Fitting Martial Arts into the Life of a Prepper, by Matthew G.

While watching season two of Doomsday Preppers on the National Geographic Channel I noticed the “consumer prepper.” These are people who think of a problem and quickly try to throw money at the situation instead of trying to find the best solution to their issue. In one episode a wealthy older man was fearful of a major earth quake in California. He bought thousands of dollars of freeze dried food, the most expensive firearms, and even a helicopter to fly him out if things were really bad. With all of his money he made a poor choice of putting his daughter into a Tae Kwon Do school. I’m not going to bad mouth here about the down sides of Tae Kwon Do, I myself started out in Tae Kwon Do as a teenager. What disappointed me was he had his daughter learning a sport, not a self defense system. Most Tae Kwon Do schools have their emphasis on scoring points, nothing more. In the five years I studied the art I didn’t know how to throw a decent punch.

I started out, as I said, in Tae Kwon Do at the age of thirteen. After my first three month contract was up I switched schools and spent the next five years at a better school that focused on skill and technique as opposed to contracts and money. After that I learned American boxing and even became runner up for a local Tough Man contest when this event was still boxing instead of the MMA (mixed martial arts) of today. Through boxing I quickly learned that its better to fight smarter and not harder. I suffered from constant headaches while sparring and after some research found that boxers have many negative repercussions from repeated strikes to the head. Regardless of head gear and gloves the brain rattles around in the skull and can cause severe side effects down the road. Mohammed Ali would be the prime example of this.

After a short break from martial arts due to getting married and having a different life I was back studying at a school that offered several styles. The point of the school was to find something that suited you. I studied Judo, Jujitsu (Japanese), Aikido, Muay Thai, and some Chen style Tai Chi.

So what should a prepper look for in a martial art? One would think that any martial art would due looking at the name. A better translation would be military art. While they all have their roots to some form of combat fighting most have become sports over many decades of peace. There are some that kept to their roots and are still the most useful fighting styles in the world.
For a SHTF situation you want an art that has several qualities.

  • Striking (kicking and punching)
  • Grappling
  • Throwing
  • Pins and locks
  • Weapons training (disarm and using)
  • Multiple attackers situation

To sign up for anything less than this would be a waste of your time unless nothing else is available.

So what are the arts that cover a majority if not all of these skills?

First I’ll describe some standing arts and why they are useful. Tae Kwon Do is handy for its footwork and speed, quickly learning the distance between yourself and a attacker. Boxing gives a person similar distancing and foots skills with the added benefit of speed, power and accuracy with punches. Muay Thai combines these two arts with the added use of elbows and knees.
The ground arts have their benefits as well. Judo, while it is a sport over a self defense style is very aggressive and teaches how to throw, wrestle, pin or joint lock an attacker.
Aikido has grown a reputation for being a very effective fighting style. Using wrist locks and hip throws similar to Judo and Jujitsu the art teaches how to turn a attackers energy against them. After years of experience a person will learn how to effectively defend themselves against a untrained attacker. The downside is that after watching Aikido students sparring with students from other styles at the dojo annual potluck the skills are difficult to use on highly skilled attackers of other arts. The upside was learning how to disarm a person with a knife and using a Japanese sword (ken). A person may think that skills in Kenjitsu are impractical, I would have to argue that it becomes handy when a stick is your only weapon and the techniques translate well. The famous swordsman Musashi killed one of his opponents with a wooden ore he took from the boat he traveled on. Sometimes the technique and not the weapon is what matters.

Japanese Jujitsu would have to be one of the most well-rounded arts that are still around today. This is not to be confused with Brazilian Jujitsu that is popular on the UFC fighting circuit. After World War two the American military quickly learned that this hand to hand fighting style would be beneficial to troops in the field. Army hand to hand combat manuals and much of the marine corp. fighting system is based on Japanese Jujitsu. I was fortunate enough to study a Okinawa style of Jujitsu at the school I attended. The instructor favored knife techniques and encouraged his students to carry legal folding knives for self defense. In the state of Michigan a concealed knife has to be a folded blade and under two and a half to three inches, I always get different numbers depending on the police officer I ask. Along with knife work we also learned to work against multiple attackers, working as a team or group, never ending up on the ground, always expect attacker number two even if it looks like there is only one guy.

Jujitsu has a wide variety of tools that you learn from wrist locks and throws to striking and pressure points. As a prepper, Jujitsu was the only art that I found to be the best suited for my self defense needs. While this is the only style I studied that had these characteristics I know of others that have similar techniques and a combat mindset.

Ninjitsu uses many of the striking and grappling techniques that are used in Jujitsu. Also a Japanese style of fighting, ninjitsu incorporates different weapons to their school such as chains, throwing stars and various bladed weapons. My former meditation instructor and several Jujitsu students I trained with trained in this art form. While comparing techniques after class we found that many things were similar what came to be the biggest difference was the teaching of the “bush doctrine” and their school of Ninjitsu, attack first and destroy your enemy if you think they are going to attack you. I found this puzzling as a follower of the Gray Man theory, don’t be noticed and only attack when needed.

Krav Maga, from the books and videos that I have studied due to a lack of schools in my area, this maybe the one school better suited than jujitsu to satisfy a prepper’s needs. A collage of easy to learn techniques geared toward a modern combat setting, this style is the present day equivalent of what Jujitsu was a hundred years ago. Created after World WarII by Jews that were tired of being victims, Krav Maga combines what they deem to be the most useful techniques from various arts and throw them together as a new combat style. Because the art is used in real combat settings like the middle east, techniques change over time when it is found something does not work for what ever reason. This is something new to martial arts as many arts will still teach an obsolete technique for the sake of tradition as opposed to practicality. I did train with one man that had studied Krav Maga for years. When he moved to my home town he decided to study MMA instead but found jujitsu to be very close to his former school of training.

When looking for a school it is important to look for a few things. Keep in mind that these places are businesses and they make their money from having students. First talk to the instructor and learn if he is going to teach you what you are looking to learn. Second, avoid schools that trying to pressure you into signing a contract. A real instructor will want you to want to be there and not spend your time trying to get your money. Look around and see if the focus of the school is on sports or self defense, trophies on the walls or medals are a good indication of sports emphasis.

Sometimes a good indication of a practical school is if local law enforcement study at this school. In my Aikido class we had several sheriff deputies that attended and some of them had police techniques that were added to the school curriculum. If law enforcement is studying something that they are betting to save their lives it maybe exactly what you’re looking for.

Weapons of opportunity is a skill that a good school will teach. While we had sticks called yawarbo, in Jujitsu, that we used for locks and pins we were constantly told that anything from a pen to a magazine could work the same way. When you learn to use a knife it is important to realize that the same techniques can be used with a stick or a pipe. There is always something in the immediate area that can be used for a quick advantage, even a rock. Learning to be flexible in a combat situation can be a valuable tool. Find a teacher that will teach you how to think and not just react.

Many preppers spend hours at the gun range learning techniques through muscle memory. The same principle applies to martial arts. Most of what you will learn is reactionary muscle memory just like with a gun. If a prepper spends hours learning how to use a gun and researching what the best gun is, dishing out hundreds of dollars for the right gun to suit their needs, wouldn’t you do the same thing when learning hand to hand combat? Time is precious, to spend it learning things that won’t work and will get you killed in a real life SHTF situation would be a tragedy.

Do your research, find a good school. If you can’t find a school, find books demonstrating the techniques. Practice on a dummy or even a tree. It may sound crude but this is how martial artist practiced for centuries. These days I spend my spare time training on a heavy bag, repeating the same moves dozens of times and moving to the next one. I spend more time in my basement on my bag than I do at the gun range. For low budget preppers this is a cost effective way to learn self defense and stay in shape. When needed, the first time you throw a punch in self defense will be a shock. Afterward you may not remember doing and ask what happened. This is the muscle memory reacting to the situation and not “you.” This is the type of training you want to have. Its better to throw a punch when your gun jams than give up and wait to get shot or beaten.

I don’t live in the best neighborhood in the world. With a high crime rate and a low average income I’m in one of those places not recommended for a prepper to live. I’m fortunate enough to have never been in a fight in the last eight years of living here and only pulling my gun out to prevent an attack on my property. So far things have been about as good as they can be around here. I attribute that to my martial arts training and paying attention to my surroundings. There have been occasions that I have witnessed beatings, stabbings, and shootings and so far I have come through unscathed. Being a prepper that doesn’t have the option of bugging out I have come to realize that hand to hand combat is a very real reality in a urban environment. Bullets do run out. How many can you carry? What are you left with when a gun jams? A positive mind set is a real asset to a prepper and hand to hand training adds to that.

To close this article I’m going to share a story I read in Black Belt magazine years ago. A Judo student was in Las Vegas for a tournament. While walking to his car he was approached by two men that tried to mug him. The first man was unarmed and threw a punch. The Judo student threw his attacker like he learned in class. The attacker hit his head on the car during the throw and was knocked out. The second man was armed with a knife and came at the Judo student. This time the student placed this man in an arm bar. The attacked smacked his hand against his legs in pain. The sound of the smacking reminded the Judo student of “tapping out.” When a attacker in a grappling school like Judo “taps out”, a light pat on the floor or the person pinning, it signals that the hold works or the attacker is in pain, usually both. As you may have guessed the Judo student let his armed attacker go and was stabbed several times afterwards because of how he was taught. It is very important to look into how you will learn. A style that teaches you to fight with rules translates to a style where you think there are rules in the street. During SHTF this is a matter of life and death and learning how to defend yourself should be take just as seriously.

Letter Re: Gun Storage While Traveling to Anti-Gun States

Dear Sir,
Thank you for an excellent web site. I read it every day. I have a question regarding traveling with my handgun. Living in Ohio, a reasonably free state these days, I occasionally have to travel by car to one of the totalitarian states. States such as New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Maryland. I of course prefer to carry my handgun and have CCW licenses to carry in all the surrounding free states on the way. However, as my need to enter these other states, would potentially land me in jail if I brought my weapon, I must make my whole trip unarmed. Are there gun storage options?

Other than burying my gun just outside the state line of one of these totalitarian regimes, do you or your readers have any suggestions? I have considered contacting gun retailers near, but outside the borders. Perhaps asking them to store my gun while I am in the hostile territories. But this may have many complications, including entry at many points depending on my destination and scheduling.

Thanks again, – Checkpoint Charlie

JWR Replies:

While many guns shops would be accommodating (for a small fee), keep in mind that you might have to do a background check to get your own gun back! (That could be avoided if there was a fee for “gunsmithing service”, while they held your guns. That could be as simple as just “lubrication.”) For example, I’ve heard of a couple of FFLs in Tok, Alaska (the last city in Alaska before you enter Canada on the Al-Can Highway) that do this for a fee.)

Some alternatives to storage with a gun shop could be public lockers in train stations, bus terminals or in hotel concierge luggage rooms, or perhaps in mini storage company spaces. (But the latter are fairly expensive and there is lot of paperwork.) Another option might be storage with a shooting range facility. Yet another might be companies in tourist towns that rent bicycles or kayaks. (They often store luggage for the customers for a modest fee, or even free with a rental.) But of courses security might be dicey with any of those, so do your due diligence.

One partial mitigation to that risk is using discreet gun cases. My favorite for this is using musical instrument cases. These come in all shapes and sizes, and many of the hard cases are locking. I’ve found that a trumpet case works great for a takedown riotgun. An electric guitar case will fit a lot. Just be sure to slap on a few music-related stickers, for camouflage. Needless to say, you will need to first research company policies and state and local laws…

A side note: I’ve found that public locker accommodations are much more extensive in Europe than they are in the States. In Europe rail travel is much heavier per capita so therefore they’ve developed a much larger infrastructure. In some European train station that have hundreds of lockers! FWIW, I once safely left a sizeable cache of 19mm HK flares, gun magazines, and a few pocketknives in a locker at the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt for several weeks while I was touring elsewhere in Europe. Those items were much safer from theft there. My knowledge of the laws of some of the countries that I was going to be visiting was admittedly scant.

A far better alternative to all of the foregoing is developing friendships. Using some networking, you can develop a personal “hospitality database” of trustworthy pro-gun people who live in or near state lines or national border cities. Ideally, this would be with like-minded folks who have some extra gun vault space. The quid pro quo could be just the promise of a place for that family to stay while on vacation. Taking turns at cooperative housesitting, A place to safely park their car (if you live near a major airport or a cruise ship harbor.) Perhaps even the promise of mutual “Plan B” bugout locations, in the event of a disaster. Think outside the box and do some networking. Some of the friendships that you develop could be mutually rewarding in many ways.

You might also want to check this letter out on long term underground storage of firearms.

Perhaps some readers would like to chime in on this.

Odds ‘n Sods:

When the ‘cure’ doesn’t end the pain: Some Lyme disease patients have symptoms that can linger for years despite standard treatment. Scientists are puzzling over how that can be. (Thanks to H.L. for the link.)

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One month to Revolution: The premiere of Season 2 of the post grid-collapse television series Revolution is scheduled for September 25th. It will air on Wednesdays at 8:00pm ET/PT. The series was renewed for another 22 episodes. It is fairly mediocre as sci-fi/survivalist television drama goes, but it is the only game in town. Seeing Revolution only makes me miss Firefly even more.

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An interesting piece, written back when 7.62mm NATO ball ammo was more affordable: 10,000 Round FAL Torture Test.

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D.L. mentioned that there are alternatives to PRISM-compromised software available here: Prism-break.org. And speaking of which: NSA paid millions to cover Prism compliance costs for tech companies.

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Remington Arms scouts Middle Tennessee after New York bans its rifle.

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The slippery slope to Depravity and the Tyranny of Enforced Political Correctness: Christian Photographer Forced to do Work for Lesbian Couple. Note: After reading of this decision, I updated my Provisos Page with the following new paragraph: “SurvivalBlog.com is an entirely private information service that is my sole property made available to others as a form of free personal expression under my de jure Preamble Citizen’s right as later guaranteed in the First Article in Amendment to the Constitution. SurvivalBlog.com is not a “public accommodation” and it is preemptively exempt from any forced or coerced accommodation, via legislation (or bureaucratic interpretation thereof) or any dictate, directive, or decree by any agency of government or by any NGO or by any individual under any future “Fairness Doctrine” or similar charade. I reserve the right to refuse service (to wit: to refuse posting, linking, or mention of anyone or anything, at my sole discretion) to any person, agency, corporation, or other entity. I do so for the sake of maintaining sound business practices and to maintain my moral and religious principles.”

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Another one of Mayor Bloomberg’s gun-grabbing mayors goes down in flames: Filthy Filner Resigns. (OBTW, someone ought to do statistical study and determine the criminality rate of these “crime fighting” mayors, versus the citizenry as a whole.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
And when [ye see] the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
[Ye] hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?” – Luke 12:49-56 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 48 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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.) Two BirkSun.com photovoltaic backpacks (one Level, and one Atlas, both black), with a combined value of $275, H.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and I.) 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.

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 22 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $200 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., E.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Round 48 ends on September 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.

Finding Comfort When TSHTF, by P.R.

You could say that Y2K started us on a serious survival path. But long before that, preferring the peace and quiet of country life, we had already begun our search for a small acreage some distance from any cities. The idea of simple living and self-sufficiency appealed to both my husband and me. Finally, in 1998, we were blessed to find a few acres in Central Texas. With a partially built house on a dead-end road, trees and some pasture, it mostly fit all our requirements and was within our rather meager price range. So 15 years later, we are both retired and, through frugal living, everything is paid for. Now our primary goal is surviving whatever may come but also to maintain a semblance of mental and physical well-being in a world that could become quite insane. The possibility of a TEOTWAWKI event seems to grow more likely each day. Whoever you are, wherever you are, the better prepared you are when it happens, the less likely you or members of your household will “lose it” when the dreaded events
are playing out before your eyes. I am here to help you and I am not with the government!

As matriarch of my family (not about to give away my age here, but I admit to having great grandchildren), the job of chief cook/caretaker/comforter in our group will naturally fall to me. Before your eyes glaze over, remember that with age, comes wisdom! When SHTF, I hope to ease the transition from that to which we are accustomed to a new, possibly stark reality and way of life. I can shoot a gun if need be, but that is not my area of expertise. Whether you intend to stay put or “bug out”, it’s a good idea to decide ahead of time the responsibilities that each person in your “survival family” is best suited for. A written, detailed plan should be compiled, scrutinized and agreed to by everyone involved so there will be no question of leadership and who does what when it’s necessary to put your plan into action. Each of us is born with a natural talent. Keeping that in mind, choose (or accept) your role and become proficient at it!

Assuming that you are on the way to having your retreat well-stocked with water, food and medical supplies and your haven has been made as secure as possible, let’s consider psychological effects of a SHTF situation. In our relatively safe, comfortable lives today it is hard to imagine how we may react when the worst becomes reality. How will you respond when the grocery shelves are bare, gas tanks are empty, the lights suddenly dim to darkness and violence is all around? The possible traumatic impact should not be overlooked or underestimated. There is a good probability that medical care will not be available. It may be up to us to deal with any after effects, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD.) This may occur after a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm. Educate yourself online about this serious condition. There are steps we can take to lessen the inevitable shock following a breakdown of society. If you haven’t already done so, I urge you to begin now to hone your survival skills, build up your stockpiles and practice various “what-if” scenarios. Besides giving you peace of mind, your chances of coming through a crisis alive may depend on it!

I’ve come up with some suggestions which may be helpful to you preppers:

INFORMATION. The Internet, as long as it’s available, is surely our best source, including JWR’s blog, and we found his books to be very helpful, especially in matters of security. For Christians, the Bible is essential. I can highly recommend Carla Emery’s The Encyclopedia of Country Living for all-around how-to info. If you intend to prepare meals on a wood stove there is an excellent cookbook titled Mrs. Restino’s Country Kitchen. And the More-With-Less Cookbook by Doris Longacre is valued for thrifty, basic recipes. I compiled my own menus with dishes we like and that can be put together with a minimum of time and effort using our food storage. I’ve also run hard copies on every survival subject you can think of and these are categorized and in binders with labels. Do what you can now to get organized as there may be little time for that down the road. I think our predecessors had the idea of comfort during hard times down to a fine art. They not only made do, but they found small ways to bring joy into the lives of their families. I’ve gained much knowledge and inspiration from reading stories about the depression years and journals written by pioneer women!

WATER. WATER. WATER. It’s already been said. We can live much longer without food than we can without water. Set up a rain catchment system suitable for your property! For $15 each, we purchased several 55 gallon plastic drums from a soda pop company. Though food-grade, these barrels aren’t ideal because the syrup residue is difficult to remove, but water is water and there are good filters available.

This year we added a 1,500 gallon water tank next to our shop, utilizing a simple gutter and spigot system to capture the rain run-off. To deter the growth of algae caused by sunlight, white or light- colored barrels should be painted black or covered with black plastic. Water collected in rain barrels should be fine for laundry, watering a garden or flushing a toilet but is not recommended for drinking unless it is well-filtered. When time allows, we hope to add an outdoor shower using one of the 55 gallon barrels and a small solar panel. I can’t think of anything more comforting than a warm shower! .

COMFORT FOODS. Every family has their favorites so practice creating those dishes using only items from your food stash. In stressful times a special treat may be just the thing to make life bearable. Possibilities in that category are chocolate, popcorn, hard candy, dried fruits, olives, nuts, flavored gelatins, peanut butter, instant puddings, and jelly beans. In addition, include baking goods such as vanilla, cocoa, cooking oil, leavenings, pie fillings, sugar and/or sugar substitute, instant milk, coconut and flour. And did I mention chocolate? A variety of grains and a manual grinder are a must. Don’t forget a variety of soup ingredients such as canned meats, dried or canned veggies, stock and bouillon cubes. I have successfully canned butter and preserved cheese by coating with red cheese wax that I ordered online. (I can’t imagine a world without cheese!) You’ll want a good supply of tea, coffee or a favorite drink. Caffeine withdrawal amongst the turmoil is something we want to avoid.

Foraging for foods is possible in most areas. In our immediate vicinity we have cattails, cacti, acorns, dandelions, mesquite beans, purslane, wild grapes, and dewberries. All can become nutritious and appealing food with the proper preparation. These plants will supplement our fruit tree and garden production which is not always as dependable as we would like. Unless your garden has a high, sturdy fence, plan on planting extra for the varmints that will no doubt be showing up for meals.

QUICK BREADS TO EXTEND YOUR MEALS. (cheap, filling and surprisingly good)

1. Our family’s version of Indian fry bread or what we commonly call “POOR MAN’S SUPPER”: To two cups of flour, add 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt and enough water to make a soft dough.
Dust with flour, knead a few times, roll out, cut into strips and fry in deep oil (365 degrees F) until puffed and golden. Drain well; serve hot with syrup or honey. These are also very good with stir-fry
dishes.

2. We like these corn pones or “CORN DODGERS” with beans and that combination will give you a complete protein. Heat about 1/2″ oil (I prefer peanut oil for its high heat tolerance) in a large iron skillet. Take a cup or two of yellow corn meal, salt to season and add enough water to make a mush consistency. This batter dries out quickly, so add water as needed. Using a large spoon, dip into the batter and drop into the hot oil, spreading to flatten to the thickness of a thin pan cake. Brown well on both sides and drain. Eat while hot and crispy.

FOOD STORAGE. This will be a challenge for us if the power goes down and we are experiencing one of our intensely hot, humid summers. I have researched alternative cooling methods to save our food preps and it looks as though our best bet will be a root cellar. The pot-within-a-pot or zeer refrigeration technique is supposed to work well in arid climates but our humidity runs way too high for that to be successful here. If you live in a hot and dry part of the country that is worth looking into. Besides using a vacuum sealer and food dehydrator I have canned vegetables, fruits and meats using water bath and pressure canners. I recently did some oven-canning of dry goods such as flour, corn meal and bread crumbs. That venture was successful and freed up space in our freezers. My best source for canning/drying basics has been the “Ball Blue Book”. ALWAYS follow the safety guidelines when using any food preservation methods. Generally, a cool, dark and dry environment is recommended for optimum
storage life of foods and seeds. My attempts at drying veggies in the sun or a car have failed. Due to high humidity, the food turned moldy before it dehydrated. Because they don’t require refrigeration, we have sugar, baking soda and salt stored in a broken freezer in our shop. It is air-tight and mouse-proof. Our grocery store deli gives away those handy food-grade buckets with lids which have been a God-send. If space is an issue, conceal items behind books on bookshelves, under a cloth-covered table or add extra shelving above doors or in closets. Part of our this spring’s potato crop, layered with shredded paper and stored in burlap-lined wire baskets, awaits planting in the fall garden. For less than $10 we bought a set of bed risers to raise our bed several inches for underneath storage. I recently lucked upon a yard sale at closing time and picked up a free wooden bookcase. After a bit of touch-up it now hangs on a kitchen wall filled with colorful jars of canned goods. Free, decorative and useful!

PHYSICAL NEEDS. The additional work and physical exertion we will experience is going to require more calories than previously needed. That should be considered in your food preps. Stock up on vitamins to supplement your diet. Dehydration can become a real danger so make sure everyone drinks plenty of water. With our hot summers in mind, we built our home with wide overhangs for shade and plenty of windows for good air flow (no, we weren’t thinking of the defense aspect when we put all those windows in!). A wet towel wrapped around your neck does a pretty good job of cooling your body. You can buy small, battery-operated fans for relief from the heat in case the power goes out. Start walking or jogging for good health and along the way, notice what natural resources are around you. When outdoors, protect your skin with long sleeves and straw hats. We will have enough challenges without dealing with skin cancer. Buy a bolt of cheesecloth. It’s great for straining fruits, making bandages and
slings and it can be dampened and hung over an open window to cool down a warm room. It could even become mosquito netting. Seek out multi-purpose items! It’s a good idea to have a variety of fabrics, yarn, needles and thread for repairing or replacing clothing and making quilts. Whether your winters are severe or mild as ours generally are, if you are caught without a heat source or trying to conserve your wood supply, lots of warm clothing, blankets and quilts will be needed. To keep clothes clean and fresh, all you need are a couple of wash tubs on a sturdy table, a scrub board and a plunger. And of course, soap, water and plenty of elbow grease! Hopefully you already have a clothesline. The old-fashioned clothes wringers can still be found at thrift and antique stores. I bought one because wringing out wet clothes is hard work for anyone but would be very painful to my arthritic hands. If you anticipate sleeping in close quarters, a stash of ear plugs to muffle objectionable sounds such as snoring, could make a big difference in your ability to get a good night’s rest. Those little clip-on LED lights are great for reading in bed without disturbing others. We may be forced to be resourceful in order to keep our families fed, clothed, safe and relatively comfortable. And there’s nothing more comforting than a good hug. I believe in the healing power of touch and that includes lots of hugs!

DOMESTIC & OTHER ANIMALS. Chickens are tops because they are easy and inexpensive to raise and their eggs and meat provide protein. Ours provide us with free (well, almost free) entertainment! Add a rooster if you want baby chicks AND a non-electric alarm clock. The few cows we had were sold after several years of drought which also caused our pond to dry up several times. We would like to try rabbits or goats but other projects have taken precedence over building cages and fences. I prefer a good dairy goat to a milk cow because they are smaller and easier to handle and an excellent source for meat, milk, cheese and brush clearing! A necessity for any retreat: a cat or two to control the mouse population and to cuddle with. A good dog can do double duty as a devoted, loving pet and an alarm system/guard animal when unwanted visitors come calling. Presently we have wild game such as deer and occasionally wild hogs to hunt. Small game that can be trapped or hunted here include rabbits, squirrels, wild turkeys, birds and frogs. (Toads are not edible.) In more desperate times there are snakes, raccoons, turtles, armadillos, opossums and coyotes. Forget about skunks. I have a horror of catching one in our Hav-a-Heart box trap. By the way, those traps are humane and come in various sizes, including ones large enough for boars. A simple way to catch squirrels is by nailing a large rat trap to a tree. If any of your “quarry” has an objectionable gamey taste, try pre-soaking the meat in milk. This works so well with venison that it tastes more like beef than deer meat. Keep plenty of spices and condiments in your pantry to enhance (or conceal) the flavor of foods you may not be accustomed to. It’s well worth setting aside a good portion of your storage for animal food. That would include wild bird seed to entice those fat little squirrels and birds. Some corn and a salt lick can serve a similar purpose by attracting deer and hogs to within shooting range. IMO if you haven’t eaten dove, you haven’t lived. They are ground feeders and prefer to eat rice and you should certainly have plenty of that put away..

RECREATION. There may be little opportunity for recreation but even short periods of down time are necessary for our mental and physical well-being. Think lots of books, art and craft materials, small toys, crossword and jigsaw puzzles and board or card games.

LACK OF FUNDS. If this is a problem, maintaining a frugal mindset goes a long way. Before you throw away anything, think about re-purposing, selling or trading with your neighbor. Stretch those prep dollars at thrift stores, yard sales or flea markets – these can be found in most regions and there are incredible bargains out there! A large portion of our preps have come from those sources. Be on the alert for inexpensive or end-of-season sale items and freebies. The quickest and easiest way I’ve found to bring in extra income is selling on eBay and Etsy but do your homework first if you go that route. I am amazed at what people will buy online and there is big demand for used and vintage goods. Make prepping a top priority and the confidence you will gain from your readiness will be worth any sacrifice of luxuries you’ve made to get to that point.

RANDOM TIPS. Place a map of your county on the wall and familiarize yourself with the layout of the land in case you are forced to bug out. Aerial photos are also helpful and can be obtained from most county USDA FSA (Farm Service Agency) offices. On your maps, draw in cache spots, fox holes and getaway routes and of course, keep your bug-out bags in a convenient spot. Consider these possibilities for bartering: heirloom seeds, fish hooks, clothes pins, salt and matches. They don’t take up much space and they’re inexpensive now but potentially very scarce and valuable once SHTF.

Save plenty of containers for barter items, too. Vitamin and pill bottles are excellent for holding small portions such as salt and spices. They are also perfect for seed saving and often come with small packs of desiccant. Speaking of seeds, don’t forget to store plenty of sprouting seeds. So healthy, and sprouts give a wonderful crunch to salads and sandwiches! Willow tree bark was used by native Americans just like modern aspirin. Go online and search “willow bark – uses and side effects”. Willow branches can provide material for making twig furniture and a piece of stem will act as a growth stimulant when rooting plant cuttings in water. The versatile willow is common along river banks and other wet areas in most parts of our country. After one of our construction projects we were left with a big pile of sand.

Part of that we tilled and used as a plot for planting peanuts which, by the way, are super easy to grow. (Watch out for Peter Cottontail as he loves munching on the leafy green tops!) We plan to use most of that sand along with saved feed sacks to make sand bags (for defense purposes). Make your own lip balm with petroleum jelly, melted beeswax and a few drops of peppermint oil. (To please the girls, add a bit of lipstick and it becomes lip gloss.) So soothing to dry, chapped lips! Also, Avon sells a lotion called “Skin So Soft” that is an excellent mosquito repellant. The lip balm and the lotion are great anytime but an absolute necessity for our bug-out bags.

IN CLOSING. Are we where we would like to be in our plans for survival? No, but we’ve come a long way. There have been successes and failures, a few of which I have mentioned here. We would like for our children and grandkids to be more “on board”. Hopefully this piece will serve as a wake-up call for them and others who aren’t there yet. Our home is always “almost finished” – we continue to make changes and improvements on the house and land. And for the greatest comfort of all, we have a Savior who vowed to never forsake us. We have His written word to teach and sustain us and His promise that He will return. When I get tired or discouraged in our journey, I recall these lines from Isaiah 40:31: ” 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.”

Note: Any mention herein of products is intended for information only and not promotional purposes. I have no affiliations with the companies or products mentioned in this article.

Letter Re: Do-It-Yourself Weapons Camouflage and Kydex Gear

Sir,
After reading the reply to the: Do-It-Yourself Weapons Camouflage and Kydex Gear
I have to ask the question… Does anyone see any specific pattern anywhere?  The answer should be NO!  Why do you ask, because there is not one!  The “pattern” that you paint your weapon and match your clothes to should be specific to your area.  Granted, Multi-Cam camo tends to blend into many different areas but there is still a common factor in the “pattern”… it is a pattern that is generated!  It has hard line edges and it is not random. There are not a lot of places that you will find hard line edges.

Make sure that your equipment blends in with your surrounding environment to make yourself, your equipment and others “invisible”.  I know that there are some people out there that may say “If your close enough to see what I am wearing then you are already dead!”  Think big picture, of 1-2 person patrol or hide site, up come 2-3 maybe 5-10 OPFOR (not knowing if there are more to following) that are close.  Think OPSEC… Are you willing to give your/other(s) position away?

Black is not a natural color from an art prospective but it is a good base because there are dark/blackish shadows in almost all environments.  Does that mean leave your weapons totally black, absolutely not!  Black is a good base color.  If you look into the woods you will see what looks like black because of shadows.  Build on that.  In the art realm to create depth you should start dark at add light colors over that.  Going from the darkest to the lightest colors in your area.  This will give the perception of depth even though it is a flat object.  It doesn’t have to be exact or even pretty!  It just needs to break your natural pattern and have random/blending edges.  I could go into a big art explanation but I will save you all from the nap time because I know that you all have work to do.

I was able to shoot a trophy deer this last year at 30 yards (with a rifle) from the ground at the base of a tree on the edge of a field coming at me because I blended in with my environment. (I never had a good angle until he was just 30 yards away.).  I have had deer within 10 yards of me, while prone on the ground, that have never gave me a second thought because I had matched my camo to the area that I am in and played the wind!
Re-think and re-plan your camouflage. Godspeed. – Sparky

Letter Re: How to Bug Out to Montana

Mr. Rawles:  
As a prepper living in the Redoubt, allow me to respectfully enlighten Professor Prepper from Montana with my own nickel’s worth on the topic:

I think you are a little high on the horse, pard.  I detected the hint of a threat towards those not already living in Montana, even though you lightly qualified with a disclaimer that “we Montanans” are American, and “we” do not want to take up arms against other Americans. I will concede, however, that you believe your intentions to be honorable, and you sure can’t be accused of not being proud of your state of residence, Big Sky Country.  I have hunted a few parts of it and concur that it is a magnificent piece of our country.

I am a veteran from the Viet Nam era, having served my country both here and abroad.  I am also a retired peace officer.  You might have heard that a lot of us have retired to the Redoubt, and for good reason.  That is a plus for you, believe me.  More importantly, what I am not is a whining, sniveling, malcontent…in fact, I am (no surprise) an armed, self-reliant, Christian, conservative, carnivore.  When I moved here after retirement, I remember being yelled and cursed at by a passing local motorist because I didn’t yet have my new state’s license plate; I guess he ASSumed that my old plate meant that I was a visitor, no doubt looking for some prime real estate to snatch up from under him.  Quite unnecessary and a testament that you really can’t fix stupid, no matter where you choose to live.  People like this brain-dead bozo breed like rats, and can be found anywhere, in numbers.  To be honest, WTSHTF, it is a guy like me, and my colleagues,  that you would want around to help out, not alienate by screaming obscenities from the highway.

I have a legitimate right to live within the borders of the USA, anywhere I please, Montana included, at least for now.  As you said, “Capisce?”  This is America, professor, not some fascist Third World lash-up that dictates where citizens can or can not live, or that they all live in the same manner and have the same beliefs, and contribute equally to society (that sounds vaguely communistic, no?).  And BTW, I will not tolerate being interrogated by self-appointed vigilante’s blocking my way to a place I have a right to travel to.  There are some people out here, professor, that will take that sort of behavior as a threat to life, and have a plan for that.

My friend,  there are many others, my own sons included, who are like-minded with us, but they are still fighting the fight from within the slave states they live in.  Those states were not always so.  These guys won’t be wearing a sign when they arrive, and it’s real hard to tell if they are or are not “the good guys”…you certainly won’t be able to tell by their shoes, either, trust me.  Many want to get to a redoubt state but can’t just yet.  Many good people are not on board yet, but are listening and learning.  Some are even making plans, but haven’t yet been able to pull the trigger for whatever reason.  And please don’t forget about the older folks, the young people, the single moms, the uncles and aunts and cousins, who may well end up to be refugee’s, fleeing for their lives to their loved ones in the Redoubt…if they can make it.  Many many people will simply abandon their old homes all over the US in order to live with relatives in a Redoubt state, “doubling up” for the sake of survival and practicality.

Keeping a watchful eye over natural resources and abuses by those who would take advantage is one thing…to be openly vigilante, before that becomes appropriate, is quite another.

Let me ask you this:  If heaven forbid your state, specifically your city, suddenly gets nailed with a nuke (you do have a few targets), or a pandemic,  or let’s not forget Yellowstone blowing up, or some other problem, and you had to bug out to say N. Idaho, how would you feel if you encountered a roadblock at the border.  You encounter hostiles (“we Idahoans”) who would not let you pass, perhaps because they think the state would become overcrowded with out-of-staters who would want to change things.  Some of those refugee’s would undoubtedly be liberals (yes even from Montana), some would be enviro-whackos, some would be felons.  And some would simply be worthless leeches, and none of those types are a welcome sight to the average middle class Idahoan.   Only a proper interrogation could tell, yes?  Sorry, that just isn’t a free country by definition.

I agree that in some parts of the country, celebrities and other pushy people have bought up real estate and have tried to push their weight around and in general be a pain in the rear.  They won’t last when the SHTF.  They are not relevant.  The tougher it gets, the quicker they will disappear to be in the company of their own kind.  They certainly won’t stick around to help out.

Having spent a little computer time on ancestry.com as a hobby, I can tell you this:  None of us are originals, no matter what state you may claim as your home base.  My ancestors are from Scotland and Ireland, and it was fascinating to find out how far and wide they migrated within the borders of America, after just a few generations from the time they hit the beach in the New World, and who they mixed with along the way.  What we can’t forget is that they left a place they used to call home,  because it became unlivable for them, and oppressive.

We shouldn’t be closing our state borders to fellow Americans, but rather building our population and industries and educating newcomers.. (like the weapons industry being forced out of the East Coast slave states).  Like the free-thinking people who would like to come here, in the same way the folks who are nanny-state residents by choice want nothing to do with the Redoubt mindset.   They are too deeply entrenched in their own brand of America.  But until the government dissolves, and restrictions are in place,  all have a right to move about within the borders of the USA. 

 Let’s face it, liberal folks in general aren’t exactly the types who are into self-reliance of any kind, being fans of big government taking care of all, or defending themselves with the use of force, especially the dreaded firearm.  In short they think we are nuts.  In short we think they are sissies.  Just like Redoubters would not live in Massachusetts because of the liberal mindset, those folks in turn would not live in the Redoubt because of … us.    Recently, Fox news analyst Juan Williams declared that in Idaho, there is “a machine-gun behind every tree”!   If it were only so!

But lest I forget, let us all be reminded that John Q. is not the problem.  Big, oppressive government is the problem.  History reminds us of that when we study other civilizations that are no longer on the scene.  Let us keep the enemy on the radar screen, and not ourselves.

None of what I’m saying means that you can’t “keep your eyes peeled” when strangers move in to the area.  We should all be vigilant to danger.  We should all be well acquainted with our neighbors…OPSEC.

I am sadly positive that yes, the time will eventually come when we will be confronted with the unpleasant tasks that a collapse brings with it.  That will include roadblocks, detentions, interrogations, and worse.  There will be many who will be out to invade and conquer, or become a burden to society either as cons or sluggards.  But we aren’t there yet, not by a long shot.  Better to practice OPSEC and for now be small, and gray, than to be confrontational and make enemies of the wrong people.

You mentioned all of the wide open space.  Same here.  There is plenty of room, and the Redoubt as a whole is lightly populated.  The reputation of the Redoubt is growing, and those who want to be part of it will come, and those who despise us now will avoid us like the plague in the future.

God Bless, – L.R.

Economics and Investing:

Bond Investors Beware: Mutual Fund Outflows Accelerating as Interest Rates Climb Higher

Doug Casey: “We’re Still In The Midst Of The Biggest Bubble In World History”

Indian Gold Dealer: “Gold Is Now Trading At $1800oz.—Small Factories And Workshops Are Shutting Down”

Items from The Economatrix:

Consumer Confidence Misses Expectations By Most On Record

Housing Starts, Permits Miss; Single-Family Housing Market Weakest Since November 2012

Defunding wouldn’t kill Obamacare taxes

Odds ‘n Sods:

Citing grave security concerns… Say Goodbye to Skype. “Not only is Skype plugged directly in to the surveillance grid, but the company is actively contributing to the most complete surveillance system in the history of mankind.” (Thanks to H.M. for the link.)

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G.G. suggested: Amaranth: Another Ancient Wonder Food, But Who Will Eat It? [JWR Adds: See the previously posted warnings in SurvivalBlog’s archives about containing your Amaranth crop plantings! (The tiny seeds are carried on the winds so the plant can easily become a weed that can grow out of control.]

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Do Not Walk, California—Run from EDLs

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I’ve been lurking in an interesting thread in progress over at the Survivalist Boards Forums: Bump in the Night…

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For those in “Flyover Country”, Farmer Mike recommended an amazing upcoming auction where a lot of restorable EMP-proof vehicles will be sold: Lambrecht Chevrolet Car Auction in Pierce, Nebraska. Seeing 50 year-old cars with just a few miles on the odometer is a real rarity. But having the chance to choose from 20 or more of them all in one auction is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. (The auction will be September 28th and 29th, 2013.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“The secret [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law.”- Deuteronomy 29:29 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 48 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The 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.) Two BirkSun.com photovoltaic backpacks (one Level, and one Atlas, both black), with a combined value of $275, H.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo. and I.) 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.

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 22 of the books published by PrepperPress.com. This is more than a $200 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., E.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 value).

Round 48 ends on September 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.

How to Bug Out to Montana, by Professor Prepper

I’m just putting the finishing touches on my signs. Do you like them? They say “Trespassers will be shot without warning.” I think that gets the message across. Don’t you?

So I’ve heard you are thinking of bugging out to Montana when the SHTF. Is that right? Well, I’ve got some advice for you: The first thing to remember is that Montana is already filled with people. Not as many as most other states, but still, there are many of us here whether you saw us or not the last time you took a family trip through Montana. Yeah, we are a big state filled with rivers, lakes, mountains, and wide open prairies, but those waterways and lands are not yours for the taking just because things have gone downhill for a while. But since we are all Americans, I’ll let you in on a secret. You can bug out to Montana, but you just have to know how.

First a little geography lesson. Montana is the fourth largest state, or rather the third since Alaska messes up all comparisons. But size is not quite everything. Montana is roughly rectangular and borders four other states as well as two Canadian provinces. But there’s more to that picture. The US states flanking Montana are, on the south and west, mountainous and wild with few roads. And to the east, huge expanse of openness across the Dakotas. To the north lie Saskatchewan and Alberta, both wild lands rivaling Alaska in remoteness and low population. In other words, Montana is buffered by some pretty significant geographic and geologic challenges meaning that unless you are already nearby, not only are you multiple-gas tanks away, but also at the whims of the weather since all access points into Montana present significant driving challenges at least four months out of the year.

And speaking of driving, you might want to take a hard look at a Montana road map. The paved entry points are few, and only two interstate highways, one east/west, the other north/south. And that’s for a state with nearly 2,000 miles of border! Many of the other paved access points into Montana are over passes including one stunning 10,000 climb that as you might guess opens late in the year and closes early. Additionally, there are many bridges as the roads wind through the mountains meaning there is only one way through the area and it has a significant constriction point. In fact my town of Missoula has the Hellgate Canyon and you can even go to Hellgate High School here. The name Hellgate describes the such a constriction point so named after the unfortunate results some early travelers experienced as they were forced into the mountain gauntlet on the east entrance to our fair city. Our city is close close to paradise, but to to reach it from the east, you will need to pass through the gates of hell.

Flatlanders and those with a head full of television shows and movies are used to options when approaching a roadblock. Around here, there might be a mountain to your right, a river and a mountain to your left, and a hundred miles of nothing behind you. You won’t be racing around or over any of our road blocks. And whether by design or luck, most of our towns are surrounded by plenty of constriction points. Take a stroll around Google Earth to see what you are up against when bugging out after the SHTF. And summer vacations do not qualify.

However, I’m happy to report that Montana is home to many fine people who will be quick to welcome new faces as long as those faces are attached to skilled individuals and not just another whiny mouth to feed. Surviving, and even just living in Montana is work. Glorious work, but still work. Unlike cities where convenience rules and internal combustion does the all the heavy lifting, we in Montana are accustomed to the arsenal of nature. Whether blizzards, wildfires, floods, or angry animals, Montana has them all. Drowning and falling are two popular check-out methods tourists use in Montana, and yes, we do feel bad, but just because there is no sign warning of the dangers in the river, or the crumbling edge of the cliff doesn’t mean it’s safe. Every year we lose many visitors to gravity or water with plenty of other deaths we never know what happened because we cannot find their bodies. Strangely, the same things we do here for recreation are the same things that kill city dwellers.

World class hunting and fishing are two of Montana’s exports. I’ll admit that yes, there is game everywhere. Some Montana cities are even culling the city deer herds because the numbers are just too high. And Montana is quick to capture and prosecute poachers and others who violate the rules and laws of hunting and fishing. You must understand why we have those rules and laws in order to appreciate them. Historically, humans took what they needed when they needed it. But that all changed when hunting became a source of financial income, and cities demanded more food, especially birds, big game with big antlers, and weighty fish. No longer were hunters subsisting. They were now in the business of volume and sales. It didn’t take long to deplete the game supply, and worse, the reproductive patterns of the animals were disrupted to the point that the few viable offspring were not enough to sustain the species. While the commercial hunters just moved on to different game in different places, the residents were left with nothing but scorched earth. So hopefully you can see that we are a little reluctant to loose sight of you while hunting. Unless you live around here, we have no reason to think that you truly appreciate what we have, and will take appropriate action if necessary. You are welcome take that however you want.

Montana is also filled with dirt roads and places where not roads are allowed. Those roads do go somewhere, and just because you managed to drive all night and cross into Montana unobserved does not mean you now own the land wherever you park your bug out vehicle. When a bug out location seems perfect, even too perfect to be true, it is probably part of someone else’s plan, or perhaps even the landowner’s. Federal land is considered up for grabs as long as you don’t infringe on another camp whether by presence, activity, or upstream effects, and that you respect the resources. You are not allowed to cut down trees to build a cabin. At least not right away. America is a great nation and we Montanan’s will not allow our wild resources to be looted, stolen or destroyed simply because of your poor planning, stupidity, or greed. Remember, Montana is what America used to be, and we will be keeping it that way. Capisce?

Sadly, it is a common occurrence here under the Big Sky to have out-of-staters throw their weight around thinking they own the place. Sure, some do when they buy large tracts of real estate and then upend the local ecosystem. We usually can wait until their dysfunctional lives implode, marriages fail, and the FBI moves in to commandeer their possessions and land. But in a SHTF scenario, we won’t wait for the FBI. Arrogance is a danger to us all so we just might have to eliminate or at least temper the arrogant threat. Sorry, but I think you understand.

So how does one come in peace to Montana? One way is that you are welcome to purchase your own bug out acreage and homestead it as you please, but that still requires you can get “home.” Nothing greases the wheels of a roadblock like being a landowner. But you will have to answer some questions first, so brush up on your trivia about where your supposed land is located. And there is always the relationship angle leveraging friends, family and acquaintances who have already exercised a previous Montana option. But of course this is America, and we Montanans are also Americans. We do not want to take up arms against our countrymen, but then again, we are expecting a certain level of appropriate behavior from our visiting brethren, and our rights have not ceased to exist just because your neck of the American woods is a little complicated at the moment.

Let’s assume you have successfully driven your BOV through the buffer states and now find yourself humming along the desolate roads of Montana (which are often desolate even when things are great which is how we like it). You come face to face with your first roadblock. It is a handful of old trucks (of which we have plenty) completely blocking the right of way 100% across and two or three deep. Let’s also assume it is summer, daylight, and the SHTF event is more economic then viral. As you slowly approach the obstruction, with your hands on the wheel and tinted windows rolled down (We’d hate to have to lower them ourselves from the outside), you notice the road behind you now has an obstruction as well. Yes, you are trapped. As you have nothing to hide you have no need to worry. But you must understand that we too have families that need protection. We simply cannot let anyone wander into what we have tried so hard to maintain, and that we believe to be worthy of preservation as representative of what makes America great.

Our questions for you will be simple. Who are you? Where did you come from? Where are you going? Once you pass that test, we would love to pick your brain for news about what’s going on in other places. In fact, depending on your experiences, you just might be the hero of the day joining us for dinner. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?

I told you we up here in the north are good folk. We have nothing against you, and if you belong here, then welcome home! However, if we detect that your motives are not pure, and you could be a liability if not an outright danger, then we may give you the option to turn around and try your luck in Wyoming, Idaho, or South Dakota, or just handle it ourselves in the old fashioned but effective ways early Montana settlers are famous for. 

Let me give you a couple other tips. I can tell an awful lot about you from your choice of footwear. The reason I am telling you this is to help you be honest. You can no more pretend you belong here as you could blend in while wandering the streets of New York City. You can fool yourself, but you cannot fool us. Everything about you is telling. The way you drive, where you walk, how you handle tools including firearms, and of course your reaction to what nature dishes up whether wind, wildlife, water, or whatever. Everything from your choice of hat to vehicle tires screams information about you. As does your knife, your backpack, even your water bottle. So don’t even try to lie. Honesty goes a long way around here.

While it is imperative that you roll with nature’s punches in Montana it does take some practice. Sorry to generalize, but most city folk are soft. They are too sensitive to temperature. They are not used to walking (and I mean miles), and they have lost their nature smarts. They do stupid things. They miss clues and cues. In a nutshell, they want things to be a certain way that nature has no intention of accommodating. You know what folks? Sometimes it is just plain freezing out. And sometimes mosquitoes and flies are annoying. And sometimes you lose your game to the bears, wolves, coyotes, (insert predator name here). Sometimes it rains and you get wet. And sometimes you are cold and miserable. And hungry. And tired. And sore. And concerned. And lost. But after a while living like this, it grows on you. You want it. Or maybe it’s more that you don’t care because the good outweighs the bad.

Bugging out to Montana is not like in the movies. I’ll admit that there will be many successful impromptu bug outs to Montana, but those first arrivals will set the stage for everyone else. The moment we Montanans feel threatened or used, then overnight Montana will be the hostile land that it once used to be.

Please don’t take it personally, but if you really want to bug out to Montana, you really need to already be here [when things fall apart.]

Update on Mulligan Mint

On Monday, August 5, 2013, I posted a piece titled “Calling It Quits With Mulligan Mint.” It was pointed out to me that it included a factual error, so I’ve truncated that post.

I’d like to give everyone an update on what has transpired since then.

First, the Good News:

1. I have been impressed that the staff of Mulligan Mint has overcome all of the hurdles of transitioning from a fledgling company that simply struck outside vendor-supplied .999 fine dimensioned blank planchets into a company that now consistently turns raw .999 fine silver into finished coins, in quantity. They have a dedicated and hard-working staff, and they have invested a lot of money into capital equipment to make all this happen.

2.) All of American Redoubt orders placed before August 1st have apparently been filled, as promised. A few new orders have been placed since then, and I’ve been told that all but 93 ounces have now been shipped. (In summary: Mulligan sold 11,009 1Troy ounce American Redoubt silver coins, Of the 11,009 coins sold, they have minted and shipped all but 93 pieces, the balance of which have been promised to ship by August 24th. So now 99.2% of all American Redoubt coins ordered have been minted and shipped.)

3. I have now been paid my commission. (In the form of 220 ounces of American Redoubt silver coins.)

4. To the best of my knowledge, the order shipping delay has never exceeded five weeks, despite the exceedingly high demand created when spot silver dipped below $20 per ounce.

Now, the Not So Good News:

1.) Rob Gray has never answered my repeated questions about the status of the return of the 71,400 ounces to Republic Metals Corporation. Three times, I’ve asked him point blank: Has Republic’s court-ordered return demand been successfully met? (Either by return or the physical metals or delivery of a bond of equal dollar value.) He has never answered that question. All that I wanted was a yes or no answer.  I consider his repeated failure to respond a mark of intentional evasiveness.

2.)  Rob Gray has left me in the dark about the advent and status of the court-issued restraining orders against Mulligan Mint. The latest Temporary Restraining Order extension was dated August 15th. In my opinion this Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) casts great doubt on the ability of Mulligan Mint to continue to meet its many commitments.

While I am satisfied that the Mulligan Mint staff has fulfilled orders to the best of their ability, I find the company’s ongoing legal problems with their key supplier quite troubling. I am also disturbed by Rob Gray’s evasiveness and his lack of forthright communication about the company’s continuing legal troubles.

With all of this in mind, I cannot do business with Rob Gray, nor can I in good conscience send any customers to him. 

Mulligan Mint has removed the American Redoubt coins from their web site.  I now consider this a closed issue.