Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 39 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) 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 F-50 hand well pump (a $349 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.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 39 ends on March 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.

A Survivalist Plan of Action and a Survivalist Mindset, by Ringo

I have recently retired from the military and have began to dig deeper into the survivalist arena. I have always been interested in this area for quite some time but have not really dedicated the amount of time that I want due to job requirements, life events etc. I have been reading all the blogs, videos and write ups about prepping, survival and there are a lot of good information out there. So I decided to use my 26 years of military experience (4 yeas Infantry, 6 years Long Range Surveillance and 16 years Special Forces)  and apply pertinent concepts toward the Survivalist Mindset.  In this paper I will discuss some planning considerations for establishing a Survival Plan of Action (SPA) and the survivalist mind set. Your skills and abilities are tools in the tool box (your mind). Hopefully this discussion will aid you into adding more tools to your tool box.                 

Throughout the Internet and online blogs you have seen a plethora of acronyms dealing with prepping, survival, and the end of the world.  Some are The Schumer Hits The Fan (TSHTF), The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI), BOB – Bug Out Bag, Get Out Of Dodge (G.O.O.D.), But we don’t have an overall acronym for all the planning, resource identification, rehearsing, etc that encompasses the entirety of what we do to accomplish all of this great information and techniques. This is where the SPA comes into play. It is the Survival Plan of Action (SPA). This document should include information that outlines your groups plan to Get Home, Bug Out, Bug In, Get Out of Dodge, etc. You can add to this document by adding Annexes to augment the information like Food Storage Inventories, Vehicle Inventories,  or Bug Out Site Inventories.

I am currently working on a format to help with creating your SPA. It will include the base document, annexes, appendices and tabs, which will be all inclusive to every scenario.  Now if one decides to establish a SPA he must take the utmost care in securing it in a safe and secure location that only a select few will know or have access. One technique is to have a hard copy sealed in an envelope in a safe. If you have a digital copy or use a computer to write one, use a laptop that is never connected to the internet preferably with a removable hard drive. If you store a back up on a thumb drive with all your personal information place this in your envelope also.

Area Study
One of the first things you should do is conduct a comprehensive area study of your operational area (home site, get home route, bug out site, etc) especially if you have recently moved or plan on relocating to a more suitable area. Some of you may be saying “I have lived here all my life” then this area study should be real easy. You will be surprised with information that you find or might never have considered. This area study should be a living document (continue to update and add information) and your base resource document for planning.

Why is it good to have one? Several reasons; if you plan on establishing a group survival area, the new members of your group can read the document to become familiar with the area. If you have distant family members relocating to the area with you, you can send them the document so they can become familiar with the area. These documents should be a great addition to your survival SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).

This document is all open source and contains the following basic  information (not all inclusive): Natural environment, Demographics/Cultural features, and Lines of Communications/Information Systems. Since this is a living document you will periodically update it and add additional information. If you need to add new categories or scenario plans, just add an annex, appendix or tab to your overall SPA.

When you are researching the natural environment include all geographical data.  Consider your operational area and dimensions; state, county and municipal boundaries; terrain,  general direction of mountain ranges, areas that provide good concealment/cover, the general degree of slope, large open fields suitable to land small aircraft, hazards toward movement, natural routes over land, natural resources for survival, historic land use, suitable locations for hole up sites or base camps, typical climate overview, temperature tables, snow/rainfall, wind/visibility, sun/moon table, general drainage pattern, river flow and current, location of lakes/ponds, potable water resources, coastal tides/currents, beaches, and areas that are good for subsistence. Remember to include seasonal changes to all these categories.

In the demographics and cultural section be sure to include area population estimates, location of towns,  ethnic composition, language, social conditions, religious factors, medical/health information, economic conditions, political factors, type of currency, typical dress, customs, local government information, travel restrictions, local degree of self sufficiency, agricultural information, local industrial information, and commerce/trade information.

When it comes to lines of communication/information systems we are referring to how do people commute and communicate in the area. Include location/direction of interstates, state highways, county roads, forest service roads, jeep trails, hiking trails; major active and inactive rail ways, navigable waterways, location of large and small ports, harbors, marinas; location of gas stations, petroleum storage; location and type of power plants, sub stations, transmission lines; location of radio broadcasting stations, telephone companies, satellite companies and newspaper offices.

When writing your SPA, you will get pertinent information from this section. Like urban and rural key terrain (places to avoid or to occupy) , avenues of approach (places for travel routes and places for avoid ambushes, choke points, bridges, river crossings), the best times to move in total darkness (no illumination), time of year with the best or worse weather (seasonal effects of weather on terrain and visibility), river and stream data (depth, width, flow rate and direction of flow, potable water), coastal data (tides, beach type, coves) towns with dense or sparse populations, subsistence data (cultivated, natural wildlife),government offices (urban key terrain),  military bases, governmental control measures (check points, curfews, population control measures), health data and hospitals, areas with friendly or favorable ethnic/social/religious factors,  agriculture and domestic food supply, natural resources, percentage of self sufficiency, manufacturing plants, local dress to assist with “blending in”,  economic trends over a period of time.

Your area study is basically a plethora of information that you update over time. It will give you all the information that you will need to plan all your scenarios. Use it to assist you planning your Get Home Plan (GHP), Bug Out Plan (BOP),  or your Link Up Plan (LUP). 

Planning considerations

When planning your scenarios there are a few acronyms to discuss. METT-TC, OCOKA, PACE and PRSCC. These acronyms will assist you in planning multiple scenarios and establishing SOP’s. A few of these will be used throughout your planning and during your scenarios to assist you in your decision making process. IN the following discussion I will focus on a Get Home Scenario.

METT-TC is used primarily during your initial planning phase. M stands for mission (what is your mission? Get Home) you should state who is doing the mission, where are they going, what is to be accomplished and when is it going to happen.  E stands for enemy situation (basically this is any hostile group) you want to detail their size, location, operational area and equipment to include weapons. T stands for Terrain and Weather (specific to your mission not your entire area of operations) for weather you want to discuss the effects on you and the hostile forces. When covering terrain you will use OCOKA, which  I will cover later in this section. T stands for Troops available (personnel that you have or need to accomplish the mission). The second T stands for time available to accomplish the mission. Do you have one day or a week? C stands for civilian considerations. You can put in this section the potential for mass refugees or displaced persons congesting up the main roadways, possible direction of mass evacuations from built up areas in your mission area. So by using METT-TC you are taking information from your area study and experience to narrow down information for your specific mission.

The next is OCOKA. This one is used for detailing the terrain section in METT-TC.  O is for observation and fields of fire.  You need to determine locations along your route that provide the best observation of and from road ways, towns, bridges. rivers etc. C is for cover and concealment. Cover is something that will protect you from small arms fire and concealment only conceals your location. Identify locations that aid you in your movement home by vehicle and foot. Which route offers the best concealment and what locations along your route provide good cover. The second O is for obstacles. you want to identify any obstructions along your route, destroyed bridges, natural terrain that hinders vehicular movement like a swamp or large bodies of water. K is for key terrain. Identify locations  or areas (natural or manmade) that the seizure, retention, or control of affords a marked advantage to either friend or foe.  A is for avenues of approach. Identify all road ways, trails, power line paths, railroad tracks between you and your home. Don’t forget to consider aerial and subterranean routes.

The third one is PACE. When constructing your plan you do not want to have only one route, one location, one vehicle or one weapon. You need flexibility and depth just like a NFL teams roster. This one is very simple. P is for primary, A is for alternate, C is for contingency, E is for emergency. Keep in mind that in some cases you will not use all of the PACE, mostly you will only use the P and A. It is up to you  and your resources how deep you are able to go. Bottom line, you should always have at least an alternate plan, route, weapon or location. So using a PACE for all your scenarios or missions is essential to good planning. Personally, I always have a primary weapon and an alternate weapon. 

The last one is the PRSCC  or the Five Principles of Patrolling. . It is used heavily by any combat force that conducts patrolling,  P is for planning. In the previous paragraphs I have discussed planning extensively, so I will not dwell on this one. R is for reconnaissance. Reconnaissance should always be part of your planning. It should be implemented at the beginning and continued throughout your mission.  You can accomplish this through maps, imagery and actually traveling the route (best choice) . By actually traveling the route you will identify any known obstacles, alternate routes and potential hole up sites, to include the time needed to accomplish. S is for security. Security is a constant throughout your planning and scenario. Keeping your documents locked up and your situational awareness while moving applies. Whether traveling alone or in a group always stop, look,  listen and smell (SLLS) first when setting up your camp. After this you should always have a conduct a short recon around your area to identify key terrain or avenues of approach that can assist you or effect you, to include water resupply. If everything is safe then you can ensure your weapons are ready to go and then eat. Once you have eaten and water is filled, then you can implement a rest plan. If you are in a group, not everyone cleans their weapons or eats at the same time. Always have someone on guard during the rest plan. C is for control. Control is any method, terrain or device that will help you control your team, movement or mission. Such as check points, phase lines, limit of advance, contact points, decision points, No later than times (NLT), no earlier than times (NET) and boundaries (left limit or right limit). The last C is for common sense. Common sense is not so common. So always do a common sense check with all decisions. Identify the your action, the reaction to it (from enemy) and what your counter reaction would be if it happened.

Mindset

Having the correct mindset is the most important aspect to survival. With the proper mindset, you can achieve anything. So you can say survival is mainly a mental game. You should always keep your situational awareness, stay healthy, have the proper equipment and the right skills to survive.

Situation awareness (SA) is very important during all your activities, not just when a survival situation hits. Some would say stay alert, stay alive. Maintaining your SA will prevent you from becoming a victim. If I am on a trip or in an area unfamiliar to me, I apply the 51% rule. I look around me and see what the majority of the people are wearing, their actions and mannerisms, their type of vehicle, or other habits of the environment. Kind of like, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” By doing this, you will blend in with your surroundings and not stand out. Just blending in will help you not be a victim or a target. You can prepare yourself by researching the area you will be traveling. The next time you go somewhere and park in the parking lot. Look around and see how many vehicles are backed into a parking space versus parking “normal” in a space. You will begin to take notice of these vehicles every time you go out.

Staying healthy and in good shape is the second thing to consider. If you are overweight and out of shape you can become injured easier. This is probably the hardest thing to accomplish for some people. Lifestyles and life events can affect you. Always begin slow and never over do it. If you over do it and are unable to function the next day, it will discourage you from continuing. Set yourself small, realistic goals and give yourself plenty of time to achieve them. Get your whole family involved with a new diet and exercise routine. This will aid you in your goal of getting in shape, not to mention the benefits for your entire family. I am not saying you need to be a professional athlete but just stay healthy with a good diet and exercise routine.

The third thing you need is the proper equipment, basic foundation and skill sets. You need to look at your budget and realize how much you have to acquire the right tools of the trade. Just do not buy an item because it is a “name brand” or the “most expensive.” These terms do not always equate to good, versatile and solid tools. Research and test (if possible) these item before you purchase them. Establish your survival fundamentals or foundation. By this I mean your navigation, water procurement, food procurement, shelter making and fire making skills.

You need to learn the basic ways to accomplish each of these tasks. The ability to achieve each of these with a minimalist type of kit. A GPS is great to aid your navigation but when the batteries go out or you smash the screen it is a paper weight. So understanding how to navigate by the sun, stars and/or compass and map is critical. Learn how to start a fire without a lighter or match. Learn how to make a shelter out of natural materials, learn how to trap food, improvise a weapon to assist your hunt. Learn how to acquire water through various means. Once you have mastered the basics, then move on to more advanced techniques.

Do not go out and buy the entire Wal-Mart camping section, place it in your pack or vehicle and call it good. Because it is not learning the basics, it is a waste of time and money. There are a lot of videos, blogs and so called “experts” out there on the internet. Use your 5th principle of patrolling (common sense) when looking at these sites. You will realize that they are unqualified individuals that have no experience or training. That being said, there are a lot of great videos, blogs and web sites from people who have those skill sets and the experience. Good luck in all your endeavors. Remember to learn the basic fundamentals, acquire the right tools and sharpen your skill sets. You have the tool box, all you need to do is to add the right tools. De Oppresso Liber.

Prepping for Less and for the First Time Prepper, by Becky Bear

Recently, because of some significant financial changes in our life (including moving halfway across country, one of us unable to find work and the other getting laid off, and then getting a job at 50% of the previous salary) we are no longer able to invest as we done in the past. However, because we invested in prepping prior to our sudden reversal of fortune, what would normally happen in this type of financial emergency merely became a financial irritant. Even without 75% of our previous income, we are still able to live well and continue our prepping effort, if only on a reduced scale.
There are several things that many of my non-prepper, and less well-to-do friends, say that prevents them from prepping. The top three excuses that I hear are:

  1. I don’t know where to start
  2. I don’t have enough money to invest in prepping
  3. It’s too late to prep; if I haven’t done it by now, I won’t have what I need when TSHTF.

These are the responses our family gives to those who don’t believe they can, or should, prep:

  1. Not knowing where to start is no excuse. Every person knows what he or she will not eat. Every parent knows what their children’s favorite foods are. Get your kids involved to let them pick their favorite foods and give them a chance to learn about food storage along with you.
  2. Start a list of what your family likes to eat. Pick favorite meals, treats, and drinks.
  3. Then create a customized list of items that it would be useful to have extras of in your home in an emergency.
  4. Use your customized list to check for sales and coupons at the grocery store, focusing only on those items that are 1) on your list and 2) on sale at that time. Buy only the sale items that on your list, and only buy items on your list when they are on sale. This will save you a lot of money over the long term.
  5. Start small. If you normally purchase groceries for only one week, then use the sales to purchase extra to create an additional week’s worth of food in your home. Once you have an extra week’s worth, then go for a month’s worth.
  6. Take a week’s worth of lunch savings and pick up plastic tubs or boxes at yard sales, thrift stores, or on Craigslist. Ask your local grocery store deli for any food grade buckets and lids they are normally throw away.
  7. Stock your extra food purchases in the buckets and prominently label and date the contents. (We use a lot of plastic “shoe” containers for under the beds at our house. Not only does that prevent the kids’ toys, clothes, and junk from getting shoved under the bed, but storing the items in airtight containers under the bed keeps them away from light and extends their storage life.)
  8. If space is limited, try these ideas in order to store these items. You can then create a shelf unit with the buckets as separators between the shelves, or stack the buckets and put a round top (cut out of plywood) on them to create a side table which is covered with a large round table cloth to hide the fact they are now storage.
  9. Remember to rotate your stored food. When you buy new items for your food storage, place them at the back of the storage area, and refill your regular pantry area with items from the front of your storage. This will ensure that your food doesn’t go bad and you don’t lose money. Failure to use your food storage through a rotation process has cost many a prepper lots of money in waste.
  10. A final note on not knowing where to start: If you are in debt, make an honest effort to pay off your debts before investing a huge portion of what you have in lunchtime saves in food storage. If you can avoid using credit cards, do it. If you can invest your sack lunch savings into paying extra, do it and get those credit cards down to a zero balance. Once you have done that, you will find you have a lot more money to invest in prepping. As I stated earlier, we have recently lost 75% of our previous income. However, the first thing we did as a couple was to pay off all debt – that included college loans and credit cards. We paid off our car loans and did not replace them with newer or fancier models. We were fortunate to pull our investments before the last big drop and use the money to pay off our home; without a $1,500 mortgage payment, we were able to transition to 25% of our former income. That and our three month food storage supply were great comforts while we were both looking for work.
  11. Prepping doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. There are ways to make your dollar stretch if you really want to prep.
  12. As I stated earlier, we have had a significant change in our income levels, and added an additional mouth to feed. However, because of our preparations we have stopped purchasing (temporarily) bulk food storage from online vendors and have been exploring the following food storage methods, and have had some very positive results!
  13. If you go out to lunch every day at work, take just two days and bring a sack lunch. Depending on where you eat, that will save you $10-to-$30 dollars per week that can be used to invest in prepping. (Now that we are down to a quarter of our previous income, with only one of us working, we avoid eating out at all, and bring lunch to work every day. This has cut our food bill by easily $100-150 per week between the lunches at work and going out to dinner twice a week. Not only that, but we’ve eaten better than we used to eating out and lost weight, which is a complete win-win in my book.)
  14. Take half the money saved by bringing lunch and spend an hour or two each week couponing and sales surfing. Hit the grocery stores during sales and with coupons, where you can buy the normal things you eat in bulk at the same amount you would normally spend on just one or two items. The 10 for $10 aisles are a great place to shop for food storage as well.

I saw a lady at the local grocery store just this weekend buying huge amounts of items using the weekly mailer from the store. She had 10 boxes of spaghetti, about 20 cans of soups, even more canned fruits and vegetables, a bunch of boxed meals like Hamburger Helper, boxed side meals like Rice-a-Roni, and a large amount of powdered drink mixes in her cart. As I waiting in line behind her, I watched her grocery bill go back to normal with each coupon she handed to the cashier. Between the 10 for $10 and couples, her shopping cart – piled high with stuff that every family eats – cost her about $40 and change. That’s some good shopping!

  1. Take the other half of the money you saved by brown bagging it and shop the Dollar Stores. You can buy personal hygiene and cleaning supplies, sewing kits and patches, crackers and cereal, bottle water and juices, hard candies and travel toys (comfort items), first aid and over the counter medicines, and spices and seasonings (including bouillon) for a huge discount.
  2. Once a month, take the money you’ve saved from your sack lunches and invest it in thrift store shopping. Purchase camping gear, gently used warm weather clothing and shoes, backpacks and bags, blankets, pots and pans, and used books. We have been able to buy excellent travel bags in a variety of sizes. These bags have been used to create custom first aid kits, 72 hour kits for our vehicles, emergency kits for kids to carry in their backpacks at school (which were great when they were stuck sheltered in place during local emergencies), and barter/charity bags for use when TSHTF. Other awesome finds were a pressure cooker and a seal-a-meal, which we have been able to use to do home food preservation.
  3. Use the resources available on the Internet. The SurvivalBlog.com has great prepping information, as does LDS.org and many others. Find your local agricultural extension groups and web pages, where they can help you identify the best local produce, growing seasons, and methods for preserving local foods. These web sites can also help you find information on local wild foods, good recipes, and other helpful bits of information to make you better prepared, even if you are completely unable to spend a dime on purchasing food storage at this time.
  4. It’s never too late to prep. Even if you are only able to afford to spend $5 a week, or $5 a month, the extra supplies you have on hand may just be the thing you need in an emergency. If you cannot afford to spend an extra dime, the knowledge gained from internet research can help you be more mentally prepared in the case of emergency. This can include where to find local wild foods, learning first aid, learning canning and food preservation, and other information that will be necessary to do more than just endure in an emergency.

We now live in a tornado prone area. While we are fairly safe in a sheltered zone (most of the tornadoes touch land around our area), we still have to contend with power outages, lack of water, and sewer shut downs. While these have only been of a two or three day duration, having ready to eat foods stored (prepared using canning how-tos found on our local agricultural extension web site), enough water stored to last for three days, and emergency hygiene capability (I love the bucket potty and doody-bags found on beprepared.com) makes for a much more comfortable temporary emergency.

Even if you don’t have an emergency based upon natural disasters, there are other types of emergencies that can hit. Epidemics (or pandemics) can strike, where quarantines may occur. Temporary illnesses, such as a bad flu or strep throat, or even injuries can happen that may prevent the adults in the family from working, going grocery shopping, or even cooking meals. Having a supply of easy to prepare food in your pantry or 3-month storage will make it easier for you family to eat. Having extra hygiene products (including formula and diapers if you have infants and toddlers) will enable the sick/injured adult(s) to rest and avoid going to the store.
In this economic downturn, financial crises and emergencies are rampant. Many people are losing their jobs through no fault of their own, being forced to survive on unemployment or on part-time jobs. Having a one to three-month supply of food is a wonder safety net to have when this occurs. Having a full year’s supply of food is even better, but for the first time prepper or for those who need to prep for less, even a week of extra food may be the lifeline that is needed during a crisis.
Remember:

  1. Prepping doesn’t have to been done by someone with a “Ph.D. in Prepperology.” Using basic common sense practicality to identify foods that your family will eat is the first step in getting started. Using free tools available on the internet, the library, and at local agricultural extensions will help even the newest prepper learn the basics and beyond.
  2. Prepping doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. There is no point in getting into debt to prep. Using practical approaches to saving money to use on prepping is the best approach, as is shopping sales, dollar stores, and thrift stores. Craigslist free pages are also a good place to look, as are local yard and estate sales.
  3. It is never too late to prep, unless you are dead. As long as you are alive, you can and should prepare yourself and your family for tough times. It doesn’t take a major SHTF scenario for your preparedness to be useful. Many times your preps become a major benefit to you and your family during a simple illness, injury, or layoff. The time to prep is now, no matter what your circumstance.

Letter Re: Insurance Companies Encourage Immunization Paternalism

<p>JWR:<br>
  As a practicing physician, I would like to alert your readers to a new policy which we are beginning to see from our insurance companies.&nbsp; As these companies become increasingly paternalistic, it is important to keep abreast of just what they are requiring, especially since most of these policies are invisible from the subscribers’ viewpoint.&nbsp; What we are seeing specifically is a policy under which we (the physicians) are penalized if parents opt out of vaccines, check-ups or follow-up visits.&nbsp; </p>
<p>The key here is that if you opt to follow a vaccine or check-up schedule that differs from that which your insurance company recommends, they will decrease my reimbursement for the entire panel.&nbsp; This means that if you have Anthem insurance (for example) and decline your chicken pox shot, we are at risk of losing up to 1% of our reimbursement for every patient who has the same insurance.&nbsp; At my practice that is roughly 50% of my patients.&nbsp; That may not seem like a lot, but here it would amount to about $15,000.&nbsp; Multiply that by every vaccine which is declined.&nbsp; The result will be that if you opt to vary from the schedule your insurance company &quot;recommends,&quot; we would ask you to seek your care elsewhere.&nbsp; This is wonderful from the insurance company’s viewpoint because it <strong>makes us the bad guys</strong>.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Please review your policy for this kind of &quot;incentive.&quot;&nbsp; While I am very supportive of vaccination and check ups, I also feel that it is not my job to be an enforcer, but to be a partner and educator.&nbsp; It is these kinds of policies that are driving good folks out of the medical field. – Peds Doc in Virginia</p>

Two Letters Re: Melting Lead for the Meltdown

James:

Anyone casting lead must understand that Molten Lead and Water or Perspiration don’t mix!
 
Just One Drop of Water in the Lead Pot and…BOOM, an instant steam explosion.
 
Casting lead is hot business.
 
Standing over the pot you feel one drop of perspiration run down your brow, down the bridge of your nose right to the tip and in the pot.
By the time you realize what just happened, well… it’s too late.
 
That one little drop of sweat will most likely cause a violent explosion of molten lead all over you and every thing in the area.
Causing severe burns, maybe blindness and possibly a fire. That sweating glass of iced tea, or even a runny nose can put you in a bad situation. Wheel weights can hold a drop of water just under the clamp. Don’t drop them in the pot to save time.
 
A couple other good safety items would be sweatbands for the forehead and wrists and a full facemask instead of just safety glasses.
 
I personally believe melting lead in the kitchen on the stove is particularly hazardous. There are water sources everywhere…not to mention lead contamination in the kitchen.
Anyway…
You don’t use the turkey fryer in the kitchen, so why cook lead in the kitchen? 

Oh, by the way, I found a great on-line site for casting lead. About anything regarding casting lead is there.
 
Be Safe, – Bill in The Northern Neck of Virginia

Dear JWR,
I wanted to comment on the excellent article, Melting Lead for the Meltdown, by Charles J.

I would like to add just a few small things that I have picked up in 25 years of casting. The safety gear comments are spot on. Leather boots are very important, just make sure that your pant legs are on the outside of the boots. Take it from someone that learned the hard way, it is difficult to get a chunk of hot lead out of a boot while dancing around like a fool. Likewise, a face shield, or at the minimum, safety glasses, must be worn at all times when around molten lead. When my lead pot is on, a sign is on the door to the casting room reads that NO ONE is allowed entrance without at least safety glasses. The last safety item is that no liquids are allowed in the casting room when the pot is on. No soda, no coffee, no beer (which you shouldn’t be drinking anyway when dealing with molten metal). A small amount of liquid will cause a large splash of hot lead.One last hint would be that if you are casting more than one variety of bullet, do them both at the same time. Fill one mold, then set aside. Fill the second, set aside, open the first, re-fill and set aside. Repeat. When you get into a good rhythm, you can really crank out the cast bullets. Bullet casting can be very relaxing. Just be careful doing it. – Mr. M

Economics and Investing:

F.G. sent us this: Number of U.S. expatriates increases 16% in 2011.

Diana sent us this: States seek currencies made of silver and gold

Kevin C. suggested this over at Lew Rockwell’s site: Internet Resources for the International Man

Items from The Economatrix:

S&P Warns Cuts Loom For G20 Nations

CBO:  Taxes Will Shoot Up By More Than 30% This Year

Bill Gross Explains Why “We Are Witnessing The Death Of Abundance” And Why Gold Is Becoming The Default “Store Of Value”

The Experts’ View On The Euro’s Future:  There Is None

Oil Prices Rise After Drop In US Hiring Expands

Odds ‘n Sods:

Galt’s Gulch Green Light! I just heard that Atlas Shrugged, Part 2 is set to start filming in April, with a fast-tracked (pardon the pun) release date in October, 2012. Presumably to get it in theaters before Election Day in the United States. For some reason they are re-casting the film. I should mention that I found the first film (Part 1) was fairly loyal to the original novel, and worth watching. (Thanks to Jim M. for the link. )

   o o o

Steve V. was the first of several to mention this piece over at Mac Slavo’s blog: SHTF Planning: 20 Lessons from the Streets of Cairo. (Warning: Contains some crude language.)

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German pensioner eats 64-year-old US lard. (Thanks to James C. for the link.)

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Tim J. sent this: Why hunting and gathering makes us smarter and thinner

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J McC. mentioned that he really likes this blog: A Girl and Her Gun

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Yishai sent this: Quick Release Paracord Bracelet for Emergency Deployment

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.
And above all these things [put on] charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” – Colossians 3:12-15 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 39 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 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), and E.) 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 F-50 hand well pump (a $349 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.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value, C.) A Commence Fire! emergency stove with three tinder refill kits. (A $160 value.), and D.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 39 ends on March 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.

Preparing To Be Prepared, by Patricia K.

Preparation, by definition, is this:

“1. the act of getting something ready. 2. a state of getting ready.”

So what is it you are getting ready for? Are you taking action and making a plan? Are you stocking-up?
“Sure!” you say with enthusiasm “I am a prepper!”  You boast, as you align yourself with the great people of the past that were also prepared for catastrophes and unseen calamities of their day.

Today is my opportunity to give you some insight on a topic that might easily be overlooked. I want to touch on the subject of “preparedness”, specifically a mental preparedness. Maybe you’re thinking “Who cares about that?”
 
Just tell me the steps to making a wickiup (lodge) in my back yard!
 Hold on!  Let me give you another definition. Change: to cause to have a completely different form…to put another in place of.
Think on that for a moment. Your life will have a complete new form; your life style will have another style ‘put in its place’. Are you prepared for that? Is your family prepared for that?

If you are single and going it alone this wake –up call may still be for you but it is most definitely for the man that is family minded and wants to prepare for the survival of his kin.

Let me introduce myself, I am the wife of a survivalist-prepper.
I do not have any statistics to go off of, but I feel strongly that it is the man that has his families’ best interest at heart who takes on the task of getting ready for the end. Wives, please give me a moment of your time.
I’m thinking as I sit here by my woodstove, bundled in a blanket wearing my jacket (hat and all!)
 
Lately I can’t seem to get more than a few feet from this behemoth of heat before I feel the chill of winter begin to creep into my bones.
I am thinking about the wives of these pioneering men that we love. Those men, the fierce hunters, the brave and the strong, the man you married and trust to take care of you when the world collapses.
Wives, I ask are you preparing as well?

Are you just stocking up for a food shortage or are you planning on “going off the grid”?
Some of the greatest wisdom is to take the gift of learning from others mistakes. Though my words may seem ominous at times, I assure you I have only your success in mind. The mental attitude you take into your new life will factor into what you purpose to do.
If you’re a mother you will affect your children as well. Know it or not you are the hub of the home.
Never in my life was I one to sit around and wait till things got so far out of hand before I made a move. We have been told on many occasions that we are extreme people. Maybe that is because instead of talking about a thing, we will just go and do that thing. It has taken us everywhere in the U.S. and made us the hearty people we are today. Though we are very independent in our ways, it is by the grace and mercy of the Lord that we abide.

We chose to go all the way in our preparations for TEOTWAWKI, and we moved to an off-grid location. Years prior to the move, we bought acreage and paid the loan off early. I did not want any land payments to contend with during the building process.
Yet, before this enormous leap of faith many things came up. We even moved to Alaska and derailed our plans for off grid life by a couple of years, always keeping the notion tucked away in our mind.

As tough as Alaska was, moving to the foothills of the Adirondacks was even more brutal. We have had many mishaps and made tons of mistakes along the way. I glory in telling you that we have great successes and unmatched accomplishments from our endeavor as well.
Can you learn from a wife and mother that is currently living out the “worst case scenario”?

Mistakes:
My first mistake was letting my husband do everything.
Though I was there when the land was purchased, all I cared about was the quaint little town and how cute it looked. He was looking at hunting opportunities and the distance from town. I was still thinking about Wal-Mart, which by the way is nearly an hour from our location. He was already planning on gardens and feeding ourselves. I was not. Wasn’t the food in the sealed buckets enough of a plan?

I thought that I knew enough.  I really believed that all the years of reading and research would prepare me for what we were going to do. Studying about photo voltaic systems and learning about which batteries held the best charge. I studied what others did and drew plans for my own. I have to laugh because it doesn’t matter what system you buy, if the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing you simply have no power. Oh sure you can get a generator for all your needs. But wait, what if that breaks? And your back up breaks as well? If your husband is handy enough he will try making several other forms of power, as mine did. All systems challenged by nature and all failed at one point or another. The answer is this, learn to live without power. Set yourself up to live with none, and then add a little bit back into it. I had to come to the realization that I was not out here to sustain a life I already had, but to venture into a new way of life. I was having trouble making the adjustments.

When you are forced to boil water for bathing and are out in the cold September nights heating over a campfire to wash your children you will then be faced with the harsh reality that you live off-grid and life doesn’t get any tougher than this.

Don’t lie to yourself. If you tell yourself that you like camping, and this is just like a camping trip you are lying to yourself and you will be miserable. Consider this, what if your temporary situation becomes permanent? By that I specifically mean the bathroom. Yes, you better believe it, the toilet is a number one priority!  We have three children, one is a teenage girl. When the camper van toilet was no longer an option we had to go to a type of can privy thing. As if that wasn’t bad enough the area flooded and we had to wade through and jump on rocks to use the potty in the rain. Of course a new facility was built up on a deck and we felt spoiled for a while. Then the cold weather came. Can you mentally prepare yourself for no flushing toilet? Consider your alternatives now before you get into the situation.

Without water you will die. Mistakes were made here too. I brought two-liter bottles, lots of them. I would refill them at the laundry mat. All summer while we built our home with our own hands, I washed dishes in an outdoor kitchen. This took a toll on me. I always felt like everything was dirty. Then one day our super fantastic filters broke. I could no longer filter the water we drank. Think about the amount you have to boil for five people and animals too. We bought large holding tanks, but the rain was delayed. A four-wheeler and 35 gallon trash can were used to get water from the creek two miles away.

I will never forget the pastor’s face when he came out to our cabin and saw the water collection system that was in place. It seemed that we never had enough time to get all the things done that needed doing. Our gutters were not up on the porch that was not built, so we had tarps that came down off the cabin to collect rain water into the tanks. Our tank was nearly empty. During his visit, it started to pour! He helped us push and pull the tarps to guide the water into the tank. We collected nearly 150 gallons every 20 minutes. It counted as our shower that day too!

Can you imagine our desperation of not having running water? I was not prepared for that mental challenge. In our community we are known as the modern day Ingalls. Today we have thousands of gallons of water on hand. Filtered and running freely. We know exactly how much we use each day.
Weather conditions; because we moved to a new area we were not completely knowledgeable about the summer or the winter weather.  Living in Alaska had prepared us for harsh below freezing temperatures if we drove in it or went outside, that is to say we knew about getting studs on our tires and dressing for -27? on a daily basis, and plugging in our vehicles so they would start in the morning, those types of things.

Where I made the mistake was that I did not take into consideration how I would actually heat the inside of the home. I took for granted that my warmth would be a readily available and come from a reliable source.

Our untested woodstove which was acquired in summer became a terrible distress in the winter. I never knew that a stove could be equivalent to a newborn baby.  It has needed feeding every two – three hours for months now. That adds up to a lot of sleepless nights.
Also, the insulation in our home never was completed. That is another thing I was not prepared for. I am not a carpenter. I am a stay at home mom that home schools the children. I can’t really build anything, well not something you can live in!  I was not prepared for the months of care my husband would need if or when he got hurt.

Another Mistake: normalcy bias. This is the mindset of “It can’t happen to me.”
This goes back to the first thing I mentioned about letting our husbands do everything. What will you do when the unthinkable happens?  If you are a team, then you need to do all the preparations as a team. Continue to be team minded. I did not know enough about what to do if my team member was out of commission. In my defense I would like to say that I am not a wimp either, we have had to super glue cut legs, from knife injuries and pull porcupine quills out of dogs, put animals down and more.
 You learn to do what is necessary, or worse things happen. However I did not even know where the hospital was located or which way to go when my husband had an accident with the circular saw. On a nice sunny day in November and he was outside working on the bathroom floor. Next thing I know he calmly says “I have to go to the hospital now.” I am thinking “What?”
 “I am hurt real bad” he tells me. “I cut off my fingers” YIKES!
 “Do you have all the pieces?”

Now I am the prime care giver in every situation. He is gone for days. Who will turn on the solar? How will we actually get the things done that need doing? There are no light switches or plug receptacles. If you want power you need to know how to turn on the solar controller and the inverters, switch batteries over or start the generator etc.
You adapt and you learn.  I found out just what kind of metal I am made of.
 All was not lost; I didn’t quit and move into town. I snapped out of my comfort zone and I stepped up to the plate. Use whatever cliché you want, but my time came to step into my new identity forever and completely.
I can say that I am a prepper, and I can mean it. I have taken the steps of pulling the plug on a lifestyle that I was very comfortable in. My mental attitude now is that I can do this.

The greatest adversity you will ever overcome comes from what lies within you.
Yes, I can haul rocks and stack or chop the wood. I can gather water and have found new ways to get everyone and everything clean. I can cook with propane, campfires or on top of the wood stove.
 
I have made the best out of some of the worst things. I know that every time I climb my stairs I have victory over the trees that nearly crushed our cabin. We turned them into steps and wood flooring!

We live free of debt, because we paid cash for everything, we live free of the weight of society to have it all, because we know that we have what is really of value. We have each other and our time is our own.
We have become self- sufficient.  It came at a price, but it was worth the investment.

My simple steps to being mentally prepared:

  1. Detox yourself from the Wal-Mart Super Center. It will close. You will not be able to go there WTSHTF. Can you accept that mental challenge? We started out waiting two weeks to shop, and then we worked our way up to six weeks. Can you stay away from the Super Center for six weeks?
  2. Learn to do without. No one is coming to help you. If you do not take it with you, then you will need to know how to make it yourself or live without it.
  3. Take the steps now to get your water harvesting system in place before you spend one night in your new off grid home. If you’re digging a well, have the proper documents taken care of and the well drilling done before you bring your family on site.
  4. Learn to cook with little or no food. Seriously, try making some new dishes that are prepared from whatever you have before you go shopping. Try cooking on an open fire. That is a tough thing to learn but one of the joys I now have is making something delicious right outside on an open fire. Even in the rain. My family really appreciates my efforts all the more.
  5. Have a back-up plan for the back-up plan. Trust your instincts because you cannot prepare for everything, no matter how much you prepare.
  6.  Unplug now, why wait? When you could still step back into things if you wanted. Knowing that you’re doing this because it is your best decision for your family, that you took matters into your own hands is very empowering. Do you wait till you are forced to make the choice? Then it is no longer a choice and it becomes mandatory.
  7. Let experience be your teacher. Get involved and learn some new trades. My little 6 year old can make fires using things like steel wool and parabolic lenses (supervised of course) My 8 year old can shoot a frog with his long bow, even in muddy water, and he can set snares too!
     My teenager is amazing, we especially like it that she makes fresh bread in the Dutch oven (and she taught herself through trial and error)
  8. Do the “drastic” thing. We sold all of our real estate and most of our “stuff” (couches, furniture, appliances and extra baggage) we pooled our resources and made a budget to live off of and accomplish our goals. Do not expect your family or neighbors to understand; after all they are still addicted to the power grid.
  9. This isn’t last by any means. We put God first in all that we do and know fully that He is the One that has given us strength and joy and peace in all our trials and our successes.

 My last question to you before I close is this, how will you even know you were prepared for TEOTWAWKI until it happens and you are in the midst of your new way of life? That day is the day you discover if you stocked enough food and ammo, should you have gotten a cow instead of the goat, bought gold instead of silver…etc. What I am saying is that you can never know if you built your house up high enough to avoid a flood, unless there is a flood. The difficulty then is that it is too late to do anything different.
I have the same mindset in my “prepping” tactics. Do what I can, and let the Lord do what I can’t.
 May I present this train of thought; the end is already here.
 Has there not been enough evidence that the world around us is different? What else needs to happen for us to wake up and take action?
Life around us is changing, a little each day.

If your being stirred to preparedness, then set your mind to that, go about it wholeheartedly without second guessing.  Everyone thought Noah was crazy too, but the rains came and they’re coming again. May The Lord Be With You.

Layering: A Practical Approach Survival and Preparedness, by J.C.

We are all survivors.  I can prove it.  If you are reading this, then you are alive and surviving.  We all survive every day.  Our home is our shelter.  We use cars for transportation.  We barter our skills in a workplace in exchange for money.  That money is then used for supplies.  And so on and so on.  Our lives are comfortable.  So what happens when that comfort is disrupted?   Chaos, insecurity, fear, anxiety, despair, alcoholism, etc…not a pretty picture.

To prevail in an unfortunate situation, I believe the most important skill one must possess is the ability to adapt.  This is accomplished by knowledge, experience, and preparation.  The focus of this article is on being prepared.  Three things in my life have made me a prepared individual:

  1. My time in the Boy Scouts.  The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared”.  I’ve learned and practiced outdoor skills and survival.  I have carried this over to my adult life in my outdoor adventures.
  2. My military service.  Discipline and teamwork are stressed.  Weapon and tactics training were learned.  It has contributed to my overall survival mindset.
  3. My career as a Service Technician in communications and electronics.  If it’s broke, I fix it.  A lot of thinking outside the box and adaptability is required, many times with no outside help.

So, what does it take to be prepared and survive the unexpected?  I feel one must be mobile or capable of instant mobility to survive.  This leaves the options open.  You should also layer your supplies as to minimize unexpected losses which increases your adaptability.  “Wear plenty of layers.”  I’m sure you’ve heard that as a child.  Your mother said this so you would stay warm.  This was so you could adjust your insulation according to temperature and activity level, to adapt to the temperature.  I am going to discuss how to apply the layering principle to your personal survival.

There are three layered levels in our lives:

1.  The contents of our home or other permanent shelter.  This could also be a stocked survival retreat.

  1. The sustainment gear we can carry with us in a backpack, Bug out Bag, vehicle, bicycle, etc.
  2. What we can carry on our person every day – Every Day Carry.

In the military, we had line gear.  Line 1 was what we had in our pockets.  Line 2 was our fighting or web gear.  Line 3 was our sustainment gear or rucksack.  So let’s start with the basics:

Needs
Skills
Seven Cs
Food Fire Carrying container  – canteen, water bottle, hydration bladder
Water Hunting / Gathering Cooking container – canteen cup, cook pot, coffee can
Shelter Evasion Cutter – knife, axe, machete, glass shard
Security Signaling Combustion – Bic lighter, flint & steel, matches, road flare
Health Navigation Cordage – Paracord, string, twine, tape, dental floss
Communications Fieldcraft Cover – poncho, tarp, emergency blanket
    Compass

 

Food:  Even though humans can go 3 weeks without food and stay alive, mental and physical capacity will diminish within a couple of days.  You should have food with you that requires no preparation on your person such as Power Bars, Gorp, MREs, Spam, jerky, canned stew, etc.  Your transport or backpack can have more sustainable food.  Don’t forget something to cook in.  Anything that cannot be cooked in a pot can be cooked on a stick over a fire.

Water:  This is more important than food especially in arid environments.  Also don’t eat if you do not have water.  It takes water to digest food.  Have a way to purify water.  A portable water filter, iodine, or chlorine tablets will work but boiling is best.  Carry bottled water in your vehicle.

Shelter:  Depending on the conditions, shelter may be more important than food and water.  You can’t eat if you are frozen to death.  Learn how to make field expedient shelters, debris huts, etc.  Carry a bivy and sleeping bag in your Bug Out Bag.  Clothing is also shelter.

Security:  What good is it to have a large stash of supplies just to have someone take it from you?  Security comes in many forms…staying hidden from others, blending in, weapons, or just keeping your mouth shut.  Fire will keep animals at bay.  Don’t carry a gun unless you know how and are willing to use it.

Health:  This includes hygiene, sanitation, and first aid.  For example, don’t use the knife that you just field dressed a squirrel with to cut up your cooked meat.  Either wash it thoroughly or use a separate knife.  You do have soap don’t you?  I’m amazed at how many people don’t include soap in their Bug Out Bags.   Don’t drink untreated water.  Treat cuts and scrapes.  Use toilet paper if you have it.  Brush your teeth.

Communication:  People are social beings.  If alone, have a portable radio to listen to surrounding news.  I have an AM/FM/SW radio that is just a little larger than a deck of cards.  It is analog so it has a long battery life.  A shortwave radio allows me more options.  Sometimes news from other countries may be the only form of information due to an EMP or communications blackout.  By the way, I put a label on all of my electronics indicating their battery life and every device uses the same size battery.  A police scanner is very useful.  2-way radios can be very valuable to groups or used as a barter item.

Fire:  Have multiple ways to start a fire.  Fire starting and building is your most important skill.  It will purify your water, cook your food, heat your shelter, keep predators at bay, and signal for help.  Bic lighters are king.  Carry a flint and steel set on your person at all times.  Magnesium works well in wet conditions.  Backpacking stoves work great for quick meals and draw less attention than fires.  Keep one in your car.

Hunting / Gathering:  Snares and traps can be left unattended allowing you to do other tasks.  Learn a few edible wild plants.  Fishing gear is small and very useful – just some string and a few hooks is all you need.

Evasion / Signaling:  Grizzly bear on your trail?  Just stumble across a meth lab on a hike?  Government out to get you?  Ok, this is a little extreme but if there is a major disaster staying away from others might be the desirable thing to do.  Those that are unprepared may want to take what you have.  People also spread disease.  The flip side to this is signaling.  If you are just lost you need to be found.  A whistle, signal mirror, or smoke from a fire are your best options.

Navigation:  You just bugged out.  Where are you going?  Learn to use a map and compass.  Don’t rely too much on GPS.  They can break, batteries die, and the satellites can be re-tasked for military operations.  Have paper maps covering where you are all the way to where you are going.  What if the roads are clogged with traffic escaping from a hazmat spill?  Do you have bike trail maps?  Do you have a bike?  You need multiple routes of escape and methods of transportation.

The Seven Cs:  These items are the most basic necessities needed to survive.  They will directly contribute to keeping your ass alive more than anything else.  The first four are the most important – Canteen, cup, knife, fire starter. 

Staging equipment is critical.  It must be secure yet accessible.  If your permanent shelter is compromised or unavailable then you become mobile.  Your mobile layer is your second layer.  It may be a Get Home Bag or a complete BOB inside your Bug Out Vehicle.  Your vehicle may be your new home.  A bicycle or scooter is a good backup to have in your bug out vehicle (BOV).  So how do we stage and carry all this gear?

My Layered Bug Out System:

I am going to describe and comment on my system and you can decide if it works for you.  Take my ideas and use whatever you feel is beneficial to your situation.

I keep extra food and supplies at home as we all should.  My food stockpile is a mixture of long term grains sealed in mylar, canned goods, MREs, [freeze-dried] backpacker meals, and the like.  This allows for variety in terms of taste and nutrition.  I rotate my supplies and I do not store much more than can fit into my vehicle due to the possibility of needing to bug out.  Any structure can be penetrated.  If people want what you have, they will get it and you can’t keep watch 24 hours a day by yourself.

My 4×4 BOV is not my daily driver but is always maintained with a full tank of gasoline.  Most any vehicle nowadays will go at least 300 miles on a tank of fuel.  I have enough stabilized fuel stored to get me to any one of my Bug Out Location choices.  A cargo carrier attaches to my rear receiver and a bicycle carrier attaches to my front receiver.  The luggage rack rounds out its cargo capability.  I have opted to not use a trailer because of lack of maneuverability and off road ability.  I can live out of my vehicle in a stationary location with complete isolation for six months to a year.

In the event of an EMP, fuel shortage, martial law, etc. full sized motorized transportation may not be an option.  My BOV may break down or roads may not be passable.  My next layer is a bicycle.  One could even use a game cart, dolly, wagon, etc.  You can only carry a limited amount of gear on your back.  A bicycle is 3 times more efficient than walking and can carry much more weight.  Mine is set up with panniers and my gear is always packed.  I also carry a tractor tire inner tube, pump, rope, and climbing gear which allows me to transport myself and gear over almost any terrain.  The inner tube is for traversing water.  I can transport 200 lbs. + by walking beside and pushing the bicycle.

This leaves the final layer – what is on my person.  My personal carry gear is also broken down into layers.  My pockets have a Bug Out Altoids Tin B.O.A.T.)  A chest rig carries my Seven Cs with a sidearm and can be completely hidden by a sweatshirt.  On top of this would be web gear and rifle in appropriate circumstances.  The final layer is a rucksack.  Another option I have experimented with is a fanny pack strictly for survival.

The above is available for an extreme situation where bugging out may be required.  My normal everyday life doesn’t require these drastic measures.  If there is a major power outage during a snow storm, I’ll just stay home, listen to my portable radio, and cook on my butane stove.  Drastic measures aren’t always needed.

One more item to talk about is a Get Home Bag (GHB).  All of my gear is staged at home waiting if it is needed but I have to get there to use it.  My GHB is combined with my EDC.  Since I am in the service industry, I am required to travel at times in a company service vehicle.  This limits what I can always have at my disposal.  Along with my tools and test equipment I carry a very small day pack.  This holds my Seven Cs, some food, extra ammo, and a few work items.  It is always near me or in the vehicle I am traveling in.  I have a cocealed carry permit and carry every day.  I carry a flint striker on my key ring as fire is more important to me than a knife on my person.  I already carry enough stuff on my belt.

This completes the philosophy and application of my layering system.  Take from it what you will.  If you learn something from it, that’s great.  If it saves your life someday, that’s even better.

A Note on EMP:

Being in the communications business, I have witnessed what lightning can do to a communications tower site.  This is the closest thing I have seen to an EMP.  I also have access to high power radio equipment and have done experimentation with Faraday cages.  My conclusions show that non-continuous shielding (such as screen) will not stop all frequencies.  The only cheap and easy thing I have seen that will shield all radio frequency energy is properly wrapped multiple layers of aluminum foil.  I have had popcorn tins fail along with microwave ovens.  I also will not ground a Faraday cage due to what I have seen lightning do.  I wrap all of my electronic devices that go in my bug out bag.

[Some deleted, for brevity]

Lastly, don’t let the preparedness bug monopolize your life.  Have a preparation plan, carry it out, then relax and enjoy what you’ve accomplished.  If the world goes to pieces, you’re ready.  If not, then sit back and enjoy a cold one.

Three Letters Re: Canning Food in a Grid-Down World

Jim:
In response to the question on wood stove canning. The short answer is ‘yes’. However, to can on a wood stove means being able to regulate the heat for extended periods. (Irregular temperatures, especially with the pressure canner, will cause your jars to siphon the juices.) This means a good assortment of dependable wood, a stove that will hold a steady heat and if you’re lucky enough, a separate summer kitchen. (The wood stove in summer will turn the kitchen into an unbearable sauna. That said, I have canned over wood heat for many years with excellent results. And, if I may add, in summer I’d rather can in any other way than on my wood stove. Incidentally, an open fire surrounded by a few concrete blocks and a grate makes a serviceable canning heat. Here, wood can be used for open bath canning with excellent results. Once the learning curve on canning is achieved, then all sorts of innovations may be attempted. Regards, – CCW

Hi James!
Thanks for all the information and inspiration that you provide!
 
In answer to the question about if it is possible to pressure can over wood heat: yes! it certainly can be done. But it takes much more experience and observation to manage an even temperature on the wood cookstove and the resulting pressure within the pressure canner. Back in my Hippie days in the 1970s, I used to pressure can and cook everything over an old wood cookstove and it certainly does work. I’d even venture a guess that pressure canning could be done over an open fire with frequent fire management.
 
Managing the correct pressure is much , much more difficult with a wood fire versus the convenience of a gas or electric heat source. With gas or electric, once you find the ‘sweet spot’ on the control of the stove burner that maintains the correct pressure, you can stay busy with other tasks near the stove and only glance at the pressure gauge every 5 or 10 minutes. Then, if the pressure is changing, adjusting the stove control knob slightly up or down as needed will correct the problem with little effort.
 
With pressure canning over a wood stove, it’s not near that simple. On a wood cookstove, the entire metal surface of the stove has a variation in temperature. To increase the temperature and thereby increase the pressure within the canner, you slide the pressure canner closer to the hottest spot on the cookstove surface (back area above the firebox). If the pressure is too high, then slide the pressure canner away from the hottest spot. A few inches makes a difference in surface temperature on a cookstove. But it takes many frequent observations and adjustments to maintain a steady pressure on your canner. No “checking it every ten minutes”. And all this time, the temperature within the firebox is changing as well.
 
The temperature changes within the firebox depends on the design and size of the firebox within the wood cookstove,  type of wood you are burning, the size and dryness of the wood, the buildup of ashes within the firebox, the passage of time as your fire burns down, how you set your air vent controls and on an on. If you have never used a wood cookstove, operating one efficiently will seem overwhelming–especially when smoke leaks from every surface of the stove filling your kitchen as you try to build a fire and get the smoke hot enough to rise out the chimney!! Please gain some experience with the wood cookstove before you ever try to pressure can on it.
 
With experience, all these problems will disappear and you will grow enjoy cooking over a wood stove. Bread baked in a cookstove has a much more wonderful flavor that no electric or gas stove can match. My two aunts continued to do their baking in their wood cookstoves all their lives even after adding electric stoves to their kitchens decades earlier!
 
So, before you ever consider staking your life or at least your food canning future on pressure canning over wood heat–as with everything–gain experience with the wood cookstove first. Live the lifestyle. Then, if or when you have to rely on a wood cookstove as the center of your kitchen, it won’t be such  a huge culture shock.
 
One last thing, a physical and emotional attachment develops with a family’s life centering around the wood cookstove unlike any other fixture within your house today. You can’t imagine the sense of comfort and well being that develops.
 
Picture that it’s winter and bitter cold. You’ve just finished chores outside and feel chilled to the bone. Now imagine, coming into your house, taking off your heavy winter clothing and feeling the warmth of the wood cookstove radiating from the kitchen. Now imagine pulling up a chair close to this warmth, pouring a steaming cup of rosehip and wild peppermint tea from the kettle that’s always on the stove, filling a bowl with hot stew (homegrown ingredients) that’s been simmering for hours on the stove, cutting a slice of fresh baked bread from the warming oven. The whole house smells wonderful from this goodness on the cookstove—I forgot to mention that you took off your winter boots at the door, your toes feel like ice.
 
Now imagine, opening the door of the oven to let even more heat fill the room, sitting on the kitchen chair, resting your cold feet on the door of the oven and feeling the warmth of the oven start to penetrate your cold toes, the tea and the hot stew start to warm you from the inside out. A feeling that all is well in the world settles over you, until your wife yells, “Get your stinky feet off the oven door!”
 
Enjoy, and may God bless your efforts – Mountain Firekeeper

Sir:
Just a quick thought on canning that might help everyone.  My wife and I use the All American Pressure Canner Model 921 21 quart with the metal to metal seal, it is aluminum and we like it.  What we use for our heat source is an old turkey fryer base that is hooked up to a 20 lb propane tank.  I have bought several turkey fryers at garage sale fairly cheaply and these work great.  My wife canned some green beans last fall and I weighed the propane tank before and after we pressure canned the beans and we used about 8-to-10 ounces of propane. So part of our plan has been to have several extra tanks of propane for canning purposes.   

Another thought related to 20 lb propane tanks is that if you exchange them at Wal-Mart you only get 15 lbs of propane but if you bring the tanks to your local gas company then they can fill them to 20 lbs and less expensive if the tanks are in good shape.  How you acquire your extra propane tanks is up to you but I have found Wal-Mart to be very accommodating when exchanging old rusty tanks for new ones the only drawback is the [smaller capacity, affording] 5 less pounds of propane.  Good luck, God Bless – Summer J.

JWR Adds: Because of the greater fire hazard, I recommend that you do any canning over a propane turkey roasting base outdoors. While you won’t have the classic hot grease fire risk often seen with roasting or deep frying poultry, any time you have a large temporary propane burner set up, there is greater fire risk than with a permanent indoor installation. Also, be absolutely certain that the burner is set up on a dead level surface, and that it is very stable and wide enough to accommodate your canning vessel. Having this apparatus tip over while canning would be perilous!

Letter Re: A Combat Gear Primer

Mr. Rawles,
This a reply to the reply to “A Combat Gear Primer” by WildcatActual.  While it is true that a direct hit from a high-powered rifle such as a Russian Dragunov firing a 7.62x54R will not/should not penetrate military grade body armor I would like to add to the comment of “These are but two examples of the fallacy that blunt force trauma from a bullet hit will incapacitate an individual wearing body armor”:

I have a personal experience in this.  I was in Mosul, Iraq in 2006.  Our unit was tasked to clear and old cement factory in the city.  This cement factory was a sniper’s dream, and the insurgents made good use of it for that very purpose.  Several guys had been hit in and around this area from sniper fire.  Our unit had received a “tip” that the same sniper who had, just days before, killed another US soldier was back at the factory.  Our unit rolled in there ready to take this guy down once and for all.  We thought we had a pretty good idea where he was shooting from.  We set up a perimeter inside and dismounted the Strykers.  The weapons team advanced on one of those tower looking rock crusher things and our 6, the Medic and myself took up a covering position at the back rear of the vicinity.

The weapons squad was no more than a few seconds into there bounding when I was thrown face-forward into the dirt.  It felt like someone had had come up behind me and kicked me as hard as possible in the back. I could barely breath, I had no idea I had just been shot in the back.  The next thing I knew someone was dragging me to the other side of the vehicle.  My whole body hurt, but yes, I was able to regain my composure and get back up to my knees after a minute or so, but just barely.  Was I “out of the fight”?  No.  Was I as as combat effective as I was a few minutes ago?  No way! To make long story short, we still did not catch the sniper and I had one cracked rib and a nasty bruise in the shape of a SAPI plate on my back.  One more round to the same area and I would have been done.  

Finally, I know the exact video the reader is referencing about the soldier who is shot and gets right back up, and I have some further information on this as well.  The soldier in the video was shot with a Tabuk-S Assault Rifle, which is basically an AK-47 with a long, heavy RPK type barrel.  This is not really a Sniper Rifle per se but an SDM weapon that fires a 7.62×39 AK-47 round which does not have the punch of a full-power 7.62x54r round.  So is it possible that a person wearing modern body armor can be taken down with a single hit?  Lets just say I am glad I was dragged to cover because at that point I didn’t even know my name let alone able to get there on my own. – Van  D.  

Odds ‘n Sods:

A good video: Four Things A Man Must Have. By the way, I’m really looking forward to seeing Cody’s upcoming homesteading compilation video.

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Kevin S. sent us this, from an English newspaper: Forget global warming – it’s Cycle 25 we need to worry about (and if NASA scientists are right the Thames will be freezing over again.

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A new television show pilot planned: J.J. Abrams sells sci-fi apocalypse pilot to NBC. Is it post-EMP, or post-solar flare? Regardless, it is TEOTWAWKI. (Thanks to Jake K. for the link.)

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Sue C. sent this news: Villagers scramble for fuel in Europe’s big chill. Meanwhile, in other Global Warming news: Snow falls in Rome for the first time in 26 years as -36 celsius temperatures across eastern Europe send death toll to 150.

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Study shows that brains of addicts are inherently abnormal