E-readers: My Personal Alexandria, Now Less Flammable!, by ASC

Imagine that you wake up one glorious morning, except you discover that it has hit the fan. You wake up in a brand new world, filled with dangers and struggles that did not exist the day before. Depending on how you have prepared, you may be bugging out to your pre-determined bug out location, or you may be bugging in and locking down your primary home and using it as your shelter as you move forward in this dangerous new world.

You are fully stocked with enough food, water, and other supplies for a long while. However, Murphy’s Law will always be present, and within hours, days, or weeks, a situation may arise that you had not planned for. Perhaps your water source has been compromised. Maybe your stored food has gone bad and must be replaced. It could be possible that a family member has developed a medical issue for which you do not have the correct, conventional medications to treat. The list of potential issues is endless.

At some point in this post-SHTF world, you WILL be faced with a situation that you have not prepared for. How will you deal with this issue? How will you gain the experience or knowledge required to fix it? You will not be able to get a repairman, doctor, or blacksmith out to your homestead to fix whatever is broken. In order to take care of a problem yourself, if you need to learn about a specific that you had not learned in a pre-SHTF world, it will also be much more difficult to obtain that knowledge at that point. Libraries will be abandoned, bookstores will be closed, and experts will no longer be readily available. You’ll need a library of information available to provide the guidance and knowledge that you require.

In a post-SHTF world, there are going to be so many necessary skills needed that it will be practically impossible to learn, through application and practice, everything that a survivor would need to know ahead of time. Therefore, an E-reader would allow you to store documents needed for this new world.

Why an E-reader?

I have always been a book lover. I am constantly in the middle of a book. I have started to use an E-reader. While my E-reader– a Kindle Fire– has been great for me, there are many other models available. All of the guidance below can be useful, regardless of the specific model of E-reader used.

Once the decision is made to start preparing for the inevitable, many of us recognize that we will need to keep copies of first aid manuals, foraging references, as well as a host of other reference materials to help us survive.

As I started to put together a list of these reference materials, I quickly realized that keeping paper copies of this information is going to be very heavy, take up a significant amount of space, and be very difficult to carry around on a regular basis. It is effectively impossible.

Then it hit me. Why not use an E-reader to serve as a library? An E-reader can contain hundreds of e-books. An E-reader isn’t just for e-books, either. Depending on the capabilities of your specific model, you can also load up maps, Adobe Acrobat files, photographs, and anything else that you consider important.

Unlike a regular book, an E-reader has its own downfalls. How do you keep it powered in a post-SHTF environment? How do you keep it waterproof? What about the possibility of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) rendering it useless? These concerns will be addressed later in this article.

Where to get Ebooks?

The Weekend Prepper website, theweekendprepper.com, put together a fantastic article on how to find free books for a Kindle. While these instructions are specific to a Kindle, a person who uses their iPad or any other tablet can download and use the free Kindle Reader app. This software is available for all Apple and Android smart phones and tablets.

Paraphrased From the Weekend Prepper Article:

Amazon publishes a bestseller list for the Kindle every day. These books are not specifically for preppers or anyone else. There is a gold mine of options though, depending upon your particular interests.

How to search for free Kindle books

  1. Go to the main Kindle ebook page.
  2. Use the search box at the top of the page and type in your search terms. Enter, in the Search field, whatever topic you wish to have more information on. Some ideas include: prepping, first aid, essential oils, survival, water storage, et cetera.
  3. Click on the Go button.
  4. Now that you have a list of all the books related to your specific search, you will need to sort your results to find the ones that are currently free.

    • On the top right of the page, you will see a pull down box labeled Sort by: Go to that box and select Price: Low to High.
    • Once you do that, you will have a list of all the books related to your search, with the ones at the top of the list being the ones you can download for free.

As of the date of writing this article, there are over 25 free books when I searched for “prepping”. There are over 100 free e-books when searching for “survival”.

The pool of available free books changes frequently. Figure out what topic you want more information on, and take a few minutes every few days to perform a few searches. Over time you can build up a great collection of reference books at no cost to you. Even if you stumble across a must-have book that never seems to be made available for free, most kindle books can be purchased for a very modest investment of a few dollars, which is a small price to pay for a valuable resource.

It should be noted that “you get what you pay for” most of the time. Many of these free e-books are barely the size of a pamphlet. Some ebooks I have downloaded are less than 30 pages long. Many of these free “ebooks” have information that can be found elsewhere. While some of these smaller eBook may have valuable guidance, you may be able to find identical information in larger, more comprehensive books.

There are many possible subjects that you may want more information on. Downloading a book on “Building the Perfect Bug Out Bag,” may not be needed, if you have already learned and prepared one. The focus of these e-books should be to develop a library of books to provide guidance on performing tasks that you are not already familiar with. The focus should also be on obtaining reference materials to provide guidance you are unable to obtain otherwise.

I will admit that I have some printed reference materials, but these are quite minimal. I do have an emergency first aid reference that I keep with my first aid kit. I have an Essential Oil reference with my EOs. I have paper copies of road maps as well. Other than these documents, everything else is loaded onto my e-reader.

What About Other Documents?

While it is relatively easy to develop a library of actual eBooks, there are many other resources available. In addition to these ebooks, one can load other documents that would be viewable on their E-reader. I have found many resources for free Adobe Acrobat files. Some of my favorite resources include, http://urbansurvivalsite.com/ebooks/ and http://www.armageddononline.org/disaster-prep-help.html. Together, both sites have thousands of documents available related to prepping, including many Army Field manuals, first aid, food storage documents, and documents covering many other subjects.

Maps: Having copies of topographic maps loaded could potentially be a life saver. The U.S. Geological Survey runs a store where one can download many topographic maps free of charge. The website, store.usgs.gov, is the starting point for these searches. It would be helpful to have maps available covering the area from your current home to any and every possible Bug Out location available to you.

Whatever else you wish to load onto your e-reader, once downloaded to your computer, it is just a simple matter of transferring the documents to your E-reader through the charging cord. With my Kindle, I also have an assigned email address that I can wirelessly deliver these documents to the device from any email address.

I have also loaded a number of family pictures on my e-reader. I can use these pictures for a variety of purposes, including reminiscing. I can imagine, in a long post-SHTF environment, that family photos would be quite a treasure, despite their impracticality.

Protection from the Elements?

Waterproofing an E-reader can be done in a variety of ways. There are a number of cases available that provide the protection required. Personally, I am skeptical of these integrated cases. Since there are ports for charging and headphones through the case to the device itself, I worry that these openings would not provide protection 100% of the time. After use, if I neglected to properly seat the seal into the hole, water could enter and destroy my device.

My preference would be for a strong, resealable waterproof bag to store the E-reader in. When I needed it, I could remove the device and then replace it when I am done. I do acknowledge that if I didn’t seal it back properly, this plan could fail. This option seems to be the superior choice for me personally.

We deal with the elements regularly, but there will be a number of concerns specific to a post-SHTF world. How do we address recharging the device when the grid is down? How do we keep our E-reader safe from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP)?

Recharging our E-reader in a Post-SHTF world?

To address the recharging needs of our E-reader, solar-sourced energy is probably going to be the best bet. There are a number of portable solar chargers available on the market today. Being the cheapskate that I am, I am building my own using this plan: http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-USB-Phone-Charger-with-Battery-Backup/. If DIY isn’t your thing, you can find over 60,000 results on Amazon.com when searching for a Solar USB charger. There are other options for post-SHTF recharging as well, such as wind or hydroelectric, which are beyond the scope of this article. (Check out other SurvivalBlog articles for this information.)

What about an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP)?

From Wikipedia: An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), also sometimes called a transient electromagnetic disturbance, is a short burst of electromagnetic energy. Such a pulse may occur in the form of a radiated electric or magnetic field or conducted electrical current depending on the source, and may be natural or man-made.

EMP interference is generally damaging to electronic equipment, and at higher energy levels a powerful EMP event such as a lightning strike can damage physical objects such as buildings and aircraft structures. The management of EMP effects is an important branch of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) engineering.

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a concern and is certainly within the realm of possibility. When compared to all of the other potential SHTF scenarios, it is much less likely that we will need to deal with an EMP in comparison to all of the other things that could cause the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI).

However, we are preppers! We always try to consider all of the variables and find a way to address every potentiality.

To “harden” your E-reader for the possibility of an EMP, a simple Faraday Cage could be employed. A Faraday cage shields the interior of the cage against external electromagnetic radiation. There are many inexpensive options available to the prepper:

  1. An unplugged microwave oven.
  2. Metal garbage can with a tight fitting lid.
  3. A Booster bag, commonly used by shoplifters to steal items with RFID chips. The Bag is lined with aluminum foil to electronically seal the RFID chip inside so it does not alert store security.
  4. A cardboard box, properly covered in aluminum foil.

There are hundreds of plans online for building your own simple Faraday Cage.

Based on the very small likelihood that it will be an EMP that causes TEOTWAWKI, many preppers do not use a Faraday Cage. I am guilty of this, as much as anyone. Considering the ease of putting one together and the potential loss of information, I would challenge you (and me) to make a Faraday cage part of your preps. Inside, I would also keep my solar charger, a USB thumb drive with all of my important documents scanned and copied. I’d also store any radios or any other electronic devices that are vulnerable to an EMP.

How would you add documents to an E-reader in a Faraday Cage?

If an E-reader is constantly stored in a Faraday cage, it will be impossible to update the device with any new documents or eBooks. On your own schedule, you could remove the device from the Faraday cage and power it up. Once the device is powered, you can start the download process for all of the nifty prepper documents that you wish to install on the device.

As long as the device is out of the Faraday Cage, the device is vulnerable to an EMP. For maximum protection, the device should always be stored inside the Faraday Cage.

In Closing

In my esteem, an E-reader is an absolute necessity for prepping. Why?

  1. I am not smart or talented enough to know everything I may need to know in a post-SHTF world.
  2. I don’t have enough time to learn it all, either. Between working and raising a family, there are barely enough hours in the day.
  3. I do not have the resources or ability to keep paper copies of all of the information I may need.

In a post-SHTF world, knowledge will be a very valuable resource. My E-reader will become my personal reference tool. I have it stocked with books, maps, plans, and much more. If I am faced with a scenario I am unfamiliar with, I will hopefully have reference materials on my E-reader to address the situation at hand.

References:

How to find eBooks:

Free Adobe Acrobat Documents Related to Prepping: http://urbansurvivalsite.com/ebooks/

EMP Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse

Faraday Cages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage

Letter Re: Caring for Babies in a Post-Collapse World

Mr. Hugh,

I would like to add to the article on caring for babies. My mother-in-love told me that when her daughter was born, she contracted a stomach virus within hours after birth. She survived the virus, but her intestinal tract was very sensitive. The pediatrician put her on a formula of goat’s milk and rice water– water drained from boiled rice. This might work for the baby in your scenario as well. Goat’s milk is an excellent alternative to human milk, and rice is a grain that is very easy on the digestive tracts of infants and elderly folks as well. I am stocking extra rice for that reason. Also I saw a formula for an electrolyte solution for adults using ingredients that can be stocked for longer periods of time than the electrolyte solutions sold in stores. There may be one for children and infants or maybe the adult version could be diluted. I also bought some thermometer strips that we put in our emergency medical kits. They don’t give an exact numeral readout, but they give a ballpark temperature (within one degree) reading based on the color that shows on the strip when placed on the forehead. (I like it better than trying to get a temp at the other end.) I think I paid less than $2 for each strip. As for diapering, don’t forget diaper pins and plastic pants. Or you could get a package of assorted quilting safety pins. As a last resort for plastic pants to go over the cloth diapers, you should have some rolls of plastic and Gorilla Tape in your preps. Just don’t tape the baby! – DSR

Economics and Investing:

Sweden cuts rates below zero and starts QE – G.G.

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This is the first time I’ve seen this gold ‘buy’ signal since 2009 – Dominic Frisby

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Guess What Happened The Last Time The U.S. Dollar Skyrocketed In Value Like This?…

US Weekly Jobless Claims Total 304,000 vs 285,000 Estimate

Food Stamp Beneficiaries Exceed 46,000,000 for 39 Straight Months

U.S. Foreclosure Activity Rises 5% in January

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“As we used to say in the mountains, ‘Breathe. Breathe again. With every breath, you are alive.’ After all these years, this is still the best advice I can give you: Savor your existence. Live every moment. Do not waste a breath.” ? Nando Parrado, Miracle in The Andes

Notes for Thursday – February 12, 2015

The knife industry lost a legend and icon as the Buck Knives Company Chairman Chuck Buck passed away last week: Industry Legend Chuck Buck passes away.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 57 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less then one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 30 DPMS AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Gray Mil Spec w/ Magpul Follower Magazines (a value of $448) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a 340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. 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,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate, and
  10. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. 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,
  3. *Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 value), and
  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).

Round 57 ends on March 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.

Caring for Babies in a Post-Collapse World, by F.C.

“How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.” (Matthew 24:19-21)

The shrill scream of a sick infant pierces the night. It’s your sister’s newborn boy, only six weeks old. Your sister, husband, and other two young children showed up at your country bug out location three days ago; they were exhausted, starving, and desperate. In the years leading up to the collapse, your brother-in-law openly mocked you for being a “crazy prepper”. Now, he’s extremely humbled and grateful for your taking him and his family in. However, with their arrival, this makes a dozen extended family and friends crowded into your small two-bedroom, one-bathroom cabin.

Now, let’s go back to the ill infant. Your sister has tried breastfeeding the baby, but because he had grown accustomed to bottle feeding, he rejects your sister’s best efforts. The baby feels warm to the touch, but you don’t have a thermometer to take his temperature. Why, you kick yourself, couldn’t you at least have included this in your preps? He has had his diaper changed, thanks to some spare sheets Sis has doubled up and fastened together with some large paper clips. That’s when you mentally kicked yourself again. You think, “Why didn’t I at least buy a pack of those cloth diapers I passed by at Walmart a dozen times while on my way to buy extra ammo?” Right now, you’d trade a couple of valuable ammo boxes for a dozen cloth diapers. You’d do just about anything to calm down that screaming baby!

Does baby have a headache? It’s hard to say. Even if he does, you didn’t think to buy any infant pain meds. Is baby dehydrated? Again, who knows? You blissfully passed by the Pedialyte on your way to buy an extra pair of long underwear for yourself, never considering the consequences of being ill-prepared for the very youngest generation in this post-collapse world.

Now, Sis, who is suffering from post-partum syndrome, screams in desperation and wakes up the rest of your bug out group. She threatens to bash the baby’s head against the wall to end both of their collective misery. Her husband snatches the infant from her arms before she is able to do so. Sis collapses to the floor, weeping uncontrollably, suffering from a full mental breakdown.

Oh, to just get a decent night’s sleep! Why didn’t you think about what was needed to take care of babies in all your preps? Why? Why indeed? Right now, in the relative comfort of your pre-collapse world, you may think, “Look, I don’t have any babies in the house. Why should I worry about that?” Well, after reading the aforementioned scenario, do you think it might be wise to rethink your priorities?

The good news is that there’s still time to act now. That passage in Matthew 24 describes desperate people fleeing the city in a post collapse world: “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers.” Frankly, when I read that verse, I’m haunted by it. I wonder how many unprepared pregnant and nursing mothers will suffer the same fate described above, or worse. Indeed, there are many accounts throughout history of mothers and fathers who will become so desperate in a time of severe collapse and famine that they will resort to acts ranging from severe neglect of children to abandonment, murder, and in some terribly tragic cases even to cannibalism. This is even described in the Bible:

“The most gentle and sensitive woman among you—so sensitive and gentle that she would not venture to touch the ground with the sole of her foot—will begrudge the husband she loves and her own son or daughter the afterbirth from her womb and the children she bears. For in her dire need she intends to eat them secretly because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of your cities.” (Deut. 28:56-57)

So, it is evident that, in the future, things will get bad relating to both famine and the lack of essential supplies. Especially hard-hit will be pregnant and nursing mothers. So, what can we do right now to prepare for that unexpected arrival of a family member, friend, or other refugee with infants and toddlers, especially sick ones? What can we purchase that is available right now, which will no longer be available because all the stores will be looted or burned to the ground? What should be at the top of your list? Here are a few ideas:

  1. Glass baby bottles. Remember when your mother boiled those glass baby bottles to sterilize them between uses? As long as you handle them carefully, you’ll get unlimited use from them. Yes, you can also gently boil the plastic ones (between 2-5 minutes), but in the long run, glass will hold up better. Glass bottles should be boiled for 10 minutes to ensure killing germs and bacteria. (You may also wish to buy tongs to enable you to handle them and metal racks on which they can sit to drain and dry.)
  2. Baby formula powder. Keep in mind that many babies are used to popular brands, like Enfamil or Similac, and they may reject one or the other, so it’s wise to purchase some of both. However, these can be a bit pricey, so you may also invest in some of the less expensive generic brands offered by Walmart, Costco, or Sam’s Club. You can also purchase cans of ready-to-use formula. Some variations even include formula for babies with fussiness and gas, and also soy-based formulas.
  3. Cloth diapers. Remember when your mother or grandmother used to rinse out all those old cloth diapers in the toilet before running them through the washer? Well, in a post-collapse world, what do you think the chances will be of being able to run down to the local drugstore for a box of disposable Pampers? It’s not too good. This means it’s back to cloth diapers, which can and should be re-used. One of the few places where I’ve found them is good old Walmart. They sell a 10-pack of Gerber cloth diapers for around $12. Oh, and don’t forget diaper pins and fasteners! This item alone could be worth its weight in gold in a post collapse world, especially for barter. So, future barter items in high demand could now not only include ammo and coffee but diapers and formula!
  4. Baby meds and supplies. The following medications and supplies are among the most common for baby care:
  5. Baby clothes – Onesies, separates, pajamas, gloves, caps, sweaters, coats, and blankets. The thrift store is a great source here.
  6. Baby food– Jars of different varieties are plentiful at the present time, but don’t overlook such dual-use (adults and children) bargain items such as oatmeal, mashed potato flakes, and cream of wheat. For toddlers and older children, some canned and or dehydrated fruit can be mixed with water and mashed up and for consumption. Some cereals, such as those cheap generic bags of honey-nut Cheerios can be transformed into instant baby food by mashing them up with a little water.
  7. Baby vitamins – Very important! Those chewable flavored gummy ones are a hit with kids!

It may seem overwhelming at first when you ponder such a long list of items, but the idea is to start at the top of the list and try to pick up one or two items every time you visit either the grocery or discount store. When we stop to consider that the future collapse will be a time of “great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again”, it is clear that the coming tribulation will be much worse than anything described either in history or in the scriptures. If many of us can just do a small part to alleviate at least some of the suffering, it will all be more than worth it.

There are few things more stressful than having to endure hearing a baby’s desperate cry for hours on end and knowing you can’t do anything about it. The guilt of knowing you could have done something ahead of time and didn’t could be even worse. Therefore, I have concluded that in the course of my prepping, I’m going to make every effort to, at the very least, purchase some items to try to care for pregnant and nursing mothers. In so doing, you and I both may shine as a light of Christian compassion in a chaotic and godless world. If for no other reason, do it for your own peace of mind and a decent night’s sleep.

Letter Re: Trusts

Hi Hugh / JWR,

In reply to the post about trusts I would inform your readers of another kind of trust. There are a number of different kinds of trust and many I would not consider to be asset protection; there is however a trust that is known as a Massachusetts or Contract Trust. While most trusts are statutory documents, a Contract Trust is a Constitutional document and has stood the test of multiple court challenges from the likes of the IRS. Many very wealthy people have their assets in this type of trust. This trust does not die until the members wish it, which means that when I pass the trust lives on and my son (trustee) gains control of our farm and possessions. This means no estate taxes; no will; no probate. The only thing that I own is a 1987 Subaru that I use around the farm… The goal is to OWN NOTHING but still control your possessions and have asset protection. Yours in Liberty and Faith from the Redoubt, -DB

Economics and Investing:

Why We Won’t See An Oil Price Rebound Yet

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Barack Obama’s policies for 6 years have brought NEITHER peace nor prosperity. PERIOD!

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Medicare and Social Security Tabs Coming Due – Good article, but I have seen credible folks saying the numbers on unfunded liabilities in the 200+ trillion dollar range.

David Stockman: Audit The Fed——And Shackle It, Too

Low Oil Price Won’t Spur Global Growth Says Moody’s

Shifting Goal Posts on Employment Signals Slower Fed Rate Hikes – Of course they are going to move the goal post; that is all they have been doing. They know it’s fraudulent data, and they know they can’t really raise rates.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Central Florida leaders to vote on pay-per-mile study. – T.P.

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From the local TV news out of Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, February. 10th: Major shipping company pulls out of Portland

I’m sure you’ve all seen those shipping containers attached to semi-trucks with the words “Hanjin” written on ’em. Well, Hanjin is one of the biggest sea shipping companies in the world; cargo ships are absolutely loaded down with those shipping containers stacked high on ’em as they pull into port.

Well, Hanjin announced yesterday that they will no longer pull into port in Portland, OR. No big deal, right? WRONG!!! We get 75% of everything we use shipped into Oregon via Hanjin shipping. First off all, this means the loss of hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs in the Portland, OR area. Secondly, it will mean that almost everything we purchase will have to be brought into Oregon (and probably parts of Washington, Idaho, and N. California, too) via trucks from the Seattle, WA area, which means delays and higher prices.

So, prepare to pay a lot more for just about everything you buy. Walmart’s prices will most assuredly go up, as they get much of their stuff from China. As I said, this will probably affect not just Oregon but Idaho, Washington, and N. California as well as the entire country, since trucks will have to deliver products unloaded from Hanjin hundreds if not thousands of more miles, adding to the overall cost of things.

I’m just glad that NObama has been telling us how much better the economy is. Without him telling us, we wouldn’t know how great things are going, huh? – Pat Cascio, SurvivalBlog Product Review Editor Emeritus.

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Russia Warns Military Aid To Ukraine From The U.S. Will Result In ‘All Out War’

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Brazilians hoard water, prepare for possible drastic rationing. – JBG

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From the Wranglerstar vlog: Breaking Out The Big Gun

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“What we have in life that we can count on is who we are and where we come from, she thought absently. For better or worse, that is what we have to sustain us in our endevors, to buttress us in our darker moments, and to remind us of our identity. Without those things, we are adrift.” ? Terry Brooks, A Knight of the Word

Notes for Wednesday – February 11, 2015

February 11th is the birthday of the late Burt Blumert (born February 11, 1929 in New York City, died March 30, 2009). He once owned Camino Coin Company (as did Dr. Ron Paul). JWR was a Camino Coin Company customer, starting back in the late 1980s, and can remember Burt personally helping him dolly out his first purchase of 100-ounce Englehard bars. That was back when they cost just $580 each. Those were the days!

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Rural Revolution has gone online with their Country Living Series of illustrated E-Booklets on country ways. From moving to the country, canning, and obligations as a refugee, they have some awsome resources!

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Who doesn’t like a little something extra when they make a purchase? Ready Made Resources will throw in a case of Rice and Chicken and a second case of Spaghetti and Meat Sauce when you purchase their most popular Mountain House Food system.

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Don’t forget Camping Survival’s Mountain House Sale going on now ’til February 14th. It would be a good time to replenish your stock!

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Today, we present another entry for Round 57 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less then one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 30 DPMS AR-15 .223/5.56 30 Round Gray Mil Spec w/ Magpul Follower Magazines (a value of $448) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a 340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. 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,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. Acorn Supplies is donating a Deluxe Food Storage Survival Kit with a retail value of $350,
  4. The Ark Instituteis donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  5. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P),
  6. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  7. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  8. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate,
  9. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate, and
  10. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. 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,
  3. *Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Y-Shot Slingshot and a Locking Rifle Rack (a $379 value), and
  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).

Round 57 ends on March 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.

Pulling the Trigger, When They Don’t, and After the Action, by K.B.

Are you prepared to take a life, and are you prepared to deal with the consequences? The answer is not as clear as you might think, but there are three very important concepts to understand that might make answering that question easier. First, in what situation would you take someone’s life? Second, how do you respond to someone not firing or freezing up during a firefight? Third, are you prepared to deal with the mental trauma associated with taking someone’s life? These are very real issues that need to be addressed, and this article attempts to show how to deal with and prepare for each one.

Pulling the Trigger

It is important that before a SHTF scenario begins, you, your family, or group decide and agree when to take someone’s life. This concept is often referred to as the rules of engagement (ROE). Everyone needs to be on the same page on what the ROE is and why it is that way. For example, disaster strikes, and you need to bug-out in your vehicle. The streets are packed with other people trying to get out, and finding a gas station that has gas is a near impossibility. Many of you should be thinking, “That’s okay; I have my own gas to fill up my vehicle.” That’s a great thing, but what happens when your vehicle runs low and needs to be refueled. If you think people are going to watch you drive by with smiles while they are stranded, then you need to be brought back to reality. People will ask, plea, demand, and potentially steal what you have. At what point do you draw your weapon and defend what is yours? Are you and all members of your family or group willing to take someone’s life over gas– the absence of which will leave you stranded just like everyone else. If you cannot definitively answer this, then you may want to work on your own rules of engagement. You don’t want a plan such as “Well, I would just pull out my gun and threaten them. After that, if they don’t leave me alone, I’ll shoot them.” The problem with this is that desperate people don’t always heed warnings, and this is America. You can bet that you aren’t the only one with a gun. The last thing you want to do is start a firefight. Finally, if you do end up defending yourself or supplies by killing the offender, their family or others may see it differently. Remember, just because you have a gun, killing someone has consequences regardless of the justifications. People will always spin the story to make you look like the bad guy, and they don’t care about truth or facts. If you are not careful, you can end up fighting an entire mob of angry and desperate people. If and when you must use lethal force, make sure you have a plan– one that includes on what, in your mind, warrants the use of force in the first place and a plan on how to leave the area quickly. Responding to situations like the one described above effectively is extremely difficult and requires much training. Do not be the person who only knows how to use their weapon; be the person who knows when and how to use their weapon. Practicing these situations can help you potentially deal with them. Ask family and friends to role play with you, and have them be an agitated survivor. Introduce hidden weapons and more people as you gain practice. You will learn valuable techniques and experience that will help you deal with unruly people. It is imperative that after each situation you role play, go over what could have gone better or been done better, and learn from your mistakes. This simple training activity will save you a lot of trouble and possibly your life.

When They Don’t

Now that you have role played your situations, what happens if someone doesn’t pull the trigger when they should? It is a fact that the action of deliberately taking another life, especially at close range, is difficult for most people. If you ever want to know why this is true, you should read Dave Grossman’s books On Killing or On Combat. Even if you aren’t interested in the human psyche of killing, you need to be aware that you or a member of your group may not be able to pull the trigger when that crucial moment comes. You might think that there is no way you would hesitate, but for those of us who have been in those situations, more often than not, someone doesn’t do their job. This is why having battle-tested soldiers is such a force multiplier for the military, because the nerves experienced in the first few engagements are so overwhelming it makes doing a job very difficult. It is important to understand that you, or a member of your group, will freeze or make a bad decision during their first combat encounter, especially if no one in your group has been under fire before. While it’s frustrating and potentially deadly, knowing what to do when it happens is extremely important and lifesaving. The most typical reaction for someone to have if they experience direct fire, and they don’t seek cover and return fire, is to “freeze up”. When someone freezes, they enter a state of shock, bunker down behind something, and either do nothing or cry. The most important thing to do is to get that person to fire his/her weapon. Because of the state of shock, speaking or screaming usually doesn’t help. It takes firm physical contact, such as shaking, hitting, or kicking them, or throwing something at them to snap them back into reality. Once you have their attention, it’s extremely important you give them a clear and simple order, such as “fire your weapon” or “reload”, and that’s it. Berating, name calling, or screaming at them will only cause them to lock up more. The goal with giving them a simple task is to get their mind back into game, allowing the brain to realize the situation and remember the training. If they remain frozen and refuse to budge, leave them and finish the fight. It won’t do any good if you are taken out trying to get someone to return fire. Once the action is over and you return to a place of safety, how you treat and speak to the person who froze will play a major impact on whether or not they will become a functioning fighter capable of being trusted. While every instinct in your body will want to strangle, degrade, and scream at the one person who couldn’t fight, that’s exactly what not to do. This can be especially hard if someone was injured or killed because they weren’t able to cover their sector or preform a critical task, but you need to remind the person who froze or coward behind something the entire fight that they have worth and you need them to do their job. Remind them that this one instance doesn’t make them a coward; it makes them a human being. Then, all you need to do is treat that person with respect and dignity. Demand that everyone else in the group does as well, because nothing can cause a person to enter depression or worse, commit suicide, like alienation from peers. Treating someone this way, and not as a black sheep, is better because most likely they know they screwed up. They hate themselves too, and truthfully no one really knows how they are going to react to a situation like that until it happens.

After the Action

What happens after your first contact– after you, your family, or a group member takes someone’s life for the first time? The experience of killing someone is very different for each person, but for most it is very traumatic. This is the reason no one should ask a veteran “have you ever killed anyone”. For most, it isn’t a good experience that warrants a casual conversation. However, being able to talk about these experiences is important to help start the healing process. Otherwise, if left to brew and internalize what happened, depression, paranoia, or manic behavior are very real possibilities. We’re talking here about a SHTF scenario, where there are no counselors, no psychiatrists, no chaplains, and no priests to talk to. There certainly isn’t going to be an abundant supply of antidepressant medication going around. You, or somebody in your group, needs to be that person to talk to. It is important that you talk about the event, not to glorify it or condemn it, but to understand that it isn’t something that defines you. People need to know and be reassured that they are more than just a killer; they still have value, and life goes on. Remember that in today’s society soldiers returning home from deployment and officers involved in shootings are mandated or strongly encouraged to attend group or individual counseling. In a societal collapse those things are nonexistent, and it is up to you to make an environment conducive to healing those mental wounds. The healing will take time, especially in a stressful situation such as when in a SHTF scenario, but as a leader of your family or group, you are responsible for everyone’s mental welfare as well as their physical well being.

Be aware of your situation, and always train for the unexpected and hard decisions. Know that killing someone isn’t easy, and people do not always have what it takes to do it. Know how to speak and treat people when they make mistakes, and know how to talk about traumatic events that are bound to happen. Know that depression and suicide will be rampant in a SHTF scenario, and it takes time and dedication to safe guard ourselves and our group members. Know that in the end, all we have is each other.

Letter Re: Revocable Trusts

Hugh,

I am an attorney. I believe in trusts and have prepared many. A trust will not prevent estate taxes, but it can help keep them low. However, remember that you have to be rich to worry about taxes anyway. A well-drafted Will can do the same tax planning that a trust can do. The benefits of a trust are:

  1. Privacy. (You might need to give it to the title insurance company or the investment company, but it won’t be available to anyone who is just being nosy, as a Will filed at the Courthouse would be.)
  2. No probate. (There’s that privacy issue again and with an extra layer, BUT you have to have made the effort to transfer ownership to the trust or you will have to have a probate just to create the trust. Well, you’ll be dead, but your family will have to go to Court.)

If you are wealthy enough to have tax issues and you elect a do-it-yourself trust, you were penny wise and pound foolish. Consult a good estate planning attorney and CPA. I’m not sure an Internet trust will do what you need. There are as many issues that need to be addressed in estate planning as there are members of your family. I have seen some trusts done even by attorneys that were “scary”. Don’t leave a mess for your family; know what you are doing or don’t do it. Also, a trust can have any name– the Paper Lantern Trust, the Yellow Brick Road trust, etc. It doesn’t have to be the Bob and Betty Brown trust. I highly recommend trusts (I have one), but please… do your homework and don’t just grab the first thing you find. – NW Lawyer

Economics and Investing:

Silver and Gold Truth Versus Fiat Lies. – C.G.

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The world economy stands on the brink of a second credit crisis, China is imploding, interbank lending begin to seize up, the debt markets fall over, Europe on edge and TRILLION$$ in currency derivatives at risk

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Tomorrow Greece Decides: Europe… Or Russia

How Fast Would Contagion Spread If Greece Exits The Eurozone

Video: ‘Less Chocolate In a Bar, Price Stays The Same: Pure Deflation?’ Dr. Pippa Malmgren – Great video.

Video: The Central Bank Manipulation Trade – Rick Santelli