Austin Police Chief: ‘Spy on your neighbors, if they have guns turn them in’. – D.S.
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19 Signs That You Live In A Country That Has Gone Completely Insane. – H.L.
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Police Video: Judge obviously fails sobriety test – (The court still drops her DUI charges.)
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UK ‘Drifting Towards Police State’, Free Speech in Peril Says Top Cop. – G.P.
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“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, [which] shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” – Isaiah 62:6-7 (KJV)
Now available for pre-ordering at Amazon.com, but I’d prefer that you wait for December 30th to order: Tools for Survival: What You Need to Survive When You’re on Your Own. This book is a guide to the selection, use, and care of tools. It will also be available as an e-book and audiobook. -JWR
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Today, we present another entry for Round 56 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 56 ends on January 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.
I live on the megalopolis east coast in an old New England mill city. The large city near me is usually considered to be one of the five most expensive urban areas to live in America. I’m lucky; I have a job. My daily commute is about 15 miles from where I live, and it takes me about 40 minutes each way on a good day. This commute takes me through seven suburban cities, on the back roads as well as the main city streets. The local interstate is too gridlocked to use for the morning commute. Before you feel badly for me for my daily commute, let me tell you about the things that I see, pick up, and put in my pickup truck on my daily ride. As I like to say, every day is trash day somewhere!
These “Found” Items include:
I never drive out of my way. I’m not cruising around the neighborhoods looking for stuff, like the scrap metal collectors do. I’m just driving to work. I know what I need, and when I see something and it’s safe to stop to get it, I do so. It makes the commute much more enjoyable when you approach the ride each day with a treasure hunting “what–am-I-going–to-find–today” mental outlook. I also look for the yard sales signs and the For Sale/Sold signs on houses as clues to upcoming opportunities. Nothing feels better than to take an item off my list that I paid either nothing or very little for.
Some of you may find what I do to be distasteful. I don’t. I‘m not taking filthy or broken items, and I’m not digging around for anything. Nor am I making any mess. Most people leave the usable stuff off to the side. They know what they are doing, and they are trying to make it easy for people like me. If I see someone on the property, I ask them. I don’t assume. If I don’t see anyone, I always look at the house after loading up and say aloud, “Thank you.” One of the few (and, trust me, there are a lot of) responsible things that I have always done is recycle. This material is heading for a landfill, and there is nothing wrong with anything that I take except that the people who bought it got tired of it or now no longer have a use for it.
Understand too that my means to prepare for what I see coming down the road is limited. Currently, I’m alone on this ride, and there is only one very middle class paycheck coming in. By gathering the things that I may need in this manner, I have the resources that I need to buy other items and still have these preparations that I otherwise could not or would choose not to have. These other items can usually be found in grocery stores.
I’m sharing this with you not to boast on what I have but to perhaps give you some ideas how you too can prepare without taking out a second mortgage. I have read this website for years, and I would like to give back to it and to all of you for the knowledge and ideas that you’ve given to me.
Alas! Some items got away for various reasons.
The people who are tossing or selling this material don’t see or don’t understand the value in what they are getting rid of, like we do. It’s just stuff they can make a buck or two on or get some clear space in the basement or the garage. As far as their prices go, they don’t read the same catalogs that we do. Let them keep their latest model smart phones, electric can openers, $40,000+ pickup trucks, and 55-inch TVs. They can sell me their Grandma’s old junk for pennies on the dollar or just let me take it away for them.
Look around and realize what’s happening. Always remember that even if you are able only to do a very little, what you are doing and understanding is more than 85% of the people among us are doing or care to even try to comprehend. I do not write this with superiority or glee but with concern and sadness.
Get set, get ready, be safe, and keep your top knot. Let us hope never to need many of the items we now gather or ever have to experience the future that appears to be looming. Also, whistle on your way to work.
Just a note about small animals: Don’t count on them for the bulk of your diet.
Take for example crayfish: The calories for your effort may be very small. There are approximately 3.5 calories in a crayfish tail. (There’s more if you eat the head but not much more.) I’ve seen traps bring in around 50 crayfish on a good day. Therefore, for enough crayfish for a 350 calorie snack, you’ll need at least two traps, and that’s on a good day. Double that for average days.
If you want 1/4th of your calories of a family of four to be crawfish on a 3,000 calorie diet (I consider 3,000 a minimum, given the extra calories being expended during TEOTWAWKI), you need to catch 857 crayfish per day, using about 34 traps! When you also consider that you’ll also expend calories trapping and shelling almost 900 crawfish, it gets exhausting quick.
Also, pray your traps aren’t robbed.
Crawfish make a good food that can balance out the routine of your food rations. They also have a nice quantity of vitamins and minerals. Don’t count on them so much for your daily bread, but they do play a good role in your diet.
This just highlights the need to raise animals at home in addition to what you hunt in the wild.
C.D.V.
Use Enough Club: Golfer Killed by 12 foot ( 3.9m) Crocodile in South Africa Park. – T.P.
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Ukraine Goes Full Orwell, Unleashes “Ministry Of Truth”. – H.L.
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Birds to be trained to bring down drones?. – G.P.
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Americans Bought More Guns Than Flat Screen TV’s On Black Friday. – B.B.
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“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Genesis 32:28 (KJV)
I’ve removed my recent post on severing ties with Northwest Territorial Mint, pending further investigation. A few details need to be unearthed before I either re-post that, or post a retraction. (It now appears that I may have been lied to by the disgruntled customer, whom I quoted.) – JWR
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Ready Made Resources is having a Night Vision special. They are offering a Gen 2+ American made Mil-Grade Autogated monocular for $1,995. These are shock-mitigated for .308 recoil unlike the ITT unit (which is only warrantied for use with 5.56/.223.) This monocular includes a Weapons Mount, shipping is also included, along with a 16-Pack of Panasonic Eneloop 4th generation AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries (rechargeable up to 2,100 times), battery holder, and a AC/DC charger. The charger will charge D, C, AA, AAA, and 9 volt batteries.
It of course comes with all the standard equipment: Carry Case, Demist Shield, and Sacrificial lens. This is the best night vision deal they have ever offered for this unit. All made in the USA with all USA parts. Has a five year warranty and a money back guarantee. This is a great scope for someone on a budget or for someone who already owns an Gen 3 scope and looking for a spare.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 56 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 56 ends on January 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.
While working in the high-tech security industry I’m frequently disheartened by people’s attitude towards electronic technology in disaster/SHTF/TEOTWAWKI situations. For example, I was down in the NJ area shortly after Sandy came through, and I noticed that many people weren’t using their cell phones. I asked some folks what was wrong with their phone, and the two most common answers were: A) the battery is dead and I can’t charge it, or B) there’s no service available. Those answers pretty much sum up most people’s attitude about electronics; power for them is something that comes out of the wall, and their function is to talk to friends, update their Facebook status, or tweet their latest selfie. Being a prepper that works in the high-tech industry got me thinking about how electronics can add value in a disaster/SHTF/TEOTWAWKI situation. Note that I’m focusing on smaller, lighter, and more mobile applications, like bugging or cross-country travel, versus things you would do for a more permanent location, like a bug-out cabin.
First off, you need to accept that just because civilization has ended doesn’t mean your electronics will immediately stop working (unless it’s due to a major EMP event, but I’m going to ignore that case for now). I’ve got cell phone and laptops that are over five years old that still work fine. I used my previous cell phone every day for over two years, and it still functions perfectly well. I only upgraded because my company gave me a new one. As long as you take reasonable care of them and provide them with sufficient power, electronics can continue to function for a very long time (years). This brings up the first issue– how do you keep them powered?
Virtually every electronic device sold today utilizes either rechargeable or replaceable batteries, and sometimes both. My Samsung Galaxy S4 cell phone has an internal battery that can be recharged, or it can be removed and replaced with a fully charged one. All of my BOB flashlights use AA batteries. The good news is that in the last few years the number of mobile charging options has exploded, and the price of these solutions has dropped dramatically. In general, most of these solutions fall into one of three categories– solar, thermal, or mechanical. While chemical chargers do exist (e.g. hydrogen), most of them currently require specialized chemicals to operate, which make them impractical for most bug-out situations.
Portable solar charges are one of the most common off-the-grid charging solutions, and the number of options keeps growing while the prices keep dropping. While companies like Goal Zero kick-started this market, other companies have stepped up and started offering less expensive options. A good rule of thumb is to try to get something that provides at least 10W of charging power to ensure your devices can charge reasonably quickly. One of my personal favorites is the Anker 14W Dual-Port Solar Charger ($60). I also recommend getting an external battery as a power storage device (like the Anker Astro E3); that way you can charge the battery on the move and use it to charge your other devices/batteries later without having to constantly switch devices while on the go. If cost, size, or weight are significant concerns, take a look at something like the Levin Solstar Solar Panel/battery; it solar charges an internal battery, but the size of the solar panel means it’s going to take a long time to fully charge. Obviously, any solar solution is also going to require at least some sunlight to work.
The second option for charging is by heat; the technology has been available in industrial markets for years, but companies like BioLite and FlameStower have recently started making it affordable in the consumer market. Both companies provide similar offerings– stoves that are combined with a thermocouple that generates power via a USB port while heat is being generated. This allows you to recharge your electronics while you’re cooking your meal or warming up. The cost for these is pretty much on par with a decent solar solution (anywhere from $70 to $130), but they tend to produce slightly less power per time period than solar would in full sunlight. Of course they both rely on having fuel available to burn, so if your scenario focuses primarily on desert environments they’re probably not a great option.
The third type of power source is mechanical– essentially a hand-cranked generator. These solutions, like the Eton BoostTurbine, use a hand-cranked generator to charge a built-in battery, which you then use to charge your devices. The advantages are that it doesn’t rely on having sunshine or wood fuel available. However, since you get something like a 1% increase in charge per minute of cranking, you’ll need to crank for nearly two hours continuously to full charge the battery. If finding food is an issue, you may not be able to afford the calories necessary to charge your devices.
Note that all of the devices described above provide output power via a USB port, so if you also want to be able to recharge AA batteries for a flashlight or equivalent you’ll need a USB battery charger, like the Sanyo eneloop charger, along with a bunch of spare batteries. (I suggest you have enough batteries to have one set installed, one charged, and one charging.)
So now that you have the power, what can you do with it?
The most common and obvious application for electronics in a bug-out scenario is to assist with navigation. Virtually every modern cell phone and tablet provide GPS capabilities; some of them even provide support for both U.S. and non-U.S. GPS systems. These include GLONASS and Galileo. There are two important points to remember about using GPS for navigation in a SHTF/TEOTWAWKI situation:
It’s also critical to understand that, like fire starting, you always need to have more than one navigation option available. Having access to an electronic navigation system doesn’t mean you don’t need to invest in a compass, learn compass and map navigation skills, and have the right paper maps (and compass) with you.
Besides navigating from point A to point B, having an electronic navigation system can also allow you to easily locate your hidden and buried caches, plan patrol routes, and more.
Electronic devices can also greatly aid you with reconnaissance activities. Besides planning the recon route using navigation tools, you can use a digital camera (like the one on your phone) to photograph objectives, obstacles, guards, et cetera to view and/or share prior to any action. Written (typed) or spoken notes on a device can be used to help remember critical observations and keep a log of items you may want to return for later. Look for a note-taking app that allows you to easily insert GPS coordinates into the notes you’re taking. Electronics can also make recon activities safe– you can use a cell phone’s rear-facing camera to peek around a corner, over a wall, or into a window without exposing yourself directly to hostile observation or fire. Another interesting piece of visual recon kit is a telephoto lens that attaches to your cell phone, like this one for the Samsung Galaxy S4; it’s not exactly a $200 pair of binoculars, but it fits in your pocket and can be used to take pictures.
Night vision devices (NVDs) are another obvious piece of electronic kit that can greatly aid in reconnaissance activities. There are hundreds of articles and reviews on the multitude of available night vision devices, but the one thing they all have in common is that they require batteries to operate, so make sure you have one of the charging options previously discussed and that you can charge the right kind of batteries.
While NVDs are great in many situations, wouldn’t it be nice if you could afford a FLIR-like thermal vision device like the military uses on its aircraft? Well, you can! Seek Thermal has a $200 thermal camera that works with both Android and iOS phones/tablets and provides a decent quality IR thermal image. Now you can easily spot enemies, track game, and find heat leaks in your shelter. One thing to keep in mind: if you use this camera at night in your target’s line-of-sight, your face will be lit up by the image on the screen, which kind of defeats the purpose of being stealthy. There are two simple fixes for this– either include an extension cable in your kit so you can hold the camera up over a wall or around a corner while you stay hidden, or make a simple hood for the screen out of cardboard and view the image with one eye while preserving your night vision in the other.
If you want the ultimate in electronic reconnaissance kit, consider picking up a drone with a remote camera. Companies like Parrot offer both flying and rolling models that start at under $200, and other companies like DJI offer higher-end models with all of the bells and whistles (and price tags to go with them). While a lot of people think of these as toys, the ability to spot marauders, game, and more from the air or ground at a distance while remaining undetected yourself can make the difference between life and death in a survival situation. Want to see if there’s a bear sleeping in that cave you want to use as a shelter? Would you rather stick your head in to check or run a rolling drone camera inside from a couple of hundred feet away?
Electronics can also help you understand and monitor your environment. My Samsung Galaxy S4 has a built-in compass, barometer, thermometer, hygrometer, and light sensors, so I can monitor changing weather patterns and know well beforehand when a storm might be moving in. If you want to go beyond that, there are products, like the SensorDrone, which connects via Bluetooth to Android and iOS devices and incorporates 10 different sensors, including multiple gas sensors. Want to know if it’s safe to remove your gas/oxygen mask? Pull out your SensorDrone and take a reading.
Communications capabilities are another obvious piece of electronics for your kit. In any situation ranging from a regional disaster to a worldwide TEOTWAWKI event, there are most likely still going to be radio broadcasts of some sort. One of the primary axioms of any survival situation is “information is power”, and the more you know the better you can plan and act. At the most basic level an AM/FM/WB radio can provide core communication reception capabilities. I use the Kaito KA800 AM/FM/WB when I’m traveling; it’s small, lightweight, and rechargeable directly via USB. If you’re more interested in receiving shortwave signals, the Grundig Mini GM400 is a good choice, but it doesn’t get weather bands. My personal favorite is the diminutive Icom IC-R5 (which has since been replaced by the IC-R6); it can receive pretty much anything that’s transmitted at 100 kHz – 1309.995 MHz (excluding cell phone bands if you buy the U.S. model). I can recharge the two AA batteries with my solar USB charger, and they last a long time.
Of course if you have a group of people, you’re going to want to be able to communicate remotely, so look into the various Family Radio Service (FRS) options available. Whatever one you choose, make sure you can recharge it with your available power supply (USB or 12V); many of them require a 110V AC outlet to recharge, and those will probably be kind of scarce.
While your kids/spouse/inner child might have been pretty scared at first after bugging out, they’ll eventually reach a point where boredom sets in. That’s where having some books/movies/video games available on your phone or tablet can come to the rescue. While you may view the current situation as a golden opportunity to wean your 16-year old off of video games, I can pretty much guarantee you they don’t view it the same way. You also need to consider your own needs. I’m a voracious reader, and being able to spend an hour or so a night relaxing with a good book would do wonders for my morale and state of mind. I have a refurbished Kindle Paperwhite in my bug-in/out kit, and I’ve loaded it with over 1000 books (many of them free). Since it’s an e-ink display the battery will last over two weeks at 1 hour of reading per day; I can easily recharge it, and I can include various survival, military, and medical reference texts. If you have some money to spare, a company called Waterfi makes a waterproof version of the Paperwhite.
Here are some other odds and ends that might be useful:
I typically dislike it when anyone that claims anything is the ultimate device for any given purpose, but I came across something a while back that comes about as close as I’m willing to get to claiming that for survival electronics. It’s called the Earl Tablet, and it’s (possibly) a survival geek’s nirvana. It’s got a 6” e-ink display (20 hour battery life), built-in solar charging, GPS/GLONASS, built-in maps, a built-in 2-way radio, an AM/FM/SW/LW radio with weather bands, weather sensors with local forecasting capability; it’s also waterproof and has a couple of dozen other features. It hasn’t started shipping yet, so take all of that with a grain of salt, but I’ve ordered one and when I receive it I’ll make sure to share a detailed review.
While electronic technology has typically had a bad reputation among preppers, we shouldn’t view it as a crutch to be thrown away as soon as disaster strikes. With some basic forethought and planning we can leverage that technology to not only increase our odds of surviving but also to inject some additional safety and comfort into what’s sure to be a bad situation. As usual, please feel free to provide any suggestions, comments, or criticisms.
HJL,
I am an amateur radio operator, and we have organized and trained many new “hams” in our community. We hold weekly on-air meetings for those new operators to hone emergency communication skills and develop proficiency as well as an emergency network.
It has been our experience that those who start out with the low-powered BaoFeng UV-3R+ “handi-talky” (HT) become discouraged and drop interest in ham radio after a few months. Here are some reasons:
I do see value in having even several BaoFeng UV-3R+ HT’s, but their value is for quick and cheap communication between team members in very close proximity. There is a low power setting of only one watt that would provide some serious security from unintended listeners. The radio has value, but I would discourage anyone from buying it as a first radio. – T.W.
Plummeting Oil Prices Could Destroy The Banks That Are Holding Trillions In Commodity Derivatives
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Video: Afterburner w/ Bill Whittle — Lights Out! How We Could Lose Everything. – G.G.
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Items from Mr. Econocobas:
Russia Recession Signs Mount as Central Bank Stems Ruble Losses
Guess What Happened The Last Time The Price Of Oil Crashed Like This?…
T. Boone Pickens Predicts Return to $100 a Barrel – T. Boon Pickens has an agenda of his own but nonetheless worth reading what he is saying.
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Courtesy of Sipsey Street Irregulars: “Military-style AR-15 rifles: ‘The market is saturated'” That’s got to be rated pretty high on the all-time “epic fail” list of collectivism.. – RBS
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The Complete Guide To Knife Blades . – J.S.
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Very Cool: New Interactive Map Shows Lack Of Popularity In Gun Control. – G.W.
As usual, the Redoubt comes off looking good!
“As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claws.” ? Elizabeth Kostova, The Historian
December 4th is the birthday of SurvivalBlog’s Back Country Editor, Mat Stein.
It is also the birthday of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, (born 1912) an AVG “Flying Tiger” volunteer pilot for the Chinese Nationalist government, WWII Marine Corps aviator, and Medal of Honor recipient. (He died January 11, 1988.) A proto-Redoubter, Pappy Boyington was born in Couer d’Alene, Idaho and was raised in Spokane, Washington.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 56 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 56 ends on January 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.