Vision Preps for Disasters, by Josh D. in Georgia

As anyone who makes preparations for the survival of themselves and their family knows the number of things you have to take into account when planning is truly vast and can be overwhelming at times. Food storage, reusable resources, home defense, and do-it-yourself medical care are just a few of the things that must be researched, prepared, and enacted to ensure that you are safe and ready for whatever may come. The number of articles giving advice and urging action are equally numerous throughout dozens of blogs, web sites and books. Within all of this however I have seen almost no Information on preparing for something that is essential to almost 60 percent of the American public, Prescription Corrective lens. This really shocked me as it seemed like an item that would be on the forefront of anyone who uses glasses mind, given the level of helplessness that would arise without the corrective lens we rely on.

Glasses are used by a large percentage of people on a daily basis for the essential task of granting usable vision. Anyone who wears glasses will understand exactly how important they are to effectively any activity. I myself am nearsighted, without my glasses I legally cannot drive, without my glasses I am effectively helpless, unable to see more than 3-4 feet in front of me in any usable way. In our current society that’s not a problem, Contacts, Lasik vision surgery, and old-fashioned prescription lens give people like myself the ability to see at almost 20/20 vision with a short examination and a wait of a few days for your lens to be delivered, granting you full functionality as a member of society. Now picture a broken world, roads badly maintained, little to no trade or contact with anyone more than a few miles away, and 0, that’s right 0, access to the specialized equipment and even more specialized skills needed to manufacture prescription glasses. Imagine trying to effectively forage for food and resources while unable to see more than a few feet away from you, or if far-sighted without any close up focus, this takes a situation already extremely difficult and turns it into one where you have little chance of independent survival, and worse in many perspectives, can find yourself a burden to those who love you. Taking this problem, something with such a widespread applicability, as lightly as many people do is simply unimaginable. To truly drive home how dangerous this is and how crippling it can be, think on what could happen if your attacked by unknown people, its late at night your glasses are on the table next to you but in the dark you can’t find them, you grab your home defense weapon, always kept ready and loaded and run to see what’s wrong, as you reach the door  you come to a horrible realization, without your glasses you can’t distinguish between your children, your wife, your mother, your father, and whoever it is that has penetrated your defenses, now you are truly helpless, unable to use your carefully prepared and lovingly cared for weapon to protect your family for fear of hurting that very family.

Considering the gravity of this problem the solutions are actually fairly simple to enact and can lead to either a complete resolution or at the very least the reduction of the problem to negligible risk. There are three main things that can be used to nullify this problem, Lasik, Glasses, and contact lens, each of which has their own pros and cons
Lasik is overall the best option as it is a permanent solution to the problem, and completely removes the risk associated with. The procedure has become easy, quick to perform and easy to heal from leading to its continuing increase among the general population. Despite these benefits there are some downsides that can eliminate lasik as a usable solution. The biggest hurdle for most people to overcome is the expense, Lasik is considered elective surgery by almost all insurance carriers, and as such the full cost must be borne by the patient themselves. A basic Lasik surgery, for a simple prescription change generally cost around 300-600 dollars per eye, while a large prescription, with astigmatism and other complications, can cost upwards of $1,500 per eye. I don’t know about most of you but I definitely don’t have an extra $600-$1,200 lying around much less $3,000. Taking all of this into account Lasik can be seen as a good investment for many people who can afford it and as a goal to work and save towards for those such as myself.

The second solution is one familiar to anyone preparing themselves and their family for periods of unrest and lawlessness, namely building up stores of necessary tools and materials, in this case Glasses and contact lens. The expense is once again a stumbling block; glasses are expensive ranging from a hundred to several hundred dollars a pair at traditional retailers with contact lens costing nearly $30-$100 for a 3 month supply. A solution I have found and frequently employ is online discount eyeglass retailers. My preferred point of sale is Zenni Optical, due to their low cost and general high level of quality but there are several other retailers as well. At Zenni you can get most prescriptions for 6.99 a pair and can get progressive or bifocal glasses for only $40-60, which as anyone who lives with corrective lens can tell you, is a significant savings. By using online retailers you can purchase several pair for under a hundred dollars, and with each pair you will receive a hard case, cleaning cloth and pay low shipping, making them perfect to put in several different locations for all eventualities. I myself have ordered some 30 pairs of glasses from Zenni and several pair from Goggles4u another of the online retailers. I keep several pair throughout my house along with five pair in a secure location away from my home, I have a pair in my car and one in my BOB along with the pair I keep with me at all times.

When you place your order you simply take the prescription given to you by your doctor and input it into the fields provided on the order page, then choose whatever styles and materials you like along with any add-on’s such as non reflective lens coatings and things of that nature. Make sure you ask your doctor to do a full eyeglass prescription for you as you won’t have the technicians at the store to take Pupillary Distance (PD), which is the distance between the pupils of your eye, and facial measurements all of which are necessary to ensure a comfortable fit. The only real downside to using Zenni in particular is that they have almost no customer service available, a trait which seems typical for the entire field, for instance except in instances in which they’re manufacturers made a mistake in the prescription or the glasses are broken upon delivery they will only offer 50% in a refund. Despite this the overall quality of the lens and frames are very high, I’ve only had one pair in which the prescription was off and it was quickly replaced for shipping costs only. When I compare the $6.99 glasses I receive from the bargain retailer versus the $239 per pair I last purchased from Lenscrafters. I can see no difference in the quality of the lens and with the frame the pair from the online store is actually sturdier and less susceptible to scratches and bending. In short I would seriously recommend checking out these online stores in order to build up a cheap store of eyeglasses to protect your vision.

With contacts it becomes both more expensive and provides a shorter term benefit. Contacts have a usable shelf life of only a few years which limits the amount you can reliably stockpile as without regular rotation they will become less and less viable. Along with the lens themselves solution and proper maintenance materials must also be maintained. Contacts must be regularly removed and cleaned to prevent the buildup of dead cells on the surface of the lens which can lead to the formation of a corneal ulcer. With no regular medical service available what in our current society is a treatable condition could easily lead to partial blindness.  On the other side of the argument contacts offer several benefits over eyeglasses, ease of use, relative security from theft, and ability to work and do activities without worry of shattering or damaging them. By wearing contacts it is much more difficult for anyone who captures you or attacks your family to exploit them as they can’t be knocked off or removed as easily as glasses, a major tactical benefit. While wearing them one doesn’t have to worry about accidentally hitting them or knocking them loose through an incautious movement, thereby accidentally depriving you of corrected vision. In a world without optometrists and the ability to produce new glasses eyeglasses could have a great deal of value as a potential trade good, given that with many lower level prescriptions there will be some overlap among prescriptions, leading to possible theft of eyeglasses for trade.

To procure contacts I would again recommend taking advantage of discount online retailers, as the price is generally much lower than traditional brick and mortar companies. 1-800 Contacts is the company I use for all my contacts but I’m sure there are others available. By using them I save $10-$15 for each three month supply I purchase, which allows me to buy an extra several months every year without going over budget. By ensuring that I rotate my supply out each time I purchase new lens I can keep about a year’s supply on hand at all time, thus giving me a buffer between breaks in supply and a way to slowly move myself off of contacts without too much difficulty if the supply is completely cut off.

By using these methods and planning ahead anyone with a need for corrective lens can ensure that they have continual and unimpaired vision even though the ability to produce new glasses is no longer in existence.

Letter Re: The Google Earth Threat to Retreats

Dear SurvivalBloggers:
So you think that your residence, bug out location, or retreat are going to be easy to hide?

See this news article: Police: Burglar used Google Maps to case upscale suburban homes

Think operational security (OPSEC)!

I’ve noticed in my neighborhood who had “photo roofs”, who ran a generator during the recent Hurricane Irene, and who has “interesting” bulk food boxes put out for recycling. 

Now I’m not going to be part of the Golden Horde. I’ll be dead of a stroke if TEOTWAWKI happens. (Never been right before in my predictions.)

But if I see this stuff, the bad guys and soon-to-be bad guys will, too. 

Arrgh! – J.R.C.

Economics and Investing:

Commodities Are Down, But Far From Out

Tulare County [California] walnut farmers fight theft. (Thanks to Sean B. for the link.)

Kevin S. sent: A new supply risk index for chemical elements or element groups which are of economic value

Items from The Economatrix:

Silver Soars 26% In 26 Hours

Denninger:  I Hope You Have Taken the Last Couple of Years to Prepare

10 Million More Mortgages Set to Default, Expert Says

Global Financial Meltdown:  Investors Dump Nearly Everything Amidst Worldwide Market Crash

Oil Wavers on Weak Home Sales

Odds ‘n Sods:

Bob G. mentioned: Flower Pot Fridge. This incredibly simple “old school” evaporative refrigeration technology could be a life saver for diabetics, to keep insulin refrigerated in the event of a grid power failure.

   o o o

Michael Z. Williamson (our Editor at Large) pointed me to this: Things I Learned From My Patients. Mike describes it: “Emergency Room stories of interesting, frightening, horrific, educational, creepy and even disgusting things.  Very educational.  Language safe, but certainly some very adult references.” This web page is not for children!

   o o o

James C. noted that a classic Army training film is now available free, online: U.S. RIFLE, CALIBER 7.62MM, M14

   o o o

Ah, yes, Wisconsin, Land of Liberals Lakes: ‘Firefly’ and Anti-Fascism Posters Get Professor Threatened with Criminal Charges on University of Wisconsin Campus

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We’re not huntin’ trouble, we’re peace lovin’ people. 
But if trouble should find us, we’ll stand up and fight.” – Red Steagall, “Stand Up and Fight“

Notes from JWR:

We’ve just added several new items to the SurvivalBlog Amazon Store, including Dakota Alert passive intrusion detection systems, a Grundig Yachtboy shortwave radio, and some more optics including light amplification (Starlight) and thermal night vision gear. For anyone not familiar with our store, here is how it works: If you click on one of our Amazon links and then either search or “click through” to order ANY product from Amazon.com (not just the ones listed in our catalog), then we will earn a modest sales commission. Please shop with our our paid advertisers first. (See the ads in the right hand bar of the main blog page.) But if they don’t have what you are looking for, then you can shop via our Amazon store, and help support SurvivalBlog. Please keep our store links in mind for all of your Amazon.com purchases. Remember that you need to click on one of our SurvivalBlog Amazon Store links first, for SurvivalBlog to get the commission. Thanks!

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Today we present another two entries for Round 36 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, and C.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 36 ends on September 30th. Note that if there isn’t room to post articles received in the last few days of the contest, then they will be “rolled over”, for posting in the next round.

Building a Fire in a Post-Collapse World, by Entropy

Recently (based on a suggestion by a SurvivalBlog reader) I began a Meetup Group for Emergency Preparedness.  One of the Meetup events that I’m soon to host is entitled “To Build a Fire”.  Hosting this Meetup which I originally conceived as simply a fire building class has forced me to think logically about tactical fire building in a WTSHTF scenario where you are forced to build a fire for survival purposes.  I’ve synthesized these ideas into this article.

By “tactical” what I mean is “low observability” because technically no true definition of tactical perfectly fits this discussion.  However people should generally understand the points I’m making.

My experience with fire building includes six years in the Boy Scouts (attaining Eagle) in addition to years of post-Scouts camping and using working fires for various reasons on my property.

Inherently a fire is not tactical; however building a fire may be a requirement when no other alternatives exist.  Thus the question is posed: How can I make a fire as tactical as possible?

People may think that in the worst of future scenarios they can simply bugout and build fires for warmth & cooking.  My hypothesis is that using a fire in such a situation is the worst thing to do because of the high likelihood of negative outcomes, such as getting killed for your supplies.

Why do we build fires?

Much of the time it’s for pleasure: Inviting friends over to chow on good grub, or just hanging out in front of a warm bonfire and having a great time.  Other times a working fire is necessary for burning dead wood on your property or for other reasons.  When camping, fires are useful for cooking and to provide a lighted, warm, and friendly environment around which campers will gather.  Not as common are survival fires for sterilizing food and water, raising one’s body temperature, drying clothing, signaling, or repelling wild animals and insects.

Tactical strategies are generally not important for these types of fires and usually not even considered by the fire builder.  This can be a huge problem in a SHTF scenario because the effects of such fires tend to be highly observable.   Easy observation by sight, sound, and smell makes the pinpointing of a fire’s location simple, both during the fire and afterwards.

  • By sight: Fire, smoke, and general site destruction (broken or cut tree limbs, absence of normal levels of dead wood, footprints, trash).  Thermal imaging devices increase the chance a fire will be observed.
  • By sound: Preparation activities (breaking, sawing, or chopping fuel) and popping wood while burning.
  • By smell: Smoke and cooking food.

Tactical strategies are extremely important when building a fire in a SHTF or bugout scenario.  Starting a fire for any reason will attract people for miles unless extreme care is taken.  My recommendation is to not create a fire at all unless absolutely necessary for survival reasons.

Alternatives exist that must be considered prior to igniting a fire to keep your sight, sound, and smell observability to a minimum:

  • Food: can be eaten cold
  • Water: can be filtered or sterilized by other methods
  • Hypothermia or freezing: body heat can be shared and/or shelters built.

Stoves can be used if raw food must be cooked or water boiled but only if you’ve prepared with such equipment.  (Read this as: prepare with such equipment!)

If no alternatives exist and building a fire in a SHTF world is required for warming people in critical hypothermic or freezing conditions or to remedy other survival problems, then you must: 1) Know how to build a fire (an extremely important survival skill.)  2) Control and limit the observability of your fire.

(My disclaimer) Prior to the next discussion pre-SHTF safe fire building practices must be mentioned.  These are:

1) Know your local fire ordinances. 
2) Remove combustible material from around your fire building site.  The larger the fire is the greater this requirement.  Don’t forget to remove overhanging branches.
3) Do not build a fire in windy conditions. 
4) Prepare a readily available and continuous water supply. 
5) Ensure your fire is “cold out” when you’re done with it.  After spraying plenty of water on the remnants of the fire, turning over all unburned fuel and spraying again, carefully put your hands in the wet ashes to ensure no hot coals remain.  Bonus: after rinsing the ashes off your hands you’ll notice they are nice and clean from the mild lye solution created by the water and wood ash.

My experience is that most people think they can quickly start a fire in the wild because they can light a barbecue or a fire in their fireplace.  Fire building in the wild, especially under survival conditions and with added tactical considerations, will be quite daunting.

Building a fire is fairly simple but without knowledge and practice is challenging.  In less than ideal conditions starting a fire is extremely difficult.  Watching SurvivorMan on television does not make you an expert and when a fire is needed for survival reasons it’s critical that one is made quickly. 

Three prerequisites are required for a successful fire: ignition, combustibles, and air.

Ignition: Creating the initial heat source which is then amplified during the next sequential fire building steps.  Many tools are easily available for igniting a fire, prepare your bug-out bags with several of these options and practice using them.  Examples are: Waterproof/weatherproof matches, lighters, and magnesium style striker tools (BlastMatch, etc.).  While its fun to watch Les Stroud igniting a fire using a fire bow, this takes long hours of practice, precisely the correct wood types, and a relatively long time to manufacture the tool and to produce an ember.  Use a match instead.

Combustibles: Generally described in three categories: tinder, kindling, and fuel.

  • Tinder is composed of the smallest or finest flammable material.  Its purpose is to amplify the ignition source enough so that kindling can be burned.  Examples are: Pine needles, dried grass, tree or vine bark (cedar, birch, or grapevine), mouse nests, bird nests, etc.  The list is endless.
  • Kindling is woody material that is the next size up from tinder, but smaller than the fuel.  Size ranges from about 1/8” to 1” in thickness.  Its purpose is to amplify the fire enough to light the fuel.
  • Fuel is the material that’s added to the fire after the kindling stage.  Generally smaller sized fuel is used in the early stages of the fire but as the coal bed becomes larger the fuel can increase in size.  The fuel’s purpose is to be the main working part of the fire.  It provides the direct heat or burns down to hot coals with which to cook food, warm bodies, or for other reasons.

When building a fire you must sequentially move in order from tinder to kindling to fuel.  Skipping a step will not work, especially in wet conditions.  Combustibles must be as dry as possible for effective fire building.  Techniques exist for dealing with wet conditions, such as using a knife to expose the dry insides of the combustible material; you should familiarize yourself with these skills.  Another tip is to use hanging dead branches as they tend to be drier than fuel on the ground.  Finding sap covered tinder or kindling is a bonus.  Pine or other sap is flammable and very helpful when starting a fire. 

Air:  At first you may not think air is much of a problem because we are building a fire on Earth, not the Moon.  However, when a fire is not properly constructed, too little air will flow into the ignited fuel and the young fire will not effectively burn or will go out.  This is the last thing you want to have happen if you are attempting to build a survival fire.

Airflow is controlled by the fire lay.  A fire lay is the fire’s method of construction and an effective fire lay is critical for starting a fire.  A mature fire usually ends up as a pile of fuel with a hot coal bed, so the fire lay eventually disappears.  If a mature fire goes out, it can typically be restarted by adding fresh fuel onto the hot coals.

Too many fire lay configurations exist to review in detail (teepee, lean-to, hunter’s, log cabin, etc.)  You should research and practice using different types so you know when to build a specific one.  Fire lays can generally be categorized as “above ground” or the less common “below ground.”

Below ground fire lays are superior for controlling and limiting the observability of your survival fire.   A below ground fire lay of particular usefulness in a SHTF world is the “Dakota Fire Lay” or “Dakota Fire Pit” (DFP).

A DFP consists of a jug shaped hole dug with a wide base and narrower top.  The lower part of the hole is connected to a smaller angled air intake tunnel.  The air intake entrance is dug upwind from the main hole.  In essence it’s a small wood burning stove built into the ground.  An above ground fire lay is used to start the fire within a Dakota Fire Pit.

As a Scout I never made a DFP because they were too time consuming to build.  I made one this week and it took me 75 minutes to dig and that’s with proper hand tools.  For a young Scout that’s too long when you can use an above ground method to prepare and ignite a fire within a few minutes.

Again, not building a fire is the best way to maintain your operational security, however if a fire must be built and you have the time the DFP is excellent for these reasons:

  • Minimal light and heat signature:  Most important for tactical considerations is that it produces the least amount of observable radiant light and heat because the fire is totally underground.
  • Efficient burning of fuel:  Little or no smoke is produced, again reducing sight and smell observability.  The design of the DFP is such that a draft is created to supply fresh air to the fire as it burns.  This configuration allows the fuel to burn completely which produces little smoke.
  • Quiet: The DFP is quieter than other fire lays because the sound of popping and cracking wood is suppressed.  When digging it I suggest using sticks or other non-metallic tools because when a metal hand tool is struck against a rock it’s quite noisy.
  • Safe for windy conditions:  A low chance of the fire spreading exists because (That’s right!) it’s underground.  Furthermore this fire is easy to light and maintain in such conditions because the wind has little effect on a below ground fire.  Wind actually improves the fire by blowing through the air intake and increasing the burning efficiency of the fuel.
  • Easy cooking: Lay a couple of green sticks across the top of the hole and put your pot on it, or create a green stick grill onto which meat will be laid.  All of the heat is concentrated with this fire lay instead of spreading out as with other types.  You’ll notice your food cooks more quickly than expected, a definite tactical plus.  You can also wait until the fire burns down and cook directly on the coals, or use the pit as an oven or smoker.
  • Simple site restoration:  Just fill the hole with any remaining signs of your camp and fill it with the dirt that was removed.  If no chip producing saws or axes were used to prepare the fuel, then the vacated site will never be recognized for the campsite it was.

If the ground is too wet, frozen, rocky, or otherwise unsuitable for digging, or if no time is available to properly dig a DFP, quasi-underground alternatives exist which aren’t as effective, but are better than above ground fire lays.

One example is the trench fire lay which is a simple trench dug in the ground into which the fire is built.  It’s not as efficient or secure as a DFP however it achieves some of the same results.

Any fire should be kept small to minimize the output of light and heat.  Small fires also reduce the amount of fuel consumed which means less fuel collection and preparation is required, ultimately translating into minimal site destruction.  Additionally, fewer calories are used by the people maintaining the fire which means less food consumption is necessary. 

Ideally no tools should be used for preparing the fuel.  It should consist of small pieces that don’t need further cutting, again minimizing site destruction and leaving few telltale clues (wood chips, saw dust, or limbs broken or cut from trees) that you occupied the site.  You want your location to be 100% unrecognizable as a camp after you depart.  Also the sound of chopping wood with an axe can be heard for miles, and sawing is quite noticeable in quiet woods too.

To summarize:  In a SHTF world a fire will draw unwanted attention.  Before you make that fire always think of alternative methods of eating, sterilizing water, or getting warm.  If a fire must be built, keep it to the smallest size possible to meet your needs.  Use cover (dense woods, low spots, cliffs or rocky areas, even buildings) to help hide your fire, and seriously consider digging a Dakota Fire Pit to maintain your operational security.  This type of fire lay minimizes observation by sight, sound, and smell thus reducing the chance of attracting attention.

Lastly: Practice this essential skill now!  Don’t assume you can build a fire in the wild. Identify and use native materials around your bugout sites and travel routes.  Practice in both dry and wet conditions and in different seasons.  Prepare your bugout bags with some of today’s commonly available fire starting tools (magnesium type fire igniters, paraffin & fuel type fire starters, etc.).  They increase your chances to successfully and quickly build a fire; however don’t think you can build a fire just because you pack them.

Survival Philosophy 101: The Caveman Survival Index, by Andrew M.

I still remember the first day in my Philosophy of Religion class back in the good ol’ college days.  My professor started the class with the question, “what is philosophy?”  Of course, being the smart-aleck that I still am today, I eagerly raised my hand and responded, “Philosophy is where you think really hard about something, and when you’re done, you know less than when you started.”

I got a few laughs (and some angry looks from the philosophy majors), but I was only half joking.  There is some truth to that statement.   What it really means is that, until you question your underlying assumptions, you probably think you know a whole lot more than you really do.  If your understanding is built on a shaky foundation, then, with the right type of shaking, your belief system will collapse faster than the Greek banking system.

For the 99% of readers who are not philosophy nerds, I need to explain that the philosophical process is very similar to the scientific method.  A philosopher starts by presenting a theory and then he or she looks for analogies or examples that logically negate that theory. In this way, you can’t really prove anything, but you can disprove a poorly formed theory. This may sound really boring so far, but by logically collapsing shaky theories in the “classroom”, you are less likely to be surprised by faulty thinking in real life.
When it comes to survival philosophy, this process could mean the difference between life and death.  If you don’t question your assumptions, then your beliefs may crumble when a real disturbance hits outside your expectations.  If you are sufficiently taken by surprise, you are more likely to make poor decisions or even panic in the face of the unexpected.  But “life and death” is a little overly dramatic for me.  In spite of my philosophical nerdiness, I am a practical guy, and there is a much-less-dramatic but still-important reason to philosophize on survival:  Questioning assumptions could be the difference between mere subsistence and relative comfort.

Of course, my tongue-in-cheek definition of philosophy is incomplete.  Philosophy only questions assumptions in order to help you gain clarity about those thoughts or beliefs.  Finding clarity about survival preparation is what this article is all about.  I am not going to give you any practical survival tips here.  Instead, my goal is to distinguish clearly between survival and luxury in an emergency situation.  I want to introduce a theoretical framework for maximizing your luxury without failing at that whole survival thing WTSHTF.  How this plays out in real life will look very different for different people, but I hope to introduce a way of thinking about prepping that helps you to be more purposeful about it.  With that in mind, much like my religion professor, I would like to start with a simple question:  What is survival?

This question is simple, but there is a big difference between simple questions and easy ones.  You might know survival when you see it, and you certainly know what the opposite looks like, but before we can talk about it intelligently, we need a solid definition of survival.  Well, Dictionary.com defines survival as “the act or fact of surviving”.  That’s wasn’t very helpful.  Okay, then maybe it will be easier to define it by what survival isn’t.  You might say that survival is “the opposite of dying”.  That’s a good start, but what about the man who dies comfortably in his old age, surrounded by friends and family?  Did he fail at “survival”?   Of course not.  Dying of old age is the definition of a successful survivor, but that definition doesn’t really help you learn how to survive either. 

See how this philosophy thing works now?  We theorized on a definition of survival and then we found an example counter to that overly simplistic definition.  Obviously the “not dying” view needs to be a little more specific.  Since everybody will die eventually, survival is only meaningful if it is discussed in reference to some specific challenge or event that threatens a premature death.  So let’s narrow our definition of survival to “not being killed during some challenge or event that is capable of causing premature death”.  Does that sound more reasonable?  It does to me. 

The first thing you should notice about this definition is that it doesn’t say anything at all about a survival kit or survival skills.  A survivor could just be lucky.  This definition is equipment-agnostic and skill-agnostic.  Either way, survival is definitely not something you carry in your pocket.  So now let’s work through a hypothetical situation and see if our definition passes the philosophical smell test. 

Let’s imagine that there is a TEOTWAWKI event: nuclear war, economic collapse, zombie apocalypse… it doesn’t matter what, but let’s say that this event wipes out the retail supply chain, health care services, coffee shops (take a deep breath… this is just a thought experiment), communication systems, and the power grid.  Some people will die off immediately either directly from the TEOTWAWKI event or because some critical life support was removed… obviously we can’t call them survivors.  Now other people survive the initial shock but are trampled during food riots at the grocery store or are killed by roving bandits:  also not survivors.  But what about you?  In this thought exercise, we’ll say that you grabbed the kids and hopped into your up-armored minivan.  You bugged out to that über-Rawlesian country bunker which is stocked with enough food and ammo to fend off the raiders for years.  Is that survival?  If you are a fan of SurvivalBlog.com, then you can’t possibly say no.  So this hypothetical version of you kicks back, raises some chickens, and sleeps soundly behind those two-foot-thick concrete walls somewhere in the wilderness.  You are a survivor.  You are “doing” survival, because you continually avoid death despite a series of hazardous circumstances.  So far, so good.  Our definition seems to be holding up to this scenario at least.

But what about me?  In our little experiment, I’m no country boy.  No, I’m a die-hard suburbanite.  I love my air conditioner, and I keep just enough food in my house to make it to the next paycheck.  When TEOTWAWKI hits, do I survive?  Don’t be too quick to say no.  My survival kit is far from Rawlesian, but I still have one.  Here are a few things on my list: 
-Backpack
-Hunting knife
-Bible
-Change of clothes
-Duct tape
-Several means of lighting a fire (magnifying glass, matches, lighter)
-My truck (yes, I consider that a big part of my kit, and it’s with me most of the time)
-My family and friends
-My air conditioner
-A cold refrigerator full of fresh food
-The gas station down the street
-A steady paycheck
-My bank
-The internet (just in case I forget how to tie a clove hitch)
-A complex system of delivering food and consumer goods to local retailers (so that I can buy stuff with my debit card when supplies are low)

As you read my list of survival items, you are probably thinking, “That’s the dumbest survival list I’ve ever seen! That’s not survival, that’s just you living your life!” Of course, you’re right.  My survival kit only works if a crashing Euro doesn’t drag down my bank and nothing disrupts my precious system of just-in-time retail supplies.   Remember what I said about philosophical foundations crashing in the face of the unexpected?  Well, whether we like to admit it or not, my survival kit describes the survival plan for the vast majority of the population.  It works 90% of the time, but under catastrophic circumstances, this kit fails miserably. 
So back to our TEOTWAWKI event.  My kit is pathetic, but remember that our definition of survival doesn’t mention any gear or skills.  For the sake of this thought experiment, let’s say that I adapt quickly to my new environment.  While my fellow urban dwellers are raiding the gas station for one last nicotine fix, I break into the library and permanently check out several books on native plants.  I fashion a sling from junk I find in my closet just before my house gets burned by a rioting mob.  The streets are not safe, so I take shelter in a drainage tunnel in the greenbelt behind what used to be my favorite subdivision.  While my fellow khaki-clad barbarians are killing each other in the streets, I play it smart and lay low.  When I get hungry, I use my sling to hunt birds and rodents, or I pick berries and dig up roots in the greenbelt.  Is this survival?  Well, I didn’t die.  I think this also counts as survival by our definition.

Alright, so our definition of survival still seems to be holding up under two very different circumstances.  I think we can all agree that “not getting killed” is necessary to survival, but this definition doesn’t say anything about how you live.  While the prepper hunkered down in relative security with plenty of food and a good shelter, the urbanite survivor was barely getting by day-to-day and he will have to move out when the rainy season hits if not sooner.

Now take a look at my urban survival kit again, and be honest:  If it was possible to throw all that stuff into a bug-out-bag, wouldn’t you want to?  (I know, this is sort of a silly argument, but remember, this is philosophy… we aren’t constrained by reality).  If you have electricity, refrigeration, gas stations, and your friends and family with you, then it would feel more like a vacation than TEOTWAWKI, right? 

Obviously we can’t pack a retail distribution system into a BOB, but it does bring up an important point.  Preparation is about far more than mere survival.  Preparation is also about minimizing your loss of luxury.  I know that many within the survival community tend to hold “luxury” in contempt at least on the surface, but I think what should really be looked down on is not luxury but “wasteful, unsustainable luxury”.  If you are truly against all luxury, then you should be happy living like a caveman for the rest of your life.  Now ask yourself:  If I never took another shower the rest of my life, would I be ok with that?   Think about it.

At this point, I would like to introduce a concept that I call “The Caveman Survival Index” (CSI for short).  The CSI is a mental tool I use to determine my expected quality of life (i.e. level of luxury) during a survival situation.  At the very top of this index, you will find… me!  I am the ultimate modern urban survivor.  I thrive on the globally connected veneer of a stable information-based society.  I have air conditioning, social networking, coffee shops, and a smart phone.  My food comes from restaurants, and when there’s a problem with my shelter, I call a handyman who got good reviews on Angie’s List.  I don’t start fires… I microwave.  If I get cold, I crank up the thermostat!  Life is full of freedom and comfort, and I like it that way.

Now, at the bottom of the Caveman Survival Index, we of course find the humble caveman.  Caveman survival is what many people think of when they say “survival”.  The word “caveman” conjures up images of hairy men running naked through the woods and starting fires with sticks and rocks.  Isn’t this what a lot of survival schools teach you?  (Well, ok maybe they don’t talk about the hairy/naked part… that mental image is bad for business). 
Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing to know how to live like a caveman.  In an emergency situation, “Threat Level: Caveman” means that the only way I can avoid imminent death is by rubbing two sticks together to start a fire.  It means the only way I will eat is by killing rodents with a crude club or a sling… just like a Stone-Ager would do.  In a survival situation (or daily life for that matter), this is the last place I want to be, but without survival skills, many unprepared urbanites will hit “caveman” status pretty quickly after TEOTWAWKI.

Back to our thought experiment:  Let’s say that I (the unprepared urbanite) at least have some limited prep skills.  Before my beautiful house was burned by a hungry mob, I duct-taped my hunting knife to the handle of a garden rake.  With a little practice, I can use this makeshift spear to hunt larger game.  Plus, where I live, there is an abundance of flint lying around in the greenbelt behind my neighborhood.  If I find a hardened piece of carbon steel, then I just moved up the Caveman Index from “Caveman” to “Viking”, because I now have steel tools.  A Viking may still have to forage for roots and berries, but at least I am using a lot less energy to get a fire started and my meat is easier to come by.  It is important to note here that it is not only the tools that advanced me from Caveman to Viking.  I also needed the skills to recognize and make use of those tools.  If I don’t know how to start a fire with a flint and steel, then, when it comes to starting fires, I am still in Caveman mode even if I am surrounded by Viking materials.  Likewise, if I don’t know how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, and TEOTWAWKI reduces me to Caveman living… I won’t survive.

So now do you see how the CSI works?  There is no comprehensive list of “levels” within the Caveman Index.  The CSI is simply a way of thinking about your current situation and how you want to change it.  The main point of the CSI is that you probably want to be as far from living like a caveman as possible at all times, but if you find yourself in a situation where you have nothing but rocks, sticks, and your own wit, then you’d better know how to survive at least long enough to improve the situation.  Personally, I hope I never need those skills, but if I do end up in a “Threat Level: Caveman” scenario, one of my first goals will be to get out of the Stone Age as quickly as possible. 

Now that I have defined survival as not dying during an emergency, and I introduced the Caveman Index for rating your quality of life during survival scenarios.  I would like to ask one final question:  How does this affect your preparation for emergencies? 

By our working definition of survival, the only requirement to achieve “survival” is that you have sufficient skills or enough luck to not get killed.  That’s not what most people would consider “good” preparation, because the caveman life is not much fun.  You don’t want to prepare for “survival”.  Instead, you want to prepare for luxury!  If you think in terms of the CSI, your preparations should really do two things:  First, you want to have the equipment necessary to minimize regression down the Caveman Index.  Second, if a sudden setback is unavoidable, you need skills that will help you rapidly climb back up to a comfortable level on the CSI. 

Ah, now this brings up another important point.  In addition to quantifying your general comfort level, the Caveman Index also helps to highlight the purpose of equipment versus skills when prepping.  In terms of the CSI, your skills can determine how far and how quickly you move up to a higher comfort level, but it is actually your “stuff” that determines how comfortable you are.  For example, a skilled marksman with no ammunition is still stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to acquiring meat.  Likewise, if you are surrounded by unfamiliar equipment that you don’t know how to use… well that’s equally problematic for escaping from the caveman lifestyle.  So you see that the CSI shows you the importance of matching your skills to your resources while preparing for an emergency.

The CSI also explains the behavior of those unskilled hordes of city-dwelling moochers.  Because it is not skill, but “stuff” that sets your living standard on the Caveman Index, you now understand why moochers want to steal all your stuff.  Theft and robbery are the only methods they understand for moving up to a higher standard of living.  Without the necessary skills to adapt to a survival situation, most moochers will rapidly waste their resources and regress to more primitive living… at least until they find another victim to take more stuff from.  So you see that many people will swing from living high-on-the-hog to living like a brute again and again WTSHTF.

Getting back to our TEOTWAWKI thought experiment, let’s take one last look at you, the ultimate prepper.  You are secure from the looters in your country bunker.  You are raising chickens and hunting with rifles.  You use a woodgas generator to power the light bulbs in your kitchen.  Maybe you aren’t updating your Facebook status anymore, but your life has not changed quite as drastically as all those urban savages.  You may not have 100% uptime on your electrical system, but most of the time you fall somewhere between “Late-1800’s Cowboy” and “1950’s Traveling Salesman” on the Caveman Index.  Even if you lose everything you’ve got, you won’t stay in Caveman mode for long, because you have the skills to move back up the ladder quickly by making the most of your available resources.

So now you see that good preparation helps you not only to survive but also to maintain a relatively steady and comfortable lifestyle in the midst of chaos.  I hope you will also agree now that luxury during survival is not necessarily a bad thing.  The CSI concept helps you to analyze your survival situation whether you are surviving a zombie apocalypse, an anti-banking riot, or getting lost in the woods.  When it comes to choosing what type of preparations to make, I hope that the Caveman Survival Index will be useful in helping you choose the right skills and the right equipment to maximize your comfort level in spite of TEOTWAWKI. 

And who knows, some day you just might let a philosopher join your survival colony! No?  Well, okay.  I wouldn’t either.

Letter Re: Avoiding Vitamin Deficiency Illnesses in Societal Collapse

Dear James Wesley,
In regard to intake of Vitamin C, many people overlook sweet and hot peppers [as natural sources]. Red sweet peppers have the highest amount of C that is found in vegetable versus citrus fruit. Red peppers have more than green peppers. It seems that freeze drying or dehydrating does not substantially degrade the level of C in the vegetables.  Other good sources in vegetables are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, dark leafy greens and cabbage and sauerkraut. The last two vegetables were very important to Northern European people who had no easy access to citrus fruits. I’m talking 15 to 17th centuries.
 
Thank you once again for a wonderful and informative blog. I’m looking forward to your new book! – OkieRanchWife

Economics and Investing:

Chris D. recommended this piece over at Don’t Tread on Me: 12 Reasons Not To Fear September’s Gold And Silver Price Smackdown. JWR’s Comment: In this piece, Scott Wolf notes that the COMEX governors just raised margin requirements on gold, silver and copper again. They can keep manipulating the rules in the futures market, but they cannot stop the demand side of the physical market. In the long run that is what will prevail–even if the futures market is destroyed by outrageous margin requirements–a la Silver Rule 7.)

G.G. flagged this: Fed Vice Chair: Economy worse than you think.

Also from G.G.: Plan To Return America To the Gold Standard

Items from The Economatrix:

Jim Rogers:  Next Global Recession Will Be Worse Than 2008

Fed Unleashes $400 Billion Plan to Save Ailing Economy

Fiat Currency Crisis Commenced This Month

Billboard Signals of Collapse

Odds ‘n Sods:

K.A.F. sent this: U.S. Government Used Taxpayer Funds to Buy, Sell Weapons During ‘Fast and Furious,’ Documents Show

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Safecastle has updated their Freedom Awards contest blog post.

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Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) sent this: Police disciplined for throwing football with boy. Mikes’s comment: “Yeah, God help us if cops actually interact positively with citizens…”

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A video by an Idaho congressman has been getting a lot of play: The Agenda – Grinding America Down.

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There was an interesting post over at Radio Free Redoubt on some Department of Defense OPSEC training: Social Networking Risk Awareness

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

"The fearful danger of the present time is that above the cry for authority, we forget that man stands alone before the ultimate authority, and that anyone who lays violent hands on man here, is infringing eternal laws, and taking upon himself superhuman authority, which will eventually crush him." – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Notes from JWR:

Just one week from today (Tuesday, October 4th) is Book Bomb Day for my new book “Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse”. Please wait until October 4th to place your order, so that we can get a big move into Amazon’s Top 10. Thanks!

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Today we present another two entries for Round 36 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, and C.) Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security.

Round 36 ends on September 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Note that if there isn’t room to post all of the articles that are received in the last few days of the contest, then they will be “rolled over”, for posting in the next contest round. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Baby Steps to Preparedness, by Holli S.

While TEOTWAWKI may or may not happen soon, one can never be too prepared. Loss of job or illness can happen any time. Being prepared can lessen the stress in your life and also lead to strengthening your family bonds. Not everyone has the financial or physical means to opt out or bug out at a moments notice. What we can do is start with Baby Steps and work our way up to where we want to be.

• Research
• Plan
• Schedule
• Execute
• Learn to be thick-skinned
• Follow up and be flexible.  Change can sometimes lead to opportunity.
• Try new things when possible.
• Don’t get discouraged.
• When you can’t trust your own government, trust in God

Below is how we started.

Baby Step 1:  Get out of town if possible. If you are in a city, at least try to position your family / self as close to the edge as possible. If you ever need to escape quickly, the closer you are to the edge, the higher the probability of making your exit strategy work.

After many years of research and talking about moving out of town and becoming self sufficient, last fall we finally had the means to do what we called our first Baby Steps. We purchased a new home on 5 acres out in the rural farm area. While not as off-the-beaten-path as we would like, it was what we could afford at the time and it had several advantages.

It is largely wooded, with a creek running along the property, deep well that is connected to one of the largest aquifers in the country, septic and leach field already in place, sufficient outbuildings to get us started, and no neighbors for a quarter mile. The downside is that it is on a state highway and is totally electric. We can’t remedy the location, but will do our best to be off grid as soon as possible.

While we had been talking about doing this for years, many of our friends and family thought we were nuts! No we are not right wing fanatics, just realists. My husband and I have watched, listened, read, talked about trends we see happening in our country and figured, better safe than sorry.  Raised as a Mormon, it was routinely pounded into my brain that we needed to have 3 years food storage. While I’m no longer Mormon, I still believe that they were right about being prepared. Our journey had begun.

Baby Step 2.: Do your research. Write your plans down and make a schedule. When possible include family and let them help you execute your plans. Develop a thick skin as you will always have someone who doesn’t get it.

I am very lucky that my 76-year-old mother has always supported me in anything I wanted to do. She is one smart woman and realized that what we were contemplating was not only to our advantage, but hers as well. If SHTF, she too would be cared for. God blessed me with a wonderful mom and to this day, she still inspires and encourages me to do my best and knows I can do anything I set my mind to do. She has also come out to the farm to help with canning, gone to yard sales looking for supplies and even come out and taken care of our animals so we could be elsewhere for a few days.

Baby Step 3: Learn to be flexible. Plans can change and rigidity can lead to disaster.

This spring we bought our first chickens. We didn’t have a coop yet, but bought chicks and had them in a big tub with a light and feeders lying on top of wood chips. Watching them grow fast, we realized that we needed a coop quickly and began to prepare in earnest. My husband designed and built a very affordable chicken tractor that would allow us to move it around to a fresh spot on our property every day so that the chickens could forage. They can get in out of the weather when needed and have a safe place to roost at night. While this was a good start, after two months of having to move it every day, we soon realized that we wanted a more permanent coop before winter. I really didn’t relish going out in the cold to move it or even to feed and water the chickens in the cold. Also, watering in a tractor in the winter could be impossible in freezing weather. We will continue to let them free range in the warm months, but are building a new 9′ x 12′ coop with a covered 20′ x 20′ run for the winter to keep them safe from hungry predators. This will also allow us to increase our flock size.

While they may be dirty little birds, they can be quite endearing as well. All of our chickens come running to greet me whenever I come out. I have a couple of small hens that when I sit down, will jump up and sit on my lap and wait to be petted. They don’t do this to my husband or anyone else, just me. This may seem weird to some readers, but they tend to lay more and larger eggs when I treat them well. They will eat any scraps we have and between the chickens and dogs, we don’t waste anything! They are now laying eggs every day and our friends and family who once thought we were nuts, are asking if we have any extra! Eventually we hope to produce enough eggs to provide local family and have extra to sell to cover the cost of feed. We will also be raising chicks to coop-ready size and selling them to folks who don’t want to raise baby chicks but want to have a small backyard coop. Again, this should offset the cost of feed and supplies. They are also great for barter or for a charity item.

Baby Step 4: Be willing to try new things.

At the beginning of summer we decided that we needed to be raising meat in some form, but couldn’t afford to buy a cow, pig, or sheep. After researching alternatives we decided to invest in rabbits, so we purchased two small female California/Mini Rex cross rabbits, and soon after added one California buck and two California does. In August we were lucky enough to obtain another California doe and a New Zealand Buck.  Breeding began. We had our first two litters last week and are getting ready to breed the other does this week. These first litters will be part of our breeding stock. Their offspring will be dinner! Many of our friends and family are watching our farm’s progress. I know when it comes time to butcher; there will be those with their hands out wanting meat since prices are steadily rising, even here in farm country. Rabbit meat tastes much like chicken but is much leaner. We have limited freezer space,  so we will be canning much of the meat as well as smoking some of it. 

Baby Step 4: Don’t get discouraged if you have to deal with stumbling blocks. Think of them as opportunities.

This was our first year to have a garden and we were very unprepared. To say that it didn’t do well is an understatement! When the opportunity to make friends with a couple of local farmers arose, I grabbed it. We now have a list of farms and orchards to get fresh fruit and veggies and have been canning up a storm.  I have even canned chicken and inexpensive cuts of beef. Later we will be doing venison and rabbit…. Yum!

We have a room with really good light exposure and I hope to grow herbs, lettuce and whatever else will grow there this winter. I’ve already signed up for a Master Gardener class in January and hope not to have the same issues with my garden next year.

We don’t typically eat much jam, but I decided to can as much of it as I could. This can be used for gifts or as barter down the line. I let all my friends and family have samplers of my Caramel Apple Jam to try. Getting volunteers to come help is no longer a problem! I can always use the help and this is also a way to get them to start thinking about prepping for themselves. Apples don’t can well unless you are making apple butter, jam or apple sauce. Using a dehydrator we have been able to put up a bushel of apple slices with a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar. Later they can be eaten as is or added to oatmeal, bread, muffins, or anything else.

Food storage is such an important part of our survival / self-sufficiency strategy and knowing how to store is important. We would love to have a nice hidden root cellar or storage room, but it isn’t feasible yet. For now we have  converted a small room into our storage room. We purchased metal shelving from Sam’s Club that are easy to put together, take down or move and have shelf height flexibility. Everything is dated and oldest items are used first. I have divided the room into six sections.

  1. Canned foods/ bottled foods
  2. Non-foods such as shampoo, soap, zip-lock bags, aluminum foil, garbage bags, paper towels and toilet paper, etc.
  3. First aid supplies.
  4. Barter and/or gift items
  5. Animal feed and supplies.
  6. Seeds for next year.

One of the things that drew us to our property was the backwoods. When we initially walked the property, there were signs that deer had been bedding down in the little glade out back. Neither of us have had much experience hunting. I have been once many decades ago but really want to develop that skill-set. We bought my husband a shotgun and I’ve been encouraging him to hunt. He loves my cooking, so talking to him about a recipe for venison pot roast or spicy venison sausage gets him thinking about hunting. I may try to hunt myself, though being only five feet tall, I am unsure of how I would get it strung up or transported without the help of a much sturdier person.

Our dryer went out and the washer is on its way out. We have been nursing it along for weeks now. Instead of going out and buying another big expensive set, we have ordered a small portable washer and a dryer that mounts on the wall. We put up several retractable cloths lines, two in the house and a large one outside. While I don’t particularly like the feel of line-dried clothes, they will do in a pinch. To save on our electric bill, I am line drying everything we don’t need right away and the things we do need quickly, starting them on the line and finishing in the dryer when they are just slightly damp. This also softens them up so they don’t feel like cardboard. It is good to have options!

This summer I took up fishing and was able to stock some fish in the freezer. Some of it was carp. People say they aren’t edible, however, they are a great source of protein for our animals. I keep and process anything that was legal size. I would love to learn how to smoke them the way the Indians did. For the time being I am only able to can, freeze or dehydrate anything that we want to store.

Division of labor has been a big deal here. My husband works seven days a week most of the time and because it is third shift, his internal clock is not on the same schedule as mine. We discussed the division of labor when we first got together 17 years ago and while the workload has increased dramatically since we moved out here, we have tried to stick to it. He brings home the majority of the money that allows us to survive and I take care of the day-to-day things. I am able to generate some income from my home, but can only do so in my spare time. I currently design web site for local groups, do art work and hope to add more money to the family kitty by selling eggs, chickens and maybe a few rabbits. For any woman reading this, there are always things you can do to help your family financially. Whether it is bartering or cash, it all helps.

During our Baby Steps process, one of the most important lessons I have learned is to keep myself on a schedule. If I keep to one, I get things done in a timely manner and have extra time to read or try new things. If I miss a scheduled time, my whole day seems to be flipped upside down and I feel exhausted by days end.

I tried cleaning the rabbit hutches and coops every day, but found that it ate up too much of my time and really could be done every other day. Now I have set it up so that the chicken coop is one day and the rabbits the next. The rabbits and chickens can’t tell the difference.

There will always be extra projects to take up your time. If you stick to a schedule as much as possible, you will have time to do more! While we are still taking Baby Steps, we can foresee a future where we are self sufficient and ready for anything. With God’s blessing and many Baby Steps, we know we will survive what is to come!

Getting Started, by C.W. in Michigan

I am not like most people; mainly because of the way I was raised as a child.  Hunting, fishing, trapping, and outdoor/survival skills were not only practiced but often encouraged by my father.  In hindsight I can say it wasn’t necessarily that he thought I might need the skills someday.  I think it was more because it was a good way to keep me and my brothers out of trouble.  It seemed to work.

My father was always the type of guy to take us out of school for the important things in life.  The opening day of fall firearms deer season (a damn near holiday in Michigan), a week of spring camping ‘up north’ in the backwoods of Fairview, Michigan to turkey hunt, even when we were too young to hunt. 

As my father always says, “There are some things that schools just can’t teach.” 

Too bad not everyone sees it that way.

One of my early experiences of ‘roughing it’ was with a friend when we were about 12 years old.  He and I hiked to a remote spot on a piece of State land in the dog days of summer.  We set up a tent and brought with us no supplies other than matches, oil, flour, a couple of empty canteens, fillet knives, a travel fishing pole each and of course, our Crossman pellet rifles.  Not those underpowered Daisy lever-actions, but the good [Crosman] Model 760s. 

We boiled our water from a nearby lake, we ate bullheads (Michigan’s version of a small catfish) from that same lake for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two days.  We started our own fires from tinder and down logs in the area.  We then hunted blackbirds with our pellet rifles because squirrels were scarce, and fish just didn’t sound appealing any longer.

I hate to sound clichéd, but believe it or not, blackbirds taste like chicken – they have dark and light meat like a turkey though.  Just remember if you attempt this on your own, you need about ten birds per person to make a meal.  Our blackbirds went just fine with the cattail roots we dug up and boiled like potatoes for dinner on the last night of our adventure.

My friend and I later critiqued our successful trip, knowing that we could do ‘it’.  That we could survive on our own if need be.

Many years later I reflect back on that incident, and although I am one of few people I know who has eaten blackbird, I also know that we were extremely naïve that we could do ‘it’ on our own.  A fine example of the innocence of youth.

Now having my own family, a wife and two small boys, I know I could not do it on my own.  I know that at some point in time I am going to have to sleep and cannot protect my family 24/7.  I know that any knowledge I have will be woefully underscored by the knowledge of a joined group.  I understand that the work I would have to do to provide for my family in a disaster situation can be lessened by more members of a combined ‘family’.  Many hands do make light work.

So although I was on board with combining a larger family if the need arises, I had other people to convince. 

First was my wife.

This was easier than I expected.  I persuaded my then citified wife, who is the exact polar opposite of me in most things in real life, to read a couple of survival books; fiction and non-fiction.  She agreed much to my astonishment, if of course you call reading listening and buying the books downloading them to MP3.  Whoever said print is dead is right.

The change of direction in my wife’s way of thinking amazed me.  She immediately began to ask ‘what if’ questions and prepare for disaster situations.  She required the off-road stroller be kept in her vehicle at all times in case she had to walk with the children if her vehicle became disabled during an event.  She keeps extra water in her car and even asked me to plan the easiest routes home for her avoiding expressways and major travel arteries.

Of course, not everything with the Misses has gone according to plan.  While talking about routes of travel, I advised her that she should rest during the day and travel only at night, walking like she was on a battlefield. 

Her response, as though she immediately knew better, was, “Well, I’m going with a different plan.”

Much to my consternation I asked what that was.

My wife smiled and said bluntly, “I’m going with the idea that the good in people will outweigh the bad.”

“Yeah,” I replied, “let me know how that works for you.”

Conversation between my wife and I next turned to planning on who to invite to our retreat/home.  It was decided on her family as mine all live several hundred miles away.  And invite isn’t so much the right word.  More like convince.

I would like to say that it was easy to convince my in-laws to leave their city homes in a disaster situation as it was to convince my wife to read (well, listen to) the survival books I had suggested.  It wasn’t for some of them.

When I first suggested the idea, my mother-in-law looked up from her Kindle wireless reading device and asked mockingly, “What type of books are you reading exactly?”

“Don’t you know that print is dead?” I asked sarcastically.   “I’m not reading any books.  This is about lifestyle change in case things go bad.”

I proceeded to tell her, and the rest of my in-laws, about my concerns of a ‘double-dip’ recession leading to depression, pandemics, food or fuel shortages, extended power outages, natural disasters, economic collapse of a deflated or hyper-inflated dollar and the worst case scenario, the disintegration of our government.

My mother-in-law stopped me on the last one and stated, “Well, I really don’t think I want to be around if that happens.”

I didn’t say anything, but thought, ‘I wonder of Romans thought the same thing as their Empire fell around them?’

I then asked my in-laws to think about it and just do something simple at first.  Start out small and build from there has always been my philosophy.  I asked them to start sorting their change – saving all pre-1965 dimes and quarters and start saving nickels.  Everyone was shocked to find out that a pre 1965 dime has, at the time we were talking about it anyway, about $2.65 worth of silver in it.

A few days later my father-in-law responded to the above request by stating that he didn’t think saving coins was ‘where it was at’.  He believed that having cash on hand was more important.  When my wife (yes, it was actually my wife who piped up first) retorted back that paper money would have no value in an economic collapse, my father-in-law responded carelessly by stating that he could be reached at their cottage near Reed City, Michigan and that if the phone lines were down, we could send him a letter there. 

“Great idea,” I told my wife, “he has no firearms, no coins, nothing to barter with, and zero food.”

So back at the disaster preparedness drawing board, I set out my concerns on paper.  By the time I was done I had seven pages of why we need to prepare along with travel routes to our retreat (and a secondary retreat in case the primary is compromised) both driving and walking.  I ran down a list on what to pack and what not to pack – including a note to my sister-in-law to leave her ‘beauty products’ at home as they couldn’t be bartered for anything.  I concluded with what we will continue to do in the next few years, as a group, to fully prepare for an extended disaster event, including food stocks, ammunition purchases, medical supplies, et cetera.

Well, something must have clicked. Our preparedness family went from two adults (my wife and I) to seven adults (father-, mother-, daughter-, her husband, and brother-in-law).

“Nice work,” my wife and brother-in-law both said when they heard the news.  My brother-in-law had been a steadfast supporter since the beginning.

“Thanks, but seven is an unlucky number,” I said.

My wife looked at me, mouth agape, before she responded, “I do believe that seven is a lucky number.”

“Not when you need shifts of two or four for security patrols,” I responded.

I turned to my brother-in-law and asked, “What about your friend, Ryan?  He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.”

“No way,” my wife responded hastily.  “Family only.”

My brother-in-law stated flatly, “Yeah, you might want to reconsider.  Ryan has a generator, has over 2,000 rounds of ammunition stored in his basement and is a self taught auto mechanic.”

I could only think back to my father’s words right then.

‘There are some things that schools just can’t teach.’

Without hesitation, I replied, “Ryan’s in.”

In Conclusion
We are just starting this adventure of preparing for the worst.  I have no idea where it will take us, other than giving us the peace of mind that when ‘it’ does hit the fan, we will be ready.