The Perils of Mussolini Economics: Feds Report $9.7 Billion Loss on GM shares
Man buys $27 of Bitcoin, forgets about them, finds they’re now worth $886,000
Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales Head For Annual Record Over 40 Million
Items from The Economatrix:
Don’t Worry – The Government Says That The Inflation You See Is Just Your Imagination
How Obama Overlooked 10 Million Americans Who Could Lose Health Insurance
Loyal content contributor J.B.G. sent this link: 28 solar flares in the last seven days, and more may be coming.
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Joe E. spotted this interesting product: FiberFix aims to make duct tape look pathetic.
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To counter the claims of some Chicken Little fanatics on the Internet who apparently have no clue about the Inverse Square Law, here is some hard data: Health risk assessment from the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, based on a preliminary dose estimation. The health risk in the U.S. because of continuing releases ar Fukushima is infinitesimal. However, radioactive isotope levels in migratory fish in the Pacific (such as tuna) should continue to be closely monitored, because of concentration via ingestion. At this point, that is my only personal concern about Fukushima.
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Reader J.D.F. wrote to note that several types of Czech military surplus 26.5mm flares are available inexpensively at Ammunition To Go.
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Are ‘kid cages’ protecting New Mexico children, or a case of ranchers crying wolf? (Thanks to Tim J. for the link.)
“Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:27-31 (KJV)
I’m thrilled to report that the post-fire recovery benefit auction for Orange Jeep Dad has already been bid up to $1,043. This auction is for a full sealed tube of 20 American Redoubt Silver 1-ounce coins (no longer being minted) with 100% of the gross proceeds going to OJD’s family. Thanks, folks, for your very generous bids for this worthy cause.
Today is the birthday of economist Martin A. Armstrong. For many years he was an American prisoner of conscience, in part because he refused to turn over his proprietary trading algorithms to Federal prosecutors. After seven horrendous years in prison without a trial, (the longest Federal incarceration for contempt of court in American history) Armstrong was finally put on trial in a proceeding that was branded as a sham. He was then convicted on securities fraud charges based upon some marginal testimony and given a five year sentence. He was released from prison in September of 2011. Notably, Armstrong continued to write his economics newsletter while in prison, producing most of the issues on a prison library typewriter.
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This is also the birthday of science fiction writer Gordon R. Dickson (born 1923, died January 31, 2001.) Many of his novels include survivalist themes
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Today we present another entry for Round 49 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $8,500+ 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, and I.) VPN tunnel, DigitalSafe and private e-mail annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad. They have a combined value of $265.
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 FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 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 23 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $210 value, and G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
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.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., F.) A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises , and G.) A Nesco / American Harvest Gardenmaster Dehydrator with an extra set of trays, and the book The Dehydrator Bible, from Mayflower Trading. (A $210 value.)
Round 49 ends on November 30th, 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.
There have been many articles written by the prepper community outlining why having a communications plan for a grid down situation is so important. So we are not going to go in depth about why you need a communications plan, but rather offer concrete suggestions on communications in general and particular products that every prepper should own.
I am a licensed ham radio operator and have been participating in Skywarn spotter activities and off grid battery operated events for over ten years. I am also a pilot and a licensed EMT, both activities in which radio communications are a matter of life and death. I am not affiliated with any of the companies I recommend in this article nor do I stand to make any financial gain through any of them.
In an age where we enjoy unprecedented global communication, it is good to remember how fragile the communication infrastructure really is. Cell phone service is usually one of the first services to go down in an emergency. Even in a localized crisis, such as the Boston Marathon bombing, the cell phone system was overloaded with calls and went down in many parts of the greater Boston metro area. In a power outage many cell towers, if they have a backup at all, will only have a few hours worth of emergency power. Even land lines are now routed through computer switchboards that are susceptible to hacking, power outages and EMP’s. Basically, it is not wise to rely on phones for reliable communications in a emergency.
There are three main types of radio communication requirements for preppers:
1. Short range (under 50 miles).
2. Long range (around the world communications are possible).
3. Scanning to keep tabs on what is going on around you.
The single best thing you can do for your communication plan is to get your ham radio license. The test is very easy to take. I took it when I was 12 and passed. You get a basic grounding in radio theory and it opens up thousands of short and long range communication frequencies for your use. The world is literally your oyster! The first level of ham radio operator is technician. This level allows you to use short and medium range frequencies while restricting most long range wavelengths. The technician class license test consists of a 35 question written exam. The best way to prepare for the test is to buy the American Radio Relay League Ham Radio License Manual. It comes with lots of practice questions and is the standard to which all other ham radio test books are compared.
The most common kind of short range communication is hand held FRS (Family Radio Service) or GRMS (General Mobile Radio Service) radios. You can buy them at Wal-Mart or any large outdoor camping store. They usually have rechargeable batteries and some have NOAA weather channel listening capability. Many also come with ear pieces that allow you to operate them in situations where hands free or quiet operations are desired. While I certainly recommend that every prepper have at least five or six of these radios, they should not comprise the bulk of any communication plan for several reasons. Most radios in this class bundle FRS and GMRS frequencies into one unit. Channels 1 to 14 can be used without any sort of license while channels 14 to 22 require a GMRS license which is not hard to get, you just have to send $80 to the FCC. The problem is that these radios are immensely popular and unless you live in a very unpopulated area, all 22 channels will probably be packed with people trying to communicate. Range is also very limited. Regardless of what the packaging, says I haven’t been able to use them beyond 5 to 7 miles, less in hilly or wooded areas. However they are a cheap, sturdy, and easy to use form of communication, and therefore have their place in a prepper’s arsenal.
The best short range communication device is a 2 meter portable ham radio which is relatively cheap and reliable. The 2 meter frequencies that this radio transmits and receives on are so named because the radio waves they transmit are 2 meters from crest to crest. Most come with a rechargeable battery, and some can be powered through a 12v power source, thereby allowing them to run off car batteries. 2M radio frequencies are called line of sight frequencies, meaning that the radio waves travel in a wave motion in a straight line off the antenna. After about 50 miles the earth begins to curve down and the radio waves continues to travel in a straight line into space. This is why these radios are limited to about a 50 mile range. You can extend the range through repeaters (which are radios set up on mountains or on top of buildings that take your signal and retransmit it) but when SHTF most repeaters will drop off line pretty quickly and therefore will not be considered here in detail. The pros of these kinds of radios are many. There are hundreds of available frequencies, so even in busy metro areas you should have no problems finding a clear channel to communicate on. These radios can be powered through many different power sources and have excellent battery life. They are a great cross between power, range and portability. They are light and can be easily carried wherever you might need to go. You can also buy a variety of accessories for them, including everything from ear pieces to extra battery packs. Portable ham radios are also a very good resource. Most portable ham radios are powered by a 12 volt car battery. They can be installed directly in a car or carried in a backpack. Portable radios generally transmit with a lot more power and therefore can extend your range, especially in wooded or mountainous areas.
Ham radio is the best way to communicate in an emergency, but CB radios are also an option. They require no license to operate and most medium/large trucks already have one installed. This makes them a good potential source of road conditions and general outside information especially when bugging out. Mobile CB radios that can be installed in a vehicle are quite popular and should definitely be installed in your bug out vehicle if your prepping includes one. The same problems with FRS and GRMS radios also hold true for CB radios, in that not many channels are available for a lot of users and offer less range then a ham radio.
Long range communications may or may not need to be a part of your prepping plan. If you and your loved ones will be located within reach of the short range communications mentioned above, then I would just skip this section altogether. For those with longer range needs, I would suggest you obtain a general or extra class ham radio license. This will open up long wave length, long range communication frequencies for your use. The radios and equipment in this class are more expensive and require more knowledge to operate. The scope of long range communications are outside the parameters of this article. Suffice it to say that if you are interested, there are lots of good books on the subject and you could spend a lifetime learning about this class of radios and the associated theory.
In an age of relatively secure digital communications (NSA snooping aside) it is important to remember that radio communications are public and can be heard by anyone with the right equipment. The easiest thing to do is come up with some code words and phrases for common words, locations and names that you might need to use over the airwaves.
Last, but certainly not least, comes scanning. Having the ability to listen to a wide range of communications including police, fire, EMS (Emergency Medical Service), military, aircraft, school and prison systems, public works and more will be invaluable. The situational awareness that you gain will give you a edge no matter where you are or what situation you are thrust into. There are two main kinds of radio systems that you might need to keep an “ear on”, trunked and non-trunked. Trunked systems have several communications frequencies and a control frequency. The system will dynamically switch which frequency you are communicating on based on what frequency is open at that time. Trunked systems are usually used in and around big cities when there are a lot of users and not enough frequencies to go around. Listening to a trunked system requires a trunking scanner. The best way to tell if you need to spend extra on a trunking scanner is to go to the Radio Reference Database and type in your zip code. At the bottom of the page, it will list the trunked systems in your area. If you want to listen to those services, get a trunking scanner. Regular scanners are fine for all non trunked systems. Non trunking systems are like an FM radio station; they always transmit on the same frequency and don’t switch, any scanner, even a trunking one, can listen to non trunking systems.
No matter what your level of preparedness, you can fit some level of communications gear into any budget, from a $40 pair of FRS/GRMS radios to a $2,000 multi-band ham transceiver. Either way, you will sleep better at night knowing that no matter what happens, you will be able to keep in contact with your loved ones and improve your situational awareness.
The following is a list of some gear I recommend preppers have. I have tried to list several price options in each category to satisfy any budget.
Portable Ham Radios
Good:
Yaesu FT-1900R
Best:
Yaesu FT-8900R
Handheld Ham Radios
Okay (inferior quality but very cheap):
Baofeng UV5RA
Better:
Yaesu FT-252
Waterproof
Best:
Yaesu VX-6R
Tri-band, waterproof, scanner
Portable CB Radios
Good:
Cobra 19DXIV 40 Channel Mobile Compact CB Radio
Best:
Uniden Bearcat 980SSB with weather watch.
Handheld CB Radios
Non-trunked Scanner:
Bearcat BC355N
Trunking Scanners
Analog Trunking
Bearcat BCT15X
This scanner has analog trunking: (This is an older standard for trunking systems. Most municipalities still use analog trunking, and so this radio will be the best choice for most preppers as digital trunking capability doubles the price.)
Digital Trunking
Bearcat BCD996XT
Dear Survival Blog,
As a journalist, I’m constantly intrigued by the dissemination of information in our world. Obviously, with the advent of social media, people have become exceptionally lazy about seeking out information. There are very few circumstances in our modern society where your technology can’t help you find out what’s going on within seconds. However, every now and then, we encounter a situation where your technology can’t help you – unless you’re prepared.
Earlier this week, I was in just such a situation. I was near the front of a interstate closure caused by a burning catering truck. Because I was in such close proximity (about a mile) from the closure, no one around me knew why we were stuck. The burning trailer was around a bend, hidden from view by trees.
First some background: Years ago, my life was saved by a second-hand CB radio that I carried in my truck. I got caught in a violent, blinding snow storm in Colorado and – using the CB – I was able to estimate position based on the feedback from truckers also caught in the storm. Since that night, I have always carried a CB in my car and later I added a police scanner. I learned that night that yes, information can save your life.
Fast forward back to my traffic jam. I realized that the closure had just happened and so the local media was not aware of it. Within the first two minutes of being stopped, I turned on my CB and police scanner and I knew all the information I needed: I knew who, what, when, and where. (The only thing I didn’t know was what caused the fire – which really didn’t matter) Satisfied with my knowledge, and knowing we would be there a while, I pulled my car off to the shoulder and hiked toward the fire so I could get some first-hand knowledge of what was going on. It was actually quite uneventful. The firefighters were waiting on the fire to die down a little because there were two propane cylinders on the trailer.
The most interesting part of the whole experience was on the way back to my car. Probably less than 250 yards from the burning trailer I was stopped by a car full of women whose first question was “what’s going on?” They were stuck behind two eighteen-wheelers and 45 minutes or more into this experience they still had absolutely no idea why they were even stopped. They hadn’t bothered to get out and look with their own eyeballs. They couldn’t call anyone who would know, and unless one of their Facebook friends happened to be stuck in the same traffic jam, social media wouldn’t help them either.
After I explained to them in great detail what was happening, I said goodbye and began walking when I was stopped by the driver of the very next car. They saw me chatting with the women ahead of them and immediately sensed that I knew what was happening. After all, I had come from the direction of the closure and looked like a guy who knew something.
All told, I repeated the same story five times in the walk back to my car to people that were either too lazy to find out on their own and simply had a passing interest in this event that was directly affecting their lives. I examined each of these people as I spoke to them and one word kept coming up in my head over and over again: unprepared. What if this had been an EMP attack? How long would these people sit there waiting for someone to tell them what had happened? It was chilling to think about. That day I realized that even if every car on the Interstate was dead in the water because of an electromagnetic pulse attack, most people would have no idea what had happened and would simply sit there and wait for information or help.
After an hour and a half, the authorities re-opened the Interstate and suddenly everything was “normal” again and people got on with their lives.
Continuing on, I pondered how disinterested some people were in finding out information. They relied on someone else to get it for them. I realize that in the case of an EMP attack, I would not have had my CB or scanner, but I did have my curiosity and a determination to find out information. In a grid down scenario I realized that much of the battle would be seeking information and determining what was true and what wasn’t. And even more importantly, I realized that having the knowledge in your head beforehand about what could or is happening is as equally important. I would know within two seconds that if every car on the Interstate inexplicably rolled to a stop, that we had been attacked by an EMP. (And beyond that, my car is a rolling bug out bag.) But the vast majority of people simply would not know what was going on.
Information can save your life.
Prepping with physical things is much simpler. It’s tangible. You can see it and hold it. But after my experience this week, I am now going to double up my efforts on being able to propagate and receive information when TEOTWAWKI happens. Having knowledge and information allows to you to act and act fast, and that will save your life.
Sincerely, – W.H.
An interesting piece over at the Pantry Paratus blog: Wintertime Harvest: Food Preservation in the “Off” Season
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Over at Dollar Vigilante, a Canadian’s essay on the implications of voting with one’s feet: The Unbearable Lightness of Leaving. (She is moving to Galt’s Gulch Chile.)
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Reader “1F” mentioned a new needful countermeasure: New Product Lets Sportsmen Know When Drones Are Near
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J.B.G. suggested this piece over at Glenn Beck’s site: Are Americans waking up to the encroaching tyranny of the surveillance state?
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Owners of FN-FAL rifles (and FAL clones, Kel-Tec RFBs, Rock River LAR-8s, etc.) will find this of interest: FAL Magazine Loaders for $1 Each.
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The Next Shot Heard ‘Round the World’ Will Be in Northern California. (Thanks to James C. for the link.)
"The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought." – Samuel Adams
October 31st is Reformation Day. For those unfamiliar with Reformed distinctives, here is a web page that is good starting point.
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I’m pleased to see that the post-fire recovery benefit auction for Orange Jeep Dad has already been bid up to $760. This auction is for a full sealed tube of 20 American Redoubt Silver -1-ounce coins (no longer being minted) with 100% of the gross proceeds going to OJD’s family. OBTW, he has posted: New P.O. Box & FFL Address.
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Today we present another entry for Round 49 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $8,500+ 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, and I.) VPN tunnel, DigitalSafe and private e-mail annual subscriptions from Privacy Abroad. They have a combined value of $265.
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 FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 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 23 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $210 value, and G.) Two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
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.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security., F.) A MURS Dakota Alert Base Station Kit with a retail value of $240 from JRH Enterprises , and G.) A Nesco / American Harvest Gardenmaster Dehydrator with an extra set of trays, and the book The Dehydrator Bible, from Mayflower Trading. (A $210 value.)
Round 49 ends on November 30th, 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.
What is a prepper’s number one tool? What is the asset that all preppers need regardless of where they are or why they are preparing? Some will say water purification, others will say food, and either others will give a list of shelter, weapons, or a medical kit. I disagree with all of these. Yes, all of these are necessary to survival and great preps to have; however, they are not the number one prep needed. After searching hundreds of lists and web sites, and watching show after show about survival, and piecing together preps on a budget, I have found the number one tool for a prepper: Knowledge.
Regardless of how well prepared you are, eventually, through time, all preps will fail. You will eventually run out of canned goods. Bullets (regardless of what television would have you believe) are not unlimited. Metal tools rust and break. Water stores will run empty. And shelters will fall. Given time, all of our preps will turn to dust and then we’ll be left with nothing but ourselves and whatever skills and knowledge we’ve acquired.
I have preps that include canned food, seeds for agriculture, extra clothing, shelter, water purification, rope, a bow and arrows, tools, extra bullets, and extra gas, but my number one prep is my book. I have made a book of roughly 2,000 laminated pages full of survival techniques, skills, and knowledge that I may potentially need. I have a section on shelter than diagrams and describes over twenty different types of survival shelter for each climate area. I have a section on water gathering and purification. I have a section dedicated solely to wild edibles and food preparation (canning, skinning, smoking meat, etc). Finally, I have a section that is full of a variety of skills I might possibly need such as how to make your own sapling bow or star charts for directions. Ultimately, the difference between survival and struggle is you.
I would suggest that every prepper make their own survival book, not for publishing, but just for you. Yes, you can go out and buy a survival book and, yes, it will save you on time and paper. However, making your own book offers benefits that buying one. The first benefit is that you will have to personally read and select each of the survival techniques you put into your book to fit your needs and situation. This will give you a general knowledge about techniques you may possibly need to use as well as what is in your book and where it is located. Making your own book also removes a lot of the “fluff” and flowery language that is contained within all books and gets to the nitty-gritty of what you, as a prepper, need. Another benefit of making your own survival book is that you put in your book only what you need. If a prepper is living in the Southeastern United States, then why would they need a book with a section on how to survive in Alaska? Or the rain forest? Why do you need a book with a section that lists and details edible plants in Mexico if you live in North Dakota? If the situation arises where your prepper supplies will be needed, who is going to travel cross-country? With your own, personal book, you can input only what you need to know, saving space in your bug-out bag or prepper stash as well as saving you time if you need to look for something quickly. Another benefit of making your own survival book is continuity. If you have children and they are a part of your prepper plan you will be able to pass the knowledge you have gathered in your book on to your children who can then teach their children and so on. With this book you will not only be assisting in your own survival but that of your children and future generations. Making your own book that is based off of your own needs and geared towards your supplies is the absolute most important thing you can have in your preps.
As I said, some will disagree and give a large list of supplies and preps which, according to them, will be much more valuable than a survival book. Those people will not survive past a year or two unless they have a large group with a wide range of skills and knowledge. Don’t get me wrong, I am not belittling the need for water storage, food stores, shelter, and defensive preps, all of these things are absolutely necessary for a prepper, however, a person with a wide range of skills and a vast wealth of survival knowledge will last longer than the prepper who has a year’s worth of food and water but no knowledge of wild edibles or agriculture. Take the most needed resource of life; water. The average person needs about 2,250 mL of water per day that is about ¾ a gallon of water. The average prepper will have somewhere between 100- 500 gallons of water storage. If we take the middle and say most people have about 300 gallons of water stored, then those stores will last roughly a year, maybe longer. If you factor in more than one person then those 300 gallons could be gone in 3-6 months. What will you do then? Typical prepper will say build a rain catch or gather water from a river or lake. Rain water, river water, and lake water could be contaminated and your purification tablets or your water purifier won’t last forever. You might need to know how to build a solar still in order to purify your water. You may need to know how to set animal trap such as a deadfall, twitch-up snare, a bottle trap or a gill net in order to procure your family’s next meal. This knowledge will prove invaluable as more and more of your preps fail due to age or use or as situations arise that you were not prepared to handle.
Many of the skills that I feel that I may need based off of my preps and plans in the case of an emergency. You must go though and find what’s best for you and your family for the area you are in. The information is readily available through the internet for any who are willing to look for it.
Hiding behind your preps and relying solely on them can be as dangerous as not prepping at all. As a prepper we must realize that most of our preps are short-term. Canned food and water stores will run empty. Bullets will run out. Houses will be sacked by groups of bandits and your tools and supplies will eventually break. But having this knowledge should to cause us to despair but rather to encourage us to gather and soak up as much knowledge about survival as we can. Preps are for the immediate survival situation or three months to a year of survival; a survival book is for long-term, rebuilding survival. Your knowledge is what will keep you alive whenever you have nothing and the world is collapsing around you.
In construction your survival book, I would suggest a three inch, three ring binder. I would also suggest that you laminate your pages to protect against water damage. Make sure you include both detailed pictures and descriptive instructions. I would also suggest making a copy of the book so that you can have one in your bug-out bag and one in your home preps. Make sure include food (gathering and prep), water (gathering and decontaminating), shelter, first-aid, as well as your survival plans such as various bug-out locations and directions to get there, plans for defending your home or your bug-out location, and contingency plans for everything. Make sure your survival book will have you prepared for any conceivable situation you may come up against.
To give you an idea of what you may need in your personal survival book, I will share a list of things I have in mine:
In the end, the only thing that will keep you alive is you. If you are able to adapt to different situations and are able to defeat the obstacles that will plague your post-prepper lifestyle then you will not just survive, you will overcome.
CPT Rawles,
The author of the “Your Two Foot Bugout” article refers to through-hiking the Appalachian Trail as a simulation of a “shank’s mare” bugout. I’ve had similar thoughts in the past and would add these recommendations: in a situation where the fecal matter has impacted the rotating blades of the oscillating air moving device, do as the Laytons did in Patriots, i.e. go heavy on bullets and light on food. As the Golden Horde descends on your trail, you’ll want to defend whatever remains of your belongings and family.
Also consider that thru-hikers count on resupply on average of every 10 days. Your mileage may vary, but can you and your loved ones realistically handle more than 10 days worth of gear and food? Even the elites of the military rely on resupply from higher echelons, on average of 3 days.
Also consider travel distances. Appalachian Trail thru-hikers average 15 miles per day. Without resupply or pre-positioned caches, a foot bound bugout is limited to 150 miles. Is your retreat within that limit? Don’t be one of those who “always relies on the kindness of strangers.” Ken and Terry Layton were fictional characters driving a narrative with an author guiding the process. We have a divine Author who is guiding our story, but we prep anyway. – Woody
Congress To Eliminate The Debt By Not Counting It Anymore…
Does End of Cent Mean End of Coins? (Thanks to RBS for the link.)
What Is The Timeframe For US Dollar Collapse? Mike Maloney
Items from The Economatrix:
Obamacare Rationing: Seniors’ Doctors Get Booted From Medicare Advantage
Look Out Below: Home Sales Plunge: “Biggest Drop in 40 Months”
Ray Jason (The Sea Gypsy) writes: The Road to the Future Leads to the Past
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A couple of reminders: I will be a featured guest speaker (via teleseminar) Life Changes. Be Ready! Preparedness and Gun Expo that will be held in in Lakeland, Florida on November 2 & 3, 2013. (My slot should be mid-day, on Saturday.) I will also be a featured guest speaker (again, via teleseminar) at the Charlotte, North Carolina Back To The Basics convention on November 16, 2013. (This event was formerly known as Charlotte PrepCon.)
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Don H. kindly sent a link to a list of salvaged canned goods stores.
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Finally, after 34 years… The motion picture rights to Jerry Pournelle’s epic sci-fi adventure novel Janissaries
“The condition of our country today? It’s kind of like folks listening to the band playing while the Titanic is sinking, and them asking them to play a different tune.” – Hal Brilliant