Jim,
A quick observation about a dog's ability to judge character or to determine a person's intentions: They can't, they have no clue; they are terrible at it. What a dog can do, however, is study their master. Remember, we are their world and the object of their attention 24/7. Your dog knows your thoughts almost as fast as you think them. After all, they have nothing better to do but watch you. So if your dog doesn't like someone new, they are picking up that vibe from you, and acting on it. Your dog doesn't care about hurt feelings or offending someone. I find this most beneficial.

I have noticed that after the person that I deem to be ok is around awhile, my dogs will start to reflect how that person feels about them. If the dog's reaction is positive or negative I don't put allot of stock in their behavior, as the new guest has passed muster. It is their initial reaction to a person I've just met that I'm sensitive to. It helps me to hone my gut feeling and to pay attention to it when my dogs aren't around.

There is a book called "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It is a great read and very informative with regard to how we humans act and how to read and interpret those actions. The author shares the same opinion about a dog's observation skills that I do.

I hope this is of value to you and your readers. - JM

Suggestions on how a survival community might enlist new members.

The lights have gone out. It may be years, if ever, before they come on again. You haven't seen a banana, orange or avocado in a long time. Of course that's not surprising since there hasn't been an open grocery store in a long while either. You have heard rumors that the death toll from disease in China and India is in the hundreds of millions, perhaps even in the billions. But you don't really know, because you haven't heard a thing from Washington or the State Capitol in quite a while.

You are on your own.

It is the end of the world as we knew it. Disease, the collapse of the economy, the failure of power, water, septic, delivery and legal systems have seen to that. There's no gas, which means no cars. All of a sudden you find yourself living in the 18th Century. About the only good thing that has happened lately is that you managed to find safety in a "survival" community.

You have a number of good people with you. There's 24 hour security, enough food, (barely), everyone's health seems to be holding out and the gardens are growing. But you have a problem. The group needs to expand in order to survive. There's just too much to do. The herd animals you have must be cared for and watched constantly because you can't risk losing any of them. Perimeter security must be maintained, but unfortunately security and animal herding are very different jobs, so that takes a number of separate workers. Making soap and candles, weaving cloth, sewing, and boot and harness making are all time consuming. And garden and field crop weeding is a full time job for many. Just doing the laundry is a major task, not to mention cutting firewood year 'round, and food prep. and cooking all day. 16 hour days of hard work are the norm, and mistakes are happening because some folks are just so tired.

So your group has met, and decided to seek out several more folks to join your community. The several bachelors would like to have a couple of more women join the community. And the single women feel the same about available men. You'd like some trades and crafts people who could start producing some trade goods like wooden buckets, tinware, paper, and a good bow maker would be great. More help in the house and gardens is certainly needed. Just getting someone to build a new pig pen would be wonderful. And there's always the necessity for additional folks on security.

So what do you do ?

There's still occasional "road people" and other wanderers. But picking the right ones to ask in can be very dangerous. You've heard that sometimes roving gangs will send out "spotters" who try to enter communities just to scope out defenses and resources. Anyone who might be sick is always a problem. Vaccinations are a thing of the past, so a touch of the "bad" flu could kill you all. And then there's the personality problems, and the crazies. Strangers can simply carry many problems with them. Not the least of which is your need to first confirm that they are not an immediate threat. But if a stranger seems initially ok, there are a few things that might help you decide if you should consider them for community membership.

Fortunately, a built in human survival trait often called "gut reaction", that is so often ignored in good times, will likely come into greater use. These feelings are sometimes called "the hair standing up on the back of your neck", but in good times are usually dismissed as paranoia or "being judgmental". Dogs have never had that problem and have always used it. You'll need to quickly relearn to pay attention to it. It's simply becoming more aware of, and learning to more often trust, your gut feeling, your first impression.

So the first thing to do on meeting someone is to trust your senses. If a stranger appears overly nervous, stands or walks kinda funny, seems too well fed, or too dirty, if their eyes don't meet yours, or they stare too intently, if their skin appears yellowish or too red, even if their smell seems "different" somehow, you want to trust your first impressions. "Casually" study any strangers. Notice if they are making an attempt to stay clean, or seem to be dirty by choice. In a friendly way ask about the meaning of something they are wearing or carrying, if it is fairly unusual. You may be surprised at the answers you might get, that could indicate some sort of mental "weirdness". Look for what doesn't exactly fit. If something just doesn't seem quite right, maybe it isn't.

But so far, your, (informed), first impression seems ok. Then what ? Well, on meeting someone new, notice what they talk or ask about. If they ask inappropriate questions, or blurt out asking to be given food, that's not so good. If they say they are traveling and looking for a place to settle, and ask if it would it be possible to do a bit of work in exchange for a bite to eat to help them on their way, that's better. You'd also want to notice how they react to things said. If you ask the stranger how are conditions back up the road, and they spit out that those blank, blank so and so's ran them off, that's not generally a good sign. (Unless of course you happen to know the so and so's don't like anybody who's decent.) If you make a joke, does the stranger laugh, or do they just frown or maybe laugh too much. Just really pay attention to how they react socially.

Next, check out what they are carrying. (Remember that earlier you had already confirmed they were no immediate threat.) Explain to them that if they are going to be allowed to stay in the area, you need to know they are okay. There's the obvious security issues involved, and you need to know what weapons they have. But also, what a person chooses to carry on their back says a lot about that person. If their kit is well organized, that's more likely a useful person. If they are carrying mood altering drugs, dirty utensils and unclean firearms and knives, they are more likely to just be a problem. If they object to a "friendly" search, its probably time for them to hit the road.

So, now you've met a person who has passed the "smell" test, seems socially appropriate, and appears well organized. You still don't know much about them, but it seems like maybe a work for food trade is all right. You don't want to let them into your community proper, they haven't been cleared for medical issues and diseases, and you never let anyone in for security reasons unless you fully trust them. But, since they asked to trade work for food, you can set them to work cutting firewood, in the wood lot outside the fence, or some other such job. It also would be a good opportunity to work with them to see if they can use a saw or axe without getting hurt. And you could push them a bit to see how they do with some hard labor. Pay attention to their ability and attitude towards what they are doing. And notice how well they take direction.

Then set down with them, serve them the food they earned, and talk. Ask them about being on the road, what their skills are, what they are looking for, maybe even what their dreams are. Ask if they have any family or friends they are looking for, or hope to find. And ask if they have been married, or would want to be. You could tell a story about some charity work you had done before TEOTWAWKI, and ask if they had done any themselves, (which can be an indication of their selfish or giving nature). If you make it a conversation and just have a casual talk, they may answer more fully and truthfully than if you act like it is an interview. Most people who have been alone for awhile, and still have their head screwed on right, like to talk if the person they are talking with seems at ease. So just be informal. It is amazing how much you can learn about a person by asking the right "inconsequential" questions.

If they pass all those tests, it's time to get down to business. It's time to be very, very clear and forthright. Tell them you are looking for a member or two. Ask if they are interested. If they are, explain they will need a complete medical check. If they pass that, they will go on probation. For several weeks, they will work a full day every day, be talked with a lot, be expected to make a few examples of the craft or trade they claim to be proficient at, and will live in a removed tent, cabin or teepee. In return they will receive fair trade for their work, and the same food as the rest of the community. Tell them if they get along with most everyone, pass the medical quarantine of living separate and have showed no new disease or illness, can work enough to contribute, and actually have the skills they claim, they will be held up for vote to become a member. Finally explain to them in detail the community's rules. And explain in as much detail the communities cultural norms, such as folks like to share meals, or pray together, or hold book readings and sing-a-longs every evening, ..or whatever. Every group or community has its own ways, and new members need to know what they are going in.

If they agree with all that, you're possibly on the way to growing.

But just remember. Do your due diligence in checking them out. We all often approach new opportunities and people with overly optimistic hope. It isn't until later we become more realistic. Living in a close knit community can be a bit like marrying into a family. Make sure that the "family" you choose, will continue to be the family you want. You really need to get along with each other as well as possible. Someone who always seems to need to do things in a way counter to the rest of the group, or who later displays an initially hidden problem personality, can tear a group apart. Then they are going to have to leave, one way or another.
--Problem is, in a survival situation, if you banish someone, they may come back with new friends. And the "problem person" will know every single one of your weaknesses and strengths. Having them leave, (vertically), may not be an option. And that will be one of the hardest decisions you will ever have to make. Who you take in can really matter. For the good or the bad.

--Note: For the past 35 years, I have had folks living in my home, out in one of the cabins, in tents, motor homes, or in various teepees at my place. One guy was here for 20 years, others only lasted three days. There's been homeless women with infants, recovering drunks, new age moon gazers, kids in school, some goof offs, others with no teeth and a few with too many lice. Some were good, some terrible. The suggestions in the above article are some of the ways I have developed over time in order to avoid the "terrible". I suggest that if you are able, take in some people now during good times, give them a break, help them get on their feet, then send them on their way. In return, you will have done a good thing, and learned many lessons about how to get along with folks. You will also learn some quick and valuable lessons about how to decide who to take in. You will find the experience very helpful in the coming TEOTWAWKI.

We are currently having free Disaster Preparedness classes. Please see the Survivalist Groups "Meet-up" web page--a listing posted on Feb. 28th, listed under "Ohio & Midwest". Lets help each other now, in order to be able help those less fortunate later. - Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment

Even if you do not plan to have children at your retreat, they will eventually find you. Kids are survivors and they always find a way to make it – it is the human condition. My wife and I lived in East Africa and we have seen street kids endure things that no child should ever experience. Despite the horrendous circumstances, they move ahead and children in this country will also move forward. We are all planning for the worst, and for some of you, the worst would be lots of children hanging around your retreat. If you are not used to being around children, then you should start making it a point to be with them. Volunteer at your church nursery or work at the YMCA. If you have not been around kids lately, they are much louder and more energetic than you remember. A few brief tastes of their company now could make the transition to life with children easier later.

| This article will discuss the following aspects of children and TEOTWAWKI: our attitude towards children, building strong family relationships, retreat safety, work, education, and health.

Attitude. Regardless of our current feelings toward children, if in the midst of TEOTWAWKI, we still fail to see children as the hope of tomorrow, then we are just as evil and blind as those who are destroying our country today. In preparing for TEOTWAWKI, we all feel a little stressed and overwhelmed at times. Imagine how kids are going to feel. Their inheritance is anarchy and chaos. When TEOTWAWKI does happen, I think the first thing we should do with children is tell them that this is not their fault. It would also be a good idea to ask them to forgive us and the past generations for making some really bad choices. The buck must stop somewhere, and there will be no point in passing the blame onto our kids. Then, we need to invest our energy and resources in a younger generation that will exhibit a spirit of honor, respect, and bravery which this nation has not seen since its creation. We can be the parents and grandparents of the next founding fathers.

| The Bible says that children are a blessing. We must lose our modern distortions that make our kids a liability. As we move back into an 18th century lifestyle, we must also understand that children are a valuable asset in the day to day. For a contemporary model, look at an Amish or Mennonite community. Kids will help in the daily routines and take care of us when we are old and gray. When given the chance, children can also bring keen insight and intuition into a situation. Kids bring huge amounts of joy, laughter and comic relief to the mundane.

Strong Relationships. Know your kids and allow your kids to know you. (This also applies to you knowing your spouse.) Yes, this does take time and effort. For families accustomed to working, studying, and playing independently of each other, being thrown together 24/7 will be stressful. The more you know and understand other family members, the easier communication and life will be in general. A good starting point to guide you is to know your child’s love language and to know his/her personality type. There is a ton of information about the five love languages: touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, and gifts. Everyone speaks at least one of these love languages. Oftentimes, the people we “feel” loved by are the ones that speak our language, and the ones we do not relate well with are the ones who speak a different language. For example, a friend of ours did not feel a lot of love from her dad while growing up. He was a Vietnam vet and he worked two jobs to provide for his family. After studying the love languages, she realized her love languages are touch and words of affirmation and her dad speaks the love language of acts of service and gifts. Now she realizes that her dad was trying to show her love her entire life by working to provide everything for the family. However, she did not perceive his efforts as love because she spoke love in physical touch and words of affirmation. They were showing love to each other but the different languages did not translate well. She was thankful that her dad provided, but she really needed her dad to give her hugs and affirm her with positive words.

| I use this example because you could be speaking your language of love, but your child is not hearing it. Learn your kid’s language early on and speak it frequently even if it is a “foreign” language to you. It may be awkward at first, but I promise that it will get easier with time. Check out Gary Chapman’s books on the five love languages.            

There are numerous models for personality types. You can research online. Personality will make a huge impact on the dynamics of your team so you might want to include a simple personality test in your supplies. It is often helpful for people to realize that other teammates simply deal with circumstances differently. They are not trying to be difficult. (It just comes natural.) Children are going to be a part of the team. Building good team dynamics is possible even in very stressful situations.

Safety. Besides all the security of the retreat, give special attention to the safety of your children. When the SHTF, people will lose their sense of power and the feeling of control. People will be looking for a way to feel power and control in their life. Children will be an easy target for physical and sexual abuse – especially from people in your own retreat. Yes, I am saying that family, friends, neighbors, as well as strangers could be your child’s predators. Statistically, children are already more likely to be victims of abuse by friends and family than strangers. Putting families and friends together in a small space during stressful times will only increase the likelihood. Also, I believe that taking hostages for ransom will become a common event – just look at Somalia. When people figure out that you are the owner of a well stocked retreat, your kids could become an easy target. Regardless the situation, the following are some steps that might make things safer for your children.
Safety in the Retreat. As previously mentioned, most abuse to children is inflicted by people know to the children, therefore, safety within the retreat is a big deal. You must give your kids and their living space special attention when thinking about your retreat. Start today by making it a habit to know where your children are right now– especially your younger children. Never leave them alone at the retreat. I am going to investigate a tracking device that might be hidden on my child’s person. This might be helpful if we do get lost in the hordes. (If anyone knows anything about this, I would love to know more.)

| In regards to the retreat, I recommend an open floor plan for several reasons. First, an open plan allows you to keep tabs on everyone’s location and activities in your house. Second, an open floor plan allows for a clear line of sight if any unwanted guests come through your front door. Put a mud room on the outside and you have an even greater defense. Third, an open floor plan allows your kids more room to run and play. A small room to a child is big. A big room to a child is humongous. The more elbow room the better for everyone, especially kids. Fourth, (we have learned this by having foster kids) an open plan allows your family’s rooms to be physically separate from everyone else. Everyone else can either live on other side of the house, (or your family upstairs and everyone else down). No one feels “put out” because the large open space is very inviting and hospitable. Also, design your rooms so that the only door access to your children’s room is through your room. Alarm your kid’s door and windows – some on your door and window would be good too – these alarms are separate from the overall retreat’s alarms. If you have a different floor plan or you get stuck somewhere, sleep the entire family together in one room.

Safety in Obedience. Children must learn to obey upon command – 1st time. This is the best way to keep them safe and secure when it all goes down. If your child does not obey now, how will they respond when you give commands in a life and death situation? You cannot afford to have kids who will not obey you. However, strive to be a leader; not a dictator to your children. Also, understand that a child making mistakes is not the same as a child disobeying. Making a mistake is not wrong. Disobeying is. Know the difference and make sure your child knows the difference. Moreover, consistently enforcing obedience will allow your kids to feel safer. Even when things are falling apart, your kids will find comfort in knowing that dad and mom are still in control of the household. Shepherding a Child’s Heart is a great book to guide you on this path.

Work. We must train our children. Oftentimes, we mistakenly have a fast food mindset when it comes to training because that is the paradigm that we have often been “trained”. On some jobs I received maybe one example of how to do something, and then I was left alone to figure everything else out. Real training takes time because we must walk with them and they must walk with us. It becomes not just about getting a job done but about building a relationship. One of the major reasons we must develop quality training habits is because our supplies and parts will be extremely limited. We will not be able to break things and simply go to the store and buy new parts. We can take better care of our equipment by properly training everyone on the retreat including the children. Everything we are learning, we must pass on to our kids. All the things that technology has stolen from us that we had to relearn (preserving food, making buckskin, etc.), we must teach that to our kids. We all agree with that, but we have to implement it into our lives. Watch one. Do one. Teach one. As our child is watching us do something, we need to talk them through the why’s of doing it. We must show them how to do it the way we want it to be done. We must watch them for a time as they do it, and they must be competent enough to train someone else to do the same skill. This will be an essential lifestyle change when TEOTWAWKI.

It is essential that our kids do not have this spirit of entitlement that is so rampant in our culture. Three easy ways to “vaccinate” our kids against the disease of entitlement is eliminating television, giving generously, and doing daily chores. For those of us in suburbs or towns, your kids might not have a goat to milk, but there are plenty of small jobs to be done. Wash the dishes or dust the light switches -something. They must be a part of the daily grind. My almost two and almost four year olds wash dishes, fold clothes, pick up, and help cook. Of course, they do these jobs like a two year old and a four year old, but we are not aiming for the cover of Good Housekeeping. Kids need to know they have a part, and they are needed. If you invest heavily in children before age five, then they will easy pay dividends for the rest of the time they are under your roof.

Americans spend a ridiculous amount of money on toys that break or are quickly outgrown. Buy your kids useful tools that they can play with and learn a skill at the same time. Our boys got a tool set one Christmas with a real hammer, measuring tape, etc. My wife and I got them some scraps of wood and a box of nails – they hammered on those things daily for months. Of course, it might have taken him several minutes, but by the time my son was 22 months old, he could drive any nail, no matter the size, straight.

After you give them some useful tools, allow them to work on a real project with you. This past fall, I let my boys work on a chicken tractor. It took twice as long as it would have with me alone. They did a lot of the work, and they were proud of their efforts. I was too. This was not only good for them, but it was good for me. It made me slow down and enjoy the journey. When TSHTF, there will be no cards to punch and no schedule to keep. If we do not start now, we will be stressed by the slow pace of retreat life. A great way to grow accustomed to the slow pace is to let your kids help.

You have taken inventory of your possessions, but do not forget to inventory your children’s tools and “toys”. Keep your bikes and your kid’s bike in good shape in case you have to bug-out on foot. Their snow sleds may be useful. Even your child’s tree house could serve as a nice guard tower. Our current retreat has enough traffic from family and friends that a fortified watchtower would raise too many questions. So, I am thinking about strategically adding a tree house for the boys that will also accommodate sand bags and insulation for a future guard tower.

Education. I believe a huge emphasis on future education will need to be on social studies – government, history, and true economics. Without the re-creation of a stable government, all the inventors, scientists, mathematicians will have no other choice than to be subsistence farmers for the feudal lord. The only way to get out of the dark ages is to have another renaissance. There is coming a generation that will have to put a government back together again. Our current U.S. Constitution is politically brilliant but it leaves out the one thing that caused the American Revolution. “Taxation without representation” was about economics. Sadly, the checks and balances of our Constitution did not extend into our economics, and it is very evident that our economy has indeed been hi-jacked. Therefore, our kids will have to be educated on what makes money and politics work. Develop your library. Teach them about Blackstone's commentary on English law and political philosophy (including fascism and socialism). The Bible says a lot about law and economics – debt, currency based on precious metals, seven-year economic cycles, and stewardship. Again, someone is going to grow up and be in charge. It might as well be our kids.

The best way I know to research home schooling material is to attend your state’s home school convention. My wife and I like the Sonlight curriculum but each family is unique. My wife and I decided not to purchase all the curriculum for every school year (K-12) in case TEOTWAWKI happens before our boys graduate. It is a lot of money and a lot of storage. Since we currently do not live on our retreat, that curriculum might not make the cut if we suddenly bug out. Instead, we have been talking a lot about what truly constitutes a good education. First, we feel that if our children do not know the LORD, then we have failed as parents. This means that our children need to learn how to pray and how to hear the LORD’s voice. I recommend checking out Mark Virkler and his teaching on hearing God’s voice. (For me, this is the greatest tool my family has when it comes to preparing for TEOTWAWKI.

Besides knowing the LORD,  there will need to be a  practical application of learning that many Amish and Mennonite communities now use. Forget the curriculum mapping. Frame education around life. Honestly, allowing your child to help with calculating the logistics of preparation for TEOTWAWKI will cover math and science up to high school. It would be great if you had room for instruments and art material. I do think that high school students will need some textbooks. I would prefer lower level college textbooks. Just buy an older edition for pennies online. My essential high school textbook list would include the following: world history, United States history, United States literature anthology, English literature anthology, geometry, algebra, pre-calculus, calculus, biology, chemistry, physics, a broad art anthology, and possibly a foreign language of whatever country is invading us at the time.

Facing TEOTWAWKI, children must be educated about the life cycle. Birth and death are complicated matters for any child, and most children in our society are exposed to the life cycle through television or video games. Kids and adults will have many questions about this topic when the SHTF. Already having a paradigm for life and death will make things slightly easier on everyone around you. A farm is a great place to learn. If you are not on a farm, connect with a farmer and take your kids along to see a birthing or a death of something, anything. We involved our kids (age appropriate and what my wife could handle) as much as possible with our last home birth. At the bare minimum, expose them to funerals and funeral homes.

Along with the life cycle, kids need to understand that good and evil do exist and that good does prevail. I believe that story telling is probably the best way to convey this message. The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and the Bible are great sources. Almost every night, I tell my kids stories before they go to bed. They request accounts about “good guys” and “bad guys”. I usually tell them stories from the Bible – unedited. We do our children a huge disfavor when we only give them the edited Sunday school versions. My boys love the story of David and Goliath (although my two year old insists there is a shotgun somewhere in the telling of that story) and how David chops off Goliath’s head in the end. Which led me to a realization one night as I told them a story: after the adults screw things up and cower in the corner, God will use a kid (a Joseph, a David, a Daniel, an Esther) to make things right and save an entire people. Ultimately, I tell my boys that Jesus is coming back and his garments will be stained red from the blood of killing the wicked (Isaiah 63) and that Jesus will establish his Kingdom to rule and reign. Happy bedtime stories at our house. But I want my kids to know there is a greater Hope that leads us through the sometimes difficult journey.

Health. I am certainly not a doctor, but I am going to outline our general philosophy on children’s health. You are free to take it or leave it. First, I strongly recommend praying for those who are sick. Besides complete healing miracles, there is research showing that prayer does bring healing quicker. I am not going to suggest that I know why some are healed and some are not. I do know that I am commanded to pray.

I am amazed at how many people, including children, are on prescription drugs. Our friends adopted a girl who was on eleven prescription drugs that cost $800 a month. For the past 12 months, they have worked with the doctor and have her down to four prescriptions. They are on schedule to eliminate those drugs within the next few months. Work with your doctor to scale back and eliminate everything if possible. One alternative to prescription drugs is to study naturopathy and homeopathy. Many pharmaceutical drugs are synthetic imitations of chemicals that exist in plants. There are many resources out there, and I am not qualified to expound upon them. However, my wife is currently studying naturopathy, and we have been using homeopathic solutions with good results. We are open to any type of medical care that works: chiropractors, fasting, Genesis/Levitical diets, muscle response therapy, iridology, etc.

With children, it is important to diagnose quickly. Baby 411 and Toddler 411 are geared toward the modern medical philosophy, but they have saved us numerous trips to the pediatrician. Children will recover from many illnesses when given enough recovery time. Knowing which symptoms are “wait and see” and which ones need immediate attention by a physician can bring a lot of peace of mind. We are currently researching more alternative children’s health resources. If you know of any, please post it.

Our kids were getting sick almost every other week. As soon as they recovered from one cold, they would get another. A chiropractor friend told us the best way to keep kids healthy is to keep them on a routine with plenty of scheduled sleep, vitamins, and probiotics. We started by cutting out some activities that occurred in the evening because we were getting to bed late. We read how many hours our kids were suppose to sleep and set-up a sleep schedule for them to follow.  Also, it became important for our kids to always be dressed appropriately to conserve their body’s energy. It was amazing how much healthier our kids were. Our plan on the retreat is to keep our kids on a schedule and to practice quarantine-like practices for those who are ill.

Children are our future. Our attitudes toward them, relationships with them, and physical, emotional, and spiritual concerns for them all deserve consideration and careful planning.

James,

I would like to send a quick note along to any of your readers who still live in suburbia. My wife told me about an email going around suggesting that you keep your spare car keys at your bed stand when you retire for the night.

If something goes bump in the night you can use your panic button to set your car alarm off to do anything from deterring trespassers that you hear outside to alerting your neighbors that you have an intruder and are in dire need of help.

I thought it through and decided to take it up a step building it into our neighborhood "block watch". Rather than just having the keys in our bedroom and calling it good, I told my neighbors what we are doing and suggested that they do the same. It makes a good conversation to let them know that you are ready and willing to help any way that you can when they are in need. It is also a good chance to update emergency contact phone numbers. I have also found some like minded people and possible friends in the future. I know now which sector I may need to keep my eye on WTSHTF and who may be seeking out charity.

One thing about this system to keep in mind is that your remote may not reach out to your car from your bedside. Make sure you test this out, just like you test and trial run your window ladders and fire escape routes and rally points annually, right?

One last note, my adjacent neighbor and wife work out of town for 2-3 days at a time from time to time. When the snow started to fly this year I approached them and asked if they would mind that I drove up and down their drive a couple of times in fresh snow when they are gone as they normally park in their garage. I had to explain that it gives their house an occupied look and they were all for it. I am not as concerned with their property as I am with allowing degenerates to notice a soft target so close to my house. This may be a good idea for any of your readers with vacant houses in their immediate area.

Thank you and God bless, - Ken A. in Ohio

Jim,
In these uncertain times many of us are preparing, some for economic collapse others for a coming pandemic or EMP strike, either natural or man made. Not having the option of relocating to a more ideal area my wife and I decided a few months ago to try to stack the odds in our favor by going a little different route. We have been able to partner with other local families and friends to be each others back-up and support systems. We initially started with just three families (6 of us total) and thru careful vetting and many meetings we have now grown to almost 16 families totaling about 40 people. All of these families have demonstrated a commitment to the group and are either past preppers (Y2K) or those that really "get it". We have been able to find just about every talent we think we may need with the exception of a physician. However, we do have a well-experienced emergency room nurse and a veterinarian.

Realizing that we are not in the best of positions we have been to each others homes and properties and have done what we believe are honest assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of each location. We have looked at location and surrounding areas, water availability, defensibility, lines of approach and egress, construction, heating and alternative energy methods, land available to till and plant. We have found that about half of the locations are too small or are too vulnerable to be of much use so those families will automatically be bunking in with others when the need comes as well as storing their supplies with those families now. As a group we have tried to identify and define what triggers we will use to implement our plans. In the case of a long slow slide to economic collapse we will have some time to sit back and monitor the situation, in the case of something major we have plans for our group to divide into three different locations in our township. We feel that this will give us the ability to not only support each other but will give us fall back positions to go to in the event we are forced out of one particular area.

This has not been an easy venture. We have had some people who would like to join that had personalities that just didn't fit well with the rest of the group. Some people were just too radical, some lazy and argumentative, some wanted the comfort of a backup without being willing to contribute anything to the group, let alone for their own welfare. We have found that group dinners and work days have not only strengthened our bond with each other but has led to some real friendships that we may not have been able to forge. Easy, no, but worthwhile, yes. While we may not be in the best of locations we have through hard work put together a group of people and the synergy that comes along with it. One family alone in this area has no chance, but us, I think we have a fighting change of getting through the times ahead.

Thanks for all you do. K. J., - Somewhere in Ohio

Here at the farm we had the first of a series of free and open classes on disaster preparedness on February 1st. One of the things I intend to talk about at the upcoming meetings are various options for joining a community.

When discussing disaster preparations, the first thing to decide is what you think is most likely to happen. If you think the world is a friendly place where snow means skiing and flowers always bloom, then a disaster is the electricity going out for a couple days if a tree happens to fall. You'll need a case of bottled water, some soup and maybe a barbeque for cooking. With just that little bit, you'll still be ahead of most of your neighbors and mostly be comfortable. But what if disaster means, 'The End Of...Everything'? Then the preps you'll need will be very different.

We've all watched the aftermaths of Hurricane Katrina/Haiti/Tsunami/wildfires and snows. Generally life sucks, then the cavalry comes. But what do you do if help never comes? Never. Ever. None. Can you provide for every single thing you will need for the rest of your life, and your children's lives? Food, water, warmth, medicine, security, communication, civil order, sanitation, entertainment, livestock, eligible partners for your progeny, trade goods, tools and so much more? Can you walk into the wilderness right now with only what you carry, build house and barn, and be able to defend against whatever predator awaits, just as our ancestors did? Because that's what TEOTWAWKI means. The end of everything as it now exists.

I believe we live in such a fragile society that if the electricity goes off for several weeks continent wide, it just as likely won't ever come back on. Without power there's no food, gas, medicine, order. Without the basics, too many people will perish. And since we have become so specialized in job skills, it will only take a few key missing knowledgeable workers for the whole system to permanently break.

Two generations ago there where many self-sufficient generalists. There are very few now. My Grandma saved seeds, kept chickens, put wood to stove, and pulled water from the well. And during the Depression she and her brothers sat on the porch at night, holding a shotgun, to protect the apple orchard. Are you ready and able to do all that? Can you fix or make every single thing you will ever need? We've all heard stories about the intrepid pioneers who carved out a life. But for every family that made it, many more failed. Most of them died.

So what do you do? It's not so likely any of us will do well alone. There's just too much to do. I believe the best, and maybe only, survival strategy is to join a community. Seems to me there are only several basic ways to do so. 1). Be in one before TSHTF. 2). Be close friends, or family, of folks in a community so you can join when you need, (and trust they will still let you in). 3). Bargain your way into a community with what you know and the skills you have. 4).Bargain your way in with the goods you carry.

Of course joining a community right now, (or yesterday), is best. There is so much to learn, acquire and establish that doing it now, while times are good, is much easier. It's also much better to work out all the personality issues when not under maximum stress. I've have dozens of dozens of folks living here at the farm over the last 35 years. First impressions don't always count for much. Some people are pleasant to live with, some really make things difficult. You don't want to find that out when its too late. When it comes to survival, you really need to depend on and trust those around you.

There are actually quite a few communities already out there. You've probably already checked the "Finding Others" page on SurvivalBlog. But there's also IC.org . On their home page, click on "resources", then click on "reach book". There are intentional communities all over the world. A lot of the ones listed are "love me, love me" type folks, but there's also some pretty good ones. And of course talk with your trusted friends and at Church to see who's doing what and what's possible.

If you're not already in a safe place, or set up to go to one, then you'll have to walk up to the unknown "door" and ask to join. You'll need something better than, "I'm hungry, my kids are starving". That'll maybe get you a meal, hopefully, maybe. But it doesn't get you in. You'll need skills. Everybody's a babysitter/cook/computer programmer/garden weeder/ditch digger. Don't really need you. Blacksmiths are surprisingly common, (gotta love America and all her hobbyists). What's valuable is a really good herbalist/midwife, a veteran with experience, somebody who knows and can do the thirteen ways of preserving food, a trapper/skinner/tanner, a shoe/boot/wagon wheel maker, a weaver or tin smith. Be a veterinarian or nurse/third world doctor or dentist. Then you have usefulness in really basic times. If you can't get to community now, acquire some of the more rare or valuable skills. You, and they, will need them. With knowledge, it'll be harder to turn you away.

Another way into community is what you possess and can offer. If you have lots of antibiotics, treadle sewing machine needles, surgical instruments, maybe fish hooks, certain books, maybe bullets, the more rare tools for old time crafts and trades, copious amounts of food or a thousand spools of thread, most communities will consider you. The problem is some communities may like your goods better than you. Some might decide to "share" what you have then say bye-bye, (or worse). You might try to bury your goods, observe the community from a distance, then walk in and make a deal. But they better be kind hearted or you'll just end up "sharing" again. And if you hunker down concealed in order to observe a community for a couple days to see if they are worth joining, you probably don't want to join them anyway. If they don't catch you, its not so likely they'll catch the bad guys doing the same thing. With goods, you're possibly valuable, but at a real disadvantage in deal making.

Then there's the last unmentioned way of joining a community. That's "joining" by not joining. For thousands of years there have been traveling tradesmen, craftsmen and peddlers. Folks with tools, goods, and skills who traveled from community to community where they provided items to trade, gossip and information from down the road, sometimes entertainment and amusement to break to sameness of everyday life in isolated villages, and needed specialty skills such as dentistry or pewterer. They'd stay for a short while, re-equip, rest up, then move on. Keeping to somewhat scheduled rounds, so they would be expected and welcomed at the next stop.

Peddling may not work so well in the first months or even year after TSHTF; the world may be too unsettled and dangerous. But for certain personality types, it may be a good option. It's something to think about.

So, I suggest you give some real thought to how you will get into a community. My opinion is we survivors/thrivers will need to. I think it will get that tough. And that soon. Don't know what's going to bite us. If its a pandemic, being near a city might not be so bad, if the hordes die off fast enough and you don't also get sick. If its EMP, then being anywhere within a couple weeks walk of a major city may really suck. And if certain people get re-elected, then we're all toast. I don't really know what will happen first and worst. But whatever it is exactly, I suggest you have a determined way to join with others in order to survive.

A few books that might be helpful, to add to SurvivalBlog's already long list of suggested useful books, are:

• The New Tinsmith's Helper and Pattern Book by Hall Williams
• The Tinsmith's Helper and Pattern Book by Vosburgh
• Brazing and Soldering - by Hobart
• Metals And How to Weld Them by T.B. Jefferson and Woods Gorham Jefferson
• Wheelmaking: Wooden Wheel Design and Construction - compiled by The Carriage Museum of America
• Carriage and Wagon Axles for Horse-Drawn Vehicles - compiled by The Carriage Museum of America
• Coach-Makers' Illustrated Hand-Book (1875) by Ware
• The Wheelwright's Shop by Sturt
• Repair Your Own Saddlery and Harness by Robert Steinke
• Harness Making: A Step-by-Step Guide by Robert Steinke
• Farm Machinery: Practical Hints for Handy-men by Davidson & Chase
• Homemade Contrivances and How to Make Them: 1001 Labor-Saving Devices for Farm, Garden, Dairy, and Workshop
• Farm Appliances: And How to Make Them
• Handy Farm Devices: And How to Make Them
• The Fascinating World of Early Tools & Trades by Emil
• Book of Buckskinning (7+ sequel volumes are also available)
• Bows & Arrows of the Native Americans: A Step-by-Step Guide by Jim Hamm
• The Wood Wright's Companion by Underhill,
• The Woodwright's Shop: A Practical Guide to Traditional Woodcraft by Underhill
• Civil War Medicine (Illustrated Living History Series) - by Wilbur [Obviously not intended as a replacement for modern texts!]

The preceding list is just a few of the hundreds that are useful to have. Do searches on Barnes and Noble Used books, or Borders Used Books in subjects that interest you. Get them now. The world will become very small when the power goes out. Also, at YahooGroups there are hundreds of Groups of people with extremely useful knowledge on any subject, trade or skill you can think of. Get the knowledge before it is all lost. - Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment

P.S.: For those interested, see the posting at the Preparedness Groups Page for Feb. 1, 2010, about North Central Ohio. Free and open meeting for discussion of disaster preparedness. -- If we can help you now to be prepared, you can help others later when charitable living will be needed.

My preparedness background started as a youth.  My father took us camping often and had an amazing gun collection; I’ve been able to teach my kids what he taught me – great memories both then and now!  In the 1970s, my mom and step-dad bought a little 2-acre farm in the middle of nowhere.  We kept a dozen or so chickens, had a few garden spots (that seemed to grow and multiply with each new season), homemade soap, homemade root beer (an acquired taste!) a “sewing room”, a small orchard, solar heating, our own 250-gallon fuel tank, and a year supply of food (much of it canned at home) for a blended family of 10.  In the late 80’s, I got married and had my wife encourage me to follow the counsel of a church leader “to be prepared for anything”.  I did some homework, organized my gear and ended up teaching others for the last 15+ years the basics of being prepared.   My greatest mentor has been Glenn Anderson, who I met from the Yahoo group PrepJr.  (Check out his survival notebook section in the files).  I have taught disaster education for the Red Cross and served as a police reservist in a couple of small towns.  I enjoy ham radio, beekeeping, shooting, Dutch Oven cooking, serving in my church, backpacking/camping, canoeing, and delving into the many facets of being prepared and independent.  After reading (in quick succession) Lights Out [a free e-book], "One Second After". and "Patriots", I’ve been taking it up a notch and inviting anyone who will listen to join me in a more advanced state of preparedness.  I’ve bought extra copies of the books to loan out (or sent out links to acquire the e-books).  In my church, I am responsible to help some of our local units get better prepared.  During this process, I’ve thought how other churches might want to consider the same thing, and thought I could use this format to share what I have learned over the years.  Being a “work in progress”, here are the thoughts that I’ve come up with so far to help a congregation get better prepared:

Initial goals for this year:

1.  Basic “phone tree” functioning – map out and divide the church boundaries into geographical districts.  Assign each family 2 or 3 other households within a district to do welfare checks, especially during a significant event where loss of phone service is minimal.  Help your members become their brother’s keeper.

2.  List of those with special needs – physical handicaps, mentally or emotionally challenged, critical medicines and/or durable medical equipment.  Make plans on how they can be helped.

3.  Define resources across your membership: specialized skill sets (medical, transport, security, heavy equipment & operators, “prepared”/food storage, etc.)

4.  List of homes willing and able to take in refugees (consider list from #3).  Consult the map to help determine closest options and alternate routing if needed.

5.  Emergency Communications training – locate current ham radio operators across the area and establish a scheduled net to practice traffic handling and prepare to facilitate communications in the event of an emergency.  Use their homes as focal points for the collecting of information.  (If ham operators are non-existent, skip to item #7.) Also, consider befriending local hams and arrange the use of their skills and equipment until such time as you can provide your own Emergency Communications.  Local church leadership can help coordinate assistance as information comes in from across the area.

6. Hold a “Preparedness Fair” to help motivate/kick start the basic concepts of home storage and self-reliance.  Plan to hold mini-classes as members start to see the wisdom of being prepared.

Goals for next year:

7.  Begin ham radio classes – encourage those in church leadership to at least obtain a Technicians license in order to allow “local” communications.  It’s not that hard. Invite the membership to participate.  As more members obtain their licenses, the geographical districts become more manageable and communication is simplified.  Information sharing, especially health hazards, is absolutely critical in allocating the resources available.  It is also a psychological boost to be able to share and learn about local conditions.  Contact your local ham radio club(s) for assistance or go to www.arrl.org

8.  "Disaster Communication" tree – those who choose not to get their ham radio license, make use of what is available outside of phones/internet:  (FRS radios, CB, GMRS, car, bike, foot).  Practice communicating without normal means and check on those in each district. Set up specific hours and frequencies and see how well the equipment works.  For those who are unable to participate “electronically”, a runner will need to knock on the door.  Might encourage more to consider other options.  The goal is to be able to check on each member of your congregation.  Use local weather events to activate communications (flash floods, snow storms, ice, etc).  Encourage acquisition of NOAA weather radio with Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME).

9.  Advanced prep classes (designed for those who have at least a couple of months of food storage and have a basic vision of preps):

• Camping skills and equipment (the foundational layer of being prepared in general)
• First Aid and CPR
• Alternate water/lighting/cooking and fuel storage options
• How to stay warm/freeze protection – alternative heat sources for the home
• Real "Bug-out-bags" and optional transport
• Pressure canning, dry-pack, dehydrating, local cannery, etc – food preservation
• Gardening & herbs - no matter where you live you can grow something
• Beekeeping
• Hunting & game "preparation" – team up “novices” with experienced hunters willing to share.  Opportunity to teach many outdoor skills.
• Home defense & security
• Practical map & compass and GPS use
• Raising farm animals
• EMP preparations (grounded Faraday cages for all critical electronic devices)
• Prep library – fiction and non-fiction, a never-ending collection. Begin discussion groups to open up the thought process of what we can do right now.  Helps keep “the eye on the ball”.

Goals for the following year:

10. Pre-positioning & movement of gear - trucks & trailers available to haul members gear to a centralized point if personal safety becomes an issue.
11. Rally points: Look for areas that allow for shelters/tent sites, water sources, firewood, pre-dug latrines, defense trenches, LP/OP, graves, etc dug while machinery is easily available; perhaps a members property/farm or hunting camp.
12. Backup plans for those unable to report (see #3) due to their own challenges or needing to use there own "resources" elsewhere.  Cross train.
13. Security detail:  Safety, Training, practice, CCW,  proper storage of guns and ammo.

Other considerations:

- Any members with large tracts of land that would be willing to “invite” the membership and like-minded individuals to gather for safety (see point #10 & #11)
- Airplane/ultra-lite for recon
- “EMP proof” vehicles (plan to have necessary spare parts on hand)
- Those with farm animals, fuel storage, solar panels, wood lot/firewood
- Potential access to a pharmacy, backup refrigeration for critical meds
- Organized responsibilities: Medical, Security, Sanitation, Burial, Water collection/treatment, Hunter/Gatherer, Construction/Home repair, Firewood collection, Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, Communications, etc.

I have appreciated the opportunity to organize my thoughts as I am preparing to implement the plan above.  I just recently discovered SurvivalBlog,\ and found that it is a treasure of knowledge.  Thank you for your time and efforts to help us be better prepared.

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I have read your novel "Patriots" and found your web site. I have been going through your archives to see if anyone has touched on this subject but so far I've only found partial references to this topic. Although I have not made it through all the archives yet.In your book I noticed that the characters knew each other for years and had time to work out differing personality traits or not be included in the group. (BTW, it really saddened me when you killed off two of the characters.) I got to thinking about the types of personalities that will come together when TSHTF. and I wanted to offer some insights to people building their retreat group.

One of the biggest challenges to survival will be to learn to live with others.We won't have unlimited computer time to hide in or malls or friend's houses to escape to and hang out at. There might not be 1,200 or more square feet of private space to storm off to and stew and or pout. most of us will be living in tight quarters practically on top of one another with duties, chores, and responsibilities to attend to. When I was considering the mission field a recruiter/trainer explained that one of the biggest problems with retaining missionaries was not: funding, people, dedication, or training, but rather the lack of emotional maturity and the ability of the team members to live in isolation away from modern familiar creature comforts and to just plain get along. This cost the missions lots of money and time when people deserted their post or demanded to be sent home because they couldn't bear another personality or presence. I am a private person and mostly quiet, with a slightly melancholy personality. This sometimes irks the fun-loving prankster because if the joke is at someone's expense who is not really laughing I don't find it funny and this makes me a spoil sport.

What about the male or female flirt? Think of the tension and drama for a new married couple or an insecure spouse if too much attention or help is given to another, or if those cold and boring guard duty assignments start to seem too cozy. Does this sound silly? But we have all seen public arguments over some poor slob looking at a passing pretty woman for too long. And marriages end over so much trivial stuff now that we've termed it irreconcilable differences. Women need to consider that monthly moodiness that can lead to tears, sullenness and cold shoulders. Now multiply that by a wife, a couple of teenage daughters, and a girlfriend or two. That makes ravaging looters start to look absolutely friendly.

Men: Don't get too smug. You'll face your challenges too. There will be no televised sports. Bye bye NASCAR, NFL, NBA ,WWF, Super Bowl, Rose Bowl and The Fishing Channel. Work becomes tedious and shooting draws too much attention and depletes ammo when there is no rest,or escape from stress, nagging,whining,indifference or complaining.Here are some thoughts on what to do.

Melancholy people: Lighten up, learn balance,compassion, stability count your blessings once in a while everything won't always end badly.

Pranksters and life-of-the-party types: Tone it down. We don't always like being the butt of your fun.

Seducers: Have mercy on the single people,everyone knows your beauty and talent just make sure the praise is earned and the beauty is more than skin deep.

Whiners/complainers: Stop annoying others take it to God only He can give peace and satisfaction in every situation

Addicts (including drunks dopers, gamblers, over eaters, and porn seekers.): Fight and defeat your addictions. Fight now, fight hard, and get help. Seek mercy and forgiveness from family friends and the Lord or you'll find yourself on the outside looking down the barrel of a gun.

Teenagers: Sorry! We adults messed things up and let the wolves get in charge.you will pay a hugh price in loss of childhood but get angry then get over it there are no more malls, iPods or freebies. Pull your weigh. Start unplugging from electronics and the Internet, including MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. Reintroduce yourself to your family. Give them the same courtesy and chances that you gave your Internet friends. Learn to channel that restlessness, hormones, and teen angst in ways that help you grow and aren't hurtful or endangering to your retreat group. Getting your own way all the time is no longer the norm, storming off somewhere or sneaking off to meet unacceptable acquaintances for a little harmless fun will no longer be just selfish or no big deal. Nor will it be an easy fix with mom and dad's checkbook or [social] position but instead a possible life-threatening endeavor for your entire group. Information and facility security must be taken seriously. How much of your family's or the group's supplies do you think will be fair to trade to get you back safely from your new cool friends who understand you oh so much better than your family? If you want to be seen as an asset and as and adult--not a child, burden or liability--then learn something. Help out, take care of others, contribute to the homestead, and be an example and dependable help with younger siblings. Have interests that don't always involve electricity. Remember chess, checkers, board games? As I asked the girls in my church group, if you don't enjoy your own company why should anyone else.?

Procrastinators: Get it done, stay on schedule.

Perfectionists: Have pity, have mercy, have patience. We all know you can do it better and/or faster but you can't always do it alone. Let us help and we'll all get there.

Controllers and Micro-managers: Delegate, rest, trust us, lean not on your own understanding. God is in control.

Fatties: Get chocolate and sugar cravings under control now with nutrition, herbal remedies I found a great book on this called "The Complete Medicinal Herbal" by Penelope Ody from a mention in SurvivalBlog's Bookshelf page and I checked it out from the library. Now I am looking for my own copy to add to my supplies, medicines and exercise. Yes the dreaded "E" word. Exercise can be a walk with your husband (remember him?) neighbor (they aren't all creep) )friend or kid who you have only seen coming and going from the car rear view mirror all week. Keep your eye open for holiday sales of your favorite goodies as a treat not a life or death issue. Learn hobbies that are restful soothing and can be necessary for survival or bartering: crochet, knitting , weaving, sewing, hunting, fishing, flower gardening for soaps lotions and perfumes. (You know... the stuff our grand mothers and great grand mothers did for themselves and their families.)

Parents; Your kids will no longer be the responsibility of the state, school, church, or clubs. Start collecting age appropriate books for games, crafts, and lessons. Homeschooling will become a priority and a necessity not an option.Look to others with skills and temperaments that you would like your child to emulate to supplement your training but they are your kids so get busy There are numerous homeschooling networks available now check the library. How they turn out is partially your doing. Remember why you had them and remember that at sometime you did love them now learn how to like them they're pretty terrific( God don't make no junk).Families;couples and groups star talking resolve those years of hurt and hateful words and actions. Confront the problems, we are running out of time and room to hide. Drugs will run out, alcohol will be scarce or nonexistent and some of us might be tempted to shoot you ourselves if we have to listen to one more petty argument about something stupid someone said or did yesterday, last year or 20 years ago. I read a news story about a man in Italy who tried to get arrested this past Christmas season just to get away from his relatives who had come to visit. When the police wouldn't take him he went next door to a store, threatened the clerk and stole some candy then sat down to wait while the clerk called the police. Pitiful!

I know my faults and I know my failings (mostly). I moved 2,000 miles away from my family to find peace and adventure. I have found both in God but He's not finished with me yet and I am doing my part to not be obnoxious to those around me until He is done. So search yourself , learn about yourself, know yourself, and like yourself . We already have plenty of self love, and you will be in high demand as a retreat member when times turn to TEOTWAWKI. Thanks for listening and much success and many blessings to all you Preppers out there. See you on the flip side.- Theresa in California

Dear James,
I couldn't help but resist to write to you as a younger generation female. I am a 28 year girly girl and currently live in Los Angeles, California. My idea of roughing it is staying at the holiday inn. My dad gave me your novel "Patriots" about six months ago and asked me to read it. It sat around collecting dusk, used as a door stop and spider killer for the same amount of time. One day my parents gave me a large Pelican container with many survival items. (the Pelican headquarters is just two blocks away from me and had a great sale. They said that i can think they are crazy but they feel better knowing that i have it and they did something to help me should the time arise. I work with them in the family owned Real Estate office and would often see my mom reading your site, printing things and making notebooks. I'm not gonna lie, Jim. I had thought they were going crazy with this whole TEOTWAWKI business. I just smiled and went along with it. But then my boyfriend and I went to see The Road (which was hardly playing anywhere) and my eyes opened up. I finally understood what they were talking about in The Road. I couldn't believe it. people eating people, no electricity, no food!

I then found your novel in my closet and began to read it. I couldn't put it down!! I finished it in two days and highlighted many of the important items in the book. I've since taken it pretty seriously and although I'm young and in no financial way able to own a retreat by 2012 (although i wish i could) i am planning for the future. I have decided to follow your once a month plan of buying something of importance and have a five year plan with my boyfriend that once we get married will be buying something in Idaho by 2015 (if its not too late). Even if nothing happens in the next 20 years I know my future children will be taken care of and so on and so on. So far we have two G.O.O.D. packs and a 45 day supply of MRE food. Not to mention the items my parents gave me. It's not much but its a start. I went to the shooting range for the first time last Sunday and shot a 9mm pistol. I loved it! Although I'm not that good, I know that my dad who is an avid hunter will teach me all I need to know. I'm writing this letter to you in hopes that you will publish it for all the other young people that come across your site because of their parents. They aren't crazy!

I am now working on paying of my debt, getting into shape and saving for the future. I wanna own a little farm and build a retreat for me and my family in Idaho. This city girl will be a country shootin' girl in no time!

Thank you Jim, for your novel. If anything ever does happen you can add me and my family to your list of lives touched. I am blessed to have read your book! - Jenny in Los Angeles

Dear Sir,
In response to the excellent article written to aid in students to prepare, I felt it important for parents to make a plan to get children in the event of weather, unrest, terrorist attack.

All my children are currently at a private school. The oldest (high school age) carries a note stating that she has permission to "check out" the other two [into his care], signed by me. We also have a password that if she receives via text, email or phone she is to immediately check out the others and follow the directions sent or if nothing else is sent to abide by our previous decisions.

I took these precautions because I feel that to get our children out of the school as soon as possible is to our advantage before well meaning administrators decide to keep children in "for their protection" and make parents wait. From previous dealings in regards to closing school in the middle of the day due to snow, ice, tornados as well as the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, I know how long it takes for them to make a decision and feel I have time to get my kids out.

Our plan will need to be reworked this next year as the younger two are coming home to be schooled, but it will actually make our plan easier as the oldest will be able to sign out and immediately leave and not worry about visiting 2 other buildings for her siblings.

I have friends who are well prepared, but this was a situation they had not even thought of and wanted to pass along our plan to help others.

Thank you again for all you do - God bless - JWE

Where will you be when the earthquake happens? The tornado? The riot? The terrorist strike? The (fill in the blank). If you work or go to school, you spend about 40 hours every week in a non-home environment. Probably more if you count commute time, shopping, recreation, library time, extra-curricular activity time, and so forth. Even if you are a serious prepper, that means about 25% or more of your time each week is spent in environments away from your primary support systems. That also means that there is about 1 chance in four that a disaster will happen while you are in one of these other environments. You will have access to what you have with you and what someone (employer, school, etc.) has put in place for you in such emergencies. Having been employed for 40 years and a student for 20+ years before that I can tell you these other environments have virtually nothing in place to provide for the survival, let alone comfort, of those on premises.

Other posts on SurvivalBlog have addressed the issue of what you should have with you (in a car, backpack, etc.) while away from home. I encourage you to read them and prepare accordingly. I will not re-visit those recommendations here. Rather, I will address the preparedness issue from the point of view of employers, employees, and students. These are environments where significant time is spent, but few resources are in place to deal with even minor inconveniences, let alone full-blown disasters.

For the Enlightened Employer:

Ask the average employer about "emergencies" on the job and they think no further than a first aid kit "somewhere in the cabinet over there", a fire extinguisher on the wall, and maybe an evacuation plan. And none of these may have been looked at for years. Their thinking is one-dimensional: a cut requiring a band-aid; a slip-and-fall causing a sprain; a bad headache. Anything more serious - call the ambulance!
But what if the ambulance doesn't come? Or the phones won't work to even call the ambulance? And what if not just one person is injured, but several? And lots more are injured for as far as you can see in any direction? It's time to enlighten organizations to possibilities not previously on their radar screen.

In a disaster, employees may not be able to leave a work site to get home, even if they live rather close. Employers need to face the possibility that a large number of their employees may need to shelter in place at the work site for at least a day or two. Normal transportation may be impossible, prohibited by authorities, or just plain too dangerous to attempt. Large numbers of injuries may be encountered, from minor to extremely serious. Everyday resources such as water, heat, and electricity, taken for granted under normal circumstances, likely will not work.

What should an enlightened employer do to provide some protection to employees following a disaster?
First, recognize you have a moral duty beyond the one-dimensional level of a normal workday to provide some extended level of support to those who work for you. Provisions do not have to be elaborate or expensive. Start thinking outside the box. You do not have to drop everything and put all the resources in place at once. As a starting place, consider the following:

1. Let your employees know you are interested in putting some disaster resources in place, and why. Many of the employees will get on board with the idea, and will help identify ideas. Be honest. If you have a limited budget, say so. Maybe provide a specific amount each month to devote to the plan. You can tell them implementation may take several months, maybe a couple of years, but be prepared to implement at least some of the good ideas. If employees don't see progress, the philosophical "buy-in" will disappear.
2. Don't re-invent the wheel. Assess the skills and resources already in place. Review the backgrounds of current employees. Identify those who have genuine first aid training, fire fighting skills, law enforcement background, etc. Existing, but unused water storage capability? Electrical generating capacity? You may well find significant assets already available and waiting to be recognized.
3. If adequate skills are not present, consider providing one, or a few employees the chance to take an appropriate course (which you will pay for) at a local community college or other facility. The cost of the course is minimal, and sometimes free. You can reward employees who acquire these skills through recognition, and maybe something tangible like a gift certificate or ball game tickets. Think of this as a type of insurance policy. By the way, it's deductible.
4. Form an employee committee. Ask them to discuss the preparedness issue among themselves and as many other employees as feasible. Perhaps once a month (or whatever works) publish a work site preparedness news letter. It can be as simple as a typed sheet in simple outline form. Communicate ideas and decisions. If some are left out of the information loop make sure it's their choice and not your fault.
5. Talk to other employers. At least a few may have already addressed the issue. Some of the work may have been done for you by other businesses, at least identifying what works and what doesn't. Civic clubs (Rotary, Lions, etc.) are a good place to start.

For the Enlightened Employee:

If you are already a prepper and/or read this blog, chances are you don't have to be convinced of the necessity of preparedness. There is a chance though that you have never thought extensively, about the possibility of being caught by surprise in a disaster while you are away from and unable to get to your primary support systems, which is probably your home. Without some serious planning on your part you are going to be at the mercy of what other people have, or more likely haven't done, to provide for your safety and survival. Realize you may have to remain at a work site for an extended period of time. Injury, legal restrictions, or plain common sense may keep you from leaving for a more desirable location.

So what should an enlightened employee do help themselves and others who may never have thought of disaster prep even at home, let alone their work site?

First, think the problem through - thoroughly. Start slow. Don't rush to your employer and suggest in a frenzied fashion what you think they should be doing. There are some things you need in your corner before you "go public".

1. If possible, and very delicately, find one or more co-workers with the same mindset as yours. Unless you are certain of a positive outcome, do not approach your employer about this yet. Remember, your employer may be oblivious to the issue and dismiss you as some kind of nut case. Consider getting one or two pieces of the Survivalblog gear (coffee mug, hat, etc.) and let it be seen casually around the work site. You may find friends you didn't know were there.
2. If you are convinced there are no like-minded co-workers available consider finding prepper friends who work in other businesses. Find out if any of their employers have established a disaster prep plan. Compare notes. Employers are always impressed by what works at other employers, especially their competitors.
3. Write it down. Put all your ideas in writing. Your first draft will be very rough. Don't worry. You don't have to show it to anybody. Over time, revise and improve it. Revise it again. If you are not a good writer, admit it to yourself and get some help. A well written plan will impress an employer much more than a sloppy one.
4. Enlist the aid of a trusted co-worker. Preferably someone that other employees like, look up to, and consider professional. Ask their advice and share your ideas. Don't push. Let your ideas simmer a while.
5. Get the ball rolling. Consider forming a casual group of co-workers outside of work to discuss preparedness issues . Start by addressing home and family settings. After a few discussions chances are school/work site issues will surface. If they don't, introduce the possibilities yourself.

For The Enlightened Student:

If you are a student in Junior High School or High School, your approach will be similar, but not quite the same, as that of an employee. You also face a different environment. Schools can be "locked down" by municipal or school authorities. In instances where this has happened the lock down has been for a few hours at most and municipal services (water, heat, light, etc) were not interrupted. That's a real advantage in maintaining the morale of those on site. Now imagine the same location but with multiple, maybe hundreds, of injuries, no municipal services, and no ready help.

So what should an enlightened student do?

First, realize that you are going to have to enlist adult support. No matter how many fellow students you have on your side, if that's all you have, you will get no more than brief attention from school authorities, and even less action. Take it from one who has "been there - done that!" Consider the following course of action.

1. Don't despair. You can win this battle if you approach it in a professional manner and realize you have to win small battles one at a time to win the war. It won't happen all at once.
2. Draw up a written plan. It need not be elaborate, and in fact it's better if it isn't. You are going to need adult and official buy-in. Let them think a lot of the plan is their idea. If your school has a PTA, look for support there.
3. Look for an elected municipal or county official willing to listen and help you. A mayor, county Sheriff, city councilman, or state representative are all good choices. Ask for their opinions - and listen! They will be skeptical at first. After all, you are 16 years old and they figure that by next Saturday night your attention span will have faded to a hundred other things. Through repeated, (and I must add, very professional contacts - don't storm their office with a dozen students) they will begin to see you and others are serious. Each time you contact them, show them you have in some way acted on their suggestions from the previous meeting; it strokes their ego. They also realize that in 1 or 2 years all of you will be voters. But do not mention this. They will interpret it as a threat. Believe me, they already know it.
4. Once an elected official (preferably more than one) is in your corner, arrange a meeting with your school officials. Do your best to include at least one of the elected officials. Elected officials are scared of voters and school officials are scared of elected officials. School officials may still not believe in your cause, but they will be faced with the fact that you, and some powerful allies, do.
5. Contact other schools that have made some progress on this. Ask an English or Journalism teacher to help your group write a series of short news stories on the subject and your school's progress (even if minimal) for the local paper. Keep it positive and praise the school officials for "seeing the need". Principals, teachers, school boards , and especially parents love that kind of stuff.
6. As long as you keep it professional, you are on the road to prepping your school site. Remember, don't set out to win big victories. Build the fort one block at a time. Keep the contacts going and expand them.

I can't agree with you more on the subject of charity. Watching people starve is not in the cards for me if I can help it. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, you won't be able to help very much, but for a lesser catastrophe, most of your readers could really help a lot of people by working with local authorities or church groups to feed people until help can arrive. Water is an even more urgent need, but I would like to describe my own preparations for setting up a field bakery and soup kitchen. Maybe I can help inspire others to do the same.

Unfortunately, most modern Americans don't have the slightest clue what to do with a bucket of wheat. They don't have the tools, skills or other ingredients to make it into anything but boiled wheat berries. Even that might be beyond a group of refugees on foot. Handing them unprocessed foods like grain and beans is not going to be much good.

Instead, you can set up a bakery and soup kitchen. Of course, you will need help. A local church can supply manpower and probably manage most of the grunt-work once you get them organized. You will probably need to supply all the equipment except for tables and chairs. You will also need to supply the recipe and know-how and possibly some of the basic ingredients. Wheat, yeast, milk powder, oil, and salt. Also, don't forget the wood for fuel.

Here is a very interesting link that describes a WWI army field bakery.

That is sort of what I am talking about. Using the listed equipment, a six man section could supposedly produce 2,250 pounds of bread per day. The recipes they use are not that great, but you get the idea. Each run takes about 2 hours to bake (and you have two more runs rising at the same time). You don't have to get this ambitious. You can scale this down to whatever level you are able to handle. Even if you can only bake a couple of dozen loaves a day, you could really help a lot of people waiting for FEMA to show up and save them.

An outdoor wood-fired oven with enough capacity to feed a lot of people is a good thing to own. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything for sale commercially that fit the bill. Using the old army model as a rough pattern, I designed and built my own.

My Bread Oven

First, I really need to admit that my oven is hideously ugly. The level of workmanship that went into it was terrible. Most of your readers can probably do better. For tools I used a hand drill, pop riveter, pliers, tin snips and a jigsaw with metal cutting blades.

My complete oven stands close to 6 feet tall counting the legs and maybe 2 feet wide and thick. It's a large rectangle with two oven doors on opposite sides and it stands about 16 inches above the ground on metal tubing legs. It's heated using a large hobo-stove (made from a gas cylinder) that sits underneath it. It can bake six large loaves of delicious bread at a time, and the hobo-stove uses about 10 pounds of hard wood per hour at baking temperatures.

The whole oven weighs about 80 pounds and can by carried by one man. A lot of the weight comes from the layer of tile I use to distribute heat (see below) and can be removed for transport. If you remove the legs as well, you can fit this oven into the back seat of a large sedan.

My design is really simple. It's basically two sheet metal boxes attached inside a larger sheet metal box. The inner boxes form the bread ovens (two of them). They both have doors cut through the outer box to the outside and hinged doors, also made of sheet metal. The bottom is open and a separate brazier or hobo stove is burned underneath. The hot air and smoke rises up through the open bottom, circulates around both inner boxes and exits through a hole at the top. Simple. If you make it tight enough, the smoke never touches the bread, so you can burn almost anything for fuel. (Mine leaks a tiny bit of smoke, so I have to stick with burning hard wood or untreated lumber).

I have a wire shelf just below the bottom oven that I cover with 4 inches of ceramic tiles to hold heat and insulate the bottom oven. This makes the oven easier to use and keeps the temperature in both ovens closer to the same. It works without the tiles, but it's harder to regulate the heat from the hobo stove. The object is to put some mass between the fire and the bottom oven. I use tile because I have it, but a pan of sand would work too.

The whole thing is assembled using pop-rivets. I used two largish rectangular trash bins for the outer oven casing. This can be almost any fireproof container as long as it is open at the bottom, large enough to contain the oven boxes with about 2-4 inches air space on 3 sides. A single metal box would have been better, but I found two stainless steel trash bins and simply riveted them together.

I made the bread ovens (the inner boxes) out of about 14 large cookie sheets. (Any sheet metal will do the trick. The heavier the better.) If I were doing it over, I would use pre-made boxes of some kind for the inner ovens. Building sheet metal boxes is harder than I thought it would be. If you can spot-weld, this chore is easier, but I had to use rivets, so my boxes leak a little smoke.

The inner boxes are riveted to the outer box, 4 inches above the bottom ceramic shelf, the top one about 6 inches above the bottom one. They are staggered so that the heat has to flow over both of them. The doors are on opposite sides of the oven to help with heat distribution. This gives you two smaller ovens, the top one about 50 degrees cooler than the bottom one. This works fine and gives you a lot of versatility, but it was a lot of trouble to make. If I were doing it over, I might make one large oven box. Try not to let your bread pans sit directly on the bottom, or your bread will burn. I used some little metal wire racks to keep mine about an inch above the bottom of the oven.

My oven legs are metal tubing scavenged from thrown away furniture, but I could have more easily used angle iron. They should be sturdy and hold the oven just above the hobo stove. This lets you tend the fire easily or remove it entirely. The stronger your shell and legs are, the better. More weight will help even out the heat, so heavier is better. Also, if your stove and legs are sturdy enough, you can set pots on top of the stove to heat water.

If your outer shell is large enough, you might consider building the fire-box into the oven body, like a real stove. I chose the separate hobo-stove for versatility, ease of cleanup and transportability. I made my hobo stove out of a disposable helium cylinder from a party balloon kit. Any metal cylinder with an open top will work fine. A bucket would probably work just as well. Cut one side of the container so you can add fuel from the side and several large air holes. Insulate the bottom with gravel or sand and you are finished. (A wire handle and a grate on top of the stove are nice touches, but not needed for this project.) Hobo stoves burn wood very efficiently because they form a strong draft from the bottom, so a long tube is more efficient than a short one and you need plenty of air holes. Regulate temperature by adding fuel, not by cutting off air flow. These stoves work best running hot and fast, so it's better to burn smaller amounts
of fuel fast and add more as needed. If you are doing it right, you will have very little smoke.

For fuel, I burn seasoned scrub oak sawed into 6 inch lengths and split about an inch or two wide. I have also used chopped up pine lumber and brush and dead limbs out of my yard. All of them seem to work about the same. To use this oven, simply light the hobo stove and let the oven heat up (about 10 minutes). Pop your loaves in the ovens and keep the fire burning at low to medium. (My hobo-stove is maybe 10 inches wide and can put out a lot of heat. It will overheat this oven if I get too happy throwing on wood. I think I could have gotten by using a coffee can for a hobo stove and making the stove legs shorter.)

Old School Field Baking

I am not going to insult anyone's intelligence by explaining how to bake bread, but I have some tips for doing it outdoors on a larger scale, that might be useful.

Be organized so you can quickly pass off the simple chore of baking to others. Once you get things running, there is no need for a highly-skilled survivor-type to stand there and baby-sit it. You are more valuable than that. Keep everything simple. When you set up your bakery operation, write your recipe and instructions in magic marker on whatever table you are using. That way anyone can take over and keep the bread coming while you do other useful work.

You need a good water supply. If you are carrying water from far away, you are wrong. It's much easier to carry finished bread than water. You will need lots of clean water to mix in the dough, but even more water for washing pans and bowls and utensils. You need several big water containers and a larger container for washing. (Army immersion heaters would probably work really well for washing up, but I don't have one, so I cheat and wash up inside at my kitchen sink right now. I have a large bushel size wash tub, but I have never used it for this.) Set up your washing station nearby so you can use it between batches. Bring lots of latex gloves [and non-latex for those that are allergic] and make all your helpers use them. Nuff said.

You will also need a hand-washing station wherever you are planning to feed people. Don't forget soap and paper towels. Food borne illness is a big killer after a disaster. You may save more lives with your washing point than with your bread. I recommend having disposable cups for soup and no other implements. Make them drink the soup. Washing up bowls and spoons is very labor intensive and not as sanitary as plastic cups. (You will need several hundred a day plus about 4 rolls of paper towels. Liquid soap is better than bar soap for hand washing.

You need some working space. Set up at least one large picnic table for counter space. Two is better. That will allow you to use one for cleanup and the other for dough prep. Spread a table-cloth or sheet of plastic. Keep a small pail of soapy water and a sponge nearby to wipe up flour and your area will stay clean. Lay out a cookie sheet on the table to lay utensils on so they never touch anything dirty. The ingredients should never touch anything except the utensils, mixing bowls and the bread pans. (After the bread comes out, you will need something to wrap it with after it cools a little, but odds are, the bread won't last very long!) The utensils should always sit on the cookie sheet and should be thoroughly washed between batches. Keeping everything clean outdoors is hard, but organization can really help. So can paper towels if you have them.

Mix your dough in a large metal container and don't try to knead it by the loaf. (I make six loaves at a time, which is still small enough to stir by hand). Don't knead the dough with your hands. Stir it instead with a sturdy spoon or spatula. A 16 inch length of 1x2 pine board works really well for this. Just keep it clean. For containers, stock pots work great. (You will need about six of them. It's hard to have too many.) Mix all your ingredients, stir it for about 5-10 minutes, put a lid on the pot and put it someplace warm for about an hour. (The top of your stove will be WAY too hot, but you can probably put it near the fire at the base. Another warm place is inside a car sitting in the sun). At the end on an hour, mix up another batch, punch down the first batch and transfer it into baking pans and lay these in a clean, warm place to rise again. (Clean as you go.)

Rising dough needs a clean warm place. Clean, warm place? That's the biggest problem you may face. If it's cold out, you can't use a car for a solar oven to warm your dough. Another good solution is to use a cooler. If you line the bottom with ceramic tile or gravel, you can heat up a rock or piece of metal and lay it inside the cooler to heat the air inside. I use 3 chunks of rebar and rotate them in the fire to keep the whole cooler between 80 and 100 degrees. If it's too cold for any of these methods, you are probably better off using baking soda instead of yeast for leavening. It's almost as good when you are hungry, and much easier to deal with in cold weather.

At the end of the second hour, pop your pans in the hot ovens, make another batch and fill some more pans. After this point, you will be producing one batch of bread every hour or so. My oven bakes bread in 45 minutes using my pans. Yours will be different, so you have to experiment. Remember, if you use my stove design, the top stove is cooler than the bottom stove. Let it cook a few minutes longer.

My stove body is very sturdy and the top has a single 6 inch hole for a vent. The whole top gets hot (probably 350 to 400 degrees at least. This allows me to put a stock pot and a couple of smaller pots directly on top of the stove to heat water. It will even boil small pots of water if you put them over the vent (You have to make sure you don't block the air flow). A big stock pot gets hot enough for soup. If you put a big pot of water up top, it will heat up to about 150 degrees in an hour. That allows you to add instant soup mix and serve soup with your bread for very little additional trouble and no extra fuel.

Normal bread pans can be used if you build your oven to the right dimensions. I was stupid and didn't do that, so I had to make my own pans to efficiently use the oven space available.

Every run of my oven requires about 15 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of dry milk, 4 cups of sugar, 8 cups of oil and a generous handful of salt. Figure 10 runs a day minimum at 150 pounds of flour. (60 big loaves a day is a lot of food). You will have to try your own system out once or twice using your pans and recipes to see how much it's going to cost you in supplies.

Your group can probably get flour or grain (popcorn, rice, wheat, barley or even millet) from somewhere locally to help you out. Even birdseed with un-hulled sunflower and rape seeds is usable if you grind it very coarsely at first and use a colander to get rid of the big hulls. (You can also float them away). Mix and match different flours in an emergency. You are not cooking for a 5 star restaurant and "It's all good." (Birdseed mix is not very good for bread, so mix it with wheat flour and cut down the oil you add by half.) Your life will be better if you have a flour sifter. A sifter or a course colander can also get rid of trash from dirty feed wheat. Otherwise, your finished flour will have hulls and such in it.

Flour is much easier to work with than buckets of wheat! You will need some way to grind it. I strongly recommend getting a good grain mill like the Country Living Mill and motorizing it. Even a car inverter (a big one) can run an electric grain mill. You are going to have to provide over 15 pounds of flour every hour! That's a lot different from grinding 2 cups of flour for some muffins. Grinding wheat by hand is soul-destroying work, so do anything you can to avoid having to do it the hard way!

If you are facing serious hunger and you need to add more solid food to your kitchen, rice is the natural choice. It cooks fast, stores well and is pretty filling. Simple white rice is very boring and may not be eaten by some Americans, even in a crisis. Even adding a few beans can make it more palatable. Rice and beans are probably acceptable to most Americans, but beware, beans take a long time to cook and lots of fuel. You won't be able to use a insulated cooker unless you have a lot of pots and patience. Waiting for the beans to come off might cause a riot.

Remember, any solid foods you serve are going to require clean utensils and containers.

If you store white flour, odds are, you will need to rotate a lot of it when a disaster strikes. Use it first. The extra nutrition provided by whole wheat is not that important for a healthy population. If they were well fed yesterday, they are in no danger of getting rickets or pellagra. They just need calories. You might even be able to claim it on your income taxes.

Mr. Rawles:
As an engineer interested in long term sustainability I was most interested in the item from Troy H. mentioning Juhnde, Germany. I took a look at their web site and ran the numbers to look at whether such an installation is commercially viable.

The capital costs listed were EU 5,400,000 or about USD $7,900,000 at present exchange rates; It's not clear when the overall system was constructed but the hot water pipeline system was built around 2005. Apparently, and I will have to look into this further, all of the capital costs were from public funds. This translates out to about $10,395 per resident in capital expenses, excluding operating and maintenance costs. Amortized out over 20 years, straight line amortization with no interest cost, the principal cost would be ~$520 per resident per year. If you included reasonable capital costs, a 20 year fixed 6.0% mortgage would cost $74.51 per month per resident. It might be possible to play with the financing costs and rates to find a sweet spot, but I thought that was sufficient for a first assessment.

Assuming an average family of four, this would mean about $3600 per year (about $2,080 for principle and $1,500 interest) for heat and electricity capital cost plus the unknown operating costs, which I would estimate by rule of thumb for large installs at 50% of the amortized capital expenses. That is $5,400 per year per family, not for housing but just for heat and electricity.

If we include the return from the electrical power (an estimated annual surplus of 2,500,000 kWh) that is a total annual savings of $150,000 at $0.06 per kWh or $197 per resident per year, for an estimated net cost of around $4,600 per family for heat and electricity. (Obviously, electrical costs vary tremendously and affect the analysis)

My costs for my home's physical plant, which include a propane furnace with electric heat pump and associated tanks, duct work, woodstove and chimney, etc., were about $13,000 to support a family of four. My annual energy cost, electricity, propane, and the costs of cutting/splitting wood are about $1,400 per year. (Yes, I have good insulation, and I also don't have a huge house, and I turn off the lights!) Plus an allowance of $500 for repair and replacement. Using the same logic and rates, my mortgage cost for heating is $93.14 per month or ~$1,120 per year capital expenses plus $1,900 in operating expenses including preventative maintenance (PM) and repair allowance. This totals $3,000 per year.

What this analysis tells me is that interesting as Juhnde is, it is not economically sustainable. Sustainable designs have to be sustainable from an economic perspective as well as a technical and biological one. A truly sustainable solution offers economic benefits and a competitive advantage. Now, a highly productive society such as present-day Germany may be able to afford to subsidize a 50% increase in energy costs and a 25% reduction in crop output, at least in a small area over the short term, and this example may be useful as a 'proof of concept' test bed, but in my judgment this is not a viable long term solution for the USA. The real push behind this may be found in the proud statement that the village has reduced it's carbon output by 60%. Regards, - Larry

JWR Replies: Also missing from the grand cost accounting equation are the costs of the fossil fuels used in producing and transporting the crops used in biodigesters. Traditional agriculture in a partially forested region (for firewood) with good topsoil and reliable rains provides a much better shot at true local mutigenerational sustainability. But of course that flies in the face of the uber-greens that are fixated on carbon emissions. Talk about missing the forest for the trees. Our forests are enormous solar energy collectors, renewably providing countless billions of BTUs, there for the taking.

The recent earthquake in the island nation of Haiti illustrates the fragility of all societies. While Haiti is unusual in its lack of infrastructure and its high dependence on foreign aid--more than half of its annual government budget comes from foreign aid--it is still similar in many ways to other nations: From the 1960s to the turn of the 21st century, as in many other nations, Haiti became an urbanized nation. Before the 1960s a substantial portion of Haitian society still lived on rural semi-self sufficient farmsteads. But as urbanization and specialization went on, fewer and fewer people lived off the land and more and more citizens became dependent on foreign aid and a scant number of industrial jobs. This trend has been repeated around the globe, making nearly all societies increasingly vulnerable to disasters, man-made or natural. The resiliency of traditional agrarian societies has sadly become a thing of the past. Here in America, 2% of the population now feeds the other 98%. This is now something that First, Second, and Third World nations have in common. America is more like Haiti than we'd like to think. Human nature is the same in every culture and nation: fundamentally sinful.

The Thin Veneer

With a few exceptions, most notably in Oceania, traditional Christian values have slipped away in much of the western world. When times get tough the citizenry of most nations loses all compunctions about using violence to expropriate the property of others. As I've written before, modern societies have just a thin veneer of civilization that covers something quite odorous beneath. Here in modern western societies, folks like to think of themselves as highly civilized, but when the Schumer hits the fan, there's no difference between people in the First World and the Third World.

As prepared individuals, we have the opportunity to set ourselves apart with a higher standard of behavior than those who resort to their baser instincts in time of crisis. It's important that there are some of us that have both the means and the willingness to help restore order and free commerce in the event of societal disruption.

The recent events in Haiti should be a reminder that in times of crisis things can easily fall apart. What happened in Haiti was dramatic, and a naturally occurring event, but because of the vulnerabilities of all modern societies, there could just as well be a reversion to savagery in a situation such as an economic collapse. We need to have our Beans, Bullets, and Band-aids squared away, so we can focus on more important things in a disaster than just finding food and water. Not only do we need to just prepare for surviving the next day, but also to be useful in rebuilding infrastructures and free commerce. This requires preparing with logistics as well as training and practicing to be ready to step into the breach.

The Charity Imperative

First World nations have become focused on large organizations, both governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), dispensing charity. The collective psyche is geared toward watching suffering "someplace far away", and dialing an 800 number to make a contribution via credit card. While I truly appreciate people's generosity, it is something quite far removed from preparedness to dispense charity locally.

In the event of a disaster closer to home, credit cards won't do the job. It takes tangible goods in hand to solve crises in your own backyard. So, it's important that we stock up, both for ourselves, and to dispense copious charity to relatives, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. In the event of a nation-wide disaster here in America, there will be no relief from abroad. We must reconstitute internally, starting at the local level. Here is where your skills, your tools, your gear, your garden seed, and your grub will be crucial.

When it comes to knowledge you'll need to be prepared to disseminate crucial, yet simple technologies to your neighbors. These could include how to build a inertial water pump, how to build a simple 12VDC fuel transfer pump, and how to build simple solar projects, such as solar stills, cold frames and green houses, solar ovens, and solar dehydrators. And don't forget, that in the event of a crisis, your local photocopy center is unlikely to be in operation. So, it is important to prepare multiple hard copies of key pieces of information now, to have on hand to distribute when times get tough. There is a wealth of knowledge available on traditional skill and technologies in the SurvivalBlog archives and elsewhere on the Internet, from organizations such as Steve's Pages, Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA), The Hesperian Institute, The Peace Corps, OISM, Doctors for Disaster Preparedness (DDP), and Backwoods Home Magazine. Take advantage of these resources, and make those photocopies so that you will be able to share that knowledge with others!

Teaching for the Moment

Elementary school teachers here in the United States use the phrase "teach for the moment," to describe turning current events into teaching opportunities. I recommend that any conversations amongst your neighbors, coworkers, or church brethren be used as opportunities to spread the philosophy of family preparedness. Water cooler chit-chat should not just be "ain't it awfuling" sessions. You should instead use such conversations to encourage others to actively prepare for similar situations. And if anyone says, "Oh, but it couldn't happen here," then just remind them about the aftermath Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Not only has it happened here before, but it is likely to recur often within our lifetimes.

The Haitian earthquake of 2010 is a stark reminder of the fragility of all societies. It shows us that we need to be well-prepared and vigilant. And for those of us that are not Secret Squirrels, we should also be quietly and persistently leading public opinion, locally.

Mr. Rawles,
I am not sure if you can help me, however I was not sure who else I might be able to turn to for advice. I have always been a "prepared" type person, that stems from growing up relatively poor and living/working on a cattle ranch in southern Arizona, for a good portion of my life. We had to be prepared, living so far away from town! My wife and I were married almost three years ago, and currently live in southern Idaho. Being quite a few years my junior, eleven to be exact, she grew up with a considerably different lifestyle than I, and in a different era. I have tried to explain the possibilities to her, be it natural or man made, as to why I am storing food, ammo, medical supplies, et cetera. Unfortunately, even with the current events, she seems to think these things can never happen, and it is not worth the time and money spent.

I'm not a kook, or a tinfoil hat type person, just someone trying to provide for my wife and son in a rough future should it come to that. How do I explain that to my wife, or do I continue to secretly store things away when I have the chance? Please, any advice is very welcome and appreciated.

Thank you for listening, Cameron

JWR Replies: I have just one word for your wife: Haiti.

Having spent a lot of years on military planning staffs, I can't help war-gaming scenarios. In short (as you know well) Course of Action (COA) development is a big part of Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) and is a fairly reliable way of looking at possibilities and choosing likely sequels, given scenarios. In effect, a way of war-gaming out the future. There are a number of horror scenarios that seem to me to be fairly probable and they keep going around and around in my head as I try to sequence them and assign probabilities to each one. I am haunted by the possible future, an occupational hazard for a professional planner. I sincerely hope our civilization outlives me because it's failure could be truly horrible.

I agree completely with you on relocation to safer areas and stocking a remote retreat in the hinter-boonies. That's the optimum solution and in worst case situations, it's really the only solution likely to work long term. Any of your readers stuck in less than optimum situations are going to make a valiant effort to survive, but their odds are not as good. I am one of these folks. I worry about the golden hoard more than anything else. I would like to pass on some thoughts on the subject of what the unwashed masses will be doing after TEOTWAWKI. I am only guessing, but my guesses are made using history as a template. If anyone disagrees with my analysis, I would love to hear about it.

What about those totally unprepared? What are they going to do? There are many survival strategies open to the unwashed masses other than sitting down and starving to death. We all need to compare our own plans with these other strategies because I guarantee some of these strategies will be used by the teeming masses. When the power grid drops and the food shipments end, the average citizen is going to get a huge shot of reality. Guessing what they are going to do WTSHTF is central to all other survival planning, especially in the Eastern US or Europe.

ASSUMPTIONS:
I am talking here about a total collapse situation, not a slow slide decline or regional disruption. You can pick your own favorite cause from an EMP event to a finance system failure. They all cause roughly the same sequence of events. The results of any catastrophic collapse could easily be worse than any fiction you have ever read. The worst case scenarios all result in disruption of services and quick spiral into anarchy, but leave most of the population alive and hungry. This is the stuff of nightmares.

To recap our unprecedented bad situation: The vast majority of people live in urban or suburban areas near large population centers. They are poorly prepared for any emergency and completely unable to live self sufficiently. The food production systems that currently supply their food are fragile and subject to catastrophic failure. Most people's very lives depend on a fragile triad made up of the transportation network, power grid and finance system. All three of these systems depend on the other two and they are all three unbelievably fragile. (There are many dependencies, but I see these as the three key points of failure.)

Most people currently live shoulder to shoulder in unthinkable crowding. Once the triad of services breaks down, the vast majority of people will suddenly be living on a very limited amount of capital in the form of the tiny amount of consumables on hand in each city. Once the Evian is gone and the toilets don't work, they will have no way to get drinking water or even dispose of their own sewage. They are literally less than a week away from serious acute hunger.

This situation will not get better unless the government is able to restore critical systems very quickly. The odds of restoring order get worse the longer the crisis lasts as the teeming masses start migrating and civil order disintegrates. Assuming the government fails, the countryside cannot feed the population of the USA without modern fuel, finance, power and distribution systems in place. Using 19th century techniques (where that is possible), the farmland in the USA cannot begin to feed everyone. (Europe has the same problem). In short, people are living where there will be no resources and farmland (and farmers) will be overtaxed just to support locals. We don't have the capital goods (horses, tack, hand plows, tools, seeds etc ) or skills to go back to old farming methods quickly. The math points to a die-off larger than anything recorded in history. Did I miss any main points?

People are not going to starve to death quietly. They never do unless there is a government to enforce it. Every last one of them is going to try something to survive or even just hang on one more day. Humans are survivors. They are intelligent, ruthless and deadly omnivores. We use the terms "sheeple", or "Joe Six-pack" pretty flippantly, but even the most stupid human is very dangerous and many of the "sheeple" are not stupid or incompetent. They are, in fact, the most dangerous predators on earth. You are much better off surrounded by hungry tigers than hungry humans. On the other hand, these are real people that used to be your neighbors, mothers, fathers, daughters. When you look them in the face it's going to be very hard to pull a trigger.

AVAILABLE STRATEGIES:
This is not an all inclusive list. People are going to try all of these concurrently. I expect to see a general sequence of strategy choices, but it's not iron clad. While you would expect it much later in the crisis, you might run into a professional army on day one! The interplay of each strategy with the others is also hard to predict. People are going to try other things too (That I haven't thought of). Local variables will effect how each strategy plays out and what events are likely to occur. The interplay of all these activities is where my analysis breaks down in complexity. You have to evaluate them with local variables, so generalizations can only go so far. I believe people will try all of these strategies. Some of them will work, but most of them will fail. There are only so many resources.

1. Begging/bartering. This is probably the first strategy you will encounter. Begging will go on until the very end. This strategy is open to everyone. It will work better for weak individuals, but ultimately, charity is going to dry up as resources get tighter. The vast majority of people who depend solely on begging will ultimately starve to death. (Unfortunately, most people will beg, barter, steal and kill, in that order. Even a single mother may cut your throat to save her children.)

PLANNING NOTE: In a total meltdown, the numbers will crush you if you let them. You have stored a finite amount of food, but there is an almost infinite number of beggars out there. Can you turn away a family with children who only want a bite to eat? You better think this out carefully and steel yourself for whatever you decide to do. If you give too many of your supplies away you will starve. If you turn everyone away, you may feel really bad. Think about it. How are your wife and kids going to react to begging? Watching a die-off is going to be tragic.

a. Bartering services. This could be prostitution or offering to act as security guard. This is actually a viable strategy for anyone with end-of-the-world useful skills. Find someone (or preferably a community) with food and sell yourself. If you have military training and equipment or specific skills, this could work. I don't expect all the doctors to starve.

b. Bartering goods. Rich people may try to buy basic supplies at scalper's prices. You might get a great deal on a Rolex or Mercedes.

2. Stealing/looting. This is a no-brainer once law enforcement breaks down. Even while there is some order, people are going to steal anything they can get their hands on, even at the risk of being hurt or killed. If we drop into anarchy, expect crowds of hungry people or "professional rioters" to sweep the city streets. As the public-access shops and warehouses begin to empty, crowds may move into residential areas for a while, but I don't expect this to last long. Big crowds will probably disband completely when resources become more scarce or they have to travel further to get to them. A warehouse of food or shopping center near the inner city may support this behavior, but a suburban neighborhood 10 miles away won't. Residential areas within cities may be in serious peril. The closer you are to densely populated areas and/or poor areas, the more peril you face. Once the big flash-crowds disappear or people start to forage in the suburbs,
small groups will splinter off and begin raiding (see item #5 below).

There will also be a lot of solitary (or small groups) burglars and sneak-thieves. If you keep chickens in your yard, watch your neighbors closely. If you plan to go to work and leave your house empty, it may be looted while you are away. Gasoline tanks without locks will be prime targets for night visitors. Suburban gardens are prime targets. This applies to slow-slide declines too.

Beggars can turn into looters quickly if nobody is watching. If nobody answers a door, they may try to break a window. The suburbs may be swamped with beggar/looters. As they get more desperate, looters will get bolder and more dangerous. The further out of town you live the safer you will be from this group. Of course, the more isolated you are, the more vulnerable you are to raiders.

3. Some people will sit tight and wait for things to somehow return to normal. Most people who have food and other resources will try to live on them and wait it out. If they stay in small family groups, they will be easy prey for mobs or raiders. Still, I expect most urbanites will do this until they are almost out of resources...then they will join the beggars and looters. This group will grow smaller every day and swell the numbers of looters.

4. Banding. Almost all people will band together for mutual protection and support. How well this works depends on many factors, but ultimately the only safety anywhere will be provided by numbers. Single survivors will get swallowed up quickly.

a. Banding by family unit. This is the basic family group and will be the the first and most common grouping. These groups are small in size but very cohesive. Most families will quickly band with other families into larger groups. The ones who don't will be easy prey.

b. Banding by geography. Neighborhoods will try to form bands for mutual protection. Neighborhoods will try to do this, but historically, this is often not very effective, especially if the distance between neighbors is large. Sharing of resources within neighborhood bands is spotty and as individuals run low, they tend to leave. Rural neighborhood watches are doomed by small numbers, and urban neighborhood watches are doomed from having too many people.

Populations of small towns will band together to put up road-blocks and keep from being overwhelmed. This is the only way most small communities will be able to survive, even if they are capable of supporting themselves by farming. Unless they band effectively and very quickly, they are doomed to be overrun by refugees or raiders. Even the communities who quickly band together may get soft hearted and let in too many people to support. I think pitiful refugees are more dangerous than raiders. It's a rare American who can watch genuine suffering and not try to help. This is especially dangerous if it looks as though the situation could improve and things go back to normal. If there is hope of getting help from outside the community, most people are inclined to save as many others as possible. I feel that this issue will doom many small communities.

PLANNING CONSIDERATION: If your plans include banding with a farming community, you must take steps immediately to close off the flow of refugees into the area. Convincing others to take steps this drastic will be hard or even impossible, especially early in a crisis. Closing your community and isolating it may very well be impossible. If it is, you are at the mercy of fate and geography. You had better have a plan-b.

c. Banding by profession. Cops, medical workers, emergency workers, soldiers, and perhaps factory workers may band with co-workers. You will especially see this behavior with professional military groups. Beware of military installations in a total breakdown! You have a lot of very young, very scared and highly trained young men with no families there. It might get very dangerous to be near a military town if the government totally disappears. (In a slow slide disaster or regional disaster Army Towns are perhaps the safest places to be, but once the chain of command disappears, watch out.)

d. Banding by religion. This is perhaps the easiest, most effective band to join, since the churches already congregate groups of like-minded people within a small area. Religious bands will probably be the basis for "small community group banding" and are usually the strongest bands possible to form on short notice. All the church groups in an area or a town will likely band together and put on the mantle of "local government". I anticipate local churches forming the backbone of most local governments. They will be equipped with arm bands and represent "legitimate" government when they come to loot your supplies. Joining one of these bands will be a good survival strategy for many people, but in a total collapse, they are very likely to keep as many people alive as possible until they run out of resources and then starve together. Expect to see local polities formed from church groups going to war as resources get scarce. They will go
after both looters and hoarders. Fascism in America will probably arrive carrying a cross.

e. Banding by racial or ethnic group. You will see racially or ethnically pure groups in some regions. This could be very important factor in places like Los Angeles or New York almost immediately and may take precedence over geography or religion. It's an ugly thought, but being the wrong color may be a death sentence some places. (Ironically, I don't expect any serious racial tension in the deep South.)

f. Banding by gang or club affiliation. Not only urban gangs and bikers, but also gun-clubs, country clubs, and survival groups fall into this category. Some clubs will obviously not band effectively in an emergency (like a yacht club for instance), but you can bet the Aryan Brotherhood will cleave together like real brothers. Your survival group, can form a strong group if you have like minds and have clear plans for how to band, where to meet etc.

(PLANNING NOTE: Unfortunately, you are very unlikely to be able to form a survival group large enough to defend yourselves. You may have more success joining your survival group with a local church group or community group or some other band to increase your numbers. The only way you will be able to do that is to store enough food. Plan this out carefully. How big is your optimum band size and how will you feed everyone? Remember, you can use the same tactics other groups will use....like confiscation of warehouses, if your numbers are large enough and you are quick enough. But, If your ultimate size gets too large it will become unwieldy and impossible to control or feed. This is a conundrum you need to give some thought to now.)

Consider this topic well because your group belief system will vary depending on how you form the group and who you let in. A church group will have to use different tactics than a biker club or a neighborhood watch. This will limit or shape your options and set the tone of everything you do. No church group is going to seriously consider cannibalism, for instance.

5. Raiding/Banditry. Raider bands are going to spring up everywhere. Some will start as low level looters and graduate into larger scale violence. Some, however will start out as systematic raiders. There are some very bad perpetrators out there and there will be even more once the prisons empty. In the short term, violence will be very lucrative.

Raiders will take casualties over time. They will also replenish their numbers somewhat, but fortunately these are mostly anti-social types and may have trouble integrating new members. The further you are from them at the start, the safer you will be, but they can hit you anywhere, anytime. I don't see a good solution for this other than sheer numbers or good OPSEC. They won't attack an obviously hard target. and of course, they can't attack what they don't know about. They have to win to stay in business, so they won't attack unless they feel they can win. Distance will spread out the number of groups and allow other survivors to thin their numbers in numerous gun battles. True raiders may not last long, but they are going to be a real problem in the short term.

I expect raiding to take two main forms. The roadside ambush and the home invasion. Home invasions are always dangerous and often brutal. If the raiders attack your home, they will try to take you by surprise and kill every combatant in the house before anyone can react. They will force every more at a very fast pace to prevent you from reacting. They may use some kind of distraction or disguise to gain surprise. Home invasion, carried out with professionalism and gusto is fairly
safe and easier than you would think. Expect to see some of them wearing body armor, dressed in police uniforms and carrying
badges. (Some of them will have professional entry training...like SWAT and military). Failing at a stack entry, they may use CS gas to drive out the occupants. Failing that, they will use fire.

Waylaying travelers on the roads is very easy and safe. Cars are just too vulnerable to gunfire. The roads outside small communities could be very dangerous to travel.

Don't ever underestimate the vile depravity of human beings. Anarchy is the dirtiest word in the English language. Rape and torture may be common. I believe as food gets harder to find, many people will turn to cannibalism to sustain themselves. (I wish this were not true, but historically, it's very common.) I am not advocating cannibalism in any way, but In all fairness, cannibalism can greatly extend a group's supply base. There are a whole lot of people out there and people are made of meat. While easy targets are available, some groups may prosper for some months eating human flesh. It could be a fairly successful strategy for some groups. Beware. History of other collapses warns us that this may be common.

A longer term problem you should watch for is what I call "part time raiders". Historically, most raids have been conducted by young men in one community raiding a nearby community. This phenomenon won't happen overnight in most places but it will probably happen eventually unless somebody forms a central authority within a year or two.

6. Extortion. Outlaw bands will give way to professional armies in some places. Possibly with a core of military trained personnel, a hundred or more killers traveling together can extort more than smaller groups can steal. These groups will get larger as time goes by but they are doomed unless they can take over someone else s farmland and extort "taxes". You may see groups like this move in to agricultural areas and set up shadow governments, taxing all the farmers nearby...or selling protection. Anyone who doesn't play ball will be burned out. Expect them to use classic tactics like assassination, kidnapping, and terrorism to cow the locals. Local governments are going to probably hire many thugs and enforcers too. Telling the good guys from the bad guys might get difficult. Anyone trying to take your food is probably a bad guy, but it might be worth your while to pay him off.

7. Hiding. Some people are going to try to hide from the die-off.
Hiding inside a city or suburbs (in my opinion) is not going to work. People are going to systematically search every building for food. You could conceivably scare off or outfight wave after wave of looters and finally be looted by a local government or burned out by a large gang or rioters. The fact that you are living there will be impossible to hide when they try to search your building, If you are there, you will eventually have to fight or surrender your supplies. Hiding in the suburbs is just not possible and staying in an apartment building (even if you band with the other occupants for mutual protection) will eventually get you killed.

Hiding in a rural area is possible, just because of the distances involved. The number of hungry mouths will be less in the country, but local citizens are still going to confiscate your "Hoarded" food if they need it. Your best hiding place is in an area that will be defended by well-fed people. (but if you have a well-fed community defending you, you should really help them defend it, don't you think?)

The second best hiding place is a wilderness area with no roads or natural resources that someone will want. A wilderness hide site takes a lot of skills to pull off. Also, it is not sustainable without some planning and a lot of discipline. Essentially, this is hunkering down in a remote place and eating supplies you brought with you while you wait patiently for the teeming masses to die off. Living quietly in the wilderness, mostly underground is a hard way to live, especially in bad weather, but it could be your best chance to miss the die-off if you are healthy and have a solid set of outdoor tactical skills.

8. Bug out (presumably to a safe place).
This is going to be very popular, even for people who have no place to go. Once the power is off and the sewage starts backing up, the cities are going to start losing people. The exodus may begin immediately or be delayed several days (depending on the scenario). Either way, the refugees will generally try to leave in family groups. They will mostly follow interstates, highways, state roads, and farm roads, in that order. Nobody (almost nobody) is going to just start walking in a random direction and go cross country. They will drive until they have to walk and try to re-supply along the way.

While there is order, the roads may be jammed with cars leaving the cities going nowhere. In practice, almost everyone is going to be driving out of the city with a definite destination in mind. Some relative, some small town they know of, etc. Most of these destinations are going to be just as bad as the ones they just left, but these will be desperate people. Many of them are going to seriously overestimate their vehicle range. (Traffic jams eat a lot of fuel, probably more than most people will plan for).

Most of those thousands of cars on the interstate are going to run out of gasoline in a matter of hours and wherever they finally run out, that's where the occupants are going to start walking. Of course most of them are going to pull off the highways and interstates just before they run out and mob every town along the highway. (This is a historic fact, proven by every hurricane evacuation we have ever attempted). I expect people to turn very nasty when they run out of fuel. When they cannot buy fuel or food, the towns along America's highways will be filled with armed, hungry desperate people who may kill for a gallon of gas or a drink of water. Sound like fantasy? Don't bet on it. It's happened even during regional crisis with help on the way. In a general meltdown, I expect lots of violence in small towns and strip communities along highways and especially interstates.

There may be long columns of desperate refugees walking the interstates, but I don't foresee this. Most people will congregate in towns along the route. It's difficult to predict what desperate people will do without knowing local variables. If there is a hopeful destination within perceived walking distance, I would expect a lot of foot traffic. Of course, there will be a large number of breakdowns, but probably no mass migrations on foot unless they are being chased by something like a fire or chemical spill etc.

PLANNING NOTE: If you wait too long to G.O.O.D. you won't make it. I believe G.O.O.D. movement of any kind is going to be very dangerous. Moving vehicles are just too vulnerable, and there are going to be a lot of desperate, armed people stranded on the roads. This specifically includes law enforcement. They are not going to let you drive by with a load of gas cans in the back when their patrol car is sitting empty. Get out early or don't try it.

9. Going on with your life and ignoring the crisis.
I think this will be a very popular early response. Some people will still try to make it to work, just like they always have. Until the crisis really gets bad, you will probably see shopkeepers, lawyers, bankers etc trying to commute to work. I really hope the police and firemen do this for as long as possible--and garbage collectors and power workers too! In fact, this is probably our best defense against a general melt-down. If everyone would stay calm and keep trying to make the system work, our society could survive almost anything. (I am betting on the exact opposite).

10. LaMOE (LAst Man On Earth) of the wilderness.
Some people will grab their outdoors gear and head for the woods planning to live out of a rucksack and forage or hunt for their food. I include fishermen in this category. I expect the wilderness areas to be absolutely stiff with "sportsmen" who are going to try to camp their way out of trouble. Maybe not, but I have heard a lot of people talk about it. This is a losing proposition, but that's not obvious to everyone.

PLANNING CONSIDERATION: If you attempt to hide in a wilderness location, you are going to have to avoid these knuckleheads. Choose your hide site well.

11. Throw yourself on the mercy of the government.
Another VERY popular option. America has become the land of the entitlement. This generation seems to believe the government is there to take care of them from cradle to grave. I expect lots of folks to gather around anything even remotely resembling government. This will only last while government offices are open, but it might allow formation of groups or bands that will later loot and burn the city.

12. Go nuts and start burning everything in sight. It's happened before and will probably happen again. For some reason, arson seems to be some kind of release mechanism for unstable personalities. These folks are yet another reason to avoid urban areas. They won't last long, but they can cause a lot of damage in the short term.

13. Something else. This is only a partial list of all the possible strategies people will use. If you can think of something, expect someone to try it. Look at your local variables and think about it.

EXPECTED SEQUENCE:
Tricky, but in general terms, I expect urbanites to hang onto their city as long as supplies hold out and then attempt a bug-out. Some, of course, are going to bug out almost immediately. Some will never bug out.

Most people are going to sit tight until they get hungry and then either attempt a bug-out or try to barter/beg/or loot food.
Looters will start looting as soon as they can get away with it. Their numbers will be fairly small in the beginning, but will grow as more people get hungry. They will continue until there is nothing to loot...then they will have to change strategies. The next strategy up the scale is raiding.

Most people will never make that transition to violence, but I estimate up to 5% of the total population will easily make that transition and another 10% are capable of doing it if they have more time to get used to the idea (and get hungry). These numbers are not really supportable historically, but I feel that they are very close to reality...just personal opinion. If I am right, that means even a city of 100,000 people could produce 5,000 potential murderers in a few days. That's a lot of bad guys.

Raiders, bandits and bad guys are going to prey on the weak until somebody establishes order or they run out of easy targets. This order will probably be in the form of locally formed polities (local governments and committees, neighborhood watches, and church groups.) Once we reestablish real order, most remaining raiders are going to try to change strategies. Some of them may join your church.

Unfortunately, the horrible die-off will encompass multiple years. It won't end until local communities reach equilibrium and produce as much food as they consume. That could easily take more than two years. (The first harvest after a major crisis is going to be a disappointing time for some communities.) Some of the starving polities (probably after the first harvest) may choose war over starvation and attack neighbors. Sounds really grim, but I call em like I see em.

Livestock mortality the first two years is going to be astronomical. People are going to have to literally allow other humans to die while they feed livestock. Also, they are going to be very valuable commodities and prone to theft.

Wildlife and fish mortality will also be very high. Everybody who sees a deer will attempt to kill it. After a year or two, I expect deer, bear and wild hogs to be nearly extinct in the Eastern US. Small game will also suffer huge losses to poaching and so will fish.

SO, WHAT STRATEGY DO I PLAN TO USE?
I live in a nice suburban neighborhood of a small town within 45 minutes of a large urban area. The area surrounding us is a poor rural agricultural area in Southern Georgia. My town is near a secondary line of drift from Savannah. Not the worst place to live, but not good either. In a slow slide scenario, I will stay in place, participate in the neighborhood watch and go to work every day. I even have plans to set up a soup kitchen, field bakery and water purification plant at a local church if needed. My plan is to make myself valuable to the community. If things get really bad, I have the ability to arm up to 6 others. I have enough spare stored food, equipment and weapons to do this and still be postured for plan-B.

Plan-B. In the event of a TEOTWAWKI I intend to use several options. I intend to Bug out with a truck-load of supplies to a pre-selected wilderness area (within 15 minute ride of home), establish a hide site and wait out the carnage. (I have about seven months supplies for my family plus a couple of caches with extra food and weapons nearby for a total of roughly nine months of rough living. I believe our odds of remaining unnoticed for six or more months are very good while maintaining a fairly high standard of living. (Living this close to Savannah, this is the best plan I could come up with).

Why hide out? first, I have the skills, equipment and a good area. But mostly, I know myself. Having seen real hunger in Africa and the Balkans, I don't believe I have the emotional hardness to watch people suffer and die without joining them by trying to help. Hiding out and missing the die-off will be hard, but watching it happen (for me) is just impossible. I can't watch.

When things cool down, I will scout the area and attempt to barter my skills to local farmers or whoever is in power. (I have acquired quite a few barterable skills over the years). So, if I show up at your retreat door six months after a collapse looking for work: don't shoot! It's just me! - JIR

As most folks are running around fiercely to holiday parties and the malls in search of the perfect gift, even in these troubled times, it dawned on me that this is a unique time of the year that preppers can share our enthusiasm for our lifestyle. I started my preparedness journey (Yes, ‘journey’, as I’m now sure there is not a final destination. Can you ever be too prepared?) a little less than a year ago, and through sites like SurvivalBlog, have spent many hours educating myself about the numerous issues we may face in TEOTWAWKI. I often find prepping hard to discuss with friends and family, for the risk of seeming odd or simply being ignored, but I do care enough that I want them prepared.

One simple way I have found to bring others into the loop, is to focus my Christmas presents on items that will bring exposure to the subject and be useful for everyday preparedness or TEOTWAWKI. Rather than giving a fruit cake that no one wants (although I do understand the shelf life to be quite long!), I am putting thought into each person and finding a gift that works for them.

For my father, who is an over-the-road trucker in the Midwest, I have assembled a Bug Out Bag (BOB). He has the basic safety gear and tools for his rig, but he does not carry food, fire starters, or extra clothes that may be necessary if he is stuck in a snow storm for several days. I have purchased a sturdy pack from a surplus store and have stocked it with bottles of water, MREs with heaters, candles, lighters, matches, emergency blanket, portable radio, flashlight, batteries, and other essentials. I’ve also included some wool socks, gloves and a toboggan vacuum sealed. I vacuum sealed them so he doesn’t get the urge to use them in a non-emergency with the thought of putting them back that never actually happens (i.e., it must be an emergency if he is going to break the vacuum seal). I used this trick with other items in the bag as well, so they don’t ‘wander off’ and are protected from the elements. I will have him add a flannel shirt and other appropriate clothes at the time that I give it to him.

For my mother, who is an avid gardener and cook, I purchased a grain mill, 45 pounds of hard red wheat, and a book about cooking with wheat. She loves to bake bread, but has traditionally used store-bought ingredients. Now she can experiment with the mill before a TEOTWAWKI situation and I have also added a much needed prep item to our inventory. My mother lives 200+ miles away, but that is my current BOL (bug-out location), until I can buy my own land.

Instead of more clothes or a trip to the day spa for my girlfriend, I have purchased her the same 9mm pistol that I carry. Some may think this is like giving her a vacuum cleaner or exercise videos, but it is not. Over the past year, she has learned to shoot, obtained her gun carry permit, and started shooting with me in our local practical pistol matches with my gun, which she likes. She enjoys the activity, is quite proficient, and will enjoy having her own and I will feel more at ease as well.

Stocking stuffers can be great opportunities to help others with preparations too. Little things, like pocket knives, flashlights, NOAA radios, multi-tools, etc, are handy items that everyone needs. Other great gifts are books and magazine subscriptions on the subject of preparedness or really any skill (carpentry, gardening, alternative energy, canning and preserving). My college friend is getting "Patriots", as he loves a good story and I think the first chapter will challenge his thinking on the world around us. And for women looking for a gift for their man, most would probably love a gift certificate for a gun training course. Hint, hint, if you are reading this, honey.

All the above are items that are purchased, and cash may be tight at home. But you don’t have to spend big money to get your point across or to be thoughtful. You could give friends or family homemade soup or vegetables that you have canned, and a handmade gift certificate for teaching them canning and preserving methods. You can give them packets of seeds so they can do container gardening and give them an opportunity to learn a skill. The possibilities are endless if you package the gift the right way.

I do not have children, but do have a niece and young cousins. For the little ones, how about camping equipment made for kids, and a trip to go camping with you, even if just in the backyard. Or maybe a compass and some maps, and teaching them how to properly use them to find a hidden treasure (your choice on what the treasure will be). A rod and reel and a fishing trip are things that will not only teach them useful skills, but will give what kids need most; more time with parents or mentoring adults. Think about what you wish you knew growing up, and give the gift that will last a lifetime. I’m fairly sure their skills with the X-Box will not help them much if the SHTF.

So, if you are going to celebrate the season by exchanging gifts, why not help those you care about and who may not have a preparedness mentality yet. This can also pertain to birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, or other special occasions. I’m sure you believe, as I, that this shows more thought and caring than the latest fad clothing or cool new techno gadget that will be rendered useless by an EMP.

When it comes to natural and man-made disasters, I’ve seen my share, and each was a learning experience. Although diverse in type, all of them shared a common factor: a dire impact on the human populations they affected. That impact, in turn, led to dangerous encounters with some rough criminals. Some people cannot cope, so they turn to ruthless behavior. Other people are selfish opportunists. While we may have pity for those who can’t cope with the stress of a survival situation, we should nonetheless remain vigilant for those who would do us harm in any way and for any reason. As my niece says, “It only takes one creep to ruin your life.” She is so right!

We preppers and survivalists know by now that being part of a trustworthy and cooperative community will dramatically increase the odds for our survival. Whether surrounded by family, friends, or like-minded neighbors, having a support system in place during hard times is universally considered vital.

Suppose, however, that circumstances preclude you from enjoying the benefits of a protective community. Perhaps your friends and family live out of town. Some of you reading this right now don’t know your neighbors, and don’t want to know them. Many of you live alone by choice. Or perhaps an event forces you to become isolated from your community. Bottom line: you’re on your own. You need to ask yourself some questions now, before the bogey man arrives.

How can I maintain my sanity when chaos reigns around me?
Physical well-being is not enough. Besides the requisite beans, band-aids, and buckshot, a lonely survivor will need emotional and spiritual comfort, and a reason to live. Accumulate some mementoes of loved ones and happier times - photographs, voice recordings, a vacation postcard – anything that will abate the inevitable sense of aloneness and isolation. A few photographs and a small tape or MP3 player will fit easily into a Bug Out Bag (BOB).

Strong faith in an entity greater than yourself is a true comfort in times of trouble. Having faith in someone or something will help you endure the solitude.

As a sole survivor, how can I defend my living space?
The old adage goes, “there is safety in numbers.” Through projecting a sense of multiple occupants, your living space can be defended. If you have a source of electricity, use your radio, scanner, or tape recorder to produce vocal sounds. Set timers to turn on and off lights throughout the house. If electricity is unavailable or sporadic, quietly move about within the building. Keep any would-be intruders guessing as to where you are. Before the SHTF, place decorative glass objects on windowsills, so that anyone attempting to enter through a window will be encumbered. Plant knee-high, thorny bushes under windows and around all entrances. Whether or not actually you have a dog, place used dog dishes where outsiders can see them. Install a burglar alarm with battery back-up. Please note that burglar alarms and cluttered windowsills are not going to stop a determined intruder, but the noise these safety precautions make will alert you to trouble so that you can react accordingly.

Consider having 3M Safety & Security film installed on the inside of all windows so that “smash and grab” is more difficult. Perimeter fences should be sturdy and climb-proof. Landscaping should discourage fires from reaching the residence. Turn a basement bathroom or a laundry room into a bunker and a well-supplied defensive stand. Abandon rooms that cannot be easily defended from within. Another old adage, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is good advice when it comes to stashing weapons and water.

If you venture out, keep a low profile and don’t betray your location. A car can be a retreat in desperate times. It can also be a betrayer. Concealment makes the difference.

Will I be able to survive without electricity if my “strength through imaginary numbers” plan cannot be implemented without it?
If it is impossible to project a sense of strength, project a sense of abandonment. Make no noise. Cooking odors and smoke must not be visible. Venture outside of your sanctuary with great stealth and only when necessary for survival. Keep a low profile at all times.

Can I convince those who know or learn that I live alone to leave me alone?
I ask myself regularly:

• Can I prepare without alerting others to what I’m doing?
• Does my home look deserted or securely occupied?
• Or both, depending on the situation?

Perhaps the best defense is to pretend to be absent. I have known people who hid in a secret closet or a basement bathroom while scavengers rummaged through their homes. When the thieves left, the homeowner returned to living as if nothing happened because their survival gear had been stowed with great forethought. Contemplate adding an underground or subsurface bunker to your home. If that is impossible, remodel an interior room to serve as a defensive position.

Present an impenetrable exterior and a well-defended position so that those will ill intent will be inclined to go elsewhere. Your goal should be having a home and property that appears occupied, when that is your best defense, and unoccupied, when that serves your needs. The balancing act is a tricky one, to be sure.

When at home, during times of trouble, keep a low profile. As you plan for survival, downplay each change to your home and your purchase of supplies. Your caches should only be known to family and trusted friends. Loose lips don’t just sink ships, they could sink your personal safety and security. Never hire the same contractor for two separate survival projects – don’t divulge the real reason or purpose of the work you are having done.

Could I use a weapon against another human being, if necessary? Can I train to do so? Are your knives sharp? Can you keep them that way? Is your 4x4 always ready for a quick getaway if you must abandon your home? Most importantly, Do you have a G.O.O.D. plan if things get too dicey? Your weapons should be familiar to you so that using them is second nature. Ammunition should be securely stowed until needed. If your weapons use common calibers and gauges, bartering will be easier.

Can you project a defensible exterior to your home while still presenting a comfortable residence during times of normalcy? This can be problematic unless carefully thought out. Landscaping can be defensibly practical and simultaneously attractive with little effort. Fencing, however, may have local restrictions and aesthetic considerations. Check local codes for current limitations, then work within those limits to create the best perimeter barrier. With a little work now, you can make a fence that can be easily reinforced at a later and more dangerous time. What you do to the interior of your house should be your business, so long as you keep it private and non-hazardous to your neighbors, you shouldn't have much trouble. [JWR Adds: See the blog archives for my admonitions about liability issues, including chemical irritants and trap guns.] Filled sandbags line the walls of your garage? Why not!

The Bottom Line
Under many worst-case scenarios, odds of solo survival are less than 50-50. The odds get worse as sustained hardships persist. This you must know and accept, if you don’t accept those odds then you need to become part of a like-minded group of trustworthy people who will work with you to survive. If, however, you accept the odds, you must commit to not rolling over and dying without a fight. No human parasite will find an easy victim at your place. Many have survived while alone. You can, too, if you take stock of your vulnerabilities and prepare accordingly. Ask yourself the tough questions and answer them truthfully – your life may depend on it.

I really liked the post about preparing your spouse but saw one thing missing or at least not stated explicitly. Your spouse needs to know how to do these things and the only way to really learn most of these practical tasks is to do them with your spouse. Binders [full of information] are great but unless you know how to execute all the steps, where all the necessary tools and pieces are and how to use them binders are not going to help much. To illustrate the importance of actually doing something I will relay a recent tale from my house.

A while back I tried to make Spanish rice from the recipe Wifey always uses. Every ingredient and step was there but I didn't know what a couple of the steps meant. I was able to get her help me figure them out but if she wasn't here I definitely would not have had Spanish rice with dinner. Now that I know how to do all the steps I could probably look back at that same recipe in a year or two and make it.

That same point could be easily applied to getting the chainsaw ready for the season or making soap or any other task which is done (even almost) exclusively by one spouse. Think of it like an Infantry Platoon. You are probably never going to be able to shoot the M240 like the gunner or program the radio as fast as the RTO but everyone should at least know how to use both of these essential tools. An added benefit of making sure your spouse is at least somewhat familiar with all of the household/ preparedness tasks you do (and visa versa) is spending time together doing productive things. Spending a weekend afternoon doing something together that is normally done alone can sure make another boring chore into a fun day. Also as always many hands make light work. - TheOtherRyan (of Total Survivalist Libertarian Rantfest)

Mr. Rawles,
Several years ago I took a serious fall and was out of commission for several months. My husband had to completely take over the household responsibilities during that time. Fortunately, he was working at home and I was available to give him direction and information. Had I not been, he would have really struggled to figure out just how I got things done. As he was buttoning up the house in preparation for winter this year it occurred to me that, if he were suddenly unavailable, I too would be at a loss to remember all of the details that go into his part of household management. Realizing that each of us has a critical role to play in running our mini farm put me to work on putting together a plan that will provide each of us with a guide for taking over should we be thrust into managing alone.

I started with two simple three ring binders, a sheaf of notebook paper and twelve pocket dividers for each notebook. Each divider is a one month plan. I use the notepaper to jot down what we each do each month. November would include things like planting the seed garlic, getting my daughter a birthday gift and ordering the turkeys (for me) and getting the cider press under cover, turning the compost heap and replacing furnace filters (for my husband). I use the divider pockets for things like business cards of businesses we use or to hold index cards with instructions for various tasks. This month, we have to get new tires put on the truck so the pocket will hold the information on tire size and the contact information for the business we use. In December, when I usually put in a big wheat order, I will include the recipe I use for the bread we all like, the contact information for the farm I order the wheat from and directions for how I store it.  My husband knows when to order a load of compost for the garden and I know when the fiddleheads will be out. He will note when he orders new queens for the hives and I will jot down where the best place is get the kids new sneakers.

These may seem like small things but they aren’t. They are the details that make this house run smoothly. It is very easy to lose sight of the contributions of a partner, especially when they are done so well as to be invisible in execution. For instance, I expect that no one in my family actually notices when I make up a new batch of laundry soap. It just appears. I never see my husband sharpen the saw blades. I just know they are always good to go.

If we are both diligent in keeping our notes, in one year we will have a comprehensive guide to what needs to be done, when and how it is managed. An added benefit is that it will be kind of gratitude journal. We each know the other works hard but to see it on paper will probably be an eye opener. I know my husband had a new appreciation for just how much I accomplished when he had to do it.

If a crisis catches one of us away from home, the other is going to have to do the work of both. How much easier it will be with a guide. - A Prepared Wife

Mr. Rawles,
Thank you for the time and energy spent on your blog and your books. I read your blog and static pages often and own most of your books. Your writings offer a deep perspective not often found.
Your writer from Idaho has hit on one of the most debated topics that has ever been discussed between a man and his wife. How does a man prepare his family without frightening, boring or going overboard?
I’ll tell you what has worked in my family. The most important point is to bring your spouse on board, slowly. Rome wasn’t built in a day and either was a shared marital point of view. I think it is best to not go overboard financially, briefly mention certain purchases that are made and leave the point alone until the items purchased are needed.

For example, we have several space heaters as a simple back-up plan and to compliment our main heating source. When we had problems with the main heating system, we were able to get these heaters out and boy were they useful! The house temperature was kept up until after we could get a 2nd opinion. The first man came out quick but had some tricks up his sleeve and tried to sell us a new heater, out of fear. Our second opinion, a real professional, came out and determined that we just needed a new sensor. By having back up heaters, we stayed warm when we had an issue and we weren’t desperate when the first technician tried to take advantage of us. Now that we had that issue, we decided to buy a propane back-up heater and quite a bit of propane. If this happens when the temperatures are lower, we should be fine. We didn’t talk about the heaters too much until after we were so happy to have them. This part of our preparation plan is just a positive memory; not a sour, over-debate d topic.

There have been several other times that forward thinking has proven to be advantageous for us. So many times it is something small that leaves a big impression. Something like a spare roll of quarters when a locker is needed. Maybe it is having plenty of toilet paper so you don’t run out. It could be having a flashlight readily available when the power goes out, extra propane when the grill consumes the last bit in the current tank, or extra food from our ‘larder’ if I forgot something at the store.

It is very important to discuss the benefits of being prepared after it has become a positive topic, rather than being overbearing before. This has helped open my spouse’s eyes to the need to have continually better preparations. Once some creature comforts fail, like heat, it becomes understood that having some extra food may be a good idea. Also, I have paralleled 'preparing' to other topics like the scout motto, “Be Prepared” as my husband achieved his Eagle Scout award when he was younger. For most people, the seeds of being prepared are there, they may just need some watering from time to time.
Best, - Nora in Indianapolis

Jim:
A gentleman asked how to get his wife involved. Speaking as a female prepper and survivalblog reader, it might simply help for her to know that she is not alone. It might be helpful to find a gun club, or another Christian couple who are into being prepared. Some women feel silly spending a lot of time and money on preparedness because most other people think it is silly or unnecessary, and some women feel funny because shooting guns and learning to hunt are considered to be "manly pursuits" by much of society. Having been referred to as "an NRA gun nut", I understand that there can be some apprehension involved in committing to preparedness. Try making it a family activity, and even though it is very serious, that doesn't mean it can't be fun. I am involved with a small group of people, mostly from my church, who go shooting together and hunting and camping and all sorts of activities like that. We have a blast! But we also know that we can count on one another in a TEOTWAWKI situation. I think that my mom is much more involved now because it's also something I am passionate about. She thought that preparedness was just a phase my dad was going through until she realized that I was every bit as serious about it as he was, and now she's all for it! Don't expect her to become Sarah Conner overnight, but give it time and patience, and try to find something simple to get her feet wet. Again, making it a whole family activity could make a big difference, and don't lose the fun side of preparedness, of marriage, and of life in the Lord. - A Survival Sister in Christ

 

Dear James, and all:
I have gotten the same response from Christians about preparedness, and, in general, concerns over the state of the world. "I'm so glad God is in control," etc. is common. Then they usually just move on with a smile, obviously unconcerned. I believe this is related to poor Biblical knowledge, or a misunderstanding about the role of "works" in the lives of Christians.

Primarily, believers do not always understand that America was founded on rights deemed to be given by our Creator, and is, therefore, a GIFT and under the expectations of Christian stewardship. While the Gospel is hope for all time, peoples and circumstances, it does not give us permission to become lazy with the blessings we've been given. Jesus was pretty clear in the parable of the talents: The Master is hard. The Lord does not look kindly on believers who "bury" what they have. To whit, "To whom much is given, much is required." If we have a major event, then your good wife will be expected to follow the Biblical commands for hospitality even more so. Will she be prepared?

Please remind her that salvation is free, but the Lord also has expectations for us to become the "good and faithful servant." That requires work. Sincerely, Gretchen O. - in Northern Illinois

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I just came across a post that might give some more ideas to the gentleman who wrote in about getting his wife "on board" with preparedness efforts. It's titled "All Aboard" and was posted over on Kathy Harrison's The Just In Case Book Blog. (As may be obvious, Kathy is also the author of the [nonfiction preparedness] book entitled Just in Case.)

As a side note, my husband and I "came together" on our preps about two years ago while watching the television show Jericho. We had seen some episodes in passing earlier in our marriage, but I finally rented the DVDs at one point to see what all the hubbub was about. Lesson learned: despite the Hollywood "angle", we learned a lot and more importantly found out that we were each quietly prepping without mentioning it to the other. He has his specialties and interests and I have mine, and both of us were silently tackling them. Ahhh, the fun of two very independent newlyweds finally figuring each other out. <Chuckle>. I admitted I'd been stocking the pantry for more than just a rainy day and he admitted his interest in gear wasn't just so we could try out camping sometime. We later found that his interest in things mechanical and my interest in topics "green" worked out quite nicely when he mentioned a preference for diesel engines and I brought up biodiesel - oh, the topics we've covered since.

If "L.K." thinks such a show might interest his wife, it might be worth a shot. Best wishes, - M.K.

Mr. Rawles,
The writer of this letter in your blog today might be interested in referring his wife to my blog, TheSurvivalMom. I try to break down preparedness into very small pieces, provide lots of rationale for getting prepared, and overall, it’s a very woman-friendly site. - Lisa

Mr. Rawles,
I would like to comment on this letter about questioning the need for preparation. This wife needs to look at the situation from her motherly perspective. My husband and I watched, helplessly, as our 4 month old daughter suffered for six weeks from a blood infection contracted while in the hospital for a heart issue. We knew she was going to Heaven to live with God, free from all pain; however, watching her suffer was the worst thing we had ever endured. My understanding is that starvation takes 60 plus days before a person dies. From my reading of history (pioneer times and war times), starvation is a very horrible death. Would this wife be comfortable standing by, watching her precious children suffer, knowing all the while that she could have prevented this by storing up food (like Noah and Joseph in the Old Testament did) for the difficult times? Yes, our daughter is in Heaven but we would have done anything to protect her from the suffering she endured for six weeks. Our larder is full and constantly being rotated so that we will not have to watch another of our children die if it is within out power to do so. To God be the Glory. Condolences to you and your family, the pain is great, I know. - Brenda from Virginia and sometimes our West Virginia retreat

For L.K. in Boise:
I must remind you that we don't just prepare for TEOTWAWKI , but for everything between now and then. We may never experience a severe, life changing event, but we do have power outages, blizzards, floods, drought, unexpected car trouble, unemployment, & so on. Those are the things we prepare for, not for TEOTWAWKI. We really don't know how to prepare for that - it's never happened to us. So we do the best we can and prepare for the little things.

Our preps have gotten us through very personal hard times. I wouldn't want to be without them.

Have your wife read Proverbs 31. We have a duty to be prepared so we can look after our husbands, children, and others who come into our lives.

God Bless, - Bonnie S.

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I first want to extend my concern condolences for the passing of you dear wife "The Memsahib". Second: I have been in my mind, a "survivalist" for many years, I guess out of necessity. I have been in the Air Force for over 17 years now in the communications field but haven't had lots of money to go out and the things that I needed or wanted so I just learned how to build them. With this mindset and financial situation, I have become more and more suspicious of government particularly in regards to fuel and food prices. My first dream was to just be left alone with my family in a remote cabin in the mountains. My wife always giggled every time that I threatened to purchase a generator. She figured that once that I went through with it, that the gig would be up. I had not yet been into preparedness or knew anything about it. I was naive in all ways.

While I was on Temporary Duty (TDY), I met and began chatting with an older gentleman. We talked about scouting, firearms, reloading etc. I mentioned my dream alone in a mountain cabin and that's when my life changed. This gentleman educated me that my dream was a good one but flawed. He told me that I needed friends to watch my back, which would allow me to sleep in that cabin. He also recommended that I read this novel called "Patriots". I immediately after work, found a book store and purchased it. I devoured that book in three days. I'm currently reading:

One Second After by William R. Forstchen, and
World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler

[Once I started reading the novel,] I was so excited that I called my wife and began explaining the different chapters to her. She was interested probably due to my excitement as I explained. Once I returned home, I begged he to read the book. She was hesitate so I begged her to just read the first chapter. She agreed. I quietly watched her as she began to read and her eye brows began to raise and lower. First Chapter completed, she continued until she finished. My wife's outlook changed that day also. We live in base housing so we plan to rent a garden plot in the spring for a garden, I'm slowly stocking up on ammo and we plan to can what we grow. To sum it up. I was able to get mt Christian wife involved with Preparedness by begging her to read your novel "Patriots". Thank You Mr. Rawles, I'm eternally indebted to you for opening my eyes. Very Respectfully, - T.S. Wichita, Kansas

Hi,
I have a suggestion. Maybe he could gently suggest preparedness things she might be interested in. A good example is a scrapbook. Most women (even if we aren't crafty) enjoy scrapbooks of their family. Start a family project of a scrapbook for your car evacuation kit. She might get stressed out on what to exclude so you might want to buy her two. I saw at Sam's Club they have gorgeous "ready made" scrapbook albums where you just insert photographs or documents you wanted to save for $20. That is perfect for someone that wants one but doesn't have the time or postpones it to be perfect so it never gets finished. It might be a fun family project for the holidays. :-) I think the digital scrapbook and photo albums are awesome but I have no experience with them.

Your dilemma shows what a good provider you are, she has probably never been hungry or seen her kids go without a need to understand how she won't just stop and starve with the hope of heaven and not fight and find ways of providing for her children. - Lisa

James:
Wow. This is letter that really disturbed me. If we allow ourselves to carry is wife's sentiment to its logical conclusion, we should all lay down right now and stop moving until we die of hunger or exposure. God did not create us to be mindless moochers. Once we have committed ourselves to his will, we are to contribute to the order and abundance of his world, to seek out evil and counter it, and to heal those damaged by it. We are extensions of his love and grace through right living and must not be meek or passive in times of tribulation. If through her rebirth this flame was not kindled within her, I'm not sure how to help her get it lit! - Gretchen R.

I occasionally hear from consulting clients that get stuck in the rut of "over -planning". They do so much planning for training, and planning for stocking up, that they never seem to get around to doing either! Lengthy "to do" lists are worthless if they never get implemented. This sometimes reaches absurd lengths, as illustrated by one of my clients that showed me a spreadsheet on his laptop PC, in which he not only compared prices from various vendors for ammunition, but also tracked the changes in their prices, over the course of two years. I asked him: "Well, when did you buy, and how much did you buy?" His reply: "Well, none yet, actually, but I've found the best sources, and I've logged their price increases, shown in dollar prices here, and in percentage terms, here. Look here: This company has increased it prices by 12% less than these others. Now look at this column: their prices are up an average of only 21% since this time last year." So, while he was busy fiddling with his spreadsheets, the purchasing power of his money went down by more than 20%. He would have been ahead by at least 20+ percent, if he had just bought ammo a year earlier. But instead, he sat idly by and watched the value of his dollars melt. And these were dollars kept in a typical bank account, perhaps earning only 2% interest. (If he had invested precious metals, then he would have at least stayed ahead of the price increases on ammo.)

The foregoing instructs an important point: Avoid infinite planning cycles, and get started with some concrete steps at preparedness. Clip some coupons and go to you local discount grocery store or "Big Box " store, and actually lay in some supplies, when prices are favorable, of course. If you are not sure exactly what you should buy, or about the shelf lives of various foods, or how to repackage them in oxygen-free sturdy containers, then get a copy of the "Rawles Gets You Ready" family preparedness course. The bottom line is that a good plan today beats a perfect plan, tomorrow. Or, as we often used to quote in the US Army: "Better is the enemy of good enough."

Hi Jim,
The bulk-buy solution I settled on was to start my own food co-op or buying club, as an associate of a bulk supplier. They send out a monthly price list and can deliver weekly in my area with only two days' notice. My orders must meet a minimum of $350 each and I must be present when the truck backs down my driveway in order to properly receive and write a check for the shipment. The driver calls me an hour ahead of time so I don't have to wait around all day.

My aim was to make the buying club available to other nearby preppers strictly for bulk orders of long-term storage items but so far I have been the only one to use it.

The great advantage I see in a buying club is that it permits large purchases that would seriously raise eyebrows in a grocery store if they even permitted you to clean them out of the items you sought. (Some stores at least have threshold policies.) It meets the needs of procrastinators who finally decide that now is the time to stock the bunker. Also, the supplier's wholesale warehouse would not be mobbed as early as grocery stores would after TSHTF because few consumers would even know about it.

A downside of the co-op approach would be curious close-by neighbors witnessing you receiving scores of bags, buckets, and boxes, possibly coming over for a nosy visit while you are unloading. This has not been a problem in my location due to my long driveway but would present OPSEC concerns to many. Members of a buying club club who pick up their orders at the drop-off point might benefit from unloading their vehicle while the neighbors are gone or asleep. Another potential downside is that authorities or criminals could seize the bulk supplier's membership list in a search for "hoarders" of food supplies, an excellent reason for creating off-site caches. - Jim McC.

JWR Replies: Thanks for that suggestion. Two more caveats: Depending on your locale, you might need both a business license and liability insurance. We now live in a very litigious society. It is sad but true, someone that merely strains their back while on your property might file a lawsuit. So if you decide to operate with liability insurance, I recommend that you do not open up the organization to anyone except your relatives and trusted friends.

Jim:
I've been reading your blog for some months and went out and purchased "Patriots" as soon as I learned about it. Good job, I very much enjoyed it and will probably read again and again as I often do with books I enjoy.

After reading your ‘Precepts’, I thought I would drop you a note. because I have always appreciated anyone that agrees with me.

First, I am a retired cop and a retired soldier so I have studied people in one career and weapons and equipment in another. I have been to a number of Third World countries and learned that what we have now is unbelievably good and where we might be going is will be unbelievably, well, sad.

I decided a very long time ago that the best place to live for my family would be a rural town. I did not want kids to grow up in an urban setting and having grown up myself in a suburban setting, I didn’t want to inflict that on them either.

So we moved. It was a shock at first. The nearest fast food was almost twenty miles away in any direction and the nearest traffic light is seventeen miles away, even today, twenty-five years later.

The town I chose was twenty miles from the nearest Interstate and even a couple of miles from nearest state highway. It is in the center of one the largest agricultural areas in the country and has its own grain elevator and storage business.

That means at any time of the year, there are upwards of 5,000 tons of corn and soybean stored within the town limits. You know, "the perimeter".

I had often thought that if given the means, I would like to own a house on a hilltop with cleared fields of fire and a view of the surrounding area. But that wasn’t practical and as time has proven, it wasn’t even smart.

If you’re going to have a survival retreat, it would be best if you already lived there. If the necessity ever arose, I don’t think I would want to have to fight my way out of the city or suburbs.

In "Patriots", you describe a survival group that spent a great deal of time preparing for the “what if?” I did the same thing but I chose was to have all those skills that you searched for and recruited all ready present.

Farm communities already have a host of survival skills that are needed ready made. In our town, of less than a thousand, are welders (and equipment) fabricators (and their tools) food, fuel, military veterans, plenty of weapons and folks that have already spent a lot of times together dealing with blizzards, electrical storms, and power outages and all those things that bind a small community together.

We have some good people here and should the occasion arise, I think we could make a pretty good stand. Organization is key, of course. To that end, I have been active in the town in the past , my last police job before going back in the Army was Chief of Police here. I made a pretty good name for myself and I continue to help out in the town whenever I can.

Someone that I have absolutely no respect for once said, “it takes a village” and in this case, she was right. We are far away from the nearest urban areas, have food and water available and our folks every day work skills translate very quickly into survival skills.

I wanted to share the thought because I think most people who are planning to attempt to escape from the urban areas when the SHTF may be much better served if they would make that escape before it happens. My very best to you, - JCH

James,
An idea for maintaining security: One could setup and run their own IP telephone server and use encrypted IP phones to communicate amongst their group. Asterisk is an example of an open source telephony server that runs on Linux. The server must be connected to the internet and has to be made specifically aware of the particular encrypted phones that the group uses. The phones must also have Internet connections. The entire comm channel is encrypted. If the server can be kept secure, then I think there is no point in the channel that is subject to monitoring. If someone were able to piece together all of the IP packets for a particular conversation they would then have to break the encryption.

I have not proven this out in any way, but to my understanding this could be a solution. Keep up the good work. - Michael W.

Sir,
Concerning the post, "Letter Re: Maintaining OPSEC in a Geographically Extended Retreat Group," one answer might by Skype. Video calls need not be used, calls can be made from computer to computer or computer to phone, and conference calling is possible. For some details on encryption see this article. With Very Kind Regards, - Suburban Survivalist

My Dear Brother in Christ,
Before I get to my question my wife and I would like to express our sympathy (a overused word I now but heart felt) at the loss of your partner and our sister in Christ. I know there is joy to be had for her being with Jesus but the loss is still felt by you and your kids and our prayers are with you.

Now my main question. Do you have any ideas regarding security with it comes to putting a group together where the potential members are separated to the extent that it is impossible for them to get together on a regular basis to formulate ideas and plans? The concern over theories that "Big Brother" is out there listening to every phone call or reading every e-mail for certain phrases causes some people to balk at the idea of conference calls. What are you thoughts.
Thank you and God Bless, In Christ, - G.S.

JWR Replies: I was reluctant to post your e-mail and this reply, for fear that it might be misconstrued by someone that is new to SurvivalBlog. (Since we've never advocated doing anything illegal, but posts on security might erroneously lead newcomers to think that we have "something to hide.") With that said, since operational security (OPSEC) is a concern for many readers, here goes: Beyond a cell structure, such as those used by resistance groups, and avoidance of paper trails, bit trails, "cookie crumbs", and using the phone, there are no perfect solutions. Just don't recruit anyone into your prepping group that might do anything illegal. You have little to fear, as long as all of your preps are legal. That is, unless "hoarding" (by someone else's definition) someday becomes a crime. But just on principal, you should exercise discretion, and utilize plenty of OPSEC and communications security (COMSEC).

For extended groups, to avoid a bit trail, hard copy letters that are distributed via snail mail in a circular rotation might work--since we live in the era of inexpensive photocopying. ("Circular letters".) Each letter is given a number, and each addenda that is eventually tacked on is given a letter. Subsequent letters can reference the content of earlier ones. ("As mentioned in Letter 2-A...")

Be discreet and proceed with prayer. And it won't hurt to memorize Psalm 91.

I just met this past weekend with a group of " preparedness folk." They are on a farm about 30 miles from here. I have become interested in the subject after reading One Second After (a New York Times best seller, highly recommended!) and some writings by James Wesley, Rawles. I was surprised at who they were and the mindset I encountered. A few observations:

1) The root idea is that whether or not some disaster hits, we are far too dependent on a very fragile and tenuous energy and distribution grid. Raising your own chickens, goats, vegetables, rabbits, turkeys, pigs and cows is preferable (and more nutritious and tasty!) to standing around in a Kroger (think "post-Katrina") looking at the empty aisles.

2) They were "green" but green in a good way, and not the fashionable mindless silliness coming out of the "environmentally conscious" crowd. (Sorry if my contempt shows here)

I am talking about using a local stream to turn a box of old alternators from junked cars to produce current to charge batteries, building a steam fired boiler to run a generator, and lots of other cool ideas that are scavenged from junkyards...., including using a scrapped walk in cooler from a convenience store for a chicken coop (no insulation needed, and less heat source needed during cold weather).

3) The mark of an "advanced" society is division of labor, with the dependency on each other coming from specialization of labor being more efficient and less costly. However, we have evolved into a society of urban dwellers who produce nothing necessary for root survival needs. Cities are extremely dependent on everything being trucked in, and the ones who make the most money are the ones most efficient in distribution rather than production (think "Wal-Mart"). If that distribution system is disrupted, due to a failure of the electrical grid or a fuel supply disruption, we would be helpless. These folks recognize that.

4) I did not meet any tin foil hat folks, which surprised me. There were realtors, veterinarians, an auto parts distributor, a programmer, a cop, and a contract security guy (a "Blackwater" type, although he never worked for Xe). They were just normal folks living their lives, but concerned about the potential for future instability of a calamitous nature.

5) I was surprised at the political make-up of the group. I expected to see a bunch of rabid Republicans, fearful of antichrist Obama and the New World Order, blah, blah, blah. Rather, they were amazingly cynical of any politics, and were just as critical of Reagan (for different reasons) as Obama. Their attitude was more that of folks just trying to live their lives while being confident that their best shot at any change would come from being fiercely independent and doing what they could to remain so.

6) I was probably the biggest Bible Thumper out there. No religious zealotry at all. In my life, I have encountered a lot of religious whack jobs. I expected this crowd to be a magnet for them. It wasn't

7) I was also surprised about their attitude about guns. I expected to find a bunch of hyperventilating folks screaming out "Molon Labe!" as a password or something to enter the farm. Instead, I encountered a crowd of mostly ex-military guys who understood that guns are tools. They all hunt (mostly deer, but also squirrel, turkey, dove, and some varmints), and they all believe that they have a duty and a right to protect their families themselves and their freedoms and rights against all who would challenge them. Their attitude was that you would no more expect to defend rights and freedoms without guns than try to change a tire without a jack. Especially enlightening to me were the remarks of the contract security guy who worked security in Kosovo. Rather than sitting on his pile of weapons fervently wishing for social collapse so he could play "Rambo" or something, he just emphatically declared that if you ever lived in a society where the social order even partially breaks down, you will want to prepare for it here, but no one in his right mind would wish it.

7) The final funny observation is how close these guys are with all the ex-hippie counterculture who have moved south from Chapel Hill as the area has become completely yuppified. In fact, one of the guys there at the group was just a total stoner who had essentially moved down to smoke his own hydroponic, live cheaply, eat his own "organic" produce, and shoot, prepare, and jerk his own venison. The two types of "fringe" groups have a sort of affinity for each other, even if many other ideas are polarized apart.

The whole group of folks were not now living on the farm. There are only three families there. However, they are all affiliated with it and looking to it as a kind of resource/preparedness area in the event of:
1) a major earthquake (we sit on a huge fault line in North Carolina. I never knew that)
2) a failure of the oil distribution system
3) a major currency collapse (my bets are on this one as having the best odds)
4) a major terrorist attack on the US.
5) ..... you fill in the blank.

My wife and I are not moving down there (smile), but we are interested in some people whose ideas about simplicity and "back to nature" mirror what we would like to see ourselves. I think "survival" is an improper goal for a Christian. We are supposed to be "dead" already, having surrendered all this stuff anyway. I do think that "working with your hands so that you may have something to share with those in need" is a proper goal for myself, though. I am looking forward to interacting more with these folk.

Do you thrill to read pulse-quickening stories of survival where individuals triumph over extreme odds? How about a survival situation that didn't occur over a period of minutes, such as a tornado....or a survival situation that didn't occur over a period of hours, such as a hurricane ....or a survival situation that didn't occur over a period of days, such as a flood. What about a horrifying survival story that dragged on year after year with no help, no rescue, no hope, no end in sight?

Fearful survival stories of the last Great Depression abound, but we are losing those that lived during that experience through old age. Their stories of triumph and hope need to be heard and remembered.
Do you know personal stories of privations and suffering that are told and retold, first-hand from family members?

In recent days we've read on SurvivalBlog about the poorly coping, unemployed Indiana family living on the edge -- yet still buying Pepsi, cigarettes, beer, Subway sandwiches, and car washes -- and then about other individuals faring better by taking jobs that they never could have imagined working at, such as the poultry farm worker.

All my life I was taught lessons of the Great Depression that had affected my parents' lives. Yes, my mother had stories to tell, but my father was the real survivor in spite of his sad growing up years. As Ann Landers once said, "The fire that melts butter also forges steel."

Two experiences defined my parents' lives: The Great Depression and World War II.
The Great Depression was such a dreadful event to survive that they could never let it go. I would give anything for my parents to still be alive so I could probe their memories and learn more from them. On the other hand, I'm very happy they are not here to see that history is repeating and the uphill struggle they overcame during their lifetimes may be coming around again. My observation of that Greatest Generation is that surviving the Great Depression left people with one of two approaches to money. Either they became tight-fisted to the point of miserliness or money had no meaning, that is, money was for the good it could accomplish and human relationships were tantamount.

My sweet, precious father was the latter type. He should have grown into a bitter, greedy, driven man, but he was the kindest, sweetest person I ever knew. His life was defined by generosity and a gentle, loving, giving spirit.

I feel like people today have no idea where we have come from and where we could be headed again. The depths of a Great Depression are not in the realm of reality or feasibility today to many people.

Here is my Daddy's story:

Daddy was born in 1920 into a working class family in a small, dusty Texas town that sits near the Red River and Oklahoma border. His parents were loving parents although a bit bigoted. His father served as a city councilmen, volunteer fireman, church deacon, and proudly was active in his Masonic Lodge. The family owned their own little wooden house on a dirt street and had many friends through church and civic activities. My father was the eldest child. Grandmother had gone to junior college for one year and had grown up on a farm and had the usual farm skill set. She knew all about food preservation, small livestock, and all the handiwork imaginable such as sewing, tatting, quilting, crochet, and knitting. The family was well-respected in the community.

My father's world turned upside in 1931. Daddy's father worked as a railroad engineer, work that seems to have been some type of job transferring trains onto different tracks at the train depot. His work did not involve any travel and he was home in the evenings for supper. Until he died, my daddy hated the lush plant called "cannas" that he knew as "depot plants" because of the sad association in his mind with trains. My popular grandfather was so liked in the town that he had made an enemy, a mean, hateful, spiteful one. His immediate boss was jealous of my grandfather's standing and fired him without cause or reason according to family oral tradition. In 1931, the Great Depression had been going on for two years with years still left until recovery. There was no work to be found anywhere and no social safety net. My grandfather was not afraid of hard work or any type of job, there just weren't any jobs available. By this time, the family had now grown to 2 children in the family and my grandmother was pregnant with the third.

Out of desperation to feed his family, my grandfather visited a man in town who had some connections and business around Texas to ask for, even beg, for a job, any job. This man said that the only work he had available that he could give my grandfather was a job in another town many hours away working on unloading trains. While it meant leaving the family, it would provide some income for the family. Unfortunately, my grandfather was a tall, big-boned man and somewhat overweight. He moved out of town to work in the 100+ degree humid east Texas summer. The work was so strenuous that one day in the high temperatures, he collapsed from a heat stroke...not heat exhaustion...heat stroke. They took my grandfather to lie down in a bed out of the sun, to try to cool down. Of course, air conditioning and Emergency Department Trauma Centers were only pleasant future dreams. Then they called my grandmother and a friend of hers had a car and money for gasoline, so together they drove many hours to east Texas t o retrieve my grandfather. They loaded him up and drove back to their hometown. Grandfather rested at home for a few days then went back to work in east Texas out of desperation because without him working, there was no money. He was dead within a few days from a relapse heat stroke. I can't begin to imagine the depths of despair my young widowed grandmother felt when facing the future with three small children. She was on her own to survive.

At the age of 11, my father, just a child, became "the man of the family," as his mother told him. Until his own personal health collapse at age 13, Daddy brought home the only cash the family lived on. Grandmother took the three children back to the family farm (her parent's farm) each summer for a couple of weeks to can and bring home some food to live on for the next few months. The family kept a few chickens in the backyard in town and my Daddy wrung chickens' necks when they decided to splurge and eat one. Breakfast was often apple pie. An ugly, old biddy hired my Daddy to deliver the local newspaper twice a day in town. While Daddy had a bike, out of spitefulness, this woman insisted "her" paperboys deliver on foot. My father grew six inches in two years, while attending school and delivering newspapers. And then his health crashed. Daddy was dying of starvation here in the USA, the son of a family with standing and respect in the community during the early desperate days of the Great Depression.

While there was a family doctor in their small town, my grandmother took my father across the river to Oklahoma to visit a different doctor who had been recommended by a friend. Years later, our surmise is that the starvation was so embarrassing that grandmother wanted to see a doctor who didn't know the family. The Oklahoma doctor declared that my father had tuberculosis (TB), a diagnosis that saved Daddy's life. Perhaps this was act of kindness by the doctor. Who knows?

At any rate, when 13 years old, Daddy was sent to a sanitarium in west Texas, situated in a dry, sunny locale. Daddy was fed three nourishing meals a day with forced, silent bed rest for hours each afternoon. His mother never came for a visit. In fact, there were no visitors. Travel was out of the question, just too expensive. A family friend gave him the beautiful gift of a newspaper subscription. A radio on the ward provided entertainment and during afternoon rest, the children communicated by spelling words via sign language. While friends at the sanitarium died, after six months Daddy recovered enough to finally go home.

Even though Daddy was pronounced non-contagious, in fact cured, his mother wouldn't allow him in the house. He slept in a shed in the backyard all by himself, while still just a child. To understand how primitive the shed was, the main house didn't have running water and toilet facilities until many years later. Grandmother sold angel food cakes made with the chicken eggs and got hired to work in the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sewing Room teaching women how to sew. Daddy never again was the main breadwinner for the little family. The rest of his life, all x-rays showed no scarring from TB, his skin tests always turned up negative results, and he was able to play the trumpet. Daddy never had TB, he had survived starvation.

My father possessed a quick, brilliant, complicated mind. He excelled in high school academics and eventually graduated. Until his death, he had many life-long friends from his little hometown. Grandmother was determined that all her children would get an education and have inside jobs. Daddy's uncle was an old maid who worked in the oil fields. He generously sent my father $25 a month to go to college, which was all the cash Daddy had to live on. Daddy graduated from the college that eventually became the University of North Texas in Denton. Through all four years of college Daddy lived in a boarding house and ate only one meal a day. That's all he could afford. He died in 2008, a few days shy of 88 years old. Throughout my entire life, I never saw Daddy leave any food on his plate or anyone else's at the table for that matter. Some habits are hard to break.

My daddy's life story is one of love and triumph. But, his story also full sadness and of people who did not rise to be the best they could in a terrible time. They let their baser motives guide their actions. Daddy's family survived because of church and faith, family, community, the little backyard garden and chickens, and everyone in the family working together for each other to stay alive, including an 11 year old child . That Indiana family has no interest in survival, no instinct for survival. Where is their garden? Where is their sense of urgency to pull together and everyone contribute to the family's survival? They are whining and waiting to be saved, and it's not going to happen. They must depend on themselves.

It's so hard to believe that conditions could ever get this bad again, but as my parents always said, "Life turns on a dime." I fervently hope we never see a return to the dark days of a Great Depression.

Thanks, Jim, for all you do and best wishes to the family. - Elizabeth B.

You saw the warning signs years ago and decided to be the ant, not the grasshopper. You found and purchased the home on land that is now your residence as well as your retreat.  You’ve gathered the materials to survive, perhaps even thrive, during the coming storms of political upheaval, food shortages, social disorder and economic distress.  You took courses on weapons use and feel confident in your ability to defend home and kin with any of the weapons in your personal armory.  You assembled canning materials and learned how to use them.  You consume, replenish and rotate those foods regularly, not just watch them age on the basement shelves.  You have the house wired for 12 VDC as well as standard 120 VAC.  Your solar panels, batteries and backup generator are all positioned and tested.  The neat stacks of silver rounds lie nestled in protective containers, waiting to be used for purchases when the dollar is finally recognized for the worthless paper it has become.  Medical supplies are all labeled and stored in easy to reach locations in the house, barn and bunker.  Manuals on survival techniques, emergency first aid, growing and preserving your own food, and a host of other critical topics are carefully filed away for future reference in an Internet-limited world.  Stabilized gasoline and treated diesel sit quietly in sturdy underground drums.  Your communications gear includes CB, ham and FRS radios, and you rigged up wired field sets between the main house and outbuildings.

You even took some steps not normally included in the various “Preparation for Apocalypse” articles that flooded the media and which were read by millions.  You measured the firing distance to each property landmark visible from your home and wrote up landmark-specific bullet drop tables for the calibers of rifles you will use in defense.  You got part of a fresh animal carcass from the local country butcher and practiced your wound suturing skills on real flesh.  You picked up and squirreled away various strengths of reading glasses that you don’t need now but may need in years to come.  You gathered moderate quantities of several multi-use chemicals and a book that shows how to make simple mixtures such as match head material, flash powder, and smoke grenade filler.  When buying and storing your paper goods, you didn’t just lay up three years worth of toilet paper, you also remembered that "If The Momma Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy" and, setting aside your embarrassment, you bought and carefully stored away a generous stash of feminine sanitary products.  You knew that having beans and rice for months at a time potentially could be considered a fate worse than starvation, so you added hard candy, plenty of dried fruit and other treats to the pantry.

You feel a sense of accomplishment and confidence as you fine-tune your checklists and provisions.  You can’t plan for absolutely everything, but you feel you’ve done all you can to get ready for the majority of scenarios that might come about. You are prepared.  Or are you?

A vital component that many people forget is preparation as a community. Self-sufficiency tends to lead to some amount of isolation. My own little slice of heaven in North Idaho is a prime example.  Almost every resident of my small rural town is independent, largely self-reliant, skilled, practiced and ready for everything from extreme weather to MZB attacks.  Each of us knows the neighbors who are in our immediate vicinity, and within that small area we all share goods as needed and assist when the situation calls for it.  But until very recently, no one but the Postmaster could say he actually knew the majority of people in our community beyond a wave and a hello as they drove past.

Each micro-community, composed of anywhere from three to a dozen families, had social interaction at backyard barbecues, fireworks displays and 4H meetings, and teamwork interaction at such events as road clearing sessions after a big windstorm or snowstorm.  But these individual micro-communities did not interact regularly, did not know what skills or provisions each could contribute in times of widespread emergency, and most importantly did not know whom to call to rapidly disseminate important, time critical information about events that could impact the entire region.  We had no phone tree, no list of skill sets available within the town, and no plans for assistance beyond what each micro-community did as a matter of practice, informally developed over the years.  We were not truly prepared, even though most of us thought we were.

While it is still an ongoing process of refinement, as all preparations tend to be, we took an approach that may well serve your own community.  First, we advertised a community preparedness meeting, with enough advance notice that people could get it on their calendar if interested, but not so far in advance that it was forgotten by the time it arrived.  The invitation, via signs at the Post Office and Fire Station, and distributed via flyers, had three key elements:

It was to be an informal meeting with no governmental spin or involvement; it was to get folks talking about community preparations for a variety of situations where we could help each other out effectively, while maintaining our privacy and independence, and finally it would include some refreshments. You’d be surprised how many people are drawn by the prospect of home made brownies, fresh coffee and Huckleberry lemonade.

The meeting itself stressed that the purpose was to:

• Help local citizens to get to know a few more of their neighbors, and
• Expand preparedness thinking from just individual parcels or immediate neighbors to the entire community.

Also mentioned up front was that the meeting was not called in order to:
- Pry into anyone’s issues with their neighbors
- Get into political debate
- Gather information about peoples’ pantry, gun safe contents, or underground bunker…
- Violate privacy – personal or property
- Pressure anyone to participate
- Fill peoples’ calendars with meetings/activities

We reminded attendees that planning was important now:

- So that preparations can be done when we have time, resources, good weather, low stress levels
- So that friends and neighbors know how the community as a whole will respond, before any action is needed
- So that critical preparations are not overlooked
- So that shortfalls can be corrected before an event makes them a critical issue
- Because some preparations may take a long time
- To avoid excessive duplication of efforts

We talked about the various scenarios that might require the community to band together instead of trying to deal with the issue on our own, including wildfire, extreme weather, a major transportation interruption, a large scale natural (or man-made) disaster, economic meltdown or further acts of governmental tyranny.

We discussed the focal areas that might be established to get people with specific knowledge or skills involved on teams of resource planners/coordinators to allow the best response to the situation:

• Communications
• Emergency Resource planning/coordination

- - Food/water/fuels (consumables)
- - Personnel/Equipment/shelter (hard resources)
- Defensive systems
- Medical
- Fire
- - Advanced Preparedness
- - First response
- Unusual hazards and situations

We asked attendees to sign up, voluntarily, for areas where they felt they could add benefit by thinking and researching, providing leadership or just helping out on a time available basis.

We established a web site where residents can find out – at their convenience – about meetings of possible interest; tips from others on various topics such as food preservation, animal husbandry, and ammo reloading; updates to community contact lists; and other information that may be of value but does not warrant continual phone calls or E-mail messages.

We created a phone tree that allows any person to make as few as three calls and be confident that within 5-10 minutes the vast majority of residents had either been personally contacted or had a message left on their phone machine.  The mechanism is simple:
A small handful of people’s names and numbers are at the top of the tree.
The citizen who sees or hears about an imminent danger calls each of these top-tier persons or – if they do not answer – one of the people on the next tier down.
Each of those called passes the message along – briefly but specifically – to each of the names just below their own, on the tree.
Those people do the same until the bottom of each branch is reached, then those at the bottom make a “close the loop” call to each of the original top-tier residents.
[Note: elderly or invalid residents on the phone tree should be physically visited if they don’t answer the phone and the issue is potentially life threatening]

The close the loop step ensures that the community phone tree has been activated, at least partially, from top to bottom and allows cross-trunk communication if the line is severed unintentionally by personal or electronic difficulties.  A community of >1000 people can be reached in just five vertical steps if each person makes just four phone calls without duplication; six steps if only 3 calls per person are made. For events requiring continued updates, such as wildfire location or direction of approaching zombies, the web site can then be used to stay up to date without tying up the phone lines again and again.  To ensure that the phone system itself does not cause a breakdown in communications, the community should have backup schemes as many layers deep as necessary, including CBs or other pre-established radio lines, “pony express” mechanisms using car, ATV, snowmobile, horse, dogsled or whatever makes sense in your region.  This one step alone can dramatically improve your overall preparedness as you will have hundreds of trusted eyes and ears scanning for dangers, hundreds of hands and minds that may be applied to a situation that would overwhelm your own family’s abilities, and a means to call on resources beyond your own wealth – as long as the spirit of give and take is kept balanced and not abused.

Beyond these steps, you might also consider establishing an appropriate number of recurring activities or meetings, whether they are weekly or quarterly as prescribed by the level of availability and interest; fleshing out or refining your community preparedness plans based on detailed threat scenarios that seem likely for your area; establishing response plans, including identification of leaders and supporters; and holding community response drills to see what holes you’ve missed so they can be corrected before a real crisis comes along.  As a final thought for consideration, a hand-cranked 110 dB siren suitable for notifying all locals within a considerable distance that they need to get on “the community net” can be had very affordably on your favorite auction site…

Now you can go clean your M1A again while gazing fondly at your stuffed pantry shelves, secure in the knowledge that you probably are about as ready as you’ll ever be.

In reading “Preparedness Beginnings” by Two Dogs it struck me that I had been missing a vital part of basic preparedness . . . I was doing it naturally, but I realized how many post I had read that left it out or put it as “I will need to do this when . . . “.  My title tells the story, but let me digress a little and put some background to it: Like “Two Dogs”, who is a retired Marine Corp Officer, I’m a retired Naval Officer who drug his family around the country through nine moves in a 30 year career . So getting to “know” new neighbors was something we just took for granted, what I would like to do is share a few thoughts on the process and ideas to get you started (if you need it).  We are not new to the “preparedness game” since we bought our first retreat property in 1973 in central Texas, have lived through 2 major hurricanes in Florida and 1 in Virginia, 1 major earthquake in California, and have lived and seen the third world up close and personal . Because of what we have seen and lived through, we currently live at our retreat full time in western Virginia.

We had always lived by the four “S’s” of survival: Salvation (the reason to survive is to continue to spread the Good News), Sustenance (water, food and medical), Shelter (a roof over your head and clothing) and Security (to keep your family and friends safe from those that would do harm or take advantage of situations).  I would now like to add a fifth “S”, Surroundings . . . I guess we had always done it, but we just didn’t think about it.  My definition of “surroundings” is to “know your neighbors” who surround you . Are they an asset to you and your family, or a liability?   In today’s world, with the grid working, stores stocked, the rule of law and a culture we think we understand we can lump all our neighbors in the category of “unknown” (or “who cares”/) But if/when things don’t work all those “unknowns” now become “liabilities”, just because you don’t know!    I do not want to offend “Two Dogs”, or anyone else who might have posted similar statements, but having neighbors who own guns and shot regularly, without knowing something about them is a serious liability.   What will that family do if they cannot feed themselves or keep warm in the winter . . . and they have guns?   I agree with “Two Dogs” that you cannot knock on your neighbors’ door and ask “how are you stocked for bean, bullets and Band-aids”. That question must wait until you have spent time getting to know about them , and them you!   Those of you who are extroverts will have no problem with what I’m going to say, but for those introverts this will streeeetch your comfort level. But it is essential, if you really believe things can come apart or go wrong!

I do not intent to open Pandora’s Box about “gulching in place”, a bug-out retreat, escape to the woods or living in the “hinterboonies”. I have probably prepared for everyone of these and more. The point is you will have neighbors in any location, so you need to know who and what they are!   As an old pastor of ours used to say: “yes, but how”?  So let me share some of our thoughts (my wife of 39 years was and is a major part of this process).

First there is just “observation”, what can you just “see”, this is not spying, it happens as you walk, bike or drive by?  Are they home a lot or is it empty during the day?  Do you see kids’ toys; swing sets, bikes, or is the yard a “yard of the month club”?  Do you see a vegetable garden or a flower garden, are there fruit trees or shade trees?  What kind of car do they drive, is it a family sedan, sports car, yuppie SUV, a real off-road rig, or maybe just an old truck?  Do you see bumper stickers with a political message or theme?   Do they have an NRA decal?  Does it have a Department of Defense vehicle decal (active or retired military)?  Is the garage just for vehicles or is it a mechanics paradise?   Do you see a work shop?  Is there a stack of firewood close to the house?  Are you getting the idea?  For those that live in suburbia this is not a hard task, since small yards and high density living make this a fairly quick and easy task.  For those who live more rural, with homes on “acres” of land the house may not even be visible, so you will have to find more inventive ways.  Now this doesn’t tell you a lot, but it is a start and you may find some common ground you have with them.
Next are introductions. A simple knocking on the door and a “hello” starts it off.  Once again this is much easier in suburbia, but it works in rural areas as well. You just have to get up the nerve to do that “cold call”.  We have found that “hi, we’re your new/old neighbor down the street and thought we’d introduce ourselves” works wonders.  Another opportunity is if you see your “neighbors” having a yard sale or have an old car (or anything) for sale, you don’t have to buy anything, but take the opportunity to introduce yourself and begin the conversation.   You are looking for common ground, something to keep the conversation going and continue it another day!  In some cases gated entrances and long “private” drives makes this impractical, but that means you will have to be that much more inventive. 

Something we have done, with mixed results, is a “house warming party” or “block party”.  The old saying “if you feed them, they will come” has a lot of truth in it.  Make these “family” events and plan for the kids activities, it will go a long way to opening doors with parents.  Our experience has been a “personal” invitation works much better than a mailed invitation, even if only a small percentage shows up you have made a start.  It is amazing how quick you can expand your circle of new acquaintances, once you start networking with just a few new folks.   Ask about their jobs or career, how about children (ask a grandparent and the pictures will come out--share yours), do grown children live locally or distant, where do they shop and are there shops to stay away from, where is a good mechanic, do they have a hobby or passion, do they “can” vegetables, sew, do they hunt (this opens up whole new areas for discussion). Do you get the idea?  Let me caution you that you are still not at the point of discussing “beans, bullets and Band-Aids”.   You are trying to “learn” about your neighbors and at the same time they should be learning a little about you.  

Another vital area is “community involvement” . . . are you going to be as asset to your community or a liability?   Okay, how do you “get involved”?  In rural communities we have volunteer fire departments, even the Sheriffs Department looks for volunteers (office work and dispatch) and even if you cannot take an active role there are all the fund raisers they need help with, help out at the local animal shelter. Roll up your selves and join-in.   Join a local church and be an active member. Small rural churches will welcome you with open arms if you pitch-in and the networking possibilities are terrific for expanding your circle of new acquaintances.   We joined a small rural congregation where everyone was related to everyone else and had been for generations and felt this would be a real “test” of our abilities . . . we were worried about the wrong thing . . . we now have so many new friends and acquaintances we have trouble getting to know them on a real personal level (the wife took over piano duties and that freed up the music director to lead worship instead of playing, we took over teaching the teenage Sunday school class, which freed up the Pastors wife for other tasks and helped us get to know their parents . . . make yourself an asset to the community and they will get to know you) .

It is only after you have spend time getting to know them, that you can begin to think about “the discussion” (remember OPSEC, listen a lot, share a little).   By then you should have “arranged” all these new folks into groups, for me they looks like this (these are personal assessments and each must come up with their own, based on your circumstances and situations): the majority are sheeple, nice folks but hopeless clueless (you can spend time trying to “educate” them, but I’ve found this to be “tilting at windmills”, as a rule they are not a liability since they don’t believe in exercising their Second Amendment rights. They will become refugees, some (thankfully very few) will be assigned “liability” risks and that will have to factor into your security considerations (I have found it is a waste of time to reason with them, but they can be “educational” to talk to.) Let me add a caution, if a family has teenagers observe their behavior. It is unfortunate, but peer pressure has turn some nice kids into very self destructive individuals), a few will be like-minded individuals that you can relate and share and plan with. But it is the next group that you will spend the majority of your time with, they are “concerned”, but don’t know what to do!   It is these “willing” folks that should take the majority of your time. Help them learn; to change their lifestyle, set new priorities and prepare for their family.  For some you have already done this and I congratulate you, for others this may not be new, but you have failed to put it into action, for the rest this is new and scary stuff and this article only touches on concepts and leaves a lot of unknowns, but the best way to learn something is to just “do it”!  None of this is easy or quick so do not delay in starting this in your neighborhood. Your life and the life of your family may depend on the knowledge you learn.  - The “Old Salt” in Virginia.

James,
My prayers and best wishes to you and your family. May the Lord sustain you during these trying times. Regarding "comfort foods", "Momma" makes sure to keep plenty of baking supplies on hand to make "goop"; sweet things with no nutritional value but loaded with morale-boosting ability.

We also have many jars of home-canned preserves, marmalades, chutneys, relishes and other additions to spice up otherwise bland meals. A little bit goes a long way.

I hope this might give some folks an idea to spice up their menus. Thanks, - Crustyrusty

Good Morning!
Thank you for the info you provide for all of us in your web site. I live in the Kansas City Area in a beautiful suburb which is one of the nicest cities in the country. till doing okay in the depression too. My work is secure and I do well and I own my own twp-story with basement frame home and have been making it a retreat for the past five years. I have no debt and am 60 days ahead with my mortgage and insurance and utilities. Am I absolutely crazy to try to stay here when things go bad?

First, let me tell you what I have done. I have a new roof ,which is fireproof. I have two large fire extinguishers in each room and more in the basement and garage and attic and I have a 2-inch fire hose with Honda generator to pull water from my 2,000 gallon swimming pool/fountain as well as from my 2,000 gallon [combined capacity] plastic tanks under the deck. Yes, they will freeze in the winter so I may add a new tank in the basement. I have 100 50-pound bags of sand which can also put out fires [and double as ballistic protection].

I have a strong 7' wood cedar privacy fence around my back and side yards and I have landscaped them such that it is difficult to see into my yard from any point but still need to add a few more tall bushes to screen my home. I brought in 80 [cubic] yards of great topsoil for the backyard to level it and to add garden areas so I can grow lots of food. I have a gutter system hooked up to the water storage and I have 3 months of water stored now in the basement and when the time comes new 55 gallon water barrels with hand pumps will be in each of my 4 bath rooms and kitchen. There is a pond and active stream 200' from my home and 5 of my neighbors next door and up hill from me have large swimming pools that I can siphon water from. I can produce clean water for 25 for 20 years with my water filters. So I have five ways to get water when the tap stops running.

I can feed my family for more than five years and then grow food too. I have all the stuff you buy in the stores weekly. I can grow food inside or outside and in a greenhouse too that is next to the house which can be heated with the natural warmth of the earth /basement and wood-burning stove, and sunshine.

We can protect ourselves better than anyone you might know, night and day. I have tried to set up my perimeter in my yard using the fence and bushes and trees and berms, etc. without anyone seeing the difference so that a stray bullet or two will not hit us easily. I will build gravel plywood walls in key places inside when TSHTF to reduce stray bullets. My fireplace is 5' x 5' x 4' deep so I can burn 4' foot logs and keep half my home warm and the firewood is placed outside on the side yards to slow down a bullet or two. The fireplace outside is 10' wide and goes above the roof. I have a wood stack 10 yards long, half of it is 4' long wood. I built a barbeque grill/water fall/pool that is solid 12' concrete that works well to stop bullets and it is 20' long and 8' high and looks really cool too.
In my basement I am finishing I added some 12" concrete walls to also give more strength to the floor above and to
slow down a bullet or two.

There are thick forests within 200' of my neighborhood to hide in if necessary and they run the stream for 50 miles. I have a nice "wine room" that is built to Joel Skousen standards [per his book The Secure Home] just in case the web bots are right and we have a problem with radiation.

I may have missed to say a thing or two but have been through others check lists to cover it all.

Can I make it in the city? Or do I want to be a refugee or try to live with friends four normal driving hours away without my stuff?

Thanks, - B., Near K.C.

JWR Replies: Your preparations are excellent for someone living in the suburbs. I believe that your plans to stay in place will probably suffice for all but a true worst-case scenario. But it is important to get to know your contiguous neighbors well, including the neighbors behind your back fence. Having neighbors that you know on a first name basis, and that you can trust in times of Deep Drama will be crucial in the next decade. At present, my best estimate is that we will likely experience an economic depression that will be on a par with the Great Depression of the 1930s. Crime will be rampant, and you will need to institute a Neighborhood Watch on Steroids. That necessitates solid familiarity and trust.

Attached greenhouses are wonderful for situations where there isn't much home invasion crime, but they are a huge security risk in inimical times.

I recommend that you hedge your bets by pre-positioning some of your supplies with your friends, in anticipation of worst-case grid down collapse, where the municipal water will not be available. This is not a major issue for you, since you have an abundance of stored water, and rainwater collection system. But "grid down" will be a true disaster for your neighbors within just a few days. They will likely abandon their houses, leaving you by yourself to defend against large numbers of very desperate looters. You mentioned that you have a five year food supply --which is quite commendable--I'd recommend that you store up to half of it with your friends in the country. Keep in mind that you may only have the opportunity to make one trip Outta Dodge, so it is important to have some crucial logistics stored at your backup retreat.

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

In the summer of 1995 I decided to build an underground multipurpose survival shelter. I purchased the book Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearney and went to work. If you want to know about shelters and what it will be like living in one, then purchase his book. My brother helped me for a while with the construction, but I did the majority of the work alone and it took me two years to complete the project. Let me say up front that I’m an amateur who used a brilliant book to build a shelter. Along the way I made many mistakes and had some unanticipated problems. Hopefully if you decide to do something along these lines you can learn from my many mistakes.

I purchased used 40 foot x 12foot diameter and 20 foot x 8 foot [galvanized steel ] road culvert pipes. The 20 foot long culvert would be used as the entrance to the larger pipe. The first step of my project was to enclose the ends of the 40’ pipe. In the back I used heavy angle iron to frame the end then 2x12s to enclose it. Welding on galvanized metal was a problem for me so I also bolted the braces to the pipe. When I finished enclosing the end it didn’t look right so I placed black roofing felt over the 2x12s and covered it all with a layer of plywood, painted it and then tarred it. I cut a hole in the back at floor level and inserted a 12’’ plastic pipe into the hole and ran the pipe up to the top for airflow. In the front of the pipe I framed it in with angle iron and just used 2x12s. I used 2x12s so that my front solid core entrance door would be right.

I used metal channel iron to enclose the floor of the pipe. I cut the floor frame channels to the proper length so that the floor was about 8ft in height so that I could walk and not hit my head. I installed a plywood floor and placed 4 foot square inserts in the center that would pull up and out for easy access to the lower level. This lower level gives me 4 foot x 40 foot storage under the floor with 8 feet of headroom on top. Along the sides I used two 2x12s wide for bench seats the entire length of the pipe on both sides. This is more than enough seating and is not in the way when you walk around in the pipe. I don’t want to gloss over this part but it took about a year for me to complete the inside.

After I completed the construction of the pipe I was ready to bury it. To accomplish this I rented a 988 Cat[erpillar brand wheel loader with a excavation bucket] and dug a hole for the 40 foot long section. I then buried it to the proper height so the 8 foot piece would match the door and then buried the whole thing. The 20 foot x 8 foot piece extended out the end far enough to prevent the soil from burying the front door. From the bottom of the pipe to the top of the soil is about 22 feet. After burying everything the front didn’t look right. There wasn’t anyway to secure the entrance to the pipe so I then I built a 20x20 wooden shed on the end to secure the entrance. I placed the pipe west to east so the airflow would work and buried the pipe with about 10ft of earth on top of the main 40-foot pipe being sure to protect the plastic air pipe on the end. The book says you only need three feet of compacted earth to protect you from radiation but 10 feet works for temperature control. [JWR Adds: In my experience, only foot depth of clay or loam soil is required to take full advantage of the ambient ground temperature, at least outside of permafrost zones.] The temperature is constant summer and winter and it is pleasant inside. I checked the level of the ground for drainage and adjusted the drainage away from the entrance.

Alongside my buried pipe shelter I placed a Santa Fe Railroad boxcar for storage. This was the real deal and made of solid metal. I filled the boxcar with lots of stuff that could be used for barter or just be used to keep us comfortable. After loading the boxcar with stuff, as a precaution, I welded the two large solid metal doors shut. The doors slid sideways to open so I felt it wouldn’t take much to prevent them from opening.

After I finished construction, my pipe complex was 80ft long, with a storage boxcar alongside. There was water, food, bedding, clothes, everything I could think of that I might need, I stored in the pipe shelter. There is water close by and I also had 8 - 55 gallon. used white plastic Coca-Cola syrup barrels filled with water inside the pipe. When I open the entrance door and the 12’’ plastic air flow pipe you can feel the air flow but according to the book that isn’t enough air for [very] many people and the book tells you how to increase the airflow for more people. On the right side of the pipe there is electrical plugs for 12 volt DC power and 2 Heavy equipment 12 volt DC batteries for power. On the left side of the pipe is 120 volt AC power [conduit and outlets] to be plugged into a generator.

The boxcar was for extra, non-essential items. My family and I could go to my pipe shelter without bringing anything with us and stay there for at least one year.

Lessons I have learned:
My first and biggest mistake was in believing that my property was secure. There is no possible way to secure property if you aren’t there to secure it. I have 120 acres fenced in and the pipe location is out of sight of the main road. I thought the location was secure but it only took the druggies a couple of years to find it. Once the word got out what was there everything went down hill fast. Now the property is always being broken into and trashed. They will steal anything and everything and then trash the rest. I live in the city and the [unoccupied] pipe [shelter] is 200 miles away from my home in the country. The pipe is located in the middle of my land but it doesn’t matter. (Hindsight) When you use wood to enclose your shelter eventually the Prairie dogs and druggies will find a way into it. 4 Wheeler [ATV]s can go anywhere and they do. Not only did they break into my pipe [shelter] and destroy and steal everything, they used a bumper jack to attach to the bottom of my metal door on my boxcar, jack it out and steal everything they wanted. Then when they had everything worth something they burned the boxcar. The interior walls and floor of a boxcar are lined with heavy wood and burns real hot.

So here is where I am now: I had to rebuild the front of the entrance to the pipe. I originally had some windows in front of my pipe complex to help add a little illumination so I used crusher screen cloth to cover the windows and doors. After the druggies broke into the pipe they left it open and the prairie dogs ruined everything left inside. I have cleaned out everything in the pipe and threw it all away. Now the pipe is empty but at least it is still usable, but my boxcar is a burned-out shell and unusable.

If you want to have a place in the country to escape to Good luck. You have to be there to be able to protect it.
I also buried some plastic 55gal barrels with some extra #10 cans of food in them. They have been in the ground for about 10 yrs and I have learned another lesson. There is enough moisture in the barrels to rust through many of the #10 cans. The barrels didn’t leak water but many of the #10 cans still rusted through. If you want to do something like this dip your cans in wax and that will protect the metal #10 cans from rusting. You can buy lids for 55 gallon barrels that snap on to the top of the barrel. They are thin but if you place a piece of rolled plastic on top of the lid and then some ¾’’ plywood over the top of the barrels they will be fine. Mine were buried on end with about two feet of soil on top. You can bury 8 barrels with a single piece of plywood over them and have a lot of #10 cans of food safely stored in a cool temperature. 10 yrs. of storage isn’t a problem if you store wheat, rice and beans as you can fill in the gaps later with storage easer to get to.
I find that this type of storage in 55gal plastic barrels buried in the ground works for many different things.

[Some information on another topic deleted, for brevity. It will eventually be posted separately.]

I hope this information is helpful. - BB

JWR Adds: I've heard may similar tales about unoccupied retreats being ransacked. BB's experience underscores the oft-repeated need to either:

1.) Live at your retreat year-round, or

2.) Have a retreat caretaker, or

3.) Have a trustworthy year-round resident neighbor that lives in a house with line of sight to your retreat buildings.

Anything less than that cannot be relied on! There is some utility in motion-queued web cams, but there is no sure substitute for the Mark I Human Eyeball. I consider web cams just a good backup, and a means to capture images of would-be burglars and their vehicle license plate numbers.

If it is an underground shelter, then you might get away with a completely hidden entrance. Typically, this is done with a large scrap/junk pile. (Two of my consulting clients have done this, thusfar with several years of success.) Although it is labor intensive to remove, the "scrap pile camouflage" technique is fairly practical for a property that you visit only infrequently. But all it takes is just one untrustworthy person that knows about the shelter's existence to make this approach ineffective. (The goblins will keep looking until the find the entrance.)

Given enough time, miscreants can reduce just about any obstacle to entry to an unoccupied and unobserved structure. They will come back with a cutting torch or even a backhoe, given enough time!

Part 1 - Introduction

History will repeat itself, for history has shown, that history will repeat itself. Unfortunately my wife is not interested in history. She is, however coming around, and now I pass my knowledge on to others whose "significant others" might not see the picture. Understanding the situation is the first step to doing something about it.

As a young (25 and 22 years old) couple, attached to the US Navy, (entering my sixth year of service) my worst nightmare is a TEOTWAWKI event occurring when I am 2,000 miles away. There is little to be done about this possibility but, as my Marine Corps brethren tell me, adapt and overcome. Contingencies have been planned, but before I get there let me elaborate on how I made a breakthrough with my young, and stubborn wife.

We have been married for three years, and I was blissfully unaware of the possibilities that life as we know it might change. I was in high school when my parents prepared for Y2K, but saw decent planning and stockpiling take place. My wife's parents planned as well, but they planned a holiday ski trip to Lake Tahoe [for December 31, 1999.]. That being said, when I joined the Navy and landed in Virginia I did not begin to take steps in preparing. That was my first mistake: I met my wife, I wasn't preparing, and she had no indication that a couple years down the road that I would open my eyes and want to devote so much time and resources towards preparing as best I could.

I can't pin down the exact moment when I realized that I had lost precious time and felt the urge to get ready. I think it was a steady stream of facts that I was able to put together, and the more I researched the more bleak the picture looked to me. I then began looking for a way to make my family's situation better. The first thing I realized was that it would cost money to prepare. So, I dusted off the planned budget, took out a red pen and started making cuts and shifting priorities around. After I felt satisfied, I sat my wife down and proposed the new budget. Needless to say, my "radical" new budget was shot down.

Part 2 - The Wrong Way

I was not entirely discouraged, but a little disappointed that my wife didn't just take my word that we needed to spend money and time on preparing. I suppose that an older (read: "wiser") man would have known to ease his wife into a new lifestyle.

I then made my second big mistake. Feeling that I "knew better" and was doing it for "her own good" I began to run a "disinformation campaign" on my wife. (Note: I don't endorse this method, as in my own experience it will fail in the end!) With spring starting, I began a dialogue with my wife about camping. It seemed logical to me, we devote money and time preparing for a few camping trips, I cross some of my items off the "need for preparation" list and she is none the wiser. It worked. We both had bug out bags, I mean "hiking packs", some cooking gear, some camping knives, flashlights, a good tent, sleeping bags, first aid kits, and the like. I was even allowed to make most of the purchases for her (thus ensuring that we didn't end up with a bright red tent, a hot pink pack and such.) We went camping, it was great, learned a few things about her ability in the wilderness (and my own) and several more things were added to my "preparation list" that I had never though of.

I felt great, stage one of my disinformation campaign was a success, and I felt ready to move on the next stage. The garden. My wife loves her flower garden. We started with a weed-infested back yard, and with a lot of hard work (on my part) and a vision (wife's department) we ended up with a nice yard, with a lot of flowers and ornamental trees. I don't intend on eating trees and flowers, so I just brought up the subject of a home vegetable garden. She liked the idea, but it was something that we really knew nothing about. We did some research on the internet, and she was immediately overwhelmed by the information and lost motivation. (I mean, c'mon we live within walking distance to the commissary.)

I was greatly helped by a new girlfriend she had made. Her friend opened her eyes to organic foods and sold her on the benefits of buying organic. I just had to wait for the right time, because I knew that the organic food store was much more expensive than the commissary. I would use my wife's own argument against her, that organic foods cost too much, but I would compromise and "allow the expense" of growing our own organic garden, which would offset the cost of buying organic meats and milk. Stage two complete.

I continued with my disinformation campaign for months, and was able to cross a decent amount of things off my "preparation list". But it was this very list that was my undoing. While cleaning she came across my list, and saw that very clearly, I had checked many things off. Then the light bulb clicked on and the gig was up. Understandably she was hurt. For months I had been less than honest about my intentions, and she viewed it as selfish and childish. Which it was. I won't go into detail about how terrible that night was when I got home, but it's safe to say that my plans for being ready were placed on hold.

Part 3 - The Right Way

As a uniformed service member I feel it necessary to keep my political beliefs private. Because of this, my wife became my outlet for venting frustration with policies I don't agree with. At first my wife was uninterested in the happenings in D.C., because she felt that it would have little impact on her way of life. This was a blessing in disguise that brought my wife to a point in her life where she wanted answers.

My wife and I were invited to a friend's house for dinner and drinks. Little to my knowledge, my friend's wife is very passionate about politics. As drinks were made, discussion ensued, and before long politics was being discussed. My friend, a Marine, is a conservative through and through. He has no problems voicing his opinions on any number of topics and policies. His wife is as liberal a person as I have ever met. The debate was quite invigorating. My poor wife, knowing only the politics that I preach to her, decided to throw her two cents in, but could barely regurgitate the things I had said previously to her, let alone defend her "position" when pointed questions were asked.

The next day I came home to my wife watching the news, and reading headlines on her laptop. She would never get into another political debate without knowing what she was talking about. I was impressed, and engaged her in many long conversations. I showed her articles and stories, and allowed her time to come to her own conclusions, the same way I came to my conclusions. But in the end it was Glenn Beck's show that prompted a question from her, "Is it possible that our economy could really collapse?"

Now I know, at 25 that I am in no position to give history lessons, but I did my best and pointed mostly towards the 1930s as an example. I talked at length about the increased danger we live in now, as modern day America is not what it was in 1930. The danger is not in the market, but in the fragility of our now intertwined systems. We talked for quite a while, and in the end talked how to protect ourselves. And finally talking about how to prepare for the worst, should it come.

Part 4 - The Plan

Again, we pulled out the family budget, and re-prioritized. In the end we were able to devote $200 a month for preparations. That was three months ago.

Simple. That was my number one priority, as it pertains to a plan. Mostly, because I knew that there is a decent chance that I could be across the world when/if an event happened.

My first purchases were paper, a few three-ring binders, and some shelving. I started by making lists of everything. Then I developed a set of SOPs, checklists and a commo plan. These are very much still in a beginning stage, but they get better every week. These binders serve three purposes. One, they allow me to think things though, and shoot holes in my plans. Two, give my wife an easy set of instructions to follow should I be deployed. Three, give me piece of mind when I am away.

Eventually, these binders will evolve into an all encompassing SOP. Set up similarly to a "choose your own adventure" book. Meaning that, you evaluate your current situation then flip to that section for a course of action. (For example, a Hurricane is rolling in, and it's going to require an evacuation. Turn to page 16 for instructions. Or it is a G.O.O.D. situation and you have an hour to get loaded up and out of town, turn to page 74.) In conjunction with this, the shelving units in the garage are organized with the binder. Meaning, that for a hurricane, all items on shelves one and two have priority in the truck.

Most of the things we have done thus far are extremely cheap. Making plans for instance, are free. Aside from the cost of the 3 ring binder, paper and ink, planning for an escape was free. We live in a very densely populated area, and our tentative plan is to bug out early to a planned waypoint to reassess the situation. I do not want to risk waiting and "fighting" my way out of town, so we may have a few "unplanned camping trips" that turn out to be false alarms, but I'll chalk it up to practice. As funds are available, I hope to store a cache of goods at this location to enable us to travel further west without needing assistance or gas stations. This first waypoint is just inside the range my truck can go on a half a tank of gas, with three routes already planned if needed.

I feel that at this stage we would be ahead of the hordes of people trying to evacuate the east coast. From this point we should be able to "camp", assess the situation via radio, and decide on the next course of action. If it's a false alarm, we pack our things in the morning and head home. If not we decide which preplanned route would be safest to get to our second waypoint. (note I have planned for a few waypoints for my second leg. Basically, if you drew a vertical line every 250-300 miles across the US there would be a few waypoints close to that line.) This will allow for flexibility in planning as we continue to assess the situation. If we must go north to get out west we will have a plan, if we can still use the interstate there will be a plan, of we need to go south there is a plan. All we have to do is chose at each leg. The hardest part of planning was having contingencies for natural barriers, such as the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi river.

Of course we have a destination in mind, and that is linking up with some like minded family members, who will hopefully be waiting for us when we arrive at grandpa's house out in the middle of nowhere.

90% of our focus has been on bugging out, but we plan to start shifting some focus on maintaining the homestead. This would likely be limited to a high inflation scenario, where food storage would offset costs and impact us less, as well as securing the house for the rise in crime. However, it would be foolish in our situation to stay in our city for most foreseeable situations.

The other cheap way we have begun to prepare is mentally. This was difficult for my wife. I started by giving her my copy of "Patriots" and then a copy of "The Road". It allowed her to see a significant contrast in what could happen, as well as the difference between preparing or not preparing.

I will end with this. We are only three months into actively preparing ourselves. And in a short essay it is impossible to discuss all the things we have tried. But there are some fundamental things that have worked for us.

- You have to be a team. I have gotten much further working as a team than trying to "sneak around" and prepare.

- You have to prepare spiritually. I am not a fan of church, as every time I go I feel like I am being sold something. My wife and I go straight to the source for our spiritual guidance. Prayer and studying the Bible works for us. But you need to find what works for you.

- You have to stay motivated. Keep yourself informed, and do something every single day that makes you a little more prepared. 365 little things to prepare will get me much further than saving up and buying a bunch of gear at the end of the year.

- You have to look for support. Too many of my peers (20-30 years old) are happy being blissfully unaware. But many are opening there eyes every day, and just need a friend to help them. This is where my plan falls flat, for now. Establishing a network of people to count on is very high on my priorities, but with the ever evolving network of friends getting rotated to new duty stations every couple of years this has been hard.

- You have to have a plan, and expect it to fail. I've been on many military missions, and Murphy has been there every single time. But it is easier to adjust a plan or fall back on a contingency than it is to shoot from the hip.

I frequently stress the importance of well-balanced preparedness in my writings. All too often, I've seen people that go to extremes, to the point that these extremes actually detract from the ability to survive a disaster situation. These range from the "all the gear that I'll need to survive is in my backpack" mentality to the "a truckload of this or that" fixation. But genuine preparedness lies in comprehensive planning, strict budgeting, and moderation. Blowing your entire preparedness budget on just one category of gear is detrimental to your overall preparedness.

Another common mistake that I see among my consulting clients is an over-emphasis on either very old technologies or on the "latest and greatest" technologies. In the real world, preparedness necessitates having a bit of both. At the Rawles Ranch we have both 19th century technology (like hand-powered tools) and a few of the latest technologies like passive IR intrusion detection (Dakota Alerts), photovoltaics, and electronic night vision. My approach is to pick and choose the most appropriate technologies that I can maintain by myself, but to always have backups in the form of less exotic or earlier, albeit less-efficient technologies. For example, my main shortwave receiver is a Sony ICF-SW7600GR. But in the event of EMP, I also a have a pair of very inexpensive Kaito shortwaves and a trusty old Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio that uses vacuum tubes. Like my other spare electronics, these are all stored in a grounded galvanized steel can when not in use.

Here is my approach to preparedness gear, in a nutshell

• Redundancy, squared. I jokingly call my basement Jim's Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR)
• Buy durable gear. Think of it as investing for your children and grandchildren. And keep in mind that there'll be no more "quick trips to the hardware store" after TSHTF.
• Vigilantly watch Craigslist, Freecycle, classified ads, and eBay for gear at bargain prices.
  
• Strive for balanced preparedness that "covers all bases"--all scenarios.
• Flexibility and Adaptability (Examples: shop to match a 12 VDC standard for most small electronics, truly multi-purpose equipment, multi-ball hitches, NATO slave cable connectors for 24 VDC vehicles, Anderson Power Pole connectors for small electronics--again, 12 VDC)
• Retain the ability to revert to older, more labor-intensive technology.
• Fuel flexibility (For example: Flex fuel vehicles (FFVs), Tri-fuel generators, and biodiesel compatible vehicles)
• Purchase high-quality used (but not abused) gear, preferably when bargains can be found
• If in doubt, then buy mil-spec.
• If in doubt, then buy the larger size and the heavier thickness.
• If in doubt, then buy two. (Our motto: "Two is one and one is none.")
• Buy systematically, and only as your budget allows. (Avoid debt!)
• Invest your sweat equity. Not only will you save money, but you also will learn more valuable skills.
• Train with what you have, and learn from the experts. Tools without training are almost useless.
• Learn to maintain and repair your gear. (Always buy spare parts and full service manuals!)
• Buy guns in common calibers
• Buy with long service life in mind (such as low self-discharge NiMH rechargeable batteries.)
• Store extra for charity and barter
• Grow your own and buy the tooling to make your own--don't just store things.
• Rust is the enemy, and lubrication and spot painting are your allies.
  
• Avoid being an "early adopter" of new technology--or you'll pay more and get lower reliability.
• Select all of your gear with your local climate conditions in mind.
• Recognize that there are no "style" points in survival. Don't worry about appearances--concentrate on practicality and durability.
• As my old friend "Doug Carlton" is fond of saying: "Just cut to size, file to fit,, and paint to match."
• Don't skimp on tools. Buy quality tools (such as Snap-on and Craftsman brands), but buy them used, to save money.
• Skills beat gadgets and practicality beats style.
• Use group standardization for weapons and electronics. Strive for commonality of magazines, accessories and spare parts
• Gear up to raise livestock. It is an investment that breeds.
• Build your fences bull strong and sheep tight.
• Tools without the appropriate safety gear (like safety goggles, helmets, and chainsaw chaps) are just accidents waiting for a place to happen.
• Whenever you have the option, buy things in flat, earth tone colors
• Plan ahead for things breaking or wearing out.
• Always have a Plan B and a Plan C

If you are serious about preparedness, then I recommend that you take a similar approach.

Sir,
I enjoyed the article about "Preparing for Joy". The Christmas after Hurricane Ivan hit Pensacola [Florida, in 2004] was depressing and sad. My family and street was in a gloomy state that almost nothing could get us out of.

About a week before Christmas I got off my butt and spent my last $40 on outside Christmas lights. It was kind of a funny sight, seeing the lights on the damaged house. But do you know what? The next day lights started popping up all down the street. People who never put lights up were putting them up.

Even though we did not have all the wrappings of Christmas that was one of my favorite Christmas celebrations. Everyone's heart was lifted with 40 bucks of lights. Best money I ever spent.
I'm going to order some [strings of] 12 volt lights and put in my survival kit and prepare for fun.
Thanks for all the great info! - Steven

Dear Mr. Rawles:
I have been following several good reader contributions including “Bug Out At the Last Minute” arguments versus those who consider “Early Relocation” and most recently “A Multiple Family Retreat—Lessons Learned the Hard Way” in regards to the most expeditious and efficient way to set up a self-sufficient retreat. While I understand that some folks are just simply unable to make a full time commitment in setting up a retreat, I also know that there are many—while there are still the comforts of life available (television, readily available food and gasoline)—that are unwilling to make the sacrifice necessary to prepare for any pending manmade or natural disaster(this include members of my extended family who are living what they consider the “good life” but I am sure will be on our doorstep WTSHTF) From my family’s experience, if one is not practicing what they preach…i.e. actually learning by trial and error and doing what one plans to do when the time come, then no matter how much one has prepared—stocking food supplies, buying “Seeds in a Can”, or planning to bug out with everything but the kitchen sink—then there will most certainly be a very steep learning curve to be had. Believe me, my husband and I have made many mistakes, but because we are also willing to sacrifice, after five years have reached the level of preparedness WTSHTF! In fact, it is best to get to a prepared lifestyle so WTSHTF, such events are just a mere bump in the road for your family.

With my parents we purchased 110 acres of fertile land, with two running streams, a spring, and two ponds 100 miles away from the nearest “Metro Mess”. There are several vibrant and viable little towns within driving or even walking distance for that matter. These towns are very close knit and some would call them “clannish” because everyone seems to be related to everyone else. We bought the land 10 years ago, but starting living on it full time 5 years ago.

Most people would think this is the perfect setup. We think it is, however, please allow me the opportunity to expand on what I mean “Practicing what you preach” because our journey to where we are today did not come by just planning, but by doing.

1. The Land - Pros: Good land, sandy loam, available water. Cons: Just as the veggies like the soil, so do the weeds! If we do not pull weeds everyday, they seem to come back double within the week. Additionally, despite all the attractive pictures on the veggie packets and promises that they will grow, I have learned what will grow in my particular location and what will not grow. Although we live in zone 7, in my particular location it is not uncommon to have a late hard killing freeze the end of April. I still have fruit trees, but lost all of the fruit this year. I also know what types of vegetables will grow and which ones will not. This was not learned by planning to do it in the future when it is necessary, but over a trial and error five-year period. Is this a process that one wants to learn when one really needs it, or instead by practicing what you intend to do, so that you are up to speed when the time comes as disaster strikes? It means having on hand all the tools and supplies needed, and this was only learned by doing before hand.

2. The Livestock - Pros: A ready food source or beasts of burden. Cons: They are reliant on you for their well being. Chickens get eaten by varmints or neighbors dogs if one is not careful, animals need daily care—whether from you, or someone else if you are away for a time—they get sick and hurt, get into a neighbor’s pasture, etc. If you plan to eat chickens for example, then you must learn how to kill them and dress them properly. Believe me, all these things are not something one needs to learn when it is truly necessary, but is only learned by doing before hand.

3. The Farmstead and accompanying equipment—Pros: This goes without saying. Cons: If one is not a handyman, or DIY, then learn anyway you can! Metal roofs blow off, water well pumps stop working, trees fall on things that they are not supposed to, wild fires and floods, etc. It is just not a matter of “Calling someone” to fix these things because out in rural areas, it is assumed that everyone knows how to take care of these things. One can only know what tools they will need for their particular situation by practicing and experimenting—remember an electric dehydrator for preserving food, or a wide screen tv will not be useful when there is no electricity. Our family got rid of cable/satellite tv (no time to watch it other than a rental movie every once in a while) but, we still have satellite Internet service—the best source for alternative news like SurvivalBlog. I am learning to can with a pressure cooker and preserve food that we grow. All these things are learned by doing.

4. The Job—My husband and I both had jobs in the city when we bought our land. Before we moved from the Metro Mess, we scaled back and paid off as much debt as possible, and saved as much as possible. When we finally moved to our land we commuted to our jobs for three years, 1,000 miles a week. That meant going to bed promptly at 9 p.m. in order to get up at 3:30 to feed the animals and be on the road by 5 a.m. for our 200 mile round-trip trek. My husband retired to work on the farm full time, and as soon as I was able, I found a teaching job in one of the small towns. I taught for two years in this position, but now our homestead is able to generate enough income, plus what we have saved, for me to resign my teaching position. Is this difficult to do? Yes, it takes sacrifice and ignoring the naysayers who may think that you are a little crazy. But again, sacrifice is only gained by doing.

5. The Local People—The only way to get to know the locals is by living amongst them. I do not mean this in a negative way by any means. I have heard many other new homesteaders complain that the locals are tough nuts to crack, and in our situation, everyone is related to everyone else, so of course there is some suspicion to any newcomer. However, the only way that you can become a successful member of a community is by doing and being there. Of course expect hostility WTSHTF and you just “show up” We became part of the community by worshiping at the local church, teaching Sunday school, joining civil organizations, enrolling our children in the schools, etc. When a church member broke his back in a fall, we were there helping his wife with the farm chores. When a massive wild fire rolled through the area this spring, we were there helping evacuate horses. Of course they will talk about you…this is just a fact of life in a small town…however, the church was full when my brother—who nobody knew because he lived out of state—died and was buried in the church cemetery…all of our friends who had become our family were there for US. This did not happen overnight, but by the nurturing relationships and sacrifice…turn off the boob tube and get to know your neighbors. Also, it is through the locals that we know how to butcher and garden, as well as get things like milk and grains. I can also defend myself and our property because a retired police officer gave us the proper training. We have a pretty good barter system going, and again, this did not happen by planning, but by doing.

Now, as I stated earlier, I know that there are many people out there that do not have a choice, and are doing the best that they can to prepare and I pray for you. However, I also know that there are just as many people who are unwilling to work hard and sacrifice so when the time comes, they will be scrambling to get themselves in a better plan, and with possible dire results. Please, if at all possible, try to get to your ultimate retreat before you really need it. Learn not by planning, but by doing and Practicing What You Preach! God Bless, - SHM

I am sitting here and it is raining, and raining and raining and... Four inches so far, nobody can water like God can! After our last rain, everything in the garden had a tremendous burst of energy. The dreary, raining day for some folks though, is especially depressing. I enjoy those occasional days, when I feel like I can actually sit down at the computer without feeling guilty because there is so much to do outside that I really shouldn't be here.

It got me to thinking again about “what if?” How can we defeat those occasional bouts of dreariness, especially if and when TEOTWAWKI comes along? Making sure every ones attitudes stay uplifted might be one of those things that make living in a very, very hard time a little more bearable.

You’ve always heard the saying, “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Well, momma, start with yourself first. Make sure your priorities are straight, your head, your body (I’m especially in need of that), your spiritual life, and your relationships are in great shape. Remember, you and your family are a team. It is going to be you and them against the world. Ya’ll will possibly be the only ones you engage with for a while. Your relationships to each other is of vital importance. Pick your battles, which is something I have to be very conscious of. Make sure everyone in the family knows how vital their contribution is. Even if it is just the little ones trained well enough to know how to mind and do their chores. It will save a lot of added frustration especially if things are in really bad shape.

Make sure you have something that is special to you stored back--I know this may sound irrelevant and maybe even a little selfish, but just a small bottle of perfume, or a little lipstick, after you come in from a long, hot, sweaty day in the garden, to clean up and smell and look pretty, will give you (and him) a nice, uplifting feeling. You are the heart of the home, make it a place that gives your family a feeling of warmth and welcome when they are there. Grow a few hardy flowers that like hot weather and do well without much rain. We never know from year to year how much rain we will get. Cut them and put them on the table. Save your dish water to pour on them if the weather is dry. It will lift everyone's spirits to come to the table with a nice tablecloth and flowers. Your conversation makes a difference, too. Talk about memories, funny stories, you might even start writing them down so you won’t forget them when they happen. You will be the one who makes a vital difference in attitudes, and this is true even when things are normal. Make plans for birthdays or other special days. Birthday candles do not take up much space and cost very little , they are a very important part of birthdays, especially the little [single digit] ones. Folks like me have to have permission from the Fire Department! You know what is important to your family as far as holidays and families times. Prepare for those special times.

What about things to do [at quiet times]? My husband loves puzzles. I will have some puzzle books put back. My daughter is like me: she loves art. If you have a child who loves to draw, make sure you have some art supplies on hand. A reader? G.A. Henty is one great author, especially for your boys. Even my daughter loved his books, lots of history in great mysteries. Get online and find some of the older books or look at used bookstores, thrift shops, or your local library. They get rid of older books every once in a while, so be on the look out for those old classics. Don’t do the “fast food” type of books that you can read in 15 minutes. Give them something that takes a while and better yet, have daddy read to the family at night. Just a few chapters, discuss it and enjoy a peaceful evening.

Games are a great family time and some of them are just for fun, some help learning skills. Whatever your family enjoys and make sure you have a few for all ages. You need those old fashioned ones, because the computer may not be working. We have made our own games. We’ve dug some small holes in the ground and found some old washers and used them similarly to horseshoes. Since we home schooled, geography was taught by buying plastic posters of the continents. Each person would have a different place and we would ask about rivers, mountain ranges, countries, anything that was on the map could be formed into a question. Charades, an old game is great if you have visitors. Music is wonderful. Maybe you have a musician in your family. Sing together. It makes a light-hearted atmosphere and gets everyone away from all the talk about news and what is going on. There are web sites on line that can give you many more ideas, and now would be the time to prepare.

If you have folks who like to sew, knit, crochet, woodwork make sure they have a few items that could give them some time to be creative. All work and no play makes a really bad attitude. It is a good way to make gifts as holidays and birthdays come along. Make your own cards and stick one on a bed or on the mirror to tell your family how much you appreciate their hard work and their good attitude. A little praise goes a long way.

Preparing for fun and relaxation is as important as preparing for physical needs. Fear and bitterness are some of the worse life threatening things that will bring the whole household down. Having a lot of time on your hands, gives time to think about what I don’t have, or what I’m missing. Just adding some of the fun items will keep your family occupied in good, clean, happy, useful business.

Don’t forget rest~satisfying rest. When you are overworked, tired, hungry and worried your responses to folks can be well, not nice. That can lead to arguments and a lack of teamwork. Making sure everyone gets a restoring night's sleep will help get them ready for another day of taking care of business. Don’t forget to say your prayers. God has got you through another day.

Your relationship with God, knowing that you belong to Him and that your family does, is the first thing you need to have total faith in. Know that although you have prepared to the best of your abilities, that nothing happens to us that does not pass through God’s “hands” first. You must know that what He allows in our lives, He has either caused, or will use for our good and His Glory.

These are just a few ideas. There is so much information on the web now, that finding other ideas are only a mouse click away. Make a notebook and keep ideas in it. If you do not have the time right now to get things together, with the notebook you won’t forget about them. This might be good for the kids to do.

Depression is a killer, of the spirit and sometimes of lives. Just a little joy in hard times makes things go so much easier. When you can laugh during adversity, it might make a difference in getting your life back to normal. “A merry heart doeth good, like a medicine.” So remember while you’re storing up the beans, rice, tools and ammo, don’t forget to store up some joy. - Carla

I have been a follower of your blog for a couple of years now and find it to be the best source of self-sufficiency information on the Web. You and your readers have provided me with a wealth of information that would have otherwise taken a lifetime to research on my own. –and for that, I thank you and all those who took the time to contribute.

While the plethora of advice handed out on a daily basis is extremely helpful, the one thing that I have found to be sparse is the first hand accounts of failure. A wise mentor once told me that no one learns from “trial and right,” and he was correct, the best way to learn is by “trial and error.” Unfortunately, I have had my fill of error lately.

Thus, I thought I would share all the things that went wrong over the past year and a half as my family attempted to develop a retreat for a bug out location in the country (we live in the city) with two other families. I hope this helps others who may find themselves in a similar situation.

The main problems encountered:

1. Although the adults agreed to the general goal of developing a self-sufficient retreat and the various components that would be required to sufficiently make the property a true bug out location, each had different ideas on the sense of urgency, priorities, responsibilities, and methods of doing things. This resulted in a tremendous waste of time and resources; numerous projects started, but never finished, or simply not done well. Failures outnumbered successes 10:1.

2. The young adult children of one family did not contribute and were allowed to not contribute. When the parents were confronted, they reassured us, “we will talk to them.” The “talk” never happened. This led to a significant level of resentment by the children of the other two families.

3. Dogs of one family were poorly trained and supervised. The owners did nothing to remedy the problems encountered. These dogs dug up fresh plantings on several occasions and set us back an entire season. Much worse, when the gate to the chicken coup was not shut properly one day, the chickens got out and the dogs killed most of them just when they were beginning to lay well. This set us back eight months.

4. Two families did not live at the retreat full time and were only able to tend to the property and garden on weekends. We learned the hard way that there is simply not enough hours in a week to work full time, raise children, and tend to a second property on weekends. The result was severe burn out by those of us living in the city, and a one year backlog on projects for our city homes. Life doesn’t stop just because you decide to develop a retreat.

5. Only one family took firearms seriously, taking all of the advice one can read on your blog and not only taking professional training, but practicing on a regular basis to master each and every firearm by every member of the family. Another family bought a shotgun and a box of ammo, which was promptly parked in a closet, and the third family has yet to get around to it. The main issue here is that these latter two are not the folks I want watching my back in a SHTF scenario.

6. One family thought they could “buy survival.” When the going got tough, they would offer to pay for equipment and supplies instead of showing up and getting their hands dirty. This is also the family that sincerely believes that having all the stuff (solar oven, camp washer, propane stove, cases of Mountain House[long term storage food], Berkey water filter, etc.) means they are prepared. This resulted in resentment by the two families that did most of the hard labor.

7. Only one of the families actually accumulated two years worth of food & supplies (the agreed upon goal for each family), the other two families have six months or less. This was the last straw for me as it became apparent that the other families expected to survive off the one, if they ran out.

By now you can guess which of the families described is mine. After a year and a half of spending each and every weekend in the dirt, working from sun up to sun down, we just up and quit being part of the retreat a couple of weeks ago. No amount of discussion and compromise could rectify the problems we encountered, and I have no words for the extreme frustration we felt and still feel. It has been a real learning experience as these other families are not strangers; we have been close friends for over 20 years.

Our investment of sweat, time, and money yielded us with only the experience of our trials, and we are right back where we started from, living in the city with a very small garden, wondering what to do next.

In hindsight, we should have:

1. Developed a project plan that listed all of the projects, broken down by tasks, assigned priorities, and most importantly, had sufficient resources allocated to them.

2. Defined up front who does what, when & how, and who pays for what. It should also include consequences for failure to live up to expectations.

3. Agreed upon a code of conduct with everyone pledging to uphold it. Even to the point of having everyone sign a symbolic contract.

4. Had a formal schedule with built in breaks (rotating weekends off or something).

5. Had everyone on the same page as to the sense of urgency. Nothing gets done if everyone has different ideas of how important what you’re doing is.

Lastly, the most important lesson learned. Preparedness doesn’t come in a box. It comes from hard work, from getting your hands dirty, and teaching yourself new skills. There’s a lot of trial and error and the important thing is to not give up even when everyone around you is letting you down. Preparedness comes from time. Time learning and practicing. While this experience has been a complete failure, at least we learned what not to do as we plan out our next attempt.

Thank the Lord that my family still believes in me and what we need to do. Wish us luck. - KJ

The Relevance of Procedures
In a disaster situation many things previously fixed become variable. Communications, supplies, security and many other aspects of civilized society that we often take for granted may quickly become mired down by inefficient or massive use. Equipped as we are with a survival mindset, many still succumb to the environment of pandemonium that evolves: we forget our training, misuse our equipment, and the pace of events overwhelms us. On top of these considerations, many interested in disaster preparation may not have a family or group that is equally well-versed in the nuances of survival situations.

Many organizations address these shortcomings through the use of Procedures. Corporations use Procedures to ensure that any new employee has the ability to step into a task with the ability to perform the necessary work. The military has developed and adapted Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for use in situations where soldiers require guidance or where logic alone may not lead to the performance of the appropriate actions. Procedures and SOP are ways to coordinate actions and ensure consistency and unity of direction. They are tools of continuity.

Bringing the Problem to Light
To understand the utility of procedures I present a hypothetical situation:

A local disaster or emergency has occurred. It is a Tuesday morning in the coldest month of December. In reaction to the disaster or emergency cell phone circuits are full, power is spotty or out altogether, major traffic arteries are congested or stopped, and law enforcement is stretched beyond capacity. You are at work 10 miles north of your home, your spouse is at work 10 miles south of your home. Do you know what to do to get home? Does your spouse know what to do? Does either know precisely what the other is doing at any point in time?

In this (albeit simplistic) example a lack of clear procedure leads very quickly to losing control of an already volatile situation. It is this lack of organization that causes panic and wasted effort, which ultimately endanger your personal and family security. Had this hypothetical couple developed procedures such as a communication plan they could have coordinated activities and exchanged information. If one of the pair was injured while traveling home a set medical plan could help mitigate the injury or inform the other where the injured is located. A logistical procedure may have exposed a weakness in supplies such as food or potable water that could be devastating during a protracted crisis.

If there is value in the security that organization provides then the need for procedural doctrine and tactics logically follows.

Procedure Categories
Procedures can take many forms to fit many different types of situations. Purely technical activities may include a step-by-step set of directions, dependant procedures may closely emulate flow charts, and dynamic procedures might simply be a list of suggested activities or responses. Procedures for realistic situations or activities will generally be a mixture of the three.

Procedure Category Examples:

· Technical: Changing a tire, purifying water, preventative maintenance checks on vehicles.

· Dependant: Collecting rain water, planting/seeding crops, getting additional medical assistance.

· Dynamic: Negotiating or bartering, giving charity, allowing access to secured areas.

Procedures also resemble manuals, how-to, and tip sheets. The primary difference is that procedures also provide a context and logically reasoned purpose for the activities. Think of them as a road map: knowledge of individual parts may be the map, but the procedure provides the route.

Procedures Borne of Necessity
Emergency procedures are driven by the most likely situations you may encounter. A useful practice in developing procedures is to identify your needs during an emergency and then to extrapolate from those needs the activities and responses which would allow you to maintain an acceptable level of security and organization. Then break those needs down to their most basic procedural elements and begin to clearly document each one. What should develop is a personalized manual for disaster response and survival, which only needs occasional updates as situations specifically cited in the documentation change.

Some common themes for specific portions of a disaster procedure include the following:

· Communications: This procedure set defines the types, frequencies, and content of communications in a disaster situation. It contains contingencies in case of a the breakdown of certain communication system types (cell phones, Internet, land lines), the frequency of communication attempts (when attempting to use cell phones you may attempt to call every two minutes for 20 minutes), and the content of messages sent (messages include the name, time, location, to and from destination, ETA / ETD, all or part of which might be coded).

· Medical: This procedure set may contain any number of items, such as treatment of common injuries or illnesses, nearby medical resources, transportation to advanced care as well as decision standards used to determine the level of care needed.

· Transportation: This procedure set includes transportation asset availability and use standards, as well as maintenance and associated items and requirements. It may include things like routes to common or expected locations, communications plans and times, checkpoints, and logistics along the route.

Maintaining Inventory
Lists or inventories of relevant items are an excellent thing to include with your procedures. For instance, your medical procedure set might rely upon knowing the approximate amount of items available, such as the number of splints, bandages, tourniquets, and medication. Perhaps your procedures trigger a re-supply when you have a certain amount of medication. You may opt to keep a master inventory with categories that allow you to discern with ease where items are expected to be used or needed. Keep an electronic copy of these procedures and inventories, but make sure to print out updates on a regular basis.

The Procedure Manual
Format of the procedure manual is also important. Use page sizes that make the booklet easy to carry, such as half of a standard piece of paper. At the end of each major portion include a few blank or lined pages for notes. Laminate the booklet and keep a stash of fine-point Sharpies and alcohol pens. Leave a larger edge on one side of the laminated pages, punch or cut holes in this then use rings to secure the pages together. If done properly this booklet will last through the elements long enough to remain useful in any emergency, as well as be modular enough to remove or replace sections as needed or updated. As with anything upon which you may have to rely, maintain operational security and keep informed.

This article could also be titled: "How to Convince Friends and Family to Prepare for Economic Collapse." One of the greatest problems for the prepper is getting family and friends on board without alienating them or terrifying them into inaction. With this article, I hope to use my experience to show you how to gently and persuasively warn friends and family about the coming economic crisis. I have used this approach with several people and found it to be successful.

I am writing this article now because I believe that now is the time to approach your sheeple about prepping if you have not done so already. More and more people are noticing that something is wrong with our economy, and many of them are probably ready to hear about preparedness, but only if you approach them from the right direction. My goal is to help you find a good approach.

Why should you listen to me? Well, in my previous job, I was a corporate educator at a large mortgage bank. I learned two things from that job: how to watch my income spiral down into oblivion along with the entire mortgage industry, and how to explain complex concepts in simple ways. You don’t need my help to watch your income spiral into oblivion, so instead I will teach you how to explain complex concepts.

Before we get started, let’s emphasize a few basic rules that educators follow. I will elaborate on these rules in this article, and then I will show you how to put them into practice.

Three Basic Rules of Persuasion
Rule 1: Take it slow.
Rule 2: Keep it simple and sane (KISS).
Rule 3: Relate it back to their lives.

Now let's expand these concepts a little bit.

Rule 1: TAKE IT SLOW
Are you sure that you want to have this conversation? There are schools of thought that say you should never mention your preps to anyone. Think this through carefully; otherwise you may have 45 family members knocking on your door next winter. I considered this before mentioning it to anyone; however, I don't think life is worth living if everyone I love dies, especially if I could have warned them. Besides, my nearest relative lives a five hour drive away from me. They'll have a long walk to pester me.

Define your audience. Think ahead and focus your efforts on the most level-headed, trustworthy, "solid" people that you know. This has several purposes. First of all, such people are more likely to listen to you and believe you. Secondly, other people will trust that person; once you persuade them,so they can subsequently persuade two or three other people.

Establish essential concepts and build on them. That's how adults learn. You see it in this very article; I have given you three simple rules and now I am expanding on them.

Rule 2: KEEP IT SIMPLE AND SANE (KISS)
Don't expect too much, too fast. Remember, that some folks' idea of "preparing" is to buy an extra six-pack on Saturday because the liquor stores are closed on Sundays. Take it easy; my experience is that prepping is a daunting task to most people and if you give them too much information you will spook them. Once they're spooked, it's hard to get them to listen at all.

Climb down from the crazy tree. No, I am not saying that you are crazy for being a prepper. I am saying that most people think that preppers are crazy. Your goal here is to persuade and convince. I would never have convinced my auntie successfully if I had mentioned my gas masks or my plans for a fallout shelter. Keeping your mouth shut about these things is also good OPSEC. Your goal is to sound just a little bit more prepared than them: "Terry and I bought a few cans extra cans of Spaghetti-Os last week..."

Keep language plain and simple. Imagine that you're explaining all this to a 12-year-old. Use simple words and concepts. Adults learn better that way. Complicated language makes them feel threatened, and they tune it out.

Keep concepts plain and simple, too. The novice trainer’s most common mistake is to dump a bunch of information on the learner and believe that “since they heard it, they know it.” That’s not how adults learn. We learn through repetition of basic concepts.

Rule 3: WITH A RELATION
Relate it to their life, not yours. Imagine that you go on two blind dates. The first person talks about themselves non-stop all through dinner. You can barely get a word in edgewise. The second person engages you in interesting conversation and hangs on your every word. Which person do you call back?

You call back the person that talks with you, not at you. The same is true in persuasion. You are telling them these things because you love them. Listen closely to how they respond, like the loving person that you are.

Use concrete examples that matter to them. Which of these two approaches is more captivating?
“A loaf of bread might cost you $20 next fall.”

or,

“The Federal Reserve was established in 1913, as the central banking authority of the United States. The Federal Reserve is a monopolistic cartel of bankers, and they established a new kind of currency called fiat currency, which is unconstitutional. Now, fiat currency is basically just paper backed up by law. It doesn’t mean anything…”

Obviously, the short sentence that relates to their life is better than the ten-minute history lecture on something they barely understand and don’t care about.


Now Let’s Practice.
With these rules in mind, practice a typical conversation. I have provided a script below, but in reality you don’t want a one-sided script; you want a conversation. Talk with them, not at them.

Also, notice that each part of the conversation is related to one of our three rules.

Rule 1: START SLOW...

Start with Pleasantries. (This establishes a sense of ease and rapport.) "Hi Aunt Bea, it's been awhile since we talked. Yes, Terry and I are doing well. We went hiking last weekend and really enjoyed it. How are things in Mayberry?"

Explain why you are calling them. (This gets their attention and prepares them for what's next.) "I'm calling you because I have something serious to talk about, and I know you're level-headed and you're likely to listen to me."

Establish your credibility. (Adults want to know why they are listening to you. Who are you, anyway?) "As you know, I was laid off from that big mortgage bank awhile back, and when the bank started having trouble I started paying really close attention to the financial blogs. I've been reading them for awhile..."

Establish the credibility of your sources. "... and I've been starting to see some news leak into the mainstream financial press, such as Yahoo Finance..." (This is true.)

Rule 2: KISS...
Explain the problem. Keep it simple and keep your language sane.
"A lot of credible sources are saying that there may be rapid inflation starting this fall. Nobody knows for sure, but it could be a little or it could be very high.It might take $100 just buy a loaf of bread. There are also rumors of a possible bank holiday this fall. The phrase 'bank holiday' is really a misnomer. It's when they close the banks for a few days or a few weeks, and you can't withdraw cash to buy food and pay bills. They might do it if they needed to fix a problem with the banking system. This is harder to confirm than the inflation, but I think it's wise to prepare for the possibility."

Let’s analyze the above paragraph using our KISS rule.
I kept it to two main points. There are a million things to prepare for; you need to decide what the most convincing, urgent, easily-prepped-for problem is and stick to it. I chose economic collapse because it’s in the news right now, and it gets people’s attention.
I kept my language approachable, and when there was a new term I explained it simply. I didn’t mention any off-the-wall theories or rants about the Federal Reserve. The bank holiday is a rumor but well within the realm of possibility; but I emphasize that the inflation is NOT a rumor. It is a credible possibility being discussed in mainstream financial publications.
I didn't just say "There's going to be an economic collapse." I gave them a concrete example (the $100 bread loaf) that would relate to their lives. And speaking of relating it to their lives…

Rule 3: RELATE...
Suggest some ways to prepare. "There are things you can do to prepare for this, Aunt Bea, and it doesn't have to be really complicated. You can take some money out of the bank, and that's good to have on hand anyway in case of emergencies like earthquakes. I recommend keeping about a month's worth of cash on hand, if you can. You can also buy some of those old quarters and dimes... you know, from before 1965, when they used to make them out of silver. [Take a little time here to explain why junk silver is good in times of inflation. Rawles has some great articles. Also explain that it can be purchased at local coin shops, and explain the current cost.] And of course, since food will get more expensive later, it might not hurt to buy a little extra food now."

Take a moment to consider: Why would you start by talking about cash, then talk about silver, then talk about food?
First of all, these are all simple, non-threatening recommendations that anyone can follow. You want to start with the easiest step and go from there. Let's go back to our three rules:
Slow:
Start slow by talking about the cash first, because everyone knows how to get money from the bank.
KISS:
Talk about silver next, because you can emphasize that they can keep it simple and spend just a few dollars, if they want. (In other words, right now they can buy one silver dime for about $1.50.) If you explain it well, this idea is unthreatening and easy to do. It's also "more sane" than telling them to buy gold because many people are familiar with the old silver coins.
Relate:
Mention the food last because to some people in your audience, stocking up on food immediately rings the “crazy survivalist” bell. It's good to put it in context of a wise financial decision related to the other steps they’re taking.

Ask them to talk to their family. This relates the whole conversation back to their lives. It makes them feel less alone, and it impresses on them that we're all in this together, etc. It's also the charitable thing to do. The more people that prepare, the better. I have also used this moment to ask them to help me persuade others (my mom, my grandparents, etc) since two voices are more credible than one.

Thank them. This lightens up the conversation and makes it sane. "Thanks for listening to me about this. I'm sorry to bring up all this gloom and doom. I just really care about you guys."

Continue the conversation according to your audience. Tailor your spiel to the person you’re talking to. Think back to the three rules that I mentioned earlier (slow; KISS; relate). Below are profiles of three of my favorite aunties. How would you apply those rules to your conversation with them?

Auntie A is threatened by the idea of prepping. She will barely talk about it.

Auntie B says she has a gun, and she also says she wants to start a garden.

Auntie C lives in a big, dangerous city and she will not move (cannot afford to and has lived there all her life). However, she is otherwise on board and even excited that someone finally mentioned it, and she’d like to read some online articles. She’s worried about her antiques business in this economy.

Take a moment to think about your approach, and then read on to learn how I approached each of my aunties.

With Auntie A, I took it slow. I will be lucky if she will buy a week's worth of spaghetti; I didn't push her any further than the script above. I moved on to talk about the weather or whatever. I can always talk to her about it again later.

With Auntie B, I followed the KISS rule. I suggested getting a little extra ammo for her gun and enough seeds for her garden. These are simple things that she can do tomorrow, and they’re not that scary. I did not say outright that ammo and seeds will be unavailable after the collapse, because that sounds insane.

With Auntie C, I related it back to her life. Since she's web-savvy, I pointed her to a web site that discusses prepping to live in the city during an economic collapse (FerFAL's web site). (To “keep it sane” I mentioned that his site is "geared toward American survivalists" and “I don’t like reading it because it’s scary” but "if you can get past all that, it's worth looking at.") Because she mentioned that her antiques business will probably not prosper, I also pointed her to posts about how people make money in the city in hard times

In conclusion...

This can be the only conversation you have with your loved ones, or it can be the first in a series. However you approach it, remember these proverbs:
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." and, "A prophet has no honor in his own country."

In other words, no matter how simply and gently you explain the coming collapse, there will be some that prepare and some that won't. You don't have any control over that. Your only duty is to try to gently persuade them in a way that they can understand.

Final quiz: What are the three basic rules of persuasion?

The Memsahib Adds: Before approaching a relative or friend with the topic of preparedness, consider: Is there some aspect of prepping that would fulfill one of their long-held desires, or perhaps even a childhood fantasy? Have they always wanted to own a horse? Be a master chef? Live like a Native American? Live off the land like a Mountain Man? Be a doctor? Be an herbal medicinalist? Be an explorer? Be a teacher? Own a large acreage? Be a park ranger? Sail the seven seas? Be a philanthropist? Be a missionary? There are aspects of preparedness that can fit into all of these desires. So, in effect, you can make prepping fun and fulfilling for them. When I was growing up, I always loved baby lambs and wanted to own sheep. I was also disappointed that I didn't grow up on a farm, as my mother had. (I was raised in the suburbs.) Our path to preparedness was a great excuse to buy some acreage, and raise a flock of sheep. This led to buying spinning wheels and a loom, learning how to card, spin and dye wool, learning how to knit, how to felt wool, raising angora rabbits, and raising angora goats. This in turn eventually led to us getting dairy goats, and later a dairy cow. So all of this fulfilled a childhood fantasy of having my own farm. Thus, prepping felt rewarding, and in no way did I feel threatened or did it seem like I was living under a dark storm cloud. When I served my first loaf of bread that I had made with eggs from my chickens, and wheat that I had sown and later hand-ground, the rooster in our barnyard couldn't crow any louder than I could! My grandmother would have been proud of me. Talk about heavy gravitas, when bringing such loaves to a church potluck! (But even just brining muffins with berries that you grew yourself, or picked out in the wild can give the same sense of accomplishment.) It was much the same for me when I finished making my first sweater with wool from sheep that I had helped deliver. I had shorn the wool, carded it, dyed it, spun it and knitted it--bringing the sweater all to its final form. What a lot of work, but what great fun!

My favorite way to introduce this topic to other women is through teaching "heritage crafts". The homemaking skills of our pioneer ancestors are something that most women--even city women--can relate to. Whether it is canning, gardening, small livestock, sewing, cooking, baking, knitting, leather-working, candle making, soap-making , et cetera. I have done all of these, and and have enjoyed passing on these skills to neighbors, friends, and even my nieces and nephews. Perhaps your local church, 4H club, scout troop, PTA, homeschooling club, or public school would be open to having you teach a class or put on a demonstration.

I found that the more I learned about one preparedness topic, the more that I wanted to learn about related topics. For example, when I was raising rabbits, it was fun learning how many different ways I could prepare rabbit meat dishes. And when I was dairying, it was fun to branch out into making yogurt, soft cheese, and milk soap. With God's providential guiding hand, your friends will each find a special preparedness niche, that will benefit their families, and in turn get them excited about many more aspects of preparedness.

A note to husbands, fathers, brothers, and uncles: Please do not alienate your female friends and relatives from preparedness by "assigning" them a prepping specialty. Instead, let them pick their own, to suit their particular disposition and interests. By letting women choose our own areas of expertise, it gives us the feeling of being in control of our lives in an uncertain world. Encourage and nurture their interests, but don't dictate them!

Part of getting prepared is recognizing the fact that some aspects of preparedness are more "fun" than others. And, correspondingly, what constitutes "fun" for one individual is not necessarily considered fun by another. How many men wouldn't blink an eye at buying a $700 SIG or a $1,500 FAL, but get anxious about "the expense" when they see their wives looking through a Louet or LeClerc catalog? What is needed is a well-rounded approach to gathering logistics, tools, and skills. There is much more to preparedness than just "guns and groceries." Get prepared, but don't obsess over all the gloom-n-doom "what ifs?" You should instead take a well-rounded approach that will provide a family with educational activities and lots of fun, all while actively learning, preparing, and cross-training. One way to ease your spouse into a preparedness mindset is by encouraging her to get involved with a the local fiber guild, 4H club, or farmer's market co-op.

Tall Sally is absolutely right about going slowly. Get your friends and relatives into preparedness one small step at a time. Encourage them to get prepared, by playing off of their pre-existing interests, fantasies, and hobbies.

Several months ago, a man wrote an article for the SurvivalBlog detailing the ups and downs of being a prepper while serving on Active Duty. As a former Active Duty soldier I could appreciate what he was saying but more than anything else I found myself being thankful that I was now doing my prepping while serving in the National Guard.

Many preppers join the local volunteer fire department or rescue squad in order to learn valuable skills for free that could help in an emergency. They also do it so that they can learn skills that will help pull their communities through during tough times. I would like to propose that some of the readers who are of this mindset could gain much by joining the National Guard.

I have been in the Army seven years now. I started on Active Duty serving in Georgia, Germany, and Iraq. After three year I moved back home and joined the Guard. I am currently wrapping up a tour as the commander of a 170-soldier Military Police (MP) company. Like anything else, the Guard has its positives and negatives and I’d like to provide readers with both so that they can make an educated decision about what I think is a great opportunity. (Full disclosure: I like my job.)

First, the positives:
1. Job training. Hands down, from a survivalist mindset, this has to be the best thing that the Guard has to offer. The training for jobs in the Guard is the same as what you’d receive on Active Duty. The difference is, while it’s common for Active Duty soldiers to stay in the same carrier field for the duration of their career, Guardsmen often end up training in more than one field for a variety of reasons. I have soldiers who started out as mechanics who retrained as Military Police after a few years because there were more opportunities for career development in our MP focused unit. Likewise, in my unit we are authorized three medics up to the rank of Specialist [E4] (the fourth enlisted rank in the Army). When they decide that they want to pursue their Sergeant stripes, they will either go to another unit that has slots for a medic at the rank of Sergeant (there are two such units within 25 miles of us) or retrain as Military Police to pursue one of the many slots available in that field for the rank of Sergeant and beyond. The point is that the choice is theirs. How valuable would it be for you to train as a mechanic, infantrymen, medic, MP, or chemical specialist? It is not uncommon for some of my older soldiers to be formally schooled in up to three different Military Occupation Specialties (MOS).

2. Learn additional skills beyond your MOS. Every one of my soldiers has practiced putting in an IV, knows how and when to use a nasopharyngeal airway, and can perform a range of basic first aid tasks. Two of my soldiers have been school trained as armorers as an additional duty to their primary job. I put everyone on the range 2-3 times a year firing 9mm, 5.56mm, 7.62mm, .50 cal, 12 gauge, and 40mm. Our people know how to maintain and fire a variety of pistols, rifles, machine guns, shotguns, and other less common weapon systems. We practice navigating alone or in small groups cross country using a map and compass. We also train everyone on basic hand-to-hand combatives. Finally, our Military Police soldiers get trained on collapsible batons, OC, and soon, Tasers.

3. Continue to live where you want. One of the big complaints of preppers on Active Duty is having to move every few years. In the National Guard you choose your armory (presuming they have an open slot) and you can live anywhere that you like. In my state 90% of counties have at least one National Guard armory. As you go up in ranks you may have to go to another armory that has the slot that you want but you’re never forced to do so. If the openings don’t exist for your career track at your armory, you can always retrain into another field where the slots do exist.

4. Be a leader when trouble strikes. When society gets shaken you will likely be called upon to stabilize and sustain your city, state, or nation. Some would see this as a downside as they would prefer to hunker down when things get bad. I see it instead as a positive. Even as a mere mid level leader in the Guard I have the ability to make decisions that will help restore towns to a state of normalcy. This was proven to me when our company was charged with restoring law and order to a coastal Mississippi town in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We fed people, stopped the looting, and gave the utility workers the support that they needed to restore basic services. Not only was it a rewarding experience, but it also pulled me into the survivalist community. I promised myself that my family would be prepared when disaster struck.

5. Local in focus, global in reach. Unlike the Reserves, National Guard soldiers serve at the direction of their state’s Governor. If this sounds odd to you, remember that before 1933 the National Guard Bureau was called the Militia Bureau. If you’re interested in helping in natural disasters, the Guard is the way to go. I’ve responded to tornados 30 miles North of my home as well as hurricanes 500 miles South. I’ve even conducted exercises in South America and Europe with the Guard. The President can always federalize a Guard unit, but at our core, we’re a state asset.

6. Learn even more skills outside the Army. The GI Bill and Tuition Assistance can help you go back to school for vocational, college, or post graduate training with little or no out of pocket expense.

7. Gain an extra paycheck. Not much more to say on this one. Live off your civilian job salary and you can just apply your Guard paycheck to paying off your house or any other debts that you have faster.

8. Gain full time employment. While the Guard is traditionally a part time force (usually one weekend a month, two weeks a year… though the War on Terror was stretched that), there are some full time jobs out there. Put in some time and prove yourself and you could serve full time from your hometown. Of particular interest to people who understand the threats that exist domestically are the Civil Support Teams (CST) that each state has that’s composed of Army and Air National Guardsmen. These are the first responders for just about everything that a terrorist might level against us here at the home front. All the soldiers in a CST serve full time and represent the best that we have for detecting and dealing with chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats.

9. The camaraderie of a group of like minded individuals. It’s good to know people in your community that you can count on in a pinch. Plus the Guard can be a good networking opportunity if you’re looking for employment in an emergency response field (police, fire, EMT, etc.).

And now, the negatives:
1. Overseas deployments. Sooner or later you’re probably going to go to Iraq or Afghanistan if you’re in the National Guard. If you have a family, this is definitely a negative. However, for some of you the experience that this brings would be invaluable in a survival situation. Just prepare your family to operate without you, preferably in conjunction with the support of trusted friends and neighbors. Know also that the Guard has really made headway since the wars started in providing dwell time to its soldiers. Current deployment cycles attempt to limit a unit to one deployment for every five years.

2. Some units in the Guard lack vision and don’t train hard. It pains me to say that but we must remember that the Army is a microcosm of the society it serves. Some leaders are no good and some units are lazy. My unit trains hard and the soldiers appreciate it. We take every opportunity to learn and grow. Not every unit is like that. If you join a unit that’s sub par, work to change it from the inside. If the culture of that unit is beyond your ability to fix, request transfer to another one.

3. If you’re thinking about joining the Guard now, you just missed some of the best enlistment bonuses in decades. Work closely with your local Guard recruiter (located at most Guard armories) and see if the field that you’re interested in still offers money up front to help kick your prepping into high gear. Not all the bonuses are gone but several of the bigger ones went away a few months ago.

4. Leaving your family during the height of an emergency. I alluded to earlier, but it’s worth repeating given the audience. It is all together possible that when your family needs you the most, you will get called away to help other people. This is a chance that we take along with our brethren first responders. Police, Fire Fighters, EMTs, Doctors, Nurses, and Guardsmen… if we hold to our oath then we’ve got to go where our community needs us in an emergency.

If you’re thinking about joining, grab a friend in the Guard and ask a lot of questions. It’s not a small step because it requires many years of commitment. I think it’s worth it, though. Hopefully this article has answered your questions regarding the Guard as means to serve your community and grow your personal skill set in preparation for a survival situation.

Dear Editor:
John M.'s letter was excellent, polite, and to the point.

The following are my rules for townies:

1. If your water comes out of a faucet or a bottle, and you can not safely walk to a permanent backup source in less than 10 minutes every day, then you will die.

2. If you do not raise your own food, or personally know the family that you bought it from, you will either die, or be forever controlled by someone with a clipboard and a list, and you will wish you were dead.

3. If you live in the city because your job is more important than your life, then don't bother bugging out. The only Job you are likely to get out here in the country is digging graves for people that think like you.

4. A centuries old rule of farming: It takes a minimum of 10 years of farming a piece of ground to know it. So, you're going to compress a decade of intimate knowledge into a weekend, because you read a book? We'll send the guy mentioned in Rule #3 out to your shack next spring.

5. Unless you have a fully stocked and equip 19th century-style working farm to escape to, with food for two years stored in place for humans and livestock, you are simply a well-intentioned refugee, or an unwelcome house guest.

6. [Forget "foraging".] In the 1850s, (for the purpose of sizing reservations), it was determined that a skillful Native American needed 100 square miles (10 miles x 10 miles) minimum, to live off the land, per person. There was a lot more game back then, and less afraid of humans. You're going to be competing with around 300 million hungry human bellies, every morning.

7. Ten cases of canned food fits in a 2'x2'x2' area. Around 30 cases will give you one meal a day for a year, and fits under a [tall] bed. The gear, tools, food, and clothing needed for a family of four for a year in the wild would fill one or more semi-trailers. So you think that you're going to effortlessly bug out with a truck and trailer at O-Dark-Thirty and survive? Stay home, or become breakfast for less dainty bellies.

Finally: There are two terms you hope never appear in your obituary: "unfortunate accident", or "shallow grave".

If you and your gear are not already pre-positioned on your own homestead, and your city job is just seasonal or part time for the Gov.Bux, you are probably bound to end up in one of these two categories by bugging out.

Prepare, but stay where you are, unless the emergency is a temporary natural event - Feral Farmer

JWR Replies: I concur that taking halfway measures is an invitation to becoming a statistic in a societal collapse. As I've stressed countless times, the best approach is to live at your retreat year-round. A marginal second choice is to maintain a fully-stocked retreat that is constantly under the watchful eye of a trusted friend or relative that can also keep your fruit nut trees watered and look after your livestock. But even then, you'll likely lack the requisite large-scale gardening experience in your retreat's particular climate zone. You will also lack having developed trust relationships with your neighbors--something crucial to survival. It is incredibly naive for anyone to anticipate that they can "bug out" with everything that they'll need. Even if you are fortunate enough arrive with your vehicle and trailer intact, as "Feral Farmer" points out, you will be way behind the power curve: under-equipped, and under-provisioned. And as, John M. mentioned, those that are under-prepared will probably end up in a life of thievery, rather than watch their families starve. The goal here is to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.

I also concur with Feral Farmer's observations on foraging. The hunting and even the fishing pressure will be tremendous. I've heard from consulting clients in California' Coast Range that deer harvest have dropped to pitifully low numbers in the past five years, because of the depredations of Mountain Lions. (Which have been elevated to protected species status in the People's Paradise of California.) The chances of filling just one deer tag, they say, are now slim except for anyone that has the time to willing to "hunt hard" throughout California's short deer season. So, I ask: If this has happened when there were just a few thousand excess mountain lions, then what will happen when there are an extra 5-to-10 million deer hunters wandering around California, shooting at anything that moves? (The California deer population has already dropped from more than one million to an estimated 485,000. That is not a lot of deer to go around, WTSHTF. And what will happen to the freshwater fishing stocks, when there are hundreds of thousands of set lines being worked, year round?

In recent months, several high-profile incidents have raised awareness of the threat posed by individuals and small groups operating under the principles of leaderless resistance. These incidents have included lone wolf attacks against a doctor who performed abortions in Kansas, an armed forces recruitment center in Arkansas and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Additionally, a grassroots jihadist cell was arrested for attempting to bomb Jewish targets in the Bronx and planning to shoot down a military aircraft at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y.

In addition to pointing out the threat posed by grassroots cells and lone wolf operatives, another common factor in all of these incidents is the threat of violence to houses of worship. The cell arrested in New York left what they thought to be active improvised explosive devices outside the Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Community Center. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed in the lobby of the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita. Although Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad conducted his attacks against a Little Rock recruiting center, he had conducted preoperational surveillance and research on targets that included Jewish organizations and a Baptist church in places as far away as Atlanta and Philadelphia. And while James von Brunn attacked the Holocaust Museum, he had a list of other potential targets in his vehicle that included the National Cathedral.

In light of this common thread, it might be instructive to take a more detailed look at the issue of providing security for places of worship.

Awareness: The First Step

Until there is awareness of the threat, little can be done to counter it. In many parts of the world, such as Iraq, India and Pakistan, attacks against places of worship occur fairly frequently. It is not difficult for religious leaders and members of their congregations in such places to be acutely aware of the dangers facing them and to have measures already in place to deal with those perils. This is not always the case in the United States, however, where many people tend to have an “it can’t happen here” mindset, believing that violence in or directed against places of worship is something that happens only to other people elsewhere.

This mindset is particularly pervasive among predominantly white American Protestant and Roman Catholic congregations. Jews, Mormons, Muslims and black Christians, and others who have been targeted by violence in the past, tend to be far more aware of the threat and are far more likely to have security plans and measures in place to counter it. The Jewish community has very well-developed and professional organizations such as the Secure Community Network (SCN) and the Anti-Defamation League that are dedicated to monitoring threats and providing education about the threats and advice regarding security. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has taken on a similar role for the Muslim community and has produced a “Muslim community safety kit” for local mosques. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) also has a very organized and well-connected security department that provides information and security advice and assistance to LDS congregations worldwide.

There are no functional equivalents to the SCN or the LDS security departments in the larger Catholic, evangelical Protestant and mainline Protestant communities, though there are some organizations such as the recently established Christian Security Network that have been attempting to fill the void.

Following an incident, awareness of the threat seems to rise for a time, and some houses of worship will put some security measures in place, but for the most part such incidents are seen as events that take place elsewhere, and the security measures are abandoned after a short time.

Permanent security measures are usually not put in place until there has been an incident of some sort at a specific house of worship, and while the triggering incident is sometimes something that merely provides a good scare, other times it is a violent action that results in tragedy. Even when no one is hurt in the incident, the emotional damage caused to a community by an act of vandalism or arson at a house of worship can be devastating.

It is important to note here that not all threats to places of worship will emanate from external actors. In the midst of any given religious congregation, there are, by percentages, people suffering from serious mental illnesses, people engaged in bitter child-custody disputes, domestic violence situations and messy divorces. Internal disputes in the congregation can also lead to feuds and violence. Any of these situations can (and have) led to acts of violence inside houses of worship.

Security Means More than Alarms and Locks

An effective security program is more than just having physical security measures in place. Like any man-made constructs, physical security measures — closed-circuit television (CCTV), alarms, cipher locks and so forth — have finite utility. They serve a valuable purpose in institutional security programs, but an effective security program cannot be limited to these things. Devices cannot think or evaluate. They are static and can be observed, learned and even fooled. Also, because some systems frequently produce false alarms, warnings in real danger situations may be brushed aside. Given these shortcomings, it is quite possible for anyone planning an act of violence to map out, quantify and then defeat or bypass physical security devices. However, elaborate planning is not always necessary. Consider the common scenario of a heavy metal door with very good locks that is propped open with a trashcan or a door wedge. In such a scenario, an otherwise “secure” door is defeated by an internal security lapse.

However, even in situations where there is a high degree of threat awareness, there is a tendency to place too much trust in physical security measures, which can become a kind of crutch — and, ironically, an obstacle to effective security.

In fact, to be effective, physical security devices always require human interaction. An alarm is useless if no one responds to it, or if it is not turned on; a lock is ineffective if it is not engaged. CCTV cameras are used extensively in corporate office buildings and some houses of worship, but any competent security manager will tell you that, in reality, they are far more useful in terms of investigating a theft or act of violence after the fact than in preventing one (although physical security devices can sometimes cause an attacker to divert to an easier target).

No matter what kinds of physical security measures may be in place at a facility, they are far less likely to be effective if a potential assailant feels free to conduct preoperational surveillance, and is free to observe and map those physical security measures. The more at ease someone feels as they set about identifying and quantifying the physical security systems and procedures in place, the higher the odds they will find ways to beat the system.

A truly “hard” target is one that couples physical security measures with an aggressive, alert attitude and sense of awareness. An effective security program is proactive — looking outward to where most real threats are lurking — rather than inward, where the only choice is to react once an attack has begun to unfold. We refer to this process of proactively looking for threats as protective intelligence.

The human interaction required to make physical security measures effective, and to transform a security program into a proactive protective intelligence program, can come in the form of designated security personnel. In fact, many large houses of worship do utilize off-duty police officers, private security guards, volunteer security guards or even a dedicated security staff to provide this coverage. In smaller congregations, security personnel can be members of the congregation who have been provided some level of training.

However, even in cases where there are specially designated security personnel, such officers have only so many eyes and can only be in a limited number of places at any one time. Thus, proactive security programs should also work to foster a broad sense of security awareness among the members of the congregation and community, and use them as additional resources.

Unfortunately, in many cases, there is often a sense in the religious community that security is bad for the image of a particular institution, or that it will somehow scare people away from houses of worship. Because of this, security measures, if employed, are often hidden or concealed from the congregation. In such cases, security managers are deprived of many sets of eyes and ears. Certainly, there may be certain facets of a security plan that not everyone in the congregation needs to know about, but in general, an educated and aware congregation and community can be a very valuable security asset.

Training

In order for a congregation to maintain a sense of heightened awareness it must learn how to effectively do that. This training should not leave people scared or paranoid — just more observant. People need to be trained to look for individuals who are out of place, which can be somewhat counterintuitive. By nature, houses of worship are open to outsiders and seek to welcome strangers. They frequently have a steady turnover of new faces. This causes many to believe that, in houses of worship, there is a natural antagonism between security and openness, but this does not have to be the case. A house of worship can have both a steady stream of visitors and good security, especially if that security is based upon situational awareness.

At its heart, situational awareness is about studying people, and such scrutiny will allow an observer to pick up on demeanor mistakes that might indicate someone is conducting surveillance. Practicing awareness and paying attention to the people approaching or inside a house of worship can also open up a whole new world of ministry opportunities, as people “tune in” to others and begin to perceive things they would otherwise miss if they were self-absorbed or simply not paying attention. In other words, practicing situational awareness provides an excellent opportunity for the members of a congregation to focus on the needs and burdens of other people.

It is important to remember that every attack cycle follows the same general steps. All criminals — whether they are stalkers, thieves, lone wolves or terrorist groups — engage in preoperational surveillance (sometimes called “casing,” in the criminal lexicon). Perhaps the most crucial point to be made about preoperational surveillance is that it is the phase when someone with hostile intentions is most apt to be detected — and the point in the attack cycle when potential violence can be most easily disrupted or prevented.

The second most critical point to emphasize about surveillance is that most criminals are not that good at it. They often have terrible surveillance tradecraft and are frequently very obvious. Most often, the only reason they succeed in conducting surveillance without being detected is because nobody is looking for them. Because of this, even ordinary people, if properly instructed, can note surveillance activity.

It is also critically important to teach people — including security personnel and members of the congregation — what to do if they see something suspicious and whom to call to report it. Unfortunately, a lot of critical intelligence is missed because it is not reported in a timely manner — or not reported at all — mainly because untrained people have a habit of not trusting their judgment and dismissing unusual activity. People need to be encouraged to report what they see.

Additionally, people who have been threatened, are undergoing nasty child-custody disputes or have active restraining orders protecting them against potentially violent people need to be encouraged to report unusual activity to their appropriate points of contact.

As a part of their security training, houses of worship should also instruct their staff and congregation members on procedures to follow if a shooter enters the building and creates what is called an active-shooter situation. These “shooter” drills should be practiced regularly — just like fire, tornado or earthquake drills. The teachers of children’s classes and nursery workers must also be trained in how to react.

Liaison

One of the things the SCN and ADL do very well is foster security liaison among Jewish congregations within a community and between those congregations and local, state and federal law enforcement organizations. This is something that houses of worship from other faiths should attempt to duplicate as part of their security plans.

While having a local cop in a congregation is a benefit, contacting the local police department should be the first step. It is very important to establish this contact before there is a crisis in order to help expedite any law enforcement response. Some police departments even have dedicated community liaison officers, who are good points of initial contact. There are other specific points of contact that should also be cultivated within the local department, such as the SWAT team and the bomb squad.

Local SWAT teams often appreciate the chance to do a walk-through of a house of worship so that they can learn the layout of the building in case they are ever called to respond to an emergency there. They also like the opportunity to use different and challenging buildings for training exercises (something that can be conducted discreetly after hours). Congregations with gyms and weight rooms will often open them up for local police officers to exercise in, and some congregations will also offer police officers a cup of coffee and a desk where they can sit and type their reports during evening hours.

But the local police department is not the only agency with which liaison should be established. Depending on the location of the house of worship, the state police, state intelligence fusion center or local joint terrorism task force should also be contacted. By working through state and federal channels, houses of worship in specific locations may even be eligible for grants to help underwrite security through programs such as the Department of Homeland Security’s Urban Areas Security Initiative Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

The world is a dangerous place and attacks against houses of worship will continue to occur. But there are proactive security measures that can be taken to identify attackers before they strike and help prevent attacks from happening or mitigate their effects when they do. - Scott Stewart and Fred Burton, Stratfor

I think as a boy my favorite stories were always about epic journeys or quests. I always saw myself as the lone hero; bravely making his way through a barren landscape overcoming impossible obstacles and having fantastic adventures along the way. As preppers I think many of us still believe that WTSHTF our trip to “Get out of Dodge” will be an adventure such as those we read in books. I’m afraid however; the reality will be much grimmer than we can imagine. I fear that it will be more like The Road by Cormac McCarthy or the recent novel One Second After by William R. Forstchen , than anything else.

I live in the Chicago metropolitan area, yes far behind enemy lines so to speak, and have been a prepper for most of the last 10 years. Like many of us I must live in a big city because of my job. I need money to survive. Living here is no big deal if you learn to ignore the local politics. My kids are grown and I have no long-term attachments here. If the world falls to pieces I always felt I could leave in an instant. I have the requisite pick-up truck, keep it full of fuel, pre-positioned much of my supplies with my son at a relatively safe location in a small town (population 5,000) about 600 miles from here. I’ve got my G.O.O.D. bag packed and I’m ready to go when ever things go south. Or am I ready?

Let’s review my bug-out plan. Wait a second, I have no plan! This blinding flash of the obvious hit me as I was stuck in rush-hour traffic last Friday evening on my way to my son’s. It took me nearly three hours to get from my apartment on the far north side of the city to I-80 on the far south side. This was the route I assumed I would take to skedaddle. Think about that; I was on Interstate highways the whole time, leaving at 8:00 PM, and it still took me nearly three hours to go less than 80 miles. What’s really scary is that I was thinking all along how light the traffic was. I had no alternative routes in mind. Yikes!

Well, I’ve got to tell you this dear readers, that realization scared the bejeebus out of me. I was so unready to bug out. I had the stuff, the means, the mindset, etc., however, in a meltdown near-panic situation, I would’ve have been just one more member in a stream of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the big city. This experience got me off my duff and forced to review what I will do when the next shoe drops in our ongoing economic nightmare.

I drew up a list of what was necessary to implement an action plan to “Escape from Chicago 2009”

1. Have a bug-out kit ready at all times
a. No problem I have a bug-out bag packed and ready to go. No last minute packing required. However; I hadn’t checked it in quite some time and when I did I found plenty of things to replace and replenish. Batteries lost their charge. Foods had expired. So did many of the common medications I packed. BTW, I also now have a 72 hour bag with me whenever I leave the house. You can never be sure when the worst thing you can imagine will happen.

2. Bring as much as you can with you.
a. Unlike many of you, I am not a man of any particular religious belief system. However, like most of you, I feel what makes us truly human beings is our compassion. I have to say that I don’t think while bugging out, I could look a frightened hungry child in the eyes and say no - nothing for you. Bring more than you need. If you don’t need to share then all the better; there’s more for you when you reach your destination.

3. No stopping to buy last minute items.
a. If it’s so bad you need to be bugging-out do you really think others don’t know that and are at that very minute stripping the local Wal-Mart clean? During the Los Angeles riots in 1992 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the grocery stores were near impossible to get to and if you could, it didn't matter; they were closed, or had been looted, and were empty. Also, shop owners, for example, may attempt to defend their stores with firearms (a la the Los Angeles Riots) and you don’t want to be caught in the crossfire. <Sarcasm on> I know, I know, Chicago has very strict gun laws so there won’t be any shooting except by a few gun-toting NRA/survivalist types <Sarcasm off>.

Finally, one interesting image comes to mind when I think of someone “liberating” goods from a Wal-Mart. During the Katrina emergency I recall seeing a video of a very obese woman wading through chest deep flood water, polluted with who knows what, holding a Dyson vacuum cleaner she had “liberated” over her head. No electricity, no home, no floor for that matter, but she had an expensive vacuum cleaner she had probably always wanted. Also, an interesting side note is the lack of bookstores looted.

4. Be sure to “Right size your bug-out vehicle
a. Simply put, don’t try to put a 10 gallon load in a 5 gallon bucket. Have a big enough vehicle to accommodate what you need to bring. If you have too much stuff, try to pre-position the bulkiest and heaviest items ahead of time. Be sure to leave enough room in your vehicle for people and pets. If you can’t pre-position the bulkiest stuff at the far end; consider renting storage space in some small town along your intended bug-out route. If necessary, keep a small trailer at the midpoint as well. Also remember that unexpected things may/can/will happen and you will need to change your plans accordingly. Therefore, only the non-essential “nice to have things”, not the essential for survival things, should be stored at waypoints along the way.

5. Don’t oversize your bug-out vehicle
a. A corollary to the above is having a vehicle that is too big. Big is not always better. We’ve all seen in footage of the highways during the Hurricane Katrina and Rita emergencies. Massive Gridlock. If/when you need to get off the highway onto a secondary road you’ll need to know if your Jumbo Superbago or SUV with the extra-long Airfoil trailer can negotiate any tight turns and/or low clearances on your Plan B, C, and D routes. I don’t even want to discuss how much fuel bigger vehicles consume.

6. Expect no fuel to be available along the way
a. My Dodge pickup gets 18 mpg fully loaded and I have a 22 gal fuel tank. For those of us who are lacking the math gene; that works out to 396 miles per tank and my destination is 600 miles away. Hmmm. That means I need an additional 10 gallons or so. Three options present themselves; get a larger fuel tank, carry gas cans, preposition fuel along the way.
b. Option one is too pricey $1,000 plus in my case.
c. Option two means using three 5 gallon gas cans. The problem here is that in order to be prepared to leave at any moment; I’d need to keep them all full. My biggest problem here is where to store them. As I mentioned, I live in an apartment so that’s really not an option I’d use except in the direst circumstances and I’d hate to leave them in my truck either. I’ll have to figure this one out.
d. Finally, Option three requires storing them at waypoints along the route. This is a so-so solution. The primary route may change and you can’t count on being able to get to it before you run out of fuel. Secondly, most storage faculties have a serious prohibition on the storage of flammable, toxic, or explosive items.

7. Enough cash or “realistic” barter goods for a few weeks
a. This is one area that I can’t really give any solid advice. Who knows what’ll be acceptable legal tender or barterable goods. You always read in the “Survival Canons” that certain barter goods will be useful. Honestly, I can’t imagine some 7-11 or Wal-Mart clerk accepting pre-1965 silver or ammo for the loaf of bread or gallon of gas I want to buy. Not in the first few days first anyway. I’d suggest that initially, good old greenbacks will do. How many to bring is the big question ($500 $1,000? Fives, Tens, or Twenties?). I can almost bet that by the time the Schumer hits the fan, most, if not all, banks will be shuttered for a "Short term-bank holiday” and ATMs will likewise be shut down . “No checks please.” Inflation may be rampant and gouging will be the name of the game. Remember Dan and TK's trip in "Patriots" ? $50 a gallon for gas may not be too farfetched.

8. Route selection
a. Take your time starting tomorrow and carefully route the best escape route you can. Note that best doesn’t always equate with fastest. If the shortest route takes you through, or by, a major urban center, you’re just jumping from one frying pan into another. Use your GPS en-rote to see what other routes are nearby. Use on-line mapping software, on-line (Google or MapQuest) or a PC or Mac-based routing program. Test different routes and compare times and distances. Most of better routing software also shows gas stations, food, Wal-Mart’s, etc., along your route. Learn to use the software now; not when it’s crunch time. Again, Dan and TKs trip in "Patriots" . Parallel routes to the Interstates perhaps?

9. Expect Societal Breakdown
a. Don’t count on your neighbor’s good intentions. Yep, you know which neighbors I mean. They’re the ones down the block with all of the expensive toys who had nothing put aside for an emergency and now are demanding you provide them food, water, and even transportation. Be prepared for incidents of aggression, attempted assault, and theft of supplies. You may need to resort to serious means to defend yourself and your loved ones traveling with you. (I hate to keep referring to "Patriots" but the description of the Laytons' harrowing trip out of Chicago will be much truer than we care to think. )
b. Be especially wary en route. When you stop for whatever reason, you may be approached by others wanting food, or fuel, or other essentials. Help those you feel are truly desperate to the best of your ability. However, you may have to be rather aggressive to deter insistent requests by overly aggressive fellow refugees. This is a good time to be traveling with like-minded, security-conscious friends, so that all concerned can provide mutual security and back-up.

10. Trust but verify
a. I was originally going to title this section “Trust no one”, however, I feel that is just a bit to cynical. There will be those you meet along the way who are true Samaritans. But, there are also those may have few if any compunction related to “liberating” a few of your items as a donation for their efforts. Or, in the worst case, there will be some full-blown predators out there masquerading as shepherds waiting for the sheep to come to them. Be wary of all help; including that from our friends in the government.

11. Be wary of Government help.
a. I don’t know what will happen if I need to bug-out; but one thing I can be sure of is that if you should stop for help at any government facility; the first thing they will do is ask if you have any weapons with you. This is pretty much standard police procedure in any case. The second thing they will do is take any weapons you have from you. It’s as simple as that. They will claim they are doing it for your own protection but you can be certain you will never see your weapons again. Confiscating weapons was illegally done in New Orleans and few of the confiscated weapons were ever recovered. As unconstitutional as it was, they still to this day, justify taking the weapons as being in the best interest of the public. Forgetting of course that they were seizing the weapons of people least likely to use them against the forces of law and order an all the while never venturing near the danger zones in New Orleans where the actual goblins with illegal weapons resided. Additionally, you can probably also be sure that they will also take whatever food, or other goods you have that they deem necessary, to redistribute it among others who weren’t quite so well prepared as you. How dare you greedy selfish people who prepared have more than others who didn’t?

I hope that you will think about what I have presented here and do your best to be prepared. I hope you all make it to your destinations safe and sound.

Hi James,

Thanks for your many years of great work. While I was enjoying and learning so much from your books and the web site, I was also growing older and have physically "lost the edge". More accurately, I reaped the unintended consequences of 55 years of smoking and now have a tough situation Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This is [best described in layman's terms as] a combination of bronchitis and emphysema. I have not smoked for three years and my breathing is now stable at 51% of normal. This ailment is not unusual in the senior community, and COPD is the third largest killer in the USA. It severely restricts activity and higher altitudes are deadly. Like most of us with COPD, I am on oxygen 20-to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, plus lots of varied and expensive medications, to include my liquid oxygen, mostly supplied to me at low or zero cost by the Veterans Administration.

Additionally, and this may apply to many of your readers, my wife and I are the primary care givers, in our home, for her mentally disabled older brother. He too is a vet, Korean War Era and age 79, and receiving 100% of his medical care from the local Veterans Clinic, as I do. The Veterans Administration (VA) is a terrific source of excellent health care. All eligible vets should enroll ASAP a the VA web site. Go there and get in before the Obama National Health Carelessness Agency gets to their house! I expect the VA will be forced to shut out all non combat vets soon!

My wife and I, and a few friends, all sorta elderly fellow military vets, have been like minded about preparedness since well before the Y2K era. About 20 years of learning and prepping! We have the basic stocks of food, water, meds, clothing, and appropriate security items. We have learned to help one another and to be able to give to others in need. I have stocks of dvds to enjoy and to use to teach others. We have a 2,100 Watt solar system for power. We have devised a simple system to safely filter irrigation water for our local water needs, to include drinking, cooking, and laundry. We've worked together and planned together successfully. We are a team and care for each other as an extended family.

We live in small town in rural Utah. My wife and I are pleased to live in a close knit town of about 500 good caring folks. This area is highly LDS, about 50 - 60 %, and they are mostly "not very well-prepared" .... surprise! surprise! The [majority of] Mormon people--and I can say this as an active LDS--are not ready for any disaster. Less that 10% have a emergency response mindset. The LDS Provident Living web site is great, and while the LDS Church strongly promotes and enables provident living, far too few members are prepared for any emergency. Many have a little bit and very few have enough. As a people we are not well prepared. [JWR Adds: But on average far better prepared than most other Americans, and that is commendable.]

As a family, we've done all that preparation, and still I have a serious problem with no answer. You see, I will be dependent on solar power to enable my oxygen concentrator to produce O2, power the kitchen, and the computers, and to recharge the batteries. I can't leave our home area for more than about 6-9 hours (maximum battery life for the portable concentrator). In an emergency my darling wife of 43 years will not leave me. My Veterans Elderly "A" Team / Extended Family wants to "zip cuff, gag, and bag" me and take me out of danger, but they too recognize the travel difficulty and are without a solution. Moving the solar array and the necessary ancillary equipment is a two day exercise.

We seniors are a large portion of the community and an even larger part of the preparedness group. I have yet to see or hear any preparedness help for folks like us. Many seniors are just like me; older, somewhat ""less abled physically, somewhat less able to travel, and more dependent on local medical services. 20% of us are raising our grand children... At the same time we are surely more knowledgeable, more able to lead, more experienced, more secure financially, more able to teach and to mentor, more equipped, and more likely to have lived through hard times and to have serious military training. And very importantly, many of us have real time combat experience. We have been to see the "Elephant Country". The younger folks need what we have to offer because they will die without it.

My problem is very simple. I have done all of the right preparedness chores and now I find that my family can not get in the truck and bug out. And I'll be 69, next birthday. What do I do now?

thanks again. - Old Bobbert in Utah

JWR Replies: My general recommendation for retirees is to set yourself up as the retreat destination for the younger members of your extended family. You can provide them with their bug-out location, and storage for their supplies, and the benefits of your years of preparation. They can provide you with the young and healthy hands, strong backs, sharp eyes, and sensitive ears you will need after TEOTWAWKI. I often stress the need to pre-position retreat logistics. By having your extended family's supplies at your locale, it provides insurance that they will be there to help out, when the balloon goes up.

OBTW, you mentioned oxygen. For anyone that heavily dependent on medical oxygen, I strongly recommend buying a portable oxygen concentrator. Many of the portable models are compatible with 12 VDC power. This means that you can run them from your alternative power system battery bank, without the need to run a DC-to-AC inverter. For much greater "range" away from your retreat, you can keep a charged pair of deep cycle 6 VDC golf cart batteries in your vehicle.

Good evening Mr. Rawles,
My name is Ignacio, I'm a Cuban-born American. The three best days in my life were when I married my wife, when I became an American citizen and when my daughter was born (in this country). I am an avid reader of your blog, and working hard to get prepared, we bought a small place (1.5 acres in southwest Florida, it's in the woods) it was the only thing we could afford to get ready. But I am very concerned that my neighbors might not like us because we are Hispanic (although my wife is blue-eyed and has blonde hair.). I can assure you that no one loves this country more than we do, but I understand that most of the Hispanics do not like our country.

What would be a good way to approach my neighbors? Sincerely, - Ignacio R.

JWR Replies: I recommend that you do your very best to get to know your neighbors, and make it clear that you are are part of the community. Get involved in community activities. For example: join the local volunteer fire department (they offer great training, by the way!), make the effort to introduce yourself to your neighbors, invite them over for barbeques and other social events, join the local church, Rod and Gun club, ham radio club, and so forth. I also recommend joining (or forming) a local Community Watch organization.

It takes time, but with effort, you can make yourself an insider in a community. I am confident that you know in your heart that you are "an okay guy", but you just need to demonstrate that to the folks in your new community. If you work hard enough at it, they will consider you not just a neighbor, but an indispensable neighbor and a genuine "go to guy".

Several times in SurvivalBlog, I've mentioned what sociologists call the We/They Paradigm. The bottom line is that you need to immerse yourself into the collective "we" (insiders), so that you aren't seen as part of the "they" (outsiders). In my experience, race and even religion need not be barriers to becoming part of the "we". It is clear from your letter that you love our Nation. Just make it clear to your neighbors that you love your community, just as much.

Cementing your relationships with your neighbors can take years. Or, in the case of South Florida, just one hurricane season. If a time of deep trauma or deep drama comes up (such as severe weather or wildfires), then jump in and help out with disaster relief, starting with your nearest neighbors. Check on every one of them, and ask if there is anything that you can do to help. Based on what you demonstrate of your character, your neighbors will quickly learn that you are someone that can be trusted when the Schumer Hits the Fan. And, BTW, it will give you a chance to size them up, as well.

When either you or your group is confronted with a biological threat [such as a pandemic or biological warfare], you must determine the following before making decisions either for yourself or for your group.

1) What is the threat?
2) What is the incubation period prior to showing symptoms?
3) How contagious is the threat?
4) By what means is the threat contagious?
5) What is the morbidity rate?
6) What is the mortality rate?

Once you have determined these things, you can make sound decisions that can get you and your group through a trying time.

Quarantine:
In the event that you are forced to deal with new members joining your group, [during a pandemic] you will need to quarantine them for a set period of time. This will assure you and your group that the new-comer's presence does not cause harm within your group.

To set up quarantine you will need the following items which will be detailed below:

Shelter
Food & Water
Disinfectant
Communication equipment -or- Another pre-determined way of communicating with the quarantined.
Medicine
Symptom measuring devices and charts.
Rules that the quarantined must follow if they wish to become part of your group.
A plan should the quarantined not follow those rules.
A plan should the quarantined show symptoms and/or become sick.
A way for the quarantined to expel waste that does not pose a risk of infection to other members of the group.
There is not a single point above that can be neglected for any reason. Having to survive a biological threat has nothing to do with niceties or with comfort.

Shelter:
A place [that is downwind,] away from all group activity for the person(s) in question to be quarantined. How far away is far enough? Miles would be great but it is probably not economical so do with what you have to ensure that your group never gets within a 1,000 feet of the quarantined.

Food & Water:
Whatever the food and water that you supply or that your possible guests bring, they must have means of making it safe for human consumption.

Disinfectant:
You and the quarantined must be able to protect yourselves from the environment and the biological threat. A strong bleach solution, a rag and a bucket would be fine for disinfecting everything. Alcohol sanitizer and anti-bacterial soap are luxuries if you can afford them.

Communication:
The group and the quarantined must be able to communicate for numerous reasons. Humans get pent up if they are left in a confined place to their own devices for long and to limit the risk of the quarantined coming too close to the group, they must be able to communicate with the group from a safe distance.

Two-way radios with rechargeable batteries and a way to recharge them at the quarantine site make the best answer to the communication problem, the only problem is that they are expensive to have spares around and impossible to outlast the quarantine if power isn’t available to recharge them.

In the absence of two way radios, your group should have a pre-determined plan for communication should anyone be at risk for the threat, including any quarantined individuals.

The group should never risk entering a place of possible contamination if it can be avoided in any way, so a group should have a Communication Center set up some distance away from the quarantined and a further distance away from the group.

To allow the best ventilation, Communication Centers should never be indoors so a tree, a table or a large rock, all make adequate places.

Each member (the group and the quarantined) should have a pen and multiple sheets of paper (A dry erase board for each group would do fine) of their own to write on and leave at the communication center. Each member should understand the nature of the quarantine and the time at which the papers will be picked up, read and possibly replied to that is consistent with the length of time that the biological threat is thought to stay active on paper.
(e.g: Every 3 hours from __ a.m. - __ p.m.)

Medicine:
Your group should have medicine that can be used to treat common pains and injuries so that the quarantined can be comfortable and it will be easier to gauge their symptoms if they should have any.

Symptom Measuring Devises:
You should include devises that allow the measuring of all symptoms familiar to the threat. Some adequate symptoms measuring devices include a Thermometer, a watch for checking pulse and blood pressure and so on.

Rules:
Your group should have rules that everyone in the group must follow and separate rules that the quarantined must follow if they wish to eventually enter your group. These rules must include items like; Staying at least _00(0) feet away from every member of the group at all times, keeping the quarantine area clean and free of infection, following proper communication procedures, washing all contaminated clothing upon entering the quarantine area and being honest with the progression of any and all symptoms including minor symptoms that may or may not be related to the threat.

Contingency plan for symptoms within the quarantined:
This plan needs special consideration because the quarantined may be members of one’s own family or close friends and particular thought must be given to how they will handle the onset of symptoms and how the group must handle the quarantined should they become less than complacent including delivery of proper medication to treat the threat.

Contingency plan if the quarantined does not follow the rules:
This plan should be relatively simple. Anyone who puts your group’s health and safety at risk by not following the rules is not a valued member of any group and should be avoided like the threat itself.

Waste Expulsion:
Human waste is possibly a carrier of the threat and since it cannot be avoided it should be taken into consideration.

If there is a working toilet and sink at the quarantine site, by all means use it.

In place of a working toilet and sink, the quarantined will have to take special measures to not endanger the group. In an outdoor environment, the group will have to dig a hole at the quarantine site (Prior to the visitor’s arrival) at least 5-6 feet deep and mark that area with a flag easily visible to both the quarantined and the group. The quarantined will then need to expel all human waste in that hole and only in that hole (to limit the exposure of contaminants to the quarantine site) and then kick a little bit of the pre-dug dirt back into the hole covering the excrements.

This is the time where a little lime would go a long way. If at all possible to acquire, get some lime prior to the threat to have on storage for just such a need.


Quarantine Items:
2 - 5 Gallon bucket(s) or the equivalent.
Bleach
Rag(s)
Anti-Bacterial soap
Food that does not need cooking (Min. of incubation period worth of food if able to spare) and additional food left at communication center every day.
Water or a clean water source
2 way radios with rechargeable batteries and a battery charger
Paper and Pens should the 2-way radios give out
Gloves
Mask(s)
Flag(s) for marking human waste site
Watch for keeping time for communication and symptoms
Thermometer
Toilet Paper (If available)
Quarantine Item Set Up:
All should be able to fit within the 5 gallon bucket with the exception of food and water (Though a little will be placed in there in advance) including the following items placed on the top:

Rules of the group
Expected quarantine Time
Rules of quarantine
Rules of communication



Rules:
This will be a pre-printed or pre-written page that will be given to the prospective guests to read and decide whether they are willing to do the things necessary to join the group.

Hello,
We are very glad to see you healthy and well and are taking the health and wellness of our group extremely serious. In doing so, we have implemented rules that you must adhere to without exception if you wish to join our group.

These rules may seem tedious but we are not taking chances when human life is at stake just as we will not take chances in protecting your health or the health of any new members to our group.

Firstly, we will not be having any face to face communication. In place of this, we will provide, among other things, a 2 way radio, rechargeable batteries and a battery charger so that we may communicate with each other at all times (or another way of communicating as described later).

The current known incubation period of the threat that we face together is ____ hours or __ days. If you wish to join our group, you will be forced to quarantine yourself in a location that we provide or set for ____ hours or __ days to ensure your safety and the safety of our group. If you are not willing to follow these rules including duration of quarantine, kindly set down this sheet of paper now and walk away.

At no time will a group member come within 500 – 1,000 feet of you during your time in quarantine. This is for the protection of all members of the group and yourself. Do not violate this rule – Use the radio or the aforementioned way of communicating in it’s place.

Once you enter your quarantine location, you will be required to stay within _00(0) feet of your quarantine location until the time of quarantine is over. If you breach this _00(0) feet marker which we will set or determine, you will no longer be eligible for joining our group. Please follow this rule.

If you do not have food and water with you, food and water will be provided for you at a drop point that we will disclose later.

Human Waste:
There will be a pre-dug designated latrine that will be used for the disposal of all human waste. Human waste, which already poses a health safety hazard is not to be expelled into any container but dropped directly from your body into the designated latrine as you “go to the bathroom” after which you are required to kick dirt or shovel lime back into the latrine to cover the waste.

Food disposal:
Only prepare as much food to eat and you are going to eat. Any food that is not consumed is to be buried with the waste as noted above.

Self evaluation and symptom reporting:
We will provide you with the tools necessary to evaluate yourself. You will be required to evaluate yourself twice a day, once in the morning and once before bed. You must answer all items honestly. You are to report the following items to the group:

Appetite: None, Normal or Excessive
Vision: Clear, Blurry or Normal
Fluid Consumption: Normal, Heavy or Low
Temperature:
Physical Well-Being: Tired, Energetic or Normal
Medications taken within the last 24 hours:
Pain: None or on a level of 1 – 10 with 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever felt.
Stress Level: Low, Moderate or High
Symptoms: ________
Urine Excretion: Yellow, Cloudy or Clear (Was there a hot or burning sensation when urinating?)
Waste Excretion: How many times a day and; Loose, firm, normal or painful.
Staying Healthy:
We expect that you came to us healthy and we want to see you remain that way. Please eat 3 meals every day, drink plenty of liquids, busy yourself with items you brought or by writing a story (not involving the current situation but rather one that is purely fictional) and following the listed daily exercise recommendations:

Walking: Even in a confined area, walking moves the blood through your system and will provide a healthier you.
Arm and leg stretches: Stretching your arms and legs is a fundamental need that every body has.
Not staying in one spot or position for an extended period of time.
Brushing your teeth daily with or without toothpaste and brushing your body down (dry shower) with a rag are two essential ways of staying healthy.
Please do not perform any muscle building or muscle retaining exercises during this time. Muscle building exercises break down your current muscle to rebuild more and releases toxins into your system. Refrain from any such activity during this time so as not to confuse the symptoms of muscle breakdown with symptoms of the threat.

Positive Thought:
Negative thought will not be tolerated in our group. You are a strong person and you will get through this. Please do not let the dire nature of this threat overwhelm your sense of self worth or the free will that God gave to you. If the threat seems overwhelming, know that you are strong and pray for the endurance to see this through.

Carried Item Quarantine:
Please understand that the items that you brought with you may carry the threat on them for an unknown amount of time. The group will decide which items can be cleaned, used or disposed of without hesitation or regard to personal feelings. You may at no time keep an item that the group feels is dangerous.

That is it. Those are the rules required by anyone who wishes to join our group and anyone who leaves our group for any amount of time.

If you are not 100% sure that this move is right for you and 100% sure that you will abide by these rules, there will be no hard feelings between us. Please put this paper down on the ground, wave a goodbye and walk away now.

We thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times that we all must face.

If you are positive beyond doubt that you will abide by these rules and any rules that the group may impose in addition to these, please fold this paper up and place it in either your shirt or pants pocket. At this time we will disclose the location of items that we will be providing you and further our communication together.

Go on to Document #2


Document #2 – On a separate sheet of paper

Hi,

We are very glad that you have chosen to quarantine yourself from our group before joining it. This shows that you care as much about our well being as we do yours and proves your willingness to put the group’s needs ahead of your own. In no way does quarantine mean isolation, we look forward to communicating with you using the two way radios that we will provide or the use of a communication center that we will set up.

We know that this can be an emotional time. Please do not let your emotions run your self control, will for life or care for others. We are here to communicate with you throughout this entire time and we look forward to spending time with you once you join our group.

The location that you will be staying in during your quarantine is:

________________________________________________


We will provide the following items for you if you do not already have them on hand.
2 - 5 Gallon bucket(s) or the equivalent (for the cleaning of clothes and items.)
Bleach
Rag(s)
Anti-Bacterial soap
Food that does not need cooking (Min. of incubation period worth of food if able to spare) and additional food left at communication center every day.
Water or a clean water source
2 way radios with rechargeable batteries and a battery charger
Paper and Pens (In case the 2-way radios give out or for story writing)
Gloves
Mask(s)
Watch (for keeping time for communication and daily health evaluations.)
Thermometer
Toilet Paper (If available)


Radio Operation:
Provide instruction for radios here

Communication Center:
The communication center will be at the following location.



________________________________________________

We will be using the communication center for the supply or re-supply of all goods including the items that you will get once entering quarantine. We will also use it for communication if the radios fail to work properly. We will be checking for communication every ___ hours (1 hour beyond the time that the threat is thought to survive on paper) from ____ a.m. to ____ p.m. daily. Please flag a new communication by placing __________ over the paper or dry erase board for the group to see.

Proper Communication Etiquette:
As you can probably tell, we are limited by the items that we have on hand including paper. Please write legibly and please tear off the paper at the bottom of your communication so that the rest of the paper may be saved for later use.

To limit the risk of exposure, we will not be touching any communication items at the communication center. It will be your job to dispose of all paper used for communication by placing it in the latrine.

Emergency Communication:
A true emergency is something that is life threatening and that cannot wait until our next communication. We will never cry wolf to you so please express the same care and respect for us.

If the need should arise for emergency communication, the universal distress code that we will use is 3 of anything, 3 seconds apart. That means 3 loud whistles 3 seconds apart, 3 bangs on the bottom of a bucket, 3 shouts using the word “Emergency” or 3 blows on an air horn.

We will continue to use this code every 3 minutes until visual confirmation can be made of the person issuing the emergency code and the group.

Example use of the Emergency Distress Code: Whistle Whistle Whistle – Wait 3 seconds - Whistle Whistle Whistle – Wait 3 seconds and then finally Whistle Whistle Whistle now wait 3 minutes and repeat.

That covers it. We are so glad to see you well. Please fold this paper up, place it in your pocket and follow the schedule below:

Schedule:

Now:
Gather your items and bring them with you to the quarantine site.
Leave all items well outside of the quarantine site until proper decontamination can be fulfilled.
Before entering the Quarantine Site: Remove any outer clothing which may be contaminated and place all items inside the bleach/water solution that is in the bucket provided for you at the site.
Next, take a rag and rinse your body over with the bleach and water solution from head to toes. Bleach will not hurt you at the strength it is diluted to. Please wash well your hair, face, hands and all exposed body parts.
Dry off with clean rag provided.
Enter Quarantine site

Spiritual Fitness
Let us start this discussion by confronting a stark fact of life: very few of us, living the life of North American citizens, are fit to survive for a generation in an austere, off the grid, world. First of all, few of us have the philosophical orientation to be survivors. I know in my bones that without God’s help, my family’s ability to survive in a prolonged state of austerity is worse than questionable. As an evangelical Christian, I understand that my own commitment to preparedness is a function of my ongoing submission to God’s will. It could have been otherwise. He could have willed me to pursue other ventures: sacrificing my own survival for the benefit of others as I helped them “escape the storm”. Is this not the philosophical basis of soldiering and of the missionary? Self-sacrifice, even to the point of death. That was Jesus’ example of discipleship. So I diverge from that example only by virtue of an ongoing conversation with my Lord and Master, and He urges me to prepare for the worst, so that my family and my “retreat posse” will survive. I know not His particular purpose in this endeavor, but I trust His will implicitly. It is my personal belief that the Lord calls all family leaders to provide deeply for the sustenance and well being of their families. But unless you have had this conversation with the Author of life, you may not be philosophically and spiritually “fit” for the challenging times to come. And God may have a different path for you to pursue, in the service of His Kingdom. Remember that Jesus has called us all to Himself and He wants you to trust Him today! Preparedness is not a hobby- it is a calling. In this vein also, I do not condone the “secret squirrel” approach to preparedness. Being discreet about the specifics of our preparedness plans is a wise tactic in these dangerous times, but failing to share our wisdom, insight and knowledge with others who could effectively use this information for good is, in my estimation, downright sinful. So much for my personal philosophical bias.

Physical Fitness
Second of all, few of us have the physical fitness level required to be 19th century farmer-builder-warriors, which is what we may be called to become. Example: Thirty five years ago, I was a carpenter and gardener: climbing, lifting, sawing, digging, hammering. I joined the US Army to become a Ranger. And, boy, did I find out how poor my aerobic fitness was. Fast forward ten years: I was then a medical student and an avid, competitive triathlete. I visited my buddy’s place (Yeah, he’s in the “posse”) and helped him cut, stack and split firewood for a day. Well, my “designer body” ala swim-bike-run was exquisitely fit aerobically, but that episode of real labor left my body an aching mess for the next three days! Now I am a 60 year old surgeon who mixes aerobic exercise with gardening, light carpentry, resistance training, hiking with the Boy Scouts, woodcutting, et cetera, so that I can be at least minimally fit for the challenging lifestyle that would be required in a TEOTWAWKI world. If you are overweight, smoking and sedentary, you are engaged in a futile fantasy to think that you will survive in a post-apocalyptic world, surrounded by your storage food, guns and ammo. These are mere possessions that will swiftly be taken from you by the ravenously hungry horde of healthy young men who have heard about your stash. Start your physical preparedness plan with physical fitness.

Preventative Medicine
Next issue: public health measures. For many years I taught and practiced medical and surgical care in austere environments. In the late 1990s I was the chief of the medical special response teams for the US Army, Pacific, and taught disaster planning and medical care in austere environments around the world as a Department of Defense consultant. If I had to choose between having access to modern medical care and having a sound public sanitation system and clean water, it would be a no-brainer. The clean water and hygienic handling of human waste as first perfected in the twentieth century have saved many more lives than have antibiotics and modern surgery. Hepatitis, polio, typhoid fever, dysentery and other waste and waterborne diseases have defeated far more armies throughout history than have poor tactics and strategy. Witness [German General Erwin] Rommel’s own struggle with hepatitis during the North Africa campaign of WWII, which he roundly lost, in spite of his brilliance as a military tactician. If you have a retreat, please remember this simple principle: keep you food and water supply as far as possible from latrine sites. Controlling mosquitoes may be important in some areas, to avoid epidemics of West Nile Virus, malaria and yellow fever. The current H1N1 flu pandemic should remind us all that we need to protect ourselves from infectious disease. There is much more to learn about field sanitation and hygiene, so please consider reviewing this comprehensive resource.

Now you have arrived at the next step. You are right with God and your body has been worked into a lean, mean, diggin’, buildin’ and fightin’ machine. You have an ample and reliable source of potable water and your latrines are at least 100 yards downhill from your water supply. You have a half ton of lime ($30-40 worth) to sprinkle in the latrine. Your food is stored securely and safely away from vermin, fungus and other pests. After 2-3 years of experimenting, your food growing skills and garden are adequate. You have established sound and reliable defense and OPSEC measures, to include perimeter defense, adequate weapons capability, mastering of small unit operations and tactics and adequate familiarization with improvised weapons and tactics and redundant communications systems. Whew!! That was a lot of work! Now, and only now, should you plan your strategy for medical, dental and surgical care.

Medical Care in Austere Environments
Number one principle: avoid injuries and illness. In practical terms that means maintaining sound health and hygiene, as above noted. It includes scrupulous avoidance of horseplay, as well. What a tragedy to break your ankle playing Ultimate Frisbee during planting season, when every able body will be needed to secure your frugal harvest for the year. Without the availability of operative orthopedic care, many of our ancestors became lifelong cripples from simple injuries such as this. Skiing and mountain biking will be absolute no-no’s unless truly necessary for operational reasons. Sorry, but fun activities are way low on the list of gotta-do’s in a survival environment.

Next: eat to survive, not for fun. No one will care what you prefer in your diet, least of all your retreat cook, who is tasked with cobbling together a nutritious meal from whatever is on hand. (As an aside, when my very wise wife and I developed the list of friends that we would invite into our “retreat posse”, the overarching selection criteria, following a Judeo-Christian moral orientation, could be characterized as “high skill, low maintenance” personality traits). Multivitamins will be most helpful, but probably can be stretched to one every other day or even two per week, if there is a shortage. Include adequate fiber in your diet. In our stores, we have large containers of Metamucil, for instance, to avoid constipation. When encountering this problem, the French Maquis (WWII resistance fighters) would ask a local farmer for some butter or lard and eat 2-3 tablespoons…like grease through a goose! We also have a simple formula for an oral rehydration solution to treat dehydration following diarrheal illnesses, heat injury, or trauma- induced hypovolemia. Please copy the data on this site of the Rehydration Project (http://rehydrate.org/solutions/homemade.htm) for an excellent and simple description of homemade rehydration remedies.

Take scrupulous care of your teeth! Floss at least three times per week and brush at least twice daily. Toothpaste is nice, but not necessary. Baking soda works almost as well and it is not only cheap, but has many other uses. Buy 20 pounds of baking soda. I strongly urge all to get a copy of Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson. It is available from Ready Made Resources. This is an excellent and authoritative manual that is easy to put to use by someone with at least a modicum of medical training, for example an EMT.

Now the fun part you were all waiting for: interventional health care, i.e., the practice of medicine and surgery in an austere environment. To start with, I strongly recommend getting a copy of the list of $4 prescription medications available at Wal-Mart pharmacies. The array of inexpensive medications is astounding. Antibiotics, antihypertensives, hormone replacements, topical medications, eye and ear preparations- they are all on this list. Ten to fifteen years ago, most of these items were very expensive “designer drugs”. If you need antihypertensives, see if your doctor will prescribe drugs off this list and then get him to write you a 6-12 month prescription. Also ask him to write you prescriptions for the antibiotics that I recommend below. You should also get several bottles of eye and ear antibiotic drops. Admittedly, this may be an uphill battle. Hopefully you can educate your physician about the importance of preparedness and make him an ally. Tell the Wal-Mart pharmacist that you are going on a mission trip to a distant land without access to pharmaceuticals. This would not really be a lie, would it?! Don’t worry about your cholesterol- it will drop on your new diet…but then, my guess is that the survival lifestyle will also “cure” most hypertension and non-insulin dependent diabetes. But, please, try to get to that level of lean fitness prior to encountering the “SHTF” dilemma. I recommend a stockpile of four antibiotics that will treat most conditions that will really require them: pneumonia, anthrax, urinary tract infections, skin infections, and wound infections: Cephalexin 500 mg, Ciprofloxacin 500 mg, Doxycycline 100 mg, and Septra DS (SMZ/TMP DS). These can all be taken by folks with penicillin allergies, with the possible exception of the cephalexin. The number of tablets that you need will be based on the size of your group. All of these are dosed for adults but can be split or crushed for children. Echoing the advice of Jim Rawles, having a retreat member with significant medical experience, e.g., an advance practice RN, a PA or, ideally a practicing physician, will enable you to utilize these medications optimally. In my humble estimation, about 30-40% of antibiotic prescriptions currently doled out by my colleagues are unnecessary, and often done to placate demanding “health care consumers” because it is often too frustrating and time consuming to educate folks in the office. Although these medications are inexpensive now, when you have a limited supply that must last months or years, they will become precious allies in your fight for survival that must only be used when life or limb are at risk. The expiration dates on the bottles of meds that you receive at the pharmacy are really made up, since no pharmaceutical company really studies the time-related efficacy and safety of these drugs carefully. The expiration dates are always much earlier than the true degradation dates, except for liquid and injectable medications. Almost all medications are probably still safe and effective for at least 1-2 years after the printed expiration date. Almost every doctor friend of mine gives his/her family expired medications from their sample shelves! If you live within 200 miles of a nuclear power plant, a large military base or a major urban center, it is prudent to stockpile a 1 month supply of iodine supplements for each member of you family, to avoid the long term carcinogenic effects of a nuclear fallout emergency. These are really cheap, have long shelf lives, and can be purchased from several of the advertisers on this web site.

Wound and Trauma Care
Let’s start by making life simple: any soap with water works as an adequate antiseptic for scratches and scrapes, and good ol’ Vaseline works nearly as well as a wound dressing as the expensive antibiotic ointments. Large second or third degree burns are another story, however. Having worked in the developing world as both a military doc and as a medical missionary, I have observed for myself the well known fact that flame injuries are a major cause of death and disability in primitive cultures. Open fires are often used for heating and cooking, resulting in frequent flame injuries, especially to children. Children are neither wise nor well coordinated, and they fall into fires. Get several large jars of Silvadene cream for extensive burn use only. Keep it refrigerated, or even frozen as long as possible to extend its shelf life. This stuff is somewhat expensive, but not easily replaced. OTC topical antibiotics like bacitracin ointment could be substituted in a pinch. Extensive burns (larger than the palm of your hand) should be cleaned with soap and water and dressed with antibiotic ointment and sterile gauze reapplied daily until fully healed. When you run out of Silvadene, use Vaseline (get 50 lbs of it- it has many, many practical uses).

I currently teach advanced tactical medics for the US Army, SWAT teams and the U.S. Border Patrol. We teach them suturing techniques. But, unless you can really clean a wound within 12-24 hours of its occurrence and close it surgically with a truly aseptic technique- sterile gloves, drapes, sutures and instruments- it should be left open to heal by itself. Otherwise it will likely get grossly infected, pus out, and require you to take out your precious suture material and use your precious antibiotics to treat the now deep wound infection. Soap and Water will take care of this wound better, along with copious irrigation with previously boiled water (allowed to cool, of course). “The solution to pollution is dilution!” Clean the wound with a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and sterile water if it gets crusty or develops a thick discharge and change the dressing daily. If large vessels, tendons, nerves or bones are exposed, the wound will require suturing, but only after extensive cleaning and irrigation, followed by several days of sterile dressing changes and the administration of oral cephalexin three times each day, and then only with the cleanest, sterile technique.

Orthopedic Injuries
Basic first aid techniques are most important to acquire for all preppers. This is especially true for injuries to bone, joint and spine. The first aid techniques that I learned as a Boy Scout almost 50 years ago are still relevant today. Taking a Red Cross First Aid course is really important as the minimum medical training for anyone seriously facing a survival situation. However, when there is no doctor available, you will be required to go several steps further. Fractures must be set into their normal , functional positions and then casted or splinted effectively when you are the final medical authority. Additionally, if the fracture is open, i.e., there is a break in the skin where the bone had poked through, this wound must be thoroughly washed and irrigated, dressed with a sterile dressing and antibiotic ointment, and broad spectrum antibiotics given for a week. Serious spinal injuries may be a death sentence in this situation, invoking the principle of expectant care (see “Triage principles” below).

Pain Relief and Anesthesia
Okay, so this part comes easy to me. Not only is my wife a former marathon runner, triathlete, and cross country cyclist, she is also a total Christian babe. And an anesthesiologist. She has taught me how to perform total IV anesthesia, using relatively inexpensive drugs given by injection, thereby not requiring the use of inhalational agents. Most of the procedures that can be done outside of the hospital are short- under one hour in duration. In the austere environment, the group surgeon would ideally be prepared and equipped to perform the following major surgical procedures: Debridement of dirty wounds; open ligation of major bleeding vessels; appendectomy; cholecystectomy (removal of a diseased gall bladder); cesarean section. Although endotracheal intubation may be required, the presence of a ventilator and oxygen can be circumvented. A bag-valve device will be necessary for manual ventilation. Intravenous equipment and fluids are required. Again, the amounts of each will depend upon your situation, but I would recommend having at least four liters of normal saline IV solution for each member of your group. Ignore the expiration dates: salt water does not degrade. Avoid using this precious resource for routine causes of dehydration. Use the rehydration solutions instead. Put up an ample supply of Tylenol, Motrin and Aleve. If possible, store a supply of stronger narcotic pain medications, such as Vicodin.

Triage Principles
Triage is the function of rationing medical care in the context of limited availability. This may mean a limitation in supplies, time, facilities, transportation or professional medical providers. In a TEOTWAWKI scenario, all of these factors may be in short supply.
The four triage categories are as follows:
1. IMMEDIATE: These victims have life threatening conditions that will a) result in death if not promptly addressed and b) can be remediated with the judicious use of assets on hand. An example would be a deep laceration to the groin with arterial bleeding from the femoral artery. The immediate application of pressure or, if necessary, a tourniquet, will save a life. This could then be treated with definitive surgery later.
2. DELAYED: This describes serious conditions that are not immediately life threatening, but that will require medical attention in hours to days to avoid serious disability or even death. An appropriate example would be a humerus fracture sustained while having piggy back chicken fights in the back yard (you’ve already forgotten: no horseplay!)
3. MINIMAL: This category includes illnesses and injuries that are self limiting: small lacerations, a non-displaced finger fracture, a short episode of diarrheal illness, etc. These folks need to keep working!
4. EXPECTANT: When medical resources are severely limited, they must be used to derive the greatest survival benefit for the community. That means that using a lot of medications, supplies and manpower in attempts to resuscitate profoundly ill or injured patients is unethical. These unfortunate folks will be unlikely to survive regardless of your best efforts. They are triaged as expectant, meaning that they are likely to die. Examples include severe shock, quadriplegic injuries, or multiple gunshot wounds to vital organs. They should be treated for pain if possible, and given comfort and affection until their demise. This will save resources for those who are salvageable and can continue to contribute to the group’s survival.

Medicolegal disclaimer: Please do not use any of the above advised techniques or methods unless you have no possible access to professional medical care. This advice is not at all applicable, and may in some instances be harmful, if you have access to professional medical care. - RangerDoc, MD, FACS

There was a bit of a ‘covert’ Survivalblog gathering at Front Sight recently. Along with Tim R & Tantalum Tom I was also in attendance earlier in March. I have two grown sons, both of which had expressed a desire to have a handgun for home defense. As a law enforcement officer and former SWAT team member I am familiar with the operation of and responsibility with owning a gun. I am confident in my training and ability to defend my home and family through that training. My two sons, however, had barely even held a gun, let alone fired it. This spurred me to obtain the proper training as any responsible gun owner should do, and when I heard about the "get a Gun " promotion for the four day Defensive Handgun course that Dr. Piazza was offering, I jumped on board for all three of us.

Both of my sons were shocked when I made the presentation to them last year. Before doing so, they knew something was coming, but had no idea as to exactly what it was. When I gave them the course, including transportation and lodging, they were both flabbergasted and ecstatic. Imagine how amazed they were to find they would also be using a brand new gun of their choosing which would belong to them upon completion of the course, with Front Sight sending it back to our local FFL dealer. I gave them this present last July, and thanks to Front Sight’s generous scheduling policy, I had the luxury of planning the trip at my convenience, choosing dates in mid March.

The trip to Vegas was go od, where we rented a car and drove out to Pahrump, about 50 miles to the west. We even had enough time that first day to go back to Vegas where we feasted on the sights and sounds of ‘The Strip’ and one of the many great buffets, catching a show afterwards. On Friday we drove up to the front gate at Front Sight where we were welcomed and directed to the check in location. Often times any of us are nervous when doing something for the first time, especially in unfamiliar territory far from home. But here we were greeted with a smile by a well organized and helpful staff. Nerves disappeared almost immediately, replaced by the excitement of what was to come.

The five days there were phenomenal, especially as I had the honor of sharing that voyage of discovery with my two sons. You’ve undoubtedly read the commentaries from other attendees, so I will spare you from repetition other than to say the education I received was excellent. I put some 800 rounds through my [Springfield Armory] .45 XD and by the end of my time there it felt so natural in my hand to be almost a part of me.

I was most taken back by the staff who make it truly phenomenal. I will refer to my range-master as the ‘Stair’-Master who took us, step by step, through their procedures in such a natural way. He was informative, professional, friendly, o pen and knew what he was teaching inside out and back to front. But to be perfectly honest, you could say the same for all of them. There were times when we had seven or eight instructors on the line with us. Talk about individual coaching and instruction! Unheard of! This by far is the best firearm instruction I have ever received, and would recommend it to anyone, both novice and expert alike.

In addition to receiving great instruction on the range, we were also afforded some informative and well thought out lectures introducing the concept of owning, using, choosing and carrying a gun. The presenters make it interesting and use their experience and real life situations to better relate to the student body. I even found myself enacting one scenario out with them in a realistic, unscripted way that I have to say, would be very realistic given the situation they presented.

I would also recommend the lunches available through pre-order from ‘Beach Café’, linked through the Front Sight web site. They deliver lunches daily and I found them more than sufficient to get me through the day. As others have said, make sure you hydrate, dress appropriately (layers) and expect to spend long days there which whiz by with all that you do. The coffee is plentiful and the friends you will make from those around you will make it even more special. Come the last day I ‘slowly, carefully, reluctantly’ placed my gun back in its holster and shook the hands of the new friends I had made, determined to return and further my education on a later date. Cruise eBay for some first time student gray course certificates and you too can attend some of their courses at a great rate where you will then discover the awesome deals available to return students. Folks, you will not be disappointed, and you will feel so much better prepared in your ability to protect yourself, your home, and most importantly, your loved ones. - DeFuz

As determined men and women of yesteryear made their way west to make for a better life, pioneer women often kept journals of their life on the great prairies or sent letters home to their sisters back East. In those letters they described the silence as the most unwelcome guest. These brave women wrote about being left for weeks on end alone, lost in an endless sea of grass with only the wind for company while the men hunted or went for supplies. In some cases the quiet was so severe that it became unbearable and the women developed mental problems. One young mother in 1853 wrote, “Silence is an evil creature, it stalks you by day, watching, waiting, ever vigilant. By the dark of the moon it strangles your thoughts and slips away with your sanity.”

Imagine now, that we are about six weeks into a societal collapse. You are sure you have prepared yourself fairly well. You’ve made all the plans and stocked all that needs to be stocked and you feel pretty confident that you and yours can weather whatever comes, right? After all, you have given lots of time and energy to making sure that you have everything that you need. You have provided for your physical well being, but have you taken the time to consider what happens to the family’s emotional stability when life as we know it suddenly takes a turn south?

In all the preparedness information out there, there seems to be an expectation that ones emotional response to real world stressors are somehow less important than the physical. Or maybe people are not wanting to deal with that which is yet unknown and frankly, just too scary for most of us to comprehend. What happens to the emotional intellect when forced to shoot another human being for the first time or watch helplessly while a loved one dies of an illness or a massive wound. How about dealing with feral pigs, dogs and any other typically domesticated animals? Can you let your children out of your sight to play in the yard or do you live with constant fear they may become a meal for a once beloved family pet or the zoo animal that hasn’t eaten in a week? These are real life situations that need to be discussed along with beans, bullets and band aids. Even Tom Brown, “The Tracker“, writes of feral dogs of his youth while living in New Jersey.

Now that the stores are not being stocked you have used up all that was in the cupboard and freezer and have broken into your stored rice and beans. Everyone in your household has been about four weeks without McDonald’s, potato chips, Spaghetti-Os, wine, beer and cigarettes. The family complains of being gassy and bloated and by now the cravings are so bad that even the neighbors lawn ornament is beginning to look good. Tempers are just one spark away from ignition within the family unit. Depression sets in as Sissy hysterically cries, “I’m never ever going to use a flush toilet ever again!” It becomes apparent that holding this unit together is going to be a real challenge. Isn’t it is amazing how a change in diet can trash the family dynamics?

My field of study for the past 25 years has been in Holistic Nutritional Sciences. This field is centered around the whole body and everything that goes into it, air, water, plants, the soil plants are grown in and the health of animals that are used for food. Current research indicates there are definite changes in body chemistry when one gets off the processed and junk food hamster wheel. As chemicals, heavy metals and other toxic particles leave the body there is what has been described as a healing crisis and it can be all too real for the ones that suffer through it. Think for a moment, you have suddenly been forced to do without coffee or cigarettes, a real nightmare for some. What will you feel like in a few days? Your children have been forced to do without their favorite French fries or soft drinks. What will be their mood in a week or so? If you have ever been witness to a loved ones kicking of the habit you will appreciate that it is not always a pleasant happening. These are a few of the more obvious, lets take a look at some lesser known problems with our modern situation.

Currently there are about 3,000 substances added to food that are on the FDA’s generally regarded as safe (GRAS) list but the GRAS can not guarantee that an additive is 100% safe for every human because not every human has the same biochemistry. Food colors seem to be most problematic for young children in that they can be toxic to the nervous system, kidneys or liver. And don’t get me started on genetically modified foodstuffs, it makes me screaming mad. I can’t say anything good about altering the perfection of the natural world. The fact that this brand new life form was not studied long term and released into the unsuspecting publics food supply makes me nuts. Were humans really meant to eat a corn plant with say, a petunia's DNA? Of course, that’s a much simplified version but I believe there are some things that we just weren’t meant to ingest. Genetically modified ingredients in infant formula being number one on my list to scream about. My list to scream about on the subject of GMOs just scratches the surface here ,but that rant is for another day. ( hint: get as many open pollinated seeds as you can ASAP. That means yesterday. If you don’t have a garden get open pollinated vegetable seeds anyway, they will make great barter in the near future. Most seeds are viable between 2 and 5 years.)

An application of malefic hydrazide is routinely sprayed on potatoes and onions to keep them from sprouting but did you know that this potentially toxic chemical is sprayed on tobacco products in the U.S., and some chemicals such as propylene glycol, glycerin, or sorbitol are not always listed on a label. Aspartame as in Nutrasweet and Equal has been shown to be a precursor to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. What happens to the body when it doesn’t get it’s daily dose of acrylamide (a carcinogenic chemical created when potatoes and corn chips are baked or fried at high temperatures) or when the body is deprived of high fructose corn syrup from soft drinks? For some people they can have the same painful withdrawal symptoms as from coffee, cigarettes or drugs. I have seen people become depressed, angry, foggy in the head, sluggish and almost manic when taken off processed foods. Raw foods do an excellent job of cleaning out lots of toxins that accumulate in our fat. (See Power Foods by Stephanie Beling, M.D. and Rawsome by Brigitte Mars)

More and more young people are becoming diabetic, something very rare at the turn of the century. My neighbors eight year old child has to be monitored for high cholesterol, it’s just shocking! Students are under much more stress these days than ever before which can result in emotional eating and behavioral problems. More cravings with less food available could be overwhelming to children who aren‘t understanding why they can‘t have a second helping. Even my own grandchildren are such fussy eaters, what happens when they no longer have access to their junk foods and are forced to eat “real food”? And by the way, their idea of what real food ( pull it out of the freezer and pop it into the microwave) is and my knowledge of whole real food doesn’t line up. Where as there lies the problem. When at Grams house you need to adapt or go without. (wink, wink, I have been know to bend just a little, sometimes.) Also, eating a constant diet of freeze dried storable foods and garden produce can have an undesirable set of problems all it’s own. Much more water needs to be taken in or the system seems to get painfully backed up.

What about those pioneer women? They didn’t have GMOs or cell phones. They certainly didn’t need a good detox diet but many did keep journals to help insure some sanity. Writing stuff down is almost like talking to a friend. If our world does the "Patriots" thing, we all will be pioneers in our own right. Picture a world of teens without their cell phones, blackberries, computers, music or anything else that makes them tick. The withdrawal symptoms from the “NEED” to communicate alone surely should scare even the hardiest amongst us. Taking care of the emotional person is very personal and challenging. Learn what you can about the food you have been eating and the world around your retreat and take charge now. The mental health you save may be your own!

A note to Grandparents: You are hereby requested to help keep our history alive. Talk to your Grandchildren about your history, our country’s history and how we got to this point in the world. Write it down if needed. Teach them all the skills that they will need in their future. Plant the seed early, grandchildren seen to respond to grandparents easily. Their world will be inherently different than the one we lived in. Teaching them how to garden, fix a roof, sew a shirt, harvest and save seeds, cook a stew, etc., everything that you know. What you don’t already know how it do, learn it together. They are going to need all the advantages that we can give them.

Favorites from my library:

Cookin' with Home Storage by Vicki Tate (Excellent) [JWR Adds: Tate's book is also one of our favorites.]

Staying Healthy with Nutrition by Elson M. Haas, M.D. There is a section in this book about detoxification and fasting. (Excellent) This one is my all time favorite, it is so worn. 1,141 pages

Never Be Sick Again by Raymond Francis, M.Sc. He tells why disease happens and how to avoid it.

Nutrition and Mental Illness by Carl C. Pfeiffer, Ph.D., M.D. Written in layman language, very interesting, surprising causes of some symptoms.

The Ultimate Nutrition Guide for Women by Leslie Beck, R.D. (Very Good) She tells women why they have health problems and how to deal with them.

Superpigs and Wondercorn by Dr. Michael W. Fox (About GMOs.)

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 foll