mart in a strip about 3⁄4-inches wide by 3 feet long for a little over a buck. Yes, there are uses yet to come for the leftover hook-and-loop pieces.
I wanted a way to carry ammo and other goodies with my cheapie vest, and since they’d be a bit difficult to get to with the vest padding inside, that meant pouches for them on the outside surface, leaving the bag interiors to function as a drop pouch for empty magazines or clips or other non-disposable novelties. The solution to hanging external pouches or other accessories was easy, and all it took was a bunch of 12-inch long black nylon inch-wide straps laid out in horizontal rows across each bag’s outside face, separated by about a half inch. If that sounds like MOLLE rack webbing, it should because that’s a good approximation of what it is, though spaced primarily for ALICE gear rather than MOLLE. Accordingly, the critical dimension is not the spacing between the straps, but the distance from the bottom edge of each lower strap to the top edge of the upper strap, which should be from about 2-1⁄4 inches to no more than 2-3/8 inches, the inside height of an ALICE fastener. The front face of my vest wound up with nine rows of webbing, seven at the bottom and two at the top for first aid packet or compass pouches. On the back outside face, it’s also covered top to bottom with nine rows of the webbing, allowing anything from a Camelbak canteen pouch, a couple of 2-liter GI bladder canteens or ammo pouches to be fitted. The spacing for the vertical stitches that hold the straps to the fabric is approximately 1-3/16ths inch apart each and I made up a spacer from a narrowed wooden paint-stirring paddle to keep them in a reasonably uniform vertical line. Note that the metal ALICE clip fasteners will chew through web straps fairly rapidly, since they’re really meant for use on the heavy- duty web of a pistol or LBE belt. One answer for this is to use the commercially available and relatively inexpensive ALICE strap-type adapters; another is the old airborne unit trick of replacing each ALICE clip with at least two separate loops of parachute cord, knotted tight and with the ends at the knot fused by heat to prevent the knots from working loose. Now if you come across a military vest or armor carrier with the MOLLE straps worn through, you’ll have a good idea as to the likely cause, and how to prevent a repeat if you adopt the vest and repair the damage.

As an added benefit, the resulting ALICE/MOLLE web slots are just large enough to allow the body of a 12-gauge shotgun shell to fit, with the shell’s rim keeping the round from dropping through. That inspired me to build a second vest primarily for use with a shotgun. Lacking the bottom extensions it’s accordingly shorter and more compact, and so can be worn reasonably concealed beneath a GI field jacket. The old Second Chance Z9 that was the first vest I owned back in the 1970s rides in front in this one, and I’m still looking for another castoff vest for the back pouch. Additional boxed ammo carried in pouches in back helps balance the load on my shoulders, and helps prevent me from kicking myself for not bringing more ammo along for those parties that last longer than anticipated.

A third, similar vest was made at the request of a friend for carrying .50 caliber rifle ammo, among other items. It’s similar to my second "shotgun" vest, with a few variations described later. Other specialized applications may well come along, and I expecting that vests to serve as at least temporary expedients for dealing with them can be launched at a cost of around two bucks each, for a start.

The triple-magazine ALICE pouches for M16 magazines fit very nicely at the bottom corners of my first "rifle" vest, though M16 magazines aren’t what are in them. With the two inside top anti-rattle strap tabs that separate the three magazines removed, an M16 pouch is just right for an 8-round M1 Garand clip of .30-06 ammo laid flat. Alternate the bullet ends left to right as more loaded clips are added, and they’ll hold eight clips, nine in some if an extra one is crammed up into the pouch cover before snapping it shut. I’ve got two pouches so filled on the back bottom corners of my long vest and another up front, [and a holstered handgun where a fourth ammo pouch could go] giving me 192 rounds in 24 clips carried in three pouches. Conveniently, my Garand ammo is stored in 192-round cans, in clips; isn’t it splendid how such things sometimes work out?

A load like that with the added weight of vest pads and plates can get heavy after a bit, so I added some of that black nylon webbing along either side of both of the adjustable straps to help spread the weight; padded pack straps are a possible solution for this problem, too. Those leftover short sections of Velcro strip were added to three of the webbing rows approximately centered on the front panel on the third, fourth and fifth rows from the top. Their mating sections were added to the back of a largish US flag patch, which I’ll continue to consider wearing so long as this country and its Constitution remain at least partially workable institutions. Since situations in which wearing a bullet-resistant tac vest with a couple of hundred rounds of Garand ammo are not only possible but appear to be becoming more likely of late, there may be some question as to how long that "workable" consideration will last. Others may find flags of state or local jurisdictions, their religious or veterans organizations, or family or group identification symbols or name tapes to be more suitable or to the point.

Oh yeah: the black Wally-World bags come with the motto "Paper or Plastic? Neither", and "Wal-Mart" printed across their front. Various cures for this can be as simple as just facing those slogans inward, turning the bags inside-out placing the lettering in the inside where it won’t be seen, to a few shots with the trusty 99-cent spray paint can, the flat black one in this case. I found that the paint solvents softened the bag lettering enough to allow the printing to be scraped away, but turned one inside out for better access to the stitching of the handle straps anyway. If you don’t care for the black colored bags, blue ones from Kroger grocery stores can be used instead, or bright orange ones from the Big Lots retail chain. I’m sure that the selection can vary depending on what stores are in a particular area; I haven’t found suitable bags in winter white yet, but either a white cover can be added to the front and rear faces of the pouch sections, or that ever-handy can of flat white spray can be again called to duty. An inexpensive camouflage bandanna can be used as a sewn-on cover before ALICE or MOLLE webbing is added instead, for those wishing to match their other field gear or maintain uniformity with group camo; likewise the remaining material from the back of a camouflage shirt blouse or lightweight T-shirt could be used. I've also found that the JoAnn Fabrics shop chain offers a very similar bag in a Loden/British Racing Green for a buck each, and a few of them may be the beginning of my next project.

Those who’ve seen how glaringly black vests fluoresce in current night vision equipment seem to be less enthusiastic about using all-black gear, but television and movies have done their best to condition their zombie audiences to accept those in the black tac vests as being the ultimate in authority figures. That kind of mass conditioning may be helpful to domestic concentration camp guards, but the cowering habits of sheep-like GDP en route to the slaughterhouse may also be utilized in making one’s exit from such locales by other individuals or groups wearing the black vests, at least until the urban inmates discover that many of those in the black outfits may not have their best interests at heart.

As for sourcing components, I happened to get a deal on a couple of a hundred 18-inch sections of nylon strap from the industrial surplus outlet of a manufacturing plant. New web from commercial sources can be used instead; one pal of mine used a couple of cheap nylon dog leashes to make his, and inexpensive import nylon slings are another source of alternate potential raw material. Those wanting olive drab straps instead of black can use the material from the Swiss military web straps offered by Sportsman’s Guide, 6 of them 31 inches long and 14 that are 66" each, all with plastic pinch-release buckles, and under $15 for all 20, their item # 124510. Sportsman's Guide also offers 1-inch wide nylon strapping in 125- yard rolls as their item # 132816, but you don’t get any buckles with that deal. My ballistic pads and inserts have been collected from a variety of sources and applications over the years, but those looking for their own suppliers of those components should check with the offerings of BulletproofME.com or UsedBodyArmor.com as possible sources.

Previously I’ve never cared for vests for much other than the specialized ones for aircraft survival gear, [which can be slung over flight deck seats when not in use] M79/M203 ammunition or photographic gear. The polyvalence of having body armor and ballistic plate carriers do double-duty as attach points for web gear is too obvious to avoid, however, particularly since the armor carrier makes the use of web gear or LBE suspenders underneath both hot and uncomfortable, and can restrict access to gear carried underneath. Two bucks [or four] for a pair of shopping bags as a starting place for an armor/gear carry vest seems like a good bargain to me, though you’ll have considerable time and hand work putting one together after you decide just how you want it arranged.

The vests made from 12"x12" bags front and rear work out a little short so far as complete lower torso coverage goes, but that can be an advantage for those who expect to spend lengthy periods seated in vehicles or elsewhere. Adding the extensions like those I used for my SAPI plates provides an additional 6-inch deep pocket that runs horizontally completely along the front of the vest, long enough inside for double-taped "royal" AK or RPK magazines, full-length Sten, Swedish K or Thompson SMG magazines, or for use as a "drop pouch" for expended magazines or recovered clips in the case of my Garands. Those without such concerns can use the long horizontal space for chem-lights, highway flares or pop flares, pistol mags or a gas mask or night vision device, as available.[JWR Adds: I do not advocate taping rifle of SMG magazines "end for end" . This often results in the downward-pointing magazine getting jammed full of mud when you jump down prone. So instead, tape the pair together parallel (with both tops pointing upward.) You can use a short length of dowel, and a pencil, or even a couple of thicknesses of MRE spoon handles between the magazines, to make them angle apart from one another, to provide the necessary magazine well clearance.]

Those who are really tall might want to consider the possibility of stacking two bags piggyback, front and rear- four bucks worth, again. Alternately, that open space beneath the rib cage not well covered by a single bag [or the small of the back, for the rear bag] can be used for a front- attached drop magazine pouch or reversed fanny pack, or in back, for an extension for a poncho or sleeping bag carrier that rides below the 12" x 12" dimensions of the bags. If a fanny pack is used low across the back, the waist straps from it can be used for the waist/belt line connecting straps between the front and rear bags, saving the separate addition of those components. It’s also a common feature on commercial vests to include multiple belt loops extending beneath the vests’ bottom edge at the belt line, allowing an equipment belt to be supported by the vest itself. Such can be added and used if that’s your preference.

One additional word of warning: the allegedly recycled plastic-weave material from which the raw material shopping bags are made does not seem to be especially fireproof or fire-resistant, and the nylon straps added for gear attachment certainly are not. A dunking of the vest in one of the commercially available fireproofing chemical mixtures could be a wise final finishing step once the vest is completed but before other equipment is installed. That may be more of a consideration if you’re an armored fighting vehicle crewman or plan to hang around the exhaust downdraft on either side of a CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter exit ramp, but do be cautious when close to campfires or other open flames, and try not to excessively antagonize anyone operating a flamethrower.

#6: Too-big, worn-soled Moccasins fix: I’d been watching for a decent pair of mocs for most all of last year’s yard sales, but all that turned up [at the last yard sale of the season, of course!] was a pair that was way oversize and had both soles worn through. No worries, for 50 cents for the pair, they were a bargain, just a quarter apiece. I spent part of the winter cutting away the worn-through bottoms and peeling off the glued-on strip of finest plastic beading in the decorative native pattern of the Made in China tribe. On Memorial Day weekend, off I went to the Buckskinners' and Revolutionary War Reenactors’ Rendezvous where the sutlers and craftsmen had set up their booths and tents on Sutler’s Row. I found the guy I was looking for, a leathersmith who offered a resoling service for mocs, with buffalo leather soles for $2 per sole. That gave me a pair of newly-resoled slightly oversize mocs for just under 5 bucks. I added a pair of glue-in padded insoles, let them dry, and then checked their fit: still floppy. The next addition was a pair of $1.98 cotton booties, which I installed by wrapping my feet in plastic shopping bags and then putting on the booties, and then liberally slathering rubber cement over the booties and the places inside the mocs I could reach, pretty much everywhere once I had them turned half-inside-out. Insert glue-coated bootied foot in moccasin, allow to dry, and then repeat on the other foot.

While I was waiting for the second foot’s new addition to dry, I carefully removed my other foot from the first one, leaving the bootie and plastic bag inside. I then had at it with my paramedics’ shears and cut away all of the former bootie that showed outside the edges of the moccasin, then slowly and gently began peeling away the remains of plastic bag from the moc’s interior. Again, by the time I had finished with the first foot the glue had set up enough for me to begin on the second. I set them aside to cure up overnight, and as it turned out, they had all weekend. When I tried them on again, the fit was just right, tight enough to stay in place without flopping or raising blisters, and loose enough I could nudge one off with help from the toes of the other foot.

The insulation from the cold provided by the cotton bootie bottoms was a nice feature, but one I’d have rather avoided for extended summertime wear or for wear in situations in which the things were likely to get soaked. If I hadn’t had the services of the rendezvous craftsman, I could have likely have done a fair job of resoling them myself, or could have let a local shoe repairman- getting harder to find nowadays- do the job. But he did a very tidy job, had materials that were unavailable to me, and the skilled experience he had at doing dozens of pairs of mocs at each of these events he attended far outweighed the cost of his very reasonable price. Interestingly, that leatherworker who did my resole work had another pair he was working on when I picked mine up. Belonging to a big feller pushing over 350 pounds or so, the addition to his mocs included the bottom of a pair of flip-flop shower shoes added as a cushion to the underside of his mocs before the buffalo skin retread went on and concealed that decidedly non-period padding. That combination would indeed help keep ground dampness from morning dew or a light rain off the bottom of one’s feet, though, and if needle and flax or waxed linen shoemaker’s threads weren’t available, at least some similar work could probably be managed with a tube of shoe-goo and/or some staples. And maybe an old pair of cast-off donor flip-flop shower shoes.

Yeah, during this year’s yard sale season, I kept my eyes open for any more good deals on moccasins, with no real sweet finds. But now I’m happy to find any good deal on mocs whether they’re my size or if they happen to be a bit bigger, and smaller ones go into a "trade goods" bucket. Any time I can get a pretty good pair of mocs for under a couple of bucks, I figure I’ve done okay; I spend a lot of time in the things, indoors and out, so spending another five dollars or so on a pair to extend their service life and improve their fit seems like money well spent. That’s not only much less than what a decent pair of even imported lined mocs will run new, but I suspect those buffalo hide soles are going to last me a good long while. And interior padding added to a pair of oversize shoes or boots when nothing else is available could save someone an awful lot of blisters.

#7: Fifty Caliber Spare Ammo Carriers: When a pal of mine managed to scrape up the bucks to get the .50 caliber long-range rifle he’d wanted for some time, he came to me for advice and counsel on ammo and accessories, since I’d gotten myself one as a 50th birthday present a few years back. Could I make one of those two-dollar tac vests [#5 above] for him, but set up for .50 x 99mm Browning MG ammo for his Big Rifle instead of shotgun shells or MOLLE gear? Why sure, I told him, it being just a matter of having three rows of loops per row of shells, the one at the bottom consisting of smaller bullet-diameter loops to keep the cartridge cases from dropping through, the rimless but bottlenecked .50 cases not being as well retained by the top row of webbing as rimmed shotgun shells are. I believe it would have been no great problem to space rows of eight cartridges across the 12-inch space available, but he was happy with a pair of rows of six shells each, with a little extra space in front, a configuration that does make removing them from the loops a bit easier and keeps the vest’s weight down. On the back, he specified an all-web covering, giving him the option of carrying additional ammo in pouches, or canteens, Camelback water bottle, or other useful goodies back there. I don’t expect he intends to do much crawling beneath barbed-wire fences for long distances, especially on his back, while he’s equipped with his big long-range noisemaker.

A dozen rounds is a good beginning for an ammo load out for the big loud rifle, but a way to easily increase that amount by double or triple was still needed. In the big box in one gun shop I visit pretty regularly all sorts of used holsters, pouches and cast-off accessories from trade-in guns can be found. Though I’d pawed through the contents before and noted an odd trio of residents therein, I’d never had a use for the particular items I had encountered and had no immediate use for them. Apparently, other customers had felt the same way, because there they remained, despite price tags of five bucks each. Now they had suddenly become useful; I paid for the three and picked up a fourth one new in the packaging, at a cost more than the three used ones combined. The items in question were vinyl plastic "Sidesaddle" 12 gauge shotgun shell holders meant to be bolted to the side of Mossberg 500 series scatterguns; similar models are available for the Remington 870 and Winchester 1200 guns, and several other models. The problem is that with the aluminum receiver of the Mossberg guns, the receivers can be warped inward if the sidesaddle attaching bolts are overzealously tightened. The previous owners of the guns traded in with their spiffy tactical ammo holders still mounted had apparently found that out the hard way.

One simple answer if using the things on a shotgun, especially if it’s a gun other than the model the device is meant to be mounted upon, is to attach it to the stock instead, using wood screws and/or multiple wraps of tape. In this case instead, the ammunition holders were fitted up to each other, back to back, with a short section of seat belt webbing removed from a junked car mounted in between as a spacer. The spacer web extends just far enough from either end of the two shell carriers to allow a pair of grommets to be added at the corners of both ends. This allows a carry strap with snap hooks to be hooked to them for carry in either a vertical or horizontal position. The strap I favor for the purpose is the one that’s used for the U.S. military 2-quart bladder canteens, since it’s wide, adjustable and comes with a snap hook at either end; the Israelis are also real fond of using these as top-mounted M16A1 rifle slings. Since the ammo being carried is a dozen rounds of .50 caliber instead of a dozen lighter-weight shotgun shells, the wide strap is advisable since it helps spread the load across the shoulders.

With the six-.50 rounds of one carrier facing forward and the others pointed to the rear, [or up and down, if a horizontal carry position is used] it’s a simple matter to peel off individual rounds as needed, either to load the noisy rifle, top up a magazine, or refill the vest loops. If the user prefers to have them all face in the same direction, they can be inserted in that way instead. There’s a possibility that rounds could drop out or be knocked off inadvertently, since the .50 rounds are much longer than the shotgun shells that were fully covered when in the carrier slots. That leverage of the longer ammo can be taken care of by having a pouch on the belt into which the carriers can be dropped when on the move, one on either side, or velcro or snap-on covers can be made and installed.


Those who don’t have a .50 but are looking for a means of carrying a dozen extra reload rounds for a shotgun may also find that fitting two of the sidesaddle carriers mounted back-to-back is a suitable way of doing so, especially if an over-the-shoulder strap is added. That allows a quick "grab-and go" procedure of quickly taking up the shotgun by its sling in one hand and the dozen-round ammo carrier in the other, then tossing the ammo carrier’s strap over a shoulder to free up the hand with the ammo for other purposes.

#8: Knife Handle Repair: While at the local thrift store looking for really big undershirts, white painters’ pants and worn-out, torn or ugly belts [a buck each, and dandy material for knife sheaths or reinforcing cheap import book bag/backpack shoulder straps for more severe duty] I made my usual search of the used kitchen cutlery box; this time I struck pay dirt. With items ranging from 25 cents to an extravagant $2.50, I zeroed in on a 7-inch blade Ontario Knife Co butcher’s knife, with a 50 cent tag sticker on it; when I picked it up I found out why: the wood around the rivets on the starboard side grip scale had split and required repair or replacement. Can do!

Yep, I could have just whittled and sanded a twin of the good one, drilled out the remaining rivets, replaced them, and it would have been almost as good as new. I could even have just epoxied the old handle back on, good for at least a short-term fix, but probably a repair that wouldn’t survive hard use. Instead I took some of that black nylon web strap material left over from building those $2 tac vest/ armor vest insert carriers, and cut a section long enough to go from the back of the blade’s edge along the handle where the grip scale had been, wrapping around the butt of the handle at the end, then back again along the other side to match where I’d begun, but on the other side. Then I cut another one, same length. Mine worked out to just over 91⁄2 inches long; shorter or longer handles would of course require shorter or longer sections. The point, though, is that the length of strap material that covers both sides is made from one continuous strip of web.

The next step is to liberally coat both sides of the knife blade where the handle rests with epoxy [knives that have a short tang instead of full-blade-width material for grip attachment get a different fix, discussed later] and to press the web, not along the sides of the grip where the wood scales had been, but along the top and bottom, again, wrapping around the butt. When the epoxy has tacked up sufficiently to keep the web in place, fold the material sticking out to the sides down against the handle area. Don’t worry if there’s a gap, but if a dry test fit before applying epoxy shows any overlap, you may want to trim a little off the edges so that they neatly butt against each other. At this point I begin wrapping the handle area with plastic shopping bag material cut about a half-inch wide, overlapping each wrap just snug enough to hold the webbing tightly against the handle. When you get up to the end try to tuck the section wrapping around the handle’s end in as tightly as you can; if it won’t cooperate, there’s a cure for that after it’s dried.

Once you’ve completely covered the handle with the plastic bag material wrap, you’re ready for the next step, which is a single-layer wrapping of more of the bag material around the entire handle. At this point, I add a pair of corrugated cardboard pads over the handle area- you may not need it. I then put my handle in a vise and tighten that sucker good, squeezing the epoxy into the nylon web and getting a good bond to the metal beneath. I let it set up overnight at least, a weekend if possible- the directions for your epoxy, room temperature and your experience with your favorite flavor of epoxy may vary. When it’s nicely set up and cured a couple of days later, I peel away the plastic bag strip, and if necessary I’ll then hold that butt section momentarily over a candle if needed to get a good fit on that back-end fold. The idea here is to heat the material just enough to soften it, not for it to catch fire. Again, squashing it in a vise while it cools may help, but if you don’t have a vise, you can do about as well by setting the handle on the edge of a brick on it’s side, using another brick on top for pressure, and adding a concrete block on top of the upper brick for additional weight.

The next step is a repeat of the first, but using that second strap you cut to size, except that this time the web will be placed flat on the handle sides instead of the edges the first strip covered. This time you do really want as good a fit as possible at the back edge of the handle, and this time, since the epoxy is going to bond web-to-web, my first wrapping to secure the web in place while it sets up is a covering of black nylon fishing line. Then I add the plastic bag strip, then squish that feller real good in the vise, and go away for a day or two. Or three.

Unwrapping the bag material is like Christmas, I’m surprised almost every time, sometimes good, sometimes not. If the repair is to your satisfaction, good on you. If not, some more carefully applied heat, a little more epoxy here and/or there, and some more of that fish-line wrap may fix your problem. If not, you can always get out the rasp or a wire wheel on a drill and start over. Or use leather from those cheap thrift store belts instead, though it doesn’t wrap around the ends as well and heat won’t help shrink it to fit- you may be better off cutting a separate piece for each side’s handle if you use leather. I’ve repaired the handles of around a dozen knives and one hammer using variations of this method, some of ‘em toolbox knives that get knocked around and rattle in the box quite a bit. So far, I haven’t had to redo any of the ones I’ve reworked this way, and some of those repairs date back to 2000. Though some folks like to use a loose wrap of cord around the handle so that it can be unrolled and used for alternate purposes in an emergency, I’d rather have the most secure handle possible and carry spare cordage wrapped around a knife’s sheath and as a sheath tie down. That personal preference is up to the user, but I’ve yet to run out of cordage and regret not having access to that epoxied to my knife handle.

As for those knives with narrow tangs or less than full-length material where the handle attaches: I’ve done the same sort of thing with a cord-and-epoxy repair, except that in this instance I use heavy nylon cord [trotline cord from the Sporting Goods department] instead of flat web. If there’s a hole through the tang from a previous attach rivet or screw, I start on one side there, go through any existing or added hole to the other side, and then both radial wrapping and back-and-forth linear runs of cord begin. Once it’s built up enough to act solidly enough as a handle again, a cover made of a short section of that black hollow-center tube webbing can be used if flattish grip sides are preferred. If not, just go at it with more and more trot line, and again, finish up with a finer fishing line or even heavy carpet thread in the color of your choice if desired.

The application of composite cord/epoxy handles is not limited to knife blade repairs of course, but may also be of use to those looking for a way to utilize hacksaw or Sawzall blades made for cutting metal as emergency hand tools. The back-up plan to this application is to use a pair of vise-grip locking pliers as an expedient handle for a metal-cutting saw blade, allowing later use of the blade in the tool for which it was designed if desired or possible, but the added permanent handle is certainly more comfortable for extended in-hand use. Neither should the possibility of adding a handle to a worn-out or broken saw blade reground to a knife edge be overlooked; power hacksaw blades are particularly nice for this application. Those who wish to build their own survival knife with saw teeth on the blade spine and a sharp belly edge can begin with a new power blade, rework that blade to the length and shape they prefer, and add a handle as per the above. Their resulting tool will be at least reasonably capable of either whittling or cutting metals.

#9: BugOut Bag folding fork and spoon [or "Spork".] This one is an idea that’s neither new nor original, but like the others is one that’s been further modified to fit my particular needs and the material available to start the project. In this case, I wanted a compact fork and spoon for use with both my personal bugout bag, as well as extras for the 30-day supply bags carried in my vehicles. My first attempt consisted of simply shortening a pair of the utensils in question, then drilling a hole in their shorter handles for a connecting lanyard or key chain. But they rattled.

During the Second World War, some German troops were equipped with a mess kit fork-and-spoon combination that had the handles of the utensils shortened even more, then were joined by a rivet that served as a pivot, allowing them to fold and nest into each other nice and compact. When folded out, the opposing tool became the handle end for its partner, allowing shorter handles than if they had been separate items. I cut the handles of my first-draft unit down further, drilled them for the pivot and joined them together. Opened, the utensil’s fork was sturdy enough to assault combative peas, or, with the other end, the spoon was ready for the annihilation of soups. Folded, the unit was compact enough to slip handle-first into the side of a first-aid or compass carry pouch, through one of the webbing loops of a tac vest or armor plate carrier, or, temporarily, in the top of one’s boot if the cuffs are bloused into it.

I began my initial limited production run of enough of the folding utensils for my BugOut Bag, 3-day pack and 30-day packs, plus one each for the glove boxes of each of three vehicles, and a couple of spares. Improvements/additions included grinding a flat screwdriver tip on the end of either handle just past the rivet, one that is narrow enough to service M1911 grip screws and my pocketknife blade pivot screws, and the other a bit wider. Adding a second pair of smaller holes further down the handle with another rivet set into one handle so that the rivet’s head acted as a detent into the mating hole in the handle of its partner made the lockup of the unit more positive when in the open position. And naturally I added a small hole for a dummy cord lanyard to prevent loss either from dropping or absent-mindedly setting it down and forgetfully walking away from it. This is why they’re called dummy cords.

It turned out that the first dozen I built for myself weren’t enough: others who’ve been around me when I’ve been using mine have asked me to build one or more for them too. I’ve also got a simpler variation that simply consists of a fork-and-spoon pair riveted together end-to-end but doesn’t fold. That version goes along with bulk packages of food in storage, along with a P-38 military folding can opener. The two items can be connected together by key chain, one of the ubiquitous mini-carabiner snap links or a chain repair link, or on a lanyard cord long enough for the useful tools to be carried or temporarily draped around a user’s neck.

#10: Shoestrings. Speaking of hanging things on a cord around one’s neck: I frequently keep a quarter-sized "button" compass and small pocketknife around my neck on a spare bootlace; and some of us old-timers include a military P-38 C-ration can opener as well, even though the days of the issue of C-rats are long gone. This used to be a common practice when I was in the military, threading the bootlace cord into the plastic protective tubing we put over our dog tag chains to keep the cold chain off our bare skin. I’ve yet to really need these minimalist survival tools, though I’ll be glad enough to have them if I do suddenly have a critical use for them, but the extra boot lace has come in handy numerous times. Sometimes that’s actually been as a replacement for a shoelace that’s broken on a shoe or boot, but there’s a swell flash of realization when you really need a short length of strong cord and then remember you’ve got one handy right around your neck.

Variations on this idea include using braided nylon #550 pound test parachute suspension line, also known as "parachute cord" instead, or using fisherman’s twisted cord trot line, both of which are available in a variety of colors and sizes/strengths. The #18 twisted nylon cord I use is rated at 113 pounds test, and the thicker #36 cord is listed as good for 320 pounds; if anything stronger is required I reach for my roll of parachute suspension line. Short sections of any suitable cordage are useful as "dummy cord" lanyards for weapons, knives or other critical gear, especially when in or around boats, snowmobiles, or motorcycles. Cord can be such an excellent replacement for the metal ALICE equipment clips for U.S. belt equipment that some military users pitch all their metal fasteners; just be sure and use at least two separately knotted cord loops as the silent and nonmetallic replacement for each ALICE clip if you do this- and three per is better.

I’ve also known one trooper who used military issue WD-1/TT commo wire as replacement boot laces in a pinch; the civilian-world equivalent would be stereo speaker wire. Clearly, he didn’t have an extra bootlace worn around his neck...
.
Final thoughts: My adaptations, field expedients, and shade-tree modifications are ones that were suitable for the tasks I’ve had at hand, the tools I’ve had available, and the skill levels and experience I’ve got at working with the tools I had for what I was doing. Changing materials or methods may be perfectly suitable for your needs, you may conclude that some of the items or modifications just aren’t worth the trouble, or that the expenditure of a few more bucks on more specific-purpose items is a better idea- and for you, that may well be. For others, some of these adaptations may be the only gear that fits a minimalist budget, or that allows the purchase of other necessities. In other cases, some of the items presented here may serve as spares, with better top-grade [and top-dollar!] equipment better used for the job at hand until it fails from overuse or is otherwise expended- and my low-bucks methodology may give you a back up plan to turn what might have been a disastrous shortage into an inconvenience. As with all things, your mileage may vary, and remember that all of my demonstrations have been performed by a professional on a closed course.

Way back in the early days of World War Two, when wartime shortages and rationing began to affect stateside consumers, a motto appeared by which many, perhaps most of those recent survivors of the Hoover-Roosevelt Depression lived. Some thirty-five years later it was revived and applied to those living in politically [and physically] embargoed Rhodesia, also engaged in a war, theirs simultaneously against foreign invaders, domestic terrorists and sellout politicians [in England and] within. Now there may be another resurgence of the applicability of that motto, and we may soon be in a much better position both to more clearly understand and appreciate the creativity and resourcefulness of those who lived by those words earlier, as well as finding a few of their earlier methods and techniques useful in our time as well: "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!"

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Saturday November 8 2008

Letter Re: A Suggested Checklist for Preparedness Newbies

Here's a beginner's list I made for my [elderly] father today:

Food
{Brown pearl] rice does not store well. Neither does cooking oil so that needs to be fresh. No, Crisco doesn't count.
Coconut oil would be your best bet.
Wheat berries - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Beans - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Mylar bags
Spices
Salt
Country Living grain mill
propane tanks, small stove and hoses to connect
freeze dried fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat if you can find them.
Water
500 gallons of water [storage capacity. Rainwater catchment is a common practice in Hawaii]
Water filter

Cooking
Cast Iron Cookware

Firearms
FN PS 90

10 PS 90 magazines

5.7 handgun

10 FN 5.7 handgun magazines

5.7 ammo

Training: Front Sight four day defensive handgun course. (Note: eBay sometimes has course certificates for $100!)

Body armor: Nick at BulletProofME.com

Medical
Personal medications
Augmentin antibiotic
Up to date dental work
Painkillers
Bandages
Iodine
Anti-fungal spray

Finances
$10,000 cash in small bills
100 one-ounce silver coins (GoldDealer.com or Tulving.com)

Transport
Gasoline in 5 gallon cans or better yet, this.
Gas stabilizer
Mountain bikes
Air pump

Miscellany
Flashlights
Rechargeable Batteries
Battery charger
Hand held walkie talkies
Topographical map of your area
Spare eyeglasses
Shortwave radio
Home generated power
12 volt battery system
Good backpack
Good knife
Good compass
Good shoes
Bar soap
Toothbrushes
Dental floss
Toilet paper
Fishing kit
Salt licks
Connibear traps


Regards, - SF in Hawaii

JWR Adds: The following is based on the assumption that SF's father also lives in Hawaii: Because of the 10 round magazine limit for handguns, I recommend that Hawaiians purchase only large bore handguns for self defense--such as .45 ACP. Both the Springfield Armory XD .45 Compact or the Glock Model 30 would both be good choices. The "high capacity" advantage of smaller caliber handguns is not available to civilians in Hawaii, so you might as well get a more potent man stopper, given the arbitrary 10 round limitation.

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Thursday September 4 2008

Letter Re: Holster, Sling, and Web Gear Recommendations

Howdy Mr. Rawles!
Before I begin, I’d like to offer my congratulations on your fine novel being republished. I’ve read it once myself, then again to my family (I hate television, reading is good family entertainment) which should be considered high accolades in itself. Currently my copy is in the Pacific Northwest, bound for the midwest next, as it continues to travel the country within my circle of friends.

I read the posted letter by R.P. on 26 August, and associated recommendations on holsters, slings, and web gear, and thought I’d offer some discussion on the matter:

The main reason pistols are currently worn on thigh rigs has less to do with ‘CDI’ [“Chicks Dig It”] factor and more to do with accessibility. When one wears a vest festooned with pouches, the bulk of these tend to hinder proper presentation of the pistol when the holster is worn conventionally on the pants belt. That is, if the pants belt can even be seen, as most wear their vests low enough to preclude such. The addition of body armor only exacerbates the situation. The pistol, therefore, is typically moved elsewhere – mostly onto a thigh rig or integrated into the vest itself. This is far from a new style though – the old leather 1911 holsters hung down from the frog clip to accomplish the same purpose.

As you noted, thigh holsters typically aren’t comfortable while ‘on the move’ . They are good for one thing though, and that’s an assault. Thus the reason that laden troops are often seen with them – those troops are equipped for an assault. Additionally, a conventionally mounted holster will typically interfere with a ruck waist belt. If not precluding ruck use entirely, at a minimum compromising comfort.

I’ve been working through these issues for years, and have come to some conclusions:

No one rig will ‘do it all’. Compromises abound and are mandatory. For the vast majority of time (as it applies to me) a light vest, at the
most, is all that is called for.

I am not personally a fan of the heritage [LC-1/LC-2 series] deuce gear. Not that the concept is wrong, bad, or anything else – but the ALICE clips (or as my associates and I came to call them, “meat hooks”) really did need to be jettisoned. They rub body parts raw, blistered, and cause other similar problems when used for any significant length of time. As well, the magazine pouches were designed more for extreme magazine retention and protection (security) than allowing a speedy reload, and the closure hardware on them never was very robust. When I had evolved my deuce gear as far as it would go, my pouches were all lashed to the pistol belt with gutted paracord. Using the grommets of the belt and the freshly-emptied ALICE clip slots on the pouches, paracord can be worked tight enough to prevent pouch movement laterally and vertically. Another consideration is that by using paracord, there is less metal to clink against other items. This technique worked well in my opinion, and happened to be identical to the way – in both layout and attaching - one of my closest friends independently evolved his LBE in Ranger school. If one is really attached to that generation of equipment, then I recommend this method of pouch attachment, as it is a quantum step up in comfort! Just make sure that the knots are oriented away from your body and melted somewhat, to prevent them from coming loose and the paracord sheathing from unraveling.

In my opinion the new generation of MOLLE load bearing vest (LBV) is superior to the old deuce gear - of course allowing that everyone is different. Not only are the MOLLE vests superior in comfort, but the modularity offers the capability of repositioning your pouches to find the placement where they feel best for that individual. I personally prefer the slightly older models that use two buckles in the front, as opposed to a zipper. Conveniently, these vests are low enough in cost that purchasing one per rifle, carbine, or shotgun isn’t cost prohibitive.

Like R.P. and yourself, I have attended Front Sight. I’ve also attended other top-notch institutions – I typically attend at least one course per year. As such, it should come as no surprise that after significant attempts at finding “a better way”, I also advocate using a conventionally mounted belt holster. It seems we prefer the same manufacturers as well – Blade-Tech and Milt Sparks specifically. The Milt Sparks folks talked me into trying the Summer Special II and I’ve been happily using that for the last three years or so and actually prefer it to the original Summer Special. I would also add Lou Alessi to the recommended holster-maker list, as I’ve been using his leather belt holsters for the last decade or so and am quite taken by his execution of the old Bruce Nelson design, which Lou calls the DOJ holster. Specifically, I prefer the slightly modified version he made for Dick Heinie. Those can still be ordered as such directly from Lou, as Dick quit carrying them. I’ve used several gun belts over the years, but eventually stuck with the Riggers Belt offered by The Wilderness. I prefer mine with the optional 5-stitch reinforcement, to make the belt less flexible under load.

I have found that the key to proper pistol presentation when wearing a vest is to have the vest ride high enough that it doesn’t interfere with the holstered pistol; not quite as high as a chest rig, but almost. As well, when laying out the pouches for attachment, I leave a open area on my front and both sides; approximately 10:45 to 1:15, 2:00 to 4:30, and 7:30 to 10:00 are all open space. This allows unimpeded access to a properly holstered pistol, as well as the spare pistol magazines and such on the opposite hip. The open area directly to my front is so that I can assume a solid prone position without lying on full magazine pouches; I space the pouches such that they act as wheel chocks when I’m in the prone. With the vest riding at this height, other items can be carried on the belt with decent access – a knife, pistol magazines, flashlight, multi-tool, and compass for example. With all that open area though, the vest really doesn’t carry much. As I’m not employed to assault enemy positions, I don’t need an assault vest. What I do need – and what the vest provides – is water, more ammo for the pistol and carbine, navigation, communications, and a blow-out kit. If called for, a PVS-14 or PVS-7D in rigid case can be quickly and securely attached to the water carrier on the back. As the unofficial motto of my favorite school says, “shoot, move, and communicate”, this vest is geared to meet those needs. What it is not geared to meet is self-sustainability. This vest shouldn’t be confused with a rig meant for patrolling, what one would choose to wear when knowingly venturing into unfriendly areas, or anything to sustain oneself longer than a few hours. Essentially this is a vest to be worn when contact isn’t expected, just something to work ones way back to a nearby resupply.

For the applications where the light vest isn’t sufficient, a ruck is called for, as well as a vest that works well with a ruck but also has the volume capabilities for sustainability. Of course, this is a trade-off, and there are many trade-offs involved in choosing kit. As always, determined by METT-T [Mission,+Enemy,+Terrain,+Troops+Time Available]. At this time, for a patrolling / heavy vest, I’m evaluating the K171 Arktis model. It’s heavier, bulkier, doesn’t allow unimpeded pistol usage (the pistol is stowed in a cross draw integral holster and meant to provide security over speed), and favors security over speed in reloading – but it does carry a patrolling load well.

On the topic of slings, I realize this is personal preference, but I prefer different slings for different applications. On a battle rifle or a precision rifle, I prefer the Quick-Cuff from Tactical Intervention Specialists. I’d been using these slings for years before our military adopted them as part of issue sniper kit - they really are top-drawer quality. I’ve used them on long-range courses and competitions and never regretted it. It doesn’t do anything that a good loop sling doesn’t do – it just does it faster and easier. For shotguns and carbines, it’s difficult to find better than the Giles or Vickers slings, in my opinion. When set-up such that the buttplate is approximately one fist height below the chin, these work very well.

At this point though, I’d like to reiterate your admonition that training must be sought. If a trip into the Arizona or Nevada deserts, the Oregon mountains, the Oklahoma hills, isn’t a viable option at the moment, then I also advocate the Appleseed Program [rifle matches and clinics]. These fine, hospitable folks will get you spooled up on the basics of marksmanship quickly and efficiently – I should know, I’ve been volunteering as an instructor for almost a year now. All the best, and God Bless! - Bravo

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Tuesday May 6 2008

Letter Re: Ropes and Knot Tying

Mr. Rawles,
I'm an avid reader of your blog, and have found it most helpful in a variety of ways. However, I have noticed a slight deficiency: there is little mention of ropes and knots.

Rope is an incredibly useful thing, both in everyday life and in a SHTF situation: it can be used in combination with a tarp and two trees to construct a makeshift shelter, can lift or pull objects, can secure objects to prevent them from moving, it can make snares and traps to catch food, and so on. One can even tie their shoes!

However, when tied with clumsy or inadequate knots, rope can be incredibly dangerous. The common square knot can fail if sideways (relative to the length of the rope) tension is applied to one of the working ("free") ends. Certain knots can weaken rope['s breaking strength] by more than 40%, which can be a dangerous condition in and of itself.

For light duty (tent cord, tying things down, etc.), military-style 550 [nylon parachute] cord is incredibly useful. For heavier load-bearing uses, one should use a suitable rope.

As always, the Wikipedia has useful links and information for tying different knots. Bookstores sell books describing hundreds of knots and their uses. As always, having paper books on hand is more useful in a SHTF situation than computer files. Sincerely, - Pete S.

JWR Replies: Thanks for mentioning that. I have provided a couple of links to knot tying web sites in the past --such as this site that shows you exactly how they're done (they show examples of around 75 specific knots) via clearly photographed animations.

One item that bears special mention is the rappelling carabiner. Commonly just called a "biner"--and called a "snap link" by the US military--these have umpteen uses for attaching/lifting/slinging/securing loads and acting like a pulley (or providing greater rope friction by adding multiple coils of rope, which of course relates to their originally-intended purpose for rappelling. I recommend buying a half-dozen (or more), with at least two of them with thumb screw-type locking gates.OBTW, avoid the flimsy pseudo-carbiners that are sold as key ring holders. (Thankfully, nowadays most of these are stamped "Not for Climbing Use".) We keep several carabiner in our ATV's cargo bag, along with a 150 foot coil of rope, and a pair of Jumar ascenders. When used in conjunction with our ATV's electric winch, this gear has proved immensely useful for tasks around the ranch, and particularly when packing big game uphill.

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Saturday March 29 2008

Letter Re: Advice on Purchasing Priorities For a Tight Budget

Mr. Rawles,
Hello again! Hope you and your family are doing well. I have had some questions on my mind lately, and was curious if you would mind helping me. (I know you must be tremendously busy with our "strong" economy!). My wife and I are both college students in Santa Cruz, California, and we have a very limited amount of storage space and limited income. Are there any tricks or pieces of advice you have for individuals like ourselves? I recently spent my tax refund on some firearms (which were from a federal firearms dealer :-[ ) and now I was curious about the next step. I contacted "Wiggy's" from your web site about some sleeping bags, but feel like a water filter would be a better investment at the moment. Thanks for your time!

OBTW, I feel like California is turning into a commune, I literally have less freedoms than I had recently thought. - V. from California

JWR Replies: Given the mild climate on the California coast, a water filter is much more important than cold weather gear for your next purchase. I recommend the American-made Aqua Rain brand. These are similar to the Big Berkey (imported from England), but they only cost half as much. (The US Dollar's recent slip versus the British Pound has sadly further widened this price gap.) Please compare prices with our advertisers such as Safecastle, JRH Enterprises, and Ready Made Resources, before buying elsewhere. Next, consider buying from our affiliate advertisers like Lehman's and Nitro-Pak. OBTW, if you contact any of our advertisers, then please mention where you saw their ad. Thanks!

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Tuesday March 25 2008

My Seven Favorite North American Edible Wild Plants, by Paul C.

In light of the impending economic and social crisis, a knowledge of edible wild plants is essential. I have included a list of seven easily recognized plants in this discussion, but keep in mind there are hundreds of edible species. These seven are common throughout much of North America.

When foraging, one must remember that if you need a field guide to identify a plant, you are not ready to eat that plant. However, field guides with color photographs are necessary for anyone interested in this activity. In my opinion, the best field guide on the market today is The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer. Although it only covers 32 plants, it does so in amazing detail. Unlike other authors, Thayer has eaten all the plants he discusses. He also notes important errors found in other field guides.

Before listing my seven choices, please keep these facts in mind: (1) an individual may be allergic (or develop an allergy to) any of these plants. Initially consume them in moderation. (2) although a plant may be easily recognized during its flowering stage, this is often NOT the time they are collected for food. Use sources with color photos (not drawings) of a plant at various stages of its life cycle to aid identification. (3) In addition to field guides and on-line sources, consult a botany reference to become familiar with botanical terms.

At the end of this discussion, I have included both on-line references as well as field guides from my own personal collection. While you may not be initially familiar with some of the plants on this list, once you see color photographs of these wild edibles you will be able to recognize many of them on your front lawn.

(1) Plantain- broadleaf plantain is found on lawns throughout the continent. It has broadly elliptical leaves that rise directly from the root in a formation known as a basal rosette; these leaves remain close to the ground. This plant can be eaten as a salad or boiled in soups (the latter is preferred when the plant gets older-at this point the leaves become stringy). Plantain leaves are rich in vitamins A and C, and minerals. Narrow-leaf plantain is also edible and is similar in appearance except for the shape of the leaves. Fresh leaves can also be mashed and applied to minor wounds.

(2) Common Purslane- Purslane is also found on lawns throughout North America. This plant barely reaches an inch off the ground. It has fleshy, jointed stems (purplish- green with a reddish tinge), and narrow, thick leaves about two inches long growing in opposite directions. The stems contain a clear fluid (Spurge, a poisonous plant that looks similar to Purslane, has milky sap). The best way to harvest this plant is to cut off only the leafy tips; it will rapidly sprout again and provide greens from May until the first frost. It can be used in soups or salads.

(3) White Oak Acorns- The leaves of a typical white oak have rounded lobes which are never bristle tipped (as opposed to red or black oak). After shelling acorns, they must be boiled to leech out tannins (in high concentrations, tannins damage the kidneys—tannins are also found in tea). The yellowish-brown water left over from leeching is a good topical remedy for poison ivy rashes; it is also styptic—it will stop bleeding. Leeching takes several hours—change the water each time it becomes yellowish-brown. After leeching, the acorns can be dried in a slow oven. They can be eaten or ground into a fine meal. This meal can be mixed with flour to extend your supply; acorn meal lacks gluten and will not make dough rise. The acorns of other oaks, while requiring a longer leeching period, are also edible.

(4) Maple Trees- people think of maple syrup, but the liquid extracted from a tapped maple tree is potable. The “keys” (winged seeds) can be boiled or roasted, while the leaves can be used in salads. In emergencies, the inner bark can also be consumed.

(5) Wild Rose- this plant is widely distributed throughout the continent. Few foods have a higher vitamin C content. The rose-hips (seed pods) can be used to make jams or dried and used for soups or teas. They remain on the plant throughout winter and can be picked when other food is not available. The seeds within rose-hips can be ground and boiled in water to provide a rich source of vitamin E. Rose flowers and leaves can also be used to make tea.

(6) Lamb’s Quarter- this plant, which thrives throughout most of the U.S., is regarded as among the most delicious of wild edibles (similar to spinach). It is available from
spring to the first frost. This plant is generally 3-5 feet tall with diamond shaped leaves; the leaves have irregular teeth or shallow lobes when mature (immature plants have spade
shaped, toothless leaves). The undersides of the leaves are often coated with a thick whitish-gray powder. Before cooking, water will not wet these leaves.

(7) Cattails- this is an easily recognizable plant of swamps and marshes throughout the world. It is a year round food source. The leaf bases can be harvested from mid spring to early summer. The immature spikes can be boiled and served with butter like corn on the cob during early and mid summer. Cattail pollen requires little processing once gathered (except for sifting) and can be combined with flour stores; it is collected during June and July. The cores of the underground rootstocks are a valuable source of starch (especially during winter)- waders or a wetsuit would be a good investment for winter harvesting. Finally, small sprouts begin to form at the tip of the rootstocks between early summer and early fall

Use the following listed sources for more information about these wild edibles. Also keep in mind that this is only the tip of the iceberg; there are hundreds of wild edibles waiting to be utilized—good luck!

References:
Thayer, Samuel. The Forager’s Harvest. Ogema, Wisconsin: Forager’s Harvest, 2006
Angier, Bradford. Feasting Free on Wild Edibles. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1969
Kinsey and Fernald. Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America. New York: Dover Publications, 1943
Peterson, Lee. Edible Wild Plants: Eastern/Central North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1977
Heyl and Burt. Edible and Poisonous Plants of the Eastern States. (A card deck with color photos!) Lake Oswego, Oregon: Plant Deck, Inc., 1973

Web Resources:
EdiblePlants.com

Plants.usda.gov

WildmanSteveBrill.com

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Thursday March 13 2008

Letter Re: Consider Volunteering at a Homeless Shelter

Jim,
I read Doc's article about volunteering in a homeless shelter and meeting some of the occupants. That brought back memories of when I was in my early teens. My Dad worked for the railroad and we lived near the railroad yards and I met a number of hobos in the woods behind our house. Most of them knew my Dad and had a lot of respect for him. He would sometimes give them spare change and cigarettes. The hobo's slept in small dugout caves in the woods and would never steal from us. But they would steal chickens from a couple of our neighbors. I never ever saw a hobo carrying what he had in a bandana on the end of a stick like you see in pictures. What most of them had was either a small suitcase or an old surplus WWII army [back]pack. My friends and I would be playing or riding our bikes in the woods and run into the hobo's eating or just hanging around. I was amazed on how they could start fires, cook, a lot of them always carried fishing tackle made up of hooks, sinkers, and line, used frog gigs with branches, set traps using snares. I used to hang around with these guys just to watch them. In turn I would sneak out some cans of beans, corn,etc to help them out. Not one time was I ever scared or harmed in any way. Again, most of them knew my Dad and left me alone. At the time I was in the Boy Scouts and learned from the hobo's and when my Scout troop would go camping I would use my skills I learned from the hobo's. This would amaze my scoutmaster and some of my fellow scouts. So I can understand Doc learning from the homeless that stay in the shelter he works at. - Randy in Asheville, NC

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Tuesday March 11 2008

Letter Re: Consider Volunteering at a Homeless Shelter

Sir;
I once had an opportunity to volunteer at a homeless shelter in Denver, Colorado. What started as a chance to be of service, turned out to be a lesson in survival. I was surprised to learn that many of the "guests" at the shelter had become experts at existing comfortably, on a permanent basis, without benefit of a home. Here are some of the things I learned:

1) The first lesson is - The quality of your bags determines the quality of your life. If your possessions are contained in fragile garbage bags, you are limited in how much can be carried and how far it can be carried. The first step up is a simple sports bag, and better yet is a backpack. Next up is a backpack along with a wheeled carry-on bag and collapsible handle. With such equipment, you stop looking homeless, and if you and your clothes are clean, hitch hiking is easier. One creative fellow used bungee cords to lash the luggage handle to his belt, so the luggage became a trailer of sorts.

On another level was a bicycle messenger who equipped his bicycle with a trailer for his worldly possessions and panniers for making package deliveries. Before you dismiss such an arrangement, consider this: His vehicle was paid for, he had no mortgage or rent to worry him, a steady job, and a large circle of friends in the shelter community. He always had money, a smile on his face, no stress, and time to help others. Can many of us say the same?

No doubt many readers of this blog have seen a "Sidewalk Winnebago" as the homeless sometimes call them. This is a grocery cart filled to overflowing with everything the user owns. If you can gain the trust of the owner, perhaps he will show you what is in the bags. It may amaze you how well equipped they are to survive whatever comes their way.

2) Staying Clean - Walgreen's sells a shower head on a short hose with a rubber adapter to connect to a faucet. They are meant for cleaning pets or dishes in the sink, but can also be used to shampoo your hair in a convenience store bathroom. The homeless man who showed me this trick said that if your hair is clean, you appear clean. This helped him find temporary jobs.

3) Self Defense - One man carried a sports bag with a Ka-Bar sheath knife inside. He could hold the sheath through the bag with his left hand, while drawing the knife through the open top of the bag with his right hand. Yet another had a Colt .45 in his bag.

4) I was told that a roll of toilet paper soaked in lighter fluid, charcoal starter, or alcohol makes a good improvised cooking fire.

5) Another guest showed me his cache that was buried by the river. It was a pair of five gallon plastic buckets, buried by rocks and hidden behind some trees in a remote area. One was filled with food, the other with cooking utensils. I doubt that this was his only stash.

Consider volunteering at a homeless shelter. You may be surprised what the residents there can teach you about survival. The most important lesson I learned is: I should be more grateful for what I have, and I should give thanks more often. What a precious lesson. - Doc. S.

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Friday February 15 2008

Letter Re: Survival Lessons from the Book "The Long Walk"

Jim,
One of your blog readers suggested the book "The Long Walk". Five minutes Googling around will satisfy you that "The Long Walk" is pure fiction masquerading as fact. I like a good yarn, but only when such stories are clearly labeled "fiction." Nobody but the British author who made up this tall tale has ever met or interviewed or known anything about the supposed Polish prisoners who he claims walked across the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas with virtually no gear. There are many great true survival stories, but unfortunately this is not one of them. - Matt Bracken in North Florida,

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Thursday February 14 2008

Letter Re: Survival Lessons from the Book "The Long Walk"

Dear Jim,
The book "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz is the best book on the human spirit over the elements (both natural and man made) that I've ever read.

The author and his group escaped from a Siberian Gulag in 1942, crossed the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas, and walked all the way to India. Over 4,000-miles! This was all without the aid of $10,000 worth of gear from the REI catalog, or for that matter, shoes.

It's a perfect combination of some of our standard topics! Government tyranny, survival, hope, ingenuity, teamwork. It was absolutely inspiring! - Frank S.

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Monday February 11 2008

Letter Re: The Recent Blizzard on I-90 in Wisconsin

JWR,
I read the link that was submitted by Craig in Odds 'n Sods. The Channel 3000 story couldn't be farther from the truth. As a local first responder, I can attest that we are getting the short end of the stick. The State Patrol didn't even acknowledge there was any problem on the interstate until hours after our crews were already on scene. They didn't even know that Dane County had set up an incident command headquarters at the Highway 51 interchange. The first semi trucks started losing traction as early as 10 a.m.that day. Near blizzard conditions had been present all the previous night. I am on Stoughton, Wisconsin EMS team, and my cousin is with the Stoughton Fire Department. My cousin and his friend, also a firefighter, responded to the command center with personally owned snowmobiles.

Shortly after these two individuals start checking the welfare of motorists, a State Patrol officer stopped them and read them the riot act for daring to drive snowmobiles on what he called "my interstate." He threatened to give both emergency responders (acting under fire command orders) citations for operating the snowmobiles on the interstate. They had been tasked by the incident commander with recon of the southbound lanes, they made it to the Rock River (where the Rock County incident command was set up), and were met by more than 30 members of the local snowmobile club. These private citizens came ready equipped with food, water and first aid. The two local firefighters were tasked by Rock Co. incident command to split up the club members into two teams and check lanes in both directions.

At no time did the local responders ever see National Guard members on snowmobiles. Nor did they ever see any on the interstate. The National Guard were handing out water and food from one truck at the Dane Co. incident command headquarters to emergency workers. The stranded motorists soon started to become covered by snow drifts. Many said that was the most scary aspect, as well as the total lack of information. Local cell towers became overloaded. Communications were accomplished by "CB relay chains".

Several diabetic motorists were assisted by snowmobilers, and one patient who was en route to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in his privately owned car was loaned a portable generator since the internal battery on the patient's medical device ran out.

The National Guard chopper was seen overhead on several occasions, but never landed as far as I know. Much later in the day, after some traffic flow began, the snowmobilers had to go back out to the interstate to wake up some of the semi truck drivers, who had been sleeping in their cabs, and whose rigs were now blocking traffic flow. All told, the firefighter/snowmobilers logged over 400 miles traversing a 25 mile stretch of I-90. - BadgerDad, EMT-IV

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Saturday February 9 2008

Letter Re: Homemade and Expedient Vegetable Oil Lamps

Sir,
I clicked on this link from your site, JOTW - Home Made Vegetable Oil Lamp. This got me to thinking about something I read about and tried once, some years ago. Take a tangerine, and using a knife, cut the nub off of the top, to expose the fruit, and using a spoon, separate the fruit from the peel and the segments from each other, leaving the sting like " pith " that runs from top to bottom, down the center of the segments, connected to the bottom. After letting the thing dry a bit, the pith is cut a bit to act as a free standing " wick ", a bit of olive, vegetable, or corn oil is put in, leaving about 1/4" of the pith above the oil to light. If it soaks up the oil enough, the lamp can be made to last quite a while for survival needs.

If you go to the extreme in a survival situation, a lamp could be fashioned from natural clay like the ones seen in the Middle East that have been made the same way since biblical times. . Many thanks to Hawaiian K. for the link. I like to try some of these type preparedness do-it-yourself projects from time to time to learn a new skill that may help me and my family some bad day. - Dim Tim

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Friday February 8 2008

Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness

Jim,
My missus and I have been into "prepping" for about 15 years. Our house has a basement and it is practically wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling with shelves--with just narrow aisles in between. The shelves are chockablock with storage food (all labeled and organized "FIFO"-style), medical supplies, assorted "field" type gear, tools, barter/charity stuff, ammo cans, propane cylinders (that fit our camp stove and camping lantern), reels of field phone wire, paper products, and so forth. Following the example of Mr. Whiskey (from your "Profiles") we have recently built up 27 sets of designated "charity duffles", each packed in a cheap Made-in-Taiwan nylon duffle bag. Each of these contains a Dutch Army surplus wool blanket, a Chinese knockoff of a Leatherman tool, a pair of gloves, a pile ("watch") cap, a half dozen pairs of socks, a thrift store man's jacket, room for four days worth of food (which we would pack from our FIFO inventory, as needed), a collapsing plastic water container (the type that Campmor sells), a waterproof match container, a tube tent, and a hand line fishing kit. ("Teach a man to fish...")

When we moved back to California in 1998, we picked our house specially because it was built in the 1940s. It is the oldest and sturdiest house on the block. (The neighborhood built up around the house, when the property was subdivided in the 1960s.) It has a basement and its own water well, which is now "off the books"--since the house is now on "city" [metered] water, but the well is still functional with a 24 VDC submersible well pump. I have four flush roof-mounted Kyocera PV panels (cannot be seen from the street) and six deep cycle batteries. The cables are run series-parallel to provide both 12 VDC and 24 VDC outputs.

Even though we live in a standard suburban neighborhood, none of out neighbors are any the wiser about our preps. At the core, I consider my preparations my own business. When the time comes to hand out the charity duffles, we will do so through an intermediary, like our church. (We are Methodists.)

After seeing what happened to that guy in Norco last year, I am glad that I keep a low profile. The specific measures that we have taken to keep a low profile are:

1.) We take no UPS deliveries at our house. Nearly all of our mail-ordered goods are sent to our private mail box at the local UPS Store (it was formerly a "MailBoxes, Etc.") From there, we take the boxes home in our minivan.We are always sure to unload the van from inside my garage, with the garage door shut. All of the empty boxes have the "to" and "from" address labels cut out with a box cutter knife. I discard the flattened boxes in the cardboard recycling dumpster behind the office where I work. (I'm a sales engineer for a medium-size company.)

2.) We don't subscribe to any shooting or hunting magazines. We get all of the gun information we need online. To "stay in the fight" politically, I do make regular anonymous contributions to the GOA, JPFO and CRPA [The California Rifle and Pistol Association, a firearms rights organization], via Post Office Money Orders. (BTW, I do the same for the SurvivalBlog [10 Cent] Challenge. Shame on any of you that read this blog regularly but don't pony up the 10 pennies a day!)

3.) We access all web pages via Anonymizer, with no exceptions.

4.) Most of of our preps purchases are either made F2F, with cash, or with Post Office Money Orders if ordering by mail. This eliminates the "trail of paper" from writing checks or using a credit card. We buy a lot from Nitro-Pak, Ready Made Resources, Major Surplus, and Lehman's.

5.) All of our guns, ammunition, gun gadgets, targets, and cleaning supplies are bought "private party", mainly at SoCal [(Southern California)] gun shows. Also, needless to mention, these are greenback transactions only! In California, we can still at least buy rifles and shotguns that are more than 50 years old without having to buy through a [licensed] dealer. We have two [M1] Garand rifles, and a FN.49, also [chambered] in .30-06. I'm still looking for one or two more of those, but they are scarce, and even harder to find private party. We also have three [Winchester] Model 12 pump[-action] 12 gauge shotguns, two of which have had their barrels shortened to 18.5 inches. Handgun buys in California all require paperwork, but by Divine Providence I bought several Glocks and [Colt Model] 1911s when I was living in Arizona for a couple years, back in the late '90s. [JWR Adds: That loophole was recently closed for Californians. Anyone moving into the state must now register their handguns. Drat! But at least there was a grandfather clause.] There is isn't much to do out in the desert except shoot, so I bought a lot of guns when we were there.

6.) We signed up for an identity theft and credit report checking protection plan three years ago. I noticed that SurvivalBlog just started running an ad from Comprehensive Risk Solutions. Their service has more bells and whistles and a lower subscription cost that our current provider, so we will switch [to them] when our current subscription lapses. [JWR Adds: I highly recommend this service. It is cheap insurance to prevent what would otherwise be a very costly incident.]

7.) We use a TracFone whenever calling a mail order vendor. (No calling history paper trail.)

8. ) We don't mention our preps to anyone outside of our family. We have coached our kids from an early age to keep their lips zipped.

9.) Whenever we have anybody visit our home, the basement door stays closed and locked. (It is a keyed deadbolt lock.) The basement has no windows. Most of our friends and relatives don't realize that we even have a basement. (Basements are actually rare in California tract neighborhoods.) To anybody that visits, the basement door just looks like a locked closet.

10.) We don't leave anything "suspicious" out where it can be seen in our house and garage.

These precautions might seem kinda "over the top", but put yourself in my shoes. In the People's Republic of California it pays to be a bit of a Secret Squirrel. I does cost me about $300 per year to get my mail and packages at the UPS Store, but I consider that a small price to pay for my privacy. I plan to retire to the mountains of central Nevada in nine years, but for now, I am making do in my present circumstances. - F.L. in Southern California

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Thursday February 7 2008

From the SurvivalBlog Archives: Start With a "List of Lists"

Start your retreat stocking effort by first composing a List of Lists, then draft prioritized lists for each subject, on separate sheets of paper. (Or in a spreadsheet if you are a techno-nerd like me. Just be sure to print out a hard copy for use when the power grid goes down!) It is important to tailor your lists to suit your particular geography, climate, and population density as well as your peculiar needs and likes/dislikes. Someone setting up a retreat in a coastal area is likely to have a far different list than someone living in the Rockies.

As I often mention in my lectures and radio interviews, a great way to create truly commonsense preparedness lists is to take a three-day weekend TEOTWAWKI Weekend Experiment” with your family. When you come home from work on Friday evening, turn off your main circuit breaker, turn off your gas main (or propane tank), and shut your main water valve (or turn off your well pump.) Spend that weekend in primitive conditions. Practice using only your storage food, preparing it on a wood stove (or camping stove.)

A “TEOTWAWKI Weekend Experiment” will surprise you. Things that you take for granted will suddenly become labor intensive. False assumptions will be shattered. Your family will grow closer and more confident. Most importantly, some of the most thorough lists that you will ever make will be those written by candlelight.


Your List of Lists should include: (Sorry that this post is in outline form, but it would take a full length book to discus all of the following in great detail)

Water List
Food Storage List
Food Preparation List
Personal List
First Aid /Minor Surgery List
Nuke Defense List
Biological Warfare Defense List
Gardening List
Hygiene List/Sanitation List
Hunting/Fishing/Trapping List
Power/Lighting/Batteries List
Fuels List
Firefighting List
Tactical Living List
Security-General
Security-Firearms
Communications/Monitoring List
Tools List
Sundries List
Survival Bookshelf List
Barter and Charity List

JWR’s Specific Recommendations For Developing Your Lists:


Water List
House downspout conversion sheet metal work and barrels. (BTW, this is another good reason to upgrade your retreat to a fireproof metal roof.)
Drawing water from open sources. Buy extra containers. Don’t buy big barrels, since five gallon food grade buckets are the largest size that most people can handle without back strain.
For transporting water if and when gas is too precious to waste, buy a couple of heavy duty two wheel garden carts--convert the wheels to foam filled "no flats" tires. (BTW, you will find lots of other uses for those carts around your retreat, such as hauling hay, firewood, manure, fertilizer, et cetera.)
Treating water. Buy plain Clorox hypochlorite bleach. A little goes a long way. Buy some extra half-gallon bottles for barter and charity. If you can afford it, buy a “Big Berky” British Berkefeld ceramic water filter. (Available from Ready Made Resources and several other Internet vendors. Even if you have pure spring water at your retreat, you never know where you may end up, and a good filter could be a lifesaver.)


Food Storage List
See my post tomorrow which will be devoted to food storage. Also see the recent letter from David in Israel on this subject.


Food Preparation List
Having more people under your roof will necessitate having an oversize skillet and a huge stew pot. BTW, you will want to buy several huge kettles, because odds are you will have to heat water on your wood stove for bathing, dish washing, and clothes washing. You will also need even more kettles, barrels, and 5 or 6 gallon PVC buckets--for water hauling, rendering, soap making, and dying. They will also make great barter or charity items. (To quote my mentor Dr. Gary North: “Nails: buy a barrel of them. Barrels: Buy a barrel of them!”)
Don’t overlook skinning knives, gut-buckets, gambrels, and meat saws.

Personal List
(Make a separate personal list for each family member and individual expected to arrive at your retreat.)
Spare glasses.
Prescription and nonprescription medications.
Birth control.
Keep dentistry up to date.
Any elective surgery that you've been postponing
Work off that gut.
Stay in shape.
Back strength and health—particularly important, given the heavy manual tasks required for self-sufficiency.
Educate yourself on survival topics, and practice them. For example, even if you don’t presently live at your retreat, you should plant a vegetable garden every year. It is better to learn through experience and make mistakes now, when the loss of crop is an annoyance rather than a crucial event.
“Comfort” items to help get through high stress times. (Books, games, CDs, chocolates, etc.)

First Aid /Minor Surgery List
When tailoring this list, consider your neighborhood going for many months without power, extensive use of open flames, and sentries standing picket shifts exposed in the elements. Then consider axes, chainsaws and tractors being wielded by newbies, and a greater likelihood of gunshot wounds. With all of this, add the possibility of no access to doctors or high tech medical diagnostic equipment. Put a strong emphasis on burn treatment first aid supplies. Don’t overlook do-it-yourself dentistry! (Oil of cloves, temporary filling kit, extraction tools, et cetera.) Buy a full minor surgery outfit (inexpensive Pakistani stainless steel instruments), even if you don’t know how to use them all yet. You may have to learn, or you will have the opportunity to put them in the hands of someone experienced who needs them.) This is going to be a big list!


Chem/Nuke Defense List
Dosimeter and rate meter, and charger, radiac meter (hand held Geiger counter), rolls of sheet plastic (for isolating airflow to air filter inlets and for covering window frames in the event that windows are broken due to blast effects), duct tape, HEPA filters (ands spares) for your shelter. Potassium iodate (KI) tablets to prevent thyroid damage.(See my recent post on that subject.) Outdoor shower rig for just outside your shelter entrance.


Biological Warfare Defense List
Disinfectants
Hand Sanitizer
Sneeze masks
Colloidal silver generator and spare supplies (distilled water and .999 fine silver rod.)
Natural antibiotics (Echinacea, Tea Tree oil, …)


Gardening List
One important item for your gardening list is the construction of a very tall deer-proof and rabbit-proof fence. Under current circumstances, a raid by deer on your garden is probably just an inconvenience. After the balloon goes up, it could mean the difference between eating well, and starvation.
Top Soil/Amendments/Fertilizers.
Tools+ spares for barter/charity
Long-term storage non hybrid (open pollinated) seed. (Non-hybrid “heirloom” seed assortments tailors to different climate zones are available from The Ark Institute
Herbs: Get started with medicinal herbs such as aloe vera (for burns), echinacea (purple cone flower), valerian, et cetera.

Hygiene/Sanitation List
Sacks of powdered lime for the outhouse. Buy plenty!
TP in quantity (Stores well if kept dry and away from vermin and it is lightweight, but it is very bulky. This is a good item to store in the attic. See my novel about stocking up on used phone books for use as TP.
Soap in quantity (hand soap, dish soap, laundry soap, cleansers, etc.)
Bottled lye for soap making.
Ladies’ supplies.
Toothpaste (or powder).
Floss.
Fluoride rinse. (Unless you have health objections to the use of fluoride.)
Sunscreen.
Livestock List:
Hoof rasp, hoof nippers, hoof pick, horse brushes, hand sheep shears, styptic, carding combs, goat milking stand, teat dip, udder wash, Bag Balm, elastrator and bands, SWOT fly repellent, nail clippers (various sizes), Copper-tox, leads, leashes, collars, halters, hay hooks, hay fork, manure shovel, feed buckets, bulk grain and C-O-B sweet feed (store in galvanized trash cans with tight fitting lids to keep the mice out), various tack and saddles, tack repair tools, et cetera. If your region has selenium deficient soil (ask your local Agricultural extension office) then be sure to get selenium-fortified salt blocks rather than plain white salt blocks--at least for those that you are going to set aside strictly for your livestock.

Hunting/Fishing/Trapping List
“Buckshot” Bruce Hemming has produced an excellent series of videos on trapping and making improvised traps. (He also sells traps and scents at very reasonable prices.)
Night vision gear, spares, maintenance, and battery charging
Salt. Post-TEOTWAWKI, don’t “go hunting.” That would be a waste of effort. Have the game come to you. Buy 20 or more salt blocks. They will also make very valuable barter items.
Sell your fly fishing gear (all but perhaps a few flies) and buy practical spin casting equipment.
Extra tackle may be useful for barter, but probably only in a very long term Crunch.
Buy some frog gigs if you have bullfrogs in your area. Buy some crawfish traps if you have crawfish in your area.
Learn how to rig trot lines and make fish traps for non-labor intensive fishing WTSHTF.

Power/Lighting/Batteries List
One proviso: In the event of a “grid down” situation, if you are the only family in the area with power, it could turn your house into a “come loot me” beacon at night. At the same time, your house lighting will ruin the night vision of your LP/OP pickets. Make plans and buy materials in advance for making blackout screens or fully opaque curtains for your windows.
When possible, buy nickel metal hydride batteries. (Unlike the older nickel cadmium technology, these have no adverse charge level “memory” effect.)
If your home has propane appliances, get a “tri-fuel” generator--with a carburetor that is selectable between gasoline, propane, and natural gas. If you heat your home with home heating oil, then get a diesel-burning generator. (And plan on getting at least one diesel burning pickup and/or tractor). In a pinch, you can run your diesel generator and diesel vehicles on home heating oil.
Kerosene lamps; plenty of extra wicks, mantles, and chimneys. (These will also make great barter items.)
Greater detail on do-it-yourself power will be included in my forthcoming blog posts.

Fuels List
Buy the biggest propane, home heating oil, gas, or diesel tanks that your local ordinances permit and that you can afford. Always keep them at least two-thirds full. For privacy concerns, ballistic impact concerns, and fire concerns, underground tanks are best if you local water table allows it. In any case, do not buy an aboveground fuel tank that would visible from any public road or navigable waterway. Buy plenty of extra fuel for barter. Don’t overlook buying plenty of kerosene. (For barter, you will want some in one or two gallon cans.) Stock up on firewood or coal. (See my previous blog posts.) Get the best quality chainsaw you can afford. I prefer Stihls and Husqavarnas. If you can afford it, buy two of the same model. Buy extra chains, critical spare parts, and plenty of two-cycle oil. (Two-cycle oil will be great for barter!) Get a pair of Kevlar chainsaw safety chaps. They are expensive but they might save yourself a trip to the emergency room. Always wear gloves, goggles, and ear-muffs. Wear a logger’s helmet when felling. Have someone who is well experienced teach you how to re-sharpen chains. BTW, don’t cut up your wood into rounds near any rocks or you will destroy a chain in a hurry.


Firefighting List
Now that you have all of those flammables on hand (see the previous list) and the prospect of looters shooting tracer ammo or throwing Molotov cocktails at your house, think in terms of fire fighting from start to finish without the aid of a fire department. Even without looters to consider, you should be ready for uncontrolled brush or residential fires, as well as the greater fire risk associated with greenhorns who have just arrived at your retreat working with wood stoves and kerosene lamps!
Upgrade your retreat with a fireproof metal roof.
2” water line from your gravity-fed storage tank (to provide large water volume for firefighting)
Fire fighting rig with an adjustable stream/mist head.
Smoke and CO detectors.


Tactical Living List
Adjust your wardrobe buying toward sturdy earth-tone clothing. (Frequent your local thrift store and buy extras for retreat newcomers, charity, and barter.)
Dyes. Stock up on some boxes of green and brown cloth dye. Buy some extra for barter. With dye, you can turn most light colored clothes into semi-tactical clothing on short notice.
Two-inch wide burlap strip material in green and brown. This burlap is available in large spools from Gun Parts Corp. Even if you don’t have time now, stock up so that you can make camouflage ghillie suits post-TEOTWAWKI.
Save those wine corks! (Burned cork makes quick and cheap face camouflage.)
Cold weather and foul weather gear—buy plenty, since you will be doing more outdoor chores, hunting, and standing guard duty.
Don’t overlook ponchos and gaiters.
Mosquito repellent.
Synthetic double-bag (modular) sleeping bags for each person at the retreat, plus a couple of spares. The Wiggy’s brand Flexible Temperature Range Sleep System (FTRSS) made by Wiggy's of Grand Junction, Colorado is highly recommended.
Night vision gear + IR floodlights for your retreat house
Subdued flashlights and penlights.
Noise, light, and litter discipline. (More on this in future posts--or perhaps a reader would like to send a brief article on this subject)
Security-General: Locks, intrusion detection/alarm systems, exterior obstacles (fences, gates, 5/8” diameter (or larger) locking road cables, rosebush plantings, “decorative” ponds (moats), ballistic protection (personal and residential), anti-vehicular ditches/berms, anti-vehicular concrete “planter boxes”, razor wire, etc.)
Starlight electronic light amplification scopes are critical tools for retreat security.
A Starlight scope (or goggles, or a monocular) literally amplifies low ambient light by up to 100,000 times, turning nighttime darkness into daylight--albeit a green and fuzzy view. Starlight light amplification technology was first developed during the Vietnam War. Late issue Third Generation (also called or “Third Gen” or “Gen 3”) starlight scopes can cost up to $3,500 each. Rebuilt first gen (early 1970s technology scopes can often be had for as little as $500. Russian-made monoculars (with lousy optics) can be had for under $100. One Russian model that uses a piezoelectric generator instead of batteries is the best of this low-cost breed. These are best used as backups (in case your expensive American made scopes fail. They should not be purchased for use as your primary night vision devices unless you are on a very restrictive budget. (They are better than nothing.) Buy the best starlight scopes, goggles, and monoculars you can afford. They may be life-savers! If you can afford to buy only one, make it a weapon sight such as an AN/PVS-4, with a Gen 2 (or better) tube. Make sure to specify that that the tube is new or “low hours”, has a high “line pair” count, and minimal scintillation. It is important to buy your Starlight gear from a reputable dealer. The market is crowded with rip-off artists and scammers. One dealer that I trust, is Al Glanze (spoken “Glan-zee”) who runs STANO Components, Inc. in Silver City, Nevada. Note: In a subsequent blog posts I will discuss the relationship and implications to IR illuminators and tritium sights.
Range cards and sector sketches.
If you live in the boonies, piece together nine of the USGS 15-minute maps, with your retreat property on the center map. Mount that map on an oversize map board. Draw in the property lines and owner names of all of your surrounding neighbor’s parcels (in pencil) in at least a five mile radius. (Get boundary line and current owner name info from your County Recorder’s office.) Study and memorize both the terrain and the neighbors’ names. Make a phone number/e-mail list that corresponds to all of the names marked on the map, plus city and county office contact numbers for quick reference and tack it up right next to the map board. Cover the whole map sheet with a sheet of heavy-duty acetate, so you can mark it up just like a military commander’s map board. (This may sound a bit “over the top”, but remember, you are planning for the worst case. It will also help you get to know your neighbors: When you are introduced by name to one of them when in town, you will be able to say, “Oh, don’t you live about two miles up the road between the Jones place and the Smith’s ranch?” They will be impressed, and you will seem like an instant “old timer.”


Security-Firearms List
Guns, ammunition, web gear, eye and ear protection, cleaning equipment, carrying cases, scopes, magazines, spare parts, gunsmithing tools, targets and target frames, et cetera. Each rifle and pistol should have at least six top quality (original military contract or original manufacturer) full capacity spare magazines. Note: Considerable detail on firearms and optics selection, training, use, and logistic support are covered in the SurvivalBlog archives and FAQs.

Communications/Monitoring List
When selecting radios buy only models that will run on 12 volt DC power or rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery packs (that can be recharged from your retreat’s 12 VDC power system without having to use an inverter.)
As a secondary purchasing goal, buy spare radios of each type if you can afford them. Keep your spares in sealed metal boxes to protect them from EMP.
If you live in a far inland region, I recommend buying two or more 12 VDC marine band radios. These frequencies will probably not be monitored in your region, leaving you an essentially private band to use. (But never assume that any two-way radio communications are secure!)
Note: More detail on survival communications gear selection, training, use, security/cryptography measures, antennas, EMP protection, and logistical support will be covered in forthcoming blog posts.

Tools List
Gardening tools.
Auto mechanics tools.
Welding.
Bolt cutters--the indispensable “universal key.”
Woodworking tools.
Gunsmithing tools.
Emphasis on hand powered tools.
Hand or treadle powered grinding wheel.
Don’t forget to buy plenty of extra work gloves (in earth tone colors).
Sundries List:
Systematically list the things that you use on a regular basis, or that you might need if the local hardware store were to ever disappear: wire of various gauges, duct tape, reinforced strapping tape, chain, nails, nuts and bolts, weather stripping, abrasives, twine, white glue, cyanoacrylate glue, et cetera.


Book/Reference List
You should probably have nearly every book on my Bookshelf page. For some, you will want to have two or three copies, such as Carla Emery’s "Encyclopedia of Country Living". This is because these books are so valuable and indispensable that you won’t want to risk lending out your only copy.

Barter and Charity List
For your barter list, acquire primarily items that are durable, non-perishable, and either in small packages or that are easily divisible. Concentrate on the items that other people are likely to overlook or have in short supply. Some of my favorites are ammunition. [The late] Jeff Cooper referred to it as “ballistic wampum.” WTSHTF, ammo will be worth nearly its weight in silver. Store all of your ammo in military surplus ammo cans (with seals that are still soft) and it will store for decades. Stick to common calibers, get plenty of .22 LR (most high velocity hollow points) plus at least ten boxes of the local favorite deer hunting cartridge, even if you don’t own a rifle chambered for this cartridge. (Ask your local sporting goods shop about their top selling chamberings). Also buy at least ten boxes of the local police department’s standard pistol cartridge, again even if you don’t own a pistol chambered for this cartridge.
Ladies supplies.
Salt (Buy lots of cattle blocks and 1 pound canisters of iodized table salt.)
(Stores indefinitely if kept dry.)
Two cycle engine oil (for chain saw gas mixing. Gas may still be available after a collapse, but two-cycle oil will probably be like liquid gold!)
Gas stabilizer.
Diesel antibacterial additive.
50-pound sacks of lime (for outhouses).
1 oz. bottles of military rifle bore cleaner and Break Free (or similar) lubricant.
Waterproof dufflebags in earth tone colors (whitewater rafting "dry bags").
Thermal socks.
Semi-waterproof matches (from military rations.)
Military web gear (lots of folks will suddenly need pistol belts, holsters, magazine pouches, et cetera.)
Pre-1965 silver dimes.
1-gallon cans of kerosene.
Rolls of olive drab parachute cord.
Rolls of olive-drab duct tape.
Spools of monofilament fishing line.
Rolls of 10 mil "Visqueen", sheet plastic (for replacing windows, isolating airspaces for nuke scenarios, etc.)
I also respect the opinion of one gentleman with whom I've corresponded, who recommended the following:
Strike anywhere matches. (Dip the heads in paraffin to make them waterproof.)
Playing cards.
Cooking spices. (Do a web search for reasonably priced bulk spices.)
Rope & string.
Sewing supplies.
Candle wax and wicking.
Lastly, any supplies necessary for operating a home-based business. Some that you might consider are: leather crafting, small appliance repair, gun repair, locksmithing, et cetera. Every family should have at least one home-based business (preferably two!) that they can depend on in the event of an economic collapse.
Stock up on additional items to dispense to refugees as charity.
Note: See the Barter Faire chapter in my novel "Patriots" for lengthy lists of potential barter items.

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Sunday February 3 2008

Letter Re: A Reader's Tale of Survival on Alaskan Rivers


In reading your last few days posts on preparedness for disaster, etc, it brought to mind an experience I had twenty plus years ago in Alaska's wilderness. I am only here to relate this story for one reason - I listened to my father as a young man, one of the few times that I did, but it saved my life.

In 1985 I was on a moose hunting trip on a river boat with a close friend, whose nickname is Dangerous Don. We had put in our boat at the town of Nenana and proceeded up river to a smaller tributary, about 60' wide. As we made the tributary, we got hung up on a sandbar. While we were stuck, Don decided to fill the gas tank on the boat motor from a jerry can. I was in the bow keeping us stable in the river with an oar. He filled the motor, and then used a battery cable from the battery to touch the lead on the motor. He had spilled gas in the back of the boat. As soon as he touched the post on the motor, it sparked and the gas immediately exploded. I heard the explosion and felt the heat on my neck at the same time. I turned and saw Don engulfed in the flames. At that moment, I panicked. I jumped out of the boat, and in the process, flipped my glasses into the river. I grabbed the rope and went towards shore. I was able to tie the boat off on a dead snag next to the river. Don was able to get out of the boat. We stood on shore watching the boat burn.

After watching the boat burn for what seemed like an eternity, we realized the boat was our only way out. We managed to salvage our clothes, a thermos of hot water, a bag of sugar and Don's rifle. By then the fire was out of control, burning the wood transoms, seats and floorboards. We managed to swamp the fire out of the boat by pulling it up the bank and swamping the stern into the river. As we did this, an oar floated down river.

Don immediately dived in, swam down river and retrieved the oar. We then had to pull the boat out of the river after swamping it. By then 10-12 minutes had passed. We were soaking wet and chilled to the bone in the 35 degree drizzle. We were starting to exhibit hypothermia, and knew we were racing a clock. We decided one of us should immediately change to get into dry clothes, and the other start a fire. I changed to dry clothes while Don chopped dry branches off the dead snag, and found some somewhat dry plywood out of the boat. We found some tinder from some dry game bags. But nothing to start the fire. This was the most ironic situation I had ever faced - just put out a fire that was trying to kill us, only to not be able to start one so we could stay alive. Don finally got a spark off of his lighter to ignite the game bags we had soaked in white stove gas we had salvaged.

Once the fire was roaring, Don was turning white from the cold. I had to change his clothes, as he could barely stand. We found a blanket, tied it up as a windbreak and sat in front of the fire, feeding it branches until they ran out. We poured the baggie of sugar into the hot water thermos and drank it. I was sitting on a stump and was starting to doze off - which I knew was trouble.

I must digress here to relate the reference earlier of listening to my father as a young man. When I was 6 years old, my father's brother-in-law was on an elk hunting trip with him and others in the Coeur d' Alene mountains, when he became separated from the party during a snow storm that set in. My father looked until late and went to town to the sheriff's office, only to be turned down by the sheriff - he said it would have till wait until morning. They found my uncle dead the next morning sitting on a stump with his glasses off and his wallet next to them. He was 19. (This happened in 1961.)

For the next ten years, I was schooled by my father in the woods, when we went hunting, fishing, camping, working on the farm etc. When I was twelve and old enough to hunt, I never left his sight for the first three years. After that he would put me on stands until he was certain I knew what I was doing. Most of my hunting was in the rugged Coeur d'Alene Mountains. His number one mantra "If you are in trouble and cold and have no shelter, and no means to make one, don't ever sit down until you can find shelter."

As I was sitting on that stump after the boat fire, my father's words came back to me. I remember in my daze telling Don to "kick me" I woke up on the ground. I jumped up, grabbed Don by the lapels and told him we were leaving. We were going to somehow fix the boat, load everything back in it and float back to the truck. I told him I would rather die on the river attempting to get out, than I would of hypothermia sitting along the river bank. We had no fire, no shelter, no food - he agreed.

We patched the holes along the transom in the boat with foam from under the seats. We loaded all our gear in the front so as not to swamp the back where the holes were. We then shoved off and began to float back to Nenana. As I had lost my glasses, we switched off with Don's glasses to read the river. Once we got to the Tanana which is over a 1/2-mile wide of glacial silt, we felt confident we could make it back.

We then encountered Mr. Murphy. ("Murphy's Law."]After thirty minutes or so on the big river, we saw a tugboat headed up to Fairbanks pulling a barge, and throwing a big wake. As we had a leaky boat on the stern, we knew if we took a wake, we were sunk, literally. We rowed frantically to the far side of the river, turned into the wake and crossed over behind the tug and barge without mishap. We made it to Nenana with no further trouble.

As I have related this story over the years, and am now preparing everyday for "The Crunch" I realize that no matter how prepared we are, how many books we read, how many exercises we drill at, we have to all at times rely on Divine intervention, first and foremost. Yes we were prepared that day for emergency, but not completely. We made mistakes, and we got things right. But without the intervention of YHWH, we would be dead.

During the times ahead of us, which I believe to be the unfolding of events that will usher in the return of our Messiah, we must be so tight with YHWH, that we will know what to do ahead of time prompted by his spirit. I pray that all that have read this, will understand we can be prepared, but if we aren't redeemed, we don't stand a chance with the Almighty when the last trumpet sounds. - Kepha in Idaho

JWR Replies: Thanks for sharing that story with us. As background, I should mention that I attended Northern Warfare School in Alaska, in 1980. It was the three week summer course for West Point and ROTC cadets. (It had nearly all of the fun of the winter course, but very little of the misery.) The first phase of the course was a week of riverine operations, on the Tanana River. What many readers that are unfamiliar with glacial rivers would not realize from reading your account is the depth of the peril you were in. For their benefit, let me add this: If Kepha's expedient boat patches had not held and the boat had sunk mid-channel in the Tanana, he and Don probably would not have lived for more than 20 minutes, even wearing life vests. Glacial rivers are bitter cold--so cold that if you fall in, you can lose consciousness within 10 minutes. Their waters are also so silt-laden (which is what gives them their liquid chocolate appearance) that anyone that falls in very quickly has their pockets and every crevice of their clothing fill up with silt, weighing them down. This is often enough to drown even a very strong swimmer. Kepha's survival was indeed a providential gift from God.

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Wednesday January 30 2008

Prepare or Die, by J. Britely

Throughout my life I have been caught unprepared several times and while nothing seriously bad happened, it easily could have.  I have been lost hiking.  My car has broken down in very bad neighborhoods - twice.  I have been close enough to riots that I feared they would spread to my neighborhood, been in earthquakes, been too close to wildfires, been stuck in a blizzard, and have been without power and water for several days after a hurricane.   I managed to get myself out of each situation, I thanked God, and tried to learn from my mistakes.  I could have avoided these situations or made them much less unsafe and worrisome if I had been more aware and prepared.  I have also tried to learn from the mistakes of others so as to not learn everything the hard way.  One group I assisted was a two hour drive into the mountains, out of gas, wearing tee shirts, and had empty water bottles (at least they kept them) (I have made each of those mistakes but not all at the same time). 

I aspire to be more prepared the next time.  My preparedness includes many different aspects.  In my opinion, the most important thing I have done is to learn as much as possible about what to expect and how to deal with those situations.  The other important thing that gives me some piece of mind is that I carry and stock away water, food, ammo, books, and other tools and equipment that should help me survive a bad situation.  Be prepared!

The other inspiration for my preparations is my family.  Seeing my family suffer from lack of water or food would be very hard for me, especially if some easy and cheap preparations could have made a big difference.  Recently, a few friends and family have asked me about my preparations and how they might prepare.  I didn't have a good short answer because I have spent years learning and stocking away.  I thought of myself as more of a student than a teacher in this area, but now I think I do know enough to give some basic advice and refer them to good sources for more.  Hopefully, they (and you) can learn from my mistakes without having to waste time, energy and money on things that don't work.  Of course, I haven't been through every situation or disaster but I have made it through a few tough spots without losing my head.  My advice is based upon what I know to work and also what sounds like it would work with the minimum fuss.  I always prefer the cheap, easy, home-made solution, but sometimes it is worth the cost to get a quality item that is just too hard to improvise or where the manufactured solution is much better (such as a knife).  Keep it simple stupid (KISS) when you can.  With persistence you can get a lot done $20 at a time.

The purpose of this document is to give an overview of preparedness and the first steps to take.  I focus more on the why than the what so that you can tailor your preparedness to your own situation and budget.  I will also cite the best sources I have found for more information.  There is a lot of information out there in books, classes, web sites, and forums. Most of it is good but it is also really repetitious and overwhelming.  This document is only about 15 pages printed out (you are printing important information (not necessarily this) aren't you - since in an emergency you may not have power and need to take the information with you).  I try to keep my important preparedness documents in an expandable file folder with a tie inside a plastic crate.

What are you preparing for?

No one really knows what will be the next survival situation they will face or how it will play out (will it get worse before it gets better?).  It could be getting lost hiking, the car getting two flats in the middle of the desert, a hurricane, a home invasion, an earthquake, or a terrorist attack.  You must assess your own situation and determine what you need to prepare for.  Of course some preparations will be useful in many situations including everyday life, and these are the best type.

In order to get an idea of what to prepare for, look at the types of situations that you or people similar to you have been through.  Also, assess where you live or spend a lot of time such as work and vacation.  We need to learn from the past but without fighting the last war. 

I like hiking and being outdoors, so for me learning how not to get lost and how to stay alive in the outdoors are high priorities.  These skills may also come in handy if I need to walk to safety during a terrorist attack because all of the roads and public transportation are closed.  Living in your house without power or water isn't too different from camping except for the nice roof over your head and all of your stuff.  I have also taken a first aid class.  It is pretty limited in coverage but still useful in a variety of situations.

To assess the likely dangers to where I live and work I used several sources including FEMA (free guide), DHS, Disaster Center, Emergency Essentials, Two Tigers and CBS.  Also, find your local emergency response office.  But don't rely on the government too much for planning or for help.  As we relearned with the Katrina response, their information and advice is far from perfect.  And FEMA has always said it will take 72 hours to respond.  So the way I look at it, during Katrina, FEMA (and local governments) failed to live up to its own low expectations.  But even if FEMA had been able to provide more food and water, you would still be much better off taking care of yourself.  Do you really want to be told what possessions you can hold, when to eat, when to sleep, and live in close quarters with thousands of strangers?  Sounds like prison to me.

It's A Disaster is a good book that will get you started on a plan for most disasters.  Some of their plans are a little passive for me (don't take any risks and follow all FEMA directions) and their kits lack some important things like knives.  Still, it is a very good book and a great start.  Family and friends should be included in your planning and preparations as much as they want to be, but be careful about telling people who you do not trust or know well.  You do not want to become a target in a crisis.

I think one of the best sources for thinking about what you are preparing for and what does and doesn't work is news and first hand accounts.  These are some of the best ones I have found.  A few of them seem kind of glib and bravado but the advice seems sound.

True Stories of Survival

Hurricane Katrina: http://www.frfrogspad.com/disastr.htm

Argentina thread 1: http://www.clairewolfe.com/wolfesblog/arg.html

Argentina thread 2 (some swearing): http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2715

Airplane crash: http://www.equipped.com/waldock698.htm

Ground Zero: http://www.equipped.org/groundzero.htm

Karen Hood's Survival Journal (a week in the wilderness) http://www.survival.com/karen1.htm

Sailing to Hawaii http://www.equipped.com/0698rescue.htm

Tsunami http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1187/

Alaska http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/8017/index2.html

A list of stories

Priorities

The survival Rule of Threes:

  • It takes about three seconds to die without thinking
  • It takes about three minutes to die without air
  • It takes about three hours to die without shelter
  • It takes about three days to die without water
  • It takes about three weeks to die without food
  • It takes about three months to die without hope
  • Try to have at least three ways of preventing each of the above (a backup to your backup).

So the priorities are thinking, air, shelter, water, food, and hope.  These are rules of thumb and approximations.  Also, you will likely start feeling really bad before you die so you need to be proactive in addressing these needs.

Thinking
Basically, don't panic and do something stupid.  This is easier said than done, but you can build your thinking skill and confidence by playing “what if” games. After reading about the risks to your area and the survival stories above, think about what kinds of things could go wrong and how you would deal with them.  The more detail the better.  What would you do if a cat 5 hurricane was projected to hit your house?  Where would you go?  What would you take?  Would it all fit in your car?  Do you have enough gas to get there if the gas stations are closed?  What if you don't have time to leave? What room in your house is safest (can you reinforce it easily)?

If you are facing a serious situation but no immediate threat, take the time to consider your options before rushing into a course of action.  Take an inventory of what you have on hand and what is around you.  Think of how each item could help solve one or more of your priorities. 

Thinking about these things may be scary but it will be less scary when it actually happens if you have thought it through.  Focus on what you can do to improve things and not on what you cannot change. Thinking can also be more long term as in learning and planning.  I suggest you read some of the sources below and then come up with a plan for several types of situations that you are likely to face.  But don't delay, you can take some first steps outlined below, such as storing water, right now.  You can then read more, take classes and collect useful items.  Preparing is a process not a one time event.

Air
Having breathable air is not something you usually have to worry about, but it is an immediate priority if you do.  First aide can help with choking and bleeding (which causes the body to not get needed oxygen). Hundreds of people die from carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide poisoning every year because of gas leaks and cooking or heating indoors.  Being at altitude can also make it harder to breath.  Finally, a terrorist attack could put dust, chemical, biological, or nuclear contamination in the air or force you into a shelter that needs ventilation.  Be aware of these dangers and have appropriate detectors if possible (smoke, carbon monoxide, etc.).  A wet cloth or hand wipe (carry on airplane) to breathe through can help for dust or smoke.

Shelter

Shelter is mainly about staying dry and the right temperature, but you also want to avoid sunburn, bugs, animals and other dangers.  Your house is your usual primary shelter but it could become damaged or you may have to evacuate.  You should have emergency repair items on hand such as tarps, lumber, shovels, nails, plastic sheeting, crowbars, and a saw.

Your clothes are your first and most important layer of shelter outdoors.  Clothes protect you from heat, cold and abrasions.  In general silk, wool, and synthetic materials are better than cotton especially to keep you warm in cold wet weather. I find cotton more comfortable especially in hot weather, so I compromise and wear a cotton shirt and shorts, but carry a better shirt, pants and socks in my bag, as well as additional layers and a change of underwear.  This makes my pack a little heavier, but I have been cold and wet in the wilds and that is miserable.  For me, a hat and sunglasses are indispensable.  I try to always carry at least a light water resistant jacket or poncho (with a garbage bag as a backup).  For me, boots are the only sensible walking shoes.  Find some that are rugged and comfortable.  Have extra laces and a backup pair.

You can carry a tent, a tarp or garbage bag for resting and sleeping.  A tarp can make a simple shelter or an elaborate one.  Rope, twine and tape are also useful.  You can carry some type of staff or tent poles or make them with an ax or saw.  Mosquito netting is necessary in some places.

You should have many ways to start a fire since most are cheap and compact.  At least have a lighter, matches, and flint.  You can also build a firebed to sleep in if you have inadequate shelter from the cold.

Water
This is a crucial area that can be helped a lot with very cheap and easy actions before The Schumer Hits The Fan (TSHTF).  This is probably the thing you can do with the highest payoff for amount of effort.  The only problem with water is that it is heavy and can take up a lot of room.  If you have storage room and are staying home this isn't a problem but if you are on the move it can become a driving factor in your progress.  Long term solutions are also difficult if your primary water source (city water or well) goes out and you are not near a river or lake. 

Used plastic soda bottles and orange juice jugs with screw tops make very convenient water storage containers.  Just rinse them a few times with hot water. Old liquor bottles and wine box bladders work well too.  I also have several canteens and rugged 5 gallon containers with taps.  The five gallon containers weigh about 40 pounds each and are about as big as can be easily moved (larger drums can go in your basement or garage or under a rain spout).  A few collapsible containers might also be useful because they can be stored and carried empty.  Tap water can last for years without going bad if kept in a cool dark place.  But you should check water that has been stored for clarity and odors.  If in doubt, treat it with one of the methods below.  You can also freeze the plastic soda or orange juice containers (these do crack sometimes when freezing) and use them in a cooler to keep food cold if the power goes out before drinking it.  If you know a disaster is coming fill up any container you can including the coffee maker, crystal vase, bucket, bathtub, sink, and kiddy pool (some of these could be spilled or contaminated but hopefully some will make it).

Most sources recommend about a gallon per person per day.  People consume about 2 quarts in cool low activity environments but much more if hot or active.  You should have at least 2 weeks worth per person in your primary residence (but why not have months worth if you have the room).  If you are traveling by car, three days worth per person is minimum (more for bathing), and if you are walking take as much as you reasonably can carry but at least one days worth (several small bottles are better for diversification if one leaks and also to let you know to start looking for more water before you are on your last bottle).  I also store extra water for washing and bathing.  Here the container doesn't matter quite as much.  I use old liquid detergent jugs.  You should also have at least two methods of sterilizing water. 

The first step in sterilizing water is to get the water as clear as possible.  If it is cloudy, strain it with coffee filters, a clean cloth, or sand.  Or you can let it settle and pour off the more clear water. 

The primary and most reliable method of sterilizing water is boiling.  You actually do not need to boil the water just heat it past 145 degrees for long enough. But if you don't do it right you can get sick.  So to be safe, boil it for 5 minutes if you can.  If you are walking, a metal cup (enamel or stainless) or a converted tin can is easier to boil than a full pot.  You can carry a backpacking stove or a Kelly Kettle.  You can use solar power to sterilize water (in a soda bottle) if no cooking is possible.  Other stoves are suggested below under food. 

To sterilize water with bleach use 2 drops of plain unscented bleach per quart of water (or 8 drops per gallon or 1⁄4 tsp per 2 gallons).  If you don't have a dropper you can wet a paper towel and then drip it (wear gloves).  Let the water sit for 20 minutes and then smell it.  If it smells like chorine then its good to go.  If it doesn't, repeat with the same amount of bleach.  If that doesn't work try to find other water.  (Really bad water or salt water requires a still.)  Bleach is cheap but does not last forever - rotate.  Dry Calcium Hypochlorite {sold as "pool shock" bleach) stores much better than liquid bleach but requires an additional step of mixing a solution. (It provides a very inexpensive long term solution to water treatment).

There are also Potable Aqua iodine tablets that are more compact for sterilizing water.  You can also use Tincture of Iodine.  Iodine and chlorine are poisons so be very careful (kill the bacteria not yourself. [Avoid ingesting chlorine or iodine crystals!])

Any of the chemical treatments can make the water taste funny.  You can use drink mixes to make it taste better.  I'm not sure if sports drinks are really better, but Gatorade seems more thirst quenching to me than water.  The powder form is more convenient and cheaper.  You can also make your own sports drink (1/4 tsp nu salt (potassium chloride), 1⁄4 tsp salt, 3-6 tbsp sugar (to taste), juice of 1 lemon (or orange), and optional flavoring (Kool-Aid) per gallon of water) or switchel.        

Of course you can spend money for water if you want to.  You can buy prepackaged water or expensive filters. There are backpacking filters but I have found these to be temperamental.  A water bottle with a filter would be a good backup or a straw. You can also go the more expensive route with a good gravity fed filter like this: http://www.doultonfilters.com/gravity.html.  This is a great looking solar still but doesn't appear to be for sale right now. 

If you are a homebrewer (or like beer), you can add some dry malt extract, hops, and dry yeast to your stash.  Beer is boiled as part of the brewing process.  Then the alcohol and hops act as a natural preservative.  For the long term you can get some sproutable barley, grow some hops, and culture yeast.  If you or someone with you doesn't handle alcohol well, skip this. 

Food
Providing food can be as easy or complicated as you want.  The easiest thing to do is simply buy more of any food you normally buy that stores well.  By store well, I mean does not spoil.  Foods like fresh milk, meat and bread do not store well.  Other foods like rice, dried beans and pasta all store well and are cheap.  They eventually lose some of their nutrition but this is gradual and will not make you sick from eating “expired” food if you forget to rotate.  I do not list exact rotation schedules because every source is different.  Some sources say grains only last one year but most sources say 10 plus years and other credible sources say hundreds or thousands of years.  It all depends upon how it is packed and where it is stored which is discussed below (vacuum packed, cool and dry are best) Canned meats, fruits and vegetables store okay and are more expensive.

How much food you want to have on hand depends on what type of situation you expect and how much you want to spend.  Buying a month' worth of rice, beans, salt, and pasta will not cost much (and is a good start).  You will be a lot happier if you add:

  • canned or dried meat (Costco and BJs have multipaks of Spam, ham, tuna and chicken for under $10)
  • canned or dried fruits and nuts
  • canned or dried vegetables
  • dried potatoes
  • canned or dried sauces (for pasta, chili, etc.)
  • soup mixes (bean soups are cheap) and bullion
  • dried onions
  • parmesan cheese
  • cooking oil
  • ramen noodles
  • peanut butter
  • mayo
  • vinegar
  • sugar and honey
  • powdered milk
  • bread crumbs, stuffing, oatmeal, cereal
  • flour, pancake mix, biscuit mix
  • baking soda
  • cocoa, instant coffee, tea, drink mixes, juice mixes (cranberry)
  • lemon juice
  • dry yeast
  • spices 

Some of these can be eaten without cooking or water if you have to.  Costco is great for the rice, canned goods, bullion, yeast (2 pound box), cooking oil and spices. Don't forget a can opener and other utensils.  Of course you can do the drying (wood or solar) and canning yourself for better quality and lower cost.  The oil, flour, baking soda and yeast (refrigerate the yeast if possible) do not store well and have to be rotated more frequently than the rice, beans and pasta.  You will be healthier if you add some multivitamins.  There are also luxury items like Powerbars, powdered eggs, powdered cheese, powdered butter, food tabs, and meals ready to eat (MREs).

To decide how much you need, you can simply scale up recipes and meals (print some simple recipes that use your stored food).  How much rice and beans would you eat at a meal or in a day if that was all you ate?  A lot probably (make a meal as a trial).  Now multiply that by the number of people and the number of days and you have a ball park of how much to store.  The problem is that you could end up feeding more people than your immediate family.  Who else would you not turn away? (Anyone you wouldn't want to live with normally is not someone you want to be stuck with in a crisis.  That said there is some family I wouldn't turn away even if they deserve it).  Start with the cheap stuff (rice, beans, pasta, salt) and then slowly keeping adding and rotating the other food until you have at least one months worth.  Do an inventory at least twice a year.

Store everything in airtight/waterproof containers inside a tough container in a cool, dry, dark place.  Some things come packed pretty well and can just go in a plastic bucket or crate (cans can be dipped in wax).  Other items should be vacuum packed in small bags or large mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and then put in the plastic bucket with a lid or crate (with a solid latching lid).  If you don't have shelves, you can make shelves out of the buckets or crates and 1”x12” lumber.  Put 2”x4”'s under the bottom shelf to keep it off the floor.

For years worth of food instead of months worth of food we need to move to grain and grain grinders.  The Church of Latter Day Saints are the experts here.  They also have storehouses that will sell to the public if you are polite.  Of course you can buy online but the shipping will be as much or more than the food.  I went cheap and was able to get about six months worth of food for one person for $100.  I stuck to grains (400 lbs/year), beans (40 lbs/year), soup mix (20 lbs/year), and milk (16 lbs/year) (I already had sugar (60 pounds/year), salt (10 lbs/year), oil (5 gallons/year), baking soda and yeast).  I borrowed some of their equipment to pack some of the food, the rest I packed at home in the mylar bags and buckets described above.  The milk is a sticky powder and very messy (think of spilling flour and multiply by 100), repack it outside if possible.  I also bought a hand operated grain grinder to make flour from the wheat.  Then I can make bread (scale this recipe up to one loaf per day for a year as a cross check for a year's supply).  This would be a pretty miserable diet but I think it would keep me alive and healthy if I had enough vitamins.  Because of the sack size I have more of some things than others so towards the end I may be eating paste.  I hope to upgrade later.  For infants you need more milk, oil, sugar, and vitamins from which you can make an emergency formula (breast feeding is better, then you give the extra food to the mother). 

For even longer food solutions you need to farm.  Supplementing your food with a garden or sprouting would also make things last longer and provide some healthy variety.  Its best to have some non-hybrid seeds on hand or save seeds from your garden.  Serious (expensive) seed packages are here.  Have some fertilizer and pesticides on hand but in the long run organic is the way to go.

For cooking you can use a wood burning stove, barbeque, or camp stove in the short run (have some extra fuel on hand).  The Petromax lantern is pricey but well made and also has a stove attachment.  If you don't have one of these or run out of fuel you can build one: a coffee can stove, a bucket stove (avoid galvanized metal), a alcohol stove, a collapsible stove, a tin can stove (simple version), solar oven (portable version), or a clay stove (print directions for making at least one of these).  This is also a good commercial stove for those with cash to burn.  These are much more efficient than an open fire.  You need a good pot or dutch oven for boiling water and cooking.  For more portable food you can go with MREs, make your own or stock what ever you would normally backpack with.

Hope
Hope is different for everyone.  It can be safety, comfort, companionship, or normalcy.  For me it is mainly hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I can work hard and persevere if I know eventually things will get better.  This means long term planning.  So I want to have what I need in the short term but also have some hope for the long term (so I have gardening tools and seeds in addition to rice and spam).  You also want comfort items such as a book, Bible, game, coloring book, pictures, beer, tea, or warm shower.  Some of these can be dual purpose such as a book about hiking or gardening, survival playing cards, or a novel about survival and perseverance. 

Equipment
There are lots of things you can get, but you can also just organize what you have already.   The number of lists seems endless and what you need depends upon the situation, your skills, and your budget.  Here is what is wrong with the DHS kit  I have already mentioned several items above and list some others here but being comprehensive would take a lot of space (read the links and references for more).  Here are some basics.

All types of camping equipment and tools come in handy but can be expensive (shipping can be expensive too so you may want to make your own, try your local yard sales, craigslist, sporting goods or hardware store first).  You may want a small tent to carry and a larger tent to put in the car.  Sleeping pads are as much for insulation as for comfort (learned the hard way—you don't want to be in the cold without some insulation between you and the ground).  A hammock can be multipurpose.  You can try your local hardware store for lanterns or Lehman's (they also have candle making supplies).

I suggest four knives for anyone responsible enough to have one (in general you get what you pay for, but start cheap and upgrade later): a folding lock blade knife (buck and gerber are both good reasonably priced brands), a Swiss army knife (with saw blade) or leatherman type knife (pliers are handy), a solid full tang knife, and a machete or short sword for brush.  A kitchen knife can work until you get any of these.  A hatchet would also be useful.  Keep them sharp.

You need several maps (local, state (small scale and large scale), neighboring states, topographic and road) and a compass.  A GPS is optional but very handy.  There are usually welcome centers along interstates and in some cities that hand out free maps.  The USGS is a good source for reasonably priced maps but sometimes it is a bit hard to find what you are looking for.  They have a catalog for each state that really helps. They are also very friendly by phone but still prefer if you order online. 

You should have at least one non portable (plug in) phone that can be used with the power out.  Medicine, diapers and feminine products will be hard to get.  A generator is great but can be expensive and you must have enough fuel (I don't have one but want one).  Solar powered battery chargers are really slow but might be the only option.

Change your attitude, don't be wasteful, and you can reuse many items. A tin can becomes a cup or pot with a little work.  Use both sides of a piece of paper and then use it as insulation or tinder.  Waste not, want not.  This also minimizes trash as there may be no trash pickup.

Organize your equipment and supplies into different levels and packages

Stuff you almost always carry

You should make a small kit that fits in your pocket or around your neck.  This should include:

  • ways to make a fire (matches, mini bic, flint, etc.)
  • a button compass
  • a small knife or razor blade, broken hack saw blade, small file
  • Swiss Tech Micro-Tech 6-in-1 Tool
  • led light
  • small candle (light or fire making)
  • a saw
  • short piece of wire
  • parachute cord (as much as will fit)
  • iodine tablets
  • sturdy needle and thread
  • individual salt servings
  • food tabs, hard candy, bullion or individual parmesan cheese/sugar (if space permits)
  • freezer bags (water)
  • nails (assortment)
  • trash bag if it will fit (poncho or tarp)
  • dental floss (twine)
  • Advil, Imodium, Benadryl, vitamins, band aids, SPF chapstick any other essential medicine for you or your family (all labeled)
  • fish hooks, split shot, fish line, safety pins.
  • Survival cards can go in kit or wallet (you can make something similar). 

Personal Fanny Pack (or vest)

This should be small enough and attached to you so that you do not put it down even when you take a break.  Take it with you on any hike, drive or emergency.  A large fanny pack works well or Ranger Rick suggests putting everything in a vest and a bamboo walking stick.  You can duplicate some of the items in your mini kit but add substantially.

  • Survival cards or pocket survival guide (or print some out).
  • Knife of your choice (another one can go in your pocket or on your belt)
  • Sharpening stone (or ceramic insulator)
  • Fire materials (matches and tender (dryer lint, cotton balls in Vaseline, small candles, etc.) waterproofed)
  • Magnifying glass wrapped in bandana
  • Pliers if your knife doesn't have them
  • Compass
  • Maps
  • Metal cup (boiling water)
  • 2 small bottles of water
  • Freezer bags (organization, waterproofing and for more water)
  • Small camp soap (or traveler's shampoo)
  • Iodine tablets
  • At least 2 trash bags (clear for still and heavy black for shelter), or tarp and poncho, or space blanket, or light weight jacket with hood (a shell that compacts) or hat
  • Rope, twine and wire
  • Headlamp and extra batteries
  • Candle
  • Wipes (these are multipurpose and are more compact than toilet paper, keep them in zip lock bags (add a little water if they get dry))
  • Gloves and socks
  • Small first aide kit (including prescriptions)
  • Sunscreen and bug repellant.
  • Whistle
  • Snacks (powerbars, trail mix, food tabs, tea, Gatorade mix, bullion, beef jerky, MRE)
  • A GPS, FRS radio, am/fm radio, cell phone, or CB can go in here if it fits
  • Mini binoculars (to spot landmarks, approaching fires, etc.)
  • Notepad and pencil or pen
  • A multipurpose tool is a good backup for the other items.

72 hour kit (or less)

To some, the 72 hour kit is everything they have in their house for disasters.  I think this should be what you take with you if you have to evacuate (even on foot).  If you can't carry 72 hours worth of food and water (that is a lot of water even if you only plan 2 quarts per day), scale it down and put the rest in a car bug out kit that can be used in your house or on the road.  You can also make a similar kit for work or other places you are likely to be in an emergency.  It should be in a medium sized backpack that you can easily carry (get a rain cover for the backpack (or make one)—these really help in wet conditions).  Again, repeat items in your smaller kits as you see fit.  Here are some suggestions:

  • It's a Disaster! Book (or print out a similar one)
  • Personal mini-kit and fanny pack or vest (attached to you separately from the backpack)
  • Water (as much as you can fit without making the bag too heavy, you can carry some containers empty and fill them later)
  • Changes of clothes (several underwear and socks, long underwear)
  • Jacket, hat, and sunglasses
  • Sleeping bag or blanket (and compact pad), hammock
  • Soap and other toiletries (comb, nail clippers and razor)
  • Small stove and/or lantern (or directions and supplies for making one of the stoves above)
  • Small tent or tarp and netting, plastic sheeting, tent poles and stakes (multipurpose)
  • Stuff sacks, mesh bags, pillow cases for organization
  • Duct tape
  • Hatchet or machete, folding saw
  • Small shovel
  • Rope, twine and bungee cords
  • Backpacking pot/pan
  • Cooking and eating utensils (kitchen knife, can opener, spatula, spoon, forks, plates, cups)
  • Foil
  • Dish soap, sponge, dish pan or bucket (collapsible) (also a wash basin or bucket), towel
  • Food (Snacks and MREs as well as rice)
  • Vitamins
  • Detailed road maps
  • topo maps
  • Extra ammo
  • Pocket warmers
  • A GPS, FRS radio (everyone with a list of channels to use), am/fm radio, solar calculator, or CB (whatever you have that fits)
  • Copies of important documents, phone numbers, extra credit card, cash, ID
  • Comfort items (book, cards, bible, pictures, coloring books, games)

Car Kit

Keep this in the car if possible.  I used to keep a lot of this in my car but since some of it was stolen, I keep most of it in the house and load it up for longer trips.  I have something similar to the personal fanny pack that I keep hidden in the jack compartment.

  • 72 hour kit
  • Flashlight and batteries
  • Fire extinguisher
  • Jumper cables
  • Seat belt cutter and window breaker (keep within reach)
  • Water (bottles can go under the seats)
  • Matches
  • Gloves
  • Tarps
  • Garbage bags
  • Wipes
  • Maps
  • Driving compass
  • Rope and/or tow strap and bungee cords
  • First aide kit (any medications)
  • Siphon hose for water or gas (do not drink gas)
  • Window washer/scraper
  • Crowbar and other tools (hammer, saw, wrenches, duct tape, fuses, belts, and screws)
  • Ax, bucket and shovel (this is required in some forests)
  • Engine oil
  • Gas can (keep it empty and unused unless you have a place for it on the outside of your car or truck)

Stuff you take if you have to Bug Out

This is stuff that is too heavy to carry in your 72 hour kit but something you can throw in your car (in addition to what is already there) quickly if you need to evacuate.  You might be able to take it in a garden cart if you can't drive but travel by roads is still safe.  Here is an example to help you make your own kit (or here).  Pack it in crates or duffle bags.  Here are some suggestions (what fits in your car will vary):

  • More survival books or books on camping/country/simple living
  • 5 gallon water cans (full)
  • Food (cans and other heavy bulky items)
  • Cooler (grab some ice and any travel friendly fresh items that are still good like cheese, peanut butter, apples, lemons, and bread)
  • Large first aide kit
  • Dutch oven
  • Stove and fuel or barbeque, Kelly Kettle
  • Lantern (Petromax is good but expensive)
  • Unscented bleach
  • Tent and large tarps, rugs
  • Blanket and pillows (sleeping pad, hammock, or cot)
  • Paper plates, utensils and cups
  • Paper towels and wipes
  • Foil
  • Solar shower
  • Bucket toilet (you can store garbage bags, toilet paper, wipes, and soap inside the bucket)
  • Many garbage bags
  • Laundry soap
  • Clothes pins
  • Soap and shampoo
  • Ant traps and insecticides
  • Fishing gear
  • Radio and batteries
  • Several extra fuel cans (enough to get to your destination without refueling)
  • Propane heater with fuel
  • Generator
  • Small safe for guns and documents
  • Bikes (on rack and with pump and tire repair kit)
  • Frisbee or other games

First Aid and Medical Kits

Take a first aide class and more training if you can.  For supplies, the place to start is with a pre-made small portable first aide kit and a larger home or car first aide kit.  These are usually $10 to $20 on sale (but can be $100's if you want).   You can add items from your medicine cabinet and replace things like the cheap scissors that usually come with them. However, these usually are not good for much more than minor cuts and scrapes (going to a hospital/doctor may not be an option or may take a while—so do your best until you can get to one).  For more serious injuries you probably have to make your own kit.  The best book is Wilderness Medicine, by William W. Forgey.  His suggested kit in the back of the book is great (I learned the hard way I needed some of the items that he recommends and figure the other items are ones I may need in the future).  Amazon and Moore Medical have most of the items if you can't find them locally.  For the house or car first aide kit, I suggest a hard sided box like a tool box.  Dental care is also important.  A toothache is really distracting. A little dental kit like this could make you a lot more comfortable until you can see a dentist.

Other Kits

Make other kits as you see fit.  I have a kit that is mainly in case of terrorist attack (I live and work too close to a likely target).  I have Jane's Chem-Bio Handbook and what to do if a nuclear attack in imminent as well as Potassium Iodide (seven days), plastic sheeting, duct tape, Tyvek clothes coverings,  and a face mask (this is not as good as a gas mask but its what I have).  You can spread this to your other kits if you want.

Security
Protecting yourself from criminals is as natural as buying a fire extinguisher to put out fires (but more expensive).   Get fences, dead bolts, and lock your windows at night but if someone really wants to get in your home they will.  Police take an average of 11 minutes or more to respond to violent crimes 40 percent of the time (sometimes hours), under normal conditions. A lot can happen in 11 minutes and you are going to wait a lot longer in a crisis.  When someone is kicking in your door, it is too late to go buy a gun.  You are on your own.  Relying on the kindness of someone breaking into your home is not a good bet.

If you are a gun person, pick your own gun.  This advice if for those who don't own a gun or don't shoot.  I suggest a pistol, a rifle and a shotgun for every adult (check you local gun laws).  If I had to only have one gun it would be a shotgun because of their versatility.  A 20 gauge shotgun is more than enough for most purposes including home defense and has less recoil than a 12 gauge.  The Remington 870 is a great choice but many people also like Mossberg.  Take a class on using the shotgun for home defense.  For home defense ammo, I use bird shot.  This will not penetrate and stop a criminal as fast as buck shot but is also less likely to go through a wall and hurt an innocent person.  Make your own decision here based on who is in adjoining rooms and how close the neighbors are.  You can always load bird shot as the first few shells followed by buck shot (keep about 200 rounds on hand because it will be hard to buy in a crisis).  The only options I recommend are hearing protection, glasses, a cleaning kit, a sling (guns with slings don't get set down in bad places as much) and maybe a light or night sights.  I think the factory stocks are fine. 

Next on my list would be a .22.  The Ruger Single Six is a nice revolver that is convertible to either 22 LR or 22 magnum (This might be a better choice as the only gun for some people). Also get a holster for it.  Savage and CZ make bolt action rifles that are great bargains. A .22 is a little small for home defense (it is less likely to stop a criminal in his tracks) but a lot better than nothing.  It is also important to be comfortable with your gun and a .22 is fun to shoot so you are more likely to practice (.22 ammo is very cheap and you can get 1,000 rounds for about $20).  As soon as you are comfortable with the .22 and your budget allows, you should probably upgrade to a larger common caliber (.357 for a revolver, 9mm, .40 or .45 for an automatic pistol, 12 gauge for a shotgun, and .223, .308, 7.62x39, .30-30, or .30-06 for rifles).  Get a concealed weapon permit if your state allows them even if you don't plan on using it (carrying a gun).  Again, these take some time to get so you have to get one before you need it even if you think that will be never.  Also, the required classes are really great and focus mainly on when not to use a gun.  Almost any gun range will offer such a class (and many others that are worth it too).  In general, buying a used gun is fine (simple guns are very durable) but for the guns I recommend here, the premium for a new gun (gun store or some sporting good stores) will probably be less than $100 and probably worth it to avoid any mechanical issues to start with.

Learn the gun safety rules and locking up any guns not on your body is a good idea and a necessity if you have kids (or adults who act like kids) in your home.  For pistols you can get a cheap keyed safe for about $20 (also good for documents).  Then you have to hide the key where you can find it quickly but no one else can.  A combination safe is better but a lot more expensive (practice opening it in the dark).  For long guns you can get a locking cabinet for about $100 (some cases have a good lock and that is a good idea for taking with you in the car), put a lock on a closet, or get a real safe for about $1,000.  Trigger locks are generally a bad idea because you can accidentally pull the trigger when getting them on or off.

If you decide against a gun, at least get pepper spray, a baseball bat, or a flashlight.  A self-defense class would be good too (martial arts classes are good but take a long time to become practical). A bullet proof vest and helmet would be good but neither is inexpensive.  Finally, there is safety in numbers.  Staying with family and friends during a crisis is a good idea if resources and space allow.

First Steps

  1. Buy some unscented bleach and start storing water.
  2. Start accumulating food and other supplies.  Initially, just buy more of the food that you already buy that stores well.  Re-pack as necessary.  Get some food grade buckets or plastic crates and find a cool dark place.
  3. Start reading more about the risks that you face personally and ways to deal with them.  What is your plan to deal with each?
  4. Organize your stuff into personal mini kits, personal fanny packs (or vests), one or more 72 hour kits for each person for each location they spend time, a car kit, a bug out kit, and your house stash.
  5. Practice.  This doesn't have to be a military style exercise.  Try camping and living without power and running water (in your backyard to start with).  Load your car with what you think you would want to take if you had to evacuate.  How long did it take?  Did it all fit?  Try driving back roads to get out of town.  Go hiking with your 72 hour kit. 
  6. Periodically take an inventory and revise your plans.

Books and other sources (in order of relevance and grouped)

Online Resources

SurvivalBlog (the best daily variety of all types of information at a good price too)

Alpha Rubicon (The "Mythbusters" of the survival world. Membership required for most information, great information and more personalities than members)

 

Non-fiction

Fiction
Some of these are a bit far fetched and depressing (worst case) and mainly about TEOTWAWKI  (sing “It's The End of The World as We Know It, and I feel fine" ) (they are fiction) but still give some good food for thought.

Author's web site: www.PrepareOrDie.com

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Thursday January 3 2008

Sources for Free Survival and Preparedness Information on the Internet, by K.L. in Alaska

Recent comments in SurvivalBlog provided excellent advice on using the public library. You can gain lots of knowledge with no expense, then purchase only those books you want to keep on hand for personal reference. Also, many colleges and universities loan to local residents, so you can use them too, even if you aren't a student.

If your local libraries participate, a great resource is Worldcat. It lets you search for books from home, then go check them out, or get them through interlibrary loan.

What will happen to the Internet when the SHTF? There's no guarantee it will survive. Even if the World Wide Web endures in some form, most of the individual computers connected to it will not. Hopefully by then you will have already downloaded all the free info that's going to help you cope with the new world.

You may want to download a copy of information on this web site or any other web site with useful content. It would be a shame to face some disaster when all the resources of the internet are no longer at your fingertips.

 In preparation for a worst case scenario, it's a good idea to begin now to collect the knowledge that will come in handy later. You can download whole books, save them to jump drives, and keep an entire library in a very small space. All kinds of free manuals, guides, tech tips, and schematics are available on the internet; for everything from firearms to furnaces to computers to appliances.

All of the downloads listed here are in the public domain or allowable for copying. Stay away from sites that may involve copyright infringement. If you use a file-sharing site such as Limewire, Kazaa, or any site that uses bit torrents, you are not only downloading, but also uploading. Your participation involves automatically uploading to other users. If the file is illegal, you are distributing illegal material, not just downloading it. Stay away from these and stick with the legitimate sites listed below.

Keep in mind that some of this information you download might be illegal to use at the present time. You can't practice dentistry on your neighbor just because you have the book. Nevertheless, you have the right to possess this very vital information. After TEOTWAWKI, all bets are off. The information you collect today might save your life or the life of somebody you love.

Many downloads are in Portable Document Format (PDF) form, so to read them you must have a suitable program such as Adobe Reader, which is the free version of Adobe Acrobat. There are alternatives to Adobe that can read PDF files, if you prefer. Some of these files are very large. If your internet connection is slow, it's better to right click and download rather than try to read a huge file online.

Some documents you may want to print out. Others you can just leave on disc. Just be sure to store your drives safely. Not included in this list are the many web sites that are very good resources in themselves. Rather, these are the files you can download for offline viewing at a later time. Download them while you still can!

Project Gutenberg was mentioned as a good place to go for eBooks.

The Smithsonian Institution is another great resource. They have digitized many older books, maps, and documents in their collection.

Wikisource has a nice collection of free eBooks.

One way to search for books no longer in copyright is to use Google Book Search. Check "full view." If it comes up in the search, it can be downloaded as a PDF file.

A good alternative to Google is the Internet Archive which includes books, images, audio, and more. The Internet Archive also hosts the Wayback Machine, which archives copies of an incredible 85 billion pages from the internet of years past.

Over 100,000 free eBooks can be accessed through Digital Book Index

2020ok is a directory of free online books and free eBooks

The British Columbia Digital Library has an impressive Collection, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and most importantly, the Holy Bible. It also has a Guide to other digital libraries.

Scribd is an online document library of free research articles, eBooks, and other content.

A great resource for home schoolers is the Internet's largest directory of free audio & video learning resources maintained by LearnOutLoud.com.

Check out the postings of Home Schooling On-line Resources on the The Mental Militia Forums, as well as the "Must Have" Books/reference material topic.

More than 3,200 pages related to the U. S. Constitution can be downloaded from The Founders' Constitution

Firearms For any firearm you own or plan to own, you should have a drawing of its Exploded View, which will help identify parts and how they fit together. One of the most comprehensive collections of Exploded Views is the paper edition of the Numrich Arms Catalog, which in itself is a gold mine of information and very inexpensive for a volume of over 1200 pages.

But if you only need certain Exploded Views, there are many places on the internet where you can download them for free:

Gunuts is a good place to start with hundreds of drawings. Another source is The Okie Gunsmith Shop, which is apparently no longer operating, but you can still download drawings and parts lists from its web site.Big Bear Gun Works has another good list. For pre-WWII firearms, check out Gunsworld. For examples of specific firearms manufacturers, see Remington, Browning, and SKB Shotguns

The book, The Defensive Use Of Firearms by Shane C. Henry is available as a download from rec.guns. An enormous amount of additional gun information is available on the rec.guns web site.

There are several good sources for Military Publications: GlobalSecurity.org has a huge collection of Military manuals.

Try Integrated Publishing for access to millions of pages of engineering manuals and documents.

The U.S. Army Materiel Command maintains the LOGSA web site for access to thousands of Army technical manuals.

The U.S. Air Force maintains the Air Force e-Publishing web site.

As mentioned recently, The Small Wars Journal has a Reference Library of downloadable military documents.

The Brooke Clarke web site has a good guide to accessing military field manuals

Surviving War and Nuclear Attack For a basic guide, download How To Survive A Chemical Or Biological Attack.

Nuclear War Survival Skills, along with some other very interesting books, can be found on the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine web site. This book includes plans for the Kearny Fallout Radiation Meter (KFM). If you have not bought a radiation meter, you should at least download the book for future reference. You can also get the Free Plans from The Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Nuclear War Survival Skills is also available on the KI4U web site as an online book, but not as a download.

The Equipped To Survive web site has some free ebooks, as well as books for sale: Survival, Evasion, and Recovery and U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76.

The Volunteer Center of Marin County, California has prepared A Guide to Organizing Neighborhoods for Preparedness, Response and Recovery which you can copy from their web site. 

Medical Resources The Disease Net has a library of downloadable manuals on survival, weapons, emergency medicine, and less serious subjects.

Virtual Naval Hospital is a digital library of naval, military, and humanitarian medicine

The very important field manual, First Aid For Soldiers FM 21-11 can be downloaded here.

One of the best medical handbooks available is the U.S. Army Special Forces Medical Handbook ST31-91B. It can be downloaded free (as well as additional essential guides) from Delta Gear, Inc.

A newer version of the Medical Handbook, plus more great material can be downloaded from NH-TEMS (New Hampshire Tactical Emergency medical support).

The American Red Cross has some of their disaster guides online for download. For most of their material, you have to go to the local office. Some of it can be copied from the Earth Changes Media Survival Tips page. 

The Red Cross Book, First Aid in Armed Conflicts and Other Situations of Violence

The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency book, The Ship Captain's Medical Guide

Hesperian makes available free downloads of its books for medical treatment in primitive conditions. Two highly respected guides it publishes are Where There Is No Doctor and Where There Is No Dentist.

Here is a direct link to the must-have book Survival and Austere Medicine: An introduction. Australian Survivalist Online has several additional Files for downloading.

The Department of Agriculture has a treasure trove of information for free download. This agency maintains The National Agricultural Library, a collection of free information on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition, and other related subjects.

Another USDA web site is the Cooperative Extension Service. Click on the map to navigate to various Extension offices around the country. Don't limit your search to just your own state. Many of them have invaluable information on animals, crops, construction, food preparation and much more for free download.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) offers downloads about preventing plant and animal diseases, among other topics.

The USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) offers Fact Sheets about food handling and preparation, and emergency preparedness.

Other Important Reference Resources The classic outdoor guides, The 10 Bushcraft Books by Richard Graves are available on the Chris Molloy web site. Free manuals for electronic equipment can be downloaded from eServiceInfo.com. Another source is UsersManualGuide.com. For Ham Radio and Test Equipment Manuals, the KO4BB web site has Free Downloads, as well as LINKS to many other web sites with free downloads. A few examples of repair information for outdoor equipment are Penn Reel Schematics, and Mercury outboard parts.

Paid Services In the unlikely event that you can't find free information on the Net to fix that generator or whatever you need to repair, there are web sites that charge for information. As a last resort, you can check Sam's PHOTOFACT service manuals, or RepairManual.com. Hopefully, that won't be necessary.

The foregoing just begins to scratch the surface. Some of these free downloads are also available as books or CDs from eBay, Amazon or from some of the survivalist web sites. That is fine. Sometimes it is easier to just pay the money and buy the book. But nobody can afford it all, and downloading gives you access to millions of pages - much more knowledge than you could acquire through any other method.

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Friday December 28 2007

Letter Re: Skills Versus Gear for Survival

Jim,
After reading the Profiles you have posted. I have come to the conclusion I cannot hold a dime to these folks. Makes me wonder why should I bother. Hmmm, that thought lasts all of five seconds. A lot of the people for whom you profiled are in a much higher income bracket than the rest of us working folks. Personally, I have two jobs and work 12-14 hours a day. I was unlucky enough to be in a third rear end collision. In my life time this year, although instead of being rear ended by an illegal uninsured illegal alien like the last two times. This time I was rear ended by a 94 year old woman who also was uninsured. Makes it hard to work with post-concussion syndrome from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). I have a hard time with short term memory. But do what I can, the best that I can.

I live in a small city in Massachusetts in a 500 square foot second floor apartment in a house.
I have four 15-gallon water containers + 15 cases of Poland Spring 3 liter bottles, About 20 cases of MREs or the equivalent thereof. I bought only the items I knew I liked, 20 cases of the two person pouches from Mountain House again a chosen menu but rather extensive. Also 50 #10 [one gallon] cans of both freeze-dried food and dehydrated foods--mostly soups in the dehydrated department. I have close to 15 weeks supply of groceries. I work in a supermarket for one of my jobs and I look around during my break for "ideas " to expand my dietary habits.

I have canned butter, cheese, bread, and meats. My other job allows me to get discounts on a product called a Vittle Vault. An 80 gallon air/water tight container which I use to bury my other food (all freeze dried pouches) but not before sealing it in plastic from a nifty device I found at Costco one day ( One day I was shopping at Costco and I stopped to look at something else and came back to my cart and there it was just sitting in my cart. Never did find who put it there. Anyway it has found a good home with me ever since.:) Everything is hidden away. Amazing what one can stuff safely under the bed. I have a couple of products that run on propane one-pound cylinders like the Mr. Heater Big Buddy and a Coleman lantern. The Christmas Tree Shoppe is world renowned for having lots of candles on sale all the time too. Although do not want to have any lights on when other do not. Not too draw any unnecessary attention to ones self.

I have a Black Berkey water filtration system, with a half dozen back up filters and several 5 gallon buckets for either the collection of snow or from the stream out back, or to use as an emergency dry toilet.

I am a faithful practitioner of homeopathic remedies,and have quite the collection of remedies and books and homeopathic today magazines. Which I read all the time, to keep it fresh in my memory. Also read a lot of medical/ wilderness first aid books. Took a class from the National Ski Patrol. Thought it would be another 1st aid class. Boy was I wrong. Three months later they awarded me with a WEMT certification, finished top 3 in my class of 20. I have an easier time learning " if I can play with it ". So now I have a collection of 500 EMT flash cards that I go through twice a week, Also Wilderness Way magazine read through my collection of 40 magazines every week as well. My library also included books on herbs, symptoms, pathology, anatomy, first aid, NBC, wilderness survival.

I'm obtaining a [State-issued] Firearms Identification (FID) card soon, God willing for a long gun or three. Handguns are not allowed in Massachusetts for subjects err I mean citizens. Also magazines over ten rounds are not permissible unless one has a handgun permit for that as well or its off to jail for a year, no questions asked. Trying my best to avoid the jail part.
Go to a gun range three times a month and rent a instructor and a gun of my choosing over 300 to choose from ( guns)and say teach me how to use this. Stocked up on medical supplies and trauma kits mostly from Galls.com. I have wiped out many a first aid kits just from cutting my finger. What am I preparing for I think the economy is going to blow out sooner than later. Like it would not surprise me if it happened in the next 30-to-60 days. How bad it will be and how long it will last?. No clue but history shows major wars start with major economic troubles.
Oh forgot to mention already went shopping at KI4U and got the complete package. A lot of other items I am sure I left out but you get the gist of it. The longer the economy survives the longer we have time to prepare, for whatever. I do not wish the dollar to die but if it does die then I hope it enjoys a long, very long lingering death. - Scott V.

JWR Replies: I commend you for your dedication, Scott. I have long held the opinion that true preparedness is more about skills than it is about money. I have a lot of wealthy consulting clients that have heaps of supplies and tools, but I have my doubts about their ability to actually survive when things get Schumeresque. When I ask them about firearms training, they often say that they have the money, but that they don't have the time to attend. What good is a large firearms battery if you aren't confident and competent with these tools? (Some owners admit that they haven't even zeroed all of their guns!) I hear similar lame excuses about first aid training. Many community classes are available free or for a nominal fee, but few take the time to attend them. And the same for physical fitness. Most exercises take little or no equipment, or can even be done with improvised "low cost/no cost") equipment.

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Tuesday December 25 2007

Letter Re: Hunkering Down in an Urban Apartment in a Worst Case Societal Collapse

Hello,
In the event of a disaster (I live in New York City) I intend to shelter in place until all the riotous mobs destroy each other or are starved out. I am preparing for up to six months. I have one liter of water stored for each day (180 liters) and about 50 pounds of rice to eat as well as various canned goods. I have not seen on your site anything about heat sources for urban dwellers who intend to shelter in place. I'm assuming that electricity would go first soon followed by [natural] gas and running water. Do you have any recommendations for cooking rice and other foods in this event.
I am considering oil lamps or candles, methane gel used for chafing dishes, or small propane tanks. Because of the small size of my apartment and potential hazards of storing fuel I'm unsure which would be best. Please advise. Thank You, - Michael F.

JWR Replies: I've heard your intended approach suggested by a others, including one of my consulting clients. Frankly, I do not think that it is realistic. From an actuarial standpoint, your chances of survival would probably be low--certainly much lower than "Getting Out of Dodge" to a lightly populated area at the onset of a crisis. Undoubtedly, in a total societal collapse (wherein "the riotous mobs destroy each other", as you predict) there will be some stay-put urbanites that survive by their wits, supplemented by plenty of providential fortune. But the vast majority would perish. I wouldn't want to play those odds. There are many drawbacks to your plan, any one of which could attract notice (to be followed soon after by a pack of goblins with a battering ram.) I'll discuss a few complexities that you may not have fully considered:

Water. Even with extreme conservation measures you will need at least one gallon of water per day. That one gallon of water will provide just enough water for one adult for drinking and cooking. None for washing. If you run out of water before the rioting ends then you will be forced to go out and forage for water, putting yourself at enormous risk. And even then, you will have to treat the water that you find with chlorine, iodine (such as Polar Pure--now very scarce), or with a top quality water filter such as a Katadyn Pocket water filter.

Food. For a six month stay, you will need far more than just 50 pounds of rice! Work out a daily menu and budget for an honest six month supply of food with a decent variety and sufficient caloric intake. Don't overlook vitamin supplements to make up for the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. Sprouting is also a great option to provide vitamins and minerals, as well as aiding digestion. Speaking of digestion, depending on how your body reacts to the change in diet (to your storage food), you may need need a natural laxative in your diet such as bran, or perhaps even a bulk laxative such as Metamucil.

Sanitation. Without water for flushing toilets, odds are that people in neighboring apartments will dump raw sewage out their windows, causing a public health nightmare on the ground floor. Since you will not want to alert others to your presence by opening your window, and no doubt the apartment building's septic system stack will be clogged in short order, you will need to make plans to store you waste in your apartment. I suggest five gallon buckets. A bucket-type camping toilet seat (a seat that attaches to a standard five or six gallon plastic pail) would be ideal. You should also get a large supply of powdered lime to cut down on the stench before each bucket is sealed. You must also consider the sheer number of storage containers required for six months of accumulated human waste. (Perhaps a dozen 5 gallon buckets with tight-fitting o-ring seal lids would be sufficient.) Since you won't have water available for washing, you should also lay in a supply of diaper wipes.

Space heating. In mid-winter you could freeze to death in your apartment without supplemental heat. As I will discuss later, a small heater or just a few candles can keep the air temperature above freezing.

Ventilation. If you are going to use any source of open flame, you will need lots of additional ventilation. Asphyxiation from lack of oxygen or slow carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are the alternatives. Unfortunately, in the circumstances that you envision, the increased ventilation required to mitigate these hazards will be a security risk--as a conduit for the smell of food or fuel, as a source of light that can be seen from outside the apartment, and as an additional point of entry for robbers.

Security. The main point of entry for miscreants will probably be your apartment door. Depending on the age of your apartment, odds are that you have a traditional solid core wood door. In a situation where law and order has evaporated, the malo hombres will be able to take their time and break through doors with fire axes, crow bars and improvised battering rams. It is best to replace wooden apartment doors with steel ones. Unless you own a condo rather than lease an apartment, approval for a door retrofit is unlikely. However, your apartment manager might approve of this if you pay for all the work yourself and you have it painted to match the existing doors. Merely bracing a wood door will not suffice. Furthermore, if you have an exterior window with a fire escape or your apartment has a shared balcony, then those are also points of entry for the bad guys. How could you effectively barricade a large expanse of windows?

If you live in a ground floor apartment or an older apartment with exterior metal fire escapes, then I recommend that you move as soon as possible to a third, fourth, or fifth floor apartment that is in a modern apartment building of concrete construction, preferably without balconies, with steel entry doors, and with interior fire escape stairwells.

Self Defense. To fend off intruders, or for self defense when you eventually emerge from your apartment, you will need to be well-armed. Preferably you should also be teamed with at least two other armed and trained adults. Look into local legalities on large volume pepper spray dispensers. These are marketed primarily as bear repellent, with brand names like "Guard Alaska", "Bear Guard", and "17% Streetwise." If they are indeed legal in your jurisdiction, then buy several of the big one-pound dispensers, first making sure that they are at least a 12% OC formulation.

If you can get a firearms permit--a bit complicated in New York City , but not an insurmountable task--then I recommend that you get a Remington, Winchester, or Mossberg 12 gauge pump action shotgun with a SureFire flashlight forend. #4 Buckshot (not to be confused with the much smaller #4 bird shot) is the best load for defense in an urban environment where over-penetration (into neighboring apartments) is an issue. But if getting a firearms permit proves too daunting, there is a nice exemption in the New York City firearms laws for muzzleloaders and pre-1894 manufactured antique guns that are chambered for cartridges that are no longer commercially made. It is not difficult to find a Winchester Model 1876 or a Model 1886 rifle that is in a serial number range that distinguishes it as pre-1894 production. (See: Savage99.com for exact dates of manufacture on 12 different rifle models.) You will be limited to chamberings like .40-65 and .45-90. You can have a supply of ammunition custom loaded. A Winchester Model 1873 or and early Model 1892 chambered in .38-40 might also be an option, but I would recommend one of the more potent calibers available in the large frame (Model 1876 or 1886 ) rifles. Regardless, be sure to select rifles with excellent bores and nice mechanical condition.

For an antique handgun, I would recommend a S&W double action top break revolver chambered in .44 S&W Russian. None of the major manufacturers produce .44 S&W Russian ammunition. However, semi-custom extra mild loads (so-called "cowboy" loads, made specially for the Cowboy Action Shooting enthusiasts) in .44 S&W Russian are now available from Black Hills Ammunition. The Pre-1899 Specialist (one of our advertisers) often has large caliber S&W double action top break revolvers available for sale. The top breaks are very fast to load, and you can even use modern speed loaders designed for .44 Special or .44 Magnum cartridges with the stumpy .44 S&W Russian loads.(It has the same cartridge "head" dimensions.)

Firearms training from a quality school (such as Front Sight) is crucial.

Fire Detection and Contingency Bug-Out. A battery-powered smoke detector is an absolute must. Even if you are careful with candles, lanterns, and cook stoves, your neighbors may not be. There is a considerable risk that your apartment building will catch fire, either intentionally of unintentionally. Therefore, you need to have a "Bug Out" backpack ready to grab at a moment's notice. Although they are no proper substitute for a fireman's compressed air breathing rig, a commercially-made egress smoke hood or a military surplus gas mask might allow you to escape your building in time. But even if you escape the smoke and flames, then where will that you leave you? Outdoors, at an unplanned hour (day or night), in a hostile big city that is blacked out, with no safe means of escape. (This might prove far too reminiscent of the the 1980s Kurt Russell movie "Escape from New York.") By the time this happens, the mobs may not want just the contents of your backpack. They may be sizing you up for a meal!

Fuel storage. Bulk fuel storage has three problematic issues: 1.) as a safety issue (fire hazard), 2.) as a security issue (odors that could attract robbers), and 3.) as a legal issue (fire code or tenant contract restrictions). I suspect that New York City's fire code would not allow you have more than a week's worth of propane on hand, and completely prohibit keeping more than just one small container of kerosene or Coleman fuel. From the standpoint of both safety and minimizing detectable odors, propane is probably the best option. (The odors of kerosene and chafing dish gel are both quite discernable.) But of course consult both your local fire code and your apartment lease agreement to determining the maximum allowable quantity to keep on hand.

Odds are that there will be no limit on the number of candles that you can store. If that is the case, then lay in large supply of unscented jar candles designed for long-burning (formulated high in stearic acid.) I suggest the tall, clear glass jar-enclosed "devotional" candles manufactured in large numbers for the Catholic market. You can even heat individual servings of food over these if you construct a stand with a wide base out of stout wire. Watch for these candles at discount and close-out stores. We have found that the large adhesive labels slip off easily if you soak the jars in water for an hour. Since their burning time is approximately 24 hours, and since you might need two of them burning simultaneously for sufficient light and to stay warm, that would necessitate laying in a supply of 360 candles! (This assumes that the worst case, with the outset of a crisis in October, and your having to hunker down for a full six months.)

Fire fighting. Buy at least two large multipurpose ("A-B-C") chemical fire extinguishers

Cooking odors. In addition to the smell of fuel, cooking food will produce odors. I recommend that you store only foods with minimal spices. In situation where you are surrounded by starving people, just frying foods with grease or heating up a can of spicy chili con carne could be a death warrant.

Noise discipline. Just the sound of moving around your apartment could reveal your presence. For some useful background, see if your local library has a copy of the best-selling memoir "The Pianist", by Wladyslaw Szpilman. (If not, buy a copy through Amazon or request a copy via inter-library loan. It has been published in 35 languages. The US edition's ISBN is 0312244150.) The book describes the harrowing experiences of a Jewish musician in hiding in Warsaw, Poland, during the Second World War. Following the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising and forced deportation, Szpilman spent many months locked in a Warsaw apartment, receiving just a few parcels of food from some gentile friends. In his situation, the power and water utilities were still operating most of the time, but he suffered from slow starvation and lived in absolute fear of making any noise. His survival absolutely defied the odds. There was also an excellent 2002 movie based on Szpilman's book, but the memoir provides greater detail than the film.

Light discipline. If you have any source of light in your apartment, it could reveal your presence. In an extended power blackout, it will become obvious to looters within a couple of weeks who has lanterns or large supplies of candles and/or flashlight batteries. (Everyone else will run out within less than two weeks.) And I predict that it will be the apartments that are still lit up that will be deemed the ones worth robbing. So if you are going to have a light source, you must systematically black out all of your windows. But sadly these efforts will be in direct conflict with your need for ventilation for your heating and/or cooking.

Heat. With the aforementioned restrictions on fuel storage, heating your apartment for more than just a few days will probably be impossible. Buy an expedition quality sleeping bag--preferably a two-bag system such as a Wiggy's brand FTRSS. Under the circumstances that you describe, don't attempt to heat your entire apartment. Instead, construct a small room-within-a-room (Perhaps under a large dining room table, or by setting up a camping tent inside your apartment, to hoard heat.) Even if the rest of the apartment drops to 25 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit, your body heat alone will keep your demi-room in the 40s. Burning just one candle will raise the temperature another 5 or 10 degrees. For the greatest efficiency at retaining heat, your demi-room should be draped with two layers of mylar space blankets.

Exercise. While you are "hunkered down", you will need to maintain muscle tone. Get some quiet exercise equipment, such as a pull-up bar and some large elastic straps. Perhaps, if your budget allows in the future, also purchase or construct your own a quiet stationary bicycle-powered generator. This would provide both exercise and battery charging.

Sanity. .Hunkering down solo in silence for six months would be a supreme challenge, both physically and mentally. Assuming that you can somehow tackle all of the aforementioned problems, you also need to plan to stay sane. Have lots of reading materials on hand.

In conclusion, when one considers the preceding long list of dependencies and complexities, it makes "staying put" in a worst case very unattractive. In less inimical circumstance, it is certainly feasible, but in a grid-down situation with utilities disrupted and wholesale looting and rioting in progress, the big city is no place to live. But, as always, this is just my perspective and your mileage may vary (YMMV).

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Monday December 17 2007

Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget

Mr Rawles,
Having read your reply to S.'s letter "Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget" I must say you made my day! It made me realize that I am much better off than I thought and on the right track.
I am one of those weird (smart?) people who was raised in the city, but for some reason, never belonged. From earliest childhood, I was always "preparing" long before I really knew what for. In other words, I was not your typical "raised in captivity" child. I learned to sew at nine, and spent a lot of time making sleeping bags and fancy wall tents for my Barbies, then set up elaborate campsite in the backyard, complete with chopped firewood, and water storage systems. (I did say I was weird, remember?)

I also used to spend weeks playing dolls with my sister and friends, but not like most girls. We had a favorite scenario in which we ran a huge orphanage which sprung into being because of some horrible disaster. The disaster didn't matter. What mattered was being able to care for all our babies with no power or outside help. (I nearly set the basement on fire once during these episodes)
Later when my family moved to a suburban/rural area, I was finally able to indulge more aspects of my survivalist side. I got into horses. And I mean I lived and breathed horses. Not just the typical horse crazy girl stuff...no, I had to practice loading my severely injured (or dead) friends onto my horse, practiced packing all sorts of gear on my horse, etc.

I began target shooting as a youngster with my father (who also took me on long hikes from the age of six on) but during my teen years I learned how to reload, thanks to a wonderful like-minded guy. We were kindred spirits, and spent hours reloading during the week so we could shoot for hours on the weekends. He taught me how to field strip a .45 Model 1911 in under 45 seconds blindfolded, among other things. ( Can't you just see the headlines if some high school kids were seen doing this today?)

I began gardening, canning and dehydrating at 16. My mother thought I'd lost my mind when I came home all excited about the fact that the owner of the stable where I kept my horse said I could plant a garden in the old chicken pen. I was sure busy that summer.

Fast forward 6-7 years: I am now married and having babies. After living in dinky houses in town, I convince my husband to buy a house on acreage. We find a wonderful little 800 square foot house on five acres about 20 miles from where we work (which was in a very small town about 20 miles from a large metro area) And the cycle started in my childhood continued.

I raise horses, goats for milk and make cheese, cows for meat, chickens for eggs and meat. I try my hand at rabbits, successfully building a huge herd of breeders, and selling fryers commercially for a couple years before a family disaster forced me to sell. My garden is bigger, and I can enough to see us through every year till the next garden. Pigs are raised on leftovers. We heat only with firewood. Life is busy, but good.

Later, when the kids are bigger, I get into a sport that seemed custom-made for me. Endurance riding. We had moved from our five acre place to a larger spread which bordered on State land, and I began spending hours riding alone for miles every day of the week. (I quit working outside the home when my kids were 2 and 4 years old. I didn't see the point of paying someone else to raise my kids.)
Even some of my endurance friends say I take it to the extreme. I always pack everything imaginable with me: Pistol (and rifle during hunting season) first aid kit, feed for my horse, food for me, shovel, saw, you name it, it's on my horse or myself. Everything except a cell phone. Nearly everywhere I ride a cell phone doesn't work, so why bother? I feel they just give a false sense of security and prevent proper survival thinking.

Fast forward 20 years: I divorce and start over. My kids are grown and I am thoroughly pleased with how they turn out. My daughter learned early on how to do oil changes and tune-ups on the old Ford pickup trucks I always drive. My son took his skills further. He can rebuild any old rig from the ground up. They both know a lot about farm animals and gardening, and both are avid campers. Both shoot, though my daughter can't hold a candle to her brother. He is by far the best shooter I have ever seen. I once watched him shoot a starling through the neck from 75 yards, offhand in the wind with a .22 [rimfire rifle]. The bird was sitting at the top of a 75 foot fir tree, and my son told me beforehand where he was going to hit it. Recently my kids have both come to the conclusion that their survival would be well served by learning even more of Mom's skills. Both (and their other halves) are joining me in the spring to become more proficient in gardening, canning, and we will be raising cattle and pigs together.

I am very lucky to have bought a wonderful 13 acre place with a delightful but tiny 130 year old homesteaders cabin. We have two year 'round springs. We heat with firewood cut here and on many of our wonderful neighbor's places. We have a small orchard, a huge garden (about 3,000 square feet, with room for more) and tons of pasture. I say we because I was very lucky (and smart) to have married again. And I married that wonderful man from my high school years who taught me to shoot and reload! My kids adore him, and though they live in town, they are out here all the time. My husband and I have a very good skill set between us I don't think there is anything we can't do, from blacksmithing to soap-making and all manner of other skills esoteric and arcane.

In the past several years the kids in particular have all realized that our survival skills are not just some game that is fun to play. We have gotten very serious about our future and how to deal with the up-coming disasters whether large or small. I read your novel "Patriots" several months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I discovered your blog about a month ago, and I am hooked. I love all the advice, and I am even more thrilled that there is some information here that I had either not though of, or not gotten deeply into.

We have all been tossing around the idea of moving elsewhere, though it just isn't possible at the moment. And I am not sure we really need to. This place is nearly perfect. It is 25 miles from a major metro area, (But right off a two lane highway, though the major highway out of the metro area is on the other side of a huge river) safe and consistent water supply, etc. The only problem which needs to be addressed is defense. It's not a horrible place to defend, but it does need work.

So for now, we are continuing what we have always done and making the place more defensible. We are all honing skills, and keeping an eye on the world. And we are also looking into moving to a better place in 3-to-5 years.

The last paragraph of your reply was what prompted me to write. Thank you for making my day. It really made me feel good to see that I am already doing what you do. And those hours of sweat versus dollars are great for keeping you in good shape! Best Regards, - J.F.

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Saturday November 24 2007

Preparedness While on Business Travel--What to Pack, by LP

If you’re like me, there are times when you have to leave almost all your preparedness stuff behind as you journey by air to strange, far-off places on behalf of your employer. No access to your well-stocked SUV. You are alone, and home is hundreds if not thousands of miles away. But disaster will not be consulting your personal travel itinerary before it strikes. How best should you prepare?

Let’s first discuss the objective, as it determines the approach. For most of us, we leave family, friends, and a (more-or-less) well-stocked homestead behind. This means Your primary objective is to make it home safely and quickly. By any means necessary: your return airline ticket, the rental vehicle, alternative transportation, or if all else fails, on foot. Under no circumstances do you want to be swept into the mainstream of refugees, wandering aimlessly to eventually be herded into government “aid facilities”. (If you’re outside of CONUS however, your objective may likely be via the U.S., Embassy). You are different. You have a specific mission. And you have made preparations to succeed. Here are some ideas I use that are carefully selected to be lightweight, compact, don’t require you to schlep along extra suitcases, but will give you more than a leg up on most locals in an emergency.

Luggage - The very best choice is a soft-framed backpack with waist belt, or carryable duffel. It lets you retain the most stuff on long hauls over mixed terrain. This may be impractical for some folks, so the next best thing is a prime-quality rolling carryon with a locking collapsible handle, combined with a laptop backpack. The rolling carryon keeps the weight off your back, but will be useless off pavement. That’s why you must bring your laptop in a backpack carrying case. That will become your primary backpack (you will most likely be leaving the laptop behind, but you keep all your data on a memory stick, right?). Get it with--or sew on--attachment points on the bottom and sides of the backpack. Bring strapping, bought at a hiking store, this lets you lash up bedding you “borrow” from the hotel room, or other provisions you acquire along the way, and add a waist strap for long-haul walking. Plan on checking the large piece of luggage – otherwise you won’t be able to bring along a number of key items like edged weapons. Granted, you’re less equipped during your flight, but life is full of compromises. Keep your medications, food, flashlight, communications gear, money and a couple of layers of clothing with you on the plane. If you can’t do without a briefcase, forgo the fancy leather banker version in favor of nylon w/ a shoulder carry strap. You must be ready to carry everything you need on your back in the event you have to walk it home, and the right briefcase can become an asset [instead of a hindrance.]

Money and valuables - Assume that your credit, debit, and ATM cards will become useless in an emergency. That leaves cash and tangibles. I bring at least $1,000 in assorted bills with me when I travel domestically, and several thousand when I travel internationally. This will enable you to buy the food, transportation, weapons, and lodging you need to make it back, if it can indeed be bought. As I am not rich, this presents a burden, but I believe it is very worthwhile to ensure success. Hoard your cash when on travel – use credit for every thing so you have the most available when you really need it. If you’re partial to wearing expensive watches or jewelry, consider them barterable (have an inexpensive, sturdy backup watch in that case) – be discrete so you do not attract mutants. Keep your cash/valuables out of sight, in multiple places, and don’t leave it in the hotel room. Under most scenarios short of total meltdown, people will continue to honor paper money long enough for you to make it home, so I don’t see a strong need for gold/silver coins. [JWR Adds: I always wear a discreet money belt when I travel. Keeping in mind cross-border currency movement restrictions, you can easily carry the equivalent of $8,000 US Dollars if you carry it in the form of EU500 Euro notes or $500 Canadian Dollar notes. (Sadly, the largest US bill in circulation is the $100 note, which is five times more bulky.) Both the Canadian and Euro "500" denomination notes are hard to find, but worth the search, and even worth paying a premium, just for the sake of compactness.]

Clothing - Even if the forecast is warm and sunny for your entire planned trip, bring rain and cold weather gear. Forget umbrellas, they are flimsy and occupy a hand. Use the layering approach – a fold-up waterproof hooded shell in a dark color, collapsible down vest and/or a couple of fleece or thin wool sweaters, and an Under-Armour-style inner layer (remember you are fitting all this into a standard piece of luggage). Bring sturdy hiking shoes; wear them on the plane, and keep your dress shoes handy in your checked luggage. Bring at least two pair of hiking socks and liners (one to wear, the other undergoing wash/dry), even if it’s just an overnight trip, comfortable pants, a warm hat with ventilation and a good brim, sunglasses, and thin gloves. By wearing the heavier/bulkier items as you travel, you minimize the space demands on the luggage. Include a bandana or two – they have a thousand uses.

Food - You want compactness, indefinite storage, and high energy density, so you can stay on the go for several days. My favorite is Go Lean energy bars. Generally, look for high fiber brands, as they ward off hunger longer. Unsalted peanuts and M&Ms are also good choices. I bring 6-12 bars, secreted in nooks and crannies. Get a set of lexan resin eating utensils from a hiking store, and a P-38 can opener (put that in checked luggage). If things go longer, use your cash or resort to hobo cooking (canned food heated over fire).
Water - make your canteen from the 24-oz water bottle you bought for your flight, by bringing along a water bottle carry strap like those found at amusement parks. Don’t forget a small bottle of purification tablets – you can use your bandana as a 1st-tier sieve/filter.

Self-defense - Limited options due to the TSA restrictions for airline flights. Mailing firearms to yourself at your hotel [for an extended stay] is theoretically possible, but really very impractical in most business trips. In any event do bring your folding knife with combination straight and serrated blade (two is better than one) in you checked baggage, an impact weapon like a nylon kubotan or a carabiner employed as a keychain, and a flashlight (w/ multiple extra batteries) that is blindingly bright and sturdy enough to be used as an impact weapon . Make sure the carabiner is a real one from a hiking store, and is big enough to get all your fingers into so you can use it as “aluminum knuckles”. For carry-on, bring several thick rubber bands, so you can tightly wrap one of those in-flight magazines into a makeshift club. In an emergency after you arrive, if you cannot acquire a firearm or larger edged weapon, then use your folding knife to fashion a sturdy walking staff / club / spear from a mop handle or similar. Hiking stores carry very compact sharpening stones that can clip to your coat’s zipper – if you are in transit for a couple of weeks, you will need to keep an edge on your knives. Note that in some locales such as England and New York City, carrying a knife, or any “weapon” is illegal. Be informed, and use your own judgment. [JWR Adds: A roll of quarters (or British One Pound Coins or One Euro coins) can serve the dual purpose of being an impact weapon (a "Sunday Bar") and being available to make emergency pay phone calls. I can't imagine any jurisdiction that would charge you with carrying a "concealed" roll of coins. (Although once I witnessed the TSA goons asking a fellow passenger to take the dimes out of a paper roll and confiscate the coin roll paper. Oh, I felt so much safer after they did that!)]

Communications - Bring power adapters for your cellular phone, both AC and, critically DC vehicle power, and windup (FreePlay). Bring a roll of coins for a payphone (just in case you can still find one – they are still common in Europe). If you have the option of choosing your cell phone model, consider a tri-band GSM-mode smartphone with Internet connectivity, a USB port and USB to Ethernet adapter (don’t forget the cables) – this preserves the most vital functions of a PC in an emergency: news feeds and e-mail, without its bulk. Some smartphones, like the Nokia N95, include GPS and maps, too. GSM is the world standard, so it will work in both US and Europe. Keep phone numbers and addresses of extended family and friends, in case you need to make a pit stop on your way. An earbud-style AM/FM radio, so you can keep up with radio news and weather reports.

Shelter / Light - Keep it simple and lightweight for starters, and pick up stuff as you go. Strike anywhere matches in a waterproof container and a magnesium striker-type fire-starter in checked baggage; buy a disposable lighter or two on arrival and discard on return, a space blanket, and one or two 3-mil thick contractor garbage bags for rain poncho, ground cloth, and/or tarp, and 50 feet of parachute cord. Have an LED microlight on your keychain, in red illumination, with an extra button battery or two. This conserves your tactical flashlight’s life. [If things looks bad,] borrow the bedding from your hotel room and strap it to your backpack or stow in your rental car’s trunk – you can pay them back later.

Transportation - When traveling in a group, always be the one to rent the car, so you have options and maintain control. When you can, try to make it a compact 4x4, like a Ford Escape (companies always want you to get the absolute cheapest, so this is easier said than done). Keep the gas tank filled. Onboard GPS navigation options are becoming commonplace, but at $10+ per day, expensive – it may be worth it to you. (See “navigation” below).

Medications and First Aid - Don’t assume you’ll be home in a day or so. Bring enough prescription meds for at least two weeks. I also bring a very small first aid kit – it fits into a pants pocket and holds band-aids, a disinfectant cream, sun block in stick form, ibuprofen, anti-diarrhea pills, and tweezers. Separately, I include a couple of sanitary napkins and tape as a compress, and a small bottle of insect repellant. Having balance is key here – you will not need a full kit. If you break a leg or are shot, you will need more help than you can self-administer. To stay clean, I take a refill pack of baby wipes, a trial size bottle of hand sanitizer, and a small bar of soap. I also bring a blister kit for my feet – most people don’t hike 30 miles a day with a pack, and blisters can be totally immobilizing, with an attendant risk of infection. Taking good measures with your feet, starting with the right footwear will help you get home in one piece.

Navigation - Be able to figure how to get back home, from several routes. Get a good street map of the city you are visiting, and multi-state AAA highway maps between there and home – don’t bring a book, or piles of topo maps – too big and heavy. I have a small compass that clips to the zipper of my shell. A GPS unit may be a good idea – they are compact and full of map data – but they run on batteries, and will be inoperative if the disaster involves an EMP, or the government turns off GPS in response to a terror attack. Compact binoculars are very important for reconnaissance. If abroad, know how to get to the embassy, and to major rail junctions, seaports, and border crossings.

Utility - Bring a multi-tool (again, in checked baggage) – I prefer the Leatherman Wave with bit assortment, but YMMV. As I said, a flashlight will be essential, with extra batteries.
All this can and does fit in one piece of rollaway luggage along with my regular business accoutrements for one or more weeks of travel – mine is a Victorinox model with an expandable main compartment.

In a disaster, it may take several weeks to make it home from your trip – the preceding advice will get you off to a good start. Good luck and I hope that nobody ever needs any of this!

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Saturday November 10 2007

Two Letters Re: Living Off The Land

James:
I just finished “Tree Crops” by J. Russell Smith which just became one of my favorite books. In it he briefly mentioned edible nuts from pine trees. I did a scroogle search and found a great place in Canada that sells these types of pines. My favorite so far is the Korean Pine. Everybody grows pines for blocking winter wind and for privacy so why not pick a breed that gives you food? They grow in areas as cold as Zone 1 so this would be great for a lot of the northern retreats. One last thought is that Pine Nuts would be a great hidden emergency reserve of food because no mutant zombie biker would ever think of the nuts in pine cones as food. - Adam in Ohio

Jim:
Just chiming in on the commentary from today: I have been reading The SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman There is a lot of information about edible plants and procedures to use to test plants you are unsure of. The book is full of other valuable survival info too as you would expect.

Another old source for good survival skills is our very own armed forces publications: field manuals (FMs) and training manuals (TMs). One was called Survival, Evasion and Escape (FM 21-76) but it has changed names now [as a multiservice "Survival, Evasion and Recovery" manual.] Plus, the good 'ol [U.S. Army] Ranger Handbook is an amazing source of information!
Sincerely, - Tanker

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Thursday November 8 2007

Letter Re: Living Off The Land

Mr. Rawles,
My Survival Group was having a discussion the other night, and we got to talking about "What if / Worst case" stuff. One of the situations involved the old "Lost in the wilderness with nothing but your knife and your lighter". (you do carry a pocket knife and a lighter with you, right?) That got us to thinking...what would you eat? Most of us tended to think of ways to snare small game, but then we got to talking about wild plants. Before long, it became clear that not only is foraging for wild plant potentially more efficient than snaring wild game, its also much easier. There are almost always edible plants all around you, no matter where you are. Usually within arms reach! Case in point: The Pine Tree.

Pine needles can be easily brewed into tea which contains many nutrients and vitamins. Pine cones can be roasted over a fire (you did start a fire already, right?) to open the cone and access the seeds inside. In a longer term situation…those same seeds can also be ground into a type of course flour. One can also east the inner bark of Pine trees if nothing else is available. And that’s just the common Pine tree, which grows almost everywhere! Speaking of Tree bark: remember that Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) was originally derived from teas made from the inner bark of the Willow tree.
Anyway, you get the point. A little study on the matter can go a long way toward making you self sufficient as far as food is concerned, by enabling you to supplement your dry-stores (you do have food stores, right?) with fresh greens providing vitamins and nutrients year round. Just remember what Crocodile Dundee said “You can live on it, but it tastes like…”Well, you know what.

Here area couple of web sites I’ve come across that deal with this topic:
Linda Runyon's "Of the Field" Web Page
WildwoodSurvival.com/

There are, of course lots of other web sites out there, as well as good old fashioned EMP-proof books as well.

Good luck, and KYPD, - Krys in Idaho

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Wednesday November 7 2007

Are You Ready to Get Out of Dodge in Winter Weather?

Here in the northern hemisphere, winter is rapidly approaching. So it is timely that I write about vehicular mobility in winter weather.

Every well-prepared family should have one or more four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires or chains. For those of you that have "11th Hour" Get Out of Dodge (G.O.O.D.) plan, I trust that you have pre-positioned the vast majority of your food and gear at your intended retreat. Towing a trailer on icy winter roads is a dicey proposition even in the best of times. In my estimation, piloting an overloaded vehicle with an overloaded trailer WTSHTF is tantamount to suicide. If you've planned things properly and pre-positioned your gear, then there is no need for a trailer. Just one quick trip with fuel cans, bug-out bags, backpacks, web gear and weapons cases should suffice. Enough said.

So what do you need in your vehicle to make sure that it gets you from Point A to Point B? I assume that at all times you carry a tool kit, flashlights, road flares, engine starting fluid, first aid/trauma kit, chemical light sticks, a CB radio, and your usual "Bug Out Bag" basics including food and water. So lets talk specifically about mobility essentials:

Traction sand. You probably already have a couple of bales of USGI sand bags. Just fill a bag (or two) with coarse sand and tie them shut with a pair of plastic cable ties to prevent leakage.

Single-Bit Axe, at least 3 pound. (Such as Northern Tool & Equipment Item# 119922)

Shovel. A proper USGI folding entrenching tool (not a cheap Asian knock-off) might suffice, but I prefer a more substantial 40-inch D-handle round nose shovel, such as the Kodiak, available from Hector's hardware.)

Hi-Lift Jack (aka "Sheepherder's jack") (Such as Northern Tool & Equipment Item# 14421)

Choker/tow chain (such as 4WD.com Item # 26083.) These should also be available from JCWhitney.com 4WD Parts and most local auto parts stores.

Ratchet hoist aka "Come-along". (Or better yet, carry two.) I like the Dayton and Tuf-Tug brands brands. (Such as Northern Tool & Equipment Item# 152911)

Several short lengths of chain, steel sleeve-locking carabiners, and large Grade 8 bolts with nuts that can be used to connect/secure chains. (Sometimes you need to improvise.)

Tire chains (Yes, even if you have studded snow tires.) And if you must depend on a trailer for winter G.O.O.D., then get chains for the trailer, too.

And to risk some controversy: Bolt cutters--at least 24" length. I prefer 36". (Such as Northern Tool & Equipment Item# 558397). Sadly, very few of these are now made in the States like my trusty old Woodings-Verona brand. Note: Please don't do anything illegal. Also be advised that in some of the liberal Nanny States, carrying bolt cutters in your rig could be considered "criminal intent." But here in The Un-named Western State, they just call it a "A real good idea."

Other Cold Weather Essentials (this list assumes that you will be transiting snow country--modify it accordingly if you live in the South):

Warm Clothing, pile caps, and gloves

Extra pairs of dry socks

Ice creepers (such as "YAKTRAX", available from Lehmans.com)

Snow shoes and spare binding parts (Such as the Huron-made snowshoes available from Lehmans.com)

Sleeping bag(s). I prefer the Wiggy's brand FTRSS. We have five sets of them here at the ranch, and they have served us very well for nearly 15 years.

Fire starting kit with plenty of tinder.

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Tuesday October 9 2007

Cold Weather Survival Tips, by David in Israel

James,
Winter is coming [in the northern hemisphere]. An important skill is treating and preventing cold exposure, especially if a person is disabled and on the ground. The ground steals heat through direct conduction and by absorption of moisture.

Always go out well fed, include plenty of protein, copious warm hydrating liquids, and fats. Together these break down in a heat generating reaction as well as providing large amounts of energy for more heat
generation.

Have a way to make a warm drink. A Thermos is skimping, better a small stove that is easily lit and kettle that will let you melt snow and make hot water to drink, this saves your body from having to heat
your drinks and also raises your core temperature if you get chilled or worse. Cold drinks bring down body temperature and the metabolism required to heat it to body temperature nearly requires as much water as you are consuming, un-melted snow is actually hydration negative due to the metabolism [required] to bring it to body temperature.

Insulate from the ground, dry grass leaves, seat pad foam, clothing, whatever. The ground will steal your body heat quickly.

Share warmth with a friend or more, huddle, hug, stack up as injuries allow.

Protect the heat loss areas. Cover first the head, then armpits, groin, trunk, and finally the extremities.

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Tuesday September 11 2007

"Zeroing In" Your Bugout Bag, by SF in Hawaii

Last week my wife told me that another couple had gotten reservations at the cabins at Haleakela State Park for the Labor Day Weekend. We would hike across the crater floor, then down the Kaupo Gap. These are hard to come by and since we were invited, I felt we had to go. Great, a chance to try out my bug out bag. I gave my feet a liberal and prophylactic spraying of anti-fungal medication (a ritual I would end up doing every morning on that trip) and put on my Bug-Out Bag (BOB). Before we left, I unscrewed the aluminum pole from a mop, checked to make sure my backup knife would fit on it and now I had myself both a strong and lightweight walking stick as well as a spear in case a wild boar came too close. The BOB weighed in at 55 pounds. I'm 160 and with the backpack I was using it felt like a manageable weight. On the way there, the steering and brakes on the car went out. I hit the emergency brake and slowed down. The engine just turned off. Since it had power steering and brakes, when the car turned off, they went off too. Strange for a reasonably new car. It started up again so I figured EMP was ruled out. We drove up to about 10,000 feet, got our gear on and started hiking. It was a steep decline into the volcanic caldera/crater and within about 10 minutes I noticed a hot feeling in the heels of my feet. You see, as a sufferer of athletes foot, I tend to keep my shoes loose. Bad idea. Loose shoes make blisters. I stopped and got out the moleskins but I didn't have a pair of scissors. Let me say for the record, a knife is not a pair of scissors. These are separate tools. There I was with my BAK (Big A** knife) trying to cut moleskin pieces. Not only was it the wrong tool for the job, but one slip and it would be a bloody mess.
To take the pressure off my heels, I walked native style (toe to heel) and this helped.
We hiked for the rest of the day through what can only be described at the surface of Mars and finally arrived at the first cabin. The manual pedometer gave me some lousy data. It was set for a 2 foot step/4 foot stride length but I forgot to take into consideration that stride changes with inclines and declines. When I got there I tried out my Zipstove for the first time. At first glance, it looked like something made in a high school metal shop class, and it's a lot heavier than other stoves, but then again, I didn't need to pack any fuel. It has a battery operated fan built in and get fires hot real fast. I hit my sparker into a cotton ball with some vaseline rubbed in and presto. I dropped the little ball of fire into the stove, and added a few twigs and turned on the fan. Wow. The stove worked great. In a minute or two dinner was on it's way. I'll be investing in their titanium version and perhaps I can swap out their metal fan for a plastic one to drop the weight. I was cooking in a titanium Titan pot and I was concerned that due to the rapid heat transfer of titanium I'd burn the food but it never happened. Another nice thing about cooking with titanium is that as fast as it heats up, it cools down too and less than a minute after taking it off the fire, the top was cool enough grab and move around. We sat around when the lights went out, lit some candles and played Hearts for a few hours. (Make note to get Hoyle's Encyclopedia of Card games.) Before I went to bed I inspected my feet. Yup. Two huge blisters, one on each foot. These were the biggest blisters I'd ever had. Each one covered my entire heel. I also had burns on the backs of my hands. I was wearing nylon pants and a long sleeve shirt to keep out of the sun, and because we all know 'cotton kills.' I also had a cloth over my head which I kept in place by wearing a pair of sunglasses which had a retaining strap on them to keep from getting lost during activity. The strap around the back of my head kept the rag in place nicely and with the exception of a spot on my nose, I escaped the searing rays of Hawaii at 10,000 feet. What I didn't think to cover was the backs of my hands. The were bright red and angry when I saw them. I cut squared of cloth off my head rag and placed on the backs of each hand. I held them in place (mostly) with rubber bands around my wrists. They kept me from getting burned any worse, but it was a constant annoyance repositioning them for the rest of the trip. (Make note, put tactical gloves in BOB).
The next morning after having some oatmeal, I packed up. I put on another pair of socks and this was helpful as with less wiggle room, my feet didn't slip around so much and maybe I wouldn't make any new blisters. My wife suggested that in her experience (She hiked the Thorong La Pass. I lance the blisters. (Make note to bring needle in first aid kit) I left the blisters alone. Personal preference. The other fellow on the trip I noticed had the soles of one of his shoes come off. He was wrapping cord around them to hold them together when I suggested he use the awl tool on his swiss army knife to stitch them back on his shoe. He liked this idea and it worked. (Make note, find that Speedy Stitcher and add it to my BOB.)
The second day was excruciatingly painful. I can't recall the last time I was in that much pain for that long a period. I now had pain along the entire bottom surface of my foot. There was no comfortable way to walk. I was very grateful for the walking stick! Sure I could have make one from wood on the trail, but it would have been much heavier and bulkier to be as strong as the cheap aluminum tube.
After hours of promising myself I would never go hiking again, we arrived at the second cabin. At this point the fellow's second shoe fell apart. Keep in mind that both shoes were in good condition before we left. His wife was also having shoe trouble but she overcame it with a safety pin. (Make note, safety pins.) More cards and dinner and now the other people were complaining. No one else had a good external frame pack and their hips and backs were sore. For me, it was just my feet. Even though my pack outweighed anyone else's there by a factor of 2, it was a good pack and now showing itself to be worth the high cost.
The third day we had to hike down from over 6,000' to 1,000'. We'd already gone from 10,000' to 6,000 the previous two days and left the Martian landscape. We were now in fog enshrouded hills and rain forests. The next 5,000' would be a 30 degree incline though rain forests and meadows. I filled up my 4 steel water bottles with filtered water from my Katadyn and told my wife that with the condition of my feet, I wanted to leave a hour and a half before the rest of the group as I'd be going slow. I also wanted to hike in the morning to stay out of the heat . She finally agreed and we slushed though thigh high wet grass and we were both soaked in short order. It was about five minutes into the hike that I learned that not only were my hiking shoes too big, but they weren't waterproof nor even water resistant. The cool dewy water was sloshing around in by boots for hours. It wasn't just an annoyance either. When I took the map I got from the Ranger station out of my pocket, it was soaked and the pages were sticking together. Oh, did I mention that the trail I was taking was right along a crease on the map and due to the water damage it was totally illegible? (Make note, put Zip lock bags in BOB).
Although she didn't say anything, I know she was pissed. Cold, wet and pissed but when she realized how hard the hike was getting, she looked at me. "I'll just say it once and get it over with. I told you so." She thanked me. We smiled and moved on. That extra time was great to have. I used an altimeter to guesstimate where we were on the map. I didn't bring my topos with me, but it was a great psychological benefit to know how much longer you had to go.
My wife started complaining about her left knee under when we stopped at an old growth Koa tree. We snacked on ostrich filets (kept at 150 degrees in the oven overnight), peanuts and some chocolate. She wanted a Koa walking stick. "But that's a heavier wood and look, no straight branches here darling." Well, she wanted one anyway so I hacked her a walking stick, put a point on the bottom and cut away the bark where her hand would grip it. At about 4,000 feet I saw my wife walking backwards for a few seconds. I tried it and it was great. Although it was riskier, I couldn't walk forwards anymore. Aside from the fact that my blisters were hurting, I now had somehow developed a pain in my left knee too. It only hurt when I walked forward, or sideways (yes I tried that too) so my wife and I walked backwards down the rocky and treacherous declines for miles. The trails were covered with golf ball and base ball sized spherical lava rocks that acted like ball bearings. It was hard going and nerve racking. I made us both drink like fishes and soon I was dripping with sweat and she was peeing like a racehorse. Every time my mouth got dry I drank and so did she. I wasn't thirsty but I drank anyhow. Then the water stopped feeling good to drink. Dang, with all this drinking and sweating I was beginning to going hyponatremic. (Make note, put ORS packets in BOB). On the milder inclines I tried walking while dragging my left leg behind me to avoid having to bend it. It was slow going and again, my wife thanked me for getting us out early. We came across some ambiguous fork in the road and she lost it for a bit. I said that I thought both trails would probably work and let her pick the route. She picked and then got nervous. "What if it's the wrong one?" She was starting to lose it again. "This trail is the correct trail." I said forcefully and with more confidence that I really had about her choice. She seemed okay with that and we kept going.
We used the last of the water that everyone said I was crazy to bring just minutes before reaching the rendezvous point. One of the women in the group I later found out had a near nervous breakdown as she never knew how much farther she had to go. That altimeter kept my wife and I sane.
I'm finally home and writing this out before I forget. The blisters will probably heal in a week the knee, who knows. (Make note, put ace bandages and maybe even knee and ankle supports in BOB). I'll be walking with a cane for a bit but no permanent damage, I don't think. I will now have a dedicated foot first aid section for my BOB. Consider giving your BOB a test run. You may find things you want in it you don't have now and some things you can do without. I think of my BOB like a gun now. If it's all shiny and new but not zeroed in, you may be in for some nasty surprises. - SF in Hawaii

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Wednesday July 4 2007

Are You Preparing Without Physical Fitness? How and Why to Get Physically Fit, by Flhspete

Introduction
The more physically fit one is overall, the better your odds are you will survive WTSHTF.
Or, maybe you don’t believe that survival preparations should include physical fitness.
U.S. military forces emphasize solid fitness in part because the higher the fitness level, the more an individual can maintain acceptable performance levels while under stress. Police SWAT units emphasize high levels of fitness for the same reasons. Organized units like these are highly effective also because they conduct rehearsals of established SOPs until it is ingrained to the point that they are able to perform under any conditions. They are able to train at high levels of performance seamlessly because they are capable of keeping up physically and mentally. They also have each other to depend on while operational making them even more effective. Maintaining a solid level of fitness is important for civilians as most of us are preparing with the free time available in our schedules. It is important to identify where you stand in physical fitness. Ask yourself, am I fit? How fit is fit enough? Who will be there to assist me when TSHTF?
When visiting the SurvivalBlog web site, consider how much of the material and advice provided requires you to be in good shape in order to take advantage of it.
I’ve assisted and encouraged others to improve their physical conditioning for decades. During yesteryear I promoted fitness primarily for healthy living. The reasons these days are for healthy living and potential survival scenarios. Living ‘healthy’ during a non-survival scenario is one thing, living healthy during a survival scenario is quite different. Fitness doesn’t just happen. Fitness is accomplished by adopting good habits of exercise, nutrition and rest.

Step One: Assessment
Assessing your level of fitness requires only that you be honest with yourself in several physical fitness categories including your present fitness level; your weight status; age; diet/nutrition; and your overall state of health.

Present Fitness Level: Ask yourself what you can do today in terms of sustained heart rate while active. If you are already active then this should be easy to answer. If not currently active (or haven’t been in the short term, i.e.: within 12 months), then you probably have a good understanding for where you stand and are capable of daily/weekly exercise routines not too far off from your previous workouts. If you haven’t been active for 12 months to 24 months but previously were active, then you know what you are capable of, you just have to start and make it routine again. For those beyond the 24 month time period, you fall into one of several categories spanning a range from former solid fitness to those who have never been fit. Either way, you have been away from a fitness routine for too long.
Weight Status: Are you overweight, underweight, or at (or close to) where you should be? Take this into consideration when deciding what course of action(s) you decide to take. If you are overweight today, you could be significantly trimmed down by your next birthday. Whatever your particular case is, when going from non-active to active, you will start to lose body fat and become lean. Just assess where you are and be cognizant of how your body will react. It is all important to keep in mind that your body will change and that you will need the proper diet/nutrition to recharge your batteries between workouts. Refueling with the right foods will payoff big when you go for the next workout. If you are not overweight but have never committed to a fitness program and feel it is unnecessary, consider this: my sister went for her annual physical. She is 50, mother of 3, is not overweight, and looks good. The physician advised her that she was obese. Huh?
The doctor's explanation: you have no muscle and therefore you are obese. My sister has never done anything physical, ever. This may be an extreme example, but illustrates the point that inactivity and not being overweight don’t add up to capable of handling the rigors of a post-WTSHTF life.
Age: Don’t let age fool you. It’s deceiving. I currently exercise by training/running long distance races (10 mile races to marathons), weight lifting, boxing, biking, and recreational swimming. I started wrestling when I was 6 years old and continued competing for 15 years and it still pays off. I have a small farm that keeps me moving constantly otherwise. I also have a full time occupation so I don’t workout daily. It is unnecessary. I bother to mention this because with all of the above exercise and while I averaged 15 long distance races a year for the last four years, I am constantly amazed at the older men/women who beat me (45 yrs old) to the finish line every race and I’m in the top 15 - 25%! Age definitely slows one down in terms of intensity and volume but that’s it. Age is deceiving so never judge a book by a cover regarding fitness/self defense. If you consider yourself ‘old’ and have never been fit (or out of it for quite some time), it is never too late and you will probably surprise yourself at the results. If you are young and never been committed to a fitness program, don’t wait. Find something(s) and go for it. Make it a habit and the health benefits will stay with you for a lifetime.

Diet and Nutrition: Assess what you are eating and how you feel. Eating fast food? Too many carbs? Sweet tooth? Living on coffee and cigarettes? Or, are you already eating a healthy diet? Either way, the new stresses added to your daily routine in a survival scenario will cause your body new stresses. You will either keep up or break down. It really depends on your present habits. An individual who is fit and maintains a healthy diet will be able to make the transition from living in the present day to a survival mode relatively easy. Adrenaline will carry the day for a brief time. But after the adrenaline subsides, what’s left in the tank and where is the energy required to keep up coming from? I know many over the years who have maintained poor diets but had excellent workout routines. They were mostly the younger generation. It always catches up with them. They usually become injured/hurt, sick, and/or are tired…but then they come back after a rest period and the cycle repeats itself. If you have poor fitness and a poor diet, you are advised to alter both. The body wants good clean fuel, not items containing too many carbs, items made with hydrogenated oils, trans fats, a diet loaded with sugar (sodas, desserts, snack(s)…). Also overlooked is hydration. Re-hydrating is critical. Once you begin to exercise, you have to replace your fluids. Not doing so will result in cramping, tiredness, and/or can result in heat exhaustion if not replacing fluids while exercising. Watch the sports drinks as some have lots of sugar. I always dilute my quarts of Gatorade 50-50 [with water]. Too much sugar can prevent the hydration you are seeking. ‘Emergen-C’ is a product I use daily to keep the immune system strong. It contains numerous vitamins and supplements in small packets mixed in water. Particularly good is the chromium, sodium, several antioxidants, vitamin C and low sugar content. Some final words regarding overall diet and fitness are: everyone has time to eat right. If you believe you are eating ‘right’ but are under/overweight, then your diet needs improvement.
Overall State of Health: Take the four assessment categories above and rate yourself overall. With the exception of age, you should be in control of the other three categories. While modern medicine has extended, saved, and aided our lives, could you get by without the convenience of it? If you find yourself not in control of your fitness, weight, and diet, you need to get control of each. If you score low in each of the categories and are overwhelmed by what appears to be too much at once, take Henry Ford’s advice: "Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."

Step Two: Getting Started and Motivated
I found that to identify a realistic fitness program, it’s important to know that person’s motivation, goals, attitude and background regarding physical training. Rate yourself in each category. Not everyone has time or ability to invest in what it takes to climb mountains, run marathons, bicycle 100 mile routes, or carry a 60 lb ruck sack with battle weapon in hand over an extended obstacle course. That’s understandable. However, everyone should make time to ensure that they can do the arduous tasks that await us in a survival scenario. Your motivation in this regard is to increase your fitness level and therefore increase your ability to survive. Your goals need to be realistic. Most of us are not trying to qualify for the Olympic Judo Team. From a strictly survival perspective, ‘realistic’ fitness means different things to different people. Consider the answers to some commonsense survival questions: Just how arduous will it be? How much time are we talking? Will I be able to driv