More Friday FDIC Follies: Regulators close small banks in Iowa, Louisiana for total of 90 bank failures in 2011
Debt Crisis Contagion: The Euro Zone’s Deadly Domino Effect
Items from The Economatrix:
Real Estate: Why Home Prices Won’t Bottom Out
Paul Drockton: MF Global and Derivatives Disinformation
Student Loan Default Rates Surging Largely Due to For-Profit College Expansion
My old friend Rob L. wrote to mention: “A reminder to pass on to your readers in the U.S. that they only have about six weeks left to purchase Primatene Mist Inhaler(s) over the counter. After December 31, 2011 they will no longer be sold [even with a prescription.] As most of you know, this is an Epinephrine inhaler and can be used for any type of anaphylaxis. Cost is around $21.” JWR Adds: Other inhalers still on the market will require a prescription. Am I now to feel safer on January 1st, knowing that there is an infinitesimally smaller amount of CFCs out there, “destroying the ozone layer”? (I’ll have to avert my gaze if I see an asthma sufferer collapsed and gasping for breath. It is all for the Greater Good, we are told…)
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Science panel: Get ready for extreme weather. (Thanks to Sue C. for the link.)
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G.G. flagged this: Antibiotic-resistant infections spread through Europe
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Pit Bulls Slaughter 42 Goats. (Credit to F.G. for the link.)
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I heard that Safecastle has extended their 25% off Mountain House sale until November 21st. They offer free shipping, a wide selection and competitive pricing, be sure to place your order soon!
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers.” – Romans 1:8-9 (KJV)
Today we present another entry for Round 37 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).
Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) 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, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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 37 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
My wife and I have just recently started prepping (about a year now) and were amazed to find out how little we knew, in regards to living a self sustaining lifestyle/homesteading. We had recently moved from our big house in the suburbs where farm animals weren’t allowed, to a secluded 5 acre parcel just outside of a small rural town. We, in this troubled time are in the midst of trying to build a cabin (cash as we go) while preparing for The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI). We started storing food while learning to garden with our newly purchased heirloom seeds. My wife and I built a chicken coop which now houses 13 hens that are laying about ten eggs a day. We have found our selves searching the internet constantly for information and soon a thought had occurred to me, if we lose the nternet, we are ruined! I suddenly realized that information storage was just as important as food storage. We have all this wheat, sugar, salt, beans etc.. But we don’t know how to turn it into edible foods! Thus I began saving web pages on almost everything that had to do with cooking and gardening, etc.. but the more I searched the more I realized I needed to know. I bought a Storey’s Guide to Raising Pigs, then found myself wondering how I would store so much meat without a freezer? That led me to another purchase of a book on how to build a smokehouse and cure your own meats.
All of this has turned into a “snowball effect” on information gathering, as soon as I learn something new, I realize the need to learn something else. At first I began to save the web pages on my computer (file save as, for most browsers) knowing that I had a back up generator and even if the internet was down I could access them. I created file folders on my computer such as cooking, gardening, chickens, pigs, automotive, etc… and began to fill them with any pertinent articles that I came across on the internet. Then my sister emailed me an article about solar flares and EMPs. Argghh! Now, we are going to really be ruined, how are we going to protect our vital information? The next day my wife returned home from shopping and handed me two 3-ring binders with the plastic sheet protecters. I know how much printer ink cost these days, but if the founders of the library of Alexandria had an Epson840 do you think they would have quibbled about ink prices? Who knows what the repercussions were for the loss of all that information. In a TEOTWAWKI situation we need to protect our vital information. Thus, I began the long process of printing all my articles and putting them into the little sheet protectors. My wife and I made a book on gardening and one on cooking.
This giant information snowball then had a strange side effect, it collided with our survival supplies list and actually began to dictate it. The recipes we had downloaded called for ingredients that weren’t in our food storage. The growing season at our altitude wasn’t long enough to accommodate some of our heirloom seeds therefore we had to research how to extend our growing season (we plan on building cold frames next year). We had no idea on how to pump water out of our well in a grid down situation. Until we came across a SurvivalBlog.com writing contest round five Winning article “How to Build an Inertial Well Slow Pump for Grid Down Emergencies” by TruthFirst. You can bet that those articles will be added to our ever expanding survival book. It is not enough however to just store articles without reading them. You don’t want to wait until the SHTF to read an article only to find that the article requires an ingredient, part or component that you don’t have. We have found it is best to start to try and live as self sustainable as we can now. That way we can learn from our mistakes without the serious consequences those same mistakes would have in TEOTWAWKI situation.
I would like to share with you how our information storage got started in order to give you an example of what you might store. Keep in mind that everyone’s survival plan is different, therefore everyone’s information storage needs will be as well. You might have different food tastes; specialized diet requirements; geographical location; or particular medical conditions which you will need to plan for. Our survival plan and information storage focuses on self-sustaining living since we all ready have our own property away from the city. First, we started by identifying some of the basic needs necessary for survival. Let’s name a few such as air, water, shelter, food, and security. Now, lets take food as an example and break it down further into some sub-categories:
1. Food
A. Growing your own food
1)Gardening
2)Heirloom Seeds vs hybrids
3)Climate Zones
4)Harvesting
5)Storage
a)Canning
1.Pressure Canner
2.Water Bath Canner
3.Jars, Rings and Lids
4.Pectin
5.Canning Salt
6.Canning Books/Recipes
7.Heat Sources
b)Root Cellar
B. Raising Your Own Meat
1)Pigs
2)Chickens
a)Various articles saved on how to raise chickens
b)Various articles saved on how to butcher chickens
c)How to store chicken
1.Freezer – added Foodsaver to survival supplies
2.Added recipe for canned chicken to cookbook
I don’t want to bore you anymore with a dull outline as that could go on forever, as you can see learning one thing can cause the need to learn something else. I also don’t want you to think that we sit around outlining all night either. We just start doing new things, like growing potatoes, which lead to us putting articles in our gardening book such as how to grow potatoes, how to harvest potatoes, then one day we were sitting there with like 300lbs of potatoes which led us to adding an article to our gardening book about how to store potatoes which added burlap sacks to our survival list. We downloaded some information about how to make a root cellar. We also canned 20 quarts of potatoes, so we added a recipe for processing potatoes to our cookbook. My wife then added a delicious potato soup recipe. Another example is since we planted too late this year we had to research how to extend our growing season. Thisin turn added an article to our gardening book on how to build cold frames, which led to the discovery of these really cool hinges with nitrogen filled cylinders that open and close the vent automatically (www.solarventworks.com). We then found another article about how to get your green tomatoes to ripen and added it to our gardening book.
In closing, I would just like to say that there is no cookie cutter program for survival and that buying a bunch of random survival supplies only gives you a false sense of security. Knowledge is the key to survival! Start a gardening book and a cookbook. Try living off your food stores and see how many recipes you actually need, then print them off and add them to your book. You will be amazed at how many ingredients you are missing, then add those to your food stores. Learning how to survive takes years, it is not something that happens overnight. Don’t wait till the SHTF it will be too late! Try learning self-sustaining skills today. Take that knowledge and store it in some three-ring binders, even if you think you will remember it. The three-ring binders make a great reference, not only for yourself, but if something were to happen to you, your spouse, children, and group will have a wealth of knowledge to draw from. Currently, my wife and I only have the Cookbook and Gardening Book. However, lately I have been thinking about all the other knowledge we could need in a survival situation. Here are a few ideas for our next books:
The list goes on and on, create your own knowledge books and share your ideas on the SurvivalBlog.com forum. Maybe collectively we can store enough knowledge to keep us from reverting back to the Stone Age. Remember information gathering has a snowball effect.
Hi, Jim,
I had a very interesting conversation earlier this week in which I learned that Arizona emergency planners are no longer planning any type of evacuation for the city of Phoenix. It is simply an impossible task. Where on earth do you put some four million people (greater Phoenix area population) and how do you get them there? I wonder what other cities/municipalities have officials who have made the same decision?
It would behoove all survival minded people to take a very hard and honest look at their own cities and towns and put themselves in the place of emergency planners. If your own logic and observations tell you that there’s no way out, those planners have likely come to the same conclusion.
Kind Regards, – Lisa Bedford, Editor, TheSurvivalMom.com
Jim:
As a CPR/First Aid instructor, I’d like to comment on the recent article: First Aid: From Sprained Ankles to Gunshot Wounds, by Big Country. As an “EMT in training” Big County made a few mistakes in his article. He uses the old mnemonic ABCs for CPR and first aid care, this is an older guideline that was updated in October of 2010 by The International Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR). In collaboration with the AHA, ILCOR produced the first International CPR Guidelines in 2000 and an International Consensus on CPR and ECC Science with Treatment Recommendations in 2005. Once again, in collaboration with the AHA, ILCOR is now coordinating an evidence-based review of resuscitation science, which will culminate in a Consensus Conference in February 2010. The proceedings of this meeting, was published in October 2010. Instead of the the “ABCs” of resuscitation we now use the memory acronym AB-CAB. Most of these changes are due to two factors in Basic life support (BLS) , simplicity of care and effective treatment of an ill or injured patient.
We no longer use a “pulse check” to see if someone’s heart is beating because under most circumstances, if you are not breathing you will have no heartbeat! The heart and the lungs work together as one system. If you stop breathing, your heart stops pumping and visa-verse. Another thing to come out of the 2010 consensus was that if someone has had Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) They are having a circulation problem NOT an oxygen problem, and studies show that compressions should start ASAP with as little interruption as possible (even for rescue breaths) as possible.
Although he does give great instruction on how to wrap a sprained ankle he neglects the basics of care of a strain or sprained joint. The acronym R.I.C.E. should be your guide. (Rest – stay off the foot, Ice – Use a cooling agent to ease swelling, Compression – use an Ace type bandage to keep swelling from returning, and Elevation – Keep the affected area above the heart). Memorize RICE , and you’ll remember how to properly care for these type of injuries.
In my article on what goes into a well stocked first aid kit I wrote that the one of most essential things you could have in a first aid kit was a triangle bandage. In his kit he never mentions it, but in his first aid application Big Country mentions using one several times.
He also mentions to to check the “pulse” in that part of the body, to see if there is sufficient blood flow. Easy to do if you have a stethoscope, but what if you didn’t have one in minimal kit he recommends? Simple, the same way nurses do, by checking the capillary refill in the finger or toe nails. Squeeze the fingernail for approximately four seconds, then release and watch to see if the blood refills the area in approximately two seconds.
All the other recommendation he makes are spot on! And my recommendation is to go and take a first aid and CPR class and make sure your training is current! – KM of FrostCPR.com
G.G. flagged this: The next financial crisis will be hellish, and it’s on its way
More from the GEAB think tank: Global Systemic Crisis: 30,000 billion US dollars in ghost assets will disappear by early 2013
U.S. Banks Face Serious Risk From Europe: Fitch. (Thanks to AmEx for the link.)
Kyle Bass Un-Edited: “Buying Gold Is Just Buying A Put Against The Idiocy Of The Political Cycle. It’s That Simple!” (At 20:50 into this fascinating interview, Bass answers the question: “Why guns and gold?”
Items from The Economatrix:
European Debt Crisis: You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet
Thankfully, a swift retraction, after public outcry: Shooters Heard: Interior Will Not Ban Target Practice. (A hat tip to Lee M. for the link.)
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Jan S. recommended some interesting commentary on Smart Meters.
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And speaking of privacy risks, reader F.S. mentioned that all Android phones have a root kit called Carrier iQ that allows all functions to be logged without user knowledge. It can be used as a key logger, location log, app use log, etc… He sent links to a short summary analysis and a full article that describes this huge COMSEC vulnerability.
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Jim O’Neill asks: Time to Break Apart the United States?
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The Talkeetna Patriot was the first of several readers to send this: Foreign hackers targeted U.S. water plant in apparent malicious cyber attack, expert says. (No doubt the first nor the last such incident. I’ve warned you about SCADA cyber attacks…)
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand;
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
The appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and [when] they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp [is] very great: for [he is] strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD [is] great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye [even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he [is] gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” Joel 2:1-13 (KJV)
A reminder that both Ready Made Resources and Safecastle are running their last 25% off Mountain House sales of the year. Both companies offer free shipping, a wide selection and competitive pricing, so you might want to place your order with the closest company, just for the sake of shipping efficiency. (Ready Made Resources is in Tennessee and Safecastle is in Minnesota. I suppose anyone west of the Rockies should just toss a coin!) Note that because of the large volume of orders expected and the upcoming Christmas shipping rush, please allow up to thirty days for delivery. Both companies are confident that your will get your delivery before Friday, December 23rd. I highly recommend both companies, since they both have excellent customer service. These contemporaneous sales end on November 19th, so place your order soon!
—
Today we present another entry for Round 37 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:
First Prize: A.) 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 B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $300 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo, and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).
Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) 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, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.), B.) 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 37 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
I recently attended a “survival camp” with my son’s Boy Scout troop and was surprised how many of the boys were unable to get a good fire started. Today’s emphasis of “don’t play with matches” even seems to have most kids scared of fire. A fire provides warmth, the ability to cook, and even a setting to bring the day to a close. Building a sustainable fire quickly and comfortably is a survival skill that everyone should know. Some preparation is required, however to be able to start and keep a fire burning. Everyone’s kit should include some type of fire starter. This could be anything from waterproof matches to a 9 volt battery or a piece of flint and steel. Some type of kindling should also be in your kit. Some compact examples include, dryer lint (a small pinch of that stuff most people throw out can easily ignite a lasting fire), sawdust (some people even coat it in a wax and store it this way), cotton balls (these can be soaked in alcohol or vaseline and kept in a plastic baggy), or even small strips of newspaper.
When the need for a fire arises, one needs to be able to construct a fire that will light quickly and stay lit. First, an area to build the fire in must be cleared. An area in the center of your camp is ideal unless you are trying to stay hidden. Clear a large area of sticks, leaves, grasses, or debris. Find some large rocks or debris to create a fire circle to delineate the fire area from your camp. Be sure not to use rocks from streams, lakes, or other bodies of water as these may contain small traces of water that when heated will “explode”. If you are worried about your fire giving away your location, it is possible to build a covert fire. This can be done by digging an actual pit for the fire to burn in and surrounding the pit with larger nonflammable items to act as a wall. It is possible to construct a fire that can still give off heat and be used to cook over without it being seen from a distance. It is also possible to build your fire in a non-flammable metal container as well (i.e. 50 gallon drum). Once a fire pit is established it is time to prepare the actual fire itself. It is important to select dry wood for a fire. Branches and limbs that have fallen are a good place to start. An old trick to determine how wet a piece of wood is is to break the wood. If you get a distinct cracking sound, the wood is dry. If the sound is muffled or dull sounding than the wood may be too wet to burn and should be set out to dry. It is also possible to find dead branches still attached to trees that will be dry enough to burn. Also make sure you do not select and poisonous material to burn especially if you will be using your fire to cook!
When setting up a fire you must consider that a fire requires oxygen, combustible material, and a source of ignition. Your kit should contain two of these items and your body will provide the oxygen, however there must be a way to get it to the fire as it burns. Two simple types of fire setups that meet these criteria include the lean-to type and the teepee type. The lean-to type of fire is constructed by placing a large log to the side of the cleared out fire pit. Finding the smallest possible sticks, stack these in a perpendicular row with one end on the log and the other on the ground creating a triangular space between the ground, large log, and small sticks. This area will be where the fire will start and you can add oxygen by blowing into this tunnel or fan this area. Continue to build on top of the small sticks with slightly larger sticks. When this is complete, there should still be space between the original row of small sticks and the ground for starting the fire. A second option is the teepee fire. This requires a little more skill and three half inch to three quarter inch diameter sticks. These should be arraigned in a pyramidal structure in the center of the cleared out fire pit with one end in the ground and the other ends all touching. This can be modified by tying the sticks together or lashing the ends but will increase the time necessary. Just arranging them so that they lean on each other should be sufficient to hold them up. Taking small sticks and using the “pyramid”, stack around the structure to create a teepee keeping a small opening to light the fire and add oxygen. Once small sticks are all around move on to larger sticks and build up a good size teepee. This structure should collapse on itself as it burns.
Once the basic frame for your fire is setup you are ready to light it. Take a small piece of the lint and pull it apart to create more surface area. Use a match, striker, or other means to get a spark on the lint and it should begin to smolder and burn. With gentle even breaths, begin to grow your fire. Place this in the opening of the teepee or in the tunnel of the lean to and gently blow on the spark to get it to grow in size and intensity. A steady slow exhalation works much better than many short breaths. This small fire is all that is necessary to get the smallest sticks burning, though some people find it helpful to start with small dry leaves or dry grass and increase the size of the flame before getting to the sticks, although this will increase the amount of smoke given off by the fire. These small sticks will burn quickly and move to the larger sticks. Be sure to increase the size of the sticks as the fire builds and move to logs when the fire is of sufficient size. It will be necessary to keep a supply of wood nearby or send groups out to gather wood throughout the night. The larger logs may burn slower and with less light, but the coals will stay warm for hours.
Cooking over an outdoor fire also requires a little forethought. Before lighting the fire it may be necessary to setup some way to keep food over the fire, but still be able to retrieve it without burning oneself. This can be done, obviously, with a long stick whittled down at one end. You may also consider placing two large sticks on either side of the fire and connecting them with a string far enough above the fire that it will not burn. It will then be possible to suspend your food with fish hooks and line directly over the fire to cook. It is also possible to cook over the coals or flames using pots and pans. One trick, though, is to coat the outside of them with a liquid soap first. This will prevent them from scorching and will allow them to wash off very quickly with a minimal amount of water.
When your fire is out and it is time to leave it behind, there are still a few necessary safety items to consider. Even if it looks like a fire is out and nothing is there except ashes, it is still important to douse your fire circle, pit, etc. with a large amount of water before you leave. One should be able to safely put their bare hand through the ashes to ensure it is completely out. No one wants to be responsible for accidentally starting a large forest or brush fire. If you worry about leaving behind a sign of your fire, once it is completely out, the ashes can be scattered, buried, or covered over without fear of them re-igniting.
It is possible to expose your children to safe use of fires without them even realizing they are being taught. Having a bonfire a few times, roasting marshmallows with them, cooking smores are just a couple of ways to introduce them to fire building skills and safety. Let them gather the wood for themselves, pick their own rocks for the circle, or pour the water on at the end of your fire time – kids inherently want to help with whatever they see their parents doing and this is an ideal way to let them learn. It is also an ideal way to let them see a fire does not have to be a scary thing but can be used as any other tool for good or bad. A fire is an ideal way to prepare meals, keep kids busy (gathering wood, telling stories, etc), and provide a centerpiece to camp. One of man’s earliest gathering places was around a fire and may be again some day.
Letter Re: Planning Alternate Routes
Sir:
Thank you for your blog, your service to our country, and the info you provide. I recently moved away from the Denver metro area to a more “rural” area in northern Colorado. There are still lots of people, but we are not surrounded. I have done my share of preparing and believe my “tribe” could survive for possibly a year or more during a breakdown in society. After a year I would have to change direction in my quest to remain above ground. A nuclear attack would be a different story for us.
We travel a good deal between Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska with an occasional trip to Idaho. This said, the reason I am writing is to challenge your readers to always find alternate routes to “home”, “bug out destination”, “safe spots”, etc. I carry my day pack and BOB everywhere I go. On any given day I am from 7 to 125 miles from home. Rarely do I use the same route to get to my destination or return trip. There is an abundance of paved roads in this area and well maintained gravel roads. I know my local grid well. Even at a distance of 125-250 miles away I am able to use several different routes to get to my destination and most are not highways. The highways I try to use are two-lane and minimal travel (too slow for most people). Luckily, I have lived in this three state area since the early 1960’s. I kinda know my way around these parts!!! I have been blessed (or cursed) with a somewhat photographic memory. This blessing has diminished somewhat as I have aged but my recall is still very sharp and I practice my recall to keep it as useful as possible.
As I drive alternate routes I watch for landmarks for navigation and other “specific things” of interest. Any landmark will be useful for travel especially at night. I watch for towers, bluffs, silos, water tanks, tree rows, electrical substations, unique structures (including farm houses)—anything that can be spotted at a distance. Looking for and finding sources of water along your “routes” is a must! Creeks, ponds, stock tanks, windmills, drainage ditches, oil wells (watershed), abandoned farms–all are potential sources for water. On the plains many houses and buildings had tanks and troughs under the roof line to collect water from rains and snow melt off. Almost all these farmsteads had cisterns. In your search for water you will likely come across wild game as they are driven to water also. Truly abandoned farms can provide water, shelter, and food if the need arises. I keep track of the miles between water sources just in case I may have to walk to the next source. Remember, your next source may be frozen in winter so you have to be able to thaw it. I am assuming you have ways to start a fire in your day pack or BOB. Sorry… I always carry food and water for four people to hopefully survive for 72 hours. If we are not at our destination in 72 hours my plan B is to hunker down where we are and revise our direction of attack. The plan may require finding food or water, finding fuel, and finding a different direction home. I have two GPS systems, but I prefer to use a compass. As long as I can spot one of my landmarks I can figure out which direction I need to go to reach my destination. This may require waiting until daylight or waiting out a storm to find my bearings. Thank the LORD I have never been lost on the plains or in the mountains. I have been lost in a mall and a skyscraper, so I avoid them as much as possible.
A side note: As I travel I find routes to avoid “major” intersections—especially on highways. Even on paved roads and gravel or dirt roads I look for other ways to go around these major intersections, “T’s” in the road and dead ends. In times of collapse these would be places of roadblocks and getting ambushed. So, being able to avoid them (especially at night) will greatly enhance your chances of getting home. HOME: no matter what it may look like, or be, is where you want to be when things turn ugly.
Keep your vehicle stocked, your mind sharp, your thoughts positive, and your Bible handy. Your destination can only be reached through the journey! Peace, – S.F.H.
G.G. flagged this: Europe’s €1 trillion (£854bn) rescue fund has been forced to buy its own debt as outside investors become increasingly concerned about the worsening eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Does this sound familiar?
James A. suggested this by Rick Moran: ‘It’s going to happen again’ – Financial meltdown committee head
Anthony M. sent us this: Post office near default? Losses mount to $5.1Billion
Gold Versus U.S. Dollar as Safe Havens Diverge
For those who have been waiting for an opportune dip in the precious metals market, this could be it. (As of Thursday, November 17, 2011.)
Items from The Economatrix:
Over 50% of US Homeowners are Underwater.
How the US Will Become a Third-World Country
SurvivalBlog’s Michael Z. Williamson was the first of several folks that forwarded me this ATF classifies Chore Boy pot scrubber pads NFA firearms
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Commentary from Michael Yon: Pocket Spies.
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Kevin S. found some fascinating reading: Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Primary Megadeaths of the Twentieth Century
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Reader P.N.G. suggested this case study: Building Your Own 20kW Hydroelectric Power Plant
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I heard that the movie Atlas Shrugged, Part 1
