(Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)
Assembling Your Kits
You should have or be in the process of getting some kind of long-range weapon and one or two blades for various tasks. These are going to be integrated into your preparedness primarily as hunting and survival tools, though defensive use is of course on your mind. I like to think of my supplies in terms of “kits.” In my teens, my Crosman 1377 air gun, slingshot, and some snare wire were my “small game kit,” which lived in an old Polish gas mask bag. In the same bag was an Altoids tin with a magnesium fire starter and charcloth, which was my “fire kit.” I now know that there is not much sense in carrying a slingshot AND an air gun, but hey, I was fourteen and wanted to have stuff. I had three things to kill food with, but no actual food in the bag or on my person. I liked to think that I could’ve survived The Walking Dead-style with that kit, but I would not have, because both the kit and my skill set were not realistic.
I think of my kits now in terms of functions. The kit itself is a tool, made up of many other smaller tools. So here is a much more realistic, updated “preparedness tool kit” assembled using some of the things I talk about in this article. This is not a “everything you need to go hunting or live in the woods” kit. This is a “spend one day in the woods poaching to get around the Duke of Joe’s meat rationing” kind of kit. It is a survival small game hunting kit, though it could be upgraded into a camping kit very easily. The bag contents:
- One .22 air rifle (XS-25 from Flying Dragon) with pellets and speedloader. This is the Basic Tune version. I have successfully hunted dove with this model, and it has performed very satisfactorily for its price point.
- One Pietta .44 Remington New Army percussion revolver, with accessories.
- A slingshot and ammo
- One Ka-Bar fighting knife
- One Mora Companion knife
- One Victorinox Fieldmaster pocket knife
- One fire kit (a large tin containing a Bic lighter, matches, and tinder)
- One German surplus sewing kit, to which I have added beeswax and a candle stub.
- A compass
- A lifestraw water filter
- Paracord
Except for the guns, this will all fit in my trusty old gas mask bag, which I dug out to build the example kit. Important outdoor kit parts not shown are my first aid kit and water supply. Other things missing include maps and rations.
Now, this is a lot of stuff. There are three separate projectile weapons in here. I do not expect someone to run around the woods with three separate weapons. The reason all three of these are on the list and in the photo is as a demonstration of what is needed, in my opinion, to cover all of the roles that can be filled by a .22 LR rifle. They are all alternatives to a conventional firearm, with their own strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. However, between a reasonably powerful air rifle and a black powder revolver, you should at least have some kind of projectile weapon with which to hunt and potentially defend yourself. Neither are prohibitively expensive. The slingshot I would suggest only as an alternative to the air gun. They can perform many of the same tasks, but shooting a slingshot well is its own skillset, albeit a simple one.
Evaluate your situation and get what you need. A combination of at least two of the alternate projectile weapons should serve most of your needs. I would not suggest getting more than two types unless you really have the time and motivation to become proficient with all of them. My slingshot has lain unused, for the most part, unlike my air rifle and .44.
By way of explanation:
.22 rifle = small game/marksmanship/better than nothing self-defense weapon that can hypothetically be used to take larger game
Air rifle (in .177 or .22) = small game/marksmanship practice
.44 Percussion = better-than-archery self-defense weapon that can hypothetically be used to take larger game
Slingshot = small game/better than a pointy stick self-defense weapon that can hypothetically be used to take larger animals.
Knife = For cutting and stabbing. Can be used to kill any kind of animal, depending solely on your testicular fortitude and willingness to stare down death. Not recommended as a primary weapon unless you’re Brock Samson.
I hope that clarifies my thought process. It takes two alternates to make up the usefulness of the .22 LR for a basic survival projectile weapon. Once again, if you can get a modern long gun or handgun, that is infinitely preferable for defensive purposes. Be aware that neither the rimfire nor the pellets allow you to easily Do-It-Yourself your own ammo, so stockpile as many as you can. The same goes for percussion caps.
Water
Water purification equipment is another thing you should have and know how to use. A Lifestraw type filter is good, I’ve used them on some fairly questionable outdoor bodies of water, but in a real survival situation even more caution is warranted. Know how to boil water and filter water, and look at potential water sources in your area. A case of water bottles or two does not look out of place. Think about rain catchment, and what that will involve in your area. My clan is fortunate to have had space and money for a tank with almost a year’s worth of drinking water for our people, but you’re probably not going to be able to store that much, so focus on renewability in addition to basic storage.
First Aid and Medicines
If you’re under twenty-one, your options might also be limited here. But a basic supply of bandages, disinfectants, tourniquets, etc should be attainable. A Stop-the-Bleed class or similar first aid class should be one of the first training commitments you make. Seriously. You are much more likely to need first aid skills than a gun.
Some over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers and other similar substances should be acquired as well. Snakebite kits and similar should be available in camping sections of stores. You might have trouble getting these depending on your age and the locale. What stores do and do not “card” you for varies. Matches are in this category as well.
Do not get hard drugs unless you need them for an actual condition for which you have a prescription. Do not DIY any chemicals that you may intend to ingest or otherwise apply to yourself. I would not consider it advisable to stockpile “apocalypse booze” for trade or disinfectant unless you’re over age twenty-one. Home brewing is a useful and interesting hobby to get into, just stay away from illegal distillation. It was extremely easy and economical for me to make mead in my closet when I was twenty, but that was purely recreational (and enjoyed after my twenty-first birthday of course 😉 and, not being hard liquor, would be medicinally useless anyway. Your local brewing laws may vary. Don’t mess around with liquor laws. They take that very seriously because the government hates you.
Food
For food, what you’re going to be able to stockpile is going to vary depending on how much space you have. One thing I did do when I moved with my college roommates was to early on establish the habit of cooking from scratch and sharing my delicious meals, so it became easily accepted that I would have beans and rice in the pantry. There was some sizable unused shelf space because neither of my roommates had much food on hand, living mostly off of ramen and hot pockets, so I was able to have a couple month’s worth of B&R in there.
One of these roommates was actually my identical twin brother, whose eating habits are so different from mine I sometimes doubt whether we were even raised in the same household. We all liked Wolf Chili and SPAM, so there was a bunch of that in there too. We got bulk groceries a lot because one of my roommates had a Sam’s card, so that was already normal. I had great roommates, so that was never a problem. If you don’t trust your roomies, suffer from a lack of space, or just want to keep your supplies on the down-low, you’ll have to confine your hoard to a closet or in your room. If you share a room, or if you live with snoops, then you’ll have to get creative. Store some cans in your car or put a bag of beans in your desk. Bury it in the ground in a waterproof cache or something. But whatever you do, don’t plan on hunting, trapping, or scavenging alone. You would need to trap or shoot a LOT of game to make up for both the calories you burn normally and the calories you burn getting more calories.
It’s best to have some baseline supplies stored up so you have time to work out options and a new food supply system. If space is at a premium, remember that dry = smaller. Canned foods such as SPAM are great and can be eaten out of the can, but they are bulky. On the upside, they do not require water or baking to prepare, so you’ll have to weigh the pros and cons of each. I have a mixture, but calorically most of it is B&R. Buy in bulk if possible, it will save you money. Actually, if you grocery shop in bulk in general, it will save even more money because in addition to getting bulk prices you’ll be driving to the store less (assuming you have a car and are the one going shopping).
It has been said in SuurvivalBlog and many others, to “eat what you store.” This is sound advice, which I’ve been following throughout my time in college. In order to save money for ammo, gas, dates, and eventually hopefully getting married, I’ve mostly been eating at home for almost two years. I’ve gotten my daily food expenses to about $2, using the St. Leibowitz Food Skillet method:
The St. Leibowitz Food Skillet Method
For lunch and dinner, I make one skillet of food and eat about half. The base of the skillet is ½ cup (dry) white rice, which is cooked and added into the pan with 1 cup (cooked) of pinto beans, (or peas and cashews if I’m using soy sauce instead of Mexican spices) 1 cup of mixed vegetables, and either one chicken breast or one rough volumetric equivalent in ground beef or pork. This generally equals about 1,400 calories.
As best as I can figure (I’m not awesome at math) my total cost for my lunch and dinner together is only about $2-3 if I get cheaper meat on sale. This will change as meat prices increase, but fortunately I also get plenty of goat milk, eggs, and meat for helping my dad butcher animals and do other work on the farm when I’m over there, so my (large) breakfast is usually basically free, and brings me up to well over 2,000 calories after you account for my heavy goat milk consumption and daily orange or apple.
Not everyone will be able to have a situation like this, but you can still eat quality food for reasonably low prices. You should be able to eat three meals a day for at least the cost of one fast-food combo. (A basic Chik-Fil-A sandwich combo is $8 here). Ramen is cheap and hardly filling, while hot pockets, pizza, and wings are kind of expensive for what they are, and all are bad for you. But the basic rice+legume+meat baseline combo is a solid one, and with the aid of some very affordable spices (a bottle of chili powder costs about $1 and will cover a multitude of sins) you can add a great deal of variety. Learning to cook is an essential skill for a single man. It will save you money, and you’re going to need it with how the purchasing power of the Dollar is declining, and how crude oil and refined fuel prices are looking.
Mindset
Mindset is extremely important, on par with food and water, and slightly above weapons. You cannot expect to hold together, no matter how prepared you are, if you’re the kind of guy who waits around for someone to do something for him. Take action, take responsibility, and rule over yourself. You should commit to working out regularly if you are not already.
Another key part of your mentality is your motivation for preparing. The Upcoming Unpleasantness does not need lone wolves. There’ll be enough of those from the ranks of our ill-prepared counterparts. One of your goals should be to be an asset to “your” people, whoever those people are. A lot of goobers in this sphere write massive dorky blog posts about BUILDING YOUR TRIBE with a bunch of animal skull logos and crossed axes and stuff, but the base idea is sound. I for one am fortunate to belong to a fairly large circle of family and church family that shares my beliefs. Lots of people in prepping sites are their family’s only member who is serious about the Upcoming Unpleasantness, or at least the Primary Prepper. That is not the case for me.
I am under no delusions about leading a tribe of survivors or going on forays into the Weredonkey Zone. I will be #3 at best, and more likely just a support guy who tends to the bees, keeps watch, and butchers animals. Me and the boys will be doing a lot more shoveling and wheelbarrow hauling than shooting. When we’re young, men are mostly useful as Able Bodies. Our value lies in our energy and strength, which will eventually fade, hopefully to be replaced with knowledge and experience. But if the Global Xtreme Weight Loss Competition comes when we’re still young, our best chance is to be an asset. So, get skills, get strong, get stocked, and get right with God. Also, Eat Meat, Lift Weights, and Screenshot NFTs.