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Friday December 11 2009

A Prepared Christmas, by Hunkerdown

A Prepared Christmas, by Hunkerdown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sunday December 6 2009

Solo Survival in a Societal Collapse?, by Wry Catcher

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Tuesday November 24 2009

Letter Re: Preparing Your Spouse

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

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

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

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Monday November 23 2009

Letter Re: Preparing Your Spouse

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

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

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

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

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

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Saturday November 21 2009

Three Letters Re: Getting a Christian Wife Involved With Preparedness

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

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

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

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


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

 

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

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

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

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Thursday November 19 2009

Seven Letters Re: Getting a Christian Wife Involved With Preparedness

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God Bless, - Bonnie S.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Monday November 16 2009

Over-Planning: Get Thine Act Together!

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

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

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Letter Re: A Bulk-Buying Solution--Form a Buyer's Club

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

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

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

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

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

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Thursday November 12 2009

Letter Re: It Takes a Village for Perimeter Security

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Wednesday November 11 2009

Two Letters Re: Maintaining OPSEC in a Geographically Extended Retreat Group

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

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

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

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Tuesday November 10 2009

Letter Re: Maintaining OPSEC in a Geographically Extended Retreat Group

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

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

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

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

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

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Monday November 2 2009

Letter Re: Thoughts on Preparedness in a Diverse Community

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sunday September 6 2009

An Instructive Survival Story from the 1930s

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is my Daddy's story:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saturday September 5 2009

You're Not (Yet) Prepared, by Ted B.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The meeting itself stressed that the purpose was to:

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

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

We reminded attendees that planning was important now:

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

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

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

  • Communications
  • Emergency Resource planning/coordination

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Friday August 28 2009

Know Thy Neighbor, by "The Old Salt" in Virginia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Tuesday August 18 2009

Letter Re: Comfort and Holiday Foods for Family Food Storage

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

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

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

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Sunday August 16 2009

Letter Re: Viability of a Well-Stocked Suburban Retreat?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks, - B., Near K.C.

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

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

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

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Wednesday August 12 2009

Preparedness Beginnings, by "Two Dogs"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saturday August 8 2009

Underground Survival Shelter Construction and Security--Learn from My Mistakes, by B.B.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope this information is helpful. - BB

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

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

2.) Have a retreat caretaker, or

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

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

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

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

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Tuesday August 4 2009

A Prepper Husband and a Stubborn Wife, by JRM

Part 1 - Introduction

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

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

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

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

Part 2 - The Wrong Way

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

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

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

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

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

Part 3 - The Right Way

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

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

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

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

Part 4 - The Plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Tuesday July 28 2009

Gear Up -- Appropriate and Redundant Technologies for Prepared Families

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

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

Here is my approach to preparedness gear, in a nutshell

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

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

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Friday July 24 2009

Letter Re: Some Crucial Readiness: Preparing for Joy

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

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

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

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Thursday July 23 2009

Letter Re: A Multiple Family Retreat -- Lessons Learned The Hard Way

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Wednesday July 22 2009

Often-Overlooked Readiness: Preparing for Joy, by Carla

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Tuesday July 21 2009

A Multiple Family Retreat -- Lessons Learned The Hard Way

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

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

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

The main problems encountered:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In hindsight, we should have:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saturday July 11 2009

Disaster Procedures: A Survival Field Guide, by A.V.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Procedure Category Examples:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sunday July 5 2009

Three Rules for Persuading the Sheeple, by Tall Sally

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

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

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

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

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

Now let's expand these concepts a little bit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

or,

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

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


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

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

Rule 1: START SLOW...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In conclusion...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saturday July 4 2009

Preparedness Through Joining the National Guard, by Christopher D.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Monday June 29 2009

Letter Re: Last Minute G.O.O.D. Versus Well-Considered Early Relocation

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

The following are my rules for townies:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sunday June 28 2009

Security at Places of Worship: More Than a Matter of Faith, by Scott Stewart and Fred Burton

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

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

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

Awareness: The First Step

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

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

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

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

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

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

Security Means More than Alarms and Locks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Training

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Liaison

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

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

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

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

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

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Friday June 12 2009

Escape From (Fill in Your City Here), 2009, by Bill in Chicagoland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Wednesday June 10 2009

Letter Re: Advice For Older Preppers With Limited Mobility

Hi James,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

thanks again. - Old Bobbert in Utah

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

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

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Thursday May 28 2009

Letter Re: Advice for Newcomers in a Community--Overcoming the We/They Paradigm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Thursday May 21 2009

Biological Threat Assessment and Containment, by Anon.T

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go on to Document #2


Document #2 – On a separate sheet of paper

Hi,

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

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

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


________________________________________________


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


Radio Operation:
Provide instruction for radios here

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



________________________________________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Schedule:

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

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Friday May 8 2009

Health, Hygiene, Fitness and Medical Care in a Coming Collapse, by RangerDoc

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

Physical Fitness

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

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

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

Medical Care in Austere Environments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Friday March 27 2009

Letter Re: An Impromptu SurvivalBlog Meet-up at Front Sight

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Saturday March 21 2009

Emotional Stressors During Societal Collapse by Campcritter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Favorites from my library:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Wednesday March 18 2009

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

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

Preparedness Skills from our Grandmas and Grandpas

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

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

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

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

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

Preparedness from "Roughing It”

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

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

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

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

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

Responsibility and Teamwork

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

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

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

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

The Prepared Family


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

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

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

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

Preparedness Skills and Materials

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

Survival trades that I've learned:

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

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

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

Survival firearms battery:

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

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

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

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Friday February 27 2009

Depression Proof Jobs for a 20 Year Depression - Part 2: Developing a Home-Based Business

Yesterday, in Part1, I discussed the "safe" and counter-cyclical occupations for the unfolding economic depression. Today, I'd like to talk about one specific approach: self-employment with a home-based business.

I posted most the following back in late 2005, but there are some important points that are worth repeating:

The majority of SurvivalBlog readers that I talk with tell me that they live in cities or suburbs, but they would like to live full time at a retreat in a rural area. Their complaint is almost always the same: "...but I'm not self-employed. I can't afford to live in the country because I can't find work there, and the nature of my work doesn't allow telecommuting." They feel stuck.

Over the years I've seen lots of people "pull the plug" and move to the boonies with the hope that they'll find local work once they get there. That usually doesn't work. Folks soon find that the most rural jobs typically pay little more than minimum wage and they are often informally reserved for folks that were born and raised in the area. (Newcomers from the big city certainly don't have hiring priority!)

My suggestion is to start a second income stream, with a home-based business. Once you have that business started, then start another one. There are numerous advantages to this approach, namely:

You can get out of debt

You can generally build the businesses up gradually, so that you don't need to quit your current occupation immediately

By working at home you will have the time to home school your children and they will learn about how to operate a business.

You can live at your retreat full time. This will contribute to your self-sufficiency, since you will be there to tend to your garden, fruit/nut trees, and livestock.

If one of your home-based businesses fails, then you can fall back on the other.

Ideally, for someone that is preparedness-minded, a home-based business should be something that is virtually recession proof, or possibly even depression proof. Ask yourself: What are you good at? What knowledge or skills do you have that you can utilize. Next, consider which businesses will flourish during bad times. Some good examples might include:

Mail order/Internet sales/eBay Auctioning of preparedness-related products.

Locksmithing

Gunsmithing

Medical Transcription

Accounting

Repair/refurbishment businesses

Freelance writing

Blogging (with paid advertising) If you have knowledge about a niche industry and there is currently no authoritative blog on the subject, then start your own!

Mail order/Internet sales of entertainment items. (When times get bad, people still set aside a sizable percentage of their income for "escape" from their troubles. For example, video rental shops have done remarkably well during recessions.)

Burglar Alarm Installation

Other home-based businesses that seem to do well only in good economic times include:

Recruiting/Temporary Placement

Fine arts, crafts, and jewelry. Creating and marketing your own designs--not "assembly" for some scammer. (See below.)

Mail order/Internet sales/eBay Auctions of luxury items, collectibles, or other "discretionary spending" items

Personalized stationary and greeting cards (Freelance artwork)

Calligraphy

Web Design

 

Beware the scammers! The fine folks at www.scambusters.org have compiled a "Top 10" list of common work-at-home and home based business scams to beware of:

10. Craft Assembly
This scam encourages you to assemble toys, dolls, or other craft projects at home with the promise of high per-piece rates. All you have to do is pay a fee up-front for the starter kit... which includes instructions and parts. Sounds good? Well, once you finish assembling your first batch of crafts, you'll be told by the company that they "don't meet our specifications."
In fact, even if you were a robot and did it perfectly, it would be impossible for you to meet their specifications. The scammer company is making money selling the starter kits -- not selling the assembled product. So, you're left with a set of assembled crafts... and no one to sell them to.

9. Medical Billing
In this scam, you pay $300-$900 for everything (supposedly) you need to start your own medical billing service at home. You're promised state-of-the-art medical billing software, as well as a list of potential clients in your area.
What you're not told is that most medical clinics process their own bills, or outsource the processing to firms, not individuals. Your software may not meet their specifications, and often the lists of "potential clients" are outdated or just plain wrong.
As usual, trying to get a refund from the medical billing company is like trying to get blood from a stone.

8. Email Processing
This is a twist on the classic "envelope stuffing scam" (see #1 below). For a low price ($50?) you can become a "highly-paid" email processor working "from the comfort of your own home."
Now... what do you suppose an email processor does? If you have visions of forwarding or editing emails, forget it. What you get for your money are instructions on spamming the same ad you responded to in newsgroups and Web forums!
Think about it -- they offer to pay you $25 per e-mail processed -- would any legitimate company pay that?

7. "A List of Companies Looking for Homeworkers!"
In this one, you pay a small fee for a list of companies looking for homeworkers just like you.
The only problem is that the list is usually a generic list of companies, companies that don't take homeworkers, or companies that may have accepted homeworkers long, long ago. Don't expect to get your money back with this one.

6. "Just Call This 1-900 Number For More Information..."
No need to spend too much time (or money) on this one. 1-900 numbers cost money to call, and that's how the scammers make their profit. Save your money -- don't call a 1-900 number for more information about a supposed work-at-home job.

5. Typing At Home
If you use the Internet a lot, then odds are that you're probably a good typist. How better to capitalize on it than making money by typing at home? Here's how it works: After sending the fee to the scammer for "more information," you receive a disk and printed information that tells you to place home typist ads and sell copies of the disk to the suckers who reply to you. Like #8, this scam tries to turn you into a scammer!

4. "Turn Your Computer Into a Money-Making Machine!"
Well, this one's at least half-true. To be completely true, it should read: "Turn your computer into a money-making machine... for spammers!"
This is much the same spam as #5, above. Once you pay your money, you'll be sent instructions on how to place ads and pull in suckers to "turn their computers into money-making machines."

3. Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)
If you've heard of network marketing (like Amway), then you know that there are legitimate MLM businesses based on agents selling products or services. One big problem with MLMs, though, is when the pyramid and the ladder-climbing become more important than selling the actual product or service. If the MLM business opportunity is all about finding new recruits rather than selling products or services, beware: The Federal Trade Commission may consider it to be a pyramid scheme... and not only can you lose all your money, but you can be charged with fraud, too!
We saw an interesting MLM scam recently: one MLM company advertised the product they were selling as FREE. The fine print, however, states that it is "free in the sense that you could be earning commissions and bonuses in excess of the cost of your monthly purchase of" the product. Does that sound like free to you?

2. Chain Letters/Emails ("Make Money Fast")
If you've been on the Internet for any length of time, you've probably received or at least seen these chain emails. They promise that all you have to do is send the email along plus some money by mail to the top names on the list, then add your name to the bottom... and one day you'll be a millionaire. Actually, the only thing you might be one day is prosecuted for fraud. This is a classic pyramid scheme, and most times the names in the chain emails are manipulated to make sure only the people at the top of the list (the true scammers) make any money. This scam should be called "Lose Money Fast" -- and it's illegal.

1. Envelope Stuffing
This is the classic work-at-home scam. It's been around since the U.S. Depression of the 1920s and 1930s, and it's moved onto the Internet like a cockroach you just can't eliminate. There are several variations, but here's a sample: Much like #5 and #4 above, you are promised to be paid $1-2 for every envelope you stuff. All you have to do is send money and you're guaranteed "up to 1,000 envelopes a week that you can stuff... with postage and address already affixed!" When you send your money, you get a short manual with flyer templates you're supposed to put up around town, advertising yet another harebrained work-from-home scheme. And the pre-addressed, pre-paid envelopes? Well, when people see those flyers, all they have to do is send you $2.00 in a pre-addressed, pre-paid envelope. Then you stuff that envelope with another flyer and send it to them. Ingenious perhaps... but certainly illegal and unethical.

From all that I've heard, most franchises and multi-level marketing schemes are not profitable unless you pick a great product or service, and you already have a strong background in sales. Beware of any franchise where you wouldn't have a protected territory. My general advice is this: You will probably be better off starting your own business, making, retailing, or consulting about something where you can leverage your existing knowledge and/or experience.

---

In closing, I'd like to reemphasize that home security and locksmithing are likely to provide steady and profitable employment for the next few years, since hard economic times are likely to trigger a substantial crime wave. After all, someone has to keep watch on the tens of thousands of foreclosed, vacant houses. (If not watched, then crack cocaine addicts, Chicago syndicate politicians, or other undesirables might move in!)

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Wednesday February 25 2009

Making the Transition to Country Life, by Bois d'Arc

Many readers of Survival Blog are either in the process of moving to a lightly populated area or actively planning to bugout to such an area when the balloon goes up. Twenty years ago I moved from the edge of a large city to a fairly remote property, and have been quietly setting up the doomstead and perfecting skills ever since. In the process, I became part of the fabric of country life here and have learned some valuable lessons which may benefit the rookie country dweller.

Most full-time country residents are descendents of frontiersmen who ventured into the wilderness with little more than a rifle, axe, team of horses, and a large supply of guts. Country people hold many of the same attributes as their forebears; competence, toughness, perseverance, and a willingness to help their neighbors, be it for common defense or a barn raising. Many of these traits are at odds with modern city life supported by a specialized full-time job. Your transition to country life will be smoother if you consider the following:

Country People are Closet Doomers:
They can do lots of useful things such as shoe a horse, grow corn, weld, back a trailer, milk a goat, make tamales, catch a wild cow, troubleshoot an electrical problem, can a tomato, and shoot lights out. And that's just the women.

People here are armed every day as a matter of course. Most have been shooting all of their lives, so the level of firearms proficiency is way above average. I see lots of casual ARs and scoped bolt actions, so if my neighbors and acquaintances are any barometer, potential rampaging MZBs are in for some exceedingly tough sledding.
On a related note, there are a few bad apples in the country, but most tend to migrate to the anonymity of the cities. The outlaws who remain are generally well known to both law enforcement and the population at large, and are easy enough to avoid once you plug into the local grapevine.

Be Scrupulously Honest:
Country people don't care that much what you think or how you wear your hair as long as they can trust you. Lie or stiff a merchant one time and in 45 minutes everyone in the county will know it, guaranteed.

On the flip side, if you've been given too much change or an error is made in your favor with a bank deposit or charge purchase at a merchant, politely point out the mistake and insist on paying the correct amount. While such a gesture will usually be met with stunned disbelief in a large city, in the country it will be acknowledged with a nod and sincere appreciation. And never doubt for an instant that the country grapevine will work in your favor as the word spreads.

When I first moved here, I was able to open an account with any business in town simply by asking if I could charge a purchase. No references, no questions, no credit check, just an address so they could send a statement at the end of the month. Such an accommodating policy would most certainly not have been the case had I been late in paying those first bills.

Money is Overrated:
Country people never forget a kindness; they also rarely forget a transgression against good manners or honesty. The most valuable commerce in the country is not conducted in dollars but in trading, gifts, being owed a favor, and goodwill.

Become Part of the Community:
Self-sufficiency is a worthy goal, but in truth perhaps the most useful survival skill is contributing to a community which has a stake in your well being. To my mind, being able to call upon neighbors for specialized assistance or trade is just as important as beans, bullets, and Band-Aids.

Schools and churches are the glue which binds a country community. If you have children in local schools or choose to attend church, tapping into country networks will be greatly accelerated.
Also, small communities run largely on volunteers, so consider volunteering at the library, as a fireman, at sports fund raisers, community cleanup, or meals on wheels. JWR Adds: If you homeschool your kids, be sure to join the local homeschooling "co-op" group. You will be sure to meet the preparedness-minded folks in your community.

The Country is a Time Warp:
Time passes slower here, as it's based more on the seasons than on a clock.
Fight the city urge to hurry everywhere. Tasks are completed when time, required supplies, and any needed help are available, and not on an arbitrary schedule. Parts are generally not readily available as they are in a city, you might have to order a particular part and wait days or weeks for it to arrive, and perhaps have to improvise in the meantime.
The two main time-related lessons you’ll learn is that weather can throw a kink into any plan, and maintaining household water supply trumps almost every other concern. You’ll soon adopt a mañana attitude about most other projects, as there is always plenty more to be done while waiting for specific parts or supplies.
Slow down enough to take time to talk about the weather, trade recipes, talk gardening, help a neighbor with a project, and to watch a sunset.

Seek Out Those with Useful Skills Now:
Country life requires a generalist rather than a specialist, so trading your particular skills – whether carpentry, electrical expertise, or knowing what’s wrong with a row of beans - with neighbors in exchange for their skills just makes sense. In fact, there is even a term here, “neighboring”, which refers to a group effort of working each landowner’s livestock in turn without hiring outside help.
I have also become acquainted with various people who have huge gardens or dairy goats or sheep or hogs or teams of horses and mules or a small band saw mill for making lumber. Such people often don’t advertise and they may be hard to find, but the search is potentially of huge benefit to the astute survivalist.

As an example, there is a man here who has an old steam-powered grain mill. Another has a tiny combine for harvesting wheat and oats in the scattered small plots where it is grown in this area. Up until now, I haven’t used their unique services, but still make it a point to give these men a quart of honey from our hives every summer.
You will choose to help many of these people in time of trouble, just as they will choose to help you, but in the meantime always exercise OPSEC about your underlying motivations and preps. Country people have a wide independent streak so your desire to be more self-sufficient will never seem out of place.

Country People are Provincial:
But largely by choice, which doesn't mean they are stupid or uninformed. The vast majority are Internet savvy and many are exceptionally well-traveled and well-read. More than a few have made the decision to leave a lucrative city existence in exchange for country life. The level of overall awareness is high, so you'll hear more commonsense over a cup of coffee than you'll ever hear from Washington.
A few recent quotes I’ve heard regarding our current economic meltdown:
“I was going to sell all of my calves last fall but held back four in case my freezers start to look empty.”
“We’re breaking some new garden ground this spring, going to plant a lot more potatoes than we usually do.”
"I bought two more cases of .223 ammo, just in case the rabbits go on the warpath.” Listen and learn.

Never Underestimate the Amount of Work Involved:
Few farms or ranches here are entirely self-supporting, with one or both spouses usually working a “regular” job. The pay scale is considerably lower than in a city, so often people work two or even three jobs in order to live well. This is in addition to farming and working livestock on their own places. People work hard, and that’s in relatively good times.

If this economy continues to unravel, more subsistence-level farming and ranching may well become the norm, and that’s when the work really begins. Growing and processing most or all of your own food requires a tremendous amount of labor and expertise, with constant effort from everyone involved. Have no illusions about some idyllic country life of sitting on the porch all day, chewing on a grass stem while contemplating the vista. The trick for making subsistence agriculture work is for everyone to always be doing something constructive, whether it’s hoeing weeds in the garden, building a chicken coop, shelling beans, cleaning a firearm, playing with a toddler, or rereading one of your how-to books.

With that said, no family or survival group can possibly be competent at all of the skills required. This is when being on good terms with neighbors becomes essential; give them half of a fresh beef now for the cheese they can provide later on; the pickles you made are a fair trade for his baskets of peaches; your stash of supplies may well allow you to trade for a rooster and five hens (along with some expert advice on getting started); if you can provide the diesel, your neighbor might plow your garden plot after your tractor has thrown a rod. - Bois d'Arc

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Wednesday February 18 2009

Survival Retreat vs. Neighborhood Survival -- Part Deux - Galt's Gulch vs. Idiocracy, by E.B.

Introduction
This is a response to a previous article written by the esteemed Dr. Richard of the Virginia Prepper's Network. Dr. Richard and I agree completely on a great many issues but disagree on the issue of the Survival Retreat vs. Neighborhood Survival. Here are my thoughts on the issue:

Dr. Richard makes some good points with respect to the desirability of an informed and prepared neighborhood, but in the end it all depends on your particular neighborhood and neighbors. Because I saw the collapse coming in 2005 I sold my home in Northern Virginia at what the Washington Post called the absolute peak of the market and put the proceeds into physical gold and silver when gold was trading around ~$400 an ounce and silver at ~$7. BTW, the guy who bought my home tried to sell it less than a year later for significantly less and could find no buyers. My goal was to move to low cost Austin, Texas where I could be near my dad’s ranch which I could then get prepped to survive the coming economic collapse. Unfortunately my wife thought I had gone completely insane which along with other disagreements on the health of our children (She believes in vaccination, sugar, aspartame, fluoride and AMA monopoly medicine and I don’t) led to a divorce. Now I rent a single family home to be near my ex-wife and kids where I can spirit them to safety when the SHTF. While I have never been to Dr. Richard’s neighborhood the detailed description (cul de sac, all single family homes on relatively large lots, high income/ high IQ neighbors in a development of less than 400 homes in a somewhat rural area) sounds infinitely more survivable than mine.

My situation is much different. My neighborhood is a mix of single family homes and townhouses with a much greater density than Dr. Richard describes. The neighborhood is lower income / lower IQ as well. There is an apartment complex about a mile away and I once found a cocaine baggie in the parking lot while jogging through it one day. Unfortunately because I am so busy I haven’t met as many of my neighbors as I would like and the ones that I have met are essentially completely clueless to the realities of the world. My neighbor with the most raw intellectual horsepower is a software architect in IP security but he still hasn’t figured out that fire can’t melt structural steel and giggled when I tried to explain the realities of 9-11. He is morbidly obese, addicted to sugar and nicotine, and completely unarmed. Not exactly the guy you want to have your back fending off looters and brigands. My second smartest neighbor is an engineer for an IP hosting company. I spent 30 minutes one day taking him through the physics of WTC 7 and how 47 story modern steel framed skyscrapers don’t collapse completely and symmetrically into their own footprints at freefall speed defying the laws of physics. I thought I saw a glimmer of understanding but I never heard back from him. I am assuming he went back to the TeeVee set. When I jog through the neighborhood at night the street is lit up with the glow of flat screen mental prisons.

Anyone that has ever unplugged someone from the matrix understands how difficult and time consuming it can be to educate and free a single mind. I have a good friend who is an entrepreneur/small business owner and has held VP level positions at international networking companies. I have been working on him for years and even after his son had a febrile seizure 24 hours after getting vaccinated he is mad at me for trying to warn him and continues to see the same doctor that potentially crippled his son. My ex-wife has P.hD and I can’t get her to stop giving our kids fluoridated water even though the practice is opposed by 14 Nobel Laureates, 2,100+ health professionals, and the EPA’s own scientists through their union. If I can’t convince my own ex-wife to quit giving her kids water “medicated” with a chemical used as rat and roach poison which has been linked to lower IQ in 23 peer reviewed studies from around the globe then how I am going to educate and convince dozens/hundreds of acquaintances and strangers on the realities of the world.

So, since neighborhood survival is not an option for me then creating a survival retreat with a self-selected group of individuals is my #1 strategy for survival in an economic collapse. Compare some of the qualities and skill sets of our group and those we are speaking with vs. the TeeVee bums in my neighborhood.
• A general contractor who is a firefighter / EMT in his community with skills in general carpentry (framing, form, and trim), basic electrical, plumbing, HVAC, masonry, roofing, and siding. Skilled in basic small engine repair, hand tools, and appliances. He is taking classes in sustainable agriculture and automotive repair.
• A retired naval Commander (helicopter pilot) with special operation experience that has been working on his retreat for years.
• A world class software and information security architect.
• A C-level executive and former military intelligence officer.

All are completely aware, completely awake, completely armed, with good to excellent preps and are already in high gear improving their skills and doing what it takes to get ready for the coming collapse.
Now add the advantages that a remote survival retreat offers over attempting to survive in an area populated with completely clueless starving TeeVee bums.
• Security – Hidden from looters and brigands who would be more than willing to kill for your stored food and supplies.
• Rural Location – Self-sufficient agriculturally with farmers, dairymen, and cattle ranchers. Plentiful wild game and plentiful wild edible plants.
• Self-selected compatriots – Honest, trustworthy companions that are completely prepped for the collapse and have a diverse blend of excellent skills to weather the storm.
• Designed for a collapse – Wood stove, solar power, well water, fruit trees already planted, etc.

So while I wish Dr. Richard the best of luck I am headed to Galt’s Gulch with other members of the intelligentsia. It doesn’t mean that I am not willing and/or trying to help my neighbors, in fact I am having a large number of them over next week to try to explain the realities of the coming collapse but at the end of the day I must protect my family and myself and a self-selected group of intelligent people awake to the realities of the world secure in a remote retreat represents the best odds of survival.

Even if you are going to bug out here are some tips to help the folks who must prepare for themselves:
Educate, Educate, Educate - Give DVDs, send links to web sites like this, Virginia Prepper's Network, SurvivalBlog, WhatReallyHappened.com, InfoWars.com, and SteveQuayle.com. When you pass along DVDs specify that the recipient must pass it along to someone else and specify that the next recipient must pass it along as well.
Share your Bounty and Improve Your Own Chances - I am sharing some of my storable food with a neighbor with the caveat that we would share when the SHTF. If I successfully bug out then they keep all the food for themselves. If I am trapped in the neighborhood then I have improved my chances for survival with diverse food stores.
Arm Them With Knowledge - Take your neighbor to the Appleseed Project and turn a rifle owner into a Rifleman.
Plant an oversize or community garden - Share the costs of sod, seeds, and the rental of a tiller.
Store Extra Preps for Friends and Charity - I have stored extra food for charity and even stored items like diapers and wipes for a low income couple who live in my neighborhood. I have cached food, money, and silver for the employees of my business as well in a location they can access in an emergency.

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Thursday February 12 2009

Survival Retreat vs. Neighborhood Survival, by Dr. Richard

Earlier this month, I posted Etienne's guest post Seeking/Starting a Survival Retreat in Virginia / Maryland / Pennsylvania / West Virginia. Today, I had lunch with Etienne de la Boetie and another prepper here in Loudoun County [, Virginia]. We had a long discussion about survival retreats vs neighborhood survival. Etienne is a big fan of the survival retreat concept. He previously had a retreat where he did not own the land but where he was able to store a travel trailer recreational vehicle in which he pre-positioned various preps and supplies. Unfortunately, his friend moved and sold the property. There are four major flaws in the survival retreat separate from your home concept:

  1. There are significant liabilities and social problems with communal retreats where one does not own the property - you are vulnerable to the actions of the others, particularly the property owner.
  2. Property left at unattended retreats is vulnerable to theft and vandalism. This is going to be a growing problem as the economic depression gets worse, especially if we have economic collapse.
  3. Getting to the retreat would be problematic in the event that it is actually needed - particularly in martial law scenarios where the military and law enforcement block traffic at key intersections or in cases where there are fuel shortages.
  4. Relatively undeveloped retreats with a trailer and undeveloped land may not be sufficiently developed for long-term survival and offer insufficient space for storage of the various preps and other items you need. Many of these items would likely be at your day-to-day residence and you cannot assume that you can transport everything at the last minute.

My view is that survival retreats only work if you live there full-time. Furthermore, although remote locations are further removed from the masses, they are also further removed from jobs, markets, customers, hospitals, and many other useful infrastructure and will be harder pressed to gather a sufficiently large group to cover all of the tasks needed in a true long-term survival scenario. Even the best special forces operator cannot defend his property 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unfortunately, we are rapidly running out of time and it is probably already too late to relocate - especially if relocating means trying to sell your existing home in this real estate environment -- in my neighborhood we haven't had a sale in over eight months and anyone who bought in the last four years and did the traditional 20% down payment fixed 30 year mortgage now has negative equity.

I am a big proponent of the concept that your family, friends, neighbors, and church are your survival group. Yes, I understand that many are unprepared and clueless about both the threats and what they need to do to prepare for them. However, your home is your survival retreat. Strengthen it to the extent you can, but your odds improve exponentially if you can organize your neighborhood and help everyone survive against the threat(s) you are facing in your survival situation. You and those in the group who are better prepared or who have the right skills are the cadre needed to get organized and do what is needed. The rest of the neighborhood are your foot soldiers and do'ers. My philosophy is to lead and organize but that charity starts with those who are willing to help themselves and help the group in the survival situation. In a survival situation, your first challenges are to assess the hazards/priorities/immediate needs, organize the group, secure the neighborhood, and scrounge/barter/trade for needed resources.

Be a leader. There are many things you can do to help develop your neighborhood group of family, friends, neighbors, and fellow church members and increase the odds of the neighborhood surviving:

  • Get to know them.
  • Have potluck dinners.
  • Help them wake up and prepare.
  • Start a garden club to help start victory gardens.
  • Start a community watch program for your neighborhood.
  • Give them a copy of Chris Martenson's Crash Course on the economy DVD. I bought a case of 30 and gave them as 2008 Christmas gifts.
  • Give copies of Holly Deyo's book Dare to Prepare as gifts. I bought a case of 8 and gave them as 2008 Christmas gifts to family and several neighbors who got it and were starting to prep.
  • Store extra preps for charity and be prepared to give when it is needed for survival.
  • Learn about their skills, backgrounds, and interests - on my street we have a former Navy Corpsman/LEO/M16 Instructor/master scrounger/contractor/award winning barbeque chef who "gets it" and is starting to prepare, two nurses, a master gardener, an agricultural engineer / head of the 800-home neighborhood HOA, a Mormon family that does food storage, and six members of the neighborhood garden club run by our master gardener.
  • Buy tools that would be useful that could be shared like tillers.
  • Buy extra seed such as a seven year supply of Survival Seeds and be prepared to provide seeds for neighbors
  • Build a survival library of books and skills that you can use to train them when they need survival skills.
  • Buy several extra surplus rifles such as the Russian Mosin-Nagant or SKS rifles and stock extra ammunition to equip your "community watch" patrols.
  • Invite them to go to a shooting range with you.
  • Be prepared to give honest evaluations of whether individuals should relocate once a survival situation begins to relative's homes or even public shelters if that is the best option for them.

You will be pleasantly surprised how many of your family, friends, neighbors, and fellow church members that are starting to wake up and realize the reality and danger of our current position. This number is increasing every week. Don't simply assume that they are all clueless sheep - many simply need some education and a leader to show them the way.

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Wednesday February 11 2009

One View on the Ultimate Vehicular Bug Out by Jerry the Generator Guy

There hasn’t been much discussion regarding what might be a well-planned bug out. The following is an overview of our vehicular bug out plan. This overview is offered to assist others in fleshing out their specific needs and plans.

If you are like us, then you believe that the local area is not viable for long term personal survival. Thus we are forced to consider quickly getting to an alternate location. I won’t present our criteria for the destination as everyone has different needs.

We selected a locale for serious consideration and visited there. The “boots on the ground” impression is worth far more than any data mining that you may have done. We have also subscribed to their local paper for the last two years. Our initial positive impression of the area has increased with time. The local paper gives a detailed behind the scenes view of what the real issues in the area are or are not. Taking the local paper will also allow us to blend in faster with the locals by being talking about the latest area news. If you don’t get good “vibes” during a on scene visit then you should select another area. You have successfully avoided something that for you would have been a mistake.

We have listened to the various local radio and/or television stations here to determine which could be deemed “credible”. We judged local emergency reporting as this would show what the actual station resources and attitudes are. Most stations, in their emergency coverage, all seemed to simply parrot whatever was provided at the on site command center via the press sessions. Locally, a daytime country/western station has demonstrated careful and accurate news reporting in two major emergencies. They were the only station to send reporters to potential areas of concern to discover facts. An out of state radio station does better at forecasting our local weather than the nearby stations. We have noticed, during our travels, that most of the country/western stations seem to present a more accurate view of the news than the bobble heads on talk radio. This accuracy is probably a reflection of their “tell it like it is” listeners.

All of us should have thought out what event, or events, will trigger the launch of the exit plan. We recommend careful listening to various shortwave, local and out of state radio and television news. The news that is presented from a different locate will occasionally surprise you with different facts and/or opinions. Research for yourself the facts concerning any items of concern and/or interest. Draw your personal conclusion and take appropriate action(s) once facts are separated from propaganda.

Okay, so we now have a trigger mechanism and need a detailed plan to quickly and efficiently get from “here” to “there”. It’s time to start adding some detail to the draft plan. Since we know each specific vehicle MPG [and fuel tank capacity] then possible locations along the travel route, for fueling, can be determined. We plan to use the every two hour “Chinese Fire Drill” approach. Once every two hours, at previously-determined locations, all vehicles stop. All people receive a situation update and describe any items of concern. Vehicles are topped off with fuel. Everyone can get prepared food/drink items. Those who need a restroom stop quickly does so. [JWR Adds: Avoid using public rest areas. In the event os a crisis, they are likely gathering places for very desperate refugees that are nearly out of fuel! Pick out wide shoulders on side roads, well in advance. Assuming that you are traveling well-armed, these should offer some semblance of security when stopping. ] Plan your fuel allocation on worst case fuel consumption not best or even typical usage. We top off fuel at the two hour intervals since we are already stopped and can get extra use of the time. If we later discover any unexpected need to quickly travel for some distance we have already shifted “extra” fuel into the tanks. We plan to have each vehicle carry enough fuel so that it is able to make the entire trip without depending on any gas station being open. This approach allows success even if any vehicle does break down. All other vehicles can still finish the trip even if one is not quickly repairable. If the group is close to the destination then a tow rope will be used to [hopefully ] allow all vehicles to finish the trip. The tow rope can also be used to remove some road obstructions.

We will listen to various local radio stations along the planned route. You can get a list of the stations, their frequencies, locations and audience focus by entering the state name along with radio stations into Google; Example: Montana Radio Stations. This monitoring will allow us to become aware of any sudden need to modify our plan based on the actual local status. The monitoring is done by high school young adults and any adult who desires to assist. Each listener uses a set of earphones so they can focus on what is said. Any significant items that will be submitted to the group are written immediately on a notepad. Yes, we have a means to immediately update the group if the issue needs immediate attention. All drivers do nothing but drive. All other activities are done by others in the vehicle/group.

We strongly suggest that you, or several people, drive your planned exit route several times to discover any areas that might either become a potential problem or maybe offer an unexpected benefit. [JWR Adds: It is important to plan and practice a secondary and tertiary route.] You may be surprised--we were--about additional items that are noticed on more than one trip. At one location that we had planned to use for a stop, the overall local area feeling was very negative. We quickly decided to proceed further along the highway.

Check periodically during the year and see if the planned route has any recurring traffic or weather related problems. What’s the speed that you plan to travel between individual town “ X” and town “Y”? Your overall plan should use worst-case MPG and alternate plans already prepared if the road is not in the expected condition or weather is not as planned [hot/cold/windy/snowy ].

The travel maps that we have prepared all have some disinformation. The direction arrows for the travel route all point to the “from” and not the “going to” direction. In addition, the arrows stop one town short on both ends of the route.

There is an easy way to determine some of the potential traffic choke points. Find out where the highway gates that are used to block traffic during adverse weather are located. Carefully note these locations during your initial or other trips. My conclusion is these are the natural traffic restriction locations. We carry detailed topographic maps so that we can maneuver around any blockage along the route. You should have an answer ready for “highway X is blocked ahead. What are alternate choices?”

We will be towing a trailer with one vehicle. All goods that are planned to go with us are kept in what we call “here to there” locations. This means when the time comes to load there is no wasted time on “where is X?” or “do we take Y”? All such decisions have been made in advance.

Yes, we keep a supply of knocked-down boxes on site for planned use. The loading simply becomes everything from “here to there” goes – anything and everything else stays. An actual loading of the boxes has shown that the planned sequence, capacity and room is possible.

Note: You can gain a significant amount of extra “free” room by removing the back seat in each vehicle.

Have you ever followed a trailer and seen the lights flicker as it went over a bump? This defect is almost always caused by a poor wiring ground connection at the hitch. The ground capability can be tested by connecting a jumper cable between the metal tongue of the trailer and a good ground on the tow vehicle. If the lights on the trailer suddenly get brighter or a problem vanishes then you can be certain that the ground path needs work. We use an 8 gauge wire for the ground connection on both vehicles.

Should your route include travel on gravel roads then be aware that the crushed rock material may cut or even pop weak or almost worn out tires. Check the tire ply rating and tread depth.
Be sure that they are able to stand the expected use. Could your tow vehicle or trailer benefit from a stronger tire? You can check with a truck tire dealer to find tires with higher weight carrying capability. How do you know if a tire is intended for either a car or truck? Answer: Car tires are rated [marked on the sidewall ] to carry a specified weight at a maximum inflation pressure. Truck tires are rated to carry weight at a minimum inflation pressure. Example: We wanted load range D radial tires for our trailer. The local tire dealers all said that nothing was available (even via special order ). The truck tire dealer, in a nearby town, simply asked did we want the load range D in a Major Brand or the In House brand at $20 less for each?

We strongly recommend that you install radial tires on ALL vehicles. We have also observed a 0.5 MPG mileage increase with radial tires on two different trailers. My super wife and co-pilot says that she loves that the trailer doesn’t sway near as much in cross winds. In addition, when an 18-wheeler goes by the trailer isn’t sucked toward the adjacent lane. This change took her from having a white knuckle experience, when trucks passed, to being able to relax. We also installed shock absorbers on the trailers. The difference in bounce of the trailer when driving over a bump went from several up/down cycles to one. The shocks also reduced the amount of trailer would lean during a fast turn. Any items in the trailer benefit from a much smother ride.

When the potential needs seems to be imminent the trailer will be hitched, lights & brakes checked, loaded & ready to travel. The planned route and alternatives will be reviewed daily for any potential weather or other delays. Most states offer a 1-800 number and/or web site with road condition updates. Find those updates now, and put them on a list!

All fuel levels will be maintained at a 50% or higher level. Vehicle oil, spark plugs and all filters will be changed. We keep this replacement stock on site so that it is instantly available. These changes ensure that each vehicle can give us its best effort. We carry a replacement set of all radiator hoses and belts. We have each vehicle battery load checked semi-annually. Most locales that sell vehicle batteries provide a free test service. We will replace any hose/belt/pump/battery/brake that is questionable. All vehicle light bulbs are also checked . All vehicle tires are inflated to the pressure that we want to use for best weight carrying capability.

Fuel tanks are filled to capacity, immediately before leaving, from on site storage. All vehicles will be parked such that on “GO” each driver can start the motor and quickly move out. Our thought is that by advance preparation we will gain a minimum advantage of 10 minutes. At 60 MPH we will be 10 miles distance down the road ahead of the majority.

We plan, by taking action at the trigger, to hopefully be at the travel end point before most people are even started. The Hurricane Katrina news coverage reinforced the fact that that early travelers were able to move at full highway speeds. Later departures were moving very slow.

Summary: We have tried to make plans for two different scenarios; 1.) We have several days to get ready, or 2.) The need is sudden. In either case we have all necessary items on site for prep and pack. The planning buys us some of the very important variable called time.

Planning also helps to eliminate the “what do we do” panic response mode. Everyone should have or develop now, at a minimum, a who/when/what/where plan. The plan doesn’t cost much, if any, cash to develop. Equipment without a plan doesn’t have any value.

Note: We do not provide discussion on specific roads to be traveled or planned speed as this to should be one of your group discussion items. Unique roads, weather, vehicles and group plans each offer a different series of opportunities and challenges. We hope to see you at the “Troy Barter Faire”! (For those of you wondering what this means, see Chapter 14 in "Patriots".)

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Letter Re: My First Attempt at Forming a Retreat Group

Jim;
I prayed, reflected and then invited several families to work with me to form a group. Here are my results:
- I formed an agenda, created a 'private' [password-protected] web site where I posted articles (in PDF files), created links to web sites like SurvivalBlog, and set a date to gather at my home
- I found near universal interest as folks are scared about the economy and direction our country has taken
- People eagerly attended meetings (every two weeks), opined, and felt very good about gathering
- Three months into gathering I printed up some rules and requests if a retreat was to be formed on our property.

To sum:
Do your best to be prepared.
If your personal economy is tight sell your chatchkis [trinkets and collectibles] and invest in 'beans, bullets and blankets.'
If you wished to become part of a private retreat on our ranch there were minimum levels of preparation a family would subscribe to.
If money was an issue, in order to prepare, meet with me and we'd find a way to to reach their goals. (That is, I was willing to help them financially if they committed to help themselves)

The results following that meeting:
- One person stepped up and accepted my offer of mutually beneficial financial help. We are getting a pole barn and they are getting much needed cash. They are helping us so we can help them become better prepared. They want 'in' our retreat
- One family has been preparing for many years and wants 'in.'
- One lady e-mailed and told me there are not 'enough hours in the day' to become prepared and she and her husband backed out. We never heard from the friends that they brought one weekend either.
- We stopped hearing from three other families completely.

My conclusions (and I'd welcome some insights)
1. Many folks like to talk, few are willing to do the work and make the sacrifice in current lifestyle to prepare.
2. Considering what it takes to truly prepare some are overwhelmed. Sadly, their response is not to reach out for help, when feeling that way, but to 'do nothing.'
3. Forming a good group is tough. We all know the statistics of marriage and divorce. Entering into a committed preparedness relationship may be as tough or tougher. Forming a group to rely on one another in the most dire of circumstances is daunting, indeed.
4. Finally, what Winston Churchill said applies: "Never, never, never quit." The safety of my family may well rely upon my ability to form an effective retreat group. I'll take the above lessons in and continue adding onto the two families who have opted into our retreat. I'll make a plan B, and then a plan C, and so on. I'll keep doing all I can to ensure we have the best provisions, location and, most importantly, the best people we can find to survive what may come. - D.S.

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Thursday February 5 2009

Letter Re: Finding Like-Minded Folks

Hello,
I've read your novel "Patriots" and I feel compelled to mention that it was the first book I ever defaced. I've always loved reading, but I read (and in some cases even re-read multiple times) books but never highlight or mark up the books. I don't know why, I just don't. It was almost immediate, like a lightning strike... that I needed to change what I was doing when I started reading Patriots. It even occurred to me that I needed a couple different colors to distinguish separate types of information. I absolutely loved the story line, not because of the happy ending, not because of the advice, but a combination of identifying with the characters and with the events they were in, and how they dealt with them which was your actual message... the readability of your Patriots novel is 5 stars in my opinion and I thank you greatly, I'm actually starting over again tonight, because even with hi-lighting the key elements, I still enjoy the story and still need to reinforce the lessons they are teaching me.

I am in complete agreement that the decline of our economy is not only assured, it's gaining speed as I type this. While our paid legislators hammer out details on which political action committees and which unions will receive how much money, the country is being destroyed, willingly.
I'm not willing to sign up for that! but I'm one person in California, the state that is driving this insanity!

I've spent a bit of money recently in various purchases of both hardware and consumables, and I have perhaps 10 months [of food and supplies] right now, ready to go food if the Schumer hits the fan, (in my opinion wisely since investments are libel to crash even further when liberal politics affect wall street) but I have short comings...
I have friends here who are like minded about preparedness, but are unable or unwilling to sacrifice to make the retreat happen
I have money myself to to put down some money on a few acres in my home state of Arizona and I plan to buy in heavily militia territory, but I don't want to be forced to be co-opted into a "must join" as you described in Patriots when the two groups first met. But I don't want to be alone on my land, and I don't know how many of my friends might actually be able to make it there if the "zombie invasion" occurs... Added to which, an A-frame cabin as my "secured" retreat means to me that I need two or three or maybe even four back up plans and pre-positioned caches.

Do you host any sort of "getting to meet ya" events of like minded folks?
Do you have any suggestions for me, outside of the obvious... pick the best tools for the job and then take with what you can. I have a 4x4 truck and I'm storing currently enough fuel to get to where I want to buy a few acres, but it's going to get awful lonely in my A-frame cabin--or awfully exciting--and I hope I make it if the full zombie invasion takes place and I have to defend against looters. An A-frame cabins (not even built yet) are very poor protection and unfortunately prone to theft and who knows what when left unattended, like I'd have to do here in California.

Your suggestions would be great appreciated, and if there's people that would be looking to recruit me without me knowing who they are, I'd appreciate you forwarding that as well. I can not do this on my own, I don't have all the answers and I never will, but I must find folks who are at least willing to ask the questions and even look at the unpleasant answers.
Thanks! and please keep writing! - Brent

JWR Replies: You mentioned your intention to build an A-frame cabin. I encourage you to pick a better design. This post from the SurvivalBlog archives (August, 2007) sums up my objections to A-frame designs.

Sorry, but I don't host "get-togethers". In fact, given the OPSEC concerns created by my high media profile, I don't even publicly mention the state that I live in! (Sorry to be so circumspect , but I 've made solemn promises to family members that I can only mention that I live in TUWS, somewhere west of the Rockies, on the bank of TUR, on a ranch in TUROM. All this dissimulation might seem odd to some readers, but please put yourself in my shoes. We had some odd stalking incidents when we were living at our previous ranch, so when we made or last move we took some unprecedented OPSEC measures. I even have cousins that don't know where I live.

Your situation, feeling unable to link up with other that share your preparedness goals, is fairly typical . See my static web page: Finding Like-Minded People in Your Area. The advice there will probably be very helpful. May God Put You in the Right Place, at the Right Time, with the Right People.

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Wednesday February 4 2009

Three Letters Re: The Community Retreat

James:
When it comes to real-world advice that applies to real people, Kathy Harrison's article ranks right near the top of the list. There is a sizable portion of the survival community (including my family) that believes that the community retreat model outlined in this article is, for most scenarios, the single best strategy for survival. While there are certainly some scenarios in which a remote retreat would be advantageous, those (in my opinion) are relatively few and unlikely. The community retreat strategy is one that can be used by just about anyone regardless of family or occupational requirements. It takes full advantage of the very reason that people have always congregated together. It's followers are well positioned for recovery efforts that leave out the isolated retreater, and it incorporates one of your key points - live at your retreat.
I look forward to more articles of this type by Kathy Harrison and others. - Stephen in Florida


Dear Mr. Rawles,
The recent post “The Community Retreat, by Kathy Harrison” prompted me to write with some comments about municipal retreats. Her comments are about a community retreat that is privately operated. I recently had an opportunity to see how a municipal shelter/retreat functioned. It was illuminating.

Recently we had a pretty severe ice storm here in the American Northeast. Many folks feel that it was the worst since 1987, when a storm knocked out power for two weeks. I wrote about my experiences with that storm here.

One thing about this storm that was new to me was that it was the first time my municipality had activated its Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP).

I live next to a municipality of 1,600 people. The Village covers a little under two square miles and has 386 households.

Like most municipalities these days that receive Federal grants, the Village must meet certain eligibility conditions. One of those conditions is that there must be a municipal Emergency Preparedness Plan. This plan describes the village chain of command, who is responsible for what (fire, police, DPW, etc.), how to contact those departments/individuals and what resources they have. It also lists resources available in adjoining municipalities and what resources (fuel, water, etc.) are available within the village.

Another aspect of the EPP is that the village has to have a facility to shelter residents during an emergency. That is what I wanted to address here.

This was the first time the village had activated their shelter plan and I thought it might be useful to describe how it was supposed to go and how it actually went.

When the village wrote the EPP, the plan was that the American Legion [Hall] would be used to shelter residents. The Legion had large open spaces, a large commercial kitchen, was located on high ground and had ample parking. There were large bathrooms with many toilets and sufficient storage for reserve food and cooking items. To this end a trailer mounted military generator was permanently acquired from the Federal government and the buildings wiring slightly modified so that all one had to do was plug the generator into the building, throw a transfer switch and you were good to go. Sleeping cots were stored in the building as well as assorted small items that would allow for sheltering a large number of people. The American Red Cross would set everything up.

Like most municipalities, the village worked very hard on the EPP, sent copies to all the right people/departments, filed it with the Feds and States and then put it on a shelf and never paid attention to it until this ice storm hit. They –never- updated it. The plan was 2.5 years old.

The Legion hall is privately owned. About 8-10 months ago a decision was made by its owners to put it up for sale. When the time came to implement the EPP, the building was no longer available and a replacement had to be immediately found.

The –only- other building available was the Village Hall. It had emergency power and water and as a village owned property was immediately available. The downside was that it was considerably smaller; only about 25% of the capacity of the Legion [Hall]. The Village Hall contained both the police and fire departments so it was being used as a command & control facility. The Red Cross switched gears from Legion to Village Hall. A space was found for about 20 cots but fire and police personnel had to go through this area to meet with their commands. The radio room was right next to the sleeping area and the sandwiches and coffee for the firefighters and cops and everyone else was also in the same room. I don’t see how anyone could have slept.

While there was no disorder or major crime, the police maintained a presence in the shelter that did seem a bit ominous. People were allowed to come and go freely, but it would not have been a stretch of the imagination to foresee a time when people, once entering the shelter would not be allowed to leave. Commander Zero [, the editor of the excellent Notes From the Bunker blog] commented on the New Orleans, Louisiana authorities doing this at the Super Dome: They said that the citizens had [effectively] signed an unwritten contract with the authorities by entering the Dome and that they were being prohibited from leaving ‘for their own safety’. Commander Zero called this the "Guantanodome."

The food supplied to those people seeking shelter in the Village Hall was limited to grilled cheese sandwiches and coffee and water. There were no diapers, no provisions for pets, no toys or distractions for younger children. The bathrooms were small, each containing only two toilets. There was a single television but it’s volume was kept low so as not to interfere with radio communications.

Finally, there was no guidance or protocol from higher authorities on how long to keep the shelter open. After five days or so, staffing the shelter (all the staff were volunteers) became more difficult and a decision was made to close it down. By this time only about 10 people remained and they were directed to shelters in another town. I don’t know what became of those people when those shelters closed. I like to think that power was restored to their homes by then and they went home.

It would be very easy to say that this shows that an individual really should not rely on government in an emergency. In a large way, that’s correct. While I advocate that the goal of being prepared is to prevent having to go to this type of shelter, I do not think one should ignore the need for a municipal shelter. While I will still prepare and strive to not need to leave my home, I will work with the Village hierarchy to update and improve the plan that they have. If I know the village residents have a place to go and resources to draw upon then there will be that many fewer people out scavenging for what I have put aside for me and mine. - RMV.

 

Hi Jim...
It never ceases to amaze me how the majority of US survivalist wannabes adamantly contend they must live in the major cities. Fully 80% of all survivalist wannabes want to hunker down in their urban or suburban homes according to our polls.

Yet, they subscribe to and post 'survivalist' articles to survival forums like my Surviving The Day After list at Yahoo Groups], Rourke's Survival Retreat and Secure Home [list at Yahoo Groups], or Brad's HunkerDown06 [list at Yahoo Groups]. Their topics are often centered around a socialist/communist theme of a secure, remote survival retreat paid for by pooling money and resources of would be members and living a communal existence after TSHTF.

None of that is a viable plan, especially with the coming economic collapse of the USA, worldwide depression, and World War III. But, they won't even consider getting out of the cities now! It's frustrating to survivalists like me.

BTW, I am in West Texas and we are developing a problem here in such a sparsely populated area. Pecos, Texas is about 5,000 people around mile marker 40 on Interstate Highway 20. They have a 3,000 bed county-run prison that houses 3,000 Federal prisoners. Last Saturday night the prisoners rioted and burned out the R2 unit. About 45 days ago they had rioted and burned out R1 unit. My brother is a prison guard there and called during this riot to warn me the inmates were expecting help from MS13 [gang] contact/associates from Mexico.

The night before, a Hispanic youth gang called Brown Pride Gang torched six homes in and around Pecos. Two of those homes had Hispanic families asleep inside. Those responsible have been apprehended and are facing attempted homicide by arson charges. These gang "youths" were organized and incited to commit this attack by MS13 members in Pecos.

Glenn Beck was saying on Fox News that the border violence is intensifying and yet neither the Democrats or the Republicans are willing to close and regulate the border with
Mexico. And to top that off, Beck was warning that Texans will soon get fed up and take matters into their own hands, arming themselves and protecting their families and property from invasion.

This all has an effect on my personal survival plans long term of course. The lack of population, the distances involved here in the desert of West Texas, and the proximity of our paid-for mountain retreat to our paid for farm in the valley puts us in a much better prepared position than 95% of the populace. It has taken years of preparation and planning, though. And, none of it came cheap.

I am still a voice in the wilderness crying: Get out of the cities, now!

Regards, Lawrence R.
List Owner, SurvivingTheDayAfter at Yahoo Groups

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Monday February 2 2009

Letter Re: Lost Tribe Bypassed by History: Ragtag Band of Khmer Families

James;
This is an old story but still interesting: Lost tribe bypassed by history.

My [Cambodian] wife, who is in her thirties, still has some of these jungle/farming skills. Her younger brothers and sisters who have lived in Phnom Penh do not. Most young people only know about Karaoke and mobile phones. Many of the under 15's think the Khmer Rouge is something their parents made up.

See:

Lost tribe leaves the jungle for brave new world of mobiles.

Help runs out for the lost tribe of Cambodia

Slide show: Lost tribe

I don't think most people want to copy their example. But their story does illustrate that long term survival is possible for people with skills even if they have little resources. Regards, - F.D.

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Sunday February 1 2009

The Community Retreat, by Kathy Harrison

Establishing a retreat seems to be the dream of many survivalists but realistically, evacuating to a retreat is not a proposition that is readily available to very many. There are generally problems with finances as well as family commitments to contend with. Many folks, like me, have spent years in establishing perennial food plants, compost piles, garden plots, building small businesses and, most importantly, forging important community ties that would not be easily broken. Therefore, we would be well advised to explore how to approach ways to turn our own residences into retreat communities.

The location of the community is of the utmost importance. Pulling off such a feat off in a large city or an affluent suburb would be pretty difficult. A small town in a rural location with a high proportion of families who already raise food and livestock is your best bet. Such a town is likely to have a well-developed sense of community, strong family ties and a faith-based community. You will also likely find a diverse set of necessary skills. Such communities are generally located in areas that have climates suitable to growing food crops. Hunting is often a part of the local culture so firearms ownership is not seen as a problem. It has been my experience that a large number of survival-minded folks find themselves living in this kind of locality. The question then becomes, “how do we locate like-minded families and establish a network of support, with possibility of barter arrangements and the sharing of skills and tools in such towns?”

We began by attending a film series a few years ago. Free showings of films such as The End of Suburbia, King Corn and Life At The End Of The Empire were shown. Each film was followed by a discussion group. Setting up this kind of series can happen at a library or house of worship. Out of this format, a core group formed, all with the sense that life as we knew it was unlikely to be sustainable for the long term and that we needed to take steps to prepare for the eventual change. We began meeting on a monthly basis. We are a diverse group; some more interested in the implications of Peak Oil, some with financial collapse. Others are the local growers of organic produce and the breeders of heritage breed livestock. We have no membership list, no rules of order, no dues and no criteria for coming to our monthly meetings. We do follow a loose agenda to ensure that we get some work20accomplished but much of our time together is devoted to chit chat about current topics and sharing ideas.

One of our most successful endeavors has been our "101" classes. This is a series of free workshops devoted to helping people learn valuable skills from others. We have had classes in raising chickens, canning produce, cheese making, mushroom propagation, herbal medicine, knitting and many other subjects. The object is to make all of us less dependant and share skills that might otherwise be lost.

Recognizing that energy shortages are likely, we set up a panel of people already alternative sources of energy. This was remarkably well-attended and led to a day long event where folks opened their homes to people who wanted to see each system in operation. We saw underground homes, photovoltaic systems, solar heat collectors, wind powered homes and a couple of places that had been off-grid for years. The tour ended with a pot-luck soup and bread dinner.

We consider helping each other as a given. We have helped each other get in our winter wood supply, can an abundance of bulk purchased chicken and traded off tools, vehicles and equipment. When my husband scored some very inexpensive sap buckets, he bought enough for many other group members. When I found myself overwhelmed with peaches, three of us processed 50 quarts in an afternoon. A couple of us are really interested in wild foods. Together we gathered fox grapes and put up 20 gallons of juice, harvested and dried over 100 pounds of wild mushrooms and canned 35 quarts of wild applesauce. We are still eating the fiddleheads we froze last May. Out latest project is to take a firearms safety course together.

When a major ice storm left our town without power for over a week, we saw an opportunity to check our preparedness level and hone our skills. Many of us were also able to provide help and provisions to those who were less prepared including the elderly in our small town.

We still have work to do. We realize that we are not as well prepared for medical emergencies as we would wish so some members are researching becoming EMTs and First Responders for our local volunteer fire department. We also see the wisdom in becoming more involved in our town government.


I know this is not the kind of preparedness one generally reads about on sites such as this but I think for many, this is the most realistic. Should the worst happen, we will be prepared to ride it out with friends and neighbors, bonded together with common purpose and presenting a united front. - Kathy Harrison

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Thursday January 29 2009

Three Letters Re: The Gray Man in the Coming Storm

Jim:

On Tuesday Jan. 27th, SurvivalBlog readers found 12 [follow-up] letters concerning the recent "Gray Man" letter. I believe the writer's of the majority of those letters need to go back and re-read the original Gray Man post. That post included several suggestions for "surviving" within an area of control of a repressive government. They included putting pro-government bumper stickers on your car, checking out pro-government library books, accepting with a smile the government ID chip, gladly taking and using a government credit card and thanking the government for doing a good job. These are not "Gray Man hide in plain sight" activities. These are all actions that actively support the government. These are all activities that say to your neighbors that you support the government and that you think it's actions are proper. Whatever your secretly held thoughts might be, your actions are what your children and friends will see and it may add to their own doubts about their yearnings for freedom.

Please consider, if you choose not to openly fight repression, at least choose to not support it. You don't need to quickly line up to get a chip or credit card. Don't get it until you feel you have no other choice in order to survive. You don't need to put a government bumper sticker on your car. If you are afraid to proclaim what you really believe, say nothing at all. Don't give support to your secretly held enemy. Simply ignore them in every way possible. At the least, by complying as slowly as possible, you will slow the government machine down.

Several of the 12 letters spoke about spies of WWII and how they engaged in activities to gain favor with the enemy, in order to gather information for the Resistance. One letter spoke about a soldier alone behind enemy lines, who did as much as he could to avoid detection and detention, in order to return to his own lines. These are not examples of so called "Gray men". They were soldiers doing an assigned job in order to defeat the enemy. The villagers who secretly fed the partisans during the War in Europe were not Gray Men displaying happy faces. They were patriots supporting the war behind the front lines. Any of them that were caught were summarily executed. The so called "Gray Man" of the original post would do nothing to cause his arrest or worse.

It is said that during the American War for Independence, about a third of the population of the colonies put their lives, their families, and treasure at risk to gain Freedom. A third were blackguards who supported the king, and a third just stayed home and hoped somebody else would do the right thing. I would hope that in the coming days, we Americans can do at least as well as our ancestors. I pray that, at the least, there be one Patriot for every miserable "Gray Man". - Jim in Ohio

 

Mr. Rawles:
This "Gray Man" mini-controversy has prompted me to weigh in on the matter. I am mildly surprised at the strong reactions to it, although I suppose I shouldn't be. To be frank, this is precisely the survival mindset as taught in military SERE schools. The younger, and more passionate among us are mildly amusing in their rants against it. I suppose they need to really scrub down your mission statement, as it were, before spouting off about such things. Is your goal the survival of your family, other retreat members, and yourself, or, are you out to fight against the outlaw gangs, UN troops, T-1,000 [Terminator]s, etc.

Yes we would love to do both, but obviously(?) depending on what happens, you may have to choose one or the other. In many scenarios, it may be necessary to hunker down and just survive the initial chain of events before even considering venturing out to right wrongs and slay evil-doers. So in theory, the Gray Man concept may be necessary to live to fight another day.

Would I submit to the indignities described or defiantly say hell no and go down in a blaze of glory? The timing of your defiance would certainly seem to be critical. If you waited too late and found yourself in a corner and had to submit to it, hopefully you would be able to escape at some point and head for the hills. If you saw it coming in time enough to escape and join with other like-minded individuals, then you may be in a position to resist.

There are so many variables here, to sit and argue over such things is pointless. You may be on reconnaissance from your retreat and get policed up in a sweep and in end up in a camp. You may have to become the Gray Man to facilitate your escape.

The world is not so black and white. In unconventional warfare, being the Gray Man aptly describes many skill sets necessary to fight a stronger opponent. You only need look at recent history to understand how this works. You can get on-line and frontal assault the machine gun nest, or you can wait till they are marching back to camp and ambush them.

Seems kinda obvious to me, but it's gonna take more then pure hearts, raw courage, and hard work to defeat your enemies. It may also take swallowing your pride, being beaten and humiliated, and biding your time for when you strike back. If you are captured and maintain this overtly defiant attitude, likely as not you will be shot outright, and do no one any good.

So I think each man needs to do some soul-searching here. Are you really doing what's best to accomplish your goals, or is this your pride, or ego talking? Semper Fi, - Diz

 

Dear Jim,
After following the "Gray Man" debate, I have to say that I agree that the; "They can kill me, but I'll die a free man." position sounds great, but is a prime example of testosterone toxicity. However, that still leaves the issue of capitulation vs. effective resistance. The problem being that no one to date has presented any compelling suggestions as to how an effective resistance can be mounted. Anyone who tries to start is with the idea of becoming a rallying point, winds up cheered, jailed and forgotten; anyone who has a the right strategy seems to be silent. My problem is that we all know and understand the problem; there is no real need to keep chewing on it.

E-mail, Forums, Blogs, Broadsheets, Shortwave radio shows; [is just] talk, talk, talk. The Tyrants are perfectly content to let us rant, and rave, and even spout the truth about how they are enslaving us all. Just so long as we comply with each and every edict, and with each one, we are lead inexorably, to accept ever heavier chains.

What we need is some ideas on effective resistance; solutions to the problems of creeping enslavement? Please don’t tell me, or anyone that “dying a free man” is useless, unless you can tell me also what else I might do, besides surrender.

Who then will provide us with solutions? Who can answer the question: How do you effectively resist the Tyrants without going to prison, or getting killed? Political action is a waste of time, "We the People" are ignored. I admit that I am not smart enough to know the answer. Where is our V, our Danneskjöld? Without such a leader, or without such ideas, I see only the ability to throw more bodies in front of the Juggernaut, until it is starved for a lack of slaves, and victims.

So my question is not; "Who is John Galt?, but rather " John Galt; Where are you?"

Happy Trails - Fanderal

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Tuesday January 27 2009

The Weakest Link, by M.M.

I would like to address a concept that is a common thread in our discussions and our thoughts as people who emphasize characteristics that strengthen our individual freedoms while trying to ensure our families’ safe pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.

It’s the concept of the weakest link; and as I recently discovered, it has a nasty habit of exposing itself at the most inopportune times. Most of you know of which I speak. Every system, every group, every method boasts the greatness of its strength only to the degree that its weakest part can sustain a force great enough to enable the entire endeavor, right?
I have been been a survival-minded person for the greater part of two decades plus; military background and time spent in roles and responsibilities that most would choose not to engage. My experience dictated that OPSEC and "cover" become a lifestyle – not just a hobby. I prided myself on my ability to produce results without discovery; my commitment to educate my family/children and those around me to facilitate my own heightened sense of situational awareness; my ability to be always ready for whatever might come my way and the impending confidence that I would always have the upper hand.

That was until two years ago, when my oldest son at age 22 was killed serving his country, I wasn’t prepared for the sense of loss and ultimately what it would do to my fortress mentality. In the two year period since his death, I’ve found myself slipping, missing important details, my mind wandering as I grieve his death and deal with the absence that now occupies my life. My wife responded even worse than I did. Her grief has caused her to go through changes that none of us could’ve ever imagined even five years ago. This experience, unfortunately has contributed to our separation from each other. In an effort to try and work through this new territory, I occasionally leave my mountain home to take our two youngest children to visit her as often as I can. It was during one of these visits that the magnitude of our slackness showed its ugly head.

To make along story short, all of my years of preparation and subsequent months of sloth came to a head when my weakest link revealed itself, quite by surprise as I was sleeping soundly in my wife’s condo on the beach. (We recently separated, she recently moved out) while my 8 year old son was playing in the living room. There was a knock on the door. I was asleep so my son looks through the peephole to see who it was, recognizing the person and thinking he was friendly, my son unlocks and opens the door (did I mention that I was asleep?). The ensuing conversation went something like this:

Uninvited Visitor: "Hi, what are you doing?"

My Son: "Playing with toys, wanna come in and play too?"

Uninvited Visitor: "Where is your mom?"

My Son: "She is at work."

Uninvited Visitor: "Who is watching you?"

My Son: "My dad. He is in the bedroom sleeping,"

Uninvited Visitor: "No, I gotta go!"

Then he went running down the hall, down the stairs and exited the building. My son closed the door and came to wake me up. He proceeded to brief me on the situation and expressed his curiosity as to what just happened. It only took me a moment to assess and begin damage control to ensure no further harm would occur.

Some details on the situation: I was a t a condo on the beach, visiting separated wife, condo is supposed to be secure ("Yeah, right.") card readers, locks, hardened dead bolts, CCTV, front desk person – our visitor bypassed all of that to get to the front door. It was a Tuesday morning around 1000 – my wife was at work – this person would have known that – why, she went out on a date with him six months ago – she dumped him, he’s been reported stalking her every since; she tells me this after the incident even reporting that he sometimes sits in the parking garage in a dark corner to watch her. Weird, I know. His intention, IMHO, was to do some harm, I don’t believe this was in any way a normal, safe type of visit. He had obtained at least permission from front desk person to enter using his obvious familiarity to gain cooperation, and had somehow obtained an extra card key to get past elevator and/or stairwell, possibly (IMHO) possessing a key to the door, which I’m convinced he would have used if we weren’t there. An observation; I’ve known for years that predators prey on those who are caught up in chaos, they seem drawn to it. I digress…

Scarier, did I mention I was asleep at the time! I can’t tell you how many times this has played over in my mind – how close we came to a possible fatal error. I have scripted my kids ad nauseam on proper protocol for identifying and answering doors – apparently nobody told my youngest son that this person was no longer a "friendly", but had since become an enemy – failure to communicate started the problems.

Thank the good Lord in heaven that said person was afraid of my presence enough to be deterred – he had the right to be by the way (I can assure you this won’t happen again – Lord Willing). All those years of doing what I did – and this happens – yikes! Apparently my pride or maybe just my sloth created an opportunity for this situation to develop.

I am actually very happy in retrospect that this happened. It shook me out of my funk and has since challenged me to step it up and get back to my ‘normal’ situational awareness that I lived with and became comfortable with for so many years. I write this to remind you good folks out there to check and recheck – exercise, practice, communicate, analyze – whatever it takes – do your best to discover your weakest links and harden them the best that you can. Try to be creative, sometimes it’s the things that you can’t imagine that get you – if you have children, engage them in discussions that help you determine and reveal weaknesses without scaring them to death; and don’t be afraid of instructing them in ways that will help you maintain your OPSEC. The truth is these things can be fatal – learn from my mistake. Humbly submitted. - M.M.

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Sunday January 25 2009

Letter Re: Way Points for G.O.O.D. Routes?

Jim:

The gentleman that wrote to say that he wants to rent his property out for bugout situations should read the [first hand] observations posted on [the aftermath of Hurricane] Katrina. [This was written by someone that sheltered dozens of people]: Thoughts On Disaster Survival. Regards, - Bill N.

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Saturday January 24 2009

Letter Re: Way Points for G.O.O.D. Routes?

James,

I finally have my bugout location found and purchased. Plan to start building a small home there later this year. Cabin first, house will wait till I see how the economy runs. On the east coast, as I have family here and really don't want to leave this area. I am outside a small town, on a dirt road off a local rural highway. I have near nine acres of woods and one acre of pasture (garden and orchard) space. One acre of the land is separated from the rest by a four foot wide surface creek. It has a nice cleared area I plan to develop into a picnic area at the creek. The majority of the land is heavily wooded.

I am considering offering the space as an overnight primitive camping stop for bugout travelers. One night to one week maximum. You know, rest up and recoup or reunite with stragglers while en route. Good idea or no?

How should I let fellow survivalists know about the location? I would have to meet traveler in some nearby town to get to know before showing them the location, for personal security.

Or should I hole up on my land and let everyone else fend for themselves? Your thoughts are appreciated, either as an e-mail or a post on your blog. Thanks, - S. in Alabama

JWR Replies: I can foresee a few potential problems with your plan:

First: Vetting someone for suitability and trustworthiness for such an arrangement is time consuming. Unless you could properly vet someone before they were told the exact location of your retreat, then it would be a huge OPSEC risk. Worst case: Your retreat ends up on some outlaw motorcycle gang's "shopping list."

Second: If anyone asks if they can cache supplies at your retreat, there could be legal implications, especially if they are less than honest about what they are burying on your property. (I've heard a couple of horror stories from consulting clients about the antics of some their erstwhile "friends" that turned out to be flakes or criminals.)

Third: In times of Deep Drama, it might be difficult to persuade "stay-overs" to abide by their contractual obligation to move on. (I can just hear the whining: "But I'm sick with the flu". or, "But my wife has a badly sprained ankle and can't walk...", or, "I'm not leaving until my brother arrives. We're supposed to meet-up here.")

Fourth: "Signing-up" a large number of stay-overs is an egregious violation of the "need to know" rule. Each person that is told about the retreat location represents one more person that could get careless and blather or boast of it to friends. Repeat that risk 20 or 30 rimes, and sure enough, on TEOTWAWKI+ 1 or TEOTWAWKI+2 you'll wake up in the morning to find that a hundred tents have sprouted in your pasture, most of which will be occupied by newcomers that you know nothing about. (This factor, BTW, is why The Memsahib and I have taken some extreme measures in guarding the location of our year-round retreat.)

In summation, I think that such an arrangement is more trouble than it is worth. To do it right would requite plenty of vetting. And if you are going to that much trouble, then it might as well be to approve someone that will be a full-fledged member of your retreat group.

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Wednesday January 21 2009

Letter Re: Recommendation for the Movie "Defiance"

Hello Mr Rawles,

Just a quick comment on the new movie that's out called "Defiance". It is rated R since it has killing and some cursing but is based on a true story about three Jewish brothers [named Bielski] who lived in Byelorussia at the start of WWII when the Germans [and their Quisling allies] began to round up and murder entire villages and communities of Jews. They decided to live in the woods that they knew so well and escape and resist the Germans...They met others who had escaped to the woods to hide and began to pool their talents and pick off soldiers and arm themselves and live off the land and ended up living in the woods on the run for over two years and ended up over 1,200 strong. Their will to survive and methods of survival against well armed troops was incredible. They started out with a revolver and four cartridges and began to accumulate different types of weapons to fight back. Some scenes show them trying to defend themselves with old bolt actions against machine guns till eventually they began to use all [the small arms] that the Germans had available, as well. The movie excelled in contrasting the different mindsets that were common among the people of the day that caused many to sit idly by and be rounded up or shot on sight and many to be able to run and hide and fight. I think many SurvivalBlog readers would want to see this movie and would marvel at what humans are capable of--both positively and negatively. Thanks, - Ross

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Saturday January 17 2009

Two Letters Re: The Thin Blue Line

Jim:

On the topic of SHTF scenarios like [the Post-Rodney King Verdict riots in] Los Angeles and Hurricane Katrina, YouTube has many videos detailing this that your readers might find are worth revisiting. It's one thing to talk about it, another to actually see it all again:

Los Angeles Riots, Looting, and a Gunfight in Koreatown

LA Riots - Korean Store Owners Prepare for Showdown

Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, 08/28/2005 Massive Evacuation

Hurricane Katrina Looters, A Few of Them Were Police Officers

After Hurricane Katrina, Desperation at the Convention Center

Regards, - The Survivalist

 

James,
I remain very skeptical regarding the police, as representatives of the state, in "SHTF" situations. New Orleans is the most obvious example. But consider: the state disarms you, and then confiscates a portion of your wages to create a bureaucracy to protect you. When that's not enough the state "creates" crimes - whether it's the "war on drugs" or something as simple as banning cell phones in cars - in order to sustain it's bureaucracy. Like any other agency of the state, this becomes a self-perpetuating dynamic.

Secondly, agents of the state, in a true crisis situation, will have limited information. Otherwise law abiding citizens are easily painted as potential threats through the chain of command. History provides plentiful examples of what happens when those agents of the state -otherwise good people- meet up with the civilian populace during times of crisis. Clearly history is not on the side of law enforcement making sound, independent decisions in these cases. Further, as New Orleans demonstrates, law enforcement personnel can easily be deployed from their own back yard to other areas of the country where they do not have roots, family or ties to the community. There are also cultural differences (in the example of New Orleans: How Chicago police may feel about citizen-owned firearms) that amplify and exacerbate the problem.

Volumes have been written about this subject. But I would encourage anyone looking to the state for protection of their individual rights during a crisis situation to study history - and I am not speaking about ancient history or extreme examples such as Stalin or Mao. Simply study American history. - Steven

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Letter Re: Colonial New England Community Blockhouses as a Historic Precedent

Hello Jim,

Mosby's description of defense tactics was common all along the frontier in the 18th Century including western Pennsylvania. As defense against indian raids, a small blockhouse was built on a farm in a central location. A spring [or shallow well] for water was a necessity. When news of local raids spread, people would gather as many possessions as possible and head to the blockhouse for the common defense. This is an instance where much can be learned from history. While these small forts where rarely overrun, the abandoned farms were wide open to burning and pillage. Destruction of property, livestock and crops were the norm and could cause food shortages. Also, often the danger of raids would last for months at a time and while forted up this made it difficult to tend to any crops and livestock not destroyed. Groups of people would travel to abandoned farms for short periods to try to work the land as much as possible. Some providing security while others worked. What goes around comes around but I hope things never get this bad again. - Jeff in Ohio

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Thursday January 15 2009

Hurricane Lessons Learned and Some Advice on Getting Prepared, by Ken on the Gulf Coast


Sometimes it is not an option to relocate so you have to get prepared wherever you are located. I am located on the Gulf Coast 60 short miles from New Orleans, Louisiana. We were ground zero for Hurricane Katrina, so I have a first hand experience of what can happen I will describe some things that I did right and some things that I did wrong.

We were unable to relocate to a place like Idaho as we had elderly parents who could not and probably would not relocate to a more appropriate survival area.

My mother was born in 1930 the daughter of a sharecropper in the Louisiana delta. They lived a survivor lifestyle as a matter of everyday life. She instilled in me a fear of having absolutely nothing. Until her
death in 2007 she refused to run a dishwasher or air conditioner. She could not bring herself to waste electricity, water, or anything for that matter. She would not waste anything.

Although not as dedicated to thrift as my mother, I did inherit her fear of hunger, and vulnerability to the unexpected. She died in fear of depression era conditions returning. When she died I lost a valuable
source of survival information.

Because of my mother's influence, the day after Hurricane Katrina, we were one out of 75,000 or so who had lights and running water 36 hours after the storm. The following is what most people did wrong:

A lot of people had generators, the problem was that they only had a couple of cans of gas. So they were all without power in less than 24 hrs. All of the gas stations were disabled. No gas means no
power!

Nobody had enough food, they recommend three days, it took almost three days just to get the roads clear.

No guns! I had friends who did not "believe in guns" that ended up borrowing some weapons.

No dogs! Without dogs, you have no warning of intruders. Alarm systems don't work after the batteries are dead.

The following is what I did right:

I had a natural gas generator installed. I was up and running less than 36 hours of the storm. It was also a mistake to select natural gas as a fuel source. Upturned trees broke gas lines all over the region, it was only blind luck that left me with gas pressure. A propane system would have been better.

I had drilled a water well. I was able to provide water pressure to my house, city water was out for weeks. I tied the system back to the house by a simple water hose going from a faucet on my pump to one on the house.

I had lights and water. Here is what I did wrong:

I evacuated the elderly mothers and dogs to an area 100+ miles north. Electricity was out over the entire state, my motor home generator powered my sisters house where I left our parents and dogs. I left the dogs at my bug out location before I returned to the disaster area.

Mistake #1: I sent my dogs elsewhere.


The other thing I was unprepared for were refugees. I call them refugees because they would have gone hungry without the food in my pantry and freezers. I was totally unprepared for the 16 families looking to me for food and direction.

Some other things I did wrong:

I did not have enough food. I fed a lot of people. In a real end of life as we know it scenario, I would have been forced to choose who I would have to turn away. It's one thing to take care of people when you know help is on the way, quite another when there is no help in sight.

Weapons: I loaned my old shotguns to all the people who did not believe in the private ownership of guns. When gangs of illegal aliens and welfare recipients' were roaming the streets, the folks who didn't believe in guns didn't hesitate to request assistance.

I did not have a fuel source independent of the grid.

The following are changes that I have made:

I now have a Bluebird Bus motor home. It has a huge fuel tank that I can use to run the house if the natural gas generator quits. It’s diesel generator can put out 12 kw for a long time.

I have a much larger store of food.

I have a photovoltaically-powered water supply.

I have a bug out vehicle that has a 1,200 to 1,500 mile range. It has a propane refrigerator. It has a water
system that can provide water pressure to my house.

I have dogs. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, thieves were cranking up lawn mowers and pushing them up next to running generators after the storm. They would then shut down the running generators and leave the running lawn mowers while they absconded with the generators. You cannot stay awake 24 hours a day. Dogs do not miss much if anything. I can’t recommend a breed of dog, but the following work for me: Miniature Schnauzers, Australian shepherds, Catahoula Curs. If you live in the south and have some land you cannot beat a Catahoula Cur. An Australian Sheppard is a close second for all climates.

I have ten acres and good soil, I am putting in a very large garden. However, I do not feel that I can overcome the huge welfare population we have here, If things get out of hand, I plan to bug out. I now have an RV that has a tremendous range. It has a propane refrigerator, and full facilities. I can literally live on the side of the road for weeks or months. It is equipped to pull a full-size 4WD with trailer. I have several bug out locations within four hours where I can evacuate to. When I leave I will have dogs, food, tools, and arms. I also have shortwave radios.

You have to develop a survival mentality, you have to add to your preparation everyday. Each trip to Wal-Mart is an opportunity to add to your supplies. The one thing I learned is that when the storm hits, its too late to think about being prepared. You have to think: if a disaster strikes, how long can you feed and protect your family? I add to my provisions every day.

Start to prepare now. Think: food, food, and more food, ammo, bandages, and unless you can go without sleep 24 hours a day don't forget the dogs!

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Wednesday January 14 2009

Letter Re: New "Defiance" Resistance Warfare Movie

Hi;
I have learned a great deal from your site and recommend it to my customers (I sell preparedness books).
There is a movie being released on January 16th called Defiance. You can go to the movie web site to get a several minute long previews.
This is a movie on the Polish Partisans, or resistance forces that fought against the Nazis in World War II. My dentist escaped from communist Poland and told me that her grandfather was a Partisan leader. I have done was research I could to learn about her grandfather and the resistance forces. Basically, as this movie will "teach", they moved great numbers of Jews into the forests and built underground houses, shops, entire villages. They conducted guerrilla warfare against the Germans while protecting the young and old from capture.

I have meant to contact you about this basic idea as a tie in to this scenario in your book. If people were to prepare positions in advance, build more permanent structures equipped with a small wood stove, well, septic, supplies, the odds of survival would drastically increase. But we can learn from what has already been done. And they did this with minimal weapons, and those, when available, were a few pistols and bolt action rifles. Compare this to what we have available and already in our hands today. Keep up the good work. - Don in Ohio

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Tuesday January 13 2009

Letter Re: Choosing Between Roughly Comparable Retreat Locations

Jim.
To follow up on your response E.G. in the southeast who has such good neighbors. This reminds me of the small town in Maine where I grew up. Back in the day[s of early pioneer settlement]. this community, like so many agricultural ones in the region, hosted homesteads that were spread out much like E.G.'s friends in the southeast. At the time, raids by indian parties were the norm as relations fluctuated between harmonious and deadly.

As it was more than obvious that a homestead family alone could never hope to hold out against a band of forty warriors bent on pillage, the community made provision for the common defense by picking a good piece of ground and building a blockhouse on it. This was stocked with arms, ammunition and provisions and maintained for the common defense and place of refuge. This system became the norm in the region and low and behold, the raids eventually stopped because the bands started bouncing off one block-housed community after another, and paying the price for it.

Jim's sage advice along this line is not only spot on (as always) but also has deep American roots; individual people who work their lives as sovereign individuals but who in times of danger come together to form a cohesive group capable of protecting the whole...and having the pre-positioned goods and SOPs in place to make it happen.- Mosby

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Sunday January 11 2009

Letter Re: Choosing Between Roughly Comparable Retreat Locations

Dear Jim,
Thank you for the web site, it has been a great source of info. I first read your novel ["Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse"] in the 4th quarter of 1999. It was very helpful for preparedness for Y2K. I read it again 1st quarter 2008 and am now re-reading with the high lighter and pen. For the folks who have not read your book, they are missing one of the best preparedness manuals out there.

I have never been a Boy Scout, but my personal creed has always been to be prepared. If you have any skills at all, then there is nothing worse then being in a situation and not having the "stuff" to resolve your problem. If you are mechanical, then you need to have some basic tools with you, etc. etc. People who do not know how to use something don't see the need to have it. It's like caring a gun, people think it's extreme or crazy to carry it, but I ask do they have a cell phone? Why? because they may "need" it, well better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it. Pretty basic stuff huh?

After reading your novel, I realized how unprepared I and my family were, as well as how vulnerable we were in the location we lived. I was born and raised in the Northeast.

A few years ago, we moved to the Southeast, to the "area" you recommended to another blog reader last month as one of the places to go to this side of the Mississippi if you couldn't go further West.

Prior to moving, compared to my neighbors and guys at church, I would have been labeled pretty handy, can fix and paint cars, gas and arc weld, build, etc. After getting to know the boys down here, they all can do this stuff, most of the fellows from church have built their own homes, can do car repair, lots have restored cars and trucks, operate heavy equipment, etc.

My question is this, three of my best friends down here have very similar set-ups like mine. Private homes and land, 25 to 50 plus acres, all very keen on being prepared, lots of good guns, grub, etc. Three of the four have read your book, and the one who has not has been well briefed.

Our location to each other is about two miles apart from one another, each. We are not on the same country road, but the first guy is two miles to the next guy, then four miles to the next guy, etc. All of our homes are up on a hill, private, defendable, but all are wood-frame built homes. No brick or stone, dumb, dumb, dumb!!!

Each guy and his family could hold down the fort from a few trouble makers, but if a few pick up truck loads of the bad guys came at us the same time, it would be tougher, plus not any of us has large enough families to handle security patrols and the like.

If it were only me in a good spot or one of the other guy's had a great set up, it would be easy, we all just hunker down here or there, but with four great retreats, and like minded people, what is a guy to do with these options?

I know I have not covered all the other possibilities, like heat, water, fuel, wood, food, but they are all pretty equal, like I mentioned earlier, these guy's are pretty handy, so they all have a lot of "stuff".
I would like to hear your opinion or the opinions of others.

OBTW, we have done business with some of your sponsors and I bought the "Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course. This is a "must have", even for us people who think that we know a bunch!
Thank you, - E.G.

JWR Replies: I think that you should plan to co-locate at a property that has a shallow well (that can be hand-pumped), and that is the most defendable. (Advantageous terrain, clear fields of fire, and so forth.) As I often tell my consulting clients, "Just think medieval": If you were going to pick a particular parcel of land--not pick an existing house, based on its attributes--then where, in your darkest imaginings, would you someday build a castle? That, then, is the property you should pick.

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Saturday January 10 2009

Letter Re: The SurvivalistBooks.com Groups Match-Up Page is Back On-Line

Hi James!
Happy New Year and a belated Merry Christmas! I've just returned from a 'holiday' working on my retreat and found that over the holiday break my e-mail server fell over.
I have added those messages I could recover to my Groups Listing page - but I know I have lost at least a couple of postings .

As a significant number of people access this page [from the link at the Finding Like-Minded People in Your Area page] at your site, [I'd like to] explain what has happened and ask anyone who doesn't see their listing to resend it to me. Thanks, - John @ Survivalistbooks.com

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Friday January 9 2009

A Farmer's Perspective on Combating Crime in South Africa, by Joe Ordinary Voortrekker

Although we in South Africa do not live in a TEOTWAWKI situation, we routinely have to deal with constant attempts to appropriate life, possessions, and freedom that could be good training for a TEOTWAWKI situation. The following are some real life insights as to what and how we handle these regular attempts at property liberation on our homesteads and surrounds.

We are fortunate to live well outside of South Africa’s largest city, our community is isolated and not visible from any main road. To a point where people that live in nearby areas do not know where our entry road is, and have to be given detailed instructions on how to get to our community. (I’ve even had a 20 year resident of an adjacent area tell me outright that I’m lying and no such road/area exists. What a great place to be!) There are a total of 24 families in our area, not all participate in the community [security effort] and only one other family has a preparedness mindset. Almost every member of the community is very private and the idea of personal privacy and property rights is taken very seriously. Of the 24 families there are nine that take an active role in protecting the community totaling 15 men. Our community is situated in a blind valley with a single very defendable entrance, there are however two additional tracks that can be used for either a north or south escape route if you know where to find them.

Most of our threats consist of one or more of the following.(In no particular order) Stock theft, cable theft, fencing or dropper [(cattle chute)] theft, house breaking, armed home invasions, rape and other crimes. There is also a marked increase in produce theft (directly from fields) in recent months.

What also needs to be understood is that in the rural areas there are specific crime ‘seasons’. Outright you can peg the December/January and Easter periods as a very high probability of stock theft, then the last two weeks in any month with increases in housebreaking and implement/equipment theft. Our analysis of this suggests that people are looking for meat in December/January and April for family [summer and fall] feasts. And at month end they are looking for a bit of cash to tide them over till payday or they have just plain run out of cash and need more.

The number one livestock theft item is sheep, they are simple to lift onto ones shoulders and carry off without a sound (sheep make no noise at night if manhandled). Cattle are the next most frequent target. of theft. How this is achieved is the cattle are often liberated early evening (20h00 – 21h00) and a team of thieves will work as follows. A Cutter will walk ahead and cut any fencing about 100m in front of the cattle, then three drivers will drive the cattle along the chosen route, typically the hocks are slashed so that the cattle cannot run, they are then prodded with sharp sticks or bicycle spokes in the correct direction. The animals are generally butchered in the veld and only choice portions are taken, or they are herded directly to a township/village for slaughter. They are often herded over 20 or 30 km in one night. Making track and trace is sometimes extremely difficult. The sad thing about this is that if you do recover your animals before they slaughter them, the animals need to be put down anyway. We have even had a situation where large ‘steaks’ were cut out of living cattle and they were left to be found in the morning. Goats and Pigs are very low down on the list as they will vocally announce their displeasure at being manhandled. This PDF describes another very well known way of transporting stolen stock long distances.

With regards to implements and equipment theft. Very high on the list are hand tools, power tools, generators, water pumps, borehole pumps, and electric gate motors--in fact anything that can be pawned or sold off quickly. A new phenomenon that has recently reared its head is that people are stealing metal gates and droppers, we have yet to catch one in the act, however we believe it’s for the scrap metal market. New fencing is also quick to go, especially weld mesh and Bonnox-type fencing. As it’s easy to roll up and cart away, and has a quick resale value on the open market if priced right.
To counteract the effects of crime in our area we have established for a number of years now a very effective farm watch system that includes the following. (I will cover each point separately to provide insight into the logic and tactics):

Highly visible motorised patrols:
The main point of these is to provide a “show of force” and it is mainly used as a deterrent during low crime times. The use of vehicle mounted Search/spot lights is heavily employed. One of the largest drawbacks is that ‘they’ can see you coming and a) either scamper off to find a quieter area to harass, or b) just drop into the grass that is typically 1 metre (3 feet) high, and then effectively become invisible. Another drawback is that once the patrol ends this can be easily be seen, due to a lack of lights sweeping the roads and properties.

Foot patrols: These are undertaken specifically during times of harassment, or in peak crime times. Foot patrols generally consist of two separate patrols of minimum three individuals each, contact via radio is available but only used as and when required. A preset route is followed, there are a total of nine routes, typically only four are covered by both patrols in an evening. Each route has specific LP/OPs developed as well as caches of food/water and medical [supplies] on the longer routes. Some routes are never more than about 300 - 500 meters from a lot of the homesteads and others can take one over two kilometers from the nearest homestead.

LP/OPs: Generally performed on off nights where ‘nothing is going on’. Members will walk out onto their own properties and take up specific LP/OP to generally [listen and] observe. This is often tied in with the final checks on animals, stores and stables. The interesting thing is you are able to track the movement of an individual(s) from well over two kilometres away, just by listening to the night sounds of animals. Dogs, Plovers, Geese, Guinea Fowl, and peacocks, frogs/toads, and others can all give an indication as to what is happening in the area. We have got to a point where just by listening to the sounds of the local critters, both wild and domestic, we are able to make a good judgment call if a impromptu patrol needs to rustled up. Most evenings we can track the return of staff members and labourers as they walk back from the local shebeens.

Contact Routes:
These are predefined routes that each farmer will take when a contact is established. This has worked very well for us on a number of occasions leading to the arrest of six individuals and the peppering of at least three that have escaped, with bird shot liberally inserted into their Gluteus maximus. The adage in our area is not to have someone die on your property, rather wound [them] and let them spread the word. It the best advertising you can get for a peaceful nights rest. They also cannot go to a hospital as this raises questions. We have heard via the grapevine of one individual that had a friend digging around in his butt with a piece of bent piece of wire to try extricate shot. Somehow I don’t think he is coming back. [JWR Adds: Things are different here in the oh-so litigious US, where wounding a miscreant is an invitation to a huge civil lawsuit. I advise American, Canadian and British SurvivalBlog readers: Don't pull the trigger unless your life is immediately threatened.]

Basically there are two types of contact:

1) Farm based. When there is an attack on a particular farm then the alarm is raised via, land line, cell phone, radio or audible sirens. Information is generally given to wives for relay, as husbands prepare, as to what portion of the farmstead is threatened. A ring is established around the farm with selected individuals providing direct support at the farmstead, once the farmstead is cleared then the ring closes along predefined routes. BTW, it is vitally important that the outer ring is maintained, as often a lot more is seen from the ring than from the farmstead. In addition all lights on all farms get turned off, specifically to assist the guys with Night Vision, but we have found that those that don’t, can also see better without distracting ambient light sources. Lastly, the explicit rule is that if it’s your farm / livestock under attack then you are not to leave the house! There is no need for a hostage situation or to allow for a penetration of your family's security, or God forbid a friendly fire incident. That is why you have neighbours.

2) Infrastructure based: Typically this is cable theft, we are very proud of the fact that we are one of the few rural areas in South Africa that has had no interruption of our telecoms service in well over 18 months. We have taken the initiative to install alarms on our lines that activate as soon as there is a voltage drop. ([Caused by a] cut line) This triggers a response where farmers scramble to cover specific points. The amazing thing is how fast these cable thieves can move. They cut and drag 150-200 metres of 50-pair cable well over 500 meters in a matter minutes. It took us a while to get our attack honed, but now we have a 100% strike rate and no more cable theft.

Most patrol members are armed with Shotguns and occasionally with a sidearm, a 2-way radio, torch, Night Vision if they have the gear, and a small first aid kit is carried by one member. A handful of heavy duty cable ties [for use as handcuffs are also carried. Each member is also at liberty to equip themselves with what they feel is necessary. What we find is that new members tend to go all out on kit, and it only takes about two weeks for them to start reducing the amount of glory kit they carry to the minimum. (We actually have a pool bet going on the number of patrols walked with full kit, we always do the two longest for them on the trot. Hey, we need some fun.)

Some additional information, many thieves will plan their attacks long in advance with scouting and intel well sourced, either via the local labourer population or via direct observation. One of the most common and disturbing warning signs that you will get, is that dogs are being poisoned in the area. Depending on the poison used, it will generally be a fast acting (in a matter of minutes) the most common poison is Aldicarb or Temik a restricted use agricultural pesticide. Luckily we have not had any incidents in our area, but all around us there are reports of multi