Odds ‘n Sods:

Upon hearing that I live in bear county, new acquaintances and distant relatives often ask me: “Do you carry pepper spray?” My answer: No, I carry lead spray. The fact is that .45 ACP beats .10 Capsicum.

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A reminder that another Sustainable Preparedness Expo will be held on September 30, 2012 in Spokane, Washington.

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H.L. sent this potential preview of the disintegration of America’s cities: Gangs of Aleppo: The Arab Spring succumbs to post-state violence

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I noticed that CampingSurvival.com has added Future Essentials Long Grain White Rice to their line. This rice is packed in #10 cans with O2 absorbers and it has a great 15 year shelf life.

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John Whitehead Interviews Brandon Raub. Raub is a former Marine who was recently arrested and put under “psychiatric hold” in Virginia because of some controversial Facebook posts wherein he quoted some odd song lyrics and mentioned the need for “revolution.” Learn from his mistakes: Avoid using social media and don’t talk with the police. If you have contact with any law enforcement officer in any capacity, be ready to exercise your 5th Amendment right to remain silent. Simply say, “Respectfully, on the advice of my attorney, I am exercising my Constitutional right guaranteed by the 5th Amendment to remain silent. Please address your questions to my attorney.” Then say NOTHING else. If pressed, just repeat that phrase, as needed.

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 42 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.)Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 42 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Getting Real About Unarmed Combat, by R.G.

Before I get to my take on unarmed combat, I want to make a few points:

First, if you are totally unarmed at any time before it hits the fan, and especially after, you are not taking survival, or life seriously; and you are probably already screwed because your enemies will not be unarmed.

Second, the last I checked this isn’t “the middle weight champion of the world blog”, it is “SurvivalBlog” which should be a real clue as to what you look for in an unarmed combat skill set.

Third, I readily admit I have never killed a person in unarmed combat and welcome input from anyone who has concerning flaws in my reasoning or conclusions; preferably someone who has killed more than one person so his comments are drawn from actual experiences.  Anyone can get lucky once.

Fourth, I am using terminology to accurately describe what I am trying to communicate, i.e. unarmed combat instead of martial arts, for reasons which will be made clear.
I have been a disciple of unarmed combat for over 30 years and have developed a number of principles and rules which I believe are important to develop in your training, and practice in any situation which could be dangerous at any time before a major disruption of civilization, and vital to survival after a disruption.  Some of them I learned from other sources and I have attempted to credit the author when I can remember where I learned it.

  1. “When two tigers fight, one of them is badly injured and the other one dies.”  This is the mindset you must have at all times.  One of Gichin Funakoshi’s axioms is “A true karateka is never easily drawn into a fight.”  Any confrontation can escalate to a life or death, survival, situation.  Bluntly, if it is not worth dying for, it is not worth fighting for.  As a consequence you must develop an attitude meant to defuse any situation which could escalate to a physical altercation, knowing the possible outcome could be death for someone.  Conversely, if it is worth fighting for be willing to die because your enemy may have already made that decision and you will have to kill him to survive.  Before TEOTWAWKI there will be some legal authority to which you will be forced to give justification for your actions even if death is not the result.  Remember this when someone is not sufficiently apologetic when he bumps into you.  If you begin the escalation and he ends up dying you will probably be charged with at least manslaughter; and probably convicted.  After TEOTWAWKI, there will be many more instances where the situation is a matter of living or dying, but the principle is the same.  And, the consequences if you suffer physical injury can be dire if proper medical treatment is delayed or not available. 
  2. If no one dies it is not fighting.  This should be self-evident and self-explanatory.   I don’t care what it is called and how brutal it may appear, it is not fighting.  You fight to survive and your training-physical, mental, psychological, and your techniques-must reflect that.  If you are not ready in all ways to fight and accept the consequences, and you can, run like hell.  You have to be alive to be embarrassed.  
  3. If it has any rules it is not fighting.  This includes belts, weight classes, points, trophies, rounds, protective equipment, referees, and especially forbidden techniques or targets.  See rule 2.
  4. There is no such thing as a fair fight.  If you survive it was fair.  Victors right history.  And, give testimony to the authorities.  If you don’t survive the question of fairness is irrelevant.
  5. Your enemy, not your opponent in a match, will be bigger, stronger, and meaner than you; and there will probably be more than one of them.  You shake hands with an opponent when the altercation is over, you don’t shake hands with a corpse; and an enemy wants to kill you.  If not, they wouldn’t attack you unless extremely desperate, which will be covered later.  You will not have any idea of what his true intentions are.  Your main advantage is that very few of them are willing to die for what they want.  If you are, and willing and able to use techniques capable of inflicting major damage or death quickly your odds of survival greatly improve.  Remember this when three strangers in hoodies and gang clothes appear out of the shadows and walk purposefully toward you in a dark deserted parking lot.  While you are rendering one unconscious with a choke hold another could be carving up you or your wife and children.
  6. If a fight lasts longer than 30 seconds you will lose.  The time limit is not hard and fast, but the goal is to end it as quickly as possible.  The reasons are in rule 5.  Your goal is not to control your enemy as with an arm bar, but to destroy his ability to do you harm as with an upward heel palm to the nose.  There are exceptional people, such as the Gracies, who may be able to defeat someone, or a group, in a long bout; but I am not one of them and 99% of preppers are like me.  Training must be geared toward the weaker members of your group having the skills to defeat a stronger enemy intent on killing.  What may work for an MMA contestant aged 25 and in great shape against someone else with the same characteristics is about useless for the average woman against a man, or someone like me on the downward side of 60.  I wouldn’t stand much of a chance in a ring against him, but know that I don’t have to lose in a fight.
  7. Kata is essential.  Before anyone blows up let me explain.  The literal definition of kata is form.  Unless you have an unlimited number of prisoners you can sacrifice while learning your skills, you can not learn effective techniques without them.  Bruce Lee had an expression that you must train the way you intend to fight.  Any motion has to be repeated correctly until it is intuitive; then practiced at full speed and force to be effective when needed.  That is kata.  A boxer or MMA contestant practicing a jab-cross-hook combination on a heavy bag is performing a kata.  To be intuitive it must be capable of being executed without conscious, analytical, thought.  If you have to think about it it’s too late.
  8. Sparring, anything not meeting the definition of fighting, has one main purpose, to teach you not to freeze when confronted or attacked so you will respond intuitively and correctly according to the rules of the bout.  Any sparring match will have forbidden targets and techniques.  Unfortunately those forbidden things are the very things best for keeping you alive in a fight.  All the good stuff is illegal.  Another weakness in many traditional martial arts sparring is what I call pulling your punches.  You train to tag your opponent, not destroy your enemy.  This is why few of the traditional martial arts did any sparring until late in the 20th century.  Sparring is essential for developing skills, but bears little in common with fighting.  And the more violent of the styles are useless for people of advanced age.  We don’t heal nearly as quickly as we did.  It is also why very few can compete after the age of 35. 
  9. Psycho trumps everything.  If it has hit the fan many, if not most, people will be quickly psychologically reduced to an animal state of mind.  Most animals have very little if any left brain, or rational thought process capabilities.  They operate solely on right brain, intuitive or emotional, processes.  Japanese has a word, mushin, which is loosely translated “no mind.”  This means you don’t think about it, you do it.  This is the right brain, and sometimes when it is in control you will feel you are looking at what you are doing as if someone else was in control of your body.  Bruce Lee talked about “it” doing the things he did because he didn’t have to think about doing them, they were just done.  The left brain imposes limits-morals, fear of injury, fear of punishment, fear of failure-on you, the right brain has no limits.  The right brain in control allows little old ladies to lift a car off a grandchild.  After it hits the fan many people will not be thinking rationally; and they will be the most dangerous.  And they won’t be mutant zombie biker gangs.  Most will be ordinary looking humans for whom the new reality is too much to take.  They will be unbelievably desperate, and if they want something they will try to take it even if it means attacking a larger person or group.  They can’t be controlled without physical harm to you if you try, and any injury you suffer during this period could prove to be fatal.
  10. Pain is a very unreliable ally.  What is debilitating to one person may be tolerable to another, a minor annoyance to a third, and not recognized as existing to someone in a rage or on drugs.  How much pressure to apply to a hold to create control without injury is a serious problem for law enforcement officers.  This is why there is almost always more than one officer assisting the primary officer in any situation.  The lone citizen doesn’t have the same type of excessive force restraint in a life threatening situation; or the luxury of help from armed trained personnel.  An attacker with a separated shoulder or dislocated elbow can’t use that arm whether he feels the pain or not. 

As to the specific style of unarmed combat I leave that up to each individual.  In spite of the claims there is no one-size fits all program.  Whatever works for you mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically is what is best for you.  However, there are some important considerations to be addressed without regard to which path you choose.

1.    More than half of all proficiency in unarmed combat is mental, or psychological. Beginning training is primarily physical, but the further you advance the mental portion
becomes paramount.  There are only so many ways to punch, and after a few thousand repetitions maintaining the discipline to perform each one properly can be a problem.No matter which system you are studying if it doesn’t discipline your mind, emotions, and spirit, half or more of your training is missing.  Being ready to die or kill is even more important than the movement you perform.  A well trained person is a dangerous weapon.  Without the mental training to understand this and the responsibility inherent in it you are no better than a wild animal, and a danger to society, not an asset.  Personally I have found most of the traditional Japanese schools are excellent at including this aspect of your training, but I am certain that they aren’t the only ones.  Any system which doesn’t, or touts how much of a bad*ss they can make you will probably get you in trouble with the authorities before it hits the fan, if it doesn’t get you dead.  Remember, there is always someone bigger, stronger, faster, and knows more no matter how good you may be.  And he may be armed.

2.    Sparring, anything not actual fighting, is a necessary but minor portion of any training. Systems which spend most of the time teaching sparring techniques and limitations will teach habits which won’t be as efficacious during a fight, especially if your enemy does not submit himself to those same limitations.  “Ikken Hisatsu” is a phrase emphasized in Shotokan karate.  It can be translated as to “kill with one blow.”  It has spiritual, psychological, and mental aspects as well as the obvious physical meaning to attack with the intent to destroy your enemy with each and every strike.  You may only get one. Sparring can only go so far in teaching this.

3.    An unfortunate fact of life is that we all get old, if we are fortunate.  Our physical strength and endurance decline as we age no matter how much we may try to maintain it.  We are not all 6’-2” well muscled 190 lb. 20-to-30 year old well-coordinated males.  Any system which puts an inordinate premium on physical strength and conditioning as the MMAs do is not suitable for anyone else.  As noted, your enemy will likely be larger and stronger than you are and your unarmed combat skills must be developed to negate these advantages.  It must also be skills which can be effective at almost any age.  Most of the early founders of martial arts disciplines were active well into their 80s.  The techniques I know do not require great physical strength to be effective.  Another Shotokan adage is “One can not know karate until after the age of 40.”  This is when physical strength begins to decline in most people.  The proper motions, correctly executed, applied to specific targets, with sufficient speed can be devastating to even the strongest individual.  This does not mean any 90 lb. granny could defeat Shaq, but this is not about contests, it is about getting real about survival.  
I know this will offend many people, but let’s get real about what we are all interested in, survival.  We spend many days determining what is vital to not only our own, but every member of our family or group’s survival. How many pounds of beans, how many bullets, which tools, what skills we need to ensure our best odds for survival.  We can easily be in a life or death situation nearly every day of our lives.  Being ready and trained for it will not only give us the best chance of survival if it occurs, but will hopefully keep us aware enough to avoid those situations when possible, best defense no be there; or prevent the normal vicissitudes, the jerk who cuts you off, from becoming one.  Another Shotokan adage is “To be victorious in 100 fights is not the ultimate goal; not fighting is the outcome to be desired.”  Real fighting, killing, is the last resort for survival and should never be contemplated as in any other way.  I’ll close with another adage I think I learned from Jeff Cooper, “You don’t shoot to kill, you shoot to survive.”

Letter Re: 1,000 Bottles of Water on the Roof

JWR,
I’m a big fan of the site. You have very smart contributors. I learn a lot. What I’d like to add to the “1,000 Bottles of Water on the Roof, by James C.” post is a simple suggestion:. If you are concerned about water purification, storage, etc. and you’ve fiddled with the thought of brewing your own beer, I would humbly suggest that there are many ways that this hobby can kill two birds with one stone.
 
If you are set up to brew your own beer you will also have the following advantages:
 
1.       You can store your own glass and PET carboys – these are a necessity for home brewing and usually come in 5-gallon sizes (though 1, 3 and 6 gallon are available). You can also buy 6 gallon sealable food grade buckets. All of these are relatively inexpensive and give you good storage capacity.
 
2.       If you brew at home, you will quickly learn that sanitizing your gear is the most important thing you can do. To achieve this, you can buy Idophor solution and add a capful to your filled-up carboy or bucket to completely sanitize the surface in less than five minutes. You can reuse the solution if need be, just be sure not to consume any portion of it. Dump it out before you put your potable water in.
 
3.       To make sure your brew doesn’t boil over – you would likely have a 5 gallon stock pot. This is also good for boiling water before storage. One recommendation is, if you begin to homebrew, get a dedicated 5 gallon pot. Don’t cook your meals in it and then brew your beer in it.
 
4.       Unless you rack your beer into a keg, you will have to bottle it – this involves the bottles themselves, caps or corks and a capper or corker device. All good for storing, moving and giving away water. Since even beer in brown bottles can go bad from the sunlight (“skunking”), it would likely let enough UV rays in to perform James’ SODIS (brilliant idea by the way – simple and just brilliant). Just be sure to sanitize both bottles and caps with the Idophor solution mentioned above.
 
5.       The beer itself is not without value – and not just for getting loaded while the world ends! Think “Middle Ages” – water quality was so poor back then that turning water into beer or wine was often the only way you could safely drink it. I’m not trying to offend anyone’s sensibilities toward alcohol consumption, and I’m not suggesting giving your four year old a beer to drink in hard times. But if it gets bad enough, really bad enough, will you spurn that case of PBR or wine in your cellar?
 
I didn’t set out to combine home brewing and water prepping, but I realized after the fact how much easier I sleep having all of this great equipment. It doesn’t even cost that much money and there are a ton of local and online homebrew stores (Northerbrewer.com is my favorite). You can also get propane burners, plastic tubing, small and large siphons; all very useful stuff.
 
“Brew. Ferment. Drink. Repeat!”
 
Best, – John in Pennsylvania

Letter Re: Lentils: The Super Food of the Prepper

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I’m a fan of lentils from way back.  Some things I didn’t see in the article and the follow-up letters are:

1. Lentils can indeed produce intestinal gas like beans or most other legumes. However this can be significantly reduced by introducing a single peeled whole carrot into the lentil dish when cooking.  Remove the carrot before serving the lentils.  No, I do not know why it works.  I just know that it does.

2. Brown/Green lentils have the same cooking time and temp as brown rice.

3. Red lentils have the same cooking time and temp as white rice.

These comparable cooking times make it easy to bash together a casserole with the right ingredients in one pot and one cooking operation.  Couldn’t be easier.

Here is my favorite lentil dish, published by The Tightwad Gazette.  I’ve been cooking it for donkey’s years. It is filling and well-balanced.  Remarkably inexpensive, too.  BTW, all of The Tightwad Gazette book editions are highly recommended.

                    LENTIL-RICE CASSEROLE, from “The Tightwad Gazette II”

3 cups chicken broth or use water and 1 tablespoon vegetable
       seasoning
3/4 cup lentils, uncooked
1/2 cup brown rice, uncooked
3/4 cup chopped fresh onion
1/2 teaspoon sweet basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Blend all together in a casserole dish.  Bake, covered for 90 minutes at 300 degrees F.  During the last 20 minutes, you may top with 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese, if desired.

This dish is an all-around excellent.  Easy to fix (but not quick, alas), inexpensive, low fat, nutritious, and tasty.

John’s Comments: I use this recipe as a starting point for lentil cooking.  I often add a chicken breast cut up in it, and/or carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, etc or whatever is in season in the garden when you’re cooking.

I change the seasoning to my taste, of course.  I use a lot more garlic (not powdered) and sometimes cloves, mint, or bay leaf. And I tend to use more basil, but then I like basil and garlic.

Chicken tends to lose its flavor and character when mixed in with this dish.  Probably better to serve chicken pieces on the side.  Ham cubes or pork sausage might be better to mix in if you want real meat in it.  Although the point of this [complete protein] casserole is that meat really isn’t needful.

Economics and Investing:

Some elements in this piece by Monty Pelerin will sound familiar to SurvivalBlog readers: The Role of The Government in The Economic Crisis

Zero effective policy and stalling QE3 – Why QE3 will have little financial impact if implemented. Deposits at US commercial banks quickly approaches $9 trillion.

G.G. sent this: Household income is below recession levels, report says.

Also from G.G.: Unilever sees ‘return to poverty’ in Europe

Items from The Economatrix:

Why We Are on the Brink of the Greatest Depression of all Time

The Truth About Gasoline Price Volatility

US Capital Goods Orders Decline Most Since November

Business Spending Plans Hint At Factory Weakness

Odds ‘n Sods:

I will be a guest speaker (via teleconference) at CharlottePrepCon, on Saturday, September 8th.

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JRH Enterprises is having a Labor Day weekend sale on night vision and thermal imaging devices. This includes their popular Third Generation Pinnacle Autogated AN/PVS-14 Night Vision Monoculars brand new with five year warranty for $2,695, and the Upgraded Version of the PVS-14 new with five year warranty at $3,095. Thermal Imaging Units are also on sale as low as $1,925 for a FLIR Scout.

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F.J. liked this Lifehacker video: DIY Paracord Fishing Kit Bracelet

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From Izvestia: Russia May Legalize Possession of Handguns

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R.B.S. and Tom B. both sent this: Gun ID legislation may trigger exodus of gunmakers Remington, Colt. JWR’s Comment: I’m sure that Wyoming, Idaho, or Montana would welcome them with open arms.

Notes from JWR:

Today we wish a happy birthday to Medal of Honor recipient Gary Beikirch, formerly of the 5th Special Forces Group. (He was born August 29, 1947.) Now that you are 65, Gary, you can finally draw your full retirement. God knows, you’ve earned it, along with the deep gratitude of our nation. I salute you.

—

Today we present another two entries for Round 42 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.)Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 42 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Practical Handgun Carry, by Sarah in Texas

Five years ago, I got my Concealed Handgun License. Here in the Great State of Texas, concealed carry is the only legal kind for the average citizen; without the permit, you can’t carry in public. (Your vehicle and home do not count as “public,” incidentally.) Last week, my new CHL arrived in the mailbox, meaning that I’m good to carry for another five years.
In a post-SHTF environment, being armed everywhere you go is a good idea. We can’t predict exactly what our society will be like, but we know that violent people are not going to decide that they should give the rest of us a break because we’re busy dealing with huge problems (no food on the store shelves; mass panic; a highly contagious disease; whatever). These people are already preying on victims, which is why I have a CHL and handgun in the first place.

Ideally, you live someplace where permission slips to bear arms are not required. A few parts of the United States have that going for them, but I like Texas for lots of reasons. Staying here and having my CHL is less than perfect, but I love being here and will continue dealing with the license-to-carry nonsense. At the same time, a lot of us are pressuring our Legislature to do away with permits and let law-abiding citizens carry handguns without taking classes, paying fees, and waiting for our packets to process.
Some of my advice won’t necessarily apply to you. Feel free to take what you can use and leave the rest; I’m going to generalize so that the maximum number of people will get something useful (I hope, at least).

Concealed Handgun Licenses, Licenses to Purchase, and Other Permission Slips
Now is as good a time as any to find the legal path to firearms ownership and carry. Some states require a permit to buy firearms and/or ammunition; others, like Texas, don’t. It’s up to you to find out what’s required. The Internet is a good resource for this. Find your state’s official Web sites, as they generally have current statutes and other, important information. (In Texas, you’ll want to go to the Department of Public Safety Web site.)
Getting a firearm and/or permit to carry can be time consuming. I suggest starting now, if you haven’t done this already, because we don’t know when our society is going to collapse. Remember the riots following the Rodney King debacle? Store owners could not arm themselves because the state had a waiting period. Shopkeepers who’d already acquired firearms were able to defend what was theirs. Plan in advance so you don’t get caught without something you might need.

Choosing a Handgun
Which caliber? I suggest a common one, as that’s easier to find and cheaper than scarcer rounds.
Which manufacturer? That’s up to you. I like Glocks, but that’s based on my consistently good experiences with them. I suggest looking for a major manufacturer and making sure that they offer a good warranty or guarantee in case something goes wrong.
New or used? I bought my carry gun new. That’s because I wanted to be certain that the gun was mechanically sound, not worn out, and could be counted on for years to come. If you’re confident in your gun-buying skills, find a used handgun at a reasonable price.
Revolver or semi-automatic? We could discuss the pros and cons of each, but I lean toward semi-autos because I have far more experience with them than revolvers.
If you’re not sure which handgun you like, visit a shooting range. Many rent handguns. If you have a friend or relative with a gun collection, offer a box or two of ammo in exchange for a range trip that includes shooting some of those guns. The best way to figure out if you really like something is to try it. Do you test drive a car before you buy it? Probably. The same caution and diligence applies to handgun shopping.

Carry Methods and Holsters
Whether you’re carrying openly or concealed, you need a carry rig. The most-popular carry methods include:
Outside the Waistband (OWB): a holster that secures to your belt, but outside of your pants or shorts.
Inside the Waistband (IWB): same story as above, but inside your pants. Both of these methods should include a thick, sturdy belt to keep the rig in one place whether you’re walking, shifting in your seat, or even jogging or running. Good holsters will retain your handgun even if you’re upside down for some bizarre reason.
Shoulder: great when you’re in a suit or sport coat. Some shoulder holsters balance the weight by adding magazine carriers on the non-gun side.
Appendix: a holster (the Belly Band, for example, or Thunderwear) that puts your handgun somewhere around your navel. I prefer appendix carry during the hottest part of the year because I can conceal the Glock even if I’m in basketball shorts and a tee shirt.
Pocket: a convenient way to carry a sub-compact handgun.
All the carry methods should include a holster or other retention device that keeps the firearm in place. Ideally, your rig will also cover the trigger guard, which prevents things like your shirttail from reaching the trigger. A ten-dollar, pocket holster can prevent a negligent discharge, so it’s well worth the investment if you ask me.
I don’t like nylon holsters. That’s because they’re soft and tend to slide around on my belt. These rigs are inexpensive, which is one of the main reasons why they’re so appealing. However, you want a high-quality retention device because you need your handgun to stay where you put it. Good materials include leathers, plastics that have been molded for your handgun model, or combinations like Crossbreed’s Supertuck Deluxe.

Ideally, you’ll find a carry gun you really like and get a holster that’s been made for that specific model. This approach usually provides a secure, quality holster that, with minimal care, will last you for years. Look for a holster made of rigid materials; you want the holster’s “mouth” to stay open so you don’t have to holster with both hands. That can be dicey because you could sweep your free hand with the muzzle, which I don’t advise.

Holster selection is a personal thing, so I can’t recommend specific manufacturers or models. The companies I personally like best are Dragon Leatherworks, Michael’s Custom Holsters/The Holster Site, and Crossbreed. All produce reasonably priced, high-quality holsters designed for specific models.
Lots of us try more than one holster and setup before we find something that works well. Nobody else can really tell you what’s going to work best, so you’ll need to try a few things for yourself. The good news is that, when you decide that you don’t like a particular holster, you can find somebody who’s willing to swap. Many of us have a “box o’ rejects” with one, two, maybe even a dozen, discarded holsters inside. I’m happy to let the rest of my family raid the stash.

Practice, Practice, and Practice Some More
In my opinion, those of us with firearms should practice several things. For self-defense handguns, I suggest you work on:
Safe Firearms Handling. The saying, “Train like you fight,” is sometimes negative courtesy of sloppy or bad habits. If you practice drawing your handgun without paying attention to what your trigger finger is doing, how are you going to draw when the firearm’s loaded and ready to fire?
Colonel Jeff Cooper came up with The Four Rules, which apply to all firearms:
“1. All guns are always loaded.
2. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target
4. Always be sure of your target.”

Other rules exist, like “put down your firearm before crossing a fence.” That’s a good one, but I think that The Four Rules cover that situation and many others. Regardless of which version of the various, firearms-safety rules you prefer or follow, the idea is to safely handle your weapon at all times.
How do you practice these rules? Whenever you pick up a gun, think about what you’re doing even if you have to actively recite the safety rules in your head while you’re on the firing line.

Drawing. Whether your firearm is concealed or not, you should be able to quickly draw that gun. In some situations, you might not have more than a few seconds, if that long, to take action. Besides, rehearsing helps train your body to do what needs to be done, reducing the odds of freezing in panic.
Unload the firearm or use a blue gun. (Not all of these obviously fake training guns are actually blue, by the way.) Draw slowly at first, making sure that each motion is correct. As you keep practicing, you’ll naturally speed up.

Shooting. You don’t have to get all your shooting practice at the range and/or with live ammo. With “snap cap” or dummy rounds, which are designed to protect a firearm you dry fire, you can safely and comfortably work on things like your stance, trigger squeeze, and sight alignment without leaving the house.
I also suggest some formal instruction, mostly because a qualified teacher can show you what you’re doing wrong and how to correct it. This doesn’t require thousands of dollars’ worth of gun school. You can take a basic class to establish a solid foundation.

Maintaining Firearms and Accessories
I’m not the sloppiest firearms owner, but I’m also not the neatest. My current carry gun does not need to be cleaned after every range trip; it’s fine for thousands of rounds, though I don’t put off cleaning the gun for that long. However, I make sure the gun stays well lubricated, as that prevents quite a few problems.

Each handgun is different, so I can’t recommend one cleaning schedule for everybody. Regardless, you should regularly inspect the weapon and accessories (including magazines if applicable) for wear, rust, corrosion, cracks, and other problems.

Having spare parts on hand is a good idea. If you know how to replace tiny springs and other, internal parts, you can buy them in advance and store them someplace safe. Does completely tearing down your gun scare you? Same here. I have a gunsmith/armorer, who also happens to sell guns, who’s happy to help me out. For seventy bucks, he’ll completely disassemble my gun, clean everything, and replace parts that are likely to break or fail within the next year or so. He’s worth every cent.

Extra magazines are great. I recommend having at least three per handgun, but feel free to pick up more. You can also buy parts kits to replace magazine springs and followers, which might be worth the money. If you can get the kit inexpensively enough, or if you can’t find new magazines for a really good price, why not replace worn parts?

Ultimately, a handgun is only as effective as its owner or user. Keep that in mind when you’re gun shopping, shooting at the pistol range, or inspecting your handgun and carry rig for problems. Diligence on your part makes you a better gun owner, which is better for your safety and, possibly, life. If or when TSHTF, having both the firearms and skills puts you a step or two ahead of the people who might otherwise use force to take what’s yours, including your life.

Practical Non-Martial Arts Training and Learning How to Survive, by OMK

All too often those of us who have been in the martial arts leave behind the non trained person in our conversations and training advise. I would like to highlight a few areas for those that have no formal training and how they might approach a fist to fist conflict.

This is not intended to be all inclusive for no article can cover every aspect of a fight; what I do want to cover is a few make are break concepts for those that have never trained or are just beginning to train.

The motivation to write this article comes from conversations I have had with many people over the past few years. They have been everything from Ministers, Mothers, to Business owners and have never been in a physical fight. What they do have is a desire to learn something but not necessarily spend years in the dojo or the boxing ring.

Hopefully I can assist in their learning and motivation.

Attitudes

If you want to win then you had better have the proper attitude/mindset. Corporate America is full of cliché lines like “Just Do It”, Play to Win”, and “Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win”. These speak to our human nature and attempt to remove our inner doubts. We all have them and they are trained deep into our psyche from childhood.

“Play Nice”, Don’t Cheat”, Don’t Throw Rocks” represent deprogramming responses that we learned as children to be able to coexist within a polite society.

The difficulty is how do you reacquire that primal survival and animalistic kill or be killed attitude. Most of us never will. We have lived in polite society for so long and our mothers did a wonderful job reprogramming us. But there is hope.

The military can do a great job instilling the combative survival mindset but it is interesting to note that so many of the older service people are some of the calmest individuals I have ever met. Does this mean they have lost the attitude to win a physical altercation, not in the least, they have simply moved to a level of quit confidence.

This confidence I am referring to is built upon being tested in many ways. For some it was boot camp for others it was a bad home environment, and for some it was simply learning at an early age they had to keep part of their inner beast close to the surface in order to survive.

In building this confidence to actually do real harm to someone we are going to look at a few examples that help build the inner confidence and then come back to the attitude.

How to Take a Hit

If you are going to be involved in a physical conflict you must accept the fact that you are going to be injured. You can try to do everything in your powers to not be struck or injured but in reality you will be injured. The naysayers will respond that I have this great technique or can draw my weapons so fast.

That may be, you could be the fastest shot and the biggest hombre on the block but in the real world if you can’t accept the fact that fighting someone leads to self injury you’re kidding yourself.

So where do you begin? We as children liked to wrestle. Some were better than others but most of us did it at some point with our friends. In these play matches we learned that you were going to get rug burns, popped in the nose, and catch the occasional knee to the groin. Did this stop us; not a chance.

We need to look at this fun activity as an adult and realize we learned many things about ourselves from this child’s game. The first thing we learned is that losing stinks and being on your back with someone on top trying to pin our arms was humiliating. We wanted to cry, we wanted to bite, and we just wanted to win. But we had already learned that there were rules to this game and if we did not follow the rules your opponent was going to use those same dirty tactics on you the next time.

A real life encounter has the same problem. We default back to our level of training and this training was to play nice. We all remember the bully down the street, he was mean! No one liked him and he scared us. The reason he scared us was he did not play by the rules and would actually hurt you.

So let’s take this situation and add some real life training to the equation. At some point we must learn to be hit, take the hit, and keep fighting. How to get over this fear of breaking social norms and accepting damage can be accomplished in a couple of ways:

One: Be a sociopath. This is not necessarily desirable but it can work. Unfortunately we don’t realize we are the sociopath and it takes society to recognize this pitfall in personality and give us a social reeducation. I don’t promote this but it is an interesting exercise in one’s self reflection.

or,

Two: Go get hit. Join a boxing gym, full contact martial arts school, or just get a group of friends together and have a round robin king of the mountain match. You can have rules to keep from getting overly injured but you need to realize that getting smacked in the face hurts and if it happens once you will learn two things very quickly; keep your guard up and hit first.

If you do the round robin realize that you have to keep a level of civility to the exercise. These are your friends and you might not want to go to work the next day with a black eye and chipped teeth. Boxing gloves do wonders to stop the heavy injuries but they still let you feel the smack. In my school we call this getting “Thumped” everyone gets thumped from time to time. Some by design and others by surprise; it does wonders for making your mind work under stress.

The point to remember is the confidence we discussed earlier is built in many layers. Learning to be hit is just one of those layers.

How to hit something

Many people think they are the king of the mountain when it comes to laying down the hurt on someone else. That may be, but in truth we are not. Take a group of ten and place yourself in the group. Odds are five will be better than you and five will be worse. You have no guarantee that you are the biggest dog on the street. And if you think you are then you might need to reread option one in the above section.

Countless hours are spent in martial arts schools learning how to do a correct punch, hit with an elbow just right, or snap your foot out for a precise kick. This is all sound knowledge to have but in reality the person that hits first and hits hardest will tend to win. Remember this is not sparring class and the only point awarded is that the winner gets to go home and have dinner with their wife and kids. The loser just says on the ground.

To hit something, simply close your hand and punch/push straight out hard and fast, you may break your hand but that is probably a fair trade for winning. Or pound down with your fist like a hammer. If you can kick then do so and do it hard and hit their legs. Forget about kicking to the head or ribs unless you have lots of training. Remember if the legs go the opponent falls down.

As you get closer hit with your elbows instead and hit until you’re completely worn out. You have the ability to hit through their blocks if you keep swinging and if you damage their arm or hands in the process all the better. You are in this to win. Only soccer matches are won with one goal. A fight should score like a basketball game; lots of baskets and as fast as you can make them.

Your knees are wonderful tools. They automatically rise to the level of the groin. Use them! If you fall to the ground get up fast and keep swinging. If you both fall to the ground get up and keep swinging. Yes some will say I will just jump on top of them and pound them into the ground. Maybe you can, but the opponent certainly will do everything in their power to not let it happen. Don’t wrestle, hit; don’t try to pin them, hit.

Biting is good. Your mother told you no biting and she may have been right. But in the realm of a street fight biting is good. So is sticking your finger in their eye. J hooking their lip and tearing is brutal but works. Head butts work! You need to keep a sane attitude about how you would use the technique but when you are close and their guard is down, slam their nose with your forehead.

There are two rules to winning the fight. Rule one is to hit hard and fast and rule two is to hit again. Remember this is about winning a physical altercation in which you or your loved ones lives are in danger. So hit and hit again.

How to Think

If you lose control of your brain odds are you will lose the fight. I have seen many people say “I just saw red” and went berserk. Their going berserk breaks the social and norm and can work to your favor but if you lose too much control you won’t see the guy behind you or the knife slip out of the opponents pocket just before they move in.

This too is a learned skill. Boxers take a beating but can still keep their brains in a fight. They learned how to take a hit and accept that fact. You must learn to not lose your brain. This is where getting over the stress of being hit helps.

How to Fall down

Adults hate to fall down. I actually classify it as one of the three hardest things to teach new students in the martial arts.  

You need to learn to fall down and not get hurt or lose your bearing. It is not difficult to master in theory. The problem comes from our adult minds. Children fall down, adults don’t fall they look silly.

I will argue that point; Sports people fall all the time and we expect them to. Downhill skiers do it at 60 mph and just shake it off. Why in the world would an adult not be willing to learn to fall down with some level of skill or proficiency?

Falling down is just like sitting down. The lower you can sit to the ground the less distance you have to actually fall from a height. Extremely simple in its practical explanation but how many adults would be willing to walk out into the middle of a parking lot and fall down? Not many, but those with training would do it without a second thought. Will it ruin your clothes and scuff your shoes? Good chance, but if your life depended on it who cares about your pants.

It does not matter if you are being thrown to your side or pushed straight back; the foundation of the action is the same. Sit down on your heels and then let your body roll to the side or rear. Will it hurt? Maybe, but a bruised ego, some road rash, and sore muscles are a lot better than a split skull because you fell down like a timbering tree.

Weapons

Weapons exist everywhere and I don’t mean the knife or slug thrower in your pocket. Your baseball cap is great for disorienting the opponent, throw it in their face as you close in to hit. Throw a handful of pocket change at their eyes. Scream a blood chilling yell as you come to blows.

The voice is a great weapon and can buy you that split second of delay for you to hit first. Pick up anything that is available and throw it. It does not matter if you make hard contact just remember a weapon can distract as well as do damage.

If the opponent has a weapon seriously consider running away or at least keep backing up. Pick up something to help keep a solid object between you and the weapon. Your shoe works, a rolled magazine, purse; the options can be endless if you keep your brain.

If you do get stuck with a knife don’t stop fighting. Do everything you can to lock down the knife but don’t stop hitting. The odds of then finishing you off with one poke from a knife is extremely limited, it is when you lose your brain and stop fighting that the knife will most assuredly keep coming in. Again, if you are faced with a knife seriously consider running away!

How to block

You must have some basic understanding of how to block a punch or simple kick coming at you. First off remember you are not trying to be some 95th level black belt or a MMA star. You are just trying to not get your head knocked off by the person or persons in front of you.

Here are three simple rules:

One, make a fist and keep both fists in front of your face about one foot in front of your nose with your elbows down. As a punch comes towards your face slightly shift your forearm in or out to help deflect the blow. This is not perfect but is better than keeping your hands down at your side with your face sticking out like a big balloon.

Two, don’t reach out to try and block the punch. The further you move your fist away from your body the less strength your block will have. Let the punch come in and use the strength of your forearm and upper arm for the block.

Three, if you see the punch or kick coming at you try to move off to the side. You are much better off letting the strike miss you completely than letting the opponent keep hitting your arms.

Know When to Run Away

If you can’t win or know the outcome is not going to benefit from your fighting then leave. Only get in the fight if you absolutely have to. If they start pounding on your car don’t get out and bring the fight to them. Drive off, call the police, or try and wait them out. You have car insurance for a reason. The macho response is to go out and beat them up, the rational response is to use your brain and only engage in the fight if absolutely necessary.

If you are protecting your family have a prearrange command word or phrase that tells them to run to a predefined safe location(s) and what to do when they get there. Remember, you are in this to win and winning might be as simple as delaying the conflict for the family to leave the area so you can follow after them. If the spouse and children would just stand around and gawk then you have deeper problems to start addressing.

Do I need to practice?

Yes, no, maybe. Some people have that self preservation instinct very close to the surface and some can train for years and never find it. Do you want to spend years in the dojo working to master a martial art style or are you just looking to get in touch with your inner beast and how to take care of yourself?

These are questions that only you can answer. But I will throw out a bit of hard earned wisdom. Learning to be involved in a martial sport, martial art, or any hands-on smacking type martial activity will change you. You will learn things about yourself you wish you never knew as well as be surprised by some of the great things you took for granted.

Training in a marital style may not be necessary but in the long run learning some basics and being able to develop a different attitude about physical conflict realities would benefit anyone.

My Children are with me

When you change the equation and add family to the encounter scenario the conflict takes on a completely different reality. You may be able to handle yourself and escape without much injury but what do you do if you must win or survive long enough for mother to get a couple of young children into the car and secure.

This situation gets a whole lot more difficult if you are faced with two or more assailants. Do you fight to win or do you fight to delay and give time for the wife to exit the scene?

This holds true for women. Can you really survive an attack by a 250 pound man or will your mind shut down with the first confrontation? How about when you are struck the first time in the face?

These questions are presented for thought and lead into the poem “No Man is an Island” by John Donne.
What ever you do you have to realize it must take into account everyone else around you.

Winning does not mean physically beating the opponent

You do not have to beat the opponent into the ground to win. You may have to but the goal may simply be to survive and escape. This statement will greatly offend many, so if it does then you might need to reread option one above again. We are not talking about a macho encounter where there has to be a top dog. We are taking about survival.

This is where we learn from our childhood again. In the school yard we learned very quickly how to disengage from the bully. The same thought process and motivation needs to be kept in this type of encounter. Don’t stand and fight unless absolutely necessary.

Back to Attitude and Mindset

I cannot give you the attitude or mindset to survive a hand to hand encounter; nor can anyone else. But many good trainers do exist that can help you find and develop some basic skills that will allow you to get beyond the polite society rules of the school yard. This confidence is what will allow you to find your survival attitude.

In moving beyond this trained response for being nice to everyone you will find that you will become more nice; that is until it is time to stop being nice and save your hide. – OldManKarate

Three Letters Re: Lentils: The Super Food of the Prepper

JWR:
I have a couple of comments on the recent lentil article. Brad mentioned: “Mannaharvest.net sells 25 lb. for $24.70”

Restaurant Depot (which I learned about on SurvivalBlog) sells 25 lb bags for about $13. They also have 25 lb bags of many other beans for similar prices.

JWR mentioned: “Lentils can harden in long term storage, just like beans. This limits their practical shelf life to about eight years.”

Since we store what we eat and eat what we store, using up lentils before they harden is not a problem. We empty the large bags into quart canning jars and then suck the air out using the canning jar attachment for a FoodSaver machine. While this may help them store longer, the main reason we do this is to keep insects and vermin out of them. Also we find the quart size to be handy to fit in our kitchen cabinets. We keep a wide variety of dried items in quart jars, and pull another jar from the pantry when each one in the kitchen is used up.

Our favorite way to use lentils is in soups and stews, sometimes mixed with brown rice or barley. We start with a large pot of water with some bullion, add the lentils, a pint jar of home canned chicken or other canned meat, whatever fresh vegetables are available, and then supplement the fresh vegetables with dried if needed.

Thanks for all you do! – Suburban

 

JWR:
Another good thing about lentils is that they are high in resistant starch, which is good for diabetics like me on a low carbohydrate diet. In an emergency situation, I can eat such foods in small amounts spaced out in a way so as to keep my sugar stable. You can read about resistant starch at About‘s Low Carb Diets web page. – Burke C.

 

Mr. Rawles,
Lentils can be cooked over one to three candles, using one of those one-man mess kit pots with lid. One cup of lentils, two cups of water, and one hour. One half cup each of lentils and rice also works [to provide a complete protein, for more adequate nutrition]. – Gman

Letter Re: Advice on Refinancing

James,
I’d like to respond to our friend who asked if refinancing from 5.2% down to 3.88% is a good idea. To answer that, consider what we just did. We refinanced our house from 4.5% down to 3.75% and borrowed a further $40,000, from equity. The result is that we still pay $100 less each month in mortgage payments. While we have more debt, now we also have more equity in the house in the form of $33,000 worth of solar panels and battery backup that we had installed. We also squared away most of our remaining important preparations and paid off some credit cards to boot. It is a very, very good idea to refinance even without taking out any equity because you will end up paying tens of thousands of dollars less through the life of a 30-year loan, assuming you have that much left to go. – Geoff S.

Economics and Investing:

Analysts fear euro-zone capital flight might snowball. (Thanks to Jon M. for the link.)

Why a Gold Crisis Looms?

G.O. recommended this: Fed Up With the Euro? Start Your Own

K.W. sent a link to some dubious predictions: Food prices continue upward. Given the recent jump in corn and other grain prices, I have serious doubts that we will see just a “2.3% to 3.5%” increase.

Several good articles from ETF Daily:

Our Economy Has Been Collapsing, It Continues To Collapse, and The Collapse Is Going To Accelerate Dramatically
 
Eric Sprott Cautions Investors To Fear The Financial System
 
Doug Casey Predicts Day of Economic Reckoning Is Near

Items from The Economatrix:

Faber:  Odds Of Global Recession Are 100%

The Middle Class Is Broke:  Pew Study Reveals Real Problem With Economy

Is Gold Heading to $4,500?

Gold Breaks Out