Recognizing Societal Fragility and Making Substantive Preparations, by C.P.

I was raised in a small town outside the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois  A normal kid in the 1970s, I really didn’t care about anything except getting out of high school and moving on with my life.  I hated history class, geography was alien to me, and other than having to know the constitution in order to pass out of eighth grade, politics didn’t mean much to me, either.  I did, however, try to get my fellow classmates to vote in a mock presidential election in 1980.  My family didn’t discuss worldly events.  In essence, I had no clue. 

After moving to Arizona in 1992, my eyes began to open to the world around me for the first time.  I was a business owner and when President Clinton raised the minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.00 per hour, I paid attention.  I had one new employee that had been earning $4.50 per hour prior to the increase.  As he ran around telling everyone how wonderful Bill Clinton was, and how he was going to vote for him again, I began studying the affects of that raise.  He was shocked when I showed him that he was able to bring home .02 cents per hour more than he had before even though he had just gotten a .50 cent per hour raise.  The government, on the other hand, between unemployment, workers comp, social security, medicare, and state and federal taxes, took $1.25 per hour more for each hour he worked.  What a wonderful trade!  And of course, because the government raised the minimum wage, all of my employees demanded raises.  I took a cut in pay to compensate and paid myself less than one of my countermen earned.

In 1997, I met a man that opened my eyes more.  He introduced me to guns – something I had been desperately afraid of up until that time.  We even became members of a local shooting range, where I eventually was voted in as treasurer.  Hmmm… politics!  After the weekly shooting matches, several of us would go to a local truck stop to discuss the match scores.  Eventually, conversations turned to world events, religion, and politics.  One evening, one of the better shooters looked across the table at me after I had responded to a question with more than usual passion and told me I was a “Patriot”.  I had never heard the term before.  And at first, my only thought was, “Yep.  I knew it.  Finally met one of those people!” 

By 1999, most of the talk in our group, turned to the infamous Y2K and what preps needed to be made.  Since my business relied on computers, I thought everyone had gone nuts.  Stockpiling food?  Trading cash for gold?  Yeah, right!  Then, someone mentioned 9-9-99.  That was another date the computers were not supposed to be able to recognize.  I laughed at the people that believed that was going to be the day TSHTF!  That is, until a vehicle accident caused all the electricity to go out in the downtown area on that particular day.  Now, I didn’t believe in the dreaded 9-9-99, but what I saw forced me to take another look.  Business owners all over downtown had stepped outside their locked doors and stood in front of them with their arms folded across their chests.  They were going to defend their businesses against looters.  They could not sell any of their goods because “the computers were down”.  I could not buy a pack of gum from the corner gas station because they had no idea how to ring up a sale without a computerized cash register!  Now I was scared!  I knew then that though I did not believe computers would cause all the problems, panicky people would!  I suddenly found myself eagerly searching out Preparedness Expos and bulk foods for long term storage.

In the year 2000, my husband found the novel “Patriots“.  He read it so many times he could quote portions of it.  He had me read it.  He had our kids read it and actually quizzed them on it to be sure they had actually read it and not just gone through the motions.  I found much of the book interesting.  I learned quite a bit.  However, I will not deny that after seeing the people’s reactions in 1999, I am sure that everything described in the book is quite feasible when The Schumer actually does Hit The Fan.  One thing I knew for certain, the desert did not offer a chance for survival in any TEOTWAWKI situation.  Water was scarce and growing our own food would not be cost effective if it was at all possible.  We had to get out of there before anything bad happened.

In 2004, we found our survival retreat in the Ozarks.  It’s a tiny, poorly built cabin in the middle of the woods.  It had a private well, septic, electricity, phone service, and even DSL!  A small spring-fed creek is near the front of the house.  The nearest neighbor is about 700 yards away, through the trees.  Our intentions were to work hard and tear the cabin down to rebuild something a little larger.  I began trying to figure out the whole “gardening” thing.  I am finally making some progress with that, though the bugs still get more of my produce than I do.  We raise chickens and have raised several pigs.  Someday, maybe, we will clear some land and have a small pasture to raise a cow or two for dairy and meat.  Someday…. 

The bad thing about our little retreat is that it is in the middle of the woods.  The dirt roads and the creek we have to cross have caused constant damage to our vehicles.  The cost of gas has escalated, which wouldn’t be bad if we worked at home, but the nearest town of any size in either direction is 30 miles away.  Not only had our cost of living increased tremendously, but then our personal fan was hit in 2008 when I was injured and could no longer work. 

Since then, we have restructured the way we live.  We took a long hard look at what was really important in our lives and made changes that, though difficult at first, have made us more self-sufficient and less reliant on others.  The first thing we did was get rid of the satellite television.  Where we live, that means no television as we are too far away for cable and live to deep in a holler for antennas to work. Dropping our satellite subscription saved us $900 per year. I am forever grateful for the Internet!  Our home is all electric, except for the heater, which is run on propane.  During an ice storm in 2009, we found out the hard way that the propane would not work without electricity as the furnace still has an electronic ignition.  That’s when we discovered that the wood stove that came with the cabin could keep the inside temperature at 70 degrees without a blower.  We canceled our propane service and saved $500 per year.  During that same ice storm, we learned how wonderful the creek really is when there is no power as we still had flushing toilets when we hauled water into the house. We do not have trash service as the local refuse collectors will only pick it up if it is at a major roadway, which is 1/3 of a mile away.  Food scraps go to the animals or in the compost pile (which my chickens have discovered), we drive anything that is recyclable into the nearest center, and in six years, have only had about ten bags of trash go to the landfill after we deliver it to the refuse plant. 

Where we live, the soil isn’t soil at all.  It is rock and clay.  Therefore, all of my gardening is done in raised beds that are made of wood frames, tires, or self-watering Earth Boxes.  At first, we tried to haul water to the garden from the creek in 5-gallon buckets.  That did not work well.  We then set up a 50-gallon drum with a solar powered pump that was connected to a battery.  That worked better, except we still had to haul buckets of water to fill the drum.  We contacted a local well company and learned it would cost approximately $600 to drill a 60-foot well and in our remote location, the whole process would take more than a week to accomplish.  Ummm… we learned that water hoses could be stretched the 300-foot distance from our frost-free pump to the garden for a much lower cost! 

Last year, we finally grew enough tomatoes so that I had to learn how to can them.  I tried to get advise from neighbors, but learned that the few neighbors I have  that do can anything, don’t like to follow the guidelines in any of the books on canning – that’s just a waste of time.  So what if some of the jars don’t seal!  Okay… back to the books.  I found that to be much safer.  I have found myself wishing my grandmother were here on several occasions just so I could have someone to teach me!
Through all of this process, we have made many more discoveries.  First and foremost, we can do it on our own.  I do not get disability benefits, and we have never received welfare.  I have discovered that Staghorn sumac makes a wonderful lemonade in the summer.  Tiny wild strawberries grow in abundance here, as do wild plums and of course, walnuts.  Green Briar tears clothes, but the fresh new shoots taste better than green beans when eaten raw.  Crows and squirrels will take all of your fruit before you ever get a chance to sample any of it!  And I haven’t found a way to make a squirrel taste good when I catch one eating my peaches.

My most important discovery, though, came only a couple of weeks ago.  Our daughter’s boyfriend indicated he would like to join us and learn how to prepare as well.  He is an avid hunter and fisherman, but he wants to learn more.  He wants to be part of a group.  He wants to know how to survive and how to keep what he has.  As he is only twenty-three years old, I was impressed.

However, one morning, I made the mistake of asking him what he thought TSHTF means.  I was curious to know what he wanted to prepare for.  I was not prepared for his answer.  He answered that he believed it would be total anarchy.  Most importantly, in his young mind, since he had not had a chance to make prior preparations, he was not above stealing whatever it was that he needed for his family to survive.  At that moment, I panicked and thought, “Wow.  Instead of being one of us, he is the one we are trying to protect ourselves from!”  I was no longer sure I wanted my husband to show him where our caches of food and supplies were buried. 

I couldn’t help myself and pressed him a little further.  If he looks around at the world, does any of the current events constitute even slightly TSHTF?  You know, like Hurricane Katrina and all of the problems there, the shootings, the increased crime rates because more and more people are losing their jobs and/or homes?  The government intervention into the private sector and into our lives?  The thought of a serious injury?  He replied only that he doesn’t pay attention to that stuff.  People that worry about that every day rather than living are as bad as the people that believe in the Mayan calendar.  He feels that everyone that believes that December 21, 2012 will be TEOTWAWKI will be totally lost when they wake up on December 22, 2012.  I tried to explain that there is no preparations for that scenario except to make peace with our God.  He then turned it on me and asked me what I will do to prepare.  I could only answer that I could only do what I am doing right now.  Live.   Live the best way I could with what resources I had.

Mulling over the conversation in my head a couple of days later, it dawned on me.  I thought I was clueless when I was young.  I didn’t care about anything happening around me as it didn’t affect me.  Why should he?  He is young and no one has taken the time to teach him.  His eyes have not been opened.  He has not been taught how to survive. 

The point is, TSHTF scenarios can be in any form – from natural disasters to total anarchy and anything and everything in between.  Depending on your own point of view, any major event can cause TEOTWAWKI for us personally.  It does not have to be a global event, nor does it have to be local.  It can be personal.  How you react, how you respond, how you have prepared yourself, all will determine your own survival rate.  Get out there and practice!  And teach someone else if you are able!

Letter Re: One Man’s Approach to Preparedness

Sir:
Just to let everyone know, I am new to the prepper lifestyle, and new to the kind of changes one must make in one’s life to begin saving as opposed to spending, or maybe a better way of saying it is to say “ changing what your spending your money on ”   where before it may have been a new dirt bike, man toy,   or flat screen television, now my extra cash (after my tithe and savings) is going to preparations.   My change in spending habits quickly brought about a realization , that some items that I need are truly big ticket items, and require a significant investment.  

I already live in a house on 1.5 acres, in a semi rural area .   we have our own well, and we are on a new 2,000 gallon septic system just replaced three years ago.   I just recently measured static water depth of my well in late summer,  the well is 180 feet deep and I have standing water up to 135 feet. I did this so that I could purchase a deep well hand pump . I purchased it from www.survivalunlimited.com it is 1” PVC pipe with a stainless spigot and stainless foot valve. The foot valve is driven by a fiberglass   rod that goes down the center of the pipe. The nice thing about this unit is that it can be installed alongside my existing well , with a stainless cap that is provided by the pump manufacturer. My well water is currently sanitized by an ultraviolet filter, with no power that will not be an option, a Big Berkey filter is next in line.  I have no farm animals yet, but a coop is in the plans, and goats maybe before next fall if I can get the pasture fenced in.  

Our homestead also has a 12 kilowatt Generac generator that automatically comes on in the event of a power outage, we have a few of these every year because of the large amount of 100 foot plus tall Douglas firs that seem to love to fall over onto our counties power lines, which are overhead, as opposed to buried as in modern towns . It runs off natural gas, and can be switched over to propane with a few simple modifications.    

What I don’t have is a source to heat with wood, and if the natural gas goes out, I will not be able to heat our house, which has nine people living in it. So my next purchase will be a wood stove. Both Quadrafire and Lopi make excellent stoves that are EPA certified and can be installed easily. The stove, along with chimney and installation is going to run almost $5,000, although there are state and federal tax credits that will help ease the pain somewhat.  

Food storage is another item I have begun. I decided right of that I would begin researching food packaging solutions, and scrounging buckets. Most restaurants will give you there leftover food grade white pails, and if you are lucky lids to go with it. I purchased mylar bags and oxygen absorber s from Jan over at www.healthyharvest.com   and pieced together a nitrogen bottle along with an old helium regulator, wand and nozzle to charge the bags. I purchased a Teflon cover for my iron so that I could seal then bags without buying an impulse sealer, I just place the edge of the bag on a 2×4 and iron it shut. I purchased my grains from Bob’s Red Mill. They have a wholesale division, that will sell in bulk if you order over 350 lbs of product from them.  Beans, rice, wheat, kamut, spelt, and oat groats. A $1,000 order will give you enough staples to feed a large crew for a year or so.  Also from Jan I purchased non-GMO open pollinated seeds stored in #10 cans, so that I may begin growing at the first sign of TEOTWAWKI  With food, water, shelter provided for–or at least in process–I am on the road to sufficiency. I will let you know how the journey progresses. Sincerely, – T.C.

Letter Re: Experiences in the Southeastern Ice Storms

Jim,
I would like to add my two cents to the discussion of the Great Carolina Blizzard of ’11. I had some similar experiences to B.H.: Deep frustration over dead batteries in cars. I had two every day drivers that just would not start. While it was fairly cold for our area, I suspect that high humidity added to the cold had a draining effect on the batteries. In the future, I would think about a short start and warm up every 8 hours or so on vehicles that I knew were to be needed on short notice. 

It took me an hour and a half to get our cars started and out to the street the first day that we ventured forth. That compares to the usual turn the key and go. This is another point in favor of a regular dry run up and down the drive way with essential transportation.

Times like these provide windows into the minds of our neighbors. This situation and the others similar to it lead me to conclude that, at least in our area, folks will cocoon for hours or days when something happens. After that, who knows what will happen, there has not been any precedent locally on which to base an opinion.

The most sobering lesson was the effect of personal injury. I was taking my portable jump starter out to my stuck vehicles when I stepped on a patch of ice. I dropped like a stone and landed with my arm under my chest. “Crack”, my ribs said. As I lay in the snow, rolling my eyes at my natural graceful coordination, I assessed my condition. There was no real pain and I had no chills that I had had after my other bone fracture experiences. I could breathe deeply in and out with out any more than some minor soreness. (Different answers to those questions would have led to a trip to the Emergency Room ) After I passed my personal triage, I got up and proceeded to get the vehicles going. I found I had some serious difficulty using the arm on the effected side. Any movement with even a minor load was seriously difficult. I was reminded how our body works through stiffening our core to provide a solid base for the movement of our limbs. To make a long story short, I concluded that I had cracked a rib. There is no real treatment for this other then tincture of time: 4 to 8 weeks. As I sit here this morning 10 days later, I still have to sleep in my recliner due discomfort when prone. I had to change my plans for getting outside and working today due to my limited upper body strength. I am getting better, but it is frustratingly slow.

Lessons:

1. While we are used to having our bodies ready to do what we need them to do, that can change in less than a heart beat. Believe me, I will be more thankful for a normal day from now on.

2. Especially for us Gray Panthers: listen to what your body is telling you. I tried to push through this injury, and just made it worse. Know your limitations, and realize that you do not exceed them with out paying a price.

3. In spite of all our plans, serendipity will play a role in our future. Some things, perhaps most things, will be as we expect. There will always be the unexpected and unplanned that will stretch our flexibility. 

Regards, – Wh2thdr

Letter Re: Question on The Rapture Versus Tribulation Preparedness

Mr. Rawles;
I have been reading your blog for a few months. I am a young Christian. I’ve been attending church four years and saved for three of those years.  I have been doing some preparations for “survival” as per your blog in all areas after observing the financial collapse and other related events in recent years.  Many at church say I am wasting my time cause we will all be raptured prior to the tribulation.  Any brief comments would be appreciated. Thanks, – Jim V.

JWR Replies: You are not wasting your time. The concept of a pre-tribulation rapture is a modernist “feel good” invention. In my estimation, bowing out of preparedness because of just one verse in the Bible (I Thessalonians 4:l7) is foolish. The word rapture doesn’t occur in the Bible. That is word used in summary of “Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:l7)

Scriptural interpretation of end times events is the subject of much eschatological debate. But if you are looking for a sequence of events, then see Mark 13:18-27 and Matthew 24: 2l-42. A lot of modern evangelicals point to verses 37 to 41 in Matthew 24, and say ” Ah-ha! ‘Two in the field, but only one one taken'” and conclude that a “pre-tribulation rapture of the church” will occur. While it is true that living believers will be taken up to heaven directly in the Last Days, my interpretation is that it will occur after the time of tribulation, that is, after the breaking of the seals and the numerous plagues described in John’s Revelation. Christ made the sequence of events clear, when he was quoted in Matthew 24 :29-31: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (My emphasis added. Forgive me if I have somehow added anything to scripture by showing some words bold, but there is a sequence here!)

But, please, don’t get too caught up with doctrinal differences. What really matters is that we should all be prepared both spiritually and physically, regardless of the exact sequence of end times events. The crucial thing is our salvation–accepting Christ as our Savior, and reconciling ourselves to God. Anything else, by comparison is just a doctrinal nit. I believe that we are in the Last Days and that it is of vital importance that as many as possible come to saving faith in Jesus the Christ.

Remember: “But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” of Jesus’ return. (Matthew 24:36). Get ready, today, by getting right with God. Even if I’m wrong and there is a pre-tribulation rapture then the food you have stored will be a blessing for friends and relatives who were unsaved and that would be a form of witness unto them. Keep several Bibles amongst your preps. And for those who are strident pacifists, I would submit that it is hard to share the gospel with others if your mortal body has assumed room temperature.

If you want to delve into these topics further, I suggest reading: The Rapture: A Question of Timing, by William Kimbal. This concise book echoes what a lot of theologians like John Wesley and Charles Haddon Spurgeon made clear, long before the modernist church attempted to reinterpret the End Times for their own convenience.

Economics and Investing:

The MOAB that never ends: Thomas Sowell: Fed Trapped in Endless Easing Cycle. (Thanks to Brett G. for the link, that includes an interview clip.)

The FDIC Friday Follies continue with bank closures in Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia

Reader Mac F. sent this item: Stimulus Writ Small: Tiny California Town Prints Its Own Currency

Germany Should Prepare for Greek Default, Adviser Feld Tells Handelsblatt. (A hat tip to John R. for the link.)

Items from The Economatrix:

Is Silver Bottoming?  

Silver Up as US Mint Reports January Eagle Sales Reach Record High  

Fear And Love Make Gold Strong  

Monetary Watch January 2011:  Money Supply Firing On All Cylinders?

Odds ‘n Sods:

Jeff M. highlighted this: Yellowstone Magma Bubble is Swelling. This is yet another reason not to live in the eastern U.S. (Geologists tell us that the last time the Yellowstone caldera blew up, it buried the east coast under six+ feet of volcanic ash.)

   o o o

Reader Kevin S. mentioned this news item: Chinese Troops Stationed in North Korean Special Zone

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Jason G. flagged this: Schneider Electric Recalls Xantrex GT Series Grid Tie Solar Inverters

   o o o

SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large Michael Z. Williamson sent this interesting article: Web-controlled guns are illegal. Bummer. I wanted to set up a pair of UA 571-C sentry guns here at the ranch.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and] to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the field.

Blessed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

Blessed [shall be] thy basket and thy store.

Blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out.” – Deuteronomy 28:1-6 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 32 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 $795, 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 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 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, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) 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.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 32 ends on January 31st, 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.

Preparedness: Asking the Right Questions, by Grace T.

In the last year my husband and I have been blessed to be able to sell our house and move to our bug out location (BOL) in the mountains.  It is a learning experience!  We have been watching the signs of these times.  It seemed prudent, for us, to prepare for emergencies – be they natural disasters or an economic meltdown.  About four years ago we began our journey to learn as much as we could and fumble our way through obtaining supplies and equipment to become self-sustaining.  What follows are lessons we have learned and questions we have asked ourselves that might mean the difference between “We can do this” and “Panic”.  Hopefully this will assist others in their preparation.

Read Them Before You Need Them:  Putting together a library of “How To” books is essential.  Subjects such as food storage and cookbooks, dental care, first aid, gardening, mechanics, survival in harsh weather, security, defense, arms, canning, etc. are great resources. But if you don’t read them before you need them you will find that you don’t have what is needed to carry out the task.  For example, food storage requires certain containers and a temperature controlled storage area – are those containers and an appropriate place to store the food available?   Cookbooks require certain ingredients in each recipe – are all the ingredients on hand?  Dental care requires certain tools, temporary dental fillings, or common household items – are they at your bug out location?  First aid procedures require specific equipment and medications – do you have those supplies on hand to treat illness and injuries?  Canning requires equipment as well – do you have all equipment needed?  Books are a wonderful resource but it can’t be stressed enough to have supplies and equipment on hand which leads to:

Use It or Lose It:  Okay, you have obtained a generator, wood stove and/or wood cook stove, tools, a solar panel or two, seeds for a garden, treated gas and diesel, and an adequate food supply, along with recipes for stored food.  The power goes out; food is in short supply, fuel unavailable.  Is the generator ready to go?  Has it been started at least monthly?  Do you just need 110 VAC or do you need 220 VAC, perhaps to pump water?  Does your generator have 220 VAC?  We bought a backup generator that we thought had a 220 VAC winding.  It did not, so although it will light up lots of 110 VAC appliances and lights, it won’t pump our water.  Do you have a power transfer switch installed so when the power comes back on (if it does) your power does not back-feed through the power lines and injure or kill a power company employee?

Do you have wood available?  Do you know how many cords of wood it will take to heat your house for a winter?  Have you cooked in your wood cook stove?  (If not, you have some stress and challenge to look forward to)  Are tools where you can find them?  Do you know how to use all the tools you have?  Are the photovoltaic panels hooked up and ready to go?  Are you set up with batteries to use in tandem with solar?  Have you gardened before?  Are the seeds you have specifically indicated for your climate?  If, for example, you live where the growing season is short and the seeds you have require a longer growing season, your crops will not mature and there will be no food.  Are the proper tools available to garden and a water supply close by?  Do you rotate your fuel?  Did you add fuel additives for storage?  Are you cooking with stored food? If you stored wheat, for example, do you have a grinder?  Have you used it? If the wheat does not have the correct protein content (no less than 13% for bread), do you have gluten to add to the flour so the bread will rise?   Have you stored food your family will eat?  For example:  Do you have 200 pounds of black beans in storage and everyone in your family hates black beans?   These questions beg to be answered before the need is pressing.  Then, when you least expect it – something breaks, so:

Redundancy:   Planning is key. The old saying often quoted in SurvivalBlog is: “Two is One and One is None.” For a heat/cooking source we have a propane fireplace, a wood cook stove, an electric range with a propane cooktop.  For further backup we have an electric 22 quart roaster, crockpot, numerous camp stoves, propane burners, cast iron pots and pans to use over open fires and a propane barbecue.   If propane and electricity are depleted, the wood cook stove provides heat and the ability to cook.  What is your plan A, B and C?  Lighting:  While electricity exists there is electric lighting (when the power does not go out).  Our backup is the generator (while fuel is available), candles, oil lanterns, Aladdin lamps and battery flashlights and lanterns.  Do you have more than one source for lighting? What is your plan to recharge batteries – solar or electricity?   Murphy’s Law seems to be alive and well.   If one system fails, you need to have another option.  If the electricity goes out, we have a generator to pump water from our well.  If fuel runs out, we have hand pump from Lehman’s that fits on the wellhead.  Do you keep water in 5 gallon containers in your house?  Have you thought about – what if…..?  

Transportation:  Climate may dictate modes of transportation.  While fuel is available automobiles, trucks, quads and snowmobiles can all fill the bill.  Do you have an older vehicle that you can work on and actually fix that is impervious to an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) so you can still keep on trucking?  What if there is no fuel?  Options are:  Feet, bicycle, horses or maybe a boat depending on your location.  If horses are a choice – do you have feed, shoeing supplies and know-how, fences prepared, vet supplies and shelter? 

Communication:  When a storm came through this fall and the power was out for several days our phone system was useless.  Luckily, we had not thrown an old land line telephone away.  It doesn’t require electricity so we were off and running.  It’s now plugged into an extra jack all the time.  Do you have a land line ready to go?  What will you use to communicate if there is no phone service?  We have several walkie-talkie type handheld radios that are effective short distances.  CB radios, base station and mobile, offer more distance and will put you in touch with other CB radio operators. Some HF band Ham radios offer world-wide communication but require a special license.  Short wave radios will keep you in touch with emergency news and weather.  Do you have a system in place?  

Laundry:  Clean clothes make us feel better and aid in hygiene for better health.  Of course, the first choice is an electric washing machine and dryer but what will you do when that is not available?  We have two washtubs set on a stand – one for washing and one for rinsing.  From Lehman’s we have purchased a hand washer (looks something like a plunger) that is plunged up and down to agitate the clothes.  We plan to purchase a wringer two2 would be even better – one for the wash tub and one for the rinse tub) for the washtubs.  A washboard is great for working out stains.  We also have a clothes rack for drying clothing in front of the wood stove and clothes lines for drying clothing outside in the summer.  There is also a hand washing machine available called a James washer (similar hand washing machines are available at Lehman’s).  Have you prepared for taking care of laundry?  Much of the equipment and paraphernalia necessary to survive and thrive needs maintenance.

Packrat Is Not a Dirty Word:   My husband is the original keeper of all things.  When asked why that box of stuff can’t be tossed, his reply is always:  “We might need it someday”.  I have always chaffed at having a 1960s-vintage soldering gun and four crates of screws stacked around the shop – but no more!   If it can breakdown, at some point it probably will.  When it does, do you have what is needed to repair it?  My husband can go to his shop and rummage around innumerable cubbies, cabinets and shelves and find something that will work to fix almost anything.  Do you have basic extra supplies? Duct tape, electrical tape, nails of several sizes, wire (both insulated electrical wire and plain of several gauges), screws of several sizes, wire nuts, nuts and bolts, welder, fence staples, lumber, extra chains for the chainsaw, oil, anti-freeze, light bulbs (the 2000 hour bulb keeps the pump from freezing and doesn’t have to be changed frequently), paint, turpentine, lamp oil, electrical switches, locks, rope, tow chains, and tires makes up only a partial list of great junk to have.  It can mean the difference between keeping it going and doing without.   However,

If You Can’t Find It –It Doesn’t Count As Having It:   This fall, the snow started to fall and the temperature dipped into single digits.  Gloves, boots and cold weather gear became a necessity and we had prepared, except, we couldn’t find where we had put it.  Maybe the barn, or the shed, or the root cellar or stashed in a container all of which required digging mountains of snow to access.  Oops!  We had prepared but didn’t track where items were located.  Are you organized?  Do you have lists of what you have and where it is located?  A 3-ring binder or a clipboard works well and will save your bacon when something is needed and needed immediately.  It is vital to have a list of stored food and the location of that food for several reasons.  First would be so it can be found easily and quickly but also the list can be used in the rotation process, noting date of storage (my daughter also date-marks each food container–a huge help)    and which items need to be used first.  It also acts as an inventory so you can formulate shopping lists of what is still needed and what is used and needs to be replaced.  Alphabetizing inventories is a great help in finding specific items.  There should also be separate inventories for clothing, supplies (toilet paper, soap, laundry items, toothpaste, etc.), tools, hardware, equipment and medical supplies that contain such information as amounts and location.  Knowing what and where medical supplies are located could save a life.  Are you ready?   Are there specific emergencies in your area for which you should:

Assess Your Environment:  Do you live in an area that is prone to flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, extreme heat or extreme cold, tornados or earthquakes?  What plans can you make to respond to threats in the area in which you live?  For example:   The greatest threat in the area in which we live is wildfire.  This area is heavily forested and timber was/is the predominant industry.  Our plan:  Clear a fire break (disc under grass in a 12 foot swath, and clear a gap of 30 feet in timber) around the perimeter of the property.  Selectively remove or trim trees that are close to structures.  We purchased a fire tanker trailer from a retired logging company owner.  This trailer includes a 300 gallon water tank, 200 feet of hose, nozzle, and two pumps (one to pressurize the hose and one to fill the tank from the creek).  The tank is kept filled during the dry season but drained for the winter.

In Conclusion:  Preparedness can be an overwhelming task.  Learning to ask some of the right questions and think through your specific needs can lighten the process.  Readiness will remove stress and panic in the midst of new challenges.

Note:  There are many sources for technical information on all of the subjects mentioned above. SurvivalBlog and Paratus Familia are two excellent resources for information or that can refer you to find the desired information.  Remember, though, every area must be tailored to your specific needs.  Recommended food storage lists, for example, are wonderful guidelines but must be adjusted to your family’s preferences.

A Philosophy to Live For, by Lightfoot

I don’t remember the exact date, but it was close to a year ago that, on a whim, I downloaded and read “Patriots“ on my iPad.  As I read through the fictional account my world was turned over and an amazing trip down the rabbit hole of preparedness began. I scoured the blogs and read every account, both fictional and non,  searching for and accumulating knowledge that would lead me to effective action in order to save my family’s life.  I learned the distinctions of TEOTWAWKI and more, then began to design a way to “bug out” of my current city-dwelling life should the SHTF.  

My wife and I accumulated the basic essentials and built contingency plans while we searched for places to bug out to, move to, acquire or otherwise get out of dodge.  In the process, we’ve started a local preparedness group and talked with others about the best ways in which to survive the coming hard times.  My moods alternated between sadness, fear, accomplishment (at getting ready), and resolution.  Focusing on my survival and the survival of my wife and two young kids was actually a relatively straight-foward process.  We need food, water, shelter, and protection no matter if it’s economic “collapse”, EMP, solar flares, martial law, war, or any other chaotic life-changing event. 

As we made progress, a new question kept nagging me.   It wasn’t until last night, when I read your blog and the post by T.N.P. about his retreat’s rules, that it really clicked that something was missing.  I think he did a wonderful job organizing the requirements, expectations, and parameters for his group. I’ll probably use some of his ideas for our group. (Do you hear the “but” coming?) Yes, there was something missing. It was the answer to these questions: For the sake of what are we living like this for?  Why would I give up whatever freedoms I still had, and subject myself to the complete authority of a single individual? You may or may not have caught it, but his narrative stated that he had the final say on issues. He maintained the authority (and supposedly force) to kick you and your gear off his land, which would supposedly be during crisis times. The consequences of which would be unknowable, but most likely not very favorable to the banished.

I served over a decade in the US military and in combat in Iraq.  I learned and explored the dictatorial nature of military structure and chain of command during that time.  I know firsthand that this type of “government” is necessary for good order and discipline.  Yet, in this all-volunteer military, there are still checks and balances to power accumulation and usage in the ranks.  More than anything, however, we choose to give up some of our rights and privileges for a clearly defined purpose and trust in the system against abuse.  That purpose is to preserve and defend the US Constitution against it’s enemies foreign and domestic.  

What makes this different from other countries though?  I assert that it is the content of the US Constitution that really gives meaning and power to ones decision to fight and die for.  I didn’t willingly join the military to fight for a “leader”, or just in order to “survive”, nor for the simple “common good”.  I committed my life and limb to an idea that the US Constitution is the most superior document designed in which to secure the blessings of liberty for me and my family.  I willingly decided to join the ranks of other men who were will to live and die for the freedoms that our country have nurtured and enjoyed.  In other words, freedom and liberty became the cause for which to fight and survive.  

That indirectly leads us to the core philosophical question of why do we prep? Why do we work so hard to survive?  How do we do it and maintain a philosophical and spiritual harmony?  If the answer is simply to survive, we could accept all manner of bondage and survive.  We could submit to an authoritarian regime, be it a US Government, a feudal lord, or a survival retreat owner.  We may indeed survive.  What then is the cost? Would we then have to shed more blood to regain freedom and liberty?  History is full of these examples.

As we stand on the precipice of world chaos, a potential economic collapse, and surely hard times, we must continue to make a stand for Liberty.  We must embody it even in the darkest of times, and keep it alive even as we plan our survival.  We must build our retreat constitutions not only with laws, but also checks and balances, commitments to individual rights and freedoms, and model it after what we as patriots hold dear, The Founding United States Documents: The Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence.  

I fear, more than anything (in this world), losing the individual freedoms we are assured by these documents.  If and when the SHTF, lets keep liberty alive in our survival groups. Be that shining light others will rally around.  Don’t become an authoritarian regime. Practice love, charity, kindness and guarantee individual freedoms.  Don’t do it at a whim, but build it in your survival constitution and build in a series of checks and balances.  Distribute power.  

I am confident that fiefdoms will arise.  Gangs will gain power.  In an economic collapse scenario, the US Government will lose power and a power vacuum will occur at local levels.  People and groups will accumulate that power through force, financial power, or entrepreneurial power.  Conflict will occur.  I intend to align my family with those whose practice is to build individual freedoms patterned after our founding fathers.  Many US patriots will flock to those groups and a new power (grounded in liberty) will arise in a distributed authoritarian nation.  This ideal of liberty is what will save our country as we’ve known it.  This power and promise of liberty is what will give us hope.  It will give us something to really survive and live for.

Letter Re: Experiences in the Southeastern Ice Storms

Jim:
Our family lives in a rural area of South Carolina, recently affected by a freak snow storm that shut the area down for a week, and is still affecting our area in other ways more than 10 days later. Our family was much better off than most we knew, but this little test really showed our weaknesses. We thought we were prepared, but we found some holes in our planning that came as a complete surprise. I’ve taken notes, and hope to be better prepared for next time, and hopefully can pass along some advice in the process.  

First mistake – not shoveling right away while the snow was fresh and newly fallen, or even while it was falling. This was a mistake because the very first day, the snow was very light, almost pellet-like, and easily brushed away with a broom or any form of shovel, no machinery needed. However, we let it sit a day, in which it partially thawed, and then froze overnight in subfreezing temperatures into a solid mass that did not thaw for ten days. Had we shoveled, swept, and dug out the very first day, we would have had clean walkways, accessible vehicles, a clear driveway and sidewalk. Instead, we experienced the inaccessibility of two of our vehicles, and treacherous injury-inviting conditions everywhere we walked.  

Second mistake – when the snow started falling, that’s when we needed to move our vehicles to the most accessible point in our drive area. Instead, we had one very reliable front wheel drive vehicle parked behind our house, on the down side of a slope, encased in ice, surrounded by solid ice, unable to move. Even if we could have moved it, we found the battery died after a couple of nights of subfreezing temperatures, and the front of the vehicle was pointed away from where we could reach it to jumpstart with another vehicle, so it wasn’t going anywhere until it thawed. Another full size vehicle, with a full tank of gas and great tires, pointed the wrong way on the back side of the driveway, encased in ice and also on top of a solid ice driveway, unmoveable. Only one, a large 4-wheel drive truck, full of gas and having new tires with great mud and snow grip, plus all the goodies needed to traverse any road conditions, was positioned in a place where it could have left the driveway under its own power, and it had a flat tire. Not just a few PSI flat, but down-on-the-rim, not-going-anywhere flat.  

Which brings me to …  

Third mistake – actually a combination of mistake #1 and #2. The only moveable vehicle we had, had a flat tire, and although it had a full size spare, we had no way to change it. The truck was on a solid sheet of ice with no traction. No way to position the jack without making the truck unstable and possibly sliding it dangerously into the house, another car, or ourselves. No way to secure it to safely change the spare. Our way to resolve it was to pump the tire as much as it would safely hold and then  try to make it as far as we could towards civilization (we live outside the city limits) where I could then find a flat spot, maybe a gas station that had cleared its parking lot, where the spare could be safely put on. Luckily, and I wasn’t expecting to be this lucky, the leak was very slow and I made it all the way to work, where I bought another tire.  

Fourth mistake – not keeping track of our portable jumpstarter. We had a nice one for years, even had its own little mini-air compressor. It had some problem a year or so ago where it would not charge up any longer, so I brought it back to the store where we bought it to exchange it for a working one. They no longer sold that model, so they exchanged it for a cheaper one that did not have the air compressor feature. We had this cheaper one for a while, but then one time someone from work borrowed it, and … and … I don’t know. It’s somewhere. I forgot, and didn’t replace it, and now I had a perfectly good reliable vehicle completely inaccessible.  

Fifth mistake – losing patience. That was me. Everything took so much longer when you had to walk slower, avoid carrying items, keep your hands free, avoid running certain errands, bundle up every time you go in and out, take an hour and a half to drive on single lane roads what used to take only 30 minutes with plenty of room to spare. I had no patience, and the stress this generated was entirely self-inflicted. Like I said, the bad conditions lasted 10 days, with the first four days being complete shut down disaster, and things barely returning to normal in a trickle after that. Work was difficult. Customers were stressed out. No deliveries showed up on time. The snow hit us on the night of the 9th, and just today (the 20th) I got some deliveries that I had been expecting between the 10th and the 12th. There are some suppliers that are experiencing a “snowball effect” … no pun intended … of the further they got behind, the worse it got. Some delivered once a week, some daily, some three times a week, some once a month. There are some deliveries I was expecting between the 10th and the 14th that still have not showed up, and that I am told will be the end of this month before they have caught up, because they had to just cancel all their deliveries from those times and start their schedule over. I have had some very tense, and very unpleasant, conversations with suppliers because their inability to deliver parts to my business meant my customers were waiting, which meant my customers heaped their frustrations on me, and I dumped all that right back on my suppliers. It doesn’t help anything to get bent out of shape. I’m going to remember how this feels next time something like this happens, and just try to be more patient. Sometime around the 17th (the last day of actual ice causing problems, but still while the repercussions of business interruptions were troublesome), I finally stopped stressing and just decided to embrace the horror. I stopped apologizing, after all I was doing everything I could, I stopped berating my already weary suppliers, I stopped lying awake at night freaked out about what might be waiting for me tomorrow. I just let go of all the negativity and decided it was all going to have to go on without me. The snow and ice have since melted (it’s the 20th as I writing this today) but we are not over the damage done yet.  

Things we learned for next time:  

Lesson #1 – Really evaluate your errand-running. When it takes ten minutes to dress properly, and an hour and a half to get anywhere, you seriously evaluate what you “need” to go and get. Driving was a tension filled event, not so much the act of it, because I had a very reliable vehicle, but because other people on the roads were so unpredictable. Every Yankee joke about Southern drivers happened right in front of me, too numerous to mention. I really tried harder than anything else to maintain distance between myself and other drivers, even if it meant pulling over in a parking lot and waiting for cars to go by so I could have a several car-length cushion between me and anyone else with a Southern license plate. I just had no idea what they would do – maybe they just moved down here last week from Maine, or maybe they’ve never been in the snow before … I didn’t know and treated everyone like they were crazed maniacs bent on destroying themselves and everyone around them in the process, and avoiding other drivers meant slow going. Worse, I actually did see several drivers being intentionally reckless – several that were intentionally spinning out in the middle of the road, doing donuts, or racing down the road at higher speeds than the speed limit for unknown reasons – maybe to prove to everyone else that they could, I don’t know. Many older rear wheel drive cars, when stopped at a stop light, would gun it when the light turned green and whip their car sideways, then get traction and take off, fishtailing down the road. So if I saw a car stopped at a stop light, I intentionally slowed way down and didn’t approach the stop light, instead crawling in the other lane way back until the light turned green so I wouldn’t be in the damage path when they decided it was play time. When it takes you that long to do any simple thing, you find there are so many errands you don’t really need to run. Doing this really kept us efficient, as I would leave the house, I’d be sure to get everything done in one shot.  

Lesson #2 – Be patient, kind and pleasant. Everyone is stressed. Everyone is trying in their own way to get through it. Nobody cares that you are stressed. So, be the nice one, be the one who does not add misery.  

Lesson #3 – Wear waterproof outer clothes, especially if you are in and out. You’re not going to keep changing clothes, you’re going to trudge around in what you put on that morning and maybe layer some extra to go out, so as soon as you let snow build up on your pants and boots and sleeves, you’ll go inside and it will melt and you’re going to be miserable all day until you change again. It was silly of me to not know this, because I have plenty of waterproof hunting clothes, but I didn’t wear them. I could have just pulled them over the outside of my daily wear clothes. I will next time.  

Lesson #4 – Is your fireplace usable? What, you live in the South, and it’s only decorative? Check and see if you can actually use it, and if you have firewood! We got lucky and didn’t lose electricity or any heat function in our house – but we were lucky. We didn’t have firewood, we would have had to venture out and cut some … in the snow … and even then I don’t know if the fireplace was safe to use. We didn’t have to find out the hard way, but we are going to check on this before next time.  

Lesson #5 – Find relaxing things to do. Pacing, complaining, and growling at your family are not preferred options. When things slow down, and things aren’t happening like they should, and you feel impatient, find something relaxing to do. I settled on reading (although it took me a few days to realize this), and that helped pass the time and calm me down.  

Things we were happy to see we did correctly:  
Gold Star #1 – Filled up all the cars with gas before the crisis! Had good tires (with one unforeseen sudden problem)! Lights working, horns working, brakes in good working order, belts in good shape, all caught up on maintenance. Had emergency kits in every car – blankets, flashlights, bungee cords, spare tires, bottled water, gloves, etc.! Lets not mention that 2 of the 3 vehicle were unusable for several days. We were at least not so bad off once things were moveable again.  

Gold Star #2 – Plenty of food and cooking supplies! We even fed our pets and the local wildlife with plenty of food to spare. The deer hung out in our yard and ate dried corn, bruised apples, molasses and salt. We had tons of birds on our back porch in all daylight hours feasting on the bread and scraps. The raccoons at night ate all our leftovers and stale food. Our pets were well fed and didn’t mind having us around the house to pay attention to them.  

Gold Star #3 – Everyone stayed healthy, and did not experience any injuries, no falls on the ice, and limited contact with the ice at all. Having everything we needed at home and limiting our movement outside the house decreased our chances of injuries and health problems.  

Gold Star #4 – Semi-ready if the power had gone out. We had candles, warm clothes, and a generator. Not bad.  

Gold Star #5 – Did not require any emergency services whatsoever. Did not request roadside help from any of the overworked and emergency-limited roadside service companies, just handled our problem ourselves. No medical emergencies, really I believe due to our careful thinking and moving slow, avoiding leaving the house unless we had to, and not trying to behave as we normally would on a normal day. Did not get ourselves in any unneccessary troubles. Avoided traffic accidents, which were everywhere all over the roads, many of which sat in place as testament to their mistake for a day or longer since tow companies were way overbooked, I believe due to my intense paranoia of treating every car on the road as if it would spontaneously attack me if I got too close. Did not attempt to use the fireplace we weren’t certain about, therefore possibly avoiding a fire problem that we might not have been able to get help considering our ice-locked driveway. So we were not a burden on the already over burdened emergency services, or anyone else, we did have some challenges but we handled them ourselves.  

In general I think that we did pretty well. We do plan on continuing to learn, and improve, should anything else interesting happen around here. Thank you so much for your very informative blog and for the good work you have done. Take care. – B.H. in Upstate S.C.

Economics and Investing:

12 Economic Collapse Scenarios That We Could Potentially See In 2011

J.D.D. recommended this by Charles Hugh Smith: Social Security in far worse shape than you think

Pierre M. was the first of several readers to send this: A Path is Sought for States to Escape Their Debt Burdens. (That “path” is declaring bankruptcy and defaulting on their pension obligations!) Meanwhile, we read: DeMint: There Will Be No Bailout for the States.

Social Insecurity: Inside the ‘Trust Fund’ Illusion

Rick Ackerman: Bullion shorts in over their heads, says our man in London

Items from The Economatrix:

Home Sales Hit 13-Year Low; Slow Recovery Ahead  

Materials Stocks Fall on Fear of Chinese Rate Hike  

Gold Standard Now Supported By Greenspan, Person Who Destroyed USD  

China Devalues US Buying Power By 30%, Protects US Treasury Holdings  

Fresh Fears for US Housing Sector

Odds ‘n Sods:

Joe Ordinary sent us the link to an amazing series of before and after flood photos, from Australia.

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More Nanny State Nincompoopery: Crossbows in legal cross-hairs. It seems that in Mount Prospect, they want to ban everything that might possibly be fun. That city (and Ohio as a state) sure has changed since the Blues Brothers days. Back then, we’ve been told, they sold awesome ex-police cruisers: “This was a bargain. I picked it up at the Mount Prospect city police auction last spring. It’s an old Mount Prospect police car. They were practically giving ’em away.” 

   o o o

If they can’t do it legislatively in one fell swoop, then they’ll do it piecemeal, by bureaucratic decree; ATF to Issue New Ruling on Monday regarding New Restrictions on Shotgun Importation. If you are going to a gun show this weekend, I recommend that you buy a Saiga 12 gauge (or two). If these do indeed become import banned then their market price will surely double!

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DIY Oil Lamp from Recycled Cooking Fats. (Thanks to Arthur for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“There is no moral argument that justifies using the coercive powers of government to force one person to bear the expense of taking care of another. If that person is too resolute in his refusal to do so, what is the case for imposing fines, imprisonment or death? You say, ‘Death! Aren’t you exaggerating, Williams?’ Say he tells the agents of Congress that he’ll pay his share of the constitutionally mandated functions of government but refuse to pay the health costs of a sick obese person or a cyclist who becomes a vegetable, what do you think the likely course of events will be? First, he’d be threatened with fines, imprisonment or property confiscation. Refusal to give in to these government sanctions would ultimately lead to his being shot by the agents of Congress.” – Dr. Walter E. Williams

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 32 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 $795, 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 250 round case of 12 Gauge Hornady TAP FPD 2-3/4″ OO buckshot ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo (a $240 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, B.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and C.) 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.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 32 ends on January 31st, 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.