Survival Skills and Gear, Part 1: Bug Out Kits and Bugging Out, by E.F.

Introduction

If the normal daily routine of our lives is suddenly and violently interrupted by events large and dangerous (such as major riots, natural disasters, or a a terrorist nuke) how prepared are we to “bug out?”

If it’s time to leave, and leave immediately, are we ready? What do we take? Important papers? Guns and ammo? Food and water? Clothes? Camping gear? Baby diapers and sani-wipes? Family photos? Medicine?

And where do we go? A friend’s farm? A wilderness cabin or campground?A small town? And what direction? Upwind? Downstream? How do we travel? By foot, or car, or bicycle?

If you live in a city, and the warning will give you just enough time to get out of town before the freeways and roads are clogged with desperate people, what goes in the car (or on your back or bicycle)?

First, if you have to think about it and gather the pieces when it happens, you’re already too late. It must be in the car, or in the hall closet, fully prepared, and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

This post will talk about the quick, leave-instantly kit. In this case, minutes count and you will literally run to the closet, grab a day pack already prepared, grab the prepared pouch of important papers from your desk, and run to the car. Now. Right now.

You must move ahead of the pack. Most people will hesitate and wait for more information. This is your exit window, so don’t miss it. Be mentally and physically prepared to jump and run instantly. I do mean run.

General Notes

You should never have less than a half-tank of fuel in your vehicle. Keep your tank topped. If you’re taking a bicycle, have the bike carrier on the car, and the bike ready in the garage. If your primary retreat location is far, have those extra gas cans full and ready to pop into the truck quickly. There will be no stopping for fuel in a bug out scene.

The car or truck should have all its necessary gear carried at all times. Spare tire, or two. Jack and mini-air compressor. Extra set of keys in a key-safe. This is a minimum. Future installments of this article will discuss the “bug out vehicle” in greater detail

Your “Bug Out” day pack should have only the most critical items, and should be easily carried. If the car fails, or traffic is clogged, you must plan on being on foot or bicycle and a large heavy pack will not do. Moving quickly may be paramount to survival, and walking, jogging or bicycling may be necessary to get beyond a critical danger zone.

Each town or city will require different preparations for bugging out, so this is a general outline. If you’re living in New York, your needs may differ greatly from someone in Kansas City, Los Angeles or Taos. Give your specific location, escape route and destination some thought in preparing a kit.

Even for those folks already living in a secure retreat, and already hunkered down, having a bug out kit is a good idea. There may be a time during the worst chaos when supposedly secure places might be overrun by starving, aggressive, pillaging hordes or be in the track of a violent storm or nuclear fallout cloud.

Having stocks of food and supplies hidden, even near your primary retreat location, and being able to leave that retreat while the madness burns itself out and the crazies temporarily occupy your safe house, may save your life. When things quiet, you can return. If you are prepared, you may be able to re-take your retreat, but not if you have no extra goodies stashed and accessible, and no bug out kit to get you to that stash.

Your secured supplies should be underground, fireproof, vermin-proof and well camouflaged. Multiple caches are advised. There are times to fight, times to hide and times to run. Be prepared for all contingencies.

First and foremost — get in shape! You can’t be a survivor if you’re overweight or in poor physical condition. Be a lean and mean machine. Trying to tough it out of a danger zone if you’re overweight or weak isn’t going to work.

Essentials

This quickie pack should weigh no more than twenty-five to thirty pounds (for an adult), and should contain the bare essentials:

—Water, minimum for a day (two quarts, more if in hot climate).

—Energy bars, enough for a day (2,000-3,000 calories).

—Small wind-up or battery radio to listen to emergency channels (should include weather bands). There should be an FRS [or more capable] walkie-talkie radio, one for each pack.

—A small first-aid kit with aspirin and Ibuprofen.

—A bug net for your hat and a good supply of bug repellent. Get the kind with DEET. Yes, it’s toxic, but it works.

—A pair of knives. One pocket knife (Swiss Army type with tools — get one with scissors) and one hunting type.

—You should have a few minimum tools beyond a Swiss Army knife. A small pair of channel-lock pliers, a screwdriver with changeable tips, and a small Crescent wrench can do a lot, especially for bicycle repair. A Leatherman utility tool is great and can be worn on your belt so you’re never without it.

—A handgun in a secure holster and several magazines or speed loaders. If you are not familiar with weapons, it’s time to learn — before you need them! Take a personal defense or hunting course through your local gun club, and practice.

One pack per family might carry a lightweight (2.5-4 pound) break-down .22 rifle (such as Henry [AR-7] Survival rifle) or a small 9mm carbine (Hi-Point or Kel-Tec). Have several magazines for it. The Kel-Tec SUB-2000 carbine is inexpensive, and often can accept the same magazines as your primary handgun, be that a Glock, Ruger or other.

—A small flashlight with one set of extra rechargeable batteries (LED units are best). Add a tiny solar charger.

—A good compass on a cord.

—Notepad with pencil. One for each pack in the family.

—Important papers, passports, licenses and birth certificates should be prepared and ready to stuff in the pack quickly without hunting for them. Multiple copies are good, with a set in each adult pack.

—Medicine. For this category you should have much more than just one day’s supply — medicine may not be available again.

—A quality lightweight rain poncho is critical (get dark green or brown, not bright yellow!). This alone can save your life if the weather becomes inclement while you‘re on the road, especially if you’re on foot or bicycle, or have to bivouac while traveling, even by car.

—A warm jacket (Gore-Tex over polar fleece is good). Warm gloves, knit wool hat, one pair extra socks, thermal long john bottoms (polypropylene) and a sweater.

—An extra pair of lightweight, thin, surplus, military-style wool dress pants can save your life. Do not buy bright colors or camouflage designs. Subdued dark greens and browns are easy to hide in, and do not attract undue attention. [Because of it poor insulating capacity when wet,] avoid cotton clothes and socks. Stick with wool and wool/synthetic blends.

—Hat. A good wool cap should be in your pack, but a baseball cap or other hat should be worn to keep sun out of eyes and shed rain. A crushable brimmed outdoor hat is best, with chin cord.

—Sunglasses. Each pack should have sunglasses or clip-ons for your regular glasses.

—Spare glasses if you need them to see. In a stout case.

—A small kit (drawstring bag) containing a space blanket, 100 feet of parachute cord, matches in a waterproof container, fire starter (tinder), a few butane lighters and a small supply of toilet paper.

—A small soap bar (in a plastic soap box), washcloth and toothbrush can make you feel much more comfortable and nice after a hard day or two on the road.

—A few cloth bandanas can do wonders.

—A water filter (backpacking type) is a good option. The SteriPEN UV water treatment system is good. It uses rechargeable batteries, and a small (tiny) solar charger can keep you in pure water for weeks. Water is much more critical than food in a bug out situation .

—Prepared maps (preferably waterproof topo maps) of routes, meeting places and alternate stops. Each family/group member should have copies.

—Small FRS radios (with extra batteries).

Another item which might be considered is a biological and/or gas mask and a few dust/hospital masks. If you’re leaving a primary target zone for biologics or nuclear, this might be a consideration.

Forget foo-foo stuff like whistles, “help-needed” signs, reflecting triangles, white flags, etc. You want to remain as anonymous and unobtrusive as possible and not attract attention. If things are this bad there will be no rescue — you’re on your own. Even wearing camouflage will mark you as a target by those who will see you having equipment and supplies. Stick with subdued earth tone colors and materials. No Spandex or shiny day-glo scarves!

The Pack

Your day pack should have a waist belt and good padded shoulder straps. It should be strong, made of heavy ballistic nylon, with good zippers, in a dark Earth color. It does not need to have a frame designed for heavier loads, and a frameless day pack can be jammed into a smaller space more easily and makes a better pillow. Forget the ones with leather bottoms. The average school book pack is not strong enough, nor big enough. Go to an outdoor store and buy a good large day pack with stout zippers and hardware.

Each family member should have one prepared, even the kids. For very small children or infants, plan on one adult doubling up on supplies, and the other carrying the infant. Make certain the carrier (child backpack or sling) is in the closet with your bug out kit, and ready.

Footwear

Good hiking boots are critical, but don’t stop to change them if you’re going to drive. Grab them and get in the car — change them while moving [, as a nother family member drives]. Time is critical.

If you are already unable to use the car (because streets are blocked or flooded, fires, or riots), then by all means, change quickly into good walking shoes or hiking boots. This could mean the difference between getting out and being lame and cornered.

A second lightweight pair of shoes (tennis or running type) or sandals, should be in the pack. Moccasins (with soles) are good and very light weight. These will prove their worth if your main boots get wet and you need to dry them (carefully!) at a stopover location.

Communication and family coordination

Plan meeting places in case you get separated. Map out known safe houses and preferred routes — a friend’s remote home or business, a rural fire station or police department, or a public campground. Make schedules for meet-up and keep them if you become separated. Prepare these before you need them!

In major disaster scenarios, especially after the initial wave of difficulties, all police and military check points will likely search your packs, take your firearms and food and send you down the road essentially helpless. This will be done for “general security,” reasons, and smiling faces will speak nice words. They may arrest you, jail you, and take everything you have for the “public good,” and to feed and arm their own people.

These folks may, or may not, be what’s left of official police and military. I you have been on the road, and the disaster has been unfolding for some time, they may, in fact, be an emerging warlord’s private army or security force, or that of the rich land holder at the top of the hill, and they may have no scruples at all. You could easily be killed and dumped for your food and water. Plan for the worst and be very wary.

There is considerable validity in keeping totally away from all such “official” places if things are really bad. In this case, plan routes and meeting locations far away from officialdom. Campgrounds, friends’ homes and known landmarks such as a favorite river spot or wilderness campsite are much better. Back roads, forest trails, and even off-trail routes may be a better option if there has been time to set up roadblocks and “catch ‘em–search ‘em” sites.

Small hand-held transceivers (with extra rechargeable batteries), may prove life-saving and family-uniting. Have each member pack one and settle on channels to use, and times to use them. Remember that keeping them on continuously will run the batteries out quickly so use them on a schedule only. A small solar charger can recharge them many times.

If the phone system is still working when you leave, have phone numbers of friends and meeting stations in each pack. Each pack should have a notebook with this information entered in permanent ink, and a set of family route maps.

Travel routes — planning your movements

You should have a route planned, both for car and on foot or bicycle, to get you out of the immediate danger area, and into a rural or secure area, or fully to your primary retreat location. A temporary destination may be a friend’s home, a small town police station or semi-wilderness spot to recoup and regroup. A temporary redoubt should have water and shelter, if possible, and should be able to supply you (or at least provide safe rest) for further travel.

Temporary stops, especially unoccupied locations, may be stocked ahead with food and water in a small buried cache. Several of these caches could be prepared and planted ahead of need. They should be spaced closely enough to leapfrog by foot in less than two days walking. If they are not used, fine. If they are needed, such simple planned preparation can be critical.

Considerations for routing should include potential civil unrest as well as natural disasters. Unprepared folks will be frightened, and therefore dangerous, if only for their foolishness and panic. Moving through cities or towns should be considered carefully in light of the type of trouble happening. Being in a small town might be very safe, if a common threat affects all. Traveling through in an overcrowded city neighborhood might be very dangerous if there is random chaos and no commonality of purpose. As noted above, if there has been time to set up roadblocks, avoiding them will be wise.

The route should consider wind patterns. If biologics, chemicals or radiation fallout are happening, you will want to travel cross-wind. While easy routes might lie downwind or upwind, this will increase your exposure to the nasties.

Learning how your local and regional wind patterns work should help you plan a route across, and away from, the normal wind flow. Particular circumstances and immediate weather might alter this, but one should become familiar with local and regional weather patterns. Go to sites providing these patterns, and look at some of the nuclear downwind studies which have been done. Try this site, and work from there.

Freeways, by car or on foot may prove treacherous and dangerous, and other routes should be considered. Paralleling the freeway on foot or bicycle, but a half mile away, is be a useful option, if the terrain isn’t too severe. Streetcar and rail right-of-ways may be better for leaving the city. Cleared power line corridors through wilderness and forested areas, and city or town back streets or alleys may offer easier or safer movement.

Generally, staying away from the herds will be safer in most cases. Having maps of rail lines, power lines, roads and topography already in the bug out packs, may save needless and dangerous wandering and allow you to avoid crowds. Waterproof detailed topographical maps may be purchased from outdoor stores and forest service offices for areas beyond the city perimeter.

Bicycles

If cars are immediately unusable, a thick-tired mountain bike can get you many miles easily if terrain permits. You can add a small, already prepared bike trailer. This is a wheeled carrier pulled by attaching it to your waist or the bicycle seat or frame. Be certain to have a small hand air pump and tire patch kits for each bike.

If you have a small child, your bicycle carrier should be able to carry him or her.

Chinese-style pushed or pedaled freight bicycles (two and three-wheeled) can haul a huge amount (hundreds of pounds), but require smooth ground and more preparation time.

Practice your escape

Once you have your basic packs built and ready, and your routes planned, practice following those routes. Get in your car, and see how it goes to your first, second and third mid-escape stops. Look for potential hazards which could arise (blocked bridges, narrow traffic zones, congested walkways, official roadblocks, gang barricades) and plan alternate routes if possible.

Set up your intermediate stops by informing your friends or relatives that you have their homes on your escape route. If you don’t do this, and expect them to be waiting for you, you may find that they have bugged out themselves, and you have no stopping place! This can be critical if you expect to re-water, re-fuel, re-supply and/or hunker down there.

You might consider stocking extra fuel, food and water at their homes in a secure hiding place (have them leave a key in a known location) in case they may not be there. Outside buried caches can avoid the danger of fire and looting.

Next level

This brief outline for a minimum “Bug Out” pack, and how to bug out, should get you thinking. You can add or subtract things as your specific personal requirements dictate, and as your location and travel situation suggests.

Future installments will consider long-term hideaways, secure “go to” places, pulling a camper or trailer with the car, using a small motor home for an all-in-one Bug-Out vehicle and house, and woods survival.

Once you’ve accepted the reality of our looming collapse and the need for real preparation, you may wish to increase your personal skills and take wilderness courses by Tom Brown’s group, Bill McConnell’s people or someone locally well-trained in outdoor survival.

Courses in first aid, ski mountaineering, weapons maintenance and more are useful, but don’t wait to prepare your basic bug out kits.

A sample of survival supply sites:
The eFoodsDirect company sells dehydrated survival food. No GMO, no MSG. Vegetarian. 12-15 year shelf life. 2,200-2,300 calories per day per person. Water purifiers and other supplies.

The Survival Acres web site discusses the collapse of civilization, and a continuous discussion of how to cope, what it means, and why it’s happening. Essays and comments. Links to other blogs and essayists. Storage food and other supplies.

Captain Dave’s. A huge site that has been mentioned before on SurvivalBlog with lots of stuff, survival clothes, food, ideas, techniques (i.e. trapping animals), and more. Preparing for nuclear, biological or chemical attacks, and information of epidemics and diseases.

REI. All manner of outdoor clothing, cycling and camping gear. Good quality. SteriPEN water purifiers.

Product Review: ATI Talon Shotgun Fore End Rail Package

The ATI Talon Shotgun Fore End Rail Package is a replacement fore end for Mossberg, Remington and Winchester pump shotguns. The kit contains the fore end, adapters for all three brands and most models, nine 2” Picatinny Rail sections and plenty of machine screws for mounting.

Installation was very simple. The instructions are clear, the adapter sections are marked M,R,W for brand and F,R for front and rear. All that’s involved is unscrewing the fore end nut, sliding on the ATI and appropriate adapters, and tightening the nut. It took a few seconds with a file to improve barrel clearance (and the instructions state this might be necessary).

The Picatinny Rail sections install with two machine screws each. You can install one on either side, bottom, or at the 45 degree lines. Combinations are possible, but there obviously isn’t room for accessories if you mount both the 45 and 90 side by side.

I liked the handling, and it made for easy mounting of lights on both sides and bottom, reachable by hand while manipulating the slide, and for a quick detach swivel mount. I found the mounting strips offered a great grip, positive and comfortable. It also looks very slick and modern.

On the down side, it twists a bit more than a factory foreend, since it has a bit less contour around the barrel. I didn’t find this to be particularly significant, but it is noticeable. I also wish that ATI, and all other manufacturers for that matter, would round off edges on “tactical” products. The crisp machining looks great, but sharp corners ding hands. This is fixed in a few minutes with a fine file and a black marker, but I’d like the factories to anticipate this need.

If you have a tactical shotgun, this American made, lifetime warranted product is a great choice for mounting accessories. MSRP is $165, or $100 without the rail package, allowing you to attach other sections. – SurvivalBlog Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson

Economics and Investing:

G.G. sent this: Another Illinois Bank Fails.

KAF flagged a Fox Business new report: Fed’s Hoenig: Record-Low Rates a ‘Dangerous Gamble’

Andrew H. spotted this: 800 interested in 5 jobs

Items from The Economatrix:

Economic Growth Prospects Dim in US After Retail, Trade Reports

US Cities Face Up to Massive Cuts

Stocks Rise On Earnings, Economic Reports

Oil Breaks Losing Streak, Prices Climb

Wheat is New US Gold

“Hindenberg Omen” and Imminent Market Crisis

Savings Accounts Will Become Obsolete if Inflation Rises Next Week

Greek Economy Deeper in Recession than Forecast

Odds ‘n Sods:

Greg and Kat spotted an article about An idea carried too far Cult of less: Living out of a hard drive. Greg’s comment:” The move to not buying clutter is a good one, of course. However, what happens to the people highlighted in this article in an EMP or another power-down event? Once their batteries run out, and the utility companies can’t provide water and other services, and the food deliveries stop they won’t be “virtually homeless” they will be starving and without barter assets or other resources. Online banking won’t help then. Hopefully they’ll analyze their situations and start putting their free income into resources for the “list of lists” and reading resources like Survivalblog. Then they’ll be a part of the solution, instead of more people adding to the problem.”

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Mix your own chem lights! (Of course the usual chemistry lab safety and toxic materials provisos apply.)

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Essex [Vermont] project builds backyard passive freezer. (Thanks to Nancy in Vermont for the link.)

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Freeze Dry Guy (one of our loyal advertisers) has announced a special on their Mountain House Freeze Dried 144 Day Meat Variety Pack that includes three #10 cans of Freeze Dried Cooked Ground Beef = 81 ½ cup servings, and three #10 cans of Freeze Dried Cooked Diced Chicken = 63 ½ cup servings. These Freeze Dried Meats are delicious and absolutely the finest available anywhere at any price. (In all, this package provides 144 servings. That equates to over 4½ months of real animal protein.) These Freeze Dried Meats are packed in 6 Heavy Duty Double Enameled #10 cans per case with at least 98% of the oxygen removed. This standard was established by the U.S. Military many years ago, and they have a proven shelf life in excess of 30 years. There are even deeper discounts and free Sparkies if you order multiple cases. See the Freeze Dry Guy web site or call 866-404-3663. This sale ends at the end of August, so get your order in soon!

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 30 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Parabellum (Luger ) with 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP projectiles, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $249 value), and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) 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 $400, and B.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing, and B.) a Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.)

Round 30 ends on September 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.

Little TEOTWAWKI – A Children’s Book, by Benny in Florida

This may sound like a children’s book that the tells the story a young native American girl, but don’t be fooled. TEOTWAWKI is very scary for mature adults, but is terrifying to children. When we TEOTWAWKI discuss related issues at our house, my wife and I always make sure that we have a private conversation between just the two of us. After we have sorted things out we will discuss it with our children in an appropriate tone and with as little alarmism as possible.

Last week one of our conversations started out with my wife asking “What will the kids do for entertainment?” I quickly answered that they would have many, many things to do, thinking back to my boyhood when we camped every weekend, played in the woods, and did all of the things that boys do to entertain themselves in the outdoors. My wife quickly pointed out that we have girls, and that they are not accustomed to entertaining themselves in those ways, and that they would feel a void in areas like computer use, internet access, movies, television, music, etc.

I know my girls would adapt quickly, and that they would be able to find enjoyment in many of the same things we did outdoors as children, but my wife had a point too. For me, the very reason I have survival plans is for my children. I want them not only to survive in safety and comfort, but I want them to thrive and grow into mature, level-headed adults. I wondered what sort of resentment might build-up in them if they were to constantly walk around asking “Remember the old days when we could do this or that?” In thinking about the day-to-day tasks of survival, I had never thought to consider how time would be spent when not working. After some careful consideration, I have come up with what I call my “Plan for Living”, which is a supplemental plan to our survival plans. This plan is for the whole family, and I think it will enrich our lives, should we ever have to put our plan into action.

I am a technical person by nature and vocation, so my solution to many problems is a technical response to a given set of requirements. In the case of our Plan for Living, I came up with a solution that may sour some survivalists, but it works for us. In current times my family spends a great deal of time using electronic media: Internet, e-books, television, music players, computer games, etc. I am certain that my family is like countless other American families in this regard, and my children have never known a time when this was not the case. In the event of TEOTWAWKI these things could well be gone. My Plan for Living seeks to implement a plan to ensure that at least some of these things are available to my family post-TEOTWAWKI.

I have started putting together a digital collection of media such as movies, television shows, books, and music which is stored on external hard drives. Our survival retreat has self-sustaining power, and includes several laptop computers. Any member of my family should be able to access this media with little effort, and will no doubt quickly become expert at locating desired titles. In the event that no internet, television, or radio is available, we will have stocked our entertainment shelves as well as those for our normal TEOTWAWKI supplies.

Now don’t discount my efforts as quickly as you might, regarding them as frivolous. In addition to titles for pure entertainment and the education of the children, I have also assembled a very large collection of instructional videos and e-books. Some of the titles may not be as obvious as you might think, for instance, how many of us know how to pull a tooth or how to construct a water wheel, or any other of a thousand topics that might come up? One of the goals of disaster planning is to plan as best you can for the things you can think of, and then plan even better for the things you can’t think of. This is my approach to building the instructional portion of our library. I don’t want to ever pull anyone’s teeth, but I would rather have some idea of how to do it properly if I do. Here are a few things that I consider to be important topics:

All things medical. Diagnosis and treatment of illness, disease, pregnancy, child birth, medicine, etc. Our retreat is remote and wooded, so I want to know about things like treating snake bites, spider bites, bee stings, poisonous plants, setting broken bones, etc. This includes natural treatments as well as drug references.

Small engine repair: Generators, tillers, mowers, et cetera. All of these will need service at some point.

Solar panel maintenance and repair.

Gardening.

Hunting, fishing, and trapping.

Plant identification. If provisions run out and gardens are not mature, knowing which plants are edible may be of key importance.

Carpentry.

There are so many topics that you might need to study and practice, (self-reliance is pivotal in our plan), that you should strive to accumulate as much information as possible. For the things that are crucial you should also try and locate printed materials or print and bind them yourself, then store them in a safe, dry location. If the batteries are dead and the info you need to fix the solar panel is on the computer it won’t do you much good will it? There is so much info out there it’s truly amazing. I found collections where authors interviewed very old folks that knew how to do things the old-fashioned ways, and with the most basic of tools. There are so many how-to fix this or that e-books out there that I can’t decide which ones to get!

Hopefully if our plan ever has to be put into action I can use our library to watch re-runs of MASH and The Sopranos, rather than boning-up on the proper way to yank a bad molar!

Some places to start looking for e-books include:

Hesperian.org

Gutenberg.org

Free-ebooks.net

The Second Amendment–The Ultimate Guarantee of Safety and Liberty

Recently, there was a news story about Senator Harry Reid scoffing at the concept behind the Second Amendment. This illustrates not only how unhinged Reid has become, but also how the mass media, liberal think tanks, and political parties all underestimate and mischaracterize the right to keep and bear arms. It is is our well-armed bedrock culture that under-girds our society, and keep both criminals and tyrants at bay. The Second Amendment is not some obscure an archaic code. It is in actuality the strongest guarantor of our individual liberty. This was made abundantly clear in the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision, District of Columbia v. Heller. In the first major Second Amendment case since the 1939 U.S. v. Miller decision. Clearly, the courts have affirmed that the right to keep in bear arms is both a collective right and and individual right.

Just the knowledge that Americans are well-armed is a natural deterrent to invasion. This is what the Swiss call: Das Geistige Landesverteidigung. (“the intellectual defense of the homeland”). It has worked for the Swiss since 1291 and it has worked for these United States since 1781, or should I say at least since 1814. (Some folks can’t learn a lesson the first time. The British came back for a second helpin’ of whoopin’ in 1812. Thankfully, the two nations have been on friendly terms, since then.)

For those of us that are preparedness minded, the Second Amendment is our guarantee that we have the unfettered right to own firearms, to keep them in our homes and to carry them on our hips or in our vehicles. No matter what the Nanny Staters want, the fact of the matter is that we have the right to defend ourselves with privately owned guns. Our right to own arms is a gift from God, not a privilege dispensed by the State.

If and when there is a large scale natural disaster or some other source of societal disruption, we will at least have one assurance: We will know that we have the option to employ lethal and less-than-lethal force, to defend lives and property. Even though our world might get Schumeresque, we can at least stop the bad guys within a 300 meter radius. This will give us the chance to re-establish law and order, one neighborhood at a time.

David in Israel Re: Effective Partner and Small Team Tactics

James
It is good to see real life combat tactics discussed by Officer Tackleberry. I would respectfully add a few more very useful drills.

I am in agreement with Tackleberry that some of the more dangerous drills should be performed with paintball or pellet guns at first to lock in the safety training. but the ‘warrior inoculation” is both important and if done with a range safety officer or two safe. I seem to remember Galls or one of the other public safety catalogs selling a chamber safety plug that stuck out of the barrel a bit to assure that it is clear. One of the jurisdictions I worked at had an Emergency Response Team drill day went bad towards the end of the day. This happened when everyone was tired, a live magazine was somehow loaded and an officer got shot. On dry fire days no live ammunition is allowed to be loaded into any of the weapons; ammo and loaded mags should be under double lock, that means two locks on the box and two people with different keys, until the end of the drill. If there is concern make it a wooden box that can be easily but obviously broken open in an emergency.

A good CQB drill is to have an old army duffle bag stuffed with stacked newspaper and strung on a rope. Your coach pulls a rope on the side or bottom so it collides with you, the drill is to push away the bag step back and into a low firing position as you draw and fire a double tap.

Hand to hand drilling is essential since a large percentage of actual uses of force will involve the possibility of a grapple, Airsoft pistols or those colored rubber guns are perfect.

The exhaustion drill should be practiced for both rifle and handgun in all firing positions. Running wind sprints is the best way to get your body near to the point of exhaustion but squat thrusts, stepper machines, or exercise bikes should work fine too if space is limited. Since you are actually taking your muscles into an anaerobic state and stripping your blood of oxygen and glucose making your decision making process hazy you had better have a good range safety officer or two in addition to a coach. Once fighting for breath the coach will call out the drill as you move to the firing line. The first few drills must be dry fire only or with an inert firearm just to hone the range safety laws and practicing freezing and safing all weapons.

Other range conditions should include irritating smoke, burning pine other oily desert plants at a home shooting range should do that.

In Israel the tactics that the Ketat Konnut (town volunteer anti-terrorism team) practices are mostly pinning down and flanking although we also do some entry and room clearing work in case the army is unable to make a quick response.

All of the drills I mention from my US and Israeli training require a good coach. You cant go with a friend to a gun store pick up the weapons and training dummies and think you are ready to do the higher difficulty level drills. I would additionally caution the readers to find a qualified and certified instructor. My experience as a shop gunsmith and assistant range officer for my father for several years is that most customers were know-it-all hobbyists who learned everything from magazine articles and Hollywood movies. I suspect some might volunteer to coach but were likely not qualified. Shalom, – David in Israel

Letter Re: Drive Your Own Sandpoint Well

Mr. Rawles,
After reading the excellent article about drilling one’s own sandpoint well, I did a little more research, thinking this would be a perfect solution for backup water for our situation. I found a great resource with basically the same instructions, but he also includes diagrams. The best part, though are the instructions for a do-it-yourself “inertia pump” that can be used to draw water from wells deeper than a pitcher pump can handle.

Thanks for all the info you share on your site, I’ve learned so much from you and your contributors. – Trucker Girl

Economics and Investing:

Chris in Virginia liked this piece over at Sharon Astyk’s blog: Things Fall Apart – Slowly

California’s economic crisis de jour: We Want Our IOUs

Morris S. liked this piece by James Rickards at The Financial Times: Fannie and Freddie’s bond market upheaval.

“OSOM” recommended a piece over at the GATA about the silver exchange traded fund (ETF) – SLV. OSOM’s comment: “Both SLV (and GLD for Gold) are not safe investments! I would not touch either of them with a ten foot pole.”

G.G. sent this: Schiff: The Fed Is Feeding An Addiction By Continuing Quantitative Easing

Also from G.G.: The Next Pension Bailout

Wade C. sent this: China Favors Euros Over Dollars as Bernanke Shift Course on Fed Stimulus.

Jobless millions signal death of the American dream for many. (Thanks to KAF for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Martin Weiss: $5,657,492 to Create ONE Job! Has Washington Lost its Mind?

Central Bankers Stoking the Inflation Fires Whilst Academic Economists Worry About Deflation

Homebuilder Confidence Sinks for Third Month

China Reduces US Debt Holdings in June

Stocks Reverse Course, Rise Modestly

Pump Prices Fall as Crude Oil Declines

Odds ‘n Sods:

Ooh!, Ooh! I’ve been looking for a site like this: Make Your Own Seasoning Mixes. (Thanks to S.D. Spy for the link.)

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Jeff B. forwarded the link to this piece from National Pravda Public Radio: Deadly Whooping Cough, Once Wiped Out, Is Back

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The Obama Administration’s anti-gun bias is evident: US opposes Seoul’s bid to sell old rifles. (Thanks to Jeff B. for the link.)

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Reader Rick D. suggested a YouTube video demonstration of Grover Rocket Stoves.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Interestingly, NPR ran a local story over the weekend — an obscure little item — saying that Amtrak was determined to raise the average speed of its passenger trains running north from Connecticut through Vermont from 40 miles-per-hour to 60 mph. That would be some triumphant accomplishment! It would bring us back to about an 1860 level of service. Of course, I happen to believe that we will be lucky in a few years if we are able to enjoy an 1860s standard-of-living, so maybe this little side venture in public transport is perfectly in tune with America’s future.” – James H. Kunstler, author of the nonfiction book The Long Emergency and the novel World Made by Hand

Medical Care in TEOTWAWKI, by GeorgiaDoc

JWR’s book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” has motivated me to add a little more light for those who may be in a situation where a physician is not available, but caring for someone needing sophisticated medical care.

I am an Internist, and have been working in an urgent care setting for 20 years. Before that, I had a number of years experience working in several Emergency Rooms (ERs), and a trauma center. Since I am not formally trained in ER work, I have concentrated more on stabilizing patients to get them to more specialized care. I have no experience in battlefield injuries, like arms and legs blown off, or eviscerations, so I will not venture there.

My previous article focused on the common types of infections one is likely to encounter, and the most appropriate antibiotic. Please read the recent SurvivalBlog article for common infection treatment.

This article will go further into the weeds with antibiotic use.

This article is only for general medical information and should not be used for specific treatment. Always seek expert help for medical problems whenever possible.

Early in our medical training, medical students are taught the following principles of medical care,

1. Murphy’s Law
“Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”

2. Sutton’s Law
Willie Sutton was a famous bank robber. When asked why he robbed banks, he retorted, “That’s where the money is.” Sutton’s law is, “Go where the money is.” [In emergency medicine] you don’t mess around with treatments that might work, or do tests that might give you the answer. You go for the money the first time, because you might not get a second chance.

3. Hippocratic Oath and Principle
“First and foremost, do no harm.” This is in the Hippocratic oath. If there is ever a question that you may cause more harm than good, you do not do it.

One of the first things medical students are taught is that all medications have “good” actions, which we call “therapeutic,” and “bad” actions, we call “side effects,” or allergic reactions.

Allergic reactions to medications are very common. Every G.O.O.D. bag should include benadryl. Take it immediately if you start itching after taking a medication. It might save your life. [In an emergency] if you have trouble breathing or swallowing [which are symptoms of anaphylactic shock], I would take benadryl, but I would also seek medical attention if possible. Adrenaline is called for here.

For the advanced student, choosing the correct antibiotic for an infection is critical. Choose the wrong antibiotic, and if the infection worsens, you are in a heap of trouble. My previous article was intended make the choice for the use of antibiotics as simple as I could, because most people have very little training in medicine. So my thinking was to make it as simple as possible. For those with some medical training, I will go a little deeper into the weeds.

Most infections are the result of some breakdown in our defense system, coupled with exposure to an infective organism. If we lived in a sterile bubble, we would never get an infection. But even with the exposure we have every day to zillions of virus’ and bacteria, we still rarely become infected because we have complex systems to protect us from becoming infected. The first line of resistance is our skin. If it is in good shape, and intact, infections are rare. So pay attention to your skin. If it is dry, use moisturizing cream to keep it supple. If you are standing in water all day, take off your shoes and socks several times daily and air dry your feet. If you sweat a lot, air dry twice daily the areas that stay wet all the time to keep the skin in good condition.

Respiratory infections are best prevented by limiting exposure. If you are coughing, you should cover up when coughing, and wear a surgical mask. Most authorities believe that if you remain 6-8 feet from others, you are unlikely to spread a respiratory infection. You should also wear a surgical mask. These are not proven effective, but will capture large droplets if you cough or sneeze.

If someone is ill around you, you should be wearing an N-95 mask. The N-95 mask should be in everyone’s survival plans. These masks really work to prevent contracting respiratory infections. They must fit snugly, and they are difficult to wear for extended periods of time, but they do work. They are inexpensive if you stock up in a non emergency situation. During the last flu epidemic they disappeared from the shelves, so stock up now. Make sure they are clearly labeled certified by OSHA as N-95.

For those interested in going deeper into the weeds for the use of antibiotics in TEOTWAWKI, I will discuss how MDs decide on the use of antibiotics. I am only discussing treatment of adults. This does not apply to children. Children are very different than adults. As a wise Pediatrician once told me, “Children are not small adults. They are biologically very different.”

First some definitions:
1. Symptoms are those things the patient feels and describes to the doctor. Symptomatic treatment is treating the symptoms, not the underlying illness. So, taking Tylenol for fever is symptomatic treatment.
2. Signs are those things the doctor sees in his exam.
3. Malaise means just plain feeling lousy.
4. Virus. A virus is an odd creature, not able to live or reproduce on it’s own. It causes disease by attaching to your cells, drilling a hole in your cell, and injecting it’s DNA (or RNA) into your cell. It then takes over your cell mechanism, reproduces hundreds of copies of itself, ruptures your cell to spill the copies of itself into your body, and the process begins again. Antibiotics are worthless against them. There are a few anti-virals that work for herpes, influenza, chicken pox, and shingles.
5. Bacteria are fully living creatures which cause disease by growing and invading the tissue of your body. Antibiotics are highly effective if correctly targeted against the particular bacterium.
6. Prions are like creatures from the black lagoon. They are crooked proteins that will make all similar proteins crooked when they come in contact, and are very deadly. I know you have heard of Mad Cow disease [the common name of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)] , and that it is caused by a virus. Actually, it is caused by a prion.

The first decision to be made is whether you are dealing with a viral infection, or a bacterial infection. This is usually fairly easy for a physician, as we see thousands of cases of each over our years of medical practice, and can tell pretty quickly with a brief history and physical examination. These are the things that usually differentiate viral and bacterial infections. None of the points are 100%, but if you look at all the differentiating features, you can make a pretty good judgment.

And why does it matter? It matters because viral illnesses are almost always self limited illnesses (they go away by themselves), so we treat them symptomatically. We do not use antibiotics as antibiotics are worthless in treating viral illnesses, and may cause harm (see the Hippocratic Oath above). However if it is a bacterial infection, it is important to use antibiotics promptly to avoid complications, even death.

There are exceptions, but typically viral illnesses will not be accompanied by a fever above 100.5 F. Usually there will not be swollen glands (infectious mononucleosis is one exception). There are usually systemic symptoms like achiness, fatigue, malaise. Bacterial infections are usually accompanied by fever over 100.5, may include swollen glands, and usually do not include the systemic symptoms.

Let me begin by describing the typical “viral syndrome.” The most common viral illness is the common cold. It usually consists of a runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, and cough. There is usually not a fever over 100.5, and usually not any significant swollen glands in the neck. This is the classic viral syndrome, and although there are many virus’ that can cause similar symptoms,

Another typical viral syndrome is Viral Gastroenteritis. This is very common. Some people think it is the “flu,” and call it the “stomach flu,” but it has nothing to do with “flu.” It typically is an acute, sudden onset of nausea, vomiting, and watery diarrhea. There may be some cramping, maybe even a low grade fever of 100.5, rarely any higher. People usually feel terrible. Fortunately it usually only lasts a day or two. Food poisoning will do the same thing. If the diarrhea is bloody, or the cramping is severe, or the fever is above 100.5, or it lasts more than two days, then I would suspect a possible bacterial infection.

We often see patients with a sore throat concerned they have “strep throat.” Strep throat is a bacterial infection of the throat. Patients with strep will typically have a sore throat, fever over 101, and swollen glands. Those with a cold will have a sore throat, runny nose, achiness, fatigue, and cough. Fever, and swollen glands will be absent.

Bronchitis is another viral syndrome. Unless you are a smoker, or have emphysema or some other chronic lung disease, bronchitis is almost 100% a viral illness. It is usually just a nasty cough without a fever. It is usually non-productive, and often becomes productive of clear sputum, which becomes discolored to yellow and green toward the end of the illness. Leave it alone. It will go away by itself.

Influenza is a little different. It is a viral infection, and is a little unusual in that it is accompanied by high fever, up to 103-104 even. Experienced MDs can tell easily though, because of the extreme fatigue associated with influenza, and the typical “viral syndrome” symptoms of cough, runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion which accompany the illness Extreme fatigue is a hallmark of illnesses. Patients have difficulty getting out of bed to come to the doctor. And it has an abrupt onset. Within an hour or so, victims go from feeling fine, to feeling terrible with aches, extreme fatigue, followed by the fever and other symptoms.

With these viral syndromes understood, it becomes easier to recognize bacterial infections.

Pneumonia is a bacterial lung infection. Since it is a lung infection, you would expect a cough. Since it is a bacterial infection, you would expect a fever of 101 or higher. Since it is not viral you would not expect “viral syndrome” symptoms of runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat. An important caveat for pneumonia is that it often develops as a complication of a cold because your resistance is down, then later the pneumonia sets in. Typically, a patient develops a “cold” with the usual runny nose, nasal congestion, sore throat, and cough without a fever. Then a week or so into the illness, suddenly a fever over 101 develops, the cough worsens, and becomes productive, sometimes blood tinged. This is the onset of pneumonia complicating a viral illness. (So you thought being a doctor was easy?)

Bacterial enteritis. This is a bacterial infection of the intestines. It is very similar to viral gastroenteritis, but is usually more severe, often accompanied by a fever over 101, and may include blood tinged diarrhea. There is usually a history of travel, and uncooked food eaten, or possibly contaminated water from a well or stream. If someone has viral gastroenteritis which is not getting better in 2-3 days, start thinking about a bacterial infection.

Clostridium difficile. This is a good time to mention this disease. This disease is one of many reasons doctors try to limit the use of antibiotics. It is a potentially serious complication of antibiotic use. Sometimes when taking an antibiotic, the normal bowel bacteria are killed off allowing this nasty bacteria to grow out. So if someone gets the typical diarrhea, cramps, sometimes low grade fever after taking antibiotics, it is probably clostridium difficile. This is treated with metronidazole.

Strep throat is a bacterial infection of the throat. So we would expect a sore throat, fever over 101, and swollen glands. If the patient has viral symptoms like cough, runny nose, nasal congestion, and does not have a fever, the odds are 20-1 or more it is a cold. Treat it symptomatically.

I discussed the treatment of these bacterial infections in my previous article.

OTC medications for symptoms.

1. Diarrhea: Imodium
2. Runny nose: antihistamines, Benadryl
3. Congestion: Sudafed
4. Fever: Advil, Tylenol
5. Sore throat: Cepastat lozenges, Advil, Tylenol
6. Cough: Robitussin, Dextromethorphan (in Robitussin DM)
7. Nausea: Benadryl
8. Heartburn: Maalox, Prilosec

Letter Re: Gaining Pharmaceutical Knowledge

Dear Mr. Rawles:
I recently read through the cluster of articles regarding preparation measures for antibiotic storage and use on your blog, starting with A Doctor’s Thoughts on Antibiotics, Expiration Dates, and TEOTWAWKI, by Dr. Bones. As the medic for my family resilient survival group and an EMT paramedic, I have learned of some resources relevant to this discussion that will be useful to your readers.

The first is the Sanford Guide. This is a book used daily by physicians and other healthcare providers worldwide to assist with empiric antibiotic treatment of infectious diseases. Empiric therapy means that you’re not sure exactly which bug is causing the disease, but based on the location of the infection and other characteristics (like patient age and other illnesses), you can make an educated guess about what antibiotic you should choose. This is akin to going hunting and not knowing exactly which guns to use, but since you are in a farmer’s field or marsh, for example you might expect to run into birds instead of deer and so you bring a shotgun with birdshot instead of a slug gun or rifle. 

There is a similar book published by Emergency Medicine Residents Association but this is expensive and hard to find.  I have found Sanford Guides in used bookstores in bigger cities.  The knowledge in these books changes slowly, so a copy that is two or three years out of date will probably be fine for most purposes. You can also web-search “empiric antibiotic therapy” and surf away.    

This brings up the issue of the meds Dr. Bones lists (Z-packs, Amoxicillin or Keflex.) These are not great for diarrhea, but are narrow spectrum drugs that may help some skin and respiratory infections.  If you are going to the trouble to get antibiotics and keep them on hand, consider that you either need a big stable of “narrow spectrum” drugs or a smaller, appropriate group of a few “broad-spectrum” drugs.

Mel Tappan wrote a lot about the need for having a selection of useful guns that are relatively specific to given tasks.  You could think of antibiotics in the same manner, having a drug for each type of infection.  Getting adequate coverage for a wide range of diseases would be more logistically challenging and terribly costly than a few broad-spectrum drugs.  You might instead choose to have a “formulary” of a few drugs that should cover most of your needs.  Unfortunately, some of the antibiotics recommended by Doc Bones and others seem limited in their utility for serious infections.

The formulary approach was suggested in a recent book entitled “When There Is No Doctor”.  I would make one change to this author’s list, adding moxifloxacin in place of levaquin;  I base this on the fact that “moxi” (brand name Avelox) has been put in the “combat pill pack” of front-line combat troops in the Sandbox:  they are told take a moxi pill (which covers gut bugs, skin bugs, MRSA etc.) for any open wound while waiting for evac.  It is absorbed almost as well as an IV dose.  In short, moxi covers a broader spectrum than levaquin and cipro, which are in the same family. 

Regarding obtaining and choosing antibiotics, another resource is the “Orange Book”. Published by the FDA, this book is really the only source I could find that talks about the effectiveness and safety of generic formulations. It has been mentioned in a prior post in SurvivalBlog, and allows you to search by drug name, ingredient or maker. 

Basically, when you find a generic drug, you can check in the Orange Book to see if the generic manufacturer’s formulation tests like the more expensive brand formulation.  The tests are not too sophisticated, and the FDA is hoping that looking at how a drug looks and behaves (in simple tests like dissolving in water) compared to the brand-name drug it is copying.  Bare bones, but I’m told other testing would be way to expensive. 

I would almost never use medicines made for animals on humans, and I think you should look very seriously into the safety of this. As an example, I can’t find the “fish-mox” nor any of the other fish drugs Doc Bones mentions in the Orange Book by its manufacturer, which I consider the minimal safety check.  I do this check when thinking of getting drugs from overseas, too.  Dr. Doyle covers some of the other safety concerns in these alternative approaches to obtaining medicines in the book mentioned above. 

Start, within the limits of OPSEC, with your own doctor, dentist, Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Physician’s Assistant (PA).  Be aware, though, that if you ask your doctor for specific medications by name, he/she will (a) wonder what you’re up to and (b) likely be less willing to do this.  If you are honest, and aren’t asking for narcotics, you might stand a better chance.  Disaster prep is coming more into vogue, at least among many of the docs I work with in the ER now, anyway, because of the recent H1N1 ramp-up.

Finally, I heartily concur with the suggestion of getting as much training as you can. I worked with a surgeon who stated he could train a monkey how to operate in two years, but it takes much longer to train people when to operate.  Having a few fish tank drugs won’t do a lot for some conditions, and you need to know what you’re treating.  More importantly, you need to know when to expend your precious resources, especially when re-supply may not be coming anytime soon.

One last resource to help with deciding when to treat is the CDC antibiotic usage guidelines, published for things like upper respiratory infections, sore throats and bronchitis.  We all love to leave the doc’s office with a prescription but after TSHTF we need to be much more realistic. 

Medical Corps and other courses are good for this kind of training, although I hope to attend a physician assistant school in the future. I’m too old and have too many family commitments for medical school, but being trained in two years as a PA will allow me access to much of the same basic knowledge while being afforded the opportunity to learn on actual sick and injured patients rather than just “book learnin’” the theory. Regards, – Ron L.