The end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI) has probably crossed your mind lately. It might have been just a brief news flash about a silly Mayan prophecy, or maybe you have an uncle who still thinks the Russians are gonna nuke us. More likely in our generation, our societal bonds could disintegrate thanks to erosion of our financial system. If you have not given this situation much thought, it is high time to start. The first step is to take the possibility seriously. If you cannot handle this basic prerequisite, well, Devil take the hindmost.

Once you acknowledge that the world as you know it could change overnight (as it did one day in September a decade ago, forever making 911 more than an emergency phone number), you can begin to get your mind into the right shape to handle things that might come. First off, look around you. Are you happy with the quality of "people" you see on television? Do you sense a budding sickness in society, perhaps born of ignorance and apathy? Whether by endorsing unfundable entitlement programs or refusing to speak out against unconstitutional infringements on our guaranteed rights, these are the lazy masses deciding the direction of our economy and country. Do not wait around for an irresponsible government to provide a backup plan for a problem it won't admit exists. Decide now that your fate will not be determined by fools and demagogues. If there's one thing we're supposed to know how to do in this country, it is to take care of business when the going gets rough. Now exhale and use your brain.

Everyone has their own ideas about what they would need to survive. We know there are basic needs of food, water, and shelter which we earn by trading our labor, resources, and knowledge. Unfortunately we actually trade for money which is then converted into satisfying our needs and wants. But how is worth estimated when your neighbors no longer value green toilet paper with pictures of dead presidents? When the intermediary is gone from the equation, you must trade directly. With assets lying around for anyone to take, what is special and valuable from an individual? The quick answer is skill set - what you bring to the table besides a consuming belly. All the survivalist staples (like bug-out bags, bomb shelters, and sustainable living, to name a few) are secondary to the primary survival tool you have: your mindset. Whether you are prepared for a new way of living or not, your skill set brings value and your mindset determines your survival.

Currency is the grease which keeps our mighty economic engine cranking at high RPMs. If we lose it, then everyday single-swipe type transactions vanish as does all the industry that depends on things moving at break-neck speed, inevitably to collapse under the weight of its own complexity, only for the want of a little engine oil. Fortunately we grew up with tales of how the country can work (and used to work) at a slower pace. According to your grandpa, those were the Good Ol' Days. There was more bartering and human interaction, less telemarketing and ADHD. This is not to say your current diploma-requisite job is useless; however, smart money says invest in yourself by learning something your grandma would be proud to see perpetuated.

Cities do not function below a certain RPM. Without hundreds of trucks bringing in supplies daily, everyone starves. Riots and looting are only two days deep into hunger and authoritative neglect, as evidenced by recent superstorm Sandy in the Northeast. Maybe you think about escaping to the countryside where the food grows - well, everyone else is thinking that, too. Imagine: desperate hordes fleeing into the wilderness in search of a replacement for their supermarket. They will find mostly unfamiliar countryside, as not everyone is a hunter or farmer. In fact, relatively few of us have the skills to survive on our own. The vast majority of people need a bunch of other providers to live. The main reason we built societies in the first place was to make it easier on everyone. You might even manage to survive as a loner, but you won't thrive. For success after TEOTWAWKI, you need to be accepted into a community that somehow works without our current authority and currency. Yet outside of immediate family members, who would take you in?

A survival-minded group is not going to accept everyone who stumbles into it. For their own protection of limited resources, they will turn away anyone who cannot pull his own weight. Furthermore, they will be practiced in turning away people with necessary force. You will need to offer skills and knowledge that make you worth a share of the food. If you have no obviously valuable skills (carpentry, plumbing, cooking - all those things learned by the vo-tech kids you looked down on in high school), you had better learn to have a valuable attitude. If you think you could be manual labor, well, that's true of anyone. Why should you be the one a community says Yes to? In modern terms, you should think of your survival chances like a job interview. The best answers win and you had better sell yourself well. If you are qualified, you need to prove it. If not, you need to be convincing without fudging your resume.

Think of what kind of homeless person you would allow into your own home. What qualities could such a person have? Should they be honest? Tolerant? Talkative? Picky? These days we get away with character traits that can hardly exist in less evolved societies. White lies, prejudice, insecurity, finicky, fastidious, vegetarian, promiscuity, addictions, and high-maintenance personalities. After TEOTWAWKI, those days are over. Eat whatever is on your plate, like your grandma always said, because there might not be any more. Bothered by things like snoring or bad breath? Learn to live with it. The less trouble you are, the easier you are to keep. You will need to not give any excuse to exclude you from the community. Getting kicked out is as bad as never being accepted in the first place. To wit, you will have to get along with everyone.

Be willing to do anything. Remember your grandparents' work ethic and make them proud. Work doesn't stop when the sweat starts, and after work there will not necessarily be a shower. Work so hard no one can question your devotion. Never get caught lying, stealing, or holding back. You won't get a second chance to rebuild trust. Don't talk about things you wish you had, like chocolate or a bubble bath. Everything you do and say has to make things easier on everyone else, not harder. Think twice about anything before opening your mouth - it might be better to just internalize the comment. You don't have to get two cents into every conversation. You could be better off being considered a good listener who only speaks when he has something of quality to say.

Imagine this kind of person you could invite into your home, because that's who you need to be to get accepted into someone else's group. Make that decision now, and you can learn some skills while you have a peaceful chance to do so. Home gardening is cheap and will grow on you (pun intended). You'll learn how to nurture and no one will know if you fail early on. Cook something that doesn't come with directions on a box. Chop a log or two and see the real cost of that store-bought bundle of fireplace fodder. Go fishing for the first time since you were a kid, and this time clean your own catch. Sew a patch onto your oldest pair of jeans and ask yourself: could I stitch an injury?

It is possible that you won't have skills an established community needs or respects. They might not let you in . But it doesn't necessarily end there, if you are of a persistent mind to be useful. What can you do if you're not accepted inside? Offer to do reconnaissance and mapping. Offer to be a postman/courier between communities. Perimeter security. Ambassador. Negotiator/tradesman. Musician/entertainer. Translator, even! By the way, you are not asking for charity or handouts - you are offering information and services in exchange for food. You might even eventually earn your way inside. Trust is a thing built on experience and performance, not credit.

The decision to survive is really the same as to be a useful member of a society. If you have not prepared for TEOTWAWKI already, then you should learn some post-apocalypse marketable skills. If your only skills are modern and complex, it's time to appreciate some of the old-school, traditional ones. The immediate result (even if society does not collapse) is that you will be a more valuable person, both to society and your self-esteem. You will be stronger of mind and willpower. If you do not want this for yourself, then be honest: are you really worth saving?

Mr Rawles, thank you for the service you provide.

A comment on the dual ring village concept. If it is advanced as a defense tactic, I would urge remembering that the walled-town versus siegecraft dynamic is thousands of years old, and the survival of walled towns and cities is only possible if they are:

1. Provisioned to last longer than the besieging force, which is of course free to forage and be resupplied
2. Fireproof
3. Relieved by a friendly force from outside.

They are also utterly obsolete since the development of artillery bombardment, still more so since the airplane and missile. Sad but true.

IMHO, safety today must rely on:

1. Invisibility or insignificance to possible enemy
2. Effective surveillance of a wide perimeter
3. mobile defense force to engage potential enemy at a distance

War is not only Hell, but quite expensive!

Thanks again! - Ben F.

Dear Sir:
I am taking this time to write, because you express an interest in solutions that provide enhanced security and prosperity for people. I, too, like the idea of a fortified village, instead of isolationism.

One possible solution, the dual ring village (DRV), is based on a simple idea. Imagine a line of mixed use buildings - something like the 1890s in New York City. Stores on the street level, with apartments above. Take that line and wrap into a circle. Take another line of buildings, and wrap that into a circle, placed within the first circle. The result : two circular buildings, a ring street between them, and a round park. . . a dual ring village. One more embellishment - construct continuous balconies at each upper level - not unlike the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Obvious benefits : consolidated population, proximity to vocations, retail, services, social access, a large central park, access to a roof deck garden, and inherent security controlled by the gateway. Easy access around, up and down the ring, via the balconies, etc., and reduced  overcrowding on the ground level.

Engineering benefits : curved walls are stronger, use less materials, shared walls reduce exposure to the elements, curved walls deflect winds, and resist side forces (earthquakes). If the exterior ring wall is constructed as a substantial barrier, it would also offer protection from storm surge, flash floods, and mudslides. Security from flooding is dependent on wall height.

Alternative View benefits : The roof deck garden and balcony planters, as well as the central park, conserve more green space than most other high density population designs. Depending on the size and resources of the DRV, may reduce or eliminate the necessity for owning an automobile.

The drawbacks : A DRV has to be designed and built as a monolithic unit, not incrementally. This design also flies in the face of convention, thus is unattractive to the "powers that be." Worse, it fosters a rebellious independence of the Ringers. (Chinese Hakka Tulous are a good example). It is also not designed to expand, other than adding layers, which may not be feasible (shading factor, etc). Generally, population growth will need to be dealt with by building additional DRVs.

Ideas, criticisms, and brainstorming welcome. See the Ring Life Yahoo Group.

JWR Replies: I have briefly mentioned the traditional Fujian Tulou design in SurvivalBlog. Based on the 19th and 20th Century history of urban fires, I don't recommend building entirely monolithic structures. The narrow streets between buildings can be protected by gates, mantlets, or other mobile barricades. But at least they will reduce the risk of a catastrophic fire that cannot be stopped.

I was born into a family of preppers.  My grandparents were all farmers and lived through the Great Depression in the Midwest.   My parents both grew up on farms and came from large families.  While my folks would not label themselves today as preppers, they would consider themselves as independent and self-reliable.  In order to understand my journey as a prepper, you have to go back a few years.  Early into my parents’ marriage, my dad just got out of the navy and worked in various cities and towns, from Texas to Minnesota.  The largest town we lived in was Minneapolis, but usually we lived in towns with a population of around 100,000 people.  As the family grew, there was a desire for my parents to move to an acreage, to get a large farmhouse, and to raise some animals.  By the early 1980s they were able to purchase an acreage that was homesteaded in the late 1800s and was located in rural South Dakota.  It was about 8 acres, had a barn, chicken coop, and two-story house.  It was located at least 20 miles from any town over 1,000 people.  The acreage was situated on a high water table, so we had an outdoor well and had a sand point well for the water in the house.   

After my parents purchased the property, they bought a milk cow, laying hens, some sheep, and a dog.  My mom planted a large garden (roughly 30 yards by 10 yards) with a variety of vegetables.  She canned the extras and created a pantry with shelving all the way to the ceiling with the many jars.  All my siblings helped in the process, hauling up the vegetables to the house and cutting them up.  Many of our neighbors grew large sections of sweet corn, so we would usually eat corn most days in the summer and then would have a few days devoted to freezing the extra corn (sometimes two pickup loads).  My parents went from having a small chest freezer when they were first married to purchasing two large, used chest freezers (these were about 6 feet long).  These came in handy when they began butchering their own cows, pigs, and chickens.  It was not too long until their freezers and pantry were full of meat and vegetables.

In order to save money on clothing, we would wear hand-me-down clothing, and my mom sewed/repaired our clothes to make them last as long as possible.  We attended public school and even in by the late 1980’s and early 1990s, I can remember being bullied because we did not wear “cool” clothes, have neat electronic gadgets,  or bring homemade things for show-n-tell/holiday time instead of from a store.  I remember these bullies using various names to me and my siblings, ranging from being a loser and hick, to poor and worthless.

It was this time in school that I vowed that I was going to get a great job, make a lot of money and show these classmates just how wrong they were.  I vowed that I was going to study hard so I could be the first in my family and go to college.  I wanted to get as far as possible from the rural life.  The summers would especially motivate me to study hard and change my future.  It was during the summers that I spent much of the time on my grandparent’s farm, getting up at 5:00 am, picking rock, milking cows, pulling weeds out of the fields, fixing machinery, putting up hay, and doing other chores until late in the evening.  By the end of the summer I would be even more motivated to move away and was left with a motivation to do well when school started up again in the fall. 

I excelled in school and did end up going to college.  My parents were unable to financially provide for me to go to college, so I did work-study, took out student loans, and worked as a resident assistant to pay for my dorm room.  The motivation from the summers at my grandparent’s farm was still fresh in my mind and I graduated four years later.  I did well in college and ended up going straight to graduate school, this time even further away from my parents.  I enjoyed the college life, much preferring the academic pursuits as compared with my previous manual labor on the farm.

It was then that my “average” life began - the life that I had always wanted.  I got married, graduated again and got a great job.  With both me and my wife working, we were making great money.  We had accrued over $70,000 in student loans, but where happy to pay just the minimum monthly payment.  We enjoyed eating out many times a week and spent a lot towards “entertainment” each month.  We bought a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo; a new car; and took a trip to Disney World.  Things were good. 

Then my best friend, a man in his twenties with a young family died of cancer.  It shook me up and made me reevaluate all aspects of my life.  It was then that things started to change for me.  We had a young daughter at the time and made a decision that one of us would stay home with her.  My wife quit her full-time job and went to a very part-time position (a few days a month).  In addition, my parents gave us tickets to a live Dave Ramsey event and we decided to get “gazelle intense”, getting on a budget and paying down our debts.  Even with our income going down greatly, it still felt like we had more money than ever.  Less than two years later we had to push “hold” on our debt pay-off, as we had a son.  My wife did not work at all that year, and our son had a difficult beginning, so our medical bills were pretty high.  Being a father to a son, I thought a lot about my role as provider and protector, as well as the legacy that I wanted to leave for my family.  It felt that I was a long way from where I grew up in terms of my lifestyle.  Life was fast-paced, we lived in the city, we went to the grocery store near our house a few times a week, and we even had all our yard/maintenance taken care of thorough our homeowner's association (HOA.)  But I could feel a yearning that there was something missing. And thus began my return trip home!

It was with two young kids that we decided to move back closer to my family.  The decision did not happen overnight, but rather over 18 months and a lot of prayer.  The housing market bubble had popped and we lost about $25,000 on our place but we packed up and moved anyway.  We found a two-bedroom apartment in our new town, only about 25 minutes from my parent’s acreage.  We decided that we wanted life to slow down and get back the skills that generations of my family had all known.  In order to do this with only one income we got creative on how to save money.  We began couponing, collecting the weekend newspapers on Monday from the motel just a few blocks from our place.  We sold our car for a used minivan.  I went to my parent’s acreage and helped butcher chickens like when I was a kid – my folks were grateful to have us back and to be helping so they gave us 30 chickens for our freezer (we acquired to small chest freezers that we have in our garage).  I helped my uncle butcher four large pigs, and like my parents, he appreciated the extra help, thanking me by getting me about 50 pounds of ground pork.  We used the envelope system for our budget and paid cash for our purchases.  We got a used food dehydrator at a garage sale for $5 and began to use it.  We tried our hand at canning and did a few small batches with various foods.  We made our own laundry detergent, baked our own bread, and tried to drive our vehicles less.  With these small changes, we currently have our monthly food budget at under $250 for our family of four.  We are proud to say that our student loans are down to about $4,500 and we don’t have any car payments or credit card debt!  We even have our $1,000 emergency fund and within a few months hope to have the remainder of our debt paid off.  We then hope to save for a house, maybe even an acreage just like my folks. 

Since moving back closer to my family, I have devoted myself to learning about new skills.  I have always enjoyed reading, so I naturally began to follow blogs and read books on how to be self-reliant and how to save money.  Much to my surprise, most of the books and blogs I was learning the most from were from a group of folks called preppers.   While I do follow multiple blogs now, I do have to say that it is SurvivalBlog is my favorite.  Not only has it helped me to stretch my dollar for food, I have acquired so many new skills that I now don’t know how I lived without them.  I feel that I am now a better provider and protector for my family.  I like that our house now has a medical kit, a bug-out-bag that we can grab at a moment’s notice and enough food to last us for at least 3 to 6 months.  I enjoy how there is a focus in SurvivalBlog about family and the importance on building relationships.  I feel equipped that even with all the negative news on television, my family is going to be okay, as we are going to be prepared.    

You may be reading this and have not made the decision to get started.  You may be facing some of the same challenges I had or you may have your own.  I want to encourage you to find ways to overcome your obstacles.  Getting started is the biggest step. 

My family and I have always led a very frugal life.  My wife and I both work, and I have a second job as well.  The grocery bill stays under $30 per week through couponing and eating-in.  Money has gone into savings in case of emergency and we finally have a few months saved up.  Any extra at the end of the month is put towards a quickly dwindling mortgage.  The only expense we do not continually try to find new ways to lower is the tithe.

This was our lifestyle before I started ‘hearing’ the news last summer.  I had been reading and listening to the news, but I had not been hearing it (my ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ reference).  I quickly realized I needed more information.  With a Google search I found SurvivalBlog and started reading the main page… then the archives… then looked for other resources.  I promptly realized I needed to stop reading and get started.  I also realized I had two major hurdles before I could even start.

Hurdle number one was my wife’s fears.  Like most people, we were sheeple, making our way through life in the blessed assurance that the security blanket we had been given would always be there to keep us safe and warm.  Fortunately, we communicate about everything (we don’t always see eye to eye, but we do talk).  At first, the news scared her.  She could only handle a few minutes of my questions at a time a couple of days a week.  I just had to slowly feed her information.  I asked questions when making meal plans like, “What would we do if the food we needed for the week was not available at the stores?”  It is 10 months later and I am still asking questions.  She is involved now, but not as much as I would like her to be, or as much as she really needs to be if something happens.   It is an ongoing process, but isn’t everything about getting prepared?

At some point she conceded we had to do something, and trusted me to start.  She was okay with being prepared, but she is still not interested in imagining her life after TSHTF.  She helps by buying more at the store than we need when there are deals on goods with a long shelf life.  She also created storage options under the beds and set up a system to track the expiration dates on these purchases. 

In opposition to some of the advice we see, we do not always buy food we will eat if we still have it in two years from now.  We understand much of it will need to be donated and replaced at that time.  I have asked her to start with an easy goal of accumulating three months worth of food and water at the most economical price possible.   Sometimes this means purchasing things we have coupons for that we would not normally buy.  If TSHTF and I am hungry, am I really going to care that the food available consists of chopped tomatoes instead of Campbell’s soup, or am I just going to be thankful to have something to eat?  After we have three months stocked, I will explain the need for six months to her… or more likely, introduce the idea that we may need to have enough food for any loved ones who are not stocking up as well.

On a slightly out of context note: An unlucky squirrel blew a transformer in the middle of town here a few months ago, causing power to go out throughout the area in the middle of the day.  I attempted to buy from the local Wal-Mart, Publix and Kroger.  None of them would sell me anything because their computers were down.  They had the doors locked.  The stores are dependant on the barcodes to get prices for the products, and their inventory systems communicate with their corporate offices to reorder items.  In addition, they won’t be taking any credit or debit cards without their machines to approve the sales.  I often hear we should get to the grocery stores with our cash as soon as we see there is an issue, but if the power is out due to an EMP or natural disaster, it is probably be too late, even with cash.  Waiting to buy food at the first sign of trouble is not a viable option.

The second hurdle was finances.  As I mentioned, we are both conscious of our money and live a thrifty lifestyle.  Where was the additional money going to come from to buy supplies and additional groceries?  How would I start buying some silver coins?  For me, the answer was in something I had already been doing every week… yard sales.

I had been spending every Saturday morning in search of yard sale stuff already.  All of a sudden my list got longer.  I found two military issued backpacks just back from Afghanistan for less than $10 total.  I bought fishing gear, boots, warm clothing, storage containers, cabinets, five gallon gas cans, propane tanks, knives, two multi-tools, ropes, tarps, a canteen, and a second first aid kit.  Silver jewelry bought for dollars often finds a home in my new safe (also bought at a yard sale).  In addition, www.Craigslist.com is a virtual 24 hour yard sale.  I have picked up all sorts of useful things, from 55 gallon drums to a new firearm, on there.

I also started looking at the stuff at yard sales as a way to make more money I could use to buy other things I needed.  This takes some research and I had to choose a few things I would specialize in.  The pair of silver plated candelabra’s bought for $5 sold at the local coin shop for $35.  A practically new 8-man Tent bought for $10 was sold for $50 on Craigslist.  I have learned to avoid certain things like watches which I can’t authenticate, vinyl albums which I do not know enough about to make money, and old cameras which are a pain to sell.  Selling the items is the hard part and it is work.  It may sound like buying something for $1 and selling it for $5 is a 500% profit, but with the cost of gas I use driving around and the time I need to put into selling things, I typically shoot for larger profits.

A cell phone is an invaluable tool while at a sale.  Want to know how much an item is worth?  Check it out at www.eBay.com before buying it.  Ebay is the ultimate source to find out what an item is worth since it tells you the true value people are willing to pay.  Remember to look at the Sold listings.  Just because an item is actively listed for $50 does not mean it has sold in the past for more than $25.

This work resulted in enough money to start buying the things I could not find locally.  The essentials, such as a solar powered battery charger, a hand-cranked emergency radio and water purifying equipment I still had to get from Amazon.  Ammo still had to come from the store.  A small silver coin collection is financed from the yard sale profits and continues to be added to.  Watch sites such as www.Slickdeals.net for discounts on everything from flashlights to pistols.

You literally never know what you are going to find for sale.  One of my most surprising finds was ten AR-15 thirty round magazines for $1 each.  My advice if you want to give this a try is to get started early, and plan your route.  Craigslist and your local newspaper are good places to look for upcoming sales in your area.  I like to get a list of the ones starting at 7:00 AM or earlier and head that direction first.  I recommend getting there 30 minutes early (unless they specifically request that you do not in their ad).  Most people are setting up and do not mind you looking.  After those, choose a route going by as many populated areas as possible.  You have to get out early because by about 8:00 AM all of the valuable items, such as jewelry and collectibles, are gone.  There are lots of yard sale pickers out there searching for these.

Be prepared when you arrive.  Do you know how to tell gold and silver jewelry from the costume jewelry?  Have you written a list of the main items you are looking for?  If your spouse is not with you, bring a list of items he or she are looking for.  Be prepared to ask for a discount, even if the price being asked for an item is reasonable.  People expect to bargain at yard sales and every dollar saved helps.  More than half of the time they will discount their price for you.

Lastly, ask for anything specific you are looking for, even if you do not see it.  Sometimes people have things in the house or garage they did not consider selling at first, but are willing to part with.  I picked up a five gallon gas can last week just by asking.

I still have a lot more to search for, but I have the essentials and each week I become more prepared than the week before.

History has shown that empires, nations, societies, and individuals all pass, and that the events of our lives can be, and oftentimes are, very uncertain. 

About a year ago, my wife and I read the novel One Second After by William Forstchen.  While this book is a fictional account of a catastrophic event and the resulting collapse of civilized society, it may depict a disturbingly accurate account of events that could occur in a real-life catastrophe in the near future.  Reading this book resulted in a complete shift in our mindset and caused us to re-evaluate our pursuit of the “American Dream.”  It opened our eyes to the realities that the near future may consist of issues far more serious than retirement and buying our dream home.  While these things are still important, they are not the only factors to consider, or even necessarily the most important factors to consider.

Thus began our journey towards preparing our family for a future event that will change the lifestyles and priorities of our society.

Initially, we read blogs, books, magazine articles, and many other sources of information to educate ourselves in the necessities of preparedness.  We immediately discovered that a person could spend a lifetime researching and learning, and still not know everything there is to know about prepping for a variety of catastrophic circumstances.  We also discovered that prepping is costly, both in time and money.

As we began making plans, lists, and gathering supplies, my wife and I discovered that we each had a mindset unique to us.  This difference was, and is an obstacle that has to be overcome and collaborated in order to maximize the effectiveness of our preparations.

For example, I am a Law Enforcement Officer in a small, rural town in the Rocky Mountains.  I am also an avid outdoorsman, survivalist, and gun enthusiast.  These qualities tend to guide my mind towards preparing a “bug out” location in the mountains, far away from human populations, and living off the land.  It also causes me to consider tactical preparations as a primary issue.  While there are some positive things to be said for this, I have learned that there is far more to prepping than living off the land and shooting the bad guys.

My wife on the other hand, is a stay at home mom who home schools our two children and keeps the home.  Her mindset is to prepare our home to be a safe haven, well stocked with the necessities to survive.  She tends a garden, cans food, sews, cooks, collects and stores food and water, and makes plans to “hunker down” and thrive on our collected resources in our “bug in” home.

These very different mindsets are both important, but must be melded in a manner that creates a balance.  This, along with a limited budget, made it imperative that we prioritize our preparations by order of immediate importance.  To successfully accomplish this prioritization, there are several factors to consider.

Factor #1 – What circumstances are you preparing for?
People prep for many reasons.  In our minds, the most logical preparations take into consideration a wide variety of realistic circumstances, and prioritize the supplies and skills that will prepare you for many different circumstances.  For example, if you prepare exclusively for a worldwide pandemic, but do not prepare for a complete collapse of our current society, your family may starve to death.  This is along the same lines as the commonly quoted idiom, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”  Our personal opinion is that there are numerous circumstances that may lead to the collapse of our society, creating a shortage of necessities, and a breakdown of civil order.  Therefore, because it covers such a broad spectrum of circumstances, it makes sense to us to be prepared for that situation.  When those preps are complete, then narrow down your continuing preps for a particular situation.  We scour web sites such as www.survivalblog.com, www.preppingtosurvive.com, www.americanpreppersnetwork.com, and www.shtfblog.com for useful and practical prepping information.  

Factor #2 – Financial limitations.
Prepping is not cheap.  You could spend infinite amounts of money preparing for the end of the world as we know it, but, if you are like my family, you do not have infinite financial resources.  Thus, you must carefully prioritize, plan, and shop in a manner that maximizes the financial resources that are presently available to you.  For example, if you don’t presently have the financial ability to purchase a solar power system to power your home, you may have enough money to purchase a large supply of non-hybrid seeds, enabling you to plant a garden.  The point is, purchase necessities of survival when you can, and plan to save up your money for the large expense items.  We visit internet sites such as www.preppingonabudget.com, and www.prepareyourselftosurvive.com for information and ideas on prepping with a limited budget.

Factor #3 – Organization
When my wife and I first began prepping, we had all kinds of great ideas, priorities, and purchases which we wanted to implement.  What we quickly discovered was that we often times were making something an immediate priority when there were other items or skills which were a more pressing priority.  We decided to get organized and began to make lists of what items and skills we needed for our preparations.  What we then discovered, is that these lists are always growing, and that, while having a list is great, the items and skills on the lists must be prioritized by order of importance, and must be adaptable to ever changing circumstances.  This organization requires time and effort to create and maintain, but will ultimately result in a more efficient preparedness plan.  This organization and planning is unique to each individual and family, but there are innumerable web sites on the internet that provide insight and opinions into this topic.

Factor #4 – What is truly important?
This is a question that can also be relatively unique to each family or individual.  With that being said, there are several factors that are universally important.  These factors are: clean water, shelter, and food.  It is our personal opinion that these necessities should be prioritized in above order because, while you can live for a while without food, you can’t survive without water for very long, and shelter may be just as important, depending on the situation.  Other factors may be relative to a person’s marital situation or geographic location, but every human on earth requires these needs be met.  That will never change, so make these a #1 priority.  Beyond these necessities, each individual and/or family must decide for themselves what preparations are most important.  One family’s plan may not be the best plan for the family next door.  The point is, meet the necessities first, then prioritize and implement the other preparations.  There are many great books and web sites devoted to these topics.  One web site we have found particularly helpful is www.shelfreliance.com, and our favorite book so far has been JWR's How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It.

Factor #5 – Who are you prepping for?
This is a very important issue to think about.  Are you prepping for your family? You’re extended family?  You’re friends or neighbors?  Or all of the above?  The point is, when these people come knocking at your door and looking for help, what are you going to do?  This needs to be thought out and planned for so that when the time comes, you are not caught unprepared.  Personally, my wife and I feel that the more people we educate on this topic, the less people there are that will be knocking on our door (or knocking down our door), looking for help.

Factor #6 - Learn what you can.
There are almost unlimited resources to assist you in preparedness. Make use of as many resources as possible.  Learn from other people’s mistakes or successes, and do the best you can to avoid making mistakes of your own.  Remember, knowledge and wisdom are two different things, but both can help you survive and thrive in a bad situation.

My wife and I are still very new to the world of preparedness.  We learn new things every day and struggle with balancing prepping with living our lives in way that does not require us to stress or obsess to the point of unhealthy mental strain. 

Prepping can be exhausting and stressful.  Or it can be rewarding, exciting, and fun.  Be diligent, but don’t be militaristic.  Include your entire family and work at your preparations at a pace which best suits your family.  Find ways to make your prepping fun and adventuresome.  Prepping can be used to bond families together.

Our world is ever changing and we must adapt to, and overcome the challenges that arise with these changes if we are to survive them.  If you wait until the last minute and don’t plan for the unexpected, you may find yourself unprepared to face the potentially life altering, or life threatening circumstances you may encounter.  Better to be prepared and not need to be, than to be unprepared when necessity strikes!

Good luck and happy prepping.

In my conversations in person and online as well as select daily readings including SurvivalBlog; it seems to me that there are a few very common themed roadblocks that people throw out as reasons why they can’t or don’t need to prepare or are unable to take their prepping to the next level.
The four that come to mind are:
1)      My spouse doesn’t buy into the need to prepare
2)      We can’t afford to move
3)      God is in control; He will take care of us.
4)      Your prepping is actually a sign of a lack of faith: The Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory.
For the purposes of this article I am going to leave number one alone as much has been written about it and I don’t feel that I have much to add to the topic other than to say that if you are “equally yoked” with a spouse who is also a survivalist then count your blessings. That being said I believe that the conclusions I will draw regarding the latter three topics is also likely the reason a spouse is not “on board” with prepping.
We can’t Afford to Move;

Let me begin this topic by excluding those who are in the heart of major metropolises doing “great commission” work and those who are serving our country. I know brothers who are survivalists and in the military who when serving in "The Sand Box" are very concerned that the flag could go up and they would likely be up a creek without a paddle. Also stateside they realize that their preparations are lacking due to where they may be stationed, frequent moves, lack of storage space and too much month left at the end of the paycheck since they are the sole bread winners for their families. They deserve our praise for being in harm’s way.

Many people have given their testimony regarding pulling up stakes and moving to a safer location. My personal favorite was the SurvivalBlog submission “The Big Picture – Making a Life Changing Move” by A.L.  His writings remind me of the colloquialism of "nuff said."

Another popular testimony is that of Pastor Chuck Baldwin; they pulled up stakes after 35 years of preaching and deep roots from their home in Florida moving to where they now reside in Montana. Read his testimony titled The Hardest Decision of My Life.

Pastor Baldwin has said some controversial things in the past that not everyone agrees with but allow me to make two points. First, I was impressed by the fact that it wasn’t just he and his wife who made the move; in fact if was five families and 17 people. Secondly when he says that it was the hardest decision of his life, I take him at his word.

My testimony is not as impressive as those two but it follows the theme. 25 years ago my wife and I moved from a large metropolitan area in California to a mid-sized city in what is now called the American Redoubt. We did our homework and had visited said location twice. When it came time to move it meant leaving all our family and friends behind. We loaded all our worldly possessions (we were newlyweds so my dog was probably the most valuable possession)  into my pickup and my wife's small car. We arrived at our new “home town” with no place to stay, no jobs lined up, not one person in the region we knew, no credit available to us and $5,000 in cash.

I can report that from that day to this we have never borrowed a nickel from anyone other than for the purchase of real estate. The journey has been incredible and the blessings that we have received by taking that leap of faith are uncountable.

There are many great people and blogs out there with similar stories. I think of the homesteaders I know in the Clark Fork, Idaho area, Enola Gay’s blog Paratus Familia and Patrice Lewis in her Rural Revolution blog. [JWR Adds: Those are two of Avalanche Lily's favorite blogs.]

The common themes are this. Very few people relocate to a safer location with significant resources at their disposal, nor do they relocate to pursue the treadmill of creating (paper) wealth. Most stories you hear have required a leap of faith and very frugal living to “live the life." In a word; sacrifice.
Another theme you will see is that the definition of wealth  has been redefined by those who have moved out of the cities and suburbs to their piece of ground, homestead, rural retreat, etc. From my observations most of those people tend to be happier even though they work extremely hard. That happiness, I believe is derived from a sense of purpose that is hard to find in the work-a-day world of large cities.

Several years ago we were new to birthing (goats and sheep). We had a few successes under our belts but we ran into a problem and of course it was in the middle of the night in the middle of winter with zero moon. Bottom line, we were in a bind. It was clear the babies were not going to make it so it was all about saving our prized  French Alpine. We don’t like to impose on people but like I said, we were in a bind and over our heads. I called our neighbors who live two miles away and 3:10 am who have much more experience with livestock.

They answered the phone straight away with a “hello?”  I said Dan this is Jeff we are having problems with a birthing and wondered if you had any advice for us. He said “I will be right over." He and his wife arrived at our place nine minutes later. His wife gets out of the vehicle and in a very upbeat and cheerful tone says “good morning neighbors!” It took an hour of physically and emotionally draining work but we saved the babies (Kids) and the doe. That to us is wealth. Having neighbors who have your back that you can call on any time day or night and they are there for you means more to me than a fat 401k would.

I will concede that there are people who through no fault of their own lack the resources to make a move. I also believe in personal responsibility and cause and effect and know that when a good number of people claim that they can’t afford to move what I hear is that they are unwilling to make the sacrifices entailed in such a move.

It’s a choice. Can you afford not to move?

God is in Control
I will never forget a conversation I had with a gentleman after a Bible Study we attended. Based on that study I knew the answers he would give to my first few questions. For OPSEC reasons he did not know that we are survivalists.

Me: So John you believe that Christians will be here on earth during the Great Tribulation?
John: Certainly, that is clear in the Bible.
Me: And you believe that the Great Tribulation is coming soon?
John; Very soon.
Me: And you believe in the concept of the Mark of the Beast?
John: Yes, I believe that we as Christians who do not take the mark will not be allowed to conduct commerce, buy, sell and so on.
Me: So that means what? You can’t buy groceries, fuel, clothes etc?
John: Yes exactly.
Me: What are you doing about that?
John; What do you mean?
Me: I don’t know, this is your scenario, I just wondered if you were doing anything to prepare for this?
John: You mean like storing food?
Me: Well, I don’t know, like I said, this is your scenario but sure, if you won’t be able to buy groceries, how are you going to feed your family? (Husband, wife and three pre-teen children)
John: Well I had thought about that but I would just end up giving all the food away as charity.
Me: Wouldn’t it be better to be in a position to dispense charity rather than to have to rely on it?
John (pause); Our main course of action is to pray and get close to God and put our faith in Him.
Me: I see.
John: My wife has brought up the same questions (come to find out she is a closet prepper). But I don’t want to get all bogged down in trying to sort through every conceivable disaster to prepare for.
Me: (The guy hasn’t gotten bogged down in anything) Are you in danger of that?
John: I just want to be careful not to turn inwards towards myself rather than outwards towards God.
Me: Well, I would say that using your resources and time to help insure the health and safety of other people is the inverse of selfishness.
John: Maybe, I just don’t want to take away from what God's plan is for Me: to be a blessing to other people.
Me: (gag) Well, again, this is your scenario but it would seem to me that if what you think is going to come to pass, does come to pass, and you don’t do anything to prepare for it, you will be the inverse of a blessing to those you love the most.
John; (long pregnant pause)…it’s something to think about..he changes the subject.

My suspicions are that there are a lot of people like this. On the one hand their eyes are open but on the other they have every conceivable reason why they don’t have to do anything. These are also the types where if you start talking about firearms for self protection you can get the; “Oh, we want to be careful about that, remember those who live by the sword die by the sword.” Wow! What do you do with that?

In the safety of a blog that doesn’t compromise OPSEC I think what you do with that is call a spade a spade. The doing of the Bible and the doing of survival might not be required to save your soul but it could save your life and the lives of people you care about. My sense is that likely it is just a means to an end to support laziness. When all Hell is breaking loose I really think that God is going to have “bigger fish to fry” than keeping food on your table. Don’t ask God to do for you what you should be doing for yourselves.

A few weeks ago I read an article and I cannot remember who wrote it but the gentlemen had no compunction about telling it as he saw it. To paraphrase he was talking about this very subject about all the places the Bible (Jesus) warns us to be prepared for myriad things. Then he says, so if you don’t heed the Bible's warnings and prepare like it tells you to; when you and your family are starving that will be the least of your pains because you will be gnashing your teeth for not doing what you should have, then you will die and go before God and you will get to explain why you didn’t do what He told you to do!  Yikes!  No holds barred there, but I like his bluntness.

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture: "You see, your preparations are actually a sign of a lack of faith on your part."
 
This is a good one.
First of all let’s not meld three concepts into one as they are want to do. There are personal times of “tribulation” there are “tribulations” and there is “the great Tribulation." So, even if you’re certain that you won’t be around for the “Great Tribulation” it does not mean that there is nothing to prepare for. Twice Paul begged God to be” taken away home” out of his personal tribulation and God refused as He had additional plans for Paul. If Jesus’ right hand man Paul didn’t get a pass from his tribulations why do you think you will?
I am not a “man of the cloth” rather just a man trying to walk the walk but in my opinion the concept of the Pre-Trib rapture is false doctrine. Potentially dangerous false doctrine.

In no way does the Bible clearly articulate the concept of Pre-Trib rapture. To my reading the citations used by those to support the concept are subjective in nature. "The cow jumped over the moon which was made of green cheese." So clearly the cow represents Israel and the moon means the Euphrates River and the fact that it was made of green cheese means the moon was not kosher.

Okay, so I exaggerate but you get the point. This is what I refer to as the “clearlies” and the “obviouslies."  When you are reading “The Theologians Guide to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture”, etc you run across a lot of “clearlies” and “obviouslies” and that to me means it is not “clear” or “obvious." Without getting bogged down with back and forth scripture citations let’s ask some common sense questions that deserve common sense answers.

1)    The Pre-Trib rapture first got introduced as a working idea in the 1800s. Prior to that there is no mention of it that I can find by any prophet, scholar, preacher, writer, nobody. Why?
 
2)    What does Satan have to offer? Three things to my thinking: lies that contain half truths, the allure of “enlightenment” and the desire to divide Christians. God offers whole truths, no lies, the offer of redemption not enlightenment and desires for us to unite.  "Love your neighbor as yourself."
 
3)    Did this notion of a Pre-Tribulation rapture serve to unite or divide Christians? If you’re not sure you need to get around the Internet a bit more and see the vitriolic arguments for and against levied by “Christians” at each other. If the modern notion of a Pre-Trib rapture served to divide Christians in a big way (and it has) it serves Satan's purposes, not God's.
 
4)    What explanation do some Pre-Tribbers offer as to why this concept was never spoken of prior to the mid 1800s? Yep! Some form of enlightenment by the believers bestowed upon them in that day that was previously not known. Who was it that offers enlightenment again?
 
5)    Do the Pre-Trib believers of today that you know see their beliefs as more enlightened than those who do not hold those beliefs? The ones that I know do. Do those who don’t believe in Pre-Trib rapture carry an air of more enlightenment than those who do?  I for one don’t. This is best illustrated by the fact that Pre-Trib rapture believers have absolutely told me to my face that my preps are a lack of faith. Satan's lies are so subtle that they have convinced themselves that the false doctrine they embrace is a higher level of faith (enlightenment and division all in one) than those of us preparing to provide four ourselves in times of trouble. Who was it that seeks to divide us and offers enlightenment again?
 
6)    The Bible is the book for believers. Our handbook if you will. If the believers are all going to be “taken away home” just in the nick of time what is the point of the Bible going into great detail about the Great Tribulation period if none of us are going to be here? We really wouldn’t need to know anything about that would we? What purpose does that information serve if everything in the “Good book” is there for a reason?
 
7)    Not the least of which the Mark of the Beast. Why would we need to think about that or hear about that if we are all gone?
 
8)    The Pre-Tribbers assert that at the rapture (at the onset of the Great Tribulation) Jesus comes down to the clouds and at the end of the Great Tribulation. He actually walks on Earth and that that is the second coming. So which one is Judgment day? Those who get raptured to Heaven and those left behind at the beginning of the Great Tribulation; is that judgment day? Or is it judgment day when Christ returns?  Are there two judgment days? Two unsealing of the Book of Lambs? If all the saved Christians are taken away home right before all hell breaks loose why have a great tribulation at all?
 
9)    Be extra leery of theses that support your biases. i.e. people with lazy streaks who  convince themselves that they don’t have to do anything. Nothing worth having is attained easily. We know that our salvation is attained through grace not works but we also know that there is a certain element who are all too keen on the idea of having to do nothing. “Works for me, back to the ball game." That is fine, it’s a choice, but when you castigate those of us preparing that doing so is “lacking faith” it is hard for me to not think of the word “foolish” or even “mockery." Mocking God's people seems like a bad idea to me.
 
10) And now we get down to brass tacks. Does the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory better serve the desires of Satan or God? How could we know? Using logic I think we can certainly gain some insight. What happens if I am wrong and the rapture occurs prior to the tribulation and I am taken away home? Nothing really, I will be saved and in Heaven and probably won’t even know what hit me, much less have the time to rationalize, “Oh I guess I got that Pre-Trib rapture thing wrong.” Now let’s go the other way. What happens to Christians who have built much of their belief system around the Pre-Trib rapture, what if they are wrong? The great tribulation is “game on” and they are still here on earth. How many of them are going to question God? Question their faith? “He” didn’t come through for us, it was all a pack of lies! How many of them are going to renounce their faith? How many of them will swallow the next big lie that God doesn’t exist and turn their allegiances to the antichrist and become the sworn enemies of those remaining Christians? To me, that’s the main “rub” right there. This is exactly what the Pre-Tribbers have been set up for in my opinion. Not all of them will swallow the next big lie certainly, but many will.
 
To me the main lesson here for those of us who count ourselves as Christian Survivalists is this; In a SHTF scenario identifying friend from foe is going to be a huge challenge. None of us are naive enough to think that the bad guys are going to introduce themselves as evil. But let us also not be naive enough to think that all “Christians” are going to be your friends. The Bible is clear on this and maybe none more famous than Isaiah 3:5:

“People will oppress each other-- man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored.”

Since, like Judah, we have broken our covenant of protection, this may well metaphorically speak to our futures as well.

God is in charge but that doesn’t make doing nothing a wise call.

Since I am Jewish, I read with interest "A Prepper's Holiday" by C.E.B. (posted March 7th), in which the author described what he has learned by observing the Old Testament holidays of Passover and Sukkot.

It occurred to me that Jewish history and culture - being largely a five-thousand year track record of survival against all odds - actually has quite a few lessons that would be relevant to SurvivalBlog readers of all faiths. Here are a few.

1) WHEN IN DOUBT, GET OUT

In 1941, Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. At the time, my grandmother and her family were living in a small town in the Ukraine, not terribly far from the Soviet border. The Stalinist propaganda machine, of course, assured the populace that the German army would be crushed with ease. However, one of my grandmother's uncles was a senior member in the local Communist Party, and had a clearer view of reality. He gathered the family together one evening and told them that it was very likely that the Nazis would reach their town, with devastating consequences to the inhabitants. He spread out a map of the USSR, and pointed to a small province much farther east: the Uzebek SSR (now called Uzbekistan). "You have to go there," he said. "Hitler will never get that far."

Having suffered through generations of persecution and "pogroms" (anti-Jewish riots, often conducted with the approval of police and political authorities), they had every reason to believe him. So, they quietly packed up and moved to Uzbekistan, where they waited out World War II far removed from the death camps and other atrocities of the Third Reich and the Stalin regime.

Fast-forward to today: while the mass media assures us that the recession will be over any day now, folks like SurvivalBlog's Captain Rawles are busy telling anyone who will listen that heading for the hills would be a very smart idea.

If you wait until you hear the sound of jackboots on cobblestones, it will be too late. The time to get out of town is now. As American poet Robinson Jeffers wrote, "When the cities lie at the feet of the beast, the mountains will remain."

2) NEVER TRUST POLITICIANS

Even well-meaning politicians can easily be influenced to implement terrible policies. This is illustrated perfectly by the Book of Esther, which is commemorated by the Jewish holiday of Purim.

To make a long story short, a beautiful Jewish girl named Esther is selected to be the wife of King Ahasuerus. Aware of anti-Jewish sentiment in the King's court, she keeps her heritage a secret. Esther is an orphan, and her guardian is her older cousin Mordechai. While visiting Esther at the palace, Mordechai offends Haman, the king's chief adviser, by refusing to bow to him. Mordechai explains that he will prostrate himself before God, but not to a man - even the King.

Enraged, Haman tells the king that the Jews do not follow the law of the land (which states that everyone must bow to the king), and suggests that they be executed. The king, being a typical politician, agrees.

Haman gleefully makes plans for soldiers to go out and exterminate the entire Jewish population of the kingdom in a few days. For Mordechai, against whom he has a special grudge, Haman sets up an impaling pole.

Queen Esther finds out what's happening, and decides to risk her own life for the sake of her people. Through some high drama involving a banquet and a secret plot against the king (which Mordechai exposes), the king winds up offering Esther anything she desires. She asks him to spare her life, and the lives of her people. Outraged that someone would threaten his queen, the king quickly discovers what Haman has been up to, gives Esther the authority to overturn Haman's orders, has Haman impaled on his own pole, and gives Haman's estate to Mordechai.

With that story in mind, consider the fact that West Point's "Combating Terrorism Center" recently released a report entitled "Challengers from the Sidelines," which classifies "the 'Militia' or 'Patriot' movement" as part of the American "violent far-right," describing its members as dangerous extremists who promote "anti-taxation, gun rights, survivalist practices, and libertarian ideas," and who "support civil activisms, individual freedoms, and self-government." Of course, this describes perfectly the interests and ideals of all of America's founding fathers, but that irony is apparently lost on the scholars at West Point.

A variety of other quasi-governmental reports have made similar allegations. In other words, just as Haman (and, of course, Adolf Hitler) twisted the facts to classify Jews as enemies of the state, these so-called "think tanks" are twisting the facts to classify the typical, security-and-freedom-loving SurvivalBlog reader as a terrorist-in-waiting. Since our politicians are engaged in a never-ending War on Terror, it's a very small step to you or me finding ourselves being treated to the indefinite detention, torture and summary execution that the US government has established as being appropriate for terrorists.

3) BE READY TO FIGHT

The traditional narrative of the Holocaust is that the Jews went meekly to the death camps, like lambs to the slaughter. In reality, many Jews fought, guerilla-style, against Nazi troops in the streets and alleys of Europe.

One of the most remarkable of these Jewish guerillas was a young man named Imi Lichtenfeld, who was a champion boxer, wrestler and gymnast in his native Slovakia. As the tide of anti-Semitism began to sweep Europe in the 1930s, Lichtenfeld and his fellow Jewish athletes banded together to defend their communities from the increasingly violent attacks of Jew-hating gangs. Lichtenfeld quickly discovered the difference between combat sports and life-or-death brawling, and developed his own fighting system, which he taught to his compatriots.

Seeing the writing on the wall in 1940, he left Slovakia and served with distinction in the Free Czech legion in North Africa. He spent the remainder of his long life in the newly-established State of Israel, teaching his system - Krav Maga - to the Israeli Defense Forces.

The moral of this story is not only that Krav Maga is one of the most practical and combat-proven self-defense systems in the world, but that having the WILL to fight is just as important as having the ABILITY to fight. In the Jewish tradition, life is viewed as a gift from God. Therefore, to allow your life or the life of another to be taken, if it is in your power to prevent it, is actually disrespectful to God. My understanding is that, with the exception of certain pacifist denominations, most Christians agree with that rationale. Therefore, we must be ready to act, without hesitation, to defend ourselves and our loved ones, and must do so in the certainty that self-defense is not only a moral right, it is a moral obligation.

4) THE LAW IS YOUR FRIEND, UNTIL IT ISN'T

In medieval Spain, there was a period - from about the eighth to the eleventh centuries - called "La Convivencia" - "the coexistence." During this time, Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in relative peace and prosperity, freely associating with each other and openly exchanging knowledge of medicine, philosophy and commerce. As you might expect, the members of all three communities benefited from this interaction. Although there were certain social barriers in place, in principle everyone was protected by the law.

That pleasant situation gradually deteriorated, and many Jews and Muslims converted to Christianity to protect themselves. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be had serious doubts about the sincerity of these conversions, and in 1481, the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was formed to root out and punish "heresy." Overnight, the law went from protector to persecutor. Anyone with a grudge against a neighbor could accuse that person of being a "crypto-Jew," and report them to the Inquisition. Thousands of innocent people - many of whom weren't Jews at all - were imprisoned, tortured, and then hanged or burned at the stake.

Christians today face similar persecution in many middle-Eastern countries, where being openly a non-Muslim is seen as a crime, and sometimes a capital offense (witness the murders of Copts in Egypt, for example). In fact, the only middle-Eastern country where Christians can worship openly and in safety is in Israel - the Jewish state. But leaving aside religion for a moment, consider the bigger picture: anything can become a crime, just because the government says so. Remember, it wasn't too long ago that a black person who drank from a "whites-only" water fountain was a criminal in this country. It is because "law" does not necessarily mean "justice" that Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."

When the Department of Homeland Security stockpiles hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition (according to one report enough to keep our troops in Iraq supplied for 20 years) one is forced to wonder exactly whom our "representatives" expect to become criminals - or, to put it another way, whom they plan to CALL criminals. We all love law and order, but - God forbid - if the day ever comes that the law of the land is no longer our friend, we must be prepared to do the RIGHT thing, even if it is not the LAWFUL thing.

5) COMMUNITY IS THE KEY TO SURVIVAL

Being part of a community means looking out for each other. It is this trait - more than any other (with the exception of Divine intervention) - that explains why the Jews have outlived the Ancient Egyptians, Philistines, Persians, Phoenicians, Romans, and every other culture that tried to stamp them out.

From the 40 years of wandering in the desert, after escaping from slavery in Egypt, to the Diaspora, when Jews were forced out of almost every country in Europe, to the Holocaust, to today, if a Jew needs a hand, other Jews will help him. And Jews are not alone in this: you see the same thing, for example, in the Latino community: if a Mexican immigrant opens a restaurant, other Mexicans will go there to eat. Or consider the informal fraternity of military veterans: if a newly-retired Marine applies for a job, and the business owner is also a retired Marine, odds are the younger Devil Dog has a good chance of getting the position. Historically, church congregations have also helped their less-fortunate members in times of illness, unemployment and hardship.

This may sound like simple human nature, but in some neighborhoods, the opposite is true: if a person opens a laundromat, his neighbors will break his windows and vandalize his machines. And, from an outside perspective, community solidarity is often criticized as conspiracy or clannishness. The folks at the Aryan Nation meetings certainly aren't thrilled to see Jews and Mexicans supporting their own communities. They recognize - in their own twisted way - that Malcolm X was exactly right in his assertion that, "when you spend your dollar out of the community in which you live, the community in which you spend your money becomes richer and richer, [and] the community out of which you take your money becomes poorer and poorer."

The job that went to a Marine, the meal bought from a Mexican immigrant, the suit bought from a Jewish clothier, or the housing given to a frail parishioner, represents dollars that did NOT leave the communities in which those people live. Is it wrong to give preferential treatment to members of your community? To "your own kind"? By the politically-correct, non-judgmental, morally ambivalent logic of modern thinking, yes it is.

According to the voice of history, experience, and common sense, no, it absolutely is not! If we do not support our own communities - however that term is meaningful to ourselves - we are in fact harming them. If you, retired USMC Captain, don't give that young Sergeant a chance, who will? If you, Juan, buy lunch at McDonald's instead of at the neighborhood Taqueria, whom are you helping? As Malcolm X explained, "And then what happens? The community in which you live becomes a slum. It becomes a ghetto. The conditions become rundown. And then you have the audacity to complain about poor housing in a rundown community, while you're running down yourselves when you take your dollar out."

Rabbi Hillel, a famous Jewish scholar who was a contemporary of Jesus, famously asked, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?" Those questions have been food for thought for 2,000 years, and they are as pertinent today as ever. If you don't look out for yourself, who will? But if you only look out for yourself, and ignore your community, your society or the Earth, what kind of person does that make you? If you put off meaningful action, how will you know when to act? All of us - regardless of race, creed, color, or background - must be willing to answer those questions honestly. We must be willing to protect ourselves, to support our communities, to recognize the dangers in our society, and to respond accordingly. And if we have not yet begun, we must do so now.

In the survivalist/prepper world, one can argue that we are all leaders, yes?  Well, ask yourself, what happens when you thought you were going to be the leader of your compound/ neighborhood/ community but got to the party late and someone else is in charge?  What happens when you can’t or simply aren’t THE leader?

You lead from the middle. This article proposes two ways in which you can lead without being the designated leader. 

As survivalist/preppers we know a neighborhood or city block is better than one home, while a community is best. Let’s assume the SHTF and you are executing your plan.  You were able to get your family out to your community’s compound. Having fought off several looters on the way, you managed to collect several critical items from your cache. You are definitely prepared for this event and have various skills crucial to surviving the next riotous year.  Relief overwhelms you as you realize that you are exceptionally skilled, and there is  no one better equipped to handle the upcoming chaos as you are able handle it.  Let the games begin.

Once you arrive at your community’s compound, Grey Beard is in charge and he designates you “firewood collector guy”.  He directs you to stow your food and supplies in the pole barn and report to the fire-master.

I exaggerate because I am not sure there is a “firewood collector guy” or “fire master”; if you were assigned to collect firewood with your leadership experience and mammoth suite of survival skills, you might feel slighted, indignant perhaps.   You might feel as though you deserve to be elevated to a recognized leader status.  Who wouldn’t, right? 

So what’s to be done, expert survivalist/ prepper turned firewood collector? 

Be the best fire wood collector you can be.  You will ensure that there will never be a minute, an hour, or a day without ample firewood. You may improve the firewood collection process, perhaps automating your wheelbarrow.  Focus on your task and do it with dedication and focus.  And go one step further, have fun while you are doing it.

All compounds are organized differently, and I am not being frivolous by suggesting someone be designated the task of collecting firewood.  What I’m trying to convey is that if you have a PhD in Chemistry, you would feel silly if you were hired by a University to mop the floor…in the chemistry wing. 
You would feel undervalued and underused – a non-contributor.  You would be operating below your capability. 

At this point, you might be thinking, “Nah, I won’t feel that way.  I’ll do what is asked of me.  I’ll be a great team player.  I don’t need to lead.”

I sure hope so!  However, I think, that anyone who is so earnestly invested in the welfare of others would not be so quick to surrender leadership, especially us A-types who spent the last several years preparing for a SHTF moment.  We must be prepared to lead from the middle because it may be our primary mode of leading. 

For me, leading from the middle arose from necessity.  Six weeks of indiscriminate Scud missiles during the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom kept me sleep deprived, anxious, and frustrated.  As a 1st Lieutenant surrounded by field grade officers, my objections were overruled with suggestions routinely ignored. Ultimately, I was relegated to doing a job that a Lance Corporeal could perform.  Simply put: I was not leading and it was frustrating.  Add to that combat stress, no sleep, and irregular meal times and I was ready to implode.

Working took my mind off the frustration.  Conscientiously monitoring communications kept me active. Concentrating on doing my job well relieved stress and I started to have fun—I smiled often and laughed a lot.  When I began to really study my communications plans, I saw deficiencies.  I corrected those deficiencies.  I discovered new commo devices different units had and that weren’t be used, so we trained on those devices.  We talked communications over chow and sometimes in our sleep.  I was no longer worried about the sea of officers that surrounded me—I was doing my job better than I had ever done it in the past.   

In time, lower enlisted sought my counsel, not the senior enlisted or other officers.  I was consulted on our intelligence briefings and our daily operations updates.  Our foreign partners sought my advice and suggestions concerning scouting missions and decontamination sites.  People began putting faith in me.

Reflecting on that time I realize that all I did was successfully do my job and tried to have fun doing it.  Do your work well, efficiently, and expertly.  In a SHTF environment I am willing to bet it’ll look and feel a bit like combat; days of downtime interrupted by minutes of panic.  Complacency creeps in and people get restless.  When they look at you getting firewood every day –cheerful and working hard - those around you become less anxious.  They will look inward after watching your example and realize their own work needs to be done and they will go and do it. 

You have just led them.  From the middle. 

My second piece of advice is to follow well.  Great leaders are great because they possess the capability to follow as good as they lead.  When SHTF dialogue is over, it’s time to do.  Protests must stop and you must act.  As long as you are conscious and morally not violated, follow that order. Others, who have witnessed your worked ethic, will see your enthusiasm.   They won’t be scared because you are not—you are too focused to be worried about other things.  They will ask you questions, for help or for advice.  Your skill set, even-keeled demeanor, and enthusiasm will inspire others.  You will be able to demonstrate all your skills as well as your leadership acumen when others’ speak with you and work by your side.  You, again, will be leading from the middle.

One aspect of following well is to offer solutions, not problems.  Sure, Grey Beard’s idea is not great. You can pick it apart blindfolded.  However, it’s not all that bad.  Don’t play “stump the chump”: offer suggestions that look like you love his plan and are working to make HIS plan even better.  Hide a weakness in his plan with a well worded suggestion.  People will see you are on board and are working toward making it better—not usurping it.  Think about the “sheeple” in your everyday life who say, “Oh, that’ll never work, you can’t do it like that!” and offer nothing but negativity.  Think about how you feel toward that person.  Sheeple bring problems, not solutions—being a good follower means you bring solutions.  Leading from the middle means you are not a sheep, but a clear thinking, highly skilled, insightful level-headed leader.

Some may argue against the necessity of being able to follow well.  They may say that the one with the best skill set and best leadership ability should lead and, in the case of survival, should fight to do so.  Let me offer you this—amongst an entire block or community or compound of skilled survivalist/ preppers, do you think any leader would do anything so egregious that you would be required to take over?  If so, you might need to reconsider belonging to that group.

Following well will show others that order is good; that you have courage and are not scared; that your faith in others and your abilities in your job will see whatever situation through. No one will panic because you are calm.   People are watching you—not the leader; they have their orders so there is no need for the leader right now.  Their behavior cues are coming from you because they want to see how you are going to follow the order.  You are the leader at this given moment - leading from the middle.

You have already set the conditions middle leadership.  People around you are recognizing your natural abilities as a spearhead, plus your excellent skill set has started to become apparent—you were able to weld a small motor to your wheelbarrow and you were able to suture a bad cut for your friend. 

In a small group setting like a block or compound, everyone doing their job is critical to survival.  You have to set the example - and the impact is immeasurable.  Being a good follower by being a problem solver makes you a contributor to the plan and also sets the tone for the subsequent behavior of your peers.  People may not move until you move, they won’t decide until you decide, and they won’t feel safe unless you let them know they are safe and have told them what they need to do.

Eventually, you will be the leader without being the appointed leader…because you led well from the middle.

I offer these two lessons learned because they have helped me throughout my life, not just during my time in the Middle East.  It was exceptionally hard for me to deal with being a junior officer and having no one to lead.  Imagine saving money for the entire year for prom and the woman (or man) of your dreams agreed and has said yes. You have the limo, the tux (or gown), flowers, and reservations at the best restaurant in town.  This will be the most magical night ever!

Yet you never get to go…

I was not prepared for being underutilized.  I had no idea, with the stress, fatigue, and hunger that I would feel so desperate to use my skills.  I was paralyzed by how frustrating it would be to watch a sea of senior officers completely disregard anything I had to say while refusing to acknowledge my contributions. It was one of the toughest emotional tests I had faced as a young man.

Leading from the middle and being a good follower saved my sanity, quite possibly my life, and the sanity of others.  I learned that a leader has many definitions and that being in charge of everyone is just one small definition of a leader.  Perhaps the greatest lesson was that no one cared about my idea of leadership - they cared how I demonstrated it.  So, I did my job well and followed even better.

After a few years as a defense contractor and now as a science teacher I’ve used these two lessons continuously with great success.   

I learned the value of humility by doing my tasks and following; I learned how to be a selfless team player and that alone is at the core of any great leader.

I hope this article at least wrinkled your eyebrow a bit.  God Bless!

There is a crisis of manhood in America today.  The numbers are astounding:  One in three children live in fatherless homes.  Since 2011, women receive more college degrees than men.  And recent decrees by the Obama administration will now see our wars being fought by women and homosexuals - it’s enough to make a guy like me be glad I won’t be around to see what this country looks like fifty years from now, and get a knot in my gut knowing that my children most likely will.  It makes me realize that my sons will need the skills to survive even more than I.

If you think like I do - that wisdom is more important than knowledge, and see very little of either coming out of America’s universities;

If you shake your head at today’s youth shuffling around the mall, looking like tattooed and pierced zombies-in-training; 

If it disgusts you that the average 34-year-old American male spends more time playing video games than the average 12-year-old boy;

and If you remember a time when a male of eighteen was considered a man, and expected to work like one, and you lament that so many of today’s high-school grads...aren’t and don’t;

This article is meant to bring you hope.

With three sons of my own, I take the issue of raising Godly sons as seriously as my spiritual walk, my marriage or my business.  If you have sons, you probably feel the same way.  If you are blessed with daughters, I hope you are fervently praying for them to find true men who will be able to give them what they truly need - provision, protection, affection and direction.  

We do everything we can as a family to be prepared for an uncertain future, from stocking the larder to making firearms training a regular family event.  To that end, we homeschool our children, because as Ayn Rand wrote in Atlas Shrugged, 

“I would not surrender them to the educational systems devised to stunt a child’s brain, to chaos with which he’s unable to deal, and thus reduce him to a state of chronic terror.”

If you aren’t sure what I mean, just google “pop tart pistol.”  

Sometimes I feel like the world’s worst prepper.  I am a videographer by profession, something that will be as useless as paper money in a post-collapse world.  I never hunted as a kid, and can only wish someone would have made me join the Boy Scouts.  But we all have to start where we are and work with what we’ve got.   

I had no say in my upbringing, but I can control that of my children.  And with a farm to manage and perhaps protect someday, I’ve decided to invest my time and energy into ensuring my children have what they need in terms of survival knowhow, even if that means they have skills that I don’t. 

As our kids get closer to completing their high school curriculum, we’ve had many family discussions about their best options for continuing their training and education.  My boys, especially, are looking for more “real world” skills.  For my part, I’m more convinced every time I turn on the news that emergency skills training will incredibly valuable in the years ahead.   

Most of all, I hope my kids’ll find a way to continue their spiritual growth long after they’ve left home to take on the world.

Several years ago we found an amazing course of instruction tailored to making young men into well-trained first responders capable of handling almost any emergency.  It’s called the Air Land Emergency Resource Team, or ALERT for short.  In the interest of full disclosure - I receive nothing for recommending them to you, except the hope the ALERT program will still be around by the time my youngest is graduating.

It’s a one-year program that takes young men just out of high school and gets them trained up on a whole host of skills.  For example:

Firefighting
Emergency Medicine - Paramedic
Aviation - Flight Training
Auto Mechanics
Rescue SCUBA and Aquatics
Technical and High-Angle Rescue
Building Trades - construction, electrical, HVAC, plumbing
Sawyer and landscaping
Aquatics
Wilderness Survival
Land Navigation
Law Enforcement
Evangelism

The International ALERT Academy is headquartered in Big Sandy, Texas, where they have turned a defunct 2,600-acre college campus into something like a combination between a Boy Scout camp, a Monastic order and the United States Marines.  The entire one-year course takes place here, with the exception of various “deployments” undertaken as they travel around the world on missions that include disaster response, humanitarian aid, search and rescue and missionary security.

These seventeen to twenty-five year olds are treated like men, and not surprisingly they act like it.  They are given man-sized responsibility from day one, and are expected to embrace their calling to take dominion over themselves - and then the world.  

It isn’t a course for adjudicated youth or problem children; but rather appeals to an, ambitious “cream of the crop” of high-school grads who is serious about squeezing every morsel of training out of a fast-paced year.  One example: each class or “unit” since 1994 has made a commitment to forego the distractions of music, movies and entanglements with females altogether for the duration of their time at ALERT.  

Awhile back I was asked to be a guest speaker at a local public high school.  If it’s been several years since you’ve walked the halls of one of those, you might be surprised, as I was, to see how much it has changed since I graduated in nineteen *mumble mumble*.  I won’t bother with a litany of shocking things I saw that I’d file under “advertisements for home schooling,” but suffice it to say I was appalled.  So few of the seniors I spoke to were capable of expressing themselves in complete sentences, looking me in the eye, or shaking my hand rather than grabbing their own crotch and grunting, “Sup.”

My first visit to the ALERT training center couldn’t have been more different.  Every one of the square-jawed, uniformed young men I spoke with shook my hand with confidence, looked me in the eye and spoke with conviction about the things they were learning in the program.  I was especially impressed at the level of spiritual maturity on display, as the men articulated their daily “wisdom searches” and other devotionals.  Questions like “What makes you passionate about the future” produced instant, well-considered answers that left me tempted to send my daughters to hang around here once they are ready to find a mate. 

I’m not normally the kind of dad who has designs on my children’s career or life choices once they get out on their own.  I simply hope to make men out of them and then let God call them into service to the Kingdom.  To that end, I am doing whatever I can to raise Godly men(a term I consider to be redundant), and will encourage all of my sons (and both of my daughters) to spend some time at the academy.

The ALERT academy was founded upon the realization that 100 years ago, boys aspired to manhood, not extended adolescence.  Our grandfathers, at age 18, could build things, fix things, hunt, fish, skin, trap, and take care of themselves like men.  By contrast, it seems today’s high school grads are more likely to be experts at playing HALO or Minecraft, but little else.  Americans today spend 25 billion dollars per year on video games - coincidentally the same number of hours spent on facebook annually.   ALERT set out to change that by giving men the skills to make them confident, competent and spiritually mature leaders in the real world.  Their first responder training makes them especially helpful in any kind of crisis, and well inured to challenging circumstances.  

In addition to the one-year course for men, ALERT hosts an annual one-month summer course called “Quest” for boys aged 14-16 who want a taste of what the full ALERT responder course has to offer.  Last year my oldest son attended this course, and even in one month’s time, I was impressed at the air of quiet competence he developed while there.  

For girls, there is a one-month summer course called STEP, which stands for “Skills Training for Emergency Preparedness.” It teaches a range of similar subjects in a female-only environment.  Our sixteen-year-old daughter attended somewhat reluctantly, but afterwards had this to say about the experience:

“At STEP I got more than just survival training and life skills, I learned the importance of teamwork and getting along with a big group of people. Through daily devotionals and sessions, I learned so much about God and how big He really is. I made great friends at STEP and I’m excited to go back for STEP Advanced.”

The cost of the full year course ranges between seven and seventeen thousand dollars for the year, including tuition, room and board.  The price depends on the advanced skills the responder chooses to pursue.  The course is broken up into three phases, and some attend just for the initial “basic” portion of the year.  The men wear uniforms, carry rank, live in barracks and do PT daily while at the training academy, but with the exception of the Law Enforcement track do no training with weapons or hand-to-hand combat.  That’s something I’d like to see added if they could find a good instructor.  Every stage of the training is based around a solid Biblical curriculum that, by the end of the course, gives each man a grounding in the principles of Godly manhood.

I’ve now visited the ALERT campus several times, and always come away astounded by  the men and the program.  We have decided as a family to support ALERT with our donations as well as by sending our children there, because we want to see this program succeed, and believe it is worth every penny, and then some.  

About a third of those who graduate from ALERT go on to join the military.  Another third enter the mission field, and the rest move on to other endeavors.  No matter what they choose, however, they will have garnered a tremendous skill set in a positive-pressure environment, and will be ready to face whatever the future holds.

In the Army I learned the maxim, “The more you carry in your head, the less you must carry on your back.”  Training my sons in emergency preparedness gives them a great head start on developing a full set of survival skills.  And unfortunately, I fear they’ll need it sooner rather than later.

About the Author: Chuck Holton is a former U.S. Army Ranger and now works as a freelance war correspondent. He is the author of several books, including Making Men: Five Steps to Growing Up.

Sir,
As I go through life, I see the world through the eyes of a Prepper (Survivalist was the term used before I joined the ranks.).  I’m also a Type A personality with light to moderate obsessive-compulsive disorder. What this means in practical terms is every action I take in my daily life filters back to preparing for a disaster of some sort.  And I want to try and wake-up as many people as I can.  But at the same time, I don’t want to freak out everyone I come in contact with. 

My wife and I started prepping in August of 2009.  At first we were very hush, hush about what we were doing.  At first we were frantic.  We thought the world had maybe 6 months to a year left.  Here we are in mid-March of 2013.  Now I think the world has a few weeks, maybe a few months left.  But, I was wrong back in ’09, so who knows. 

What I do know is that the people I meet are divided into four categories. 

The first type would be the American Idol, Jersey Shores crowd.  They know nothing of the world beyond pop-culture television and current fashion.  If I start taking about politics or disaster, their eyes glaze over faster than Bill Clinton accepting an invitation to a female intern convention.  This group I generally don’t talk with directly about my concerns.  Usually if it is a cocktail party or work water-cooler setting, they may be nearby and overhear me talking to someone who may actually be interested in this subject matter.  My hope is that through serendipity they may begin to wake up, but I haven’t seen it happen yet. 

The second type of folks are, for lack of a better way to put it, the Obama maniacs.  These people know only what they are told by the White House Press Corps and the Mainstream Media (I know, these days that is kind of the same thing.).  They cannot comprehend the coming storm because the sources that they get their information from are assuring them all is well.  For the first few years of my awakening, these people drove me nearly insane.  I now watch them with a detached sort of amusement.  I know when it all comes crashing down, somehow us evil Conservatives will still be to blame.  But, they can blame me all they want while I am at my retreat and they are trying to decide if the storm-drain water is safe to drink.  Needless to say, I don’t waste any time on this group.  It is worth noting that there is a sub-group in this category.  They are liberals who won’t go all the way to the mat for Obama, but still feel more positive than negative about him.  They also get all their news from the left.  But often, the current situation has hit close to home.  Either they or a spouse lost a job, a home, etc.  I will work with this group in trying to get them to see the light and prepare.  But I will avoid political talk, as I don’t want to alienate them.  You can’t really help someone you’ve offended.    

We all know plenty of people who fall into the third type – “Yeah, I know I should probably prepare, but….”  You can fill in the blank as to what their excuse is.  No time, no money, ultimately the government will eventually get things squared away, this list continues ad nauseam.  This group can be more frustrating than the first two groups.  At least with them you know when to cut your losses and move on.  But these guys fill you with hope, because they seem to know, or strongly sense, what is going on.  But then your hopes get dashed like Charlie Sheen waking up from a blackout bender alone in a dry county.  All you can do with this group is try to gently remind them, as year after year goes by and they do next to nothing.  Although once in a while, a breakthrough will occur.  I had a fellow who fits in this category call me and asked about gun advice, the upcoming gun show in our area, that sort of thing.  So I felt good that he was at least doing something.  And it felt good that when he had a question, he thought to call me. 

With this group (and the next one I’ll talk about), there is another thing you have to consider.  If they call you during the collapse (and you know they will) will you let them into your retreat, or turn them away?  I have talked to my tribe about this, and we’ve decided that we will let some of them in.  Our reasoning is, we are only eleven people, and can accommodate a few more.  While we have the cat herder (me), the camp cook (my wife), the ER nurse, the mechanical genius, the electrician, the combat vet, and three adult children, we still wouldn’t mind having a few more folks to help with gardening, fence building, standing watch, etc.  And we already plan on making them work a little harder to make up for the fact that we did all the heavy lifting and they just came waltzing in.  And when they call in panicked desperation, they will be made aware of that fact.  And I have no doubt they will agree.  They’ll be as scared as Donald Trump on a windy day without hair spray.  But their penance won’t be forever.  Maybe just a few weeks or a month.              

The fourth and final type are the fatalists.  I’ve met more than one person who has said, “Well, if everything falls apart, so be it.  I’ll just die.  I wouldn’t want to live in that kind of world anyway.” 

This is an easy thing to say with bravado while things are relatively normal.  But the people who say that obviously have not thought it out.  For one thing, very few of us could put a gun in our mouths and pull the trigger (not to mention that it is a sin in many religious views).  The survival instinct is much stronger than these people realize.  And what if a wave of rioting comes through your neighborhood and you become a victim of unspeakable atrocities before you can even react?  Then there is the thought of dying of starvation and or dehydration.  These people push such horrible thoughts out of their mind with the “well, I’d just kill myself” mantra.     

In Summary, while the endgame seems as obvious to us as Paul Krugman filing bankruptcy, it can be painful to watch others we care about not getting in the game.  But your best bet is to figure out which group they are in, and treat them accordingly. - Mountain Man Virgil

Introduction:

Over the years since I first read the novel Patriots by James Rawles and made the decision to embrace prepping my idea of prepping has changed.  It started when I recognized that friends, acquaintances and strangers all had varying ideas and degrees of preparedness even within very similar prepping models.  The greatest characteristic of Survivalblog.com is that there is something for everyone presented in articles and information.  Regardless of your station you’ll find information pertinent to your specific situation to help you improve your own preparedness level.

I realized that my own prepping mindset was slowly shifting over time as I pursued knowledge, skills and dealt with changing personal circumstances.  Health issues, children getting older, economic changes and political changes have all required minor to major changes in my original preparedness model.  These changes and realization led me to begin classifying the different levels or approaches to prepping.  It began with a realistic and unbiased look at the location I had originally determined as a great location for prepping.  My research began to reveal some hidden assumptions and biases I was holding that caused me to ignore critical factors.

Of course, some folks will adamantly disagree with my assumptions so I feel it necessary to establish a broad disclaimer:

My assessments and research are non-scientific and are particular to me and my personal familial situation.  I try to use a broad brush for informational and statistical research and apply it to general trends and loosely defined geographic, demographic and economic particulars to my own education, experience and life skills.

Definitions:
I stated above that I have come to recognize general trends or categories in the preparedness mindset or commitment levels.  I try to define these now:

Rawlesian Approach (RA):  The original, at least from my perspective, retreat or prepper model-the Gray’s Ranch depicted in the novel Patriot’s.  A free-standing and completely self-sufficient ranch/homestead that requires no outside contact for a 3-5 year survival situation and is off-grid.  Keep in mind the Gray’s didn’t meet this point until after the Barter Faire when they accumulated livestock and more kerosene.  Basically, they were able to survive and thrive without outside contact.  Essentially, an Island. (If you have heartburn about this definition please re-read disclaimer)

Modern Homestead (MH):            I think this can be separated into two unique sub-classifications depending upon the isolation or close proximity to smaller metropolitan areas.  The ultra-rural MH is at least 1-2 hours from the nearest Wal-mart at highway speeds.  East of the Mississippi River this is at least 75 miles, rural and isolated from larger metropolitan areas with box stores and trauma center.  If the homestead is closer, like 30 minutes to one hour, then I consider it a rural homestead.

In the American Redoubt a drive 30 minutes to one hour can put you out into the woods or other terrain fairly quickly.  For example, one hour from the Spokane Valley can put you into another county and even into another State or National Forests of Idaho Panhandle.  The MH may be off-grid, on-grid or a mix of the two.  The main characteristic is distance and the fact that the MH is NOT self-sufficient or an island.  The MH needs commerce or access to commerce for survival.

Suburban Farm (SF):            The SF falls within 30 minutes of smaller metropolitan areas.  SF communities are where homes sit upon larger parcels 1+ acre or larger.  These areas usually have local ordinances or GMR’s that restrict sub-dividing parcels or restricting high density dwellings.  These communities usually have a “country” feel and many homes have gardens and small pasture/orchards.  In my area I generally see 1-3 homes out of every 10 homes are growing vegetables and/or raising animals other than pets.  The remaining 6-9 homes could raise something if they converted their manicured lawns or fallow pasture to productive use.  The SF area usually has people selling fresh produce through the growing season right from their property or at the local farmers market.

The SF is usually attached to a local water district but outside metropolitan waste water treatment facilities (septic).  Some SF’s have access to irrigation districts that allow larger water access for irrigation.  The irrigation district water is usually cheaper and is untreated.  In my local area the water is drawn directly from the aquifer and is substantially cheaper than municipal water.  SF’s have a considerable number of parcels on well water systems.  In general, the SF is well water with septic system.

Urban Garden (UG):            This is a broad category defined by its close proximity to the metropolitan center.  The UG is minutes from all modern services like Costco, Trauma centers and fast-food outlets.  A great test is to determine the outer boundary of the UG with the SF is what I call the Nacho test.  Just order nachos at Taco Bell and start driving.  You’ve hit the outer limits of the UG when the canned cheese hits room temperature.  Eat the nachos at your own risk.

The UG is limited.  Limited in ability to produce, support and defend.  The UG can support salad garden with some exception for green houses and creative landscaping.  We see occasional stories about the UG prepper being persecuted by zoning Nazis for having a garden in their front yard and other such nonsense.

It must be stated, even if it’s obvious, the RA would take considerable financial resources and time to achieve.  I only know of three people who have attained the RA and yet they lack the human capital necessary for long-term success.  The last few years I have moved from one style/station to the next and made a habit of looking for the natural or organic things that came with preparedness and each station.  What commonality was being ignored or taken for granted?  Were there any consistent commonalities present?  How would these affect my preparedness station? And, as a Christian, was I being obedient to God’s Word?

All these questions brought me to my new view of preparedness—The Commerce Model of Prepping.

The Commerce Model of Prepping:
This model of preparedness makes a major assumption as a foundation of its premise.  The assumption is that human nature drives people to attempt a return to normalcy in the shortest time possible.  Even if that normal is different from what was previously known—they will still plan, act and work toward that new normalcy.  To better understand what I mean we should characterize or assign levels to “events” that initiate or launch usage of our preparations on a full scale.

I’ve loosely defined these events by severity.

1. Habit Changer-Lay-offs, Illness, Regional Disaster, Personal or Localized Events.
2. Life Changer-Economic Depression/Collapse, War, Pandemic, Modified Societal Collapse, Regional/National Disaster.
3. Game Changer- EMP, Civil or Global War, Pandemic and other survival fiction-worthy events.

These events can overlap somewhat.  For example, a long-term layoff or unemployment may change habits at first and then become a life changer by forcing a move or shift in socioeconomic status. 

The latest economic “recovery” (quotes denote sarcasm) has been a habit changer for most and a life changer for many.  Regardless of impact, what was/is the single largest common denominator for people experiencing “Hope-N-Change” (again Sarcasm)?  The answer is immediate adjustment and subsequent pursuit of normalcy. How?  Salisbury Steak instead of Sirloin Steak--Tilapia instead of Salmon--Staycation instead of Vacation--shopping at a Goodwill thrift store instead of the mall.

Okay—simple economics.  What does this have to do with preparedness?  This natural tendency should be a major decision factor in your preparedness plans—especially location.  How?  IMHO it should flavor all your preparedness systems and decisions.  Why?

The Commerce Model of Preparedness stipulates that safe, free and consistent commerce and trade will be the catalyst for any long-term success for personal, familial, community, regional and even national recovery. 

Again, IMHO, every aspect of preparedness needs to be viewed through this perspective.  Unless you have achieved the RA level of preparedness you must be prepared for commerce. One could argue that even if you are an RA level you should be ready just the same.  A business approach to preparedness puts you into a prime position to thrive and thrive abundantly.

The commerce model forces you to think in terms of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, economies of scale and supply and demand while you pursue your prepping goals.  I would like to use one comprehensive example to address this point.

The Modern Homestead, especially the ultra-rural variety, has many pitfalls when viewed through the lens of commerce.  In a way this example will be a de-facto assessment of North Central Idaho-specifically Idaho County.  I believe the only system that has long-term viability in these ultra-rural areas is the RA.  If you are an island with all your preps then you are an island.  You have the luxury of riding out most events or situations.

North-Central Idaho has many enticing qualities.  Good quality land at reasonable prices, large percentage of freedom-minded individuals, elected officials that apply limited government and self-policing models, distance from large urban populations and on and on.  Obvious negatives are lack of jobs and the [higher] average age of population [41.7 years. Statewide, the median age is 33.2 years.] At first glance its ideal but add some likely and probable factors and the picture changes rapidly.  Let’s start with fuel—either prohibitive pricing and/or scarcity of supply—which can happen for a variety of reasons.

Fuel scarcity or price would limit trade and the ability to travel for necessary items for success.  If you did have the fuel the additional expense would put you at a competitive disadvantage versus competitors.  Trade within an ultra-rural setting will likely have immediate limitations due to scarcity of products.  Any entrepreneur who tries to fill demand will be able charge higher prices.  Fuel scarcity creates a “lesser of two evils” situation.  Use the fuel to get what you need or don’t and suffer the consequences.

(Author’s Note:  An underlying assumption of my work is that there will always be a currency of some sort used to support the function of trade--it may be greenbacks, blue bucks or .22LR ammo.  The point is no trade functions, with economic efficiency, without a trusted, recognizable medium of exchange.)

The small towns that pepper this region have only two days of fuel and no back-up power to run the pumps. A regional earthquake of meaningful size would close all roads for days or even weeks with rock slides.  Economic Collapse or a substantial increase in fuel prices begins to limit and stunt economic activity.  Most of the MH’s in this region are 20-30 minutes’ drive up and out from the small towns and then an additional hour or more to an actual metropolitan center.  Scarce resources would immediately become scarcer, too expensive or even inaccessible.  Unless you are a true RA the MH that is one hour or more from smaller metropolitan areas need to honestly assess their viability.  How long can you last without electricity, cheap fuel and open roads?  Just the loss of one would render 99% of the homesteads in this area unviable if lost for more than two weeks.

The stark reality of this vulnerability came to light when discussing my own personal research of this area.  The local sheriff made a revealing comment about the region.  His belief was that if the government wanted to depopulate the area they would just turn off the power and stop fuel deliveries.  In his estimation the first third would leave in a week, the next third the following two weeks and within a month only the RA’s would be left.  I had to concur.  My research showed that the largest towns between Lewiston, Idaho and Missoula, Montana have only a two day supply of fuel and 5-6 day supply of food—under normal demand.   These inherent vulnerabilities make the MH, especially the ultra-rural MH, dangerous and success unattainable.

My personal conclusion was that if I couldn’t reach or become an RA then I needed to seriously modify my preparedness plans.  I began to apply the Commerce Model to determine best case or most applicable outcome coverage—what gets me the biggest bang for the buck!  Again, consider the types of events and their potential likelihood and then combine with the Commerce Model.  The result is a strategic location between small metropolitan areas and the MH.  Locations that are close enough for commerce and yet far enough away for seclusion and security.  Close enough for aid and close enough to provide aid depending on the circumstance.

From a Christian perspective I started to ask myself questions about charity and service to the community.  Am I behaving Christian-like if I remove myself from the stabilizing role of neighborhood and community member?  If my model is to “wait out the carnage/die off” in the cities is that appropriate when I could have been in the trenches from the beginning making a positive influence back to normal (whatever that may be)?  It really comes down to a question of Christian Worldview.

Is the Kingdom of God in decline and will continue to get its collective rear-end kicked by the God-haters?  Or is Jesus sitting on His throne, at the right hand of the Father, and all power and dominion been given Him?  Uh-Oh!  Yes I went there.  I opened the can of worms that pits those who grab their “left behind” and are waiting for the proverbial “mothership” to come whisk them away from “end-times” and thus any potential suffering.  (If my sarcasm seems over done please re-read the gospels and take note of how Jesus wielded sarcasm and humor.)  The opposite crowd is the Dominion theology crowd who thinks America is in decline because the Church as a whole in the US has abdicated, capitulated and quit working to further God’s kingdom.  The evidence is divorce, public homosexuality, abortion and economic/monetary ignorance, and all the other outcomes and sanctions America deserves for abandoning and condoning through inaction.

The point isn’t to offend but to challenge.  I will finish my de-facto assessment of North-Central Idaho with this generalization.  A majority of Christians in this region are there because they are “fleeing” the world.  They’ve over-applied the command to not be “of the world” at the expense of “being in the world”.  They have become islands upon an island.  No mindset for dominion of this world but more of a “let’s hide here and scrape out an existence while we sing kumbaya.”  The belief in a pending “rapture” (a word not found in the Bible) has created a Church wide pessimism that slowly erodes the Church’s desire to think generationally for the Christ’s Kingdom.  Why bother building cathedrals when the “mothership” will be here any day?  Obama must be the anti-Christ—right?

COUNTING ON THE RAPTURE IS NOT A PREPAREDNESS PLAN!

The American Redoubt’s ultra-rural areas have many families are living at or on the edge of poverty because they feel “led” to flee the city but arrived with no means to support their family.  I was amazed at the amount of grown, able-bodied “Christian” men who worked part-time while on public assistance.  They refused to provide basic needs to the point of having homeschooled children that were unschooled.  The parable of Talents once again applies.

A common characteristic is home churches (islands) that resent and openly castigate the role of pastors and formal church government of any kind.  Home churches have a place where open congregational worship is forbidden or restricted.  Often used as a defense for home churching is the New Testament but the young Church in the book of Acts only home churched when they couldn’t worship corporately at the local synagogue or temple.  It is difficult or impossible for a home church family to bless the local Church and vice-versa when they don’t worship together consistently with an eye toward spiritual maturity.  Even in "Patriots" the fictional Group only home churched when they had too otherwise they met corporately at church.  Modern day China gives us a real model of the Church—corporate worship in secret and home churching as the last option.

The real problem with this retreat mentality is the tendency to avoid accountability—especially the husbands and fathers as providers.  One can’t be challenged to be active, prosperous, church growing and people serving if they are a part of an inward looking, self-contained, meat (spiritual) avoiding, hide from the apocalypse mindset.  How can the Church conquer the World for Christ when the Church is hiding in the wilderness?

Let me point out that most of these folks are kind and would gladly give their shirt off their back.  My point ties in with commerce.  These folks are, IMHO, wasting the most precious of all commodities—TIME.  The asset (or talent for a biblical reference) of human capital is being misappropriated and wasted and are they are positioned for an epic failure of tragic proportions.  How?  Let’s go back to an example or one limiting factor—Fuel.

If fuel becomes scarce or extremely expensive most of the islands I’ve referred to will be in immediate poverty and limited in options.  They will, tragically, become a huge burden to the church community.  How is the Church to serve those around them when there is no apparatus or strong foundation for service?  Relatively speaking, times are good now and this community/region has a weak spiritual, financial, vocational, economic and geographical position.  Will they sit and starve for Jesus or become a moving hoard of good mannered locusts?
A very legitimate question I say!  My point has merit in two ways: the first assessment is to ask if I had to walk to town for commerce could I do it in less than four hours?  Second, make a list for one month of every item you get from the store or mail order and apply a scarcity model to that list—could you survive without commerce?  Who could?

Are you skeptical?  Remove fuel and add any other category on your list.  If you are ultra-rural do you think those scarce items would be more readily available for commerce in your ultra-rural location or in small to mid-sized town (30,000 pop or less)?  Assume your area can and would become a closed system at some point.  I really want to connect the entire piece by asking you the reader to combine both main points.

Is the community or America better served by Godly people removing themselves from populated areas in the best interest of stability and return to normalcy?  If God is to sanction America and allow habit, life or game changers to occur-- is the pillar and culture changing news of the gospel better served hiding in the ultra-rural or better served with “boots on the ground” in closer proximity to greater populations?  I think of Gen. Patton always moving to where the fight is to take the initiative.  Can you be a tent-maker like Paul?  Providing commerce, stability and service to man while being a platform for the transformational truth of Christ’s work on the cross?

In closing, I hope I have challenged the reader on two levels.  First Spiritually--Examine your worldview and study God’s word and the subject of end times. It does matter as one worldview, by nature, creates a natural pessimism and one doesn’t.   For deeper understanding I recommend the unanswered and authoritative work By Dr. Kenneth Gentry.  “He Shall Have Dominion.”  Here you will find a deep review of the recent (1830s) move by the Church in America to embrace Dispensational Pre-millennialism (Rapture Theology) and Post-Millennialism (the Church's historic position). 

Second- I hope I challenged your “prepping model”.  I believe one’s end-times worldview and beliefs about commerce are interconnected and dictate one’s prepping model by either causing an “isolate and prep mindset” versus a “stay, prep and positively impact mindset”.  Are you thinking about the next 5-10 years or the next 100-200 years?

I left the ultra-rural area because God challenged the fallacy in my worldview that held the idea of “prep for the worst but hope for the best.”  The idea that I could avoid or ride out any sanctions or events He allows America to endure is wrong.  The Church, with Christ as the head, is the glue of civilization and the only hope for America and more importantly the World.  Christ’s Church is the army and this victory must be worked out over time.

The modern preparedness movement, even the Rawlesian Approach, is distracting the Church from its real mission of serving those in need  Preparing your house, neighbors and local churches to be a network of support, and yes commerce, is Biblical.  The Union Gospel Mission has taken these marching orders and followed them superbly.  Food, clothing and shelter while growing the Kingdom for Christ.  It should be our model also.

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
Isaiah 39:5-7

God’s word to Hezekiah, king of Judah, through the prophet Isaiah immediately followed a dramatic sequence of events that twice should have led to Hezekiah’s death, but ends with his miraculous healing and a visit by Babylonian envoys bearing gifts and congratulations. Hezekiah welcomed these envoys gladly and, for some reason, decided to show them “his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.” Isaiah was not aware of the envoys or their grand tour, and upon discovering their presence began questioning the king about them and what they had seen. The king’s confession prompted Isaiah’s prophecy above, and so it was that some 100 years later the first wave of Babylonian invaders began to deport Jews from their Judean homeland into what became known as the Babylonian captivity.

My theological beliefs hold that God is sovereign in all things, and He used Hezekiah’s actions and the subsequent Babylonian invasion to ultimately point the Jewish people back to Him. I also believe Paul in his second letter to Timothy when he said “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16). It follows then that the Bible is replete with great examples of how we should live our lives daily, not just in a spiritual sense, but in a very practical sense. God used Hezekiah’s mistake as part of His ultimate plan of redemption, but that does not take away from the fact that Hezekiah made a very grave error in judgment by laying open all the possessions and capabilities of his kingdom to foreign visitors, ultimately making and giving justification to their later invasion.

So what lessons do you and I stand to learn from Hezekiah’s actions? Any student of history, and certainly any frequent reader of SurvivalBlog, should be intimately familiar with the concept, application, and importance of Operations Security (OPSEC). However, being familiar with OPSEC and putting it into practice are two very different topics. Today we face the same danger that Hezekiah faced. Relatively speaking, things are good for many of us in this day and age. We lead busy, active lives and while we know dangers exist, our busy lives have a way of lulling us to sleep and coaxing us to take our guard down because total chaos has been averted for yet another day. Just as you should not wait for a disaster to begin making use of your preparations and training, you should not wait to begin practicing OPSEC in your daily lives.

Where do you start? Any writing on OPSEC that tries to address the entire concept in a few short pages is being overly general and probably not very useful. With that in mind, I will try to focus on one specific aspect of OPSEC: the role of critical information in maintaining essential secrecy.

Let’s begin with two definitions:
Critical information is that information that is either 1) important to you successfully
achieving your objective or mission (i.e. your route to your retreat WTSHTF) or 2) information which may be of use to an actual or potential adversary (i.e. the fact that you have a deep larder when Wal-mart’s shelves are empty and never being restocked).
Essential secrecy is actually a condition that is achieved by denying critical information to actual or potential adversaries, through the combined means of traditional security (physical boundaries, guards, etc.) and OPSEC.

As preparedness-minded people, our goal is to maintain some type of essential secrecy. Note that there is a difference between maintaining essential secrecy and being paranoid. If you treat everyone in your life as a potential adversary, then you already have little hope of surviving, much less thriving, through TEOTWAWKI. This is where the often understated importance of community comes into play. It is a subject that I feel we do not emphasize often enough, but nevertheless, it is not the topic of this article.

We achieve and maintain our essential secrecy by protecting our critical information. In DoD parlance, it would be incorrect to refer to your critical information as “secrets,” but for our practical purposes it is fundamentally the same thing as few of us have a tiered system of classifying documents. To practice OPSEC is to keep your secrets secret. One of the first and most important steps in the OPSEC process is to identify information about you and your capabilities, activities, limitations (including vulnerabilities), and intentions (CALI) that you consider to be critical in nature. What is critical, you ask? Naturally, it depends.

Immediately, the size and location of your larder, the grid coordinates to your retreat, and your bug out route may come to mind. Yes, these are very important capabilities and activities, but do not stop there. Go back to the CALI acronym above. We like to focus on positives - the fact that we have made preparations and plans. Equally as critical to the things that we have done are the things we have yet to do - our limitations and vulnerabilities.

As you begin to formulate in your mind what information you would classify as critical, it is good to set a few parameters. First, you should initially limit your list to ten items. Over time and as your OPSEC practices improve, this list can expand. Trying to prioritize pieces of information in importance can become cumbersome, which brings us to the second point, prioritization. To those in your immediate circle who are like-minded and cooperatively preparing with you, your critical information will be common knowledge. However, as new members are brought into the fold, the extent of their knowledge of your preparation should be based on your critical information list and revealed incrementally as deemed appropriate by their proven level of commitment and upon approval of the primary members of your group. Next, the critical information list should be physical in form and its content and importance known by all in your group, with the understanding that its existence highlights the importance of keeping it secret from those outside. Why keep a hard copy? To serve as a reminder of what is at stake. If you cannot protect that document, what makes you think you can protect your family during a disaster? Finally, your critical information list is a living, breathing document. As your level of preparedness changes, so too should your critical information change. You should reexamine and update your critical information list quarterly, ideally at the conclusion of a rehearsal or training event (you are rehearsing and training for WTSHTF, right?).

The ability to protect your critical information is a result of the total process of OPSEC, rather than a few simple, one-time steps that will lead you down a mythical yellow brick road to essential secrecy. The fight to protect yourself is ongoing and ever-changing. This process only begins with identifying your critical information. In order to protect that, you must analyze threats against you, analyze your own vulnerabilities, assess the inherent risks, and implement measures to counter each of these areas. Each of these steps in the process have been the subject of countless pages of analysis and policy implementation, but for all the various means of implementing OPSEC, the first step will always be to identify your critical information. Without knowing your most important secrets, what use is it to plan painstaking measures to protect them?

To conclude, let’s go back to our analogy using King Hezekiah. We see that he exercised absolutely no discernment when it came to protecting the critical information and CALI of the Kingdom of Judah from his Babylonian guests. The foolishness of his actions, however, was all too clear to Isaiah when he learned of what had transpired, and God revealed to him the prophecy of what was to come for the people of Israel in the future as a result of these acts.

Now think about your own experience in taking steps to be prepared for the unforeseen. Whether you are preparing for a complete economic meltdown, an infrastructure-crippling CME event, or next year’s hurricane season, there are certainly things that are better left unsaid, especially to those who do not bother to reign in their own tongues or some who would undoubtedly turn to barbaric behavior as a result of their own failure to prepare. Perhaps you have even made an error in judgment of another’s character and trusted them with information that you now regret. Now is the time to begin systematically structuring your OPSEC plan so that it is an inherent, organic part of your preparedness plan, rather than a simple buzzword in your prepping vocabulary that you use on occasion. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” so spend this weekend identifying your critical information and start taking steps to protect it. Do not let the wisdom of the Bible as portrayed in Hezekiah’s mistake slip by unheeded.

Operational Security (OPSEC) has been around since the first Stone Age battles were fought. In an effort to provide the element of surprise and in order to keep what one had only those that need to know where told. I have always considered my friends and/or people I associate with and of what I considered similar moral fortitude worthy of my trust when it came to discussion of prepping. However I have recently discovered that not everyone is of the same mindset.

First a little back ground on me. I moved out at 18 and went on to higher education like many. I worked part time retail jobs and went to school then I was in a motorcycle accident and couldn’t get thing back on track. I joined the U.S. Army and served 2-1/2 years as an Airborne Infantryman (11B1P) and unit Armorer. After an Honorable medical discharge, I moved home and after two months living with mom and dad and not being able to find a job. I worked in the retail firearms industry for some very big names for more than eight years. I then followed my dream of a career in Law Enforcement where I have been for the last five years.

This is not your typical OPSEC that we are talking about. You know where you don’t let the boxes from your favorite long term storage company or the new big screen television stick out of the trash can. This is OPSEC regarding people you invite into your home. Whether they are family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, business professionals you deal with on a regular basis people you share common hobbies with and that may seem to have the same ethical way of thinking. The people who given the opportunity do the right thing do the right thing in our non-state of emergency day to day life. They buy the homeless person a burger, help the little old lady put the gallon of milk in her car, are in a job that is for the benefit of society, they may be Doctors, Law Enforcement, Military, or Fire Fighters. You know the types people who help people in their day to day lives.

I was recently told by an individual that I held to a higher standard than most people in the community, that he and another person on my list of Friends that I thought were like minded and trusted confidants were Prepping. You can imagine the joy these two individuals are well respected in the community that I participate in and many of my friends participate in. The first is a Sales representative for an international firearms company (Mr. Gun) and the other is a Successful business owner (Mr. Business). Names withheld for OPSEC and they are after all still friends, however they may never know what hides behind door number 1 at my house or where my family and I will end up if the Schumer does Hit the Fan.

As I’m sitting in the office of Mr. Business and we are discussing our two biggest common interest shooting sports and guns. He drops the bomb that he and Mr. Gun are Prepping for when “The Stuff Hits The Fan.” At this point I’m thinking alright I have just added two very important people to my pool of resources and possibly to my group should anything happen. I may also point out that both are in my opinion and in the opinion of many exceptional well trained, practiced, and experienced with engaging multiple threats at close distance with a handgun. Mr. Gun is also very capable with a rifle and shotgun at distance. Then he says those dreaded words “we are making notes of people we know who are Prepping and we will just go to their place and take what we need.”  I had to use every ounce of strength in my person to keep my jaw from hitting the floor and letting my secret be known. These two have told me that if I ever need anything just ask and if they could they would. In fact Mr. Gun loaned me $50 no questions asked which was paid back after my lunch break. We worked together for more than years. Chances are they have a good idea what I have for defense and my capabilities.

"Wow!", right? Here we have two respected individuals that I have known for over 12 years talking about just taking what they need/want from their own friends. Then my mind goes into overdrive what have I told them, what do they know, what if they come to my house will my kids just open the door for them. Heck my kids call Mr. Business “Uncle.” How do I tell them not to tell them what we have or what we are doing to Prepare. I now have to figure out a way to tell my family that some of the trusted people in our lives are not to be trusted when TSHTF and that we really don’t know who these people are. I also now have to figure a way to have my kids go about as nothing has changed when we are around these two individuals.

Sounds like just a bad day right? Well it gets worse I’m at work later the same week and talking with one of my partners we are discussing firearms, as they pertain to our current profession and which ones we like. He starts talking about the television show Preppers and how he thinks it’s a good idea so he’s trying to stalk up on ammo but with the current state of things it’s difficult. Again I start to get that happy felling of finding another like-minded person. Then the conversation from earlier that week flashes to the front of my mind. So I tell him I have about 400 rounds of this so I can practice for re-qualification later this year and 100 rounds of that just to have around and a few .22 LR around. I seriously down played the amount on purpose trying to feel the waters. Then he comes out and says he just wants enough so he can go take more ammo and food from other people he knows that are stalking up. What did I just hear this is a guy I work with, a guy I trust my life with on a daily basis. I think to myself maybe I didn’t hear him correctly so I asked if he had any food set aside like they do in the show. The answer I was hoping for did not come he just stated that he would eat what he had and when that ran out just go and take it for people who told him they were prepping or those that he thought may have extra. He was adamant that he would take it by force if need be. At this point I am about to fall out of my chair here is a person who is supposed to uphold the law talking about taking other peoples life for food.

While discussing how my inventory was going and that I am close to a goal anther co-worker entered the area we were working in and started asking questions because we were looking at some new tactical gear for our personal use luckily the gear could have been for work also. I was fending off the probing questions with great flair.  Here is how the conversation went and a few example questions from that day:

Question 1: Are you guys preppers? Answer 1. I Look at my partner with the OPSEC look and ask in reply: "What is that?"

Question 2: "You know like the television show 'Preppers' on National Geographic." My reply: "Never heard of it. I will have to check it out."

Question 3: :"Do you have any food stored? My reply: "I went to the store last night and bought steak for dinner is that what you mean?

Question 4: "No. You know, like stored water? My reply: "I have a 10,000 gallon swimming pool, will that work"?

"Yes that should be good."

Needless to say I felt bad about misleading hi. He sounds genuine but with my recent let down of learning that close personal friends and having no real way other than sarcasm and a poor attempt at wit to try and weed out the true prepper from the fisherman looking for the next Honey Hole to add to his list of house to hit when things get bad. I may get back with him and do some probing of my own. He has no skills that are of benefit to me or my group but that won’t stop me from making an ally.

I am now stuck with the dilemma of how to weed out the people who seem to be of the same mindset from the people who are of the same mindset. The question of how to let my kids know that it’s ok to trust Mr. and Mrs. Soandso right now but when things go south they are not to be trusted ways heavy on me and I have yet to do it. Telling them that they only want our food and don’t care how we survive after they take it is going to be difficult.

The fishers need to be turned be careful in how you approached this. Take time, pray, and talk to others that it will effect if these people come knocking when TSHTF. If you don’t think you can turn them don’t give them a reason to come to your door.

Thought for the day. They may be lifelong friends but are they friends for a long life? Be careful divulging to people you trust they may just be the ones coming to take what you have when the chips are down and TSHTF. If they want your help, help. Be cautious when the probing questions start get good information take some time turn it around and ask them questions make it seem as if they just planted the prepper seed, when the time is right and your sure OPSEC is good let them in to your little secret.

As always stay alert and Prepare for the Worst and Pray for the Best.

Whenever you read fiction stories about surviving TEOTWAWKI, reading articles here on SurvivalBlog or any other similar site. One of the things that keeps coming up is its best to form a group of "Like Minded People". Here is what I have put into motion and my future plans on how I hope to accomplish it. Any feedback is always welcome.

My situation is my age being in my mid-50s and having a disability. It would be wonderful to find some like minded people in their early 20s or 30s who have the strength and ability to do what I am unable to accomplish or have the physical stamina to fend off any opposing evil at the gate. Unfortunately I'm not really going to find those kind of folks with there being such an age difference. People with disabilities can still do many things to help out, we just have to do them differently.

I found what works the best for me in finding like minded people is to stick around my own age group. People who grew up in the mid 50s to mid 70s are a prime target. People who understand what it was like to work hard for a living and realizing that things are not just given to you but you had to earn them. I think modern technology is great but it is also going to be our undoing in the long run. There is some merit to grow up using your imagination as a child for entertaining yourself than finding it in a video game. As kids growing up and playing Army out in the woods, we were learning how to build forts, set up defenses , working together as a team and forming strategies without even knowing it.

When finding like minded people in my age group it's going to be very rare to find someone who is not in some form of needing medical assistance. But, this is not such a bad thing either, some of us old hornets still have a lot of sting left in us and we posses knowledge and skills that are not found in just any book. Something that comes to mind is two of the people that I'm working on served in Viet Nam so they are not strangers to a vicious enemy. I believe for the type of BOL I'm looking for in the wilderness I would prefer someone who is familiar with jungle fighting but would love to find anyone with experience in setting up military style defenses.

One of the things I have done is to join the County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) program. Here I have found men and woman mostly near my age group who are in some way concerned about being prepared. Some of them take the course just for their own knowledge in what to do to better prepare for an emergency around their own home but you will find others who extend it to a further means. Many of the people I have been meeting have in some way been involved in the military or in some form of Emergency Management / Training and are retired.

About two years ago I had the opportunity in my county to take an amateur radio course. We had an individual in our CERT program who was very much into this hobby and was involved with putting on the course. I signed up and spent four Saturday mornings for four hours sitting in lectures that I had no idea what they were talking about. The good thing was for the course we needed to pick up the book: The ARRL General Class License Manual.

First let me explain, there are three classes of Ham Radio licenses: Technician, General and Amateur Extra. Each class offers more benefits to having the license, basically more frequencies you can use. Well in the back of the manual, there were test questions that you could study and these test questions were word for word as they were on the exam. There are also online sites you can get into and take practice tests, over and over again. Hind sight being 20/20, I would have just studied all the questions, memorized the answers and gone in and challenged the tests when the exams became available. I hate to say it, but I passed my General exam without even knowing how to turn on a radio. For the first two years I had done nothing with my license because anytime I would meet a ham radio enthusiast and ask a question, they would just open up with all the techno knowledge they had to impress me that I walked away more confused than before I asked.

This all changed one night about two weeks ago while at a CERT meeting, I met a man in his mid-60s who was into ham radios. After talking with him for a few minutes and explaining my situation, he laughed and told me it was people like that was his reason he was not involved in any clubs anymore. We exchanged phone numbers and he told me to give him a call and he would hook me up with a radio I could borrow and get me on the air. This past weekend I went over to his house and in the two hours I spent with him, I learned more than the 16 hours in the class. He also put me in touch with Associated Radio, a small family owned business in Kansas that he has found to be very good in dealing with for ham equipment. The owner's name is is Dan. I now have being shipped a Yaesu FT 2900 R and a TRAM 48" magnetic mount antenna. Once I get the system my friend will help me get it mounted in my SUV and programmed.

While my new found friend was helping me with the radio, I also learned he was a prepper but not so open about it. We talked about different things and found we had more in common than we realized. This is someone I plan on working with to see if he has an interest in combining forces for later down the road. It's wonderful to find someone who is very knowledgeable but doesn't come across as the type who has to prove it or make you feel stupid for their own ego.

One day last week I volunteered to do some admin work for the CERT program. I was working with a gentleman who also does a lot of volunteer work with CERT and in talking with him, I found out he was involved as an instructor in Emergency Management in New York City and was at the Twin Towers on 9/11. Like my ham radio friend, this gentleman also served in Viet Nam. We shared like interests and had a lot in common, some things we disagreed on but nothing that would hold me back from bringing this person into the club. Actually you want someone who does not always agree, brings out other options to look at as long as you can team up and work together. He was slowly building up his preps in buying much needed items such as fire arms and was working on obtaining other supplies. In talking with this gentleman I wanted to hurry him along some in his prepping efforts so I mentioned a couple of books to read, Patriots by James Rawles and One Second After by W. R. Forstchen.  Also in our conversation he mentioned he has a son with one of the SEAL Teams. On hearing this, my mind went into mental overload and started racing with all sorts of thoughts. This is a person I definitely want to get to know much better and would love to meet his son. If for nothing more than to thank him for his service.

A third person who has been a long time friend of mine and use to be my boss in the Coast Guard many years ago is now a Pastor at a church in Florida. where he is planning on retiring in a couple of years. After he retired from the Coast Guard, he went into nursing school and he now works one day a week in the Emergency Room at a busy Florida hospital. He and I have been sharing a dream of one day buying a couple of Class A type motor homes and touring the country with our wives in tow (not literally in tow, they can ride inside). In one of our conversations I had mentioned that this type of unit would be good for getting out of Dodge if the SHTF. He mentioned that this was part of his plan in getting one but had to get his wife onboard that things are not looking good and they needed to start making more preparations.

A fourth person I know is a good friend of mine and I hire him any time I need work done on my home he's a very talented carpenter and also loves to hunt. He and his wife have a 5th wheel camper and they go camping and hunting regularly with it. With the construction field being slow, he is doing mostly work by word of mouth and would not be able to put a lot of funds into prepping but he brings other talents to the table.

My wife and I have been working hard scrimping and saving to get this house paid off which will soon come to light. I highly recommend this as part of your prepping efforts. I have been actively looking for land where we can pick up some acreage that has a year round fresh water spring and boarders a National Forest. When I find the right piece I hope to be in a position where I can afford it. Once I find the right place I will take time and set it up with gardens, off grid power systems and security measures. I'm now thinking on ways how I can set up several motor homes and camouflage them into the landscape. My ham radio friend has just purchased a Class A motor home and he has found a good dealership that will work with you and has a good reputation. My friend in Florida also has a member of his church who owns a motor home dealership so finding a good deal should not be a problem.

In my making plans for where to find land to establish my BOL Community one of the sites I use is: LandAndFarm.com. You can go in, find any State and any County within the State and see what's available. In my mind, I can see the property I'm looking for, now I just have to find out where on earth its located.

I have purchased a map of the United States and have mounted it to a piece of cardboard. I have been in the process of locating where nuclear power plants are and using a colored push pin to mark their location. You can use the distance scale on the side of the map to make yourself a small round disc to place under the push pin to represent the distance you want to be away from the plant such as 25 miles. I found this information here.

If you have settled in on one State in particular you can just get a larger more detailed map of that State and work with that. Being a member of AAA has many benefits but one being free maps and information books on areas. When finding a location I use a more detailed map to locate major roads and highways. I want to identify what I feel will be heavy traveled routes and stay away from them. Google Earth on the PC is also a wonderful program.

Also located on this map I make note of prevailing winds, earthqauke-prone regions, and so forth. Two of the sites I use for this are: NOAA Seasonal Drought Map and Natural Disasters Map.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I have a disability and so do some of the people I'm meeting. So something that is important is where hospitals and medical centers are located. For this information I use this site. These places may not be up and running in a full blown out disaster but they will be up until then and maybe for a short time after.

At times I have found some decent properties that seem to have some potential then once I find something that I may like I go into: www.bestplaces.net and I can enter the town or county and pull up records of the area. One of the things I look for is the crime rate. Some places that seem like good potential actually have a crime rate higher than the National average. I can understand one day when the toast is burnt  people are going to get ugly and crime will go up but I don't see the need to start off with it at an already high level.

My plan is slowly coming together and I'm finding the right people that are like minded in my way of thinking. Other than my two long time friends, the other two just came into focus within the past two weeks or so. I have to believe that the Good Lord is making things happen by bringing these people into my life for a reason. Real life past experiences have shown me this. I have in my mind the skill sets I'm looking for in a person and eventually the Good Lord brings them around. Like I mentioned, I waited two years just to find someone who can help me with the Ham Radio. When I find that piece of land I'm looking for, part of my plan is to get my friends to join me out there camping at times and see what we can come up with or bounce some ideas off them.

You can go into various web sites and look to meet online "Like Minded People" but I find that can be very dangerous so use extreme caution, you really do not have any idea who you may be opening up your life too. Having before used online dating sites and finding out the profiles are not always accurate in describing the person I would shy away from that. What has worked for me was joining the local CERT program and getting involved with that. Here you can actually meet the people, work with them under emergency situations and disasters and see how they hold up. You can also figure out who you can work with and who you can't, the ones who pitch in and help and the ones who like to jump in and take charge. I would shy away from the people who jump in and take charge thinking their way is the only way. This may work out good at a disaster but not so good in a group of folks who are trying to survive. Working with your Emergency Management also puts you in the know of what is available in your local area for resources and the ability to do some networking. If you do enough volunteering, you may actually find yourself in a position where you can set up programs and policies that will be of a benefit to you. You can find out a lot about a person such as religious and political beliefs without giving out to much information about yourself just by working with them.

Approach friends or people you know and work with that you feel comfortable with and strike up general conversations. You can be conducting an interview without them even knowing it and getting a feel of their beliefs. I feel it's best to keep a very low profile of my prepping activities and not spill the beans until I feel the time is right. I have many friends and neighbors whom I have known for years and would love to have them involved in prepping and setting up a community. I've tried talking with them and trying to get them working on it but they just say they need to or would like to but just don't have the finances, don't have the time, blah blah blah. In the end they say that if anything happens they will just come out and stay with me and my wife. Wrong! Right now they have jobs, the stores are well stocked and they have the same opportunity as I do. My wife and I are not scrimping and saving to have the funds to prepare for their benefit. When I do find the land, it will be a closely guarded secret.

            2 Corinthians 6:14, Be ye not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers:
            Deuteronomy 22:10, You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together.

As always, good luck in your preps and God Bless...

Preparedness is well within the top ten subject matters of interest today.  Most everyone is thinking about it and many of us are well under way toward some level of advanced planning.  Groups of like minded families are common but it would be a mistake to fail at making preparedness attractive to our children.

Our pioneer ancestors invented creative games to teach their children skills of survival in an unfriendly world.  Games were simple and fit for most occasions.  If they were weathered in at a cabin, there was a game where one child was the subject and the others would take turns trying to make the subject crack a smile or laugh.  While the children thought it was just a game, it taught them to control their emotions.  Should a raiding party attack their home, it could save their life to remain emotionless and silent.  That skill could prove valuable today if you needed to escape detection by blending into a crowd or lay motionless in brush.  When it comes to extracting information, skilled interrogation derives as much from emotional response as it does verbal.
There are many other skills that we could teach our children by having them play interesting games.  Games need to fit the age and ability of our children but you would be surprised at how quickly they learn advanced skills.

My daughter was one of the youngest females to qualify for the Washington State Explorer Search & Rescue (ESAR) program.  At fourteen years old, she completed her equipment, classroom, and first-aid training and accomplished a final exercise that included a three day map & compass orienteering course.  She carried a fifty pound pack of standardized equipment, food, and water.  Objectives were to use map & compass and orienteering skills to locate designated cans on a stake that was painted bright orange.  The locations were marked on their maps but getting to those points was dependent on their skill.  As the teams found each target they were to remove the lid and mark the notepad inside with their name and time of day.  The course was designed to place the two person teams at expected locations for each night.  Senior ESAR members watched from a distance and checked up on them with a nightly camp visit.  On the first night, leaders had lost track of my daughter and her teammate.  A full scale search started and they began checking the targets for signature.  These two girls had located and signed in at more targets than had previously been expected for one day and the leaders found them on top of a hill that was reserved for the middle of day two.  They were in great spirits and enjoyed a truly “hill top” experience under the stars.  My daughter and her teammate were not only the youngest two qualifying females in Washington ESAR history but they completed the three day course a half day ahead of the second team in.  One of the challenges of the event is not told the recruits.  Day two put them on what is called “Magnet Mountain.”  Because of local iron deposits, magnetic north cannot be located with a typical compass.  They would be required to adapt and read their maps according to terrain.  ESAR has learned to teach through exercise which makes the entire learning experience a fantastic game.  It works.

A variation of the orienteering game can make it progressive.  Each team has a different set of targets to locate with each target providing a necessary part or clue to completing a task.  An example might be to start with a recorded tape or CD at the first target; followed by a tape or CD player at the second target; followed by earphones at the third; and finally the batteries.  The recorded message would guide them to the final prize that all teams are looking to win.  The prize for our youth is both something fitting to their effort and a fun filled event.  The prize for us as parents will be watching our youth learn valuable skills while having a ball doing it.

We can create many great games for our children.  Among groups of like minded families where many youth are represented, the potential is awesome.  We can make afternoon, day, or weekend events that will teach and sharpen skills.  As parents, we will learn as much and have as much fun planning these events as our kids have doing them.  “Hide & Seek” could be modified to emulate our military Escape & Evasion training.  They don’t have to “play Army” and the game can be called “Rabbit & Fox.”   They learn escape & evasion if they are the rabbit and they learn tracking if they are the fox.

My children have done things like this on a grand scale with their friends.  Weeks of preparation went into an elaborate all night game of “Capture the Flag.”  This involved a kickoff barbeque, camouflage clothing, and full face paint.  It ended with a pancake breakfast.  I have family pictures of my son and daughters as proud of how they looked that night as if they were going to the prom.  They were serious tacticians and they still share stories of those nights with dozens of their friends on their cousin’s farm. The excitement kept them up all night and after breakfast the next morning; they were already planning the next event.

At a well disciplined shooting range, we could teach our children how to safely handle firearms.  If there isn’t an Appleseed group near you, I’m sure they would help you with both ideas and perhaps a pathway to forming your own group.

Other practical events on a smaller scale could be a timed event at digging a Dakota Hole, starting a fire without matches, and bringing one cup of water to a boil in a standard soup can.  My youngest daughter invited several of her friends over for Smores around a fire pit.  It was sad that so many of her friends didn’t know how to start a campfire even with the use of matches and newspaper.  After several poor attempts they were all interested to learn how to do it right.  Imagine that?  Teens interested in learning a skill from one of their dads. 
Our children want to be a productive part of the group and what better way for them to demonstrate their worth than to be in charge of starting the campfire or a host of other suitable skills?
I am part of a group of families that meet each month and share training on various skills.  We describe it as 4H for adults.  At one event we explored how to make a bow & arrow from PVC pipe and a fiberglass rod used for temporary horse fencing.  It was amazingly good and the bow’s delivered forty-five pounds of thrust.  That would be perfect for teaching our teens an important skill and what would be more appropriate than hosting a “Robin Hood” shooting event with those home-made bows and arrows?

The movie “Hunger Games” cast the heroine as a young provider for her family and could be used to encourage our youth to participate.  She was an accomplished archery hunter but more importantly, she provided her family with food because of her skills.  In a grid down world, our children will need to become proficient at many things.  A problem is that many daily tasks necessary in a ‘grid down world’ are manually intense and tend to eliminate younger bodies.   When looking for a “Well Bucket” to manually draw water from a four inch well casing, I was amazed to find most were sized at several gallons and would be very heavy to draw.  Seeing a need to include our children in as many tasks as possible, I designed a light weight “Bullet Bucket” that holds only about one gallon per draw.  This is light enough that a young teen could draw water for a family and not be excluded from serving an important role.

Practicing skills can be a group event.  Our group was formed after reading an article in SurvivalBlog forum regarding Colloquium (CQ) Groups.  We have grown into our third year and have affiliated groups in three other cities.  Once each year we hold a CQ Field Day.  We camp out at a city park or privately owned field that is visible and accessible to the town.  This year we will be in a three acre field owned by our church and right in the middle of town.  Along with practicing our skills and having a great time of fellowship among ourselves, we will be hosting the local 4H group, Boy Scouts, and the city Youth in Action group.  We will be demonstrating outdoor cookery, amateur radio field operations, fire making, making your own laundry detergent and other skills of interest.  There are several merit badges available to the Boy Scouts and we have men qualified to approve those badge requirements.  This will be our second such Field Day and it is capturing some very good attention from our city.  Our group is not promoted as a “Prepper Group” and that is with purpose.  Since we are promoting skills that can help a family save money and that make us better prepared for storms and associated outages, we are cast in a very different light than with the mockery that is painted on “Preppers” as a result of sensational media attention.   Since the skills we teach and practice can and do serve both hurricane preparedness and TEOTWAWKI, we prefer to remain hidden in plain sight.  Even at our meetings, nothing is ever shared about how much any of us has stored.  We are all about skills and the subject of personal inventories never comes up.

The importance of training our young people will make a profound difference to the future of our nation.  As they learn skills of survival, they learn principles of living.  Including them in such an important part of family preparedness teaches them responsibility and recognizes their significance as a contributing member of the group.  Children are often marginalized by our system of education and teens especially may lack the confidence to stand shoulder to shoulder with adults in preparedness training.  It is easy for them to feel overwhelmed and left behind as their parents become serious about making preparations.  We can unintentionally push our children aside because we want to demonstrate and practice abilities newly learned.  Reaching them and encouraging them to join in is a worthy effort at the very least.  An important note is that all of us like to play games and that is the key to teaching skills and including our youth in sharing the future.   When we teach skills by the media of games, we discover a love of learning.

Are you responsible for the most valuable commodity in the world? Do you have small children? Are you a grandparent? Even though your grown children currently think you are crazy, will they be showing up at your door in a SHTF scenario? What about the neighbor down the road, the single mother that is just barely getting by financially? Even though they are not actually your responsibility, will you be able to turn away a stranger with an infant or small child pleading for help? What does God expect out of us? What if you were suddenly responsible for an infant or toddler? Do you have some basic supplies or plans  for this scenario? In many ways, infants and toddlers require careful planning when preparing for a TEOTWAWKI situation.
Infants and toddlers can throw a curve ball into your prepping plans.  Here are some basic needs that toddlers and babies require, that many people may not think to have in their long term storage. Some of these suggestions are simple and inexpensive but extremely valuable. Anyone that has taken care of children knows that keeping them happy and comfortable reduces a lot of stress on the caretaker. Sadly, some parents will not have a clue about what to do when they run out or cannot afford/find disposable diapers. Some of these items are cost (and space) prohibitive for someone that may not be definitely responsible children.  Additionally, there are a few transportation type items my family has acquired. We will use these in a SHTF scenario, but we also use them in our day to day life.

Babies need diapers, plain and simple. Instead of stockpiling expensive and bulky boxes of disposable diapers, I bought a pattern (link) and made one size diapers that fit a baby from 8 pounds to 35 pounds. Both of our children can literally fit in the same diaper, even though they are almost 20 pounds different in weight. These are not your thin pre-folds found on the Wal-Mart shelf (don’t buy them unless you’re using them as burp cloths, they’re terribly thin and not very useful). I can also use the leftover material from the diapers as cloth wipes or the diapers themselves as bandages in extremely unfortunate situations. A couple of drawers of diapers that last for years saves much more space (and money) than years’ worth of disposable diapers. How good would you feel to hand a struggling parent a few re-usable diapers (you may need to show them how they are used) before sending them down the road? Don’t forget a good supply of safety pins for many reasons. Plus, when using my homemade laundry detergent, I don’t have any additional soap to buy or store.  You can find good, used diapers through a diaper cleaning service, online, and at garage sales. Get creative; they are out there if you look for them.

Babies also require milk. Most people can agree that nursing is the most beneficial form of nourishment for an infant. It also is simpler. For example, there is no need to find a bottle (let alone sanitize it), it is always at the right temperature, no one has to measure out precise ingredients, and I can’t think of a single time it has ever been recalled. However, it can be painful to nurse and sometimes it just is not an option. If you suddenly find yourself caring for an infant what are you going to feed that baby?

Through my research, I have found several goats’ milk recipes. Goats’ milk has very nutritious properties and is supposed to be easier for infants to digest than a cow’s milk. So, if you have access to goats, search for some recipes and see if this is something that may benefit your situation. Unfortunately, goats simply are not an option for my family. We live on a military installation and the housing authorities are adamant on their pet policies. Goats will not do here, which leads me to a formula recipe I found in a cookbook. The recipe’s ingredients are common staples in most pantries.

12 ounces evaporated milk
2 Tablespoons Dark Corn Syrup, Sugar, or Brown Sugar
2 ¼ Cup Water (my Dr. recommends boiling all water, even bottled water, to kill bacteria before giving to infants)

Mix these ingredients together (be sure that the water has cooled to an appropriate temperature) then feed to the baby. This can be refrigerated after use and stored for several days.
Since this recipe does not have additional vitamins or iron that infants require, liquid vitamin drops would be important to add in order to meet the child’s nutrient requirements.
As a disclaimer, I am not a health care provider. Perhaps this information will be helpful to a child in a SHTF scenario. In the meantime, please consult with a medical professional with questions or recommendations for the health of your child.

When TEOTWAWKI occurs, how are you going to transport that kiddo if we have to? This is a subject that, unless you are currently or know you will be responsible for children, may be a minor concern. Transporting a child “legally” in a vehicle will not be a priority however; a car seat does keep the child safe and stationary so the other occupants can remain alert to the environment around them. I do not believe that traveling via motorized vehicle will be an option in most SHTF scenarios so, let’s concentrate on non-motorized transportation options.
First off, bicycles are great to have at hand. They provide a quick, efficient, and cheap mode of transportation. But, how will you transport the children on a bike? Well, you could install one of those plastic seats over the handle bars or behind your own seat. Used ones are plentiful and inexpensive at garage sales.  Or, here’s another option. We chose a bike trailer. We purchased an Aosom Elite 3 in 1 from an eBay store. This is a cheaper model, but one is better than none, right? What is nice about this trailer is that two children (up to a combined weight of 88 pounds) can ride in it simultaneously. The trailer has a mesh cover to allow air flow, but it also keeps rocks, sticks and larger bugs from infiltrating the cockpit area. It came standard with a clear plastic cover to go over the mesh to keep rain off the children or to keep the cold weather out. One of the requirements I had when looking for a bike trailer was that it had to convert easily from a trailer to a stroller. This trailer simply attaches to pull behind a bike, and it has a front swivel wheel that allows it to become a stroller. The swivel wheel can be “locked” in a forward position to be used for jogging. The handle bar at the back of the trailer doubles as a roll over bar and can be adjusted to be more comfortable for those of different heights pushing the stroller.  There is also an enclosed area at the back of the trailer that is fairly large (for a size idea, it can fit 4 gallons of milk). Another neat feature is that many trailers can be converted to be on skis for those in snowy regions. A simple ski kit is available on eBay for those that snowshoe or Cross Country Ski. Now, if funds are not an issue for you, I would probably recommend a trailer with a larger front wheel. This would make the trailer more compatible for rugged terrain. Furthermore, when the kids outgrow this, it may be retrofitted to haul game, goods, firewood or used as a great barter item.

What if hiking is more your style or a bike trailer is not feasible for you? Here are some other options. While hiking (or even doing house work) with a “fresh” baby, my Moby Wrap was a life saver. The Moby is a long piece of fabric with a stretch. You can even make your own, just do a search for how to on online. For us, the Moby worked well while the kids were just a few months old. The bigger they grew, the more difficult it was for me to carry them.

Then, I was introduced to a Deuter Kid Comfort Carrier. These distribute the child’s weight more evenly on my body, making long walks more enjoyable for both mommy and the child. Each of our Deuters have a kickstand (which allows us to double the back pack as a high chair because of the balance the kickstand provides), strap in harness, shade cover, and rain shield. They also have mesh pockets on the side, and a deep pocket under the child’s seat. We can store diapers, food, water, and other necessities in the deep pocket. This pack does not allow you to carry “tons” of items for a BOB, but it is perfect for me as a Bug Home Bag, if I am just running errands throughout town. It is perfect for everyday use, too. It frees my hands but also allows a fussy child to be comforted close to mommy or daddy.

Trying to be prepared can be expensive. We were blessed to pick up a Deuter at a garage sale, and the other was a gift from my parents. Here is a money saving recommendation. When trying to get equipment, head to an REI store (or similar facility) if you have the luxury. Be prepared to stay for several hours. Get properly fitted for a backpack. I strongly suggest this, as this will increase your comfort while carrying the child. There are also great videos on YouTube explaining how to properly fit yourself to your pack. Put your child in the backpack and see how you both like it.  Walk around the store for half an hour or longer. Try several different brands and see what works best for you and your children. Take notes on the features you like, how it fits, what you do not like, etc. Do the same with the bike trailer or any other necessities you find yourself needing.  Push the kid(s) around the store. Try to see how the kids fit in the trailer with helmets on.  Is there enough storage area, do the kids have enough room? Again, take notes. If money is not a problem or if there is a remarkable sale going on and you want to support that store, then go ahead, make your purchase.  On the other hand, if you have a smart phone or want to save a bit of money, check out eBay, Craigslist, Bookoo, etc. Take your notes and go home. Find a used product at a more affordable price. Many times children outgrow these tools before the family uses them a handful of times, so you can find good products in like new condition.

The products I mentioned are just items my family finds useful. We are not associated with any of these companies or web sites, nor do we get any monetary gain from sharing our opinions on these products. They are just that, opinions, take them for what they are worth. Children are surely a blessing. Consider them and their needs when preparing your supplies.

Regarding the piece by I.S. on a female's point of view, she is right on with how to introduce a non-prepper to this world.  I have done the same but with my husband, I am the gardener, shooter, and all around prepper.  Though we do not have a lot of funds, you can nickel and dime it towards your survival goals and I have done this with proof to him such as becoming debt free, minus the mortgage, getting branches and salvage wood for free for the wood stove to save on heat, stocking up on food and now growing seedlings for sale.  You have to work with what your spouse can relate to.   Mine relates to the profit of an action, he can now rest assured that if he loses one of his jobs, (he is a great worker), we will not do without.  He calls my storage area my "little store."

I now have him helping me make decisions about items to keep and get rid of and he will now use terms like "that would be good for barter."  (I almost fainted the first time I heard him say that.) He was even okay with my closing a small retirement account to convert it to silver and a little gold, he is also good with the saving nickels concept.  I told him that if absolutely nothing happened and all was well, the little coin I am saving, will not loose value.  He is still in baby step mode.  I will now be storing larger quantities of beans and grain, I explained to him that a bean has many uses, you of course can eat it, grow it and use it for sprouting should greens be unavailable.  

I also do a great deal of shopping at yard and estate sales and have shown him the savings and resale values of the items I get, he sees the profit I make with reselling.  It is also best to explain the value of a changing life style for the simple health benefits rather than just gloom and doom.  It makes the pill a lot easier to swallow, so preppers, just keep at it with your significant other, some or any preparation is better than none, work with their dreams and desires to get to the prepping world even if you have to use that fictitious 2x4 upside his head. ;-) - C.N.

Hello sir.
I am a sheepdog that is very aware and nervous about the way things are progressing. I have been a prepper for a while. It's a side effect of my upbringing and career.
I have been researching whether it is realistic and feasible for me to relocate to the American Redoubt. I am a black American, although I am really just an American like you! I see a lot that I like, however I am worried that a black man (light skinned, but still, LOL) would not be generally welcome in that region and/or have to be constantly on guard because of a heavy presence of neo-nazi groups and other racist. Is this a false worry? Please answer me candidly. I am not offended by plain straight talk. I prefer it!
I have raised my children to understand the situation in our country, as well as how to live by the Golden Rule, humility and when to shoot.
God has been shielding me a great deal in the past and lately, and I cannot ignore his voice urging me to be ready for a near crisis.
Thank you for your time. - F.M.J.

JWR Replies: I'll pray that your planned upcoming move goes well. I have seen no "...heavy presence of neo-nazi groups".  That is a myth perpetuated by the media.  The most vocal neo-nazis were run out of town in Hayden Lake, Idaho 13 years ago.

The per capita number of haters is no greater in the Redoubt than in the other western states.  In my experience, people here are judged by their politics and religious affiliations more than they are their skin color.  If you are a conservative, then you'd certainly be welcome here.  

White, Black, Yellow, and Brown people people who drive a Prius or Volvo slathered with liberal slogan bumper stickers are the ones who get razzed here.

When was the last time you pulled an all-nighter? I’m not talking about coming home at 2am on New Years. I’m talking about staying awake and alert, for an entire evening, before sundown to after sun up. Has it been a few years, or maybe never? With all this excitement about “bugging out” and prepping, there’s a lot of talk about security and self defense, but I have yet to read an in depth article about the practical application of watches. Kind of boring maybe, but in a TEOTWAWKI, scenario keeping a watch is essential, so let’s dissect it in detail. First, the watchman.

The watchman is the first line of defense for the entire community, be it a small family or a Rawlesian 20+ acre Ranch in the Redoubt. One must be ready to respond to any threat or emergency immediately on contact. This is not a chore, it is a duty. The difference is that you can listen to your MP3s while you do the dishes, but you should not even be whistling while on watch. Consider this, while you were whistling Dixie, you didn’t notice the obvious rustling in the bushes an hour ago; that was a scouting party from a group of camp raiding, cannibals down the road. Now a full assault is minutes away and you will be completely off guard, and so will everyone else in your camp. Had your tune not obstructed your hearing you could have sounded the alarm and either moved camp, or mobilized the rest of the fighters and been ready. Most of you reading this don’t have to be convinced that this scenario sounds funny, but is not outside the realm of reality for a society who allows stampede deaths on Black Friday for sales on pairs of socks, and this is all pre-starving feral masses! This is a serious position, and must be treated as life or death because it is! You must be responsible for getting proper rest in between watches, personal hygiene, and relaxing during your down time. You are responsible for keeping your mind clear and ready; all of these elements can affect your ability to keep the camp safe, so again, take it seriously!

Every watchman needs equipment. You can have 1 designated set that every watchman uses, and they should all be accountable for it, i.e. a checklist inside a bag that everyone reviews before assuming the watch. Especially when resources are scarce. Here’s a short list to consider:

- Weapon: Lethal or non-lethal, or preferably one of each. A pistol is good, and a rifle is excellent. A large can of 18% pepper spray can dissuade animals or disperse a gathering crowd, but even a big sharp stick is better than nothing.

- Foul weather gear: A poncho, wool cap (there’s a reason it’s called a watch cap), gloves, etc. Keep it simple.

- Communications devise: To stay in contact with other watches or base camp. At random hourly intervals every watch should check in. Random is the key; you don’t want to give away your system to an enemy. This could lead to predicted watch paths and holes in security. Just remember you never know who might be listening. This devise could be a radio, but another kind of signal devise can work also, i.e. a bird call or whistle where a known code is used, 1blast all secure, 2 blasts need assistance, 3 blasts wake up the camp the hordes are descending upon us!

- A good flashlight, notebook and pen, First Aid Kit, and a multi-tool. This is just a basic kit, but a well equipped watch is a ready watch. Every watch needs to consider their own needs beyond the basics i.e. an extra jacket or sunscreen.

Now for watch rotation, the concept is simple, take a 24 hr day and divide it into parts. Assign each part to a qualified body and execute! This gets more complicated in practice. An average man cannot be an EFFECTIVE watch for longer than 6-8 hrs maximum, and less than that at night. You can’t afford to run your watches so hard that they become ineffective; and fairness is a crucial element in these acronym scenarios. So, let’s take a 3 family bugged out scenario, with 4 able watchmen between them, and create a watch bill.

We have John, Jacob, Hiemmer, and Schmidt. John is the unofficial leader of the pack, and Jacob is his son. Hiemmer and Schmidt are best friends from college, and unimportantly Hiemmer is the only female watchman. It’s Monday and John says he’ll take the first watch, so here’s what it looks like:

6am-12pm John

12pm-6pm Jacob

6pm-12am Hiemmer

12am-6am Schmidt

Easy enough right? Since John’s the leader, he should never have to pull an all-nighter, and since Jacob is the youngest he can’t be expected to stay up during the night, it’s too big a responsibility! See how this doesn’t quite even out? John gets to be with his family every night while the buddies battle to stay awake. This erodes unit cohesion over time, and a short time at that. So let’s try it again, this time with shorter evening watches to ensure watch effectiveness and every able watch considered equal or otherwise unsuitable.

6am-12pm John

12pm-6pm Jacob

6pm-10pm Hiemmer

10pm-2am Schmidt

2am-6am John

6am-12pm Jacob

12pm-6pm Hiemmer

6pm-10pm Schmidt

10pm-2am John

2am-6am Jacob

And so on. Now you see the thought process and what a real rotation looks like. This would be a sweet set up really, imagine having less or more watchmen though and you can see how tough or easy this could become! Draft one up for practice; use 2-4 hr night watches and 6- 8 hr day watches to figure out how they all mesh. Now let’s delve into the worst case scenario, 1 man and his little family, as we move onto our last discussion: the craft of the all-nighter.

An all-nighter will test you, whether you have or haven’t planned it. Yet how often do we get to prepare for a full on nuclear fallout family bug out? Probably 1 out of 100, but that’s why we prep, practice, and stay sharp. Yet this isn’t something I hear a lot practicing, and it is, just like everything else, a perishable skill. So I’m proposing we correct this, next weekend or within the month, take the opportunity to plan and practice an all-nighter. I’m not saying a full on bug out, not initially anyway (you’re doing that 2-3x a year anyway right?), but just stay up, all night into morning. Watch the sun come up and an hour or so later, get in bed. Let’s try to do it 2-3x a year, and maybe somewhere down the line we’ll combine the bug out and the all-nighter. This is a more realistic scenario anyway, I can’t imagine gathering my family and bug out pals, fighting our way out of the cities, making it to our bug out locale and then we all sleep like babies. Have a plan, have a watch bill, and practice. There are a few things you can do to help you through the night, here’s a few I’ve learned over my time in the military, law enforcement and security contracting:

- Drink water: H20 will curb your sleepiness more than you think. I’ve drunk coffee for hours and head bobbed the entire time. I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t drink caffeine, because you definitely can (should?), but staying hydrated will keep you more alert than dehydration. Also, if you have to urinate often  your even more awake (note that each situation is different and frequent urination might not be your friend.  In this case ensure you are properly hydrated but not overly so). 

- Stay uncomfortable: Think of it as setting yourself up for success. If you put on a nice thick coat, hat, and prop your feet up you might as well be in bed and you WILL fall asleep. Is it fun being cold, or standing rather than leaning, or doing push-ups? Not exactly, but that’s the point. Don’t let yourself relax, remember, this is life or death for the whole camp. Stay alert by wearing a thinner jacket, or taking your hat off when you feel sleepy, doing a few push-ups or jumping jacks. Stay moving and keep the mind alert!

- Scenario role play: Use your weary thoughts in a productive way to picture a dire scenario. What was that in the shadows? It was a raider scout, and he’s collecting information about your camp. Stealthily defend your people from the evil cannibals! Seems silly, but so does dry firing and reloading your pistol, and if you aren’t dry firing your pistol bi-weekly I kind of hope you don’t carry it. It and you become a liability rather than an asset, and the same goes for the watchman. Do this and time will pass more quickly, and this is a good thing in the all-nighter.

- Make it fun but not too fun: For the practice all-nighter stand small watches and break them up with something fun you like to do. Play an instrument, or a video game. Do something to keep your mind active then go back to “watch mode”. Even watch during the acronym can be fun, kind of like how the most important game of the season is fun. Always remember to de-stress after watch, clear minds are more capable.

The watchmen have a crucial task ahead of them, but with proper planning and willingness, families in the acronym world will sleep well knowing someone’s got their eyes looking out. (This article was written entirely from midnight to 7:30 am, and later edited for excessive crazy babble.)

As Seen on TV – My Humble Beginnings
I admit I've watched just about every episode out there from all of the popular survival shows – Survivorman, Beyond Survival, Man vs. Wild, Dual Survival, Man Woman Wild, and yes, even Worst Case Scenario with Bear Gryllis . I ate it all up. Those shows got me hooked on wilderness survival. My Christmas and birthday lists went from a focus on video games and computer upgrades to things like paracord, solar blankets, magnesium fire starters, etc. I also got a few great books that gave me vast amounts of knowledge. Everything I stocked up on I saw as something to use should the power go out, the car break down, etc. This is all before the term prepper went mainstream. I didn't consider myself a 'prepper' at this point – just someone who prepared for a few emergency scenarios. Then I saw the first season of The Colony. That got me thinking about home security and stocking food. There was nothing romantic about The Colony like there was with the other shows. I quickly realized my problem – I didn't live in or near the wilderness. I have always been, and will most likely always be, a suburbanite. I had my wife watch the episodes with me so we could talk about what we would do. How would we fare in that situation? Unfortunately, that's all it was at that point – just talk, no action.

My Reality Check – Survival School
For my birthday, my wife registered me and my brother for a wilderness survival school in Florida (http://www.byronkernssurvival.com). I had an absolute blast there and realized something very important. Seeing how to do things on television is no comparison to doing it in real life! I know – common sense right? Before the class, I was completely confident that I could make a friction fire or snare some dinner if I had to. Not only did I learn many important basics in the school, but I also got a lot of hands-on experience on making a knee-high fire in no time, building a proper debris shelter, as well as a plethora of other life-saving skills. I would highly suggest all of you out there to get registered for a course. Get your hands dirty. Better yet, bring your spouse or your friends along. You don't want to be in a life-or-death situation to try something for the first time, especially something as important as making shelter or fire. Practice, practice, practice! If you look at some survival school schedules, you'll see that there are discounts many times or even free classes posted (http://www.survivalogic.com/2013/01/esee-offering-free-training-courses.html)!

Podcasts – Free Information on Just About Anything
Next to YouTube, you can find a podcast for just about anything – from investing, to gaming, to travel – even Prepping. If there was any podcast that got me into the whole 'prepper' movement, it was In The Rabbit Hole (http://www.intherabbithole.com/). I did try out some others, but for the most part, the hosts always seemed a little odd or too political for my tastes. These guys (Aaron and Jonathan) were my gateway to prepping – I quickly found many other sites (http://www.emsnewbie.com, http://americanpreppersnetwork.com/, etc) and people to follow, like Lisa Bedford (http://thesurvivalmom.com/), who often has free webinars. I give a lot of credit to these guys in getting me up to speed. This is about the time I started considering myself a 'prepper'. Some of their episodes that were eye-opening to me included being 'gray', home schooling, survival skills vs survival gear, situational awareness, bug out bags and every day carries…I could keep listing more and more. Every episode was filled with so much useful knowledge. They also have a great forum and unbiased gear reviews. If you're new to, or just plain interested in, prepping, I would start with these guys. You can download their episodes and listen to them whenever you like.

Don't let your quest for knowledge stop there. The Internet is full of free resources and advice. Get out there and search for other forums. Get involved. Ask questions. Find a group of preppers with the similar mindset you can share ideas with.

Food Storage & Gadgets on the Cheap
There's a very simple method called "copy canning" (http://www.survival.com/y2kpreparations.htm) for food storage that anyone can put in the practice right away. I believe I first heard about this on In The Rabbit Hole.It doesn't involve going overboard buying $5,000 worth of freeze dried food. Well, if you can afford to do that, more power to you! For the rest of us, this is a great, affordable method. The article has a lot of information, but here's the most simplistic way to look at it: Every time you go to the store and buy a can or box of food, buy an extra one (or more if you can afford it). That way you know you're buying what you already eat. When you get home, always put the newer items in the back. Then, eat the older stuff. A lot of people who stock up on food mistakenly stock up on foods they have never tried before. There's no point in buying 3-months of food that no one in the family will go near. With copy canning and the information in the article above, you can stock up on plenty of the things you already use. Even if you're not 'prepping' per-say, think of it as a hedge on inflation (as Aaron and Jonathan say). This method can be used for all of your consumables (toothpaste, feminine napkins, toilet paper, soap, etc).

Canned food? Check. I also knew I wanted to get a dehydrator so I could preserve foods and make things like jerky and fruit leathers. Just like anything, you'll always find the best deals online. I watched craigslist for a food dehydrator a month before I spotted a great deal. I paid $80 for an Excalibur 2900. It has 9 trays and comes with waxy paper for making things that would otherwise spill through (like fruit leathers, chilli, etc). It helped that I watched many, many videos from Dehydrate 2 Store (http://www.dehydrate2store.com/). She has the most helpful and comprehensive videos out there when it comes to dehydrating food. Quick Tip: You don't need to buy more wax paper inserts – I bought a pack of five silicone cutting board sheets and cut them to fit on the dehydration trays. They work like a charm and only cost about $6. So you don't have to pay full price – just be patient and watch the classifieds or Craigslist or eBay. That reminds me, I also found a guy on Craigslist that sells food-grade 55-gallon barrels for $10 each! I now have water storage taken care of as a result. It's all out there, you just have to look!

I recently bought a Foodsaver 3880 kit using a coupon and saved a ton of money on that as well. That in conjunction with my Excalibur makes an unstoppable food storage combination. Did you know the Foodsaver is also good for keeping important documents and electronics protected as well?

It was the food dehydrator that got my wife excited about storing food. It was such an awesome feeling when she came home from shopping and said she bought an extra crate of fruit for us to dehydrate for later. I never thought I would've seen the day. This came from someone who would roll her eyes when I talked about anything prepper-related. Now she regularly buys extra food and consumables from the store to stock up.

Keep in mind this is over a period of about a year and a half. I didn't just go out there and start buying things up right away. Don't prep yourself into debt!

Another quick tip – I have five 1-gallon and ten 5-gallon food grade storage buckets, all of which I got for free. All I do is call my local Wal-Mart and ask to be transferred to the bakery department. I ask if they have any buckets they'd like to get rid of. These usually had icing in them for all the cakes. They cleaned them up and gave them to me for free. Your results may vary, but I've heard this working just about everywhere.

When It's Time to Have The Talk
No, we're not talking about the birds and the bees. We're talking about firearms. Some people are from families that are very open to guns, and some people aren't. Growing up, my family never had a gun in the house. My wife's parents absolutely object to the very thought of guns (thank you media). I always knew I wanted my own firearms. If you don't want anything to do with firearms, I respect your decision as well. You can skip this section.
I turned to people for advice asking how to convince the wife to let me buy some guns. Unfortunately, the most common response was "Just buy them, and she'll learn to live with it. Then you can just keep buying them." Yes, that does work surprisingly well for many people. That's not how I wanted to approach it.

My wife and I are members of a couple different ranges here and have been for a few years now. We'd rent the guns and just shoot for an hour or two. That's about it. Over a period of about three months or so, I would pick times to talk to my wife about the possibility of gun ownership, what it meant to us, and what the pros and cons were. She talked about what scared her most and I would tell her my thoughts. If I didn't have an answer to any of her questions, I would do some research and then tell her what I thought. It was quite a process, but I gained a lot of knowledge (and mutual respect) as a result.
It just so happens I got a gift card to Bass Pro Shop from the survival school I attended. When I asked her if I could use it to buy a Ruger 10/22, she simply said "yes." Had I asked the same question three months prior, I already know what the answer would've been. It would've been a flat out "No Way! No guns in the house!"

I've since gotten my concealed carry permit (again, a gift from my wife) as well as a concealed carry pistol. We still aren't exactly where I want to be yet, but we've taken great leaps forward. I know in the future, if I'm thinking about anything, firearm or anything else, I can talk to her about it. If we decide to purchase something or not, it'll be a mutual decision.
Note: By all means, if you have kids in the house, be sure to take them to an Eddie Eagle class if possible. Our gun range offers them free of charge every few weeks or so. If those aren't offered in your area, teach your kids the proper actions to take should they find a gun.

If any of you are in a situation where your spouse is unwilling to let you purchase a firearm, I urge you to talk things out. Don't Argue. Talk. Respect your spouse. Don't go behind his or her back – while it may be easier, it's not right.
A quick few tips:

• If you purchase a firearm for defense, get one that you can hit the target with. You don't need the highest caliber known to man. You're no good to yourself or your family if you can't hit someone trying to do you harm.
• Practice, practice, practice! Again, if you decide to have a firearm, you have a responsibility to know how to use it properly.
• Get a gun safe (or two) and keep it locked. Too many people are too lazy to lock their safes. Robbers count on this. Especially if you have kids, be sure to lock things up.

The Journey Continues
I've only been actually 'prepping' for about a year and a half now. I think I have food storage down for the most part. I have a way to hunt for food and protect my family. I even have some wilderness survival gear and training. My journey is far from complete, however. I still have things I want to work on, and ideas to talk through with the wife.

This is the time for all of us to learn something abut “Building a community”. We have done our best to be prepared to survive and to continue to enjoy an acceptable good life, and provide for the present and for the future. Time surely appears to be getting very short. Now is the very best time we will ever have to ready ourselves to rebuild our community and provide the services and protection that we will need.

We sincerely believe that our post-SHTF life must be more than simple survivalism, more that just having enough basic food to survive at a lower calorie count, more than simple security from the Golden Horde. Life must continue to be about improving one’s self. Life must be about enlarging God’s kingdom here on earth. Life must be about creating strong love for families. Life must continue to be about helping those who truly cannot help themselves.

We have envisioned being able to help our very small town of about 500 population, to be a tight knit community of survival oriented family units working together to provide for our selves and others as may be needed.  Our small town consists of about 125 homes with a terrific grouping of skill sets plus a 153-year history of working together on common interest projects. The nearest larger town is about six miles in one direction with another even smaller town about fourteen miles further up the road. A large segment of our town already strives to set aside a 1-2 years supply of basic food, fuel, and medicine.

Yes, about 60% of our little country town is Mormon and about half of them actually go to church with us. That is not the important thing. What really counts is that the folks around here are personally experienced in droughts, flash floods, forest fires, landslides, economic downturns, and just plain bad luck on occasion. In actuality we have experienced all of these disasters in just the immediate past 12 years. All of them!  And FEMA  and the Red Cross didn’t show up until the third day after the flood!

As for my family, we are actually two retired couples,, ages 72-72-61-62, plus four  small dogs  and two large cats, residing in a spacious shared home. . We have agreed that we are going to stay here when the SHTF.  We are long-term (20 years) close friends and have learned to trust one another. We have compatible skills and experiences. Yes! two women can share a kitchen and stay friends. Actually sisters in every sense of the word.

Our location is in rural southwest Utah and is centered on a very wide valley mouth (about 4 miles), and next to and above a usable small river. There is an all year creek feeding the river right in the center of town. There is plenty of drinkable irrigation water. We have a two lane state road passing through and only two other roads coming into town. We can be very security oriented immediately! We have a goodly number of retired military and police individuals who are ready and committed to help as needed.

Many of our folks have large gardens and grow wholesome food. There are very large pastures in the immediate area currently used to graze horses and cattle. Many of the ladies here in town raise chickens and are bartering eggs already.

We, as a community, already know mostly who will need medical help, as well as who can probably help to “pull the wagons “when needed.

As for our combined four retirees family, we are fortunate to share a very large well situated home with ample auxiliary power, good water, and a large septic system. A twelve panel solar array (2.3 KW) and a thirty-foot wind turbine  (1.6KW) will provide plenty of power as needed during the “hard times”. A Taller pole would be much preferred. We can heat the entire house with wood easily.

Our alt electricity system is a grid tied 48-volt system with 16 gel deep cycle 6-volt batteries. The batteries are situated in the garage and we are safe from battery fumes because of their gel configuration.

The turbine is good  for our situation and our location. It is a FALCON MACH 5 from Missouri Wind and Solar.  Good people to work with!  They carry all of the miscellaneous parts needed to make the power system perform to our specs.

Our electric power situation is not the only one in town. Two other families also have solar power arrays. However, we do have the only wind turbine. We will be able to provide recharging for the many kindles, notepads, laptops and battery powered small appliances we all seem to need so badly.

Our home is now plumbed to filter the local irrigation water to the kitchen for drinking and cooking. In addition to watering the garden, we can use that water for showers and to flush the toilets. We have a roof mounted solar water heating panel. The small twelve-volt glycol fluid pump at the water heater tank in the garage is powered by a roof top tiny ten-watt solar panel.

I have spent nearly twenty years building an excellent library of specific topic books and videos so that what ever breaks down, disappears, wears out, or proves to be inadequate to our needs, will be rebuilt, repaired, replaced, or expanded. We will do whatever it takes to make it work! We have the specific knowledge needed to do the job. And we can teach others as well.

We have recently made a small investment in Kindles and an exterior hard drive for data storage. Nearly every day one of us downloads and/or copies data from another source into the kindle. Amazon.com has a huge list of EBooks available for free and a great many for just 99c.

Additionally there are 40,000 free eBook’s available from Project Gutenberg. No fee or registration is required. It is fabulous.

Another good site for free EBooks may well be your favorite university. Here is a search result from Google looking for “free university EBooks”.

A great place to find very good quality new and used books and videos is Half Price Books stores. We paid $9.99 for a box of CDs covering 1890 to 1995 National Geographic magazines. Every word, every photograph, every map. 

Our personal main physical library has roughly five types of books. We work on expanding these regularly.  Where do we find books and videos?

Everywhere! Yard sales, consignments, public libraries, Craigslist, etc.

Our favorite topics are mainly these:

History - American

Medical  - “how to do it “

 Drugs -  Essential oils, homeopathic health care

 Food  - storage and usage

 Farming - anything we can find about non-electric farming
 
 Military – Army-USMC infantry low to mid level skills and leadership

Biographies - great men and women who built this nation

 PLUS … K-12 BASIC LITERARY AND MATH SKILLS!!!

These information jewels are of tremendous value now,  and even more when we start to rebuild our lives after the onset of chaos resulting from the loss of power, or the loss of financial systems, or the loss of regular food deliveries to our stores.

How will we use these data banks? Simply put, they are our DIY “how to” tools. We will build up a community known locally for good individual and town security, good medical care, good solutions to problems, great barter items, education for the children, gunsmiths, charged 12 volt batteries, protected trading fairs, barber and beauty shops, and nothing for free.

We will start with the community we already live in and know well. We will work with people we know and have learned to trust !

I am a 72-year-old diabetic with COPD and I need a regular supply of meds and a supply of oxygen 24/7.  We were able to get a used Oxygen Concentrator from the local company that provides my bi-weekly liquid oxygen restock. A patient had passed away and that person’s concentrator was then considered unusable. The delivery tech cut off the power cable and gave the used concentrator to me.  They wrote it off as destroyed.

I replaced the power cable and put the unit in the garage stores room as my backup. Further, I was able to obtain a supply of reserve air filters for the unit and extra tubing parts in order to be prepared when the O2 deliveries stop.

COPD is now the #4 killer in the nation. These oxygen usage situations are everywhere and are very serious.  Many persons with various serious medical situations keep that knowledge to themselves.  Finding them is important. Helping them to help themselves and others is critical.

A simple web search for “ Used Oxygen Concentrator” will produce more information that anyone may want or need. Three things are important.  #1. Free to low cost shipping costs, #2. 30 plus days of warranty, and #3. a 5 liter per minute flow. Do not buy under 5 liter flow.  Here is a link from the web search I did for these facts. There are many others available. http://www.dotmed.com/ The companies selling new ones all have good used stock as well. These same factors apply to obtaining other diagnostic and treatment equipment.

You can do a web search for companies selling new units and just make a list of their names and phone numbers. Do about 10 of them. I suggest that you make a list of questions with ample space between them to write the answers. Make enough copies so as to have a page for every company you are going to call. Now work the phone and make good notes about the answers to your questions. Always note the name of the person you are talking to. This is always a good research method for just about any important inquiries you might have.

As a diabetic I am concerned about safeguarding my insulin and keeping it cool. There was an article published in this blog site on 12-19-12 about a non-electric “zeer pot”. It is simple and it works. Look it up for yourself.

 In our town we have at least 4 elderly widows who now live alone. Surly there are others. When the SHTF we will try very hard to enable them to move in with a “compatible” family who has room for them. Every family needs a grandma, especially one who brings food, blankets, books, smiles, and experience with her. This will reduce the levels of community needs for winter firewood, summer cooling, childcare, etc. And we will all be happier!

Why do we believe this type of community care is important? Experience and history both teach us that if we do not care for those who “can not take care” of themselves, then no one will be cared for. We will succeed, or fail, together. If we do not take care of each other, no one will be taken care of.

Another element that we should keep in mind is, how should a community deal with strangers wanting help coming to one’s door, especially if they have children? We all know that we must make difficult decisions well in advance before the situation occurs. So be smart! Make these types of decisions before you are stressed.  Should you have to turn someone away, I suggest that you provide to them a small amount of food. One simple meal of beans and rice in amounts as needed. Send them on their way With a stern warning to not return.

A simple solution to future problems is to decide how you will respond to a situation in advance. And then perhaps agree in advance that the only new folks who will be accepted into your community are the family members of current residents. But first, I would require the current residents to commit to sheltering and feeding their newly arrived family member.

The newbies will need to be “thoroughly interrogated” as individuals, one at a time, and questioned separately as to skills and education and especially their background. Then the resident family will need to be questioned to assure that all of the family’s answers are the same. Do not be reluctant to say no!

Perhaps these suggestions are not exactly what you need. Talk about and make the decisions the decisions in advance. Be very careful whom you invite into your town, your secrets, your homes, and your hearts. Your worst enemy will be someone who will turn on you out of envy!

What about non-family exceptions? Keep in mind that your community will surely need some specific skills. Perhaps you need a plumber or a carpenter or a nurse or a teacher. Ask questions about skills and experience. Just what are the skills you will need almost immediately?  Most likely it will be Military and Police. These two are fully separate responsibilities. They should work together, each within the parameters of their specific tasks. 

Who is in charge? Perhaps an administrator, or mayor, or chairman. The actual title of the community leader really is not important. It just needs to be one that everyone understands who is the boss.

Your community leader will most likely perform best if he/she has two associates who work with him/her as counselors and surrogates with specific areas of authority and responsibility. One should be responsible for everything concerning medical and health. The other should be responsible for everything concerning food and supplies. Both will most likely have other areas of responsibility.  Before management decisions are final they would need to be very sure that they are both ready to support the leader.

Your military commander should be, if possible a combat veteran, responsible for every thing concerning security outside of your local area boundaries. Your police commander should be an experienced lead officer, and be responsible for the community security inside your boundaries. Both should report directly to the leader. Neither should be a counselor. You will have enough to worry about without a mutiny.

These tasks are going to be much the same in every sized group and in every type of location. Yes! There will be differences, just be flexible and understand that not everyone will immediately agree with you. Be patient and teach through honest dialogue and skilled questioning. The best leader is usually the best listener.

Now back to our basics, books and videos. We do not want to reinvent the wheel. This wonderful web site has a terrific suggested book list of lists readily available to you. Use it first!  SurvivalBlog.com blog.

Below we have a list for you of some of the books on our shelves. Some of the choices we have made for ourselves may well be nothing like what you feel that you need. No matter! You’re in charge. Smile anyway! Just do a list and get to work before the SHTF.

Our single expensive knowledge tool to date is the “Appropriate Technology Library” on four CD’s. The cost about six years ago was huge, $400. The four CDs contain 1,050 books. That’s about 49 cents per book! They cover everything anyone would ever need to know to start or to restart civilization, or just to build or repair a community infrastructure. The pricing has increased a little and the material is now available on two DVDs. Their web site is
http://villageearth.org/appropriate-technology/appropriate-technology-library

REMEMBER THAT ONLY CORRECTLY APPLIED KNOWLEDGE IS REAL POWER!

Here we go. Already on our book shelves as I write this, from among the suggested titles on the Rawles gigantic list of lists: -

When there is no doctor * When there is no dentist
The encyclopedia of country living * Nuclear War Survival Skills
Ball Blue Book of Preserving * Boston’s Gun Bible  * Tappan on Survival
Physicians desk Reference * The Merck Manual * LDS Preparedness Manual
Alas Babylon * Lucifer’s Hammer * One second After * Earth Abides
Molon Labe * The Postman ( book & video) * Out of the Ashes (1 thru 12)
Unintended Consequences (see warning) * Tunnel in the sky * Footfall
Atlas Shrugged * Jim Rawles Books ( All of them)*
Plus twenty-one more from the Jim's lists.

I am only including a selection of our other books that we have actually read, and there are many more just waiting to be picked up and gently used. As a rule, strictly reference books are stored in place, to be used as needed by someone to successfully complete a task or to teach a topic. Our total count in the library is in excess of six hundred plus the 1,050 on the CDs.

Farming 1918 Edition / Four Volumes Set - Sears & Roebuck
Farm Knowledge – Illustrated – pre-electricity -2,000 pages
American Survival Guide – 120 issues ( 10 years )

Medical  / drugs Essential Oils by Bowles / Barron’s
The PDR Family Guide by Three Rivers Press
Acupressure’s Potent Points by Michael R. Gach
AMA Family Medical Guide by Random House
The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke
Everyday Health Tips by Prevention Magazine
The Botanical Atlas by Daniel McAlpine
Prescription for Nutritional Healing by P. A. Balch
Armageddon Medicine by C. J. Koelker, MD

History Rights of Man by Thomas Paine
Original Intent  book  *  Wall Builders DVDs by David Barton
Patriots of the American Revolution by Richard Dorson

Military Expertise: Company Commander by Charles McDonald
Company Command   by John G. Meyer
Army Officers Guide by L.P. Crocker
On War by Clausewitz
Command in War by Van Creveld
West Point by Bruce Galloway
Citizen Soldier by Robert Bradley
Total Resistance by H. Von Dach

Biography Roosevelt F.D.R.  & Teddy
Franklin  *  Churchill  *  Washington
Adams     *  Jefferson   *  Monroe

Food My wife has more than 40 books on everything imaginable
Concerning buying, storing, preserving, canning all types of Food. And that’s not counting her cookbooks & videos.

One more thing, no one should rely on the Internet for information because when the power fails, the Internet will die! It will be too late to get the information you will need.

It is our sincere hope that our readers will give serious thought concerning the timing and extent of your preparations in the areas of helping others and building a good life after we have survived the major disaster we are all facing. We are sure that Almighty God does answer our prayers for direction and decisions. Please refer to James 1:5 for this assurance.

We are passionate in teaching others the concept of making difficult decisions well in advance.

Remember Winston Churchill’s advice to the graduation collage class during the worst moments of WW2   “ Never Give Up."

This blog has endless resources for researching the needs and goals of a person preparing for an anticipated event.  Whether that event is unemployment, extended backpacking, or a SHTF scenario, you are likely to develop a “to-do list” for that event.   These lists might be compiled on loose paper, on a computer, or lodged in your brain.  Most of us make lists in one form or another since they are invaluable for organization.   While a “to-do list” is convenient for simple events such as going to the grocery store, they tend to be detrimental to a project such as “prepping”.  The purpose of this article is to show you how to begin thinking differently about your lists, organization, and prioritizing.

I am a Civil Engineer by training and occupation.  Engineering jokes aside, one of the practical strengths I bring to everyday life is project management and of course, “to-do lists”.  Oh boy, there are lists… I have lists for my vehicle maintenance, hobbies, vacations, and of course for preparedness.   Over time, I tried shortening and compiling these lists into one master list.  Bad move.  This massive list became overwhelming and I found myself scratching my head as where to prioritize.  I even found myself wondering how some items got on my list. 

The problem with a typical “to-do list” is the list itself!  How do you prioritize lists?  How do you ensure that you really should do the activities, or buy the items on the list?  Where do you begin working, and where do you allocate your valuable resources, whether that be time, money or labor?  As personal resources tighten, a methodical approach to prioritizing your lists becomes more important, and allocation strategies are likely to change.  For example, someone that works long hours is unlikely to have a surplus of time as a resource.  A single parent may not have extra time or a surplus of money.  For efficiency and practicality, priorities and a game plan must somehow be assigned.

Instead of developing endless lists that have no definite priorities, purpose, or urgencies associated with them, a better idea is to incorporate a strategy called Value Engineering.  Value Engineering (VE) is defined as “an organized effort directed at analyzing the function of goods and services for the purpose of achieving basic functions at the lowest overall cost, consistent with achieving essential characteristics”.   To simplify, you must think of your list items in terms of function, not simply items on a list. 

VE is a professional engineering focus that would require textbooks and coursework to completely cover, so in the space of this article I will condense basic VE lessons that will assist us in prioritizing our lists.  By the end of this article, you will have a new creative skill set you can apply to any project.  The 5 general steps in an organized VE approach are as follows, and explained below:

• Step 1 - Information Phase
• Step 2 - Function Identification and Analysis Phase (FAST Diagram)
• Step 3 - Creativity Phase
• Step 4 - Evaluation Phase
• Step 5 - Development Phase

Step 1 - Information Phase
The general idea behind an Information Phase is to understand the “scope of study” for the item for which you are trying to create solutions.   To begin, consider what this “list” is that you have been periodically assembling.  What is the overall goal of the list?  What is the general type of project?  For those of us reading this blog, we likely share a blanket scope of study of “prepping”.  Therefore, let’s make our scope of study in this article to also be “prepping”.

The Information Phase is the key to the success of any study or project.   During the Information Phase of the VE process, you are not yet formalizing a list, approach, or plan; that comes later.  During this phase, you try to obtain as much background as possible about your scope of study.  For example, if your study is to secure food for your family, you must know how much they eat in a day.  This is the type of background information that is put together in the Information Phase.  If you have already been doing some prepping, your previous studying and list-making likely provides a good understanding that you need to consider shelter, food, water, and operational security, etc.  You may have also developed a reasonable concept of how to complete many of those tasks even if portions of them are unfeasible at this time.  Additionally, you may have developed a wealth of supporting data for the Information Phase, making this task easier.  This will be invaluable as you move to the next steps.

Since you will use your background data for the remainder of the VE study, careful attention to your information “team” should take place.  If you are not an expert in all areas of your scope of study, you will need a support team.  This team may only involve your direct family, but you still need their input as they are likely to have a better understanding of certain subjects than you.  Meeting and learning from people that know more than you about a particular subject is an often overlooked part of this phase.  For example, if you don’t know the first thing about farming, you should consider bringing in someone to help you obtain that information.  Start that learning process early versus later.  Bounce ideas off people with more experience or knowledge than you in order to verify your understanding as you begin planning your projects. 

For most people reading this blog, the Information Phase has likely gone on for some time, possibly decades.  The concern is that many of us (myself included) tend to stall out in the Information Phase.  We may have been slowly moving forward over the years without good organization, priorities, or direction.  You may have a list of firearms, food, books, and other miscellaneous items you feel you “need”.  But that is sometimes all you end up with, the dreaded list and a garage full of random prepping supplies.  You may also feel overwhelmed, intimidated, and discouraged during the Information Phase, and a long list of expensive items can make you feel hopeless.  This is the problem with our previous style of list making and prepping.

You must move out of the Information Phase and add sophistication to your approach.  Do not misunderstand me; continue to study and learn and identify things to add to your “list”.  But it is now time to prioritize and create an action plan!  It is time for the next step in the VE process.  Let’s get to work in Function Analysis.

Step 2 - Function Identification and Analysis Phase (FAST Diagram)
In the VE methodology, this is the most critical piece of the process.  We must stop thinking in terms of items on a list.  We need to back up at this step and trying to really get down to the brass tacks of what we are trying to accomplish.  This is where we start thinking about and identifying the basic functions of our list items.  This step may be frustrating to some as it feels like you are putting on the brakes or maybe taking a step backward.  As you will soon see, that could not be further from the truth.

We will now begin assembling a Function Analysis Systems Technique (FAST) diagram.  This diagram is made up entirely of functions only.  Why are we backing up and making this diagram?  The FAST diagram is going to allow us to brainstorm creative solutions for use in the next VE step.  By thinking conceptually of items on your list as functions, we can truly understand what we are trying to accomplish.  As you work through this step, try to think only in terms of function.  Do not think at the item or task level you previously used as it will sabotage the remainder of the VE process.  Your functions will now be written as VERB – NOUN combinations.

The easiest way to begin creating the diagram is with post-it notes.  Start by writing a two word (VERB - NOUN) function on each post-it note.  For example, a function might read “Survive Famine”.  Another might read “Secure Home”.  Write the VERB-NOUN functions out as you think of them and stick them to your workspace (typically a wall or table).

Both “Survive Famine” and “Secure Home” are likely to be the higher order functions and are likely the main problem you are trying to solve.  Stick these functions on the far left of your workspace.  The lower order functions will now go to the right.  The result will be a flow-chart of sorts that reads “how” from left, and “why” from right.  How do you “Survive Famine”?  The next function might read “Collect Food”.   See below for the “how”, “why” nature of the FAST diagram:

A simplified example of “how” direction flow for a FAST diagram is listed below:

Survive Famine (how?) – Assemble Supplies (how?) – Collect Food (how?) – Generate Grocery List (how?) – Inventory Pantry

The same simplified example written in the “why” (reverse order) direction is listed below:

Inventory Pantry (why?) – Generate Grocery List (why?) – Collect Food (why?) – Assemble Supplies (why?) – Survive Famine

Note that your FAST diagram should “test” as you read it in both directions.  As you are sticking your VERB-NOUN post-it notes to your workspace, continually test them by reading them aloud in both directions.  Why do you inventory your pantry?  To Generate Grocery List.  Why do you Generate Grocery List?  To Collect Food.  Why do you Collect Food?  To Assemble Supplies.  Why do you assemble supplies?  To Survive Famine.

Along this diagram, you will also have parallel functions that do not necessarily line up with the “how” “why” lineal nature of the other functions.   These functions would happen at the same time but would be a slightly different subject matter.  The example above was “Secure Home”, versus “Survive Famine”.  Both subjects are important and seem related, but will be placed on their own “how”, “why” alignment in the same FAST diagram.  This will allow us to completely understand the functions behind them. 

As you can see, this is a difficult diagram to explain verbally so I encourage readers to do an online search for “Function Analysis System Technique – (FAST Diagrams)” and learn more about them.   They can be used to begin creatively solving any problem.  This diagram is so effective that many inventors use this method on a daily basis to streamline processes or create new products.  The bottom line here is that instead of immediately brainstorming on solutions (the next step), you are slowing down and really trying to analyze the individual functions of your study.  Once you have your FAST diagram with the big picture identified, the Creativity Phase is next and you will use these individual functions to brainstorm for solutions.

Step 3 - Creativity Phase
The purpose of the creativity phase is to generate new ideas related to ways of performing the functions found above in the FAST diagram.  Now that the FAST diagram is complete, there will be several functions on which to start individual brainstorming.  In a prepping study, some of your functions might look like these VERB-NOUN examples:

• Collect Food
• Secure Home
• Shelter Family
• Establish Support
• Transport Supplies

The Creativity Phase is used to determine new ways to solve problems that you haven’t previously considered.  Let’s use the “Collect Food” function as a short example.  Sit down with a pencil and paper (or better yet a spreadsheet) and brainstorm ALL the different ways you would be able to Collect Food.  Ask yourself questions:  Do you have a garden?  Do you have space for a future garden?  Do you work at a restaurant?  Do you like to dumpster dive?  Is your mother-in-law an extreme couponer?  Remember, that EVERY idea counts in brainstorming.  Do not criticize any ideas during brainstorming because silly ideas help you become more creative.  Make it fun, and go ahead and list every idea.  Children often have fresh ideas that adults are too intellectualized to notice. 

Once you brainstorm completely through the “Collect Food” function, go on to the next function, “Secure Home”, and keep working until you have individually brainstormed through every function.  This process should not be rushed.   Individually document all the generated ideas under each individual function for which you have brainstormed.

This Creativity Phase is best completed with the assistance of several people.  In your case, this could be your immediate family or your crew that you anticipate “doubling up” with.  Two heads are better than one in the Creativity Phase.  It is common for ideas that were hidden in plain view to now become apparent.  For example, you might find that unbeknownst to you, someone you are prepping with has a family member in the grocery business with special discounts!  VE professionals learned long ago that very often the best solution is so obvious, nobody thinks of it! 

As you can see, the FAST diagram step was essential in order to truly study the basic functions of the project that you are trying to complete.  The only way to effectively brainstorm and create new solutions is to better understand the true nature of the individual function.  This approach is much different than simply making a list of items to buy.  You have now started a list based on functions, not on things.

Step 4 - Evaluation Phase
The Creativity Phase has been completed.  You now have dozens of ways drafted to complete the functions developed in the Function Identification and Analysis phase.   The next step is to eliminate silly ideas or unfeasible ideas.  Simply scratch out or delete the ideas you do not want to continue to evaluate.  If, in your brainstorm session you listed a .50 caliber machine gun to satisfy the “Secure Home” function, it is likely that this sort of idea listing will now be deleted.  After this you will have a shorter list of ideas to evaluate. 

The next step is to evaluate these individual ideas with a methodical approach.  Aside from the FAST diagram, this is where the magic really starts to happen.  As I mentioned in the introduction to this article, a primary goal is to determine a way to prioritize your lists.  The Evaluation Phase is where this begins.

Qualifiers must now be established in order to evaluate the ideas.  The qualifiers will depend primarily on the scope of study you have begun and the types of functions on which you have brainstormed.  Studying a better mousetrap will have different qualifiers than your prepping VE study.  If you have a hectic schedule, a big qualifier might be your Time.  If you have an extremely fixed income, Cost might be a big qualifier.  The attributes used to qualify evaluations are different for everybody, and may be completely up to the individual’s constraints or current conditions.  Continuing to use your prepping project as an example, the following qualifiers might be compiled in order to evaluate listings generated through the brainstorming sessions:

• Cost
• Labor required
• Added security to household
• Improved health to family

These qualifiers beg the next question; which one is most important?  A rapid way to determine this is to complete a “paired comparison”.  Initially, you may have compared cost to the labor required.  Which one is more critical to selection?  Perhaps cost wins.  Put a mark alongside cost.  Now compare cost to added security.  Perhaps security wins.  Put another mark alongside security.  Now compare cost to improved health.  Perhaps health wins.  Put a mark alongside health.  After cost has been compared to all, move to the next qualifier (labor required).  Compare labor required to the remaining two qualifiers.  Continue moving down this list until all have been compared against each other once.  After the qualifiers are all compared, you will have a ranking which will help determine which qualifiers are most important.

The paired comparison often brings surprises as you realize certain qualifiers may be more important to you than you previously believed.  Using this example, the following rankings could have been developed:

• Added security to household – 3 points
• Improved health to family – 2 points
• Cost - 1 point.
• Labor required  - 0 points

This paired comparison of qualifiers allows you to now rank each brainstormed idea carried through from the Creativity Phase.  The next question is how much weight to apply to the qualifiers?  Clearly, “added security” is more important in this study than “labor required”.  Since your rankings show that the amount of labor for you to complete a project is not more important to you, this qualifier should not be critical in your rating of brainstormed ideas.  Typical weights of 1 to 10 are now applied to each qualifier.  For example, you may assign 10 points to security, 7 points to health, 4 points to cost and 1 point to labor.   

You can then determine a system for scoring all the brainstormed ideas with the above demonstrated weighted rankings.  Many people will score each brainstormed idea using each qualifier from a range of 1 to 5, and then multiply by that the qualifiers weighted ranking.  There is no right or wrong way to do this scoring as long as it makes sense to you.  The actual method or math is not important as ensuring that your qualifiers are influencing the scoring systematically.  The scoring is most easily completed in a spreadsheet.

The scoring may illustrate that ideas you previously thought were ideal, may not actually be the best choices for your personal situation.  Using the above example, simply buying cheaply discounted foods may not be a great benefit if the foods are not healthy for your family.   The scoring may produce many surprises.  During the Evaluation Phase, you may also discover that your newly brainstormed ideas scored surprisingly well under the scrutiny of your personal qualifiers.  This is the beauty of the previous brainstorming sessions.

One thing that will become apparent during the evaluation phase is that many of the same solutions belong to different functions.   For example, during the FAST phase you determined a function of “Shelter Family”.  You also had a function of “Transport Supplies” and “Establish Support”.  Then during the scoring, the solution of owning a quality vehicle consistently scored highest in fulfilling those vastly different functions.  The bottom line is that your good ideas or critical elements will keep popping up, further streamlining the Development Phase, which is the next step.

Step 5 - Development Phase
By now you should have brainstormed and scored dozens, or perhaps hundreds of ideas.  Many of them scored low and were eliminated.  Many of them scored well and will be carried forward to the Development Phase.    Some of them, such as the “owning a quality vehicle” example above have kept popping up under several functions.  This is a clue that your Development Phase should focus on that idea.   It is now time to combine and further develop these ideas in the Development Phase.  The goal of the Development Phase is creating a detailed plan that is prioritized, organized and based on functions versus “things”.

In the Creativity and Evaluation phases, you developed unique ideas that had not been previously considered.  For example, in the Creativity Phase an idea of wind generated power may have been listed.  Then in the Evaluation Phase, the consistent wind at your property scored that idea as a better long term option than purchasing a generator.  Or perhaps your Evaluation Phase determined that given your climate, you would be better off to learn to garden versus stockpile food.  You were able to completely change some pre-existing notions of your prepping, and have essentially thrown out those “lists” that you were scratching together the last few years.  Now you have some realistic, workable goals to further develop.

The Development Phase is when the individual ideas are combined into an action plan.  This is the time your team will come up with a game plan and likely a newly updated “list”.  Given our wind power example, you might need to temporarily go back to the information phase and start learning about wind power.  You can then re-asses the wind power project and implement as appropriate.  If you are prepping with a team, this is the time to delegate, break, and plan on reconvening at a specified time to discuss progress.

The Development Phase end result will be a list much different in appearance than you previously completed.  It will be organized by function, not random item after item.  You will clearly understand your priorities and have developed a plan accordingly.  You will find that many items you felt you previously needed have been permanently removed, as you now have cost effective creative solutions to complete that function.  You will also find that many of your solutions now serve to complete multiple functions.   Your list will have become a streamlined game plan that has a purpose based on your prioritized needs.  Your list has been transformed into a sophisticated master plan.

Simplification and Summary
As discussed earlier, the VE process is a little difficult to describe verbally.  You might have read this and thought, “Come on now, I would never work through that entire process!”   I strongly urge you to work through a simple VE scope of study before deciding that it’s not for you.  To make getting started easier, I have a Reader’s Digest version for you, so keep reading. 

You can take pieces of the VE process to improve your lists or goals.  Let’s say you clearly understand the prepping solutions available to you, but your Information phase has produced endless understandings and you have this massive list that is bogging you down.   You are having a hard time prioritizing your list and it’s not clear where to start.  What you need to do is determine a way to prioritize your massive list.  Let’s go back and steal some ideas from the Evaluation Phase.

Begin with a paired comparison in a spreadsheet.   Let’s assume you have a long list of food and cooking type supplies which you would like to purchase.  Take the first item on your list and compare it against all that are below it.  Continue the paired comparison as described previously until you have compared all the items in your list against each other.  You will quickly see that several of the items on the list get a tally much larger than other items.   This should demonstrate to you which items are needs versus wants.   These rankings may shock you.  Unfortunately, this also means that maybe that third rifle you want just doesn’t make the first round (pun intended).  Be prepared for some letdowns!

Another slightly more complex yet helpful way to complete these paired comparisons is to determine a short list of qualifiers as previously described.  Some qualifiers might be time, money, longevity, storability or overall utility value.  This time, just keep them in mind as you are completing your paired comparison.   Think in terms of qualifiers, not your emotional “wants” such as that third rifle!  Neglecting the previously described sophisticated scoring methods, these qualifiers will still influence your decision process as you work through your list.

The take-away here is to be deliberate in your list making and dreaming.  Think in terms of functions, not items on a list.  Ask yourself the following types of questions:

• What is the true function behind the items on our lists?
• Is there a better way to complete that function?  
• Is there a cheaper way? 
• Is that function so important that you should actually spend more money than you had previously planned?  
• Is there a way to complete that function that also serves to complete several other functions? 
• Should you hold off completing that function in order to complete other functions faster or cheaper?

In summary, think in functions, not in simple lists.  This is the type of strategic thinking that will serve you well whenever you need to think on your feet and be creative.  Using the Value Engineering methodology to study your projects will save you money, effort, time and labor, as well as enable you to complete more goals.  But best of all, you will save your sanity!

Dear Mr. Rawles,

First, I want to take a moment to tell you how much we love your blog site.  The amount of well thought out information that you have available is a great resource for all of us. 

I would however like to discuss a disturbing trend I am seeing on your blog.  While your distrust of the policies and actions of the government may be well founded I am worried about the anti law enforcement sentiment that is popping up is troubling.  I would never tell anybody to blindly trust or follow any one person or group of people but to distrust any entire group based on their vocation is extremely biased.  I had a sergeant who was found of asking people why they judged us on our color.  He would always get a response of “no I’m not” or “that’s crazy we’re the same color!”  My sergeant would reply “blue, you’re judging us on the color of our uniform, blue.”  I say we are being judged on our uniform now. 

I have been attending The Catholic Church for most of my life.  Many of you may remember the despicable actions of several members of the clergy from the news.  While their actions were appalling and in my eyes deserved a much more severe punishment, it did not warrant a mistrust of all clergy of all faiths.  Have there been police officers who treated people unfairly or even broken the laws they were sworn to uphold?  Of course!  There have also been teachers who preyed on the very children they were there to help.  Soldiers who attacked and abused their own female counterparts.  The list is unfoundedly endless.  I far from condone these actions, in fact I think harsher penalties are due to those who abuse their power.  You simply cannot judge an entire group by the actions of a few of its members. 

I have been a medic, firefighter and most recently a police officer.  I am proud of my chosen vocation and will lay down my life if called upon to do so.  I have attended the funerals of more of my brothers and sisters then I care to discuss.  The number of officers that have been killed in the line of duty is rising at an alarming rate.  These are men and women who laid down their lives for the same good people who read this blog.  I tell the people that I come in contact with to get their concealed weapons permit and carry regularly!  I have sworn to uphold the laws of this state and the constitution of our great country so I tell people to get the permit.  I have even gone so far as to put citizens in contact with instructors.  If it were up to me they would need no permit but it’s not so I direct them to the legal path of self protection.  Saying that LEOs are all out to get you is, in my eyes, the same as a LEO saying that all preppers are domestic terrorists.  I’m not saying to trust every cop you see. Rather, I’m just asking that you give them the same opportunity to earn your trust as anybody else.  Remember that at the end of the day most of us are just trying to make a difference in our communities.  I don’t want to take away the rights of any citizens.  I think the attacks on the 2nd amendment are a threat to the life and liberty of every American.  I can tell you that if, and when in my opinion, guns are outlawed and officers are called upon to collect them it will be a slow day at the office.  I can’t speak for every officer everywhere but I can tell you I have yet to meet one who would even try to take guns out of the hands of honest hard working Americans. 

I learned about this blog from other officers at my department who share the worries of many of the readers here.  It is my wish that more good Christians were able and willing to take care of themselves.  I wish that every decent person was armed and when some crazy person attacks a school or movie theater they were able to stop him or her before anybody lost their lives.  A lot, maybe most, of people today are unwilling to protect themselves.  I believe there are many reasons why this is so and could no doubt fill an entire article with them but the fact remains, it falls on a few to protect the many.  I will continue to be an avid follower and supporter of SurvivalBlog but it is my hope that my fellow readers will see the men and women who protect and serve for what they are: people.  - A Prepared Sheepdog

I’d like to thank JWR and all of you for providing such a mountain of good information!  I am in my 30’s and have a family with several small children in the suburbs, and just started prepping about 18 months ago.  I don’t remember the details of why I got started exactly.  It just came up in conversation with a couple of friends of mine and we got serious about it.

I do remember, however, some of the events and conversations that took place to get my wife involved (I mean…at least get her permission!) and so I thought I would share it with you.  Maybe there is another person out there that is interested in being prepared, but doesn’t know how to approach his or her spouse.
I am in finance and my wife was in accounting before we had children, so we both think of things very logically and practically.  (Or at least we enjoy thinking that we do)  So, when I explained to my wife my desire to “be prepared” I used two events to my advantage:

1 – In September 2008 Hurricane Ike slammed into the United States down south and then pushed north inland causing $7.8 billion in damages, killing hundreds, and causing power outages for hundreds of thousands.  My area lost power for a couple of days, but my wife and I were both working at the time and neither of us lost power at work for very long.  Curiously, our block including us were without power for 8 days, while all the houses around our block had the power turned back on after 24-48 hours.  The power company was simply working on highest priorities, and we weren’t one of them.  Fortunately, we didn’t have kids and we could go to work and visit friends who had power, so it wasn’t a big deal.  We gave away what was in the freezer because we didn’t know what else to do with it.  I visited the local store for batteries and such, but it was all gone.  Again, not a big deal.  We had a few yummy-smelling candles and a few spare batteries lying around.

2 – Last winter we had rain for a few days, which became freezing rain, which then just became bitterly cold and frozen everywhere.  It was so beautiful!!!  It was also treacherous.  We have a steep driveway and when I went out to start the car for work I slid (while standing) all the way down the driveway and then fell into the street…sliding all the way into the street.  Thankfully, I didn’t break anything and no cars were coming.  If there were they would not have been able to stop.  I went into work and didn’t notice until later that there was blood dripping from inside of my pants.  I was cut up pretty bad and bruised for probably two weeks.  I’m also certain I was very, very close to breaking my hip or leg.  It hurt very badly!  By the time I made it home and went to the grocery store, there were few batteries and there was absolutely no salt.

Fast forward to 18 months ago and on up to today.  I now have several small children and my wife stays at home with them.  My youngest is a couple months old and I can NOT afford to lose heat in the winter.  Going without power at home would be a severe inconvenience.  And, surfing my driveway is not something that I’d ever like to do again.
So, after the kids were asleep and after warning her I wanted to talk to her about something, I approached my wife with a perspective something like this:
When I think of events or bad things that could happen to us, I see a sliding scale of possibilities.  On the one hand, we have lost power for 8 days before.  Also, I have slipped on the ice in the driveway and been severely hurt.  On one end we have a Jesus Apocalypse and he takes us home!  In between, there are threats of varying degree.  Maybe it would look something like this:

THE SLIDING SCALE OF POSSIBILITIES

MORE LIKELY
Rapture – Definitely going to happen!  Do you know Christ?  Does He know you?
Ice Storm
Power Outage
No Water
Fire, tornado, flooding
Rioting or Civil Unrest
Injury or illness (no income for period of time)
Natural death (no income for family)
Outbreak (it’s happened before!  The first flu virus killed more people than the war!)
Nuclear Meltdown (do you know how many nuclear power plants we have in the U.S.?  Ever heard of Chernobyl?  How about Japan in 2011?)
War on domestic soil
EMP/Chemical/Nuclear Attack
Rapture – Still going to happen!  Not sure when though?

LESS LIKELY
So, I explained this sliding scale to her.  Change the sliding scale to reflect additional possibilities for your area (earthquake, tsunami, flood, volcano, hurricane, proximity to nuclear power plants, family situation)  Some of them are very likely to occur and some of them are absolutely absurd.  Some of them are more or less severe.  I do not think that I will die within the next 20 years, but if I do, I have a large term life insurance policy that helps me sleep at night and my wife knows the ONLY person that I trust to help her financially if I die.  That person is in her cell phone and we have had a mock “Hubby is dead.  Now what?” meeting because I absolutely demanded it.  Sorry, but I’m a financial advisor by trade.  The thought drives me mad that she wouldn’t know what to do when I’m gone or someone would bamboozle her into doing something foolish with the money.  I’ve also inoculated her against various financial instruments that I think are more about the advisor being greedy than it being good for the client!

…back on track.  So on the More Likely end I want to go out and get some salt for the driveway.  I’d like to get some spare batteries and flashlight bulbs and candles in case the power goes out.  I’d like to get a cheap kerosene heater and some kerosene in case the heat goes out because we have little ones.
We’re not being crazy.  We’re just being smart.  The next time the power goes out we’ve seen multiple times now that it’s too late to buy batteries!  When there is an ice storm it is too late to buy salt!

So, in 18 months’ time on a modest income for a family with several small children, I’ve tried to be very strategic with my purchases because I can’t just go buy everything out there that I want.  Also, I started this venture explaining to my wife how very, extremely, yet simply reasonable I was being.  Many of you are probably locked and loaded and lardered but others of you have yet to get started.  I went searching around online and found this list: http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm and started from there.
From nothing, now we have:
6 buckets (for all sorts of things including toilet)
A few axes and hatchets
Tons of batteries, candles, extra flashlights, and extra bulbs
Kerosene heater and 10 gallons of kerosene (in the detached shed)
20 gallons of gasoline with stabilizer in it (in the detached shed)
Several boxes worth of non-perishable canned and jarred goods from the store (it’s what I first started with as far as food is concerned…but it will go bad throughout 2013-2014)
360 servings of www.preparewise.com food.  You can get a sample pack first.  You can also substitute meals you don’t like for ones that you do.  I took out spicy foods and added a few extra gluten-free.  We have a friend that can’t eat gluten so in the event that we take on refugees…   This was very expensive and I only recently bought it, but I know that since it lasts for 25 years it is actually the cheapest over time.

I’m writing this on 12/14/2012. In the event that people are idiots on 12/21 I went ahead and grabbed the next 6 weeks’ worth of non-perishables that I would normally buy in the store that we WILL USE and put them in boxes in the garage.  I just walked the aisles and grabbed things that I KNOW will be on the next 6 weeks of grocery lists.
So as far as food is concerned I think I probably have 3-4 months saved up so far for my family.  Less with feeding friends or refugees.
A big berkey water filter - http://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com/
2 Water bob’s - http://www.waterbob.com/Welcome.do for our 2 tubs
Several bags of salt for the driveway
A few guns and about 4,000 rounds of ammo (the ammo was bought slowly over time whenever I get groceries and I also made one major purchase online with a friend)
Two-way radios

I also have plans to move to a friend’s farm if necessary for food.  I have plans to hole-up with another friend that lives a few blocks away if necessary for security.  I’ve spoken to 5 families and my parents who are all like-minded and have talked about supporting each other if something bad happens.

All of these purchases (with the exception of the excess quantity of ammo) are all very easily explained as to what they would be useful for.  They are extremely practical and would be helpful if we lost access to power, water, or food.  My wife says she doesn’t like talking about this stuff and it makes her feel a sense of panic.  However, she’s glad that I’m doing something and knows that I desire to help and protect the family.  She’s given me a designated survival pallet in the garage!  I also have some space upstairs in the office.  The guns and ammo HAVE to be locked away, but with small kids I’m totally fine with that.

I’m not ready for the apocalypse.  I do, however, have a loving spouse that understands what I’m doing and I am ready for the power to go out on us.  I’m ready for an ice storm.  I’m ready if we lose water in the house as long as I can get to the river nearby.  I don’t need to worry if there’s a long line at the gas station.  I don’t need to worry if we lose heat in the middle of winter.
I hope that this will help someone else who is now like I was 18 months ago starting from Square One.  I hope that this will help you talk to someone, using the Sliding Scale of Possibilities, and get them to understand that you’re simply “Being Prepared” as the Boy Scouts say.  If you can’t explain it, maybe you can show this article to your loved one and just ask them for their thoughts and feedback?

Thank you all, again, for giving me so many ideas and so much good information!!!  This is by far the best survivalist blog I’ve found on the Internet.  (and I’m a 7th Degree Google Ninja)
Grace & Peace in Christ, - Mr. Reasonable Ohio

They are not personally prepared at all. The average soldier is no more prepared than the average civilian.

If this is a concern (you live by a military installation), a curiosity (you have a relative that serves), or if you just want a glimpse of military life, let me tell you why the average soldier is not personally prepared.  I must first establish my credibility.   

I have a BA degree from a major university, and various civilian job experiences under my belt, mostly in food service and then social services.  I am an older soldier, low ranking on the totem pole. I am a truck driver in the US Army, and on the front lines where the rubber meets the road so to say.    As in all the clichés, I joined the Army to serve my country and learn about the Armed Forces, but somewhat selfishly, I joined also to learn about first aid, shooting, field sanitation, and the plethora of training that many a survivalist craves and practices, not only gaining these valuable skills for free, but getting paid to learn them.  I have been in the Army for four years, and I was into preparing for TEOTWAWKI years before I enlisted.  I have deployed twice, with many a mission outside-the-wire.

Bird Flu was my gateway drug into the prepper/survivalist community.  Upon discovering this new reality that things can and will go south, I was on the zombie apocalypse bandwagon for a long time.  I still enjoy the movies and the books. The reasoning was "if you are prepared for zombies, you are prepared for anything", and if you want a lighthearted icebreaker to discuss prepping, zombie talk will break it.  In the Army, arguing all things undead is a fun way to pass the hours and hours of hurry up and wait, in between the rock throwing and myriad one-uppers.  Early on in this stint of national service, I would talk about zombies and survivalism a lot. I was under the impression that the Army was full of preppers and survivalists. I was deployed straight out of AIT, and saw very little of my wife and kids for my first year and a half of service, so SHTF scenarios that would be natural conversations in my own family continued as daily conversations in my surrogate family.  I soon found out that there was very little interest in prepping, but fortunately, while breaching OPSEC in an effort to convince others about the benefits of preps, soldiers PCS and ETS, and those I stand beside now are completely different soldiers than those I stood beside early on.     

The military has higher rates of suicide and divorce than the general population.  This is an unfortunate reality.  You might think they also have higher rates of preppers/survivalists than the general population.  This is an understandable misconception.  If we assume only 1% to 5% of the civilian masses are preppers, IMHO, no more than 1% to 5% of military are preppers as well.  In this essay, I will discuss the various barriers to an individual soldier's personal preparedness, and I will discuss various categories of personal preparedness in relation to the average soldier. This is important information because maybe you have stereotypes of the average soldier and the military in general, maybe you have contingencies incorporating the military in one way or another, or maybe your feel scared and threatened, neutral and unaware, or secure and reassured by the military and the men and women in uniform.

There are indeed various barriers to prepping.  These barriers for soldiers at times are unique, and at times mirror the barriers for the general population.  The barriers discussed here are money and complacency/laziness.

Money is one of the single most important barriers to prepping, and affects everybody regardless if you are in uniform or not.  Military pay is different than civilian pay.  Military pay is made up of Base Pay and Entitlements.  Entitlements are pay for things like base allowance for housing (BAH) and groceries, called base allowance for subsistence (BAS).  Money doesn't have to be a barrier for the military family, but it is a great barrier to prepping that affects soldiers in different ways.   

Take for instance the young, single (unmarried) soldiers.  The single soldier receives his entitlement for housing, and each month that money is taken away (canceling each other out) and he is provided with a furnished barracks room.  Rooms nowadays are actually nicer than my college dorm room!  More like suites, where you have your own little room, but share a bathroom and kitchen with only one other soldier.  However, many single soldiers choose to not live in the barracks, and go in together on a lease at an apartment or rental house off-post.  So soldiers are paying for housing already, in lieu of directly receiving the BAH, but on top of that, they are using their discretionary income to pay for even more housing because they choose not to stay in their barracks room.  It gets worse when it comes to filling the belly.  Single soldiers are given BAS each month, but the military takes back the money every month because they are provided with a meal card.  The meal card entitles single soldiers to eat three very nice meals a day in the military cafeterias (DFAC), with food so varied that the average American comes nowhere close to eating that well.  And if you went out and bought the type of variety the soldiers can eat in the DFAC, it would cost a small fortune.  But the single soldier does not take advantage of this, and therefore eats out nearly every meal, or buys groceries and cooks nearly every meal.  So you have a soldier who is spending their discretionary money not only on housing, but also on food, when the housing and food is essentially prepaid.

Married Soldiers don't get off easy either.  Divorce rates in the military are higher than in the civilian world.  Paying for divorces and paying for child support is not uncommon.  Family, when not in it for love/spirituality and when not in it for the long run, can be very expensive.  Expensive to get into, and expensive to get out of.  And often times, it is near impossible for the wife to work.  This is why they are called "Army Wives".  That is their profession.  Soldiers work 24/7, it just depends what your specific task is at any given moment.  Could be PT, could be working in the motor pool, but it could also be relaxing or sleeping.  Point is, you are never really off, and in conjunction with field exercises, 24 hour duty rotations, early mornings and long days, a soldier's schedule is in constant ebb and flow, and this means the wife primarily must be the anchor keeping the house together - cleaning, cooking, rearing the children, and the like.  One income households can prosper and prepping can be achieved, just as single soldiers can save money and prepare themselves if they wanted too, but soldiers are humans, and herein lays the other problem relating to money:   

Just like civilian life, soldiers balance financial issues similar to what civilians do, and maybe even more so.  Debt and vices rear their ugly head on soldiers like shoppers ready to stampede Wal-Mart on Black Friday.  There is comfort and reassurance in getting paid on the first and fifteenth of every month, and once the wheels of short term satisfaction and instant gratification start turning, they are hard to brake.  Let’s talk about debt.  And just one form of debt on top of that - the quintessential American car loan.  In my time in the Army, I have come to learn that not only does the average soldier spend a lot more on accessories and upgrades to their vehicles than the general population, it is not uncommon to have a $600/month car note to finance the endeavor, with 10% to 18% interest rates, and an insurance premium to high to pay at once, creating monthly bills in excess of $150.  Furthermore, there is an unspoken rule of ego propping in the Army.  Hence the perceived need for having the brand new Jeep Wrangler "Call of Duty" edition with the heavy duty Warn winch sporting hard, soft and bikini tops at will, even though it will never go off road, or having the brand new Dodge Charger with low profile tires hugging for dear life on 26" rims, with more than one TV screen for every potential passenger, and a stereo system so loud it could be used for a block party.  Money wasted, preps foregone.  Vices would be another avenue of lost income when it comes to the average soldier.  Drinking, smoking and dipping usage is higher per capita in the military than it is in the civilian world, not to mention daily stops at the gas station for energy drinks and snacks.  All this adds up to little left over at the end of the month to put into food reserves, gold and silver coin, and an ample water supply. 

In addition to the money barrier, there is the complacency barrier.  Complacency about work load is a start.  Think of how you drive through a construction zone and there is one guy shoveling and six guys standing around him.  Well, same holds true in the Army.  20% of the workers do 80% of the work.  Thus we have an attitude that someone else will do it.  That is complacency my friends.  Another type of complacency that is found in the civilian world but amplified in the army is the "government will take care of me" attitude.  Well, guess what, soldiers are in that government, and if you have ever been deployed, you know that getting taken care of is no easy task even in the best situations.  Sure, supply and resupply works great now.  But just-in-time on an industrial scale gives soldiers a false sense of hope.  Complacency sets in similar to the way a corporate hamster wheeler gets his pink slip.  He thinks, "This can never happen to me".  Well, it just did.

Now that we have discussed some of the barriers to preparedness, we need to look at different categories of preps to analyze why and how the average soldier is just not prepared.  Let’s start with the tried and true survivalist doctrine that skills are more important than stuff.  This is true.  But let’s look at skills from an individual soldier's perspective. 

The soldier has a primary job, called a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).  I am a truck driver.  I have expert skills in this field.  I can secure an M1 Abrams Tank to a trailer that has 40 wheels and tires on it, and haul it off into the sunset.  I can pick up shipping containers and drop them wherever they are needed.  I can run convoys and react to ambushes, roadside bombs, breakdowns and the like.  I can do these things because that is my job in the Army, and I would hope everybody was competent and proficient in their job.  So the soldier has a primary skill at which they excel, which is great as far as preps go, but all the other cool army stuff that makes its way into movies - commo, land navigation, shooting, kicking in doors, treating casualties on the battle field, etc, are trained on in limited scope, and even more importantly, are perishable skills, meaning they are "use 'em or lose 'em" skills.

If you don't get out and get try to find your way around the desert or through the woods with a map and a compass on a regular basis, you will be hurting in a stressful environment.  If you don't practice improvising a tourniquet on a regular basis, time will be against you in the heat of the moment.  If only go to the range once or twice a year, you are not shooting to your potential.  If you don't fill radios and sync with power, time, antennas, and the like, you will be chatting only with yourself.  This is where the average soldier could have a great deal of skills, but in general, loses on such great opportunities.  Take map reading and land navigation as an example.  This skill is often done in teams, but since the 20/80 rule applies, there is usually one or two that are good at it and do the work for the team, while the others don't want to learn and just tag along to finish the training.  Sad but true.

Physical Fitness is an individual skill and is another aspect of preparedness that is very important yet often over looked.  One naturally assumes that since they are soldiers, they are physically fit.  Well, sort of, but there is more to it than that.  Soldiers have to be in shape or they will lose their job.  Period. Point blank.  I have seen soldiers kicked out of the Army for not being able to pass a PT test, and I have seen soldiers kicked out of the Army for being overweight.  If you don't want to be jobless, there is a strong incentive to performing physically.  But how difficult is the PT test really?  Its two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups, and a two mile run.  If you are generally in shape and not overweight, it is not difficult to pass.  So soldiers are not the superhuman-athlete types that are often perceived.  What you have is multitudes of young men and women, not too far out of high school or college, who should be and generally are in decent shape and health.  But they are still in their late teens and early twenties.  Energy is abundant and in excess for them.  It really is a young person's Army.  Furthermore, the Army has been changing the PT program for years in the making now, and for years a principle focus was on establishing a new PT test which was more difficult, and guess what happened to that idea?  Scrapped.  Soldiers couldn't pass it.  And if soldier's are physically fit as they should be, that does not mean they are willing to do the work that needs to be done when the SHTF.  Laziness can affect anybody, hard bodies included, and it is a self inflicted hindrance upon accomplishing work.  One time I needed help moving a heavy crate off the top of a flatbed trailer, and I asked a soldier who was rather buff and built, but inherently lazy.  He performs his job with only the bare minimum of effort to get by, he prefers to live in the gym, and when I asked him to help move the crate, the reply was "this is just for show", in reference to his body builder physique.  

Weapons and shooting is also an individual prep and skill.  Most of the Army is not combat arms.  They are not out and about kicking in doors, detaining enemy POWs, throwing grenades and generally causing mayhem and destruction.  This means that for the rest of us, we probably visit a range once a year, a couple times a year if we are lucky.  In comparison, there are varying numbers but it is safe to say that anywhere between 20% - 50% of American households own guns, and many individuals go shoot them regularly.  Your average soldier has an assigned weapon, usually an M16 or and M4, that is locked inside a cage which is locked inside a secured arms vault, which is locked inside a secured building.  Point being that while our primary role is protecting the good 'ole US of A, force multipliers, advanced weaponry and effective and efficient soldiers have changed the role and scope of the modern Army dramatically, and one of the consequences has been a lessening in the amount of range time slotted.  And what about soldiers privately owning and storing guns and ammunition at home?  Maybe, maybe not.  Where this would be in line with the average civilian household owning guns, the questions can go like this - how many guns do they have, do they have a sufficient supply of ammunition, and are they training regularly using those weapons?  When it comes to defense, offense, and things that go "bang", the average soldier is really no more prepared than the average civilian.

What about food reserves?  This is directly in line with the assumption that the overwhelming vast majority of civilians are not prepared for a short term or long term disaster and neither is the average soldier.  Sufficient food in storage is paramount, and one of the main pillars in the foundation of prepping.  The average soldier has no more food on hand than the average civilian.  Furthermore, the average soldier probably even has less, because as soldiers move around to different posts, they are allowed only a certain amount of weight for their household goods, and more often than not, soldiers end up giving away food from their pantries, not only to lessen the weight they are moving but also because its more convenient to just give it away then deal with it (i.e. complacency/lazy).   

So what we have in society is the same as what we have in the military as well.  People will always take the easy way out, instead of going down the road less traveled.  The same reactions to prepping that you find in the civilian world are just as prevalent in the military.  For example, the classic, "well, if anything happens I'll just come over to your house" excuse has been said to me time and time again, back when I was early on in my time of national service.  Attitudes like these are unfortunately what helped convince me to be less extroverted and more introverted, in the sense of community.  It also has left me kind of bittersweet with my opinion of soldiers and their personal level of readiness, especially now that I have had some time in the Army and experiences to reinforce that feeling.  I mean, really, you are a US Army Truck Driver and you don't even carry a flashlight or multitool, knowing you will use both of them almost every single day?  And they were even issued to you and often times gifted to you courtesy of your unit's discretionary funds!  Incredible.  Just incredible.  The golden opportunity for people to prepare their families for an unknown unfortunate event that will happen sooner or later, and they fail to seize the day.  

Personal preparedness is a responsibility for all people and all families, and sadly, we know that the average American family is not personally prepared for a rainy day, much less a stormy day.  Unfortunately, we also know that the average US Soldier is not personally prepared either.  If you have selfishly thought of taking your family to your Army cousin's house during some Schumeresque event because you think he is prepared, that could be a great mistake at best, and likewise, your Army cousin might just show up with his family at your house looking for food and shelter, because he has not prepared for his family and thinks you might be one of them "preppers".  And finally, if you not only want to learn skills that are paramount in the life of a survivalist/prepper, but get paid to learn those skills, take it from me, the military has served me well in that department, and you get to serve your country and be part of something bigger than you in the process.

Is everyone geared up for Christmas shopping? On the first day of Christmas my five children receive presents from their parents, grandparents, and friends and by the twelfth day of Christmas....well, the presents begin earning the label of junk, lying in the basement or being “played with” by the dog and chickens in the backyard. Every year I declare I will not buy anymore useless, plastic toys - and this year I mean it!

Lest I sound too much like the Grinch, rest assured that I love giving the kids presents. I love thinking about just the right gift for each child, wrapping the presents and hiding them from curious eyes; there’s the fun of sneaking them out to the bottom of the tree after they have gone to bed and of seeing them open them with delight. So what to do?

I have decided this year to focus our gifts on preps for the kids. I don’t think this is necessarily a ho-hum thing; most kids enjoy aspects of prepping much more than we adults who do it with a slight (or large) sense of anxiety. Kids genuinely enjoy learning new skills and “playing pioneer”.

So here are some tips on shopping for “kiddie preppers”:

1. Seed kit and gardening tools

Children have a natural fascination for watching plants sprout and gathering the harvest. A seed kit with some gardening tools can be as simple as a few packs of easy-to-grow seeds such as beans, squash, sunflowers, and pumpkins or you may want to purchase a family starter kit such as the one offered at Saint Claire’s Heirloom seeds. Horizon Herbs offers a Kidzherb kit of useful medicinal and culinary herb seeds such as basil, calendula, and lemon balm that also includes a story book with kid-friendly information, herbal fairy tales and songs, and instructions for making products such as salves and slippery elm cough drops. Books like Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy offer whimsical, yet useful projects, such as “pizza gardens” and gourd tee pees. Consider purchasing kid-size garden tools like gloves, shovels, hoes, and watering cans.

2. Sleeping bags and bedding

No, I’m not talking about those flimsy sleeping bags with a cartoon princess on them; I’m talking about the real deal. Now this might not be exciting unless you promise the kids that they’ll use them on a camping trip. Another idea is a new comforter or quilt. I never seem to have enough blankets as they are often serving as forts and the kids tend to fight over the favorite ones. This way, everyone will have their own special quilt and the bedding will serve your family well should you experience a power outage or need to turn the heat down (or off) to save energy and money.

3. Bug out bag - kiddie style

First things first, get some durable backpacks. What you put in them will, of course, depend upon the age of the child, but the great thing about this gift is that you’re not only providing a gift and teaching them about being prepared, you’re also knocking out an item on your prepping to-do list. Some ideas for kid bug out bags are: flashlight, a magnesium fire starter, compass, important numbers and info on a laminated card, a deck of playing cards, nonperishable snacks like jerky and candy, small mylar blanket, small bottles of children’s pain relief and cold medicine, chapstick, wipes, straw water filter, a tin mug, and a pocketknife.

4. Non-electric games

Imagine, games without noises and glassy-eyed kids. Consider buying a durable chess set and a checkers set. Purchase Hoyle’s Rules of Games and some nice playing cards. Nowadays, decks come in quite a variety, from art masterpieces to tree identification, so you have entertainment as well as sneaking some education in. Other classics to consider are Scrabble, Sorry, and Clue. For the younger crowd, there are concentration games like Memory, Connect Four, and alphabet or number games. I would suggest something like Candyland but you might be stressed enough and yet another round through the Peppermint Forest might have you banging your head on the wall.

5. Survival fiction books

Fiction books are a great way to introduce morals and valuable skills without seeming to lecture. In books such as My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, Sam not only learns survival skills such as making fishing hooks, building a shelter in a hollow tree, and making clothing from deer hide, he also learns lessons about courage, independence, and making peace with solitude. Likewise, Brian in Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet series learns how to gather edible plants and build a raft from driftwood, but he also learns about self-discipline and perseverance. Other titles include the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell, and Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare.

6. Knot games

One of the most useful skills to learn, and one of the easier ones for nimble, little fingers, is knot tying. Companies such as Ramco produce a game wherein the players match the knots on the cards, with each card being worth a certain number of points based on difficulty and Think Fun Knot So Fast has players trying to tie the knots the quickest. There are also numerous how-to books available.

7. Books on wild edibles, traps, and nature skills

Help your children begin to develop a prepping library of their own. A great start is Tom Brown’s Field Guide: Nature and Survival for Children. What I like about this book is that it includes the more usual information - shelter building, wild edibles, first aid - but it also covers nature awareness and “lostproofing”. For example, it includes exercises for training kids in better orientation in nature. Other books to consider are wild food books like Linda Runyon’s or Euell Gibbons’s (for sheer enthusiasm), first aid books, Boy Scout books (usually available for cheap at thrift stores), and books about Native Americans (such reading inspired the likes of Eustace Conway - “the last American man”).

8. Tools

As mentioned above, child sized tools can encourage an early love for gardening. Likewise, consider giving your child useful tools such as basic woodworking and handy tools. When my son got into Survivor Man, we purchased a multitool and, as he got older, he saved up his money to buy a Gerber survival knife and a hatchet. These have provided great lessons in knife safety and tool care. Along these lines, consider buying basic, but high quality, cooking ware and utensils. Tools such as these not only provide a back-up set for your family while your child is young, they will serve as a good “start up” for your child when he moves out on his own.

9. Beginner’s arms

After the popularity of The Hunger Games, it wouldn’t be hard to talk your teen into learning some bow skills. Decent quality bows can be found online or even consider making a self bow. Consider introducing your kids to BB guns as practice for target shooting and for use of larger firearms in later years. Early introduction to bows and rifles help kids better understand the uses and safety rules of such items. In addition, consider purchasing sling-shots or the material for putting together traps and snares.

10. Gift cards

No, not gift cards to the big box stores or for more electronics. I’m talking about cards or passes that give your child an experience, hopefully with a survival slant. For instance, consider buying passes to the national parks and camping grounds. Or lessons in basic knitting, cooking, quilting, or pottery. My town has a rock climbing gym and lessons would encourage physical activity while teaching the kids courage, problem-solving, and determination. Even buying some music lessons would provide the kids with the opportunity to learn an entertainment skill that doesn’t require electricity (think of Pa Ingalls with his fiddle).

11. Craft kits

There are kits galore to help kids of all ages (and their parents!) get started with a useful skill. A quick check online will offer up kits for beginning sewing, quilting, knitting, woodworking, and leather working.

12. Livestock

For the really ambitious, another gift option is a “start up kit” for livestock. Ready made coops and chicks can be purchased via Craigslist (or online if you really want to pay a lot). Better yet, select a kid-friendly book on chicken raising, gather the necessary materials for building a coop, and purchase necessary equipment like waterers and feeders. In this way, you can spend the winter months building the coop and preparing for chicks in the spring. Other options to consider are worms, bees, or rabbits. While I don’t have experience with the last two, I can attest that worm “farms” for composting definitely have a degree of grossness that attracts little kids!

So here’s the challenge this year. Instead of plunking down that hard-earned money to buy some junk made in a country with dubious government policies only to have that junk clutter up your house later on, consider replacing at least some of those purchases with gifts that will truly benefit your family. Help your kids add to their own preps as well as their prepper skill set.

The ground smolders with the charred remains scattered across once-green fields now turned black from cinders and dried blood.  An electric pole lies on its side across an abandoned road, menacing with the occasional buzz and spark.  Your home is gutted, shredded like a soft chunk of cheese.  A stack of crisped tortillas lie uneaten on the hearth, abandoned in the chaos. The air is fowl and acrid though silence has now settled after the screams and destruction of the night before. 
You were lucky, though.  Living on higher ground, you heard the mobs coming and you had time to hide in your nearby cornfield.  You pray for your children, but you prepare yourself to find them among the scattered bodies.  Knowing the subtle trails only traveled by farmers like yourself, you weave your way through the hillside, clinging to any hint of normalcy and structure.  You are trying to stay calm, determined to avoid going into full out panic yourself.  You WANT to survive.  You HAVE to survive to tell your story and work to rebuild your life.  You start taking inventory of your food, your clothing, your memories…everything you will take with you as you flee and search for other survivors.  Your name is Juan, and your world has ended as you knew it.
This isn’t the opening to a novel on a future apocalypse, but one of the many stories I heard from actual survivors of civil war.  Juan’s story is not unique, but it is a true survivor’s story.  While studying anthropology, I had the chance to live in rural Guatemala, site of some of the most gruesome civilian and military guerilla forces in modern history.  Lasting more than 3 decades, the Guatemalan civil war razed villages, crippled the country’s economy, and essentially drove the entire population of 10 million people to live in ‘survival mode.’ During this time, the country also faced increasingly devastating earthquakes, mudslides, sinkholes, and drought.  Human disasters coupled with natural disasters should have spelled doom for an isolated agrarian country.  But, against this backdrop, life somehow continued.  Markets adapted to new distribution channels, educators flopped down in the fields instead of schools, and religious networks united people in a common hope for change.
Through the prolonged instability, some survivors fared better than others.  Some foraged the donated goods from aid organizations but still lived precariously day-to-day. Some learned to adapt to their changed environment and actually learned to thrive in it.  Those that had strong networks adapted to this changed reality and endured all the subsequent threats.  They developed local versions of goods no longer available for import.  They planted small gardens in their patios when vegetable trucks were being ransacked on the highway and never made it to market.  They wove their own clothes and patched old clothes to extend their wear.  They repaired roads and maintained infrastructure when the government refused to.  And, they did this by strengthening their small communities and tapping into what I call a survival network.
Building a Survival Network
What tips can we take from survivors of modern-day disasters?  How should we guide our prepping to not only survive an initial catastrophe, but participate in the rebuilding and restructuring of the future?  If there is one overarching theme to survival on a budgets, it is to connect with the people around us.  Guatemalans (and many Americans, for that matter) don’t have the resources to stockpile food, water, weapons, and tools.  Most work the fields to stock up for winter and live season-to-season.  But, if they don’t own a chainsaw, they know a neighbor who does.  They choose not to buy their own pickup truck because they can pay the 30 cents to hitch a ride down the hill to market instead.  Simply put, they learn to identify resources in their vicinity and build relationships of reciprocity to maximize those resources. 
I know this point may be criticized—preppers feel that anarchy will reign and pit neighbor against neighbor, so you have to amass everything for yourself and not count on your neighbors to help you.  I understand that argument, and I think it IS prudent to prioritize your own personal supply of survival gear.  I realize that thinking of networking as prepping may be more unnatural to Americans raised in an individual-centric mentality.
But, no matter how elaborate your preparations are or how extensive your budget reaches, no one person can live unaided forever.  As the saying goes, no man is an island. I believe the exact opposite is true.  Those people who build trust among neighbors and promote greater self-sufficiency among a strong community is much less vulnerable to attack, much more adaptable to changing threats, and much more likely to survive long-term. And, frankly, who wants to live alone in a post-apocalyptic world?? I think prepping should include reaching out to people you care about and help them prepare to survive with you.
This is NOT adding more friends to your Facebook account, this is in-person, relationship building. So, how exactly should you network for survival? The good news is, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to figure out what a successful network looks like.  As with any network, you should start with yourself and work your way out to larger circles of family, friends, community leaders, and neighbors.
·          Start with YOU.  Identify your OWN skills inventory that may be of value to these people in order to build reciprocal relationships.  Just as self-interest can motivate looters to rob a cache, self-interest drives trade.  In order to acquire goods and services from others, you need to have equally valuable items yourself.  Remember, trade can include expertise and labor, not just supplies.  Strategize what vocational skills you can build up to make yourself a more valuable member of a survivor community.
·          Once you’ve learned more about what you have to offer, get more informed about the people in your immediate surroundings.  Be informed of groups that share your values and build relationships with preppers in your state and city.  A well-networked person is also a well-informed person and one that can identify warning signs early on.  Prepping isn’t just about preparing for an unknown future.  It’s about learning from the recent past. 
·          Get out and about in your neighborhood--study the geography, the layout of the neighborhood, the areas that are more likely to stay dry in a flood or stay erect during an earthquake.  If you need to flee your home during an emergency, having strong relationships with people in these areas could save your life.  Study exit routes using back roads or footpaths.  Identify possible hideouts if your home and bugout shelter are compromised. 
·          Build a “skills inventory” similar to your physical goods inventory and identify people in your community with these skills.  Some key skills are: hunting, fishing, first aid administration, auto mechanics, blacksmithing, architecture and drafting, construction, HVAC systems, organic gardening, herbal medicine, electrical engineering for radio and surveillance equipment, sewing, and more.  If you don’t know anybody that has one of these skills, find one!
·          Try to build stronger relationships within your existing circle of friends to identify individual skills that could fit better into your survival network.  Learn about the personal lives of your coworkers or fellow worshippers at church.  Become better friends with your auto mechanic and others with practical skills that will be valuable post-catastrophe.
·          After getting closer to your existing network, expand! Join your local Elks Lodge or Rotary chapter.  Start a preppers book club.  Host community seminars on various survival skills or even basic interests such as canning fresh fruit or tending heirloom seeds.  Try to create venues where you can meet new people but also learn about their skills and strategize how they might fit into your survival network.
·          Don’t limit your network to only include active preppers.  A glass-artist may not currently be interested in prepping, but would have valuable craftsmanship skills that could translate to other types of materials when factories shut down and all goods are made by hand.
·          Participate in local politics.  Yes, politics.  One of the primary roles of government is to build a sense of community and understand constituencies.  You will learn your community’s demographics, economic class structure, current issues being debated, and priorities.  This will help you navigate various group dynamics and build stronger relationships with diverse groups.  This can also help you tap into informal distribution channels and alternative communication channels that will survive when electronic media and big trucking are destroyed.
·          Open yourself up to examination.  No, you don’t need to give a guided tour of your bugout camp, or reveal how many pounds of food you have stored.  But, your prepping should be part of a conversation so you can brainstorm ideas and strategies with others. Isolation can be dangerous.  You may not know your weaknesses and prepping deficiencies until it’s too late.  Instead, you should work to entrench yourself in a network of equal give-and-take.  Offering expertise and services will make you a trusted member of a community rather than a selfish, isolated target. 
Guatemala is a small country most can’t place on a map.  Reports on its civil war didn’t make it onto many American newsstands.  But, its people have lived through some of the exact conditions the prepper movement is warning of.  Just as Juan was able to utilize his knowledge of hidden footpaths and hiking trails, we should work to extend our prepping beyond physical goods and tactical training.  I was privileged to hear Juan’s story because he was able to escape the destruction and live with numerous sets of neighbors until he was able to rebuild his home and retake his land.  Juan did various jobs from carpentry to transporting avocados, exchanging his time and talents for food and shelter.  He wasn’t a prepper in the traditional sense of amassing survival goods.  But, his experiences forever changed the way I view a future catastrophe.  I work not only to increase my family’s self-sufficiency but also to become more integrated into our community and more connected to local resources.  I learned from Juan that merely staying alive through disaster is not truly surviving.  Instead, you can actively shape the new structure and community that is rebuilt afterwards.  But, you have to be part of the community first if you ever hope to participate in a new one.

It’s no secret the majority of survivalists are males.  If your better half is just as prepared for emergencies as you, or you are a female survivalist who is reading this article, then congratulations!  But what about others who have a wife or significant other who goes about their daily life in ignorant bliss; unaware of the dangers surrounding us in today’s world, and how to prepare for and handle them?  I am sure you all love your spouses, and when disaster strikes, you’re going to look after them.  However, wouldn’t they (and you) be better off if they were assets during an emergency rather than dead weight?

All the preparations you’ve made to keep your family and home safe isn’t going to amount to squat if your wife is clueless and you are away on a business trip, or trapped in your office, with no way to get home (transportation suspended) and no way to get in touch with your loved one (phone lines down).

Preparing your better half is the most important thing you can do.  Do you have a gun at home?  It might as well be an expensive paperweight if she doesn’t know how to use it; or worse, if she doesn’t know the combination of the safe where it is stored.  I know women who don’t even know where the circuit breaker is in their home, much less what it does.  If they cannot handle that, how are they going to defend and provide for themselves and your children in the hours, days, or weeks it takes you to get home from wherever you may be?

I’m currently in Afghanistan and my wife and our infant son are in a third-world country in Southeast Asia.  Were something to happen, such as the civil unrest that occurred there two years ago, she will have to take care of herself, as well as our infant son, on her own.  The chance of me getting to her anytime soon is slim.  At best, I am a convoy, a helicopter flight, and two plane flights away.  I tell you this so you realize this problem is real and you need to take it seriously, just as you would your other preparations.

How many hours a day are you away from home?  If you have a full time job, then it’s at least 25% of every weekday.  Now, I have friends who are willing to wager hard earned money at casinos where they don’t have nearly that high of a percentage to win.  Yet, many survivalists are willing to take much lower odds, and wager something more important that money, that an emergency will always occur when they and all their family members are sitting in their house, which is just nonsense.  Add in the time it takes you to commute to and from work, as well as the time you spend away from home doing other things (shopping, visiting friends, going to sporting events, et cetera), and the percentage is significantly increased.  A disaster waits for nobody, and the chance of one occurring when you’re away from your home is quite high.

Now that you recognize the importance of your better half becoming an active part of your survival plan, you need to start bringing her into the fold.  This is a task not to be taken lightly.  If I approached my wife and told her the world, as we know it, is going to end, she would look at me like I’ve lost my marbles and would cease listening to anything I subsequently say.  Therefore, you need to broach this topic with your better half gradually.

The majority of you all reading this did not attain all your survival equipment, rations, skills, and knowledge in a single day.  And while time is of the essence, it’s best if you don’t expect your better half to acquire everything in a single day either.  For me, I started small.

My first order of business was instilling in her the desire to be prepared for the unexpected.  Remember; start small.  For example, I purchased rain ponchos when it was sunny.  Sure, this isn’t exactly a must-have item, but it’s one I like because it serves the dual purpose of keeping me dry during a rain storm, as well as a first aid item for a sucking chest wound.  Purchasing the ponchos when they weren’t needed gave me a chance to talk with her about the ease of buying them now rather than after it starts raining.  This way I was able to gradually accustom her to the strategy as opposed to starting out by purchasing a bomb shelter.

When my wife and I went out one night a few days later it looked as though rain was forth coming, so I slipped the ponchos I’d previously purchased into my cargo pocket.  Sure enough, later that night it started pouring down rain, as it is prone to do in tropical climates.  Everyone around us, including my wife, immediately ducked into a convenience store to purchase ponchos.  Thankfully, they were sold out.  Reaching into my cargo pocket, smiling, I presented her with a poncho, which allowed me to demonstrate to her why it’s a good idea to stock up on handy items when they’re not necessarily needed right at that moment.

Gradually, my wife began to see the importance of such acts, and I’m afraid I’ve created a monster.  Now it’s her who is in charge of our supplies.  She took over that job without giving me a choice in the matter.  And why not?  She loves to shop, so it’s an enjoyable activity for her.  We have since reached our goal of having 2 months worth of necessities (diapers, food, water, you name it).  When I was in charge of our stash, we only had 2 weeks worth.  Who’s better at that job?  I know when to bow to superiority.  She still has room for improvement when it comes to rotating the stashed items to ensure they stay as fresh as possible, but she’ll get there.

Moving on, let’s hit on self-defense in the home.  Have you taught your wife to handle a firearm?  I have not because it is extremely difficult to obtain one in the country we live in, not to mention tremendously expensive.  However, she can recognize daily household items can be used as weapons.  I know this because every once in a while she will pick up a common item around the house and threaten me with it.  For example, she’ll grab scissors and declare, “I cut you!”  Sometimes I believe she’ll do it.  Of course, she’s only mimicking what I’ve taught her gradually over time.  It has turned into a fun game of finding the most non-threatening item in the home and using it as a weapon.

What about surviving natural disasters?  Where we live, flooding is a regular occurrence.  Therefore, my wife has learned how to fill sandbags, and can do so with the best of ‘em.  Does she like doing it?  No.  But she knows the chances of her having to fill sandbags when I’m not there is high.  In addition, when we move to the east coast of the U.S. next year, you can bet your generator my wife will know how to install plywood over our windows in case I’m away during a hurricane.  She’ll have help from my relatives because it’s a two-person job, but that’s not the point.  She will understand the letter and number code I mark each pre-cut piece of plywood with, so she’ll know which piece goes on which window.  Time is of the essence in an emergency, and neither she, nor my other family members, can afford to waste time trying to figure out which piece goes where.

What would your wife or significant other do during an emergency during an emergency?  No, I’ve not mis-spoken.  What I’m referring to is if your child stopped breathing during a natural disaster when medical personnel weren’t readily available.  Does your wife know first aid?  Is she CPR certified?  With a one-year-old son at home, you can rest assured one of the first things I did was have my wife take a CPR course.  I have extensive training in first aid.  In addition, I am CPR, AED, and First Responder certified.  However, none of that is going to do me a bit of good if I’m unconscious with only a non-trained wife to take care of me.  My wife immediately recognized the importance of such training and has since learned a vast amount of information on the subject.  It’s another area she excels at and I am confident in her abilities.

I’m not saying your better half needs to be equally as good as you are in every aspect of survival, as different people bring different skill sets to the table.  However, she should be proficient.  And you might as well get off your macho high horse now because believe it or not, she will excel in areas you don’t.  My wife and I are a team…not a survival expert and the beneficiary of a survival expert.  I cannot begin to tell you all how comforting it is to know my wife can handle whatever is thrown her way to keep herself and our son safe when I’m not there.  And when I am there, I know I’m not in it alone.  Taking care of every aspect of three people’s lives (me, my wife, and our son) would be stressful during the best of times.  Doing so during an emergency would likely turn me into a two-pack-a-day smoker.

It’s my hope you all will take heed in what I’ve written, bring your wife or significant other into the fold, and become a team to be reckoned with when things go bad.  After all, your better half will most likely turn out to be the best piece of survival gear you’ve ever invested in.

How do you balance the secrecy needed when prepping with letting your friends and relatives know that you are a prepper and encouraging them to become one too? Because when SHTF, you want your loved ones to be safe too. Wouldn’t it be wrong to prep in secret and not afford your favorite people the opportunity to prep like you? I know it is not wise to advertise to non-preppers that you are a prepper. But I did it anyway. I just wanted to start a conversation about prepping with my best friend. I was excited about prepping and I wanted her to start prepping too. I wanted to know she would be ok in an extreme situation. And let’s face it; I wanted to brag a little bit too. And that pride, that hubris, can get you and your family killed.

This conundrum was recently brought into sharp focus for me when I was telling my best friend about the new five gallon buckets and bulk grains I had recently secured. I was so proud of myself. Her reply was not “Where did you get the supplies from?” or “How much did it cost – I’ve been saving up and I’d like to get some grains too”. Her response was “If anything ever happens, I know where we’re going”. She meant her family would come here. I was literally stunned into silence. Because I let her know I had secured provisions for my family and about my preparations in her mind I was now responsible for her family too. Rather than plan for her own family’s safety and food security, she let me know her plan was to come here and try to claim a portion of my provisions. How did I feel about this? Would I really turn away my best friend and her husband? Would it depend on the situation or was it just a resounding no? I had screwed up royally. Not only did I fail to inspire her to prep, I jeopardized my family’s food security so I could show off. After she left I realized I had a lot of thinking to do.

And this line of thought, this failure to prepare, it’s not unique to her, and it’s certainly nothing new. People all around our country would rather rely on the government to take care of them, or burden their friends and family who are prepared, than prepare for themselves. Just look at the aftermath of any major natural disaster and you can see that outlook on life manifested. Not only will you have the Golden Hoard to deal with at The End of the World as We Know it (TEOTWAWKI), but some of that hoard will know you personally and will be headed directly to your home. So the bottom line is, are you prepared for that aspect of TEOTWAWKI? Do you have the extra provisions to take these people in? Or would you have to turn them away, with brute force if necessary?

The conversation with my friend made me realize I had talked a lot about prepping and specifically about my family’s preparations to a couple of people. I was trying to help encourage them to prep too. But in the process I had made myself very vulnerable to the people I cared most about. And what would I do if SHTF and they started showing up expecting food, water and shelter? Could our little home and provisions stock pile really stretch to accommodate more people? I didn’t think it was even adequate enough for my family yet, let alone for two or three more people. And if my best friend were coming here wouldn’t she want to bring her sister and her sister’s husband and their son too? What about the grandmother with medical needs that lives with them? Now the hoard in my head was getting bigger and bigger. And what would we do? My best friend comes over every week on Friday to watch television and catch up with me. Her sister’s family are our friends too. Could we shoot these people if that’s what it came down to? We have barbecued with them, been to their weddings, to their parties, their Sunday night dinners. Don’t we owe them something; shouldn’t we help them in an emergency? And wouldn’t they feel that way too?

I decided to make any progress in this thought process, emotion had to tone down and logic needed to be cranked up. What advice would I give to someone else? What if these weren’t people I knew – what if they were random strangers? Well, the ultimate goal is taking care of your family first. But if you have extra provisions or a bountiful crop from the garden, then wouldn’t you want to give them away to help others? That would be nice and it seems like the right thing to do, but it could also be dangerous in a post-TEOTWAWKI world. If you get to be known as the place people can go for a handout, you will soon have more hands than goods to put in them, and that leads to trouble. When the shops run out of food, people often break things and tear up the shops, fighting with one another to grasp at the last few provisions left. Shortly after that comes riots and looting. What do you think they would do to your home? If they don’t respect someone else’s store, why would your home be any different? And in a survival situation people lose a lot of their rationality and morals. Just because you have spent a lot of time with someone, and they are your friend, it does not mean they will not put themselves and their families first. In fact, you should expect them to. And this is the part of it you have got to wrap your head around: no matter how excited you get about prepping and the little stockpile you are amassing, keep your mouth shut about the items you have got! I could have easily told my friend I had picked up a little extra grain and asked her if she did any prepping yet. The recent storm in New York would have been a perfect reason to bring it up. Telling her specifics about the quantities was foolish and could be something that really comes back to haunt me later in life. I was proud of myself for what I was accomplishing, but broadcasting exactly what I was doing could drive people right to my front door in an emergency. Possibly more people than we could afford to help.

My husband and I talked about it and decided we could take in her and her husband in an emergency. He would make a great addition to our security team and she could help with the chores and the baby. The only problem would be what happens if she brings her sister and her sister’s husband and their son too? Could they be a helpful addition to our group? He knows about plumbing, but would there be enough resources to go around? With that number of people we could try to requisition more food and water, but that now takes our home from defensive to offensive, and I am not sure we want that. But that may be where my big mouth has landed me. My friend may be guilty of the folly of failure to prep, but I am guilty of the folly of hubris and letting it run away with my mouth, to the point that I made have inadvertently put my family in danger.

Be smart and keep the particulars to yourself when encouraging others to prep. Answer your friend’s and family’s questions on how to prep, but never reveal exactly what you have. If they ask something innocuous like “Well how much wheat do you have stored?” Always answer with something like “Well it’s recommended you have…” or “In the books I’ve read they say…”. Refer people to web sites and books they can get advice from so they can decide how much to store based on good data, not just by what you have stashed. And it is okay to tell your friends and family why you won’t give out specifics. Explain you aren’t trying to be rude, it’s just not something preppers do. If they really start prepping for themselves, they’ll get it, and they won’t be mad about it. Only get into more detail with other people who are actively prepping who will be in your post-TEOTWAWKI group and even then I wouldn’t tell every little thing. To those in your group you might indicate you have so many months worth of supplies, or more than so many pounds of something, but I wouldn’t list out every amount of everything you have. It is always wise to keep a little something back, especially the specific quantities and locations of your supplies. You want to encourage your friends and family to prep, but be sensible in the way you do it – you do not want to end up jeopardizing your family’s safety and food security by telling the whole world what you have squirreled away. 

Many years ago, my two childhood friends and I began to prep for TEOTWAWKI.  At first, we just began buying whatever was recommended by certain web sites, throwing our equipment into a box and then telling the others about what we have.  Doing this allowed us to collect many things, however we were not sure what was really practical since we never used the items.  We decided to change this about five years ago when we got serious about what we are doing and decided to take a camping trip.  The camping trip would include about a one mile hike and the only things we would bring would be the equipment that would be used in a “bug-out” scenario.   My group consists of seven main members who live in four different states, so the gear testing trips take place in two different states twice a year.  The members of my group currently live in four different states: Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, and California with the majority of the group living on the Ohio/Indiana border.  Obviously, the friend in California is not a viable option for retreat, but the Ohio and Tennessee locations are both large farms and “close enough” for the remaining group members to gather together.  So, we practice bugging out to each location from our respective homes.  The first test trip was quite a learning experience!  The oldest member of our group had equipment that weighed a total of about fifteen pounds.  We younger folk whispered among ourselves that this surely wouldn’t be enough.  While I will not disclose the pack weight of the rest of the group, I will say that we were having trouble going very far without having to take a break; and imagine our surprise when we found ourselves asking to borrow some of the older man’s equipment!  Needless to say, we decided to take a few tips from the older man and have changed the way we pack for these trips!

We travel to each location twice a year, Tennessee in early April and late July, and Ohio in early October and late December.  The reason for this is so we can camp in different temperature extremes.  The difference of Tennessee in July and Ohio in December are huge and require different gear, so this allows us to practice using everything.  Prior to our first travel, we sat down together with topographical maps of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.  We mapped the best routes for foot and vehicle travel.  We had to know if we could get to southwest Ohio from east Tennessee without hitting a major city while avoiding the interstate…and vice versa.  The members from Ohio and Indiana and their families meet en route to Tennessee and take a different route each year.  Throughout the trip, they stop to photograph certain areas they believe would be a good resting spot and mark the coordinates on the map.  When my family and I make the trip north (I am the good southerner in this group) I retrace their steps north with photos and coordinates in hand seeing if I agree or disagree with their selected stops.  I also take photos and coordinates of my own if I see something I think is better.  Once we get together, we discuss the trip and compare notes.  As of this writing, we have two preferred routes with several stops marked.   If I am headed north or they are headed south I will know which direction to expect them if we cannot contact each other.   Also, if we know a member is en route and never shows, we have a good idea where to look.

GEAR
As a group, we agreed with the guns and calibers we would collect.  We went with a Glock 22 in 40 S&W, 12 gauge shotguns, Ruger 10/22 rifle, Savage .308 bolt action rifle, Walther P22 pistol, and an AR-15 in 5.56.  The oldest member of our group (and smartest) carries a Kel-Tec PLR-16 on a pivot harness and carries the Ruger Charger in a holster attached to his pack.  After a long day of hiking uphill, the PLR-16 looked a whole lot better than my AR.  Once again, if you buy it- practice with it.  If you are carrying a gun, don’t just shoot it- carry it! Practice with in every way.  If an AR is your bug-out gun, find out how far you can travel with it comfortably. These are the reasons we decided to start our excursions.  Also, carrying four guns is not practical for long distances.  My group may have 5 or 6 guns, but I do not carry all of them.  On our hikes they are spread between my three sons and wife.  Each one is given a gun and taught not just how to shoot it, but how to carry it and how much ammo they can carry without losing to much comfort or speed.  We also have stored .50 caliber muzzleloaders, bows, crossbows and various hunting, fishing, and camping supplies while they were on clearance during the off-seasons.   

We also coordinated our bug-out bags to be similar, so we know where everyone keeps supplies in their bag.  We follow the first in last out method of organizing our gear. (I would not recommend sharing this information with a group unless these are close friends.  I feel comfortable doing this with my group since we have been close for thirty plus years. ) We use the typical 3 day bag for our trips.  When going out with my sons, I have switched the Eberlestock X1A1 pack, giving my oldest boy my three day pack.  I find this pack is great for carrying my rifle long distances, but you lose the tactical advantage of having the rifle readily available.  Once again, this becomes an issue of practice.  I have decided in a TEOTWAWKI scenario I would probably have two rifles- one in the pack and one slung for carry.   Also, during our trips we all discovered the joy of sleeping in a hammock. Previously, we had carried sleeping bags and slept on the ground. The hammock was much lighter to carry and far more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.  While we all carry a small two or one-man tent, the hammock is the preferred sleeping choice; especially as we are getting older!

THE LOCATIONS
Keep in mind while reading this that while we are prepping together, we are also prepping separately.  We each have large families and friends that we expect to arrive at our house if a worst case scenario happens even though we attempt to treat our prepping habit like the first two rules of Fight Club.  Unfortunately, the rules we keep don’t always apply to our wives who will mention our guns and food storage during a conversation with those they are friendly with but not friends.  With that in mind I will briefly describe each bug-out location.

Ohio- In Ohio, my friend lives on a 40 acre farm surrounded by other farms to the north, west, and east. There is a large wooded area to the south of his property.  He has a large cache of food stored there and at home he owns in the nearby village.  On his farm, he is currently raising meat rabbits, chickens, goats and horses.  He has a large area set-up for a “survival” garden and two barns.  One barn is arranged with a tack room and can be set-up for temporary housing if necessary.  The rear barn is where the livestock is kept along with their supplies.  His house is large enough to house four families comfortably.  The Ohio farm is also close enough for my cohort in Indiana to travel to without touching an Interstate or city.  If the situation would dictate they need to leave Ohio and head to Tennessee, they would use the farm as a staging area to prepare for the possible dangerous trip to Tennessee.

Tennessee –In Tennessee the farm is on 200 acres that is mostly wooded.  The area is set-up with several small shooting houses (each equipped with a propane heater, but no air) that are made for hunting, but could be used for a lookout post or temporary housing for a few people.  We have a small garden and recently started orchard, which is in the process of growing to a large orchard with many different types of fruit and nuts.  We have very few farm animals, but are surrounded by a few like-minded neighbors with horses, cows, chickens, and goats.  Our house is also large enough to house four families comfortably.  We also have two barns that could be easily converted to living areas; one barn is currently holding the supplies to complete that task.  My wife has a large extended family in east Tennessee and I would not be surprised if most landed on my door step.  I have discussed this event with a few of her uncles, all of which have a trade skill in farming or mechanical.  My immediate family is storing food for 50 people for one year.  We have split this up between several households that are all within thirty minutes of each other, the plan being that they load up and head to the farm.  I truly believe that the majority of my wife’s family would not make the trip to Ohio if we needed to evacuate our farm.  They are proud people who often discuss fighting to the last man.  While that is great in theory, I plan on protecting my wife and children to the best of my ability.  If that means retreat, I retreat; I plan on living to fight another day.  If they stay and fight, they will cover our exit as we head north.  

If both locations fall or fail we do have a handful of other locations to fall back to.  Only one or two have potential to become long term, but they would give us time to regroup, assess and plan.

Communications
In most TEOTWAWKI scenarios communication is impossible.  I am hoping for difficult and improbable, but not impossible.  Best case is we use cell phones to communicate and coordinate our efforts.  We would also discuss on whether to hunker down or travel.  It may be in everyone best interest that they stay north and I stay south.  If cell phones are down we have a ham radio at each farm.  If those go down the back-up plan is signals.  We have made a list of signs we would leave at the farm if we had to abandon them, so the others would know where we are headed.  We also have a small cache of food and ammo for them to resupply with.  Also, we place a few signs on the mapped routes to the farms, in case we both bugged out and did not cross paths.  We each carry a laminated copy of address (coordinates attached) in Tennessee and Ohio that are our fall-back positions.  This list was one of the last things I put together, but will have a great use if we ever have to use it.

End Result
I know prepping with a group will lead to the best possible outcome and I chose to do that with my three closest friends and their families.  When we began prepping and discussing logistics this is the best course of action we could come up with, but the bottom line is if we did not train we would not know.  I can imagine us trying to take I-75 N and having to pass through Knoxville, Richmond, Lexington, and Cincinnati to make it to the Ohio retreat or my friends and the small convoy they have passing through those cities in a worst case scenario and I know it would be madness.  I can imagine the results if we had never discussed ammo or weapons and all showed up with different calibers and little ammo.   How would we fare if we never stored food for a large group and just for our immediate family?  What would we do? How would we handle it if we showed up to one of the farms and it was empty? How well does each member shoot? Does one of us exceed at different roles such as planning, chef, and sharp shooter (growing up together we pretty much already knew where we would fall, but not our wives and children.  My middle child will most likely end up as our sharp shooter)? We would not be as far along in our prepping if we did not start using our gear and training.  Training requires planning, planning requires a vision, and with no vision the people perish.

It’s 2:36PM; you and your spouse are at work.  Your son is at day care and your daughter is at school.  The Schumer hits the fan. What is your Family Continuity Plan?
The scenario above is very real and indeed plausible.  Many families have and will one day experience something very similar to this.  To prepare you and your family from natural or man-made disasters it is recommended to design, develop, and incorporate a Family Continuity Plan (FCP); it may one day save all of your lives.

As any prepper, for a natural disaster or a TEOTWAWKI event (or both), we all have the supplies and skills that we require.  Some of your skills may include hunting, trapping, gardening, cooking, or water purifying.  Your supplies most likely encompass food, water, shelter, fire-making material, light-sources, defensive gear, and tactical gear. But most importantly, you will need a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) or what can be considered a Family Continuity Plan (FCP).  Hopefully you and your family have already communicated and implemented a FCP.  If you haven’t developed a FCP then I can guarantee that your plan to bug-out or even bug-in, will fail.  It will fail because the most likely scenario will have you out of town, on a business trip, when the SHTF and your wife and kids are not brushed up on your survival plan back home; they will be oblivious on what to do.  Or, you will be in the middle of a business day and your daughter will be at school.  The SHTF and all the teachers will be scrambling out the door to rescue their family and she will be alone; oblivious on what to do.  Your oldest child left home to be a resident student at New York University, SHTF. What is his plan to bug-out when another 9/11 happens?  You and your wife are at work, the SHTF and your two toddlers are at daycare and all forms of communications are down.  Which of you two will pick them up?  What happens when you get to the daycare and the building is vacant?  What happens when you arrive at your residence and no one is there? 3-hours pass and still no one arrives?  In this scenario you realize you either need to bug-out alone or get trapped in your city.  Your wife and two kids have not returned home, do you come up with a plan to find them?  You better have thought of all likely scenarios and communicated this well to your family members or your bug-out hideaway, fully stocked west of the Mississippi, becomes a null option at this point.  The most important thing you can do for yourself and your family will be to have a very well planned-out, well disseminated FCP with maps, driving/walking directions, rally points, and multiple Course of Actions (COAs) with a plan A, plan B, plan C, etc, for every possible scenario you can think of.

A COOP (Continuity of Operations Plan) is a government term for a detailed plan on how essential functions of an agency or business will be maintained when an emergency situation has disrupted normal operations.  You may have heard of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) which is pretty much the same thing as a COOP, but more business lingo vice government.  Basically, these plans are written, fully thought-out and communicated procedures for a range of scenarios to keep an entity alive during serious catastrophes. These procedures will vary in scope.  For example, having a backup site in case headquarters becomes a smoking hole or who will be next in command if leadership is put out of action.  These procedures are thoroughly tested and disseminated down to every worker, soldier, cleaner, and cook.  After 9/11, how did corporations such as Bank of America, Verizon, Sun Microsystems, the N.Y. Stock Exchange, and other organizations survived?  These companies would not have survived without some type of COOP/BCP.
 
When I was researching Family Continuity Plans, I was shocked to learn there was not much information readily available on the topic.  Majority of the information were mere hand-out cards for your name, SSN, family member names, and most importantly an outside POC name and number of a relative or friend that could act as the communication point.  This information is good to have, but what happens if phone services and cell phone services are not operable during a disastrous event? 

In August of 2011, the East Coast experienced a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that hit outside of D.C. near Mineral, Virginia.  It was strong enough that the government facility I worked at was immediately evacuated.  The earthquake occurred around 2:00 PM while my wife and I were at work and our two children were in daycare.  I was able to get to my cell phone and LAN line within 15 minutes of the evacuation, but I was not able to reach my wife or daycare.  The main reason was that the entire East Coast populace was also trying to make calls on their cell phones and my local phone service was inoperable.  We didn’t lose phone service, it was completely tied up.  I immediately enacted our FCP; get to my children’s daycare ASAP.  During that time, I was trying to make contact with my wife with no success.  My wife and I are fortunate that we work approx. 7 miles from each other and the daycare is right smack in the middle.  As soon as I pulled into the driveway to our daycare another vehicle pulled in behind me; it was my wife.  Luckily there was no emergency at our daycare, everyone was unharmed and in fact both my kids were napping.  Words cannot express how ecstatic I was that our FCP actually worked without the need of a phone call.  Our FCP worked exactly how we documented, planned, and tested.  We were fortunate nothing major happened, but was given the chance to exercise our FCP in this real-world event. This helped us determine what worked, what didn’t and what needed to be improved.  We realized how important it would have been to have a couple of powerful CB radios to provide that gap in communication.  We now have one Cobra HH38 with external antennas in each vehicle and in the process of acquiring secondary CB radios.

You will find very little documentation online in regards to examples or a decent outline for your Family Continuity Plan.  A good starting point would be the COOP I stumbled across for the county of Walla Walla, in Washington State.  I actually used this as the outline to start my own FCP and just took out the business and government lingo. Their COOP included a checklist and inventory list.  I recommend using their COOP as your starting point.                   

When developing my family FCP, the following are six basic elements I considered:
1) Critical functions vs. non-critical functions
2) Threats
3) Scenarios
4) Planning
5) Testing
6) Maintenance

Critical functions vs. non-critical functions:

Non-critical functions are those items that you want, not what you need to sustain a family during a time of crisis.  Critical functions are needs that are required within your family to survive before, during and after a catastrophe.  Most family’s critical function lists will include water, food, and shelter while some lists will contain specific requirements such as mobility for those with paralysis, contacts/eyeglasses, diabetic equipment, heart medicine, or protection for those within your family that may have xeroderma pigmentosum. 

Once critical functions to survive have been identified, the next step is to analyze all potential threats that can slightly, moderately, or greatly impact the sustainability of your critical functions.  Threats can be hurricanes, tornadoes, earth quakes, floods, fires, terrorist attacks, an epidemic, civil war, World War III, you name it.  It is important to list all man-made and natural disasters that can potentially put your family at risk. 

Once threats have been listed, the next step is to run through impact scenarios.  For example, how will a major flood affect your community, affect your family’s ability to drive out of the area or affect your critical functions to survive?  In the event you and your family have enough warning prior to a large-scale flood, will you bug-in and fortify or will you bug-out to higher ground, perhaps to a different state?  When will your family bug-out in the event of a CAT 3 hurricane, during a hurricane watch or hurricane warning?  What happens when there is a major earthquake, loss of all communication, power, water, etc. and you and your family are at work, sporadically located throughout Los Angeles?  In the event of a mass fire and there is an exodus outside a major city, what roads are you evacuating through?  While evacuating through these roads your vehicle becomes disabled and you forgot to charge your GPS, do you have a physical map or printed out Google Maps to travel by foot?  What will you bring and what vehicle will be used?  Are your supplies already prepped at a bug-out site or in your garage for a quick and easy load?  How will you load each piece of equipment in your vehicle in 10 minutes before bugging-out?  What equipment will you take with you on foot when you run out of gas or blow two tires while evacuating with a fully loaded SUV and you are halfway to your FCP site?  Also, when will you activate your FCP? Unfortunately most individuals never contemplate the most critical time; right at the point of when the SHTF.  Understand that you may not have any warning at all; this is one of many things that a Family Continuity Plan identifies and solves for you.

Planning:

Once you and your family proposed as many impact scenarios, no doubt generating multiple questions, it is time to bring a plan to the table.  In this portion of the FCP, you will be answering the questions generated from the “Scenarios” section.   This portion of the FCP will be the bulk of your plan; it will contain not only your plans but also any checklists, diagrams, step-by-step guides, and any critical pieces of information.  

Testing:

After your plan and solutions have been put together, it will be critical to test your plan.  Testing your FCP will be the most important section.  Testing determines what portions of your FCP actually works and hopefully determines what doesn’t work.  Without simulating or putting parts of your plan into action you cannot be sure it is completely foolproof.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, you may get the chance to experience a real-world event that puts your plan, or portions of it, into action such as I did during the AUG 2011 earthquake.  During and after simulating your plan you will make corrections, modifications, subtract, and add to your plans.    

Lastly, there must be periodic maintenance of your plan.  10-years-ago your children were in high school, now they are married and have children of their own; you want your FCP to incorporate them as well. 
Your Family Continuity Plan should be thoroughly written down and well communicated to your entire family.  My fear is that a lot of folks have a general idea of where they would go, what specific gear they would bring but have not thoroughly formalized an actual plan during a time of crisis.  Therefore, I am sharing with you how my wife and I started our FCP as an example and offer a modified version of one of our Course of Actions (COAs) in hopes it will help you develop your FCP. 

First, we referred to the six elements of a Family Continuity Plan.  We wrote down all of the critical elements in our family that are required to sustain us through any environmental threat.  In this process, you will create a checklist for your family’s needs. This checklist will be part of your FCP as a guide when your memory fails to function during a crisis.  Remember the difference between a need and a want.  Your needs are the most critical supplies to sustain your family’s life and will be with you when the decision is made to drop excess supplies.  We split all of our gear into three categories; high, medium, and low.  High inventory identified our critical supplies while medium was placed on supplies we could last for some time.  Low was given to everything else; we plan and equip for all three types of supplies but now we know what the priorities are.  We listed typical supplies such as food, water, shelter, clothing, specific-medicine, emergency rucksack, contacts and eyeglasses, radios, and self-defense equipment, (to name a few items).  We wrote down necessary skills that we either have or will need during and after a crisis.  Skills such as cooking, applying medical treatment, self-defense, gun operations, safety, security, gardening, engine repair, wilderness survival, map reading, direction finding, cleaning, building, repairing, and so forth.  Remember that skills will be more important than the actual supplies.  It would be pointless after the SHTF trying to throw down your 5-year collection of assorted seeds on the ground if you have never gardened in your life.  Once your critical functions have been identified and written down, you then have an idea of what items that are missing or lacking in your survival plan.  If you have no idea how to cook but your wife does, I would recommend you learn that skill.  Your FCP should have a plan if you or your significant other passes away during a catastrophic event.  Imagine you are the only one in your family that knows how to shoot and reload your handgun, shotgun, and long-rifle; what happens when you kick-the-bucket during a crisis?  Imagine your wife is the only person in your family that knows how to operate, maintain, and drive your Class A RV, and 3-weeks after a nuclear attack, she passes away from radiation sickness.  Remember, don’t think just because you know how to do something is enough, what if you’ve been removed from the picture and your wife needs to turn off the main water line before there is a septic backflow into your house?  A critical piece to a Business Continuity Plan or COOP is the succession of leadership and skills between top-level management down to the worker-bees.  It’s the business idea that if leadership is unable to perform their duties within a COOP scenario, the next in line has been educated and trained to pick up where they left off.  It’s the business idea of not having only one technical expert at their main center.  They will have additional trained experts and some strategically placed at their COOP site when the “smoking hole” scenario occurs.  Same analogy applies to your family COOP; don’t put all your 9mm ammo in one basket. 

Once your essential family items and skills are identified, come up with a laundry list of threats that could greatly impact the fabrics of your family’s life.  Think of them all, even that zombie apocalypse stirring in the back of your mind if you wish.  First, focus your attention on the threats that are more realistic or more likely to occur in your environment and then expand out. For my family here in Virginia Beach, our primary threats are hurricanes, flooding, and the occasional severe winter storm.  We may have threats such as tornadoes, fires, tropical storms, wind storms, terrorist attacks, nuclear incident/attacks, and tsunamis that could one day affect us.  It would be wise to imagine as many threats as possible – even the ones that may seem remotely impossible.  Would there be any reason why South Dakota would ever need to be prepared for a volcanic disaster?  If Yellowstone ever took off, the great folks of SD would be in some serious trouble.  The likelihood of this ever happening is less likely to happen but the chance is still there – better to be prepared for it vice having the SHTF and you are standing there SYP (Schumering Your Pants).  As you develop your threats you will see that your Family Continuity Plan may support multiple threats.  Portions of your FCP during a sever flood may mirror your family plan for a hurricane.  Realize that some threats will affect your ability to bug-in or bug-out even if your sole plan is to head out to your fully-stocked cabin in the Appalachian Mountains. 

Now that you have identified your critical infrastructure and your threats, the long and sometimes complicated part of meshing your critical elements and threats into scenarios begins.  You run every scenario and every possibility that could happen within an event and document solutions; this will ultimately be your plan.  For example, you and your family have decided to bug-out when the SHTF in Arkansas.  Unfortunately your city is experiencing an unexpected large-scale flooding, all roads are under 5-feet of water, and your vehicles are floating down the street.  In this scenario, your ability to access your bug-out hideout is null; this is the reason why you plan for everything.  If you did it right, you would not only have a good bug-out strategy but a very solid bug-in plan with the works.   

My wife and I identified multiple scenarios and have varied plans for numerous crises.  I have them all ranked out from Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, etc.  Plan A basically states that in the event that I am at work, my wife is at work, my son is at day care, and my daughter is at school (a typical work week for us) and the SHTF, my wife and I immediately bee-line it to our son’s daycare.  At the daycare we gather our son, transfer her bug-out bag, CB radio, and other equipment from her vehicle to my truck and we proceed to our daughter’s school.  Once we have picked up our daughter we continue to our house. Depending on the threat, we begin our bug-in or bug-out plan.  Example: let’s say the threat is a CAT 4 hurricane warning similar to the devastating Hurricane Ike in 2008.  Our FCP dictates we would enact our bug-out plan to the Appalachian Mountain region.  (In reality my family would not have been at work or daycare, in fact we would have already hit the road heading west, but for this scenario let’s say we waited until the last minute.)  Once we enter the house, my wife immediately starts packing our clothes, toiletries, snacks, and drinks with the help of our children to keep them occupied.  I immediately back my truck into my garage where we have all of our emergency supplies stored.  This is all of our tactical gear, light, fire-starting equipment, cooking equipment, water purification supplies, shelter, etc., secured in multiple 35 gallon Rubbermaid Cargo boxes.  We have multiple 24-gallon Rubbermaid Cargo boxes that contain over 5-months’ worth of food and water along with our rucksack containing all of our medial gear/supplies, stored in one of our guest rooms for proper heating/cooling.  Each container has an updated inventory list secured underneath each lid.  Part of my Family Continuity Plan has a diagram of my truck bed and roof rack with specific locations for every piece of our equipment.  I spent weeks on our truck bed/roof rack diagram determining the best location for each piece of equipment with the most critical and most useful supplies quickly accessible. These supplies consist of bug-out tools while on the road such as chainsaws, gas tanks, shovel, rope/chain, and a couple of bug-out backpacks to quickly grab in case we would need to evacuate the truck in a hurry.  It is guaranteed if you wait for the last minute to throw all of your gear into your vehicle you will forget something important such as your fire-safe chest containing all of your families’ passports, SSN cards, birth certificates, home and vehicle paperwork, and insurance information.  Or, worst case scenario, you will be wasting-away precious time trying to squeeze your gear into your vehicle while the entire city already bugged out, blocking your escape routes.  Come up with a load plan now, document it, study it, and then test it while there is ample time. 
Based on the level of the threat, a hurricane CAT 4 in this scenario, I would initiate turning off the power, gas, and water; after filling all three bathtubs in our home.  Once the threat subsided, we would attempt a return back to our residence.  If our main water line to the house was down, I would use the water in the bathtub for sanitation purposes.  Continuing with the scenario, my wife and I finalize the loading plan and head off to our destination, Roanoke, Virginia.  We have multiple plans as to which roads we will take to reach our destination.  One plan has us using a mix of major highways and state highways such as Highway 64 for a few hours and then cut over on Highway 60.  Another plan has us using mostly state highways and county highways such as Highway 58 and then up Highway 220.  It is important to plan multiple routes to any destination.  We have a large map for the State of Virginia, a topography map, maps of neighboring states and a couple of Rand McNally Atlases.  We have quite a few Google Maps with step-by-step directions (even on foot) to get us to our destination.  Once we get to our destination we are still not done. We have documented plans on where we will be staying, what our chores will be, and how we would rotate security if need be.  After 48 hours of reaching Roanoke our plan dictates that my three brother-in-laws and I (my family plan actually consists of more than just one family) will pack enough equipment and supplies to head back to Va. Beach and bunker down until it is safe enough for the rest of the party to return.

However, if the city of Roanoke began to collapse for whatever reason our FCP continues on with further plans and instructions to start our trek to Arizona.  Arizona was selected due to one, being west of the Mississippi (less population than the east coast) and two, because a large part of my family resides there. 

Our FCP provides step by step directions on which highways or roads we would use to get to the state of Arizona in a timely and secured fashion.  I have specific locations of towns and gasoline stops marked along the way that I would attempt to get to.  My wife and I fully realize, depending on what type of threat we are experiencing, that we would most likely run out of gas before reaching either Arkansas or Oklahoma.  We have documentation that tells us what supplies we would bring, which roads that lead or follow bodies of water, maps of railroads, and information on towns along the way.  Again, depending on the threat-level we may need to stay away from large cities and we may not be welcomed in very small towns so we plan for it.    

You can quickly begin to see how, in some cases, this can be a complicated and frustrating process.  With so many events that can happen, how can you, we, possibly respond to all of them?  The truth of the matter is, you can’t – it would be impossible.  Take things simple at first, start with the most plausible event and start your plan there.  We started all of our plans at the very moment when the SHTF.  Meaning, during a regular week I would be at work and so would my wife and our children would be at school and daycare.  From that specific moment, we branched out and brain stormed as many possibilities and jotted down solutions for each.  Once you have a plan, you can then build your supply-chain, gear, paperwork and the entire infrastructure.  I started off by providing only one, modified, scenario in my FCP above but we actually have quite a few.  Some of our plans are procedures during the weekend when my family is mostly together. On the few occasions I have gone on a business trip, or my wife, we have a plan for that as well.  Of course, factors depend on where our trip takes us and how we got there (plane vs. rental vehicle).  The important thing is you are communicating your FCP to your partner/family and documenting your plan.  Use your experience to determine some possible scenarios, use the advice from friends and families as a source of information.  Research online and review the news to see how people react during a time of crisis.  Take the tragic events you read online and incorporate those scenarios into your Family Continuity Plan.  As you become more aware, your plan starts to mature, you will add more information, add more plans, and you will alter situations due to your family getting larger or kids growing up.  Once your plan is on paper, test it, and periodically maintain it. 

If you are not sure if your plan works, give it a shot.  Turn off the power and water to your house (we have in the past but we kept the gas on so we wouldn’t have to call a tech from VA Natural Gas) during a weekend and see how your family reacts.  On a weekend, take a slow trip to your bug-out hideout stopping along the way to admire the sites between your home and bug-out site.  You never know – you may be camping at those sites when the SHTF and your bugging out to your FCP site on foot.  Take your family out to as many camping trips as you can. Learn and teach them how to build basic shelter, learn basic fire-making processes, learn to cook with basic tools, and teach the proper handling and safety of your defensive gear.  Build a garden box in your backyard and learn how to grow fruits and vegetables – let your kids be part of this.  Take simple trips out of town and learn what types of equipment, entertainment, and clothing your family needs for the haul and incorporate/adjust your plan as needed.  Your prep plan may rely heavily on a generator when the power goes out, kill the power to your house and run off of it for three days straight and see how the generator really operates.  Remember, testing your Family Continuity Plan is equally important as the plan itself and maintaining your FCP will be just as important. Before the dust collects on your plan take it out every few months and clean it up.  Periodic maintenance on your FCP will ensure it is up to date with your most current supplies, new tools, new vehicles, new members, loss of a member, or even new skills that your family has acquired.  As your children get older, their ability to share the load becomes greater, don’t forget to incorporate those changes. 

In conclusion, ultimately it’s not a matter of “if” a SHTF event will happen but a matter of “when”. Develop a Family Continuity Plan. Teamwork, attention to details, and having a strong psychology to survive are everyday components which should be carried over during a time of crisis.  Teamwork - your chances to live are greatly increased when you add multiple families and at a larger scale.  A community unites when there is a common interest to take care of their families and yours.  If you are a loner and plan to be a loner in the wilderness, your chances of survival are greatly reduced.  Realize that most small bands of families or even communities will hesitate in trusting you or taking you in.  Attention to details – paying attention to detail involves trusting your eyes, ears, taste, and that nagging feeling in the back of your head.  It is the skill of combining all of your senses with common sense in making a decision.  Psychology to survive - I once read a great manual (U.S. Army Field Manual, FM 3-05.70) that states that no matter how much water, food, shelter, or security you have – if you lack the psychology to survive, you will die.  This bleeds into having a positive outlook in everything no matter the cost.  There will be times you will feel sadness, anger, and remorse, but your core needs to be imbued with positive thinking.

I hope sharing my Family Continuity Plan ignites your interest to think, develop and enact a plan for yours. Preparing and planning for the future is always wise.  However, don’t get too caught up with the future and with events we have no control over.  I know people who spend so much of their time and energy storing ammo and beef jerky but forget to live for the day.  We can make ourselves better by being prepared, but don’t let it take you away from reality.  The important thing is that you spend time with your family and friends. A great husband, wife, mom, dad, brother, sister, kids, friends do not come written in a book or COOP plan, they come from living life and doing the right thing.

James:
Huey F. makes some excellent points in his article.  I would just like to add the caveat that not everyone who claims to be a Christian really is one.  We have been burned twice in the last several years by people who we thought were Christian brothers and sisters who turned out to be wolves in sheep's clothing.  Due diligence is necessary, especially if you're going to be living with someone.  Just because a mouse is in the cookie jar, it doesn't make him a cookie.  And thanks, JWR, for all you do.  Sincerely, - Barbara in Tennessee

I'll begin with a Bible quote: “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character." - 1 Corinthians 15:33

Perhaps starting off with a Scripture will turn away some people, yet there really isn’t a better way to begin. I don’t want to come across as such a Bible-thumping Christian that I make those of you who are not Christians turn away, but I also don’t want anyone to think I was disguising the Christian aspects of this article in an attempt to trick you into buying in to biblical principles. It is for this reason - transparency and blunt openness and honesty - that I have chosen to go ahead and reference the Scripture that gave me the title of the article. I think you will find that as the subject unfolds, there would be no misunderstanding either way about the nature or foundation of my thought process. It is overtly Christian.

Now that I have that out of the way, I want to say two things:

1. When I refer to “Christians” throughout the article, I would also include any practicing  members of Jewish faith.

2. The rest of the article might not be necessary to those Christians who truly follow the Scripture above with prayer, caution, and deep thought, however I do believe this instruction in Scripture is exponentially more important in a SHTF scenario than it might be in everyday life. Furthermore, it is my belief that commandments and instruction in Scripture do not need further exposition except for the fact that most of us - myself included - often need it said in eighteen different ways before it sinks in that we need to simply follow and obey!

So here we have instruction in the Bible - “do not be misled.” Words like these always stick out to me because they do not occur often in Scripture, so when they do, I take notice and think about what they are implying, perhaps a bit longer than I do other verses. If the Bible is saying NOT to be misled, then it stands to reason that the area it is referring to is one that people are quite often misled about. Myself not wanting to be misled, I pay attention to what follows: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

At first glance, I think to myself something along the lines of “duh” but then, again, I decide to think deeper about it. It must not be a “duh” kind of subject if so many are easily misled on this issue. I won’t waste time with some sort of doctrinal article about all the ways I see people can be misled on this, but I would rather focus on why this is such an important area when it comes to a TEOTWAWKI / SHTF scenario and ultimately, your survival.

There is a saying that “no man is an island” which implies that we all need others. Well, that is mostly true. There is another saying that “every man is an island” which, while in direct contradiction with the previous statement, is also true. We are all our own “islands” when it comes to our relationship and accountability to God. When we stand before Him, there won’t be anyone with us. Just us. Islands. This distinction is ironic because the way I see things, because none of us is an “island” on earth, the importance of who is in our “company” - be it good or bad - directly affects the day we all recognize what we were all “islands” before God.

My wife and I had a conversation recently about our prepping and survival plans should anything catastrophic happen. We don’t have a lot of money, and we take advantage and get necessary items when we see sales, but thankfully we think alike when it comes to planning. More and more we find that our mindsets are in concert any time we talk of the future. We both believe in the need for supplies as well as the need for a group in order to survive a truly long-term collapse. We used to think we could make it alone, but even in the most remote setting that required no security watchmen, we would be vulnerable to injury or sickness. Fact is, we realized that we are not an island. We will need at least 2 to 6 more people in order to live securely. In our recent conversation, I mentioned some “friends” (I use that term loosely here because true friends are those I would have around after a collapse) and told her bluntly, “You realize that if things collapse and we have to form a group, Bobby and Jane (as I’ll call them) are out.” Being that the “Jane” in this couple of “friends” is closer to her than I am to the “Bobby,” I was shocked to find that she looked down rather sadly and said, “Yeah, I know.” She got it. I didn’t have to explain.

Bobby and Jane are not Christians, and as much as I am willing to do things with them socially and have had long conversations with them about God, they are opposed to the idea of a God and do not wish to talk about it further. Again, in THESE times, I am fine to oblige them and respect their wishes. I will continue to be a friend to them, hunt with Bobby, and love their children...but when it comes to the survival of my wife and children in a much different world, I know that I cannot have them around, as much as I hate it for them, and in some ways, for us.

Now some might be thinking that I sound cruel and heartless, or that I am taking too hard of a line when it comes to my faith. Let me start off saying that I understand your thoughts - they were thoughts of mine at first. But then I remembered: “do not be misled.” The words have weight and made me think - and after much prayer, thought, and contemplation, I finally got it.

Christianity is a family, and I don’t need quotes on that word. It isn’t a pseudo-family, it’s a true family. The word family isn’t just a nice metaphor for the entire collective on planet Earth known as Christians - it is a definition. We are family. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Race, gender, nationality, etc, have no meaning when someone is a Christian. If they follow Christ, they are my brother or sister, and the fact is, nobody loves you like family and you cannot risk the health and welfare of your family by trusting someone outside of it.

“Why not?” you might ask. “Aren’t there other trustworthy people out there who simply aren’t Christians?” The short answer is yes...the more complicated answer is NO.

Yes, there are people out there who have a sense of morality and who hold some of the same Judeo-Christian moral standards we have without actually being Jewish or Christian, but if my experience in meeting them is any indication, they are few and far between. The larger issue though is that they might be moral right now, in this society, but who knows after the SHTF. So then, why do I say no? Because of the scenario we have to envision.

Picture this:

Society has collapsed. The dollar is gone. There is no monetary system in place. The grid is down. Fuel is running out quickly. Food and water are running out even faster. Everyone is in a state of panic and scared about how they are going to survive. Bands of looters have already started roaming the streets assaulting anyone they see and taking what they want by force. There is no law and order. There are no firefighters or paramedics. No governing body of any consequence is to be found. Every family is on its own, and you have to choose a few friends to survive with. Guess what - you better choose wisely because these could be the people you grow old with. These could be the people your kids grow up around. These will be the people who defend you, your wife, and your kids when the time comes. These are your family for now and for the foreseeable future.

Now let me say, I am all for having a group with various skills. I personally have learned a tremendous amount of skills in the past three years that I never thought about needing ten years ago. I have learned to can, to hunt, to garden, to raise chickens and livestock, to fell trees and split wood, to fix minor vehicle issues that I would have simply let someone else do years ago, and many other things not worth mentioning, but I am still no expert at them and definitely not proficient enough to want to survive - or have others rely - on my skills in every area. I could definitely use some guys and gals around with skills I do not possess. However, just because I may want a certain skill set in my group does not mean I can compromise on the character of those who have the skills. I mentioned “Bobby” earlier, and truth be told, there are two other “friends” in the same vein. These guys have awesome skills. One is a doctor, the other is an ex-Army engineer and mechanic, and “Bobby” is ex-military as well. Those are some serious skills I would like in my group, but none of these three men are God-fearing. In fact, I would rate them more on the God-hating side of the bar.

So here is where I could deceive myself into thinking it will be okay. I could say to myself, “Their skills are necessary and they have been friends with me for years. It will be fine. They know where I stand and in time hopefully they will come to know God.” But I know this is simply me trying to have my cake and eat it too. It is self-serving because I want the skills on my side. As an athletic coach, I know a thing or two about assembling teams with certain skill sets and directing them as a unit. I know the value of having the right skills for the right position. So why then am I planning to exclude these highly-skilled individuals based solely on their faith, or lack thereof? I will give you three reasons:

1. If a man is not a Christian, he has no personal accountability to God Himself. For me, this is of utmost importance. We are not talking about living in the easy times as we do now - we are talking about total anarchy. Complete chaos and an extreme change in the way our lives are lived. I simply cannot trust a man to lay down his life for me or my family - if need be - if that man is not accountable to God. A man not inwardly accountable to God is only living for and accountable to himself and his family. What if that man is taking watch one night while my family and I sleep when suddenly a group of armed men rush the property? How can I trust that he will defend my family like it is his family if he does not see it that way? As I said earlier, Christians are family, and we know that in that situation, if we defended our own wives and children to the detriment of the others, God would not approve and we would answer for it. We would be willing to lay down our life to defend and warn the others. But a man who does not know God - a man unsure of his own eternal destiny - I do not believe that man will sacrifice his life for anyone except his own, nor am I willing to roll the dice about it.

2. If a man is not a Christian, he does not hold the Bible in any regard and will not submit to its authority. As Christians, we plan to live according to the instruction God has given in His Word. Anyone allowed to live among our group who thinks the Bible is just some mythical book would cause great friction and ultimately not abide by our way of life. In the times ahead, the last thing I need to worry about is some guy who has major influence on my children filling their heads with thoughts antagonistic to God and His Word - or even if he didn’t do so, I don’t need to worry that he will!

3. And finally, there is the title of this article: “bad company corrupts good character.” If a man does not follow Christ, he is bad company. Jesus said "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” (Mt 12:30) I cannot have a man who is against Christ scattering and dividing my group. Furthermore, there will be a better chance that my children might grow up without me around in this new, violent world, and of all my “preps” I want the main one to be the “village” that will raise my kids in my absence. A son without a father - and sometimes with a father - will want to gravitate toward an adult male who will impart wisdom as a father would. I have to know that whoever my son might choose to fill that role will teach him the way I would, and that he will have a chance to know God because of it.

And lastly, in the same vein as reason 3, I must apply the Scripture directly to myself. If I invite non-Christians (bad company) to live with me as closely as we will be living, what then becomes of me? I might think that my character is strong and my devotion to Christ is unshakable, but Scripture tells me that the bad will corrupt the good, not the other way around. Again, I may want to think the opposite is true, but that is why it tells us “do not be misled.” It would be so easy to do so, especially in the seemingly impossible times that would surely lie ahead. I cannot trust my own wisdom or my own character. I must trust God’s wisdom and surround myself first with men who fear Him, and second with men of worldly skill and ability.

Choose your friends and associates wisely.

I got a call from my mother the other day. She is the mother of six, grandmother to twelve and great-grandmother of three children.  She had just returned from a visit to one of my sibling’s homes.  She said, “You are right!  They are serious about this prepping stuff.  Tell me what to do.”  My mother’s revelation has been a long time in coming.  She is a devout Christian and a Bible teacher.  She believes that Jesus will return and scoop us all up to heaven, hopefully before the tribulation.  She is what she calls a “pre-trib” [rapture] believer.  I have had many conversations with her citing examples from scripture about how God has allowed His children to suffer.  She is now onboard now and wants advice.  This takes some analysis.

The first evaluation needs to be of her and her husband’s circumstances.  Where do they live?  Are there financial or mobility issues?  Are there health issues? What is the best strategy for them – to prepare to evacuate or shelter in place?  They live in a retirement community in a highly populated urban area.  There is little chance they could evacuate during a crisis.  Dad has health issues and mother is getting up in years and finding it difficult to do daily tasks.  The retirement community in which they live has numerous emergency preparedness initiatives underway, and the community center was recently designated as a Red Cross emergency shelter.  This is good and bad.  We, when deciding where to live, rejected locations near potential emergency shelters due to the possibility of an influx of disaster victims.  However, the residents in that community are happy to be preparing the best that they can.  I’ve tried to get them to move out of that area and either close to me or move in with me, to no avail.  I also asked my son-in-law, a devoted prepper who lives near them, to promise me that if evacuation were necessary, he would pick them up and get them out of there along with his little family.  That is the best that I can do for now.

The best strategy for them, in light of the above circumstances, is to shelter in, understanding that this strategy will only work for a short-term emergency.  When mother asked me how she can begin to prepare, the first words out of my mouth were “Water.  You must stock up on water.  You can go without food, but you cannot go without water.”  “But there is no place to store anything”, she said, “our place is small”.  I explained to her that she needed to get creative about storage space.  I am quite familiar with their little condo at about 1400 sq. ft.  She has numerous closets and an enclosed patio that adds additional square footage.  I told her to line her closet floors with gallon water bottles behind the shoes – there is plenty of space there.  I explained that water has a shelf life and she needs to pay attention to using the water she buys and replenishing her stock, saving the plastic gallon containers, which she can place in her storage shed in a tightly tied plastic bag for later use.  Advice:  Every week you go to the grocery store, pick up 4-5 gallons of water, and get some help with shopping.  (Fortunately, I have daughter that lives near mom and helps her on a routine basis).

Now about food.  Many promote buying a year’s worth of freeze-dried food, but most people don’t have a couple thousand dollars to throw at food storage all at once.  This is true for my folks.  Dad has Alzheimer’s and heart problems, so in an emergency situation mother will need to pay attention to keeping his routine as normal as possible.  This could include having Dad’s favorite foods on standby.  As an example, Dad likes his chocolate milk.  Why not stock up on some instant chocolate milk mixes that only require water to reconstitute?  For herself, she can stock up on instant coffee and powdered milk.  We discussed the list of favorite foods because comfort foods can be important when everything around you is going wrong.  Comfort foods satisfy the need for some sense of normalcy.  People who suffer from Alzheimer’s are easily upset when the routine changes.  We also discussed the need for caloric intake.  Instead of buying “lo cal, heart healthy” foods, stock up on high fat, high protein, high fiber foods.  Canned foods that come to mind are beans in all varieties, some that are seasoned already.  I suggested stocking up on canned goods with “pop tops” – those cans that only require pulling on the tab to open, rather than relying on a manual can opener.  Soup cans often come in this configuration.  Mother has issues with her hands due to arthritis and it is difficult for her to use a manual can opener, even though it can be done.  Many of the food items she will need to stock up on, will require the use of a manual can opener.  Does she have one?  Is it easy to use?  If not, put getting a better can opener on the shopping list.  We discussed going to a local “scratch and dent” food outlet for stocking up purposes.  She knew of one nearby and made plans with my daughter to take a trip over.  Advice:  Stock up on canned goods of high calorie, high fiber, high protein content, preferably with “pop top” cans.  Stock up on dried foods, such as instant rice, noodles, oatmeal, and the like, that only require water to reconstitute.

Now about heat and cooking.  She lives in a relatively mild climate – no snow or howling winds to be concerned with.  She won’t have to worry about keeping warm other than dressing warm on chilly mornings.  She will have to worry about cooking or just heating water for reconstituting dry foods and warming up canned foods.  She doesn’t have an outside yard or outside patio, so cooking on a grill or little stove won’t work.  We discussed the use of Sterno fuel cans – the type you would use under a chafing dish.  Sterno fuel cans can be purchased everywhere.  The ones I have burn for about 2.5 hours each.  Sterno brand cooking fuel is non-toxic, biodegradable and water soluble – fairly safe for an older couple to make use of in a small condo.  You can pick up a six-pack of 2 hr. burning cans on Amazon for about twenty bucks.  If you think about using one can per day, you will need to invest about $100 a month for this type of fuel – a little pricey, but we are strategizing about the best and safest approach for an older couple.  A little shopping around for the best pricing may be in order.  Additionally, if she doesn’t have a chafing dish she can use, she can purchase a small Sterno Single Burner Folding Stove on Amazon for under ten bucks.  Advice: Stock up on sterno fuel cans.

Other supplies include paper and plastic products such as toilet paper, paper towels, and paper plates and cups, trash bags, and disposable hygiene wipes (“baby wipes”).  I explained to her that if a disruption in the water supply should occur, she will not be able to flush a toilet or wash dishes, but she could place a plastic bag on the toilet seats to “catch” waste and then move it out of the house.  We didn’t discuss what it would be like if the short term emergency turned into a long term emergency and waste disposal became a much bigger problem.  We are only talking about short-term strategies here.  Advice: Stock up on paper and plastic products.

Medicines and medical supplies:  She has a little first aid kit, but the biggest concern will be running out of medications.  Her insurance and pharmacy supply her with a 90-day supply of medications.  I advised her to get an additional 90-day supply so that her supply would last for 6 months, even if she has to go out of pocket on that additional 90 days.  Some insurance companies will pay for an additional 90-day supply if you explain that you will be traveling out of the country, which they used to do, now not so much.  If she were to be in an emergency situation, forecasted to last longer than 90 days, they could take a pill every other day and take their chances.  If there is a serious medical issue, their retirement community has onsite emergency services and if that were not available, prayer and God’s provision are truly the only things one can count on.  Advice:  Stock up on medications.   

Security and Safety:  This is a sticky one.  I believe that retirement communities, especially in the nicer urban areas will be targets.  I spoke to her about self-defense knowing that she has never used a gun and didn’t own one.  Dad used to shoot and taught his boys how to shoot, but his weapons were long ago given to his sons.  One of my sisters has been urging her to get a small handgun.  In the meantime, both my son-in-laws live nearby, are well versed in weaponry and one is in law enforcement, and if need be, they can provide some protection.  All of my children have been trained to shoot and own weapons, so I think, as a family we need to get great gramma up to speed and take her out to the shooting range.  Fortifying their condo is a bigger discussion and suffice it to say, one well aimed shot will discourage looters and marauders.  I have a deep concern that in a longer term emergency, my parents and many others will be shipped off to FEMA camps, but I am hoping we can evacuate them if it looks like things are going in that direction.  Advice to self:  Get gramma armed and trained.

Those are the basics for a short-term emergency: water, food, heating and cooking, personal hygiene, medications, security, and safety.  I realize that many retired people are on a fixed income and stocking up, especially on medications, is a financial burden.  I suggest that for those of you who have parents or grandparents in that situation, you step forward with the cash to get them better prepared.  After all, think about what they did for you all your growing up years.  If you are willing and committed, you should make that trip, that visit, and do all the shopping for them, get them situated appropriately for their situation.  It will give you and them peace of mind.  If you can’t do it in person, stock them up via automated deliveries.
Using Amazon’s subscribe and save feature, as posted by another reader using J.W.R.’s amazon link is a great way to have things delivered to the house on a regular schedule, which saves an older person the stress and physical exertion of making large shopping trips.  Mom frequently purchases from Amazon, so she could simply shop online and have things delivered.  The following list of items can be found on Amazon and are offered under the subscribe and save feature.  The downside of this type of shopping is it is a great deal more costly than buying in bulk yourself, and canning and storing food.  However, this article is geared towards taking care of the “old folks” who may or may not have the ability to do this themselves.  
The Weekly or Monthly Shopping List for Great Gramma (All pricing is rounded up or down and does not always include a brand name.  This list is to give you an idea of what you can have delivered weekly or monthly for gramma via Amazon.  You can shop around for better deals.):
1.        6 pak of sterno fuel cans = ~$20
2.        16 pack of paper towels = ~$20
3.        24 pack of toilet paper = ~$11
4.        40 count kitchen garbage bags with odor control = $8.75
5.        350 count Baby wipes = ~$11.30
6.        Prepared foods – choices too numerous to list – you will have to experiment.  Search on “subscribe and save” on Amazon.  An example is Betty Crocker Helper Complete Meals, Chicken and Buttermilk Biscuits, 24.8-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6 ) for $18.41.  These complete meals only require a little milk (use reconstituted dried milk) and/or water and a way to heat them up.  The meat is included.  After searching quite a bit, I concluded that one should expect to pay about $2-$3 per a prepared food item of good quality.  For an older couple, who generally eat less, and need something that is very easy, the Betty Crocker line of complete meals may be a good compromise and will feed 2 people who don’t have big appetites.  No refrigeration or microwaving required.
7.        Hershey's 2% Chocolate Milk, 21- 8 Ounce Aseptic Boxes = $ 19.39
8.        Needless to say, water is not something I recommend you buy through Amazon unless you are looking for specialty bottled water.  Spring water is available in gallon containers at Wal-Mart for about $.88 a gallon.
9.        And so on…
The list above was to give you an idea of what you can do with automatic deliveries to an older parent or grandparent.  For about $100 - $200 a month, you can set up automatic delivery to their home and get them a lot closer to being prepared.  Don’t buy things that require a microwave (think grid down).  If you are local to your parents or grandparents, it makes much more sense to shop at big box stores, Wal-Mart, or a local “scratch and dent” grocery outlet.  Maybe a combination of paying them a visit for the purposes of helping them stock up and having regular deliveries scheduled to them is the right combination.  In all cases, I’m glad mom is finally onboard and ready to move in the right direction.  
In the meantime, my directive is to enlist the help of the bigger family in getting mom better prepped to defend the casa if need be.  This should be fun, if not hilarious.

Those that are concerned with TEOTWAWKI scenarios, as we are, can find great benefit in looking to history for meaningful lessons on what to expect and how to plan and prepare. In many of these circles we often here of and reference the heroic exploits of bands of citizen warriors throughout history.

Rogers Rangers, the Minute Men of New England, The Green Mountain Boys of Vermont and other Revolutionary War militia, The guerilla fighting Comanche and Cheyenne warriors of North America,  and of course the various books, movies and television shows that constitute our survivalist-militia paradigm. I wish to add another relevant and realistic event and militia group to our lexicon and highlight a bit of recent history that took place just about 3,000 miles from North America. This true and well-documented period of time and events can be mined by our communities for numerous insights into preparedness.

The tiny African nation of Sierra Leone first won their independence from the British Empire in 1961. This was a joyous time for Sierra Leonians. Sierra Leone, a beautiful nation on the West African Coast, with beaches to make many vacationers jealous, became a vacation spot for Europeans and Africans on holiday.  The country was awash with valuable minerals, metals, and diamonds which brought the financial interests of global powers.  If you were a member of the elite ruling class and politically connected then times were good and money flowed; allowing you an increasingly comfortable lifestyle. But by the 1970s corruption was entrenched. Wikipedia summarized:

“...politics in the country was increasingly characterized by corruption, mismanagement, and electoral violence that led to a weak civil society, the collapse of the education system..."

In 1968, [Siaka Stevens,] a popular leader rose to power and would leave office 17 years later with the result of turning what was once a constitutional democracy into a one party state.
The Prime Minister’s 17 year term of office is described by Wikipedia as:

 “...the 17 year plague of locusts” saw the destruction and perversion of every state institution. Parliament was undermined, judges were bribed, and the treasury was bankrupted to finance pet projects that supported insiders.”

He stepped down in 1985 leaving a short list of ineffective leadership behind him. Wikipedia characterizes the social ruin that the country now found itself in only 30 years after its independence, with the following…

"With the state unable to pay its civil servants, those desperate enough ransacked and looted government offices and property. Even in Freetown (the capitol city), important commodities like gasoline were scarce. But the government hit rock bottom when it could no longer pay schoolteachers and the education system collapsed. Since only wealthy families could afford to pay private tutors, the bulk of Sierra Leone’s youth during the late 1980s roamed the streets aimlessly. As infrastructure and public ethics deteriorated in tandem, much of Sierra Leone’s professional class fled the country. By 1991, Sierra Leone was ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world, even though it benefited from ample natural resources including diamonds, gold, bauxite, rutile ([the] main ingredient in titanium), iron ore, fish, coffee, and cocoa."

This became the foundation for the decade long civil war that would lay waste to the country and forever change its people.

A rebel army named the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) formed and funded by the criminal government of neighboring Liberia, under convicted war criminal Charles Taylor, grew and quickly took over many areas of the country. This rebel movement was a result of the intense interest in the diamond mines within Sierra Leone and Liberia, and also the large number of disaffected youth that were easily swayed by riches, power, and promise of adventure. The Government of Sierra Leone and its army were either unable or unwilling to effectively challenge the well-armed and funded rebel army. The RUF  tormented the cities and countryside forcing children to become soldiers, getting them hooked on hard drugs, and encouraging them to engage in unspeakable behavior aimed at terrorizing the civilians into subservience. The RUF would quickly become known for rape, murder, torture, burning, looting, and a terror previously unknown in the region.

Sierra Leone, like much of Africa consists of both dense cities and rural countryside.  People fled the cities for their ancestral  homes still occupied by family in their rural villages. Many of these families can trace their family histories in these villages back hundreds of years. This is their native land. These were agrarian villages where people were mostly farmers. It was West African slaves from these areas that would make the American colony and future state of Georgia’s largest export and cash crop rice, grown in the lowlands of the coast similar to their homeland. The average home was armed with only farming tools and instruments.

Making a living from the land for generations, extended families controlled large fields and swathes of land to graze their animals and grow food. They lived in tight ethnic communities where everyone knew everyone. These were not people that were concerned with national politics. They made little to no money from the diamonds, gold, minerals, and everything else that drove the international greed for the resources of their country. These were extended families living a peaceful existence in their ancestral land, practicing and maintaining their culture and history. These communities had strong men that were willing and qualified warriors but these men were the first targets of violence, and they were not prepared or trained for organized military threats on their communities.

Imagine the ease that a light rebel army would experience when pulling up to a sleepy farming village, rounding up the able-bodied men for torture or execution, the male children for conscription, and the women and girls for slaves or throw-away sex toys. Rural police stations were no match for the rebels and would flee, be killed, or join them. Many in these villages became entertainment for depraved rebels mad with drug use and traumatized by their own situations. Old men and women were chopped down with machetes or burned to death with kerosene or car tires. Babies’ heads were bashed in by gun butts or by soldiers' boots. Sometimes the child’s own parents were forced to bludgeon them to death at the gunpoint of crazed men and boys in soldier uniforms. Pretty girls became a commodity traded by soldiers. People were shot indiscriminately in the street and in their homes.  Houses, farms and fields were burned.  The chopping off of limbs became an all too often exercise and horrific scene during such attacks. The movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo Dicaprio used the backdrop of this war to tell its story and illustrated many of these documented atrocities. [JWR Adds: Blood Diamond provided some valuable insights into the depravity of man under the circumstances of civil war. The history of the 20th Century is replete with similar examples, worldwide. (West Africa was not unique!) It was a surprisingly good film, despite Dicaprio's pitiful attempt at mimicking a Rhodesian accent.]

Resourceful and physically able people fled to “the bush”, their term for the thick untamed jungle wilderness. Their communities destroyed, families dead or dispersed. Many people had to rely on their wilderness survival skills or risk being caught in public areas looking for food and shelter. They had to learn to evade others in the bush that may alert others to their presence. One man on foot in the wilderness is no match for a mobile light army. He would easily be found, caught, and become a victim. A family would be even easier to hunt and track down.
Rebel armies had taken control of many areas and where they did not control, the government armies were often no better. They brutally purged villages looking for rebels and often accused the innocent and made them examples to others. They helped themselves to food, supplies, and women. They were feared by all and were rumored to be soldiers by day and rebels by night, earning them the name “sobels”. There was no one on the side of the regular people. These armies fought each other and used the communities as their battlegrounds. Civilians were collateral damage and/or simply resources to be taken, killed or abused by either side. Roadways were controlled by these forces so any resources such as food, medicine, or ammunition, traveling along them was subject to seizure by the armies. The best homes and structures were taken and used by rebels or government armies for cover, command centers, flophouses, storage, barracks, or other military needs.

This is the extreme of our human experience on Earth, my friends. I can’t imagine a more terrifying experience. It does not matter how bad-ass one man is, he could either evade these forces or become another casualty. Period.  Where was the humanity, you ask? How could they all behave this way, you say? Well how could the Germans behave as they did under the Nazi regime? Or Cambodians under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge?  The ethnic cleansing by Serbs under Slobodan Milosovic? These things happen. When people are pushed by extreme socioeconomic forces they are capable of unspeakable cruelty. In the midst of this turmoil and unimaginable violence a resistance movement grew in the south. A group called the Kamajors.

Wikipedia summarizes: "The Kamajors are a group of traditional hunters from the Mende ethnic group in the south and east of Sierra Leone (mostly from the Bo district)."

These hunters came from a long line of traditional tribal-warriors. In Africa each ethnic group is typically associated with a secret society. These secret societies teach the younger generations survival skills, cultural history, and prepare them for being an adult in their society. For the boys this would often include warrior training, hunting and trapping skills, wilderness survival and so on. These Kamajors came from this tradition. They banded together early on and protected their immediate communities. They had weapons that they had used for hunting along with warrior training and preparation. They had an intimate knowledge of the land and its people. And they had the not just the will to fight their aggressors but the means and know how. This was a modern day tribal militia.

The Kamajors  successfully repelled both the RUF/rebel army and the government army over and over again when they would approach their protected regions. They reacted swiftly to enemy threats in their patrolled areas and gained a reputation for being fearsome fighters and protectors of their communities.  Rebels and the government army, like any marauding groups, will choose the path of least resistance and focus on soft targets. They were reluctant to engage the Kamajor fighters, because a dust up with the Kamajors was certain to end in casualties and depleted resources. They fought fiercely for maintainable ground and quickly retreated and regrouped when outnumbered or overwhelmed.  They were light quick and effective. Youth from all over the affected parts of the country sought out the Kamajors for protection, and many joined their ranks, multiplying their strength. They suffered casualties and we can be sure they suffered their own defeats, but they remained the only alternative and safe haven for thousands.

These were hunters and family men that joined together to protect their families and communities. They were unflinching in their mission and quickly earned names for themselves as the only ones with the strength and knowledge to protect themselves and others from the new realities of their world. The Kamajors answered to their traditional tribal leadership who were often seasoned veteran elders, which was a true government of and by the people. Rebels and soldiers alike intensely feared these Kamajors and African superstition strengthened those fears. Claims spread of the Kamajors participating in sacred rites that would make them bulletproof. It was said that sexual abstinence made them fierce in battle. Stories of their being invisible and being protected by magic persist to this day. The Kamajors were so successful that when international will was finally strong enough to bring peace to the country the Kamajors were enlisted by international peacekeeping forces  to successfully return peace to the country with the help of the UN, an army made from a number of West African countries (ECOMOG) and private mercenary groups.

The war lasted more than ten years and ended in 2002. It is only now, ten years after the wars end that the economy of the country is picking up, experiencing international investment, and people are finally able to start putting the war behind them. Regular electricity to the nations capital, Freetown, and other major cities, was restored in 2007 due to international assistance and the construction of new hydroelectric facilities. Markets are booming and people have returned to the cities twofold. The nations’ future is bright and the worst is behind them but for a long time their future was in doubt.

So after a roughly twenty year period of economic and social decline, we have what was basically a twenty year period where a country was in a total state of war, economic collapse, depression and dysfunction. A messy war with no boundaries or clear enemy, caused by outside forces, political corruption and mismanagement. Caught in the middle were a peaceful people, largely of rural background, forced to find a way to survive a situation that quickly became desperate and deadly. Their ancestral farms and homesteads were attacked and burned. Local currency became worthless. Food was scarce. Resources were taken and consumed by the armies leaving little to nothing for civilians. Civilians became the targets of the new power structure, controlled by the ruthless and lawless armies.

A grassroots fighting force of hunters and family men rose as the only effective resistance force. They were effective because through their hunter/warrior culture and vigilance they were more prepared than others to defend their communities and way of life. These irregulars were the Minutemen of their time. If they had not been trained and organized ahead of time they would have been decimated early on and would not have had the strength to raise a defense later on. The Kamajor fighters were prepared from the beginning and when the SHTF they did what they were prepared to do without hesitance.

Many lessons can be drawn from this history, but a few themes are easy to take away here.  It was their community and culture that created the success of the Kamajors. They had a hunter/warrior culture that could be easily compared to our survivalist/prepper culture today. They also maintained a community within this culture that not only rallied when threatened, but had enough training to be organized when the SHTF to not lose too much ground or strength.

Could they have foreseen the situation that they found themselves in? Perhaps. Could they have done much to prevent it? Probably not. This is a relatively basic SHTF threat. It does not require asteroids, or volcanoes, or even Al Qaeda. Defense against lawless but organized armed personnel; that is what all preppers and survivalists should strongly consider when preparing for SHTF/TEOTWAWKI.

One armed man can’t effectively respond to such a threat of course, yet it is one of the most predictable and relatively common of social upheaval threats and one of the most terrifying. It is basically a home invasion on a regional scale. Some people behave as if these types of events or scenarios are ancient history, or unrealistic. Hurricane Katrina highlights this possible threat, so does the constant narcotics traffic violence in the southwest, the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles, or even Pine Ridge in the 1970s. But for continued insight, moral support and inspiration we only have to look across the Atlantic to a little over 10 years ago when a resourceful group of hard-nosed warriors banded together to protect all that they knew. These were the Kamajors of Sierra Leone.

About the Author: CYA is the pen name of a first generation American on his father's side, and a U.S. combat veteran. His father was born in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone in 1951, and his mothers’ family can be traced to colonial New England.

Based on some of the latest articles I have read, I wonder if there is a misunderstanding of prepping or the Preppers themselves. Everyone has their own reasons for prepping, what they consider prepping, prepping for or at what level they can prepare. Not everyone can afford prepping to the levels of others, not everyone has the skill sets as others or can go out and find that perfect piece of property to call their retreat or bug out location (BOL.)

For the grannies who buy a few supplies or have found a like-minded social group of preppers where they meet once a month or so and talk about things they have read or heard about, good for them. For all we  know, for that granny, this may be her (or his if a grampy) only form of social networking and for them survival is getting out and meeting these people and enjoying the time spent. If after that meeting on the way home granny stops in Wal-Mart and picks up a few supplies and she is happy, more power to her and God bless her.

For me, I would have to say I'm a closet prepper. I prep for the needs of myself and my family. I do not hang out in prepper forums or blog sites, I do not attend preparedness expos to meet others or go online to find like-minded folks in the local area for coffee. My neighbors do not even know that I'm a prepper. In a way I live in fear, if something was to happen I really do not want anyone to come knocking on my door for supplies. As for the people you may meet at these places I think you're going to find some who are "way out there" to some who really do not have a clue. You have to size up each person individually and decide for yourself as to whether or not these are people you want to get to know.

I, like many, have not actually killed anyone. Could I? I hope the time never comes when I have to find out. I spent 26 years in the Coast Guard and have gone through all the drills and training I could get my hands on. I have dressed out and practiced for Nuclear, Biological & Chemical (NBC) warfare without actually being in any of those scenarios. Could I still do it, if I had the gear? Yes, but not everyone has the budget of the military to buy the correct gear. In the military we had to train and know how to do these things because we had to get our ship back up and into the action. As a civilian the best thing to do is get as much distance between you and the situation. Does this mean because I have not actually been in a survival situation that I cannot perform and do things from what I have read and studied? I don't think so. Some say a little knowledge is dangerous but having the basics is a good start. One of the things we use to believe in the military is, no one person can know how to do everything but the important thing is to be able to know where to go to find the information on how to do it. If you have a member of the family who read an article and says they know about how to eat the inner bark of a pine tree for example, instead of telling them they do not know anything, take them outside and try it out. Encourage don't discourage, and learn together.

Does anyone know what will happen or when? No, but I used to teach a course in terrorism, and as ugly as it sounds to us because of the way we have been brought up in this country, terrorism is actually a beautiful way of warfare. You have all the elements of surprise, when, where, how, what and who. One of the things about terrorism is that it does not have to kill many people. All it has to do is change our way of doing things after. How many people actually remember not so far in the distant past when you could go to an airport and actually meet your party at the gate. Those days are long gone. Now you cannot get near the gate unless you're a passenger, show your tickets, ID and go through a strip search. Now the drinks you buy inside the terminal are subject to testing for explosives. I personally will miss going up to the Burger King or McD's in the terminal ordering a burger, fries and a volatile Sprite. Just one act of terrorism can change our freedoms and our way of living for decades. So the terrorists win.
           
One of the things people prep for is the coming economic collapse. What is the coming economic collapse? We are living in a depression. Many people have lost their jobs, homes and benefits, we have a government that cannot even come together to pass a spending budget and the only thing that is a priority for them is getting re-elected.  How much more needs to happen before its decided that we are in an economic collapse? Are we talking the Government shuts down, all the banks close up, the stock market zeros out, money is worthless and no one in the country has a job? Another item is civil unrest. If what is happening with all the riots in the Middle East were to happen in a city here in the States would it be enough to send you to your BOL or are we talking civil unrest on a national scale? What kind of event would it take to cause it on such a scale where every city is in riot?

Everyone has to determine their comfort zone. I live in a hurricane prone area. Some people pack up and get out of Dodge while others stay. One day I hope to be able to buy a safer piece of land further from the coast in the mountains. But for now, like many, I have to deal and adjust for where I am. Many people who live in this region live with the dangers and beliefs that nothing is going to happen to them or the situation is not going to be as bad as predicted. What does truly bother me about that is that they are told to leave, they don't. Then shortly after things get truly bad, they are shouting "Help, come rescue me" and put someone else's life on the line.

For me, prepping is a hobby. I truly enjoy reading the information I find here on the Internet and in books. I like reading survivalist fiction because the books get me thinking of things that could happen and what I will need to do to prepare even further. To be honest I never thought of stocking up on a year's worth of dog food until I read the novel One Second After by William R. Forstchen. I enjoy reading of what others have done and how they went about doing it. One idea I picked up on SurvivalBlog here was in an article back in August, 2012: "Technology Today, by KCL04" he suggested getting an Android phone that you can store apps and down load all your survival books on.  Well, I'm not into the phone thing, but I took that information, did some research and bought a Nook reader from Barnes & Noble. Slowly but surely as I can afford it, I'm building my library. All my books in one of my kits must weigh about 100 pounds but I can store all of that on the little Nook and whole lot more.

I enjoy organizing and making lists. I enjoy going to the store, picking up the type of storage containers that work for me and filling them full of supplies. As one container gets full, I may take out the toilet paper and start it in its own container. It's not long before that one jar of Vaseline becomes a stackable container full of 12 tubs, the bottle of Listerine becomes a stackable container of 16 bottles and on and on it goes. I keep track of everything I have in inventory and as the kits and containers change. I get into the computer and adjust my inventory. I have made check-off sheets of items I use around the house every day and I keep a log of when I opened up the product and when it became empty. This way I have a working knowledge of how long an item will last and how much I need to buy to last me a year.

The other day my wife had some insect bites so I went to the medicine cabinet to get the calamine lotion then ended up searching all over the  house to find some cotton balls. Guess who now has a container full of cotton balls? Every time a disaster happens I find little chinks in my armor of what needs to be purchased and done so that next time I'm more prepared. I have my lists of things I need to save up for and buy and also list of projects I need to do. This past spring I finally built some raised garden beds and tried my hand at gardening. Cucumbers went totally crazy so I teamed up with a neighbor and we spent a day canning. With that experience, a couple of things got checked off my project list.

People who believe in God do so because we need to have faith and believe in something that will continue our survival once we leave this earth. We believe he has given us a set of rules and a guide we should live by, the Bible. So we spend our lives trying to do what is right and which serves our God and our belief. Well, prepping is not much different, we do not know of what kind of disaster will happen or even if one ever will. Some people prep more than others, just as some people serve God more than others. The important thing is that they are doing something. If prepping gives someone hope that in a time of a disaster what he or she has done will make them a little better off or more comfortable in a time of despair, well, more power to them. People sit around and love to hear stories about God and things that happened back when Jesus walked the earth. Well people also enjoy sitting around and talking up the prepping, learning new things and telling what they have experienced. The beauty of this country is we all have the right to do these things--buy, sell, prepare as we wish and love the God of our choosing and conducting our faith as we wish. If you are frustrated as to what you see other preppers doing or how they go about it, stop for a moment and be thankful. For now, we live in one of the few nations that allows this. God Bless America and each and every one living here.

Sound like an old cliche? “One for All, All for One”? A phrase from the past.
But it is as valid today as it has ever been. Togetherness, cooperation, teamwork, none of those match the totality of “One for all, All for One”.
     
Of course there is no substitute for preparedness. As a former EMT, a person who has taken CERT training in my community, and who, as much as I can given my limited financial resources, taken the threat, for any reason, of societal breakdown seriously, I can attest to this.

I remember my instructor many years ago in Red Cross Advanced First Aid. Dear Mrs. Young.  At the close of one training session, she grew introspective. She simply talked to us. Something she said has stuck with me all these years. “If you are ever needed to perform life-saving first aid, CPR, mouth-to-mouth, stopping bleeding, it’s a good bet that you are going be surrounded by total chaos. People screaming, maybe at night, complete hysteria. The methods I’m using to teach you will mentally snap you back to this classroom; you will do the right thing at the right time. Because you are prepared”.

Well, the same thing applies to the principle of banding together in times of crisis. No man or woman is an island and that also is as true today as it has ever been.  Given the results of forty years of the “it’s all about me” way of thinking in this country, even more so. Should, God forbid, calamity in the form of a massive earthquake on the San Andreas, or a total meltdown due to a cyber-attack on our hopelessly “all or nothing” system of communications, essential utilities, or food delivery occur, our world is going to shrink to a local level at appalling speed.

Local. Our horizons are going to contract. What is happening  twenty, two hundred, or two thousand miles away will be of little concern. Sporadic radio communications, if nothing else, will see to that. It is what could be happening in your immediate vicinity that will matter the most.

It is at this point that neighbors and community provide a powerful means of protection and deterrence. In fact, it is almost certain that this will be your only source of genuine protection. Because, as the former Los Angeles Fire Department instructor in my CERT course repeated so many times, “We (the Police and Fire) won’t be there”.
There truly is safety in numbers.

But just as we try to prepare by stockpiling, food, water, filtration, medical supplies, clothing, weapons and ammunition, so too must we prepare for communal defense and support.

And the only sure way to do that, to prepare so that critical time is not wasted when, not if, disaster arrives, is to get to know your neighbors beforehand. Now keep in mind that the things I’m talking about pertain to all people, no matter their location, but specifically to people living in the suburbs. Folks living in semi-rural or rural areas, or in tornado-prone regions for instance,  already have a “helping hand” mentality to a greater or lesser degree. But suburbs encourage anonymity. Suburbs encourage the “911” mentality. Less self-reliance, less neighborliness. It is this element that needs to be overcome. It does not need to be over-the-top; if there are like-minded people on your street you will discover this. Then maybe it truly is a good idea to have a specific meeting where things pertaining to mutual defense and assistance can be hashed out.

But it can just as easily be done through the old-fashioned American method of easy conversation.  Mention that you heard about a CPR class coming up which you intend to take. Or a web site that you found interesting; how to recharge batteries, how to do this or that. Broach the subject; you might be surprised at the willing response.
Especially today, in these times in which we live. In fact, the times in which we live are an advantage in a way they were not before. When everything was great. The whole point is to provide for an awareness that catastrophe can occur so that people are not cast adrift when it does. To build the foundation on which survival will depend.

When you talk to that neighbor of yours however do not  give away too much information. Not at first. Especially anything to do with food supplies or firearms. When the time comes, you and your neighbors can get into detail; Fred takes the 8:00 pm to midnight watch, this guy takes the midnight to 4:00 am watch and so on. The specifics can be gotten into then; what is important is that you and your neighbors have already contemplated it, already have it in mind. This means less time spent blundering about, trying to come up with immediate solutions on the fly and under pressure that could very well determine whether the group lives or dies. Like Jim Lovell said about the breakdown on Apollo 13; “We could’ve bounced off the walls for ten minutes but we would’ve still been in the same position as before”.

One of the most important things to remember when the time comes, when the people in your immediate vicinity are forced by circumstance to band together is this. Crisis brings everybody’s real personality to the surface. It is going to become evident who are the weak links in the chain, who are the dictators, who are the complainers, who is in it for themselves, and who are the most steady and dependable. Somebody has to take charge, but tyrannical attitudes do not get it done. They do not increase security, they increase danger by, if nothing else, encouraging turncoats.

Whoever is going to lead has to be a combination of steel and patience, insure that resources and talents possessed by your group are spread throughout the group for the benefit of the group.  And a leader must insure that those things needed to be done are done. There may be gruesome but necessary decisions that have to be made right from the start. In the event of a major earthquake, there may be fatalities. Those who have been killed have to be dealt with, there is no choice, it will do no good whatsoever to leave bodies unburied to possibly bring down biological unpleasantness on the survivors if nobody can bring themselves to dig the grave and place the unfortunate person or persons in it. Injured people must be treated and made as comfortable as the conditions permit. There can be no debate about this. How a group treats it’s weakest, most helpless, and yes, most clueless members is a predictor of how that group will fare.

A contingent of Australian SAS recruits were sent on a five-day survival course but issued with  just one 24-hour ration pack per man to last for the entire period out in the bush. Some of the men immediately began to dig in, to consume too much of their food while others conserved from the beginning. As the exercise progressed, those who had unwisely eaten most or all of their rations proved to be a drag on the group as a whole. The instructors watched carefully; those who shared their rations to make sure everybody got at least something to eat, in spite of their comrade’s foolishness, were the ones who passed the test.

We, the people who have taken seriously the warning signs, who have tried to use the time to be ready, as much as possible, for what may well be the worst times we will ever face, must also be ready to confront our fellow citizen’s foolishness. The people who deny that our comfortable life is in any jeopardy. The people who do not want to believe that this fabulous but appallingly fragile system can ever break down. The people who, faced with the disintegration of most, or all, of their assumptions, will reveal their true characters in a mad struggle to put food in their mouths, a blanket around their shoulders, and a roof of any kind over their heads. The people who will resort to any cruelty or atrocity to save themselves.  The people who, in spite of a blithe and carefree attitude that endangers their children and themselves, will rely upon the preparedness of others to make up for it.

When one is attempting to prevent someone from going over a cliff, one may finally have to let go if that someone is going to take you with them. We may be faced with horrendous decisions that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.  Which, I might add, may be short, for all our care and preparation. Nonetheless, I for one am prepared to make those decisions. I cannot fight off every starving or rapacious person or group that descends upon me on my own. I intend to have allies. Allies on whom I can depend, and who can depend on me. Allies with whom I have already taken the first steps.  Forbearance, mercy, and kindness will be present in my actions to the extent that I can afford them. But in the end, when all is said and done, I will most definitely fall back on “One for All, and All for One”.

This is not your typical “How To… for Survival” or “Best Gear for Survival” blog article. Instead, I am asking you the reader, to read this with an open mind. This is much more than that and I believe it will be the difference between you surviving… and not.

Nothing can take away from the importance of being prepared. Nor can the necessity of training and practicing certain survival skills be trivialized. Preparedness and practice are a couple of necessities of survival. But there is more to life than just surviving. the famous psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, summed it up best when he said, "everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." What is life, truly, if there is no enjoyment? While I do understand that standing in your stockpile room, surveying all of your supplies (the stacks of water bottles, the vast array of number 10 cans, the gun safe with all its hidden treasures, the neatly organized bug out bags, etc.) can bring a certain satisfaction, it is quickly fleeting. That is because you spent so much time and effort compiling these things and now your mind is running through the completed checklist, making sure you didn’t miss anything. Nope, it’s all done… so now what? (Cue that emptiness thing from earlier) The intangibles like relationships and the joy they bring will be just as important in a bold new world as the tangibles like your stockpile. I had the opportunity to learn this, quite humbly I might add, the hard way recently when I took my 9 and 15 year old sons on a backpack adventure for four days. My intent was to teach them practical skills while knocking the rust off of my own. But as Robert Burns said, "The best laid schemes of mice and men oft go awry".

I began our adventure 48 hours prior by utilizing my Army training and conducting PCCs (pre-combat checks) and PCIs (pre-combat inspections). Yes, I know that this was not combat, but the fundamentals of preparedness are never-the-less just as applicable. I went over every item in my boys' packs with them so that they understood what it was and how they will be utilizing it. I showed them how best to pack their gear by having repacking mine before them. At this point, I left them to repack their stuff a couple of times (so that they were comfortable with where they put their gear). The night before we left for the woods, we did one final walk-through to make sure we weren’t missing anything. As my 9 year old starts to lay out his gear, he is coming across a deck of cards and a pack of dice. I, being the prudent and pack-weight conscious man that I am, proceed to lecture him about how extra items mean extra weight that he has to carry with him everywhere and that he needs to leave them out. No soon as I get it all out of my mouth, I look over to see my 15 year old pulling out his art pad and some pencils. So, obviously, I look at him and ask, "really?” I then begin to lay on him the same lecture his brother got.  At this point (as you could imagine), my kids are less than excited about going.

Fast forwarding to us on a National Park trail the next morning, we are 45 minutes behind my super strict schedule. Frustration gets the best of me when I turn and see that my boys continue to drag their rear end. I begin to lay into them, chastising them for not staying focused and on track. Well, they let me rant for a couple of minutes before my 15 year old interrupted and said, “Dad, we are not lagging behind on purpose. We are just looking for all the things you told us to look for. See look, right here looks like the boar hoof prints. See? Right here. I think it’s a mom cuz look at all the smaller hoof prints." as you could imagine, I’m feeling a bit like an a-hole for trying to rush to find a spot to setup camp while my kids are doing exactly what I told them to do. They are taking in their environment and looking for things like game tracks, wild edibles, possible dangers. Feeling a bit like a heel, I apologize and then join in with them. While it took an extra hour and twenty minutes to get to a suitable camp, they got to experience many little things that they would have otherwise missed if they stayed with my pace.

Jumping to Night 2 of our outdoor adventure, after we have finished all of the stuff that needs to get done, we are sitting by the campfire when my 9 year old coyly asked if I would play cards with him. Without thinking, I begin to get on him for not listening to me. With a bit of sadness in his voice, he simply said, "I’m sorry dad. When you said it wasn’t a good idea to have extra weight, I thought it was worth it to bring them in case you and me had a chance to do something together. Since we were just relaxing and hanging out by the fire, I thought it would be fun." Man oh man, was I on a roll. All he wanted to do was to spend some time by the fire, enjoying a little thing that life has to offer. I promptly apologized and he began to school me in rummy for the rest of the night.

However, not to be bested...by myself, I managed to step into it again. This happened just after breakfast, the next day, when my 15 year old, sat about 20 feet away, with his back to us. Curious, I begin to approach him, when I realized that he is drawing on the art pad I told him to leave. I startled him when I forcefully asked him why he brought that stuff. I did not even give him a chance to answer before I started in about coming out to enjoy what was around us instead of drawing more cartoon characters (he is, by the way, very good with a pencil and paper). With an angry look, he held back what he really wanted to say and respectfully looked at me to say, "I am enjoying what’s around me. Until you came up... I was trying to draw a cardinal that was on that branch over the creek. See?” I look up and see a branch he is pointing to but there was no bird. Now, I am no small man. I stand 6'5", 300 pounds but after he held up his pad and I beheld a half-drawn bird, I felt no more than two inches tall. He was doing exactly what I wanted him to do (enjoying the little things), and I admonished him for it. Not only that, but I inadvertently scared away the bird which meant he would no longer have a model to draw inspiration from. It was at that moment that I realized that how much of this adventure I had missed because I was only focused on the big things: water, food, shelter, shelter, safety, etc. it was my children that showed me how much more life has to offer than simply survival.

When we got home, both of my boys were non-stop chatterboxes to their mom about all the awesome stuff they got to do. "I caught a squirrel", "I got to make the fire", "I made a fishing gig", "we saw pig tracks", “I got to put a splint on Dad’s leg”, and on and on and on, back and forth they went, bombarding my wife with snippet after snippet. I gave them fifteen minutes or so to get it all out and then told them to go get their stuff unpacked. With an exhausted look, she turned to me and said, “Wow! It sounds like they had a great time and learned a lot.". I said, "They did, but not near as much as me." She shot me a puzzled, inquisitive look and I began to explained all of my misadventures.

So remember, survival preparedness is not just years-worth supplies for every situation. Water, food, gear, and a plan is great. But It’s the little things too. You’ve got to remember the little things. It is entirely too easy to get wrapped up in your preparations for tomorrow and let today slip right through your hands. Be sure to take a minute and see the world through a child's eyes. There is soooooo much that happens at their level that we miss because they are the little things to us. You will be amazed at just how blind you’ve become.

Many a prepper may take the time to perform a test of their personal prep systems. Sometimes, Mother Nature will force you to do just that if you haven’t put your preps in practice yet. Ours came in the form of Hurricane Isaac.

With media’s laying attention straight towards New Orleans and no one else, the Gulf Coast area residents laid their own attentions to their respective communities. And this attention consisted of hunkering down for a rain and wind event that would be nowhere near a Katrina event. How wrong were these expectations? At a seemingly last minute, Isaac became a hurricane as the winds and rain pounded Plaquemines Parish, a peninsula south of New Orleans that is split between the Mississippi River. Hurricanes are divided into 4 quadrants; Northeast side, Southeast side, Northwest side, and Southwest side. Each quadrant has its own circumstances but most notably, the Northeast and Southeast side’s as these two bring in the most damage. Plaquemines as well as those to the east felt the brunt of the later half in full force.

Don’t let a Tropical Storm or Category 1 Hurricane fool you into complacency. Hurricane Isaac broke that theory. Torrential rains, damaging winds contributed to a much month-long rain soaked Louisiana gulf coast. Isaac’s storms simply added water with no place for it to go. And with winds pushing tidal surges north, drainage canals, bayous and tributaries were compromised so, that water topped some levees that years ago protected communities during Katrina.

So, as a resident along the Gulf Coast, our preps for future uncertainties also included hurricanes. When Isaac was heading our way, the only necessary preps needing completion were the basics such as boarding windows, anchoring down potential fly-away items, ensuring generator is in good running condition, securing plants, filling our vehicles with fuel along with extra fuel cans and propane for cooking fuels, etc.

Our community was never in the projected path, but experienced residents realize hurricane path predictions are never an exact science. That’s why the projection always includes a swath surrounding it. Any area within this projection can easily be a target based on nature’s unpredictability. And this was evidenced around midnight August 29 while pounding Plaquemine’s Parish, Isaac had stalled just enough causing the eye to dance against the shorelines of southern Louisiana. Over the course of approximately 5 hours, Isaac crawled west for about 35 nautical miles of coastline before slowly edging northwest. Believe me when I say a turtle could run circles around this hurricane as this stall is what changed the expectations of a not-so-typical Cat 1 hurricane.

As of this writing, we are in our fourth day and since Houma became one of the first paths for the eye to cross over, we were actually spared the brunt of the hurricane’s impact effects. To the east as far as Biloxi and due north of it, coastal areas to Picayune, Mississippi were pounded by rain, hurricane force winds and the occasional tornadoes. In addition to this came the flooding to add to many a misery.

With this hurricane, we were able to assess our preps while noting any weak points along the way. It also allowed time to reflect on what many along the coastline deal with when it comes to hurricane preparedness as well as the periods between the beginning and the end. This is where I’d like to take you as virtually all of these experiences and scenarios could apply in any crisis situation.

First of all, we were fortunate. This had nothing to do with being prepared necessarily. Bands of heavy rains that freight trained through communities are a hit and miss proposition. What one area may experience as tolerable winds and rain, another area a couple miles away could be getting pounded with no relief in sight. So for us, the most damage we experienced was minor flooding in the yard along with broken branches and leaves. Our garden consisted of a combination of laid down vegetables and some still standing not too worse for wear. It’ll easily be salvaged while we handle getting our property back to normal. No damages to our home or other property and aside from picking up broken branches, raking leaves and debris and stacking it for community service pick up later on in the week. Overall; we’re in great shape. If you apply the following observations and experiences to any crisis or catastrophe, you can get a better handle on things to expect in any situation you’re preparing for.

CONSUMABLES

Food and water were a non-issue for us. No battling last-minute moron’s fist fighting over the last case of water on Wal-Mart’s shelf. If you think Black Friday before Christmas holidays is a nightmare, come down to witness stupidity, inconsideration and greed to the infinite degree a couple days before a hurricane’s landfall.  The majority of folks are not like this, but there is always a few who show their ass. How some coastal residents don’t live with the basic FEMA recommended preps in their home is incomprehensible.

Ice is a needed commodity to have on hand. It helps first of all for cooling refreshments as well as maintaining foods or keeping a freezer in low temperatures. In a worse-case scenario, this ice could easily be consumed as water should it melt. So, it’s important to keep the bag clean as well as the ice chest you’ll keep it in. Don’t let any of it go to waste if you can help it.

Food should never be an issue for anyone. Grocery stores are closed and were likely cleaned out prior to landfall so if you’re not prepared here, you’re in a serious bind. Potted meat and Vienna sausage can only go so far so having regular consumable foods is a must. Cooking becomes an issue as well. This means electric stoves and ovens are useless. Even ovens that run on natural or propane gas may be an issue if it requires electricity to function. Unless, you have access to the plug that can be used via an extension cord coming from a generator. So, be prepared to cook meals on an outside grill or portable stove. Besides, cooking outdoors when weather permits is cooler and prevents unnecessary heat inside the home if electricity is off and no air conditioning is available.

Water is necessary to survive, period. I don’t need to go into details here but for us, we were already ahead of the curve with water in 4 gallon, 1 gallon, two liter recycled bottles and 16oz bottles in cases. We also have our Berkey to filter water and with any Hurricane affecting low-lying communities, a boil water order will most likely take place so having water preps is a must. You’ll need it for consumption, cleaning, bathing, brushing your teeth, washing and even flushing the toilet. Of note on the later, this hurricane happened to emphasize the need for residents in both city and rural areas to limit toilet flushing due to flooding and overwhelming pressures on the sewerage system. Now you can easily realize the boil water order as sewerage, land run-offs, floating caskets popped out of grave sites, swamp, bayou and canal waters become part of the city water systems. So, I cannot over-emphasize the need for a lot of water. Even if one believes their particular crisis is expected to last for a short period of time. It pays to note Hurricane Gustav shut our entire town down for a total of six weeks. Time will tell right now how long we’ll be out of the basic functioning infrastructure.

Refrigeration is a luxury that we all take for granted. During a crisis such as this, electricity is expected to be an issue so refrigerators and freezers need to be addressed early on. This means no more opening the refrigerator to stare with the hopes some food product is going to jump out yelling “pick me, pick me!” Know what you want, get it out quickly as much needed cool temperatures will be necessary to maintain your food products. Same applies to your freezer. Many in years past and likely this one will find themselves cooking all of their foods at once and sharing with others just so it doesn’t go bad. Imagine an entire neighborhood doing this at one time and then imagining that at some point, barbeque ribs and chicken can only be eaten so much for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So, one can expect frozen foods will likely be lost. Do what you can to coordinate refrigeration protocols to manage your foods before they become totally loss if power isn’t restored within a reasonable amount of time. This also includes coordinating foodstuffs with protection using ice chests filled with ice. Another bit of advice, prior to hurricane landfall, collect your frozen foods together in garbage bags while storing them in the freezer. That way if the foods spoil due to the freezer’s loss of power, you’re not handling the individual foods. Just grab the garbage bags and put out for disposal which also makes cleaning your freezer much easier too.

Medications are a necessity from the basic needs for cuts and scrapes to serious needs for prescriptions. Be sure to consult with your doctor for extensions of prescriptions as restoration of structure is an unknown during this time.

POWER and COMMUNICATION

Municipalities experience their own breakdown in structures and what that means to you is no electricity, no cell phone service (or spotty), no sewerage, no water, no mail, no garbage pickup, etc. This also includes law enforcement, fire responders and emergency responders. You can also expect the possibility of the National Guard being called out to assist local infrastructure. So, you may find yourself as your brother’s keeper or a keeper’s brother.

Electricity is likely the first to go. Especially if power is distributed through above ground resources. Trees break lines, wind knocks over poles, transformers blow. So expect during some of the worse weather conditions for your power to go out. From that point, you’re on your own for an uncertain amount of time. Having a generator is necessary to get you through this inconvenient time. This means having lots of gas (purchased at ridiculous prices) on hand to power minimal conveniences. Our generator has a conversion kit installed allowing us to run it on natural gas. Propane is also an option but we didn’t have to rely on that, saving it for cooking outside when needed. If your generator doesn’t have a tie-in to power your house, expect to have extension cords strewn throughout your house so tripping hazards will likely exist. Distributing the electricity is an individual preference but maintaining refrigeration is a must as well as powering fans for comfort. Our bedroom was ground zero for crashing occupants piled in at night so a simple 8,000 btu window air conditioner kept us cool for sleeping or naps during the day (as hurricane’s interrupt your sleeping patterns). There will be other issues such as battery charging for spare batteries, cell phones, powering maybe a computer, a Wi-Fi, television, radio or other useable conveniences. Keep in mind though that these should be discussed as to what is priority and what is secondary to the necessities.

Television and radio may or may not be an issue, depending on your area. We gave up on cable television years ago and opted for satellite. Cable regularly goes down so I am not a promoter of cable television. They take too long when their systems go down; sorry but that’s the truth. I won’t promote our provider but for sure I can honestly say that we had very minimal issues throughout the hurricane as satellite experienced blocks during the most severe storm downpours. The rest of the time, we had all of our channels which became irrelevant as local news stayed on 24 hours a day. This was a requirement as news reports, weather reports and road closures were necessary if conditions dictated we needed to get out. Our bug-out plans were pre-performed so this would’ve been something we could’ve easily done if needed.

A ham radio is on my list of necessities so that would’ve been a good source of information for us too, which leads me into the next topic.

Cell phones are great and an important function of our daily lives. Calls, emails, texting, internet and even Facebook (Twitter for some also) are integral for communication, information and entertainment. Depending on one’s personal provider, will depend on available services. For us, everything was going well up to around 10am Thursday morning when our provider began to have issues. We lost Wi-Fi, local phone and DSL internet and Facebook was hit and miss. One minute you could call out, the next minute the network was overwhelmed. Internet through our provider hit and missed and when it hit, download times took twice as long. Texting went well for a while and eventually became a hit or miss proposition. If you have others in your home during this time, check who their providers are to see who keeps service and who loses it. You may note this for future considerations that fit best for your area.

Security becomes a part of your preps. If you are armed, you may find yourself establishing various protocols beyond your daily routines. While security of your home should be an everyday thing, a crisis such as this only requires you increase situational awareness. An hour before the hurricane became an issue, four individuals were arrested in the Slidell area for theft of property on boats docked at a marina. In our community, an adult and a 13 year old were arrested for property theft too. A few other communities had similar thefts and there was a law enforcement officer forced to fire his weapon on two individuals for a situation in St. John the Baptist Parish. You may remember four deputies were recently ambushed leaving two officers dead and two with critical injuries. Theft in an area declared in a state of emergency comes with a mandatory three year felony conviction, fine and no considerations whatsoever. You will be arrested without question and considered a serious threat to the community. Homes of evacuated residents are targets for criminal minds and generators have been stolen while running a home in the wee hours of the morning. So, having theft prevention and home security on your priorities list is especially necessary during these times. Criminals have no moral compass stealing your stuff and in some cases are willing to risk it all for some ridiculous lust for someone else’s property. Another consideration is interrupted sleep patterns cause one to lose sleep during peak hurricane activity. If you have a group of people at your home, this might be a good time to access capable assistance, as having activity in and around a home during normal sleeping hours may deter criminal activity. It also allows people to access restful sleep time in shifts so everyone maintains their optimum performance when needs arise and eventually getting back to your normal routines.

EVACUATION TO ANOTHER’S HOME or CHARITABLE CENTER

In Louisiana, we are well-known for giving someone the shirt off our backs. We are also well-known to destroy anyone’s dietary structure with rich seafood and other dishes that will add inches to any waistline and shock any family doctor over your recent cholesterol count. So, it goes without saying that many families in low-lying areas will evacuate out of their areas into the homes of other family or friends on higher ground or completely out of the state, depending on one’s locale. The last thing anyone wants to be a part of is a community center of sorts where you are assimilated amongst hundreds of other strangers with their children and/or even pets for that matter.

Sharing a home is the most common circumstance where either friends or family converge on another’s home to hunker down. So, there should be some common sense and courtesies to consider if you are one to take advantage of this generosity. And here, we’ll talk about the “taking advantage of” part of this equation.

As a guest being fortunate enough to be invited to stay in someone’s home, you should try your best to do your part and recognize despite the sincerest of invites, you do disrupt the daily routines and functions of another’s home. So it is imperative to the overall conditions and attitudes there that you take into consideration what you must do to contribute to the smooth transition of the move as well as showing through actions your gratitude for this open house invitation. The last thing you want to do is wear out your welcome and even worse, being told to leave because of it. Most folks are generous, but human nature dictates the rules. And your arrival just increased the amount of humans within one dwelling.

This means do not arrive empty handed, unless you were told specifically not to worry about providing foods, water, hygiene or other personal essentials. Even then, do it anyway. You’ll feel better about it and your host will not be in the position of absorbing the full financial burden of feeding, cleaning or bedding you for an unknown amount of time. Besides, if your home already has foodstuffs and self-supporting provisions, should your home be destroyed by winds or flooding, you won’t lose a good portion (if not all) of your stores. Bring them with you if you can and consume or contribute to the host home. Your efforts will be appreciated.

Picking up behind your self is a precious consideration. You are not in a hotel with maid service. Your host already deals with their own issues and it is selfish to burden them with your bad habits. So, don’t contribute to clutter or messes. During these periods, there is a lot of in and out within a home. Outside, the grounds are wet; leaves and debris are everywhere, including your feet. Over time, a neglected area can look worse than a yard after a hurricane. Help out; sweep, wipe, clean or anything that keeps a bit of cleanliness within your host’s home. Help in clean up after the hurricane has passed and it’s safe to go outside. Bring a rake if you can think about it to help with the debris clean-up. Who knows, that effort alone may get you manpower at your place when you return. Attitudes can deteriorate if others are trying while you’re slacking. Again, your efforts will be appreciated.

Kids and we all love them, get bored quick, require attention and protect what is theirs. And with that in mind, your host has not offered to baby sit too. Your kids are your responsibility so you need to discuss this with your children to ensure they realize the imposition, however generous it may be, need not become a problem for their own family through their actions. If they get out of hand, you are responsible for getting them in check, not your host. If you insist on burdening your host with the responsibility to monitor your own children, expect at some point to be invited to seek refuge elsewhere. As with the other considerations, your efforts will be appreciated.

There are a variety of examples to provide here but the most important consideration is keeping your stay from being a burden on your host. Use common sense and always offer assistance, even if you expect to be told to relax on the easy chair. Offering your services, assistance and maintaining your part of the stay goes a long way. Remember, all of the existing inconveniences already contribute to a family’s stress points. And if there is no semblance of order, someone is likely to snap and another SHTF moment can erupt. The last thing you need is to ruin a great relationship because of laziness, lack of parental disciplines and taking advantage of someone else’s generosity.

As a host you’ll have likely considered the fact that another friend’s or family’s family within your home through your invite will interrupt your daily routines and fill any voids that are normal to your lifestyle. So, you are likely prepared for the inconveniences that go along with this choice. If not, now would be a good time to access the likelihood that you could find yourself with an entire family consisting of adults, children, babies and/or pets. You need to decide how to lay out expectations ahead of time.

Most folks through human nature will invite someone to stay with them without considering the potential inconveniences. And if these are not discussed, you may find yourself getting aggravated over petty issues. Most folks will not discuss expectations in advance either. Which means 9 times out of 10, a host family will find themselves dealing with all sorts of issues they weren’t prepared for, or were, but didn’t want to address (or hoped it wouldn’t come to that). So, one need to determine how they will handle the negatives without incident.

You may be so easy going and generous that you don’t care. And that is a commendable trait anyone could admire. But not everyone is that easy-going and generous as you might be. But you are hosting someone who’s been forced to leave their homes and who’s lifestyle will be interrupted and personal burdens will be eventually shared with you and yours. So, establishing a mindset with your own family is imperative before you consider offering a place of refuge to another. This is a vital step to maintaining sanity in any household during a high-stress period.

All of these considerations can apply should you find yourself and your family at a shelter. However, it is not recommended if you have options with other family or friends. Most communities have a handle to disciplines through rules and regulations. You either comply or move on. The choice is yours and planning ahead on a bug out option is highly recommended.

POST EVENT EVALUATION

This is an opportune time to assess your preparedness and survival tools and supplies. Simply keep a journal handy and jot down those little things that can be added to your conveniences. And this shouldn’t be limited to the basic items that make your comfort, consumption or anything else easier to deal with. Consider the worse-case scenarios based on what you’ve learned through media’s and social networks. While you may be at home dealing with simple inconveniences, others are being awakened to water in their homes as low as ankle deep to as high as inches from an attic or roof crawlspace. Think about the unthinkable based on what others have experienced and apply these to your own circumstances. It’s easy to think of it as happening to someone else and not you, but it’s just as easy to happen to you nonetheless. This Cat 1 surprised everyone, experts as well. And as it always goes, folks who never were flooded before were rescued through their roofs by emergency responders or brave volunteers. Ask them if they were prepared.

Finally, one prevalent theme that exists right now is the impatience shown over power companies’ taking what seems “forever” in restoring power. News reports that half of Louisiana residents were out of power. Think about that for a moment. Restoration doesn’t happen overnight and sometimes takes weeks. While it is indeed an inconvenience, being prepared to live off the grid can make a difference in both your comfort and your sanity. Pray for the best, but always prepare for the worse.

Hi Mr. Rawles,
To start, your site has been an inspiration to many people, myself included.  I am a firefighter here in Indiana and what I've noticed is there are so many different places to get info, some good some bad, but it is tough to get some centralized information for local training's.  We started a Meetup group in Central Indiana that is growing fast and it is not a monetary site or a forum, just a centralized place to post training events and meetups around the area.  You are one of the main sites we encourage all of our members to go to for Internet Information and News.  We do not profit at all will list any businesses as a site sponsor for free.  Thanks for your help and thanks for your awesome site.  -W.A.

Survivalism is at its most basic a selfish endeavor.  I don’t state that as being a negative thing, but rather as being morally right and good.  We are supposed to want to live.  And to that end, we obviously want those that we love to live too.  Environmentalism on the other hand, often seems to push selflessness.  It is usually built around messages of sacrifice, restriction, and admonition of the self for the greater good of society.  I get frustrated listening to environmental rhetoric that beseeches me to seek out environmentally friendly actions for no other reason than eco- altruism, when there are plenty of great selfish reasons to be environmentally friendly.  I think the case can be made that environmentalism and survivalism are two sides of the same coin, and have more in common than one might think, but for very different reasons.  In that common ground, there are many useful applications for decreasing dependency on external entities and adopting attitudes and philosophies that make us all better preppers.

This common ground, despite differing motivations, can be seen in the hot topic of incandescent bulbs.  The environmental message seems to be that you should want to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs because they are better for the environment.  Forget the environment.  It will be better for you too!  The point I am making is that for a survivalist, the reason you should switch to compact fluorescent bulbs and stockpile compact fluorescent bulbs is that they will last longer after TEOTWAWKI than incandescent bulbs will, and they will require less power from your solar, wind, or other type generator. As a survivalist, when you do what is best for you, it usually happens to be good for the environment too(with regard to electrical efficiency).  The awesome thing is that this is true for many environmental issues.  We can call it “Good for the Goose-Good for the Gander-ism”.

To approach this more conceptually, I have identified three philosophies that are central ideas for environmentalism that deserve a page in the survivalism play book as well: sustainability, permaculture, and minimalism.  I will touch on each concept and describe how it is applied for environmental issues and how we can apply it to our attitudes and strategies for prepping.
Sustainability:  Sustainability quite simply refers to the notion of designing products and processes that can be sustained over a period of time, ideally indefinitely.  Sustainability as it is applied to the environment is usually in reference to the use of natural resources. Many of the resources we are dependent upon exist in a finite amount or are being used faster than they are being replaced.  So unless we find ways to augment the use of these resources, or find a resource to replace them, our use of these resources cannot be sustained into the near future.  

The prepper needs to think of his stockpiled supplies in the same way.  When you are making plans for TEOTWAWKI, hopefully you are thinking not just about how you are going to survive the next month, but also the next year, next decade, etc.  You can be dependent on stockpiled supplies for some amount of time, but unless you are also planning/prepping for a way to augment and replace those supplies, then your survival plan is not sustainable and therefore your survival has an expiration date.  So by all means put back cans of gasoline and batteries, but also invest in solar panels and other types of power generation.  Stockpile a deep lauder of non-perishable food, but acquire skills for gardening and trapping as well.  Always be thinking about short term survival for what you have stored, but be able to support that storage with skills later on. 

Permaculture:  This is a fairly new branch of systems ecology where naturally balanced in-put/out-put systems are recognized and replicated in other applications (usually agricultural).
 I once saw these glass globes for sale that were a completely enclosed ecosystem.  They were filled with salt water, a single live shrimp, a small piece of drift wood, and a little bit of algae.  The gimmick was that this enclosed system could survive on its own for 2-4 years because each part of the system provided the necessities for the other parts of the system.  For example, the algae produced Oxygen for the shrimp to breath and the shrimp produced waste and Carbon Dioxide for the algae, etc.   All parts of the system balanced with all the other parts. This is what permaculture is all about.  
 A more applicable example is one used for landscaping.  You may have noticed that dense forests do not need to be watered, fertilized, or weeded to continue to grow and prosper.  This is all because the organisms in that system have organized themselves so that their inputs and outputs balance with the other members of the system.  Trees leaves fall and provide heavy mulch that holds moisture and provides nutrients to the lower level plants, who in turn process the trees leaves into different sets of soil nutrients and also hold water in the soil, which in turn benefits the tree and allows it to grow more leaves, etc.  We can apply this to our gardens and orchards by pairing plants together based on the different soil inputs and out puts and by pairing according to differing heights to maximize sun exposure for all plants in a smaller area.  For example, carrots and tomatoes have complementary soil in-puts and out-puts.  So planting these near each other benefits both plants.  Furthermore, if the carrots are planted on the south side of the tomato plants, both crops can be grown in the same space without either suffering loss of sunlight.   

Another application would be the use of rain-water harvesting in conjunction with on-site sewage composting.  This is just the simple recognition that we can insert ourselves into a system without negatively disrupting the in-put/out-put balances.  In the normal system, rain falls and is absorbed by the ground, then used to grow plants that we eat (or feed animals that we eat).  All we have to do is catch that rain water before it hits the ground, drink it, and then it will reach the ground through sewage or drainage to complete its loop as normal.  In this case, the system is augmented slightly for human benefit without its in-put and out-put being negatively impacted.  In fact, as we use the water and add our own waste products to it, we enhance the flow of nutrients back into the soil which actually brings greater balance to the in-put/out-put of the soil.

Minimalism: We have become a consumer culture of stuff.  The idea of stuff is that is supposed to make life more convenient, but I find that more often than not, stuff makes me more dependent on other stuff.  The environmental application for minimalism is that we are squandering limited natural resources to produce unnecessary products like the newest iphone that is only slightly different from the one that came out a year ago.  Then we all get rid of our old iphones which then go into a landfill somewhere or require some other kind of energy in-put to dispose of. 

For a survivalist, minimalism is about removing all that stuff that makes you dependent on anything but yourself.  Note the root word of minimalism is minimize.  This could also be translated as simplify.  There are certainly degrees of minimalism and I am not advocating that you sell all your belongings and try and live bare foot in sack cloth.  But I am advocating things like learning to bake bread from scratch rather than buying a bread maker, or buying older vehicles where it is still possible to work on them yourself rather than them requiring a computer engineer to run diagnostics, or recognizing that a knife serves just as well as a motorized letter-opener.  In the broader sense, minimalism helps you acquire skills rather than stuff and makes you dependent on you rather than on someone or something else that may not be around after TSHTF.

All three of the above concepts fit very nicely in the “Good for the gander-ism” category.  Applying these concepts to your prepping will certainly have positive environmental benefits, but more importantly, they will have positive benefits for you as well.   What we should begin to realize whether we find ourselves in Green Party or the Tea Party, or anywhere else on the spectrum, is that concern for the environment and natural resources is a morally justified selfish concern that is born of the noble desire to survive.  We often think about environmental concerns as if the environment were external to us.  But we are in the environment and of the environment, and if TEOTWAWKI comes, we will be more dependent on the environment and its resources more than ever.  So go green! But not because some tree-hugging left-wing hippie tells you to.  Do so because in most cases it will provide you with better natural resources, make you less dependent on outside entities as you acquire new skills and new attitudes, and because it will encourage more long range sustainable planning should things go bad in the future. 

Most of the citizenry in the United States has seen at least one of the movie theater box office hits “Armageddon,” “Deep Impact,” or “The Day After Tomorrow.”  Those are just movies, but the human brain not in touch with reality doesn’t entertain the thought of these scenarios actually happening in this day and age.  But one day, one or several of the things displayed in those movies will. Experts say that so many apocalyptic events we preppers expect have a very low chance of happening; but nothing is a 100% certain, anything could happen at any moment.  Experts set out percentages about the possibilities of nuclear war, massive solar flares supervolcanoes, super-earthquakes, EMPs, failure of our nation’s infrastructure, pandemics, asteroids hitting us, etc. and we are always led to believe they are unlikely to occur.  But we know for certain that all of the naturally caused ones are 100% certain to occur at some time in the future, we just don’t know when; because they’ve all occurred at many points in the past and the forces that made them happen are just as in motion now as they were then.  We must prepare for our friends and family.  Most Americans believe that since we survived the “Ice Age” that we can learn from the survivors’ mistakes and the ‘do’s and don’ts’ they made. But do we really have that inner strength to adapt to such harsh conditions for years to come?  Modern technology has spoiled us with cell phones, internet giving us access to news and information, and also through television and radio. Not to mention air conditioning and heat to keep us comfortable; as James Wesley, Rawles mentions in his book “How to Survive the End of the World as we Know it”,”  the concept of" "The Big Machine" meaning the everyday things we all take for granted in life.  Grocery Stores, Law Enforcement, Distribution Centers, Hospitals, and Electricity, he asked the one simple question that fuels the whole idea of ‘prepping:’ “What will happen if the big machine is missing pieces?”  Pure chaos of people running down the streets killing others in cold blood for the little food they might have on them.

One thing many government officials and even experts are always reluctant to face is the idea of just how quickly things might happen.  Assume that a disaster occurs that leaves “The Big Machine” broken.  Most people probably will flock to the supermarkets to get the same things they do right before a known big storm is about to hit any city, and clear the shelves just as fast (typically hours).  For those individuals that have waited until that moment to think about their survival through the chaos; they, if they’re lucky, might have expanded the typical one to two week supply of food they may already have in their homes to three weeks.  With water however, most people rely on municipal water or well-water which both require electricity to operate and would be non-existent if “The Big Machine” stalled.  Whatever water they could get from a store or might otherwise have on hand if they typically drink bottled water might give a family of four a couple of weeks at best.  Look at Hurricane Katrina and how quickly society and survival rates devolved over just a few days.  The average person will die after three days of water.  What you can readily see is that having prepared enough to be able to stay in your homes with the doors bolted and making it appear as though no one is home for three weeks would put any family at a major advantage.  They would at least be able to ride-out the initial chaos.  After those initial three weeks raiding of other homes by the few that have survived would increase and people would be salvaging for supplies.  If we consider the possibility that an un-prepared individual is able to use what they already had in their kitchen and got in their rush to the grocery store and then to raid surrounding houses effectively and steal from others to the point of being able to replenish their stock-pile, they might be able to extend their survival to six weeks.  So imagine, if you can simply be able to stock-pile enough water and food, and the ability to defend those supplies, to last you six weeks you will likely out-live the vast majority of the population.  By two months, you will likely find yourself looking for other people that are still alive.  We like to believe that our government would eventually get enough resources together to help rebuild, but if a disaster is widespread enough (it took over a week for FEMA or the National Guard to get to some areas affected by Hurricane Katrina), the government will be so depleted in its own personnel and had to deal with its own basic survival that a truly widespread Hurricane Katrina level or higher disaster would leave us on our own for at least two months.  Just think, 6-8 weeks of survival supplies and skills can get you through the initial chaos and into the phases where communities might be able to have consolidated enough supplies for the survivors so that true re-building and putting society back together can begin.  Just be realistic with yourself about how quickly you would run out of supplies and others would as well, how quickly others would start invading other homes looking for supplies, and how long it would take society to recover from something as simple as a loss of electricity.  Two months is optimistic, but every week past that you can prepare increases your family’s chances of survival many-times over.

 As humans who have had way more expansion and growing of new technologies more than any other decade, we’re too comfortable with our heated blankets and express cappuccino machines during a cold winter’s night.  Its small luxuries like that this country and much of the world knows, things being so easy and so carefree with life.  People believe that they ‘need’ luxuries like these, they have become so dependent on them.  What they need is food, water, and shelter.  People in this country don’t have to go out and hunt their own food, process and cook from start to finish; most wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to field dressing an animal you just killed to feed your family for the week.  It’s the vulnerability like this that makes this country so unprepared for the tragic scenarios that could face us in the future.  When a Global Financial Crisis, EMP, or Pandemic comes into play, average everyday civilians will have no clue what to do or where to start to further provide for their families. When the thought of your children going hungry starts to sink in, that’s when preppers like us become endangered.   For those of us who know the survival tricks and tactics from dedicating our time and passion into preparing, we will be the first targets for attacks.  As prepper’s, in order to save our own lives, we have to help save others before a global crisis happens.
There are 2 steps to getting your friends and family who may be skeptical of the whole idea of “Prepping”.  Getting informed and then getting prepared.

 A highly recommended resource to get friends and families thinking about the “What If’s?” is the fantastic book I mentioned earlier by James Wesley, Rawles.  “How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It”.  This book is a great resource for not only information about any crises that may come to our cities, but it also includes very helpful tips about water filtration, food storage, and medical advice. This book could very well save your and your family and friends lives. It is very important your friends and family have a hard copy of this book, because of course if something were to happen; chances are we won’t have electricity to plug in our Kindles or Ipads to look up survival tips. Calling community meetings and talking to friends and family about the possible situations is one step in the right direction to get a larger group of people informed.  The more our people are exposed to this information mentioned in Rawles book, the more they’re minds will start to wonder about the real possibility of these catastrophes happening.  They will do one of two things, decide they don’t care and not want to be around for the chaos to happen, or two, they will decided to protect their families and do whatever it takes to get ready.  The more information they know about prepping, the better.  Not just for them, but for you as well.  One more neighboring family that knows how to take care of itself is one less family that you have to fear (and one more potential ally) in a survival situation.

Getting prepared the right and successful way is easier said than done. We want to encourage people, not intimidate them with a thousand dollar stock room of dry goods.  Encourage a small “Emergency food” kit, just as most American’s have an Emergency First Aid kit hidden somewhere in their home or car. Something is better than nothing.  20 dollars here, 10 dollars there is a good place to start, slowly building little by little so they can feel comfortable and confident being on their own for a week or two after their pantry runs low. If your budget won’t allow hundreds of dollars for #10 cans of dehydrated food, you’re not doomed for starvation. An easy much less expensive way is to dehydrate your own food and store them in ‘Mylar bags’ since they will help keep your dehydrated food stay fresh for up to 25 years, if done properly.  It is a pretty good investment that isn’t very expensive at all! After getting your dehydrator, which they are readily available for around $40 on Amazon.com (no need to spend $1,000 if you can’t afford it) plan a trip to the grocery store and plan to spend 20 dollars. On your shopping list should be boxed dinners like ‘mac-and-cheese’, ‘Pasta Roni ,’ and canned fruits and veggies. $20 dollars spent on 58 cent ‘mac-and-cheese’ and $1.48 pasta packets should get you quite a few dinners to make ahead. This way when you get home, you can pre-make these easy inexpensive meals and dehydrate them, this way they are already sauced and mixed! Not only will it be faster and easier to reconstitute when it comes time to break open the package, but it will cut down on your cooking time because your meal is already sauced and mixed, so you will save on your fuel that needs to be conserved as much as possible.

One thing people do not want to do is get too ambitious in a short amount of time. Don’t start off by having a goal of a years’ worth of food, that is a great goal but it can also get very overwhelming very fast. Start with a small goal.  Tell yourself you would like to have a weeks’ worth of food, then when you have conquered that goal, do it again. Water is the most important item to have in your prep kit since you can only survive three days without water, the meals you have are no good if you have no water to drink or to reconstitute and heat them. When it’s convenient with your finances buy an extra pack or two of water and store it away. If you work little by little, you’re prep stockpile will grow before your eyes in just a matter of a few weeks.  Along with a stockpile of bottled and jug water, a purification system as a back-up can very well save your life if you happen to run out of water.  With a water filtration system you can drink water anywhere there is a supply that you can get to.

Weapons are a very ideal thing to have (and you need to be sure you know how to use them); if you put all this time, money, and work into building your disaster preparation kit for your family, the last thing you want is to be attacked and taken over by a riot or gang desperate for food.  You have to be able to protect your family and your chance of survival: your water and food.  If you can’t afford to buy a gun, a less expensive alternative is an electric Taser; but, compared to firearms, these are not ideal because of the close proximity needed to do damage.  Also, if someone is attacking your house and you tase them (assuming they're alone, if they’re not then a Taser will leave you defenseless in a hurry), even if you manage to drag the spasming body miles away the person will recover with the knowledge of where you live and that you have something to protect and he can just come back with some of his survival-mates.  The price of an electric stun gun can range from $15 to $80 (and a Taser can cost $400 to $550), so it is a good alternative along with knives if you have nothing else but hand combat.  Remember though, having a knife or firearm that can actually threaten someone else’s life is useless if you do not physically prepare yourself with the knowledge and mettle to use them.

If you’re a new prepper, these trips should help you get on track on the things you need to do, and if you’re a veteran to prepping maybe a few alternatives and ideas were helpful and more cost effective if you’re on a tight budget.  Of course we’re all hoping these unfortunate events won’t happen, but we have to be prepared to survive, and rebuild society when the time is right. My hope for the future is that together, we can inform more people so they can prepare and be safe. If you get one person to start prepping, you may have just saved lives. Let that drive you to inform and save as many as you can. Every person saved is a stronger community when the tough times start. Good luck and God bless.

Part of preparing for any emergency, including TEOTWAWKI, is making plans for those who cannot take care of themselves. Yet, there is very information out there about what to do about Grandma and Grandpa in a crisis situation, or those who just may not be the “fittest.”   Having elders who have been struggling with dementia or who are in cancer treatment, having seen so many of our soldiers come home with PTSD, having loved ones who are chronically ill or permanently disabled, I think about prepping in perhaps a different way than others. After seeking out the information I needed myself from doctors, mental health professionals and fellow preppers, I am now sharing some of the practical advice I’ve found for helping those we love who do not appear to be the best candidates for survival. Why?

For some, caring and preparing for those with less than optimal survival chances may seem like a foolish, even dangerous, goal. Certainly, some soul-searching is required when thinking about who you are willing to “carry” (figuratively and perhaps literally), and just how far you are willing to put yourself and other members of your group in jeopardy to care for someone who may not make it in even a best-case scenario.  You will have to make your own decisions about who to help and who to abandon. But I could not leave my parents, in-laws and grandparents any more than I could leave my children to weather the chaos on their own. I also cannot justify leaving other relatives or friends where they could be victimized by those who prey on the weak. The Biblical commandment to “honor thy father and mother” means not just that I honor them, but that I must also care for them in a crisis. I cannot bear the consequences of writing them off, or leaving them to the unkindness of strangers or the bureaucracy of FEMA. The same goes for all of those I am responsible for, by virtue of my being able, even if they are not.

In the case of illness or dementia, even if it meant that moving them might hasten their deaths, I would choose to care for my own family and friends. Perhaps it is my own rationalization, but I would prefer that if they do indeed die, they do so in the company of people who love them and who will treat them with dignity, not at the hands of mobs or criminals.

If my loved ones were currently in a hospital, nursing home or assisted living situation, I would know the facility’s emergency plan and contingency plans. In case of an emergency, would my people be evacuated, by what means, by whom, and to where? (And I would make my own plans to take custody of them instead).  I would try to be as low-key as possible to avoid alarming the powers that be about any specific disaster or emergency, but I would get the information that could protect them, and make it possible for me to intercept them as quickly as possible in a crisis.

MEDICAL ISSUES - DRUGS
For those who require daily prescription medications, such as cardiac patients, diabetics, epileptics and other chronic illness patients (including those recovering from cancer treatment), some logistical planning now will save anxiety and life-threatening repercussions later.

You will need to know (and have written down) all medications, what they’re for, dosing schedules, and danger signs to watch for. At first, the problem will be in stockpiling enough medication when most insurance covers only minimal monthly quantities. Many times though, a sympathetic physician can prescribe a twice-daily med instead of a once-daily, for example. Explain you’d like to keep a back-up supply for the patient in case of loss, misplacing or forgetting when traveling.

As your supply grows, be especially diligent about rotating meds, using the oldest for current needs and storing the newest in a cool, non-humid environment, and including desiccant packets whenever possible.  (Ask your pharmacy, as they throw these out by the hundreds). 

One of my doctor friends tells me that more than 80% of his geriatric patients are on mood-altering drugs. A similarly large percentage of handicapped and cancer patients are routinely put on these drugs as well. For those who are on antidepressants, antipsychotics or anti-anxiety meds, benzodiazepines or steroids, special cautions apply. These drugs can cause terrible effects if stopped suddenly, and most require a very gradual weaning off the drug if one wishes or is forced to discontinue use. Check with your patient’s physician, and do your own research on ALL of the drugs your patient is taking (www.rxlist.com is an excellent resource), and plan accordingly.

MEDICAL ISSUES – ELDERS
While health can vary widely among seniors, there are specific concerns that are common to most. Circulation issues such as edema, bruising and bleeding, dehydration, and constipation can all be more serious in the aged, no matter what the fitness level. Falls and resulting injuries should always be avoided and prevented, as the consequences for elders can be much more serious than normal.
Simple observation and precaution about everyday conditions is necessary. We lose the ability to adapt rapidly to temperature variations as we age—most elderly people feel “cold” faster than younger companions and are at special risk of hypothermia. Your preparations will have to include supplies that ensure more warmth, such as extra clothes, hats, socks & gloves, and you will have to be vigilant in caring for elders who get wet or chilled.

Response to heat or exercise can also be a problem. Fluid intake of seniors must be monitored closely at all times. Dehydration during exertion or other stress may occur rapidly and without warning, causing diarrhea, vomiting, delirium and ultimately, death.

Many seniors will have dietary deficits, due to waning appetite, poor digestion, or self-sacrifice for others’ needs. Without adequate fiber-rich foods (or supplements) and liquids, constipation can become a life-threatening situation for an elder, not merely a painful inconvenience. Stool softener and laxatives should have a starring place in your senior’s medical kit. Lack of vital nutrients may also affect sight, hearing and balance. Keep an eye on their diets and make sure they get the nutrition they need.

Seniors are subject to painful and dramatic bruising when injured, especially if they have been on blood-thinning medications, commonly prescribed to prevent arterial plaques and stroke. Excessive bleeding and inability to clot are also effects of these drugs. Avoid injury first, and if unsuccessful, treat bruises and bleeding quickly to forestall further complication. Every cut or abrasion is also a potential site for infection, which can overwhelm one who is already weak, so be particularly aware of your charges’ skin condition.
Swelling of the extremities due to poor vascular circulation can incapacitate your older loved one. Compression socks, or in a pinch, elastic bandages, are a good addition to the clothing or first aid kit.

COMMUNICATE
Preparation for your loved ones begins with talking to them. You may be surprised to find out that oldsters are more prepared than you thought. After all, many have lived through tough economic depressions and wartime shortages, and they know a thing or two about living well with less convenience. Someone whose breathing depends on oxygen may have already prepared for a power failure or disruption of supply. If not, you can help that person get prepared.  Someone who is overweight or in poor physical condition can benefit from a daily walk or strength training, even without the threat of an emergency. You might be the motivator or the companion to help improve the quality of that person’s life, now and in case of future crises.
Approach with a sincere offer of help, but be sure to ask what general and specific help they would need from you in case of an emergency. You do not know what the unique needs are until you ask.
For those that still don’t accept the idea that all sorts of manmade disaster and mayhem can happen here, and can happen at any time, the conversation can take place in the context of preparing for a natural calamity, such as a tornado, earthquake or fire.

Be aware that some of the sick, disabled and elderly may need to be convinced that their survival is possible, even probable, if they prepare themselves mentally and physically. You may hear this type of defeatism in statements such as “Don’t worry about me, I wouldn’t want to live in that world anyway…” Your people need to know that that a can-do, positive attitude combined with practical planning and preparation can up their chances. They need to know you’ll be there to help them. Most importantly, they need to know that their survival is of paramount importance to you.

MENTAL TOUGHNESS vs. PHYSICAL FITNESS
You should not assume that because your parent is sick, your grandparent is old, your friend is diabetic, your relative is obese, or your neighbor is blind, that these people are helpless or even less than capable of survival.  Emotional strength, mental tenacity, technical skill sets or ethical leadership can quickly trump any physical challenges, depending on the situation. Lack of emotional resiliency or deteriorating mental stability can quickly turn a strong athlete into a greater liability to the group than Granny who needs a cane.
For example, I have a physically-fit friend who stocks an “earthquake kit,” a 72-hour stopgap to see her through a brief disruption of water and food supplies “until help arrives.” She refuses to consider anything more than that, because it would mean that she would be on her own for longer than she is willing to be. She refuses to own a firearm, because that would mean that she might have to use it. This head-in-the-sand attitude is not preparedness, in spite of her pride in running 10Ks on the weekends, having a few gallons of water and a three-day supply of food in the garage.
On the other hand, my 85-year old mother bought a retreat back in the 1970s, stocked it with supplies and learned to shoot. She has a stay-put plan, several bug-out escape routes, keeps her stock rotated, tests her equipment regularly and maintains situational awareness, even when she’s just going to the bank or grocery store. She has a mental toughness that belies the physical weaknesses of a woman her age.

THE NEED TO BE NEEDED
All of the people you care about have combinations of physical and mental challenges. What we all have in common is our need to be useful, no matter what our abilities or lack of abilities. A person without functioning legs can still wield a weapon or man a security cam. Someone who is blind can still direct audio comms. Everyone has skills and talents that the family and community need, and the survival of the whole group dictates finding appropriate jobs for everyone.
Those who are critically ill or in the advanced stages of dementia may need to have round-the-clock caregivers, which could put a strain on community labor resources. The whole group would ideally have the same reverence and respect for all the members’ quality of life, even the infirm and ill.

GET YOURSELF READY FIRST
Much of the information about surviving natural disasters or man-made insanities assumes that we will prepare not only our environment, but ourselves as well. In order to deal with a crisis, realize that while we are teaching ourselves new skills, setting aside food stores, preparing security and energy options and planning for those who are weaker than ourselves, we must diligently prep our own minds and bodies to withstand the multiple demands that will be required.

Knowing that stresses of panic, physical exertion, mental exhaustion, and lack of sleep will pile up and collapse you if you are not ready, is not enough. Add in caring for others who are young, old, chronically ill, obese, disabled or just darn difficult, and your preparedness becomes even more critical.
Part of the process requires that we must be physically fit ourselves before we can take care of others. So put down that list and go exercise, at least some part of every day! Do not allow yourself to become out of shape, while you’re stockpiling supplies and securing your environment. There are people depending on you. Make sure you are the fittest you can be, physically and mentally. Then you can expend energy on building a community that includes everyone you care about, even the unfit.

I’m writing this article to encourage you, if you’re in a similar situation as I am.  I may be writing it also, to encourage myself.  I want to say that it is possible to prepare for emergencies to some extent, even if you aren’t exactly doing it as a team.  I will share some of my story in order to give you some ideas.

I am a happily-married woman living with a wonderful husband and my four children in a Midwestern state, in a town of less than 5000.  I have been increasingly concerned about an economic collapse, and have been educating myself about preparedness in the last 2 years.  My husband is not happy with the way the country is going, but also isn’t willing to “over-react”, or get “paranoid”.  As a christian woman, I believe that it is my responsibility to submit to my husband with a good attitude, but also my responsibility to see to the needs of my household.  How do I balance that all out?
First, I trust in God.  He has never failed us.  As we have honored Him, and given Him the first fruits of our income, He has always taken care of us.  For example, 3 ½ years ago, we became convinced that God’s will was for us to try to become debt free.  We prayed that somehow God would provide a way for us to become debt-free.  Little did we know that within 6 months, my husband’s job in a large metropolitan area would end and we would sell our house for $30,000 less than we had into it, but still pay off our mortgage.  He would end up, not in his profession, but rather working 5 part-time jobs, and we would buy a foreclosed house in a rural area that needed some work.  After all of the difficulty we’ve had, we are now debt-free in a nice house, in rural America.  God’s ways are definitely not ours!

Secondly, don’t discount the assets you have or want, as something your spouse would automatically reject.  We have a lot of great camping gear that my husband loves.  I suggested a few additions that he has enthusiastically embraced, such as a Dutch oven.  This summer, we used it for every meal on our camping trip in order to really get the hang of it, and I made sure to include meals he likes.  A few of the other  things I’ve  gotten are a couple of flashlights that can work on a hand-crank charge (almost free after a Menard's rebate),  a solar heated hanging “shower” for camping ($1 at a rummage sale),  a lantern that works on a hand crank, and a charcoal starter.  The addition I’m most excited about is our sand-point well. It turns out that this little town has very high sewer rates, thanks to a large new sewage treatment plant which was built recently, anticipating a housing boom that didn’t happen. The sewer charge is calculated off our water use.  It’s nothing to get a $400 quarterly water/sewer bill, so my husband was willing to put in a backyard well so we could wash the vehicle, and water the garden without city water.  It cost about $400 or $500 including the permits, equipment, and 1 afternoon rental of a jackhammer.  Although it runs on electricity now, he was agreeable to spend $40 to get the hand pump attachment and store it for an emergency.

If your husband has any interests that line up with preparedness skills, then encourage him.  My husband is a hunter, and fisherman, so I am very supportive.  We usually discuss purchases together, and if he brings up an interest in purchasing any “hunting equipment”, fishing tackle, etc., I say, “Go for it”.  When we have the money for a conceal carry class, I’ll support his interest.  When he expressed an interest in my pickling his fish, I did it, even though I dislike pickled fish.  He was willing to build me the square food garden boxes I asked for, so I will be willing to can all the tomatoes and salsa he wants.  I don’t complain about all of the venison we eat.  Although my husband isn’t willing for me to tear up any more of our small lawn for a larger garden, he IS willing to tear up some lawn in order to put in a raspberry patch.  I’ll take what I can get. 

I have been keeping an eye out for preparedness books at rummage sales, GoodWill,  and library sales.  So far, I’ve spent less than $20 to get:  “The PDR Pocket Guide to Prescription Drugs “ (includes dosages), Where There Is No Doctor edited by Dr. David Werner, Making the Best of Basics - Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens, “12 Month Harvest”,  “Home Canning”, and a 20 volume set called “The Creative Workshop”.  I also used my Christmas money from my mother-in-law to get "How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It",  “The Urban Homestead”, “Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs”, and “The Prepper’s Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do To Ready Your Home For a Disaster”.  (I definitely didn’t tell my mother-in-law which books I bought with her gift.  She would think I had cracked up.)

Other rummage sale finds include a vacuum-sealer, and a box of canning jars.  I picked up a set of solar pathway lights for half-price last week, and have gotten several used food-grade buckets from the bakery dept. of our grocery store.  That is how their frosting is delivered, so I got them for $.50 each just for asking, and just had to wash them out.

One piece of advice; for what it’s worth.  Don’t go for everything you want all at once.  Two years ago, I talked him into buying a six month supply of dehydrated food from Augason Farms.  This was a very big purchase for us.  We tucked it away.  This winter, I approached my husband asking for a one -month supply of more accessible, “normal” food such as canned goods, and he was fine with that. I had been concerned that the one of our children with multiple serious food allergies would not have any protein that he could safely have from that 6 month supply we had purchased.  Soy, beans/peas, and nuts were out of the question, so I needed canned meat/seafood.   If there was a dire need, that child could eat protein from the new stuff for 6 months, and the other 5 of us could eat the other proteins.  Because of our finances, it has taken 6 months to gradually buy enough additional food to feed 6 people for a month.  I just finished this week, and it feels great! The next step is to get a rotation system in place for those foods.  I keep the food stored out of sight, (out of mind) so that my husband isn’t constantly reminded of how much money we’ve spent. J Also, the kids aren’t as likely to blab about it if they don’t see it.

My plan now is to focus on learning skills.  I got a pressure canner for Christmas, and have started teaching myself how to use it comfortably.  I also plan to learn to make bread without my breadmaker.  Perhaps I’ll try sourdough bread, or yogurt.   Other goals are to organize car emergency kits, research and plan for updating first-aid kits, and to make a wish list of things to keep an eye out for at end-of-season sales, or rummage sales.

As an aside, don’t forget that you may already have more food available than you think in your cupboards, and freezer.  I tend to forget to count the food that’s on our shelves, and in our freezer, but of course that would be the first food we would use up. 

Finally, there may be some preparations that you would like to make, that your husband doesn’t agree to.  In my case, it’s a woodstove.  My thought is, “It would keep us from freezing.” His thought is, “No, because it would aggravate two kids’ asthma, and also aggravate a dry- eye condition I have.”  What I have decided to do is forget about it.  If it came down to it, my husband, with God’s help, would figure something out.  God’s Word clearly tells me not to worry, so I choose to let it go.  I’m at peace, even though there’s a big question mark in the area of heat.

Anyway, my point is, don’t get discouraged.  No matter how much you can do, it’s more than the average citizen is doing, and your family will be better off for it.  Just trust God.  He knows your husband, and gave him to you.  If you are honest and have the right attitude and motives, your husband will be able to trust you.  He may not always agree with you, but it’s better to be partially prepared to struggle through TEOTWAWKI while happily married to your best friend, than to be fully prepared to survive TEOTWAWKI in a miserable, resentful marriage.  Our children learn how to honor and respect their future spouses, by watching how we honor and respect their Dad.  It is a legacy to pass on that will be a blessing to them all of their lives.

During my years in the military, I spent most of my time in the military intelligence field.  Though I was specifically trained in signals intelligence, I learned to utilize a number of sources in producing intelligence products for my command.  The tactics that I learned both in individual training as well as on-the-job are applicable to a number of applications, including preparing yourself and your family for emergency situations. 
In my years of reading “alternative” message boards and blog posts, I noticed that most people in the prepper community either live in a rural community or have a desire to relocate to one.  As someone who grew up in a rural area, I would highly recommend taking such an action, especially in the light of the threats we face from economic collapse, food shortages, rioting, and other calamities, both natural and man-made.  For some of us, however, we are unable to relocate from the area that we currently reside.

My family and I reside in a suburban area of a very large city in the United States.  Most likely, we will not be able to relocate from this area in the near term, so we attempt to make the best of our situation.  Part of our preparation includes the production of intelligence reports of our subdivision and local community.  Creating information such as threat reports is useful for any prepper, regardless of residence location, but is vital when the number of persons that are nearby increases.  Using my past experiences, these are some of the tactics that I adapted for use in creating such reports for my subdivision. 

Creating the Map
In my opinion, the first and most important step that a prepper can take in developing intelligence for his or her suburban area is mapping the local area.  Fortunately, maps are easy to find.  Because my subdivision is over 30 years old, there are fully developed key maps available for purchase.  I can also utilize online mapping and driving directions sites to not only create maps of the streets, but also overlay such things as satellite imagery, points of interest, and anything else that would be necessary for my preparations.  I would create a large, laminated copy of the local area and/or subdivision map and place it on a wall, desk, or other convenient area where it can be easily referenced and manipulated.  If there is space, I would create a variety of maps; for example,  one that featured only streets, one that included satellite imagery, and one that includes locations of stores and gas stations.  I would also create smaller laminated versions and keep them in my vehicles, bug-out bags, and purse or wallet.  Many of the tactics listed in this article will refer back to studying and manipulating the larger map.

Mapping Information
Once the maps are created, take time to study the aerial view of the area in depth.  Look for places of entry and exit of the subdivision and local area (by car, motorbike, foot, etc.)  Imagine where roadblocks can be placed should the authorities implement them.  Find different ways in which you could travel from and to your home.  Study potential choke-points where gangs can trap residents.  Note the locations of homes where you could stop by and/or drop your kids off if you were prevented from being at or going to your home.  For those that like to mark up documents, you can take a marker, either erasable or permanent, and make these notations right on the map.

Make an ingress and egress plan for your neighborhood.  Determine ways that you can get in and out of the subdivision without taking streets.  Take note of places where you could hide or find cover from attack.  Make note of these locations on the map. 

Take is checking the local police blotters and statistics for crime in the area.  When I managed a crime board during my employment at a university police department, I placed different colored pins in areas where crimes were suspected or committed.  Each pin represented a different classification of crime.  This allowed the staff to quickly ascertain the prevalence of certain crimes, locations where crime was highly probable, as well as trends that may have developed.  You can place pins, colored stickers, or even dots from colored markers on areas of the map to determine areas most likely to be hit by criminals when society begins to break down.   
It would also be important to note the locations of known sex offenders, felons, and former criminals on the map.  Sex offender information is often located on a state database at no charge; information for the others may not necessarily be available, or could come at a cost.  While a person who has served their time may never commit another offense during his or her lifetime again, it is best to at least know where potential danger could lurk during times of peril.

Some subdivisions contract with local police or security firms to provide patrols during certain periods of the day.  Look for patterns among the patrols as well as the patrollers and note them on the map if possible.  For example, in my subdivision, one officer spends most of his shift sitting in the same location every time he is on duty there.  Another officer takes the same route driving through the subdivision while he is on duty.  Make note of any significant changes that the officers take during patrol; this could indicate patrolling for specific reasons or persons.  Try to engage the officers from time to time; they can be a valuable source of information about the happenings around the area.

Learn the Location
Now, let’s step away from the map and now engage the subdivision and local environment in a different perspective.  Take time out to schedule regular walks, bike rides, etc. in and around the neighborhood.  If this is something you already do, take alternative paths or go during varying times during the day.  Here, you can practice taking the alternative ingress and egress routes you found on the map, as well as searching for places to hide or take cover.  Make note of the vehicles that are usually parked in driveways or along the street.  Learn to recognize familiar faces.  Note activities that seem to be out of the ordinary for your location.  For example, I learned, in my former neighborhood, that one home was used as a drug manufacturing lab.  Many of the teenagers in the neighborhood sold drugs for the dealer that ran the lab.  I learned to be careful when confronting the teens that would vandalize areas around my home (including the For Sale signs in our yard) knowing that they possessed more weapons and firepower than I did. 

Get detailed information on your subdivision.  Learn the number of homes that are in the subdivision.  For large subdivisions, learn how the different villages are configured.  Find out the demographics that are pertinent information to know (average ages of household adults, average number of children per household, etc.)  Make regular searches for your neighborhood on the internet .Take note of information on the neighborhood web site and/or bulletin board.  Keep local emergency numbers of note, including fire, police, utility companies, homeowner’s association, etc.

You can also learn valuable intelligence information from the windows of your residence.  Find the best vantage points in your home that allow you to look around the neighborhood.  This works best in multi-story homes.  Take time to note the “normal” condition of the homes, yards, and streets around you.  Binoculars or telescopes can help you view particular locations that could normally be inaccessible.  It would be best to have a privacy screen on your window that limits others from seeing your own activities while you watch theirs.

Know Your Neighbors
Get to know your neighbors   Start or join a neighborhood patrol.  Try to engage them as you make your way around the neighborhood during your walks or bike rides.  Begin discussions about local activities, being careful to avoid the impression that you are gathering information for intelligence products.  Gossipers are a wonderful resource for intelligence analysts; they always have a need to talk to others and feel special telling every minute detail about everyone else’s lives.  In my case, I had a neighbor whom I did not know come up to me in the yard and ask me some details about my child that my wife and I would rarely share with others.  After asking her further, I found that her source of information was from another neighbor who sometimes dropped by inside our home in order to use our telephone (and I think may have overheard a conversation I or my wife had on our cell phones.)  Needless to say, the phone has not been available to her since.
Take time to learn about your neighbors in the digital realm.  Checking local voter registration information and/or property tax rolls can often provide names and addresses of the people around you.  You can cross-check their information (names, addresses, telephone numbers, etc.) through search engines, criminal and sex-offender databases, and information collection sources (such a Pipl, LinkedIn, Zabasearch, etc.) Perhaps your state may catalog concealed weapon license holders.  Look for social networking sites where they may reveal more information about their lives (and the lives of those around them.)  Do not forget to check the social networks for their (and your) children, as well as their linked friends as well.  Some people with bad intentions have a tendency to broadcast this information through these methods.

Create the Intelligence Report
With several pieces of data collected on the subdivision, the prepper can now develop intelligence reports that can aid him or her in readying for emergency situations.  The thing about intelligence products is that it is tailored to the needs of the person requesting the information.  When I developed a number of reports during my military time, I usually made them to answer specific questions that were posed to me.  Some questions you may need answered could include:

1. What are the most dangerous locations in my subdivision?
2. What person(s) can I depend on during an emergency?  How can I get to him or her?
3. Are there any persons to keep a lookout for during emergency situations?
4. What are the various ways to get in and out of the neighborhood under stealth conditions?
5. What can be seen inside of my home during the day?  At night? 
6. How many direct lines of sight lead to my property?  How can I mitigate that situation?
7. Is there something on my property that can attract “special” attention from others
8. Do I have a property feature that is outside of the norm for my neighborhood?
9. Do the police and/or security patrol near my home?  If not, how can I address that?
10. What areas of the neighborhood give me the best vantage point for spotting outsiders?
11. Who in the neighborhood may be armed? 
12. Who in my neighborhood is trained in specific skills that can be useful for my needs?
13. Are there other preppers that I can network with in my neighborhood?
14. How is the power grid routed in my neighborhood?  Can certain portions lose power while others retain theirs? 
15. What is the biggest potential threat to my subdivision?  What is the most likely threat?

Hopefully these suggestions can help preppers who, for one reason or another, enhance their readiness for surviving an emergency in suburban areas.  In a later post, I hope to include factors that can be used for those who may face emergencies while living in an urban area.

We’ve read about it in books, watched it in movies, or seen it on the news: People joining together to defend their neighborhood.  The point of this article is to review the general details needed to correctly accomplish this difficult objective.  Successfully defending a neighborhood in a societal collapse is extremely difficult, and it’s not even close to being as easy as it is commonly portrayed.  As you read this, please remember the golden rule of security: it is like being pregnant…either you are or you’re not!  Being partially secured is not much better than being completely unsecured. 

Overview and Expectations

The first part of a neighborhood defensive plan is deciding the type and size of the opposing force.  The majority of potential threats will be related to your demographic location.  Are you located close to a prison or juvenile correction facility?  Are you on the outskirts of a major city that has a high population of gangs or slum areas?  What if your neighborhood is rural but suburbs are located in every cardinal direction? 

Next, how large or small of an area is going to be defended?  The manpower and resources required vary drastically depending on the size of the defended region.  Do you need to defend a single dead-end street, or must two square blocks be secured?  As the defended area enlarges, all other defensive requirements are greatly multiplied.

Finally, how long do you plan on defending the area?  Is it going to be for 12 hours, 2 weeks, 1 month, or 2 years?  The manpower and supplies required expand exponentially the longer the defensive plan.

Knowing Your Neighbors

Now that the decision has been made that a defensive plan must be created, the question needs to be asked: who will participate?  In modern society, we seem to have lost the connection between our neighbors that we had prior to the internet, iPads, cell phones, and other technology which insulates us from each other.  Today, most people have no idea who their neighbors are.  You need to get out and build relationships with the people that live in your area.  This enables you to determine who is reliable and like-minded, who to avoid, and even if you even have registered criminals living close.

The next step is more difficult:  how do you address your defensive strategy to the people you have determined may be “Okay?”  If you are direct, will it turn people away?  Should you start the idea by forming a neighborhood watch?  With the nation becoming the Nanny State, be careful how you approach this topic.

Most importantly, be careful about personal details discussed with acquaintances.  Remember to practice OPSEC (Operational Security).  You should not tell anyone except your most trusted confidants the details of your level of prepping, the supplies you’ve stored, or your defensive tools.  You should never refer to yourself as a “Prepper.”   A good saying to remember is:  “You cannot un-ring a bell,” meaning that once information is provided, it cannot be taken back.  Be friendly, be polite, but be vague about your personal preparations.

Be aware that as a result of your quest to find like-minded people, you are by default putting yourself in the leadership position of your group.  You need to think long and hard about this detail.  Is this a responsibility for which you’re prepared or should you pass this important role off to another person that would be a suitable leader?  If you decide to continue the role as leader, be prepared for the duties that follow.  You will be the person in charge that everyone looks to for answers.  Furthermore you will also be the person that fingers are pointed at for blame.  As Shakespeare says in “Henry IV, Part 1:” “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

Who To Select For What Position
Personalities are just as important to a position as the actual position.  Do you want someone manning a checkpoint who only asks “Will we get to shoot someone”?  On the other hand, do you want someone at a checkpoint that refuses the concept of ever being confrontational no matter what the situation is?  You are looking for someone the military refers to as a “quiet professional”.  For defensive positions, you want someone that has a calm temper, sound mind, and possesses logical thought and reasoning: definitely NOT the Rambo type. 

The other consideration is a difficult.  No matter what good intentions people have during table times, you do not know what they will do in hard times.  You cannot blame them, but when faced with danger, people might choose their family’s safety over their sense of duty.  Once you know your potential group members better, you will get an idea of who man their post and who will flee.   In my professional experience, I have found that the people that talk a good game are not always the ones that will stand up and fight.  On the other hand, in many cases the person you think will run away turns out to be the most reliable person on your team.

The Plan: What Is Needed
This section is not about tactical drills, fighting techniques, or weapons handling.  It’s a general discussion to provide a concise and realistic concept for creating your area security plan.

A perimeter must be established around the defended area.  Two perimeters will actually be created: An extended perimeter (EP) and an inner perimeter (IP).  
I have found that the best way to plan the perimeters is to print high resolution screen-prints of the area using Google Earth.  These screen-prints should include the surrounding regions and be printed on true photo quality paper which is then laminated.  In this way permanent markers can be used for planning and then the printouts can simply be cleaned with rubbing alcohol for reuse later.

First you must create the EP.  This is the defensive line that intercepts the first presence of a threat.  All points of entry must be secured (roads, paths, trails, etc.) by establishing barriers & defensive fighting positions.  These positions must not be visible from a distance.  Avoid being out in the open on a road, instead be off to the side and within cover.  When possible, remove anything outside the position that can be used as offensive cover.  Do not make it easy for the possible threat!  

An additional question to consider for preparing a position or check point is what type of barrier do you want to use?  Such items as cars or farm machinery can be used to make movable barriers should you want to keep the ability for friendly vehicles to pass.  Another important detail is the need for designated areas for bathrooms and locations for rest and sleep.  If possible, a good idea is to build a shelter to protect you from the elements.  People’s motivation and enthusiasm can quickly disappear when they are made miserable by the elements.           

Once the positions are set up and all points of entry are secure, observation post (OP) is required if you have the manpower for it.  This position should preferably be in an elevated location and forward of the OP to spot threats before they get to the defended area.  Simply put, they are the early warning system.  3 people staffing the OP are the minimum requirement.  After 1 hour, it is difficult for the average person to stay 100% alert in an observation position.  You need a rotation established to keep one person watching, one resting, and one “at the ready.” 

Creating range cards is the next step to establish sectors of fire.  The last thing you want to do is be in a position where you might have to engage and risk casualties via friendly fire, range cards can prevent this tragedy.  In addition to factoring in the skill of your team members, you must consider the geography.  If you are in an urban area, there will be houses and neighboring communities outside your perimeter.  Knowing the range of your weapon is part of this as well.  For example, a bullet from a firearm as small as a .22 LR travels up to 1.5 miles.  A 5.56 mm NATO round exceeds 3,000 meters.  Keep these details in mind when planning your sector of fire. 

Outfit each OP and checkpoint with the following minimum list of items:

• PPE (Personal Protection Equipment: body armor, eye protection, etc.)
• Form of communication and signal between OP and residences inside the IP
• Defensive Tools
• Appropriate manpower
• Retreat route to IP (Primary & Secondary)
• Optics
• Food, water; stimulants
• Runner between posts (reduces the need for a guard to be absent)
• Lights

Pulling guard duty is extremely tiring.  Maintaining focus for extended periods of time becomes difficult and eventually staying awake is challenging as well.  Remember, you will be under a great deal of stress, and stress will wear you out just as fast as physical activity.  Stimulants are a good to have on hand, but there are good and bad stimulants.  Coffee and other liquid diuretics should be avoided.  They quickly cause urination, and since you should not urinate inside your position, you will be forced to leave your position which allows you to be seen and heard by the enemy.  Possible alternatives are caffeine gum or pills, natural vitamins, or similar.  In the past, as a Ranger, I found a method that sounds a little extreme but works.  Take a can of long cut snuff, add a capful of whiskey, and let it sit for a few days.  Insert the tobacco in your mouth and while the residue is on your fingers, rub your eyes.  Trust me, it is as unpleasant as it sounds, but it’s nowhere near as bad as being the person that fell asleep while on guard duty.    An important detail to factor in is the “crash” that happens after the substance wears off.  Remember, the more powerful the stimulant, the greater the crash.

The next step is to plan your IP.  The purpose of the IP is to provide the last line of defense in case the EP collapses.  In the center of it are your supplies and non-combatants.  People that are classified as non-combatants are: children, elderly, and those that are physically unable to actively defend the lines.  If you are fortunate to have medics or doctors in your group, keep them there as well.  Why risk the few people who are medically trained on the front line? 

The previously mentioned list and other details also apply to the IP.  The IP however has no defensive fallback plan.   If the EP collapses, and all positions retreat to the IP, you are in serious trouble.  At this point there are then two choices:  retreat if possible, or, re-enact The Alamo. 

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
            Think of SOPs as your team’s play book.  SOP’s are living procedures and thus always evolve.  Some details will change over time and others will not.  It is important that everyone knows what the group SOPs are, and they should always be available for reference.  SOPs must thoroughly cover all operational aspects of your group, thus they require a great deal of time and thought to create.  Listed below is a simple starter list of topics:

• Escalation of presence and force (amber, red, black)

At what point will it be decided that the neighborhood needs to get together?  Will you start by being low-profile and later have the appearance of a hard target?  How will the activation process be initiated?

• Established combat load for guard force (for each threat level)

At the Amber level, do you want people to have assault style weapons slung over their shoulder?  At Red level, do you want people in tennis shoes with only a pistol in their waist band?

• Dealing with noncombatants at checkpoints

How do you handle people that want to pass through?  What about people that want to enter?  What if they are people living in your neighborhood that do not want to take part in the defensive plan? 

• Dealing with LEOs

What image do you want to give Law Enforcement Officers? (should they still be active) 

• NEO Plan (Noncombatant Evacuation and Repatriation Operation)

If a retreat is something you see as being inevitable, how are you going to evacuate your children and elderly?  Where are they going?  What equipment and manpower will be needed for this?  At what point will this be needed before it is too late?

• Roles and responsibilities

What roles will be needed in your plan?  What is expected of them?  Will people be cross trained with a certain level of standards for skill set?

• ROE (rules of engagement)

At what level of force will you meet each threat?  Will it be able to be justified later in time?  Was it an equal level of force? 

• Outline of leadership

This is needed!  Without it, there would be no organization within the group.  Who is in charge?  Who is next in command?  Who is in charge of the positions?  Who is in charge of the people within the IP? 

• Dealing with prisoners and casualties

What will you do with people that might have to be detained?  Will they be treated humanely and have proper quarters to keep them?  What will you do with casualties (friendly and not friendly)?  What about their supplies?  What will done with their bodies? 

• Escorts and convoys

If the situation dictates the need to lock an area down, but stores are still open with what few items they have left, how will personnel move their safely and back?  Will one small group go into the store while another guards the vehicles?  Will you take the same route back and forth?

• Passwords and information security

Do you have a challenge and password made for the IP/OP?  What about a running password?  Are passwords put in code phrases or left with normal verbiage?

• Situations Dictating Actions

At what point do you collapse the EP into the IP?  When will you start evacuation (if possible)? Under what conditions will a retreat be called?

Other Considerations
Another form of protection that is usually overlooked is CYA (cover your a**).  If all hell has broken loose, and you are forced to protect yourself and the people around you, you need to protect yourself for the possible future ahead.  What I mean is that when the environment stabilizes, you may be made to answer for your defensive actions.  What if you are accused of assaulting someone who walked up to your check point?  If lethal force was used, was it justified?  Can you remember the name of the officer who visited your EP?  These facts should all be documented in a logbook.  Any and every incident should be logged, no matter how large or small.  You want to be as descriptive as possible.  When you are writing this, imagine you are trying to tell a judge your side of the story, because you very well could be using this logbook to do just that!  Ensure dates, times, who was involved, what happened, what actions were taken, and how every means possible was used prior to any type of force are all recorded.  This should be written down as soon as possible while the information is still fresh in your mind.  Details are the key to an effective report.

Another serious consideration is that after you have the area secured, what happens to the families that live inside the established perimeter that do not want to be part of what’s going on?  Will you protect them should the need arise?  What if they have family members attempting to break into the perimeter?  Are you going to deny access?  These are very difficult questions to plan for and there is a fine line between doing the right thing and self-declaring martial law on your street. 

The last point to consider is not specifically related to the previous discussion.  It is about the image you present to others.  It is not just about the clothing you are wearing.  Nuances ranging from body language, physical approach towards someone, facial expressions, and your overall demeanor can greatly affect the tone of the interaction you have with other people.  You most likely will meet more people that are non-combatants then are threats.  Is the head-to-toe camouflage approach the one you want to give as a first impression?  By appearance alone, you made yourself a potential combatant to others.  What type of reaction do you think you will get from police if they see you in all the latest tactical gear with a military style rifle slung over your shoulder?  What about the mother with kids in hand that you encounter?  At this point in time, everyone will have at least some level of fear in them.  Anybody that says differently has never been in a threatening environment.  Why escalate the situation if not necessary?  There is a time and place for camouflage and other gear, but in most cases dressing in practical civilian clothing (like cargo pants and overly large shirt concealing items you might have on you), along with a friendly but cautious personality will be most effective.  Simply put, when it comes time to decide how you want to appear and act towards others, ask yourself how you would react if you came across someone who looked and acted just like “you?”  Personally, if I was approached by someone dressed like ninja, armed, and had an attitude…I will be reacting much differently than if they seemed approachable and wearing earth tone non-tactical clothing.

Conclusion
You need to think long and hard about the realistic possibility of accomplishing this objective.  Yes, in movies and books it seems easy to accomplish:  most of the time the “good guys” always win.  After reading this article you should realize that it is much more complex then it seems.

The amount of manpower, supplies, and equipment needed are extremely difficult to obtain for a long term defensive strategy.  To provide a real life example, while living in an unsecured area (Red Zone) in Iraq, we needed a guard force of over 100 men to protect a large house 24/7.  That sounds like a lot, but as mentioned previously, a position does not have a single person; a guard rotation is required.  In our case roughly 50 men per 12 hour shift were necessary for the EP and IP to view in all cardinal directions and to provide protection for the non-combatants. 

With that in mind, how many people will you need to guard a small section of your neighborhood?   Continuing with another personal example, I was part of a force that guarded an urban compound in Baghdad which covered a space roughly 1 by 2 city blocks.  To protect it in a high threat environment we needed 300 static guards (12.5 hour shifts 7 days a week), 9 Quick Response Teams (consisting of 6 men on each team), and enough gear, supplies, ammo, water, and food to sustain everybody.  This doesn’t even consider the resources and supplies needed to establish a secured perimeter.

Another factor that hinders the ability to guard a neighborhood is the group of people available.  You will probably find more people not interested than those that are interested.  The people you do find will be in various ages and physical shape, some might have military or police training, some will not.  It will probably be a “ragtag” group.  Many will like the idea of defending their territory, but will not or cannot plan or practice.  Chances are you will not be fortunate to find yourself living in a community of ex-commandos ready to take tackle this matter head on. 

In conclusion, the reality of defending a neighborhood is that it is not practical and is better left as a fantasy.  I’ve only touched on a very few factors to consider, and there are so many more factors working against you.  It will be nearly impossible for a group of citizens in various states of health, with little or no training, even if they are enthusiastic, to successfully defend a neighborhood.

As a formerly disabled person I would like to share some ideas to help make survival more likely or at least less treacherous:

 * Keep a heavy duty luggage cart for bug out bags. They are versatile and can be used for many other things like hauling water. Wheeled backpacks with roller blade wheels will not be as durable and versatile.

*  Adult tricycle bikes are quite stable can help many get around easier and quicker while carrying some supplies too. These can be used by others as well to carry water and heavier supplies.
   
*  Foot-care should be top priority. If you are caring for someone who is elderly or diabetic check there feet often and make sure to keep moleskin, extra soft socks and that they own a pair of quality sneakers that are comfortable.

*  Meal replacement shakes That have a minimum of 19 grams of protein per serving, contain a minimum 25% of RDA on Vitamins and minerals per serving. Higher calories are better and low in sugar. Ideally you want something that only needs to be mixed with water or you can also add powdered milk.

   These can be used by everyone but will be especially handy for the elderly & sick.

*  For those dealing with incontinence it will not always be practical to stock up on or carry the required amount of supplies needed but the following items can help:

        Male external catheters (available online)
        Female urination devices like GOGIRL
        Plastic moisture barrier underwear
        Reusable (washable) incontinence pads & briefs for both men & women       
        Gentle laxatives
        Baby wipes & washcloths

 *   USB memory stick containing medical records

 *  10 parameter reagent test strips- an easy urine strip test that tests glucose, bilirubin, ketone, specific gravity, blood, pH, protein, urobilinogen nitrite, and leukocytes. They are inexpensive--only about $13 for 100  test strips and should be included in everyone's emergency kits.

*  Back pain- Mueller adjustable lumbar back brace, Biofreeze or Salonpas, extra Ibuprofen or Aleve
    Knee pain- Patella tendon strap or full knee brace, Biofreeze or Salonpas , extra Ibuprofen or Aleve
   Neck pain- Inflatable neck pillow, Caldera relief neck rest, Biofreeze or Salonpas , extra Ibuprofen or Aleve

    You can also learn acupressure using your fingers or a knob like device
    Robin Mckenzie has written two very popular books on the subject titled Treat Your Own Back and Treat Your Own Neck

*  Book Recommendation: Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner

*  Heart rate monitors for exercise. These can be used to monitor those with heart conditions and make sure that they
   take a break or practice calming exercises when needed. Some of these have custom alarms that will beep when your heart rate
   goes to high or too low.

*  Diabetic supplies may run out Cinnamon bark capsules, Fenugreek seeds or tea, and chromium polynicotinate
   can be used as a last resort. Cinnamon will also be pretty easy to come by and can be easily put into foods, drinks or
   emptied capsules.

Regards, - Tricia, Illinois

Prepping for emergency situations is always a difficult task, especially when considering various limitations that you and your family may have (including financial restraints, locale features and challenges, health of your household members, your network of family and friends-or a lack of a network, etc.)  As for my wife and I, we have the added burden of preparing with a loveable, huggable special-needs child in mind.  As the numbers of children with physical, mental, and/or neurological difficulties continue to rise in this country, a growing number of preppers will need to consider the issue of sustaining a special-needs child through difficult times.  Even those that do not have special-needs children in their care may feel compelled to aid a relative or friend who does care for such a child when the time arises.   While I base many of these ideas upon the needs of my family and child, they may be helpful in starting or perfecting your own preparation plans to assist your special-needs child during times of peril.

In this article, I use the term “medical professional” to refer to persons that provide medical & healing services.  This may include, but is not limited to, medical doctors, naturopaths, chiropractors, nutritionists, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, pastors, massage therapists, and/or anyone else that is competent in treating and healing the human body and mind.  I also use the term “medicine” to refer to pharmaceuticals, vitamins, minerals, supplements, foods, and/or other resources that can treat or heal the human body and mind.   As a believer in medical freedom, I advocate for the right of a parent or authorized caregiver to treat their child with the medical services of his or her choice that is in the best interest of the child’s health and well-being.

Preparations to Consider for the Child
First, the parent or caregiver of a special-needs child must be able to comprehend how to treat the issues that the child faces when a medical professional is not available.  In treating our child, we looked to find medical professionals who (a) were not married to “traditional” western medicine, but looked to a number of healing methods, (b) willing to listen to our concerns, and (c) could explain to us the problems that our child faced.  These professionals, from the first visit, developed a plan with us that we could use to treat our child.   While we are not experts in medical treatment, they made sure that we understood enough in order to facilitate the healing process for our child.  If you or someone you know has no idea what to do in order to help your child during a time when a medical professional is not available, contact your child’s practitioner in order to set up such a plan.  It is also important to have this information available to others in case you are unable to provide the treatment yourself.

In addition, you need to stockpile any needed medical supplies and equipment that would help you execute the treatment plan for your child.  Of course, some medicines or supplies have a short shelf life or storage concerns that can make stockpiling difficult or impossible.  In such cases, it can help to consult with your child’s medical professional to develop alternatives supplies and/or equipment that can be stored and used in these situations.  While the alternatives may be less effective that the preferred medicine or medical supply, it can help the child maintain some normalcy until the preferred products are available again. 

Maintaining a strong immune system for your child would make the transition to an emergency situation easier.  Some special-needs children are more susceptible to infection and illness than normally developing children.  Eliminating unnatural “foods,” providing proper vitamins and minerals, and regular physical and mental activity can help prepare your child for potential diseases that may occur during or after an emergency.  There are various tests, some inexpensive, that can measure items such as your child’s nutritional levels, toxicity, and food allergies; these can be starting points to strengthening your child’s immune system.  There are also a number of medical professionals that are experienced in proper nutrition and supplementation for special-needs children.

Speaking of nutrition, you should also plan to meet the special dietary needs that your child may have.  In our own food storage, we only keep products that our child can also consume.  While this somewhat limits the variety and quantity of our foods (due to increased costs for these products,) we will not have to worry about him eating food from our storage that he is allergic or sensitive to.  It also ensures that there is a substantial amount of food available for him.  While this method of food storage may not be preferable or practical for all, you must ensure that your child has a sufficient amount and variety of food to survive during an emergency situation.  You may also consider growing foods that are earmarked for your special-needs child.  Being forced to feed your child food that sickens him or her may be worse than not feeding your child at all. 
Toileting of special-needs children must also be considered by the prepper.  Some special-needs children may not be toilet-trained and will require diapers.  This requires not only an emergency supply of diapers, but also means of diaper disposal, especially if there is no garbage collection available.  Other items to consider storing would be baby wipes (or some other method of cleaning waste from skin,) skin protectants such as oils or petroleum jelly, diaper rash treatments, and materials to eliminate diaper pail scents.

Grooming and bathing can also be a challenge for special-needs children in emergency situations.  Cleaning my child with a washcloth from a sink, for some reason, causes him to “freak out.”  He also has issues with water being poured on top of his head (making hair washing a challenge.)  If your child has challenges related to grooming and bathing in normal conditions, it would be beneficial to determine how to best approach the changes that may occur when there is no running water, no power, no hot water, etc.  If possible, practicing different methods of grooming and bathing ahead of time can help you determine the best courses of action to take when the situation arises.

You must also remember that your special-needs child is still a child.  As such, you should plan to have games and activities that he or she can play despite the circumstances of the emergency.  This can include books, board games, music from battery-powered radios or MP3 players, coloring books, or anything that can bring a smile to your child.  Consider in advance what materials you would need, including those things that can be used in a no or low-power situation.  If possible, consult with your child; he or she can even help you pick out those things that can bring a smile in an otherwise miserable situation.

Preparations to Consider for Yourself and Your Household
In preparing for your child’s needs during emergency situations, you must also plan for how your special-needs child can affect you and your other family members (and vice-versa.)   The family dynamic can change during these times.  Your family may move to a new location.  Other persons may come to live with your family.  A prominent family member may be forced to leave the home due to other obligations (such as military orders.)  Tragically, one or more family members may themselves become incarcerated, incapacitated, missing, or dead.  Special-needs children may have reactions to certain people either being in the home or away from the home.  Some special-needs children have difficulty adjusting to new situations or surroundings.  While it is difficult to adequately plan for these scenarios, discussing these issues with your child, spouse, family members, medical professionals, and others that can provide informative advice may help you become mentally prepared to assist your child through these and other potential changes.
Your plan for operational security should include the potential actions of your special-needs child.  Our child screams whenever he is happy.  He screams whenever he is upset.  He is difficult to keep quiet and still, even when he thinks he is being quiet and still.  Plan for ways to maintain operational security, even if it may be an inconvenience or stressful to your child.  Please note, I am not advocating any forms of abuse; however, you have an obligation to ensure the safety of your family, including your child when the situation warrants.  Think about and discuss with other household members what needs to be done when dangerous situations require hard decisions to be made.  Be sure to consider the potential consequences of the actions that you may take to maintain operational security.

I’ll be honest: Raising a special-needs child is very stressful during normal times.  When the situation becomes abnormal, our stress level will elevate, no matter how prepared we may be.  Caring for someone who needs a higher level of care may cause a caregiver to direct a higher level of frustration towards that child than is warranted.  This is something that you should prepare for both mentally and spiritually.  Consult with your spouse, relatives, or other potential caregivers for respite time during emergencies.  Have times of prayer and spiritual reflection.  Write down your thoughts and feelings.  Be open to others about how you are feeling; don’t be afraid to talk about what is going on inside of your mind.  If you come to a point of wanting to harm your child, whether physically or mentally, do what it takes to remove yourself from the situation.

In Conclusion
This is by no means a plan that meets the need of many that care for children with special-needs.  I do hope that it can be of assistance for those who may not have considered what actions to take during emergency situations, or at least provides points to ponder upon.  Hopefully I can learn from the tips, ideas, and suggestions of others as well.  Please feel free to provide this information not only to those who care for special-needs children, but also to medical professionals, teachers, and others who encounter them.   The better that we parents are prepared, the better the outcome will be for our children when we do encounter a life-changing event.

Back when I thought the world was perfect and would go on in its present state forever, I was an avid reader of fiction novels. I still am. From reading the Hardy Boys mysteries as a kid to the works of Stephen King and Tom Clancy as an adult, I have always loved to read. In fact, I give credit to this love of reading as the single factor in what will probably save my life one day. If I had not been totally hooked on reading great stories and hadn’t curved my reading interest towards post-apocalyptic types of books (Stephen King’s “The Stand” got me started in that direction), I would probably not have gotten started in my survivalist activities. One book led to another and to another and after a path of hundreds of books that led me to reading “Patriots” and “One Second After”, my course was set. A prepper was born.

Now, this article is neither to sing the praises of any single novel nor to tell my story on how I came to believe what I now believe today. It is strictly designed to talk about the incredible importance of fiction novels to the modern day survivalist or prepper.

As I go through my day to day journey getting ready for some interesting times to come, I am lucky enough to have the opportunity, through my job, to talk to lots of people. I have met several “Like Minded” people in my journey, and the conversation subject generally turns to what we are each doing to prepare. I love to discuss this subject with others and enjoy having them try to throw monkey wrenches in my plans as I try to throw the same wicked tool at theirs. This helps us look at scenarios we might not have thought of and make the appropriate changes or additions to our plans or materials. The main objective of preparation is to have plans and materials available for an unknown situation or series of events. This can, and usually is, a major undertaking. Having someone throw different “what ifs” at you helps you improve those plans and lists of materials.
As these conversations took place, I noticed that I was very good at throwing curve balls at people’s plans that they had not previously thought of and I really didn’t understand why. One day, a friend of mine asked me why I always seemed to be able to throw a scenario at him that he hadn’t previously thought of and it finally dawned on me why that was so. It was because of the massive number of fiction novels I had and continue to read. Most survivalist and preppers can read you off a long list of non-fiction books they have read and collected. Everything from urban combat manuals to food preservation books seems to be a staple for the modern day survivalist. While they recite this list of non-fiction books they own, I rarely hear them mention books like Patriots, Lights Out , Lucifer's Hammer, and One Second After.

They can tell me about the struggle they had reading a book, cover to cover, about canning vegetables but they never mention the wonderful (and educational) hours spent reading “One Second After”, a great work of fiction. Or, maybe they read one or two novels and that got them interested in this movement but after that, it was strictly non-fiction from then on. That is a mistake I am afraid many people are making.

While I am by no means undercutting the importance of non-fiction books, I am simply stating that the importance of fiction novels of pre and post society collapse is typically being forgotten. I believe many preppers get so caught up in reading the non-fiction works to gain the knowledge that they lack that they somehow miss the fact that a good work of fiction will take that knowledge and let the characters show how and when they used it. In other words, it takes the knowledge from the non-fiction and puts it in a storyline that is easy to absorb, wonderful to follow and hard to put down.

I have read some incredible works of fiction that told the stories of groups of survivors after a society collapse. These stories kept me totally captivated as I followed them through their failures and their triumphs. Each of these novels allowed me to learn the same lessons the book’s characters learned without having to actually experience the hardships they went through. Each author created scenarios for his or her characters to go through that gave me an insight as to how the non-fiction knowledge they acquired worked out. Yes, I have read some bad novels right along with the greats, but I can honestly say that I have never read a single work of post-apocalyptic fiction that I did not at least learn something from. I have always managed to take some tidbit of information away that I could use to either modify a plan or a list of materials. The good novels may actually cause you to make several changes as you see what did and did not work for the book’s characters. This is because while we may think of ourselves as awesome preppers, having thought of everything, there is no way we have actually thought of everything. Reading these novels gives us the insight of not only the author’s education but also each character’s. As someone who has done some writing, I know that when writing, a story can take on a mind of its own and when the author suddenly sees his characters in a situation he actually hadn’t thought they would end up in, he or she has to stop typing and go do some additional research on how to get them out of it. This increases his knowledge, while he increases his character’s knowledge, thus increasing your knowledge through reading it.

For example, I had always thought my preparedness plan was pretty good. While I have still not acquired everything that is on my list, I felt pretty good about what was on the list. Then I read a novel about a group of survivors that had to deal with a member of their group suffering from some problems with a mental illness. While this illness was temporary and due to PTSD, it still posed some problems and challenges for the group. They needed to restrain this person to keep them from hurting themselves and others but all they had available was rope. This caused some abrasion problems that led to other medical problems due to the lack of medical care and a clean environment. What the main character wished he had added to their stockpile was a couple of sets of handcuffs. After reading that, guess what I added to my list? That’s right, a set of handcuffs! I do believe that a big part of preparing for an uncertain future involves thinking about the mental state you or others may or may not be in during times like that. The best way I have found to examine these different mental states (without actually creating a scenario to cause them which my wife forbids) is in these works of fiction. You get to live the life of the characters, go through what they are going through, and ask yourself what you would do in a similar situation.

This article may seem like I am putting a higher importance on fiction than I am non-fiction but that isn’t the case. We all need more knowledge than we have and non-fiction books are that source. However, a good work of fiction can point you towards the right non-fiction book to read by showing you areas you are weak in as you follow the trials and tribulations of the book’s characters. Several of the “How-to” books I own came as a direct result of being shown an area in a novel that I was unfamiliar with and learned from the character’s problems that I had better get familiar with it.

If you have never been a reader of novels, you may be asking yourself what novels you should read. In my experience, most preppers have a general opinion on what will be the catalyst of society’s downfall. Things like nuclear war, plague, famine, economical and natural disaster are just some examples of what people are preparing for and while they believe strongly in one of those events taking place, they still tend to do a little “Side Prepping” into one of the other scenarios. For example, someone who strongly believes that an asteroid is going to be our end may still keep a few surgical masks and gas masks in their stockpile just in case it turns out to be plague. Someone who believes a massive case of the flu will bring us down may still do some financial preps in case it turns out to be an economical collapse. I tell you that to tell you this. Don’t limit your fiction reading to only those books whose storyline follows your belief. Personally, I am a follower of the economical crisis leading to a long-term grid collapse theory. While that is a strong belief for me, I still took away many “tips and tricks” from the novel Lucifer’s Hammer which dealt with an asteroid strike. While books that have storylines dealing with the effects of an EMP did not exactly follow my belief in what will happen, the trials and triumphs the characters went through were similar to what I think will happen. In other words, I learned a lot from books like “One Second After” even though my thoughts are more in line with books like Patriots. You can learn something from everything so read it all! This web site has a great list of novels that will give you a great place to start. Will you think every book is great? No. Of course not. Will you learn something from every book you read? Well, that is strictly up to you. Keep a notepad and pen alongside your book and make notes when you run across something you haven’t thought of before. I promise you that you will make some notes and may be very glad you did one day.

As a final note, I want to add that a good novel has one more very valuable attribute. All of us have friends and family that we would like to see become more in line with our way of thinking. I have converted more friends to the prepper way of life by handing them my copy of “Lights Out” to read than I have by giving them my copy of “Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook”. Before one’s mind can be converted to a survivalist’s mindset, they have to be able to imagine a future where that will be needed. Nothing stokes the fire of the imagination like a good novel.

Read on, my friends, and keep on learning.

As a theater teacher and director I am primed for drama.  I hunger for it.  But what to do while waiting for the aliens to land, the dollar to collapse, the bombs to start flying, or Yellowstone to have its say?  I have always told my actors, don’t rehearse it, do it.  After all, preparation is important, but performing is better.  Act as if you have an audience now and do it the way you will perform it.   I am new to this “prepping” phenomenon.  It can be an overwhelming, and for some of my friends, an inexplicable thing.  So what can I share that is useful?  For those well into the process, maybe just a confirmation of things they already know and do. For those who are just starting out and wonder what to do first, I would offer the following Drama Queen version of prepping and sustainable living. 

The saying “write what you know” inspired me to use theatrical terms to outline ways I have become more prepared.   My former Navy Corpsman husband and I have made some simple but profound changes in our lifestyle.  While we may not be living the post-apocalyptic dream, we know that current conditions in this world aren’t exactly normal, and they don’t seem to be getting any better.  Crazy weather? Check. Fossil fuel?  On the way out.  Economic stability?  Um, since when?  So, it makes sense to live now the way we may be forced to live later. In a very real sense, The End Of The World As We Know It has already arrived. 

THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS, ONLY SMALL ACTORS   Maybe you are the sort who feels “unless I can do the whole thing and do it perfectly I don’t want to do it at all.”  Rather like those who say, “unless I am cast as the lead in the play, why bother?”  Remember, like the chorus members on stage, no matter how small your efforts, they make a difference.  Even a simple change will lead to more.  Here are some baby steps for your role as Third Guard From the Left, before you take on your End of the World tour as Hamlet.  There is no limit to ingenuity, so start creating instead of tossing away.

Compost food waste   We used to just throw things out.  Now we sort items into what is recyclable or garbage, and happily compost what’s not eaten or used by us.  Our eco footprint has gone from Godzilla to Cinderella, and in such easy steps.  What’s more, we are creating soil for next year’s healthy garden from this year’s waste. 

Look at your yard with new eyes – Our back yard has a bumper crop of dandelions.  I used to curse them as noxious weeds.  Not anymore.  Why curse something that has the ability to relieve liver disorders, aid the pancreas, maintain bone health, and cure acne? What an awesome plant!  Not a weed.  Not anymore.  And if you don’t fancy the taste, then feed them to your chickens and you will have happy feathered friends and healthy eating eggs. 

Find new uses for common items – One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.  For example, make a sterno burner using tuna cans, cardboard and old candle wax.  Or transform aluminum pop cans into solar heating devices.  

Light up your life   Some call it energy conservation – I call it love light.  Candles are so much more romantic than conventional lighting.  We really enjoy candlelight dinners, and choosing to use electricity less not only saves money, but reminds us of the need to look to other sources for our energy needs.  Remember, TEOTWAWKI is now.  What happens if the power goes out permanently?  You’ll need a lot of candles…so here is a crazy way of extending candlelight – not romantic, but very practical: One tub of Crisco, one candlewick, 45 days of candlelight. 

JOIN A GREAT CAST OF PLAYERS Being a jack of all trades is useful, but exhausting.  Plays have multiple characters for a reason; and it takes the onstage and the backstage crew to succeed.  Being with like-minded people in a community is so much easier than doing it alone.  TEOTWAWKI isn’t a one man or one woman show – this is a huge production.    Here are ways to find cast members for your local production:

Join a community garden – Take 30 strangers, put them in a room and tell them to start planning a garden.   I thought it would be more like our current political process –a lot of talk, not a lot of progress.  Wrong.  We planned, we plotted, we laughed, and disagreed, and then kept working to make things right.  A perfect example of what can work in the democratic process as well as a wonderful way to learn more about gardening.  We know and grow with a variety of people; some are experienced gardeners, others are beginners who kill off their first three tries at tomatoes.   We also have refugee families who are starting new lives and have knowledge to share.   Find a local group of your own – there are opportunities everywhere.

Get to know your neighbors – That crazy guy down the street?  The charming lady across the way?  They may be the ones who help you most if the fertilizer hits the fan.  Also, a group of watchful neighbors are less likely to fall victim to mob mentality, and it is far better to know who is right next door in a catastrophe. 

Make friends with those who work or shop at places that give you knowledge and help  When you find an excellent source  of products for your home, your garden, or anything else,  chances are the people who shop or work there are just as valuable as the items purchased, often even more so.   We have learned from others’ mistakes without having to make them.   When in doubt, ask.  Better to look stupid now, than stupid later.  Wish we’d thought of that before we tried storing potatoes in a freezing cold shed….

DON’T JUST STUDY THE SCRIPT – GET MEMORIZED   Old school knowledge is out there – and Google won’t be around in a catastrophe, so having written as well as practical knowledge is critical. Here are some remarkably useful scripts for your prepping role:

Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World by Kelly Coyne & Eric Knutzen. If the authors can do what they do on a 1/12th of an acre plot in the heart of Los Angeles, what’s your excuse?  Want to make your own soap?  Transform your backyard into a haven of healthy foods?  From the minuscule to the mighty, Making It takes you from easy day to day projects to yearly concepts that will free you from manufactured dependency.  The ultimate guide for a homemade life.  We’ve made our own tooth paste, soaps, and conditioner. We’ve brewed beer, made wine from our grapes, and are looking for more and more ways to produce instead of consume.

The Original King Arthur Flour Cookbook The Holy Grail of Cookbooks.  I kid you not.  King Arthur and his knights would have gone on a quest for this one and come back to happy castles.  Over 600 pages of recipes – and just with flour. Breads, cakes, cookies, biscuits, muffins, scones, etc, etc, etc,.  But the value in this book is far beyond the fantastic recipes.  There is history, and not just 40 years ago history, but the history of hundreds of years of working with glorious grain.  There are fascinating stories about why the recipes came about and what to do to amend them to make them your own.  I learned more about breads and cooking with this one book than any other.  Now I can make Braveheart-worthy scones, our whole wheat banana bread begs bananas to go brown, and the list of deliciousness goes on and on...   By the way, the company is as cool as their compilation.  Top quality healthy flour for over 200 years, King Arthur Flour is a company our country can be proud of.  www.kingarthurflour.com 

The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C Smith   My husband and I both come from families that garden – but we hadn’t planted anything since we were kids.  It was daunting to start our garden last year out of the tangled mess of weeds that was the back yard.  We planted peas too late and corn in bad soil.  But the things that worked were amazing.  All summer and into the fall we had the joy of harvesting beans, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes and potatoes that were all our own.  Every time we wondered anything about any type of veggie we grabbed the Bible.  And it came to pass that our vegetables grew.  And lo, they were delicious to the taste, and were very plentiful.  And we looked upon our garden and said, yea verily, this is heaven!

Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli Where to start with food storage? This book has lists for what you need and instructions on what to do with your stockpile written in a practical and understandable way.  It details not only crisis options but day to day food production and preservation tips. We now have our year’s worth of food storage, which came together bit by bit, rather like learning lines for Shakespeare.  You don’t get it all in one sitting, just take it one line at a time.  Another package of sugar here, extra case of beans there, and then one day – ta-da!  Food storage.
                 
TRUST THE DIRECTOR   Many a great actor has butted heads with their director.  It always ends the same.  The Director wins.  This wonderful planet, our Mother and Home, has a plan.  We can fight it, or we can go with the flow.  Evolution and Nature are far more resilient than even the most stubborn human, so learn from the Director.  Watch how She does it.  After all, She’s been at this a lot longer than we have. Lessons in what can be done are all around us.  Can you grow citrus in the Austrian Alps?  Trick question?  The answer is yes, if you are Sepp Holzer.  He learned how to mimic nature’s ability to create micro-climates with ponds, trees, rocks, and plant diversity.  He has proven beyond a doubt that there is no limit to what you can grow if you understand how Mother Nature works.   For the amazing details read Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening.

BE A METHOD ACTOR – LIVE THE ROLE Gandhi said it best, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  The first part of being the change is changing yourself first.  Do you despise Monsanto’s and other big corporations and their world-ignorant practices? Then live a clean life and do not give them your time or money.  Inform others.  Stand up for what you believe and do not give in to the opinion or even the mockery of friends.    The Ant prepared for winter all summer long despite what the Grasshopper said about “take it easy” and “why work so hard?”  The world has changed.  We are the change.  

VOTE – You have a voice, and maybe you feel like the littlest Who in Whoville on a political dust mote of individual unimportance, but say something.  Do something.  Others will add their voice to yours and what was just one “No!” will soon resound worldwide. 

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR HEART IS – Is it important to you?  Get behind it with support.  Is it appalling and wrong?  Don’t add your money to it.  Don’t buy things that hurt others in the process of production.  We have options, and the sooner we spend the way we truly feel the better those options will become.

JUST BECAUSE THEY SAY IT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S SO – FDA approved…hmmmm.  Why would the government let us eat/drink/take things into our bodies that are harmful?  Why would anyone knowingly let a product out on the market that is known to cause cancer or other drastic side effects?  Sorry, Pollyanna, it’s not the sunshiny world it should be.  The hard truth is your lack of health makes you a cash cow that is part of a trillion dollar industry of disease and distress.  But not anymore.  Not if you are willing to read labels, stand up for preventive health measures, and become an informed consumer.  If it says “High Fructose” we put it back on the shelf.  We have learned more than we wanted to know about what is in processed foods.  We are picky eaters now, but so much healthier.

TIME FOR DRESS REHEARSAL    When our second refrigerator in the garage died, we had a crash course in what happens with no power.  The food within was instantly “use it or lose it.”  We saved some, lost some.  So, we are now in a more active dress rehearsal mode.  My man frequently asks the question, “If today we found ourselves in a major crisis, what would we most regret NOT doing?”  We work on that answer first.  Recent endeavors include: Honey, I Can’t Make it Home Day using GMRS hand held radios, Little House on the Prairie Day with no electricity, and All Shook Up earthquake prep day.  Dress rehearsal is a great way to find out what works and what doesn’t, and who is up for performance, and who needs a bit more stage time…

AS THE FINAL CURTAIN GOES UP…  The Greatest Performer this world has ever known lived His part perfectly:  “Love thy Neighbor As Thyself.” Imagine a world of loving, caring, planet-conscious humans whose role it is to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for those in need.  More than just mankind caring for our own, imagine finally understanding that being one means every living organism, from the smallest microbe in the dirt, to the molecules of air, the vast oceans of water, and every form of plant and animal life.  Everything should be protected and esteemed by us as caretakers of this beautiful Earth. 

Start with the understanding of One Home.  Take care of every needful thing for you and your family and then help others to do the same.  Eventually you will come to understand that we truly are one world.  One family.  Why classify by color, race, country or creed?  They are only the costumes we wear for this particular performance, and as Will Shakespeare, another great performer said, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.”  The part you have been cast in is a critical one.  You were born to play it.  So act your part with pride, fellow Preppers.  TEOTWAWKI is now.

There are literally thousands of resources out there for the prepper and would-be survivalist giving advice on the best Bug-Out Bag (BOB), Bug-Out Vehicle (BOV), or necessities to pack into your Bug-out Bag (BOG) or the well stocked first aid kit.  All of this advice is great, however, one thing most of these references have in common is that they all tell the individual prepper he or she needs to assess his or her needs and current situation in order to determine their individual needs.  One thing I have noticed is the dearth of advice on HOW to plan for survival.  I propose using a tried and true tool that can easily be learned and is actually quite intuitive.
The US Military (as well as NATO partners and others) use what is known at the Military Decision Making Process, or MDMP, to plan every level of mission from a squad attack to the invasion of a foreign country.  The tool incorporates gathering all available information, developing Courses of Action (COAs), analyzing them, comparing the results, and deciding on a plan.  The level detail of the planning is dependent only on the amount of information available and the time one has to plan.  As a 25 year military veteran, I have discovered that I subconsciously use MDMP in virtually every decision I make, often without even realizing it, and you probably do as well.
MDMP is a seven step process consisting of:  Receipt of Mission, Mission Analysis, COA Development, COA Analysis, COA Comparison, COA Approval, and Orders Production.  After the plan is developed and briefed, rehearsals are conducted and then are always followed by an After Action Review or AAR.  Each of these steps is comprised of substeps.  I will take you through each of the steps and some of the more relevant substeps and give examples of how they apply to prepping.

•  Receipt of Mission:  In the military, orders are passed from higher to lower and a subordinate staff will usually start planning off of their higher headquarters guidance and specified tasks.  Oftentimes, however, a commander owning battlespace will develop a plan on his own, based on broad overarching guidance from their higher.  This step, while simple, is critical.  The substeps include conducting an Initial Assessment, Updating Staff Estimates, and Preparing for Mission Analysis.  The outputs are generally Guidance from the Commander and a first Warning Order to subordinate units.

For the Prepper:  Obviously, you do not have a higher headquarters issuing you specified tasks, but you are a battlespace owner (your land, your house, your apartment) and you have been given guidance from such places as FEMA and other Federal Agencies, sites like Survivalblog.com, survival books and numerous other resources.  You have recognized the threat to yourselves and your families and are determined to develop a plan.  Step 1 for the Prepper includes gathering, and understanding, all of these guides, determining your basic requirement (shelter for you and your family of ‘X’, local threats (proximity to nuclear power plants or other high value/high risk targets, etc), pets, and so on.  Make a list.  Preparing for mission analysis is nothing more than gathering all your references together as well as planning tools you might need (note paper, dry erase boards, maps, manuals, lists, etc).

•  Mission Analysis:  This step, in my humble opinion, is by far the most important step requiring the most detailed analysis and time.  Inputs to this step include the mission from higher, original estimates from the staff (of in the case of the individual prepper, yourself), and all facts and assumptions.  The substeps of Mission Analysis consist of Analysis of the Higher HQ Mission/Intent (See Step 1), Identify Specified and Implied Tasks, Review Task Organization and Assets, Determine Restrictions or Constraints, Assess Risk, and Identify Critical Facts and Assumptions.  Outputs from this step include:  Initial Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB), Restated Mission (5Ws), Commander’s Intent/Guidance, Warning Order 2, Staff Products, Battlefield Framework, and conduct Preliminary Movement.

For the Prepper:  After your have gathered all your products mentioned in step 1, make a list of all the things you NEED to do (specified tasks), and think you SHOULD do (implied tasks).  For example, you determine that you NEED to defend your family against marauders.  Implied tasks include acquiring weapons and ammunition and practice your marksmanship.  Write all these down on separate lists.  Your review of your task organization is straight forward; e.g.  I have a family of five (wife and three sons), and a dog.  Assets gets more detailed: e.g. an SUV that seats 7, is diesel powered and four wheel drive, and has a range of about 200 miles when fully loaded and full tank; a semi-automatic rifle, a deer rifle, a 12 gauge shotgun, a 9mm pistol, and a .38; a house on a ¼ acre lot in a sub-development with basement and a hunting cabin on a 200 acre lot in the mountains 45 miles from home.  Make this list detailed including all equipment and assets you have.  You will quickly realize where you are short once you have it all listed on paper.  Next are your restrictions and constraints.  Restrictions are imposed upon you such as laws and regulations, constraints are things beyond your control (such as my sons are too young to drive).  Next, assess risks to you and yours.  For example, there is a nuclear reactor 10 miles straight line distance from our house.  Finally, identify critical facts and assumptions.  These are hugely important and need more that a little brain power.  Examples of facts may be that my Bug Out Location is 45 miles away that can easily be reached by my SUV in any weather, however our sedan would not make the drive in deep snow.  The primary (and quickest) route takes us through a major metropolitan area of over 2 million people, the alternate route makes the drive more than an hour longer and through very rural areas.  Assumptions are critical to identify, but keep in mind that they must be valid and necessary based upon your analysis of the situation.  It might be fun to assume the zombie apocalypse, but probably not a valid or necessary assumption.  A more valid assumption may be that I will have enough warning to load our vehicles and reach our BOL before the SHTF, or that I won’t.  If I assume that I won’t, then that whole plan is not valid.

•  Course of Action Development:  Develop at least two Courses of Action (COAs), three is better, but more than three is probably too many.  In this step the staff Analyzes Relative Combat Power (friendly  assets vs. the enemy’s  assets), Generate Options,  Array Initial Forces (where friendly forces are arrayed as well as the best information on the enemy are arrayed), Develop the Scheme of Maneuver, Assign Headquarters, and prepare COA statements and sketches.  The COA sketch is a one page (usually PowerPoint) diagram that shows a map of the plan with all the critical tasks listed along one side.   COAs need to pass the suitability, feasibility, acceptability, distinguishability, and completeness tests.  This means that the plans each need to be realistic given the assets, restraints, constraints, and assumptions listed in the previous step.  The two to three COAs need to be distinct from each other, not just minor variations of the same plan.  And they need to be complete.  Of course, they have to also be acceptable…. nuke ‘em all, is not an option.

For the Prepper:  Your COA development is very similar with just some minor tweaks from the military model.  Your relative combat power is listed in your assets (weapons, vehicles. etc) and your adversaries come from your assumptions (in a possible scenario one could anticipate groups of up to a half dozen armed marauders, well armed but poorly trained). Now is when you generate your options:  do I Bug In or Bug Out, for example?  You array your initial forces on a map:  we are here, they are there.  Developing your scheme of maneuver entails adding detail to your COAs.  If Bugging In, then you are in essence planning a defense.  What is your perimeter?  Where are your defenses, chokepoints, and vulnerabilities?  Where is your strongpoint?  If Bugging Out, what are your routes?  Where are you most vulnerable?  How are you moving (together or linking up at a rally point, for example)?  If your COA involves others, you would break individual or group tasks down at this point.  Who brings what to the party?  Who is responsible for food, fuel, ammo, shelter, and so on?  Finally, as much of this information as possible is arrayed on your sketches of your COAs so that the picture speaks for itself.

•  Course of Action Analysis.  This step is known as wargaming.  The staff have gathered all the information available, determined assets available and the assets the enemy has, identified facts and assumptions, and developed a couple of plans.  Now the plan is put to the test in a table top exercise.  There are rules to wargaming.  At all times, remain unbiased towards a COA.  If someone want a COA to “win” it will.  Approach wargaming as an honest assessment of the plans to determine their strengths and weakness.  Next, list the advantages and disadvantages of each.  This is done as the wargaming progresses and is tracked on a board.  Continually assess the COA feasibility, acceptability, and suitability.  If, while wargaming, it is determined a COA just won’t work, then we stop wargaming it.  No sense of wasting time on a plan that is impossible to accomplish.  Next, avoid drawing premature conclusions and gathering facts to support such conclusions.  This is a scientific process and picking and choosing information to support one COA over the other is not an option.  Finally, compare the COAs in the next step, not during wargaming.  When wargaming, focus on one COA at a time, from start to finish, without discussing how this COA has an advantage over the other.  Wargaming takes preparation.  All the tools used for wargaming are gathered in advance (maps, toy vehicles, toy Soldiers, methods to record actions and reactions, etc).  List all the friendly forces.  List all your assumptions so you can refer back to them for validity and necessity.  List known critical events and decision point.  Determine evaluation criteria, which means on what basis are we going to evaluate the COAs (survivability, cost, risk, etc)?  Select the wargaming method, which can vary on the COA.  Typically, a defense is wargamed in a box, whereas a movement is often done using the Avenue-in-depth technique.  Next,  the method to record and display results is selected, which is typically a dry erase board or large sheet of paper with each of the critical events listed across the top and friendly and enemy forces listed down the sides.  Finally war game the COA from start to finish.  Go friendly action, enemy reaction, friendly counteraction for each event (or enemy action, friendly action, enemy counter action if the enemy strikes first).  One member is dedicated to the enemy side, who fights to win for the enemy (could even represent the natural disaster).  And remember to record everything.

For the prepper:  This is pretty straightforward.  Take your Bug In COA and play it out from the time you determine the need to Bug In until you think it is safe to come out.  What are the threats; be they natural, manmade, or mutant, and how can they defeat you?  Discuss how you will defeat each threat based on your assets and forces that you have on hand.  When you determine a shortfall, write it down.  Do not say you will do something you have no capability of, such as “well, I will have landmines around the perimeter.”  Really?  Where are you going to get landmines?  When are you going to put them in, camouflage them, control their detonation, and recover them?  Be realistic.  After you have wargamed that COA, wargame the other from start to finish.  If your second COA is to Bug Out, play through getting from somewhere else (such as your place of work) to your house in order to load vehicles.  How long will out load take and who does what?  War game both your primary and alternate routes.  And don’t forget to war game what happens when you get to your Bug Out Location.  You are essentially Bugging In there, so war game that as well.  That might have a completely different set of threats and conditions.  When you are done wargaming, you should have a list of the strengths and weaknesses of both of your plans.  You have identified where there are risks.  Now the assumptions that you made earlier are either emphasized or discarded.  Additionally, you may have developed branches and sequels to your plans that you hadn’t thought of before (If X happens, I will do A, if Y happens, I will do B).  All of these should be written down as well.

Step 5:  Course of Action Comparison.  Now is the time that the various COAs are compared to determine which is the best and therefore which plan to go with.  The actual comparison of the COAs is critical.  We use any technique that facilitates reaching the best decision.  Start by evaluating each COA from different perspectives, using the evaluation criteria that was already established.  Now, compare the COAs to determine the one with the highest likelihood of success against the most likely enemy threat and the most dangerous enemy threat.  This is done through a simple matrix with COAs listed across the top and the evaluation criteria listed down the side.  The criteria can be weighted in order to give more strength to those criteria which is most important.  Then each COA is scored, usually 1, 2, or 3.  If certain criterion is given a weight of 3, then the results would be 3, 6 and 9 respectively, with lowest score being best.  After each COA is graded and weighted, they are totaled and the one with the lowest score wins.  You now have your COA.
For the prepper:  The process is the same.  The only real difference would be the criteria you evaluate the COAs against.  For example, the military might use such things as Fires, Intelligence, Air Defense, and Combat Service

Support.  The prepper would use criteria such as Survivability, Risk, Simplicity, Cost, etc.
Step 6:  Course of Action Approval.  Within the military, this is a formalized brief to the commander by the staff with detailing the results of the wargaming process and their recommended COA.  At the end of the briefing, the command decides on a COA and then issues final planning guidance.  Since you are the commander, it is ultimately your decision; therefore there is not much to cover in this step.

Step 7:  Orders Production.  Now that the COA has been approved, the staff gets to work finalizing the plan that will result in an order to subordinate units.  All the information gathered during wargaming is gathered, including branches and sequels to the plan, and incorporated into the plan as  either tasks to subordinate units  or coordinating instructions that apply to multiple units.  The plan also identifies risks and implements control measures to reduce those risks.  The commander reviews the final plan which is then issued via a variety of means.

For the prepper:  Now that you have your plan, and have seen where you are vulnerable, you can write everything down into one cohesive document.  This can include maps and directions, a list of division of responsibilities within the family or your group, load plans for vehicles and packing lists.  This is a good time to also list those items you identified you need to support your plan, but don’t currently have on hand.  This is your new shopping list.  This way you are purchasing what you will NEED to support your plan, not what you THINK you need and can help reduce waste.

Finally, after the plan is issued to everyone, and everyone understands the plan, comes the time to rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse again.  Time is the main limiting factor here. If you have a solid plan for TEOTWAWKI you can rehearse it with everyone involved in your plan at any time.  Try to do it under a variety of conditions such as night time, high traffic times, middle of winter, in the rain, etc.  After each rehearsal, conduct an After Actions Review to discuss what the plan was, what went right and what went wrong.  Only then can you identify faults in your plan that you didn’t realize while planning  in the comfort of your living room and further develop other contingencies to counter those problems.

The Military Decision Making Process was designed to handle any kind of operation, take all factors into consideration, and come up with the best plan in order to accomplish the mission.  Prepping for when TSHTF is no different and is the method I use to ensure the survival of my family.

Reference:
FM 5-0, Army Planning and Orders Production, 20 January, 2005, Defense Printing Office

When discussing prepping preparedness and emergency supplies with family and friends, many of you have probably heard the flippant remark: ""I'll just go to your house."

I have been somewhat taken aback at this statement. I initially didn't know how to respond.

I knew it was a flippant response from some, made out of mockery and intended to elicit laughter.  Their mindset is that they don't want to prepare, and don't see the point.  Most off them think that our concerns for the future are humorous and unlikely to ever come to fruition. And I knew a few who felt overwhelmed and unsure of how to start to prepare for themselves.  They were frightened by what they saw coming, but unable to make that practical step, to prepare for themselves while there is time and information aplenty.

I know that many other like-minded people have been faced with the same situation.  Perhaps my pondering on it and laying it out when you face the same statement, or rashly consider making the statement yourself.

After much consideration I have realized there can be only one response:

You cannot come to my house in TEOTWAWKI (the end of the world as we know it). I don't say this because I don't care.  I do.  I wouldn't have entered the conversation with you in the first place otherwise.  I say this because of two very real and serious reasons.

1.  In the event of a real emergency, you will most likely never reach my home.

Consider it.  If you have been to my house, you most likely had to drive to get there.  And some of you have had to drive a long way.  And some of you have had to drive through many cities and other populated areas.  Many emergency situations could lead to roads and bridges that are damaged or closed.  Many unprepared fellow citizens could become lawless, falling into a dangerous mob mentality.  The further you have to drive, simply increases the number of obstacles you could face.  Traveling immediately after an emergency can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable.

2.  I do not have the resources, energy or ability to prepare for you and your family's unique needs.

Many people have very differing dietary needs.  Within just my close circle of friends and family, I have loved ones who need very low sodium foods, gluten free foods, vegetarian foods, low glycemic or low carbohydrate foods.  Some also have food allergies, drug allergies, environmental allergies, and chronic conditions that require medications or frequent monitoring and specialized treatment.

Slowly, one by one, I research these needs to find foods, herbs, home remedies and treatments to aid in a long, healthy, drug free life, using materials that I can grow, glean, or make in my own home.  But this research takes time and practice.  And sometimes I am happy with the results, and sometimes I have to start over in my search for a self sufficient answer to these troubles.

I also try to find alternatives to everyday items and duties.  Baby diapers, Toilet Paper, Washing clothes without electricity, Cooking.  This has taken a lot of time to research (still underway) and purchase needed supplies that will last:  Cloth diapers, family cloth, a bucket and plunger, clothes drying rack, propane camp stove as well as an outdoor fire pit.

We are also a one income family with 3.5 children, 100+ chickens, 9 ducks and 4 goats.  It could take years for me to provide beds, bedding, clothing, medicine and food for 20+ additional people.

Let us consider just one aspect.  My family of 5.5 people live in a two bedroom home.  If you and your family were to come to my house, where would you sleep?  Perhaps for one or two nights you would feel grateful to have space on my floor.  But after a while you would desire better sleeping arrangements, beds or at least pads, blankets or sleeping bags.  You would also eventually need to change your clothing.  Would you be able to bring all the extra clothing you would need in your hurried race from your home?  Sturdy practical shoes? Your favored hygiene products?  Your hair brush and tooth brush?  How long will you be satisfied at my home carting water daily and defecating in an outdoor privy?  With no electricity my home does not have water OR septic.  Even with electricity, my septic is rated for 6 people and could quickly be overworked and create a health nightmare for everyone involved.

These are things that you may not have considered.  But they are things that I must consider.  Prepping literally means, Preparing for what could happen.

I hope you can see that this is not because I do not care for you.  It is because I do care for you.  I urge you all to prepare for your own.  Not only is it truly your responsibility, but it is truly something that only YOU are capable of doing.

By relying on someone else, you will end up with impersonal, inadequate and sometimes completely unsatisfactory results.

And for those who think this is all unnecessary and a waste of time.... I wish it was.

As an English Proverb says so eloquently...

"Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."

If all my preparations are never put to THE test.... at least my family has learned how to grow delicious, healthy and non modified vegetables, raise and butcher hormone and chemical free meat, and treat many common ailments without resorting to immune system destroying antibiotics or becoming addicted to pharmaceutical potions.

Even if TEOTWAWKI never comes, I will consider it all worth it and sleep soundly at night with my family close beside me.

Can you say the same if it does come?

Ways That I Can Help

Now I have laid out some basic thoughts on why you can't come to my house in TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It). But I don't want to end this conversation there, because I want to help!

My family has been moving in this direction for several years.  We have read and read and read books and internet articles, blogs and e-books.  We have watched documentaries and reality television shows.  We have even gleaned information from entertainment television shows and movies.  We try to find anything on livestock keeping, gardening, homebuilding, homesteading and herbal medicines.

As most of you already know my family tries to provide for our needs ourselves.  We do not go the the doctor unless we need a doctor.  We monitor our own health requirements and treat many of them using diet, exercise and herbal and homemade medicines when we can.  We home birth our children, just me and my husband.  We are moving towards providing for all of our food needs and this may just be the year that we accomplish it.  We homeschool our children, utilizing our own enormous library of textbooks, encyclopedias, documentaries, and educational programming, and good old paper and pencil.  We also involve our children in every step of our homesteading.  Starting seeds, transferring seedlings, transplanting outdoors, building fences, hatching chickens and ducks, building housing, feeding and watering them daily, nature walks where we discover the wild plants that grow around us and the animals that share our land with us.... This is all part of our education.

It is an adventure.

I love my life.  I delight in watching little green seedlings poke their heads through moist soil.  I smile at hearing chirp, chirp, chirping from my incubator.  I laugh as I watch the ducks swimming and playing in the pond.  I enjoy scratching my goats' bellies and having them eat from my hand.

And I adore the little kicks of a growing babe in the womb.  I am in awe when I get to hold them in my arms for the first time.  I am challenged and thrilled while watching them grow and learn.  I am completely in love with each of their little faces.

Of course, I want to keep them safe for as long as possible.  I feel it is my duty to the Lord to be a good steward over the all of blessings that He has placed in my hands.

And so... I prep. I "Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." And I invite you to do the same.

Here is where I can start helping you:

1.  Find like-minded people.  If you are in my area, are already my friend or family member, or even if you live an Internet based life, feel free to contact me, befriend me, and share your thoughts, concerns and questions with me.  Having like-minded people surrounding you can be encouraging, uplifting, and provide excellent resources in your efforts to meet the challenges ahead.

2.  Make a list of what you have, and what you know.  You may already possess materials and skills that will be useful for your family's safety, or provide a valuable service in the event of an emergency.  Do you have plumbing skills?  Construction skills?  Electrical?  Mechanical?  

3.  Make a list of what you do not have, and what you do not know.  This may take some research.  Begin finding these resources and information.  If you don't know how to garden you can consider, books, magazines, online articles, a neighbor that gardens, or taking classes from your local extension office.  If you don't have medical knowledge you can consider taking local CPR courses, EMT basic courses, or researching individual medical conditions with books or online for knowledge and treatment.

4.  Band together.  Meet with other like-minded people to share responsibilities and resources.  This is most especially important in close neighborhoods.  If you can find others that are close to you, emotionally, spiritually and physically that share your goals and ideas, count it as a blessing.  Work together.  Perhaps they have medical skills, while you have construction skills.  Perhaps they love gardening, and you love canning food.  Without moving out onto the commune, you can start a community and build a foundation of strength for when the world is shaking.

5.  If you cannot find others nearby, do not fret.  Information is widely available.  I have even included many valuable links below.  And never underestimate your ability to learn new skills and rise to the challenge.  It does take work.  But it is worth it.

Links to start building your needed skills and resources.....

Bible Verses Regarding Preparing for the Future

Complete "How To" guides to begin storing food, tracking what you use and need, and a list of tests you can run through when you are ready - Food Storage Made Easy

How to Save Seeds - After you have grown your garden and are harvesting, prepare for next years planting.

Great online store with a multitude of tools, kits, and foods.  I peruse this frequently to see where my supplies might have holes - Emergency Essentials

Your local Agricultural Extension office usually provides low cost and free classes on canning, gardening, and beginning livestock care.  This is also a great place to meet other like-minded people.

Even the government has some starting points to preparing for an emergency, at Ready.gov. Can you last for at least three days without any water or electricity or additional supplies in your home? Remember that it took 3 days for the National Guard to even be sent to Hurricane Katrina victims.

Another site stressing that you must be prepared for at least three days: 72hours.org

Numerous Articles about Prepping 101,
While there are differing opinions you will find these to be great jumping off points:

National Geographic Prepping 101: The 10 Principles of Preparedness
Homestead Revival Prepping 101
Doomsday Prepping 101
Modern Survivalists Prepping 101
Miles Franklin - Prepping 101
Fast, Cheap, and Good - Prepping 101

And a few blogs that I read regularly that are full of great how to advice -
Paratus Familia
Rural Revolution
SurvivalBlog
The Deliberate Agrarian

And here are a few really valuable books that I think are nearly essential to being prepared
The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Tenth Edition) by Carla Emery
Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance by John & Martha Storey

Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner

Where There Is No Dentist by Murray Dickson

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times by James Wesley, Rawles

These are What I Consider The Basics of Preparing for TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It):

Spiritual -
The most important preparation one can make for troubled times, or any time.... is the preparation of the soul. There can be no hope or lasting future for people who have not made peace with the Almighty.  I understand that not all believe in a 'Christian' God.  While I cannot speak directly to the many religious beliefs in the world, I can speak readily to my own.
My belief in Christ as a source of hope in any situation.  When the days are bright and beautiful and filled with numerous blessings, I can rejoice in them with my Lord.  But when the days are dark, and dangerous and filled with loss and fear..... what can I cling to then?
My Lord is still a light in these times.  In fact, He is the only light in these times.  His presence is strong and powerful, and His words promise that there is an end to all evil in the world.  And for those who cling to Him, He promises that He will never forsake us, and will make all things right.
So find your peace with the Almighty Creator and look forward to having hope, even in the midst of TEOTWAWKI.

Mental -
The second most important preparation one can make for troubled times, or any time.... is the preparation of the mind.  Without knowledge and discipline how would one go about building a shelter, growing a garden, finding food in the wilderness, or protect themselves from an enemy that has entered your gates?  You must study.  You must practice.  Books, Videos, Classes are essential to being as prepared as possible in any situation, including TEOTWAWKI.  This process is never ending, since there is always something new to learn.  You can never sit back and say, "I know everything now."  You and your family need to continually glean new skills and knowledge to face a time when there is no one else to provide for our needs.  Whether you are on your own for five days or five minutes, you could have a need that only you can meet.
This also includes, overlapping the physical portion of preparedness, the preparation of your body.  You must work toward making and maintaining your body in a strong and healthy condition as much as possible. If you are sickly, weak, and dependent on many medications, this will weaken your overall preparedness for hard times.

Physical -
The last, but still very important preparation one can make for troubled times, or any time... is the gathering of supplies.  This can seem daunting, monetarily and practically.  Where does one start?  Some of this knowledge will come as you prepare yourself mentally.  But to start we can consider what are your most urgent needs?

1.  Security is essential.  You must be prepared to protect yourself, your family, and your supplies.  If you do not protect them, you are basically giving up your life and the lives of those in your care.  In a matter of seconds, your life and your children's lives can be irrevocably lost.  You can purchase guns and ammo from most sporting good stores, and take gun safety courses from most police stations, gun ranges, and the National Rifle Association.  You can also sometimes find private courses available in your community.  You can also learn several styles of self defense fighting through video courses and in local schools if they are available in your community.

2.  A good quality first aid kit is essential.  You must be prepared to quickly clean a wound, stop bleeding, and have knowledge and ability to assist someone who is injured or very sick.  In a matter of minutes, a person can bleed to death.  You can purchase ready made kits in numerous sizes, or purchase individual pieces to build your own.
Shelter is essential.  This can include blankets, tents, and the ability to make a shelter in the wilderness if necessary.  In a matter of hours, a person can freeze to death.  It is also equally necessary to shelter oneself in excessive heat situations.  You can count blankets and tents you already own, purchase 'emergency' ones at many stores, and learn how to build lean to's, and other emergency shelters.

3.  Water is essential.  Staying hydrated is necessary at all times.  When you are under stress, and may not have access to clean water, stored water will mean the difference between life and death, literally.  In a matter of days, a person can die of dehydration.  You can purchase many sizes of pre-bottled water, as well as purchase water purification filters, tablets and systems.

4.  Food is essential.  Maintaining a steady, not excessive caloric intake will ensure that you have the strength and mental acuity to deal with what is happening around you.  In a matter of weeks, a person can die of starvation.  You can purchase many canned, dried, or 'emergency ration' foods.  You can also learn to make many of your own long term storage foods.  With a good quantity of a few ingredients in your home, you can assure that your family will not starve, and will have a balanced diet.  With some forethought and planning, you can make this diet interesting and much more endurable for yourself and your family.

The best way to begin is to prepare for a few days to start with.  You can use backpacks, buckets, totes, or boxes to pack away the items you may need initially.
You then expand and prepare for a longer time period.  Find a stretch of time to use as your goal and start gathering.

What will you need for 3 days?
3 months?
1 year?
7 years?

As you begin preparing for longer term, you will find yourself moving away from purchased/packaged emergency supplies, and move more into learning skills and gathering tools, seeds, and finding a homestead to build up around you.  You will begin to be more independent, and leave mainstream society.  You will realize that the 'old ways' that our ancestors lived, were far more sustainable and therefore a much firmer foundation for hard times.
It is a thrilling adventure to relearn the 'old ways' and to capture that independence back.  As you realize the numerous ways you have been enslaved and compromised security and freedom, you will be encouraged and strengthened to continue this path.

Some Prepping Advice from others point of view - 
CollapseNet
Five Simple Steps to Prepare For TETOTWAWKI Today (SurvivalBlog)
Practical Steps to Preparing (SurvivalBlog)
Preparing For TEOTWAWKI - Where To Begin (TEOTWAWKI Blog)
TEOTWAWKI
Prepare Now For Survival (The Mother Earth News)

The End Of The World As We Know It.  Let us assume that it has finally happened.

It could be the earthquake that our region is supposedly so overdue for.  It could be dust bowl conditions in the south that create near famine conditions in the US like occurred in the 1930s.  It could be war that actually occurs on our side of the pond, just like happens in most nations around the world.

It hurts my heart to think that these things may happen during the lives of my children.  But I must be brave and honest.  I must admit that they do occur.  And I must plan ahead and prepare myself and my family so that if/when it occurs we will be, at least somewhat, in a better position spiritually, mentally and physically to handle it.

So in the event of such situations, or a myriad of others, let us consider that you have decided that your home is not the safest location for yourself and your family.  Let us consider that you are unable to provide the security you may need, or that you do not have a renewable source of water in the event of a grid outage. or that you do not have the land needed to grow enough food for your needs in the event of a prolonged systemic shutdown.

Here, my dear friends and family, I say, that you may consider coming to my house.

And for those whom I do not know, or live far away, you can begin to start the conversation with others who are your friends and family who may have a retreat, a place to gather and survive after TEOTWAWKI.

Before you all jump in the car and crash my party (or anyone else's).... there is a lot that you must consider first.

Having been forced by conditions, and blessed by love, my family has lived with another family in the past.  This family is so very close and dear and beloved by us.  We have children that are around the same ages.  We see the same in most political and religious arenas and our differences were small and barely noticeable really.

But living together is difficult.

Consider your own spouse, whom you love and adore.  I'll bet that you argue sometimes!  I'll bet you have even at times been tempted to raise your voice, throw a dish, stomp furiously from a room.

It was a very heavy strain on my own family and on theirs to live together.  Who was in charge?  Who was supposed to do the dishes?  Why did that person get up so early or stay up so late?  Who used all the toilet paper!?!?

Even in TEOTWAWKI, these human tendencies and emotional issues will occur.

So there has to be ground rules.  And these are the rules of my home.

1.  This is not a democracy.  My husband is in charge.
  This is not about some addiction to power, and megalomania.  Initially, for our own family, we made this decision based on scripture.  Ephesians 5:22-33 tells us that the man is the head of the household, as Christ is head of the church.  There is one captain on this ship.  I get to say my piece most of the time, and my opinion is respected and considered.  But he and he alone decides the direction our family will take.  Your opinion also will be listened to and given consideration.  If possible he will explain the reasons for any decision made.
  You may not like it.  But if you come to our house, that is the number one rule.  Before you balk too much about it, remember that this house and this land belongs to him.  We would certainly respect you in your home.  We will force no one to come to our home.  We will force to stay at our home. If necessary we will ask you to leave.

2.  You don't work, you don't eat.
  This is also a decision based on scripture.  2 Thessalonians 3:10 Paul stated quite clearly, "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat."  Except for delicate little babes, everyone is capable of doing 'work' for their daily bread.
Elders may not be able to swing a shovel with much force.  But they may be able tell a young man how to build a truss, fix a leaking pipe, teach and read to the children.
The children may not be able to wrestle a goat back in it's pen.  But they should be able to do simple chores around the house, and as they get older, tend to their learning and help out around in the gardens and with the animals.
no freeloaders allowed.

3.  If you cause harm to others in the group, you may be asked to leave.
  Depending on the severity of your actions, and the likelihood of you continuing in harmful actions, we will defend those who seek safety and security from us.  Just as any danger from the outside, a danger from the inside will not be ignored.

Now if you have considered these rules, and still think that coming to my house is for you?  We better start making plans and discussing details, now.  This applies for those considering joining with others, family and friends in their own area.  Their rules may be different.  Discuss it and consider it carefully.

What supplies will you be bringing and storing at the retreat?  It is no longer a matter of "Will you bring supplies?" as you are planning on bringing your entire family there for shelter.
What will these supplies include? Food, Medical supplies, Tools, Seeds?
What kind of labor are you providing for the upkeep and fortitude of the retreat?  Are you able to assist in strengthening fences, building long term food supplies such as fruit trees or a fish pond, building outbuildings and additional housing, and run practice scenarios to ready yourself and your family and others who may be involved?
Will you come as soon as possible in the event of an emergency, or hunker down in your own home for a time to assess the situation before coming?

Because those who are our friends and family have such differing religious, political and lifestyle beliefs, there will be specific topics that will need to be discussed.  While it may seem common sense to some, it will seem complete nonsense, unnecessary, and even horribly dangerous by others.  These issues must be discussed before we are living under the same roof and trying to make a cohesive community.  Life will already be difficult and strained in TEOTWAWKI, and we must be able to rely on the safety of our group and our retreat.

For our retreat we would have to add some additional 'rules'.
4.  Parents are responsible for teaching and disciplining their child.  They may choose others in the group to share that responsibility with them if they wish.  Ultimately it is the parents' responsibility.  Deuteronomy 6:6-9
5.  Any threat to the group from man or animal, inside or out (as partially discussed in rule 3) will be dealt with.  Those who have pacifist beliefs may struggle with this when it is discussed and when the time comes.  However, we believe that it is our duty to the Lord, to protect what He has given us.  This does not mean we would attack or kill indiscriminately. That would be "murder" which would be a sin against God whom we seek to serve.  Discernment is necessary.  Exodus 22:2
6.  You will worship and thank God.  You will do your best to keep His commandments and to keep the sanctity of our home or you will be asked to leave.   Joshua 24:15, 1 Corinthians 5:13

Without an ongoing conversation, preparing and planning together, you will not know what to expect.  At our home, or at your other chosen retreats, the rules, goals, and methods may be different.  By opening the discussion and entering it you will be able to gain understanding of one another, and find ways to work together.

Of course there will still be issues that come up and stressful relations could still occur.  It would be wonderful if we all saw eye to eye on all subjects.  But most of the time in life we will be clumped together with people who agree on some things and disagree on many things.  You weigh and balance and hope to find those who agree more, disagree less.  A lot of this can be smoothed over by entering into it with understanding, tact and grace.

We would never want to close the door to any in need, especially those whom we know and love.  If we can make this work, it could be a wonderful thing to look forward to in the dawn after TEOTWAWKI.  When all is lost, we would have friends and family around us, in a community that worked together.  All we have to do is look at our children's bright eyes to know why we can't give up and must keep trying.

So if and when TEOTWAWKI comes upon us.... Yes, you can come to my house.

Welcome, welcome in - Caroline B.

First, a little about me. I am a Sailor and Submariner. I have spent 20+ years of my life riding submarines in various roles from deck waxer/hull painter to Communications Division and Operations Department enlisted leader. I have taught Communications, Electronic Signals Intercept (ES), OPSEC/Security, leadership and a myriad of other courses.

I really started reading SurvivalBlog and other sites after experiencing a deep dissatisfaction with the course our country is heading. I have experienced first-hand the gross inefficiency of the government and the lack of will/strength/backbone to stand up and change things. “Staying the Course” seems to be the direction our bloated bureaucracy is going.
Being a Submariner I have had the privilege of serving in a tight knit community that prides itself on OPSEC and the ability to adapt, improvise and overcome. There is a wee bit of craziness in all of us to willingly lock ourselves in a steel tube with no windows and a nuclear reactor.

OPSEC – Submarines are known as the Silent Service for a reason. We do things and go places nobody else can. We remain hidden and lay in wait. We stalk, we observe and we gather data. As such, we generally do not talk about what we do/have done in other than the vaguest details, if we talk at all.

• The first part of OPSEC from the Submarining point of view is identifying what information is critical. Think along the lines of things like capabilities. If the enemy knows the capabilities of your platform, how you fight and what you fight with they can develop effective countermeasures and at best limit what you can do. At worst, the enemy can destroy you. In order to keep the enemies guessing in any survival situation it is vital to limit the information you put out there.
• As a submariner we do not say where we operate. As a survivor don’t put your retreat information out there.
•  As a Submariner we do not discuss the capabilities of our boats except in the most general terms. As a survivor do not tell people what you have in your retreat location to defend yourself or survive. A simple statement of “I am prepared” should suffice.
• The second part of OPSEC is thinking about how the enemy can collect information about you. As a submariner, there are multiple avenues for this.
• Physical government agents looking for the person who can’t shut up(Chinese and Russians do it all the time).  As a Submariner, talking about underway times, return to port times and other stuff is strictly forbidden. Even to spouses. As a survivor, discussing stuff such as your times you go out patrolling, hunting or even how long you station your watches at your compound/retreat can lead to problems.
• Electronic intelligence gathering. The Chinese have become excellent at mining Facebook and other social media sites for information. “If you do not transmit, it can’t be heard” is an axiom we all should live by.  Posting even the smallest bit of information on the web can seem inconsequential, until that picture of you and the spouse on your hidden retreat is tied together with a previous comment you made about a certain river nearby, and another comment about elevation, so forth and so on. A relatively smart person can start tying things together from data mining and put together a very clear picture of you and where you are along with your capabilities.
• Passive observation. The enemy is out there doing their thing. As a Submariner, we strive to run quietly and operate smartly. A misstep in operating smartly can lead the enemy to unexpected discovery. Just because someone isn’t actively looking for you doesn’t mean they can’t accidentally spot you when you do something stupid. In a survival situation there could/will be groups of people wandering around. They are not necessarily looking for you.  Give yourself away by making unnecessary noise or ignoring light discipline can give them a reason to come your way. This doesn’t mean lie around all day and do nothing. In order to survive, we need to do activities that cause noise. There isn’t any way around it. Being aware, checking your “six”, alert watchstanding and regularly patrolling your area can mitigate the risk.
• The third part of OPSEC is continuously analyzing your vulnerabilities. It is not enough to do one noise monitor on the submarine and call it good. Constantly monitoring the surrounding environment and own ship helps us understand some of our vulnerabilities. Understanding the equipment onboard and what activities create noise is another portion.
•  Take a hard, critical look at your capabilities and short comings.  As a Submarine Comms guy I continuously evaluate the environment (nearby ships, distance from land, Bobs Discount Chinese satellite overhead, etc).  I fully understand the various RF paths and antennas I can transmit and receive on. I always understand the mission and what micro part of the mission I am on and I understand the vulnerabilities of each antenna I may have to raise above the waterline. As a survivor, you should understand the lay of your land. Can someone sneak up on your base of ops without you knowing? What is the external threat situation? Has the SHTF fully? Are there roving groups of people out there? What happens if I do “X” activity? Is there a better time of day I can do “X” activity? Ask yourself these questions. Test your defenses and any watchstander you may have stationed.  It is better to discover your own vulnerabilities than have the enemy discover them for you.
• Tying all the above in, Assess your risk. Before you do something ask yourself how this could harm you or your family. Ask yourself how this information you might be giving out could come back to haunt you. Manage the risk by developing countermeasures. The most effective countermeasure is not to post or talk about something. There is an old saying in the Submarine Force that holds true. The probability of a secret getting out is squared by the number of people who know it.

Drill (Practice) – Drill, drill repeatedly, drill realistically. As a Submariner I have endured countless drills. A long time ago I did not understand why we drilled endlessly because no one above me ever bothered to explain it to me and I was young and dumb. It was just what we did. I hated it. It was repetitive. It was mind numbing and it deprived me of the small amount of time I could get sleep. It wasn’t until I had to react in a SHTF situation (for a Submarine) that it really dawned upon me why. Responses were almost muscle memory. I did what I had to do quickly and efficiently because it was drilled endlessly.
We also drilled endlessly because there was no fire department to call. No “911” operators. We were a submarine, operating in the middle of the ocean. We were our own fire department. Our own casualty response team. If we couldn’t stop the casualty and recover, we were as good as dead. The same situation applies in a SHTF scenario. You and your own community are all that you can depend on.

• Planning what drill to run - Think about the different things that could happen. Brainstorm with your family or community group. Draw upon experience. Make a detailed list and then order them in the probability they may happen. For instance, maybe your house or compound catching on fire through human error, mechanical failure or a natural disaster has the highest probability of happening (as determined by you). There are 12 other items on your list with the probability of occurrence dropping to near zero at the bottom (let’s call the last one Zombie Apocalypse).  Figure out which of those events could cause the most damage to the compound/community/group. That is what you would want to drill on the most. On the subs, fire and flooding are two of the biggest risks and also happen to be two items with the highest probability of causing severe damage to (or sinking) the boat. Dedicate precious drill time to the highest probability events.
• Assigning responsibilities (consider this a watch/quarter/station bill) – Generations of Sailors in the Navy have learned this the hard way; if someone is not specifically assigned to do something during a casualty (fire/flooding/etc) by name or by watchstation then there is a probability it will not get done. Example of a watch/Quarter/Station Bill. Assign people to do things.
• Planning the drill – Say for instance you have determined fire is the biggest risk to your group. Plan a fire drill. Come up with a realistic scenario in which a fire may break out in your retreat. Start out small and simple. A small pretend fire in a trashcan is easy to do. Eventually you want to work up to the big fire drill such as multiple levels in a building. In all cases (and I cannot emphasize this enough) never light an actual fire in a building to practice.
• Realism – The more realistic the scenario, the more your people/family will take away from the drill. On a submarine during a fire drill the fire teams don Fire Fighting Ensembles, Scott Air Packs, grab a thermal imager and flake out (and pressurize) fire hoses. They get those fire hoses on scene and try to attack from multiple directions. Often the team has their vision impaired as it would be during an actual fire. Probably you would not have these items available to you. How could you make it realistic? In a survival scenario where the fire department won’t be coming to help, your objective should be to get firefighting agent to the scene as quickly as possible. In most cases this would be maybe a few fire extinguishers and water. A simple flashing red led light in a trash can or wherever you want to simulate the fire can often suffice to get people to bring the extinguishing agent to the right location. If you have a way to create non-toxic smoke safely then I suggest doing so. The Halloween foggers work quite well.  Another way to simulate smoke (and something that is reusable over and over) is a light blue hairnet. One of these placed over the face or (if you are lucky enough to have breathing equipment) a mask can effectively simulate a smoky environment. Make it as realistic (safely) as you can. The time to find out you, your family or your group doesn’t know what it is doing is when the SHTF.
• The drill process – You want to get the most out of the drill and identify any issue so you can fix them. Have a process. Pre-brief the drill with your drill team (it may only be you and one other). Run the drill and observe/write-down actions and issues. Make sure you get response times written down. After the drill gather the observers together and collate comments. Finally talk to the group. Go over what happened, what went right and what went wrong. Your group cannot get better if they do not know what they did wrong and how to fix it.

Community – Being a Submariner, I am proud part of a select (and demented) community. The key word is community. We rely on each other to help solve problems. A submarine underway is a survival community all on its own. As mentioned above, we are the fire department. We are also the maintainers of our resources. When we leave the pier we leave it with what we have onboard. If you forget something, well, it is too bad. Make do without it. As a community (crew) we make sure we have everything onboard to get underway and do our time at sea effectively. Food and stores must be loaded. Critical parts stowed. We rely on each other as any good community should. Some of the things we do that can be applied to a community survival situation:

• Qualifying and cross-qualifying – On a submarine each person must “qualify” the boat. What this means is an individual has to have a decent understanding of every system onboard the submarine. Take a Los Angeles Class Fast Attack submarine that is three levels of systems in a 360 foot long tube.  You have three major hydraulic systems, high pressure air, ventilation, weapons, etc, etc. It is a lot of stuff. The person must also qualify to stand a security watch in port and an underway watchstation. Finally the individual must also thoroughly understand damage control and how to respond during different casualties (such as fire, flooding, steam line rupture, etc). 

As a community it is important for everyone to know as much as they can about the general working of the community. How does the community respond to an attack? A fire? What are the systems that are in place within the community (such as water, sanitation, power) and basically how do they work. You want the people within the community to have understanding of the workings in order to respond to situations.
Within a community you will always have specialists. People may be firearms experts. Some can drop a fishing line in the water and will a fish onto their hook. Others can grow crops. This is where cross-qualifying comes into play. In a survival scenario it is important that people know how to do more than one job. The sad reality is that in a SHTF scenario not everyone will survive. Having people cross-qualify and learning multiple jobs lessens the loss of an individual. A cross qualified person also gives versatility in rotating personnel through rest periods and spreading the workload.

• Relaxation – Every person needs down time. People always on the edge ready for a trip-wire event lose sharpness and focus. On a submarine, I knew there would be days I would get little rest. In a survival situation the same thing will happen. It is vital that every opportunity to get rest or unwind should be taken. I like to think of it as banking time. It is a balancing game. There will ALWAYS be work that needs to get done. Rest should be part of the work routine. As a Submariner out to sea we often depended on each other for entertainment. Take 150 guys, stuff then in a steel tube, deprive them of sunlight and news and entertainment will happen. Sailors at sea have been figuring out ways to break up the monotony of a long voyage for years on end. As a survival community it is vital that the community celebrate when they can. We celebrate halfway night (mid way through a 6 or 7 month deployment). A community can celebrate the harvest. A community can make any occasion a reason to celebrate what God has given them and it is important that they do. Celebrating life’s little victories and accomplishments makes things go better.
• Recognition – On Submarines we recognize Sailors for outstanding work. Sometimes it is a medal. Sometimes it is advancement in rank. Other times it is a well deserved extra day off. It is human nature for most of us to get some recognition of a job well done.  Personally I never sought it out but was always grateful when it happened. It is important for the community to celebrate accomplishments by individuals within the community. Each group must decide on their own what that may be, but recognition is important. With my own sons, it can be a simple pat on the back and the words “good job”.

In the end, survival will always be how well the community binds together. Individual survival can happen for awhile but for us to go on we need to interface, interact and rebuild. Fellowship and reliance on others is what makes Submariners strong and what makes a group/family/community stronger. Some of what I have talked about is not for everybody and cannot be applied to every situation. It is something to ponder. Just like some of the posts here on SurvivalBlog are not always applicable to my situation, I appreciate the time this online community has invested in getting the information out there and I take a lot of what people have to say to heart. Thanks for all that you do and keep posting. I need something to print out/save and take underway to read!

To anyone who swatches the news or opens up an internet browser from time to time, it’s exceedingly clear that the world is becoming an extremely dangerous place.  From the abstract threats such as global economic collapse or pandemic to the more concrete ideas of natural catastrophes, terrorist attacks and the like, it’s obvious that preparedness isn’t just something to think about occasionally, it’s an absolute necessity.  Yet, with our feet firmly planted in the middle class, my wife and I don’t exactly have the money to go out and build the fortified bunker of our dreams for the day when, inevitably, life as we know it here in America may take a turn for the worse.  We’ve had to adapt our game plan to match both our materials and our means.  And let me tell you, preparing for disaster smack dab in the middle of the suburban wasteland is a completely different ball game.

So, to start off, I think we should have a little history about me and my situation.  I grew up in the mountains of northeastern Tennessee, deep in the heart of Dixie.  In rural Appalachia, self-sustainable living and prepping are just normal parts of everyday life for a lot of people, and my family was no exception.  Hunting, fishing, gardening, canning food, etc. were pretty much the norm in our area, and served as a means for people in a fairly poor economic region to build both a comfortable life for themselves and a little peace of mind.  On top of that, the mountainous terrain of the southern back country offers great protection from a lot of natural disasters (tornados, flooding, etc.) and isolation from most of the rest of the American populace should widespread civil unrest occur.  In short, though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was born and raised in a prepper’s paradise.  Then, against all odds, I found a beautiful woman who loved me back and we’ve been building a life together for the last 12 years.

However, once we got married, we joined the world of corporate America in order to be able to make the kind of living that we wanted for ourselves in the “new” economy.  Unfortunately, our company underwent some “consolidation” and shut down the office in our hometown.  My wife and I (who both work for the same business) were tasked with a choice:  both face unemployment and risk becoming part of the foreclosure statistics on American home owners, or follow our jobs and move far from friends and family out into the Midwest.  It wasn’t an easy decision, but with the prospect of starting a family of our own right around the corner, there was no choice but to bite the bullet and take a chance on building a better life.  With only a three month window to find and purchase a new home, we ended up settling in a large subdivision on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area near our new place of employment.

Back in Tennessee, our home was a two story brick house with a sizable basement, snuggled into the side of a heavily wooded mountain.  However, due to the higher prices of real estate in our new area, we ended up in a single story wood-framed house built onto a concrete slab, surrounded by hundreds of nearly identical homes.  We are less than 10 miles from one of the largest cities in the continental United States, and to make matters worse, our home is actually visible from one of the major interstates that feed into the city.  In other words, like most of Middle America, my new house is a nightmare in terms of survivability should any major collapse of society occur.  Yet, for that very reason, immediately bugging out during a time of crisis is not an option, due to some of the following factors:

• Living near a major population center means that when food/water/electricity go into short supply, everyone is going to have the same idea: get out of Dodge.
• The major roadways around our home become near parking lots during rush hour every day as it is.  In a disaster, those traffic pileups are likely to become semi-permanent.
• Since a lot of people in large cities don’t commute via cars, during the mass exodus to escape, those who do have working transportation will become immediate targets.
• Furthermore, like the swarm of locusts of Biblical lore, a large group of people trying to flee an area on foot are likely to consume every resource in their path, one way or another.  While they may not have cars, it’s extremely likely that whether it’s a golf club or a Glock, some will be armed.

Therefore, for all these reasons and more, a more nuanced approach is required.  As much as we would like to, getting back to friends and family in the mountains of Tennessee just probably won’t be an option in the short term.  This means bugging in and hoping to ride out the worst of it until such a time that either:

• We deem the situation fit to travel via the back roads and reach a more defensible location back home with our families.

Or,

• The turmoil in our area has cooled to a point that we can start trying to become self-sustainable here in our community without fear of reprisal (openly gardening, hunting, fishing, etc.)

Either way, the name of the game becomes surviving the short term fallout that is bound to follow any collapse of basic societal structure.  Following Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it becomes pretty easy to map out the way that things will probably play out.  Our lives, like it or not, are ruled by this chart.  Surviving the “exodus” near a major city means two things:  Having the basics in the bottom row of that pyramid covered for up to a 6-month time period for you and your family and having the means to defend it from those who will want to take it from you.  However, there are unique challenges to achieving either of these goals when living in a matchstick house on a concrete block amidst hundreds of other families and within spitting distance of millions of potentially hostile people.

Let’s start with the first part, meeting your needs.  There are plenty of preparation checklists out there with great advice on every little thing that you might need to survive the apocalypse.  I’m going to assume that you know how to cover the basics of food/water/medicine storage.  However, there are a few extra things to consider when living in the suburbs.  Basic bunker mentality for bugging in during a crisis follows the “dig in and defend” model.  We’ll call this the tortoise approach.  That’s great if you have the means to make it work, however, there’s nothing particularly defensible about many people’s homes, mine included, so that mentality has to change.  For me it has become “avoid detection and deter”.  My home doesn’t have a basement, a bunker, or a safe room, so the idea of holing up in a fortified spot with enough firepower to hold off the mob just isn’t feasible.  Instead, I want to present a small target and make it as unappetizing to potential looters as possible.  Think less snapping turtle, more porcupine.

Back to Maslow’s handy dandy pyramid of preparedness priorities, we know that water is the number one driving force of human survival behavior.  Once the taps stop running and the Aquafina has flown off the shelves, it will be a matter of a few short days before people either leave their homes in search of greener pastures (lakes, rivers, etc.) or start to beg, borrow, plead, and potentially kill to take water from those who still have it.  Here are some things to remember about water storage in the ‘burbs.

• Diversify your storage.  Like the old adage says, don’t keep all your eggs in one basket (this includes brands, types of containers, and storage locations).
• You should try to have at least 100 potential gallons per person in your house at any given time, and stored in a variety of places around your home.
• Keep emergency water containers clean, dry, and ready to be filled at a moment’s notice.
• My solutions include:
• Four 24-Pack cases of Nestle’ Pure Life bottled water (this brand consistently scores highly in water purity and bottling transparency testing) in the top of the guest bedroom closet.
• Two 24-Pack cases of Nestle’ Pure Life bottled water in the trunk of both mine and my wife’s cars.
• Eight 2.5-Gallon Containers of Arrowhead Spring water in the corner of my computer room closet.
• Twenty single gallon jugs of Nestle’ Pure Life Water hidden two at a time in various places (next to the water heater, in a corner of the garage, etc.)
• Four Reliance brand 7-gallon stackable “Aquatainers” ready to be filled in the master bathroom closet.
• Two WaterBOB brand 100-Gallon bathtub bags (1 for each tub) ready to be filled in the cabinet under the sink in each bathroom.

It’s been said over and over, but it is the truest statement in this world: water is life.  Storing water in this way, even if a portion of my home becomes damaged or inaccessible, I’ll still have enough to survive the short term and reevaluate the situation.  Eventually, though, even the largest supplies will run dry.  In this case, you need to be able to answer these questions:

• Where is my nearest source of clean water (stream, river, large lake, etc.)?
• Is it easily reachable by foot, under cover of darkness?
• If not, how likely am I to be able to reach it by car?
• Do I have an easy way to transport it back to my home?
• Can I protect myself during this process?
• Do I have some way to make sure it’s safe (boiling, filters, water treatments, etc.)?

Next on the list comes food storage, and this is another topic that is covered ad nauseam in any number of preparedness web sites and books.  But the important thing to remember for our purposes is that not only do you need to have food, but you need to not draw attention to the fact that you have food.  Nothing brings uninvited guests to the party quite like the smell of fresh beef stew when they haven’t eaten a thing in weeks.  In fact, they’re likely to bring their own silverware if you catch my drift.  Here are some ways to keep that from happening:

• Avoid storing foods that have to be cooked in an open container or that put off a strong or unique odor.
• Avoid heating methods that produce smoke or have to be ventilated in any way.
• Don’t store foods that require much, if any, water to prepare.  Water is going to be your number one resource; you can’t waste a drop that you don’t have to.
• Try to cut down on trash as much as possible (i.e. large resealable containers as opposed to individually packaged and disposable containers).  Trash has to be disposed of at some point and is a clear indicator that someone is still taking the wrappers off of candy bars.
• Keep calorie intake healthy, but to a minimum.  Being the only guy in the neighborhood who still has a double chin is another red flag.
• Don’t use a generator for any reason, ever.  In an isolated location, with proper noise reduction and ventilation, it’s a viable choice.  But nothing says “come burn my house down and take my stuff” like being the one family that has electricity when the darkness comes.

The whole goal here is to fly under the radar as much as possible.  Shelf stable foods that don’t have to be cooked at all are ideal.  Think mixed nuts, dry cereals, beef jerky, and the like.  These types of foods are also much more convenient to transport and prepare should you have to bail out.  Self-heating MREs are also a fantastic option but do require water to prepare and are easy to get burnt out on after a while.  While it’s no fun to have very few fresh hot meals, survival in the midst of the fleeing hordes revolves around avoiding notice at all costs.  You may not be happy, but you’ll be alive.

The last piece of the puzzle is the hardest, but also the most important: defense.  A quiet, middle-class suburb is a pretty appetizing target to people in a desperate search for the basic necessities of life.  All of the supplies in the world won’t mean a thing if you can’t defend them.  However, the key is to not to attract any unnecessary notice and to make your home an inadvisable target.  Some potential tools for getting this job done include:

• Door Crossbar Holders:  These can be installed quickly during a time of chaos with nothing but a cordless drill, some heavy duty wood screws, and some spare 2x4s.  Putting up at least two sets per door means that the old police trick of “kick and breach” won’t be quite so easy.  It also stops the more subtle “lockpick in the night” routine.  Remember, the goal here isn’t to make the entryway impregnable (which is nigh impossible in a wood and drywall home), but rather to buy some time to defend.
• Biohazard Signs:  If pandemic is the trigger that starts the collapse, one of these signs on each door is tantamount to installing an invisible force field around your home.  Even if it’s something more plausible, like a global economic collapse, looters are much more likely to target the house that they think won’t give them cholera.
• Window Privacy Film:  It’s ok for people to know that your home is still occupied.  In fact, an abandoned house is far more likely to be ransacked than one that is thought to still be defended.  Letting people pinpoint your exact location before an attack, however, could cost you your life.  With this upgrade (along with normal blinds/curtains) you can still use lanterns, headlamps, etc. without giving away where you’ve chosen to bed down.
• Window Bars:  Again, the keys here are speed/ease of installation and deterrence.  You don’t need to protect your windows from a full SWAT team with breaching charges, just dehydrated, half-starved city folks looking for some free supplies.  These bars give you time to line up a clear shot from behind cover and make sure that the person trying to get in realizes the risk vs. the reward.

It’s also important to designate a small fallback area within your home and use this as the staging area for everything else you do.  This way if part of your home becomes compromised it’s not a total loss.  While your “Alamo” may not be a fortress, it should be a place with as few windows and doors as possible and a clear field of fire.   Ours is the large master bathroom with an attached walk-in closet.  The only window in the bathroom is small, octagonal, made of thick frosted glass, and about 8 feet off the ground.  Once things look to be turning south, all our supplies can be quickly moved to the closet, the bathroom door triple barred, and the window filmed over.  The two Mossberg pump action 12 Gauge shotguns with 500+ magnum slug shells that live in the closet provide the “deter” portion of the game plan.

Finally, if possible, it’s also great to have a “plan C” just in case.  If your home catches fire, is completely overrun, or for some other reason becomes uninhabitable, you may have to leave in a hurry.  Fortunately for us, there is attic access in both the walk-in closet and our garage, with only about 20 feet of crawlspace between the two.  Hiding a couple of bug-out backpacks in the crawlspace allows us a fairly covert escape route directly to the car, or at the very least, out of the house.  Planning everything needed to bail out and stay safe on the run in a completely different topic in and of itself, but just keep in mind that bug-out supplies are similar to bug-in supplies, just on a much smaller, more mobile scale.  It’s not a perfect scenario, but having a “last ditch effort” retreat solution is never a bad thing. 

At the end of the day, I think it’s very feasible to sit tight and ride out the initial panic of any major catastrophe, even in a less than fortified location.  When the lights go out and the trucks stop running, places in and around major cities are going to revert to the Wild West fairly quickly.  But it’s for that very reason that staying put is the best option.  When the world around you is chaos, there are too many things that can go wrong by stepping out into the maelstrom, even if the goal is getting to a safer location.  It’s hard to predict exactly how things will go down and Murphy’s Law will bite you on the butt any time you think you’ve got it all figured out.  In any event, by keeping a low profile, deterring looters if possible, and using force if necessary, I think that we suburbanites stand a pretty good chance of making it through the first few months of TEOTWAWKI relatively unscathed.  And that, my friends, is what it is all about.

Obviously it’s fun talking about boom sticks and charging in to save the day. But here are some other items for your consideration for the other 23 hours in the day when the castle is not under siege:

FOOD & WATER - Your body can last 30 days without food, and only 3 days without water. What are you doing to secure a minimum of a gallon/day for each member of your family. Remember, in a grid down scenario, it will NOT take long for industrious groups to recognize that water will be more valuable than gold. Plan on making a hike to a nearby stream each day with your bucket? How long do you think it would take a gang to recognize the power of strategically placing sniper or blockades to/from accessible watering holes? You're going to need a Plan B - plastic water cans (5 gal) that can be carried, 55 gallon drums, 250 gallon rain capture systems. These will be life savers. One final word on water – consider a well hand pump like this one from Flojak. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A WELL DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE WATER! Without electricity, how do you plan to get that water up to you?

Figuring out food is easy. What did you eat today? Now buy 30 of that, with your goal to build up to 6-12 months of food for your family. Eggs/milk? Yeah, they have the powdered stuff. Remember that you will want to maintain as much of a normalized, familiar diet as possible so you don’t shock your body.  Don’t forget to throw in some sweets (Hershey Kisses, candy bars, etc.)  When everything seems like it’s off its hinge, you’ll appreciate having something sweet.

CLOTHING - What are you lacking right now that is either missing or in need of repair/stitching? Comfortable, water proof hiking boots should be priority. Poncho. Waterproof cold weather gear. Hats, gloves, sunglasses. Do you have extra batteries for your watch?  Also - 2 categories to prep: Everyday "civvies" /work uniform (khakis and polos, etc), and then your "playtime/hunting" gear. there is a time and place for both. Simple is best. And remember that “two is one, and one is none”.

SHELTER - This is more than do you have a roof. Consider what happens when the power goes down. Do you have light/candles/flashlights/phone service? What about backup heat? Here's food for thought: In a grid down scenario, how long do you think you can "hold up" without operational sewage? Do you have an emergency 5 gallon bucket with lid and extra baggies? Hint: some extra kitty litter? Not a bad idea. Also - inventory any possible weak spots: Ground floor doors and windows. You may also consider pre-cutting plywood to act as reinforcement in the case of a hurricane (or other man-made threats).  Now is also a good time to begin contingency plans.  Where will you go in the event of some emergency and your house is no longer safe, or has been destroyed or damaged?  Have you considered forming alliances with people in your neighborhood or church where if you are homeless you can stay with them (for a pre-determined period of time), and vice versa.

TRANSPORTATION - Lets step back for a second. Before you go shopping for a diesel Bug-out vehicle, do you have the basics? Jumper cables? Gas can? Spare tire? Reliable jack? Extra quarts of oil and coolant? These cost $50 and can be the difference between a 10 minute ride home, or being stuck in the woods overnight. Also - were you aware that you can purchase a 14 gallon gas tank with wheels to store at the house? Think about it...if the pumps go dry, you have an extra 300-400 miles of mobility that can be bartered or utilized to get to your safe house.

Going Beyond The Four Pillars

Beyond the "4-Pillars" of Food, Clothing, Shelter, and Transportation, there are other vital tactics that you will need to sustain you and your family over the next 6-12+ months: They are Communications, Defense, Medical, and Community.

COMMUNICATIONS: - As the Ghostbusters would ask, "Who ya gonna call?" Do you have a local list of 5 to 10 reliable people that you would trust if you come home to a burning house, or you find yourself surrounded by a roving band of ne'er-do-wells trying to beat down your front door and windows? After the phone tree, given the phone dead zone in New York City on 9/11, you should probably consider getting your ham radio license. When disaster hits, this is the Internet, phone system, and postal service all wrapped up in one little box. In the field of battle, when you control communication, you also control movement of the enemy, and can cut off any vital supplies and shipments.

DEFENSE: This seems to be where us guys like to go first. There's a reason this is further down the list. If you don't have these other items squared away first, then what are you going to do? Well, you become one of "them", the looter crowd that just thinks they are going to take whatever they need by force. The habit of planning the use of non-lethal force will avoid major unnecessary engagements that cost valuable resources, and cost lives. Still, you need to be able to defend yourself, your family, your home, and be prepared to come to the aid of your friends and community. It’s your duty as a man, in my humble opinion.

You don't need to spend $1,500 on the fanciest AR and a drawer full of Glocks in every caliber. It means you need the basics - 1) Knowledge/Awareness, 2) Hand to Hand/Self Defense training, 3) Concealed carry, 4) Something to defend your home against multiple aggressors for 20 to 30 minutes until help can arrive (see Communications, above). At its core you can equip yourself with a highly-concealable Taurus TCP .380 for only $200, and reliable 12 ga Shotgun for $209.

Guess what? That leaves enough funds to pick up a Mosin Nagant rifle for less than $120 that will take down any large game you may need to put on the table for your family (or even two-legged predators). Now I'm no math major, but for $529 (+FFL fees), you can purchase all the home defense that you really need. But here's the rub: These will do you no good unless you practice, practice, practice. Get involved with USPSA. Find other like-minded folks in your area who are interested in running various drills, shooting matches, and get the practice and experience you need. Losers practice so they don't miss. Winners practice until they can't miss. Chew on that for a minute.

MEDICAL - Preventive maintenance is most critical. Get off your duff and move for 20-30 minutes day. Walk, hike, hit up p90x or Insanity. Heck, go online and find some sort of fitness that you find fun. I have a 20 minute circuit of sit-ups, pushups, pull-ups, handstands, rev pull-ups, dips, burpees, curl/shrugs, weighted jump rope and deep squats/sprints that I knock out in the time it takes most people to watch television commercials. Beyond preventative, you will obviously need some basics: Supplements, pain meds, insulin, Neosporin, Band-aids, rubbing alcohol, etc. Don't over think it. Just put together what you need as you need it in a water-tight tool box, or Rubbermaid tote container. Then find some place to get CPR certified.

COMMUNITY - No man is an island, and you aren't going to be able to do this alone. We're not wire up that way. Got a bug out retreat in the boonies that's 50 miles from the nearest town? Awesome. Then what. Why not organize with people in your community. Find a common thread, and decide that if TSHTF that you, your family, your neighbors, and people within your community are going to be proactive in setting up all the items listed above.  Since before the formation of our nation, churches have played a vital role in our communities, both for spiritual guidance, as well as for community. We need each other.  As a former athlete I cannot tell you how many times I was reminded of the acronym “TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More!”.  It became a running joke, but today those words ring truer than ever.  There are people you know who can build shelter, run plumbing, electricity, fix cars and engines, set up and orchestrate civil communications and defense, bake, can, and coordinate anything you can imagine. But apart from community, those talents and strengths all go to waste.  But when combined, we all become a part of something much greater than the sum of our individual parts.

The media seems to enjoy casting "preppers" as outer fringe nut jobs, yet the federal government has underground bunkers and contingency plans for every conceivable disaster known to man. Did you know they even have contingency plans in the event an asteroid slams into the planet and wipes 90% of the population off the face of the earth? Yet you're told that you're nuts to set aside 30 days of food and water... well, to me that is nuts not to think about these things and set plans in motion. And above all else, find things that you enjoy doing and share them! Movies, plays, art, music, backpacking, dancing...and my favorite, eating! There is so much worth living and fighting for.

So why not start today with an open discussion with the people in your life? The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Start by picking up that extra 25lb block of rice at Sam’s Club. Then look to add 1 new thing each day or week. Remember, the days are evil, and each passing day is a lost opportunity to do good, not only for yourself, but for the lives of those around you who are beginning to wake up.  And see this time as a tremendous opportunity to become more as a person, and to minister to the needs of others.  Imagine the impact and good you can do when a family member or friend comes to you panicked by the reality that the world that they’ve always know is about to change.  Nature abhors a vacuum, and when a void is created, Edmund Burke once said that “All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing”.  Well, now is your chance to do something good.

JWR,

Thought I'd pass on some field training exercise (FTX) grunt games that we used to use for training. It's an excellent way to evaluate your rural home or retreat security, and develop reconnaissance skills.

I don't know if the military still encourages this kind of training, but during the Cold War, there was a game we used to play to try and keep sharp. If I remember right, both my army reserve unit and later, my regular army mechanized infantry units both practiced this. It costs about nothing, but hones critical skills.

The premise is simple:

To send a team out to gather as much information on the opposing team as possible, and report back without being caught. To make things a little more interesting, each aggressor team member would have a deck of cards, and place them on items of value that they could have stolen or destroyed inside the defenders camp. And if one of the aggressors were caught, they were usually held inside the camp, and made to do something embarrassing (singing a nursery rhyme, clucking like a chicken, or whatever the officer or NCO felt like at that time).

The defensive team would, of course, try and create a defense where no one could sneak through, send out patrols to try and spot/capture recon-patrols, and set traps within their parameter to secure valuable/sensitive items.

Teams:

When training within the platoon, one group (usually a team to squad size - 4 to 13 people) are marked as the aggressor, the remaining play the defensive role. Sometimes this would even be one company against another company where both had aggressor and defensive components.

This was never official, and usually the losers had to pay for some beer when it was over, but you would be surprised how effective it was.

Training Goals:

Learn where your training is weakest - both in personal training and the tactical abilities of your team/platoon/company.
The best way to learn where your parameter is weakest is to try and get around it.
The best way to learn how to defend against small recon size patrols or individuals is to defend against them.
Not knowing the exact location of the defenders was critical. We would get a general location of where they might be, but beyond that we had to track down the defenders by search grids, and their lack of noise and light discipline.
Most of this was done at night. We had night vision, but the technology is not as effective as you might think in woodland terrain. Plus when the goggles are cranked up to full power, they send out a light beam that gives you away when the opposing team has the goggles too.

Sometimes the NCO on patrol would declare himself "injured", and he would alternate putting E4s in charge during the remaining mission. It always caused a little confusion, but dealing with confusion was part of the exercise.

To avoid the 'I saw you' excuses, we would plan out the recon, mark times at different points, and if possible leave cards where you could have stolen or destroyed materials. In addition, there was on occasion a hidden case of beer. If you could get it out of the defensive parameter without being caught it was yours, if you could identify where it was you split it with whoever else spotted it. We mixed up the rewards all of the time, but you get the point.

One last note: we often did this over the course of a planned field exercise, and in-between normal training. If you only do this for one night, then the opposing force will be ready and have most of their people awake as possible. If they don't know if you are coming tonight, tomorrow night, or early next week, then they have to use a normal schedule for security. It also meant that if we were to infiltrate when they were the most tiered from their daily training, we would be infiltrating under the same conditions, and with the added strain of the patrol. - Robert B.

Hi,
Thank you for sharing all of your info, but I have to be honest, I am so overwhelmed with it all that if or when this happens I would rather be dead.  Who would want to live like  this and what would be the reason to live?  I wouldn’t have the heart to shoot someone  to protect my food and I am a sharpshooter. I just wanted your opinion.
 
Best Regards, - Deborah C.

JWR Replies: The underlying theme to my writings is to be part of an integrated team.  That team might be just a few families living on a cul-de-sac, or it might be a small town. By being competent and confident with firearms, your group will avoid confrontations.  Very few bad guys will mess with someone with a capability to immediately drop them at up to 400 yards.  And if you don't have the willingness to do so yourself, then team up with someone that does.  You can provide other forms of useful and valued support to a group or small community effort. (Agriculture, advanced first aid, mechanics, et cetera.)  Not everyone has to be a warrior.

As a professional project manager for a large international corporation, my position requires me to mitigate the risks of unknown variables that can alter the success of large and small projects. Donald Rumsfeld quote that ‘we don’t know what we don’t know” comes to mind. It is my job to insulate our company from cost overruns, time delays, or catastrophic project failure by identifying those variables and reducing their impact. These principles of project management applied to small personal events to those effecting us globally has led me to recognize some concerning trends in the preparedness community.

My observations have evolved as I have reached out or involved myself with various groups, whose vision and goals were to help other become aware of the fragile society and economy and how to prepare for it. I have discovered that the vast majority of people prepare themselves and their families, then stop at that point, thinking they have what they need to weather the storms of life. That discovery is what led me to move people beyond a personal stockpile of “stuff” and develop a Concentric Circle Preparedness Plan.

The goal behind this next step in preparing is to build a personal community, enhance your skills, resources and knowledge base and insulate you from the crisis with circles of defense. Concentric circles multiple your ability to survive. From small events, such as job loss, to major events, such as a global socio-economic collapse; adapting this along with a color code of awareness will help you identify what actions you should take and when.

Your Family Circle
This is your Primary Circle and where most people start and stop. They lay up food, water, medical supplies, fuel, shelter plans, guns, ammunition, maybe some cash and silver. They may develop some new skills such as sewing, canning, gardening, animal husbandry and acquire books as reference material. Yet they get to this point with a new level of confidence and assurance and falsely believe all is well or at least better. They may be prepared more than the masses but this is not the end of the journey. This initial circle is very important, because without it you become a refugee at the mercy of others or worse case FEMA.

Areas you should focus on are: Food, Water, Shelter, Fuel, Security, Medical needs, personal Hygiene, Currency/Barter skills, Gardening, Basic First Aid, etc. I would suggest finding a comprehensive list here on the List of Lists.

Extended Family Circle

This becomes your Secondary Circle and by its nature and mindset of awareness, an individual will naturally reach out to mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and cousins, your extended family. All of us have done this at some point or another and have our message both accepted or we are given the look (you know the one I am speaking of).  Developing the second circle is important to acquire trustful partners in a time of crisis. Additionally, a family member may have a farm to act as a retreat or access to skills and talents you neither have the education nor training, such as mechanic, nursing, welding, etc. Your extended family circle gives you a multiplier effect to your resources, tools and supplies that you may not have or the ability to purchase. Since typically, (family dependant) the trust factor is high in extended families, the sharing of information becomes less of a factor than in the outside circles. This second circle along with your family circle becomes the basis for your primary community of support and security.

At this point the creation of additional circles becomes more difficult as the trust factor diminishes and OPSEC issues arise. The benefits are great but I would caution and use extreme discernment in reaching out to others without a thorough knowledge of others ideologies and personal beliefs.

The following Circles are interchangeable in their position. For instance,  your Church Circle may well be more important or relevant to your personal situation than a Neighborhood or Friend Circle.

Neighborhood and Friend Circle

This can be broken into two separate and distinct circles. As you move to develop this circle the selection process of people to include should be done with care. Again, if you know your neighbors you can pick out the individuals that would be hostile to any mention of preparedness or political differences that may jeopardize your inter-circles. I know in our neighborhood we are surrounded by “opposing” ideologies that would expect us to share what we stored. An Occupy movement for my storehouse would likely ensure if they knew of our preparedness mindset. Nice people under normal circumstance but potential threats should the crisis develop beyond the point of stretching regional resources. We do not mention our plans or thoughts on preparing to these individuals. Choosing friends and neighbors under extreme situations is left to your discretion. There are advantages, you may have certain friends or neighbors who can add to your skill and knowledge base or those that you know are all ready preparing and the subject matter would not be threatening to them. These individuals become additional multipliers and another layer of security and insulation to mitigate risks of a crisis.

Reaching out to unknown neighbors is not a wise decision. One way to evaluate a neighborhood mindset is to start a Neighborhood Watch program. You will find out very quickly those that are armed, concerned about crime or possibly even have a similar mindset.

We have friends that have developed over the last year from our Homeschool Co-op. They have a farm with cattle, milking cows, a private shooting range. We are working together now to learn new skills, their location is not ideal for a retreat since it is a farm in the midst of a highly populated area, but the resources we have access to are beyond our individual efforts.

Church/Organizational Circle

I would hope your church would be supportive and what better core of individuals to build community support. I would say that in my experience depending on your denomination, that some church leaders may oppose preparing or at least look at you with the same look you get from skeptical family members. The groups I have been involved with have reached out to Churches with mixed results. The reason may vary from those that believe preparing is equal to not trusting in the Lord (which I believe He does) or that the Rapture will let them escape any major crisis (which I have no doubt He is capable to do). Unfortunately most automatically jump to a TEOTWAWKI situation and fail to see that hurricanes, tornados, ice storms, and job losses are everyday crisis’ people deal with. When they hear preparing, they hear Revelation events. That being said, I have found that most church members understand the principles found in scripture concerning preparing and are not opposed to it. The Joseph Principle, Noah, the Ant proverb, and the parable of the Ten Virgins are great examples.

The benefits of building the relationships in this circle are vast. Your trust factor should be higher than the population at large, the number of people (depending on your church) gives you access to more skills and resources of knowledge, a pre-structured community, access to large commercial kitchens equipment to feed large numbers of people and most importantly a support group of people of like faith.

Local Authority Circle

What I am suggesting is to make yourself acquainted with your local sheriff’s office or in my case we have a Deputy Sheriff that lives next door. He does not know that we are have a preparedness plan, in fact he does not even know that he is part of my circle, he knows who I am, and to some extent my views on life. Remember the crisis may be personal or global so mitigation of any risk is your goal and having knowledge and a personal connection with the local county sheriff or fire department may prove to be an extra layer of security. I would also add that including a Deputy Sheriff at your Neighborhood Watch Program actually provides you with information on the Sheriff in your county. You may discover that your sheriff is an Oath Honoring Constitutional minded Sheriff willing to assist citizens in his county to prepare.

By no means should your circles encompass any or all of these, you can tailor your concentric circles according to your own personal situation. But as you do, you will start to gain even more confidence in your survival skills, knowledge and resources.

How and when to engage these circles will be dependant on the event you are experiencing. Of course a job loss will not require you to engage the sheriff’s office but you may reach out to family, then your church, etc., yet a regional chemical spill may. Remember each circle provides a resource to mitigate risk.

Codes of Awareness

Now that you have a circle of security to insulate and mitigate risks to your family, establish a Color Code of Awareness. Information is key and if you plan to bug out it is imperative that you are the first ones out the door. While everyone else is watching Fox News to learn of the most up-to-date report on the crisis, then it is time to go. My personal opinion depending on the crisis will be that 80% of people have no where to go and will stay glued to the television for up to the minute news. The remaining 20% will have the sense to leave but 80% of those will hesitate because they are not ready, have nothing packed and no plan of action. That leaves us. The question my primary and secondary circles discuss on major events is What is the trigger? I still don’t have an answer for that question. We have thoughts and ideas and those are used to form a basis for decisions. But this is when we venturing into the “don’t-know-what-we-don’t-know-area”. We all have a sense in today’s world that events are upon us that can go badly very quickly. This unknown variable can only be provided with contingencies, a If this-Then this scenario, and in no way could every possible scenario be accounted for.  Under that unknown variable, we apply an OODA Loop.

Observation: You information do we have; what is going on around us, etc
Orientation: Formulate a plan around the Data you have received
Decision: Is the information valid, is it sufficient to make a decision, if not then more observation, reach out to your circles to uncover other information that will assist you
Action: Based on the information, is it a trigger event for you to implement a plan. What are the implications of delaying action?

Using an OODA loop for engaging your circles will help you from jumping the gun or crying wolf. The color code may also be used to determine when you call upon on more levels of your circles. Those decisions should be based upon your specific circumstance.

Code White
Means there are no potential hazards, ongoing crisis or crises on the horizon. Anything that happens would be a complete surprise. Personally we have never been in a Code White. With all the events going on politically, economically, socially a Code White would be a welcomed relief.

Code Yellow
Code Yellow means there is no specific threat but you are aware of some crisis that may be on the horizon. Example: A potential hurricane, snow storm. We have Code Yellow occasionally in North Carolina. In a Code Yellow we may contact those in our Extended Family and Friend Circle

Code Orange
Code Orange means there is a specific threat serious enough for us to have gassed up all the vehicles and be prepared to bug out. Bags are at the ready, Daily phone calls to members of our Primary Circle are made with location and daily plans. A sound like over kill but it is nice to be in touch with a spouse or children on a regular basis even if just to check in on each others status. The cause for a Code Orange in our operational book is terrorist threats, economic uncertainty, looming war, severe weather alerts, political uncertainty, etc. Yes, we seem to stay recently in Code Orange. We are in contact on a regular basis with Extended Family, Friends and Church Circles.

Code Red
This is the most severe of Codes. This means the event triggering a Code Orange has a high probability, has effected our immediate area or has national implications. Events such as a terrorist attack on a major city, Urban Riots, Collapse of the Markets suddenly, outbreak of a regional conflict in the Middle East are classified as major non-weather events with devastating impact. In these cases we will have contacted multiple circles (if possible) and have initiated our evacuation plan of action.

I suggest that each of your Codes have a specific reason, specific plan of action, reasons why the Code would change either to less or more extreme level. Don’t trigger a Code without using your OODA Loop. You will prevent much heartache and stress if your Code decisions are based on sound Observation and Orientation.

As you see, once each circle is developed, you start insulating yourself and developing an increased probability of successful survival. We have lost too many years of not developing our personal communities. Communities in the past, survived because they developed these connections, if not by design but through necessity. Your survival can not be based on only your resources alone; you can not be an island unto yourself. It has been said many times before; if your plan is to scamper off in to the woods to survive by yourself off the land then your chances are slim if not zero.

This may seem hard but just as when you began preparing your inter-circle, it took a small step. Now you need to take another small step and call a family member and start building on your secondary circle today. Start with those family members that will be more accepting to your message or plans and branch out from there. There is nothing more motivating than early success and building early connections.  If that circle is complete, which I would assume it is, then start your next circle, you may never use it but like insurance its there if you do.

Mr. Rawles;
When my first child was born, the wife of my husband's boss gave me 7 bags of clothes her then 5 year old had out grown.  She said, "I know you don't need these right now, but you will be amazed how quickly he will grow."  Two years later, when my daughter was born, she gave me 3 bags of girls clothes.  Those clothes were a Godsend.  Every time I found they had outgrown what was in their drawers, I remembered that I had more stored in the garage.  10 years later, I have 2 more kids, and no extra bags of clothes hiding away, and life is much more expensive.  I have made a practice of gifting a large box of second hand clothes up to size 2T and 3T to new moms who I know will not be offended by used clothes.  I always include something handmade, especially for that baby also.  But, I know from experience how helpful it is to have the future stored and waiting.

I live in Michigan.  I have no cherries, pears or peaches on my trees.  I may have 5 to 10 apples on each tree where the blossoms were hidden under the leaves, if I'm lucky. I am adding blueberries, blackberries, hazelnuts and walnut trees to the mix.  Anything to provide a variety of food and increase my chances for a crop of some kind. 

Thank you for your articles, I have enjoyed your blog site for several years. - Kimberly in Michigan

Jim:
I have to say, the recent Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids, and Birthdays article hit exactly how I view prepping for morale, especially for children (which can in turn improve the morale of adults). When I was 10 my dad lost his job and for four years he toiled at any hard labor job he could find, including roofing all the hail damaged house in the area. We went from having dessert every other dinner to barely eating and forget new clothes, we barely had money for the thrift store bargains. Luckily, there were three of us girls, so all the clothes made it down the line. Mom would manage to make each of us a special birthday outfit and maybe matching Easter dresses. Things were hard and we knew it.

That period of my life made a big impression on me, and it has affected my prepping as well. I have included similar items like puzzle books, birthday decorations, stickers, coloring books and toys that range several ages. I don't think that sheltering kids from the coldness of the world is the best idea, because I learned to do without, and I know that now I can do it again and survive. Things will be hard in the near future, and our kids will know it. But
having the ability to make bright spots in the long dark can help make life a little more bearable.

The best way I have found to make this practice of prepping for morale is to think ahead to what you will need in the next few years and then buy off season. Wal-Mart and most other retailers always have a huge toy clearance after Christmas, craft stores like Joann's clearance all of their seasonal decor in a regular fashion. A couple of years ago, Joann's Fabrics had a clearance sale on all of their Halloween dress up clothes to 90%. I got $200 worth of dress up clothes for $20. I also purchased several 300 count packages of black and orange plastic silverware for $1 per bag. - Renee

James Wesley:
I agree that keeping up the morale in hard times is essential.  We are people, not robots, and we have feelings that are sometimes lifted just by a smile, a pat on the back or a small show of appreciation.  I also have what you called a 'prize box'.  I usually get things to go in it after holidays and at yard sales.  Just recently I picked up about 20 men's neck scarves from an Old Navy store for only .51c each!  That will be someone's Christmas gifts next year.  I have found packs of two stretchy knit gloves for 25 cents, and they are different colors, so I give the darker shades to boys and the pastels to girls.  I also keep a good selection of wedding and graduation gifts on hand.  I have found that many times when people get married and they get a lot of gifts, they will have a yard sale and sell some of the duplicate gifts or maybe something that just wasn't their taste.  I usually pay about $3 to $5  and put them away until I get invited to a wedding shower or graduation and use these as gifts, along with something I made personally, and I try to match the item with the honoree's registry requests and personality.  You can always find new baby items at yard sales really cheap.  I get baby clothes, blankets, bottles, photo albums, etc. brand new, with the tags still attached and save them for when I am invited to a baby shower.   This way, I can give them much more with the small amount of money I am able to spend on gifts. 

I also have a son and several nieces and nephews that hope to be getting married in the next few years.  I know that at the rate our economy is headed, I won't be able to spend as much as I have in the past on other members of our family, and I don't want them to have to struggle any more than they will have to, so I have been shopping clearance sales and yard sales for nice new wedding gifts that will be useful regardless of the circumstances in which we find ourselves in the next few years.  And if nothing changes and we are all just skipping merrily along, oblivious to the eventual economic day of judgment, then these items will still be just as necessary and appreciated, either way.  I believe that with or without power there will be a need for good, sturdy cooking pots, and things like canisters, measuring cups/spoons, hand food choppers, and the like.  You would be surprised at how many people go to selling parties like Tupperware, Princess House, Pampered Chef, and things like that, and they will buy something for $40 to $60 just to help out their friend who is hosting the party.  Then they never use the gadget they bought and will sell it in a yard sale for a few dollars.  I hate to see them throw their money away, but these make great gifts to someone who is just starting out and appreciates anything. 
 
Morale is important.  We need to have something to look forward to, like a little light at the end of a tunnel.  I believe that the future will be much harder on children and young adults.  They have only had plenty and excess in most of their lives, and just having to do without will be a major culture shock for many.  But a little gift or token to remind them of the good times can really cheer us all up. - Taressa

“Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars,” said 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  I would add that morale is the greatest single success factor in any stressful situation, whether it be war, civil unrest, financial collapse, earthquake, snowstorm, serious illness, or job loss.  The means for keeping morale high is different depending on the person in question.  For adults, that may mean stockpiling tea, coffee, or brownie mix.  For children, though, it often means continuing to recognize the celebrations of happier times.

To that end, I keep a “prize box” in our basement.  Throughout the year, I fill it with small gifts and good deals I find.  These are not the “big” presents my children write on their wish lists, but instead, amusements they may like costing under $10.  Don’t misunderstand: I am not advocating buying "Made in China" junk toys you could find in any Happy Meal.  I am talking about items of quality that bring a small “wow” factor to an otherwise potentially dreary time.  For instance, if I visit the spring Scholastic 50% Off Book Fair (held at Scholastic warehouses nationwide for teachers and homeschoolers – see their web site for dates and locations), I might put half a dozen books in the box for my children at $2 each.  Or, if I find a new-looking title at our library used book sale, I will hide it away for a future birthday, Easter, or Christmas gift.

Some people may find this practice frivolous, and perhaps it is when faced with life or death situations.  But few of us have been faced with such a situation as yet.  However, when confronting “personal disasters,” stockpiled gifts and other goodies can make a big difference in attitude. 

For example, in November 2008, when my husband’s company unexpectedly told employees it may be forced to liquidate at the end of the year unless it received a huge infusion of cash, my “prize box” provided Christmas gifts for my children.  Without it, we would have had to forego gifts that year.  It was unconscionable to buy toys or books when we would possibly not be able to buy groceries or make our mortgage payments in six months.  While going without Christmas or birthday gifts is a hard daily reality for many, it is a difficult conversation for a parent to have with an eight-year-old child, and one that I was relieved to avoid.  My prize box was the difference between happy children and disappointed ones, and thus, between happy parents and discouraged ones.
 
Stocking The Prize Box
What should an individual put in a prize box?  Aside from LED headlamps or flashlights (big hits with kids), I recommend stockpiling prize box items that require no batteries or electricity in case your celebration comes at a time when the power is out and batteries are required for more practical items.  I try to select items that have “double duty,” meaning they would thrill my children in everyday times and also be useful in emergency situations.  I have pre-purchased:
-          Books (Newberry Award winners [like Hatchet] are good bets.  Include a variety of picture books and chapter books, even if your children are not old enough to read them by themselves.  Read-alouds are powerful bonding tools and can ease a child’s stress considerably.)
 
-          Yarn (Your daughter can knit, right?)
 
-          Sewing patterns for doll clothes or costumes (Your son can sew his own Civil War re-enactor jacket or Roman soldier tunic!  My son sewed his own red tunic that has been used for everything from dress-up to drama productions.)
 
-          Fabric or small fabric squares (My daughter makes these into doll sleeping bags, but they could also be used for quilts or regular clothes.)
 
-          Swiss Army knives (Salvation Army stores and garage sales sometimes sell these cheaply.)
 
-          Colored duct tape (Girls nowadays are using them to make fashionable purses, but duct tape has a million uses.)
 
-          Colored gauze bandages (Teenage girls are using them as hair decorations, but they also make good gift ribbons or good — gasp! — bandages, of course.)
 
-          Camping gear (Consider a campfire popcorn popper.  It’s like Jiffy-Pop, only better. Or, consider some flint and steel.)
 
-          Fishing gear such as tackle boxes, lures, hooks, and fillet knives (These are big hits with teenage boys.)
 
-          Small musical instruments, such as recorders, penny-whistles, jaw harps, or harmonicas. (Caution: these can be annoying if parents are noise-sensitive.  Whistles are good for signaling in the woods.)
 
-          Craft kits (Use those 50 percent off coupons from Jo-Ann’s or Michael's.  Consider home-made beeswax candles, soap-making, or moccasin-making kits.)
 
-          Chalk for concrete or a mini-slate (Pioneer children often did their lessons on slates to save paper, which was expensive.  You can obtain a wooden mini-slate for $5 at Handwriting Without Tears: http://shopping.hwtears.com/product/SLT/products-by-type )
 
-          Crayons, colored pencils, fun regular graphite pencils with holiday designs, and drawing pads (These are often on sale for under 50 cents during back-to-school sales beginning in July.  Even if your child already owns these, every kid loves brand new crayons!)
 
-          A white board and wipe-off board pens in a variety of colors (Costco has a great selection.  These can be used for homeschooling, too, if necessary.)
 
-          Hair ribbons, clips, and bows (Think durable, but attractive.)
 
-          Scented soap, lotion, and hand sanitizer (Bath & Body Works sells 1 oz. pocket sized hand sanitizer for $1.50 each.  That may sound expensive for such a small amount, but preteen girls like the colors and scents and they can ward off influenza or other potentially dangerous viruses.  They are also small enough to carry on airplanes without sparking the TSA’s wrath.)
 
-          Playing cards (A book of card games might be a good addition, too.  Cards can also be used to build card houses.)
 
-          Herb window box garden or sprouts garden (Did you know that sprouts can be a very useful part of your food stockpiling strategy?  They mature in three to five days and can grow indoors during winter.  They contain lots of nutritious enzymes, vitamins, and minerals.  You can buy a fancy Kid Sprout Kit for $17.76 , but I bought a Burpee one at Home Depot for my daughter for $8 and I saw an herb garden online for $4.99.)
 
-          Travel sized board games, such as chess (Be sure to include a game that your entire family can play together at the same time and not just two-person games.)
 
-          Small LED lanterns (Some have kid-friendly designs like Hello Kitty.)
 
-          Hard candies (Look for individually-wrapped pieces in bags so that candies are easy to divvy up and do not stick together.)
 
-          Chocolate (Chocolate does not store well long-term as it turns white and chalky, but I have bought high-quality chocolate and rotated it every six months to a year; this is not hard!  Yum!  This is also a good barter item.)
 
-          Cake mix and frosting or raw ingredients like cocoa to make cakes (Remember to store an egg-substitute for a binder to replace raw eggs if you do not have your own chickens.)
 
-          IF I already have a good supply of non-electronic items, I have occasionally purchased DVDs or CDs, when the price is low enough ($5).  (We have battery-operated CD and DVD players.)  But, of course I would not keep these as my sole prize box items.

Re-purposing

If the hard times have already hit your household and you have not yet stocked your prize box, look around your home for items you can “re-purpose” for celebration’s sake.  For instance, for her birthday, I gave my daughter gold earrings that were mine as a child.  These heirlooms have added meaning and didn’t cost me anything more than cleaning them.  Dig out old streamers, extra balloons, vinyl window clings, or other decorations and use them all at once for impact.  Cut some flowers from your garden or the lilac bush in the vacant lot, put in a vase, and wrap with a (pre-used) bow.  This works great for teenage girls (and moms!).

During our “lean” Easter, I divided candy into twice as many plastic eggs than I usually use.  Even though I had less candy than in previous years, I was able to make a huge impression on the kids by making it look like more (impressions are everything).  The hunt lasted longer and the kids didn’t notice that each egg contained less.  The lesson here is to spend more time on presentation.  Wrap gifts carefully and beautifully!
During our “lean” Christmas, I knitted the kids hats.  I bartered extra hats with my neighbor for a dress for my daughter and a matching dress for her doll.  My neighbor knows how to sew and had the fabric already, but she cannot knit.  Her husband worked for the same company, so we were in the same boat for trying to create a holiday celebration from nothing and she was receptive to my proposal.  (Be sure to ask far in advance of the celebration to give the other person time to make the gift.)

Also, I made an extra effort to unpack and use all of our Christmas lights and decorations.  We don’t own a lot of decorations, but there are always a handful that end up staying in the boxes because I don’t have time to unpack them or find places for them.  That year, I used extra lights on the banister railing, even the ones that were “half out.”  I mixed them with another strand that was “half out” so that no one was the wiser.  It looked especially festive.  I used greens cut from an evergreen tree on the window sills.  I also made a special effort to focus on the non-commercial aspects of the holiday, spending extra time with the children playing board games and reading Bible stories and other uplifting tales aloud.  (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson is hilarious and part of our annual tradition).

My children knew that Daddy may not have a job after the New Year, so they had low expectations for Christmas gifts and festivities.  (We had adjusted their expectations accordingly with gentle, but honest, conversations throughout the season.)  On Christmas Day, after all of the prize box gifts were opened (wrapped with re-used gift bags, of course), my children announced that it was “The best Christmas ever.”  That really warmed my heart, especially when, otherwise, the world seemed to be weighing on my shoulders.

Granted, one should not stock a prize box at the expense of being able to stockpile food or other necessities.  But, if your beans, bullets, and Band-Aids stash is looking good, you may want to consider stockpiling some niceties that will keep your troops happy.

Sir,
I met a wonderful woman nine years ago and have been happily married ever since. I lost my job 3 years ago, (but I thank God that I am employed now), and that was the turning point in my life as far as researching the economy, world events, digging back into Bible prophecy, starting a garden, renewing my pistol permit, joined a club, bought a few more guns, in response to the writing on the wall due to the research I’ve done into current events and legislation that are changing this nation fast.

I live in a suburban area just eight miles outside a capitol city, (in New England) and with my income, see no chance of relocating to the country. I grew up in a rural town with population 2,500, but moved to the city upon getting married to start a career in real estate. This was 2004, and we all know how real estate is doing now.

My wife is from Lima, Peru (South America) and she is about as far away from the prepper mindset as one could imagine. I would think that being from a country with no government assistance or help, and lots of poverty, that she would be well tuned to planning ahead, but she is not. They pretty much live from hand to mouth there, perhaps because there is no money to buy extras. They have no concept (or means) to save money or stock up on anything.

When we had the freak snow storm this past October, here in New England, we were without heat and electricity for 10 days. We were able to cook though via a gas stove, but it was still a wake up call. We ran the generator and cooked some food that I had stored. That was a great “test run” for me and I consider it a great learning experience as to how many holes I had in my preparations.

I have been trying to introduce her little by little to a few web sites that show what is going on around the world and the critical economic situation we are in, and she can see that crime is increasing all around us. We are Bible believing Christians, and she seems to be of the mind set that if you are prepping, storing food, storing water, gas, guns and ammo that you are a fanatic and don’t really trust in God to provide. Plus, no one she ever knew in her country ever stored lots of supplies and everything seemed to turn out well. 
I think she is of the mind set that God will protect us and take care of us. I say amen to that, but in the same breathe, the Bible tells us to have wisdom and if we see trouble to be prepared: “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” Proverbs 22:3

I believe that as the economy gets worse and things start to come undone even more, and if we have a few more outages, then I am hoping she will finally be convinced that having extra items on hand, is an exercise of wisdom.

The firearms are another challenge. In her country, only the robbers have guns, and the government does not allow guns to be owned by everyone, because “the government does not trust the people with guns.”  How convenient.  So, needless to say, my wife does not complain when I have my G21 on the bed stand, but does not understand why I would want to carry it with me concealed when we go out, or why I need to go to the range or IDPA on a regular basis.

Another challenge I have and see this with a lot of immigrants, is that they do not seem to be convinced that things in this nation are really that bad. After all, this is the “promised land” and  “the land of opportunity”. This nation has a standard of living so much better than where she came from, that even if things are bad here from our point of view, things are so much better than in her country, that it is hard to convince her that our government is corrupt, and that our nation is broke.  She also looks at this nation as a “good” nation and that justice reigns here, thinking that the cops and government will indeed punish people for doing bad things. She is unaware as to how twisted and biased our judicial system has become, and how the laws are being changed to strip us of our freedoms.

I think she believes that if there was rioting, that the boys in blue would come to the rescue to protect us from roving gangs and rioters.  She also sees living in the country as an inconvenience with all the extra time and money spend on gas commuting back and forth, and not being close to friends.  She simply does not get the concept of me spending time and money on a garden when we can simply go 1 mile down the road to the grocery store.

I don’t think she also sees how dependant we are on utilities, and that even in America, if things go bad, those utilities may not be available. I don’t think she is totally convinced that things will ever be so bad in America that grocery stores will be empty, no gas and no utilities…after all this is the land of plenty.
So, here is my challenge, prepping by myself with someone who does not understand the reasons why I am “wasting money on buying these things”, and living with someone whom I cannot share with regarding my preparations for likely hard times coming.

Hopefully, when the storm comes, she will thank me for being a prepper. - B.W. in New England

Most people spend time perfecting their bug-out bag, or their bug-in kit, ensuring they can adequately survive on their own in the event of a catastrophe here. Many envision themselves in the role of “Eli” from the recent movie The Book of Eli, a lone wanderer who fends for himself as he travels in a post-apocalyptic world. I am of the opinion, as are many true preppers, that it will take a community to not only survive, but to prosper in a TEOTWAWKI scenario.

Let’s assume for a moment that your current neighborhood is not conducive to building that community, or that, for whatever reason, the group around you fails to thrive. You may have to move on to another area. When you reach that area, you will likely be greeted as an outsider and any town you reach will likely be reluctant to let you into their community. You will likely be viewed as just another begging traveler who is looking for the safety of a group, but could end up being a free-loader who is nothing more than another mouth to feed, another potential trouble maker, or another carrier of disease.

What will you say to persuade a community to believe that it is worth their time to take you into their group? What do you have to offer that others can’t provide?

You don’t have to be a former Navy SEAL who can single-handedly defend the town. You don’t have to be a former military commanding officer-turned-mayor with the leadership skills to organize the community into an army.  In some cases, you don’t have to be strong or even that smart. All you need is a unique skill. Lacking that, you need to have a skill that can aid others with a similar set of skills in accomplishing a goal more efficiently or productively.

If you don’t have anything to offer, you could be turned away and left to fend for yourself.
Now is the time to build skills that will be useful enough to gain acceptance in that scenario. These skills may have nothing to do with your current reality, but if you take the time to learn as much as you can, you will be an asset to a community that will make your presence not only worthwhile, but necessary.

This isn’t a how-to. It’s likely that you won’t learn anything from reading this. The point of this is to help you consider, if you haven’t already, ways to make yourself valuable in a post-TEOTWAWKI situation. I’m simply going to mention a few skills that you can build now to reach that end. The skills I talk about are not listed in any particular order, and some may be much more important than others. This is just to stir some thought on what you will be able to provide in the event that you need to. Also, this list is far from all-inclusive. You may think of many other skill sets that are equally (or even more) important. If so, work on them. Build them. Your life, and the life of your community, may very well depend on it.

1) Communications – No matter what form of catastrophe has caused the collapse of society, communication with the world outside of your immediate area can be crucial. People will want to know what is happening beyond the horizon, the condition the government, the condition of other communities, or just, in general, what is going on. It is likely, however, that you won’t be able to just pick up the phone and call anyone. Telephone lines may be interrupted or completely disabled. A viable alternative is ham radio. The skills required to operate ham radio are not as common as they once were, are relatively easy to learn, and the equipment can be cheap (although it can get expensive if you want the “latest and greatest” gear).  Keep reference materials available. You may not be able to memorize everything. This skill alone may not be enough to grant you a position of esteem within a community, but it certainly couldn’t hurt your chances of being taken in as a member of the group.

2) Farming/Gardening – In many areas across the nation, this is a fading skill. The skills you can learn from maintaining a small garden in your yard could be critical when the SHTF. Even if you don’t have enough room for a small garden, read all you can on the subject and make a notebook or a manual. Make your own comprehensive version of “Farming for dummies”. The internet is bursting at the seams with information, but it’s likely that you won’t have access to it post-TEOTWAWKI, so make a survivable record of the information you think will be important. Gather information from multiple sources and record it all. Test out different methods if you can, focusing on techniques that don’t require heavy tools or chemicals. Find out how people did it a hundred years ago or more, and prepare yourself to mimic those methods. Set aside tools and seeds if you can afford it and if you have the storage space, but at a bare minimum, make yourself a written reference so that even if you’re not a farmer now, you have some hope of becoming one if the need arises.

3)  Food gathering – Do you know what plants in your local area are edible? Better yet, do you know which plants taste good? Information on the subject is available in book stores, camping/hiking stores, or online. Find the information and read through it. Don’t just read it from the comfort of your recliner – get out and take a walk with your reference material. See if you can locate the plants in the woods or even along roadways. Learning what they look like in the real world now, when you don’t need them, can save you from the time and effort of trial and error when you do. Once again, make yourself a survivable reference book on the subject. Try to include your entire state, maybe even the surrounding states. You never know where fate may take you in the event of TEOTWAWKI. Learn to not only identify these plants, but how to prepare them properly. Learn which local plants have medicinal properties and how to use them. The ability to keep others well-fed and healthy can make you a very valuable member of a community.

4) Food storage – My grandmother and her friends canned all kinds of things, but if you asked my wife how to do it, I’m pretty sure you would just get a shrug for an answer. Canning/preserving foods as a hobby is not only a good way to stockpile your own emergency supplies, but it’s also a great way to build the skill necessary to preserve food later, when you really need it. I’m not just talking about canning here. Preserving meat will be necessary too. Do you know how to make jerky? Nope, I don’t mean with your 9-tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator, I mean with a purpose-made, wood burning smoker, or even over a campfire. Hunting in the summertime or growing crops may provide more food than your group can readily consume, and knowing how to preserve that food for later may make the difference when winter comes and food is more scarce. My grandmother may not be there to show others how it’s done, so if you know how, then people will want you around.

5)  Mechanics – Even in the event of an EMP attack, (which would probably be the worst case scenario, technologically) older, simpler vehicles may still function. But if they break down, who will repair them? Or what if you want to use that engine to power a mill? Or to pump water? If you’re mechanically inclined, the skills necessary to maintain or build machinery will be highly sought after by any community.

6) Soap or candle making – In our modern world, we have grown accustomed to buying soap or candles, but before the age of Wal-Mart, making these items was the only way to get them. You may not get rich, or whatever version of “rich” exists after TEOTWAWKI, but both items will be in high demand if Wal-Mart ceases to provide them. Making soap or candles can be a fun hobby, a source of income even now, and can be a very useful skill to offer if it is needed in the future. Even if starting a new hobby like that is not your cup of tea now, making a reference guide from information found online or in books, and practicing enough to work out the details could be enough to give you something to offer later.

These are just a few ideas. Notice that I didn’t mention medical skills or security skills. Obviously medical skills (beyond the basics, which you should already know or be learning) are not something that you can learn in “on the side”. I believe that when it comes to security services, every able bodied individual in any community will most likely be recruited and trained for that task. Advanced knowledge or experience can definitely be an advantage, but that topic is covered a lot in other forums/articles/blogs, so any information I put in here would be rudimentary at best. I also didn’t mention blacksmithing, animal husbandry, gunsmithing, dentistry, carpentry and no doubt countless others. If you have specialized skills such as these, you don’t need to read this. You already have your ticket.

If you’re like most people, however, you might want to consider learning a set of skills, such as the ones I described or any other valuable skill that you come up with on your own, in order to make yourself a person who will not be a burden to your post-TEOTWAWKI community, but a valuable member who is worth feeding, supporting and defending.  

One more thing I’d like to mention is that no matter what skills you have to offer, your worth in a community will also be based on who you are and how you deal with others. If you are to be a worthwhile member of a community, it is equally important that you maintain a community mindset when it comes to using your skills. I’m not saying that you should give your services away, but always keep in mind that while your particular skills may be necessary for the survival of the community, the community as a whole is necessary for your own survival. Be the kind of honest and fair person that you would want to deal with and it’s likely that others will want to deal with you.

I don’t recall a time in my life when I wasn’t doing at least some planning for “worst case” situations.  That may have come from growing up in an earthquake prone part of the country, and during the cold war when we drilled for nuclear attacks during the school day.  My mother, who was a single parent through much of my life, also modeled planning for “hard times” by storing food, following world and local trends closely, and being careful with money.  I became serious and more intentional in prepping following Katrina, when it confirmed my suspicion that we had better be prepared to take care of ourselves in a disaster, and after reading James Howard Kunstler’s The Long Emergency,  and watching his predictions come true.  My spouse and children have endured my lectures, emails, nagging and copies of relevant articles with patience, and are also on board with their own preparations.

By training and background I am a clinical psychologist, with specialty training in health psychology, helping people manage the emotional impact associated with illness, injury and death.  In addition, I am active in disaster preparedness and disaster mental health, serving locally and internationally as a disaster responder.   I have truly seen situations in which it is TEOTWAWKI for those involved, where home, family, job, government services have all been lost.  And through my years in practice, as well as my work in disaster planning, it is clear that the most important preparation is not “beans, band-aids, and bullets” (although those are important) but mental preparedness and psychological flexibility.   I want to share some of the factors which come into play in big abnormal events such as natural disasters or terrorist events, because I believe we can take lessons learned from these into situations where it all comes apart, and we are left to stand and survive if we can.  In this essay, I’d also like to help you develop some simple skills to manage your own emotional responses and to help your family and friends.

It may surprise some to know that research shows that the most common long-term response to the trauma of a major disaster is not Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but resiliency and growth.  People are pretty good at overcoming bad things without any help from professional counselors or other mental health types.  That’s not to say that people aren’t affected by losing their homes, family members and security.  They are.  Most people show a range of symptoms in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, but tend to recover in about three months.   Some of the responses we should be prepared for are discussed in the next section. Some people will have some significant longer terms psychological issues following a disaster, but hopefully, those people will be in the minority. 

Common Short Terms Responses to Disaster and Loss:

Big events have an impact on body, mind, and spirit.  Once the initial phase of a disaster has passed, doctors begin to see many more patients showing up with MUPS (medically unexplained physical symptoms).  When we human beings experience a traumatic event, it releases a cascade of stress hormones and other chemicals in our bodies.  Sometimes, the body reacts as though the threat is ongoing and the condition can become chronic.  When the body is out of balance, we often begin to experience stomach aches, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, trouble sleeping, pain, and changes in appetite.  The distress experienced by someone who has those symptoms is real.  The pain is real.  It’s a real response to a real physiological change in the body.  But…it is not related to a disease, infection, or injury, but to the body’s chronic stress response.

We also commonly experience cognitive or thinking changes such as trouble making decisions, difficulty with remembering things, trouble concentrating, and re-occurring thoughts about what has happened and what we’ve witnessed.  And, our behaviors and emotions can change due to the stress we’ve undergone, making us more likely to be irritable or aggressive, cry more often, withdraw from our loved ones, feel terribly guilty or depressed, feel panic, engage in more risky behaviors, or “self medicate” with drugs or alcohol. 

We may experience a change in our relationship with God, becoming angry over what has happened, losing interest in prayer or avoiding worship settings and rituals, which formerly were very important to our spiritual lives.  The opposite may also happen, where there may be a renewal in faith life following a terrible loss.

Children and teens are vulnerable to all of the above as well.  In addition, children may regress in their development, acting much younger than their age.  They may begin to wet the bed or play like a younger child, and have trouble being able to separate from their parents or loved ones.  Nightmares are common.  In young children, you may see repetitive and obsessive play, which re-enacts the event(s) they have experienced.  This is the way a young child attempts to make sense of the event and regain some sense of control. 

Interestingly, the elderly can often do better under such duress than others, possibly due to their life experiences which have provided some “stress inoculation”.  Seniors can provide wisdom from their perspectives as well as information from their life experiences.  On the other hand, seniors who have some dementia may become very agitated and confused due to being away from familiar settings and routines.

Individuals with pre-existing mental health issues such as anxiety, depression or psychosis may, in the short term, temporarily get better.  It was reported that, following September 11th, many patients in psychiatric wards temporarily “cleared” their psychosis and the rates of suicide declined.  However, without the access to appropriate medication, patients with significant psychological disorders will need care and support.   Individuals with mental disabilities such as developmental delays or head injuries may experience confusion, fear, and disorientation. 

Many people following a major disaster will have lost loved ones, but be unable to access the services and rituals which would typically help them through the grieving process.  For example, mortuary services and funerals may not be possible in the events of mass casualties, civil breakdown, or pandemic diseases.  Community support may be limited because so many have experienced deaths in their own families and are unable to reach out and help others.  This may lead to complicated bereavement and depression.

When TSHTF How Can You Help Yourself?:

We cannot avoid bad things happening, but we can prepare ourselves psychologically so that we can more effectively use the tools, food, skills and other resources we’ve gathered.  People who do best when their worlds fall apart tend to have some specific factors helpful to their ability to survive and thrive:

They have a support system of family and friends, who can share in the struggle

Human beings are innately social creatures.  We are designed to live in community with others.  The myth of the lone wolf, living off the land all by himself, is just that…a myth.  Following disastrous events, people who have community support are more likely to survive.   Groups are more effective than individuals in identifying resources, sharing work, and in defense against outside forces.

They have spiritual practices which help them to find meaning and comfort even in dark times.

The old saying goes that “there are no atheists in foxholes”.  It may be true that you can suddenly discover your Maker in tough times.  However, preparing for tough times is enhanced when your prayer, study, worship, and charitable practices are a core part of who you already are. 

They have an innate style, or learned a psychological style of thinking which helps them remain more calm, more optimistic about their future, and more realistic about the threats to themselves and their loved ones, neither living in fear nor in denial. They tend to have a mind-set of assuming they have control over their lives and decisions vs being at the mercy of others’ control.

We’ve all known people who were quick to panic, tended to see the worst possible outcomes, magnify the impact, fail to see the good portions of any event.  Those folks generally suck all the energy out of their companions, and are not useful when the SHTF.  I’m assuming all those on forums such as this want to be useful and helpful and not a drain on resources during emergencies.  This involves practicing mental exercises in much the same way you practice marksmanship, canning, or gardening.

Here are some tools which may help you become more flexible and resilient in your approach if life takes a terrible turn:

Learn to recognize when you are making “thinking errors” such as magnifying, assuming, having a negative bias, or worrying unnecessarily.

1. Magnifying turns a problem into a disaster.  For example, you may drop a case of canning jars and break them.  This is a problem.  It may create a resource limit.  Canning jars may be hard or impossible to get.  HOWEVER, it does not qualify as an End Of The World event.  Your family will not starve because of this one thing.  One way to counter Magnifying is to ask yourself “what is truly the worst case scenario with this event?” and then counter that thought with “and what can I do if that happens?”  In nearly every event, there will be some way to mitigate.
   
   
2. Assuming creates catastrophes when there may not be one in the immediate future.  For example, I might assume that because Mrs. Smith doesn’t say “hello” to me she doesn’t like me.  I may further decide that if she doesn’t like me, she might wish me harm.  Because I assume she wishes me harm, I avoid her…and so on.  If I ask myself whether my assumption might be in error, and whether there might be another reason for Mrs. Smith’s behavior, I can flex my thinking to include the possibility that 1) Mrs. Smith didn’t hear me say “hello”, 2)that she might be distressed about something completely unrelated to me, 3) that she didn’t see me etc.  Those possibilities allow me to more realistically assess the whole situation and also provide me with a chance to practice more flexible thinking.
   
   
3. A negative bias causes us to fail to see the possible positive outcome to a situation or decision, thereby narrowing options.  Listing pros and cons and forcing the numbers to be equal can be a good exercise in learning how to counter your bias.  The worst case of “negative bias” often happens in suicide.  It is tragic to see someone commit suicide because they truly thought there was no possible way they could manage something like losing a job, or breaking up with a girlfriend.  Suicides like that tend to happen because the person is in so much distress they are unable to imagine any outcome except the worst.  They cannot see anything but the negative and this leads to a deadly despair, due primarily to them not being able to identify any positive outcomes.
   
   
4. There are plenty of reasons to worry in our world.  That’s why we try to prepare ourselves for some bad eventualities.  Preparing is different from worrying.  I tell my patients to watch out for “what if…” thoughts.  Sometimes “what if” thoughts can be helpful, such as when we try to plan for the “what if” the JIT delivery system doesn’t work.  But, if you find yourself feeling in a tizzy and uptight all the time, “what if” may be a marker for an anxious thought…e.g. “what if we can’t get food because the trucks are not running, and then what if the garden fails and then what if there’s a big EMP, and what if the nuclear material from Fukushima washes up the river from here and creates mutant zombies and we don’t have enough ammo….” and…well you get the picture.  Sometimes we need to set limits on those “what if” thoughts, so that we can be calm and emotionally more healthy when some of the “what if” stuff happens.  A great tool is “thought stopping”.  If you find you have the same negative or scary thought over and over, it helps to literally say “stop!”, find something to distract, or even snap a rubber band on your wrist.

Cultivate an “outside of the box” thinking style by asking “and what else could we do?” over and over, and using brainstorming techniques.  In brainstorming, nothing is off the table initially.  There are no stupid ideas.  This allows interesting and creative solutions to pop up.

Learn some ways to self-calm so that the thinking part of your brain is able to work. When we become too scared, the lower sections of our brains take over.  Those are the ones useful for “flight or fight”. However, when those parts of our brain are too activated, the thinking/planning/judgment part of our brain isn’t able to work.

1. Learning simple breathing techniques allows us to be more centered so that we can figure things out better.  An example is “bubble breathing”.  In this technique, you pretend that you are blowing the biggest bubble you can with soapy water and a wand.  In order not to break the bubble, you breathe in softly through your nose, and breathe out very softly through your mouth.  This induces a relaxation response.
2. Finding a calming thought and repeating it in our heads, or out loud, can help.
3. Calming spiritual rituals such as reciting Bible verses or the Psalms uses our brains and our bodies and both distracts and calms.  For Catholics, meditating on the prayers of the rosary occupies mind, body and spirit in ways that allow for relaxation.
4. Physical activity works for many, as does yoga

When TSHTF  How Can You Help Others?

What makes a good helper?

1. Open communication, trust, empathy, honesty
2. Recognizing that not all problems can be solved and not all people want to be helped
3. Recognizing that the helper must set limits of time and energy, and values.  Helping does not mean that you destroy yourself trying to help another

In The First 24-72 Hours
In the first two to three days following a disaster or other large negative event, the focus needs to be on basic needs.  You can help by:

1. Doing a self “check in” to make sure you have the ability to help someone else.
2. Listening without trying to “fix “ the problem
3. Making sure the person has access to food, water, shelter and some measure of safety.
4. Helping the person locate other family members.
5. Helping the person identify resources.
6. Letting them know they are not alone in their reactions
7. Answer questions honestly and simply

In An Ongoing Disaster, In addition to the foregoing

1. Try to help them establish a return to some sort of routine, even if it is simply trying to eat at the same time each day
2. Provide a quiet place, if possible, to reduce noise and other stimulation
3. Help the person establish small and manageable goals
4. Help the person to focus on “here and now”, and shorter term future vs long term future issues
5. Request information about positive things in the person’s life: (“What do you do, on a day-to-day or weekly basis that you enjoy and which helps you feel less distressed?”)
6. Teach them some ways to manage their bodies and their thoughts: A.) Deep breathing for relaxation and calming. B.) Thought stopping and thought replacement

If you feel that a person you are trying to help is dangerous to themselves e.g. suicidal, dangerous to others e.g. homicidal, or is suffering from a major mental illness e.g. bipolar disorder or schizophrenia DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HANDLE THIS ON YOUR OWN.  THIS NEEDS HELP FROM OTHERS.  IF THERE IS NOT A MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDER AVAILABLE, GET HELP FROM FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COMMUNITY TO ASSIST THIS PERSON SAFELY.

Bottom line…human beings are remarkably resilient survivors.  You can do some mental prepping so that your chances of remaining emotionally healthy, and being a helping resource are increased. 

While the majority of single parents are women, men too can be found in this situation. Generally speaking, single women with children are usually on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Let’s face it, poorer young mothers (or fathers) with very young children need to learn survival skills as much as anyone else, and do not have the financial resources to buy all they need.  So what do you do if you are a single woman with a babe-in-arms and two toddlers and have no money?

I can tell you what you can’t do, you can’t sit around and wait for help or someone else to do it for you. You must seriously realize the life and death of your children can rest upon you and you alone.  Don’t look to the government, or your family/community, or anyone else. Look in the mirror, you brought them into the world, you are responsible for them. When you have children who are solely dependent upon what you do, what you pack and your decisions, it puts a weighty burden on the non-prepared.   

Little to nothing is written on the special resources for a single parent survival needs especially for lower income women with babies and toddlers.  As a single parent myself, I faced life-threatening events, and my survival skills helped keep my family well and strong. But much of what I learned was learned the hard way. I was lucky enough to have had grandparents who survived the Great Depression and they taught me lessons growing up that are deeply ingrained in me. These lessons include gardening, canning, food storage and self-defense along with hard work and strong faith. My mom’s first husband was military and being paid once each month she said her food never lasted the whole month and she learned how to scrimp and stretch. She taught me how to estimate food usage and how to make it last. My own fathers abusive temper and his drinking and drug problem, led mom to have to take the us as children several times to safe environments. We found women’s shelters, safe houses and remote camping sites until the law finally had the problem under control. So, I am not joking when I say I have seen my own mother face life-threatening emergency situations with children multiple times on a shoestring budget.  As you have read many disasters do not come from Mother Nature or governmental influences, some you can only prepare for with faith, knowledge and guidance.  

Some of the first hints I will give may make the hard-core well equipped preppers laugh and think this is a comedy show. But I guarantee you that young mothers need to be creative to meet their needs with a “$0” budget. Here are some hints for developing your Bug-out-bag (BOB). Of course, having some kind of a BOB with small children is better than no BOB. Always, always pack a BOB in something with wheels, a wheeled suitcase, a wheeled cooler, a wheeled cart or anything else on wheels that will hold your stuff. A single parent with small children needs a wheeled BOB, I cannot emphasize that enough. Remember the lessons we learned during Katrina, the agony on the parents face as they begged for help. Many did not have BOBs or did not have the time to grab them. Prepare yourself and your children now, don’t wait.

Some say they don’t know where to start. Start with what you have. Look at the needs of your children, and start there.  Pack clothing, blankets, copies of insurance cards, birth records and other important records. Get free info from the Red Cross on first aid and emergency medical info, go to health expos at churches or county fairs who often have free first aid kits. FEMA, the Internet and other organizations have info on what to include in your BOB. Get free road maps from state or local highway departments or tourist info stations. Use dryer lint [from drying cotton clothes] in a sandwich bag for fire starter; just remember to put your matches in a separate baggie. Use left-over utensils from past parties, like animal shaped plastic spoons, paper plates with animal faces or napkins with balloons. These things you would normally throw out can brighten little faces in emergency situations. Smaller plates or saucers come in handy if the food is scarce; small portions always looks like more if the plate is smaller.  Pack new (can be cheap from the dollar store) toys or unused new party favors, this will hold their attention longer. Pack both cloth and disposable diapers, cloth diapers can double for other necessities. Don’t forget to pack formula (preferably powdered), bottles, pacifiers or other major needs your child has. You know your child, their needs, their wants and behavior; you also know the items your family likes to cook and the tools to defend your family. Here I must say if you are a person of faith, then you need to prepare your family spiritually as well. If you are a spiritual person place a small set of your Scriptures or other spiritual items such as prayers or item in your BOB.  Do not forget to pack water. Water can be bottled in almost any empty, clean used plastic bottle or 2 liter, just remember to sterilize it with bleach or some other method. You can find instructions for sanitizing water with bleach on many sites on the internet, be sure to use regular bleach. Knowledge is key, look at your community you might be surprised what is available to you.

Hints for babies and toddlers: Being alone with a baby or toddler or both can put you in a very venerable situation when it comes to emergencies. It is critical to have a plan and have a well prepared BOB. I strongly suggest you find a support system, but not just anyone or any friend. Find someone who would love and treat your child like their own if you were not available. Look carefully and chose even more carefully.  Don’t let out of your arms the thing that is the most important to you, your baby, it is going to be hard to carry children in your arms and on your hips and also carry a bag. Keep your child close to your heart to keep them safe, use a sling or a baby carrier that fits like a back pack. Never let go of your children, keep them close at all times in an emergency situation. How many times in the news recently have we seen strollers roll into subway tracks or train tracks? If the baby had been in a snuggly or a sling, in the mother’s arms, that would not have happened. It would take an Amazon woman to carry both her children and a backpack; most women cannot do that, but just remember, unless you have direct contact with your child, you do not have control. Carry your child, wheel your supplies. Keep your most precious close to your heart. Always, always take a long blanket or sheet so that you can swaddle your child. Swaddle babies and insecure children any age to help them feel more comfortable and under control with the situation, the extra sheet you pack to do this can also come in handy in other ways, for shelter or a tent.

Hints for preschoolers and elementary ages: For toddlers and older children, have key words for specific things, words age appropriate. This can be a fun game, if my Daughter would start to sing the Star Spangled Banner; I knew to find a bathroom fast. Do not just use keywords for SHTF make key words for fun items such as the bathroom or for bedtime.  I learned that by adding some “fun words” this helps them learn the key words faster and not forget. For toddlers and preschooler, always pack a wrist-to-wrist strap. If you don’t have one, make one from elastic or an old belt or a purse strap. I made my children wear wrist straps that secured their wrist at one end to my wrist at the other end, especially when we were in danger. That way I always knew where they were and had some control over my toddlers.  They did not like it, but they were safe and that is more important.

Hints for middle school to teenagers: incorporating older children into family participation should be a natural outcome of a loving family relationship.  You can enroll them in programs to teach self-defense or other items, some at school.  Many Police and Fire departments and organization such as Boy and Girl Scouts and The American Red Cross have programs that are free to children or to the public. For middle and high school children who are old enough to understand, explain the gravity of the situation and be honest with them. They understand and can help, and will probably become more fearful if you do not talk to them. The older the child, the more stress they can help take off of you, by sharing the burden. Middle school aged children understand more than you know and are usually quieter about their feelings. When you can get to a safe spot, encourage your children to talk out their feelings.

Lastly, to find what you really need in a disaster situation with your children, throw only your BOB in the car with your kids one weekend, and leave for a State Park or camping site. You will learn real quickly what you need and what you don’t need. Practicing in a normal situation makes an emergency bug-out feel less dangerous. Always, yes always keep your car full of gas; you never want to be in a situation where you don’t have the gas to get your kids to safety. Sacrifice a Girl Scout meeting, or a lunch trip out, or whatever it takes during the week, to keep your car full of gas.

Sheltering-in-place; A single parent has different needs than that a two parent family for food storage. You need to buy more ‘child’ food and less ‘adult’ food. You can always eat baby food, but a baby cannot always eat adult food, unless you process your own baby food. My mother always kept her food storage on the bedroom closet floor, underneath her dresses. We kids were in charge of stacking the boxes and marking the dates with a permanent marker on top, now I understand that it wasn’t much food storage, but it served our family well as we never ran out of food.  Instead of trying to buy food storage all at one time, buy some with each trip to the store. Buying a bag of beans a month adds up quickly and can fill a five-gallon bucket within a year. Always check your dates on cans goods and buy foods that your family will and can eat.  My family will not eat beets so even if I love it, I would not buy it.  Rotate your foods; if you are able to buy a few extra cans eat the oldest first along with dieted cans.  Do not eat foods from bulging cans--these can kill you!  Bloated canned goods or bad water can kill younger children quickly; know a way to sterilize water.  Know about food safety, temperatures for cooking and handling foods, free on the Internet or at a County Health Department, this will keep your family alive. 

Don’t forget the water. Save your 2 liter pop bottles or sports drink bottles. Store water sanitized with regular bleach in these containers. Or if you can afford it, purchase water and keep on the shelves out of the reach of children. It doesn’t cost anything to store water, so no excuse here. Basic cooking skills with shelf stable ingredients is something to be known ahead of time and not first practiced over a make-do fire in a unfamiliar place with crying, hungry children. Know how to cook basic items, such as pancakes, gravy, or pie crust.  I am surprised how many parents don’t cook these days.
If you are limited in funds, buy flour (wheat if you have a means to grind it into flour) and store it in gallon zip lock bags. My grandmother always said her family survived the Great Depression because of flour, because she could make three things; pancakes, white gravy and pie crusts. All are flour or wheat based items. Grandma said you could put anything in a pie crust and make it taste good (she meant squirrel and rabbits too). Pies can be big, little or pocket size and can hold fruits, veggies and meats. She could also make anything with her ‘white sauce’ or white gravy. It is the base for many, many dishes and casseroles and can be put over, under or as part of almost any food. Then her pancakes, (hoe-cakes, Johnny-cakes, etc) you can put anything in pancakes, or make them thinner and roll anything in them. This one staple, a storage of wheat (long shelf life), or flour (shorter shelf life) can create all these three foods plus any type of bread, pasta or noodles. Grinding wheat when you have small children can make you go nuts, it’s hard to keep their little fingers out of everything and mills are expensive. I always kept flour, and it has served my family well. Thanks Grandma. 

You must seriously realize the life and death of your children can rest upon you and you alone.  Don’t look to the government, or your family/community, or anyone else. Again I say, Look in the mirror, you brought them into the world, you are responsible for them. Remember your emergency may never be the emergency you planned for, so be prepared for anything. Not just with cool hi-tech gizmos, but know primitive skills. My Grandpa used to say “prepare for the worse and hope for the best”. In a critical situation and usually is directly related to how you are handling the situation. If you are nervous and upset, you can bet your children will be too.  Survival is a lifestyle that needs to be incorporated into daily living.  Prepare now so you and your children will not fall prey to some other predator tomorrow.

Most people wouldn’t keep .22 shells on hand for their .30-06 rifle.  They likely wouldn’t waste space in their pantry, storage, garden or go-bag for foodstuffs that were not calorically or nutritionally dense compared with the space they occupied

Each serious or well-intentioned survivalist knows how precious resources, energy, space and time can be, and would likely strive for a high level of efficiency.  Being well prepared and resourceful is a cornerstone of success when it comes to survival. And yet, there is a fundamental tool that is oft overlooked- effective communication strategies.

The tools in a survivalist’s arsenal should reflect necessity.  The select items and materials one keeps on hand can ultimately mean the difference between success and failure, between abundance and poverty, and ultimately, between life and death. One of the most functional assets the strategic survivalist can have on hand is effective, constructive communication skills.

Effective communication is an important skill for all humans, and should not be undervalued. Ones ability to communicate well can positively impact and change the trajectory of many a conflict or social dilemma. Its development is useful in all types of interpersonal relationships and settings.  Crisis, conflict, courtship- it matters not where one imagines he or she might want to use these skills- we need only understand that we most certainly will.

Good communication skills are a fundamental component of human success.  When anthropologists study immediate-return foraging cultures, untouched by civilization, they often note a social dynamic which most often comes with unyielding emphasis placed on cooperation and problem solving. It has been termed “fierce egalitarianism”,  it makes sense- living in small bands, at the mercy of nature and highly dependent on one-another, humans likely developed solution-oriented communication tendencies in order to be successful in the face of the danger and uncertainty of their world.

The devolution of our disposition for solution-oriented, cooperation-directed communication skills is likely to be a relatively recent phenomenon- one associated with the development of systems of food production and storage that over time required or lead to greater divisions in labor, status, population growth and land ownership.  Agriculture cropped up years ago and the division of labor and society in ever-growing social groups has undermined the egalitarian mindset of our ancestral, tribal forebears- the emphasis of common ground- amongst the population ever since.

There is clear evidence, both currently and historically, that without the skills necessary to find resolution to conflicts which are nurturing to the group’s moral and promote cooperation and positive outcomes, the resentment, distrust and hardships which arise give way to deterioration rapidly. 

Daniel Balliet, of Singapore University, conducted a meta-analysis of much of the available research on how social dilemmas are enhanced by cooperative communication. In the paper, which appeared in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Balliet looks to a number of studies to find out what strategies enhanced conflict-resolution.  He writes that while “there is no magic bullet…  the single solution that has harnessed the most support and reduced the most conflict… is [effective] communication.” (JCR, 40)

Conflict is everywhere.  As social, highly emotional creatures with many variable forays, inevitably, toes are stepped on, walls are put up, hearts are broken.  Even a decision like “what to make for dinner”, or an off-handed remark can lead to conflict.  The interlocking web of opportunity for conflict-resolution is endless.  Cultivating effective communication strategies will be as useful to you as stocking up on toilet paper or finding out which plants won’t give you a gnarly rash when you have to go without.

So, how does one begin in their quest to advance their communication skills?  The first objective in this process would be realizing that cultivating better communication skills takes time and patience- with oneself and others. Patience is a virtue, and this adage could become a mantra for to assist you in advancing your communication.

As for the how-to, fortunately, there has been much research into the field of what makes communication with others strong, and what makes it go sour.  Various researchers have come up with more or less the same basic tenets.  If understood and practiced frequently, the skills a person develops can change the course of their relationships with others fundamentally.  So, if you feel up to the task, read on for a primer on what will likely be a rewarding investment of your energy and time.

A few books stand out which shed light on the subject of bettering our communication skills.  The three that I am most familiar with, and that are very easy to digest, are “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In” by Fisher, Ury and Patton, “Communicating Effectively for Dummies” by Martin Brounstein, and “Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life” by Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D.

These authors’ work is based on many years of research observing human communication, across cultures and in different scenarios, from spousal discourse to business deals.

When we think of communication, we think of speaking, generally.  Funny enough, one of the most critical facets of being an effective communicator is listening well.  We are not raised in western culture to listen well… many of us come from family dynamics where people heard what they wanted to hear, and based their responses on that.

 We have also been conditioned by the culture at large to be impatient and hasty with our responses and assumptions. These ways of relating are unlikely to produce positive outcomes… when an “agreement” is struck, and the aforementioned ways of listening were a large factor influencing it, then it is likely that one party simply acquiesced or gave up- which creates resentment and does not deepen understanding, nor does it further positive feelings amongst the participants.

So, how does one become a good listener, and ultimately a good communicator?  There’s not a special formula.  There is, however, a need to be objective, empathic, and to cultivate a sense of joint effort to find a common ground.

The authors of the book “Getting to Yes” advocate some fundamentals that are easy to understand.  It may seem trite, but they really are simple ideas. It is getting past your enculturation and habits that is the difficult part.

First, don’t bargain over positions- it is inefficient, it endangers a relationship, and it gets worse the more parties that are involved.   Positional bargaining is the most common pitfall in social dilemmas… each party in a conflict adheres rigidly to their own desires, thereby invalidating the ideas of those around them.  All elements of communication, like salt roads to Rome, lead back to the position of the party espousing their views in contrast to another’s.

It’s a no-win situation.  If listening is a key ingredient to good communication, then it follows that objectivity and flexibility would work well, too.  After all, what are we listening for if not to gain insight into the ideas of the other party?

The next concept outlined in Getting to Yes is to “Separate the People from the Problem”.   Remember that negotiators are people first, and that every negotiator has two kinds of interests: The substance and the relationship.  The relationship, however, tends to become entangled with the problem.  Since positional bargaining (where one is fixated on a particular idea or outcome, and orients all attempts at resolution toward that end) tends to put a relationship in conflict with the substance, its best to keep them separate. Deal directly with people.

How do you deal with people directly?  Seems like an easy task- many people are probably scratching their heads, because this seems like the only thing that you are doing when engaged in a discourse or argument with another person.  But without some alterations to the approach, many of us may find ourselves squabbling, yelling, and ending up sans solution, and mired in frustration and resentment. 

The authors suggest we start this by changing our perceptions.  We must change the way we are viewing them, the other, and take the opportunity to influence how they are viewing us. 

We start by putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes.  That’s where we try to understand their position, or why they might feel a certain way.  If you were in a survival situation, and came upon others that were looking for food, ill, or frightened, you could attempt to see things from their vantage point.  Doing so might keep you from making a rash decision. 

There are many people in the survivalist community who take a “me and my own” stance when it comes to dealing with outsiders, especially in a SHTF scenario.  And, while this concept certainly has its place, this type of mentality makes it likely that if there is a person with valuable skills who comes along, information or ideas, say a doctor or engineer or perhaps just an individual with an able body and sound mind, they will be obscured to the group that cannot adequately address confrontations by utilizing empathy.  In other words, sharing a meal with an outsider who comes looking for food, as opposed to chasing them off with sticks from the get- go (and yes, this is a metaphor as well) can be a tool in and of itself.

When dealing with social dilemmas, its also important to try not to deduce their intentions from your fears.  This is a strange phenomenon, yet we all do it from time to time.  It is an aspect of communication that takes on an almost magical or paranormal quality, where we assume their intentions based on how we feel.  It’s a slippery slope, however, and best to be avoided.  Why? Because we are not (most of us, anyway) equipped with psychic, infallible capacities of deduction for the intentions of others.

Its best to get past the blame hurdle as well.  This has got to be one of the most difficult pitfalls that many of us learned- blaming others.  It feels “right”… they did or said something.  The problem is, if that is the angle we come from, the human tendency is to recoil or become defensive.  Neither produces the results we want- which is a solution, right?

There is a show on television right now that centers around a survivalist/ SHTF scenario, and it couldn’t be more perfect in its depiction of how not to communicate effectively during social dilemmas.  Secrecy, positional bargaining, even murder… its all there.  Now, while I haven’t had a television in my home for the last 10 years, I was recently at a friend’s house.  They are apparently avid fans of this show, and asked me to take in a few episodes that were being played back to back.

Its called The Walking Dead, and it airs on AMC.  The characters, catapulted from normalcy into an apocalyptic, zombie plagues nightmare, travel the countryside, trying to evade harm and zombies.  Far more then a gore-show, the greatest conflict is the drama which unfolds socially, aided by the characters’ utter lack of efficient, cooperative communication.  The characters undermine, with each new episode, the quality of their groups cohesion, by approaching interpersonal and group dilemmas with dysfunctional communication skills.

The overwhelming tendency toward blame and self-centered perspectives on conflicts that arise likely causes more zombie-related skirmishes, bites and battles then just trying to navigate a world of zombies in an of itself would portend.   The characters are utterly inept at effective communication- they bicker, yell, attempt to kill, and constantly quarrel with one-another, to no avail.  The show is entertaining- but the way that the characters communicate is baffling.
 
As a survivalist, it seems outrageous that petty arguments could take the attention of the characters away from… well… zombies around every turn.  Yet many a character has had a flesh-eating, roaming, gimpy corpse creep up behind them, nearly chomping a bit of shoulder, even in broad daylight.  Why?  How?  Its really simple- they’re always arguing, and their debates are littered with the worst communication patterns imaginable. 

Sadly, admittedly, the communication patterns used by the characters in this show are often used by real-life people not being pursued by hoards of walking dead.  All of us fall prey from time to time, to the ineffective, messy, hindering patterns of communication that we were conditioned to believe was normal. Part of that narrative of normalcy includes not really caring to find out another’s perspective. 

By discussing each other’s perceptions, we open new doors.  We shatter our old habits.  We can use it as an opportunity to act inconsistently with their perceptions.  (And example would be listening when they have stated they feel like you don’t.)    And, by making sure that they participate in the process, you give them a stake in the outcome. Now you’re working as a team.

But with all this objectivity, we don’t want to lose sight of what’s really driving much of our misunderstanding, anger and conflict.  Emotions.

Take the time to recognize and understand their emotions and your own.  Talk about them.  Acknowledge them as legitimate.  Allowing the other side to “let off steam” is a great way to diffuse tension and hear what they’ve been feeling without taking it personally.  If they have emotional outbursts, do not react to them.  This keeps the tension low, and it’s a strength in character to work towards this end. 

Once you are identifying with your co-communicator, despite your differences of opinion, you can make good headway towards a solution.  If you listen actively and acknowledge what is being said, if you speak well so that you are understood, and clarify when you are not, then you will go far.  Speak for a purpose.  And all-importantly, speak about yourself, not them. 

Some people may be thinking “Well, this sounds nice, but how does it look in practice?”  These strategies are used by businessman and women world-wide.  They are used amongst union members who attend mediation groups to work out settlements.  They are used by teachers, by colleagues, by spiritual communities, and by families.  In short, we know the principles, when utilized with earnest, tend to work well, because they are used so universally in settings where there is group cohesion, community health and finances at stake.

To each their own- remember that adage? A critical step when approaching conflict is to recognize that each side has multiple interests.  Their interests define the problem at hand.  Despite the presence of opposed positions, there are many shared and compatible interests mingling with the conflicting ones.

The most powerful interests are basic human needs, and for some communication scenarios, a list can be made.  By putting both parties interests and needs down on paper, it helps you to look forward, not backwards.  It acknowledges their interests and your own.  Yet, it can make it easier to mutually  identify which interests you or the other party have that may actually be part of the problem. 

When you’re working towards a solution, try to avoid premature judgment, searching for the single answer, or thinking that solving their problem is “their problem”.

When we look at a situation through another’s eyes, when we detach ourselves from what we assume might be another’s thoughts, and when we focus on meeting the person where they are, as opposed to “having our way” (positional bargaining), we tend to have great success when resolving conflict.

Engaging in conflict resolution with an open mind, and a conscientious while assertive approach, makes our argument or ideas more appealing to others, and opens the door to concepts or issues we may have overlooked or had yet to grasp.  When people feel respected, they often feel more flexible- more generous with their interests.

For most of us, its not difficult to imagine a scenario in which the communication takes a turn for the worst- where things break down.  Much of our arguments and discussions go in that direction.  Even if we “come out on top” or as “right”, much of the time, a poorly communicated discourse or debate leaves parties feeling unsettled, angry, anxious or hurt.

We can engage with others in a way that validates our own feelings and interests, while simultaneously supporting a solution-oriented interaction with someone we might be at odds with. This is the substance of a healthy community, relationship and general philosophy of life.

There are many more things that can advance your communication skills, and they are best practiced regularly, in all types of scenarios or conflicts, in order to really develop them solidly.  I recommend the aforementioned books; many of us were not taught adequate ways to communicate with others, and reading up on the subject can be rewarding.

Remember- effective communication should be a fundamental tool in your arsenal for survival.  It is not enough to have the best bug-out bag, the most complete fall-out shelter, or the most serious stash of weaponry.  Even if you had not an item to your name, not a tool on your person, just knowing how to communicate well can be a valuable asset to get you out of a hairy situation.

We need to acknowledge that we are human, and that there are skillful ways in which we can influence our relationships and social encounters that can transform outcomes in a positive way, can serve as the binding glue for our community, and ultimately mean the difference between life and death for ourselves and others.

References:

Balliet, Daniel.  Communication and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas: A Metanalytic Review,  Journal of Conflict Resolution 2010, 54:39

Ury, William. Fisher, Roger. Patton, Bruce.  Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.  Penguin Books, 1983.

I am not sure on when it happened, or how it happened, all I know is that it happened. I woke up one morning and realized that I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t know what I needed a plan for. Something inside of me was tearing at my chest, not in the form of fear, but in the form of urgency. I started to react instantly and in an almost frantic way because I knew that there was something very important I needed to do. After a couple of weeks I stopped myself and took two steps back to figure out what I was doing and the reason I was doing it.

As a Warrant Officer in the United States Army with four tours overseas in support of the Global War on Terror, I understand the importance of being prepared. Like many others out there, I have read numerous articles on how to be prepared and articles on what to prepare for. I have noticed that everyone has a theory, plan or a way of doing things for short or long term, but I have never come across an article on how to sell this to others that don’t believe.  I hope this helps.

We have all heard the saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”. The same goes here. No matter what you may believe will eventually happen, it is getting others to believe the same thing that will hopefully save them one day. In combat, the easiest way to get a young soldier to understand the importance of being prepared is to just sit and wait. Once that first round or mortar comes any where close to him, he’ll get it. Now don’t confuse this tactic on the inherent responsibility of a leader to force preparation on a solider, this isn’t the point, the point is the icebreaker that causes someone to want to believe in something. So, how do we make the horse drink the water?

In any writing, speech or sale, it is the primary goal of the author, speaker or sales man to believe in what they have to say and to get others to believe in what they are saying.  There are many way of doing this within the article or the speech, but to be successful at this, you need to be coherent in both writing and speaking and have the most substantial facts on your topic.  In reality, not many of us are in that boat, to include myself, so here are some steps and methods that I have chosen to enlist to help sell the truth.

Step One: Zombie Apocalypse Humor

I always break the ice to non-believers, people who live with rose color glasses thinking nothing will ever happen, with the most outlandishly humorous thing out there, the Zombie Apocalypse. First, I go into greatly exaggerated details on all substantial proof that zombies will take over the earth, like the Center for Disease and Control (CDC) posting preparedness steps for the Zombie Apocalypse. The $25 billion in revenue that Zombie movies, video games and artwork based off of the 444 movies made since the early 1900s or the 60 million people that practice a religion that believes in Zombies. Now on that note, I don’t believe in Zombies. Second, I start talking about the arsenal I am building along with the 1 year supply of food, water and first aid that is buried in a bunker that I built out of recycled 18 wheeler trailers. At this point, I have broken the Ice. I can now make light of the whole situation and I am usually joking and crying right along with the person who makes light of any bad situation that could happen.

Step Two: Walk Away Power

I have coined this phrase from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Class on how to walk away from something that you really want. Walk away power is the ability to remove yourself from a desire so you do not make an impulse decision that could not be in your best interest. In this case, we really want someone else to believe in the importance to be prepared. After you break the ice, end it there, just for now. You had a good time; you planted the seed and now just wait. This is especially hard because you so desperately wish to continue your goal. While you give it some time, it is ok to prod the fire, and I highly encourage it, by occasionally making joke of the whole conversation. You can do this in passing, before a meeting or even during lunch. A smart move is to do it around others. Imagine that if you over hear someone talking about an investment, do you think that you might be intrigued to find out more? Most would not interrupt a conversation between two people, but rather they might be more likely to pull one of the two to the side and make the inquiry of the over heard conversation, just think, it could be you. If you are the chosen one questioned, guess what step we are back to?

Step Three: Real Life

This opportunity could come at any moment or it could take days to weeks to present itself, but it will, I guarantee it. We live in a sad and destructive world and I do not make light of any horrible situation in which human life is loss or is put into a state of suffering. We have all heard of the saying “History has a way of repeating its self” and it does. These are times where it is key that we use these situations to learn from and to prepare for it possibly happing to us. Lets use Tornados for this example. Tornados happen time and time again and each time life is lost and everything is destroyed. When we turn on the television and see reports of people being interviewed, it seems that same old thing is said by the victim, “Every thing is gone, we have nothing left, and we don’t know what we are going to do”. When a situation like this arises, use it! Open up a dialog on how sad this is, how bad you feel and then ask the non-believer “What would you do?” Let it sit for a few moments, but do not let him or her answer. Interrupt their thought process with what you have done, but it is curtail that you only pick one thing. I cannot stress this enough, one thing and one thing only. Their senses are currently in a overwhelming state and their body is stuck between flight or fright, so you do not want to overwhelm them into remission of doubt with what you have to say. For example, “I have put together an Emergency BUG out Bag that has a week of supplies in it, you know something I can grab on the way to the closet ”.  Here is the second most important part of this step: Refer to Step Two, Walk Away.

Step Four: The Follow Up

You can do this step in one or two ways, go to them or let them come to you. I will mention both, but I will talk mostly about you having to go back to them. When a person comes back to you for more information that you might have, you know that the hook is set and it is time to start reeling them in, but sometimes you need to cast back out to try to get another bite. These methods are once again a waiting game, you don’t want to go to soon and you don’t want to sit around for to long waiting on them. This can cause you to be too pushy, or they could loose interest. If you feel that it might be best to pursue them, bring up the same disaster, use a different angle but most importantly, use the same plan that you are using. For example, “Hey man did you hear? FEMA can’t get food out to those people that were in the tornado. That is why I have a week of food in my Bug Out bag”. I hope that you have noticed that I have referenced a not so common term, “Bug Out Bag”. I do this to deepen the curiosity of your non-believer. Best-case scenario is when they come to you. More than likely they will come bearing more questions, “Hey man, what’s a Bug Out Bag?” or they will come to you with answers, “Hey man, I checked out those Bug out Bags you where talking about, pretty cool, I might get one.” Once you know that step four has been made, move on to the final step.

Step Five: The Believer

I opened this article on my own personal account of what happened to me when I realized that something needed to be done to prepare my family and myself. I want you to notice the date, 2011. I have just gotten on this train of thinking against the grain of society’s mindset of the government is here to take care of me, so I have a lot to learn. I guess that I got lucky and figured it out on my own, but there are many others out there that you know and love that won’t have that privilege. Step five is still a very delicate phase in your new believer (trust me, I have heard some crazy stuff out there and I have been turned off on a few things) so it is important to use moderation on your particular beliefs. The purpose of the Web Site Survivalblog.com and many others like it, is to create survivors. For people like us, strength in numbers is what is going to make all of us successful, no matter if our theories come into play or not. Your new believer will find out a lot of information on the web, don’t be afraid to steer him or her away from the garbage and let him or her learn from your mistakes. The most important thing I could say about this step is that you need to be there in their time of doubt, encourage and reinforce the reasons on why they choose to make this very important move in life.

You can use this technique for just about any thing that you want to and please feel free to modify it to fit your personality. I cannot guarantee that this is 100% effective for anyone, not even myself. I have been using this format for years, but never noticed it. To date, I have only created just a few new believers, but in my efforts, I have met just as many, if not more believers and new believers. With that said, the word is out, lets take the time and focus on the bottom line up front, new believers, a stronger community, and most important a country that is prepared.

Jim,
There seems to be a lot of debate on 'should I head for the hills, post-SHTF'. In my opinion, what most people miss is: Yes, it is a bad idea to head for the hills with no firmly established destination. Either move now or establish a place you are welcome to before the SHTF.

I doubt a small town will be welcoming strangers in that situation. As for the fantasy of 'living off the land', you and 85 million other people? Ever try to bag a deer during hunting season with the limits in place today? - Ross

JWR Replies: I agree wholeheartedly. The whole "Batman in the Boondocks" all-I-need-is-a-backpack-and-a-rifle-and-a-big-knife shtick seems to be promulgated by dreamers who have never actually tried it. For all but a few Herculean backpackers, it is indeed an unrealistic fantasy. If you leave your home with only what you can carry on your back or what can push in a cart, then you've shortchanged yourself and have positioned yourself just one notch above a penniless refugee. So consider this a last ditch contingency plan, not Plan A, or Plan B, or even Plan C.

By far, the best solution is to relocate well in advance of any disaster to a small town, with your larder fully intact. You need to become fully part of a community, to overcome the We/They Paradigm. The small town relocation concept was first advanced by Mel Tappan in the late 1970s, and it was crystallized in the 1980s by Joel Skousen. He dubbed it Strategic Relocation, and wrote an excellent series of books on the subject. I too, advocate living at your retreat year-round, and my family lives that life here at the Rawles Ranch. We only make occasional trips into cities, primarily for stocking up, or to broaden the horizons of my homeschooled children. (We visit museums, zoos, arboretums, libraries, and major book stores--like Powell's-- to enrich our at-home teaching curricula.)

There are some who advocate establishing a well-stocked retreat, with the hopes of getting there at the 11th Hour in the midst of a crisis. I do not recommend this, as there are lots of things that can go wrong. Not only is there a high risk of not making it safely to your retreat, but there is also a substantial risk that burglars will clean out your carefully stored tools and provisions. This approach is also suboptimal in terms of "working the kinks out" of your self-sufficiency plans. Unless you practice independent living day-to-day, it can be daunting--whether it is the peculiarities of growing a productive garden in your micro-climate, establishing fruit and nut trees, building up flocks and herds of livestock, or just learning the quirks of cooking on a wood stove. That all takes time and practice. Granted, you could have just one member of your family live at your retreat year round to "hold down the fort", but that is inferior to having everyone in the family living there and working the land. In closing, I must state that I recognize that for many SurvivalBlog readers that have work or family obligations in the cities and suburbs, that this may be your only practical solution. It is not the best, but make the best you can of it.

Mr. JWR:
I am 57, been collecting prepping supplies for the last 5+ years, but was involved in an accident in 2008 where I was disabled. I'm ambulatory, but limited in lifting and such (three inoperable herniated discs in lower back) - I am planning moving to the Redoubt, but fear that my limited abilities will make me less than attractive or welcome to any community or preppers I may encounter. I do have manual skills in building both small items up to buildings, but cannot actually do the work. Is it worth it for me to move there? I don't want to be perceived as a burden. I am a Christian, and have been praying on this, and the idea of trying to write you a note directly came to me, so here it is.

Thanks for reading, if you were able to. God bless you, and America. - Peter in Michigan

JWR Replies: Since you are a Christian with a strong work ethic, I can assure you that you would be much more welcomed than someone that is capable of doing heavy work, but unwilling to do any work, which sadly these days seems to me the norm. 

Also rest assured that there are a lots of jobs within retreat groups that can be handled by someone with physical limitations. These include retreat security (eyes and ears at an LP/OP), communications/SIGINT gathering, et cetera.

Go ahead and make the move, and trust in God.  But just be very prayerful and discerning about who you associate with, and the climate/topsoil quality/water availability of where you move.  There are lots of details on those factors at my free Retreat Areas page.

And even greater detail can be found in my "Rawles on Retreats and Relocation" book. That book is now included as a bonus e-book to my blog's complete five-year archive CD-ROM. (Available for less than $10, via digital download.) May God Bless You and Yours!

James: In regards to M.D.M.'s article, I'd like to add something to his Question #4, There is no reason to smother a baby or toddler to keep them quite as in that M*A*S*H episode mentioned. I learned an old Indian trick years ago, when my kids were young and restless. All a mother needs to do is blow lightly in the child's face when they start fussing and about to cry. This blowing lightly momentarily takes their breath away, and they stop fussing, and concentrate on breathing, It doesn't take much blowing lightly in their face, and they soon drift off to sleep. This works good on infants and kids up to about two years old!
 
Nothing is more distracting than being in church and have some mother not knowing what to do to keep her baby from crying, and disturbing everybody around her for several rows, until the only thing she can do is take the baby out of the room. I read about this in some old book on Indian plains tribes, the mothers used to run out into the woods or high brush with their child and hide, when the village came under attack, and this blowing lightly in the child's face to keep them from fussing or crying saved many lives. So after reading this, I tried it in church when my youngest son was a baby, and started fussing and crying, and it worked wonderfully! Something good to know if you have a baby and don't want to disturb people in church! - J.M. in Utah

Some people say you can’t prepare for every situation.  I say, you can because every situation has one common element that can and will hurt you outside of the event itself: other people.  Lets face it, if you die in a storm, a nuclear/biological/chemical event, or terror attack, then you are dead.  There is nothing from stopping God’s will. 

You don’t prepare for those events, you prepare for surviving those events.  There are many events, (and not far-fetched crazy extreme events) which people should be prepared to deal with to protect themselves and their families when it’s over and you are alive. Some include:

1. Storms (Hurricanes/tornados/floods/earthquakes, droughts, Tsunami)
2. Financial collapse
3. Biological emergencies (natural or weaponized)
4. Chemical emergencies (Living near DuPont?)
5. Nuclear emergencies (Attack/Power grid failure resulting in leak)
6. Civil unrest (Riots/Revolution/Civil War/Race war/Looting)
7. Power Grid failure (EMPs/Solar flares/ attack on grid)

The interesting fact is that just one event on the above list, can and will cause another on the list.  If you don’t believe me, look at Hurricane Katrina. Not only did this storm devastate a region, but what else happened? Civil Unrest, chemical emergencies from refineries, Biological emergencies with contaminated water and disease from bodies, and financial collapse of the region and lets not forget the looting and power grid failures. Look at the recent tsunami in Japan.  No one ever dreamed the nuclear reactors would so easily fail, melt down, leak, or kill (wait for it). The Japanese can probably site all the above listed events as a result of an earthquake. There is a common denominator shared by each item on the list that represents the biggest threat to survivors, outside of the event itself: People.

People will react in the most amazing ways after a horrible event.  Events like these bring out the best and worse in people.  This was seen in New Orleans. I was there in the aftermath. I saw the best and worst in mankind – Mostly the worst.  Normal, law-abiding people (well, it is New Orleans), when put in a survival situation, will kill you, if the stress of the event makes them believe they need your stuff to stay alive.

The dichotomy is that people are the biggest threat, but you can’t survive without the cooperation of other people.  You can’t make it through the listed events alone; you have to rely on other people to pool all your resources to survive. Every event on that list will cause people to lose their minds and cause chaos. Give it a couple of days, then the looting, crime and civil unrest explode like a powder keg.  Sure, you can crawl in your bunker, but for how long? You can buy 20 guns, but you can only shoot one at a time. You need to get organized, with a group of trusted friends/family, to provide, protect and plan your hopefully short term situation.  The well-organized, well armed groups will get passed by the marauders for easy pickings down the road.

Just in the last 10 years or so, we have seen some horrible events that touch every item on the list above….9/11, Hurricanes in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi,, Haiti, Japan's Tsunami, Worldwide Earthquakes, Eastern Seaboard Power failure shutting down New York, Euro collapsing, Japans Nuclear reactor failures, Iran’s Nuclear prowess, Missing former Soviet nuclear devices, Los Angeles riots, Tornados Midwest rampage, Ohio/MS River flooding, Texas droughts, and I could list a whole page .
Preparing doesn’t sound so crazy now does it? It’s not some right-wing doomsday fantasy, but if it makes you concerned, perhaps it should – No one is saying we should build an underground bunker (although I would love to).  All I am saying is having a plan, with people you trust while pooling resources just may save your life.

So now you realize you aren’t crazy- lets take a look at the basics:

What are the basic needs we will need as human beings?

1. Water
2. Food
3. Shelter
4. Security

WATER – Take stock if you are staying put or bugging out. You have what is available to you, but I would recommend having 3 sources of water either in my home or bug out location.

1. Natural water sources (Creeks, rivers, springs that flow year round)
2. Well water (How is it powered? Electricity/ manual pump/ solar?)
3. Water storage (Ponds, stock tanks, water catch systems, barrel storage, bathtubs)
4. City/County (Keep in mind this source is dependent on upkeep by people who will not be showing up to work in our scenarios)

FOOD - I know a lot of people have their 3-day bug out bag with survival food bars handy, but I believe you need to take stock, not only of your pantry, but other potential sources in your locations.

1. Stored and saved canned goods with shelf life and extended life usage.
2. Staples (oil, flour, beans, wheat, salt, sugar- Think food grade barrels)
3. Natural Resources (Fish, wildlife in area for meat, Feeders/traps/snares)
4. Seed (growing, farming, reproducing your own food – heirloom seeds)
5. Livestock animals
6. Food as a trading commodity (honey, spices,  alcohol, Etc)

SHELTER –We have our homes we currently live in whether its an apartment, house etc. Think about if you leave or bug out, it’s important to have shelter not only where you end up, but keep in mind it may take a few days to get there. Do you know anyone between you and your bug out location? Is there someplace safe you can leave a cache?
Some things to think about shelter:

1. Size, capacity (how many are in your trusted circle? Will everyone fit?)
2. Power options (propane, electric/generator, wood for warmth)
3. Portable/semi permanent (shipping container, RV, tents, Trailer)
4. Underground (storm shelter, root cellar, buried shipping container)
5. Ability to create lean-to and basic shelters
6. Alternate locations (when things get too tough, you may need to relocate)
7. At your bug out location, is there a secure place, if there is a bio event, that someone can be put into quarantine until incubation period is satisfied before joining the rest of the group?

SECURITY – This means a lot of things to a lot of people.  Lets list out a few things that are important keeping in mind safety in numbers- however a smaller group of well prepared and well trained people can be the most important asset of security.

1. Personnel (large enough to make the average band of marauders move on to easier targets)
2. Weapons  (pistols, mid range, long range firearms.) One important need for quiet registered suppressed smaller caliber weapons for stealth and hunting.  This will be very important- Texas is mostly flat and sound carries for miles.) It is good to have .22, .223, .40/9mm, 12ga, 30.06/.308, 7.62x39. These are most plentiful and easily found.  Stealth and being quiet is something that not many presently talk about, but will be important.  If someone is looking for food/water etc, man-made noises are a beacon for people to come and find you. At some point, you will want to put your big bang stick away and opt for suppressed/small caliber or conventional bows.
3. Ammunition: Having similar calibers among your group members makes ammo go further and able to work with more than one weapon. This coordination could be extremely important in long-term situations.
4. Night Vision (or Thermal but expensive) There are many Gen 1 NV scopes out there that are priced so reasonably that they make it a must.  Those who own the night, control the day.
5. Dogs (trained ones, not purse dogs)
6. Fuel (including storage- This will make you mobile while gas is scarce)
7. Alternate Transportation (ATV, Bicycle, UATV, mopeds) Don’t laugh – You can ride 10-to-20 miles on a bike without being in Olympic shape.  How long does it take to walk 10 miles?  Not so silly now is it?  Do some research on the Japanese in WWII being able to move mass amounts of troops in a short timeframe catching their enemies by surprise.  And bike is quiet…….

Now that we have some of the basics identified, there are other things that could have been listed above that many of us have lying around or have access to its usefulness.  I like to refer to these items as assets.  You should put a checklist together of your assets, keeping in mind, some assets are intangible.  Here is a quick list of both:

ASSETS

Communication. This is number one for a reason- ham radios, CB radios, Walkie-talkies, field phone with wires, and radios. Information equals knowledge, and knowledge is power.

1. Boats (rafts, canoes, jon-boat, fishing and pontoon, inner tubes/pool toys- sometimes you need to get across a river/creek and need to keep stuff dry and they take up no space at all – deflate and use again later)
2. Vehicles (some of us have multiple vehicles…or toys, that carbureted vehicle can be more valuable than you know if there is a solar flare or EMP)
3. Trailers (we have a lot of stuff and people to bug out)
4. Generators (these need extra fuel so prep accordingly, and don’t forget the oil)
5. Tools (welder, chain saws, wire cutters, bolt cutters, etc)
6. Bikes (these don’t need fuel and can get you miles in minutes)
7. Land/property (even if it is not ideal bug out territory, it could be used as a cache to store items in alternate locale, or a safe place to stop and resupply to your ultimate destination)
8. Reloader (The ability to load and reload your own ammo is a huge asset)
9. Medical equip (all inclusive down to the band aids – don’t forget toothaches and tools for extraction if necessary) People never think about dental as part of their first aid kit…until they have a cracked tooth or toothache.
10. Silent weapons (crossbows, bows, arrows/bolts, snares/traps)
11. Fishing Poles (self explanatory)
12. GPS/Maps (You need both because at some point tech will fail, oh yes, learn how to use a compass with that map) You don’t need static electricity with a needle on a pool of water- Bear Grylls is cool to watch, but go buy a handful of cheap compasses and put them in everyone’s bag and teach some online land navigation basics.
13. Force multipliers (trip wire alerts, motion sensors, noise making material for areas you cant always see) An easy fix, battery operated motion lights.  If you need eyes in a location you can’t see at night – Set these up in those hard to see areas – It’s like having an extra person to alert you. Fishing lines and cans with rocks will make noise when tripped.
14. Battery charging devices (Commercial, solar,  also think non conventional like a stationary bike with a belt to an alternator to battery to inverter to outlet) Hook it up to a wheat grinder and make some flour.
15. Alternative energy (like my bike idea above, there are available sources on the market like solar, wind, hydro- research hydro – It only takes 10 foot of head to turn a turbine – I would love to explore this idea with my creek)
16. Wood (Gotta have heat in winter, and have to cook)
17. Clothing for all seasons (doesn’t hurt to have chest waders, mosquito netting, and sewing kits for repairs.  Not everything needs to be military or camo )
18. Hammocks – I’m getting everyone in my family hammocks with a cheap tarp to go over the top.  There is a whole group of campers out there using only hammocks – Very cool, light weight and fit into the 3 day bug out bag nicely.

Now lets look at a list of what I call Intangible Assets.  What knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) do we bring to the group that can be passed along or taught?

1. Training  (Firearms, tactics, military, safety/chemical, survival)
2. Certifications (CPR/First Aid, EMT, MD, paramedic, dentistry)
3. Skills (Farming, hydroponics, carpentry, mechanics, cooking, fishing, welding)
4. Knowledge (Can you fix things? Make things, butcher, chemical knowledge, canning, pickling, reloading, armorer, water purification)
5. Abilities (climb trees, make candles, negotiate, bow hunt, make a zip line, fish with a net. Think outside the box)

These are just a few things to think about when starting to prep.  Take your own inventory, and then take the next step. This step is just as important as your safety.  Unless you are going to live by yourself in a bunker (Okay, perhaps I have bunker envy)- you need to incorporate your trusted inner circle to share your ideas and make a plan. Choose wisely- I have seen a lot of people utilize their family- Most of the time, that works. But some folks don’t live near their family, or if they do, they don’t always get along with an in-law or each other.  Don’t be that guy that chooses his best friend that doesn’t believe in prepping, and if by chance they do, won’t prepare, wont bring anything to the table and will end up mooching off of your hard work and the others in your group.  Here are some things to keep in mind when you find your bug out group.  Ask the hard questions with your group now.

If you plan on leaving your home to your bug out location, you may be faced with some tough decisions, table these with your group and ask:

1. How many people are invited to the location?
2. What is the group going to do when some other “friends” not in the trusted circle show up?
3. Uninvited family vs. uninvited friends – Is there a difference? Oh yes!
4. When others show up looking for a handout or help- what are we prepared to do?
5. In a bio situation (bird flu) how long should you quarantine others before letting them into your location- What if they are sick – What is the group prepared to do? What if they are family?
6. Leadership roles vs. democracy vs. clans (family leaders)
7. What are group pooled items vs. individual (mine) items.  What is shared vs. kept?

Meeting with your trusted inner circle (bug out crew) of people now and discussing these items will be crucial down the line.  Lets face it, it’s hard to find couples that all like each other much less entire families. Face the fact and embrace the fact there will be disagreements in advance, No one will ever completely agree on everything- That is reality.  These disagreements may become amplified in a stressful environment, but come to grips with it together and talk about it now. Talk about that family or group that finds you and wants to join your group to bolster their security (who, what when where, why and how- will be the name of that game). I can create an endless number of scenarios for and against accepting – But the group needs to come to an agreement.  What style of leadership are we going to use? Talk about it now.

Have a plan and several routes that everyone knows to get to your bug out location.  This is where communication devices are essential – Know what routes are inaccessible, have your back-up routes from each alternate points of entry (back up routes to your back up routes) Timing will dictate your routes.  Depending on situation and spread of the event, smaller towns that you would normally drive through could be barricaded and controlled by organized militias/groups like you, limiting access. This goes for any area.  Think of your bug out location, you may want to limit the access too, out of fear of travelers/hordes looking to pillage.  Depending on the situation be prepared to negotiate, barter, trade and or shoot your way to your bug out shelter. You may end up using all those methods along the way.

Bug out to a secondary location comes with its own set of pros and cons.  To me, the hardest question is: When is it time to bug out? No one can predict the best time, but I will say before all of the gas is used up. In our area of South Texas, you can hear a V-8 engine a couple miles away.  Remembering that a panicked society wants to take your stuff because they did not prepare and believe they will die without your stuff-What I am trying to say is err on the early side of bugging out.   The Bottom line is that if you wait too long, you will have herds of “zombies” trying to catch, shoot and kill the caravan of people who still have gas and a way out of town. 

At this point, being quiet is the name of the game. Noise attracts attention- Hunting is a good example; an AR-15 is deafening and can be heard 5 miles and more away. If you use it, use it only once. You will have everyone’s attention waiting to vector the second shot and move in that direction. Get skilled with a bow/crossbow or get a suppressed weapon. .22s are relatively quiet and are good small game calibers. Generators are loud and will attract attention. What are some fixes? Underground, ventilated areas/ mufflers? This opens the door to learning to trap, lay snares, or take serious advantage of the hog trap.  Stock up on rat traps and keep them at your bug out base (the snapping closed kind).  Not for rats, but for small game and birds.  These force multipliers will help you catch your needed protein.

As your group comes together, start training together.  You can start out with a  “survivor man” weekend where you can try your wares. Sight in all your weapons, start fires utilizing various methods, cook using only a fire-pit.  Walk your perimeter, know your weak spots, where are you vulnerable?  Where are the best vantage points on the property, escape routes, choke points, fallback areas, and cache spots.  Bring the families out.  Make sure everyone of responsible age knows how to load, fire, unload each weapon system each family owns. Make training weekends fun, but cover the basics and have everyone hone a skill. If they don’t have one, have them choose one, learn it well, and teach the rest of the group. Empower everyone in the group because we all need to not only feel we contribute to the whole, but we actually all really do need to contribute.  Make weekends to learn how to:

1. Fish
2. Shoot
3. Plant/Harvest
4. Gather
5. Hunt/trap
6. Security patrol/force multiplier utilization
7. Communications
8. Prepping vehicles/Trailers/ bags with supplies (what should be in them)
9. Survivor man trips using your 3-day bug out bag. Know what works and what doesn’t.
10. Make flour from wheat and bread from flour.
11. Make alcohol – Uses are many, from drinking, fire starting, trading, sanitizing, cleaning wounds, sterilizing….and did I say drinking?
12. Bee keeping many uses from pollinating, honey, candles, trading. Edible honey was found in Pyramids buried for centuries.

Each aforementioned training topic could be a whole chapter in a book.  Remember there are no wrong ideas, some may be misguided or implemented incorrectly, but most of us have not gone through this before. Getting ideas together is the first step to getting prepared which leads to taking action and responsibility for you and your loved ones which just may save your life one day. Good luck to us all – we might just need it.

I want to address a common issue these days for "empty nester" parents.  How much and in what forms do you financially help your adult children?  Over the last two years, this has been our experience. 

First, let me tell you about us.  My husband is in his late sixties, and retired from law enforcement and is living on a pension.  He was diagnosed with throat cancer last year and with God’s grace and first class medical treatment, he is doing all right.   I have a good job in a medium size city.  I am in my mid-fifties.  We live in a modest home on a suburban acre.  We have been married 24 years in a second marriage and our children are from our first marriages.

Here are the kids (most are in their mid-thirties):

#1 Son, Spouse and Teen-Age Son
Seems to be doing all right financially with two incomes in a rental.  We paid $800 in electric bills in the past to catch them up during a period of unemployment.

#2 Son, unmarried
He has been disabled for over a year with back trouble.  He had recent back surgery and applied for Social Security disability.  We paid $1,100 this year to catch up on his expenses.

#3 Son, Spouse and two small children
Two incomes, but one is extremely sporadic. They are underwater on home mortgage to the tune of about $75,000.  We recently paid $675 to catch up on two of their truck payments.  Recent requests for money have been $1,500 for truck repairs and $2,562 to catch up on two late house payments.  They are unwilling to change lifestyle in any way and we have had to push hard to get him to look for more reliable employment. 

#1 Daughter, Spouse, and no children
Financially secure in every way.

#4 Son, Separated with one small child
Major substance abuse problems here.  We are still paying on a loan for his last re-hab stint. (That cost $13,000.)  We paid his rent for an entire year (at $740 per month), bought a van for his wife ($4,000) and gave him a car ($5,000) so he could get back and forth to a new job.

What I want to address is “financial survival” in the face of needy adult children.

 First of all, here are the issues:

• Kids "keep track” of what the other adult children have been given.  Parents try to make it even.  It is impossible.  Paying rent so your one-year-old granddaughter has a place to live doesn’t necessarily guarantee understanding on the part of some of the other kids even though they did have a place to live.  Our situation is exacerbated somewhat because our kids are from two different marriages.
• Yes, your grandkids will be used against you.  I can’t tell you how it makes you feel when an adult child tells his father “I used my last forty dollars to buy my kids some food.” 
• Resentment on our part, as parents.  We try to help financially, but we resent lifestyle choices made by our kids.  Why should we pay a truck payment when two smokers ($10 per day habits ) could quit smoking and probably could make their own truck payment?  We don’t want to be involved in lifestyle choices of our children and we should not have to. 

The constant phone calling for financial help has taken a toll on my husband.  Even during his cancer treatment, I could not get one adult child to stop calling him despite my repeated requests.  I don’t harbor very good feelings for this child even today, a full year later.

So what is the answer?  What is needed is financial tough love.  Literally, the demand for money one week from two different family units was more than my entire take-home-pay for two weeks.  My husband and I sat down and said “enough!”  We have our own mortgage to pay, a car payment, utilities, et cetera.  We can’t as a financial entity support another family easily.  We did that for an entire year and are still trying to recover.

We came to several conclusions.

Our financial security is paramount.  We have nine more years to pay on our mortgage and our house is an important component of our retirement plan, if things last that long.  Our best course of action long-term is to own our home free and clear.  We do not want to be a burden to our children and frankly most of our children are not in a position to help us anyway.  The best thing we can do for everyone is take care of ourselves.  Our home may end up being the only place for several family members to live in the future.

Using our resources to help adult children who refuse to change their lifestyle is ill-advised.  As long as Mom and Dad continue to help financially, there is no reason to make any changes.  I would have done almost anything to avoid asking my parents for financial help and I never did.  I am grateful that they paid for my college education thirty years ago and I have worked hard my entire adult life.  I know times have changed and maybe working hard just isn’t always enough these days, but it has always worked for me.

Son #3 is about 57% underwater on his house.  No equity loans here, he just bought at the height of the market.  I see the writing on the wall on this one.   Nobody wants to go bankrupt, but it happens and only working five hours a week can make it happen pretty fast.  If you can help someone out financially during a short-term blip that is one thing, but when it becomes a chronic, insurmountable issue then you have to cut your losses.  What is worse than one family going bankrupt? Two families going bankrupt

We love our grandkids, but we have to demand that their parents provide for their basic needs.  If that means you take a second job, then find a better job, ditch the cell phones and cable, or get rid of one of your cars; then we expect you to do it.   We took care of you while you were growing up and we expect you to do the same for your children.

Finally, let's talk about adult children with substance abuse issues.  It is a bottomless hole financially and emotionally.  Throw a pregnancy in the mix and it becomes the worst sort of blackmail.  Parents do their best to fix the problem.  You can provide all kinds of resources; re-hab in various forms, money, doctors, therapists, attorneys…and the list goes on and on.  Ten years later, we are spent financially and emotionally with our #4 son.  I always remember a scene in the movie A River Runs Through It.  The character played by Brad Pitt was beaten to death over unpaid gambling debts.  The pastor father is talking about his son during a sermon.   He remarks that that often times you don’t know what help to give someone and even if you do; they do not want the help anyway.  We finally had to give this issue over to God. 

So, when you can’t provide financial resources to your adult children anymore, then what can you do?

Well, first of all you can provide emotional support.  Not advice, unless they ask for it….just emotional support.  We helped with a resume and sent job leads that we found.  When the inevitable requests for more money came in, we simply told them that if we used our emergency funds to help them, our financial security would be in jeopardy.  We are not rich people and it is all right to convey that to your adult children.

Second, if things get dire, we told them that we would provide them a home with us for a limited period of time while they get back on their feet. They will have a place to live, food to eat and basic utilities.    Traditionally, multi-generational households were common, so we should certainly be able to do it successfully for a limited period of time.  Not having a house payment or paying rent should help adult children settle other debts and save up for a new living arrangement.

Third, we have not shared our views on the coming economic collapse with some of our children.  This has been a shortcoming on our part.  We are continuing to prepare as best we can and we are going to share our views with everyone from now on. We live fairly frugally, and need to use aspects of our lifestyle and experience as teaching moments.

Lastly, let go of the guilt.  When my decade old car finally gave out, I hesitated to get a replacement.  Why?  I was worried one child would say, “Well, I see that you can afford to get another car but you won’t help me out.”  That child probably did think that, but I still needed a vehicle to get back and forth to work. That was simple reality. 

We love our children and some of them have mighty big warts.  We have our warts too.  Doing right by your children sometimes means you have to say “No” to them.  Protect your financial security by deciding how much and in what forms you can help your adult children. [JWR Adds: After some deliberation and concerted prayer, it is important to set limits, and then stand by them.]

Bring to mind one of the post-TEOTWAWKI scenarios you most frequently imagine, be it the after-effects of a worldwide flu pandemic, series of natural disasters, economic collapse, or nuclear war.  Is this a world into which you’d want to bring children?  At least for the short-term aftermath, I bet you wouldn’t.  Not while you may be on the move or actively defending your retreat or community from danger.  However…”birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it”…c’mon, sing along with me and Cole Porter…”let’s do it, let’s fall in love!”  As the song says, love is natural and often accompanied by relations that can result in babies being born.  What if the methods of contraception you had long taken for granted were not readily available?  If your bunker isn’t well-stocked with condoms, you’re probably out of luck.  Prescription contraception?  Won’t be available.  Medical or surgical interventions (think IUD or vasectomy) won’t be worth the risk, in the absence of ongoing qualified medical care, even if they are available. 

Of course, the best way to prevent unwanted pregnancy is abstinence.  But assuming that abstinence is not the preferred option, how can heterosexual couples engage in sexual intimacy including intercourse and prevent ill-timed pregnancy without contraception?  By observing the woman’s body’s natural function over time and planning intercourse during the days when she is not ovulating, that’s how.  Conveniently, this method also helps couples plan the optimum times to conceive a child as well.  Also known as Natural Family Planning (NFP) or the Rhythm Method, the essence of this approach is that women and their loving menfolk track the ovulation cycle and avoid intercourse or make sure to use a barrier method of contraception (diaphragm, vaginal sponge, condoms, all of which should be used with spermicide to be most effective) when the woman is ovulating.  How does one do that?

The first requirement for an ovulating woman is to understand your monthly fertility pattern or menstrual cycle.  (Men are fertile from birth, but women only become fertile after achieving sexual maturity, usually around age 12-13 and lasting until menopause, which may start between the ages of 40 and 60.)  Days of the cycle may be divided as follows:

• days when you are fertile (able to get pregnant)
• days when you are infertile
• days when fertility is unlikely, but possible

Day 1 of the cycle is the first day of a woman’s menses, or period; the average cycle lasts 28 days, but a healthy cycle might last from 12 to 35 days and vary throughout a year or over a number of years.  The amount of time in the cycle before ovulation--crucial information for pregnancy planning,--aries from woman to woman and sometimes monthly for the same woman.  The period always starts (unless a woman is pregnant) in 14 to 16 days.  The period is the shedding of the blood and uterine lining that will not be needed, as there is no fertilized egg present.

Women with a regular menstrual cycle, which means they menstruate for the same duration each month with about the same number of days between the first day of once cycle and the next, have about nine or more fertile days each month. Should you not want to get pregnant, do not have intercourse on the days you are fertile or use a barrier method (condoms, diaphragm with spermicide, etc) of birth control (this could be a way of conserving your limited supply of barrier contraception, if you have any.)

The knowledge of when you are definitely or likely to be fertile is essential both for pregnancy planning and natural avoidance.   There are three ways to track fertility; they involve monitoring:

• basal body temperature
• the monthly calendar
• cervical mucus

The most accurate method is to combine all three approaches.

Basal body temperature

The average human body temperature is 98.6 degrees, and most people have a consistent body temperature that is close to 98.6 degrees. Basal body temperature is your temperature when you first wake in the morning, before you start moving around a lot.  During ovulation, a woman’s body temperature rises, though usually by less than a degree.  By monitoring body temperature over time, a woman can learn what her basal body temperature is and be able to note when it rises.  This method requires a special thermometer, available at most drug and grocery stores; if you aren’t currently using one, you may consider adding it to your preparedness supplies.  Remember, " two is one and one is none", so think about purchasing a few.  Illness, alcohol consumption, or getting out of bed and moving around can all raise basal body temperature.

Most women have ovulated within 3 days of the temperature spike; you’re most likely to get pregnant 2-3 days before the temperature spike and 12-24 hours after ovulation.  This gives an average 6-day window of likely fertile days.  Sperm can live inside a woman for up to three days, which extends the window to 9 days.

Calendar Method

This method involves recording your menstrual cycle over a period of time, at least 6 months, to determine the pattern.  Projecting into the future, you may calculate the days you’ll be most fertile by subtracting 18 from the total number of days in your shortest cycle (for example, 26 days.) Take this number (in our example, it would be 8) and count ahead that many days from the first day of your next period, once you get it. Mark that date on your calendar; it is the first day you're likely to be fertile.  Then subtract 11 from the total number of days in your longest cycle (for example, 32 days.) Count ahead that many days (in our example, it would be 21) from the first day of your next period. Mark this date on your calendar. The time between the two dates is your most fertile window and the time when you would want to abstain from intercourse or use a barrier method of contraception.  In our example, the window is 13 days, which is long but possible.

This method is the least reliable, so you should always use it in combination with the basal body temperature or cervical mucus method.

Cervical Mucus

A woman’s cervix, which is the portion of the uterus where is joins with the vagina, produces mucus; the presence or quality of this mucus is an indicator of ovulation. The menstrual cycle is driven by hormones, and the same hormones change the quality and quantity of this mucus.   For a few days after a woman’s period, there is no cervical mucus present.  As the egg starts to mature in the ovaries (this happens monthly for a fertile woman), cervical mucus increases and appears at the vaginal opening, cloudy and sticky.  Just before ovulation, the mucus become more copious, clear, and slippery (think egg whites.)  This is when you are most fertile.  About four days later, it should change again.  This method (really all three methods) requires the use of a calendar to record your observations.  Label each day “sticky”, “dry”, or “wet.”  You are most fertile at the first signs of wetness after your period ends.

Many couples who are trying to conceive purchase ovulation kits or fertility monitors from drugstores. These kits detect surges in luteinizing hormone, which triggers ovulation.  You could store some of these kits in your cache, but they are more for people who are trying to conceive than for people who are trying to prevent pregnancy.

Of course, times of significant stress (i.e. TEOTWAWKI) may disrupt a woman’s regular menstrual and ovulation cycle, so this method may not be 100% reliable.  The Center for Disease Control describes it as being 75 – 99% effective at preventing pregnancy (compare with condom use, generally accepted as being 85 – 98% effective); of course, natural family planning will not prevent sexually transmitted infections.  It is also worth noting that chances of conceiving or of  carrying a pregnancy to term diminish after age 35.  According to the National Institute of Health, “For women aged 35-39 years the chance of conceiving spontaneously is about half that of women aged 19-26 years.” (“ABC of Subfertility”, 2003.) Postmenopausal women are not able to become pregnant.

If the anticipated circumstances of your survival situation make it absolutely undesirable to encourage pregnancy (hopefully for a limited time), you will want to include a great number of condoms in your cache.  They take up little space but should be rotated like other perishable items; over time, latex breaks down and loses its strength and flexibility.  Condoms have expiration dates on the packaging.

Besides pregnancy planning and/or prevention, there are a number of other sexual health topics commonly covered in advanced first aid training that are beyond the scope of this article.  A crucial part of preparedness is training and practice; consider taking an advanced first aid or first responder course.  If your natural family planning doesn’t work, then you may need to know how to safely deliver a baby!

Your bedside clock says 3:40 a.m. You have just awakened to a sound like breaking glass.  You pick up the phone to call 911 but the line is dead.  It’s dark in the house and you ease out of bed to retrieve your handgun from the closet safe just as you have practiced dozens of times.  You wait inside your bedroom door with your ear straining to hear. Someone is down the hall sliding something on the tile.    At that instant, the 30-second delay on your security system expires and the alarm begins to peal.  Another crash in the living room and you are now standing in the hall - gun drawn.  A person you have never seen before senses your presence and turns toward you while reaching for his belt.  He is close and coming toward you and has ignored your command to stop.  You don’t specifically remember firing but he goes down after two hollow points catch him in the chest.  The knife he was reaching for drops to the floor next to him as he falls.  Time seems to stand still.  Your cell phone rings and you jump – your security company is on the line about the alarm trip.  You tell them to call the police.  You hang up and call 911 and check his vitals – no pulse or breathing. Now what?

You just shot an armed intruder in self-defense. You have also just stepped into the middle of a legal minefield.  This instance is a clear case of self-defense.  Will it be seen that way? The widely-held belief that you are innocent until proven guilty cannot be presumed.  The new world you have just entered is far from ideal and the burden of proving your innocence will be on you.   What happens next? You will be anxious to talk to the first responders who just arrived, probably police and paramedics. You will also have to overcome an overwhelming and immediate desire to begin justifying your actions to anyone who will listen to you. But for now, saying as little as possible will be the best decision of your life. However, you will only restrain yourself if you know why it is so critical. And you know this because it is one of the key parts of your overall preparedness strategy.   

And So It Begins…
Who among us hasn’t considered the likelihood that we may be called upon use lethal force in self-defense or to protect innocent life?  We pray it never happens but if we are prepared to shoot someone, however justified, then we must be equally prepared to deal with the consequences.  I am constantly trying to improve the resources and skills I need to protect my family just like you.  Yet a critical part of that preparation includes knowing what will happen and what to do after you shoot.  Do you have a clue about the unbelievable complexities that will occur after using deadly force?   Do you know what resources exist to help you deal with them?   If not, then this article is your wake-up call.  It is time to act – now - so that you will be ready in such a situation.

Enter “the system”
I am not a lawyer. I am not a law enforcement officer. But I do have a some key friends in law enforcement and in state and federal courts. Realize that what is written here is not to be construed as legal advice in any way. It is an exhortation to do your homework, make a plan, and assemble a small team – a lawyer and a few key friends – who agree to be available at a moment’s notice as you will be for them.    

The daily world my friends inhabit is a legal procedural system that is designed to establish whether a crime was committed and to identify possible suspects with all haste and diligence. These are the people who just showed up at your home in response to your frantic call.  And there you stand with a gun and a body at your feet.  The police are amazing at empathizing while getting the info from you that they know you are dying to unburden yourself with.  All of this will happen before your attorney arrives.  Getting as much information from you as soon as possible is their goal and it is a certainty that what you say will be used against you if needed.  Talking without counsel will almost invariably hurt you.  Even if the shoot is clearly justified, they will still be trying to get all the details from you.  They will tell you they are trying to help and need your cooperation in order to clear you.  But helping you is not their priority.  That’s your lawyer’s job.  What are they trying to do? They are gathering information to feed to the system.  Realize that your innocence is just one of many outcomes available once the information is gathered and analyzed.  The legal system is judged successful when cases are closed and convictions are handed down. That’s their true goal – it’s not to help you get cleared of wrongdoing. They don’t work to answer to you.  They may be sympathetic but their job is to feed the system as it is currently designed. Justice may be the stated goal in broad terms but closing the case is the real objective.  Getting you justice is your lawyer’s job.  Are you getting the idea?

Do Your Research and Plan Ahead
There is good news though.  Numerous good books and resources are available to help you and several are listed at the end of this article.  My goal is to raise your awareness of this issue to a level where you realize you need to act today.  Without a plan you will be at the mercy of events out of your control. 

Start by thinking about how all of your past and present decisions and life choices will appear in the harsh light of the legal investigation you may face tomorrow. Which choices? All of them.  You will be amazed as I was about the dozens of things you do innocently every day that will be portrayed negatively by an unsympathetic legal system.  How your friends and neighbors describe what you say and do will get put on display.  Will your personality and the gun-related details of your life make you look like Joe Regular Citizen or a crazed vigilante in the hands of skilled prosecutor?   Don’t think it can happen?  It’s all about the spin. Here are a few examples:

“You own an excessive number of guns and shoot frequently Mr. Smith…looks like you finally got your chance to use one.”

“Your honor, the bumper stickers and rifle rack on Mr. Smith’s truck demonstrate a strong mistrust of government and establish a vigilante mindset.”

“The range master at your gun club has testified that you always use representations of people as targets instead of a simple bullseye Mr. Smith. I think the jury would like to know why?”

“So you have testified that the man you shot was someone who was known to you and in fact owed you money.  Can you explain why he was in your house that afternoon?”

These examples demonstrate how quickly any simple innocent act can be spun negatively and strung together to make you look like the criminal and portray the person who broke into your house and attacked you as the victim.  The recommended books and links will be great resources to open your eyes.  Use them and start today to assemble a plan. You will want to assemble a small team who can mutually agree to be available should the need arise.    Meanwhile, here are some things to get you started.

Key Areas to Consider
When is lethal force legally justified? Case law justifying lethal force throughout the U.S. is generally consistent and of necessity is severely limited.  The only time lethal force is justified is when someone reasonably believes that their life or the life of someone else is in immediate jeopardy.  The justification only exists while the threat is present (or perceived to be present).  In the opening scenario, you pointed your gun at a knife-wielding attacker who was ignoring your commands to stop. But the moment he drops the knife or turns and retreats does he cease to be an immediate threat? If a reasonable man would conclude yes, then the justification for lethal force ceases as well. Someone stealing your stuff? Nope. Breaking into your house? Not unless you truly believed (and can justify by the circumstances over and over later) that you believed your life was in danger.

“I did everything in my power!” You will be asked what you did to address the threat prior to shooting.  In escalating order these things include fleeing, a verbal command, physical restraint, use of pepper spray or some other object, and finally your firearm.  If any of these things are available you will be asked why you did not or could not use them before resorting to lethal force.

“I was in fear for my life!”  There are many ways to express this but the reality is that you must genuinely believe that you were in fear for your life or that of another and saw no other way of escape before you will be cleared for using lethal force. Repeat it early and often.  Expressions of remorse are normal and can be helpful or may be construed as guilt.  That is why you should say very little and insist on speaking to your lawyer before making a statement or agreeing to be questioned.

“I had no choice but to shoot!” If the attacker continues to advance and can't be deterred any other way, the last resort may be to fire your weapon.  Self-defense doctrine suggests you should keep firing until the threat ceases.  Next, any secondary threats (such as an accomplice) should be dealt with. Once the threat ceases then contact the authorities as quickly as possible, usually via 911.

What you will do after the shooting is over? You will now be in a highly agitated state and are capable (likely) to do and say things you will regret later.  These are normal tendencies but with some forethought and planning, the damage to you can be minimized.  If you do not call 911 right away it will go poorly for you.  This is the conventional wisdom and it makes some sense.  Calling quickly and rendering aid will support the fact that you are the victim here and did not want to kill anyone.  Say as little as possible because EVERYTHING you say from here on out will be used against you if it can be.  The minimum suggested is something like. “This is John Smith of 123 Main Street. I was just attacked in my home and was afraid for my life.  Please send an ambulance because someone has been shot.”   

After calling 911
After you call 911, you lose control of events almost immediately. For starters, the phone you just used to call 911 on is usually 'locked' so you cannot make any other calls on it.  Calling your lawyer or a support team member as soon as possible is advisable (on another phone) and say little except that you want to help and will make a statement after speaking to your lawyer. If your lawyer is not available, call a prearranged friend (you have a team, right?).  Have them make all necessary calls for you (lawyer, family, pastor, etc.) as you may be unable to do so. They will be questioned later about why they got a call from you so quickly so their response needs to be solid as well. 

Then the police will arrive and they won't know who the good guy is. Their first priority is officer safety followed by bystander safety, securing the scene, and then determining what just happened.  Make sure they know it's you that called.  Having a just-fired gun in your hand is not the best way to greet them. Make sure your weapon is secured and safe.   It will be confiscated by law enforcement immediately and this is routine.  Your hands may be bagged to preserve evidence of gunshot residue (GSR). Permission to search the rest of your house will be requested (or may just be done if there are exigent circumstances).  The stated explanation will be to secure everyone's safety but equally important will be to examine what role you played in the events.  Avoid this if you can.  Hopefully your other firearms are locked up and secure and not all in one place should the decision be made to confiscate them.  Do not appear to be a threat in any way. 

Stop Talking!
When they start pressing you with questions, it will get tricky.  There is surprisingly little consensus on what or how much to say.  The rule here is “Less is better”.  I should point out that an officer involved in a shooting is presumed innocent pending an inquiry and is treated very differently than a citizen.  He is given representation immediately and is not required to say anything until the rep or lawyer can meet with them and they have a chance to calm down.  They are usually placed on paid administrative leave for several weeks. You and I will have to try to go to work in the morning. Yet if we try to take the same approach by wanting to confer with counsel before giving a statement, it is presumed we are trying to hide something. Doesn’t seem fair but it is true. The standards are very different. I believe by now you are getting the idea.

Some expert suggestions
Massad Ayoob, noted expert in the self-defense use of firearms suggests that people memorize these five steps and use them immediately and nothing more.

1. “This person attacked me.” – establishes you are the victim.
2. “I will sign a complaint.” – further confirmation you are the victim
3. Point out evidence that supports you before it disappears.
4. Point out witnesses before they disappear.
5. “Officer, you will have my full cooperation after I have spoken with my attorney.”

His further suggestion is request medical attention for yourself as you may be unknowingly injured, in shock, or something similar. It will also get time for you to regroup your thoughts to avoid saying incriminating or conflicting things.

Alan Korwin is a widely-read 2nd Amendment rights author from Phoenix. Here are his new Safety Rules for Self Defense from his book After You Shoot

1. If you shoot in self defense you must then defend yourself against execution for murder
2. When you drop the hammer plan to cash in your life savings for your lawyer’s retainer.  Avoid this unless your life depends on it.
3. Sometimes the innocent get decent treatment and sometimes they don’t
4. It’s always better to avoid a gunfight than to win one.
5. If innocent life doesn’t depend on it, don’t shoot. And if it does, don’t miss.

Expect unbelievable levels of scrutiny
Every decision you have made in your life up to this point will come into question at some point.  You will have to justify the pertinent ones....Here are a few ways you will be challenged for starters:
1. Why did you shoot? Why did you feel threatened?
2. What did you do/say prior to shooting that could have prevented this?
3. Why that choice of pistol...shotgun...type of ammo?
4. How long or why did you wait to call 911?
5. Who else have you contacted? Why?
6. Did you know the victim? (Notice that now he is the victim and not you?)

Remember that the job of the police and prosecutor is to get you to tell them as much as they can get from you before your lawyer arrives. By the way, the time to establish a relationship with an attorney is before all this happens as part of your team.  Don’t ask for an attorney - you must request to speak with YOUR attorney.  Make sure you have one.  Korwin’s After You Shoot has some great suggestions about how to put a team together. 

Self-Defense Resources
Books
In the Gravest Extreme  by Massad Ayoob
Self Defense Laws of All 50 States by Mitch Vilos
After You Shoot by Alan Korwin

Videos
“Don’t Talk to the Police” video - Professor James Duane
“Don’t Talk to the Police – a Police Officer Responds” video -Virginia Beach Officer George Bruch

Web Sites
US Concealed Carry Association Supports ways to be a responsible CCW holder
GunLaws.com Web site of firearms author Alan Korwin
FirearmsLaws.com Web site of attorney and author Mitch Vilos
Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network An education and legal defense organization
Massad Ayoob Group - Training and education on personal protection and self defense

My Simple Plan
Our Plan is very simple so it is also easy to remember.  I am fortunate that I know a lawyer who is also a prepper, a sport shooter, and a friend.  Two like-minded friends have agreed to be the team and we do this for each other.  If any of us is involved in a self-defense shoot, we place what we call a Tiger Call to as many of the others as we can reach.  We all have a second small disposable cell phone for this purpose. I carry both phones at all times.  If one of us were to be involved in an incident these are the steps we have agreed to once the incident is contained and both 911 and the authorities alerted. The plan goes into effect when the Tiger Call is made.

Phase 1 - Immediate actions

• Call the lawyer immediately.  Our code phrase within the group is “This is a Tiger Call on behalf of Joe Smith.”  If unable to reach the lawyer, someone goes to his office or house as appropriate. Our lawyer has also given us a backup lawyer if he is unavailable or if he is the one involved in the shoot.
• Contact all other team members. Decide who will coordinate.
• Meet near the scene and attempt to observe and video events.
• Do not interfere or identify your presence and do not attempt to contact Joe

Phase 2 – Follow-up

• Contact pre-planned individuals so rides, child care, bail, moral support, etc. is available.
• Contact employers as planned to arrange for time-off without arousing alarm.
• Consolidate all notes and observations in writing. Sign, date, and photocopy them.  Make duplicate copies of all recordings.  These will all be given to the lawyer.
• Joe will contact the Tiger group as soon as possible. 

Phase 3 – Family support

• The family will be in disarray and will need immediate support.  Call secondary support friends and implement help as needed.
• The Coordinator will facilitate assistance and keep tabs for coordinating follow-up.

An occasional drill can be very helpful. Our first practice run helped us realize that we needed small kit like a B.O.B. just for Tiger Calls. Mine has bottled water, snacks, pencils, paper, mini binocs, and a cheapie video cam.

Now You Have Your Wakeup Call
A TEOTWAWAWKI scenario may not come in a broad encompassing sweep or last indefinitely.  To the victims of the recent localized tornados it was more like the end of my world – a sort of personal micro-burst if you will.  If you use lethal force without being suitably prepared you will experience a SHTF event all your own. 

The thugs who show up to steal, kill, and destroy give neither warning nor thought to their actions apart from what they can score from you.  However, the aftermath of a self-defense shooting will be life-changing for you. We all think about how to best prepare for numerous possible scenarios yet will completely overlook this area. I avoided this for years for the same reason I avoided preparing a will.  I didn’t have the experience to know where to begin. It’s uncomfortable to think about dying. It’s equally uncomfortable to think about what to do if you shoot someone.  Being responsible means doing your research and making a plan.  So now I have both the will and plan for after a shooting.  Do your research and make your plan.  And by God’s grace you will never need to use it.

Introductory Note: I wrote this plan as the local Neighborhood Watch Captain and instructor for a nearby monthly Preparedness Workshop. I’m convinced of the value of having a written plan to follow in the immediate aftermath of a disaster or crisis. I’m sharing this for those sheepdogs who do not yet have a plan in hand – start with this and edit it. Make it your own. But have a plan. When it gets crazy this may help you get through it all.
Be Prepared. Trust God. We can do both!

FIRST 15 MINUTES
Walk / bike / drive through the neighborhood and call everyone together at the (neighbor’s name) garage/barn. Ask each family to bring a chair and something to write with/on.
Make it clear: “I am not in charge, but will help organize. We will vote on someone to lead when we return in one hour.”

A. Pool what we know:
1. Begin with Psalm 127:1-2 and pray for God’s guidance and protection
2. Discuss speculations and ideas. Write it down on a big tablet: What We Know
3. Immediate problems? Medical, livestock, family, etc. Everyone accounted for?
4. Benefits of cooperation: pool tools, knowledge, encouragement, mutual defense
5. Fire control (candles / heaters) and safety are critical at this point. Slow down, think.
6. Designate a Watch Center (barn, home, shed, yard, vehicle, etc.) as a central meeting point

B. Plan to collect more information, can anyone share the following:
1. Monitor battery / solar-powered radio in Watch Center
2. Monitor TV if power available or someone has a battery powered one
3. Who has handheld radios? One to monitor at Watch Center, one to send with corner/intersection Watch(s), one with scouting party
4. Centralized news post [“What We Know”] on flip chart / large paper and someone responsible for maintaining it. Neighbors gather information from their outside contacts. As information comes in mark the “Reported” information as “Confirmed” (by two or more sources) with Dates (and sources if possible). Post in a common area at Watch Center.

C. Send everyone back to their homes, come back in one hour, one representative per household:
1. Reassure their family members
2. Review available supplies and note what they’ll need in the next 7 days: “Basic Four”: Security, Shelter, Water, Food. Also: lights, medicines, special needs
3. IF they’re going to arm themselves they MUST keep a low profile: handgun concealed, long gun in  vehicle
4. Contact their immediate neighbors who may not have checked in
5. A couple of people volunteer to come back with coffee (?) and cookies / snack (?)

FIRST HOUR
D. Upon return, quick vote for temporary Neighborhood Emergency Coordinator. Facilitator and coordinator only, all neighborhood participation remains voluntary!

E. Share and post any new information on WWK. Discuss the possible course as the incident develops for brainstorming and mental preparation. Begin to formulate a plan – write it down.

F. Voluntary family status reports: immediate needs, needs/shortages in the next 7 days
1. Coordinator begins keeping track of neighborhood needs
2. Volunteers to help with immediate neighborhood needs (next 24 hours)?
3. Any family members unaccounted for? Any chance neighborhood group could go find them?
4. Agree to a Daily Meeting time and place? Neighborhood pot luck?

G. Suggested General Neighborhood Watch Rules [Post at Watch Center]. Add to this as needed:
1. Golden Rule! Survival is a team sport, do your part. We are in this together and we need each other.
2. All participation is voluntary
3. Even though this is an emergency/disaster we are not going to break the law, nor the Constitution, nor human rights, nor violate personal or family privacy.
4. Information security: Minimize radio chatter, VERY careful what we say to passersby
5. The Watch Center phone number (if phones available) is: ________________________
Interoperable radio settings?
6. Light and noise discipline until we know what we’re up against
7. Low profile: no rifles or shotguns visible, handguns carried but concealed at all times
8. Emergency signaling with phones, whistles, air horns, or tire rim gongs.
     One, slowly repeating = gather for information           
     Three quick = security emergency
     Five quick = fire emergency

H. Scouting Party: ask for 3 volunteers to check the main roads in each direction, contact the State Patrol / Sheriff’s district / Police precinct / local fire station, look for areas or buildings with power, check the area gas stations to see who can pump gas and what conditions are like there. Contact neighbors who have any overlooks or high points on their property and see what that view is. Radio on only to report and only if it can’t wait. Low profile, weapons out of sight.

I. Use signaling / phone calls to call a brief meeting when the Scouting Party returns.
1. Based on information available decide whether or not to start an Observation Post, Quick Response Team, or Roving Patrol.
2. Pick a time to meet the next day. Morning? Evening? Both?
3. If information is available by radio or TV consider asking for a volunteer to monitor them at least every 2 hours overnight. If there is information that cannot wait until the next day’s meeting, this person should contact the Neighborhood Emergency Coordinator by runner/phone or sound the general “Gather for Information” signal.

NEXT DAY
J. Open every general meeting with a brief Bible verse and prayer. Summary and update of what we know.  Agree when to meet next.

K. The first night should be pretty quiet. If trouble starts overnight begin an improvised armed Roving Patrol until morning. Discuss the rules of engagement so everyone understands what’s expected, and we don’t break any laws. Discuss the Force Continuum or pick people who already know what that is. Decide whether or not to staff the Watch Center 24 hours a day. Based on updated information decide whether or not to start an Observation Post, Quick Response Team, or Roving Patrol:

L. Observation Post (optional): Ask for 2 persons to park a vehicle for four hour shifts at one or more intersections controlling access to the neighborhood 
- Supply with: paper, pencils, handheld radio, cell phone/air horn, binoculars (firearm)
- Send with TWO “Neighborhood Watch” signs and wire to post/hang them.
- Will need something to occupy themselves (books, magazines, articles).
- Write out instructions (Post Orders), list supplies to pass on to the next shift: Contact passersby who stop to get more information and/or direct them to the Watch Center. Watch for anything unusual, groups in vehicles. Radio on only to report. Report to Watch Center.
Get volunteers for the next “relief” Observation Teams so that Post is manned until sunset and a new team takes their place at sunrise.
If OP approach is helpful or informative consider continuing it.

M. If circumstances warrant the Observation Post people could also function as a Quick  Response Team to check out activity they see on the road or in the fields, to respond to requests for help / alarms for security, medical, and fire. Will require a vehicle, bicycles, or people who are fit for quick response. Consider centrally pooling firefighting equipment.
QRT could also function as an armed continuously Roving Patrol if we’re getting a lot of people on foot or there has been a high level of trouble without outsiders. Intensive Patrol could cover neighborhood at random intervals, perhaps at a minimum of once an hour.

N. Anyone who would like a refresher on safe firearm handling, simple IFF rules, and Use of Force, and combat handgunning could voluntarily get together for a quick class / orientation. Everyone carrying a firearm into the Watch Center or performing any “official” duty needs this refresher.

O. Review in greater depth the Four Basics (Security, Shelter, Water, Food). Discuss options for: sanitation, keeping insulin cool, developing medical problems, trash disposal, etc.

P. Carpooling / team / group for trips into town? (security in numbers) Obviously depends on the incident and needs…

THREE TO SEVEN DAYS LATER
Q. Issues. If the incident has lasted several days, if circumstances warrant, or if the nature of the incident makes it clear it will be long lasting or generate civil unrest, discuss the following issues at one of the Daily Meetings:
1. Repeat Scouting Parties, or ongoing Roving Patrols?
2. Establish a continuously-staffed Watch Center?
3. Non-family/friends as Refugees: Screening/Probation? Space? Integrate/Separate? Save as many as we can! Growth is healthy. Uncontrolled growth is cancerous.
4. Escort people passing through the neighborhood?
5. Community bartering needs? Daily/weekly meetup for bartering?
6. Potential need for evacuation, family decision, pros and cons of entire neighborhood evacuation / bugout, distribute a Recommended Bugout List so people will take essential items and aren’t loaded down with non-essentials [People should assemble BOBs now!]
7. Switch to weekly informational meetings?
8. Contact with / coordination with other adjoining neighborhood groups / organizations?
9. Make plans for contact with hostile gangs / looters? Hide / Confront? Low/high profile? Caching. Rules of engagement. Signaling. Weapon and movement training. IFF. Checkpoint / roadblocks?
10. Long-term issues on the horizon: cold, rain, food preservation, special needs, supplies holding out (Security, Shelter, Water, Food)?
11. Distributing charity / food and water assistance. Centralized distribution is safer!
12. Plan for ecumenical worship services?
13. Plan weekly potlucks?
14. Expanding the number of families included in our group? Merging with other existing groups? Reporting to or being supervised by outside government agencies?
15. Identify to the group who is available to help with gardening, maintenance, livestock, food storage and preservation, etc.
16. Set up a centralized daycare to free up parents to work? Daycare area could be extra secure location for children during expected encounters with raiders.
17. Plans for detention / punishment for thieves, raiders, etc. Set up basic legal process.
18. Agree on outer neighborhood perimeter, inner perimeter. No “fort” mentality – fixed defense will fail. Central location for children and livestock when warned of trouble?

R. Ask for volunteers to assist the Coordinator – or have the Coordinator pick – who will form the Leadership Team. The titles below are meant to be solely functional, pick your own! (The less they resemble military or police or government position titles the less these volunteers are likely to get carried away with their role.)
1. The neighborhood should elect an Assistant Emergency Coordinator to be involved in all leadership discussions, fully briefed, and be able to fill in for the Coordinator if he/she is (1) incapacitated or (2) offsite. Authority falls to the AC only under those two circumstances and then only if it is a time-sensitive decision.
2. The Coordinator (and staff) must select a trustworthy and experienced Security Advisor for internal welfare to watch for people who are not handling the stress well and might crack, become violent / abusive to family, leave to contact raiders/gangs/drug dealers. Watch for internal theft, coercion, scams, keep an ear out for rumor control. This person would enforce light and sound discipline.
3. Designate a volunteer Medical Advisor for neighborhood medical oversight. Will discretely monitor individuals for malnutrition/dehydration and illnesses. Organize neighborhood health emphases, training, clinics.
4. Designate a volunteer Defense  Advisor to begin implementing defense plans agreed on by the Neighborhood or by the leadership (depending on how fast leadership develops, how fast the neighborhood boundaries expand to include new families, and how fast defensive capacity needs to be available).
5. At some point an Operations Advisor might need to be chosen by the Coordinator to oversee the general function of the neighborhood, food distribution and preparation, sanitation, etc.
6. Someone should volunteer to be the Neighborhood Chaplain to facilitate worship services and see to the spiritual health of the neighbors.
7. If and when the Watch Center is continuously staffed 24/7, and there are potential identified threats, the general staff above could “officially” create the position of the “Staff-in-Charge” in the Watch Center to coordinate and oversee immediate responses to security or fire emergencies until the Defense Advisor can arrive to take charge. The SIC will oversee the Observation Post(s), the Quick Response Team, and any Roving Patrols and will notify the Watch Coordinator and Defense Advisor of any emergencies.

A PERSONAL NOTE TO THE EMERGENCY COORDINATOR

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." - Edmund Burke

1. Expect new pressures when you take on a leadership role. Be prepared for old struggles, temptations, and spiritual warfare to intensify and new issues to come up including struggles with self-image, self-esteem, and self-doubt.
2. Be careful not to take on more responsibilities than you can handle, or to take yourself (and your ideas) too seriously. Humility and perspective are absolutely essential to leadership. Delegation to capable persons is the secret of good leadership.
3. Don’t get in a rut. What worked in the past might need to be modified for your present situation, or might not work at all. No two experiences are identical. And for that matter try to let go of the guilt and fears from your past leadership experiences. Be fresh and creative.
4. Even though you’ve got “inside information” now doesn’t mean you’ve got all the facts about everything going on in the neighborhood. Go ahead and share your concerns and questions with those in leadership with you. Your input is important, but accept the possibility that they, not you, have got the “big picture.”
5. You were chosen to lead, not to be the moral and political watchdog of the neighborhood. It is a dangerous thing to try to read the inner motives of others. “Watchdogs” can easily and accidentally sow suspicion, kill trust, and destroy any good they could do as leaders. Instead, treasure relationships, and show love and mercy to all. (But know when to be firm! :)
6. Everything changes sooner or later. Sometimes change is rapid, at other times imperceptible, but this always requires flexibility. Keeping your head, not taking things personally, and not advertising your insecurities will help the rest of the group feel better about the transition.
7. Watch out that you don’t “share” problems with the wrong people. Some things might not be appropriate at the time to tell even your spouse or family. Get your facts straight and avoid misunderstandings.
8. Your identity is more than your job description. Whatever God wants, wherever he puts you is the best place to be. You don’t have to feel threatened when someone else does a great job too, or when you’re asked to change jobs. This isn’t a contest, its life in community, serving God and others. Surrender that competitive spirit to God.
9. Sooner or later you’re going to discover that those in leadership with you are human too and have their share of struggles and shortcomings. We’re all in process, all growing in Jesus, and all at different stages.
10. Frustration, anger, a constantly critical attitude – these are signs that you are expecting too much out of others and have taken your focus off God’s sovereign leading. Have faith in Jesus that he is at work in the people around you. Get your expectations in line with scripture.
11. The Constitution is still the rule of law and the Bible is still the standard for determining right and wrong. You’ll make difficult gray-area calls that you may regret later, but keep your foundation!
12. Odds and ends: the crazier the crisis the more structure it needs. Make lists and follow those lists when bad stuff happens and it will help you stay focused and not miss something important. Seek God in everything. Trust God with the outcomes. It’s not all up to you. No plans are foolproof. Anticipate as much as possible the shortcomings of human nature. Recognize mob psychology. Expect Murphy’s Law failures, always have a Plan B. Long-term strategy is essential. One-time solutions can be traps. Swallow your ego. Leaders serve. Treat others like you want to be treated. Cut people some slack. Delegate, but hold people accountable. Don’t give people too much responsibility too quickly. You don’t have to know or do everything – let other people shine. Be genuine. Lead by example. Communication is absolutely essential! Communication starts by listening. Without communication hatred and resentment will be the natural outcome even in good people! Keep morale high, but tell the truth. One lie will undo your credibility and undermine your efforts to save as many as you can. There will be a terrible price for lying… Do the best you can. No one can ask for more.
You can do this.

Preparedness is on the periphery of public health. Many facets of local and federal public heath deal with disaster preparedness but almost never for preparations beyond 72 hrs. I have worked in public safety and healthcare administration in various capacities for over 20 years and the subject is almost taboo. However, it is the growing “pink elephant” in the corner of the room.

Anyone who works or deals with disaster preparation in an official capacity knows that official disaster assistance is woefully inadequate and that there are many scenarios that could trigger a “collapse, or severe problem, extending beyond 72 hours. Anyone involved in official circles knows why the subject is taboo: the government (but really politicians) cannot be seen as incapable of handling a nationwide emergency. There is also a desire to prevent panic over various societal pressure points. Some officials are actually naïve enough to believe it cannot, or won’t, happen (yes, normalcy bias can affect all levels), much like the public, whom is generally ignorant to this issue as well.

So where did this idea of preparedness come from? Some who have lived in rural or frontier areas have always done some level of it at home. Ex-military and public safety personnel have a natural affinity for it. Those who engage in wilderness survival or outdoor activities have some of the skills necessary for it. It has evolved for many out of observations that our society is degenerating and that a collapse may be inevitable. So as a result, over the years, like minded preppers have written books, developed blogs, became consultants, some conventions have sprung up, and a small niche market has evolved for various suppliers.  This is a very comprehensive and detailed body of works, if one knows where to access it.

Unfortunately, if one looks to truly thrive, and not just survive, in the coming collapse, we must look beyond ourselves, and even beyond our small groups of like-minded individuals, and get others to buy into the concept of preparedness. There are two worthwhile purposes to this mind set: to tap into resources that are present in members of the public who are otherwise ignorant of this need and, secondly, to decrease the numbers in the golden hoard (at least in your local area) by expanding the number of prepared people.
What I am suggesting is a form of social marketing. Instead of selling a product, we are selling a concept or idea, such as stopping tobacco use, or treating high blood pressure. There have also been moderately successful public health campaigns for traditional disaster preparedness. This is how we must view getting more of the public aware of the need for preparedness. Unfortunately, there will never be a public health campaign for this type of long term preparedness.

This is an activity that needs to begin now, before the proverbial “11th hr”. It is as essential as the purchase of preparedness items and weapons training. It is a distant cousin of military PSYOPS use of propaganda, but the desired result is the same: get more people informed and to be your ally.

I am going to provide a method for a seasoned prepper to plant the seed for as many potential groups as possible. What you need is a structured plan to disseminate the need and concept of preparedness to your own group (even if already established), and then be able to engage others, outside your group, in learning about preparedness. 
[First a word of caution: I am not suggesting giving away your personal preparedness secrets or plans. In fact, I am not even going to teach specific preparedness techniques in this methodology. This is solely for “getting buy- in” so that others can begin their preparedness journey headed in the right direction, and know where to get further information and resources  If you are creating your initial group, the presentation format is for use after you have some trustworthy people in which to consider group formation.]
Any marketing plan must begin with planning. This is a very extensive process but we can simplify it for our purposes here. We must discover a need and trigger for our message, and we must define our competition.

We have to define the need for preparedness. This is simple: the public is unprepared for an emergency lasting more than 72 hours. Then we must find a scenario that will be an example for the need for preparedness. This is commonly referred to as the trigger. This is the idea that illustrates the need and causes the masses to gain buy-in into your message.
Although there are many valid scenarios for engaging in preparedness, some may be too exotic, scare off others, or seem too insurmountable for many from the public at large. EMP, pandemic flu, and meteor strikes come to mind. Some such as natural disasters may seem too common and easily handled by the government-despite the evidence from aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Economic collapse is probably one the most tangible scenarios to use as a reason or be a trigger. The evidence of economic collapse is present to many in their own everyday lives, and evident in the media. Some shock factor in the scenario may be needed to get their attention.

In the case of social marketing we do not have a competitor selling a rival product. We do have competition in the form of public resistance pushing against our preparedness message. This is commonly referred to as the Normalcy Bias. The pervasive, misinformed idea that bad things will never happen, or affect our region or ourselves.

The Method
The marketing process follows a set of simple steps which need to be identified and defined specifically for our underground marketing campaign:
Need-             the public is unprepared for an emergency lasting more than 72 hours
Purpose-            to get local community members to understand the need for better preparedness (remember, you are not teaching prepping in depth, but planting the seed for further learning)
Message-            We live in a fragile society whose infrastructure and people are threatened by potential emergencies from which our recovery may be severely limited
Target Market- those people in your community with contact and the ability to influence others opinions- the Influentials (we will discuss them later)
Presentation-            your power points, AV aides, videos, etc
Communication Channels-            the educational sessions that you host
People-             your core group of instructors/presenters (“inner circle”)
Value and Satisfaction-            the audience gains an understanding and sees the worth in the information you provide
Buy-In-            the influentials “get it” and begin promoting the concept of preparedness to others
Behavioral Response-            your local community members begin learning and initiating preparedness activities           

People and Target Markets
If you are alone in preparedness then you will need to target an “inner circle” as your first target market. You will want to find a group of folks of a similar mind-set, or at least some interest in preparedness. Ideally, they  would have a  variety of areas of expertise. This is the group that will help you to develop your presentation and help do your presentation to succeeding groups. These will be the people that will be your core group of instructors/presenters.

These subject matter experts would include a farmer/gardener; someone from law enforcement or a military background; an RN or paramedic; a scout/ outdoorsman; and a tradesman (plumber, electrician or mechanic). This varied group would be ideal because they have knowledge directly related to preparedness topics, and could in all likelihood become your group of preppers, if you do not already have a group.
If you have an existing group engaging in preparedness then much of this will be done. This group of presenters could include members of a few different preparedness groups. Remember that not everyone is a natural teacher of comfortable speaking to groups of people, but most knowledgeable folks are willing to provide content.

Let’s discuss the next target market in a little more detail. This will be made up of the group that we called the influentials. These are the folks who are well- connected and whose opinion people trust. It allows for the greatest spread of ideas. They are likely people you already know but have not really thought of in this manner. They would include pastors or religious leaders; Boy Scout leaders; PTA Presidents; American Legion members; and/or members of Chamber of Commerce. They would then look at their friends, family and contacts in the public at large as their target markets in order to spread these ideas.
[A word of caution when involving government officials or law enforcement, you must be sure of exactly who you are including, and feel them out for awhile before you start inquiring about their interests. (As with anyone you would share this knowledge with.) Many from government will look skeptically on the concept of preparedness and might see you as a threat. Alternatively, there are many in law enforcement /government service that will readily deflect the government “party line” and may already be prepping themselves.]

The Presentation
Once you have an interested group of folks who have some interest in the concept of preparedness, or need convincing, you will need a follow up presentation that will be: concise; focus briefly on the main aspects of prepping; and most of all, convince the group of the need for preparedness.  You will want to leave them with a few practical prepping ideas that they can do immediately after your presentation. In public safety circles this level of knowledge is known as “awareness level” knowledge.
You will want to keep the presentation to about 2 hours with a 15 min break in between. Most adults do not stay awake nor stay interested beyond this point for a talk or lecture. There will also be time needed at the end for questions. A power point show is likely the easiest vehicle for the physical presentation. Photos and video clips are also good within the show for reinforcement. A seasoned teacher could assist you with creating a catchy slide show that would keep everyone’s attention and still get the point across.
You will need to be knowledgeable enough in preparedness topics to carry the presentation for about 3 hrs maximum. Your subject matter experts will be used for areas you are personally not that knowledgeable with, or to add further professionalism for more buy-in.
Some props could also assist you in making the point. An actual G.O.O.D. bag or medical bag; a water purifier; firearm examples; and/or a food dehydrator would allow some hands-on time and avoid death by PowerPoint.
The following is an example outline with major bullet points that could be used for the slide show:

Preparedness 101
Why do we need to engage in Preparedness?

• the public is unprepared for an emergency lasting more than 72 hours
• We live in a fragile society whose infrastructure and people are threatened by potential emergencies from which our recovery may be severely limited
• The government will not be able to help most people- cite examples here such as Katrina
• Any Federal response is based upon resources from the States and Local agencies

What are the risks that we potentially face?

• Natural disasters- hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, etc
• Economic collapse-hyperinflation of the dollar; high gas prices (emphasize impact on prices for all goods that are shipped); food and commodity shortages; civil unrest; looting
• Terrorism-explosives; dirty bomb; martial law; rationing
• Pandemic Flu- lack of medical services; inability to travel
• Internet/Gas pipelines/Power grid- how our  fragile infrastructure is tied to these 3 entities & how a disruption in 1 would cause all 3 to collapse

The Big Risk we all face?.........             Economic collapse

• Hyperinflation: the government prints money without end & prices on everything sky rocket; spending ceases and economy grinds to a halt- a la Germany after WWI
• Deflation: the dollar gains in value & commodities drop in value - Great Depression
• Unemployment numbers- they are artificially low & do not represent the underemployed & those who have stopped looking
• Banks are not lending- we have no growth in business or jobs
• Related Social Issues-
• The generations that survived the Great Depression/WWII grew up in modest means, had a work ethic & could sacrifice- the generations since 1945 have lived in relative opulence & had many entitlements…….…….when our economy collapses life will not be easy or nice; when a people who have whatever they want, when they want don’t get it, they will not be so easy-going & nice-  CIVIL UNREST & RIOTING
• As of 2006, 50% of the total income in the U.S. was concentrated in the upper 10% of the population; almost 25% of the total income in the U.S. was found in the upper 1%- this is the greatest disparity in U.S. history***

The Masses are wholly unprepared for any of the previous risks
            Levels of Preparedness- 0-5*

• Typical apt dweller; travels for employment; eats out mostly & lives out of a suitcase; the first refugees
• Typical urban/suburban home owner; limited food; no disaster mind set or kit; likely unprotected
• A homeowner that has 48-72 hrs worth of supplies; knows local risks; has a plan for 72 hrs; assumes help from authorities
• A homeowner that has 3-6 months worth of stored food/water; a means of protection/security; some back- up power; has some basic medical & wilderness competence; knows help may not come for some time if ever
• Has 1 yr stored food/water; a means to replenish food stores continually; several levels of security; has formed a group of preppers; either lives at or has a retreat location; has renewable energy in place; a continuous water supply; has a store of precious metals
• Lives isolated, off the grid & is completely self-sufficient; unaware of many potential threats

Questions to get their minds working
Ask group where they are personally on this continuum?
Assume they know where the nearest Big Box store is - then ask where the nearest food distribution center is? How does just-in-time inventory affects us in an emergency?
Ask where they would get medicine if the pharmacies are empty?
If they own a generator, what would they do when the gas runs out at gas stations?
Looting begins by armed bandits in their neighborhood, what will they do for protection?
If they were to evacuate: When is best time? How would they do it? Where would they go?
About 80% of America is currently at Level 2 or below
The Focus of Preparedness
What exactly does “prepared” mean?
What are the priorities?
Food- “Beans”

• Water stored and a means to purify it- a natural source is ideal
• Nutritious canned food stored in temperature sensitive environs
• A garden for growing vegetables; planting fruit trees
• A means for hunting & owning/access to  livestock
• Gaining the ability to can, dry & preserve/store food

Get-Started Point:  build a garden, start buying canned food & secure a source(s) of water- WATER ISYOUR FIRST PRIORITY
Security- “Bullets”

• You will need guns despite the contrary views on gun ownership- criminals will use them
• A shotgun & a rifle is a good start plus 1000 rounds of ammunition- you also need to learn how to use them
• Learn the basics of home defense- locks; perimeter; warning devices
• Own a medium to large size dog
• Decide early if you are staying or leaving your home when things turn bad

Get-Started Point:  buy a shotgun & rifle then take a gun safety course
Medical Care- “Band-Aids”

• Take an EMT course for basic medical care concepts (preferably a Wilderness EMT course)- almost any community college will offer this
• Begin stockpiling emergency care supplies plus OTC & any prescription meds
• A formally trained MD/RN/paramedic will be necessary once you form a group
• Get vaccinated as needed now & get any pending dental work done
• Prevention of illness/injury will be the watchword after a collapse

Get-Started Point:  Start a fitness routine & quit using tobacco
Homesteading- “Buttressing”

• Organize, Acquire & begin Rotating food in a pantry (O.A.R.)**
• Implement an alternative power source (solar, generator, etc) for a freezer, recharging batteries, radio, flashlights, etc
• Purchase Lithium- ion rechargeable batteries in all sizes needed
• Work out the logistics of sanitation with no power grid for your home
• Decide where you will develop your post-collapse home/retreat before investing

Get-Started Point:  clean out your house & throw out/sell all non-essential items or junk in your possession
[“Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids”- *]
One More Thing……

• Start & secure a stash of silver coins to use for currency in a post-collapse world

Go or Stay? -When things start to fall apart

• This will depend greatly on where you live now: city, suburbs, or rural

Staying Put/Choosing a Retreat Location

• City/urban-  you need to “Get Out of Dodge” (G.O.O.D.)
• Looting/riots, fires & lack of resources
• Evacuation needs to be done in advance at first sign of unrest
• Sanitation & disease problems

• Suburban-  not optimum but feasible for retreat in certain cases
• if within 20 mi of a city, surrounded by cities and/or in a congested sub-division- G.O.O.D.
• if closer to rural areas- assess the defensibility of your home; ability to grow produce; access to water
• Rural/Farm-  you are likely in second best position of the four
• How close to an Interstate are you? (refugees)
• What is your wild land fire & flood danger- no FD response post-collapse
• How much help do you need to defend & work the land
• Rural/Mountains- the best area for a retreat/home in the post-collapse world
• Montana; Eastern Idaho; Wyoming; Adirondack & Blue Ridge Mountains
• Best access to water & natural resources
• Limited population & far from potential urban area refugees

Evacuating

• You need a pre-determined destination, so the previous applies
• Caching or pre-staging supplies at the retreat location is advised as more than 72 hrs worth is needed, plus valuable family items may be added as this could be a permanent move as well as trip supplies
• Vehicles- a crew-cab pick- up or solid SUV (set up for off-road) is the preferred G.O.O.D. vehicle
• Fuel must be stored to allow for the trip (gas pumps do not work if  the grid is down)
• You need to be prepared enough to go before the first signs of unrest/panic or the freeways will be impassible

Get-Started Point:  research and stock a G.O.O.D. bag for each family member in your house (use as a hand-out to the group during presentation)

How to Form a Group

• Friends & family are the natural starting point
• Honesty, trustworthiness; belief in God; good work ethic goes without saying
• At least 3-4 members at a good fitness level that are good at firearms
• You will need a medical specialist; mechanic/tradesman; gardener; someone adept at food preserving
• General preparedness competence for all members

Resources for Further Information
SurvivalBlog.com edited by James Wesley, Rawles
*How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It by James Wesley, Rawles
The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
**Just in Case by Kathy Harrison
Holding Your Ground: Preparing for Defense if it All Falls Apart by Joe Nobody (www.PrepperPress.com)
Wilderness First Responder Textbook by Buck Tilton
***It Could Happen Here: America on the Brink by Bruce Judson

This ends the example presentation you can use to make the help make the case for preparedness. It is important to emphasize the need for accessing further resources. I have read many within this genre and found these to be both comprehensive and accessible for beginners. (I base my opinion on teaching adults Public Safety for many years.) You can probably start with the resources listed above, but obviously there are others of similar content. It is important to have some that are comprehensive, and some that can slowly bridge from a modern life to a preparedness mindset without being overwhelming.
Getting “buy-in” and changing a mindset takes time. It is not an overnight event and needs to be fostered and encouraged. If you begin these presentations you (and your core group) will be seen as the “experts”, so having sufficient knowledge of preparedness is essential and you will need to learn more. You will also need to practice what you have been teaching, as well and be able to give advice in the future.

As a firearms enthusiast, I have spent far too much time reading gun-related forums.  The collective knowledge of the larger forums is amazing and far outweighs the poorly thought-out words of the few ignorant posters who have nothing to add.  Often, after catching up on my favorite firearm sections, I find myself checking out the survival/preparedness sub-forums that the major firearms forums all seem to have.  Limited on the depth of their information, I usually hop over and research a topic on survival-specific forums and blogs where the levels of knowledge and experience are at much higher standards.

The topics at theses survival postings are often well thought out and useful.  I have learned much about preparing and have taken steps to insulate my family from TEOTWAWKI.  However, I often laugh at the subjects and the false sense of security that some posters think they have once they pack a simple Bug-Out Bag stocked with a weapon, 72 hours of food, and a first aid kit.  Often posters brag about their hunting prowess or talk about the seeds they have that will apparently grow with Jack and the Beanstalk fervor.  They also usually have a ‘spot’ somewhere in the woods near a creek where they can hunt, fish, and get fresh water.  Although this sounds somewhat utopian, especially considering the hypothetical civilization meltdown that is happening elsewhere, I can only muse at the serous lack of thought that many put into their survival plans.

I may hurt some feelings with this, but, in the event of a major emergency, I believe many those who think they have prepared for a TEOTWAWKI event will be sadly mistaken.  If your plan is to hop in your vehicle with your Bug-Out Bag and head to your spot on a creek and live out the rest of your life happily hunting and living off the land, your logic may be fatally flawed.  More than likely, you will soon die next to that creek and the only thing that will be well-fed and thriving will be buzzards as they consume your carcass.  Do you think I’m being too harsh?  Compared to trying to feed yourself in the woods, I’m being pretty easy on you.

First off, thinking you can hunt enough animals to eat is a fantasy steeped in self-delusion.  Just because you can routinely bag your limit every hunting season does not mean you can do this year-round.  In reality, how many animals are in an area?  How many will you kill before they move elsewhere?  Besides, meat spoils quickly.  Unless you smoke the meat, how long will a 100-pound deer carcass lay around before it poisons you?  In summer heat, how long will it last?  A day or two at the most?  In the warmer months can you harvest an animal every two days?  Even rodents and squirrels will get scarce soon and your snares will hang empty.  The animals are smart, they will quickly move out of your range.  What then? 

Another subject that is often brought up is a garden.  Bags of survival seeds are bought with the idea that a garden is as simple as tossing out some seeds and watching them grow.  The last gun show I attended had a booth with a guy selling raw wheat by the pound.  The simple fact is, if the garden isn’t growing right now, or last year’s harvest isn’t in cans in a dark closet somewhere, you will starve as you wait for the seeds to germinate.  A garden will only work when you are working a year ahead.  Even if a garden is growing now, harvest seasons are quick and usually simultaneous.  Will you be ready to reap it all when everything matures at the same time, or will it spoil before you can store it properly?  Thinking a simple garden is your means of survival is another losing proposal. 

Running a close second to Bug-Out Bag discussions are the ever-popular Bug-Out Vehicle threads.  They are usually the escape pod of an urbanite and typically take the form of a pickup or sport utility, with big V-8s, knobby tires, and enough cans of fuel to get to the previously-mentioned ‘spot’ next to the creek.  I used to have this same mentality: something bad happens, urban chaos erupts, I load the SUV with my family and supplies and head out of town. 

This all changed by a freak ice storm that struck the Raleigh area a few years ago.  The meteorologists had all said a slight precipitation event was coming through, but don’t worry, it was not cold enough to freeze.  Unfortunately, they were off by a few degrees.  The unexpected layer of ice formed quickly in the middle a workday.  Sensing the impending traffic nightmare, I left work a few minutes after the icy drizzle began.  Working only five miles from my wife, I called her and told her I was coming by to pick her up so she wouldn’t have to drive her sports car in the worsening conditions.  By the time I was a mile away from my work, the highways formed a thin but slippery layer of ice.  I can still vividly recall a FedEx truck sliding down at me from an off ramp and bouncing off a few cars before it slid off the ice-covered pavement. 

Oddly, within a few minutes the temperature had risen and the ice on the road melted, but not before they cancelled all the schools and everyone left their workplaces at the exact same time.  The gridlock that ensued was epic.  Overloaded cell phone networks shut down and all callers could hear was a busy signal.  It took me four hours to travel five miles to my wife’s work.  To save fuel, I turned off my car until I could move at least fifty yards, which only happened every few minutes.  The guy behind me didn’t like my technique and honked his horn and angrily passed me on the sidewalk just to gain a few more inches.   Panicked parents, trying to pick up their kids at schools, drove on the sidewalks, knocking down signs and bouncing off light poles.  Impatient people honked horns and began bumping the cars ahead of them.  I saw dozens of people abandon their car and start walking.  The guy who angrily passed me later ran out of gas and someone helped him push his car up on the sidewalk.  

Figuring that the traffic would clear within a few hours, my wife and I walked over to a restaurant and watched the clogged mass of cars crawl by at a glacier’s pace.  At midnight, we decided to begin our trip home.  Usually the eight-mile commute took less than fifteen minutes.  Seven hours after our journey began the rising sun greeted us the next morning as we finally pulled into our driveway.  Vehicles of every type, stacked bumper-to-bumper littered the shoulders of the roads.  With their cars out of gas, people had to knock on the doors of a stranger to ask them for a place to stay.  It was amazing how such a minor event has completely shut down an entire region.  What if something really bad happened?  What if they were running from a deadly threat?  How much worse would the panic have been?  Do you now see the fallacy of a Bug-Out Vehicle, especially if you live in a populated area?  Raleigh is pretty small, after all.  What would it have been like in a major metro area like Atlanta or Chicago.

Right about now you are probably wondering what the point of this article is.  Why do I seem so fatalistic and seem to make light of preparedness?  Let me assure you that I have put a lot of time into the above thoughts.  Yes, I have a well-stocked Bug-Out Bag that will sustain my family for 72 hours.  I also have firearms, ammo, med supplies, food, water, etc.  I even have a decent Bug-Out Vehicle.  I am far from labeling survival items as useless and encourage my non-prepared friends to acquire the requisite survival basics.  What I am advocating, however, is to take an honest look at not only the relatively narrow focus on survival, but the broader view of a decent quality of life for you and your loved ones.  How is this done?  I’m glad you asked.

My dad is one of the best-prepared people I know.  If TEOTWAWKI happens, he’s in good shape.  Does he have a Bug-Out Bag?  No.  Does he have a ‘spot’ near the creek?  Close, but no.  A large population of deer?  Used to, until the coyote population exploded.   How about a Bug-Out Vehicle?  Nope, just an old pickup truck.  Assault rifles and stockpiles of ammo? Not really, a few guns and some ammo.  I’ll bet you are wondering why I consider him so well-prepared.  Well, let me tell you a little about him.

My dad is a grain farmer in coastal North Carolina.  On average he produces 1,500 tons of grain every year.  At any given time, he has 10,000 bushels of corn or soybeans stored (right now he has his grain bins full of soybeans that he will sell before mid-August when he begins harvesting his corn).  He keeps a 1,000 gallon tank of diesel full year-round.  Across the road from his farm is a 25,000-head pig farm.  On the other side is a seven-pond fish farm with hundreds of thousands of fish.  His closest neighbor, who lives a mere mile away, raises goats and chickens.  Dad has a capped water well in his backyard and a pitcher pump in storage.  His house was built as the centerpiece of a plantation in 1834 and has four fireplaces and a winter’s supply of firewood.  The house sits in the middle of a square-mile block (640 acre) of farmland. [Some deleted, for OPSEC.] He collects and uses primitive hand and farm tools as a hobby. 

Most importantly, my Dad has a network of friends that range from doctors to diesel mechanics to manual laborers and police officers.  All of whom are armed and can act as a manual labor and defensive force.  Without trying, he has prepared for a myriad of society-changing events.  His simple agrarian lifestyle harkens back to the society of 200 years ago.  If everything in our society falls apart, his farm would be the center of a small, agrarian community working together to both feed and defend itself, as well as having the social interactions that would give a decent quality of life.  It would not be a modern life that we are accustomed to, one would tire of eating fish, pork, and soybeans, after all, but it would far better than starving to death next to your ‘spot.’ So, after long discussions with my wife, we have decided to get out of the city and move back to the farm.  I will be taking over the family farm this spring and I already have a small plot set aside for long-term, storable foods like dry beans and open pollinating corn.  Of course, career options will be a bit limited living in a rural area, but actually living as simply as possible should offset any loss in income.  I think it is worth it.

I have already begun networking in my new community, expanding the circle of people my dad has already established.  Growing up in the community gives me an advantage when it comes to navigation and personal connections.  My new house is within walking distance of two of my best friends from high school who already have a good grasp on the survivor’s mentality. 
One of them is the son of the goat and chicken farmer I mentioned earlier.  He has agreed to trade me a couple of goats and chickens for a supply of shelled corn.  He also has a broad skill set that includes carpentry and wiring.  I have seen him repair electrical devices that all others had given up hope on.  He also keeps horses in his pastures that could theoretically be used to pull some of the antique farm machinery my dad has collected over the years, but I really hope it never comes to that.  His skill with an AK-47 is rather well-honed too.   

My other friend lives a bit further away but the distance is still less than an hour’s walk through the woods from my house.  He was awakened to how fragile our society is many years ago and began preparing back then.  He moved into a hundred and fifty-year-old cottage complete with a working fireplace, several old barns, and a very fertile one-acre garden, all of which cost him less than fifty thousand dollars. 

Since moving there, he has constructed a greenhouse and is in the process of growing exotic (for North Carolina) fruits such as papayas and mangoes.  His first greenhouse is doing so well he has another one ordered.  (My love of guacamole has me trying to convince him to plant some dwarf avocado trees.)  Next to his garden he drilled a well and attached a pitcher pump to it.  He had set up one of the barns for storage and has a good amount of long-shelf-life food, including a large supply of canned food from last year’s garden harvest.  This season I have agreed to raise a variety of dry beans and open pollinated corn in order to trade them to him for some of his fruit and vegetables.

Between the three of us, we can focus on our own specialties of dry grains, livestock, and fruits and vegetables, allowing us to barter and trade our goods without having to spread ourselves too thin by trying to individually produce a variety of food.  Getting together for camping trips and frequent range sessions with a variety of weaponry is key to building both skills and friendship.      
So, instead of theorizing about Bug-Outs or hunting and gathering skills, I suggest getting out of urban and suburban environments and move to a rural area that is far enough away from population concentrations to inhibit a visit from roaming hoards.  Buy an old house with fireplaces and make sure it has enough land to plant a substantial garden.  Along with a garden, learn to raise small numbers of livestock, especially something simple like egg-laying chickens.  Living to see that first harvest will require a lot of stored food.  Construct or convert easily-secured buildings to store substantial food and water supplies, especially since you will be staying put and not likely be bugging out to somewhere else.  If you have a skill or produce something of value, let your neighbors know and barter your goods with them.  If you don’t have marketable skills, learn one.  Local community colleges often have classes of value in this respect.  Once you learn a skill, have plenty of the supplies related to those skills on hand.  Passing yourself off as a welder without having numerous cylinders of welding gasses and lots of welding and brazing rod would be a tough sale.  

The most important thing is move to an area of like-minded people and make friends now.  No one will trust you after a major event unless they knew you prior.  Get to know the people in your community and network with them.  Churches, hunt clubs, and small outreach organizations are a good place to meet people.  Befriend a local family farmer and begin to barter with him.  Typically, they are willing to trade dry grain for labor, services, and shiny things, specifically gold and silver.

From my experience the rural mindset is a lot more accepting of a survivalist mentality due to their isolated proximity and frequent interruptions in power and communication.  Compared to most neighborhood home owner’s groups, they also seem to be a lot more tolerant of crowing roosters, manure-fed gardens, and unsightly windmills.  Most importantly, stop fooling yourself with a false sense of preparation and make a plan to thrive with a community of like-minded people.  It will likely take major changes and sacrifices in your life, but it sure beats starving to death alone in farming country.

Articles written as personal memoirs always have a special way of reinforcing why preparedness is so important to me. They inspire me to continue learning, and make me proud to call myself a prepper. Hopefully my story of growing up to live among the modern generation of preppers can do the same for you.

I remember my high school shop teacher, and the day he wheeled a television into our room and turned it on. His face was flushed as he changed the channel to a news station, and we watched as thick smoke rolled out of the World Trade Center. Then, on live television, a second plane hit the towers. Everyone but me was convinced it was a terrorist attack. That's me...the eternal optimist. I get that from my father, which is probably why I remember the most about that day what he said to me. "Watch. The world will never be the same for you, from here on out." He is the one who planted the seeds of "prepping" in me and told me to always listen to my inner voice, which has saved my life on more than one occasion and my sanity on many more.

Now I am married to a US Marine and have three small children and struggle to understand the changes I see in the world around me. I also remember the ridicule the Y2K preppers were subject to in the media and not understanding why someone would get ready for such an event. (To be fair, I also struggle to understand individuals or groups who prepare for a single event without accounting for anything else.) Why would people stockpile food, water, ammunition for something that would only impact computers? Needless to say, I understand now, but many people don't.

Sometimes I wonder if the modern prepping movement is simply our way of seeking a more substantial way of life; sustainable roots in a world where we are busy with unfulfilling jobs and spend free time wasting away in front of television programs. Or on a more personal level, my way of motivating myself out of depression and the redundancies of raising a family, moving, setting down roots and keeping my possessions in manageable order.

I've come a long way in a few short years from my road trip to meet my then-fiancé after a deployment with a trunk full of everything I owned, cooking food from a can (more on that later) and living paycheck to paycheck. Now I'm a mother, a wife, a member of whatever community I happen to belong to at the moment and someone who chooses to "prep" with a positive and realistic attitude.

Living in coastal North Carolina, the biggest concern was hurricanes. My husband (eventually we did get married) and I grew up in New England in wood-stove heated homes, so the idea of being fairly self-sufficient wasn't entirely new to us. But our home wasn't made for even the smallest hurricane, so I tried my best to do what I could with a limited budget. I had supplies in the house for us and a sort of "bug-out list", because I simply could not afford a separate cache of supplies I would need in an emergency and ones I used on a daily basis. I still do this today, everything I might need written in a notepad in a special place. I have two "levels" on my list, one for a half hour evacuation and one for a two hour evacuation.

In Okinawa, I began to relax a little bit. Living on an overseas base, you cannot have a firearm. I began to have the attitude that my family and I were at the mercy of our government and enjoy the island. Then, we were hit with a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, and it changed me forever. Nothing broke. No one was injured. We did not even lose power. But there is something about the earth moving in such a momentous way under your feet and your children’s feet that can change you. And I know I was not the only one. So once again, I began preparing.

I made friends and even worked out in town, learned as much of the language and culture as I could, and even brought food to the homeless and learned where they went at night to be "safe". On such a small and populated island, such information could be priceless. The experience there enriched my life, but I still tried to approach much of what I did in a twofold way. I left friends but also the promise of employment.

My preparations there were not in complete vain. My husband and I decided to renew our vows on one of the many subtropical beaches after life handed us some tough cards, and I went with my children early to get ready for our friends. Suddenly, a man in uniform knocked on my hotel room door and told me I had less than ten minutes to evacuate. A massive earthquake (the massive earthquake) had just struck mainland Japan and we were under a tsunami warning. I had to walk on foot alone to the designated waiting area, and I had my bug out bag and supplies packed in my car. It took me less than ten minutes to get up that hill and my children and I were comfortable during our wait, which lasted over five hours. We were even able to give some things to others to help them. In that time, I realized how different I looked at things than most people. The first thing I thought when we got up the hill was "Hmm, I wonder where all of these people are going to go to the bathroom?" No one else seemed content with anything other than to pace or complain. My kids were happy and protected from bugs, hunger, thirst, etc. For a short time, anyway.

When we were reunited with my husband and our guests (who were forced to wait on low ground immediately outside the base