Marksmanship, by Josh B., USMC

The Basics

There is a huge focus on stocking firearms, spare parts and ammunition, but using firearms and learning the fundamentals of marksmanship seem to have a little less importance. Not necessarily that it is not important to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship, but more to the fact that it takes quite a bit of dedication and on going training to become proficient using them. I find, being an NRA and USMC instructor, that some people share the idea that they are proficient because they “have been shooting their whole life”. Some of these people assume that they understand proper marksmanship simply because they’ve shot guns since they were kids, but in fact they know very little about the techniques involved in shooting accurately. Once the fundamentals have been learned correctly, then it is far more understandable to assume that they do in fact know how to accurately shoot a firearm. That is not to say that because they learned how to accurately shoot when they were younger, or recently, that the skill has not diminished from lack of actually shooting, and shooting correctly. I harp on shooting correctly because there are really three ways to shoot: Correctly, incorrectly, and somewhere in between these two where people get lucky by shooting the way they want to.

There is an acceptable series of fundamentals common to most shooting, and they are as follows.
-Grip
-Sight Alignment
-Sight Picture
-Breath Control
-Trigger Squeeze
-Follow-Through

Some other factor when shooting rifles and shotguns include:
-Stock Weld
-Forward Hand Placement
-Bone support

Since this is a “educational” column, I will break down each component, and by the end of this and with a little practice, you should improve your marksmanship skills enough to pass this article on to your friends, or print it out and keep it as a reference!

Grip
Lets start with Grip. I comfortable, firm grip on the firearm is required to fire more than one shot. There are cases where a grip out of the ordinary can be accurate, as Bob Mundin displays during his exhibition shooting, but ask bob to shoot two aspirin flung in separate direction while holding his six-shooter upside down and surprise surprise he can’t do it. Your hand should be a little high on the back-strap, but not so high that you get slide-bite or cannot maneuver the hammer. The lower your hand is, the more room there is for the firearm to pivot. The higher the better!

Sight Alignment
Next we have sight alignment. Sight alignment is actually quite easy. Looking down the sights stare at the front sight. Take the tip of the front sight and line up the flat tip with the flat two notches in the back. Whilst staring at the front tip, keeping it flat with the rear sight, ensure that there is equal spacing on each side of the front sight in relation to the rear sight. Since we are presumably reading this article from a computer that has a keyboard, I’ll use the keyboard to give you an idea of what this should look like. Look at the letters F-G-H. Imagine the letter “G” is the front sight, and the letters “F” and “H” are the rear sight. You can now see that they align perfectly horizontally, vertically, and have equal spacing on each side of the letter “G”. If you’ve happened to be in the military, you may remember this: Sight alignment is: The clear tip of the front sight centered bother vertically and horizontally in the rear sight aperture sir! REMEMBER AIM WITH THE TIP OF THE FRONT SIGHT.

Sight picture
Sight picture seems to be one of the two biggest contributors to bad shots. I usually ask if someone can give me a quick guess to what sight picture should look like, and usually the answers is as expected, the exact opposite of what sight picture needs to be. So sight picture in a nutshell: The sights of the firearm, aligned on a target, while focusing on sight alignment. We know in sight alignment we have to focus on the front sight, and keeping it aligned to the rear sight. So how do we focus on 3 different things at the same time you ask? We don’t! Instead we use something that God gave us upon our creation: our imagination. I describe it as imagination because in my opinion it is. We focus on the front sight, we have some peripheral vision to help align the front sight to the rear sight. We then align our newly aligned sights and place them on the target, using some peripheral vision and our imagination. If we understand what our target is, then we can imagine where we need to place our sights to get a good hit, whether it be in the x-ring or the pumper. I’ve been called crazy before, until I take someone to the 3 and 6-hundred yard-line and they start popping balloons. It’s really quite amazing to see the excitement when someone pops a balloon at 3 and 6 hundred yards, just seconds after they say they can’t even see the balloon. Military Gurus: Sight picture is: THE CLEAR TIP OF THE FRONT SIGHT POST, CENTERED ON THE TARGET WHILE MAINTINING SIGHT ALIGNMENT, SIR!

Breath control
Breath control is a pretty easy step to get used to. You don’t hold your breath while shooting because after a few seconds it can cause tremors, and your body is in a uncomfortable muscle flexing posture. Go ahead and take a deep breath and hold it. You may notice that your actually flexing your abdomen and might even notice a hand tremor, or your sight beginning to blur. These are a couple reasons not to hold your breath. Instead, take a deep breath and let it out slowly, the time in between the breath you just let out and your next breath is your natural respiratory pause. It is during the pause that you must focus on taking the shot with a slow steady trigger squeeze.

Trigger Squeeze
Trigger squeeze is another fundamental that can perish without practice. Proper trigger squeeze is achieved by depressing the trigger to the rear of it’s cycle without interrupting sight alignment and sight picture. There are several tools that aid in achieving good trigger squeeze beyond using a firearm. I like to use a strength gripper that has individual fingers that can be depressed, like guitar finger strength training aids. Even a simple spray bottle can help, it provides some resistance and pivots rearward just like a trigger on a firearm. Something that I’ve mentioned before is an air-soft gun, nothing fancy, preferably a cheap one from “Wally World”, ebay, or a sporting goods store. The key in training for trigger control is to depress the trigger to the rear while minimizing movement on the firearm. Simply watching your finger while using one of these training aids can help you understand how much extra movement there can be if there is little focus on trigger squeeze. Once the trigger “breaks”, engages the action after a set point, there should still be a slow steady rearward pressure on the trigger until you’re ready to start the cycle again. The break of the trigger should be somewhat of a surprise to the shooter, unless you know exactly how many PSI you put on the trigger and are a human pressure gauge, then the trigger should break at somewhat of a surprise. At this point we move on to Follow-through

Follow-through
Follow-through is the point that which the shot has been fired and you recover and start the process over for another shot. There should still some rearward pressure on the trigger, the sights may be a little out of alignment because of recoil, you may start to breath after your natural respiratory pause, and you start the shot process after your have reacquired the target. Follow-through is important because it is basically the foundation for a continuous shot process. The greatest example I can think of for shot process, is the bullseye rapid-fire portions of high-power rifle competitions. These guys have 60-70 seconds to fire 10 shots at the bullseye with a magazine change. Typically these shots are dead on, all kill-shots at 200 and 300 yards. There is also the infamous Rattle Battle at Camp Perry during the Nationals every year, this competition is quite the spectacle.

Stock Weld
Stock weld is the relationship of the shooter’s head, to the stock. Typically we don’t see the greatest shots from people without stock weld while shooting a rifle or shotgun, they usually just get lucky. Think of a sniper laying prone at 700 yards stalking his target. He’s hunkered down in his sniper hide, has his M40 resting firmly in his shoulder, and his head resting on the stock firmly but not so firm that it’s canting the rifle. That sounds like good stock weld to me. Now imagine your average terrorist walking around in the middle east firing at troops from the hip. Most likely he isn’t hitting much because not only is he missing stock weld, but most likely he has basically no marksmanship skills and fundamentals at all.

Forward Hand Placement
I’m not going to harp too much on forward hand placement, because each and every person has different abilities depending on their body. I wills ay that while shooting a rifle in the prone, you may have a little better luck if your forward hand is further from the action to support the weight of the rifle. The closer your hand is to the action of the rifle, the more off balance, and pivot-like movements you may encounter. You may also use a sling in combination with your forward hand placement as the military once taught the benefits of making a “loop-sling”, they’ve recently steered away from some of these traditional sling skills because of different equipment. My personal feelings are that they really are doing a disservice to the newer generations of soldiers by not instilling marksmanship skills into them like had been taught for so many years.

Bone Support
Bone support is pretty basic. It’s better to hold up the weight of the rifle by using your bones in a fashion that the rifle is naturally held up. The more muscle you use, the quicker your muscles tend to fatigue and twitch. Good bone support can be achieved by placing your support elbow in the crook of your knee, or in a sandbag. You’re basically making a bipod for the rifle using some angles that your arms will make without much effort or muscle support. Fatigued and twitching muscles aren’t the greatest for supporting rifles for long periods of time. Try holding a rifle out in front of you level to the ground. It won’t take much more than 30 seconds for you to notice some twitching or trembling, burning muscles, and maybe even some sharp pains. It doesn’t matter how big you are, it’s only a matter of time before you get fatigued.

Final Thoughts
Let me give you an example of how my shot process works, it’s not perfect by any means, but pretty darn close! Assuming I am ready to go and my safety is off:
I start out by identifying my target and what’s beyond/surrounding it(sounds sort of like a safety rule….) I then get a good grip on the firearm, I align the sights, align the sights on the target, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I typically start my trigger control during my breath out, and move onto my respiratory pause at which point the trigger breaks. The firearm goes bang, at that point my trigger is still depressed and I begin to take another breath simultaneously releasing the trigger as well as starting to depress the trigger, then acquiring my sights and target, finally picking up the cycle once more.
There is plenty of information on marksmanship out there, it just needs to be sought and learned. Far too often someone buys or builds a firearm from watching youtube videos and then magically they are an operator(military type operator, not a phone operator) If you take anything from this information at all, please take this small bit of advice. Find an instructor that is providing training for a skill you desire to learn. Check their credentials, and give them a chance if they check out. Most likely (if they are experienced and knowledgeable) they can spot good and bad fundamentals you may have picked up along your path of learning how to shoot.

Avalanche Lily’s Book Review: Prepper Pete Prepares

We recently received a review copy of the children’s book “Prepper Pete Prepares.” It was quite well done and very thorough in the breadth of topics covered, and had excellent illustrations. Our young’uns and I read it through once and it was so funny and packed full of information and talking points that we immediately read it again. The book is wonderfully politically incorrect, which caused lots of chuckles to erupt from all of us. I recommend getting a copy for any of your under-prepared relatives who have young children, to encourage their families to get ready. We only noticed one glitch: The artist showed what appears to be a generator set up inside a house, which is a major no-no. There are several other books in the series, including the upcoming title: “Prepper Pete Gets Out of Dodge.” (You’ve gotta love that.) I have insisted 🙂 that Jim acquire the rest of the series for our extended family.

Letter Re: Stronger Passwords for the Masses

Dear Editor,
A long tome ago, I looked at diceware as Michael Z. Williamson mentioned (love that XKCD cartoon), and I don’t find it quite as robust as I would like for password generating (I have one diceware-ish password I use for convenience, but used a couple of foreign words and specific capitals as well). Creating a series of simple words that forces the attackers to use a brute force attack on it anyway, made me want to go out and find out a better way to find brute-force-resistant passwords.

I found one (essentially, only one) really good password generator at the Foutmilab web site.

What makes it a really good password generator (relative to most others) are the following features:

First, It just doesn’t randomly generate passwords (though, it can), it gives you the ability to input an alpha-numeric seed, so that using the seed “cat” will always generate the same groupings of passwords/keys.

The benefit to this is that if you share a specific seed key with someone else (um … in person that you can easily remember and associate with them) like CrazyTimeInVegas, then you have created a an easy way for each of you to generate one-time-use pads.

It allows you to choose how long of key, and other characteristics about the passwords generated.

So, you encrypt a file, send it to them through e-mail, and in your subject line you write, “62,394 more reasons Nancy Pelosi is awesome” …. which codes to your receiver to use  62 digit key and choose the 394th key generated. (or, come up with an agreed upon way to alter it even more … i.e., drop the 6 in the header but know that you’ll always use a 60 digit length key).   Or better, snail mail them a memory card with the information you want to send, with the NSA storing all e-mail, you can be sure that as they get faster and faster (and get into quantum computing encryption breakers, that all forms of encryption will be broken at some point).

Combine that with sending your information in triple-cascading 1 mb Truecrypt drive, or other encryption routine, and you’ll be one step up.   At least until quantum processing starts annihilating all forms of simple encryption.

2nd Benefit:   It stores on your local computer and can run in any browser (you aren’t using a web site to run it through the Internet, you can be offline whenever it runs).   One can also add a couple of default numbers (don’t do the seed), so you don’t need to type a couple of the less useful features (like the number of digits between separators and which separator to use … answer:  none).  It’s a simple javascript and the code is open source so you don’t have to worry about backdoors/it sending out extra data, etc.  The code is wide open for everyone to see.

3rd:  It’s free.  Go to the web site, save the page to your computer, and never run it off the web site again.  (The author of the site suggests doing this.) Keep a copy of the script in your e-mail drafts as a backup and forward to your friends who need it.

It fills a nice gap, there are still important things to consider like physical security of your device (i.e., if they install monitoring software on your machine, or a keyboard tracker, or a webcam that can view your keyboard, it doesn’t matter how good your encryption is), and finding an easy-for-you-impossible-for-them way of keeping track of your password generating keys. – C.S. in the Midwest

Economics and Investing:

Sherry K. suggested: Farmland holding value in tanked market

Frequent content contributor H.L. sent this: Gold Smuggling Increases 7x In India And Surpasses Illegal Drug Trade

J. McC. mentioned another peril of using social media: Two million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter passwords stolen in massive hack. [JWR’s Comment: In today’s world, your digital persona can be submitted as evidence in both civil and criminal trials. All that it would take is a malicious hacker gaining control of a moribund Facebook or Twitter account to commit wholesale character assassination that might not be detected for months or even years. You could lead a quiet, moral and peaceable life and yet be greeted some morning by a SWAT team with a no-knock warrant–later learning that they came calling because in the fictitious cyber world you have been branded as a racist-bomb-building-dope-smuggling-pedophile-hater. I say again: Avoid enrolling in social media!]

Items from The Economatrix:

Horrific Consequences: “People Don’t Understand the Scale of the Emergency That’s Going On Right Now”

White House: Extend Jobless Benefits

GDP Figures Revised Much Higher, But The Numbers Aren’t As Strong As They Appear 

Odds ‘n Sods:

Gee, what a concept: Take an under-powered varmint cartridge, and then down-load it to wimpy subsonic velocity. That sounds almost “less than lethal”, to me. In fact, the operative phrase might be: “Hits like a girl.” These wimpy loads will give your 5.56 NATO perhaps just a little more power than the FN 5.7×28 cartridge. My advice: If you truly need a suppressed AR, then get a dedicated .300 Blackout upper receiver group. (See the SurvivalBlog Archives for details.)

   o o o

The thin veneer: When policemen go on strike, the looters come out: Looting rife in Argentine city of Cordoba as police take strike action. (Thanks to J.S. for the link.) The more recent footage at a Sancor distribution center shows that grand scale looting is continuing. (Thanks to Jerry E. for the latter link.)

   o o o

M.M. and Michael W. were the first of at least a dozen readers who suggested an infographic that was linked over at Zero Hedge: How the NSA is Tracking People Right Now. (OBTW, that makes me feel good about living so deep in the hinterboonies that we are miles from the nearest cellular coverage.)

   o o o

Turley: Obama’s “Become The Very Danger The Constitution Was Designed To Avoid”

   o o o

H.L. sent: The Three Most Important Ongoing Second Amendment Cases

Note from JWR:

Infidel Body Armor is having a year-end are having a sale, with 5% off the entire store. So that averages about $25 off per order.  They tell me that if you order by the 18th of December, you will receive shipment it in time for Christmas.

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Today we present another entry for Round 50 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $9,400+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three course. (A $1,195 value.) B.) 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, and C.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $350 value.) D.) a $300 gift certificate from CJL Enterprize, for any of their military surplus gear, E.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $300 value), F.) A $300 Gift Certificate from Freeze Dry Guy. G.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. H.) A roll of $10 face value in pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver quarters, courtesy of GoldAndSilverOnline.com. The current value of this roll is at least $225, I.) Both VPN tunnel and DigitalSafe annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad. They have a combined value of $195. J.) 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. and K.) APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit.

Second Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, B.) 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. C.) A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100 foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. D.) $300 worth of ammo from Patriot Firearms and Munitions. (They also offer a 10% discount for all SurvivalBlog readers with coupon code SVB10P.), E.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials F.) A full set of all 25 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is a $250 value, G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value). H.) EP Lowers, makers of 80% complete fiber composite polymer lowers for the AR-15 rifles is donating a $250 gift certificate, and I.) Autrey’s Armory — specialists in AR-15, M4s, parts and accessories — is donating a $250 gift certificate.

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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, C.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., E.) A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises. F.) Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances, and G.) Ambra Le Roy Medical Products in North Carolina is donating a bundle of their traditional wound care and first aid supplies. This assortment has a retail value of $208.

Round 50 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.

Learning Prepper and Barter Skills at Your Local Dump, by Neil J.

Everyone these days is trying to budget and spend their hard earned money wisely. One place I found that I was able to spend a very limited amount or get items for free is at the local dump. It is a great place to accumulate items you could use in a SHTF situation. This may relate only to individuals living in suburban or city areas. There may be one in your county; it is important to find out if there is. If you have not been to your local recycle center or dump, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Take note that there might be a yearly or daily fee associated with using the dump. If at all possible, research the requirements to use the dump by calling ahead or using the local government web site. The only thing that was required at my local dump was being a resident of the city and to purchase a twenty dollar yearly pass to the recycle center. Dropping off household appliances and tires had extra fees on top of the yearly pass. The pass included free mulch and sometimes top soil.

[JWR Adds: Consult your local laws and landfill rules. Be advised that because of their well-justified fear of liability lawsuits, many municipal dumps and contracted commercial dumps now have “no scavenging” policies.]

There is a social community at the dump and you would never believe it unless you have experienced it. During my time spent as the dump supervisor for my local town, I interacted with many people that were involved with the unique subculture of the recycle center. I would like to give the readers some suggestions what might go a long way in the type of treatment and service you receive. This helps in order to be uninterrupted in gathering items or commodities that will be useful to you. Develop a first name relationship with the attendant or attendants and even patrons. People have developed strong friendships with other individuals and families they have encountered. At your dump there might be a no scavenging policy. I was the type of person to look the other way if I knew you, or you minded your own business. A small act of bringing the recycle center workers a bottle of water or a snack will bring you leniency. The main key is to be discreet and quick. If you see an item that might be useful grab it. Having a hook like tool and small tool box will be something useful to bring with you. That way you can extend your reach into dumpsters and do small disassembles for parts if necessary.

The dump is a great place to find useful items for bartering. I gathered candles, tools, books and anything I figured could be useful in a barter or economic collapse situation. I furnished my first apartment with a lot of things I found. People throw away things still brand new in the box! I once found a $500 coffee machine unopened in the original packaging. Many residents I was friendly with would put in orders with me for items they were looking for and sometimes put up rewards for finding those items. Couples and families would make a routine of showing up and making rounds just to see if they could find anything good or what had value.

Firewood is a sought after commodity by patrons that frequent the local dump. The firewood and yard waste would go into a special area. It either came from residents doing yard work or from the forestry division of the city. It was constantly searched for spring, summer and fall. Residents would brag about how much they saved on their energy bills each month by burning firewood to heat their homes. Gathering firewood for winter was very serious business for many people. I have seen individuals go to such great lengths as to bringing their own chainsaws to make lumber pieces more manageable to carry and load into their vehicles. I often saw people collaborate to help each other. The most common occurrence was residents dropping off wood and another person that wanted the wood would arrange going directly to each other’s home to help each other. In the end both parties received what they wanted while taking less trips to the dump and conserving fuel. I have seen great friendships come about by this practice.

Another thing residents really took advantage of was the recycle center provided mulch. The mulch came from the forestry department composting of trimmings and branches. I have watched families work at least eight hours making trip after trip refilling their buckets with mulch. I was told it works very well for helping growing vegetables in the garden. With your yearly pass you were able to get unlimited amounts of mulch. That is a great deal for someone trying to be frugal with their resources. Besides the two main interest grabbers being the firewood and mulch, there is a lot more things that might be useful in times of uncertainty. There was a section at the dump for dropping off a mixture of rocks, stones, dirt and bricks. A lot of people would pick up rocks and stones and take them home. I could picture someone taking home dirt, stones, and bricks home to set up a nice root cellar. Good dirt would not last long at all at the dump. It would be taken home for a variety of home garden needs. I could also see someone using a mixture of dirt, stones, rocks and bricks to set up defenses around ones property. With these items again, I have seen people communicate interest in what someone is dropping off. They will talk with each other and work out arrangements to cooperate. That is an efficient system for both parties but best for the one picking up the items. That way they don’t lose out on anything while they go home to unload to prepare for another run.

There was a special section of dumpsters to recycle lumber. It was great for getting lumber or boards to burn if there was a shortage of firewood. You would be very surprised on the amount of good boards you could find, from hardwoods such as oak or mahogany or softwoods such as pine or cedar. Even treated lumber or press board is easy to find, from 2×4 pieces of lumber to 4×4 pieces. This is a great way to practice and learn woodworking. I knew several people that would use the lumber for all sorts of projects and build different things. One’s imagination is the only limiting factor on what could be built. You might even save up lumber to board up your windows or doors during an emergency situation.

A great thing about the recycle center is the individuals and families. It is a great community to practice on your people interaction skills. This is one of the most important skills you must learn for a SHTF scenario. If you don’t know how to interact with all different sorts of individuals, bartering almost seems out of the picture in a severe economic downturn. There were plenty of times where just being friendly and asking politely I received things of value without expecting to give anything in return. I will tell you about a couple examples of my personal experiences but these are just a few instances. A gentleman and I somehow got into a discussion about gardening and he was telling me about all the different types of vegetables he planted for this harvest season. Peppers were a vegetable he mentioned. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind bringing some pepper seeds to give to me if he had any extra to spare. He happily obliged and the next trip he made to the dump I was greeted with a friendly smile and a zip lock bag full of pepper seeds. He also gave me a brief explanation of what worked best for him when growing the pepper seeds. There was also plenty of occasions where I would help someone shovel mulch, unload, or just have a pleasant conversation and ask if they wouldn’t mind bringing me something to drink next time they came around. Believe it or not I was rarely turned down. Every so often residents even went further, once I was brought muffins and other times different types of snacks. Never be afraid to ask someone a question is one thing I learned. The worst thing someone can say to you after you ask them a question is no. There is an old saying the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask. The dump is a great place to meet like minded individuals within your community and practice your communication skills.

After practicing and perfecting your people skills the next thing to work on is bartering. I would often collect lawn mowers and barter them to my supervisor for cash or alcohol. I have found snow blowers and traded them to a friend for cash. A great example of bartering was when I would find coupons and barter them to a friend for scrap metal. Bartering is an everyday occurrence at the recycle center. I have seen people trade different items they have picked often. Maybe one party throws in some dollars or another item to sweeten the deal. Often sometimes it could just be items that one party wants to trade for something that will be more useful to them. There are many more examples of bartering, but you need to get down to our own recycle center and practice. I believe the dump is one of the closest things you can get to a cash limited society.

There are all different types of ways you can practice and learn skills for a survival scenario. One of the best skills to learn and practice is to fix things that are broken. You sometimes will get lucky and find things you can use that are still working and completely functional. Often a small part in something you find useful might be broken. It’s a great skill to practice to take the item home and figure out how it works. Often you can buy replacement parts or even keep your eye out at the dump for another of that same or similar item to find the working part you need. I would often tell people it has a great return policy. Meaning you can take it home hold onto it for awhile and if it doesn’t work out the way you wanted and you were unable to repair the item just bring it back to the dump and throw it back out. A huge hit at the recycle center for home repairs were lawn mowers and snow blowers. Handy people would take them home tinker around with them and repair them if possible and sell them.

Another skill worth learning is trying to make money from the items you find at the recycle center. A lot of people I knew would gather enough items of value, fix the ones not working and host a yard sale. Besides gathering items and selling them, there were a lot of people interested in gathering scrap metal. You might get lucky and someone tossed out some copper pipe, old brass faucet, or some Romex wire after doing a remodel. Some people do not know what these materials are worth or they are simply too lazy or don’t have enough to make it worth their time. Learn to identify different types of metals and what they are worth. I always carried with me a wire cutter and a magnet to identify different types of metals. A magnet does not stick to copper, brass, or aluminum and those are the three main types of scrap metals you should be interested in. Be careful, it can become an addicting and fun hobby.

Besides all the barter and survival skills you can learn there is another other skill to be learned. The skill that I think everyone should learn is how to be charitable. It’s not a hard thing to learn at the dump when you are looking around. If you see an item say you might not want or could use but you know a friend could use take it and give it to them. I knew a lot of people what would stay on the lookout for items that they could give to their church to help others. I knew a father and son what would look for lightly used mattresses for women that were less fortunate. Those are just some of the instances what I have witnessed. Being charitable is also a great way to help others and reduce what goes into the landfill. Its great seeing people find useful items that find a new purpose with someone instead of being destroyed and never used again.

Letter Re: Preparedness and Divorce

Mr. Rawles,
I was happily married for 14 years.  I lived through hurricanes and snowstorms with my ex-wife.  We were preppers, with many firearms, ammunition, water filtration systems, storage food, etc.  One thing that was lacking was mental health.  She has suffered from long term mental problems for over a decade.  She tried to have me arrested as a domestic terrorist.  When that failed to happen, she tried to make me out as a child abuser.  When that failed, she divorced me, and forced a sale of all of our stored food, guns, ammunition, etc.

I wanted to let your readers know they should prepare themselves for all circumstances, which is something I did not do.   I never saw this coming, and have lost all my firearms as a result of this divorce.  I had over 50 firearms, and hundred of thousands of rounds of ammunition, which I was forced to sell at auction at a severe loss.  Seeing 1,000 rounds of 9×25 Dillon for $60 dollars is a complete waste, especially when all of the ammunition is from Doubletap ammo.  I am sure you can get the idea, but all of us thinking about long term survival should now consider the unthinkable, if their loved ones become unlovable or mentally ill.  Mine has since been founded for causing mental injury to our kids, but the system is slow and does little if the ones guilty/founded flee the state.

Make plans to cover all bases, even the ones that seem the most insane of all.  Best of luck to all your readers, and keep up the great work. – R.J.

News From The American Redoubt:

Radio Free Redoubt will be broadcasting live on Wednesday, December 11, 2013. They will be broadcasting a concert in Cocolalla, Idaho featuring patriot singer-songwriter Jordan Page, kicking off his Northwest Liberty Tour.

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Church plans fruit orchard in Boise’s North End

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Tim in Missoula liked this site: Made in Montana Products Directory

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Who says Idaho has no culture? A company in Cascade, Idaho proves that there is an active culture! In fact they have cultures from all around the world. (Thanks to Terry H. for the link.)

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Beware of lengthy eviction process if on more than five acres in Idaho!

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Reader Harold C. spotted this interesting news: Billionaire brothers buying Montana ranches

Odds ‘n Sods:

Reader F.J. sent this evidence of preparedness penetrating the techno community: Survive An Apocalypse: Setting Up A Complete Emergency Survival Kit

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SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson and his wife Gail wrote a family-friendly short story included in this anthology: Elementary (All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters)

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Also from Mike: RF Safe-Stop shuts down car engines with radio pulse. See also: Radio-beam device can disable car and boat engines from 50 meters. Of course it would also zap the heart pacemakers of anyone in the vehicle, but what’s a little collateral damage, when there is “important police work” to be done!

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Nelson Mandela the Myth and the Reality

Notes from JWR:

December 9th is the birthday of Maximo Guillermo “Max” Manus. (Born 1914.) He was was one of the few Norwegians who frequently put his life on the line, fighting the Nazi occupiers. (There surely would have been more active resistance fighters, but fearing widespread reprisal executions by the Germans, King H7 asked the civilian populace to stand down.) Max Manus passed away in 1996. His exploits are fairly accurately shown in the movie Max Manus: Man of War

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Today we begin with a guest article:

The Benefits of a Homesteading Approach to Preparedness, by Chaya

We all have our own personal style at preparedness, and the style seems to mature with you the longer you prepare.  I have noticed this in others and myself; that we all gravitate towards the preparedness hobbies that best fit our personal inclinations—homesteading skills in the traditional sense just might not be your gig.  I get that—it is another great reason why a close knit community of prepared people is a super idea.  Let someone else make homemade candles if you just cannot get kicks and giggles out of dipping string repeatedly into a burning wax. (Tactfully)  Identify others, identify their skills sets, and build out from there.  However, I do not think that the “It’s not my fave” excuse will really be a luxury you can afford when it all goes down.  That works in a modern everyone’s-a-specialist society, but not in the real world of hunger and hard work.   If homesteading does nothing else, it builds the “somebody’s gotta do it” grit in yourself, your spouse, and your children—as I was reminded this week when I had to eliminate an animal that was born with spinal cord problems.  As solemn as that moment was for me, I took my place as steward of land and animal, also taking the opportunity to reflect on just how homesteading is a beneficial  crucial part of a prepared lifestyle.   

  1. The animals and structure are already in place.  Let’s face it: freeze dried food runs out eventually.  A steady diet of it (even the best of it) will leave your body hurting for a fresh egg fried up in some tallow or lard.  Just when do you plan on purchasing your livestock?  There will be many, who in a panic, will not reserve enough breeding stock to supply for themselves and others too.  Pack animals and livestock will be a true commodity.  So will fencing and shelter.   If you get it in place now, it will be life as usual for you later.
  2. You will learn your land.  You will learn its flora and fauna.  Before homesteading, I did not realize that I had such a mess of chokecherries down by the overgrown creek bed or that those Siberian Pea Bushes attracted the deer.  Knowing your land is key to protecting it from others and to surviving off of it in lean times. 
  3. You will develop a sense of stewardship.  You will feel a loyalty to the land that provides for you and will become better at maintaining it properly with a long-term perspective.  Sure, you could spray that nasty field of weeds this year, but you’ll lose a valuable cattle field for a season; so perhaps you’ll choose to cycle goats through it instead.  They will eat the weeds, fertilize the land,  keep Monsanto off your property, and provide meat or milk for your family.  This is a singular example of how creating an active polyculture on the land will create a sustainable yield for decades to come.   This mentality does not generally happen overnight; it is a seasoned approach developed through trial and error. 
  4. Frugality.  No one is as poor as a homesteader.  But then, we homesteaders measure wealth in different ways.  The bleating of animals, the rustling of the fruit trees, this is wealth to us.  When it comes to recycling and repurposing, we become masters by necessity.  Broken pots string together to scare the birds away from the garden, serve as plant markers, or work really well to provide drainage in the bottom of other pots.  You never throw a glass jar away;  broken furniture can serve as a chicken roost, a potting station, or a gate to a pasture.   You get the idea.  As a former rich kid, believe me when I say that this is a learned skill and an altered mindset that come only from practice (not Pinterest).
  5. Time Management.  You will learn to live seasonally based upon the season’s chores and food availability.  You will focus on the indoor stuff in bad weather, outdoor stuff in good weather.  This sounds trivial, but if you are accustomed to a consistent career in which your to-do list has a line of checkmarks at the end of the day, well….homesteading is not usually that.  You planned something that got rained out, or you fixed a broken fence instead of the original day’s plans.  You will learn to appreciate the successes along the way and to relax about the diversions.  Eventually.  In either case, you will make the most of the moment and learn to “make hay while the sun shines”.
  6. You will be healthy and strong.  I pounded fence posts for the first time in my life this past summer; I was unable to do it when I tried six months earlier.  The time I spend in the sunshine has altered my overall mood, appearance, and contentment.  I breathe deeply, I eat well, and feel  good. 
  7. Your children will receive a practical life education.  Most kids in modern America have a connection to their food, their land, or even to hard work.  If anything were to happen to our societal structure, how have you incorporated self-reliance into your child’s upbringing?  Problem-solving skills, tenacity, hard work, a sense of priorities, the ability to face unpleasantness, the list goes on.   
  8. Healthy Psychology.  Tied to number 7, it is not just the harder stuff that builds your child (or you), but the fun stuff too.  We have developed intrinsic motivators wholly unconnected…literally.  No plug, no batteries.  We reward ourselves for a hot day on the homestead with an icy dip in the mountain stream.  We reward ourselves on long wintery homeschooling days with a family game of Monopoly.  We know how to work hard, but we know how to have fun too.  We do it “off grid”…homesteading style. 
  9. Water.   A lot of preppers store plastic jugs of it “just in case”.  That is not a bad idea, by any means.  But is it the best idea?  When searching for our homestead, we knew the land had to have some type of water on it.  This is not possible everywhere, I understand, but it makes things easier now while trying to irrigate crops or water animals during a drought.  We use a Berkey Water purification system for our daily drinking water and I know—if it came down to it—the bucket brigade at the creek means that I never have to worry about clean drinking water in an emergency. 
  10. A rural environment.  This is the modern era—guys get pedicures and women get bicep tattoos.  Likewise, homesteading is no longer confined to rural America.  Goodness no—apartment dwellers can get into beekeeping and gardening, food preservation and other homesteading skills.  I hope that we can foster that self-reliant attitude no matter what type of geological environment you may occupy.  With that said, though, someone actively homesteading now will ultimately seek the place to stretch out.  Like-minded neighbors are usually the result.  If you are living out of the city limits with the hope of having livestock, your immediate (or even sprawling) neighbors are likely to have either the same tendencies or sympathy towards them.  I must make a caveat that I know firsthand this is not the case everywhere.  If you have yet to purchase land but are looking, talk to the neighbors.  Wilson and I, when initially searching for land in Montana, came across land with so many covenants on it that you could not have more than a single family pet.  The irony was that the land was originally Amish land in the mountains of Montana.   As an aside, that land has been for sale for over two years now…but still.   Find out about covenants, meet the neighbors.  You will find kindred spirits in most rural areas far more effortlessly than you would in metropolitan ones. 
  11. A physical connection to the Creator, which will serve as a moral compass in hard times.  This isn’t hooey about how you do not need fellowship because fishing on a Sunday morning meets that need; that excuse is contrary to Biblical counsel.  Still, there is something to it that when life hits me hard and I step out into the unforgiving snowstorm to check on the animals, I glance up long enough to see the deep hues of the pink and gray sky and think…for just a frozen moment…about my miniscule stature in light of an awesome God.  And then I hustle my tail back into the house.  The Heavens declare his firmament…not billboards, not the latest mobile app…the Heavens. When it all comes down in the end and you have the opportunity to help others in need, your long-term perspective of your smallness and your utter dependence upon God will guide you to do the right thing, should such a moment ever arise.  And it will arise. 

In the meantime, Wilson and I at Pantry Paratus hope that you will keep learning & working to produce, prepare, and preserve your own harvest.  – Chaya