Jim,
First, thank you for the work you have done. Your blog site will surely save many lives. Also, thank you for your books. I’ve just started on “Patriots” and am thoroughly enjoying it.
I’m very new to ‘long-term’ survival and much of the political and economic machinations that are going on that potentially may lead to SHTF. Living in hurricane country (Florida) I’ve always been better prepared than the average family and I’ve maintained my preps year round due to fears of terrorist attacks and bird flu pandemics. However, I’m completely shocked, horrified actually, about what I’ve learned over the past few months on how bad things could really get, and why!
Anyway, here is something I’ve been doing as part of my preps. I hope it is something you might find useful and possibly worthwhile enough to pass on to your readers. (I’ve copied the following from a post that I made on WarRifles.com.)
I’ve seen lots of posts on what to put in your Bug Out Bag (BOB). And what not to. But I’ve never seen this mentioned so my apologies if someone somewhere has. An SD, or similar, memory card. They are small (size of large stamp), featherweight light, and can pack a lot of data.
Get a scanner and store all your financial and legal documents. Be sure to encode everything to thwart prying eyes. Copy your driver’s license and passport. Birth, death, and marriage certificates. Life/health/house/auto insurance documents. Property deeds. etc. Someday, post-SHTF government may be up and running and people with access to this info may be a step ahead of the crowd.
It’s also great for personal & sentimental info. Most BOBs don’t have room for that shelf of photo albums so scan them in. Digital cameras even save that extra step. Save those videos of your son’s first steps or your daughter’s first recital. Your favorite music or movie. Those are just a few suggestions.
If you want, you can pack a USB SD reader/writer as they’re about the size of a keychain light. If not, SD cards are ubiquitous enough you should be able to find something later on.
Make several copies, vacuum seal them in mylar bags and store in various places – one in pocket, one in fanny pack, one sewn into secret BOB pouch, whatever.
Once you walk out that door, you may never have easy access to that info again. If you later decide you don’t want or need it then so be it. Until then at least you have that option.
Also save your survival library to one just in case the hard copies are lost, stolen or damaged. – Florida-40s