The Five Stages of Survival Grief, by Dr. Bob

(In writing this submission after quite a long hiatus, I am hoping to bring awareness to the issue and help people be better prepared. After having to go through this cycle of grief myself in regards to the State and their overreach in professional licensing and control of physicians, I have reached acceptance and have emerged willing to try once again to help others. Acceptance of the fact that ANY one of us can be hauled off by the State now for “infractions” is a tough thing, but as Doc’s wife says often: “It is only through faith in God that the State can’t control people, which is why they try so hard to eliminate faith”. While all of us, Christians, would indeed agree that this is true, it is a tough thing to have faith that you don’t need a paycheck!)

The five stages of grief have long been defined and established by medical and psychology circles. Since the late 1960’s, the Kubler-Ross cycle of grief has been defined as having five separate stages, with no set timeline for movement through those stages. One person can progress within moments to acceptance, while others can get mired in denial for their entire lives. These stages will be familiar to you and are as follows:

  • Denial
  • Anger
  • Bargaining
  • Depression
  • Acceptance

In regard to these stages and survival issues in a collapse, there are three populations of people to address. The first is the masses– those who will not, and often cannot, cope with the idea that a collapse is even possible. There are plenty of debates about what will happen to this group of folks, but surely the outcome is not good for them. If they do face a collapse, surely many will be stuck even before denial in the “shock” stage, which often leads to indecision, inability, and apathy to the situation. Surely these folks are venerable to State control, dependence, and early death in violent situations. They may get to denial and then progress very quickly to anger at “the government” that they see as responsible for “letting this happen”. As many preppers are very aware, these folks usually have less than three days worth of food and provisions available in any type of disaster. After denial and anger, they nearly must progress to bargaining within a few days to avoid dehydration and starvation. They are likely, in the bargaining stage, to willingly give up any and all prior rights in order to eat or even be provided with water. They may be willing to be State soldiers if necessary for their meals or their family’s meals. This will lead to depression in varying degrees and then finally acceptance– WILLING acceptance. This is why the rest of us in the other two groups are and need to be armed.

This group of people will be completely helpless without State control. If there is a complete collapse of law and order without the State controlling millions quickly and efficiently, these folks will have to go through the stages of grief as they starve and die off. This would also make them extremely dangerous. Many will surely die in the denial stage as others progress to the anger stage of their process. Violence inevitably and very quickly increases as angry people don’t have water and food. Those in denial will be likely to never progress beyond it as they fall victim to angry people. Those that get to anger will vent that anger somewhere and in some way. Again, those they blame will be prone to danger, injury, and death.

In the bargaining stage, folks will be willing to do ANYTHING to survive. If the State does not swoop in and offer an option to people in need immediately, there are many folks out there more than willing to take advantage of these “bargainers” to further their own power towards survival. The bargaining stage will consolidate power in those that have and are willing to provide “favor” for something in exchange. If that is the State, then the State will gain power over those it controls and others that it may want to control. If that is the local gangsters, then they will become warlords themselves and those that are willing to bargain for those provisions that they control. Gangs will grow quickly and organize with warlords of power getting more powerful. This is the inevitable nature of humanity. History has proven this innumerable times, if you require proof.

Depression will be rampant in those stuck in those bargained positions, whether State-controlled or gangster-controlled. Many will be depressed enough for suicide as an escape. Suicides will be numerous, in the depressed seeing no way out, in varied situations. Many others would fail in their situations and either starve or be killed because of their failure. It would be a rough time indeed. As many progress to acceptance, a natural state of conflict will exist between those in power and those that have bargained for survival. This state of acceptance is very prone to volatility, and the usual rebellions (both local and regional) will occasionally cycle through. It would be in your best interest to avoid this group of folks altogether. Anyone that reads this blog will obviously say, “Well, duh.”

Once a person reaches acceptance, it is surely not locked down and static. Often those in horrible situations have to wake every day and progress through the stages of grief just to get up and dressed, and they are at risk daily for stage regression and miring. This is a very important fact about grief processing that is essential to remember: The stages are not 1,2,3,4,5 in order but can be a yo-yo within moments, days, weeks, months, or years. It can go 1,2,3,5,3,5,1,4,5,1,5 and take a lifetime to process. For others, it can progress in order, without deviation, and all within minutes. Some people can skip stages altogether and never have to actually process a stage. The essential fact for survival is to know and follow your own process and the process of others around you to improve your chances. To deny mental health issues and avoid their discussion increases your failure risk in any collapse situation.

For the second group of folks, the stages are the same, but the process is very different. This group includes most of the readers of this fine blog– those who did some preparation and are not surprised by the collapse, but feel that they were caught “not finished” with their ideal preps. Almost all preppers would be in this group of those wishing they had done more and had a little more time (myself included). For these people, denial will likely be minimal. Anger will most-likely be self-directed. Bargaining will most-likely be with those friends and family that were not prepared, urging them to quickly do what they can to help their own survival. Depression about those “lost” will be very real. If communication is quickly difficult or impossible, the unknown status of loved ones will bear down on us all. Depression about our state of being in a collapse environment is serious and also inevitable. Denying this fact is very dangerous indeed. Depending on the situation of the individual, the group, and the larger society, depression will eventually give way to acceptance, if you live long enough. It will be a tough time though for preppers too, not just the unprepared. While the unprepared masses will immediately feel overwhelmed and give up their control to others, the prepper will have to go through this cycle over and over about countless things putting them at risk for stage regression and miring.

Think about the things over the years that you have prepared for that you suddenly “light-bulbed” in terms of your preps. There are so many things that you could have missed that will become front and center in a collapse situation. Every time you run out of something that you wish you had stored more of, every time you wish you had something that you feel like you should have remembered, every time someone complains about some inconvenience and you know that ultimately it was up to you as the “survival nut that read that blog all the time”, and when you run out of toilet paper, you have to go through the grief cycle. When you have no more gasoline, it will be time for the grief cycle. When you run out of propane, batteries, ammo, sunblock, bug spray, tape, shoes, it will be time for the grief cycle. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance– that’s just the reality of how it works inside our brains.

When you think about the hunting or camping trip you had when you were a kid, you know the grief cycle. “Don’t tell me we forgot (BLANK)?!?!?!”. “Oh no, we forgot (BLANK)!”. “How could we forget (BLANK)??? Are you sure?” “Son of bleepity bleep bleep bleepity (depending on your relations), I can’t deal with this trip without (BLANK)!!!” “Maybe the neighbors have (BLANK) and will trade for cash”. “At least we have beer…(let the drinking to cope with (BLANK)-missing begin).” “Oh well, the trip will go on, and we can cope without (BLANK).” In my family, as long as (BLANK) wasn’t the beer, that was usually the conversation. It won’t be a camping trip or a hunting weekend though, so the magnitude and severity of the stages of grief will be much greater.

Finally, the group that you want to be in and hope to achieve is that of the fully prepared. Those lucky few are the hardcores– those that practiced living without power when they had it to see their prepping holes, those that ran drills and practiced security and safety, and those that forced their kids (adult or otherwise) to do what most families do not do– really prepare. Even these lovable nuts will have to go through the stages of grief. Denial, check. (It’s over on the news that there is the hint of collapse.) Anger, none, except perhaps venting to God and family. “I told them all!!! Why did they not listen! How could they be so stupid? R17.5 trillion. What did they think would happen?!!!” Bargaining is likely to be minimal, except internally, worrying about what is coming to them for challenges. Most of this will be directed at God, in the form of prayers or pleas. “Get us through today, and I will venture out and try to help people tomorrow” type of stuff. Depending on the nature and severity of the suffering around, these fully-prepared folks may find their Christian nature starts in on them, and they wonder if they are being “too selfish” or should be “making more of an effort” to help others than “just themselves”. Depression is a reality for the fully prepared, too. Minds are a tricky thing in crisis, and to deny this is to deny our humanity. Acceptance is much more likely in this group to be reached faster than the other groups and with more permanence.

Interacting with others will be more effective and safer if you can quickly and easily recognize that they may be in a different stage of grief than you and yours. It will not be easy to turn away a known family that are dangerously ill-prepared, even with the food and preps you were just willing to give them to try to help. It would especially not be easy to turn them away at the point of a gun when they again returned to you for help, desperate and bargaining for their lives. How would you deal with them if it was your blood family or a best friend of if they want to leave their three-year-old so that the child might live? These are horrible, difficult grief cycle issues that may be more reality than any of us might like in a collapse. Just because you are well prepared does not protect you from the grief cycle.

So, how does this help your preparations? What can we do about this now, during, and after a collapse to help survival? There are some concrete things to do. First, acknowledge that the stages of grief are indeed real, and talk about the grief cycle now. Think through your own “preparation grief stages” and how you might deal with various scenarios. For those of us in the middle group of preppers, realize that immediately progressing through denial and using the anger that you have for constructive action can save your life and the lives of others. Waiting a day in a dollar collapse may be too long. Have a plan for yourself and your group for collapse day. What happens if you are wrong? So, you have more dog food and gas that you might need that month, big deal. You may also find something that your “24-hour list” might be missing. We have a “24-hour list” that has many helpful survival items that we have thought about buying in quantities and without worry of cost in the event of collapse, as recommended by many prior articles and books on the subject. We have moved past the denial of ever needing it to have it ready. If you have not, perhaps it is time.

Second, realize that sometimes it is the little things that get to us more than the bigger ones. “So there has been a complete collapse, oh well. But we ran out of (BLANK)?!!?!?!?! That’s it, time for a complete freakout!!!” This is more real than you can possibly imagine. People in real-world survival situations have found this to be the real-world manifestation of people in grief stages. We have all been upset about something unrelated and taken our anger out on the dog or other loved one. Minimize these risks now. Have everyone in the family make a “top ten things I would not want to not have in a collapse” list. Many of the items may surprise you. While brownies seem like hardly a survival necessity to me, it might be the #3 on both my daughter’s and Doc’s wife’s list. Time to get some “just add water” survival brownies. For $20, we may have avoided a double freakout and have increased the time my family has to progress to acceptance of the bigger situation…well worth it. My own list was a challenge, at first full of foods and other niceties that later seemed petty and selfish. Later, the list had more practical items and retained some of the niceties, just because.

Lastly, realize that you may have a better grasp on your mental thread than others in your family or group. Talking about it openly now may prevent serious problems later. For us, we really don’t want to see how my daughter truly reacts and behaves when the grid goes down. She doesn’t like thinking, talking, or preparing for even a power outage. We force her to talk about it occasionally, and she does at least relate her thoughts that she knows we have prepared for her, and she appreciates the idea in the back of her mind. It would be the front of her mind that we would worry about when you take her Starbucks away! She is certainly the biggest risk for denial and anger. She would be likely to quickly progress past bargaining when she got there because she would be bargaining with us, so easy solution there. However, when depression hit her, it would likely be hard and smothering. It is up to me, as our family leader, to watch all my people closely, continuing to talk about how they are really doing and if they are progressing through the stages appropriately. Just talking about it helps people process that it is happening. Reminding them of how they denied an issue, then got angry, then pleaded for a bargain helps to reassure them that their current depression is NORMAL and will eventually pass.

So, to recap, before any collapse, talk and talk and talk and better prepare as a group. During a collapse, avoid denial quicksand and turn anger into action with a 24-hour list and a plan. After a collapse, continue to help lead people in their grief as well as the other areas of your strength. Perhaps there is a person in your group that is best suited for this, and you are not. That person should spend some time studying the grief stages and how people progress more quickly and effectively. Perhaps purchasing a book to help for the survival shelves might help if your group is poorly psychologically-gifted. There is the original text and there are more modern versions

There is also a more challenging modern grief “textbook” that is regarded by many in therapy circles to be a must-read if you are into the “current theory” grief idea.

Economics and Investing:

Anatomy of a failure: Tulving Post Mortem – J.E.

Too Big To Fail Is Now Bigger Than Ever – D.B.

Items from The Economatrix:

Financial War Will Lead To Real War: Visa Bans, Asset Freezes Are Next: Europe Announces Three Step Sanctions Against Russia

Ukraine-Desperation To Save The U.S. Dollar-Dr. Jim Willie

20 Facts About The Great U.S. Retail Apocalypse That Will Blow Your Mind: As You Read This Article, Approximately A Billion Square Feet Of Retail Space Is Sitting Vacant In The United States.

The Potential For U.S. Economic Growth May Be Just 2%, Morgan Stanley Economists Say

Quarterly GDP Data Are Useless As Real-Time Gauge: Analyst

Economy Not Going Anywhere, Top Forecaster Says

Odds ‘n Sods:

Big guns: Army soldiers to get powerful new Swedish-made tank-stopper

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G.P. – Shatter a Car Window with a Sparkplug in an Emergency

HJL Adds: Although this works, who wants to carry around small pieces of sharp ceramic in your pocket? As an EMT, this was one of the first extraction tricks we were taught. You really don’t want broken glass flying everywhere when you break the window, especially if your patient has open wounds that you need to deal with or has their face close to the window. You can simply take a folded pocket knife (or Gerber, Leatherman, etc cetera) and holding it your fist, lay it on the window so only a corner of it touches the window in a corner of the window itself. Then lean into it with your body weight, using your other hand to help apply pressure to the point contacting the window. You will slightly flex the safety glass at the corner and the window will magically disappear from in front of you with all the shards falling directly down. Note: This only works on safety glass (side windows) not on laminated glass like front windshields.

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Strategic Tactical Group LLC has a couple of upcoming courses. “Combative Pistol” and “Building Clearing” both on April 12th.

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AR-15 Muzzle Device Comparison – Mike Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large)

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A 3-D printer in every home? – L.F.

Notes from HJL:

Today we present another entry for Round 51 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $11,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. 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. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. A $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear,
  5. A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value),
  6. A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  7. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  8. A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com, (currently valued at around $180 postpaid),
  9. Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad (a combined value of $195),
  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. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit, and
  12. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate.

Second Prize:

  1. A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand,
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training. Together, these have a retail value of $589.
  3. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  4. $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P .),
  5. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  6. A full set of all 26 books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  7. Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value),
  8. EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles, is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  9. Autrey’s Armory – specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts, and accessories is donating a $250 gift certificate,
  10. Dri-Harvestfoods.com in Bozeman, Montana is providing a prize bundle with Beans, Buttermilk Powder, Montana Hard Red Wheat, Drink Mixes, and White Rice, valued at $333,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  12. Organized Prepper is providing a $500 gift certificate.

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. A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and
  7. Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies, with a value of $208.
  8. SurvivalBased.com is donating a $500 gift certificate to their store.

Round 51 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.

The Ice Hits the Fan in South Carolina, by Gadget

This is the story of my family’s experience during the ice storm that hit the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) of South Carolina and Georgia. My family and a network of friends, who live in the area, are reasonably prepared for any problems that may come our way with food and water storage, shelter, generators, et cetera. When the “ice hit the fan” in our area, we had a very real test of our preps that lasted five days, and some families were still without power seven days later.

First, a little background on our area. The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) is the area surrounding Augusta, GA. We are approximately 120 miles inland from Charleston, SC, so the area has little impact from hurricanes, other than heavy rains and some wind. We are far enough south that we may get a dusting of snow once a year. Residents here can frequently go without a coat on Christmas Day due to mild temperatures. People from other parts of the country joke about how a half-inch of snow can shut down a southern city, while northern states function relatively normally after a foot of snow. The fact that so little snow or ice can shut down a southern city is due to the lack of heavy equipment to clear streets and the lack of driving experience in snow or ice. Also, utility lines are on poles rather than underground. This allows ice to build up on the lines and ice laden trees to fall on them. On the other hand, residents of this area can tolerate 100 degree temperatures in the summer much easier than northerners typically can. The area is a mix of small cities, towns, and rural property; it is also heavily wooded throughout with many tall pine trees. There is more on this later.

My family has been actively prepping for over five years, and we felt we were adequately prepared for whatever might be thrown at us. We have food storage, water storage and filtration capabilities, medical preps, alternative cooking methods, and more, so we are in pretty good shape. We have also been able to get many other family members and friends involved in prepping along with monthly information sharing sessions to help build community and teach various skills.

The weather reports were forecasting a very severe ice storm. This forecast was put out three to four days before the storm rolled in, so there was plenty of time for people to make the necessary preparations for being without services for up to a week. There were a number of people that tried to minimize the potential of the storm and still others that were oblivious and had no plans for anything. Over the weekend before the storm, I split and stacked firewood on the covered porch to supply us for a few days.

On Tuesday, February 11, 2014, the freezing rain began falling around noon. The roads steadily began to get slick, and the slush was accumulating quickly. At around 8:00am on Wednesday, our power went out. Luckily, I had scheduled vacation for the week and didn’t have to worry about being called in to work. When we awoke on Wednesday morning, there was a significant layer of ice on everything, and the ice was beginning to accumulate on the trees and utility lines. I initially got the 5500 watt generator out and ran extension cords to the freezer and two refrigerators. I also set up a power strip to power the Internet and charge cell phones and iPads. We used our wood stove to heat the house with no problem. We keep solar walkway lights outside all the time, so when it got dark we brought them inside for lighting. This is a great, safe source of light. We have grandchildren that are toddlers, and we can give a one year old one of these lights with no risk. I do have a few oil lamps, but I wasn’t willing to take the risk with little ones climbing around.

The result of the ice building up on the trees was lots of broken limbs and sagging trees. Pine trees tend to bend when they have ice on them until they snap half way up. These broken trees fall and break utility lines, damage houses and other buildings, and also block roads and driveways. While checking on my parents, who live a few miles away, and running errands to get gas for the generator and large bags of ice, I felt the need to check on some neighbors that are older and have some disabilities. When I called them, they happened to be wondering how they were going to get their generator out of their crawlspace and set it up. When I went to help them, my truck could not make it up their icy driveway, and a number of trees were blocking the drive. I had to walk up to their house, which was over a quarter mile in the woods. I was able to get them set up and taken care of shortly. That afternoon, after we had our household taken care of, my wife and I cleared the fallen and sagging trees and limbs from over a mile of road between our house and our daughter’s house, so she would be able to get to us if her power went out. That evening, I remembered I had a twist-lock 220 volt plug for the generator but never made up a cord to tie it into the house breaker panel. After finding the proper wire, I was able to turn off the main disconnect for our electrical service to isolate our house and hook the generator into a spare breaker on the panel to supply power to the house more efficiently. I also taped off the main disconnect to prevent anyone from mistakenly turning it on and back-feeding the local grid and injuring someone. CAUTION: THIS IS POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS AND SHOULD ONLY BE DONE WITH DIRECTION FROM AN ELECTRICIAN! THE PROPER WAY TO DO THIS IS THROUGH THE USE OF A TRANSFER SWITCH. By tying the generator into the breaker panel, I was able to supply power to our well pump and water heater. It also helped prevent a lot of tensions from bored family members, since we could then watch TV. Since I had things running relatively smoothly at my house, I was able to check on other older neighbors. My ATV with a small trailer was a huge asset. I was able to easily navigate the fallen trees and icy roads and driveways to get to them. On this trip, I took my chainsaw and a first aid kit. One neighbor’s driveway was completely blocked by fallen trees. On the ATV, I was able to drive through the trees on either side to get around them. Since I had the chainsaw, I cleared the trees on my way back out. Each of them had wood stoves for heat, and they were basically fine, except for a lack of news from the outside world to know what was going on. One neighbor ran out of firewood, and we had to take firewood to him from our supply a few times. Another neighbor needed ice. Luckily, I had more than enough of both.

My parents lost power around the same time we did, but they don’t have a generator. They prep as much as they can on their fixed income and had a kerosene heater with ten gallons of kerosene and a Coleman camp stove with four one-pound cylinders of gas. They have some food storage and keep plenty of flashlights, candles, and oil lamps handy. Their solar walkway lights were brought inside for lighting, also. Due to the lack of power, they had no TV or Internet access. My mother had a battery-powered Eton shortwave radio on hand for news, but the radio was complicated and took some time to tune onto a station that carried news. They were able to cook on the camp stove on the porch and even heat water for instant coffee on the kerosene heater. They chose to stay at their home for the duration of the outage to keep an eye on their property.

We developed a routine after a few days and had relatively normal life during the outage. On Friday, there was a 4.1 earthquake about 30 miles north of us in South Carolina. We felt the “wave” pass through the house. This startled many area residents, who were already stressed from the weather, since earthquakes are uncommon in this area. There was no damage from the earthquake.

Power was restored to our area Sunday morning around 10:00 a.m. after just over four days without electricity. Some residents of the area didn’t get service restored until Tuesday, February 18.

Lessons learned from the event:

Electricity. Even though I had a generator, I only had about ten gallons of gasoline on hand. The generator used about four gallons in 12 hours, while under load. Luckily, I was able to go to a local gas station that had electricity to refuel. If the outage had been more widespread or long-term, my fuel stores would not have lasted very long. I will be developing greater fuel storage to be able to handle a longer duration outage. I will also be researching multi-fuel adapters for the generator to allow it to be fueled by LP gas tanks also, since LP gas is much safer to store than gasoline. Even though I had the necessary plug to connect my generator to my home, I didn’t have a connecting wire made up, and I had never tested my idea before. The generator also had to be set up on the front side of the house. This allowed it to be seen by everyone driving by. I will be making arrangements to be able to connect the generator out of sight and to deflect some of the noise, including buying an aftermarket muffler for the generator. I also learned through trial and error what devices could run at the same time and not overload the generator. I provided constant power to the freezer, refrigerators, and electronics. In addition to this, I could alternate between powering the well pump, water heater, hair dryer, or a toaster. The generator did not like the microwave at all! I also had a few circuit breakers fail as a result of the power fluctuations, so I will keep spare breakers of various sizes on hand. The solar walkway lights were very helpful. They were placed around the house to provide light to move around at night, and the grandchildren love them.

A friend has a large, solar power system installed on his house. The snow and ice built up on the panels, which were mounted on the second-story roof, and prevented them from charging his battery bank. The battery bank was able to supply power for two days without sunlight. When the batteries got down to 36%, they had to climb onto the icy roof to clear the ice from the panels. Having a safety anchor system installed ahead of time would allow this to be done in a safe manner with the proper equipment. He also found that the circuits in his kitchen were not tied to the inverter. He had to run extension cords from other parts of the house to power small appliances in the kitchen.

I know a few homesteading families who regularly hold emergency drills in which the husband will turn off the main breaker without warning for the weekend. They then require their family members to adapt to the adverse conditions. They fared relatively well also since they have had this experience many times before.

My sister’s family commonly plays board games and card games, and this was a great way to pass the time and have entertainment without power.

Medical. A couple we know had some medical difficulties due to the power outage. The wife has to sleep with a CPAP, and the husband recently had foot surgery and has a WoundVac pump on his foot. They had no way to charge it for a few days. Either of these issues could have proven to be fatal, if the event lasted longer. They will now be acquiring alternate power sources for these devices. During the ice storm that hit our area in 2004, one family had to call 911 when their child suddenly needed a breathing treatment, and they had no power. An inverter for their car or booster pack used for jump-starting a car could have easily kept this situation from becoming an emergency.

I kept a first aid kit with me when using the chainsaw and checking on neighbors. The local emergency services were stressed to their limits. If someone had a severe injury, they could have easily died while waiting for assistance. I also made sure to have someone with me as a safety while away from my yard clearing debris with the chainsaw. If I had a branch fall on me while I was working down the road, who knows how long it would take for someone to come looking for me, if they even knew where I was. One friend did have a branch weighing over one hundred pounds fall out of a tree and knocked him out. Luckily, he had a friend with him who was able to get the branch off of him and treat his injuries.

Water. We had plenty of bottled water on hand for drinking and numerous 2-liter soda bottles of water stored around the house for utility water. The soda bottles of water were easy to move and also to give to other families that had no water or water containers to fill. If electricity from the generator had been unavailable and the event lasted long enough, more water would have been necessary, since my well pump requires electricity. Area residents on public water systems had water initially. However, after a few days the water in the water towers ran out, and thousands of homes had no water at all. This could have led to many health and sanitation problems for a lot of people. I have a number of plastic water drums, but I never did anything with them. I am going to set up a greater water storage system with them, so I have the water on hand, instead of rushing to collect water ahead of an outage.

Shelter. We had no problems with our house, but many people had trees or tree limbs crash through their roof under the weight of the ice. I keep some building materials on hand for emergency repairs, but if the large oak tree near the house had fallen over I would have had major problems. Tree limbs near my house have been trimmed back, and I will be removing trees that could possibly hit the house, especially pines.

Transportation. The ATV and utility trailer were extremely useful. It allowed me to access where driveways and roads were blocked and to carry supplies to them. It uses very little fuel also. I have a winch for the ATV, but never mounted it. This would have been helpful when moving downed trees.

Heat. My wood stove was a blessing. It heated a 2,500 square foot house easily and with no electricity. Keeping a large amount of firewood on hand was critical, not only for my family but also to be able to help others. My shortcoming is not having a dry place to store all of my firewood. The freezing rain lasted for a few days; the only dry wood I had was what I cut in preparing before the storm and what I was able to cover with a tarp. In four days, I used almost all of my dry firewood. A large woodshed is now a priority. During the outage, my parents’ kerosene heater set off the smoke alarm. They found it was due to soot buildup under the top lid. Later, they found the heater would hardly burn, and there was a strong smell of kerosene. They found the wick had burned down and needed to be replaced. Luckily, they had a spare wick on hand. The instructions and YouTube were VERY helpful for this task. We learned the importance of having spare wicks and instructions for changing them. It would be wise to practice this under normal conditions, rather than when the heater is vital to survival.

Cooking. The generator was unable to supply power for the stove or oven. We have Coleman camp stoves that use liquid fuel and gas cylinders. We also have our gas grill with a dozen 20-pound tanks. We could cook for a long time on this. Having multiple camp stoves on hand would allow us to have redundancy and also be able to loan them out to friends that don’t have a way to cook. A problem that was encountered was not having a covered cooking area. I have a covered porch, but my parents didn’t. This could have been a problem if the rain and cold temps had been non-stop. A gazebo-type structure with a way to block the wind would have been nice to have, so we wouldn’t have to get wet when cooking and also so the house wouldn’t catch fire in the event of an accident.

Information. Due to my location, I have to use cell-based Internet. Luckily the cell system operated fine throughout the event. Having access to YouTube on my phone and iPad was an awesome resource for how-to’s on various tasks. The generator provided power for charging laptops, iPads, and cell phones. I do have a BioLite stove, which can charge small electronics that are charged through a USB cable, as a backup. Many other people lost Internet access when the power to the land-line phone system failed. The lack of phone, TV, and Internet service led to lots of boredom and withdrawals from the constant connectivity we all have normally. Those who did have Internet were able to share lots of information, especially through Facebook. I realize the OPSEC risks of using social media, but the ability to shoot information, questions, or requests for assistance to a large number of people instantly was a great help. We were able to quickly check the status of friends and family or where various resources were available, such as fuel, food, or equipment. I wouldn’t totally discount this information resource. My parents had the shortwave radio, but they weren’t familiar with its operation and which radio stations would likely have news. They will be getting a simple AM/FM radio. Our network of prepper families in the area is working on a Ham radio network for communications, in case all other systems fail.

Human behavior. After a few days of adverse conditions and the disruption of the normal routine, many people began to show signs of stress, such as anger, agitation, depression, and short tempers. I began to get exhausted on the fifth day of hard, physical labor. I was glad to be able to go back to my normal work on Monday, to get some rest. In a longer-term event, we would have to pace ourselves. A friend that lives in town noticed lots of young people wandering about at all hours that normally didn’t do so. At times, they appeared to be scoping out potential theft targets. People from outside the area came into town with truckloads of generators for sale. The problem was that they were selling $400 generators for $1,600. Once local law enforcement found out about the scammers, they ran them out of town, due to a lack of business licenses. Another phenomenon I noticed was, when the power went out, many people refused to leave their homes and go stay with family and friends that did have heat and the ability to cook. This was the situation, even when some houses were near freezing temperatures at night. This not only put them in danger of hypothermia or other illness, it prevented them from consolidating resources with other households, which would have made all of them much more comfortable and decreased the individual workloads. I am curious how long they would “tough it out” in a long-term or permanent event.

Other lessons. I quickly found out I was lacking in my cardiovascular fitness level. Branches that are covered with ice weigh three to four times as much as normal. This will quickly wear you out; it did me. Imagine if this was a permanent event, and we also had to be tactically ready in addition to various tasks that had to be performed around your homestead. My shoulder now has an over-use injury, due to many hours of chainsaw use and pulling on debris. By the fourth and fifth days, I was starting to get “tired and stupid”, and accidents were much more likely. A lighter chainsaw for cutting smaller branches would have made the work much easier. I also had two chainsaws quit and was down to one working chainsaw by the end of the week. I did have the opportunity to train other family members in how to start and connect the generator and how to use the chainsaw in case I was unable to. I was the only one in the family that had durable rain gear and work boots. If I had needed more help with clearing debris while the freezing rain was falling, no one else would have been able to help effectively. As a result, we will be acquiring rain gear, boots, work gloves, and work clothes like BDU’s for everyone in the family. I also need to get a few pairs of chainsaw chaps to prevent serious injuries from the chainsaw. Headlamps were invaluable. They allowed for working hands-free after dark and moving about the house easily. I keep spare batteries of all sizes on hand, and I would like to have even more stored in case of a long-term event.

I will be putting together a procedure manual with pictures for various tasks. This will cover starting the generator and plugging it into the breaker box, using a chainsaw, starting a fire, using the camp stove, et cetera. I found that if something happened to me and I was unable to help or communicate, my family would be in quite a jam.

The primary lesson I learned from this experience was that I am glad I have been seriously prepping for years. This allowed my family to live a relatively normal life during this event. My preparedness level also allowed me to be a blessing to friends, since they had not prepared in the least and needed help. I do not know everything, and I am not a “super-prepper” that is prepared for anything that comes my way. I try my best and am trying to pass on the things I learned when the ice hit the fan in our community.

Letter: Gluten in Cattails

Hi James,

I’ve read in so many places that cattails (bulrushes here in Australia) contain gluten. You’ve just mentioned it, but everywhere else it looks like a quote word for word from a single source. I can’t find any information outlining the type of gluten it has or a site with a specific breakdown on its proteins. As a severe coeliac, I don’t eat any grains whatsoever, but I’ve never come across tubers or rhizomes that contain gluten. As you can understand, to avoid coeliac shock, I’m reluctant to try eating my crop of cattails. I’m wondering if you might have some information regarding the gluten in the rhizomes that you could share with me. Thank you for a great site. – F.B.

HJL Replies: There is no gluten in cattails. In Boy Scouts, we used to make biscuits and pancakes out of cattails with gusto. It never worked as well as wheat flour and I certainly do not remember them tasting very good either, but I suppose in a pinch, they might keep you alive. However, F.B. answered her own questions with this useful information from http://agris.fao.org:

The objective of the study was to determine the content of gluten fraction in the flour produced from rhizomes of the narrow-leaved cattail that caused a disease response in persons with the celiac disease. The test for gluten was conducted by means of immunoassay methods using the products from an R-Biopharm Company. The content of total protein was determined by a Kjeldahl method using a Foss Tecator apparatus. The content of Gliadin protein in the extracts was determined photometrically using a Bradford reagent. Based on the results obtained, it was found that the flour from rhizomes of the narrow-leaved cattail did not contain any peptides that caused celiac disease. Thus, this flour can be used in the products for people suffering from this disease. The content of total protein in the flour varied depending on the place where the plants were harvested. The content of the protein fraction in the flour extracts produced from rhizomes of the narrow-leaved cattail was not correlated with the content of total protein in the flour alone.

She continues, “I did read a very old report where the author stated that the flour from cattails was mixed with water and formed into a gluten mass. This, however, was just a description; even snot can be described as a gluten mass 🙂 Maybe people just run with the information in these articles and have just seen the word, gluten.”

Letter Re: Used 5-Gallon Buckets for Storage

Dear SurvivalBlog,

Can I use a bucket that had paint in it to store food, even if I use mylar bags? – L.J.

JWR Replies: No. The seals on mylar bags are too iffy.

HJL Adds: Additionally, plastic is permeable to many chemicals. You really don’t want any of those chemicals to end up in your food products. You would especially hate to store a food product and then need that food product, only to find it was unusable due to some paint chemical contamination.

Letter: Request for Reader Advice

Mr. Hugh,

I am a long-time reader of Survival Blog. A recent diagnosis requires a lifetime commitment to receiving IV medication every month in a hospital setting. This does not bode well for my long-term survival, when the world falls apart. I am right with God, so no worries there. My children think my views about prepping are somewhat eccentric. I am okay with that too. I am ready to move forward to help the grandchild generation. Would you ask your readers to comment on tasks I could complete to accomplish this? – J.G.

News From The American Redoubt:

Now this is worth drooling over! – Colt M2012 Bolt Rifle – Cooper Arms of Montana

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H.L. spotted this evidence that attitudes are different west of the Cascades: An Oregon man riding a public bus was arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Jail Tuesday for allegedly mentioning firearms during a conversation. Man Arrested For Talking About Guns

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An interstate highway through the middle of the Redoubt! I-11 & Intermountain West Corridor Study

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Two links from opposite sides of the “wolf” story: How Wolves Change Rivers -and- Idaho Fish and Game pays $30,000 to kill 23 wolves.

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In a continuation of the eminent domain saga, a proposed bill in Idaho will make the state pay the court costs if the homeowner successfully defends their property.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Not bad for a prototype: Watch a Fully Automatic Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle Demolish a Laptop – RBS

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S.C. sent these two articles in with the statement: “I realize that there are many factors that affect both situations. However, I think that these two articles give a good idea as to the twisted views of our country. I feel ashamed to live in a country who will not allow a seven year old boy, who is fighting for his life, the medication that he needs. While, on the same day, the attorney general pushes for a drug to be widely distributed to assist people who have overdosed on illegal drugs. This is a sad state of affairs.”

Drug company refuses to give lifesaving medication to 7-year-old boy

Heroin overdoses pose ‘urgent public health crisis,’ US attorney general says

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Two Americans Convicted of Economic Espionage for China – B.R.

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I’m not sure about the validity of this, and it might just be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but… Think the ammo market is about to get better? Think again.

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An interesting video on a very small number: 0.00672%: Why Concealed Carry Permit Holders Will Want to Hear About Such a Small Number From a Former Navy SEAL

Notes from HJL:

Today, Safecastle (A SurvivalBlog advertiser) is starting their first Mountain House Sale of the year. This sale will only run until the 15th, so visit their site soon!

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Mike Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large) sent in a link to an interesting book I am currently listening to: Army Life in a Black Regiment. It’s about some of the adventures of the First South Carolina Volunteers, the first slave regiment mustered into the service of the United States during the late civil war. It makes for more interesting commuting.

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Today, we present two guest articles along with our usual reviews from Pat Cascio.

In Staying Mobile in a Collapse Situation, M.C. walks us through his plans for maintaining mobility as a priority. Second, D.D. gives us some history and recipes for making pemmican. This is something I have always wanted to try, but just have never gotten around to. Maybe today is the day.

Guest Article: Staying Mobile in a Collapse Situation, by M.C.

Staying Mobile in a Collapse Situation by Matt Conner

I have seen countless disaster movies set 30+ years after the collapse of society where, somehow, people still have gasoline and diesel fuel to run their vehicles. I am a professional diesel mechanic, operating two vehicles retrofitted from their original gasoline engines to run on older mechanical diesel engines. I feel I could stay mobile longer because I would not be dependent on service stations to provide me fuel, and I could make my own. I would like to share my methods here with fellow like-minded readers. The concept I will be detailing is burning used engine oil for fuel in older mechanical diesel engines. The first of the two engines I run is a 1991.5 Cummins 6bta, commonly referred to as the “12 valve”, installed in a 1998 Ford F150. This engine was commonly found in the 1988-1996 Dodge ¾ and one ton trucks but is very popular to swap into other vehicles. The engine has many benefits and the only negative aspect I have found so far is that it is loud. The key feature here is it will run on used oil. The second engine is a Mercedes Benz OM617– the 5 cylinder diesel found in various cars from the mid-1970s to late ’80s. This engine has been installed in my girlfriend’s 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Both the OM617 and Cummins are 100% EMP-proof, which means it will run without a battery and no alternator and will also run on used oil.

Under normal operation (not the end of the world), I collect used engine oil and fuel from changed filters off Peterbilt trucks I service (roughly 120 trucks). I filter and blend this used oil with a setup at my house that I will detail later. However, in a SHTF scenario, the theory would be collecting the engine oil and automatic transmission fluid or even power steering fluid from abandoned vehicles, which will have run out of fuel on the road, to make a custom blend of usable emergency fuel for your diesel.

W85 blend is what oil burners call a blend of 85% WMO (waste motor oil) and 15% RUG (regular unleaded gasoline). Since the viscosity of oil is higher than diesel fuel, the gasoline is used to lower it to something similar to diesel by thinning it out. Now in our SHTF scenario, we would shoot for making w85 in 5-gallon batches; we would collect all the crank case oil and ATF and power steering fluid (do not use brake fluid) from a derelict vehicle, which should yield about five to six quarts engine oil and about six to eight quarts of ATF and power steering fluid. Then we would collect the remaining gasoline from the fuel tank, because most vehicles still have a considerable amount of fuel in the tank even after they “run out”. This would be done simply by puncturing the fuel tank with a screwdriver or ice pick and a hammer. If you could get ¾ gallons of RUG that would cover your needed 15%, and the rest would be your WMO.

Water separation and filtration is the key. My fuel filtration set up is gravity fed and constructed of almost entirely “junk”. It consists of two 55-gallon drums, some plumbing pipe, some filter heads, and spin-on CIMTEK filters. Search “up-flow processor WMO” to see detailed info on how they work.

The basic concept is described here. The first drum is the settling tank. The 55-gallon drum has a 2-inch opening and a ¾-inch opening. The 2-inch bung has a 4-inch pipe nipple threaded into it, and inside the pipe nipple there is a 2-inch diameter exhaust pipe section welded to it that extends down into the barrel close to the bottom. The top of the pipe nipple has a smaller 16-gallon drum with a 2-inch bung in its center, threaded onto it with the top of it cut off to act as a funnel. On the opposite side, at the ¾ bung, is a 90-degree street elbow that has two filter heads with CIMTEK water separator filters at 15 and 5 microns. The concept is as follows. The WMO/RUG mix is poured into the funnel at the top of the barrel; the weight of the oil forces it down the down tube to the bottom of the barrel where any large solids and water will settle. Then once the barrel is full, the settled oil will be forced out the top through the ¾ bung, through the filters, and out as finished product. On my set-up I have it go into another 55-gallon drum, used as a storage tank that has a 12 volt pump that runs on a battery and pumps the product through a final third filter, but this is not necessary. A smaller version of this filter concept could be constructed for portability and maybe even mounted in the truck, but the basic concept is the same.

The proper vehicle to run this fuel would be one with a mechanically-injected older diesel engine, pre-1997 would be safest. All older IDI Fords, 6.9 l and pre-powerstroke 7.3 l engines do well on it.

The pre- common rail Cummins engines in Dodges, like I run, love it; all your Mercedes 300 series cars and many others run well on it as well. One important thing is to stock up on fuel filters for your vehicle. This will save you hassle later down the road, as trying to go to Auto Zone in the end times might not be a good idea.

I have been running this blended fuel for several years in my Cummins-powered Ford F150 with no issues, and the Mercedes-powered Jeep has run for several months now as well. Still, as always, do your research, and know what you are doing before you start. I hope this will inspire others to look into making their own emergency fuel and having the survival advantage when it counts.