I was trying to come up with way to write down all of things that I have been going through lately as a concerned husband, son, uncle, and brother.  A little background on me: I am turning 36 tomorrow.  When I was 24 I joined the U.S. Army.  I was fooling around in college (still) without a good source of income.  My three year relationship was coming to an abrupt end as my girlfriend was graduating college and moving into the next phase of her life (kudos to her making the tough decision to do what was best for her, which was to keep me from holding her back).  So, as any rational screw up in my situation I went to my local recruiter’s office and signed up for five years in the Army.

During my six years on active duty I grew up a lot (I reenlisted once to go to Korea rather than have a very good chance of going back to Iraq. That is where my sixth year comes from).  I learned a lot.  I became much more self-reliant.  I became more aware of the national political scene.  Some of this maturing process may be simply due to me getting a bit older, but I truly believe the Army gave me a huge shove in the right direction.  My priorities finally began to shift from adolescent ridiculousness, to bigger picture themes not revolving completely around me. 
While I was active, I came to notice that no matter where in the world you may be, kids are always the same.  Kids want to have fun and play.  They don’t hate indiscriminately.  That fact in itself tells me that we (adults) are obviously the problem.  Kids are kids.  We turn them into hateful versions of ourselves.  I got a chance to visit a few different countries during my six years, which tends to give you a great perspective on life at home, and how truly lucky we all are to live in such a wondrous place like the good ol’ USA.

I got out of the Army back in the summer of 2006.  I was lucky enough to come back home and get hired by a privately owned company having nothing to do with anything in my background.  Sometimes things have a funny way of working out.  My wife and I met about 18 months before I was discharged from active duty.  Being on the other side of the planet had its difficulties, but in the end it couldn’t have worked out any better and we have now been married over 3.5 years.  No kids yet, but you never know. 

When I was getting out, I spoke to my wife about my wanting to get my concealed carry license and owning firearms.  This had nothing to do with prepping at this time, but I think you kind of get used to having something by your side in case something unfortunate does happen. Living in Florida, getting your concealed carry license (CCL) and purchasing firearms is pretty easy.  My wife was fine with it until I explained that I wanted her to become as proficient with any weapons we have as possible.  She, like most people that haven’t been around weapons their whole life, has this innate fear of guns. 

We started her out slow with some simple instructions on my first purchase, a Glock 23 (law enforcement version) that I had fired many times before.  There seem to be two types of people, those who love Glocks and those who hate them.  For me, and for the money I had at the time, I couldn’t ask for a more reliable weapon to have at the house (for carrying I ended up with a SIG P238 [.380 ACP] to slip in a pocket holster).  So, my wife and I went through all of the basics of handling any weapon, treat it like it’s loaded, muzzle awareness, etc.  She took to it like a pro.  At the range, the bigger the caliber the more she enjoyed it.  She was forced to load all of the magazines she used.  She would break down the gun when we got back home (practicing her disciplines, of course) and clean it and put it back together all by herself.  I told her that I needed her to be competent enough that we not worry if she is home alone and the worst case scenario happens.  We came up with situational plans on how she would react to different situations depending on where she is in the house at the time.  Most of them ended with her locked in a bathroom with a gun and a phone (if possible) and her willingness to put a few rounds through the door at the least, if someone came inside.

Over the past few years, I have noticed many of the same things you all discuss and write about on this site.  Things seem to be getting worse, no matter what the talking heads might say.  I think most of us can “feel” that things just aren’t right.  When I tell this to my wife she gets a little freaked.  I have been doing a lot of research over the past 6 months on prepping, food storage, BoBs, etc.  This site has been a God send and I thank Mr. Rawles and the rest of you for all of your hard work.  All of the information I crave is there for the taking.  I have already paid my one year “donation” and will look to do more soon. 

Here is where we get to my prepping so far.  We live in a very large metropolitan area in south Florida.  Both of our immediate families are within 30 minutes of us.  (If money were no object, I would already have left for the American Redoubt and ordered my custom home and bunker to be built with years of supplies waiting for us.  Obviously, that is not where we are finnacially, yet.)  As I have been doing my research I have begun to stock up and put my plans and lists together.  I have assembled a get home bag that each of us keeps in our cars.  I have also put together a BoB for each of us that is at the house.  My wicked “arsenal” now consists of my carry weapon, my Glock 23, and an AR-15.  I have hundreds of rounds for each and plan on really bumping up my number of magazines.  I also plan on expanding my weapons to include a longer range, larger caliber rifle and a shotgun at the least.  I am working on getting my wife trained up on the AR-15 as we move along.  I haven’t taught Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) in a while. 

As for my food and supplies at home, I am currently working on our “stash”, which includes some basic foods like white rice, canned goods, bottled water, etc.  I have also purchased a Katadyn Pocket, and a couple of filtering Camelbaks.  I have 3 cases of Mountain House dry foods also to get started.  I also have items to help with fire, shelter, water hauling, etc. 
My biggest dilemmas up to this point (besides limited finances) are the following:

1. My wife freaks out if I talk about prepping. I explain that I don’t think the world is going to end on December 21st, but I think generally people are not as bright as I would like.  Regardless of what happens, the news and every television show will be talking about that date.  Food prices are rising now, but just wait until panic sets in.  Why not put some essentials aside and protect ourselves as much as possible.  If nothing happens, no harm, no foul.  I am trying to keep her focusing on that rather than what I think is happening with the global economy, etc.  That may not be fair to her, but I am working on her slowly.
2. How do I get more family members involved without them thinking I am crazy?  My younger brother also spent five years in the Army.  My older brother works for the Sheriff’s department in our county.  He isn’t a police officer, but we all have our CCL and own a few firearms and have received training.  I have come up with a plan of where we could all meet in a TEOTWAWKI situation.  I have picked the home easiest to defend, with the most space for materials, and it is the most central.  The only problem is they have no preparations, nor are they aware of any plans that I have.  I also have a plan for just my wife and I which involves bunkering down at home as a last resort, as well as a G.O.O.D. plan if needed.  The problem is that no one is privy to these plans but me.  How do I broach the subject?
3. We live in a very heavily populated area in South Florida.  There is almost no where without people outside of the everglades.  There are some places we could go in the everglades if we had to that isn’t just a swamp, but the local population will be tough regardless.

I am currently working on getting my FFL to be able to purchase firearms at a discount and slowly begin a home business.  I am curious if any others have similar situations, and how they dealt with those issues.  I am continuing to get my stuff together for me and my wife, but I can’t just abandon everyone else.  My family is full of people that would be very helpful in a SHTF situation.  My wife is a trauma nurse.  My older brother is an auto mechanic by trade, and he and my dad are utterly handy.  My younger brother is a trained intelligence officer, and currently works as a civilian for the military in that capacity.  My two sisters-in-law are both teachers which would be useful for the kids.  My dad is a machinist by trade, and one of the hardest workers I have ever met. 

I fear for all of us, but I can only do so much.  I have brought this up to my younger brother briefly in conversations, but not much has come out of it.  I will continue to move forward with my preparations as planned.  I am hoping the rest will come to me soon.  Hopefully, before it is too late.

Let me begin with a brief history and a few insights into my journey towards being prepared for The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI.) I was born and raised, until the age of 7, in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States (the greater Los Angeles area). At which point my parents came to the realization that city life was no way to raise a family. So, they moved my sister and I to the Central San Joaquin Valley and began my education in rural life. At age 18 I joined the military and was able to witness rural life in Texas, Illinois and finally South Dakota (where I spent 4-1⁄2 years). While in South Dakota, I married a local girl, my wonderful wife of 25 plus years. As a result of that marriage, I was introduced to a deeper and somewhat more rudimentary rural lifestyle, by her and her family. As a city boy who was never comfortable with the city lifestyle; I had found my calling. After serving my Country, along with with my wife and then three children returned to the San Joaquin Valley to start the next chapter of our lives. As it turned out that was to be a very short chapter. We quickly realized that what I had believed to be a rural community was in reality very urban. Shortly before we headed back to the Valley her parents moved to the Northwestern portion of the American Redoubt, of course we didn’t know it would eventually be labeled as such at the time. During our brief stay in the Valley we had the opportunity to visit the in-laws and decided that was the place for us. We have now been living the very rural life of the American Redoubt for the past 20 years.

My education in the art of self sufficiency began at about age four when my Grandmother--who started her family before the Great Depression--began to teach me to garden, harvest fruit and to fish. Both of my parents have a love for fishing and continued where my grandmother left off. At the age of 8 my parents began to raise rabbits for butcher and made sure to involve their children in the raising and butchering. My mother continued to teach us the art of gardening, cooking and preserving the food that we produced until it was time for me to leave home. This was done in order to teach us the value of the food on our table along with the joy and sense of accomplishment that comes from putting it there. At about this same time I was blessed with the gift of a Red Ryder BB gun. I was taught the proper safety and use of the gun and after an acceptable amount of time under strict supervision I was allowed to practice with it, under minimal supervision, whenever I had free time. (At this time I would like to say that any of you who are attempting to prepare and either haven’t yet learned to properly handle a firearm or haven’t become proficient as of yet, get a BB gun and shoot thousands of rounds with it, then progress to the .22 Long Rifle and repeat. It is my opinion that the cost and intimidation level are such that you will comfortably progress to the more lethal calibers with much less trepidation). By age 13 I was hunting pheasants and working part time on the neighboring dairy. These things having been taught to me by my father or neighbor, respectively, who were both born in the 40s. While stationed in South Dakota I had the great privilege to get to know two of my wife’s Great Uncles, one of whom was born in the late 1920s and the other in the early 1930s. These two crusty old gentlemen decided that a 19 year old kid might be worth their time to teach a thing or two. They taught me to saddle and ride a horse, how to harness a team, the basics of putting up hay with a team of mules, and most importantly how to grind wheat and make delicious fresh bread from the resulting flour. Upon moving to the American Redoubt the revelation of my level of ignorance was astounding. I was soon learning to run a chainsaw, fell trees, build fence and do a lot of my own repairs on most anything. My father-in-law, a man born in the late 1930s and who lived the rural lifestyle his whole life, was the one to point me in the right direction for many of these tasks. My mother-in-law (whom I won’t date as that wouldn’t be proper) has continued to teach my wife and I food preservation methods. For the last 20 years we have been leasing a house on a 4,000 acre ranch. That lease payment is made by working for the owner of the ranch. The owner of the ranch is a man in his early 80s. He continues to work the ranch every day, mostly by himself. From this man I have learned most of what I know about farming and a lot of what I know about animal husbandry. During our 20 plus years of living here we have managed to befriend some of the families that have been here for forever and a day. From this corner of our lives we have been privileged to learn to properly slaughter, butcher and preserve large livestock and wild game. The man most responsible for our knowledge had been taught by his parents and they were of an age and background to know a bit about depression survival.
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As you have probably noticed, there is a theme to my little history lesson. Yes, I am giving the approximate age of almost every one of the mentors that I have listed. As I’ve been reading the blog and many of the archives, I haven’t come across a single mention of what I feel is one of the greatest assets that one can to tap into, in order to survive in the long term after TEOTWAWKI. I wish to admit that I haven’t read all of the archives and probably won’t find the time for all of them, but from what I can tell, no one has been preaching the value of our elderly. These people have either lived through the Great Depression or were a lot closer to it chronologically than most of us. They may not be able to perform many of the tasks of survival in the long term, but they can certainly pass on their knowledge of “How To”. In addition to their knowledge there are many tasks that they can perform with more knowledge, confidence and experience than those of us that may be stronger of body. Things like cooking, canning, repairing tack, maintaining firearms, watching children, snapping the beans, shucking the peas and on and on and on. With some of these chores removed from the shoulders of the younger generations, more can be accomplished in a day, making a better life for all. I realize that a lot of people out there are thinking of the elderly, but from what I have read it appears that they are only thinking of what they have to do in order to take on the burden of providing for them. I say that they are not a burden to be taken on, but an asset just like the thousand pounds of grain you have stockpiled, the medical supplies you have so carefully laid away or the guns and ammo that you will use to protect it all.

In this life my wife, my kids and I have reached the point where we provide most all of our own meat through our livestock. We can provide the hay to feed them. We grow most of our own vegetables and some of our own fruits. We have the ability to preserve our food. We cut the wood for 100% of the heat for our homes. We have the ability, wherewithal and fortitude to defend it all. Without the knowledge that was freely given, by those that came before, we would never be as prepared to provide the basic needs for ourselves and our extended family and friends WTSHTF, as we are right now. I would like to suggest to those who are planning to provide for the elderly members of their family to please rethink the asset vs. burden issue. I believe that if you are to take the asset side of the issue and treat them as such you will gain some valuable information and they will be more interested in helping where they can instead of sitting around just consuming the assets that you do have. No one wants to feel that they are useless and just a drain on those around them. If you make use of their knowledge and abilities, they will not feel that they are a burden and will truly be an asset to themselves and the group as a whole.

I am 52 years old - a working woman, a wife, mother, stepmother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, and daughter.  My parents had six children, I have six grown children, and you can start counting out from there.  We are a big family.  We are the typical outgrowth of middle class American suburbia. 

Some of us are financially better off, but all of us are accustomed to our luxuries, even if that means rich, freshly ground coffee in the morning or a delicious sip of good red wine in the evening.  Many of us lost substantial resources during the past few years of economic turmoil and others fared okay.  Still, we have our little luxuries.
We are geographically dispersed and independent, but emotionally close and communicative.  Not a day goes by that a handful of us are not communicating by text, cell phone, Facebook, or email.  A theme has emerged among most of us.  A few of us are more serious than the others are, and have engaged in lengthy phone conversations with one another.  We are all afraid.  It is as if we have all been on the same wavelength, but hesitant to discuss our fears lest we sound crazyas.

Now, we are talking.  Tentatively, but talking.  Each of us has begun to prepare in his or her own way.
One brother has stockpiled ammunition and weapons in his garage, bought an old used RV, has enough plywood in the garage to board up all the house windows, and reads every survival blog he can get his hands on.  One son-in-law has quietly, and carefully, acquired an array of weaponry and sufficient ammunition to get out of dodge with.  One sister and her husband purchased property somewhere in the suggested American Redoubt complete with habitation and a fresh water source.  One carefully watches every political move made by the current Administration and keeps an eye on world affairs.  He also has brushed up on his shooting skills.  One buries his head in the sand and pretends that nothing bad could ever happen in America.

I research and gather books on every topic.  I have an intellectual knowledgebase that is astounding.  I realized however that I had to stop reading and start doing.  I stopped the expensive salon visits.  What in the world am I doing spending money on fancy hair color, fabulously long nails, and perfect little toes, when the world is falling apart?  I save change and sort the older coins into old food cans.  I am stocking my pantry.  I stopped buying expensive cleaning products and learned to wash dishes, laundry, and just about everything else with simple ingredients: ivory soap, vinegar, and bleach.  I keep a sufficient amount of cash hidden in the house.  I try to keep the gas tanks full and got everything that needed fixin’ on both our SUVs fixed.  We paid off the debt.  It is like undergoing a lifestyle change in advance of actually needing to.  Every time I go to do something or buy something, I ask myself if it is necessary.  I might as well start practicing now to live without.  A startling fact is that many of us who were born in and around the 1950s, have lived incredibly well for most of our lives.  That, we fear, is about to change.

This is hard.  My husband has ignored my efforts for a year or two, but he has not resisted them.  My grown children started noticing my efforts and asked what I was doing.  I think they feared that I had suffered an early entrance into Alzheimer’s.  I decided that I would walk the talk before talking about it.  Now that I have everyone’s attention, I am pulling the disparate efforts together like a project manager of a reluctant development team.
First_things_first.  I prayed.  However, it was more like crying.  I know that our Father is not the father of fear.  I want to prepare in peace, and confidence, trusting that God will bless our efforts. 

My mother’s response to “prepping” was that the rapture would occur, the Lord will return, and all of His people will be caught up in the air to be with Him.  I reminded my dear mother of History and that no man knows the time of His coming.  I lovingly encouraged her to stock up her pantry, keep some cash on hand, the gas tank full, and have had her practice to driving to our home in the adjoining state a few times.  Should she be unable to drive, I have a son-in-law who has agreed to gather her and my father on his way out of town with his little family.  She has agreed to the arrangement, even though she thinks I’ve lost it.

My grown daughters, as precious and wonderful as they are, also think I’ve lost it.  Nevertheless, they are playing along and that is all I care about.  Two of my sons are completely onboard.  One is serving in our military, the other is taking steps to get things fixed with his car, stock up on a week’s worth of rations, and he too is practicing at the gun range.  He has also built up strength by mountain biking and believes he can get out of the metro area he lives in on his bike with a backpack full of supplies.  That is probably very smart planning.  The other son is completely out of touch with anything that smacks of reality, bless his heart.  He thinks the world owes him a living and he is chasing it down for all he is worth.  We may get him going in the right direction eventually.

In three days, we will be convening in one location, my home, to discuss our emergency evacuation plans.  We will be building our bug out bags together.  I purchased the supplies and stocked them in a spare bedroom.  I begged, pleaded, played Pitiful Pearl, and demanded that the family meet together for a planning meeting.  I convinced a good dozen of the family members to meet and that is a good start. 
You see, when your life has never truly been hard, it is difficult to imagine what hard is, and planning for hard is so unfamiliar, it is too hard to do.

I am truly minimizing the fact that my life has not been easy because compared to the rest of the world, it has been easy.  I lived too close for comfort to the poverty line for many years raising my first set of children as a single mother.  I have an undeniable work ethic and taught it to my children.  I remarried years later to a man who had also been a single parent for a long time and he too will never stop working at something.  While he thinks I’m a bit off my rocker, I saw a glimmer of understanding the other day and he said to me, “what is the best route out of here if we need to go”, and “remember we have the business warehouse if we need to stockpile”.  Gasp!  He has been observing!

While this all may sound simplistic to those of you who are “professional preppers”, there may be many out there, who like me, just don’t know where to begin.  You grab your Starbucks in the drive-through on your way to work.  You take business calls via the Bluetooth on your commute.  You fly into work and dig through mountains of demands, and deal with exasperating people all day long.  You fight the traffic on the way home.  You throw off your jacket, tie on an apron, and do amazing things with pre-packaged foods as you pour a glass of wine as you flip through the mail.  You pay the bills online; call your mother; throw food to the dog; throw a load of clothes in the washer, kiss your husband and pass out.  But you cannot sleep.  Because you are afraid.

I do not want to live in fear.  I want to prepare and this is my plan. 

Firstly, I have begun to simplify my life in an organized way and to stock up on basic food supplies.  I will dispense with as much luxury as I can make myself let go of.  Oh yes, store brand coffee in the big cans tastes horrible, but I call it my emergency coffee and it is inexpensive.  Store brand dried milk, rice, pasta, sugar, flour, and olive oil are beginning to line the pantry walls, along with canned goods.  Bottles of spring water are beginning to crowd the pantry floor.  This is child’s play in the prepper world, but you must start somewhere.  My motto: Just do it.

One of the interesting things about our modern society that I learned in my studying is that we have what is called Just-In-TimeJIT supply chain.  Just-In-Time means that there are no longer local warehouses full of food and other supplies.  There are centralized warehouses across the country and the closest one to you could be many states away.  Your local grocery store would run out of food in days should SHTF.  Moreover, they would not be able to restock.  Once the shelves empty, they would stay empty.  That is why something as simple as buying extra at the grocery store is so important.

Secondly, I have taken the initiative to purchase bug out bags for almost a dozen family members.  In order to receive the bug out bag, one must attend a family planning meeting.  These preparations are what I call Stage 1 and this stage assumes that you will prepare where you are. 

Stage 1 consists of:

• Realization that the threat of TEOTWAWKI is real
• Respond with preparation efforts as a family or community
• Stock the pantry
• Keep cash on hand
• Prepare your bug out bag(s)
• Take a skills inventory
• Pray together, take deep breaths, and encourage one another
• Plan together for Stage 2

Stage 2 assumes that you must leave your home.  It may mean that many will have to leave their homes and congregate at a family member’s home that has been deemed the “safest” after thoughtful consideration by the group.  The “safe house” will need to be stocked for the group and all members should contribute.  Our family is in Stage 1, which is better than Stage 0.  We have quarterly meetings planned to determine how the “safe house” should be provisioned and to monitor its provisioning.  We are also in the process of identifying a “way station”.  We live on the edge of a vast desert, not a green and lush national forest.  We have identified where small towns and water sources exist by taking short trips.  Effectively, what a way station will do is allow you to transport your provisions to an out of the way location most likely not affected by the same problems, as a larger town or city would be.  It is only a stopgap measure.

Stage 3 is truly TEOTWAWKI and in our formative planning stage from the viewpoint of Stage 1, we are each in the process of obtaining passports should there come a time when we need to leave the country.  That topic could fill a book and there are a few I know of who are writing or have written books advising Americans on alternative places to live.  SurvivalBlog has copious information on retreats and a most recent column entitled "I Can See You" -- A Digital View of Your Survival Preparations, by Dave X, has led me to believe that it might be better to “disappear in place” or leave the country rather than build a retreat. The takeaways for newbies like me:

• People will think you are crazy, an extremist, and overreacting – Ignore them.
• Your family may be secretly wishing someone would take charge and project manage the family into preparedness – Start talking about it.
• Educate yourself – Every spare moment.
• Getting to Stage 1 is “do able” – Just do it.
• Planning for Stage 2 requires a group, be it a family or community.
• Planning for Stage 3 is the final goal, but remember that Heaven is the truly final destination.

Perhaps the most difficult part of emergency preparedness is facing the reality of TEOTWAWKI.  It is like discovering you have cancer, only it’s your country that has cancer.  Drastic surgery and chemotherapy may only delay the inevitable – death of one of the greatest countries this world has ever seen.  Just remember, and know in your heart of hearts, that we are only sojourners on this earth.

The Beginning of My Journey: Why I decided to Start My Own Meetup Group ­
I began my journey towards preparedness about 3 years ago.  I had wanted to start preparing for an emergency but just didn’t know where to start.  It also felt very overwhelming when I thought of all the work I would need to do in order to go from being poorly prepared to becoming truly prepared.  However that egging feeling of “what if” kept pestering me.  As a San Diego native earthquakes were a natural threat and there was always that fear of the “Big One”.  In 2003 and 2007 we had had to evacuate during the wildfires and in 2005 I like millions of others had watched the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and hundreds of thousands who had died or were left homeless and with nothing due to poor planning and lack of outside help.  Finally it was during the financial housing crisis and subsequent downturn of economy that I decided enough was enough and I needed to turn my thoughts into actions.

I’m pretty sure that I don’t quite fit the “profile” of most preppers.  I was single, did not have a family, and was relatively younger than most preppers I knew at the time. My friends were more into partying and focusing their energy on (in their opinions) more present and near future problems such as finishing college or getting a job.  I had tried talking to some of them about disaster and emergency preparedness but some of them treated me like I was being paranoid, others saw the value but were reluctant to do anything about it for themselves. I felt somewhat alone and thought that maybe perhaps I really was being paranoid.
For starters, I knew it would not be easy. I knew that my preparedness skills at the beginning of my venture were in fact quite limited.  However I had made a decision not to become a helpless victim and was motivated to empower myself into learning and preparing for a disaster- whatever that disaster might be.  The main problem I had was the ability to keep that inertia going all the time.  That was when I decided to start my own preparedness group on Meetup.com.  At first I was just looking for a few friends to possibly talk to and see how they went about preparing.  I got much more than I bargained for.  After the first week 12 people joined and now eight months later we are celebrating our anniversary with 175 members as of today. 

As a teacher I realized there was a great value in social cooperative learning.  Sure you could probably learn all the information you will ever need to be prepared off the internet but there is just something about working together with real live people and learning skills as a group that is invaluable.  In addition you learn by doing.  Having knowledge and being able to apply it practically are two different things.
With my new found survivalists and prepper friends I have gone through wilderness survival training where I learned to live off the land with just a pocket knife, became educated in wild foods and became a wild foods teacher, became CERT certified, have my Ham radio license and will be taking the Front Sight skills course, as well as a few emergency medical courses.

As a group we have had meet-ups such as:  Chicken Butchering Class, Chicken Raising Classes, Primitive Weapon Skills, CERT, Ham Radio License Study Groups, Solar Food cooking and Oven Building, Aquaponic and Hydroponic Demonstrations, Fish Horticulture, Gun Range and Gun Training Meetups, Weapon Cleaning meetups,  EMP Lectures with guest speakers, Armageddon Emergency Medicine, Nuclear Disaster Preparedness lectures and guest speakers, Tactical Hike Meetups, Bug Out Bag meetups, Tracker Naturalist meetups, Plant and Seed Exchanges, and the list goes on and on. 

Most of these classes are taught by members with special skills or by a specialist at a reduced price (a benefit of having a large group) for our group.  My philosophy was that with the resources and skills pooled together by members of the group each member should be able to walk away with a great amount of all around preparedness skills, training, and knowledge.  We always convey the pay it forward approach and encourage our members to take these skills home and teach their families, neighbors, and communities. 

Growth and Leadership
The benefits and skills that people were learning proved to be invaluable.   Out of all the members I felt I had benefited the most.  Although I was the Organizer of my own group I actually had the least amount of practical skills going in as far as the areas of preparedness were concerned.  However I did have excellent social skills such as teaching, networking and relationship building.  I was able to put these skills to work by arranging meetups taught by members with specialized skills and working with members of the community and local businesses to work with our group for free or at low cost. 
With the growing group of people I had to have help in organizing events and keeping up with the questions and concerns on the site.  I am very fortunate to have 2 other “Organizers” on my leadership team.  We also have 3 event organizers who help arrange preparedness meetups.  My leadership team is comprised of members of the group that have specialized skills, are trustworthy, knowledgeable and most importantly, dedicated to preparedness.  I truly feel that having these people as leaders has shaped the group into what it has become today. 

Benefits of Working with and Belonging to a Group
Working together as a group also has many other benefits which include:

• Gaining experience in teamwork.  A skill that will be vital in emergencies and high stress situations.
• The opportunity to learn from others who have special skills.
• The opportunity to check for understanding.  The “how to” YouTube video or online forum that you are following is not able to ask you if you understand what you are doing the moment you are doing it, or if you have any further questions.
• The ability to form lasting relationships which may be very beneficial even lifesaving at times of need.
• Discounts and Group Rates. Things are cheaper if you buy them in bulk.  There has been more than a few times when we have ordered supplies as a group.  There’s nothing more wonderful than a feeling of being prepared and getting a great deal.
• The benefit of having support from an entire community.  Having a large group of like-minded positive people is crucial to ones entire well being.  This positively affects ones mental and emotional state of mind knowing that he or she is not alone and that there are others who are all struggling to be prepared facing similar challenges with limited resources.
•  Accountability.  When others know your goals you are more inclined to follow through.
• The opportunity to gain other important social skills such as Leadership, Decision-making, Trust-building, Communication, and Conflict-management skills.
• The opportunity for Group Processing.  Group members discuss how well they are achieving their goals such as what has worked well in the past, what is not working, and what they should try.
• The greater chance of being able to solve problems and come up with alternative solutions.  It has been proven that collaborative learning produces and enhances critical thinking.
• A healthy alternative to social interactions and engagements.  Staying at home and drinking beer or playing video games with friends is fun but not at all productive. With the new friends you make chances are you will be just as socially interactive but with activities that are beneficial and productive towards preparedness.
• The opportunity to set a good example for your children and family.  As an adult we are our children’s greatest teachers.  If children witness their parents working well with a group of people they too will gain those important team working skills.

Concerns of Belonging to a Group - Operational Security and Screening Process
Naturally as with anything else in life there are always some negative aspects of belonging to a group.  Some worry about Operational Security.  This has never been much of a concern but the issue does come up.  Joining a group does not mean you have to tell anyone where you live.  Most meetups are held in public places or businesses.  Any information given out about someone’s personal life is made at their own discretion.  In short we are all adults and we expect everyone to use their own common sense in making decisions and divulging personal information about themselves.

Rotten Apples Ruining the Whole Bunch
In our group we have a simple screening procedure.  This is done by filling out a member profile and introduction.  The profile is a simple questionnaire that is required for a member to fill out in order to join.  It involves answering a few basic questions about their level of preparedness in different areas such as “beans, band-aids, and bullets”. If a person’s profile seems too negative and “out there” such as proclaiming doomsday and sprouting completely radical behavior they are rejected.  As with the latter topic common sense is utilized with this as well; basically what it all boils down to is if someone cannot fill out a simple “pleasant” introduction they will not be allowed into the group.
There have been a few incidences where people had been antagonizing or bullying others on the discussion forum but these people are quickly removed from the group.  I have a No Tolerance to ill-treatment of others policy.  To put this into perspective out of 175 members I have only had to remove a few.

Getting Involved- How to Find a Group and Get Started
The first step for those who are interested in a local community group would be where to look for one.  Naturally I would suggest Meetup.com as my first choice.  There are over 92 Disaster Preparedness groups nationwide on Meetup.com and many people have signed up to be notified in case one has been started in their area.  Other places to look would be your local Ham Radio club, Wilderness Club, or CERT team.  These groups are already into Disaster or Emergency training and may have some excellent resources for you to begin your search.
 My advice would be to look into it and see if it’s right for you.  The last thing you want to assume is that you are the only one out there.  I felt that way in the beginning but soon found out I was wrong. 
Helping others toward preparedness leaves one less person dependent on you in times of need. In the end we are all here to help each other. I'll close with a quote: "It seems to me that any full grown, mature adult would have a desire to be responsible, to help where he can in a world that needs so very much, that threatens us so very much." - Norman Lear.

Jim,
Reading Paul's "Combating the Darkness Within" article, I can see that he has a scientific mind, lacking faith in God, or maybe even belief! And this is one of the first things you need in the survival mind set, a true faith in God, and guidance from the Holy Spirit, and without this guidance, no matter how prepared your are materially, your chances of making the right decisions when the time comes are questionable at best, without God's spirit guiding you. This is why you always store a little more than what you need for [charity for] your family, friends and neighbors! With the right spiritual guidance, your oil bottle and your grain bucket may never go empty!
 
I am willing to help those in need, if they come asking! But I'm also just as prepared to kill those that come to take by force, or try to do harm to me, my family, or my friends or neighbors! And I believe God will forgive us for this type of killing. We have an obligation to protect our own, and those around us when times get rough. My suggestion to Paul is spend a little more time in the Bible and not so much time in books like "The Lucifer Effect"! Read books that build your spirit up, not take it down. Or [those that] make you question whether or not you have a dark side, which we all do, but strong faith keeps our compass needle pointing north at all times, if you get my meaning. - J.M.

An aspect of survival preparedness that is easily overlooked and sometimes ignored is the utilization of a home-based small business as a means of financial preparation as well as a method of acquiring and stockpiling survival necessities.  It appears likely that some level of collapse and restructuring of our financial and monetary system will take place in the near future.  Establishing your own business is a good way to protect against a financial system catastrophe and prepare for other disastrous events. 

Starting and growing a small business may seem a daunting task for many, however, it can be done with very little start-up capital by utilizing resources you may already have.  Some intangible principles needed for any business start-up should be familiar to most readers of this blog.  They include:  goal oriented planning, hard work, resourcefulness, ethics, sacrifice, and a good team to work with.  As a business owner, I can confirm that if you plan to start a business, be prepared to work many long, hard hours if you expect any measure of success.

Before considering starting a business, look in the mirror.  Define your core competencies.  In this country, business opportunities are endless so you must carve yourself a niche based on your strengths.  Everyone is unique and holds particular skills and talents.  It is essential that you identify and take advantage of these strengths not only in business, but in all aspects of life.  Know yourself.

The clichéd idea of goal setting is actually a very useful and essential tool in both prepping and business.  For many people, making a simple list is the most effective way of setting and executing goals.  I have found that it is important to keep two sets of goals at all times:  long term and short term.  A list of goals should be periodically updated as part of an ongoing assessment of your current and projected situation.  Without clearly defined goals it is easy to fall into a state of complacency and lose your direction.  To avoid becoming overwhelmed, start with smaller, more attainable goals.  Achieving these short term goals will facilitate the execution of your larger long term goals.  The satisfaction of achieving goals can become a genuinely strong motivating force.

Once you have defined your goals and core competencies, the actual process of starting a business is quite easy.  Most states have a web site that can assist you in forming your business.  Online legal services like LegalZoom.com can make it easy to do all of the proper filings.  Your lawyer can also guide you in the right direction.  Legal and state filing fees vary from state to state, but expect to spend at least $500 on this process.  Depending on your business and the state you are in, there may be insurance requirements as well.  It is important to consult a lawyer and accountant when considering starting a business.

I am a carpenter by trade, so start-up of our remodeling company for my partner (brother) and I was relatively inexpensive.  We already had trucks, tools, computers, etc., so it was really a matter of organization.  I have an associate’s degree in business and my brother has a bachelor’s degree in advertising, so we did start the venture with some business background.  We both also had extensive backgrounds in construction.  However, continuing education through books, trade publications, and classes has been and continues to be an invaluable resource for us.  Continually developing your skills and knowledge goes hand in hand with the growth of a business.  Whatever field of business you choose, it is important to not only have business skills, but to become an expert in your field.  There is no substitute for experience, so identifying and developing your core competencies is crucial.

We started our remodeling company in August of 2008, which was the start of the worst period ever for remodelers and home builders.  We worked out of my garage and the back of my Ford Ranger for the first year or so, and it was not easy.  However, because we started with what we had, and avoided the trap of heavily leveraging ourselves, we have seen consistent growth each year.  Our sales have doubled every year since start-up, we have one company vehicle (soon to be two), a 3,000 square foot shop in which we are building a 400 square foot design/sales center, one full-time employee and one part-time employee (in addition to my brother and I), a network of clients, suppliers, and reliable sub-contractors, and virtually zero debt.

You might be wondering what growing a remodeling company has to do with survival preparedness  Any business provides its owner(s) with an opportunity to acquire things they want without having to pay for them directly while providing a tax shelter.  I certainly don’t suggest doing anything illegal, so always consult a lawyer and accountant with any tax or liability questions. 

Our shop has a modest, but growing stock of lumber, hardware, fasteners, electrical and plumbing supplies, tools, kerosene heaters, cleaning supplies, and various other supplies and equipment that are handy for home repair and improvement (or future barter/trade).  The best part is that, through reinvestment of profits, we acquired all of this stuff without coming out of pocket.  Also, because these items are business expenses, our tax burden is decreased each time we acquire them. 

Another less obvious advantage to business as it relates to survival prep is the networking opportunity.  Our growing group of clients, suppliers, and sub contractors is a resource rich network of people that otherwise would’ve never been presented to me.  For instance, one of our sub contractors has a rural property that could potentially make an ideal bug out location.  We have actually performed some barter work with this individual, so future trade/barter lines have already been established.  He also has some heavy equipment (backhoe, bulldozer) which is always a valuable resource.  One of our clients is a local jeweler who also deals in coins.  I’ve been able to purchase silver coin and bullion from him at below market premiums.  He is also open to paying us in silver or gold for our work.  He maintains a reasonable stock of gold and silver and has the ability to test and meltdown metals as well.  Needless to say, this is a good contact.  Our main plumbing supplier regularly alerts us to future fluctuations in price for things like copper and plastic pipe and fittings allowing us to stock up on these items before price increases.  Having a large stockpile of copper pipe and fittings prior to a major currency devaluation would certainly not be a liability if SHTF.  Developing relationships with clients, suppliers, and sub contractors is an excellent exercise in survival prep as it is important to take advantage of all available resources before and after a SHTF event.

The survival prep principles and ideas that I’ve outlined as they apply to my business could apply to any business you could imagine.  I was at my local (locally owned) gun shop/range yesterday with some friends honing our shooting skills and realized that the patriots who own and operate this shop certainly have an excellent resource base for a post SHTF scenario.  I had actually done some remodeling work at this gun shop roughly seven years ago when the current owners took over, and they have really made strides in growing their business since then.  Their stock includes hundreds of guns and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition as well as tactical gear, knives, and other accessories.  They also offer training courses in shooting and self defense, and have a very nice indoor range.  The point is that this group of entrepreneurs identified their core competencies (guns) then set and accomplished some goals.  Now they have a large retail stock of arguably one of the most valuable post-SHTF commodities that you could imagine.  Not to mention, it must be pretty cool walking into work every day and seeing an Armalite AR50-A1 .50 BMG caliber rifle sitting on the shelf with a case full of shells the size of bananas.

There are countless way to go into business for yourself that could give you a major advantage as you prepare for whatever is coming.  If you love fashion and clothing, start a dress shop.  Seamstress skills and equipment will be extremely valuable post SHTF.  Do you love to cook?  Open a diner or restaurant.  It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have a bunch of food and cooking supplies on hand.  Do you love the outdoors?  Start an online outfitter’s retail site.  Selling camping and survival gear is a great way to supplement your own survival needs.  Are you a talented writer?  Start a survival blog web site and publish books that contain invaluable information needed when considering preparation for any type of disaster.  On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t do that last one.  The bottom line is that almost any business endeavor you can imagine can provide some practical advantage to the prepper lifestyle.  You just need to apply some basic principles that you already have.  The gratification and independence achieved by building your own business can help you prepare for whatever happens in life in more ways than you might think.  Independent entrepreneurship is what made this country great, and I believe that that spirit is what will drive us through the hard times ahead.

The following is a chronological list of events and occurrences when the lights went out on September 8th, 2011, or what I like to call “The Great Blackout of 2011”.

3:38 p.m. - I live in San Diego, California, and when the lights went out I was at home taking a nap. For some reason after I got home from teaching that day I was exhausted (probably the heat) and needed to rest.  It was a good thing too because I would need my energy in the hours to come.  While I was sleeping I could hear my phone going off with the sound of text messages and calls but I ignored it.  The calls and texts kept coming and so finally I got up to check my phone since I thought it must be important.  It was.

4:00 p.m.- The second I got up I didn’t sit down again until much later that evening.  I was inundated with messages from friends and contacts from all over with messages saying: “The power is out everywhere!”, “the SHTF what are you doing?!”, or my two favorites “I’m bugging out” and “Is this an EMP?”  I texted my friend back that it couldn’t be an EMP because otherwise our cell phones wouldn’t be working.  After more information started coming through I learned that this was a massive power outage that had spread from southern California to as far as Yuma, Arizona.  As soon as I was informed of the potential that this could be a long term power outage I put the phone down and started preparing. It was around 4 p.m. and I wanted to get everything done before nightfall.  First things first, I went into all three of our cars and took out my emergency bags no sense leaving them in there.  I had made bug out bags for every person in the house as well as for every car.  These bags were essential since I basically took the necessary requirements of food and water and tripled it. Since we wouldn’t be mobile anytime soon with traffic backed up everywhere I knew it was best to stay put. I also didn’t want to have to worry about potential looters breaking into the cars and stealing the contents.
 
I decided to prepare for our first night without electricity.  I had to hurry since I knew it would be getting dark soon.  I gathered all of our flashlights and put them on the kitchen table, next I took out all the candles and battery powered lanterns.  I immediately pulled out all the batteries and spare batteries and began checking them.  This took a while.  I know I should have checked my batteries months prior - but hey, “shoulda, coulda, woulda”.

5:00 p.m.- Next up was safety and protection. At this point in time the information was that the power could be out for as long as three days.  The possibility of looters or riots in the days ahead came to mind and I didn’t want to be caught with my pants down.  I gathered all our firearms, checked to make sure they were ready to go and placed them in strategic places throughout the house.  I went around and checked to make sure all the doors were secure, fences were locked and dogs were okay.  I still had no idea how long this outage would last and I knew that I would be relying on them heavily for alerting us to any strangers or possible looters in the days ahead.  Both were large Shepherd mixes, one actually a fourth generation Rhodesian Ridgeback/Shepherd whose bloodline had been in our family for 30+ years.  My hope was that their size would play a huge part in the deterrent factor and if that wasn’t enough I knew that their bark was just as bad as their bite. 

This entire time I had the Ham radio up and running, as a member of the local CERT team I knew they would be giving out information and taking questions.   I was listening to the traffic reports throughout the county.  People were running out of gas and with gas stations unable to open for business the advice was for those who were low on gas to pull over in a shady spot if possible and get off the roads.  I knew my sister was in that traffic and I was worried.  She was seven months pregnant and had been sent home from work because of the blackout.  She had picked up my two year old niece from daycare but was low on gas because of being stuck in traffic for two hours for what was usually a 30 minute drive.

6:00 p.m.- Problems start happening.  I had not heard from my sister yet but I knew she was on her way to my house.  She was very low on gas but was still going to try and make it being that the only open gas stations were in Temecula, a city 20+ miles away.  The same was true for my brother in law who was coming in the opposite direction from work.  He had been stuck in traffic for hours and was low on gas as well.  To make matters worse no one was able to get hold of their son, my nephew.  This was due to the fact that all the cell phone lines were jammed.  We tried to go online to see if he tried to reach us via facebook which was still working for those who had Internet.  No messages.  At this point I started getting worried and annoyed.  I had friends texting me asking me if I had all my survivor gear out, or asking me what I was doing, or what they should do.  Meanwhile I was thinking that they were draining my phone battery (I know I could have charged it in my car but I needed it with me as I was going about the house trying to get everything done) that I might just need for that important call from my sister, or nephew, or brother in law who had still not arrived yet.  I knew some of them thought their messages were funny.  I didn’t have time to entertain or further enlighten them.  There was still so much more work to do.

6:30 p.m.- My sister finally arrived.  Not long afterwards so does my brother in law, then my other sister, her husband, and their two kids.  Everyone’s gas tank is pretty much on empty.  I fill up the car that uses the least gas so that my brother in law can go around looking for my nephew who we still weren’t able to get a hold of.  I give him my cell phone so that he can charge it as he drives around.  We soon find out that for some reason that part of San Diego - Rancho Bernardo to be exact was not able to receive any calls or text messages to cell phones incoming or receiving.  In addition my nephew was not able to access the internet via cell phone unlike others who were able to in different areas.  We were able to confirm this information later when my brother in law left to try and find my nephew.  While he was in that area he tried reaching us and us him to no avail.  He finally found my nephew at their house.  One of his friend’s parents had dropped him off and he was with the neighbors waiting when my brother in law finally arrived.

7:30 p.m.- It was now dark.  Everyone had safely arrived at my house and I was busy making dinner on the front porch.  I had spent a good amount of time digging out the portable propane stove from in the garage and setting up an outdoor makeshift kitchen.  We still didn’t know how long the power outage would last so I was trying to cook as much meat as possible.  Needless to say we ate pretty well that night. 

8:30 p.m.- Dinner time.  We had our dinner inside using several of our lanterns as light.  The kids seemed to be having fun.  We discussed what would happen in the days to come if the electricity still was not back in place.  We did have a location in the mountains about 1 hour away with other extended family.  We had two very large delivery diesel trucks which would be able to hold most of our important belongings the only problem was I knew we didn’t have enough diesel gas for both of them. We decided to wait it out.  At this time information we were receiving on the radio was that electricity would be restored later that night.  I was skeptic but hopeful.  I wondered if “they” were telling the truth or if they just didn’t want to stir a mass panic.

11:30- Bed time. After dinner we had cleaned the kitchen, washed the dishes, and given the kids baths all by lantern light.  I walked around the perimeter of the house again making sure all was well.  I looked around at my family most of them were already fast asleep together in the television room.  I looked at the time and realized how tired I was.  I had basically been working nonstop since I found out the power had gone out.  I climbed in bed.  Having no electricity sure was exhausting and the electricity had only been out for 8 hours!  I couldn’t imagine another day like this, though I knew if this was a possibility I had already done most of the work for things to be easier tomorrow. 

As I lay down to sleep that night a few thoughts went through my head.  Thank God we at least still had [utility-piped] running water.  And Thank God that everyone made it here safe and we were all together.  Thank God things weren’t worse. Other thoughts that occurred to me while the power was out and later the next day:

1. I should have put the insulin in the freezer right away or in at least a colder compartment than the refrigerator (insulin gets ruined if it is too cold as well as too warm).  I practically kicked myself for not doing this first thing!  I was so wrapped up in everything else this completely slipped my mind!
2. I should have bought that portable ice machine at Target.  It was only $130. 
3. I really need to get out of the city.

Here is what I learned:

1. The vast majority of the population is poorly prepared in every sense for any type of emergency.
2. You can never have enough gasoline and even if you think you do get more.  It would have been an excellent selling or bartering item at times like these.
3. Candy is an absolute necessity in preparedness.  Especially when there is no television or computer to send the kids off to to occupy themselves.  When adults need a few moments of quiet time, candy makes everything better, instantly.
4. Having a Ham radio is an essential part of preparing.  The Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids saying needs to add that extra “C” for Communication as well as the “E” for Engineering.  Being informed just makes you feel better and in a strange way gives you hope when you know you can still reach someone on the other “end”.
5. Handheld battery operated lanterns are awesome! You can hang them when cooking outside for a good source of all over light.  They are better than flashlights when walking down the hall or when going to bathroom and taking a shower.  You can just set them on the counter and you have pretty good visibility of the area around you.
6. Survival preparedness isn’t really about you.  It is about protecting your loved ones. 
7. Having properly prepared for an emergency makes you feel like gold.
8. I really need to get out of the city. 

Spokane was sparkling with light and still bustling when I looked out at it from a downtown building last night. So beautiful in the darkness. My thoughts went out to the hundreds of thousands of little children, women, grandmothers, grandfathers, boys, girls, and men those lights represented. Not just people – persons, each one unique, each with God’s calling on their lives for His purposes. Yet most of them are lost: hopelessly adrift in an empty, frantic, stupid, shallow culture of blindness and conformity and entertainment. Like the people of Jonah’s time they metaphorically don’t know their right hand from their left hand. They’re not so much like sheep anymore these days (I have sheep and know their nature), they’re more like stereotypical lemmings rushing to their mass suicide, in a million different ways.

My heart goes out to them – there, but for the grace of God, go I. There are so many of them. Thankfully, interspersed among them are those who are good, who are strong, who are aware and informed, who can be counted on to rise to the occasion in a crisis. Many of these are already prepared for the spectrum of nation-destroying crises which loom ahead in the mist of time: EMP, pandemic, a New Madrid earthquake, mini-ice age, drought, nuclear terror, persecution and tyranny. And still more – you know the list...

They – like my wife and I – have worked, studied, sacrificed, and planned so that their families will be shielded from the brunt of whatever comes that our sovereign God permits in these last days. Together we preppers are “brothers in arms” as it were, in this exceptional pre-crisis mobilization.
I’ve long pondered what my purpose in these days might be. And I’ve concluded that it’s not enough – for me, at least – to survive merely in order to survive another day. There must be a greater purpose. And so there is.

A few weeks ago our pastor shared this passage that held a vital insight for me: A person once asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘… you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)

Much to my surprise, no matter how preoccupied I become with the many concerns and issues and problems of our day, my heart always comes back to my Creator. I may wander, but He guides me back. I'm drawn irresistibly to him, as the Sun's gravity holds the earth to its course in space. I may not always show it – how I WISH I did – but Jesus has become the center of my existence. And in Him is great strength, and the peace I so desperately need. Most of you know of what I speak. It’s certainly not about what great followers “we” are. It’s about how great HE is and how he captivates our hearts. And in this way we begin to fulfill the “most important” purpose of our lives.

But there is a fundamental second goal – a deep purpose worth living – and dying – for: to “love our neighbors.” Unfortunately, the task of preparing for an End-of-The-World-As-We-Know-It catastrophe is well nigh overwhelming, particularly at the beginning. Prepping can easily become so intensely focused on studying/training/purchasing for self- and family-preservation, and it’s so intrinsically defensive, that we lose all perspective. And as “survival” becomes everything, so we slowly begin to forget that the path of satisfaction and joy, healing of our own hearts’ wounds and an enriching sense of purpose – those things we long for and work so hard for – is found in serving others.

And, yes, it’s just hard to think charitably about the very ones who might become in desperation the dreaded Golden Horde and prey on those we love. “It’s their own fault, they could have gotten informed, they do not deserve our help, they played while we prepared, they are fools…” – it’s all, tragically, true. But this is what the virtues of mercy and pity and compassion are all about! Tragedy and calamity and danger do not negate the simple truth of this second “most important commandment.”

This is easier to consider if our preps are well along. But even if we are in the “panic phase,” realizing we’ve begun “too late” to prep, we can still do something now. We need not wait until all of our own plans are totally complete before we consider others. It’s true, that we cannot save them all. We just can’t. But can we really just do nothing and hunker down while the world goes mad around us? We turn our backs on them today only at our own peril and loss. Yes, certainly, our families come first, then the local survival community – our team, our friends. Yes, we must avoid giving potential adversaries information about our capabilities and resources that they might take advantage of (i.e., OPSEC), and plan for a strong defense if and when that time comes, and all those other wise things.

OPSEC is an important principle, but it cannot be the most important factor. There is always risk (sometimes unforeseen risk), in everything we do and not do. I dare say there are ways to help others that would not risk OPSEC at all. It's really a continuum, from zero risk right up to sacrificing oneself for a reasonable, worthy cause. Some risks are worth taking.
Even while we work to protect our own we can be reaching out to make a difference. If we don’t, who will? You know that answer.

This calls for bold and daring action. We can prepare and teach and warn and equip in a hundred creative, savvy ways. Photocopy articles to share, “jump start” the widow’s preps with rice and beans and wheat (don’t forget the diatomaceous earth!), and make plans with other preppers how we might work together to feed and rescue our unprepared neighbors.
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” – Matthew 9:36 (NLT)

Like the four intrepid Bielski brothers in WWII Poland who saved 1,236 Jews from death at Hitler’s hand, our call, our purpose in this regard, is to “save as many as we can.” And the strategy and scope of that will be different for each of us! Never forget that God has given us each unique skills and resources and station in life for a purpose.
Pray about it, and watch for the opportunities. Find a way. Save as many as you can.

“Once there was a great storm that washed thousands of starfish up onshore. As an old man walked the beach he saw a young boy picking up stranded starfish and quickly returning them to the sea.
The man approached the boy and said, “What are you doing? The sun is rising. What difference does it make? They're all going to die anyway.” As the boy rose from gently tossing back yet another starfish he said, “I made a difference to THAT one…”

While much has been written about the essentials of survival (emergency shelter, fire-making, water purification, defense, hunting, bug-out-bags, etc.), few survival experts have focused on ideas and tactics for maintaining morale and good mental health in a stressful and possibly sustained emergency situation.  This essay is intended to arm the reader, figuratively speaking, with some tools for helping people stay positive and energized while under stress.  These tips and ideas will be useful for any group, whether or not it includes children, or an individual.  The games are not my inventions; rather, I’ve picked them up over the years from work at camps and with team building groups.

For your kit:           

• Consider including a travel chess set; you can make or purchase an inexpensive vinyl roll-up chess board and plastic pieces that add negligible weight or bulk to your bug-out-bag but can provide endless hours of mentally stimulating and fun activity, at the same time developing and honing strategic thinking skills.

• A deck of cards with instruction sheet for different games.

• A simple rubber ball (remember those solid pink ones from when you were a kid?)  The repetitive motion of rhythmic bouncing against a wall can be meditative; a ball is all you need to play a competitive game of handball with a friend.  This item may have other survival uses as well (to get a line up into a tree, perhaps?)\

• A compact book of stories that can be read and re-read.  Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Books is delightful for adults and for kids and makes for a great read-aloud; readers can create fun voices for the different animal characters or put on short plays to tell the stories.

Games for when you have room to run around and can make noise:

• Everybody’s It – in this energizing tag game that gets everybody laughing, simply determine boundaries and start playing!  Every person is “it” and can tag anyone else; once tagged, a player is out and must sit or crouch where they are.  A fun twist is to let out players continue in the game; they can tag others, as long as they don’t move from their position.  The last person standing is the winner.

• Elbow Tag - everyone finds a partner and they stand together with elbows linked. Each pair spreads out throughout the playing area. The leader picks one pair to be the first players involved in the chase; one is the runner and the other is the chaser. If the chaser catches the runner, they switch roles. If the runner chooses, they can hook elbows on any end of the any pairs standing in the playing area. When this happens, the person in the pair who has not been hooked onto must run and become the new runner. Play this game until people get tired or bored; there is no winner or losers.
  
  
• Snake Tag - start out with three to four in a group. Try to get as many groups as possible and leave a person as "it". Have the members of each group attach together by holding onto the waist of the person in front of them to form a snake. The person in front is the head and the person in back is the tail. To start, the person that is "it" must catch the tail of one of the snakes and attached to it. If he is successful, the head must come off and he is now "it". You are to twist and turn your snake to keep from losing your head.
  
  
• Eye Contact Partner Tag (Good for indoors) - pair up players. During the game the only person that you can tag is your partner.  For the tag, you must make eye contact with your partner.  All players must keep their eyes open (except for the occasional blink) and at shoulder-head level during play (so no looking up in the sky or down at the ground). Most non-“it” players will make eye contact with other non-“it” players as to avoid looking at their partner. For a better tag ratio, limit eye contact with any other player to 5 seconds.  Before starting make sure everyone understands the boundary area – the smaller the better (keep it safe). Then ask each pair to decide who will be “it” first. All the “it”s gather in the middle of the playing area. (At this time the non-“it”  players are looking for some sort of hiding advantage within the playing area.) When the facilitator says “go”, the “it”s go off to find and make eye contact with their partners. Once the tag is made the new “it” must turn around three times before going after his or her partner for the tag-back.

Games that don’t involve running around:

• Common Links - divide the players into 3 or 4 groups. Each group has to come up with 5-10 facts that are common to everyone in the group (and write them down?). After about 5 minutes, gather all the groups together and share the 5-10 facts. For each fact that the group has that no other group has, they get a point. So if two groups had "have a dog" they wouldn't get a point for that. The team with the most points wins.

• Sing Down - split group into teams of 3-5 (they’ll need pen and paper) and direct them to list as many songs that include a given word (e.g. “blue”) in the title or lyrics.  After about 5 minutes, call time; they may not add any more songs to their lists.  In turn, each team must sing part of one of their songs.  Teams may not repeat songs that have already been sung; if they do so, they are out.  The winning team is the last to have a song remaining on their list.
  
  
• Graveyard - One person is chosen to be the gatekeeper. Everyone else lies down on the ground; after the countdown from 10, no one can move. The gatekeeper has to catch people moving to get them out. Once a person is out they can help the gatekeeper try to get other people out. The gatekeeper cannot touch anyone but can say funny things to get people to move or laugh.

• Rhythm Maker – the group should sit down cross-legged on the floor in a large circle; the rhythm maker's job is to change the rhythm of the group. A volunteer leaves the room and later comes back into the middle of the circle to guess who the rhythm maker is. Make sure the group understands that they do not want to be obvious about who the rhythm maker is. The person guessing gets three chances to guess whom the one changing the group’s rhythm is. If she guesses correctly, she gets to choose who the next rhythm maker is after the previous rhythm maker leaves the room to get ready to guess. Therefore, rhythm maker becomes the one who guesses, the one who guessed becomes the one who chooses the next rhythm maker unless they could not guess correctly, then they have to be the security guard. (The one who makes sure the person who is going to guess does not peek).

Ongoing games:

• Stinky fish – the group has a clothesline or other clip, which becomes the undesirable “stinky fish.”  The object is to attach the “stinky fish” to a player’s person (not their pack or any item they are carrying) without them noticing.  Now they are “it” or the “stinky fish” and have to find an unwitting player to which they can attach the clip.  This game can go on until the “stinky fish” is lost; you’d be surprised how long a group might keep it going.

• Who’s Got the Fruit? – each player chooses the name of a fruit; each fruit may be claimed by only one player.  This is a virtual tag game; whoever has “got the fruit” is “it.”  The way that the person starting the game (or whoever is “it” at any point during the game) passes off the fruit is by saying the name of a player’s fruit three times in succession without being blocked; a targeted player blocks an attack by interrupting the sequence of 3 by saying the name of the fruit him or herself.  For example, if I have “got the fruit” and want to get rid of it, and one of my fellow players is “apple”, I might say “apple apple apple”, or I might more casually work the word into conversation:  “I sure miss apple pie…apple apple!”

Other ideas and resources:

A quick internet search using the terms “minute mysteries” or “brain teasers”  will find countless activities you can add to your repertoire.  Crossword puzzle or Sudoku books would also be welcome in many a survival camp.  You could plan calisthenics or stretching as a group, using yoga cards or your own memories, to get people together and focused on feeling good.  Most activities can be made into games or friendly competitions with the right attitude; it goes without saying that a positive attitude and orientation towards collaboration may be the most crucial tools in your survival toolkit.  The best thing about these activities is that you don’t have to wait for a survival situation to use them!

I have lived in the UK for the last 25 years, but the first 25 years of my life I spent in what is now called an ex-Soviet block country, so I have a view from both sides.
In the Eastern Europe people would generally be more interdependent, for the simple reason that the society was less commercialized. In the West you can usually buy anything you need, so the biggest issue is to have money to purchase goods and services. In the East there was more reliance on the informal means, especially when times got tougher. Younger people, who have less money, by necessity would use these methods more.  If the society were to simplify itself and our relationships became more local and reciprocal, then those interpersonal skills would become more important than they are now.
Over the years I found that it is useful to know WHO to help. Helping others should be a two-way street. Unfortunately some people will use your help without appreciating your effort and they would not help you back if or when you need it. This note is about how to identify those who are not like that.

LIMITATIONS. I need to mention that there will be people you would always want to help without asking for anything in return – either because they are important to you or you know that they are in absolute need. Alternatively you are helping because you think that an idea or an organisation needs supporting. Or you are interested in the work itself and want to gain experience. This essay is not about those cases.

PURPOSE.  This essay is purely on how to test your acquaintances to find people who are perceptive to sharing and helping. It also saves time and is fun to do. You want to identify those who appreciate the effort others expanded for their benefit and who are willing to pay back in a way they can.

STEP 1. ASK FOR HELP.  
The fastest and easiest method is to ask somebody for help. It should be something small, that is well within their capability to do, but not something they think they have to do for you. You want them to exercise their judgment. If they do it – you thank them, reciprocate at a later date and they get onto your mental list of helpful people.
Unfortunately  I found it quite hard, as I am not good at asking for help, so I haven’t developed the techniques in this area.

STEP 2. SET-UP AN EXPERIMENT.
This step is of limited use, but it still can give you an insight into how people operate. It is to set-up an disguised experiment, testing if people reciprocate. You set up a common resource and tell people that they are free to use it, but they should replenish what they have used. Then you discretely observe it over a prolonged time and make a mental note who replenished the used resource. You might find (as I did) that very few people will. While they would always pay back the money they borrowed, they don’t think of a common good the same way.
Example – some months ago I set up an informal scheme at work, where I put some chocolate on one of the cupboards and invited people to help themselves. I told them that if they think they have eaten a whole slab, they should buy a new one and replace it. This was running for several months. Many ate the chocolate, few replaced it, so you could be forgiven in thinking that the experiment was a failure. But it had some other benefits: it provided a nice atmosphere, nobody (but me) would take the last piece (which shows some appreciation) and if I identified some people who would have a communal spirit, that would be a bonus.
Another method would be to notice who buys drinks in a pub and if people buy their share. This is less likely to be meaningful, because there are relatively strict social rules about it (at least in the UK), and you want to test peoples’ hearts, not their adherence to the rules.
NB. This experiment is not worth doing unless the participants are all local - if they live far away, their helpfulness is of limited use if conditions deteriorate.

The following steps are dealing with what to do when somebody you know asks you for help and you are in a position to exercise choice; you are not obliged to help them. If your acquaintances know you as a practical person, you probably will be asked to help them quite often. When you are – this opens an opportunity for a new experiment.

STEP 3. ASK A ‘MAGIC QUESTION’.
When you are asked for help, say that you will help them, but first that person has to do something small to facilitate it. Usually there are some things that have to be done in preparation for the main work. Note that the person’s effort you are asking for can be small in comparison to the bulk of work required.
There are two reasons for this approach: first is to weed-out people who ask you to help them because they can’t be bothered to do it themselves and are too stingy to pay somebody else to do it as a part of their job. Secondly, if it is important to them, you want to help them.
You will be surprised how many people give up at this stage. If they do give up, it shows that they just wanted to use you as a source of free labour; you gain this new information and save yourself time and effort. Also people in this frame of mind don’t appreciate the efforts of others, so helping them would not be an investment either.
If they jump through this hoop, you know that the project is important to them (because they were prepared to invest some effort in it), so your work is more likely to be noticed.
Example 1:
Q: Could I borrow your wallpaper stripper, please?
A: Sure, but would you ring me tonight and remind me to put it in the boot of my car? Otherwise I will forget. My memory is pretty bad.
Example 2:
Q: Could you come to my house and put-up some shelves, please?
A: Sure, can you write which tools of (xxx type) you have? Also you will need to buy (screws, ..... –list here). Let me know when you are ready.
Example 3:
Q: Could you set-up my web-site, please?
A: Sure, I think the best approach would be if you designed it on a piece of paper, together with its functionality. If you need any patterns or pictures, would you collect those in one folder too? Let me know when you are ready.
Example 4:
(At a campsite)
Q: Would you be so kind and darn my socks, please?
A: Sure, but only if they are clean.
Note that in each of those cases you come out as a really helpful guy, even if that person doesn’t take you up on the offer. This is a ‘magic question’.
The beauty of the ‘magic question’ approach is that it doesn’t only apply to voluntary arrangements – it can also be used at work or in any other interpersonal exchanges: (Does the client really need this project to be done so quickly? Does my child really want that toy so badly? Does my wife really want that wall painted?).
The ‘magic question’ technique should be practiced whenever the opportunity arises, then it becomes a second nature. Children are perfect test subjects for practising the skill, because they ask for help a lot. They will also enjoy helping with the execution.

STEP 4. DO THE WORK TOGETHER.
 Once that person jumped through the first hoop, it is time to do some work. This becomes more job-specific, but the general rules are:

• make sure that you are helping the person, not doing the job for them. So if there is any part of the job they can do – they should.
• If possible, they should stay with you while you are doing the work. There are four reasons for this:  First – they learn how to do the tasks, so it improves the practical skills of the people you know. Second – they may be able to do smaller tasks, which are helpful (like bringing tools or making cups of tea). Third – they see how much effort you expanded; people who are not practical have no idea how long tasks take, so they are likely to underestimate your effort. Fourth: It is more fun (and safer in many cases) to do work, when there are helpers around.
• If it is not possible for the person to help (for example in some highly technical computer work), then they still should be around, perhaps doing something else. For example they could cook dinner for you or paint a wall while you are working for them. This is not ideal, but at least they see how long things take.

You want to avoid the situation that you work on your own over several week-ends and the recipient complains that the project took so long, they would be better off going to a professional and pay for it. This may well be the case – why didn’t they?

STEP 5. APPRECIATION.
 For some time after the work is done (some weeks) tune into some signs of appreciation – a nice chat, a ‘Thank you’ note, or a mention of the results of the project and how well it works. A thoughtful and appreciative person would make a gesture showing that. If you lent something to somebody, the equipment should come back promptly in a state not worse than it was lent. It should be brought to your house, rather than you having to go somewhere to collect it.

STEP 6. RECIPROCATION.
Some time after the project is finished (weeks or months), ask the person for some (small) help. This should be something that is well within their capabilities. This could be running a small errand for you, or picking your children from school one day. Infirm people could be keepers of spare keys to your house or have a parcel delivered to their address when you are at work. Most helpful people would be delighted to reciprocate.
 Perhaps they can’t help you for good reasons – then they would normally say why they can’t help; it would be very specific and followed by an offer to do something else. But if they give you a feeble excuse (like ‘I don’t have time’ coming from a person with no children and no job), then you know they are just parasites and don’t help them again.

SUMMARY.
The techniques described above lead to more knowledge of the people around you, which you may have to rely on in hard circumstances. The usefulness of this approach is that it gives you the information about how helpful your neighbours and friends are, while building better relationships with the ones you want to keep. It also saves you a lot of time and effort, as vast majority of people are not willing to help themselves. If executed well it builds good will and the people around you don’t notice that you are testing them.
The technique (especially the ‘magic question’) should be practiced as often as possible, in as many unrelated environments and relationships as you can. Eventually it becomes a second nature. It allows you to concentrate your efforts on the tasks that are really wanted, rather than dissipate your energy, because the person you are helping can’t be bothered to do it for themselves.
This better focus and knowledge about the people around you should help you choose a stronger group of friends who have helped you in the past.