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1. I have just added a prep for this week and that is to start reading and studying the 3 Edition of the Survival and Austere Medicine manual. Thank you for bringing this resource to my attention.

2. On the Asparagus, Anyone? Nice, but I am still waiting for someone to come out with a #10 can of freeze dried avocado slices.

3. Response to Mira, I certainly do not have JWR’s tactical background, but I’ve been off-grid 30 yr in a moderately remote location. First question to ask is survival scenario: Short disruption or long-term self-sufficiency. For short-term, defense is the priority, for long, the natural advantages (eg microclimate, water sources, fertility)of the land is. In both scenarios community is essential and problematic. IME you cannot likely find it all in one place. In a place like The Redoubt presumaly the proability is high that neighbiors to any particular piece of land may be trustworty and prepared, folks with whom you canmake common defense. Where we are, not so much. IMO building your group,as ilustrated in JWR’s “Patriots” is essential.

   1. I think my AO has all that you need to survive both short-term and long-term in good and bad times…

4. You need to have Community…So many Preppers choose isolation and find out that it may be great for where they are at in that stage of their life but they find out further down the road when they age or have kids that it’s not great to be so far away from everything…You can’t live a full life by hiding out in the woods…Where I am at has in my opinion the best of everything and anyone is welcome to join me to add to the Community…

5. 1) Re the underground hides of Britain’s WWII Auxiliary Units, the tour guide notes at time 34:00 that their expected survival time was only a few days.
   2) The reason for this was German search/tracking dogs, which the Auxiliary Units considered their greatest threat. One of their weapons was a silenced rifle shooting 22 LR — to take out tracking dogs. But even this was considered a forlorn hope.
   3)In early years of WWII, the Brits invented modern terrorism — but professional troops know that terrorist tactics are used by the weak.

   Espionage, on the other hand, is quite a different matter.

   4) The guys who created the Auxiliary Units went on to create the Special Operations Executive (SOE), tasked with developing similar resistance groups in France and other foreign areas.

   5) But SOE’s greatest enemy was Britain’s MI6 aka SIS. Which was greatly annoyed by SOE’s pinprick attacks stirring up the Gestapo , thereby causing SIS’s spies in the same area to be exposed by greater security measures. SIS argued it was best to FIND major targets and then let the RAF take them out. SIS’s bureaucratic warfare was sometimes more effective than the Germans.

   6) It is worth remembering that the most effective covert action of WWII was the Rosenberg and Cohen spy rings handing Joe Stalin the detailed design of the plutonium implosion bomb. They were effective in part because Los Alamos security was limited by Manhatten management after complacency set in — because there was no obvious threat/danger in New Mexico.

6. Mira, JWR is an expert but I’ll add my 2 cents… The anser to your question is…it depends… on your health, your ability to build, install, repair cars, tractors, motors, solar, wind, generators, birth and treat your animals, kill and butcher your own animals, etc. Can you grow your animal feed and your own veges and preserve them? If youbreak your leg, arm, back, can you fix yourself or how will you get help? Do you have a satelite phone for emergencies? If you can’t do most of these things yourself then you best be close to a small town/community. Just saying…

7. Re finger fanning: Bob Munden demonstrated that it is possible to control and be accurate with a 1911 during this “game”.

8. “finger fanning”, hmm, I tried that 50 yrs ago with 7 in ruger MK 1 target pistol, all I can say is ” I’m glad that I had 40 acres of pasture behind what I was shooting at. but it was fun

9. Mira
   1) A survival consultant named Jonathan and I debated this at some length a while back — you might check out that discussion at
   https://survivalblog.com/should-i-bug-out-or-survive-in-place-part-3-by-jonathan-hollerman/#comments

   2) I don’t claim my arguments were particularly expert or good but Jonathan made a very good, strong argument for the isolated group (not enough food to feed a small town and many in town unprepared) whereas I noted the contrary arguments that Mel Tappan made back in 1979 for moving to a small isolated town. I still favor the small town but Jonathan did a very good job arguing to the contrary.
   3) Our treatment may not have been exhaustive –there may be other factors that we did not consider.
   4) If you choose an isolated area, it might be worthwhile chosing one that is within 4-8 hours travel time to a river. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, esp after 6 months have passed, gasoline may not be available. In that case, water transport — raft, sailboat,etc — is the only way to travel vast distances while carrying several hundred pounds of food and supplies as well as having access to water.
   Plan B in case a looting horder approaches your retreat or a drought makes it impossible to grow crops.
   5) While the Redoubt is isolated, there are some rivers nearby that lead into the Mississippi River and from there to the Gulf of Mexico and Central America. One guy made a canoe trip all the way from Minnesota to New Orleans/Gulf of Mexico a few years ago. Note that one has to portage around various dams and canal locks, however.
   6) Much of today’s blue water sailing with small boats depends upon frequent, reliable weather forecasts which will not be available in TEOTWAWKI. Coastal cruising — with the ability to beach a boat if a storm blows up — would probably be safer than blue water sailing.

   1. PS WHile Jonathan and I argued the issue at length, several other commenters also chipped in good insights.

10. Sir,

    As per the “Sicario 2: Soldado” trailer:

    The movie appears to be about the US Military engaging in open warfare with the Mexican drug cartels.

    A couple of thoughts came to mind while watching it.

    I wonder if this is a solution to the violence, and atrocities, that is apparently being committed by the Cartels.

    Secondly, in a collapse scenario of North American society, would we see many of those scenes depicted on a much larger scale, between factions of the American Military, the heavily armed Citizens of both nations, against the Drug Cartels.

    As a sidenote, I am disapointed that many of the Mexican Drug Cartel’s firearms they currently have in use, may have been the direct result of the ATF “Gun walking scandal”.

    Blessed New Years,

11. Perimeter obstacles, besides causing delay, are useful in funneling combatants into kill zones.

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