Economics and Investing:

In case you missed this: MIT Predicts Half of Humanity to Be Culled in Post-Industrial Crash

Debasement ahead! Treasury to Cut Costs by Remaking Coins, Replacing Paper. Have you got your nickels stacked up? (A hat tip to Sue W. in Idaho, the first of several readers to send the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

The Dollars Demise:  Has It Arrived At This?

A Wicked Financial Storm Descends On America

Dueling Economic Banjos Offer No Deliverance

US Expects Drivers to Pay 24 Cents More for Gallon of Gas this Summer

Odds ‘n Sods:

K.A.F. sent this news headline from inside the American Redoubt: Where should the buffalo roam? Tribes, ranchers battle over bison relocation

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SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this: The ugly battle between rural residents and alternative energy mandates in California

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A fog of drugs and war

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Government Surveillance Crackdown on Internet Goes into Overdrive

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Jonathan B. sent this tale of a bad day in Nashville: Man allegedly commits 10 felonies in 9 hours. Is this a little glimpse of what will happen in a grid-down Crunch, when hardened criminals recognize a vacuum in law enforcement?

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"…a national revenue must be obtained; but the system must be such a one, that, while it secures the object of revenue it shall not be oppressive to our constituents." – President James Madison

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 $275 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. 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.

Change Your Mind, Save Your Life, by Marc P.

Apocalypse: en route or ongoing? I won’t argue whether something terrible will happen. It’s a flawed premise. Something terrible is already happening, just not where your computer is plugged in. It is not necessary for the entire planet to be threatened for a single region to be thrown into chaos. It wasn’t necessary for the whole state of Louisiana to be in peril before New Orleans turned medieval after Katrina. The mistake in logic occurs with the base assumption that a survival scenario is the end game. If that’s your assumption, there’s no need for extensive preparations. All you can hope to do is postpone the inevitable. For the rest of us, disaster will bring about a dire, though temporary state of more primitive living conditions. It’s temporary because we are working to make sure it doesn’t last. Everyone’s survival objective should be to rebuild and sustain. Adapt does not mean devolve.

Civilization is usually restored in a matter of months after the most catastrophic disaster. Push that period of primitive lawlessness out to several years and you’ll get no argument from me. What I’m talking about is realigning your survival paradigm with the realm of the probable. You will never be prepared for everything possible, and you will probably never hunt feral cats with a bow in a radioactive ash storm. Even if you do, I submit there is no conceivable way to prepare yourself for that eventuality while maintaining a tolerable existence in the pre-apocalyptic world. It makes more sense to concentrate on the remaining 99-point-something-percent likely scenarios which, combined, will take 4,000% less preparation and worry. This paradigm shift takes about as much time as reading this article.

Still not sold? Well, I still won’t argue. Please see Robert Heinlein’s quote about teaching pigs to sing. But let’s assume you recognize the benefit in an approach based on overwhelming probability. I’m going to reward you with the single biggest life saving strategy you will acquire this year, and it costs nothing. In fact, it’s going to save you money. Ready? Stay home.

You heard me. Don’t go anywhere. Metaphoric pause inserted here to allow for knee jerk reactions. Someone exclaims, “I’m not staying in this city!” Another asks, “Why should we listen to this guy, anyway?” And that’s a reasonable question.

As a rescue technician, I’m qualified in high angle (dangling from a rope), trench, excavation, and underwater environments, as well as vehicle extrication, wilderness search and rescue, confined space safety and response, unexploded ordnance (bombs), mine fields, and HazMat operations. There are very few rescue scenarios I have not trained on, drilled on, commanded, or otherwise participated in. The rescuer’s creed is simple. I am the most important person on the scene, my partner is second, and the victim is third. This means I am primarily trained to keep myself and my team safe while we do all we can for someone else. Or, survival, for short.

What I am not: I may be the only survival expert who was never associated with the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. Quite frankly, if you are getting all your survival tips from a SEAL Team member or any other individual whose primary qualification is combat experience, then you fall into the threat category for the rest of us. I dig special ops as much as the next guy, but they are trained to kill people. At night. With suppressed automatic weapons, helicopters and Zodiac boats. Is killing really that big a part of your overall plan? Or, do you envision saving yourself and your loved ones from the perils of a disaster-stricken city or suburb when additional resources may be hours or even days away? Because that’s what I do on a regular basis.

What I don’t often get a chance to do is speak to people before trouble finds them and explain how to best avoid becoming a victim in the first place. This information is hard won, paid for in some cases with life itself, and not the product of idle web surfing. I hope it strikes a chord with someone. I hope never to see you in need of rescue. That’s a result that benefits us both.

Here, I’ve enumerated the reasons for staying in or near your home (what we call “sheltering in place”) as opposed to immediately fleeing to an alternate location when disaster strikes. Do not lament any bug out preparations you have made or might be in the process of making. Survival is first and foremost a matter of options – having them, realizing them, and implementing them. If you can afford a subterranean bunker and it makes you sleep better at night, knock yourself out. Can’t hurt, right? I’m simply saying, in the most probable survival scenarios, the greatest number of us stand the greatest chance of helping ourselves by shifting the bug out option down the list a bit. For the vast majority of people who do not have bunkers, piling into the truck and heading for the hills is a very bad first option. And here’s why:

1.) The more familiar you are with your surroundings, the better your chances of long-term survival. All else equal, meaning your immediate surroundings aren’t grossly contaminated, you will live longer in the neighborhood where you’ve spent the last ten years than you will in the forest. Yes, this takes into account roaming bands of armed thugs. Yes, it’s true even if you’ve found the last virgin wilderness where the ground is fertile and game abounds. There is no substitute for, nor any advantage that trumps a thorough knowledge of your surroundings. You can “feel” when something is not right in your neighborhood. That’s because it is your habitat. In the best of conditions, animals struggle outside their habitat

2.) You will need support. Because you can’t anticipate every eventuality, you will not know from whom, or from where, aid might come. When you flee the worst of human nature, you also hide from the best. Okay, you may discount completely the kindness of your neighbor, but are you going to ignore the benefit of trading with him when supply caches are lopsided? And what about when your interests align with his? When, for example, those armed thugs show up, they won’t be coming just for what’s in your house. They’ll be going door to door. You will suddenly discover allies all around you and it will have nothing to do with philanthropy or humanitarian principles.

3.) Have you ever heard, “Train how we fight, and fight how we train”? It’s an accepted strategy by now, from athletics to the armed forces. You will perform in the same manner you practiced. This holds true for your environs. Football isn’t practiced on a soccer field just as jungle warfare techniques aren’t honed in alpine forests. The better you know your surroundings, the better able you are to use them to your advantage. Near your house, you already know which streets are dead-ends, which drainage and choke points to avoid, where the nasty dogs are, and you know all routes from there to everywhere else in a 20 mile radius. Unless you are at least that familiar with your bug out location and spend at least half your time there, you are safer at home. Note: companies like onPoint Tactical offer urban survival courses customized to most metropolitan areas. Check for one where you live and improve upon your turf advantage instead of trying to learn new terrain.

4.) After shelter and food, your psychological well being is the most important factor in your survival. I cannot overstate the importance of your surroundings on your psyche. All of those familiar, comforting belongings that you cannot pack in a go bag will make the difference in morale when things get really tough. These morale stabilizers will translate to poise in the face of extraordinary circumstances, when every decision matters. But let’s say you’ve adopted the Spartan lifestyle and everything you own already fits into that go bag. My question to you is, why defend any ground at all? Find yourself a mule and go nomad. Most of us social animals, however, need our territory. And the psychological benefit we derive from home territory – the home field advantage, in other words – is no myth. It reminds us what we’re struggling to preserve.

5.) If you have put any thought into a remote shelter, you have grappled with the problem of supply. Everything from food to first aid and farm implements must be transported there and stored there. You probably already have all this stuff at home. Consider how much easier it would be to simply increase your stores in that one location. You can maintain equipment in your garage. Rotate fuel and food into consumption before it expires and replace it with fresh goods. Keep your medicine and vitamins in the refrigerator that’s already running and extend their shelf lives. Yard not good for growing things? Let the dog poop somewhere else and rehabilitate your soil. Take the money you would have spent driving to your remote shelter on a monthly basis and construct some raised vegetable beds. Start a compost heap. Raise fruit trees and perennial crops now instead of depending on your ability to learn this skill under life and death pressure.

6.) There will be an “after”. There may be several. Hollywood is largely responsible for our warped vision of a post-apocalypse world. They share the blame with unscrupulous fear merchants and a several religious sects. Disaster and ruin are not end states. Ever. Populations regenerate and societies rebuild. That means that there were more than a few people left after every catastrophic occurrence in history, and there have been some big ones. What has happened before will happen again, including the healing process. What kind of shape would you expect your property to be in after you abandoned it to looters and the elements for a few months? What if, instead of a single big bang Hollywood style disaster, a much more likely succession of smaller disasters strike? You have the option to weather them one at a time and rehabilitate in between, or isolate yourself at the onset and forsake your home. The latter could well prove to be an irreversible decision.

There are more reasons than I’ve given here – some technical, some the lesser of two evils – but I’m hoping this is sufficient to compel many readers to pause and consider the basis for their assumptions. If something about your plan of action is troubling you and you can’t quite get a handle on it; if every problem you attempt to solve creates two new ones; if the amount of money, worry, and time you’re spending on this somehow doesn’t make sense, it’s because your premise is flawed. It’s likely you inherited someone else’s premise and didn’t ask the right questions of it. There’s time to do that now. Take another look at what you already have before buying anything new. Then get some qualified advice on how to maximize it.

The latest economic recession was, for thousands of people across our nation and millions worldwide, apocalyptic. Vast numbers of those people are still in survival mode. One of the benefits to being less severely impacted by this disaster is the unbelievably cheep expertise available to us on the open market. Security consultants, architects, builders, fire fighters, self defense specialists, farmers and firearm instructors (to mention a very few) are scouring the want ads for any kind of employment. Offer them a day’s wage to help educate you and your family. It’s money wisely spent because it helps you and it helps a skilled individual without a job. We will need those skilled people nearby when the worst comes to pass. This is symbiotic, community recovery without going all Kumbaya around a campfire. It is practical, sustainable, and it will serve you much better than an individualist approach. I promise.

So, my advice reiterated is this: ignore the microscopic possibilities and concentrate on some solvable problems. Learn to separate practical survival from movies and video games. Go back to the beginning and question everything. It’s not hard. It will make you feel better. It will save you money. It will save your life and possibly many others. Be safe out there.

Preparing to Prepare: a Financial Primer, by Just Scott

The most common reason given for not having preparations in place is lack of financial resources.  Considering the recent economic downturn combined with the large amount on consumer debt held by the average American household prior to the economic downturn that is not a surprising response.  For the past several decades Americans have burdened themselves with more and more debt.  We have fallen prey to the “buy now, pay later” mentality.  Each and every day we are inundated with marketing messages designed to make us feel like less of a person if we aren’t living in the right neighborhood, driving the right car or wearing the right watch, shoes, clothes or cologne.  Carrying yesterday’s cell phone?  How embarrassing.  Technology is literally moving faster than we can pay for it.  Buy the latest computer, cell phone or flat screen television and it is virtually obsolete in less than six months.  If you financed that must have purchase, six months later you haven’t even paid off the interest, let alone making a dent in the principal balance itself!
 
Planned obsolescence or the replacement buy cycle is being designed into the products we buy today like never before in history.  How long do you expect your flat screen television to last?  Compare that to how long your grandfather expected his television to last.  And there we are, buying it hook, line and sinker.  We never quite get the old item paid off before we take the plunge and buy (finance) the new toy.  We continue to dig ourselves deeper and deeper into debt until we reach a point where we are spending the bulk of our income merely servicing the debt on yesterday’s, now obsolete, purchases.  Sound familiar?
 
And then one day it happens.  While watching the news or chatting with our friends or co-workers the big picture just doesn’t make sense anymore and we realize how blind we have been and how easy it would be for the world as we know it to get turned upside down.  You experience your survival epiphany.  You are suddenly awake, aware, concerned and ready to start preparing.  But you don’t have the money to buy the essentials we need to survive.  So what can you do?
 
Well, if you are absolutely convinced that a world changing disaster or economic collapse is imminent then it’s hard to argue with a plan to whip out the credit card and immediately buy everything you need to survive.  Don’t worry about the payments, after all, who will be around to collect on that debt?  But on the off chance that everything is business as usual next week and you will have to pay up, then your first step towards preparing needs to be to get your finances under control.
 
Step 1.  Discovery.  Make two lists, one for income and one for expenses.  Look at your bank statements and credit card statements for the past several months and determine, really determine where your money is going.  As simple as it sounds, this step is the hardest step for most people.  Very few people want to do the work and face the results of such a detailed discovery.  This step can be especially hard when it includes a spouse or partner.  Be prepared to face avoidance, denial, fear, frustration, anger or even depression.  But you cannot skip this all important step.  This step is the very foundation that your entire plan will be built on.  There are only two ways to significantly improve your finances, make more or spend less.  Finding out exactly where you are on the income verses expense scale is essential to creating an Action Plan.
 
Step 2.  Create An Action Plan.  Once you know where your money is going, create a realistic plan for making financial progress.  Are you going to earn more or spend less?  How about both?  Can you skip the Mocha Frothy Latte on your way to work?  Can you make your lunch at home and bring it with you instead of eating out?  Could you do that just two days out of five?  Do you really need 350 High Definition television channels or can you get by with 150?  Can you work an extra shift, fill in for someone else or take those holiday hours no one else wants to work?  How about a part-time job?  Think small, start small.  Try to earn a few extra dollars here and cut a few dollars there.  It all adds up and before you know it you have an extra $50, $100 or more to work with each month.  Properly apply these found dollars and you will be amazed at how much progress you can make.
 
So what is the best way to apply these found dollars?  Are you going to use these dollars to immediately fund your prepping or are you going to take a longer view and eliminate all consumer debt and free up even more cash flow so an even larger sum can be redirected towards putting preparations in place?  If you decide to pursue a debt reduction plan, Suze Orman prefers you pay off the credit card with the highest interest rate first.  Dave Ramsey teaches the “snowball” method where you pay off the debt with the smallest balance first then roll that monthly payment over to the debt with the next lowest balance “snowballing” your way into making large monthly payment towards the targeted debt.  Both of them agree that you cannot borrow your way out of debt.  You must either make more or spend less.  An essential step in creating a plan will involve researching different strategies and philosophies to determine which method fits you best. 
 
Step 3.  Put Your Plan Into Action.  Creating a plan is great, actually putting that plan into action is the only way to see results.  Old habits are hard to break.  Be diligent but patient.  You are going to stumble but stick with it.  Accessing tools like direct deposit and auto draft might be a way to force yourself to remain disciplined.  Set aside specific days during the month when you are going to sit down and make payments, shift funds or whatever your plan calls for.  Make this a routine, a planned event and it will become a new habit.
 
Step 4.  Pay Attention.  Because old habits are hard to break, you have to regularly revisit Step 1 to make sure your Action Plan stays on track.  Many banks, credit unions and credit card companies offer free tracking tools to help you organize your expenditures into categories and generate reports that help you quickly see where you are spending your money.  Some people accomplish the same goal with a small notepad they keep in their pocket and write down everything they buy and how much that item costs.  Here again, find a method that works best for you.
 
Step 5.  Treat Yourself.  Once your Action Plan is in place and you have diligently followed the plan for several months, give yourself a small treat.  Skip the debt reduction plan for one month and make only the minimum payment due for that month.  Take the extra money you have been channeling towards debt reduction and buy that survival knife or high tech flashlight you’ve been drooling over, then get back to the plan.
 
Step 6.  Be Wary of Windfalls.  Are you expecting an Income Tax Refund or other periodic windfall?  Plan carefully in advance on how you are going to handle this windfall.  Having a large amount of non-recurring cash can make you feel rich.  A few unplanned purchases and it can disappear quickly.  In some cases, it can even lull you into buying an item on credit in advance of receiving the windfall with the intention of paying off this debt with the windfall then spending all of the windfall on something else and having the debt leftover.  Remember, you can only spend money once, even windfall money.
 
Step 7.  Review and Tweak.  Once you have an Action Plan in place and follow it for a period of time you will have to regularly review and change that plan to accommodate the progress you are making and life changes that come up along the way.  The process never stops.  Businesses review their Year End Financial Statements and create new Budget Projections each year, you should too.
 
Insider Tip:  The Internet can be a valuable resource.  There are numerous blogs pertaining to personal finances and debt reduction.  Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, AOL and other popular sites regularly publish articles pertaining to personal finance.  Your public library has dozens of books on the topic as well.  Personal Financial Coaches are becoming more popular and easier to find, some are even faith based and connected with your local church and offer their services for free.
 
Whether you want to buy more non-perishable food or buy that rural land up in the mountains, you need cash flow to turn that dream into a reality.  Make taking care of your personal finances your first step towards your survival readiness.

Two Letters Re: SHTF-Oriented Fitness and Martial Arts for a Middle-Aged Couch Potato

Mr. Rawles,
I’d like to throw in a different angle on SHTF-oriented fitness and martial arts.  A little over two years ago I felt the need to get back in shape, I remembered what I could do as a Marine in my early 20s (I’m in my mid 30s) and wanted to at least get within shouting distance of that.  Going to the gym solo just never worked for me.  So I started doing some research and came across Japanese Kendo — the modernized Samurai sword fighting sport.  The pros are many.  You don’t have to start in great shape or be flexible.  After the initial cost of equipment, it’s cheaper than any gym.  It’s a very long road to competency, even after two years I’m considered a beginner; in some strip-mall karate dojos I’d have a brown or black belt by now, this dynamic keeps the “yahoos” away and is really only attractive to serious people (I prefer serious people to yahoos any day).  You will get in great shape, especially after you start practicing in armor, I never got a workout like Kendo in the couple “hands and feet” martial arts I have done in the past.  The armor and uniform are heavy, and you’re swinging a bamboo sword (shinai) constantly.  My dress shirt sleeves stop a full inch short of where they did when I started Kendo, that’s attributable to gaining that much shoulder and back muscle.  Your abdomen and legs will get stronger too, all good core muscles.  I had poor wrist/grip strength from a previous sprained left wrist and a sprained right thumb and now I can shake hands with the best of them.  You’ll certainly need this muscle tone and endurance when the SHTF.

There are some cons of course.  Your body won’t be conditioned to run long distances from Kendo, you won’t add five inches to your biceps either.  You won’t learn five simple techniques to take someone out with your bare hands.  You’re not fighting in street clothes.  You will lose weight if you’re overweight, but it’s not the primary focus of Kendo.  It’s very traditional and the pace of learning will seem slow to most Americans.  Buying all of your equipment can easily be a $500-$700 one time cost.  You probably won’t find a Kendo dojo outside of a city.  Everything is with a sword which is probably not above rifles, shotguns, and handguns on your SHTF weapons list.  With that said I’d rather have a knife, sword, fireplace poker, etc than my bare hands and feet in a fight, plan accordingly!

One more plug:  If you live in the Seattle, Washington or Prescott, Arizona areas, then check out American Combato / Jen-Do-Tao.  This is one of those “5 simple techniques to take someone out with your bare hands” martial arts I mentioned above, it’s oriented specifically to real world situations.  I have not checked out the DVDs but did attend classes for over two years, it’s a fantastic self-defense oriented martial art. – J.S.

James,
As a long time martial arts student and instructor (28 years) I would like to welcome Dimitri G. back into the ranks.
Dealing with students both old and young always poses challenges but the real challenge comes in dealing with students that studied when they were young and then return with older bodies.
The main challenge is attitude. I do not challenge Dimitri’s attitude and sincerely respect him for his decisions and driving commitment. What I want to point out is how attitude changes with older students that may have had a bad experience while being the younger student
As I have learned and observed from witnessing myself and other students we all get old, our bodies break down, and we want to recapture the bravado of our youth.
The biggest lesson I have to keep learning as I age and keep teaching are the basics.
For me my basics fall in to three categories’ physical, mental, and skill.
These represent a foundation for me to age gracefully, grow old, and not be a grumpy old tough guy.
To help define how I look at each section:

Physical – “I also call these the three hardest things you will learn in the martial arts”
         How to walk
         How to fall down
         How to breathe

Mental
         How to realize I don’t have all the answers
         How to learn that education is a two way experience between teacher and student – we both learn and we both teach
         How to stay in touch with my peaceful side but still let my need to kick butt side lead when necessary
 
Skill
         Learning how to kick, block, punch, fall… are basic skills and need to be reinforced on a continues basis
         My physical fitness level will change with age and health so I must be willing to change my perspective, ways of training, and styles of striking to one of mastering the situation via mental and other skills.
         Education comes best from having someone play the leadership role; e.g. one man does not an island make – you can trade leadership roles within a group but the student teacher relationship is very important
 
Unfortunately Dimitri post alludes to the “colored belt factory” industry that is so prevalent in our U.S. culture. While good schools do exist they are fewer by number and are getting harder to locate. His recommendation to find private instruction is a good one to help someone who is coming back into the arts.
Another method is to locate a local martial arts store in your area and have a chat with the owner. They can be a wealth of knowledge in locating good teachers. And remember, you don’t necessarily want the teacher with all the stripes on their belt. Rather, you want the one that doesn’t care about all the stripes. – Old Man Karate

Economics and Investing:

Those derivatives again: JPMorgan’s massive CDS index position

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Gold crash on Fed tightening and euro salvation looks premature. (Thanks to J.B.G. for the link)

Penny Wise, or 2.4 Cents Foolish? (Thanks to Michael W. for the link.)

Northwest Territorial Mint (one of our advertisers) has announced very unusual special pricing on their own minted silver rounds and bars: Just 65 cents per ounce over spot. (That is about 1/2 of their normal markup.) This includes their Northwest Territorial Mint brand, the Pan American Silver Corp. (silver hammer), or the Stagecoach pre-scored divisible silve rounds and bars. This sale end on April 20th, so don’t delay.

Items from The Economatrix:

Gold Bugs – Keep an Eye on the Canadian Dollar to Keep Confidence

US Economic Crisis: “Subtle as a Train Wreck”

Dow, S&P Fall for Fifth Day

February Job Openings Rise to 3.5 Million

Oil Falls For Second Day in NY Trading; Brent Declines

Odds ‘n Sods:

The latest Range Rover Defender 4WD features a snorkel and fording sonar. (Thanks to James K. for the link.)

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The Swiss Jet Man gives a TED Talk. (I know, I know, it isn’t survival-related, but the am erstaunlichsten factor is off the scale.)

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Over at gCaptain: Big City Emergency – How to Bug Out at Sea

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A new preparedness discussion forum that looks useful: AlwaysPrepared.info. (Of course, all the usual privacy provisos for using forums apply.)

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F.G. mentioned a fascinating collection of Civil War photos.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"[M]y religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. [T]hat is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave."  – General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

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 $275 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. 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.

Entomophagy Diet Supplementation Options, by C.N.

“Entomophagy is the consumption of insects as food. Insects are eaten by many animals, but the term is generally used to refer to human consumption of insects; animals that eat insects are known as insectivores.” -Wikipedia

This subject is fairly arcane, so I’ll be relying on several authoritative sources, in fair use. I have attributed all quotes and have provided links to their sources. Please take the time to explore these web sites, for further detail on this subject.

Like it or not, you’ve probably eaten some in your life.  From Wikipedia:
“According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s The Food Defect Action Levels booklet. Contamination on the average of 150 or more insect fragments per 100 grams of wheat flour, or below poses no health hazard. Other example of the maximum permissible levels of insect contamination in food products for humans, contamination below which level, poses no health hazard, are:
– Canned sweet corn- 2 or more 3 mm or longer larvae, cast skins, larval or cast skin fragments, the aggregate length of insects or insect parts exceeds 12 mm in 24 pounds
– Canned citrus fruit juices – 5 or more Drosophila and other fly eggs per 250 ml or 1 or more maggots per 250 ml
– Wheat flour- Average of 150 or more insect fragments per 100 grams
– Frozen broccoli- Average of 60 or more aphids and/or thrips and/or mites per 100 grams
– Hops- Average of more than 2,500 aphids per 10 grams
– Ground thyme- Average of 925 or more insect fragments per 10 grams
– Ground nutmeg- Average of 100 or more insect fragments per 10 grams”
 
As gross as it may initially seem, it is actually estimated that about 80% of the global population consume insects on a regular basis. “In Algeria, many people consume desert locusts. To add extra flavour to the bugs they are soaked in salt water and roasted in the sun. Australian Aborigines eat Bogong moths they find in caves and in crevices of rocks. In order to remove the wings, legs, and heads of the moths, the Aborigines cook them in hot ashes and sand and sift them through a net. In Africa, some cultures eat fried termites and caterpillars for nutrition. In Mexico, insects are served in restaurants for a high price. Also Thailand and Columbia feature insects on the menu.” – From Ask The Exterminator
 
Although the U.N. advocates eating bugs as a way to feed the hungry and end “costly” farming, many of us would use this information as a last resort to starving to death. You’ve probably seen Les Stroud, or Bear Grylls eating bugs on their respective survival shows. I can tell you that it will be a long time before I can scrub from my mind the image of grub guts being splattered through clenched teeth. It really doesn’t have to be that graphic or repulsive. Insects can be prepared in ways much like our normal everyday foods which can help cut down on the ‘revolting’ factor.
 
First, a list of edible insects, courtesy of Girl Meets Bug:
“Agave worm, Carpenter ants, Lemon ants, Leafcutter ants, Honeypot ants, Bamboo worms, Bees, Cicada, Cockroach (not house ones), Cricket, Dragonfly, Dung beetle, Earthworms, Fly pupa, Flying ant, Grasshopper, Hornworm, Jumiles, June bugs, Locust, Louse, Mopane worm, Meal worm, Midge fly, Nsenene, Pill bug, Rhino beetle and grubs, Sago bug, Silk worm, Scorpion, Tarantula, Termites, Wasp, Walking stick, Water bug, Waxworm, Wichetty Grubs.” 
 
Bugs to Avoid -Courtesy of Chris Needham of Infolific.com
“Unfortunately, many of the bugs you come across shouldn’t be eaten even in a survival situation. Here are some guidelines for what to avoid.
       * Bugs that are generally associated with carrying diseases should not be eaten. This includes flies, mosquitoes, and ticks.
       * Some bugs use poison for capturing prey and for defense making them inedible so avoid centipedes, scorpions, and spiders.
       * As a general rule, bugs with fine hairs, bright colors, or eight or more legs are off limits.

You can actually sustain yourself quite well with bugs so give them serious consideration when you’re otherwise without food and trying to survive in the wilderness. They have the additional benefits over animals and fish of being plentiful, not requiring traps, and needing little preparation before they can be consumed.”
 
*”Warning: Although many insects are edible, entomophagy poses some risks. If you are allergic to shrimp, shellfish, dust, or chocolate, never eat an insect. Even the non-allergic, unless in a survival situation, should never eat a raw insect. Certain insects store compounds that make some people sick; some are poisonous; others may be carcinogenic. Be as cautious with insects as you would be if you were gathering mushrooms. Know your insects!” From NOVA.
 
Nutritional Value:
“Insects often contain more protein, fat, and carbohydrates than equal amounts of beef or fish, and a higher energy value than soybeans, maize, beef, fish, lentils, or other beans. According to a 2004 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, caterpillars of many species are rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron, as well as B-vitamins. In some African regions, children fight malnutrition by eating flour made out of dried caterpillars. Pregnant and nursing women as well as anemic people also eat caterpillar species high in protein, calcium, and iron.” Alison Fromme.
The following chart is reproduced from Iowa State University’s web site. It shows how some insects as food compare to lean ground beef and broiled cod.

 

Insect Protein (g) Fat (g) Carbs Calcium (mg) Iron (mg)
Giant Water Beetle 19.8 8.3 2.1 43.5 13.6
Red Ant 13.9 3.5 3.9 47.8 5.7
Silk Worm Pupae 9.6 5.6 2.3 41.7 1.8
Dung Beetle 17.2 4.3 .2 30.9 7.7
Cricket 12.9 5.5 5.1 75.8 9.5
Grasshopper 20.6 6.1 3.9 35.2 5.0
Grasshopper 14.3 3.3 2.2 27.5 3.0
June Beetle 13.4 1.4 2.9 22.6 6.0
Caterpillar 28.2 N/A N/A N/A 35.5
Caterpillar 9.7 N/A N/A N/A 1.9
Termite 14.2 N/A N/A N/A 3.5
Weevil 6.7 N/A N/A N/A 13.1
Beef (Lean) 27.4 N/A N/A N/A 3.5
Fish (Cod) 28.5 N/A N/A N/A 1.0

Now if you are still with me, I’m going to share some recipes I found using insects. From Girl Meets Bug:
 
Cabbage, Peas ‘n’ Crickets
-Handful of crickets
-1 cup chopped snap peas
-1 cup chopped red cabbage
-1 tbs olive oil
-1 crushed clove of garlic
-Pinch of salt
Chop snap peas and cabbage. Heat olive oil in pan or wok. Begin stir-frying veggies and crickets. After 1 minute or so, add crushed garlic. Once cooked to desired level (I prefer mine firm and crunchy) add salt. Bug appetit!
 
Bee-LT Sandwich
Ingredients:
 -Bee larvae
-1 egg white
-1 tsp butter
-1/4 tsp honey
-1 tomato
-1 leaf lettuce
-2 slices of bread
-1 tbsp mayonnaise
-1 pinch salt
Sautee the bee larvae in the butter, with a tiny bit of salt and a few drops of honey. Once larvae become golden brown and crispy-looking, remove, and mix into enough egg white to cover and bind them into a mass. Then return them to the sautee butter, pressing them together into a patty.
Toast bread, and slice tomato. Spread mayonnaise on toasted bread when ready. When bee patty becomes firm, place it atop the lettuce and tomato on the sandwich. Enjoy!
 
Waxworm Tacos
-1 cup waxworms
-1 cup chopped onions
-1 cup chopped tomato
-1/2 cup chopped cilantro
-1/2 avocado
-tortillas
-2 tbsp olive oil
-pinch salt
-hot sauce
Freeze live  Waxworms overnight.
Saute onions in olive oil until golden, then turn heat to medium-high. Add waxworms, stirring quickly to keep them moving, while adding a pinch of salt (to taste). Waxworms will start to straighten out as they hit the heat; this means they are partially done and are becoming firm, just like shrimp or fish. When you start to see a little bit of transparency around their edges, they are ready.
Simply use sauteed waxworms as you would any other taco meat, adding whichever complementary ingredients you fancy.
 
From Iowa State University’s Entomological Department:
 
Mealworm Fried Rice
1  egg, beaten
1 tsp. oil
3/4 c. water
1/4 c. chopped onions
4 tsp. soy sauce
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 c. minute rice
1 c. cooked mealworms
Scramble egg in a saucepan, stirring to break egg into pieces.
Add water, soy sauce, garlic and onions. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Cover; remove from heat and let stand five minutes
 
Banana Worm Bread
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
2 bananas, mashed
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 eggs
1/4 cup dry-roasted army worms
Mix together all ingredients. Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour.

Conclusion:

I will conclude with a quote that provides some more important provisos:

“If you have the desire to eat insects to become closer to nature, make sure you wash and cook them first. This will reduce the chance that you may chomp into a poisonous substance the bug may have consumed. However, if you live near agriculture that uses pesticide on a regular basis, do not eat bugs that live nearby. The pesticide cannot be washed off the insects, and it can be toxic to humans. Your safest bet is to order creepy crawlies from areas that do not use pesticides. Finally, do not eat insects that are dead when you find them. It is better to find live insects and cook them.” – Ask The Exterminator

Sources and Further Reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophagy
http://www.asktheexterminator.com/Do_It_Yourself_Pest_Control/Edible_Insects.shtml
https://edibug.wordpress.com/list-of-edible-insects/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ants/bugs-nf.html
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2005/4/edibleinsects.cfm
http://infolific.com/leisure/wilderness-survival/eating-bugs-for-survival/
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectnutrition.html

JWR Adds: Bon appetit, and Hakuna matata! (Scroll forward to 2:08.)

SHTF-Oriented Fitness and Martial Arts for a Middle-Aged Couch Potato, by Dimitri G.

First off: English is not my native language. I apologize if this article is not easy to read. I hope that its usefulness will outweigh the inconvenience.

I am 40 years old, overweight by about 50 pounds, and I regretfully admit that in the past 15 or so years I became a “couch potato”. In other words, my physical fitness is not up to the challenges of any survival situation.

When I was a lot younger, I practiced karate, boxing, and weight lifting. I was pretty tough, and even back in high school there was no bully who would risk messing with me.
Apart from being a martial arts practitioner, I had (and still have) a huge library of very good books on various martial arts, with an emphasis on “street fighting” applications.
I dare think my opinions are based on a thorough analysis of various available options combined with my own experience and learning from mistakes, rather than mindless following someone else’s rigid views or advertisement.

As I got a family and a job about 18 years ago, hard work with lots of overtime did not help my plans of “getting back to the gym”, but quite frankly – I just got lazy.
I trained less hard and less frequently, until one day last year I realized that I had completely lost whatever skills and physical fitness level I used to have, and I can hardly run half a mile, let alone being able to defend my family in a SHTF situation.
I walk my dog, with an occasional sprint-run up the hill to the house where we live in Western Washington, and I try to keep my flexibility at a semi-decent level… but, other than that, I am completely “out of shape”, – both figuratively and literally.
My results in push-ups and pull-ups exercises are ridiculously low, and my punches are too far from being nearly as powerful as I want them to be.

I’ve been pondering an idea to start regular training, but without a well thought out system, I have more chances of hurting myself in the process than getting any results back. [Been there, done that…]

This article is my first attempt in many years to create an actionable fitness and hand-to-hand combat plan, and I hope that it will be useful not only to myself, but also to someone who can honestly identify himself (or herself) as a “couch potato” and wants to start preparing physically for the SHTF situation.

I will spare you my efforts to provide mental preparedness and/or motivation.
If you have a family, you have all the motivation you need. Just imagine what might happen to your loved ones if a gang of armed, ruthless, blood-thirsty looters attacks your neighborhood… and you’ve got all the motivation you need.
The only trick is to learn how to turn your fear and anger into a burning desire to train harder than before. But please remember that the older you are, the more careful you need to be when performing physical exercises.

Let’s start with the goals: what are we trying to achieve?
Your goals will define your list of exercises, training sessions frequency, etc.
In time, your goals will mostly stay the same, but the list of exercises will have to change.
Here’s my list, which might be very different from yours:
Minimal physical fitness to help me and my family survive the coming collapse. I must be able to:
– walk long distances with at least 50 pounds of weight (basic bug-out bag, weapons, ammo);
– run fast;
– run long distances;
– carry bigger weights for a short period of time (e.g., if an injured family member or neighbor must be evacuated from a burning building);
– climb and jump;
– fight (unarmed) against one or two enemies who are not armed and do not have special training.
Long-term goals:
– continue getting stronger and faster;
– more physical endurance;
– fight using a stick, a knife, and anything that can be used as a weapon, against armed and well-trained enemies.

This last one most likely made you laugh…
I know all too well that real-life fights are nothing like movie tricks.
It is almost impossible to win a fight if you are unarmed, and you fight against a group of special forces soldiers armed with guns.
But seriously: who do you think will be your real enemy?.. Most likely, one or two (worst case scenario, – three) gang members, armed with sticks or knives. Maybe, one of them will have a gun which he will be pointing at you at a short distance.
It is realistically possible to win this fight.
Of course, you need to be really well-prepared, and you need a good portion of sheer dumb luck… but there is a chance. And I say, it’s better that just giving up and letting my family be raped and killed. I’d rather die fighting, but I want to take as many bastards with as possible. Perhaps, as luck would have it, even win…
I can’t rely on always having a gun available, because we all know what happened after Katrina.
How such a situation would develop depends on a lot of factors, such as their original intentions (grab-and-go vs. rob-rape-and-kill), how many members their gang consists of, what the surrounding circumstances are (are you on the second floor of your house with a gun in your hand, with your family behind you, or are you unarmed in a street, with a bandit holding a knife at your teenage daughter’s throat?..), what weapons their have and – more importantly – how ready they are to murder someone. Needless to say, a hungry unarmed neighbor who came to steal your can of beans is not exactly as dangerous as a gang of prison escapees armed with guns.

Sorry, I digress… That was more of a motivation than a plan…

Anyway, let’s get back to the goals.

If you’re like me, and you need to start your physical fitness almost “from scratch”, you need to start slow.
I can run up my hill twice, but then I’ll probably have a heart attack. At the very least, my knees will hurt for several days.
Punching a heavy bag too hard is another good example of my stupidity.
I learned from my own mistakes that I need to know my current limitations, or I won’t be able to exercise for quite some time just because of traumas. If you are half as pissed off as I am, and about as willing to defend your family as I am, it is far too easy to overestimate yourself and have one training session after which you will be able to barely move for a couple of weeks, if not worse. Be realistic. Do not expect great results in a day.

What I am going to do (and you probably need to do that, too) is make a list of some basic exercises that I am going to perform in the nearest future (that is, within the next couple of months, until I feel I am ready for a more serious training) and write down the results I can currently get without negative consequences.
For example, how long can I run at a relatively slow speed before I feel I’ve had enough for today? How many push-ups, and in how many sets, can I do, without having debilitating pain for the next few days? And so on, and so forth.
If you don’t know what exercises to perform, don’t worry, I’ll get to them shortly.

The idea is to figure out how much you are capable of under normal circumstances, and start – slowly but steadily – building up the foundation for future exercises that will help you prepare for a survival situation.
When analyzing your abilities, try to figure out what you already have and what you need to focus on.
For example, if you are strong, but you can’t run a mile, it is obvious what you need to do: more walking and running.

An important thing to keep in mind is that there are different kinds of pain, and it is extremely important to be able to distinguish between them.
If you practiced any kind of sports ages ago, you know what I am talking about.
There’s good pain which you feel (normally, for a day or two) after a good workout. It shows that, once your body has had enough rest and food, your physical results will grow a little bit, thus adding up to an overall progress of your training program.
And then there are all kinds of bad pain, which indicates that something is wrong.
This might be from some illnesses, but it can also be caused by over-exercising or traumas.
I can’t describe in a short article how to be sure that the pain you are feeling is good. If you are sure, fine. Otherwise, talk to a doctor.
Bottom line is: “no pain, no gain”, but not all pain is good.
And you need to be certain that you get exactly the right amount of exercise for your current level of fitness and for your current condition. Too little, and you won’t get any results. Too much, and you’ll be sick. The same goes for frequency and intensity of your training sessions.
Besides, you might feel great today and be able to exercise a lot, but tomorrow you’ll get tired at work and be unable to exercise at all.
There are far too many variables which make it absolutely impossible to make an optimal training plan for everyone. Experiment with your training routine, and change it often to continue “surprising” your body to give it a stimulus to develop.
Worse yet, for each “couch potato”, it is often very difficult to distinguish between tiredness and laziness. Deal with it. Motivate yourself. Just imagine what would happen if your family is attacked, or starving, or needs to be evacuated from a burning building, or something like that…

Now, a few words about self-defense.
I could write a book about all kinds of Bravo Sierra surrounding martial arts, but this is just an article.
The more you research this topic, and the more you practice some kind of fighting skills, the more “deep understanding” of it you get. Sometimes, it’s just a feeling that something is right or wrong, and it is difficult to put it into words.
So, I’ll be very brief.

  1. Practice often.
  2. To start with, use only a few primitive techniques (punches, kicks, blocks, movements) and combinations of them. A simple well-practiced technique is far better than several of those which you won’t be able to do in the critical situation. A simple and reliable technique is far more valuable than a complex one.
  3. Each technique must be practiced in all kinds of scenarios hundreds of thousands of times before you can be sure it will work for you when you are scared to death, in an disadvantageous position, tired and injured, and so on, and so forth.
  4. Practice while wearing the same type of clothes you wear every day. If you train for a survival situation, a uniform with a colored belt is not for you.
  5. If you never practiced martial arts before, too bad. Learn. Read books. Do not learn from movies. Nearly all martial arts schools suck: it is rarely their goal to teach you how to fight for your life. If you can, find a private instructor who has experience teaching in the military or law enforcement: most of the time, they know how to fight for real. The best possible option is a Krav Maga instructor with military background.
  6. There is no substitute for a very heavy and very hard (as opposed to “soft”) punching bag. Period. Buy it, use it, learn to love it. Remember to start slow, even if you were very good at it years ago.
  7. If you can’t do at least 50 push-ups in a single set, your punch will never be any good.
  8. Practice kicks from a sitting position on the floor with your hands tied behind your back. If you know what I mean, good. If not… just do it. Thank me later.
  9. Practice as if one of your arms is injured. If you are any good with kicks, practice with tied hands (there are a lot of blocks which use feet or shins). Practice hand techniques while hopping on one leg.
  10. Learn to sweep an enemy’s weapon away from you (and away other people around you) in one swift move. Practice those moves with a heavy club or a dumbbell, then repeat without a weight, but with a maximum speed. If you see techniques which show a couple of steps combined with a complex wrestling-style throw or arm lock, know that this is BS. Remember that your enemy is neither super-dumb nor super-slow, and there will probably be at least two of them. You can only hope to distract his/their attention and then use at most half a second before he pulls the trigger. As a general rule, learn to tell movie tricks from real practical techniques.
  11. Practice at home, in the backyard, on the staircase, in a car, in a room full of furniture… in other words, practice your skills everywhere where you expect to fight in real life. A gym is hardly the right place. Fight on the ice, under rain, under blindingly bright sun, in complete darkness, when it’s cold and when it’s hot. Wear shoes or be barefooted.
  12. When you get better at fighting skills, add exercises with weapons, especially a knife and a club. Do not use nunchaku or sai or kama or any other samurai/ninja/peasant garbage: it’s just stupid; we are not in a medieval Japan. Learn to use almost anything as a weapon that you can find in the street (a stone, a piece of wood) or in your living room. But again: be realistic; you can’t use a match box as a weapon, regardless of what some idiots claim. A weapon must enhance a human’s ability to self-defense. A table lamp, a pen, or almost any potentially dangerous object probably can be used as a weapon, but a coin with a sharp edge cannot. Just imagine defending yourself with a sharp coin or a match box against an attacker armed with an AR-15, laugh, and move on to practicing serious stuff.
  13. Learn how to fall down. While you’re at it, learn how to fight when you are on the ground. No, I am not talking about wrestling; I mean blocks and kicks and jumping back up to your feet. If you have any doubts about efficiency of wrestling techniques for a real survival fight and if you enjoy watching MMA fights, imagine that the referee is another one of your enemies, and he is armed with a knife while you are wrestling with another guy.
  14. Practice blocks. It takes time and lots of practice to set up your defense, but you won’t survive without it.
  15. There are hundreds of martial arts styles, dozens (if not hundreds) of thousands of individual techniques. Let this sink in: YOU DO NOT NEED THEM. All you need is (at most!..) a dozen punches and kicks, plus a dozen of blocks, all of them combined into 2-, 3-, or (at most) 4-elements combination techniques, which you have practiced countless thousands of times each, and which you can deliver under any conditions with lightning-fast speed and steel-crushing power. Leave jumping-spinning-back-hook-kicks to movie actors, professional sportsmen, and chronic idiots.

Of all the styles, I recommend Krav Maga and Shorinji Kempo.

I can spend days discussing pro’s and con’s of various techniques for self-defense.
But the point is, you either start practicing now, or you spend years talking about it while scratching your belly.
What works for me, might not work for you, and vice versa.
To start with, for a complete newbie, I recommend:

  1. Forward elbow strike.
  2. Palm-heel straight punch.
  3. Forward knee kick.
  4. Forward kick to the groin.

Once you’ve got some experience (assuming you don’t have any yet), you will add more techniques (but not too many!..).
These 4 will get you started. Imagine a very fast and very powerful kick to the groin, followed by an elbow strike, and you’ll feel much better about your ability to defend you loved ones and yourself. Another good thing is, – these simple techniques let you not worry too much about your enemy wearing a bulletproof vest: it is very unlikely that his groin will be protected.

One of the most difficult things to do for someone like me is holding myself back when performing some formerly-familiar exercises.
When I was 17, my friends and I used to break bricks just to show off. My mind still remembers all the stuff, but my body doesn’t. If you practiced, for example, boxing 20 years ago, but have not hit a punching bag in years, be extra careful on the punching bag: you can think you can punch a hole in it, but your fist is not nearly as strong as it used to be, and your wrist will hurt terribly if it can’t hold the punch and bends. Hence, my advice to strike with a palm heel.
The older you are, and the less fit you are, the more careful you must be when you try to become fit.

And I want to emphasize it one more time: talk to a doctor before you start any kind of serious training.

In my opinion, the most important fitness-related abilities for SHTF situation are endurance, some basic strength, and self-defense.

If you’ve been running/jogging for some time now, you are in a better shape than most of us.
But if running is the only exercise you’ve been doing, then you are still not prepared physically for survival.

For a complete couch potato, I recommend the following exercises:

  1. Walk as much as you can every day. If you have a dog, just walk him around your neighborhood or in the park, until you feel really tired. (again: do not confuse it with just being lazy).
  2. Run as much as you can at least 3 times a week. It may be for just a few seconds to start with, but do it. You’ll get better very soon. Watch your pulse and breathing. Talk to your doctor first, especially if you have any medical problems.
  3. Do squats without any weight. Just stand up (try it now! I’ll wait…), then bend your knees completely, so that your butt almost touches the floor, then stand up again. Do it slowly, as many times as you can. If you can do it close to 100 times, you are not a couch potato. Sorry for wasting your time. Keep doing whatever it is you do to be in good shape. Otherwise, do one set of this exercise twice a week (say, for example, right now, and then in 3 days, and then in 4 days, and then again in 3 days, and so on). When you feel it is easy, start doing 2 sets, with 2 minutes rest after the first set. Perform this exercise right after you’ve come back from a jog. Then do the stretching exercises, and then practice kicks: this “pre-tiredness” will help a lot if you have the same problem with my knees as I do (they hurt from kicks unless my muscles are already not only warmed up, but really tired when I start kicking practice).
  4. Pushups. A must-do for everyone. One of the best exercises for your upper body, and you can do it anywhere, anytime. If you can’t do it properly, put your hands on the side of your bed (instead of the floor), and you’ll feel how much easier it is. If you are able to do at least a couple dozen pushups in a set, start varying the technique: put your hands shoulder-width, or wider, or narrower. Keep your feet on the ground or put them on the chair. Push up on open hands or on fists or (if you can) on fingers. Do slow pushups or very slow or normal speed or very fast or “explosive” style. There’s a big difference – and you’ll feel it – between hands-together-feet-on-the-floor-very-slow-pushup and fists-very-far-apart-with-feet-2-feet-above-floor-fast-pushups.
  5. This one is very hard for a real couch potato… but also extremely important. Pull-ups. Basically, the idea is to grab something above your head and pull yourself up by bending your arms. Before I got my own training equipment (and while having no money for a gym…), I used to do pull-ups in a children’s playground. There’s always something close to your home where you can do pull-ups. Worse-case scenario, just hang a rope between two trees. Or, buy a pull-up bar from a sports store: it goes in a doorway, it is easy to set up and to remove (it takes seconds, without any tools), and it costs around $30. Look up “pull up bar” in Amazon.com to see what I mean. The problem with pull ups is that not every middle-aged man or woman can do them. Don’t trick yourself by thinking that you can replace this exercise with dumbbells or barbells “curls”: no, you can’t. If you can’t do a proper pull-up now, not even once, do not despair: you can put something under your feet to step on, so that you can grab a pull-up bar while your arms are already half-bent, and then perform partial pull ups. When your arms get stronger, eventually you’ll be able to get rid of that chair or whatever, and perform regular pull-ups. There might also be another problem: if you are overweight, and/or your grip is weak, you might have difficulty just hanging in there… literally. There’s no better solution for this than regularly hang on the pull-up bar as long as you can, and for as many sets as you can before it really hurts, as many days a week as possible.
  6. Abs workout. There are so many exercises… If you are overweight like me, I am sure you know them all. Do whatever works for you. My favorite: lie down on the floor, then simultaneously raise your hands and legs while exhaling, so that only your butt touches the floor; slowly lie down again; repeat until it hurts.
  7. Punching bag. If you’ve ever worked out on a punching bag for more than a minute, you must know that it’s also a great workout, – both for your muscles and for your cardio-vascular system. The only problem is to be careful with every single move; otherwise, the traumas take very long to heal. The most common injures happen when you punch too hard and/or almost miss the right spot (in which case your wrist can bend and hurt terribly for several weeks), and when you punch the bag without any protective gloves, and your hand slips (this is where you lose a good chunk of your knuckles’ skin, and you can’t punch a bag for about a week). Just be careful, use gloves or hand wraps, and land you punches with precision.
  8. Jumping rope. If this exercise sounds silly and childish to you, try to do it 200+ times without stopping, and you’ll feel how useful it is. You don’t need an expensive jumping rope from The Sports Authority. A piece of regular rope which is long enough and heavy enough will be just as good.
  9. Developing a strong grip. Useful for all kinds of survival situation: from lifting and carrying heavy objects to evacuating from a tall building using a rope, to climbing, to self-defense, and so on, and so forth. There are good grip strengtheners; be sure to get those which are hard to squeeze. Pull-ups, hanging on a rope or a pull-up bar also helps. Besides, performs pushups on your fingers at least once in a while.
  10. Last, but not least: practice blocks and punches with weapons. I don’t mean guns, but heavy objects. I perform several sets of blocks with police-style clubs which have a short handle sticking out (these clubs are also known as “tonfa”), and this helps not only techniques, but also muscles and tendons, while developing speed.

I’d like to say a few words about diet, but I do not think I have a moral right to talk about it until I lose a few more pounds.
Anyway, the only thing really worth mentioning is fasting: regular fasting is good for your health if you do it right, and it is certainly useful to be able to function a day or two while being hungry in case you just don’t have any food at all in a survival situation or you have to give it all to your kids if there’s too little available.

It turned out to be nearly impossible to cram a lot of information in a short article.
I hope it will be useful for someone who wants to get started on TEOTWAWKI/survival self-defense and fitness training, but does not know how.

Yes, I am a grumpy, middle-aged, fat man. But I am determined to maximize my family’s chances of survival in the coming imminent collapse of life as we know it. I’ll do whatever it takes to defend them, and hopefully help my neighbors and friends in the process.
I am preparing, and I suggest you do the same.

Letter Re: Soda Vending Machines as Gun Vaults

James Wesley:
For use as an unobtrusive and inexpensive alternative to purpose-built weapons safes, I recommend finding an old, non-functional soda vending machine. Remove the guts (we call it the ‘stack’) and refrigeration system, but leave the lights in the door. (Be careful, the light ballast wiring will bite: 5,000 volts).
 
Tap into the 110 Volt AC wiring on the vending machine to power your Goldenrod Dehumidifier.
 
Store your valuables inside where the guts used to be.  Lock the door and keep the key.  [If it will be at your private business but in a location that might ever be in view of the public,] you can leave the machine plugged in, with the lights on, and an ‘Out Of Order’ sign taped on the front. Consider this instant stealth storage. – Tom K.

Economics and Investing:

Steven M. sent this: Soaring battery prices “devastating” U.S. lead producers.

The Coming China Economic Super Crisis. (Thanks to J.McC. for the link.)

The suffocation of unsustainable global debt – Total global debt is now over $190 trillion and more than three times global GDP. Contagion with European Union

Toby Connor: Stocks are re-entering a parabolic “bubble” phase

Frequent content contributor Diana V. mentioned this over at Zero Hedge: Artemis On Volatility At World’s End: Deflation, Hyperinflation And The Alchemy Of Risk

Items from The Economatrix:

Why High Inflation is Inevitable

Employment Gains Slow, Jobless Rate Drops

Bernanke Says Financial Stability a Work in Progress. [JWR’s Comment: Ben’s work won’t be done until the U.S. Dollar has had its purchasing power destroyed.]