(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article.)
Protection
If you can’t legally stand in front of your property, with a means of self-protection for your life and your family, then you will lose it to those with evil in their hearts.
Desperate men and women will do desperate things to feed themselves and their children. About 2-3% of the population are sociopaths and are quite dangerous. Along with refugees, these individuals will migrate out of the large cities as supplies run out there.
Your Dog: Usually the first casualty in an armed invasion. However he or she will give you a warning.
Shotgun: Remington 870 pump (or another similar type) 12 gauge (most common) get one chambered to accept 3-inch shells, that way you can shoot both 2 ¾-inch and 3-inch shells. Use the # 4,5,6 birdshot ammo for bird hunting. For protection or deer, then either single 0 buck (if you can find it,) otherwise 00 buck. If the recoil of 12 gauge is a problem for you, then perhaps get a 20 gauge.
Stick with the common ammo types as they will be easier to find, when things go down.
Some common military calibers are 5.56mm NATO (.223 Rem.), 7.62mm NATO (.308 Win.), and 9mm Parabellum (Luger). Buy 2,000-to-3,000 rounds for each gun. This is considered “a good start” in my part of the country. Get hollow point for 9mm and .45 ACP for self-defense. Buy plenty of extra magazines. Keep ammo dry in containers that are waterproof. Moisture is an ammo killer, as are penetrating oils and excessive heat. Note that 5.56 NATO is slightly different than regular .223 Remington ammo and you will need a “Wylde”-chambered rifle to be able to use both.
Rifles:
.223/5.56 NATO
.308/7.62 NATO
.30-06
.22LR is great practice ammo. It is also more deadly than most people think, Great for small game, and if you are really lucky or are a good shot, alsolarger game.
Being able to reload ammo will extend your ability to hunt and provide self-protection.
A pellet gun is quieter way of small game hunting. Trapping is really quiet.
Pistol – 9 mm or 45 ACP. (In my reading 9mm is probably best, since it is easier to control and about as effective as .45 ACP.) The key is to aim, not point.
A carbine in 45 ACP or 9mm is also a possible choice, but they don’t have as long of a range as rifle. However, you will not have to have as many different types of ammo on hand, so keep it simple.
Without ammo, guns are just an expensive club. So get spare parts for your guns, find out which ones are likely to break and have those parts on hand.
Automatic transmission fluid can be used as an emergency gun lubricant.
For the exterior of guns, vaseline is also protective against rust. It also has many medical uses.
Medicine
Oral Rehydration solution (how to make):
- 1 quart of water
- 8 tsp of sugar
- ¾ tsp of salt
- ¼ tsp of potassium chloride (40 # bags are available for about $25.00)
- A bit of Kool-aid for flavor if you have some is helpful but not needed.
Avoid health-destroying habits or lifestyles, about half of the physician visits are due to lifestyle.
Get up to date on vaccinations, but not the Covid “vaccination”!
Get your dental work done.
Stockpile the prescription medications that you take. Many of them potentially can keep for 30 years or more in a cool, dry, dark place. The Army has medications that are 30-40 or more years out of date, every 2 years they send a sample to the FDA for titration tests and if it is good, then it is good for another 2 years. This saves them about 10 billion dollars every year or two.
90% of our medications or base ingredients for making medications come from China, which could be cut off at any time. With the coming unrest, a three-year supply would be wise.
Have a supply of common antibiotics. Your doctor may be helpful here, otherwise fish antibiotics, and veterinary antibiotics. They come off the same manufacturing lines. Strep is an old killer, and can lead to sepsis.
Ivermectin sources: Farm and Ranch stores such as Tractor Supply Company (TSC). Horse paste, or liquid injectable form, great antiviral Rx. See the FLCCC protocols for Covid-19. Generally about 10 mg per 100 pounds of body weight. This is 0.22 mg per Kg (2.2 pounds ) to 28 mg per 100 pounds 0.61 mg per Kg, every other day (the liver needs 48 hours to metabolize it) for 3-5 doses, or longer if sick, mix it with something sweet to cover the bitter taste. There is a lot of leeway in the dosing. The current NIH dosing is 0.2-0.6 mg per Kg. You get better blood levels when Ivermectin is taken with food. Start at the first sign of the loss of taste or smell. For prevention, the same amount every 2-3 weeks. Along with Vitamin D-3, stockpile Vitamin C and Zinc. Ivermectin is also helpful for other viral infections. Also good for lice and scabies, and of course for intestinal parasites.
Multivitamins. You only have 3 month supply of Vitamin C in your body, other natural sources are rose hips, fruits, sea berries, and cabbage. Early sailors would expect a 50% death rate on long sea voyages from scurvy. Captain Cook took 7,800 pounds of sauerkraut with him on the trip around the world and did not lose one man due to scurvy. Sauerkraut has about 15 milligrams of Vit. C per ½ cup, about 18% of min. daily requirements. Have extra vitamin C on hand especially in the winter. Note that cooking degrades Vitamin C.
B-12 is very important especially if you are on an all-vegetarian diet, as veggies do not have any B-12 in them, we have about a 3-5 year supply in our bodies and as you grow older the amount that you can absorb declines, so sublingual tabs 2,500-5,000 micrograms per day.
Have some tropical plants. In a greenhouse, you can grow lemons and limes.
Bandages: Tampax are good for bullet holes.
Fem. Hygiene products, average women goes through 12,000-16,000 in a lifetime, so plan on making reusable ones when commercial ones are not available. There are websites on how to sew reusable ones. (Hillbilly Housewife is one site.) Commercial pads however are also good for bandages, being sterile.
Handkerchiefs have many other uses.
Towels/ washcloths. Having a special group of washcloths as a substitute for toilet paper, when toilet paper is unavailable, wash, boil, dry. and reuse.
Pregnancy and Childbirth need to be taken very very seriously. There was a 25% death rate in the old times. Line up a OB/GYN or a midwife, or GP who has delivered babies before even thinking about pregnancy. Not all GPs have delivered babies. Plus consider having antibiotics, diapers, and being able to breastfeed. Note that about 5% of women are unable to breastfeed. Childbed fever is due to strep in most cases, antibiotics to take care of this. Penicillin is one choice. If basic childhood immunizations are available it would be great too, there still are bad diseases out there. The Childhood death rate was high in the past.
Hygiene. It is difficult to stay clean in a world filled with dirt, both physical and spiritual. Staying clean is a good way to help protect yourself and family from getting sick.
Store soaps: body, dish, and laundry types. You can also make your own soap, see the following book section.
Toilet paper, other solutions are phone books, newspapers you need to crumple them up and rub them between your hands to soften before use. These are generally not flushable.
Bathing-shower having a solar shower bag, or some means of bathing.
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss. Dental floss is also good suture material if needed.
Shaving supplies
Spare glasses if you can’t see you are in trouble, this where “one is none, and two is one.”
Sam splints, this with duck tape and a walking stick you can walk with a broken ankle.
Washing clothes in a 5 gal bucket with a toilet plunger, There are some special ones that are more effective than a regular one. This works much better than you would expect
Lye (NaOH) needed to be able to make soap, old-time source is to use hardwood ashes. (This gives you potassium hydroxide, KOH) don’t do this in aluminum containers as it will eat a hole in it. A good how-to book is Smart Soap Making —Anne Watson.
Pioneers would place hardwood ashes in a wooden barrel and add water and let them soak for several weeks plastic barrels work here too, and drain the lye water off, if it floated an egg it was strong enough, if not strong enough careful simmering the lye water in Stainless steel or enameled containers, to make it stronger if needed. This should done outdoors. Don’t use aluminum.
Lime to keep smells down in outdoor toilets.
Clothing
Keep it simple and durable (cotton kills in the winter, it retains moisture which pulls the heat from the body)
Wool is best, will keep you warm even if is wet.
Thread, needles, scissors, and multable bolts of cloth, yarn, bed sheets are an economical source of cloth, which also can be used as bandages.
And old fashion treadle-type sewing machine in good repair.
Shoes, work type. More than one pair, as it may be years before you can get another pair.
Socks-wool
Neck gaiters – I wish I had discovered these years ago, great for cold windy weather.
Leather work gloves, stock up on many pairs.
Sleeping bag(s) — 2 summer-rated sleeping bags inside one another will take you down to below zero for sleeping, I have done it many times. I have winter camped with the Boy Scouts. A good thick pad to insulate you from the frozen ground is very, very important. It is surprising how a thin pad or no pad will drain the heat out of you on frozen ground and give you very uncomfortable sleep, or no sleep.
Tools. Mostly hand-powered. Think back to the 1800s technology. (Also, if you have one tool, you have none, if you have two tools you have one, this is due loss or breakage.) Quality is very important here. A sample list, I am sure you can think of more:
Hammers several types including a sledge
anvil, forge
Axes
Wood maul to split wood, you need a sledgehammer too.
Nails
Wire, old fencing may be a source.
Twine, rope, 550 cord has a 1000 and 1 uses, this is important to have. Many sources,
Leatherman multi-tool or tools
Pliers, multiple types
Extensive socket set, wenches
Hand Drill, drill bits
Knives
Scissors
Tape measures, level
Square
shovel, pick, spade, rake, hoe, crowbar.
Plywood to cover broken windows
Plastic bags lots of them, sheet plastic, traps, paint.
pencils, paper, paper plates if water is in short supply and you are not able to wash dishes, silverware.
And many other tools, think-hand powered as there will be no electrical power.
A means to sharpen tools, since a dull tool is a dangerous tool
Communications: FRS Walkie-talkie, 2-Meter, or shortwave I will leave for others that know more about that than I do.
Save some pennies, as you can make a small battery out of them and power a small LED, making a voltic pile sand off on side of the penny to expose the zinc and alternate zinc/copper with some small disc of paper towel or cardboard wet with saltwater, vinegar between the copper/zinc you will get 0.6-0.8 volts and as you add more to the pile you get a higher voltage, more directions on the internet.
Sources — Just examples, as there are many other ones:
Agrisupply.com – (ASC) cooking equipment, cast iron pots, some quite large like 90 gallon size.
Lehmans.com, — almost everything for non-electric living
Northernbrewers.com –large SS cooking pots, handy if you have a large group, also beer and wine making stuff.
Cabela’s– Dutch ovens and lots of other things to keep you alive
Filson.com –durable clothes but $$$$
Railriders.com—very durable lightweight clothes $$$
Duluth Trading company durable clothes, but however mostly cotton
Carhartt—durable clothes mostly cotton
Bulk foods—like cream of tartar, molasses powder, many more things
Heinsohn Country store- almost anything They have potassium nitrate
Campmor—camping and survival supplies
Pendrys—bulk spices, cookbooks, hot spices if that is your taste
Books (a limited list) The more data, and how to do books the better.
Bible
Mennonite Country style recipes—Esther Shank
Whole Grain Baking– King Arthur Flour
Seed to Seed – Suzanne Ashworth
Root Cellaring – Mike and Nancy Bubel
Country Living—Carla Emery—a classic a head of its time
Cast-iron Cooking for Dummies
Log Cabin Dutch Oven- Colleen Sloan
Log Cabin Camp Fire Cooking– Colleen Sloan
Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing– Ryek Kutas
Lodge Dutch oven cookbooks
Texas Treasury Dutch Oven Cooking – Lone Star Dutch Oven Society
World Championship Dutch Oven Cookbook
Whole Grain Breads—Peter Reinhart – a good source on how to make yeast starters, good recipes too
Smart Soap Making—Anne Watson
The Preppers Medical Handbook—Wm. Forgey MD
Various books on knitting, sewing, leather work
Various wine or beer making books (trade or barter the products)
Blogs and Websites
SurvivalBlog -the best site to start out with tons of valuable information, their archives are very good
Zero Hedge – economic and political information to make you depressed or forewarned
Instapundit – news of all types
Keep directions and information on acid-free paper, as the electronic media may be down. Having games and reading material to pass the time if needed. Pencil and paper for homeschooling.
Having trading maternal may be helpful. You can grow tobacco in the upper part of plant zone 5, I have grown it. I don’t smoke. However, it may be useful for trade or barter.
Having enough cash on hand to pay bills for 1-2 months is wise. Cash will be king at first, later it will become just paper. This is where bartering comes in.
Do read and get as much information as possible, plan ahead. It is best to have something and not need it than to need something and not have it. Example: A spare tire. Be organized and prepared, things can happen fast.
You don’t want to be a refugee, so stay at home unless you are in a big city or place that is totally in chaos and you have no choice for yourself and your family’s safety, then have get out of Dodge kit(s) for that purpose. In this case, it is wise to have a preplanned and pre-stocked place to retreat to. Also in this case, it is better to be too early than too late.
Remember the five wise bridesmaids (virgins) who took extra oil for their lamps. Matthew 25, They were prepared! Do likewise.
For more information, the 1997 book The Fourth Turning by Howe and Strauss talks about coming future events, in a nut shell: the 1st 4th Turning in the USA was the Revolutionary war-external, the 2nd 4th Turning was the Civil War-internal, the 3rd 4th Turning was the depression and WW-2 external, the 4th 4th Turning which we are half way through at this time. There will be an internal conflict (war?) along with social and economic problems(inflation). The peak will be between 2021 -2023, and be over about 2030. The turnings cycle about every 80-100 years, 4 parts to each cycle each about 20-25 years apiece, IE about a generation.
This had been known for a long time, as it has been said that history doesn’t repeat, it rhymes.
Practice the skills that you will need to use, because failure in times of distress may be life-threatening.
Your most important survival tool is between your ears.