Your Get Home Plan, by J.A.F.

If you work outside the home, or go to school, or have responsibilities that take you away from home on a daily basis, you need to be prepared for crisis situations while you are not at your home base.  Before you can Bug-In you have to get home.  Even if you plan to Bug-Out, you may have to get home first because you need to coordinate with others in your family, or because you need to pick up supplies that you can’t take to work each day or because there are pets at home that must be cared for or brought with you.  So whether you plan to Bug-In or Bug-Out, if you work outside the home, you need a get home plan.

I know my situation is not unique, and I am sure there are many aspects of it that are common to others with concerns about the uncertainties of the future.  So I will tell you about my daily commute and then step through the planning I have done to help me get home in a crisis.  I Hope you can adapt some part of this to your own situation and I also hope that I receive comments and suggestions that will help me as well.

I work within a few blocks of the White House in the District of Columbia (DC), but I live in northern Maryland.  During rush hour, it would take about two and a half hours to drive from my home to work and involve going around Baltimore before getting into the DC traffic.  According to Google Maps, it is a driving distance of about 61 miles.  If I were to do that daily, I would have gone insane years ago.  Instead, I drive to a train station north of Baltimore and take a commuter train through the heart of Baltimore and down to Union station in DC.  From Union station I take the subway to a stop near the White House and walk to the office building I work in.  The total commute is about two hours each way. 

The challenge is that I am dependent on three different modes of transportation, car, train, and subway, any one of which could be compromised in an emergency (or in an EMP event perhaps all three would be affected).  In addition, I am in the middle of a potentially targeted urban area and have a second urban area between me and my home. 

In get home order, first is the subway.  The subway is periodically halted by accidents and maintenance issues.  Subways have been the object of terrorist attacks numerous times.  There have been fires here that have shut down the subway system.  But the subway is easy as I can avoid it entirely and walk to the train station in about thirty minutes.  Last summer (August 23, 2011), DC was hit with a highly unusual earthquake of 5.8 magnitude centered in Mineral, Virginia.  All the high buildings swayed, the city panicked and many people left early to get home.  The streets were crowded with people who had fled their offices and were trying to use their cell phones.  There was very little information available to help people.  Transportation web sites for the train system and the subway were not updated with their status for some time.  It was impossible to make calls using cell phones because the system was overloaded.  Text messaging did work sporadically and allowed messages home.  Since I did not know the status of the subway, I walked to the train station to avoid the possibility of it being out of order or overcrowded with panicked commuters. As it turned out, trains were delayed for several hours while they checked the tracks but I was eventually able to get home by train.

This means the first item for my Get Home Bag is a pair of walking shoes and socks, as walking a half hour in dress shoes is not a good idea if you can avoid it.

The second mode of transportation I am normally dependant on is the train.  It is the most critical in getting home, because it covers the majority of the distance and gets me out of one city and through another.  The train is periodically subject to major delays because of track problems, switch problems, accidents (pedestrians being hit), and equipment problems.  Even longer lasting problems could be caused by flooding such as followed hurricanes Irene and Isabel.  Trains may also be subject to social upheaval as the MARC/Amtrak lines run through the urban environments of DC and Baltimore.  EMP events may affect both the electric and diesel locomotives, shutting the system down for an extended period.  Financial upheaval could lead to strikes by train crews.  Problems with the electrical grid could shut down the whole system with dead trains blocking the main lines.

In the event that the trains cease to run while I am at work, there are several alternatives to help bridge the distance.  If the subway is running, I could take it to the edge of DC instead of getting off at Union Station.  This would save hours of walking and bypass the most potentially dangerous urban environment, starting me walking in a much friendlier suburban area.  There are a couple of different station stops I could choose but I am not very familiar with any of those areas.  I will need maps and preferably also a compass to make sure I can walk the best route north from any of them.

Alternatively, if the subway isn’t running there is an option of catching a ride north for some of the distance with someone leaving my building and heading the same direction.  I know of a couple of people who park in the underground garage below the building and whose cars may be functional even in the event of an EMP.  Once again though, I live much farther and would need maps and a compass to get from the northern most point they could take me the rest of the way home.

Lastly, I could walk from here.  This is the worst case and assumes subways, trains, and cars are incapacitated.  Probably only a severe EMP could lead to this.

In the best of the situations that would lead me to walk home, I would be walking about forty miles, in the worst case, sixty.  On foot, we are probably talking two to three days depending on route.  I already mentioned walking shoes.  In addition a change of clothes, jeans and a comfortable shirt instead of a suit and dress shirt would be more comfortable. We also need to provide nourishment for the trek.  At a minimum, we should have energy bars for two days, water, and a container one can fill with additional water.  I keep energy bars and bottled water in my office so I don’t have to carry them back and forth each day.  I can add them to my backpack when I leave should the situation require it.  I plan to carry at least ten dollars in singles as well as additional money.  The singles can be used in machines to buy water or snacks to see one through those two days on the road.  Since this may require me to camp out somewhere overnight, a thermal emergency  blanket can be used to stay warm.  A lightweight tarp (you can get an 8’ by 10’ with grommets for about $6) and paracord can be used to rig a shelter in some out-of-the-way spot.  You’ll need a pocket knife, or better yet, a multi-tool to

To make the trek home easier, I have preplanned routes from several locations: my office, subway stops, and also areas to which I might be able to get a ride.  On a few of those routes I have located stores that stock inexpensive bicycles costing about $250 or less.  This is one of the possible uses for the additional money I will carry.  I won’t know if the stores are open until I get to them but including them on the route increases my options.  Also, some of my alternative routes include rental car agencies.  It may be possible to rent a car, but if the grid is down, it is more likely you will be able to buy a bicycle than rent a car.

As the old saying goes, knowledge is power.  In a crisis, confusion and contradiction reign.  The more information you have the better.  It will allow you to maximize your chances.  When the earthquake hit last summer, no one knew the status of the subway or the trains.  Cell phones did not work.  Web sites weren’t updated.  No one had a radio.  I headed to the train station and that worked out.  But if the tracks had been damaged and the trains not running, I would have walked a half hour in a wrong direction for nothing.  To increase the chances of getting information, I will have a hand crank radio/flashlight/cell phone charger.  These are inexpensive and compact.  They will also allow me to keep my cell phone charged in case I am able to use it after leaving the city.  The flashlight will also come in handy walking after dark.  Check out the radio stations in advance to find the best local news channel.

In the kind of crisis we are talking about, with transportation down and potentially the electrical grid compromised, the streets will be full of people.  Many will be leaving the business and industrial areas trying to reach home.  Others will be gathering to watch the excitement and the anarchy of events.   Some of those will be ready to prey on anyone who looks weak and out of their element.  While on foot, stay with groups whenever possible, even if it means going out of your way.  Unfortunately, DC does not allow concealed carry, nor does Maryland at the current time.  Pepper Spray is the best legal means of self defense if it becomes necessary.  It allows some distance between you and the attacker.  The change of clothes you included should allow you to look less like a target.  Someone in old jeans and an old shirt will be less tempting to rob than someone in a suit and tie in a neighborhood where no one dresses like that. 

I have selected routes that avoid areas where crime is high.  I avoid short cuts that might save time but take me through more questionable areas.  The routes make use of the largest roads, not side streets.  But in practice, be ready to move off those roads to avoid mobs and violent situations.  My routes will get me out of urban areas as quickly as possible and keep me out of them even though it means a longer walk around to reach home.

This plan has to be adjusted with the seasons.  In January, it may make more sense to stay in the office and wait out the crisis than try to walk sixty miles in subfreezing weather.  Also you might want to substitute boots and warmer clothes in the Get Home Bag (or store them where you work).

In a plan of this kind, you must constantly re-evaluate.  You provide yourself the tools you think you will need, you get as much information as you can, and then you take action.  But you never commit to only one plan.  Re-evaluate and change the plan/route to fit the circumstances. 

The Get Home Bag
1.       Walking Shoes and socks
2.       Maps and a Compass
3.       A change of clothes
4.       Energy Bars
5.       Water
6.       Extra Water Container
7.       Ten dollars in singles and additional money ($250)
8.       Thermal Emergency Blanket
9.       Tarp
10.   Paracord
11.   Hand crank radio/flashlight/cell phone charger
12.   Pepper Spray
13.   Multi-tool

Strength for Survival by Mick M.

Growing up, I was never the “Jock” in my family. As the youngest of four boys, I spent a good bit of childhood as a grappling dummy and punching bag. I played soccer and swam on the team but I really preferred spending time exploring nature, building forts, pyrotechnics, reading, and tapping into my imagination. My father is an Air Force Academy graduate and Vietnam veteran who instilled the basics of survival skills in us and focused on cultivating a strong work ethic and obedience amongst his sons. When I was about ten years old, I joined the Boy Scouts of America and to this day never lost sight of the Scout Motto to Be Prepared.

Fast forward twenty years and I’m thirty-one, married with two kids, and I watch the state of our world with skepticism after the financial crisis in 2008 and a couple personal black swans. Living in the Carolina Piedmont, I always made sure I had some extra water, food, and batteries on hand for hurricane season but up until the last couple months my preparations could be considered bare bones at best. There is so much more to be mindful of today with protracted wars, social unrest, encroaching totalitarianism, nuclear disaster, and a looming hell storm of a correction for the global economy, that I would be a fool not to tighten up my emergency preparations.

Take a spin around the Internet and you’ll find an abundance of preparedness sites showcasing advice, gear, food storage, and hydration supplies. One glaring aspect of the survival mentality I frequently see overlooked is the necessity for physical fitness. I am not judging but find myself baffled when I see obese individuals (for instance on the Doomsday Preppers show) espousing the virtues and benefits of prepping. I ask myself how they are going to carry that bug-out bag and all that gear more than 100 yards without promptly succumbing to fatigue. A prepper must be strong enough to handle the physical requirements of chopping wood, harvesting game, hiking challenging terrain, micro-farming, grinding grains, along with executing defensive and offensive tactics. Consider that if you aren’t currently performing or routinely simulating some or all of such aforementioned behaviors, you’ll be hurting with more than blisters and a sore back when the SHTF.

The good news is achieving the strength and endurance required for survival situations is simple, requires little to no equipment, and can be achieved with less than thirty minutes each day. Don’t get me wrong- simple doesn’t mean easy. And the exercises a prepper needs to incorporate in their daily lifestyle will force an individual to dig deep and push his/ herself beyond their comfort zone when they want to submit. We want to focus on intensity over volume. Luckily, most preppers I know already possess degrees of intensity beyond the average citizen.

Now I am no Olympian or physical specimen. However, I do have almost ten years of unarmed combat training which provided a fun, engaging foundation for my survival strength. I encourage all preppers to take some form of martial arts whether it be boxing, judo, Silat, Krav Maga, or a traditional martial art from the local McDojo. You’ll learn valuable skills and cultivate an active lifestyle without the mundane habits of the folks you see doing the same old routine ad nauseam at the local health club.

If you don’t have access to a martial arts school or instructor, fear not. We’ll get you whipped into prepper shape in no time. For those who are overweight or out-of-shape, you must work incrementally toward your goals. Without a baseline level of fitness, trying to overexert yourself by lifting too much weight or not allowing time for rest/recovery will result in injuries, fatigue, and burn-out. As Henry Rollins said, “The Iron never lies,” and she can be a cruel mistress if you don’t respect her. One key to a healthy start is gauging your current abilities and gradually increasing weight, repetitions, and intensity of your routine over time. For all intents and purposes, I’m going to steer this article for fitness virgins or those stuck in the same-old routine. It might be best for those unfamiliar with fitness to check in with their wellness provider for some guidance and be sure there are no unforeseen ailments lingering about before jumping into these challenging and rewarding exercises. 

The primary components of fitness we need to focus on are strength, endurance, and mental fortitude. Here are a couple tests you should perform to evaluate your abilities:

– Can you perform a push-up? How many?
– Can you perform a sit-up? How many?
– Can you perform a dead-hang (suspend yourself)? How long did you hang?
– Can you jog a mile? What time did you clock in?

Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and jogging are great baseline indicators for your strength and endurance level. All require little investment other than some sweat, a pair of running shoes, and a playground or low-hanging tree limb.

Let’s say you couldn’t get your torso off the ground with push-ups and sit-ups. You dropped like a rock into a pond on the dead-hang. You were sucking wind the first ten feet into the mile jog. This would tell us you are certifiably out of survival shape and can’t even support your bodyweight. It should also tell you while the rest of us are sprinting for the spider hole, booking our G.O.O.D. bags through the mountains, and harvesting crops in our Liberty gardens, you’ve got a pretty good chance of getting rounded up and tossed in a FEMA camp. Life when the SHTF will require us to be tough and push, pull, run, climb, lift, and carry a variety of odd-shaped objects in an infinite amount of situations. Nearly all the tasks required to survive rely on our whole body working as one machine. Take heart that in all actuality, you need little more than your bodyweight to get into excellent shape and cultivate such abilities.

If there is one principle for both the athlete and the terminally unfit to memorize and live by it is Greasing the Groove. Unless you are of beyond-average financial means, most of us preppers scrimp, save, and incrementally acquire our supplies of food, water, gear, and retreat. Little by little, we should acquire what we need to survive without enslaving ourselves with debt. We search pawn shops, thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets for deals and bargains. This behavior embodies greasing the groove and the same can be applied to fitness. We start with a small, attainable goal and work ourselves toward that goal inch-by-inch, even millimeter-by-millimeter if necessary, and grease the groove until it flows. Then we set new goals when we catch ourselves feeling comfortable.

Five years ago, I couldn’t do one pull-up. That baffled and shamed me because I thought after years of martial arts I would have been stronger. So I began doing research about pull-up mechanics and strategy and came across a web site (Rosstraining.com) which emphasizes low-tech, high intensity approaches to fitness. The writings of Ross Enamit, the founder of Rosstraining.com, introduced me to the concept of greasing the groove which comes down to breaking up a challenging movement/behavior/goal into small, attainable bites and being persistent on your course until you achieve success. There was a low oak branch in my backyard and I vowed to perform one pull-up within a week. First I began by hanging from that branch with my arms extended for as long as possible. I’d go outside, hang for a couple seconds, and go on with my gardening or yard work. An hour or so later, I’d come back and hang again. After a couple days of doing a couple sets of dead-hangs on and off, I transitioned to holding myself up at the top of the branch. I’d grab the branch, jump up, and cling as best I could with my chin above the tree limb. If you can’t jump yourself up to the top of your bar or branch, use a chair to get up there. A couple sets off and on over the course of a day and within two days I had greased the groove until I could hold myself up for twenty seconds. My confidence was up and it came time to test this whole greasing of the groove thing so I decided to start from a dead-hang and pull myself up to the top of the branch. And it worked. Not only could I perform one pull-up but I did two! Then I stopped and came back a half an hour later and did another two pull-ups. Progress inspired me. Today I can do nine pull-ups in a set without feeling overly-fatigued. Greasing the groove worked and it should be applied to all exercises and routines.

Functionality is tantamount to many factors when considering our supplies and skills. The same goes for exercises. Strength training, conditioning, and endurance are equally important. We have to forge ourselves through fitness and be able to lift our 60 to 80 lbs. bug-out bag onto our backs then hike it for miles on end, find water, set-up shelter, secure our perimeter, and refuel without succumbing to exhaustion. Functional, full body fitness has gone mainstream with the explosion of Crossfit, P90X, and other such strength/endurance hybrid training programs. I know numerous people getting great results from such programs but since many preppers are DIY kind of folks, they will be able to get in great shape with no more than a jump rope, an exercise mat, a bar strong enough to support their weight, and perhaps a couple free weights. We want our training to challenge, and not just maintain, the muscles and energy systems our body uses to put us in locomotion.

In Ross Enamit’s book, Infinite Intensity, he presents a fitness routine framework the reader is encouraged to tailor to their own abilities. To loosely paraphrase without plagiarizing it starts with:

Day 1) Strength and Conditioning
Day 2) Interval Training
Day 3) Strength Training
Day 4) General Physical Preparedness Training
Day 5) Rest

Sometimes I follow the four days-on, one day-off recommendation. If I have a really taxing work-out and my body tells me to rest the next day, I do it. Or if I spend the day after a work-out being very active by going on walks with the family, practicing empty hands combat skills, playing hard with my kids, or working in the yard, I might work-out every other day. The key is finding what routine and methodology works best for you as long as you are working smart and making gains on your strength and endurance abilities. Be sure to get a notebook and keep track because written goals and tracked results are powerful motivators with patience and experience as the ultimate teachers. 

I recommend everybody starts with a warm-up period for both your work-outs and to ease into your initial weeks of a new fitness routine. A bit of light jogging, a couple low-rep sets of push-ups, jumping rope for a couple minutes, yoga poses, shadowboxing, arm rotations, etcetera, will get your blood pumping and muscles, joints, and ligaments prepared for action. I’m not a fan of static stretching while cold (think just bending over and trying to touch your toes first thing in the morning). Consider the warm-up period your “pre-hab” to help prevent injuries. If you can simulate a couple of the movements you’ll be doing during your routine that day (the pros call these sport-specific movements), then all the better. You are training your mind for what lies ahead as much as your body. And without oxygen, your mind and muscles strain so be sure to breathe through all movements and be mindful of calming down your heart rate after exertion. As you wrap up your exercise for the day, take five to ten minutes to walk around, stretch out, or use a tennis ball or foam roller to work on sore, knotted muscles. This cool-down period will help your body transition into the recovery process and prepare for the work tomorrow.

A great warm-up for preppers would be to set their ALICE pack on the ground, pick it up and get it secured, take it off, and set it down, ten times in a row (alternate the arm you first start threading through the straps  to maintain muscular balance). In fact, I think the best warm-up for a prepper establishing that baseline level of fitness is to muck that fully-loaded survival pack around for an hour, 3-4 times a week for two to four weeks. We did the same thing in Boy Scouts to prepare ourselves for High Adventure trips to the Philmont Ranch out west or Sea Base in the Florida Keys. If you soon discover you need to drop some weight from your pack, by all means lighten the load, but also take careful stock of your limits and the provisions you must do without. After two to three weeks, you will be ready to move on to additional exercises and accelerate your fitness gains.

Here are a couple strength exercises to get you started. These movements will build muscle and expand cardiovascular capacity. They will improve your ability to lift odd-shaped objects like rain barrels, loaded wheelbarrows, and ammo cans, and get your whole body working as a unit. They will contribute to your overall general physical preparedness. You can readily find demonstrations of the exercises I’m listing on the Internet (search YouTube) or in fitness books available at public libraries. Research the movements in detail and seek out credible sources for tutorials. All can be performed with little or no need to purchase equipment if you are determined and not willing to accept excuses. Pull-ups, push-ups, presses, dips, prisoner squats, bug-out bag lifts, sand bag carrying, isometrics, lunges, and step-ups are only a few low-tech options which will challenge you and simulate many of the movements and actions we’ll need to perform when the Schumer hits the fan. Try to do about five to seven of these different exercises during a work-out. Start with two to four sets of the exercise you choose and perform between four to eight reps without pushing your muscles to failure. As you progress in your physical preparations, you can periodically work toward your current physical limits or move greater loads to push beyond plateaus and test your will. Once again, grease the groove. It always works when combined with determination.   

After two weeks of forced marches with your bug-out bag, you’ll have given a nice boost to the lungs and laid a foundation for your conditioning routine. Conditioning exercises will test and improve your agility, speed, strength, and cardiovascular capacity. Do you want just one extra tank of gas in your supply inventory or forty extra tanks? Same goes with your body. Consistent effort, repetition, and limited rest periods between sets will quickly-boost your endurance levels. Conditioning exercises can be as simple as a couple rounds of jumping rope at various speeds, brief bursts of running/sprinting hills, and laps in the pool. More advanced options include free weight or kettle bell swings, cleans, jerks, and presses to test your muscles and lungs and brain. Marching over hills or mountain trails would both serve as excellent conditioning exercises. One of the best parts of conditioning routines is they don’t need to be long to be effective. In fact, a Japanese scientist named Izumi Tabata discovered athletes made tremendous improvements in their conditioning and work capacity, metabolism of glucose, and the burning of fat by exerting high intensity effort for twenty seconds and actively-resting for ten seconds. When performed in 20 second work and 10 second rest cycles, high intensity interval training (HIIT) will boost your cardiovascular abilities. The best part is many HIIT exercises (cycling, sprinting, jumping rope) can bring results when performed in as little as a single four minute (or less) set. If you need to perform longer or more varied intervals than suggested by the Tabata Protocol, than customize your interval training as you see fit.

In my opinion, there is no better exercise for building your conditioning, endurance, and mental fortitude than the much-abhorred and much-lauded burpee. What is a burpee you ask? Well it is the unholy love-child of a push-up and jump squat repeated until your heart is beating like a drum and your breakfast is creeping up your throat. Burpees will humble even the fittest of athletes and bring exponential gains to the beginner and experienced alike. You start standing with your feet hips width apart and your hands at your sides. Bend forward and place your hands in front of your feet. Kick your legs back so you are in a plank position (the starting position/apex of a push-up). Lower your body down until your chest touches the ground then push yourself back up. Hop your feet back (beginners should step or walk their feet) behind your hands and as you start to stand upright use your legs to spring yourself into the air like a basketball player shooting a free-throw. Rinse and repeat. When everything is telling you to quit, you must perform at least one more repetition. You’ll teach yourself that you are always capable of a little more effort (even if you fail to complete the whole range of motion) and you’ll be conditioning yourself to fight fatigue and push through adversity with sheer will power.  Continue to increase the reps as you make gains and improve work capacity. Burpees are “sick and merciless” and they will make you a mental warrior with a 100 gallon gas tank and napalm in your guts.  

To date, I’ve found a diverse routine consisting of calisthenics, free weights, jumping rope, running hills, swimming, interval training, and close-quarters-combat training, four to six days a week has me in better shape at 31 than when I was swimming the 400 meter freestyle in high school. But I would never be in this place if I hadn’t respected the iron and greased the groove. This back-to-basics approach to fitness (where you don’t require a gym and consistently focus on pushing yourself to new levels of strength and conditioning) will fortify your mind, body, and spirit for trying times when the SHTF or we experience TEOTWAWKI. A solid strength and conditioning routine will also keep you healthy and capable to handle the physical demands of our rapidly changing society. I hope this article helps the fit become fitter and encourages the out-of-shape and overweight members of the prepper community to drop the excuses and start greasing the groove. Remember to always eat your vegetables and there is no better time to start than now.

Letter Re: Alternatives to Dentists DVD

Hi Jim & Family,
SurvivalBlog readers will be interested in this new DVD titled “Alternatives To Dentists“.  It contains very effective techniques for daily hygiene, treating and preventing cavities, even healing abscessed teeth – and how to do this in a grid down, primitive, “no dentist available” scenario.  The presenter is Doug Simons who has been using these techniques for himself and his patients for almost 30 years.  Doug has a bit of a ‘tree hugger’ in him, but the information is solid and well worth having in any survivalists library. You’ll love it. – Greyback Mountain

Economics and Investing:

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Recovery or Economic Collapse? Bet on Collapse — The Financial Crisis Could Destroy Western Civilization

Using the young as a shield for hitting the deficit spending wall – the bill will come due for the young. Government spending prioritizes old American immediate needs and will send the bill to the young.

Merkel Heads for Debt Showdown with Hollande at EU Summit

David Stockman: We are Coping With the Crash of a 30-Year–Long Debt Super-Cycle

Items from The Economatrix:

War-gaming Greek Euro Exit Shows Hazards in 46-hour Weekend (Reader Sue C. noted about this same article: “The interesting thing is the ‘behind-the-scenes’ preparations for a civil breakdown scenario.”)

Oil Drops On Iran Talks, Brimming U.S. Supply

Wall Street Finishes Flat In Late Reversal

European Debt Crisis Concerns Jolt Commodities

Gold Sinks 1.8% as Greece Worries Lift Dollar

Odds ‘n Sods:

Lee M. suggested an outstanding tabular list, over at the Preparedness Advice Blog: Common Chemical Names. (This, BTW, is a good list to print out in hard copy for your home workshop reference binder. It might be crucial if you need to translate any chemical formulas from pre-1923 formularies.)

   o o o

Ian in England sent this: Police to extract and permanently retain mobile phone data in UK

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A piece recommended at The Woodpile Report by Ol’ Remus: OPSEC: It Begins With You

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The lists of cyber threats keeps expanding: Insulin Pump Hack Controversy Grows

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Sad Silent Key News: I just heard that Ben Nichols of Texas, callsign KK6AS, has passed away. He will be missed by many in the ham world. BTW, it was Ben that first clued me in about G5RV antennas.

Note From JWR:

Today we present two more entries for Round 40 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 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.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 40 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. (At this point, with the queue full, any entries received will likely run after June 1st and be part of the Round 41 judging.) Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Advice for Less Able/Disabled Preppers, by M.D.M.

I was born and raised on a farm, lived military and worked all my life, so I am accustomed to hard work and understand the need for a strong physical body. After years of working 10-12 hours a day, I decided to go back to college at nights to get a degree in pastoral studies, so I could keep busy during my ‘retirement’ years. In August, 2005 my life changed with a bad accident, now, disabled and in a wheelchair, my life is upside down and for me it was TEOTWAWKI.  I have always been a prepper and I’m not really sure why, a habit passed down in our family since the great depression. I never ever realized the importance of it until that day.  I am now a firm believer that all people need to be aware of what can happen and to be more prepared for all possibilities. Suddenly I couldn’t work, was facing multiple surgeries and the whole world looked different. Let me tell you now, everything we’ve been told about assistance if you ever become disabled is……..not the truth. For 14 months afterward I had no income and nothing but medical bills and no insurance (COBRA insurance was more expensive than the mortgage.) My choices became clear, sell everything I own (even though I could not prepare it for sale) and move into a nursing home, or get help at home. Luckily, my daughter and grandson moved in with me. We lived off our savings and food storage. I taught my family to forage, seems like in all our years of plenty, I have forgotten to teach my children and grandchildren the skills my grandmother taught me as a child. We ate our salads from the front yard and our garden; the food storage carried us through along with thoughtful friends who would at first bring in meals or a cake or pie. We saved the home, barely.

 Everyone needs to think now about what you would do if someone became disabled during SHTF and how you would care for them.  We now consider ourselves lucky we have already prepared for health related issues. Most preppers I know are my age, Viet Nam era people, we older preppers need to cover all our contingencies, as age itself has its own problems. Have you thought about how you might transport, lift, mobilize and care for a handicap or elderly loved one? Think about it now, even if no one in the family is currently handicap, you never know when something will happen. Anyone who is an active, healthy and disciplined person today can be disabled tomorrow. It could hit you like it did me, literally out of the blue, on a Friday night.

Initially I did not think about our prepping supplies or bug-out locations, only about making it from one day to the next. Now in a wheelchair, the house had to be modified, adaptive aids purchased, a ramp had to be built, our home had to be rearranged, lifts had to be installed, doorways widened and a disability van purchased. These things took extra money I did not have. Modifying our prepper supplies had to wait, and modifying our bug-out locations was way in the future. But now, years down the road, some of what I learned is that no amount of money saved is enough, unless you are in the 1%. One year of food storage is not enough, it can be stretched and stretched, but when it is gone it is most definitely gone. People won’t look at you the same, and that is fine, you don’t see them in the same light either. Some people who professed to be your best friend won’t be found anywhere. And most importantly, you will reevaluate your life and everything in it, including your faith. In times like these, you need to go ahead and pull out the good china and crystal to use every day, “enjoy it now” became my theme. I wish I had done that earlier in life. 

Many survivalists believe in the ‘survival of the fittest’ theory, and would be the first to leave the disabled and handicapped behind. There is something to be said for that, for if I become a burden to my family, as hard as it would be, I know that I would have to stay behind and let them go on. That would be very, very hard for me and for them, but we have discussed it to great lengths and all understand that it could be inevitable. Once said and understood by all, next step is to plan around my disabilities and see how to incorporate these new needs. I realized physically, I need the same thing as everyone else; food, water, shelter, self-defense, a potty, a place to sleep and something to read (my Bible), only my needs are now met in a different way.  We realized we don’t need two sets of preps; my preparations can work for the whole family, while their preparations won’t work for me. Sometimes I feel I am a burden to the family when they remind me that I bring wisdom, humor and hugs to the table. I know ways to defend my family, ways to gather and grow food, how to sew and make anything we need without a pattern and how to wiggle thru life to thrive, not just to survive. Everyone who has life can contribute something, even if it is just the gift of their presences, never, never discount a handicap or disabled person as less than human.

It goes without saying, if you have an electric wheelchair, always keep it charged. I have my charging unit in a backpack over the back handles of my wheelchair, so it is always with me. Have an alternate way to charge it, like a small generator or independent power supply system. My wheelchair has hidden pockets where I can keep pepper spray/mace or a weapon. Many handicap persons are not capable of handling or carrying a handgun or weapon. Also, not all physically handicapped persons are mentally handicapped. I have been surprised since my accident how many people have spoken to me in baby talk or less expecting that since I am in a wheelchair, I’m probably mentally challenged also. I want to hit those people, not only for thinking something so stupid, but for every mentally challenged person out there that has had to put up with stupid people like that. People also tend to find handicap people as vulnerable, and treat us that way. Thank goodness I already had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. My attitude is ‘don’t mess with me, in or out of my wheelchair’ It’s important not to look vulnerable, even the home. When someone looks at your home and sees a ramp, automatically you become a target. Our handicap ramp is to the side and landscaped in a way it doesn’t show. Disability license plates give you away also, so it is smarter to use a removable “hang ticket” [attached to the rearview mirror] instead of a plate.

Many modifications can be made at home, for instance; my daughter created an easy chair for me by adding heavy duty caster rollers to the legs of a plastic outdoor yard chair, it is really handy and easy for us all. My wheelchair can also be used to transport barrels of water, cast iron cookpots, sandbags and other heavy items. Transfer boards can be made from any heavy plastic or smooth wooden boards and used to move any heavy object from one place to another.  Sock pullers can be made from old bleach bottles and a bit of rope by cutting off the top and bottom and slitting the side then attaching long rope handles. The sock is then placed on top of the bottle and pulled onto the foot.

We realized we needed to make minor changes to our accessory bug-out sites also. We have four bug-out locations, one in each direction. Some are in conjunction with other family members, some are only for us, depending on which way we have to travel (hopefully we would not have to travel and could hunker down here at home).  Many of the little things I don’t need everyday any more, we have moved to our ‘Bugoutmobile’ to ease the burden. I suggest people consider adding bed wedges, adult diapers, transfer boards, reachers, portable handicap potties, rollator or walker, small portable lift system, and transfer chairs to their preps. If you have these accessories you will be able to care for almost anyone in any situation.

But the most important thing is to nurture close family relationships, as nothing can be more important to your survival. Do whatever it takes to keep your family first, to keep you all together and to learn to live with each other in a confined area. Everyone has to sacrifice; everyone has to give, to live in a happy community atmosphere. You have to diligently work to achieve family accord; it doesn’t come automatically just because you are all family. Practicing now dealing with your family in a confined space will let your family learn what traits they need to work on, because when SHTF you may have wished you had already learned this lesson and already worked out these issues. Also, living in a confined space, you may reconsider how many beans you have in storage.

 I’d like to share some things that may help someone else, things I learned the hard way. There is a difference between early, regular and disabled pension. If you must leave work due to an accident to take your pension, take a disability pension. There is a difference between transfer chair, wheelchairs and electric chairs. Transfer chairs are lightweight and inexpensive for temporary use (or prepping), wheel chairs are manual heavy duty, and electric chairs are wheelchairs that are battery pack for people who do not have full use their arms. Some auto manufactures will give you a discount for ordering a new disability fully-equipped van (some changes to policy have been made since the recession of 2008). The National Park system issues ‘Access Passes’ granting free access to a permanently disabled person good for the rest of their lifetime. Look for assistance from Community Action groups (like Agency on Aging) not from where you would expect. Adaptive aids make all the difference in the world. Items like reachers, transfer boards, leg lifters, bed wedges, bathroom and dressing aids, wheeled carts and baskets, sock pullers and gel pads are all helpful for older preppers.  Prepping is for hard times, and in hard times you still need to make life as simple as possible. All older preppers as well as those with a disabled family member should consider looking carefully at your in-home and bug-out supplies.    

There were cocky young men in my office that stood over me and defiantly said they would never be disabled, it would never happen to them, they are strong and would overcome any physical injury. Well, I probably felt the same way when I was around 17 years old. But I have learned over the years that nothing is impossible, everything isn’t what it professes to be, you can count your true friends on one hand and taking care of your family is a virtue, whatever their condition.  So believe in miracles and prepare for anything, even disability.

If you would like to add these two sites to your bookmarks, it took me forever to find these places for things I needed:    http://www.bruno.com/vehicle-lifts-all-models.html and
http://www.wrightstuff.biz/

Planning for TEOTWAWKI, by P.S.

Everyone is familiar with planning for “The End Of The World As We Know It” (TEOTWAWKI).  Our long and costly preparations that we make in order to survive the massive disaster that will one day change our present way of living. We try to predict what type of disaster may happen and plan accordingly. It may be plans to survive the coming economic collapse, some form of EMP whether be it solar or man made, or some form of a global pandemic, the list goes on and on. I enlisted in the US Coast Guard back in 1975 and took our motto, Semper Paratus (“Always Prepared”) to heart.

All the years of climbing up the sides of ships at sea using a Jacobs ladder to conduct Law Enforcement (L/E) boardings or the thousands of hours running small boats to conduct Search and Rescue (SAR). I never dreamed that I would have three life changing events. Each one being something that would be “The End Of My World As I Knew It”.  The first was in 1994 when I was involved in an auto accident where I lost my first wife and son which not only took some of the physical life out of my body but took its emotional toll also. The second was in 2002 when I went through a very bad divorce and lost 88 acres of very well set up survival property. The last was in December of 2004  at age 47 when I found out my body was being attacked by a disease know as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Not only is this a physical disease which one day may lead to being crippled, but you have to try and imagine the emotional toll it takes also. In the few months it took the Coast Guard to process my medical discharge, I went from employed to unemployed.
           
People who are young and in good physical shape never dream of one day that something may happen that will change their lives and how they must cope with it after.  It doesn’t have to be a disease that changes your life but may be something as simple as just growing old. I feel that I’m one of the lucky ones who has this disease, I’m still able to walk, not very far at one time, not in the heat and many times with the help of a cane, but every morning when I get out of bed and I’m able to walk to the bathroom on my own, its the start of a good day and “Life is Good”. Many years ago if I needed to walk some place it all just came naturally, now I need to concentrate on every step I take. There are many things in life that I can no longer do but I have to be positive and be thankful for the things that I still can. 

Needless to say this has changed the way I have to make preparations to survive not just TEOTWAWKI, but each and every day. Living with this for 8 years now, I have pretty much learned my limitations. I know that I cannot handle temperatures much above 80 degrees or below 40, so this determines where in the country I can live. I know I have a left side weakness and that I will fatigue quickly if I overdue any physical activity, so this tells me that bugging out on foot carrying supplies is not happening.  At present I’m able to get a three month supply of my medications at a time but one day the supply may run out due to some future disaster.

People who are dependent on medications may only be able to get a 30 day supply at a time either due to the type of medication or insurance reasons. I would suggest that you sit down with your Dr. and explain your concerns as to your limited availability of medications. Maybe there is something he or she can do to at least get you on a 90 day supply at a time. Depending on the type of your medication it may require refrigeration. This is something you will have to make plans for in the event you have a loss of power. For the people who fall into this category I suggest a small economical generator that will run a small refrigerator or for a longer lasting system you should look into a solar panel system that will run a 12 volt DC camper cooler.       

Knowing ones limitations is an eye opener and we need to plan accordingly. Many of you for now may be in good health or physical condition but you cannot foresee the future and what your abilities will be when you get older. My brother many years ago lost some of his fingers while using a table saw and this has greatly changed what he can do and how he needs to do it, such as shooting a rifle. I was talking with him the other night and he mentioned at the age of 60 he is not going to hike into the woods, shoot a 140 pound deer and drag it two miles out as he was able to do in his younger days. I know that JWR in one of his articles here mentions ways to bring the game to you but depending on the type of disaster, it may come down to more hunters in the woods than game.

Knowing that one day you may be in the position where you cannot hunt or grow your own food you should stock up on the wide variety of Emergency Foods that have been processed and packed for long term storage. Its expensive and can take up a lot of room depending on how much you decide to stock up on, but if you plan accordingly now you will be much better off in the long run. In emergency preparedness you cannot think of the here and now, you have to think way down the road.  What kind of physical condition do you think you will be in 10, 20 or 30 years from now if you live a normal healthy life?

As you make your plans in preparedness now, think if you can still carry out your plan if you no longer have the use of your strong hand or your strength and stamina is not like it use to be. What if you have trouble walking or your eye sight is failing, can you still use the systems you have put in place for survival? Over the past few years it seems more and more people in my age group (mid-50s) are having hip or knee replacement. Many times they come back stronger than they were up to before the surgery, but what would you do if you needed the surgery in the middle of a disaster it cannot be done. In my younger days the further out in the country and away from people I could get the better it was. Now that I’m older and have a disability I feel being closer to neighbors and medical facilities has become more important for my daily survival.        

In my family, I’m the youngest of three boys. It was in 1994 when I had my accident, in the late 1990s is when my eldest brother lost some of his fingers. Then, in 2010 the middle brother was in an auto accident and now has a steel rod  in his leg. Hopefully its not that we are a hard luck family, but accidents do happen. One never plans on being in an accident or having a medical problem, but maybe in the making of our preparations for TEOTWAWKI we should plan as if we may.            

In the making of all your preparations have you set up plans to include someone in your family not being able to carry their share of the load or needing special attention? Do you have a family member in a nursing home? Knowing what may happen to them would you leave them there or pull them out to live with you? How about a child with special needs, have you planned for the caring of them? You can find tons of information in books, tv shows and on the internet on theories of what may happen in the event of some form of disaster and many thoughts on how and what you should do to prepare, but no one can tell you how your going to react to being informed of a disease or how you will recover mentally and physically from an accident or the death of a loved one.

It’s better to re-arrange your plans and make the adjustments now than to continue on spending money and setting up systems that one day you may not be able to use. Do you have a bunker you need to climb down into? Do you need to hike any distance to your bug out location (BOL)? For your water supply will you have to carry it up from a stream in buckets? Do you rely on cutting down trees and splitting them up for firewood? Do you have to shovel or plow snow each year from around your walks or driveway? Do you have to shovel the heavy snow off the roof of your house after a hard winter storm? If you can do it now, will you be able to do it 10 years from now? Do you have stashes of supplies that are in hard to access places? Are the majority of your supplies in heavy bulk items?
           
If you want to have an idea what things might be like, try these few simple exercises. Tape the thumb of your strong hand to the side of your hand. Now try to do some simple things like: opening up a can of beans with a manual can opener, shooting your pistol or rifle, riding your motorcycle or bicycle, getting dressed or using the bathroom. Just spend an entire day doing your normal things in life and see how it works out. Now for the second test, put your strong arm in a sling, bind it to you body and spend the day again doing normal living. How do you feel about climbing a ladder, can you still shoot your weapons, how about carrying a box of your supplies, can you pull out your generator and fire it up, can you still use a hammer and nails to make a simple repair? Want one more exercise? Place an eye patch over your strong eye and again go about your daily routine. One thing you should really test with this one is shooting from strong eye to weak eye. The reason I ask you to bind your strong side is, this will give you an idea faster of your limitations when you have to use your weak side for daily living.

For me, I have found out that I can no longer drive a vehicle with a clutch, including a motorcycle.  I cannot walk much more than 100 yards without getting tired and needing rest. When I go shopping I usually find a cart in the parking lot and use that for my support while walking. I do not handle stairs very well or climbing hills. I cannot be out in the heat or in the cold for very long. I do not operate any power equipment without having a cell phone or when my wife is not home. Because of the weakness of my left hand, I no longer carry items in two hands, I may drop the item in my left and also I need one free in case I trip and fall. If I have 6 bags of groceries to carry in, it takes me 6 trips. Some days I have energy and some days I don’t. I don’t go anywhere now without my reading glasses. I know when my body is getting fatigued and I need to sit down and rest. One day it was in the middle of Lowe’s on a pallet of drywall compound for about 10 minutes until I could make it out to my car for a short nap.

When I bought my current house back in 2003, I bought it for the location with prepping and survival in mind more than the design of the house. I had not been diagnosed with my MS yet so I had no idea that one day it would not be wheelchair friendly if I need to go that route. Even now with the things I have put in place for prepping I may have to either abandon all this one day for a place I can live and move around in or tear this one down and build new. Before I use to be able to work construction around the house doing all my own repairs and projects, now I need to hire them out. Due to no fault of my own, I hate to say it, but in some things I have become dependent on others for help. I do not run anywhere and I know my reactions are not quick.

My strongest assets which makes me know that I will be a survivor is I have been in the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” and my God has carried me out on more than one occasion and he will carry me through anything. Through him, I have a very strong positive attitude. Good luck in your adventures and preps.

Letter Re: A Non-Warrior Surviving Traumatic Times

Dear SurvivalBloggers:
I would like to offer a personal experience with a situation that might help Deborah C. and others like her.  First of all she was very honest in her assessment of a future event and her concerns she mentioned and I think all Preppers have thoughts or experiences or thoughts that parallel Deborah’s to some extent.  Future events, are unknowns for most and the ‘fears/concerns’ are valid, however how we react to or even function is helped by addressing the potential situation in the here and now.   The adage we often hear in the Prepping community “Hope for the best and plan for the worst”, has the best  attitude, hope and understanding for overcoming a future potential events.
 
My personal example that shook my world, took place in the 1980s while I was residing in Colorado on the Front Range between Denver and Colorado Springs, I witnessed a 100%  attitude change in a group of mostly women  that worked with my wife in Denver.  These people where anti-gun, and self-protection was something that you left to the local police dept.   My background in Firearms ownership, and hunting was a danger sign to these for the most part left wing people.   The thought of having to hold a gun, let alone fire one was a very bad thing .  At social functions, I was amazed and saddened at the positions and responses that these anti-gun people held.  I would debate it  to a point, but after a while would consider that you can not argue with an ignorant person and would  realize it was not worth further discussion. 
 
However, an event happened that shook their beliefs and amazed me. My wife’s secretary lived in a home in Castle Rock, Colorado (just south of Denver) was abducted from her home a few days before Christmas and her body was later found in the trunk of her abandoned car in Denver a few days later.  She had been stabbed many times and finally strangled and left in the trunk of her car on top of Christmas presents for her  son.  What made things even more horrific was this happened in her home with her five year old son present.   On that day my wife worried about the women being very late for work called her home and her little boy answered the phone and stated his mother was taken by a bad man. He must have seen some of the struggle and injury this young woman must have endured in the home.
 
A few weeks later  my wife was approached by several of these former anti-gun, anti-self defense people that she worked with, who asked her if  I would be willing to train them how to shoot, and also how to purchase a gun.   I was a certified gun safety and FFL dealer at the time.   This event changed how they looked at a bad situations and how common sense took over.  I had been at odds for several years with a lot of these people because of my position on firearms and self defense.   The most common statement before this event was from them was “I would rather die or would allow someone to take my life than use a weapon to hurt someone”.  I could not believe  they would allow someone to hurt them.   The sad thing is over the years I lost track of what ever happened in that case, I do not believe it was ever solved.  
 
What I hope is that  Deborah C. and others have a legitimate concern about potential reactions to a future event, however with training and a applied understanding that  fear is natural, but how we react is in part learning to condition our thought process.  As a result, the fear of the unknown, is understood and reaction becomes a natural process.   “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  A great quote that really sums it up.
 
Happy Trails, – John in Arizona   

Economics and Investing:

A Greece euro exit could make Lehman’s collapse ‘look like a tea party’

K.A.F. sent this: U.S. lets China bypass Wall Street for Treasury orders

Several readers sent this link: Secret Central Bank Aid Props Up Greek Banks

OECD sees euro crisis threatening world recovery

Items from The Economatrix:

Gold’s Fortunes Will Soon Turn Around

Panic Like It’s March 2009

Fears Of Bank Runs Increase In Southern Europe

Gasoline Prices Keep Falling But Relief Could Be Short Lived

Odds ‘n Sods:

As a bonus to promote their revamped web site (with a complete redesign, and an updated shopping interface) Directive 21 (aka LPC Survival) has created a 5% off discount code, just for SurvivalBlog readers. Use code: Survivalblog. (Their URL is unchanged, and they are still under the same management. Just their web site has been updated.)

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Chris M. suggested this at Resilient Communities: Food Abundance? (Includes an instructive picture of empty store shelves in Zimbabwe.) Oh, and speaking of watermelons, see this at the Wazoo Ag Extension web site: Watermelon Variety Descriptions.

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SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large, Michael Z. Williamson suggested this piece by Charles Hugh Smith: Acknowledging the Arrival of Peak Government

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File under: Business as Usual: How FBI Entrapment Is Inventing ‘Terrorists’ – and Letting Bad Guys Off the Hook. (Thanks to Pam B. for the link.)

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Yet another grid down consequence: Asian carp barrier had power outage. (Thanks to Barbara B. for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"In war you will generally find that the enemy has at any time three courses of action open to him. Of those three, he will invariably choose the fourth." – Helmuth Von Moltke

Note From JWR:

Today we present two more entries for Round 40 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A gift certificate worth $1,000, courtesy of Spec Ops Brand, 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), and F.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo.

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A FloJak FP-50 stainless steel hand well pump (a $600 value), courtesy of FloJak.com. C.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, D.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and E.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value) and F.) A Tactical Trauma Bag #3 from JRH Enterprises (a $200 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.), and E.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 40 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. (At this point, with the queue full, any entries received will likely run after June 1st and be part of the Round 41 judging.) Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Leaving Suburbia, by M.J.W.

It all feels so strange – I live, eat, and breathe “prepping.”  Sometimes I look in the mirror and ask “who are you?!”  In trying to remember when the change in me began, it is traceable back to the financial collapse of 2008.  Even before then, I had become very concerned about privacy – or the lack thereof.  In my professional life, I am a security and privacy consultant, so I know a lot about how little security and privacy exists in our networked world.  I understand in minute detail how online access to the most sensitive and confidential information has led to record breaking hacking incidents and identity theft.  The massive amounts of information about each individual that has been compiled into databases by various entities are the target of extremely organized “information criminals” and readily available to the U.S. government.  Because of my job, I am often one of the first to hear about a serious hacking event and be a part of the incident response team that performs a root cause analysis – how “they” (the criminals) did it.  In most cases, there was nothing sophisticated about it – human error allowed the vulnerability, subsequently exploited by criminals.  I can be found shaking my head over and over about the stupidity of it all at any given moment during a work week.  What I know to be true, from real life experience and my professional career – there is truly no such thing as privacy and security in the online world.  As a career technologist, I see that technology has created more problems for us than good done for us – think: Tower of Babel.

The anxiety about the lack of privacy and security in the online world morphed into anxiety about what was happening in the physical world.  I watched with dismay as our retirement plans started to devalue at a frightening pace, along with the value of our property.  I became increasingly anxious about our ability to survive comfortably – in the manner to which we were accustomed.  As the economy stumbled into a numb, sickening, downward spiral and we watched most of our wealth seemingly disappear overnight, I turned with a genuine concern towards my husband who seemed to act as if nothing really was affecting him – not in the way it was affecting me.  I thought that maybe I was over reacting to the horror of what was unfolding.  Ah, but no, he was internalizing the stress – laughing outwardly.  The stroke that debilitated a large part of his brain and many physical capabilities told the true story.  I remember thinking, “game over man”.  We were more fortunate than many.  My friend’s husband also had a stroke a few months later, but he died instantly.  I’m not sure which is worse considering what is to come, but I am grateful that I still have my husband with me.  It was six months before he could shower himself by himself and remember to take his pills.  After 2 years of speech and communication therapy, a year of physical therapy, and continued home exercises, he is almost himself again.  He still cannot drive any unfamiliar route or for more than about 15 – 20 minutes at a time.  His memory is terrible, his speech slurred when tired, and he is slow in responding sometimes, can become confused, and he must rest more than the average person must.  I manage our lives with patience and am now the sole breadwinner – I am so thankful to God that I have the ability to earn a living.  I love this guy and I am grateful that God spared him – if just for my selfish reasons.  His laugh is back, his smile is huge, and he can make fun of himself and remains the great optimist. He is active in the volunteer community and he is truly an amazing person – a survivor.

There are many true tales such as ours.  That is not the point.  The point is, the tragedy of what has happened in America has affected us all and in unexpected ways.  There is not an untouched person among us.  I realized that I must prepare for what is coming, and I must do most of the preparations relying on my own strength.  I am cognizant of the fact that SCHHTF (could have hit the fan) while we were in the middle of the initial health crisis – we were graciously granted more time to prepare.  I am hoping, really, that my story will embolden and strengthen those among us who are feeling alone in preparations or who have large burdens to carry.  It can be done.  We cannot give up.  We must not curl up into a ball and become frozen with anxiety, stressed, heartbroken, and worried.  We must march on. 
Preparing to get out of Suburbia, and convincing your family that it is the right thing to do, while accommodating a disabled person, is challenging.  It has taken a good year or two of convincing our six grown children and their spouses that prepping is critical.  This past Christmas, they all received Go Bags replete with hand crank/solar NOAA weather radios, MREs, emergency water pouches, blankets, snacks, first aid kits, flashlights, candles, water proof matches, etc.  The light bulb came on for my husband as we packed our Go Bags from boxes of supplies.  Our grown children thought I was crazy and over-reacting to their dad’s stroke, but I have successfully convinced them that the issues in the world are much bigger than our personal struggles and we should figure out how, together, to survive the coming mayhem.  I would say that 90% of my family and extended family are on board now.  (Make a mental note:  it has taken 2-3 years to get them on board).  I have successfully convinced my elderly parents to stock up on food and water supplies, and keep the gas tank full.  So, everyone is emotionally onboard – what next?  Action.  Action.  Action.

The last six months I have devoted every spare moment to finding a piece of property to relocate to – one that would accommodate the 16 of us (including parents, children, spouses, grandchildren).  I have no need to include my siblings because they have prepped for their families independently with properties in Washington and Idaho.  Our home is in Nevada by virtue of necessity.  Now, imagine a lone woman – born and bred in Suburbia; trying by herself to find property with a well, septic, and water source; far enough out of town to be somewhat difficult to reach, but close enough to be near a  major medical facility; not in the “line of drift” from the “golden hordes” of California; not too difficult to access, but not easy either, and “handicap accessible”.  Doesn’t this sound so overwhelming?  It is.  I am not deterred and I found a spot that meets our requirements.  To some preppers, finding a spot 20-30 minutes outside of town is not good enough.  To some, cocooning in place is the only option.  For us, we found a compromise that will at least provide us with the opportunity to develop a sustainable lifestyle that is not dependent on the modern necessities (or should we say ‘niceties’).

In our case, I had to find a piece of property that was in fairly good condition because my husband is disabled and I work full time (from home).  I finally found a little piece of sustainability in a well-developed acre with a good sized home, fenced, with a deep and highly functioning well, solar panels for water heat, propane, and septic.  I realize this well maintained property will need more than me to manage it, but I’ve called in the troops (my family and friends) and with the aid of some hired help, I believe we can accomplish what we must.  My first concern was to get out of town.  My second concern was to provide for off the grid living if necessary (solar, generator, propane).  I have been stocking up on food and water for a year, and started a large garden inside our suburban home from heirloom seeds that are now soaking up the sun in portable containers in the backyard – just waiting to be transplanted into their new home.  The property has several out buildings, one of which will be converted to a chicken coop with very little effort, one will be used for tools, and the spare garage will house the generator and supplies.  Fortunately, our good friends own a tractor with all the attachments and live close by.  Moving near friends into a like-minded community was a major criterion for the mission.  The acre, already fenced with well laid out corrals and sections that will each have a specific purpose (pigs, goats, fruit trees, vegetable garden, chickens, and rabbits). 

Inside the home, which is a daylight basement home, the upper floor is the entrance floor and fully handicap accessible.  The downstairs or basement, is beautifully finished and could conceivably provide sleeping space for up to 8-10 people (the upstairs can provide sleeping space for up to 6 people).  The property boasts 3.5 baths – critical with potentially 16 people coming to visit.  From the upstairs kitchen and deck, we have a view of the entire valley that leads back into town – should trouble come our way we will see it coming.  However, our home is not visible from the lower roads, backs up to empty BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land (read – desert), and won’t stick out.  The valley has a large number of one and two acre properties consisting of fairly independent, tough minded, country folk.  Most properties have horses, chickens, cows, llamas, goats, etc.  I can bet a silver dollar, it is an armed community.  The county sheriff has chosen it for his own residence.

We are packing now and will move in a few weeks to our new little spot.  Trust me, I realize what cleaning out a chicken coop looks like.  I will liken it to all those diapers I changed and washed when my kids were little.  I’ve already arranged to trade eggs from my coop for horse manure (for the garden) with some friends.  [Reader Doug F. added this comment, via e-mail: "Absolutely do not use horse manure in your garden unless you want a garden full of weeds. Use only well-composted cow or sheep manure."]
 
I’ve studied, researched, prepared, asked for help, and now its implementation time.  There are enough people out of work here in one of the highest unemployment states in the country, that finding help is not going to be the problem.  To me, this is like a highly complex Information Technology implementation.  You do your homework, you create the plan, you implement, with checkpoints along the way, using an iterative quality assurance cycle.  I have a sense of exhilaration, but understand the reality in front of me – this is not going to be easy. 
Lessons learned:

  1.  The realtor – I can’t tell you how many times I had to repeat the criteria for the property we sought – an acre +, a well, septic, propane, 20-30 minutes out of town, well maintained, minimum of 1800 sq. ft., no HOA, handicap accessible, primarily paved road access, fairly flat land (we have enough snow during the winter to make a dirt, windy, hilly road unnavigable.  Getting the realtor on board was tough.  I did most of the research myself using Zillow, an MLS search, search of county property tax records for additional details, called the local well driller to get specifics on certain properties, etc.
  2. Prioritize the “List of Lists” (totally overwhelming at first glance, but was able to understand the scope of types of things that would be needed in the major categories – prioritized and am working through the list).
  3. Research – propane suppliers, propane rent vs. own, propane vs. oil heating, pellet stoves vs. fireplaces, well depth, water quality, water filtering systems, laws governing wells, zoning laws, growing vegetables and other plants in a high desert climate, generator types, solar power, battery capacity, site stick built homes vs. manufactured or modular homes, how to raise chickens for eggs and meat, firearms and ammunitions, ham radio operator license, herbal remedies and natural medicines, etc.
  4. Get Educated – books I read (fiction and non-fiction):
    1. Trump University Asset Protection 101 – learned to restructure business for asset protection.
    2. How to Be Invisible: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life – learned how to protect assets by titling them in an LLC, how to live under the radar and keep a lower profile.
    3. How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times;
    4. SurvivalBlog.com complete Archive CD-ROM
    5. Mini Farming;
    6. The TEOTWAWKI Tuxedo: Formal Survival Attire;
    7. Holding Your Ground: Preparing for Defense if it all Falls Apart;
    8. Without Rule of Law: Advanced Skills to Help You Survive;
    9. Atlas Shrugged
    10. The Encyclopedia of Country Living
    11. Read a variety of books concerning:
      1. the economy and America’s imminent demise from a political and financial perspective;
      2. privacy from the perspective of a citizen and from the perspective of law enforcement – the hunted and the hunter perspectives;
      3. online businesses;
      4. financial investing (gold, silver, etc.);
      5. Christian prophecy concerning the end times (The Bible and other books);
      6. disaster recovery and preparedness;
      7. survival;
  5. The right job – It took me a year to find the right job utilizing my skills in a “work from home” situation with infrequent travel.  That was a very rough year as I turned down job after job opportunity situated in the metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., etc. 
  6. Training – I knew nothing about guns and ammunition.  I took the first step and got in person, personal training, own one gun, and have a limited supply of ammunition.  I was afraid of the guns but I made the first step.  I plan to expand this skill this year.
  7. Budgeting – if you don’t have the budget for a large purchase of freeze dried or dehydrated food storage, double your grocery budget and buy 2 of everything every time you go to the store focusing on the essential foods.  I cut other things out of the budget to enable this strategy.  Future purchases include things like a generator, not a big screen television.
  8. Learn now, practice now – don’t wait for the perfect opportunity.  I learned to make a variety of cleaning supplies from Ivory soap and white vinegar, learned how to make my own laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hand soap from Ivory soap bars.  I started the heirloom seed garden on the kitchen counter.  I regularly fill and use 15-20 gallon containers of filtered water – to practice the inconvenient art of water storage.  I bought essential oils and learned about their medicinal qualities, and created various lotions and salves.  Garden, can, bake from scratch, hand wash and hang dry… reject convenience and select inconvenience now.  It will help in adjusting to life without later.
  9. Reaching others – the hardest part of this journey so far has been convincing my family that Christians are not showing a lack of faith by preparing for disaster.  I likened it to many Biblical stories where the industrious are honored. 
  10. Pray – last on the list does not mean least.  The God of the Universe knows all, sees all, and has a plan.  The purpose of my preparation efforts are to protect and care for my family and friends in order to minimize suffering and to share what the Lord has in store for us.

Next Steps:  Take Action
There is no convenient way to utterly change your lifestyle from beginning to end.  It has taken me close to three years (setbacks notwithstanding) to get to the point where I understand what all has to be done and am actually doing it.  There are many, like me, who read SurvivalBlog religiously but who do nothing.  I made a commitment to myself that before the elections in the fall of 2012, I would be settled in a new environment with the potential for a sustainable lifestyle.  I may be wrong that the elections will be a tipping point in these United States, but I want to be prepared.