Harry’s Book Review: Last of the Breed

1

Author: Louis L’Amour
Copyright Date: 1987
Publisher: Bantam
ISBN: 978-055
Audio, e-book or foreign translation available? Yes, Audio, Kindle & Nook
Suitable for children? Teens and up, yes, particularly males.

I did not pick up the novel Last of the Breed thinking it would be for a SurvivalBlog review topic. Louis L’Amour is one of the authors I read as “mind candy”, an easy read just for the fun of it. However, I quickly realized that this book is one of L’Amour’s exceptional works and an excellent read for anyone who lives or is thinking of living in the American Redoubt.

Unlike most of Louis L’Amour’s books, this novel is set in Siberia, and set in relatively modern times. There are airplanes and automobiles. Perhaps the best clue as to the date is the construction of the railroad in the Amur region which would put the time right about the late 1950s. This would help explain why certain technologies were not a factor in this novel.

Although there are no cowboys, horses or dusty saloons, there is an Indian. Major Joe Makatozi is part Cheyenne and Sioux Indian, and in the author’s words “an unreconstructed savage.” And while Siberia may be unfamiliar territory to many folks, it is deliberately compared to the American Redoubt, particularly the Snake River territory in Idaho. This is where Joe Mak grew up and where he developed the skill set which makes all the difference in this novel.

Joe Mak was raised in a home which would be the dream home of many preppers. Built by an ancestral Scotsman, the home was in an area without roads and entirely off grid. Trips to town were accomplished in avoidance of all roads. It would be regarded as a primitive home in the eyes of many, but it was excellent preparation for the circumstances with which Joe Mak had to contend.

Spoilers Ahead!

Colonel Arkady Zamatev of the Russian army had a plan to advance his career by acquiring military intelligence for the USSR. His plan was to kidnap fairly low profile individuals who had knowledge of key, cutting edge foreign military and scientific technology. His first several captures went perfectly, and with the confidence of those successes he decided to pursue and capture Joe Makatozi, a pilot with knowledge of the developments of experimental aircraft. And indeed, Zamatev was successful in capturing Joe Mak and bringing him to the specially dedicated prison near Lake Baikal in Siberia. This prison was purpose built, and in fact, still under construction. Set in the midst of one of the harshest climates on earth, surrounded by ten foot tall electrified fences with machine gun towers every one hundred yards it was inconceivable that anyone would even think of trying to escape, yet Joe Mak did just that. Under cover of a brief electrical service interruption Joe Mak pole vaulted the fence and sprinted into the forest, setting into motion a manhunt involving competing political interests and a hostile natural environment.

It was initially thought that it would not be at all difficult to recapture Joe. In fact, it was considered that he would probably be eager to turn himself in if the cold didn’t get him first. However, these were the thoughts of men who could not conceive of an individual of the type they were actually dealing with.

The one person who had a sense of what they were up against was a Yakut tracker by the name of Alekhin. The Yakut were Siberia’s natives and compared fairly well to the American Indian. Alekhin was a legendary tracker, known for always finding his man, but also for always bringing him back dead. Zamatev made it clear that at least this time Alekhin’s quarry had to come back alive and at least able to speak.

From a survival perspective things don’t get much more bleak. Joe Makatozi is in a foreign country where he doesn’t even speak the language. He is on his own in a deadly cold environment with nothing more than the clothes on his back. He has the army and a skilled tracker on his trail. And there is no one he can call on for help.

It must be admitted that Joe has to resort to theft at several points. Just to make it through the first week he steals a few cans of food, a sweatshirt and a knife. But these are all he needs to get himself into a position in which he can sustain himself. From there he was able to fashion himself a spear and a sling for hunting. Able to hunt he was then able to procure skins for warmth, and once able to kill an animal large enough he was able to obtain sinews for a bow string. Making a bow and knapping his own arrowheads he was able to kill at a distance and bring down even larger game. This allowed him to make his own moccasins to replace the boots he was wearing out. This also made him even harder to track.

Lacking knowledge of the area he was traveling posed a real challenge. It was very much his desire to avoid all human contact. This meant avoiding population centers and transportation corridors. Crossing rivers and mountain ranges posed a challenge. Eventually Joe managed to steal a map, but even then it was difficult to pinpoint precisely where he was. Much of the time he simply had to rely on his own knowledge of the general geography of the area.

One factor which Joe had in his favor is the fact that Siberia is a climate which tends to harbor only those who are of a self-sufficient nature. These folks tend to be inherently distrustful of the government. As a result, most of those who Joe did encounter were in no hurry to turn him in to the authorities, but rather were inclined to let him go on his way and let things work themselves out.

Eventually Joe even finds himself among others who are fugitives in one sense or another. Because Joe is a skillful hunter and can provide food for those who are otherwise on the verge of starvation his presence is tolerated in spite of the high profile search for him which is underway. In this setting Joe is able to learn some of the language and how best to proceed on his course. This situation does not last long, but it provides Joe with better shelter through some of the worst of the Siberian winter.

Overall, this novel covers most of a year. Joe’s rate of travel is necessarily slow, and there are times when he must remain in shelter for extended periods of time. His demeanor throughout the ordeal ranges the gamut from being at the point of laying down to die all the way to hunting those who hunt him. At no point is this a slow read. Louis L’Amour keeps the reader on the edge of their seat all the way through this one. There is simply no point in which Joe’s life is not in immediate danger. Be it from man, nature or self, Joe’s future is constantly in jeopardy.

I will not spoil the ending as to do so would seriously detract from the crafting of this novel, and it is an excellently crafted work. This book was published towards the end of Louis L’Amour’s career, and it is one of his most refined. The novel opens with a preview of a scene which will take place later in the story. No clues are given as to how much later, and thus a sense of mystery is added to the story. That mystery is very well resolved by the end and in a manner which a warrior will find quite satisfactory. Those of a tender heart and a peace loving nature may not enjoy this novel, but a fighter will relate to it quite well.

This novel does not go to the level of detail to teach the skills required for survival, but it does give the reader a sense of what they must know in order to keep themselves alive in this setting. It should also be noted that the level of physical fitness required is that of a near olympic level decathlete. A substantial part of Joe’s success is the fact that his enemies cannot conceive of his level of skill and his degree of physical ability. It is not that average person who can manage this, the author makes that clear. It should also be noted that a modern manhunt would involve modern technologies which would make Joe’s flight much more difficult. I still found it a great read and an instructive one.

Letter Re: AR-15 Rifle and Pistol Legality in the U.S.

Mr Rawles,

In the Odds ‘n Sods section on Saturday 29 December, a reader indicates that, regarding AR pistols: “Most people don’t realize they exist, and that they can be legally converted to rifles, and back”. Anyone considering this route to acquiring an AR rifle should be very aware of the relevant laws about assembling an AR rifle from the pistol configuration. As the rule has been explained to me, any rifle with a barrel less than 16″ in length would be considered a ‘short-barelled rifle’ and would fall under the regulation of the National Firearms Act (NFA), i.e., would become a ‘Class 3’ weapon. As most AR pistols are sold with barrels ranging in length from 7.5″ to perhaps 13.5″‘ a rifle assembled from such a pistol may indeed fall under the NFA. ATF Ruling 2011-4 and related information may help clarify the rules for anyone considering such a conversion. 

I wouldn’t want to see any of your otherwise law-abiding readers get caught out on this issue. Please check the laws before converting an AR pistol to a rifle, and back!

God Bless, and keep up the good work. – NMShooter

Letter Re: Internet Service in The American Redoubt

Hello, 
I just read your article The American Redoubt — Move to the Mountain States.  I am confused about something.  On one hand you said to not expect high speed Internet then scrolling down further you refer to using the Internet.  There must be some sort of Internet service where you are. 
 
My income is acquired using my computer and high speed Internet.  So does that leave me out?
 
Thanks for your time. – Deborah T. in California

JWR Replies: There is dial-up Internet available in most towns in the Redoubt, but high speed (DSL, or better) is available in just a few towns and cities.  The good news, however, is that high speed Internet service is available everywhere if you are willing to pay more for satellite Internet service.  (Such as Direct PC or WildBlue.)

Check with your realtor, and include DSL on your wish list, if that is a priority.

Recipe of the Week:

S.A.’s Killer Potato Soup

I was given this hand-written, hearty recipe 20 years ago by an Air Force wife. It’s super nutritious including several vegetables, potatoes for carbs, and bacon for protein.

When planning meals, I like to think of how to incorporate small amounts of protein (a la Dan Fong in Patriots) for nutrition and flavoring from stored foods such as canned meats and either commercial dehydrated foods or my own stores. This soup features root vegetables and is a great starter or can be the meal along with some good bread. It’s easy to make as nothing needs to be pre-cooked or sauteed.

4 large potatoes
2 stalks celery 
2 T beef bouillon granules
2 strips canned bacon (or use fresh)
4 carrots 
1 large onion
1/2 t. pepper

Peel vegetables, dice everything.  Combine ingredients, add water, about 2 inches to cover all. If using dried veggies, adjust water for rehydration. Cook everything until soft.  Allow to cool.  Puree in blender.  Heat to serve.

Chef’s Notes:

Sprinkle a little paprika or cheese or chopped herbs on top, if desired. A real crowd pleaser. Who doesn’t like bacon and potatoes and tons of flavor?

Useful Recipe and Cooking Links:

Reader Louise B. recommended The Food Substitutions Bible: More Than 6,500 Substitutions for Ingredients, Equipment and Techniques by David Joachim

liked this: Homemade Meals In A Jar

Currently Available as Free Kindle e-Books:

Cavelady Cooking: 50 Fun Recipes for Paleo, Low-Carb and Gluten-Free Diets

The Man Cave Cookbook: More Than 150 Fast and Easy Recipes for Dining In The Man Cave

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? Please send it via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics and Investing:

What Happens When the Bond Markets Turn Against the US?

A Brief 2,000-Year History of Silver Prices (Thanks to Terry F. for the link.)

C.D.V. sent: Kyle Bass: “This Ends in War; The Government’s Never Going to Tell You That It’s Going To Happen.”

Items from The Economatrix:

Fiscal Cliff Could Put Your Tax Refund On Hold

Fewer Banks Fail As Industry Strengthens

Fiscal Cliff:  What To Expect If There Is No Deal

Odds ‘n Sods:

First Detailed National Map of Land-Cover Vegetation in U.S. (Thanks to Timothy B. for the link.)

   o o o

Sale ends December 31st! Ready Made Resources has extended their special pricing on genuine full mil-spec AN/PVS-14 Gen 3+ night vision scopes. They are offering these “grade A” autogated scopes with a free Picatinny rail weapons mount, free shutter eyepiece and free shipping. As usual, these include a head mount and carry case. These have a five year warranty and free annual maintenance for five years. Normally $3,895, these are on sale for $2,795 with free shipping. FWIW, I recently bought a second one of these monoculars for our use here at the Rawles Ranch. (After all, “Two is one and one is none.”)

   o o o

Nearly 200 Utah Teachers, School Workers Attend Free Concealed Weapons Class

   o o o

K.A.F. sent this news from Nanny State Britannia: British Medical Journal: Ban Long Knives

   o o o

How to Zero your AR15 / M4. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Health, love and peace be all here in this place
By your leave we shall sing, concerning our King.
Our King is well-dressed in silks of the best
In ribbons so rare no king can compare.
We have travelled many miles over hedges and stiles,
In search of our King unto you we bring.
We have powder and shot to conquer the lot,
We have cannon and ball to conquer them all.
Old Christmas is past, twelve tide is the last
And we bid you adieu, great joy to the new.” – Lyrics to The King (as sung by Steeleye Span and later popularized by Loreena McKennitt)

Notes from JWR:

December 30th is the birthday of Rudyard Kipling, in 1865.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 44 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. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. 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, 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 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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 Talk to Your Spouse About Prepping: The Sliding Scale of Possibilities, by Mr. Reasonable Ohio

I’d like to thank JWR and all of you for providing such a mountain of good information!  I am in my 30’s and have a family with several small children in the suburbs, and just started prepping about 18 months ago.  I don’t remember the details of why I got started exactly.  It just came up in conversation with a couple of friends of mine and we got serious about it.

I do remember, however, some of the events and conversations that took place to get my wife involved (I mean…at least get her permission!) and so I thought I would share it with you.  Maybe there is another person out there that is interested in being prepared, but doesn’t know how to approach his or her spouse.
I am in finance and my wife was in accounting before we had children, so we both think of things very logically and practically.  (Or at least we enjoy thinking that we do)  So, when I explained to my wife my desire to “be prepared” I used two events to my advantage:

1 – In September 2008 Hurricane Ike slammed into the United States down south and then pushed north inland causing $7.8 billion in damages, killing hundreds, and causing power outages for hundreds of thousands.  My area lost power for a couple of days, but my wife and I were both working at the time and neither of us lost power at work for very long.  Curiously, our block including us were without power for 8 days, while all the houses around our block had the power turned back on after 24-48 hours.  The power company was simply working on highest priorities, and we weren’t one of them.  Fortunately, we didn’t have kids and we could go to work and visit friends who had power, so it wasn’t a big deal.  We gave away what was in the freezer because we didn’t know what else to do with it.  I visited the local store for batteries and such, but it was all gone.  Again, not a big deal.  We had a few yummy-smelling candles and a few spare batteries lying around.

2 – Last winter we had rain for a few days, which became freezing rain, which then just became bitterly cold and frozen everywhere.  It was so beautiful!!!  It was also treacherous.  We have a steep driveway and when I went out to start the car for work I slid (while standing) all the way down the driveway and then fell into the street…sliding all the way into the street.  Thankfully, I didn’t break anything and no cars were coming.  If there were they would not have been able to stop.  I went into work and didn’t notice until later that there was blood dripping from inside of my pants.  I was cut up pretty bad and bruised for probably two weeks.  I’m also certain I was very, very close to breaking my hip or leg.  It hurt very badly!  By the time I made it home and went to the grocery store, there were few batteries and there was absolutely no salt.

Fast forward to 18 months ago and on up to today.  I now have several small children and my wife stays at home with them.  My youngest is a couple months old and I can NOT afford to lose heat in the winter.  Going without power at home would be a severe inconvenience.  And, surfing my driveway is not something that I’d ever like to do again.
So, after the kids were asleep and after warning her I wanted to talk to her about something, I approached my wife with a perspective something like this:
When I think of events or bad things that could happen to us, I see a sliding scale of possibilities.  On the one hand, we have lost power for 8 days before.  Also, I have slipped on the ice in the driveway and been severely hurt.  On one end we have a Jesus Apocalypse and he takes us home!  In between, there are threats of varying degree.  Maybe it would look something like this:

THE SLIDING SCALE OF POSSIBILITIES

MORE LIKELY
Rapture – Definitely going to happen!  Do you know Christ?  Does He know you?
Ice Storm
Power Outage
No Water
Fire, tornado, flooding
Rioting or Civil Unrest
Injury or illness (no income for period of time)
Natural death (no income for family)
Outbreak (it’s happened before!  The first flu virus killed more people than the war!)
Nuclear Meltdown (do you know how many nuclear power plants we have in the U.S.?  Ever heard of Chernobyl?  How about Japan in 2011?)
War on domestic soil
EMP/Chemical/Nuclear Attack
Rapture – Still going to happen!  Not sure when though?

LESS LIKELY
So, I explained this sliding scale to her.  Change the sliding scale to reflect additional possibilities for your area (earthquake, tsunami, flood, volcano, hurricane, proximity to nuclear power plants, family situation)  Some of them are very likely to occur and some of them are absolutely absurd.  Some of them are more or less severe.  I do not think that I will die within the next 20 years, but if I do, I have a large term life insurance policy that helps me sleep at night and my wife knows the ONLY person that I trust to help her financially if I die.  That person is in her cell phone and we have had a mock “Hubby is dead.  Now what?” meeting because I absolutely demanded it.  Sorry, but I’m a financial advisor by trade.  The thought drives me mad that she wouldn’t know what to do when I’m gone or someone would bamboozle her into doing something foolish with the money.  I’ve also inoculated her against various financial instruments that I think are more about the advisor being greedy than it being good for the client!

…back on track.  So on the More Likely end I want to go out and get some salt for the driveway.  I’d like to get some spare batteries and flashlight bulbs and candles in case the power goes out.  I’d like to get a cheap kerosene heater and some kerosene in case the heat goes out because we have little ones.
We’re not being crazy.  We’re just being smart.  The next time the power goes out we’ve seen multiple times now that it’s too late to buy batteries!  When there is an ice storm it is too late to buy salt!

So, in 18 months’ time on a modest income for a family with several small children, I’ve tried to be very strategic with my purchases because I can’t just go buy everything out there that I want.  Also, I started this venture explaining to my wife how very, extremely, yet simply reasonable I was being.  Many of you are probably locked and loaded and lardered but others of you have yet to get started.  I went searching around online and found this list: http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm and started from there.
From nothing, now we have:
6 buckets (for all sorts of things including toilet)
A few axes and hatchets
Tons of batteries, candles, extra flashlights, and extra bulbs
Kerosene heater and 10 gallons of kerosene (in the detached shed)
20 gallons of gasoline with stabilizer in it (in the detached shed)
Several boxes worth of non-perishable canned and jarred goods from the store (it’s what I first started with as far as food is concerned…but it will go bad throughout 2013-2014)
360 servings of www.preparewise.com food.  You can get a sample pack first.  You can also substitute meals you don’t like for ones that you do.  I took out spicy foods and added a few extra gluten-free.  We have a friend that can’t eat gluten so in the event that we take on refugees…   This was very expensive and I only recently bought it, but I know that since it lasts for 25 years it is actually the cheapest over time.

I’m writing this on 12/14/2012. In the event that people are idiots on 12/21 I went ahead and grabbed the next 6 weeks’ worth of non-perishables that I would normally buy in the store that we WILL USE and put them in boxes in the garage.  I just walked the aisles and grabbed things that I KNOW will be on the next 6 weeks of grocery lists.
So as far as food is concerned I think I probably have 3-4 months saved up so far for my family.  Less with feeding friends or refugees.
A big berkey water filter – http://www.bigberkeywaterfilters.com/
2 Water bob’s – http://www.waterbob.com/Welcome.do for our 2 tubs
Several bags of salt for the driveway
A few guns and about 4,000 rounds of ammo (the ammo was bought slowly over time whenever I get groceries and I also made one major purchase online with a friend)
Two-way radios

I also have plans to move to a friend’s farm if necessary for food.  I have plans to hole-up with another friend that lives a few blocks away if necessary for security.  I’ve spoken to 5 families and my parents who are all like-minded and have talked about supporting each other if something bad happens.

All of these purchases (with the exception of the excess quantity of ammo) are all very easily explained as to what they would be useful for.  They are extremely practical and would be helpful if we lost access to power, water, or food.  My wife says she doesn’t like talking about this stuff and it makes her feel a sense of panic.  However, she’s glad that I’m doing something and knows that I desire to help and protect the family.  She’s given me a designated survival pallet in the garage!  I also have some space upstairs in the office.  The guns and ammo HAVE to be locked away, but with small kids I’m totally fine with that.

I’m not ready for the apocalypse.  I do, however, have a loving spouse that understands what I’m doing and I am ready for the power to go out on us.  I’m ready for an ice storm.  I’m ready if we lose water in the house as long as I can get to the river nearby.  I don’t need to worry if there’s a long line at the gas station.  I don’t need to worry if we lose heat in the middle of winter.
I hope that this will help someone else who is now like I was 18 months ago starting from Square One.  I hope that this will help you talk to someone, using the Sliding Scale of Possibilities, and get them to understand that you’re simply “Being Prepared” as the Boy Scouts say.  If you can’t explain it, maybe you can show this article to your loved one and just ask them for their thoughts and feedback?

Thank you all, again, for giving me so many ideas and so much good information!!!  This is by far the best survivalist blog I’ve found on the Internet.  (and I’m a 7th Degree Google Ninja)
Grace & Peace in Christ, – Mr. Reasonable Ohio

Letter Re: Observations on Bugging Out By Foot

Dear Captain Rawles,
Thank you for your fascinating web site!

I found the article entitled, “Observations on Bugging Out By Foot, by J. Smith” to be generally interesting and useful with his shared experiences.  Three items within the article bothered me somewhat and you had an editor’s note on at least one of them.

I think that using a plastic fake gun and some M-80s to simulate firing will get you killed or at least arrested.  If you are stealthy enough in your travels, you shouldn’t need to brandish a weapon.  Perhaps carrying a take down .22 rifle in your pack would be a better idea.  At least you can hunt some with it.

That takes me to my second point.  Scrounging in some farmer’s field could get you shot or arrested for trespassing.  I feel it would be better to try to speak with the property owner first and get permission.  Heck, who knows, he might give you temporary housing and job that pays money of some kind, plus feed you too!

Having a fishing/hunting license for the state your in will save you some questions from a game warden.  Here in Texas, both a fishing license and hunting license combo is fairly inexpensive.  You’ll need the hunting license to gig frogs along with snaring rabbits (no seasonal limits) and squirrels (sporadic seasonal limits).  Fishing with a pole and line is just about legal anywhere and using trot lines and bank lines is generally acceptable but not everywhere.  Fishing gear can double as snare gear too!  Also, a book on your state’s edible plants would be a good addition to your kit.

Lastly, drinking wild water could be a major health issue.  I’m glad J. Smith didn’t get sick from doing that and also glad that he recommends against that.

However, all in all, I did enjoy the article.  I found it useful with my thinking process on the subject.  

Cordially, – Steve H.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"High noon behind the tamarisks,
The sun is hot above us.
As at home the Christmas Day is breaking wan,
They will drink our health at dinner,
Those who tell us how they love us,
And forget us till another year be gone!" – Rudyard Kipling, Christmas in India

Notes from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 44 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. and G.) A $200 gift certificate, donated by Shelf Reliance.

Second Prize: A.) 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. 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, 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 44 ends on January 31st, 2013, 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.

Is the Average US Soldier Prepared for TEOTWAWKI? by S.A.

They are not personally prepared at all. The average soldier is no more prepared than the average civilian.

If this is a concern (you live by a military installation), a curiosity (you have a relative that serves), or if you just want a glimpse of military life, let me tell you why the average soldier is not personally prepared.  I must first establish my credibility.   

I have a BA degree from a major university, and various civilian job experiences under my belt, mostly in food service and then social services.  I am an older soldier, low ranking on the totem pole. I am a truck driver in the US Army, and on the front lines where the rubber meets the road so to say.    As in all the clichés, I joined the Army to serve my country and learn about the Armed Forces, but somewhat selfishly, I joined also to learn about first aid, shooting, field sanitation, and the plethora of training that many a survivalist craves and practices, not only gaining these valuable skills for free, but getting paid to learn them.  I have been in the Army for four years, and I was into preparing for TEOTWAWKI years before I enlisted.  I have deployed twice, with many a mission outside-the-wire.

Bird Flu was my gateway drug into the prepper/survivalist community.  Upon discovering this new reality that things can and will go south, I was on the zombie apocalypse bandwagon for a long time.  I still enjoy the movies and the books. The reasoning was “if you are prepared for zombies, you are prepared for anything”, and if you want a lighthearted icebreaker to discuss prepping, zombie talk will break it.  In the Army, arguing all things undead is a fun way to pass the hours and hours of hurry up and wait, in between the rock throwing and myriad one-uppers.  Early on in this stint of national service, I would talk about zombies and survivalism a lot. I was under the impression that the Army was full of preppers and survivalists. I was deployed straight out of AIT, and saw very little of my wife and kids for my first year and a half of service, so SHTF scenarios that would be natural conversations in my own family continued as daily conversations in my surrogate family.  I soon found out that there was very little interest in prepping, but fortunately, while breaching OPSEC in an effort to convince others about the benefits of preps, soldiers PCS and ETS, and those I stand beside now are completely different soldiers than those I stood beside early on.     

The military has higher rates of suicide and divorce than the general population.  This is an unfortunate reality.  You might think they also have higher rates of preppers/survivalists than the general population.  This is an understandable misconception.  If we assume only 1% to 5% of the civilian masses are preppers, IMHO, no more than 1% to 5% of military are preppers as well.  In this essay, I will discuss the various barriers to an individual soldier’s personal preparedness, and I will discuss various categories of personal preparedness in relation to the average soldier. This is important information because maybe you have stereotypes of the average soldier and the military in general, maybe you have contingencies incorporating the military in one way or another, or maybe your feel scared and threatened, neutral and unaware, or secure and reassured by the military and the men and women in uniform.

There are indeed various barriers to prepping.  These barriers for soldiers at times are unique, and at times mirror the barriers for the general population.  The barriers discussed here are money and complacency/laziness.

Money is one of the single most important barriers to prepping, and affects everybody regardless if you are in uniform or not.  Military pay is different than civilian pay.  Military pay is made up of Base Pay and Entitlements.  Entitlements are pay for things like base allowance for housing (BAH) and groceries, called base allowance for subsistence (BAS).  Money doesn’t have to be a barrier for the military family, but it is a great barrier to prepping that affects soldiers in different ways.   

Take for instance the young, single (unmarried) soldiers.  The single soldier receives his entitlement for housing, and each month that money is taken away (canceling each other out) and he is provided with a furnished barracks room.  Rooms nowadays are actually nicer than my college dorm room!  More like suites, where you have your own little room, but share a bathroom and kitchen with only one other soldier.  However, many single soldiers choose to not live in the barracks, and go in together on a lease at an apartment or rental house off-post.  So soldiers are paying for housing already, in lieu of directly receiving the BAH, but on top of that, they are using their discretionary income to pay for even more housing because they choose not to stay in their barracks room.  It gets worse when it comes to filling the belly.  Single soldiers are given BAS each month, but the military takes back the money every month because they are provided with a meal card.  The meal card entitles single soldiers to eat three very nice meals a day in the military cafeterias (DFAC), with food so varied that the average American comes nowhere close to eating that well.  And if you went out and bought the type of variety the soldiers can eat in the DFAC, it would cost a small fortune.  But the single soldier does not take advantage of this, and therefore eats out nearly every meal, or buys groceries and cooks nearly every meal.  So you have a soldier who is spending their discretionary money not only on housing, but also on food, when the housing and food is essentially prepaid.

Married Soldiers don’t get off easy either.  Divorce rates in the military are higher than in the civilian world.  Paying for divorces and paying for child support is not uncommon.  Family, when not in it for love/spirituality and when not in it for the long run, can be very expensive.  Expensive to get into, and expensive to get out of.  And often times, it is near impossible for the wife to work.  This is why they are called “Army Wives”.  That is their profession.  Soldiers work 24/7, it just depends what your specific task is at any given moment.  Could be PT, could be working in the motor pool, but it could also be relaxing or sleeping.  Point is, you are never really off, and in conjunction with field exercises, 24 hour duty rotations, early mornings and long days, a soldier’s schedule is in constant ebb and flow, and this means the wife primarily must be the anchor keeping the house together – cleaning, cooking, rearing the children, and the like.  One income households can prosper and prepping can be achieved, just as single soldiers can save money and prepare themselves if they wanted too, but soldiers are humans, and herein lays the other problem relating to money:   

Just like civilian life, soldiers balance financial issues similar to what civilians do, and maybe even more so.  Debt and vices rear their ugly head on soldiers like shoppers ready to stampede Wal-Mart on Black Friday.  There is comfort and reassurance in getting paid on the first and fifteenth of every month, and once the wheels of short term satisfaction and instant gratification start turning, they are hard to brake.  Let’s talk about debt.  And just one form of debt on top of that – the quintessential American car loan.  In my time in the Army, I have come to learn that not only does the average soldier spend a lot more on accessories and upgrades to their vehicles than the general population, it is not uncommon to have a $600/month car note to finance the endeavor, with 10% to 18% interest rates, and an insurance premium to high to pay at once, creating monthly bills in excess of $150.  Furthermore, there is an unspoken rule of ego propping in the Army.  Hence the perceived need for having the brand new Jeep Wrangler “Call of Duty” edition with the heavy duty Warn winch sporting hard, soft and bikini tops at will, even though it will never go off road, or having the brand new Dodge Charger with low profile tires hugging for dear life on 26″ rims, with more than one TV screen for every potential passenger, and a stereo system so loud it could be used for a block party.  Money wasted, preps foregone.  Vices would be another avenue of lost income when it comes to the average soldier.  Drinking, smoking and dipping usage is higher per capita in the military than it is in the civilian world, not to mention daily stops at the gas station for energy drinks and snacks.  All this adds up to little left over at the end of the month to put into food reserves, gold and silver coin, and an ample water supply. 

In addition to the money barrier, there is the complacency barrier.  Complacency about work load is a start.  Think of how you drive through a construction zone and there is one guy shoveling and six guys standing around him.  Well, same holds true in the Army.  20% of the workers do 80% of the work.  Thus we have an attitude that someone else will do it.  That is complacency my friends.  Another type of complacency that is found in the civilian world but amplified in the army is the “government will take care of me” attitude.  Well, guess what, soldiers are in that government, and if you have ever been deployed, you know that getting taken care of is no easy task even in the best situations.  Sure, supply and resupply works great now.  But just-in-time on an industrial scale gives soldiers a false sense of hope.  Complacency sets in similar to the way a corporate hamster wheeler gets his pink slip.  He thinks, “This can never happen to me”.  Well, it just did.

Now that we have discussed some of the barriers to preparedness, we need to look at different categories of preps to analyze why and how the average soldier is just not prepared.  Let’s start with the tried and true survivalist doctrine that skills are more important than stuff.  This is true.  But let’s look at skills from an individual soldier’s perspective. 

The soldier has a primary job, called a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).  I am a truck driver.  I have expert skills in this field.  I can secure an M1 Abrams Tank to a trailer that has 40 wheels and tires on it, and haul it off into the sunset.  I can pick up shipping containers and drop them wherever they are needed.  I can run convoys and react to ambushes, roadside bombs, breakdowns and the like.  I can do these things because that is my job in the Army, and I would hope everybody was competent and proficient in their job.  So the soldier has a primary skill at which they excel, which is great as far as preps go, but all the other cool army stuff that makes its way into movies – commo, land navigation, shooting, kicking in doors, treating casualties on the battle field, etc, are trained on in limited scope, and even more importantly, are perishable skills, meaning they are “use ’em or lose ’em” skills.

If you don’t get out and get try to find your way around the desert or through the woods with a map and a compass on a regular basis, you will be hurting in a stressful environment.  If you don’t practice improvising a tourniquet on a regular basis, time will be against you in the heat of the moment.  If only go to the range once or twice a year, you are not shooting to your potential.  If you don’t fill radios and sync with power, time, antennas, and the like, you will be chatting only with yourself.  This is where the average soldier could have a great deal of skills, but in general, loses on such great opportunities.  Take map reading and land navigation as an example.  This skill is often done in teams, but since the 20/80 rule applies, there is usually one or two that are good at it and do the work for the team, while the others don’t want to learn and just tag along to finish the training.  Sad but true.

Physical Fitness is an individual skill and is another aspect of preparedness that is very important yet often over looked.  One naturally assumes that since they are soldiers, they are physically fit.  Well, sort of, but there is more to it than that.  Soldiers have to be in shape or they will lose their job.  Period. Point blank.  I have seen soldiers kicked out of the Army for not being able to pass a PT test, and I have seen soldiers kicked out of the Army for being overweight.  If you don’t want to be jobless, there is a strong incentive to performing physically.  But how difficult is the PT test really?  Its two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups, and a two mile run.  If you are generally in shape and not overweight, it is not difficult to pass.  So soldiers are not the superhuman-athlete types that are often perceived.  What you have is multitudes of young men and women, not too far out of high school or college, who should be and generally are in decent shape and health.  But they are still in their late teens and early twenties.  Energy is abundant and in excess for them.  It really is a young person’s Army.  Furthermore, the Army has been changing the PT program for years in the making now, and for years a principle focus was on establishing a new PT test which was more difficult, and guess what happened to that idea?  Scrapped.  Soldiers couldn’t pass it.  And if soldier’s are physically fit as they should be, that does not mean they are willing to do the work that needs to be done when the SHTF.  Laziness can affect anybody, hard bodies included, and it is a self inflicted hindrance upon accomplishing work.  One time I needed help moving a heavy crate off the top of a flatbed trailer, and I asked a soldier who was rather buff and built, but inherently lazy.  He performs his job with only the bare minimum of effort to get by, he prefers to live in the gym, and when I asked him to help move the crate, the reply was “this is just for show”, in reference to his body builder physique.  

Weapons and shooting is also an individual prep and skill.  Most of the Army is not combat arms.  They are not out and about kicking in doors, detaining enemy POWs, throwing grenades and generally causing mayhem and destruction.  This means that for the rest of us, we probably visit a range once a year, a couple times a year if we are lucky.  In comparison, there are varying numbers but it is safe to say that anywhere between 20% – 50% of American households own guns, and many individuals go shoot them regularly.  Your average soldier has an assigned weapon, usually an M16 or and M4, that is locked inside a cage which is locked inside a secured arms vault, which is locked inside a secured building.  Point being that while our primary role is protecting the good ‘ole US of A, force multipliers, advanced weaponry and effective and efficient soldiers have changed the role and scope of the modern Army dramatically, and one of the consequences has been a lessening in the amount of range time slotted.  And what about soldiers privately owning and storing guns and ammunition at home?  Maybe, maybe not.  Where this would be in line with the average civilian household owning guns, the questions can go like this – how many guns do they have, do they have a sufficient supply of ammunition, and are they training regularly using those weapons?  When it comes to defense, offense, and things that go “bang”, the average soldier is really no more prepared than the average civilian.

What about food reserves?  This is directly in line with the assumption that the overwhelming vast majority of civilians are not prepared for a short term or long term disaster and neither is the average soldier.  Sufficient food in storage is paramount, and one of the main pillars in the foundation of prepping.  The average soldier has no more food on hand than the average civilian.  Furthermore, the average soldier probably even has less, because as soldiers move around to different posts, they are allowed only a certain amount of weight for their household goods, and more often than not, soldiers end up giving away food from their pantries, not only to lessen the weight they are moving but also because its more convenient to just give it away then deal with it (i.e. complacency/lazy).   

So what we have in society is the same as what we have in the military as well.  People will always take the easy way out, instead of going down the road less traveled.  The same reactions to prepping that you find in the civilian world are just as prevalent in the military.  For example, the classic, “well, if anything happens I’ll just come over to your house” excuse has been said to me time and time again, back when I was early on in my time of national service.  Attitudes like these are unfortunately what helped convince me to be less extroverted and more introverted, in the sense of community.  It also has left me kind of bittersweet with my opinion of soldiers and their personal level of readiness, especially now that I have had some time in the Army and experiences to reinforce that feeling.  I mean, really, you are a US Army Truck Driver and you don’t even carry a flashlight or multitool, knowing you will use both of them almost every single day?  And they were even issued to you and often times gifted to you courtesy of your unit’s discretionary funds!  Incredible.  Just incredible.  The golden opportunity for people to prepare their families for an unknown unfortunate event that will happen sooner or later, and they fail to seize the day.  

Personal preparedness is a responsibility for all people and all families, and sadly, we know that the average American family is not personally prepared for a rainy day, much less a stormy day.  Unfortunately, we also know that the average US Soldier is not personally prepared either.  If you have selfishly thought of taking your family to your Army cousin’s house during some Schumeresque event because you think he is prepared, that could be a great mistake at best, and likewise, your Army cousin might just show up with his family at your house looking for food and shelter, because he has not prepared for his family and thinks you might be one of them “preppers”.  And finally, if you not only want to learn skills that are paramount in the life of a survivalist/prepper, but get paid to learn those skills, take it from me, the military has served me well in that department, and you get to serve your country and be part of something bigger than you in the process.