The Novice And The Expert- Part 1, by Old Bobbert

This article will not make you an expert prepper, but it can help you as you help a newbie prepper get started, It can also help the newbie get a good start, even if they’re without a expert to pick up the broken pieces of a poorly prepared preparedness plan.

A Little Pretending As We Plan

Let’s pretend today. You are one of the two primary types of preppers. You are either an experienced very competent prepper, one who genuinely cares to help others, or you are the inexperienced newbie who desperately wants someone to help you survive and make it all good again. This article is motivated by the proven maxim that if we do not help each other, no one will be helped. Assume that our SHTF incident was early this morning and you are the newbie guy who is terrified and not prepared for anything much more than “your neighbor’s dog is in your backyard”. So, what will you need to do right now for the first time?

First Thing– Situation Report

First, you need to assess your situation and make a “situation report” to the guy in the mirror. That’s right. Make your sitrep to the guy/lady in charge. Here’s what the report needs to include: answers to “what”, “when”, “where”, “who”, “how”, and “why” plus any other pertinent data needed to make it a serious report enabling you and others to know your situation and to know what is needed next. This has been a proven method for many, many years.

From that base line starting point, you are well on the way to begin your survival success, provided you can find someone to help you or you can find someone you can help. Either position will teach you to be strong and to be knowledgeable.

For Both the Expert and the Novice

This article is styled for both the expert and the novice. It would be easy to simply condemn the novice with a stern chastisement, leaving him or her to wander about in ignorance and be a tiresome bother to others. That would help absolutely no one, not the novice or the expert and certainly not this writer.

My goal in this missive is to enable, through enlightenment, to help you late bloomers to at least know how to do something both fruitful and sustaining in a very short time span. This will enable you to know that you have done what was possible while under stress and without self pity or a feeling of guilt. You will begin to know that you can learn new skills while under heavy stress.

Start Now and Have No Pity Party!

When the flag goes up and time is short, no one will be able to expend the time and energy necessary for a pity party. The person who looks at the situation and says to himself, “You are late but you’re not too late! You are short on assets and goodies, but you’re not too short on courage! You are not too short on determination, nor too short on integrity,” this is the inner stuff of real winners. All of this is true provided that you stand up and start up, now! You will have to endure until the immediate “SHTF” incident has passed. You will then have started into your recovery. Then, working together, we can start to rebuild and to renew our priorities and values. It will be a new day, a great day, for all of us.

Make a List of Needed Assets

Okay, so now you need to make your list of the assets you will need. Your time will be short. Read the sit-rep you prepared again. It is the basic decision-making tool. We all do sit-reps. We’er back to prepared again. We do seem to use that word in so many different ways.

As a “newbie”, you will need to make a written journal of activities, questions and answers, names, and phone numbers in your newly started response journal. Your first question could easily be “What is the SHTF situation I am dealing with?”. That question might be followed by “What are the real survival facets of my situation?” Continuing in this direction, ask yourself, “Who do I know that can help me get ready to successfully deal with my situation?” You are going to live through a crash course in new words and concepts, new thoughts, and fears. You must remember to document everything as if your life depended on it, because it does.

Most Probable Major Survival Incidents

There is at most a very slight chance that there will be more than one SHTF incident at the same time, and that’s probably the only good news I have for you today. The most probable expected major survival issues are:

1. An EMP that shuts down most/all of the nation’s computer systems.
2. A cyber attack on the electric power grid, any or all of the 3+ sections. (Remember that many small towns still provide part-to-full electric power locally.)
3. A large-scale pandemic.
4. An east coast tsunami generated somewhere in the Atlantic ocean
5. A mid-America major quake. Google check the probability of the “New Madrid Fault.”’ It rang Boston church bells in 1859.
6. That other major big fault line in Southern California. Check it out.
7. The undersea plate pushing up under the Oregon coast.
8. When Hurricane Katrina hit land, it caused huge people problems. Everything resembling common sense and charitable help for neighbors went right down the overloaded sewer drains. And it started almost immediately.
9. The Yellowstone super-volcano.

The Pandemic

Okay, first let’s talk about #3—the pandemic. There is really not much we can do during that situation, except stay at home and remember to not let anyone in to visit without a severe Q&A through the closed door. Good luck on not letting your mother-in-law in or your married child with your grand-kids in tow.

If the pandemic is your SHTF incident and occurring, contact your family members. Do it now! Call all of them!! Call and immediately find out where they have been, who is sick now, who did they meet in person recently who is now sick. Ask if they can get to you or you to them nonstop soon, very soon, before the authorities shut down all travel except for their own troops’ movements.

Exposed Must Be Put Into Isolation

If there is a known incubation period, perhaps your exposed family members can live in your garage to wait out that time period. Or, perhaps they can stay in a camper or a tent situation in the back yard. Be firm on this issue!

As a shut-in, you/they will need to have enough food, water, and meds for at least six weeks. Where did I get the six week figure? We call that one a “PFA”, plucked from air! Good luck.

Shopping For Supplies

Do as much as you can as quickly as you can. If you are going to the nearest Walmart type store, use 3-6 people in two or three cars. Use fewer if necessary. Each shopper is paired with someone who does no shopping but is alert and watches. You are going there to buy only the exact items on the three to four lists you will have with you. Follow your plan!

The decision to stock up on cigarettes and booze is a personal one. However, my opinion is simple. I do not want to deal with anyone’s bad habits and the resulting discord. I do remember how difficult it was to quit smoking. I’d pray on this one.

In the grocery store, stay apart from one another while filling up the carts and be very discreet. First, try your best to use credit cards but take cash and as much as you can to cover the expected costs. You should assume that there will be price jumps due to fears and greed. Pay the price and move on with the plan. Your cash will be very handy and usable if the financial system shuts down, which can happen very easily and very quickly. If they are working, use cell phones in the store to talk to each other and to the drivers waiting in the cars. If not, have a runner to bring the cars to the doors when you are ready to exit with your new goodies.

Exiting Stores and Not Looking Like an Easy Victim

Plan to exit the store in a line, one after another, using the extra persons to guard/drive the cars. Always remember to be aware of “the bad guys” who are watching to see who might be a weak solitary person that could be an easy victim.

How can we would look to be the least likely to be an easy victim? Wear blue jeans, a ball cap with the visor in front, work shoes or boots, and sun glasses in the store continuously. Slide a hammer in your belt. Just do what you can to present yourself as a knowledgeable and very confident person. Smile at everyone you see looking at you. When you are in the checkout line, remember to use the confidence key words.

Tomorrow, we will continue on by learning these confidence key words and then move on with what to do to prepare for situation #1– an EMP.

See Also:

• The Novice And The Expert- Part 2, by Old Bobbert
• The Novice And The Expert- Part 3, by Old Bobbert

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been part one of a three part entry for Round 72 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical 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,
4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
5. An infrared sensor/imaging camouflage shelter from Snakebite Tactical in Eureka, Montana (A $350+ value),
6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
7. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
8. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
4. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
5. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
6. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
7. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
8. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
9. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Third Prize:

1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
2. A custom made Sage Grouse model utility/field knife from custom knife-maker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
3. 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,
4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a $125 Montie gear Gift certificate.,
8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value), and

Round 72 ends on September 31st, 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.